Happy New Year and a Giveaway - with Kate Walker

Happy New Year

No, I’m not completely crazy – or forgetful. I do know what date it is. It’s September – Sunday September 2^nd to be precise. And that’s why I‘m posting here  today.

 I know too that  ‘New Year’ is traditionally, and more usually, on January 1^st but for me that never quite works.  It’s too cold, too dark. The Christmas decorations are still up, there are still parties going on. There is always still too much temptation  in the way of food. drink and  other goodies left over from the festivities to make being  restrained or disciplined at all possible. Which makes new plans and projects – and resolutions  seem like a real trial and  SO much  effort.

So I’ve always preferred the  ‘back to school’ /New term/New school year feeling of September –  early Autumn – for  ‘resolutions’  in the form of new plans and projects, things I want to achieve before the winter really sets in and we get to the  serious celebrating of the holiday period.  The heat has gone out of the summer - well, it would have done  if we’d had any summer. But we have had so much rain  that summer was a bit of a washout this time. Still, today the sun is shining, the  sky is blue and that really helps my resolve  I can tell you. But it’s also not too warm to do anything – the crisp feel to the day has made me want to get busy and get on to do what my mother always called ‘redding up’ – getting things ready for the new season.

This has been quite a year. We have had upheaval and mess, as a result of  building an extension and  completely revamping the kitchen. We also put in a new bathroom. Five months of dirt, noise and chaos. But, oh it was worth it. I’ve spent so much of the summer sitting in the new garden room and  watching the cats pretend they’re out in the jungle, seeing the flowers grow and blossom, and the birds come to the feeders and the bird table. I haven’t even minded if it rained! But the chaos did mean that for some time  it was very very difficult to get any writing done. Add in some health problems – mine,  members of my family, two very dear friends fighting cancer and my time was even more tightly stretched.   Teaching  commitments – much as I love  running classes, and the conference season, travelling to Fishguard for the Writing  Weekends, Caerleon for Writers’ Holiday, Cumbria for the RNA Conference, has taken another chunk out of my working time. And that’s before I head for London and the annual meeting of the Association of Mills & Boon Authors.

So, personally, I’m pretty much ready for a New Year. Right here, right now. I’ve spent the day  cleaning, tidying and sorting out my office, getting emails sent, organising parcels, cards and letters that need to go in the mail tomorrow. I need to update my web site - that's w-a-y overdue!  And I am so looking forward to settling down at my desk in the peace and quiet – the lovely clean, dust free quiet  - and really getting back to work properly.  I sent in a new book to my editor a couple of weeks ago – the first  in an age! – and I have revisions to tackle  - believe me, I’m even looking forward to that as it makes me feel that life is back on track after too long of being mixed up,  messed up and muddled.

So – to celebrate the New Year   and to mark this change in the seasons, I thought I’d do a quick tidy up of some of my book boxes as well and I’m offering a giveaway  - the choice of one of my backlist books  The Devil and Miss Jones, or perhaps  The Konstantos Marriage Demand or The Return of the Stranger . . . your choice ( or if you’ve got all these, then I’m sure I can find something else!) . Just tell me which book you’d like – and what your  Autumn/Fall new year  resolution will be  - what are your plans for the changing season? What do you hope to  do before we’re all caught up in Christmas?

Just post in the comments as usual and once I can get Charlie the Maine Coon in from the jungle – the garden – I’ll get him to pick a winner.  Meanwhile I’m going back to getting myself organised ready for the new year!

And Happy New Year!

And the winners (bcause Charlie always grabs 2 cat treats at once!) are - Jo's Daughter and Erin
Please send me your home mailing address to kate AT kate-walker.com  
Jo's Daughter I have The Devil and Miss Jones for you - Erin can you also let me know your choice of book?

