All round the world - with Kate Walker

Hello!  I’m sorry I’m  a bit late with this post . I am suffering with a bit of jet lag!

On 31^st May my DH and I travelled to USA  - to Montana to be exact  - to stay with my very dear friend, Anne McAllister and her family/  We also travelled  further- though Yellowstone park and into Cody Wyoming where  DH had a wonderful time learning all about the Wild West  and studying all the information in the Buffalo Bill Museum Centre.

We only got back on Tuesday and after the l-o-n-g journey home , flying through the night, we were hours  in order to recover., It was that long journey (both ways ) that had me thinking about  how wonderful it is that  through Harlequin, my books reach so many people and readers on both sides of that huge ocean we laughingly call ‘The Pond.’

totally worn out and slept for

For one thing, we wouldn’t have bee heading for Montana if I hadn’t met Anne through my writing – when she was writing for Harlequin Presents too.  And then there are the Harlequin Presents books  on sale in America too.  Finally, when I came home there were  a couple of boxes of foreign editions waiting for me that had been delivered while I was away.

In this picture, there are the Swedish and German  editions of  A Proposal to Secure His Vengeancen    German reprint of The Antonakos Marriage, (I recently got a fabulous Manga edition of this book too. There's a Polish translation of  The Devil and MissJones,  a French edition of  The Married Mistress(as Love and Treason) and an Italian reprint (second time around ) of Kept For Her baby.

I’m always so thrilled to see these foreign editions and reprints of my books. Often they are books that were originally publish five or even more years ago so it’s great to see them having a ‘second life’ in these new editions. But most of all it’s because they remind me of one of the most wonderful benefits of this writing career I’ve had creating romance stories and sharing them with so many readers and friends all over the world.

That long journey to and from Montana reminded me of just how huge this world is and I’ve only visited a small number of places in it. But my books have gone all round the world and they share my stories with so many readers in different countries, different  languages, different time zones.

It’s a thrilling feeling  - and I’m  so grateful to all those readers who have shared in my book over the year. It means so much to me – and I  couldn’t have done it without you. 

Thank you all!

Kate

Spring fever? with Kate Walker

I don’t know if it’s spring where you live – or if, on the other side of the  world you’re like my sister and heading into autumn, but here in the UK it’s supposed to be heading into – well into  - spring. I say that ‘supposed to be’ with resigned ruefulness  because  it might be April 12^th – but at the moment there is no sign of spring. 

At least not in the weather – which is as grey and wet and  miserable as it has been all April long – and before that really.  There is an old saying that March is supposed to ‘come in like a lion and go out like a lamb’ . . .well, there was plenty of the ‘lion’ about March with snow blizzards and high winds and freezing temperatures  at the beginning of the month  - and at the end.   So that month never went out like a lamb but more like and even bigger, even wilder lion. And March has been much the same, apart from one lovely weekend that I spent at Cirencester Royal Agricultural University,running a writing retreat. So the weather was fine – and  so was the company – but I spent most of the days indoors and missed the sunshine.

And now, a couple of weeks into April, I’m still missing the sun!    But one  things I’m not missing are the other  signs of spring in different ways .  Our garden is full of birds singing their hearts out on the tops of the trees (those are the blackbirds) to announce to the world that they have a beautiful nest and are looking for a lady to share it with.  Then there are the starling family who come and  gobble down the suet and seeds in the fat balls  hanging on a lower branch of another tree, or on the birdhouse.  And  Tim Robin  and his mate come down to feed on the ground, eat suet cakes with insects in them ready to feed the hatchlings from their eggs in their nest.

All these mean extra extra jobs for me to do  as I fill up the feeding trays and the hanging feeders.  And now that the days are getting a little warmer – I said ‘a little’, it’s not much – there is another job, another set of critters to feed. The hedgehogs who live at the bottom of the garden have woken up from their hibernation and they are hungry!  They wander about in the night looking for food to strengthen them after months of being curled up in the straw in their special wooden houses to sleep away the worst of the winter. They  must regret poking their noses out because as soon as they venture into the garden it’s so cold and wet and windy that they will wonder if it really is spring.

