All roads lead to Haworth . . .

I missed Charlotte Bronte's 100th birthday yesterday because I've been flattened since I got back from teaching at Cirencester - sore throat, swollen glands,no voice. . . . I have my suspicions who passed on their germs to me!

So I'm specially grateful to Marie  Frances who shared the article in the Guardian  about her childhood writings  and those of her sisters, Emily and Anne,  because this is exactly what I wrote about in my MA thesis ('Fantasy and Prophecy') all those years ago, just before I got married. ...It seems to be the time to have started sharing that with my friends recently - yes, Sallyann Halstead? (Hope you're finding it interesting) And I'm planing on meeting  my friend Noelle  in Haworth very soon. All roads lead to Bronteland?

I have wonderful memories of speaking in the school house where Charlotte Bronte taught - as part of the Festival of Women's writing in Haworth in 2011. But my proudest moment was knowing that the archivist at the Parsonage Museum had asked for a copy of my Modern Romance reworking of Wuthering Heights - The Return of The Stranger - for the collection in the Museum.
Interesting then, that when I was at Hampshire Writers Society last week, one of their members when asked to review one of my books, chose Return of The Stranger to write up - and read the review on the night. Thank you Teresa.

 And thanks again to the Hampshire Writers for their warm welcome.

But it still seems that right now, all roads lead to Haworth . . . .

Tote Bags Day

It's been a crazy week, and it's going to get crazier.

Tomorrow I'm heading for Winchester  where I'm going to talk to  the Hampshire Writers'  Society. Then from there I'm heading for Oxford where I'm meeting a lovely writer friend, Julie Cohen and catching up after way too long.

On Friday I'll be at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester where I'm teaching  a weekend course on Beginning, Middle and End, planning your romance novel.  (I'll have a book - or two - of my own to plan too, so this will  be really helpful for me as well!)

And today, being the 12th on the month is the day that I'm over on Tote Bags and Blogs - so that's where I am today!

I'll be away the rest of the week, so I'll catch up again when I'm back

Catching up and looking ahead

I'm still not entirely sure how it got to April.  But I'm enjoying the longer days and the brighter sunshine that April brings (well, it has done today anyway!). I had hoped to do some  spring cleaning, with new wardrobes built in the bedroom, but  they're not ready yet so the clothes are still stored in all the wrong places and  the bedroom has one bed and a table lamp in it!

So this weekend was  crammed with work instead. The proofs of the latest title arrived rather late after a  mix up in delivery so I had to do a rush job on those to get them back to my Editor by this morning.  But I managed then and Indebted to Moreno is now in process, ready for publication in October this year.  The next delight ( I hope!) is seeing what the cover looks like.

Today has been spent looking at and planning the next course with Relax and Write.  This will be at a new venue for me - the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester. I've never been to Cirencester so I'm looking forward to seeing what it's like.  I've heard good reports.

The course - Beginning, Middle and End, Planning your Novel  runs for the weekend of 15th  - 17th  April.  It's getting well booked up now, but I can still squeeze in some more students if you've been thinking about  coming but haven't booked yet.

Was your New Year resolution to 'write that novel'? Did you start out hopefully, wanting to write the story that was burning in your head ... only to find that now you've slowed down. Come and join a group and gain new inspiration. This course will teach you how to plan out your novel so that you have a much better idea of where you're going and how to create the best read possible. All inclusive fee £245 includes Sunday Lunch. 

I always have so much fun on the weekend courses - as well as getting a lot of writing done!  - so I'm looking forward to this a lot.   And as I've just signed a contract for two new books, I'm  going to find it really helpful for planning out my own new stories along with all my students.

Details can be found on the Relax and Write web site  here.

I've been asked for the details of courses following  the April  one - so  just to let you know that there is another course running in May in Swanwick.
. So here are the details:

13 - 15 MAY 2016 at THE HAYES CONFERENCE CENTRE SWANWICK DERBYSHIRE

All inclusive fee £249.

'The Writer's Repair Shop'  with Kate Walker

A course for those with work in progress. 

