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

Reflection and Resilience

I have a new book out this month, but I'll bury that news because today, as I write this, Notre Dame Cathedral is burning.

It's six or eight or nine hundred years old. (Every time I read a headline, it gets older.) I visited it some thirty-five years ago. The fact that I have this photo of this landmark in my weathered old photograph album, with snapshots taken on a film camera, has forced me to take a moment to consider how the loss of such an ancient building in our modern world makes me feel.

I'm not particularly religious, but I feel the magnitude of this event. I feel connected to the millions of people who have glimpsed this touchstone through the centuries. Perhaps you have sat inside its walls for prayer or reflection yourself?

Remember when we had time for such things? When we didn't fill our heads with the next item in the news feed? When we had to wait for our film to be developed to show people what we had seen and done? When we returned from vacation and waited weeks before we turned in our rolls of film to the one-hour developer?

The world has become such a busy, fractured place, yet I found myself talking about this with a lot of different people today. For the first time in a long time the world seems to have all glanced the same direction, paused in a moment of unnatural quiet, and agreed that this is a terrible shame.

It is upsetting, but according to this article on CBC website:

It was ransacked by rioting Protestant Huguenots in the 16th century, pillaged again during the French Revolution of the 1790s, and left in a state of semi-neglect. Hugo's 1831 work led to revived interest in the cathedral and a major "partly botched" restoration that began in 1844.

and,

French President Emmanuel Macron has promised to rebuild fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral and says he is seeking international help to restore the Paris landmark.

That's heartening, isn't it? Despite the fact the entire world seems to be burning down on a daily basis (according to my social media feeds) this devastated cathedral continues to symbolize a tremendous resilience. I have no doubt that it will be restored and that the restoration will bring people together in its own way. Believing that brings me a lot of comfort.

How are you feeling about this loss?

Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling author Dani Collins thrives on giving readers emotional, compelling, heart-soaring romance with some laughter and heat thrown in, just like real life. Her latest Harlequin Presents, Innocent's Nine-Month Scandal, is on shelves now.

Watch for a related story, Innocent's Pregnancy Revelation, to appear as a free, serialized short story on Harlequin.com starting April 22, 2019.

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

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.

Making a Personal Sacrifice - The Greek's Forbidden Princess - Annie West

North American cover

I'm thrilled that my second PRINCESS SEDUCTIONS book, THE GREEK'S FORBIDDEN PRINCESS is out now. This story follows Princess Amelie of St Galla who has left her homeland with her recently orphaned little nephew, Seb. She's on a mission to find someone who can help the traumatised boy, even if it means confronting Lambis Evangelos, the man who so cruelly rejected her. But arriving at Lambis's Greek hideaway, he refuses to let her in, much less agree to listen to why she's here. He's totally focused on getting her to leave, for Lambis has secrets of his own and having Amelie disrupt his solitude, reawakening dreams he's stifled so long, would be unbearable. Here's a snippet:

A vice clamped on her shoulder. A hot vice with fingers that dug into her flesh through her thin sweater. His heat after the stinging cold surely explained the rush of energy raying out from the spot.

Amelie turned, meeting that gunmetal stare head on.

‘Don’t touch me.’

‘Or?’ This time both jet black eyebrows rose.

‘Or I’ll bring a case of assault so fast your head will spin. And, in case you think I’m bluffing, let me warn you I’ve reached my limit.’

‘Even if it means inviting media attention?’

Because he knew — how could he not? — that she’d only made it this far by avoiding the media.

Carefully Amelie closed the car door and turned fully to face him. He was so close he ate up her personal space. He was so big she’d feel crowded and intimidated if she weren’t past caring.

‘That’s one thing about reaching the end of your options. I don’t give a damn.’ She smiled and this time actually felt pleasure, for she saw the shadow of doubt in his stern face. He’d thought she’d be easier to bully.

‘I could call a reporter now. By nightfall we’d have a posse of them here, eager for developments.’ Amelie rested her hands on her hips, enjoying the fleeting sense of power that flooded her freezing body.

Yet still he didn’t take the bait.

She waited as the seconds ticked into a full minute and more. Still he didn’t move or give in.

UK cover

Even if she followed through and made a formal complaint, or brought in the press, she’d be the one to lose. She and Seb.

They had lost.

She’d gambled against the odds with Seb’s future and failed. Now time was running out.

The enormity of it was a body slam, jarring her from head to toe. She had to stiffen her knees to stop from crumpling as she unravelled inside. All her hopes shattered and little Seb… No, she couldn’t think about it now, with this man watching her like a bird of prey spying on a mouse. She needed privacy when she finally crashed.

Whiplash fast she shoved his hand off her shoulder and moved towards the driver’s door.

