Birthdays and Celebrations by Kate Walker

It’s my birthday this week. On Friday to be precise. It’s quite a momentous birthday, really. One of those milestones that make you stop and think and wonder just how did I get here? It’s a strange feeling, because life just comes along day by day, and it’s only when you stop and look back that you realise there’s been a l-o-n-g journey from A to . . .well, I hope it’s not quite Z! More like M or perhaps Q?

Anyway, because I have a birthday coming up, people keep asking me what I’d like as a gift – and I’m not very good at answering that. I’m really lucky in that there isn’t really anything I want and there certainly isn’t very much that I need. There are always books I’d love to read of course – but I have a pile of those – and I always say I’d need a voucher for some time to read them in if I’m to make even a dent in my TBR mountain. I love jewellery – but how many pairs of earrings can one person wear at one time? It’s the same with perfume. One of the things about sitting at a desk in my home writing romances is that I don’t really wear much makeup, perfume or posh clothes to work these days. So there’s plenty still in my dressing table drawers. Most days I don’t even wear shoes so there’s something else that’s not on my gift list.

But of course I want to celebrate. I believe we should grab at the good things that life sends us and mark them and enjoy them while we have them. There’s too much darkness and pain and sorrow as it is - the papers are full of it. So we should mark the special days as they come along even if we don’t quite feel like it.

I’m actually much better at other people’s birthdays. I love planning for them, thinking about them, hunting down just the right gift – the perfect card. A very special friend of mine and a wonderful romance author, Michelle Reid, who also writes for Presents, has her birthday tomorrow (people think that we’re sisters, our birthdays are that close) and I’ve loved finding something I know she’ll enjoy, wrapping, it, writing the card, posting it. I suspect that this preference I have for other people’s celebrations has something to do with the reasons why I’m a writer. I love getting inside people’s heads and thinking what will be just right for them. What will make them specially happy. Some people complain that they find choosing gifts difficult – not me. Perhaps that’s why I create my own people and make up their stories – because then I can create the special gifts that mean so much between the two characters.

But gifts don’t have to be things. What I’m most looking forward to for this birthday is time. Time spent with friends – I’m having lunch with a long term friend on Thursday, then a family meal and get-together on Friday. Next week there’s a dinner with some writing friends and then I’m heading for Michelle Reid’s lovely cottage in the Lake District to share our birthday celebrations together. If along with that I can just have an acceptance for my latest book, and a lot of inspiration for the new one then I’ll be happy.

Actually, I have all the ideas I need for the next novel so that’s a bonus. It’s part of a special project that means I know exactly what I’m doing for this one – that’s a real birthday gift in itself. So, family time, friends, get-togethers, new projects to anticipate. . . . fingers crossed on that acceptance. If my editor could just let me know that the revisions on the last story worked, then it will make my week. Who needs gifts?But then again, a small parcel or two to open would be the icing on the cake . .

. . . Cake! I forgot about birthday cake!

Anyway, as people who know me know already, when I’m celebrating, I love to share so this week over on my blog I’ll be giving away some books to celebrate my birthday – starting right here and now. So why don’t you post a comment? Let me know how you’ll be celebrating your birthday this year – or is there a really special gift that you’d just love to receive? Come and tell me about it and I can’t promise I’ll be able to deliver on that – but I will give away a signed copy of one of my backlist books when I can get Sid the Cat to pick a winner from everyone who posts.



Kate’s latest USA title is The Konstantos Marriage Demand, still available in Presents Extra. In the UK, her By Request 3 in 1 volume Claimed by The Sicilian contains reprints of three of her best-selling titles – The Sicilian’s Wife, Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Wife, and he Sicilian’s Red-Hot Revenge.

You can find all the details on Kate’s website and the most up to date stuff is on her blog.

And the winner(s) are (I knew I shouldn't let Sid choose when he's hungry!)LOIS and HOSTAnd there are two special extra prizes as birthday gifts for my fellow May birthday readers - RACHIE G and PATTI

Check out the Comments section to see how to claim your prize