Magnificent Mangas with Kate Walker

 

Some weeks I get not deliveries of books at all. But then sometimes, I get a bumper delivery – books in boxes, padded envelopes.  Books translated into one different language, or several different editions all in different languages.

This week has been a bumper week – with two different Italian editions (of A Question Of Honor and a reprint of a second Italian translation  of  His Miracle Baby  first published in UK in 2001 and the Italian one in 2003).    Then there was the Russian  Question of Honor  and the Dutch one, Swedish and Norwegian editions of A Throne for the Taking.)   But my favourites are always the Japanese version – the usual  Japanese version  is always fun to see, but when the story is translated into the  stylised comic book  Manga version it’s not just an excitement but a work of art to see.

This week I received  both Japanese editions   - of different books.  There was the new Japanese translation  of  A Question of Honor  and along with it came a new Manga edition of that long ago published His Miracle Baby.    

These Manga editions are amazing – they  boil the story down  to the basic, central conflict and  tell the story in the briefest, but most dramatic way. The illustrations are amazing, with the heroines

looking so beautiful   with huge blue eyes and usually long golden hair. The heroes are pretty spectacular too – they have those stunning eyes and long, lean torsos that are not at all realistic- but they turn the story into a wonderful fairytale.

I’ve always loved the Manga editions even though I don’t  fully understand exactly what the translation is saying. (You don’t fully have to understand that because the drawings are so passionate and emotional it gets the message across to you.)  But now I have a new delight – the Harlequin Comics editions  of the Manga books. These  are now English translations of the Managa editions (are you keeping up with  this?) so that the wonderful Manag illustrations are still there  and the dialogue etc is all in English and I can read and understand them.  Mind you,  there isn’t a lot of ‘dialogue’   - more  single lines -  more like

  - ‘Alexa what’s going on here?’ ‘Cordero, what’s happening?’   ‘Natalie’s . . . .not coming.’   (Cordero’s Forced Bride)

Or

‘What should I call you?’  ‘Just Malik’ . . . This man is  . . .dangerous! (At The Sheikh’s  Command)

And hearts go ‘Ba thump!’ – and tears  just ’plip plop’ down the heroine’s face.   

As I said, it’s the emotions of the story distilled to its very concentrated basics!  And that’s why I love them. 

They have another, more useful  purpose though – when I’m teaching about writing and trying to show  students who want to write romance who the central emotional core of the book is what matters and how they need to focus on that to tell the important story of a romance – the rest is all extras,  shading out the colours and tones and can be taken away – as in a Manga  book – and the emotional journey of the hero and heroine  will still show through.  A Harlequin Comic book with this story told in English is just perfect to reveal this simply and easily.

So I was thrilled to discover this week that I have a new Harlequin Comic edition – of one of my books.

I already have The Hostage Bride, Cordero’s Forced Bride The Return of The Stranger, At The Sheikh’s Command, The Hired Husband, His Miracle Baby – and now there is Bedded By The Greek Billionaire coming out next week. You only have to look at the difference in the covers to see what an extra fantasy the Manga edition makes of my original story.  I can’t wait!  

My latest Harlequin Presents was Olivero's Outrageous Proposal  which was published in April.The next one coming up will be Destined For The Desert King which is coming in December this year. I can't wait to see the Managa/Harlequin Comic editions of these. 

You can find details of all my books on my web site  here     and there's all the most up to date news on my blog

You can also find me on Facebook

Where do they live ? by Kate Walker

I'm starting work on my new book. Well,  I've been working on it for a while, in my head,  even if I haven't got many words down on the screen.   I know who the hero is, who his heroine is going to be I have to put them in that order for this particular  book, because that's thye way  they came to me - it's the hero's position and situation that gave me the story. Thinking about that told me who my heroine needed to be.So I have  a  hero, a heroine - and a plot. I have an opening, a stiuation that  starts off the story as a whole, and I have conflicts. A big problematical conflict that starts off the  story and puts it into motion, and deeper, more personal ones for both my central characters.  The ones that will come between them and stop them falling into each others' arms.

I even have names - I think.  These are liable to change if they end up not fitting as I tell their story. But right now, Alexander  (Alex)  and Ria are the hero and heroine, and they're names I can work with. I even have a villain - though I'm not sure of his name yet.

But  I have a problem with one thing. I don't know where my book is set. And that's important because the setting is part of the story, part of the plot, part of the problem.

Usually when I write a book, I set it wherever the hero or the heroine live - if the hero is Greek, then a Greek island,  or perhaps a Spanish city. The book I just finished - the one my lovely editor let me keep my favourite title  for - The Devil and Miss Jones - is set partly in Argentina  and the UK - one is where my hero (The Devil) and one is where Miss Jones (my heroine) live.  My hero in my next book out - The Return of The Stranger - is Brazilian, but the book takes place in the UK for a very special reason, as well as the fact that it's where his heroine lives. (More on that next time).

But with this new story I need to invent a country for myself. I'm writing a Royal' book - one where one of my characters (not telling you which yet because it would spoil it) is heir to a small kingdom. It's not a real country of course - I'm creating my own conuntry, with its royal family, its history, its customs. Its a European country - just - because it's almost in Russia it's that far along the coast of the Black Sea (at least this is how I'm imagining it at the moment.) 
It's a tiny country, not much  more than the size of Monaco, but it has  some real importance - its major port for one - and an invaluable mineral that is mined in its northern mountains.