 

Diamond Celebrations - with Kate Walker

I have just enjoyed a lovely afternoon with my family. My son and his delightful brand-new fiancée came to visit and together with them and my DH,  I’ve had a really happy and fun time.  In spite of the fact that it’s June, the weather had been cold and very very wet, with heavy downpours and even rumbles of thunder in the distance. But that didn’t matter as we  spent a fun – and really rather old-fashioned time together.

The first half of the afternoon was spent  working on a jigsaw – a 1000 piece puzzle that we have set up on the dining table,  and that we all worked together on for a couple of hours.  We made progress –but  there’s no way we could finish it in that time, so we have all the edge pieces put together, creating a framework, and then there’s some of the middle done – but lots more to do later . . .  It’s a bit like writing a novel really! You get the basic framework sorted out – and then you have to fill in all the rest so that the picture is complete.

After a while we  took a break for that very English  institution – afternoon tea. There was an assortment  of salads, sandwiches, scones ( with  strawberry  jam and cream – my favourite indulgence) and  cakes, éclairs, custard tarts . . ..  And of course lots of tea to drink. What else?

Finally we  played games-  not computer games, or  ball games or anything like that but old-fashioned board  games,  with a dice or quiz questions – a lot of laugher and some rather wicked cheating by some members of the family (mentioning no names!) It was so much fun and a rather special way to spend a rather special day.

Because today  i a unique day here in the UK -  it’s Jubilee  Day -  the 60^th anniversary of the Queens’  coronation. A diamond anniversary.  In London there was the huge Thames pageant with  a flotilla of 1,000 boats all processing down the river and hundreds of thousands of people watching, waving flags and cheering.  Other places had street parties  - a trifle cold and damp they would be I expect, but I don’t think people minded.    When I was out and about this morning there were flags flying from cars, bunting on houses and posters in windows as I went past.  We didn’t get to any organised celebrations, but we had our own special time right here and I loved every minute of it. There seemed to be something so right about marking today,  with this  unique anniversary, with the sort of old-fashioned  enjoyment that we might have done all those years ago when Elizabeth  Windsor was crowned Elizabeth II.   

It was all about family and sharing and being together – and I was having so much fun that I’m a bit late coming here to post  my blog today. Sorry!  But it also made me think of the ‘family’ of romance writers and readers  and how much my reads mean to me.  I’ve not had 60 years  - just 25+ - but I have had 60 books published so for me this year is really my Diamond Anniversary too. And my latest romance novel - The Devil and Miss Jones is my Diamond novel.  So I thought I’d take this opportunity to say a great big Thank You to everyone who has shared in my career, by reading and buying my books, and so ensuring that I can continue to write  - hopefully into the future.  (Though maybe not  for 60 years!) You’re all very special to me.

So I hope that each and every one of you has had a great day, Whether you’ve been Royal watching on the Thames – or on the TV  - or just  sharing the  things you enjoy with your own family, I hope you had a wonderful time.   Because, after all, it’s not the ceremonies or the expensive pleasures that matter but being together with the ones you love.

And really, isn’t that the message of romance novels – that love is what matters.

Thank you all. Congratulations to the Diamond Jubilee Queen – and here’s to  an even brighter future

The Devil and  Miss Jones was published in Presents Extra on April 4th  and is still available on Amazon or eHarlequin. You can keep up with all my news on my web site, and the latest happenings are over on my personal blog.

Presents

One of the questions I’m most often asked  about the American editions of my books  is –

In  Harlequin Presents (Or Harlequin Presents Extra)  does that ‘Presents’ mean  presents as in a gift – a birthday  present – or Ta dah! Harlequin  Presents – as in ‘ we present to you . .

Well, the answer is that the real way to pronounce it is as in that second version – the ‘we present to you . . .’ but today  I’ve been thinking about the word  in its other sort of meaning – the presents that come gift-wrapped and we give to people for their special days.   There is a reason for this -  May is a month when several people I love have their birthday . My dear friend and wonderful writer Michelle Reid just had her special day and  in a couple of weeks my eldest sister has her birthday,  Oh, and tomorrow is my own birthday. No, you can’t ask which one – I was a child when I started writing -  honest!