I’ve just been out to fill up all the feeder bowls and trays and I can see little paw prints in the mud so I know they’re around.

So although the weather is distinctly doubtful,  I’m still going to call it Spring – and hope that from now on the days will brighten and the sun will appear.  I think we  all need it.

But at least the book I’m working on revisions for opens in the middle of a wild and blustery rain storm  - so the weather outside is proving some sort of inspiration, if not the beauty of nature waking up in spring.  Oh well –  as the rhyme goes:

March winds and April Showers

Bring forth May flowers.

We’ve had the first two (though it’s been April downpours, not showers) so I’m hoping for plenty of those  flowers!

Raoul Cardini will have his revenge!

His preferred method? Ruthless, irresistible seduction!

Imogen O’Sullivan is horrified when charismatic tycoon Raoul breaks up her engagement and makes her his own convenient bride! She once surrendered everything to Raoul—body, heart and soul. But as he stalks back into her life it’s clear he has punishment in mind—not just passion! Can Imogen resist Raoul’s potent brand of delicious vengeance?

You can read more about me and my books on my web site and my blog -  and catch up with me too on my Facebook page

Valentine's Day means - what? by Kate Walker

What is romance?

Would it shock you if I said I didn’t know? 

I  write romance  for a living – I’m involved in ‘Romance’ almost every second of every day –   certainly every day of every year – but I don’t think I can define it for you.

On Wednesday – Valentine’s Day – I’m  giving a talk in a local library.  The title of it is The ABC of Love. In this case the ABC stands for   Authors  Bubbly and Cupcakes.  So that’s   what  the focus will be on  - for this event. For myself, I’m fine with the authors.  After all, I’m one of them. The bubbly is good too (though as the talk is at  12 noon, I’ll need to  err on the side of caution there.)  But I have a problem with cupcakes. I’ve never  gone along with the current  obsession with what seem to me to be over sweet, over coloured, over iced  little cakes .    They don’t really appeal to me. Too much of everything.

So I wouldn’t find a gift of cupcakes, no matter how pretty or sentimentally designed to send a message, something to enjoy on Valentine’s Day and my DH  would know better than ever to get them for me.

But I know that at this library   event I’m going to be asked  if I’m ‘a romantic sort of person’  - to which the answer will be ‘Yes’. And then the next question will be ‘What is romance?’.  If they ask ‘what does romance mean to you’, then I’ll  be OK  - because I know what is romantic for me.  Butu Romance in general – for everyone? That’s too big a question.

My books are sold all over the world – I just got some foreign editions from Germany, from France, from Japan. So I know that my ‘romances’ appeal to readers from so many different countries – but this doesn’t mean that romance means the same thing to every reader of every nationality. You see, for me I think that romance means thinking of someone else  and doing what pleases them most,  giving them what they’d most like if you’re into giving Valentine’s gifts. Not just giving them red rose or a cuddly toy because that’s what the advertisers try to push you into buying. Romance is knowing that every person is an individual and making them happy – each in their individual way.

I was thinking about this as I was working on the revisions for my next book.   This story is the second in a duet of stories about two sisters – my working title has been The Scandalous O’Sullivan Sisters. If you’ve read my latest publication A Proposal to Secure His Vengeance  - then you’ll already have met one of these woman. Imogen O’Sullivan is the older sister, the younger one is her sister Ciara. I’m working on Ciara’s story now.

Imogen and Ciara are two very different characters. The things that have happened to Imogen haven’t  happened to  Ciara. The things the older sister loves are not what suits her younger sister. And then of course the men that the fall madly in love with and ultimately  want to have a happy ever after ending with are not the same either. That would cause real problems for me to write!

So when I wrote Imogen’s story I wrote a very different romance from the one I’m creating now for Ciara. Two different set ups, two different men, two different romances. And it helped  me answer a question from a  not yet published author who asked how did I manage to keep my writing fresh through all the 66 novels I’ve had published. The answer?  I treat each individual couple as just that – individuals. Their stories are theirs  and theirs alone – what makes  each one happy is unique to them.