‘Where are you going?’

Amelie didn’t answer. This was probably the first time in her life she’d ignored a direct question. It should have felt liberating, but all she registered was choking misery.

She ripped open the driver’s door. They couldn’t stay here. If she was to get them safely back down the mountain they had to go now.

The sound of swearing stopped her. Low and soft, his rich voice turned even the tumble of foreign swear words into stream of velvet heat.

‘Just tell me what you want, princess.’

Amelie didn’t let herself flinch at his bitter use of her title. He said it like they were strangers. Nor did she turn.

She didn’t want to see the steely face of Lambis Evangelos, the man who’d shattered her dreams and now held her hopes for little Seb in his brutally hard palm.

‘You.’ Her throat closed so it came out as a whisper. She swallowed and tried again. ‘I want you.’

Amelie is desperate to help her nephew, which is why she's willing to confront the reclusive, enigmatic man she'd once loved. Have you ever had to do something difficult for someone you cared about?

I'd love to hear what it was. Who knows, maybe I'll find inspiration for another story!

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Australian cover

His Majesty's Temporary Bride - Annie West

Have you ever dreamed of another life, different from your own? Have you imagined what it would be to act as someone else, someone free of the complications of your own world and history? Would it be exciting to take on another persona, at least temporarily? Or would it be terrifying?

Today marks the official release of HIS MAJESTY'S TEMPORARY BRIDE. My first ever masquerade story and hands down one of the most engaging, exciting and passionate stories I've written.

Cat (Catherine) Dubois doesn't want to play stand in for her royal half sister, Princess Amelie. Shunned by their father, her parentage is a secret that's haunted her all her life, especially because of her physical similarity to her royal sister. Cat turned her back on her homeland years ago but finds herself drawn back when Amelie goes missing under mysterious circumstances and Cat agrees to a royal masquerade for her sister's sake.

The complication is sexy Alex, a stranger who turns out to be King Alexander of Bengaria, visiting the palace as a possible suitor for Cat's sister. And despite everything Cat tells herself about resisting the allure of this compelling man, she finds herself hovering on the brink of surrender. Here's a taste:

‘Tell me you understand.’ His breath warmed her lips. His thumb stroked back and forth across her cheek.

Cat nodded. ‘You don’t want to marry.’

‘I’ve got too much to do. There’s still so much work to get Bengaria back on track. I haven’t got time for a wife. I’m not ready to be a father.’

Yet Alex didn’t draw back. If anything he seemed closer.

‘If I wanted a bride it would be different.’ His voice was husky.

Cat didn’t trust herself to speak. His expression held her spellbound, though logic screamed that she needed to put distance between them.

‘If I wanted a bride I couldn’t go past those big green eyes. Or those lips. I’d be suggesting we got to know each other much better.’ His thumb dipped from her cheek to her mouth, pressing her lower lip and dragging it down. Cat exhaled, lungs tight, nipples budding against the constraint of her bra as his thumb stroked her lip, once, twice, till she couldn’t resist and tasted him with the tip of her tongue. He was salt and spice and frighteningly addictive.

His eyes dilated, his breath warm on her face, he crowded closer, long legs bracketing hers. His other arm stretched out to the tree trunk behind her as if Alex too felt the sudden need for safe anchor as the ground seemed to ripple and swell.

‘And as for this body…’ To her dismay his hand dropped but before she could frame a protest she felt his touch, tantalising and soft, brush her collarbone, then trace the wide neckline of her T shirt, before sliding down.

Cat’s breath stalled as his knuckles brushed the outer swell of her breast, slowing then tracing down her ribs then splaying at her waist. Those long, hard fingers made her aware of how small she was compared with him. Of how much strength resided in those large, capable hands and that taut, athletic body.

Her mouth was parched but she had to find words to make him back off. This was too dangerous. To her masquerade but also to her. She teetered on the brink of feelings that made a mockery of all her training, her strength and control. She swallowed and moistened her lips with her tongue then opened her mouth to speak.

But the words didn’t come because Alex’s mouth settled on hers and the world exploded.

To buy:
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Carnival masks and cloaks in Venice

I so enjoyed writing the story of hidden identity and intrigue, I can't wait to write another! So much drama and passion! Just my sort of story.

Hiding your identity, often with a real mask, is popular around the world and there are multiple festivals where people dress up and pretend to be a total stranger. Halloween is an obvious example in North America. And I know in Germany one of the Carnival traditions is to dress in costume to celebrate. On a recent trip to Venice I saw plenty of masks and cloaks, which I have to say looked terrific and just a little scary - especially when you turned a corner into a narrow alley and discovered a couple of people in full costume, watching you from behind anonymous masks.