We've all been there - getting that nasty feeling that some things are not quite right with the book we're working on - but what's the caused it? And even more important, how to fix it? Problems that Kate will look at: Where to begin your story. Writers' Block and ways to break through it. Characters who don't come alive - how to sustain them as 3 dimensional beings. The sagging middle. Letting your story slip away from you/ lack of belief in what you're writing. Tropes or Cliches - it's all been written before. Individual voice.  An excellent course.

  

I'm joined by the Babe Magnet in Swanwick (and in Cirencester too)  so this is the course he's running:

Writing Non-Fiction' with Stephen Wade

Stephen Wade is a multi-published freelance writer, author of 70 books on true crime (modern and historical), genealogy, military history, biography and poetry.  He has taught English and Creative Writing for over 25 years and currently lectures part-time at Hull University. He has contributed to Writing magazine, most Family history magazines and many other journals.

 The aim of this weekend course is to work on producing a synopsis and sample chapter.  Here, Stephen Wade will offer guidance in writing your synopsis for the non-fictional work you are developing.  The course includes examples and case studies from Stephen's own writing.

After these two courses, I have a moment to breathe  (and write!)  before I head for Writers' Holiday in Fishguard in July.

But before then I have a dreadline . . . help!

Long weekend memories

I hope everyone who celebrated Easter had a wonderful time, lots of chocolate (if you wanted it!) and a relaxing time adjusting to the time change as the clocks went forward.

We had family  to stay - The Offspring and his lovely fiancée and the grand-dog  Lola  came to visit and stayed overnight. This was the first time that Lola had stayed and the cats were pretty indignant at having a d-o-g invade their space.  It was funny to see Ruby (who is about the size of a little bit dropped off  Lola)  fluffing herself up - with the fur on the back of her spine standing on edge to show she was no pushover. Charlie gave some fierce deep growls to warn the intruder that this

was his house  and she'd better watch her step.  But Lola has grown up with 6 cats so she knows the ways of felines and then  after  a few hours they   all settled down and  kept  a safe distance so that peace could be established.,

Most of the weekend,  I spent a fascinating  and nostalgic time watching the ceremonies carried out in Dublin to mark the centenary of the Easter Rising of 1916.  It was an important  Centenary for Ireland and it re-awoke some personal memories of my own.

One hundred years ago my mother was just a baby of seven weeks,  and my father was  14 months old, both  born in Ireland  but obviously totally unaware of the major events in Dublin that week.  My grandfather though was only too well aware of what was going on. He had been friends with Eamonn De Valera  who taught in 2 of the colleges where my grandfather had held the position just before him.

Fifty years later, I was in Ireland at the time of the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising. My grandfather had just died and left behind his collection of technical and complex  mathematics text books. (He had gained a degree in Mathematics and Classics) These were not the sort of thing that any of his granddaughters were at all interested in.The only person my mother could think of who might be interested in those books was the man who had once sent my grandfather messages in complicated codes with mathematical problems - Eamon DeValera who was then  President of Ireland.  He and my grandfather had  broken off contact and ended their friendship  as a result of  'the Troubles'  and  it was only when she wrote to tell him that he learned of my grandfather's death.  As a result, he then invited my family to afternoon tea at his official residence Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin. I remember a very tall, almost blind old man (though he hid that most of the time, only admitting any problem when he asked my mother to pour the tea instead of going it himself) who admitted that he when he was asked to sing at school picnics,  always sang The Minstrel Boy to the tune of The Harp That Once Through Tara's Hall. He was thrilled to receive the mathematical tomes, though I doubt that he was able to read them with any ease.   No mention was made of any of the events of Easter 1916, or afterwards,  even though it was the year of the 50th anniversary.

The generation of my family who lived in Ireland at the time of the Easter Rising are now  all dead, but later this year, the Babe Magnet and I hope to revisit the country of their birth to mark this centenary  and to visit  and the family landmarks  - the house where my mother was born in Clones, the church she was married in in Limerick,  my grandfather's house in Dublin.  That will bring full circle the memories   that this 100th anniversary  has sparked off.

A special gift from a past student.

I’ve been busy sorting out my office. This room gets so messy when other things in life are going on – and even worse when the ‘other things’ are writing the next book.