So of course I have been dealing with the gift sort of presents for  a few weeks now. (My sister lives in Tasmania so I had to buy/wrap and send her gift a while back.) I like choosing presents for people I care about – I like thinking of what they enjoy, what interests them, what sort of things they might like to treat themselves too but perhaps couldn’t afford or  might think was a bit too extravagant to indulge in.  But I’m  pretty hopeless about  thinking about gifts for myself.

I just had a  conversation with my husband and my son and a couple of friends – could I . . .l well, no really, I couldn’t come up with any suggestions of what I’d like for a birthday present.  I’m lucky, you see – I  have the perfume  I want, the  bath and body luxuries that I was given for Christmas and  I haven’t been able to use up because of the renovations we had in the house for the last three months  – it’s hard to use up bath essences or oils when you don’t have a bathroom that’s working for some time, let alone a bath!  And  jewellery?   Well, really I don’t want a lot of jewellery – I mean how much can you wear at one time?  And I recently treated  myself to the one really special piece that I wanted  because my latest novel – The Devil and  Miss Jones – is my 60^th published title.  So I bought myself this necklace to celebrate.

But after a rather difficult year just behind me – with family ill health, bereavement   . .. and then all those renovations – messy, dirty, noisy, but worth it in the end – I  come to this birthday knowing deep down that really I have all I need or want.  My husband is now  well after a health scare, my son and his partner are happy and settled, my family  - there are more sisters than the one in Tasmania -  are all fine.  Even the  cats, two crazy Maine Coons are happy and healthy and revelling in the fact that  Spring is back and they can roam in the garden and climb the trees.

And  thinking about this reminds me why I write romance. It brings me back the that opening and the ‘Harlequin Presents ‘.   Because the truth is that if we have someone to  love and care for us then we have everything we need. That’s why I write romance and, I think, why people love to read it. We love to think that there will be someone special, a real true hero (or heroine) for each of us. Someone who really is a lover in all senses of the word. And that’s why I write the lovely life and love-affirming books I do. To show how important  love is in the world and in our lives.

So in a way the Harlequin Presents   books are those very special gifts too.

My DH has just gone into the living room with some wrapping paper and a bag containing . . . well, I don’t know what, but I have strict instructions not to go in there for a while! So  it looks like he found something that needs wrapping for  tomorrow.  As I said, I really am very lucky.

And because I’d like to share my special day and the celebrations with the wonderful readers who have helped me enjoy this special career  - because without my readers  buying my books I  wouldn’t be able to keep writing – I’m offering a giveaway with this post to someone who comments.

I’d love to know which of my backlist of books you’d really like to read.  If I was sending  you a Present  from Harlequin Presents (or Presents Extra) then which one would it be?  Have a look at my web site  if you need inspiration but just let me know which title you’re missing from your collection – or that you really fancy reading – and I’ll  get Charlie the Maine Coon to pick a winner who’ll receive a book from the backlist I have in stock. (I don’t have any of the really older books -  the ones that date back to 1986 when my writing career really began but I’ll offer you a choice of the ones I do have!)

Thank you all for sharing in my celebration.

The Devil and Miss Jones is out in  Presents Extra - and still available iN Mills & Boon Modern too. In Australia it's the lead book in the special Motehr's Day Pack so that means it's helping with anoyther sort of celebration too. 

 You can keep up with all my news on my web site, and the latest happenings are over on my personal blog.

It took some time to find Charlie and get him to pick the winners, but now that the rain has started he's back inside!  And he was hungry so he has picked more than one winner!
The winners are -
Lory Lee
Squiressj
and
JenB
Suqiressj  and Jen - I have copies of the books you have chosen (Lept for Her Baby and The Return of The Stranger)   and Lory Lee- I don't have any copies of One Night in Madrid because that is a 3 book  anthology - but I will send you a copyu of the book Spanish Billionaire,Inocent Wife which is my book in that collection
Please all winners send  me your postal addresses to kate AT kate-walker.com
And thank you all again for the birthday wishes!