Do you like masquerades? What is your favorite dress up experience?

If you want to keep up to date with Annie's latest releases, behind the scenes information and exclusive giveaways, sign up for her reader newsletter. 

Abby Green: My 35th Book!

I have a book coming out in March – it’s my 35^th story for the Harlequin Presents line, so you would think with a little experience I’d have a fairly good idea of what works and what doesn’t, wouldn’t you?

Apparently not.

When I was coming up with the plot for this book – you would not believe how complicated I made it. (Really, you wouldn’t believe it.)

It was as if I deliberately went out of my way to make it as convoluted as possible. I twisted my brain into knots for several weeks trying to make it work. And I thought it was brilliant! I was very excited about doing my very complicated story because I was deluding myself into believing that this obviously meant it was going to be fantastic.

Needless to say, when it came to actually writing the story, it all fell apart pretty quickly! Disaster.

I’d forgotten the golden rule : keep it simple, stupid.

There’s a great quote by Robyn Donald – doyenne of many brilliant Mills and Boons and some of my favourites – ‘Keep it simple and go deep.’

That’s the thing though, sometimes keeping it simple is the hardest thing to do so we tie our brains into pretzels to avoid the fact that maybe we just don’t have a brilliant idea after all.

I now have Robyn Donald’s quote stuck on my computer to try and remember her words of wisdom when I’m in danger of straying down a thorny path.

Simplicity is good. But simple stories with deep emotions are the hardest to write, believe me!

A brilliantly complicated plot just masks the fact that you’ve lost the essence of the story somewhere along the way.  There isn’t room in a 50,000 word book for an over – complicated plot. The focus has to be on the Hero and Heroine and their journey to HEA.

With my own story, when it stopped working because it was just too ridiculously over – complicated, I had to go back to the start and simplify it until it worked again. The result is ‘Claimed For The De Carrillo Twins.’

So the next time you’re tangling yourself into knots (or I am!) trying to make your story as brilliantly complicated as possible…stop and remember Robyn’s words: Keep it simple and go deep.  

*If you would like to win a copy of this book to see for yourself what it became after the great plot purge, email me (abbygreenauthor@gmail.com - include your postal address!) with Totes Bags ‘n’ Blogs in the subject header and I’ll pick a winner at random by March 3^rd J

Gifts of Love - 'The Desert King's Secret Heir' by Annie West

Hi everyone! I'm thrilled to be sharing news of my current release THE DESERT KING'S SECRET HEIR, and to muse a little on one of the themes that found its way into the story - love tokens.

I was talking with one of my children recently about how special it is when someone prepares a meal for you, not because you paid for one but because they care for you. That led to a discussion about the many ways we show love, with gifts or favours, with actions as well as words. And that led me straight back to my desert king! Hey, I'm an author - of course I spend my time thinking about my characters.

This is a reunion story about a couple who were lovers for a brief time years before but were parted in difficult circumstances. When they meet again, under the scrutiny of the world's press, Idris is now a royal sheikh. He demands Arden marry him for the sake of the son she'd had and who Idris hadn't known about. They embark on a marriage of convenience, each believing the other couldn't possibly love them. 

I don't think I'm giving away secrets if I tell you they're both wrong! Along the way the reader sees the various ways they begin to reveal their love in actions if not words.

But one of the tokens of affection that becomes a real theme in the book is flowers. Arden is a florist. On her way to Idris's royal palace, passing through streets lined with silent people paying homage to their prince and his soon-to-be-bride, she sees one person with a gift for her. It's the first evidence of affection Arden receives in her new country. Here's a snippet. Idris is on horseback while Arden and their son Dawud are behind him in a limo:

‘Highness. The car. It’s stopped.’

Instantly alert, Idris whipped around, pulling his horse to a halt.

There was no sign of a problem yet his heartbeat quickened, his body tense, ready for action as he scanned the street for signs of an ambush. Security was a necessity these days, yet in his homeland Idris had always felt his bodyguard was more to satisfy tradition than because of any threat.

But if anyone were to threaten Dawud and Arden—

The rear door of the limousine opened and she emerged, the afternoon sun turning her hair to spun rose gold. The quiet crowd seemed to still completely. The silence grew complete so that the thud of his horse’s hooves as it pranced towards the car filled the void. That and the rough pulse of blood in his ears.

What was she doing? No stop had been scheduled. Was she ill? Was his son ill?

Idris vaulted from his horse, thrusting the reins into the hand of a nearby guard, then slammed to a halt.

That’s why the cavalcade had stopped?