That’s what romance is for me – whether in real life or in a story. Not lumping everyone into the same pot, the ‘buy her red roses’ and you’re done images that so often appears for Valentine’s Day. That’s why I write romance – to tell each individual story for each different hero and heroine and they way they work through their conflicts and head for that Happy Ever After.

It would be so boring if all my characters were the same. After all, we’re all individuals aren’t we?  So romance means different things to everyone of us.

I hope your Valentine’s Day is filled with the romance you enjoy  - whatever that is.  And I’ll   have to remember this post to use as a reply when someone at that library talk asks me  what romance is.

What about you? What’s the most romantic thing that’s ever happened to you – or someone has done for you? I’d love to know.

Raoul Cardini will have his revenge!

His preferred method? Ruthless, irresistible seduction!

Imogen O’Sullivan is horrified when charismatic tycoon Raoul breaks up her engagement and makes her his own convenient bride! She once surrendered everything to Raoul—body, heart and soul. But as he stalks back into her life it’s clear he has punishment in mind—not just passion! Can Imogen resist Raoul’s potent brand of delicious vengeance?

You can read more about me and my books on my web site and my blog -  and catch up with me too on my Facebook page

New Year New Look New Book with Kate Walker

I’m in  celebratory mood today. This is a post that I’ve been waiting so long to write – since  the end of 2016 in fact.   That was when my last  new title – Indebted to Moreno – had been out on the  shelves for October/November  - and I needed to make sure there was another new book to follow it.  It’s been a long wait.

So what happened?  Life.  I suppose you can sum it up in that one short word.  Just life. There were some health problems – mine and my husband’s – family problems. . . But there were also some good things – enjoyable ones.  My sister had a big birthday – one of those with a 0 at the end. So did a friend. So of course we had to celebrate just a  bit, didn’t we?  Then  two new members of the family arrived. Two little boys who were born within 6 months of each other.   They are both gorgeous and thriving -  thankfully. Considering that one of them, arrived  rather late and in a rush, on his parents’ bathroom floor instead of the water birth they were expecting!  Life has a habit of doing that, doesn’t it?  Changing the rules just when you were least expecting them.

It seemed a bit like that all last year. I know so many people who had a tough year, found that things didn’t go as they expected them.  Sometimes I find that I can turn my attention to writing, concentrating on the fictional world and disappearing into it so that I can forget about reality. But not 2017.     Still, I persevered – and  this month I get to celebrate the fact that at last I have a brand new novel out  this month.

I may have written 66  novels for Harlequin, but that feeling of having a brand new book on the shelves – holding it in my hands is a really special one and it always feels so wonderful. It’s a joy that never goes away.  And it  has an extra special feeling to it this time as my new book (I love saying that!) A Proposal To Secure His Vengeance is one of the first  books to be published with the new look, revamped covers  that are the result of the major makeover that Harlequin Mills and Boon  have  organised and that  starts to appear in shops from this date on.  The coves are very new, very different – but the great stories under the covers are just the same.

 

I’ve had some wonderful messages from kind readers, telling me how much they’ve been looking forward to having a new Kate Walker story to read. How  happy they are that it’s finally here. That means so much to me.  When I haven’t had a new novel available  for so long, I was a bit afraid that readers would forget me – that they’d look for other authors’ names instead.  So these fabulous messages have really made my day – I’d almost say they’ve made my year but perhaps it’s a bit early for that!

But it’s not too early to celebrate this special publication day  - and to share with you the covers – USA and UK – of this new book.    There’s the ‘blurb’ from the back of the book too – that re

ally made me smile as it so sums up the tone and mood of the story I’ve written. I hope you’ll enjoy it too  and I hope you’ll love my sparky, beautiful heroine Imogen and  the sexy, brooding hero Raoul Cardini  -   known by his nickname the Corsican Bandit! 