I already know a lot about it, but as of now I don't have a name. I think  a name is important because it will also tell me more about it.  Ruritania, for example, the country where The Prisoner of Zenda is set,  was a Germanic country, Shangila was in the Himalayas. Nora Roberts has Cordina. The Sheikhdoms I've had in the past have been  Kuimar   (Desert Affair) and Barakhara (At The Sheikh's Command.)   But as I said, I wanted a more European - possibly east European  - name for this kingdom.

So I thought I'd run a contest. And I'd ask you all to join in.  Have you got any suggestions for the name of my ficitonal kingdom?  Any ideas what it looks like? If so to enter please tell me about it in the comments section,  give me the name of the country I'm crfeating - and perhaps a few details about your imagining of it to inspire me. 

I won't promise to use any name from here, but itf there is a really great one then I'll not only use it, I'll acknowledge it - and you - on the dedication page of my book.  And I'm offering prizes too. If someone  gives me a name I' really want to use, then I'll send you two signed books from my backlist as a thank you for the help. If I don't pick the actual name of my fictional kingdom from here, then I'll get Sid the cat on the job of picking a couple of winners anyway, and  they'll get a signed book as a prize.

So  - what would you name an imaginary country and what would it be like? I'd love to know.

Kate's newest title - The Return of The Stranger -  is officially released in the UK in Mills & Boon Modern on Septermber 2nd. It will be published in Australia and America (in Presents EXTRA) in October.   She'll be back next month to tell you more about this book and why it's very special to her.

You can find out more about The Return of The Stranger and all Kate's books on her web site, together with her most up to date news on her blog.

Sorry to be late in replying but I only just managed to post before I was hit by a migraine and have only just been able to look at the screen again. I'm tempted by four of these suggestions  - can't make my mind up yet!

So if Laney, Caroline, Sonali and Michelle L would email me  -
kate AT kate-walker.com I'll let you know which of my backlist I have copies of and you can choose a prize for helping me get this far

And if I do decide on one of these for definite then I'll let you know!

How Old is a Hero Anyway? by Kate Walker

This week is the one that sees my birthday come around again. And no you can’t ask how old I am! In my head I’m the age of the heroines I write about - and the heroes. And that’s the way it’s going to stay.

But thinking about age, made me start to wonder about those heroes and heroines. I mean, how old is a heroine? Or a hero for that matter? When I first started reading romances, the heroines tended to be young – and often a lot younger than there heroes. Girls of 19, 20 were partnered with men maybe ten or even fifteen years older than them and no one thought twice about it. Because of that, heroes were always well over thirty – sometimes heading for or even having reached forty and so more than likely to consider the heroine a silly little girl – and maybe even call her that too!

For myself, my first heroine was seventeen when she first met the hero - something I’m not too sure would be totally acceptable these days. Another heroine was eighteen to the hero’s thirty. These days, I’m far more likely to be writing about heroines of twenty-five or twenty-six and heroes just a couple of years or so older. That seems right in a Presents romance, though Modern Heat for example can have a younger. less well-established hero.

On the brand-new Mills & Boon Community web site. Someone raised the question of how old - or perhaps I mean how young - a hero can actually be. Would twenty–six be too young? And how about twenty-five? What about a hero who is older - forty – fifty . . . Or one who is younger than the heroine? Many readers I know believe that a man takes a while longer than a woman to grow, mature – achieve something in life. And yet for others the thirty something hero is too old.

It’s perfectly possible to write a heroine or a hero at any age. None of us (thank heaven!) is immune to the wonderful, uplifting, life-changing experience of falling in love at any stage of our lives. And equally age is no barrier to the intense and wonderful feelings that a loving relationship can bring no matter what stage of life we’re at, or how many times we’ve been through this before. Only this weekend I was reading about a man who lost his wife tragically when she was murdered five years ago and is now rediscovering the joy of a new love as time has helped him heal. He’s no spring chicken – mid-forties – but love is no respecter of age. My friend’s mother has just married for the second time and she’s approaching her seventieth birthday and I’ve seen the photos of her wedding day – I doubt if any younger bride could look more starry-eyed and head over heels in love.

But every now and then romance publishers say they are looking for younger readers, that they want to appeal to a younger market. Would younger heroes and heroines do that or is there something else that would appeal to the readers who are the age of my first heroine – in their teens and very early twenties? Is it the years in a character’s life or the life in those years? What about you? Do you care how old the hero and heroine are in a romance you read – or are you happy to accept any age, and any age difference as long as the author convinces you? And because I’m nosy – what about you as a reader? How old were you when you first came to reading romances? Are the publishers right to think they need to attract the younger reader – or are you already there?

Because I’m celebrating this week, and when I celebrate I like to share, I’ll get Sid the Cat to pick two names from the comments that are posted and there will be a signed copy of one of my backlist for the winners.

And if you want to read more about heroes – I’m running a special discussion on the Alpha hero over on my blog.

Kate's latest novel Cordero's Forced Bride was released in Harlequin Presents in February and Mills & Boon Modern in March it is still available on Amazon and the M&B website

Coming up is Kept For Her Baby which is to be published in August (UK) and October – in Presents Extra in America. But before that there is the reprint of At The Sheikh’s Command coming in the Sold to The Sheikh collection in June in the UK.

You can find out more about Kate and her books on her website or for the most up to date news, visit her blog.