Or planning a course that I’m teaching.

So today has had a bit of both – I’m mapping out the next  novel I’m writing  - and the one that goes with it. This book is planned as a duet, part of two linked books – because my editor asked for that. So really I have two stories to work on and plan out.  Two heroes, two heroines, two stories – ones that are connected and interlinked.

Good thing then that the course I’m currently planning out is  - Beginning Middle and End - Planning Your Novel

(This one takes place on 15 - 17 APRIL 2016 at THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY CIRENCESTER)

I’ll be looking at things like  beginning well, ending so that the reader wants to pick up another of your stories, avoiding the sagging middle!

So hopefully that will get me started well  as I plan out the sessions for the workshops. And then if I get into a muddle and find that I have hit a wall, or , worse, writer’s block , or all my confidence has seeped away, driven away by those dangerous enemies to writers The Crows of Doubt,  then hopefully my workshops for the next course - The Writer's Repair Shop (at Swanwick in Derbyshire )– will give me some help and boosts to my confidence to put things right.

(It's a course for those with work in progress. We've all been there - getting that nasty feeling that some things are not quite right with the book we're working on - but what's the caused it? And even more important, how to fix it? Problems that we will look at: Where to begin your story. Writers' Block and ways to break through it. Characters who don't come alive - how to sustain them as 3 dimensional beings. The sagging middle. Letting your story slip away from you/ lack of belief in what you're writing. Tropes or Clichés - it's all been written before)

So it’s been a busy and concentrated time.  But today I received a package that reminded me of just why I love  running these courses so much. Apart from the enjoyment of meeting up with students, some of whom have now become close friends and some are newcomers, hopefully destined to join that group in the future, there are the moments when discovering that one of my students is now a past-pupil and has achieved her dream of becoming a published author and is launched on her own  successful writing career.

One of these successes is Rachael Thomas who, as most of you will know, was a regular at my Fishguard Bay courses for some years and who had her first book A Deal Before the Altar was published in  published in  October 2014. Since then there have been  four more  with several lined up to appear on the bookshop shelves very soon.

Which brings me back to the package that arrived today. The Sheikh’s Last Mistress will be Rachael’s newest title – published in May this year and I’ve been lucky enough to be sent an advanced copy.  So, I have to acknowledge that this book isn’t new to me.  I first read the opening of it when Rachael brought it for a one-to-one at Fishguard  and then I read the early version of the full story in 2012. So I recognise it and the essential elements of it very well.  But those earlier versions didn’t  succeed and, wisely Rachael put the book away until she could look at it with clearer and more objective eyes.  (One of the things I often recommend when a writer gets really stuck and just can’t see where the book is going wrong.) Then, when your head is clearer, you can take it out and look at it afresh.  (Yes – that will be one of the points I’ll make in the  Swanwick course.)

Another point I always make is not to throw anything away – what doesn’t work now can always be reworked  when you know more, have a clearer idea of where you’re going and what editors want. So I’m extra delighted to get my hands on an advance copy of The Sheikh’s Last Mistress. I’m so looking forward to reading about Rachael’s heroine Destiny and the hero Sheikh Zafir in these new reincarnations, reworked, revised – but built on the same foundations as that first version I read in 2012.

It’s so great that my courses and my advice have helped  other writers move from student to published author – and to read their works  as printed  books  rather than in manuscript. 

So guess what my weekend reading will be -  a lovely relaxation  after the work on the next couple of courses coming up.  
And hopefully Rachael’s never give up approach will  inspire my next group of students . .and he next.

Thank you so much for the copy if Destiny and Zafir’s story, Rachael – I’m so looking forward to reading it.

International giveaway

So - I  promised anyone who might read my books in a language other than English, that I'd have a special treat for them  - and here you are -
it's an International  Translations Giveaway

I've had a lot of deliveries of  foreign translations of my books and  before I send any to the language library I support, I thought I'd ask if there are any readers out there who'd like to win a giveaway of  the titles I have available.

It's quite simple - all you have to do is to email me  and let me know which book in which language you'd like to win.
A few simple conditions - 
1. One book only per person
2. Books on a first come first served basis. Once they;re gone, they're gone
3. Please  give me one title and a second choice in case I've run out of copies of the book yo

u first selected. Of course if there's just one book in one language then I'm afraid once they're gone, they're gone.