Youngest Sons : : Anne McAllister

I know a lot about sons.  Especially youngest sons.  I’ve had several of them (the older ones ceased being youngest sons, of course,  when they were replaced by a newer model).  And since I’ve been writing, I have done several groups of books about brothers – and of course, there’s always a youngest.

While I don’t know that birth order is a total determinant of behavior, I do know that my own youngest son, and many of the ones I write about, share a certain confident, carefree, easy-going sociability.  They like people – and they generally expect people are going to like them.

They have charm and a certain cocksure attitude that often allows them to think they have the world by the tail, that they can do anything, and that everyone just naturally ought to love them.

They also sometimes take things for granted – like family.  After all, there’s usually a fair bit of it around by the time they’ve come along.  They expect family to be there, to be able to depend on it. And God forbid – sometimes – that family do a bit of depending on them.

That’s the situation of my upcoming hero, Yiannis Savas. Yiannis has been kicking around the periphery of my mini-series of books about the Savas and Antonides families for several years now. I first met him when he was a forest ranger, a young man who, by choice of his occupation, was making it clear he wanted NOTHING to do with the family business in New York City. 

Sitting on a mountaintop suited Yiannis fine for his sister’s book.  He neatly avoided all participation in a couple of others. He brought a date to the wedding of a third and deigned to be one of the groomsmen.  But otherwise he kept a low profile. 

I didn’t really think he had a book in him.

And frankly, neither would my editor have considered him hero material had I even ventured to suggest him. Presents heroes are not forest rangers, she would have said. And quite rightly.

So imagine my surprise when one day last year, Yiannis turned up on Balboa Island in Southern California as a thirty-ish entrepreneur, jetlagged after returning from a trip to the Far East where he’d gone to talk to dealers of rare and fine woods.

It didn’t surprise me that he wouldn’t give up the wood. It did surprise me that he’d decided he needed a book. It didn’t surprise me that he’d put a whole continent between himself and his vast, meddlesome, albeit loving family.  I did surprise me that he’d bought a house from an 88 year old woman who had moved into the apartment above the garage, and that he was the man she depended upon.

In his way Yiannis was as responsible and dependable and honorable – well, most of the time – as his older brothers.  He just didn’t like family leaning on him to do it.

88 year old Maggie, he didn’t mind.  Maggie’s granddaughter was a different story altogether.

Catriona MacLean had exactly one relative to her name. She wanted a family as badly as Yiannis wanted to ignore his. 

He also wanted her – but not the way she wanted him.  The editorial department called her Savas’s WIldcat (that’s also what they called the book).  It pretty much fits. 

She’s a good match for Yiannis.  And Yiannis is a good match for her.  Not that they know it right away.  Well, she knew it once. But then he got to acting very youngest son-ish.  He was charming, affable, easy-going, and he took way more for granted than he had any right to. 

In Savas’s Wildcat, he figured out how to give and to trust and to love – and  when to stop taking advantage and instead allow people he loved to take advantage of him instead. 

He also got the girl.

Do you have any tales about birth order in your family?  Do you think it makes a difference? 

Living in Chaos - Kate Walker

I'm having to time everything - blogs, emails, etc  - very carefully these days. I need to make sure that I actually have  an electricity supply connected and usable so that I can use my computer and contact people. I also need to make sure that there isn't brick dust flying around, getting into everything and so much noise filling the house  that I can't think straight.

Why is  this?