 

Meanwhile, I’m busy working on the revisions for the next book – this one doesn’t have a  title yet but it’s  a story that’s linked to Imogen’s story because the heroine is Imogen’s sister, Ciara.  I’ve called these two linked stories  by the working title  The Scandalous O’Sullivan Sisters.

And I really hope it won’t be quite so long  before I’m able to tell you that Ciara’s  story will be published too.

It’s a little late but I still want to wish all my lovely readers a very happy new year. I know that with the publication ofA ProposalTo Secure His Vengeance  it’s  definitely the  happy start to 2018 for me. Let’s hope it continues that way!

Raoul Cardini will have his revenge!
His preferred method? Ruthless, irresistible seduction!

Imogen O’Sullivan is horrified when charismatic tycoon Raoul breaks up her engagement and makes her his own convenient bride! She once surrendered everything to Raoul—body, heart and soul. But as he stalks back into her life it’s clear he has punishment in mind—not just passion! Can Imogen resist Raoul’s potent brand of delicious vengeance?

You can read more about me and my books on my web site and my blog -  and catch up with me too on my Facebook page

Twelve Days of Christmas - covers and giveaways

Last time I posted,I was talking about the arrival of the new copies of   my next book -
 A Proposal to Secure His Vengeance - which is out in January 2018.   January 16th to be precise.  It seems so close now, thankfully - especially when  it has been such a difficult year .  One in which I  had times of wondering if I'd  ever hold a  brand new book  that I'd written  in my hands  ever again.

So it's a delight to know that this new title will be coming out and will be  on the shelves in the new year.

It will be  an interesting time as well because, as many of you may already know, the UK  section of  Harlequin  - Harlequin Mills and Boon -  will be having a new makeover  and launching it in the new year.   The new look is very different - and will create a lot of interest in the  books, I'm sure.

Here's  the sign  that Mills and Boon are using  to mark the start of the makeover.    And here   is the new logo that  will be used from January onwards.

The changes are interesting - and I'll be talking  about them more on my own blog and my Facebook page as the details are released  - and my own  'new look' book appears   in more places.

Perhaps the first thing that people will notice - and the thing that so many  readers have already mentioned to me is that  in the new logo, that traditional symbol of  Romance - the rose of romance  - is now missing from the logo. Instead, the new look includes 'the heart of romance'.

Can you see it ?  Some people haven't been able to spot it - so take a look at that ampersand - &  - between the words Mills  & Boon.  It's not the traditional  & but it's a heart lying on its side with  a line (an arrow? ) through it.

So obviously  - with the new  look covers coming in, the new logo, the new colours - wait and see, there! -  I've been wondering about  the sort of cover design s that make readers want to grab a book  and take it home.

In America, the Harlequin Presents cover has been much the same, almost unchanged, for years and years, and when my  UK cover will be very different  ( think I'd better emphasise that  -very - different ) the one that my lovely American readers  will see will be much the same.  I showed it  last month  - and here I'll include it again.

So  - what about that question I asked you?  What sort of a cover makes you want to grab a book and take it home with you? Do you like that fact that the Presents cover has been around so much it's now described as 'iconic' - or would you like to see a new version?

Later in the month, over on my own blog I'll be looking at some of my older covers - the successful  ones and the - not so great ones!

And as I look at the different covers and other things about books, I'll be offering a book a day  as a giveaway in the lead up to Christmas.

So I'd love to see your comments - and to know what covers you like and the ones you don't. And Charlie the Maine  Coon  of his little sister Ruby will pick a winner from the comments - to win a signed copy of one of my backlist books  this month.

I hope everyone is  enjoying the lead up to Christmas  or whatever festival you're celebrating around this time. I hope the holidays are full of love and happiness and real joy for you all - and most of all, I wish for peace for everyone amongst families and countries so that we can all enjoy this special time.

Next year I'll be back to celebrate the publication of A Proposal To Secure His Vengeance.   But in the mean time I'll be running other 12 Days of Christmas giveaways  over on my personal blog  and on my Facebook page    so perhaps I'll see you there  - and maybe Ruby  or Charlie will pick your name as one of my  12 Days  winners.