The books you can choose from are:
 1. Italian translations 
Olivero's Outrageous Proposal - Un Intrigante Proposta
The Good Greek Wife  in Scintilla Greca   -  4 in 1 with Sarah Morgan Caitlin Crews Abby Green
The Konstantos Marriage Demand   in Matrimonio Greco   4 in 1 with Diana Hamilton, Margaret Mayo, Helen Bianchin

2. Thailand:
Olivero's Outrageous Proposal

3. Poland
Bound By Blackmail (by Kate Walkerova!)  Spanelskanhra

4. Holland
Olivero's Outrageous Proposal  - Perfect Wraak?

5 German
The Temptation Game in  3 in 1 Traummanner with Julia James  and Catherine George
Cordero's Forced Bride in 3 in 1 Mittelmeertraume  - with  Susan Napier and Melanie Milburne

6. French
A Question of Honour - Pour L'honneur du Cheikh

7. Japanese - MANGA editions  of
Kept For Her Baby
Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Wife


THIS OFFER ENDS MONDAY MARCH 14th!

Next Course coming up:

First of all - huge congratulations to  my friend Iona  Grey whose novel Letters To The Lost won  the RNA's Romantic Novel of The Year last week,  I'm only sorry I couldn't be there to congratulate her in person. 

I spent the weekend away in Halifax, where I grew up. Meeting with my family - husband, son, about-to-

be daughter in law sisters, brother in law, niece . . . we all got together to celebrate what would have been my Mother's 100th birthday!  We had a wonderful reunion and a fun, nostalgic time.

Now I'm back  and trying to organise the next few weeks  and there seems to be a lot  to do,.

New contract to sign - check!

New book (s) to plan . . .working on that

New wardrobes to plan for the bedroom - semi-check. . .we've planned and organised that  - now all we need is for the  wardrobes to be  built in - and then  I'll have  to move everything from one room to another and (hopefully) organise it fully.

Web site to update . . .  still working on that

And  - next course(s) to plan and organise for April and May

So - as I promised to let people know just what was coming up for me in my teaching schedule - here are the details of the next course coming up in April . There are still some places available on this one so if you'vre interested please contact Relax and Write for details or to book.

15 - 17 APRIL 2016 at THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY CIRENCESTER

 Beginning Middle and End with Kate Walker

This weekend course will introduce you to writing that novel you have always wanted to see in print.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?  Do you plan out your book to the last detail or ‘set out hopefully into the mist’?

You could easily find your original plan is too rigid to work - or  lose your way as you write.   There are some things you need to think out even before you start.

 Did you start out hopefully, wanting to write the story that was burning in your head ... only to find that now you've slowed down. This course will teach you how to plan out your novel so that you have a much better idea of where you're going and how to create the best read possible.

Topics to be covered:

Starting  well

Opening hooks

Sustain conflict

Pace your story and  avoid the ‘sagging middle’

Write a satisfying end – making the reader want more from you

Come and join a group and gain new inspiration.

All inclusive fee £245 includes Sunday Lunch.

Also at the same venue, that weekend:

 Writing the Past with Stephen Wade

This course is intended to help both fiction and non-fiction writers at all stages of their writing lives. The aim is to provide help and guidance in all areas of writing which is concerned with the past. The course topics include the full range of writing and research skills you need to write in any category about the past. All inclusive fee £245 and includes Sunday Lunch.


Oh -  and  do you read my books in a language other than English? To celebrate the acceptance of my 65th title, I'll have some foreign language translations on offer for a give away just as soon as I get organised . . . watch this space.

Pink Hearts Day

Today is my day for blogging over on the Pink Hearts Society site.

With Mother's Day coming up this weekend (here in the UK at least) it's natural that mothers are in my thoughts - in romance and in reality.  Today would have been my own mother's 100th birthday and my sisters and I are getting together at the weekend to mark the date.

My post on the topic is on the PHS site here  and as Mills and Book is getting together with Gransnet to mark Mother's Day, you might find some interesting posts by authors there.