Well, we're having  work done on the house. Improvements - or, they will be improvements when the work is finished. Right now it's chaos and pretty hellish.  We've had a wall between a small  kitchen and an even smaller utility room knocked down to make one big, light, dining kitchen (at least that's the plan!) . And we (or rather the builders) have  extended that  so that it opens on to the garden.  It's going to be wonderful, light and airy, when it's finished - but it isn't like that now. Right now,  it's dirty - and cold, there hasn't been any heating for ten days!  We never know when the electricity will be turned off, when we will have water to wash or cook.  It's not been a lot of fun but we've  managed so far. We've organised a system which means we're up and showered  early, before the builders arrive in the morning, I have a small heater in my office so I can work, and we're cooking everything in the microwave - and washing up in the bathroom sink!

We were doing OK last week. The weather has been kind to us. It was mild,  clear, even sunny for a couple of days, so it wasn't too uncomfortable at all. But today the weather has changed completely - goinf g from early spring back to late winter with a vengeance! The skies darkened, the rain started to fall - and grow colder  - and now there's freezing sleet swirling  outside.  If it stays like this it's going to be a  chilly and difficult week.

I'm almost tempted to wish that I'd never started this - to say no, stoip - please! I want to go back to how it was. Or I want to run away and leave it all behind me. But as my husband keeps saying to me - or I keep saying to him the rest of the time - it will be worth it when it's done! Next week they start  rebuilding the kitchen. New cupboards  and worktops,  the new cooker and hob will be delivered and installed. We'll actually be able to cook meals!  And at the same time the new boiler and radiators will be put in - and at last we'll be warm again. I can't wait.

It was just this weekend when  the cold and miserable weather made me feel  that I couldn't cope with this any longer that I realised how much like the emotional journey of a romance novel this has all been.  We started out knowing things had to change and  planning how  it would be in the future.  There were disagreements and debates,   some things didn't work out as we planned. We never expected that the old boiler would have to be taken out quite so early, making everything so much more difficult than we'd thought. We've been up and down, taking two steps forward, one step back just like in the stories of my heroes and heroines.  And then  this weekend it  felt like that notorious Black Moment when everything seemed as bad as it could get.

So now I'm ready to look forward to that Happy Ever After  Ending when it's all finished and lovely!

The trouble is  - they're starting on the bathroom after that!

Kate’s latest novel The Devil and Miss Jones is out this week  in Mills & Boon Modern Romance and will be released in Harlequin Presents Extra in April.  She also has a reprint of her  Bedded By The Greek Billionaire  in  the 3 in 1 By  Request - His Suitable Bride. You can find out all her latest news on her Web site or her blog.

Do You Craft? Annie West

I have a new book out this month - YAY! The Savakis Merger features a hero and heroine who reached out and grabbed me immediately. I was thinking about Callie and what makes her so interesting and was surprised to discover that for me one of her appealing traits was the fact that beneath the high-gloss glamour and designer gowns she's a woman who loves to work with her hands.

Callie has a dream she's kept to herself for years - to open her own business - not to make a million dollars, but for the satisfaction of succeeding on her own merits. Connected to that is her love of sewing - not high fashion clothes, but applique and emroidery.

Maybe because I grew up with a mum who could sew clothes, crochet, knit and embroider as well paint china, plus whip up jams, soups and pickles in between running a household, but I have enormous respect for people who make things. I love seeing the gorgeous, useful things other people make and I know first hand the joy that comes from creating something yourself. There's something pleasing and at the same time soothing about working away at something that takes a while to complete but is something you made yourself!

OK, I admit it freely, I'm not terribly crafty. I can't sew a dress to save myself and I've forgotten my mum's patient lessons on knitting. I'd love to be able to paint or make things in wood. The most 'crafty' thing I've done in recent years is try my hand at making Christmas cards with the kids which was lots of fun but they didn't exactly have a professional finish. I have however, done a bit of decorative sewing along the way, and have pasted a couple of pics here to show it. When I was a teen a neighbour introduced me to tapestry. Here's one of the results. Imagine my surprise when I went to the British Museum and found the original stone wall carving from Babylon that this was based on!

Later I took to cross stitch and here's some detail of a medieval design I've had half finished for far too long. I keep trying to find time to get back to it, but I find what used to be my free time has been eaten away by my writing.