Happy  Christmas - and Happy Holidays  to everyone. See you in 2018!

A Special Post on A Special Anniversary - Kate Walker

I was going to call this post A Tale of Two romance covers, but I see that the lovely Kandy Shepherd got there before me!  Like me, Kandy has a new book coming out very soon in the New Year and she has shown you the way that  the UK Mills and Boon covers have been  revamped and  given a very different look.  My own new title will have one of these newly-designed covers  when it is released  at the beginning of February  but I haven’t yet received my author copies of the UK edition  so it’s not easy to show you the new design.

But yesterday there was a delivery to our house – one of those times that is  a real favourite for A Proposal To Secure his Vengeance  will, be available on January 16^th next year.  it’s always a thrill to see the new copies of a book, and to actually hold them in my hand.  But this particular time it was an even more special moment.

any author.   That was the arrival of the box of brand-new copies of the Harlequin Presents edition of the  upcoming book.  

Only this morning my husband turned to me and said ‘2017 has been quite a year, hasn’t it?’ It certainly has.    There have been some problems  - health problems, family problems.  There’s been some major events – two gorgeous new additions to the family – my nephew’s  newest baby and my niece’s first  child. Both lovely little boys.  One of my older sisters had a major birthday – and a major weekend celebration to go with it.  We’ve taught  so many courses, weekend ones, a week in the summer at Fishguard, writers’ retreats in cottage with fellow writers – I’ve just come back from the latest retreat that we all had in Wales. It was fabulous.   But all this travelling and teaching and being a ‘great aunt’ was pretty demanding on time. As a result  my writing has slowed down quite a bit. Add in a new change of editor and the need to adjust there again.  . .

Well, let’s just say that all the delays and the demands on the time meant that the writing of this  book – and the one that follows it which is till on my editor’s desk – was much slower than usual and I was more than relieved when it was accepted and scheduled.  Even more so because there had been such a gap between this book and the previous one (Indebted to Moreno )  which was out in October last year.

So it was an extra thrill to finally have author copies of the new title in my hand.  Particularly when I 

realised that  these books had arrived on a special anniversary.

33– yes that’s right – thirty three years ago a parcel arrived at another house – a much smaller package  I have to say -  and that parcel contained the very first ever published copies of my very first book  - The Chalk Line  -  for Harlequin  Mills and Boon.   I can still remember the excitement and the celebrating. And the joy of receiving new copies of new titles had never dimmed. It’s always a very special occasion.

I remember that that first book for we little while seemed for a while as if it might be the first and only book I’d ever written.  Back then, in 1984, life got in the way for some time, and my second  book didn’t appear until 1986.  So I was remembering that time too when I opened this box of the copies of A Proposal to Secure  His Vengeance.  Sometimes this writing business can be a bit up and down – sometimes the books arrive easily  and sometimes they are, as a friend once said –they can be like giving birth to a pineapple!  But I’m glad that I’m still here,  still writing, still publishing and that even if last year was a bit empty of new Kate Walker titles,  2018 will start with a  new tittle in the shops at last.

And maybe even – when I get the revisions done – with the possibility of another book, the second in this duet of connected stories -  later on in  2018 too.

So I’m sure you can imagine how delighted I am to  have these copies of the new title in my hands – and I’m happy to be able to share with you the USA cover at least - and the  blurb from the back cower – hopefully to whet your appetite:

Raoul Cardini will have his revenge!

His preferred method? Ruthless, irresistible seduction!

Imogen O’Sullivan is horrified when charismatic tycoon Raoul breaks up her 

engagement and makes her his own convenient bride! She once surrendered everything to Raoul—body, heart and soul. But as he stalks back into her life it’s clear he has punishment in mind—not just passion!

 Can Imogen resist Raoul’s potent brand of delicious vengeance?

You can read more about my new book now that it's finally coming up on my web site blog page  or on my author Facebook page.