Some of my own personal memories of my mother have been posted on the Mills and Boon website here

Happy Leap Year Day

Yes, I know that was yesterday  but I was too busy enjoying it to  write my post then.

And it was a happy Leap Year Day for me with the news from my editor that the revisions I'd worked on for the latest book  had worked really well and she was accepting and buying the book - and would I like another contract? Yes please!

This book has been bedevilled  by slow progress, health setbacks and such so I was really happy to know that it was successful and done and already scheduled to be published  in October.  My working title was Scarlet and Black  but some writer called Stendhal already has  a book under that title - so  this one will now be titled Indebted to Moreno -  Moreno being my brooding Spanish hero Nairo Moreno and Rose is the heroine who's deeply indebted to him .  . . But they share a past with some dark memories in it.

I'm particularly thrilled to know that this one is  accepted and bought as I believe it will be my 65th title!  So that was a good reason to break out the delicious fizz that my lovely students gave me as a thank you at Fishguard this time. Thank you to all of my students - that was a wonderful way to be able to celebrate a rather special book.


Now I need to get writing on the next book for that next contract. So perhaps it's just as well that March is doing its 'coming in like a lion' thing outside today.  Though first I do have to go and choose and organise new wardrobes for the bedroom. But my head will be busy with new ideas - I hope!

New Courses Coming Up

OK - so I promised the details of the new courses I have coming up  this year.

I'll start with  a one-off that's coming in April.

A while ago the Babe Magnet  went to  speak  about his book The Girl Who Lived on Air  at the Penfro Book Festival at Rhosygilwen in Pembrokeshire.  I went with him and as at breakfast I met the delightful Barbara Large who  is the Chairman of the Hampshire Writers' Society   I really enjoyed talking with her and as a result of our meeting, she invited me to  go and speak at an event for the Society.

When we talked about it, that date seemed a long time ahead - but now it's coming up fast  and so I am starting to look forward to it  happening in April,

So here are the details for that event - from the Hampshire Writer's Society Programme. 

Tuesday 12th April 2016

Kate Walker – romantic novelist

Kate Walker’s 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance – how to craft a novel for the romance genre
Special guest: Judith Heneghan – Director of Winchester Writers’ Festival, Lecturer in Creative Writing at the university of Winchester
Writing competition: Write a steamy love story (300 words)
Adjudicator: Alison Spencer – author of Tug o Love, best debut novel, Romantic Novelists’ Association

That week is going to be a busy one it seems because on the following weekend I'm teaching a Relax and Write course at Cirencester Royal Agricultural University.

This course is already booking up so do enquire now if you are interested in a place.  I've included details of my husband's course on Writing The Past as well, in case  anyone is interested in that.

Details and booking can be found at  the Relax and Write web site


15 - 17 APRIL 2016 at THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY CIRENCESTER

 Beginning Middle and End with Kate Walker

Was your New Year resolution to 'write that novel'? Did you start out hopefully, wanting to write the story that was burning in your head ... only to find that now you've slowed down. Come and join a group and gain new inspiration. This course will teach you how to plan out your novel so that you have a much better idea of where you're going and how to create the best read possible. All incl

usive fee £245 includes Sunday Lunch.

 Writing the Past with Stephen Wade

This course is intended to help both fiction and non-fiction writers at all stages of their writing lives. The aim is to provide help and guidance in all areas of writing which is concerned with the past. The course topics include the full range of writing and research skills you need to write in any category about the past. All inclusive fee £245 and includes Sunday Lunch.

More courses coming up  - May - July - the RNA Conference . . . 

Home again, home again . . .

I have finally found my way to my computer keyboard.  I got home on Wednesday but the decorators were still in the house and we've spent the last few days climbing over pots of paint, dodging wet  gloss on doors and windows,  avoiding  dangling, pasted wallpaper and  hunting for things under dust sheets  . . .  We lost Ruby the cat under those sheets several times and she has a couple of suspiciously glossy looking new patches on her fur.