Looking at these pics makes me realise how much I'd like to get back into doing something crafty, even just a little bit and very occasionally. Somehow it's easier to unwind after a long day if I'm counting stitches or checking colours or watching a design appear before my eyes. I'm sure doing craft of some sort must be good for the blood pressure too!

And then there are all those crafts I've never had time to try. The ones I see at fairs and fetes and wish I had the energy to embark on.

How about you? Do you have favourite crafts? Do you do patchwork or ceramics? Do you paint or do you leave your creating to the garden? If you're not 'handy' is there a craft you admire, or maybe one you've tried and decided isn't for you?

Annie's book THE SAVAKIS MERGER, is on sale now from Harlequin and in stores this month. It features a sexy, dangerous hero and a heroine who fights enormous odds to stay true to herself. To read more about the book and enjoy an excerpt, check out Annie's website. Annie's also running a big end of year contest there with plenty of books on offer.

Lynn Raye Harris: Between Books

Ah, bliss. It's that happy time in between books where I've just sent off the last book, the revisions haven't arrived yet, and I'm contemplating the next book but haven't begun it. I love this time, where I feel like my life is my own again and the next book is so full of possibilities that it will surely write itself (that sound is me snorting, because it's never true).

This week, I've straightened up my office (somewhat), gone grocery shopping (oh it was bad in the pantry), been to routine appointments (my vision is still 20/15, which is pretty cool!), had lunch with a writer friend, and gone to dinner with non-writer friends and family (and will go again tonight).

Ideally, if I could take a vacation between books, I'd go here:


Or maybe here:


In any case, I'd want to drink this:

And eat this:


Generally, I'd just want to relax and take in the scenery. For me, the time between books is important. Even if it's only a couple of days, I need that time to recharge - to read, talk with my hubby, go shopping, relax, watch TV, etc. Writing for Harlequin Presents is very rewarding -- and emotionally draining, at least for me! After every book, I'm wrung out by all the emotions. I don't know how anyone finishes a book today and starts a new one tomorrow. I've done it, but it wasn't easy. I function better with a little bit of time off in between.

How about you? Do you like a bit of down time as a reward for a job done?

