The delight of giving unexpectedly - With Kate Walker

Happy December!

 It is for me now.  But there was a point when it didn’t look as if it was going to be. Two weeks ago, at almost exactly this time, I was suddenly and ridiculously dramatically taken ill.  I started to day fine – started to feel a bit ‘off’, the found I was shivering and shaking and  feeling dreadful. Long story short - it turns out I had septicaemia with a very high temperature from some nasty infection and I was taken into hospital in a rush and given IV antibiotics for days until the blighter gave in and left - hopefully for ever,

I was lucky enough to have  little bit of brain still working before I left the house so I managed to grab the absolute essentials  - clean pyjamas – and my Kindle.  So at least I had something to wear and something (OK – a lot)  to read.  Both proved very useful  as I was attached to a drip and had to stay put for far too long.

But I was the lucky one. In the ward, as I started to feel a lot better, there were other women all brought into the hospital in something of a rush and most of them had just the barest essentials  - some not even that.   More than one of my fellow patients were feeling totally bored and upset with nothing to distract therm.

This was one of the occasions when I really felt there’s an extra-special  little bonus that comes from being a writer. When my husband came to visit on the first day I asked him to bring me a bundle of my backlist books  - and titles – any dates – and leave them with me, For the rest of the week+ I was in the hospital, I had these books available for anyone who wanted therm.  If someone was bored – would she like something to read?  If someone was feeling really low – perhaps a romance might distract her?  In the end even the nurses and one of the female doctors spotted the pile of books on my table  and  asked about them – then took away one of them for their day off or  to relax when they got home.

I really felt like Santa as I watched  people open their books and settle down to relax with them. At one point I was sitting in the middle of the ward with my kindle while everyone else in my bay (7 other women) with their nose buried in a copy of one of my books. I’ve never actually sat and watched so many  people read my stories   all at one time. It was so great to see their enjoyment.

This really brought home to me something about giving at Christmas. I have gifts for my family and friends – well, just two more names on the list and I’m done – but there was something very special about being able to give to someone who wasn’t expecting it and who I wouldn’t have known about if we hadn’t ended up together so unexpectedly.   So that’s when I decided that today I was going to  do a small giveaway – with a difference. 

This is really a continuation of the post I wrote on  November 12^th – the one I never got round to answering  after I wrote it last year.  Then I offered a copy of my book as a stocking stuffer – and  life dumped on me so hard that I never got back to declare the winner of that.

So  Barbara T  - can you contact me  through my web site – kate at kate-walker.com and I’ll send you a copy of one of my backlist books for your cousin

And for today’s giveaway – is there someone you feel needs a little boost, like those ladies in the hospital? Someone who perhaps needs their day brightening a little – or some chance to sit back and relax for a while? Tell me who you’d like to make a gift to and why and I’ll put your name in the draw and you might win a copy of A Question of Honour for her.  A Question of Honour is the first part of the Rhastaan Royals  duo.  My current book , Destined for The Desert King  out now, is Part Two of that set.

And this time I’ll try not to disappear into hospital before Charlie the Maine  Coon has picked the name of the winner!

Out Now:  Destined for The Desert King

A queen of convenience? 

There's no doubt that their marriage is one of convenience and political maneuvering. But shy beauty Az

iza El Afarim secretly hopes that her husband—the boy she once idolized—remembers something of the closeness they shared as children.

Except Sheikh Nabil Al Sharifa is far from the boy he used to be. The weight of loss and power has changed him beyond recognition. Where once there was warmth and generosity, now only a ruthless passion burns. He'll give Aziza everything…except his love.

But as pressure to produce an heir mounts, could there be more than duty in the marriage bed?

Then there's the  12 Point Guide to Writing Romance, the newest edition of which is available on Kindle or a revised and updated paperback edition now available on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

Kate Walker's web site is here   and the up-to-date news can be found on her blog or her Facebook page.