But now the decorator is packing up his pasting table and step ladders and hopefully we'll have the house to ourselves for a while.  Until the new wardrobes are put in!  The bedroom wallpaper looks lovely as do the hall, stairs and landing and I'll be able to move a chest of drawers, bookshelves and dressing table back into the places they belong over the weekend.

It seems impossible that it is actually a week since I was just starting to teach on the weekend course of Advanced Romance Writing at Fishguard in Wales. I ha d a fabulous time there! Teaching this

course is so much more like  enjoying myself talking to friends so that it's never a hardship. We laughed so much, talked for hours (I think the earliest I got to bed was 1.30 am) and shared a great time. There were a couple of newcomers to the course this year but they were absorbed into the group from the start and everyone jelled so well.

I have to send special thanks to Melissa, Vasiliki, Sallyann, Melanie, Marie, Sonia, Andrea, Kim, Fiona, Nerys, Jenny, Claire, Ingrid for sharing the weekend with me - and for your lovely card and gift. I  was so touched to receive that.  Thank you!   I shall hope to find something special to celebrate with the champagne!

I always love my weekends (or weeks in the summer) spent beside the sea on the Welsh coast and I'm already looking forward to teaching the Complete Romance Writing Course at the Fishguard Bay Hotel in July ( Monday 25th July - Saturday 30th July 2016). There are still some places available on this course this year - and there are also some day   delegate plac

es still available. The week holiday rates are all-inclusive  and the day delegate places include everything but a bed!

But if you're interested in the Advanced Romance Writing Course in 2017  then better make enquiries now!  I'm not exactly sure how many spaces are free for next year - yes I did say that - for 2017! - but I think there are only one or two available right now as almost everyone booked up again  after this year's event.  Details and booking forms are available on the Writers' Holiday web site

But I must also let you know about the other courses coming up this year  so I'll post the details over the next couple of days - but basically they are these:

15 - 17 APRIL 2016 at THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY CIRENCESTER

 Beginning Middle and End 

 13 - 15 MAY 2016 at THE HAYES CONFERENCE CENTRE SWANWICK DERBYSHIRE

The Writer's Repair Shop  with Kate Walker

A course for those with work in progress.

'

14  -16 OCTOBER 2016 at The Hayes Conference Centre Swanwick Derbyshire.

All inclusive fee for these courses £249

Focus on Writing Romantic Fiction  A RETREAT.

Details for these courses, and to book - go to the Relax and Write web site

And of course I will be back at Fishguard in July for the

 FISHGUARD BAY HOTEL July

The Complete ROMANCE Writing Course  

  This course is intended to provide information and advice for anyone who wants to learn how to write a popular romance genre novel. It gives an introduction to all the skills needed for success, from creating realistic characters, sustaining pace and conflict, packing emotional punch, writing sex scenes and crafting a satisfying ending. While the focus may be on romance novels, the techniques – dialogue, characters, tension, pacing, settings, hooks etc. will also be relevant to all forms of popular fiction.

Bookings for this course and a summer week by the sea at: Writers’ Holiday  web site  http://writersholiday.net/

Pink Hearts Day

Today's my day for blogging at the Pink Heart Society blog - and from now on the 3rd of the month will be my regular date there. Today I'm talking about one of my favourite February (and other dates!) way of filling up my writer's 'well' - with the courses I run with  Writers Holiday  and those run by  Relax and Write  which reminds me, I need to give more details of some of those  when I update my Events Page

Kept For Her Baby

UK  readers  - did you miss out on a copy of Kept For Her Baby?

Or would you just like a really good buy in an ebook in the M&B site's sale?

Secret Love-Child - a 3 in 1 collection  with two other books by Catherine  Spencer and Tina Duncan is currently available for .99p as an ebook on the site and on Kindle.  It's  a great deal if you grab it now.

The postman just brought a bundle of foreign translations  including two of my favourites -  one from Czechoslovakia where I'm  'Kate Walkerova'  and another new manga edition - I love getting those. The illustrations are so great. this one is  Sicilian Husband Blackmailed Bride

 with the Sicilian hero looking like a secret agent in his black trench coat arriving at his heroine's wedding! (He isn't a secret agent however!)

RITA reading with Ruby

I have been sent books to read and judge for the Romance Writers of America   Awards.  I have a selection of different romance genres  and authors. some I know of already, some that are new to me.