(All photos are my own. Waikiki, Venice, strawberry daiquiri at the Hale Koa hotel in Waikiki, and dinner in Rome).

~~~

If you're ready for some relaxation, how about a nice trip to Russia? My June book, BEHIND THE PALACE WALLS, reached #1 on the Borders list and has been described as fast-paced, passionate, and hot! Here's the back cover copy:

‘Kiss me,’ he growled… ‘And make it believable.’

Alone and scared on the dark streets of Moscow, staid, bespectacled Paige Barnes has no choice but to comply with the handsome stranger’s command…

Little does Paige know she’s been rescued by Alexei Voronov—a Russian prince and her boss’s deadliest rival. Now he has Paige unexpectedly in his sights, Alexei is prepared to play emotional Russian roulette to keep her close and discover her true motives. But in his splendid gilded palace his game of chance spins out of control and passion takes over…

It’s only when she’s back home that Paige realizes she’s pregnant with the Prince’s baby…


(PS: Right now, Amazon is selling my April release, THE DEVIL'S HEART, for only $2.36 on Kindle! And if you're in the UK, you can buy my passionate sheikh story, STRANGERS IN THE DESERT, for only 99p on Kindle!)

Lynn Raye Harris is a USA Today bestselling author who writes glamorous, sexy romance for Harlequin Presents. You can learn more about Lynn and her books at http://www.lynnrayeharris.com/. You can also follow Lynn on Twitter @LynnRayeHarris or visit her author page on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/AuthorLynnRayeHarris

Search For A Hero

Who's your ideal hero? There must be as many different answers to that question as there are readers of this page! In real life, we look for somebody we can get along with, and who'll try to smooth out life's ups and downs for us in the same way we try to make things better for them. Naturally, physical attraction plays a big part, but sometimes the most beautiful box can turn out to be empty, if you see what I mean ;)
Developing a fictional hero feels like it should be the perfect job, but you soon discover it's impossible to please everyone, all the time. The advice 'write about what you know' comes into play here, as falling in love with the central character makes everything flow so much more easily.  Finding yourself wondering about where he'd like to spend the weekend, or considering his seductive little bedroom tricks makes work a total pleasure.  Some writers like blonde, blue eyed Nordic types but personally, I'd find it tricky to write about a guy like that.  My weakness is for tall, dark men like my OH. Marrying the perfect man must be the ultimate in taking your work home with you, and means that inspiration is never far away. I write Modern Romance/Presents Extra for Harlequin Mills & Boon, and its lines have such a spread of character types and writing voices that there's a hero for every taste. The one thing they all have in common is that they're an affordable luxury.
And they never, never leave wet towels on the bathroom floor!

What do you look for in a fictional hero?

You can catch up with Christina Hollis on her website, http://www.christinahollis.com and on Twitter as @christinabooks.

Old and New by Kate Walker

First things first - Happy New Year to all of you. I hope that 2011 brings you lots of love and joy and some wonderful moments that will leave you with some truly happy memories when January 2012 comes around.

New Year's Day always brings with it ideas of 'out with the old and in with the new' but I've always felt that was a bit too extreme - it seems to be saying that only the new (and young?) has good things going for it and the old can be discarded because it no longer matters.

I can't agree. I love old things - I have lots of things that have been handed down through my family and I collect antique embroideries, some of which are over 200 years old. I love keeping the old things close - and I love looking foward to the new things coming up.

This works particularly in publishing, when new books are planned well ahead of their publication date, but thankfully old books are still around and are being republished. So when it comes to the start of 2011, I've just discovered the new cover for my next book - The Proud Wife - which will be published in March 2011 (UK ) and in April in America. The covers for these two editions are very different, because in the UK the covers have recently been revamped while in America the Presents Extra covers stay with the same design. I wonder which of these you like best?

At the same time as I found this new cover, I have discovered that some of my older books are being brough out again in ebook editions so that they available easily once again. The Hired Husband and The Duke's Secret Wife are now available as ebooks from eHarlequin.com or on Kindle from Amazon.

Another reason why I was thinking about the old and the new was because of my very special Christmas gift. As those of you who read my personal blog regularly will know, I was given a gorgeous red and white Maine Coon kitten called Charlie who is now just 16 weeks old. He's purred his way into my hart and I love him dearly - but that doesn't mean that I love the older cats, Sid, Flora and the old gentleman, 17 year old Dylan any the less.

So as I go into the new year of 2011, I'm making plans of course for new things - new book to write (and read), new places to visit, new people to meet, new things to learn - but at the same time I'm taking with me lots of 'old' things - friends, family, cats! I think it'd the mixture of all these things that makes life so wonderful and brings so much joy.

What about you? What new things are you looking forward to? And what older things will you be happy to take with you?

Whatever they are - I hope you have a wonderful year in 2011!

Autumn's here! by Kate Walker