I finished one of the books last night. I'm not allowed to say which book or which author  or what I thought of it - but I can tell you that Ruby the cat thought it was a book she really   could get her teeth into.

And this is only the outside back cover.

She really enjoyed the rest of the novel!

Courses coming up 1 - Cirencester in April

OK  - so as I've been asked to let you now about my teaching plans for this year   - the first course coming up is the Advanced Romance Writing Course in the Winter Weekend and Fishguard but as I said yesterday there's only one place left on that   weekend  so I'll list the rest of the course planned for this year.

The first one is a weekend course at the Royal Agricultural  College Cirencester .  That's coming up in April. There has already been quite a bit of interest in this one  - so if you are interested in a place on them course, contact Relax and Write and  put your name down for it.

RELAX  AND WRITE

CREATIVE WRITING WEEKEND COURSE

‘Beginning Middle and End’

Planning your novel from start to finish

15 - 17 APRIL 2016

Attend as a Day Visitor or Residential Member

at

THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

CIRENCESTER

Was your New Year resolution to ‘write that novel’?  Did you start out hopefully, wanting to write the story that was burning in your head ... Only to find that now you’ve slowed down, lost the plot, lost your way, become bogged down in a ‘sagging middle.’  Could you do with a route map - some guidelines to help you find your way?

This course will teach you how to plan out your novel so that you have a much better idea of where you’re going and how to create the best read possible.  It will show you how to:

l  Start well

l  Use opening hooks

l  Use a synopsis to keep yourself - and your characters - on track

l  Avoid the ‘sagging middle’

l  Maintain pace to keep the reader turning pages

l  Create a satisfying end - making the reader want more from you

All inclusive fee £245 and includes Sunday Lunch.

For further information Contact Lois Bird-Maddox ‘Relax & Write’ Course Organiser  :  www.malagaw

orkshops.co.uk 

Write to: The Secretary, ‘Relax & Write’ 9 (D) Langthorn Close, Frampton Cotterell, Bristol BS36 2JH.

Groups are kept small to benefit from the writing experience. Please let your Writing Group know about our ‘Relax & Write’ weekend courses, which are held at different venues during the year.  Book early to guarantee a place. Book early and pay by instalments. Non-participating partners welcome. Free Parking is available.

Also at this weekend: 

'Writing the Past' with Stephen Wade

This course is intended to help both fiction and non-fiction writers at all stages of their writing lives. The aim is to provide help and guidance in all areas of writing which is concerned with the past. The course topics include the full range of writing and research skills you need to write in any category about the past. All inclusive fee £245 and includes Sunday Lunch.

Pink Hearts Blog Day

I really have no idea at all what has happened to the beginning of 2016.

I'm sure it was only yesterday that it was  New Year's Day and the year was starting over all fresh and new. . . and now it's  - what?! January 24th?! How did that happen?

Well, I have some ideas, -
Revisions
Family birthday
Revisions
Organising   the redecoration of a. the bedroom b. hall stairs and landing
So that involved a. finding  new wallpaper we could both agree on b buying said wallpaper - and then going back  to the shop to get more wallpaper when we didn't have  enough with the same batch number!
Finding the paint we liked to go with the wallpaper  - see above
Revisions
Discussing and planning new courses coming up for the next year - with Writers' Holiday and Relax and Write and a couple of other workshops thrown in for good measure.
Revisions . . .

So now I'm hoping to get the revisions off my desk before the decorator comes and sets to work on the hall stairs and landing (could there be a part of the house that guarantees more chaos than that?)
And I need to have the course planned, the handouts printed, the critiques planned for the one to ones before I head for Fishguard in February.

So that seems to be what's happened to - well, most of January.
But today is my unexpected day for blogging over on the Pink Hearts Society Blog. So that's where

you'll find my blog post today (or perhaps I should say my other blog post!)

Oh and talking about courses and writing weekends and such - I've been asked to post details of what I am doing this year so you can know if any courses suit you. So I'll do that this week - there are
two courses with Writer's Holiday and two courses plus a Focus  on Writing Retreat  with Relax and Write 

Details coming up

Oh  but if you are interested in the Advanced Romance Writing Course at Fishguard in February this year - I have unexpectedly got one  free space because a student can't come  -  so if you're interested - act now! And contact Writers'  Holiday asap.

Trying to catch up

A rather belated happy new year to you all!

Well, it's been a bit of a crazy month.   I was so glad to get back home and out of hospital - but the convalescence took much longer than I ever expected.  And then there was Christmas,  New Year, my son's birthday,  We celebrated that by going to stay with him and his fiancée and  I thoroughly enjoyed walking the brand new family member - the grand-dog -  on a freezing, windswept beach. (Yes, I know it doesn't sound like fun - but it was!)

Now I'm trying to catch up in all way - revisions on the latest story being the most important. My brooding Spanish hero  is faced with meeting Rose, the woman who turned his life upside down ten years ago - and is now doing that all over again.

Today I'm blogging over at Tote Bags N Blogs  - talking about my 'determinations' for  2016. Not resolutions but things I'm determined to do more of  in 2016.

Oh, and I'm thrilled to discover that  one of my 2015 title Olivero's Outrageous Proposal  is
now reprinted in the collection 12 Best of the Year for Modern Romance.  That's something that got my year off to a good start!


Important PS  - for my lovely Australian readers - with special thanks to Helen (see comments) whose comment reminded me that I need to say this.

The book of mine that appears in the Best of The Year collection - Olivero's Outrageous

Proposal  hadn't been published in Australia in 2015 - but it is out at last this month in the Mills And Boon Sexy line.

Helen has read it already  because she had an advanced copy  for an unbiased review - and she gave it this wonderful review - and it was posted as a Featured Book on the Australian Romance Readers Association  web site - here

Part of that review said:
This is such an emotionally powerful story of revenge, desire and a marriage of convenience as two people learn a lot of truths about family. The setting is just wonderful—a villa in Tuscany, Villa D’Oro, where many sensual nights are spent together and lots of discussions take place. Love grows stronger by the day, but there are still a few hurdles to cross until they reach their wonderful HEA. This is a story that will pull you in from the first page and keep you turning the pages until the end. I loved this one and highly recommend it.

Thank you so much Helen - and the ARRA

Back home

I'm back! Thank you so much to everyone for you kind and caring get well messages. They meant such a lot to me and brightened hospital days. After a week + of IV antibiotics fighting septicaemia I'm now back home - knowing more than I care to think about of the horrible effects of a high fever. (Who knew that you shiver so much when your temp is soaring!) But I had really good care and I was able to get to know new friends and share with them while we were all stuck together. 

I've posted about this on the Tote Bags n Blogs blog page - where I'm offering giveaway of a copy of A Question of Honour  for you to give someone you think will enjoy it.

A Question of Honour is of course Part One of the Rhastaan Royals duo - and the book in which Nabil bin Rashid Al Sharifa  first appears - ten years before her turns up as the hero of my latest title Destined for the Desert King which is in the shops now. At least I hope it is - I haven't even seen it on the shelves as I haven't been into any shops except one - and there it had all sold out!

But as it seems someone has  put Christmas  on to a week on Friday, I'd  better start to do something about that!

It's good to be home.

I heart Presents blog

Things are a bit complicated and stressful at the moment so I'm not able to post much with limited internet connection and only an iPhone to use. But I do have a new title out so I want to share that with you as much as I can.

So today I wanted to let you know that I have a post over on the I heart Presents blog today. I'm talking about the special challenges of writing Destined For The Desert King and turning  Nabil
from A Question of Honour into a hero when he wasn't so much of one in that story.

Can't work out how to link using the phone but I'm sure you all know where that is!

Hope to see you there!

And I really hope life will get back to normal soon!

Surfacing from the writing cave

Sent the-book-that-would-not-end off last night ! Huge sighs of relief. Now I have a trip to Nottingham for 'Mack and Mabel' at the Theatre Royal - the I have to do something about the tip that is my office, and start on the l-o-n-g list of Things To Do - while waiting for revisions, But today is for fun!

Oh and it seems that Christmas is  sometime next month - who knew!