The summer has definitely gone. Outside my window as I write this here in the UK the skies are grey and the rain is coming down - again. It seems to have been raining all week. There were a few bright hours one morning and again early yesterday. All the water barrels are filled, the garden is soaked, the cats are huddled inside and if they do venture outside they stay for five minutes or so and then they're at the door, begging to be let in. It's too cold and miserable to be outside.

But I don't mind at all. In fact I welcome it. I'm glad to see the summer temperatures fade and the nights draw in. My husband has started to light a real coal fire in the grate in the evenings and I really don't feel like going outside too much. And that makes this sort of weather perfect writing weather. And I need to get some concentrated writing done.

I've been so busy over the summer, with the conference season and then with the teaching I've had to do. And teaching means travelling all over. I've been to London, York, Caerleon in Wales, Durham, London again - all wonderful places to visit. It was fantastic to meet up with everyone who was on the course on writing romance that I was teaching. We had a lot of fun. One of my favourite memories is of teaching a workshop on How To Write a Sex Scene on a Sunday morning in Durham with a mixed group of men and women of different ages and backgrounds. We had such a laugh. You see, when I teach this workshop and I get the students to write, each one of them has to have a 'sex change.' The women have to write as men and the men as women - it creates some really interesting moments. And sitting around talking about writing, discussing how to build characters, how to target your writing, is always fascianting and enjoyable. When I visited London it was for the Romantic Novelists' Association Conference and then again, last month, for the annual lunch of the Association of Mils & Boon Novelists. Meeting up with so many wonderful romance writers - ofd courese we talked about books and writing again.

But I'm ready to stop talking and really get down to the real thing. I've had a book that has been waiting to be finished for too long, put off as I prepare classes, organise handouts etc. I'm also ready to stay still for a while. I love travelling. I love visiting new places - or revisiting them as is the case with York, Wales and Durham. But I'm tired of living out of a suitcase. I'm looking forward to having my own things around me. Sleeping in my own bed, having a chance to read the books I've collected up on my travels. It's at time like this that I think of that song sung by Frank Sinatra -

It's oh so nice to go trav'ling

But it's oh so nice to come home.

So I'm looking forward to the Autumn - the Fall - and I'm looking forward to settling down and doing some concentrated writing. To getting this story off my desk and onto my editor's desk. And then to writing the next story with the next set of characters who are beginning to grow, their story developing inside my head. Prehaps it's because I spent to long with September/October meaning new school/college year, new term and all those lovely new notebooks, pens, and other stationary that came with the start of school.

And because of the cooler weather it's even more fun to daydream of far off places, of hot sunshine and foreign countries. Countries like Spain, Italy, Greece, where the stories of my novels are set. As you'll be tell from the title - The Good Greek Wife? - my very next book is set in Greece. On the island of Ithaca to be exact. And for me there's a whole pleasure in being able to curl up with a book and be transported to the glorious Greek sunshine, the sea and the sand, while outside - like now - the rain is pouring down. This book has just had this really great review from Romance Junkies:

THE GOOD GREEK WIFE? is definitely high on passion and Greek intensity! The story takes place in a very condensed time but it works well for the shock and awe that comes with seeing Zarek again after assuming he is dead. Kate Walker has these two going at each other with hurt, love and anger from the get-go, but it is in preparation for the true reveal of their feelings. The emotions are so heightened in this story that it adds a lot of intensity and spirit to Zarek's and Penny's reunion. And even with the presence of the evil family in the background, Zarek was able to show Penny that he had more in mind for their reunion than a divorce.

I don't know about you but that's just the sort of story I'd want to curl up by the fire and lose myself in another world.

What about you? Do you have something that you're really looking forward to now that the summer's over? Or do you hate the way that the evenings are closing in and the mornings are darker? I have a signed copy of The Good Greek Wife? to give away to someone who posts in the comments section. This book is already sold out in the UK so you'll want to grab a copy while you can.

Oh, and talking of giveaways and prizes, as you know I've been celebrating 25 years of being published as a romance writer, and to round of the year of celebrations I'm running a special great big contest over on my web site. I have 25 prizes of a book from my backlist and a Kate Walker tote bag - one for each year I'm published on offer. So check out my Contest Page to find out what to do. Answer 4 easy questions and you could be in with a chance of winning.

Kate Walker's new book The Good Greek Wife? is released in the Presents EXTRA line up on October 12th.

If you want to enter the 25th anniversary Contest then check out the Contest page of her web site. That's where you'll find all the details. And the most up to date news is always available on her blog.

AND THE WINNER IS - ALISON

Alison please contact me kate AT kate-0walker.com and I will arrange to send your copy of The Good Greek Wife on to you. Everyone else - why not have a go at the 25th anniversary contest?