Arden crossed to the side of the street where the onlookers crowded in the shade of an ancient shop awning. Near the front of the packed group one single person had ignored tradition. A girl, no more than six or seven by the look of her skinny frame. She sat in a wheelchair, gripping a straggly bouquet of flowers, her eyes huge as Arden approached.

In her slim-fitting, straw-coloured suit that gleamed subtly under the fierce sun, Arden probably looked like a creature from another world to the girl.

The sight of Arden, cool and sophisticated with her high heels and her hair up, unadorned yet lovely, had stolen his breath when he’d seen her. The air had punched from his lungs as desire surged, as fresh and strong as it had been years ago. Desire and admiration and something else, some emotion that was tangled up in the fact she’d borne his child. His responsibility to protect. His.

His visceral reaction had been possessiveness. The desire to claim her, and with far more than words, had sent him into retreat. He’d taken a separate vehicle to the airport and then on the plane had immersed himself in work. Keeping his distance meant keeping control.

Arden stopped before the girl and crouched down, saying something he couldn’t make out. He strode across, his steps decisive on the ancient cobbles.

The girl whispered something, shyly smiling, and held out the flowers which, he saw now, were no more than a collection of wildflowers such as grew in the rare fertile areas near the city. One of them, yellow as the sun, looked like a dandelion.

But Arden held them carefully, as if they were the most precious bouquet.

When Idris's people see Arden's response to the bouquet word soon gets out that she loves flowers. Soon the palace is bombarded with floral gifts, but not quite in the way you would expect (you'll have to read the book to discover why). And if you want to read it, here are a couple of links to buy it:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
iBooks
Kobo
Harlequin

I love receiving flowers and I've included here a photo of one of my favorites: tulips. There's something about them that always makes me feel good.

I'd love to hear what gifts you've given or received with love - the ones that stand out to you!

Don't forget, if you want to know more about any of my books, head to my website where you can sign up for my exclusive newsletter and read excerpts, news and behind the scenes details.

Ode To Autumn with Kate Walker

Oh – as soon as I write this title, I realised that because I’m writing this for the Tote Bags Blog, I should have written  Ode to Fall. . .!   

But perhaps not. After all Keats, who wrote the poem entitled it Ode To Autumn and  that’s the way it’s remembered.

Anyway, it’s a poem that starts like this:

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

I’ve always loved the beginning of the autumnal. The one where the country seems ripe and full of harvests , fruit, nuts etc. In my own garden there are apple trees filling up with fruit, pear trees that my husband planted a couple of years ago, starting to show  the growth of real pears -  unlike the small, tart little ‘fruits’ that were uneatable  in last year’s crop.  And we are lucky enough to have real bumble bees who have survived the  diseases that have attacked   these lovely insects recently and

are buzzing around collecting nectar and zooming in and out of the honeysuckle and the lavender plants. Ruby, my little black and white female cat has tried to catch some of them as they buzz by. Thankfully she’s never managed to trap one and run the risk of getting stung, but she performs wonderful dances on the lawn as she tries to leap to catch them in flight.

Ruby also loves the crab apple tree.  She likes to climb up it  as high as she can possibly go and then she sits right on the

top branch and watches the world go by underneath her. Sometimes Charlie goes up there too and as he’s much much bigger than Ruby   he usually sends the beautiful red crab apples flying so they come tumbling down on to the grass and we can rake them all into a brilliantly coloured bundle on one flower bed ready to be picked up and made into crab apple jelly . . .when I just finish this book!

That’s the other thing  about Autumn – it’s perfect story-telling time. Well, it seems that way to me.  On the TV networks the programmers bring out all the new  and fabulous dramas to entertain us as the evenings draw in and we settle down to watch – Poldark 2 or Victoria – or Cold Feet  (the return).  That’s here in the UK anyway. There are other new productions planned  and I’m looking forward to see them appear. In the meantime, there  lots of inspiration to be found in Aidan Turner as Poldark and Rufus Sewell as Lord Melbourne and Tom Hughes as Prince Albert in Victoria.  (A romance novelist always has to do her research! It’s a difficult job but I do work hard at it!)

So it seems that autumn is just the right season for me to have my latest novel published. Indebted to Moreno is out on September 20^th in Harlequin Presents and already I’m getting some lovely reviews for my dark, vengeful Spaniard and his convenient fiancée heroine Rose.

Here’s one from  Arpita on the Mills and Boon web site:

Kate Walker has used succinct repartee, wit , sparring dialogue, engrossing and engaging plot to

keep the readers guessing what will happen next? It is truly an exceptional, brilliant page turner for those who love fantasy world to the nth degree. Go for it! A must buy for all! Unmissable!

Thank you so much Arpita!

Another  autumnal delight is the fact that I’m just putting the ending on my latest story ready to send it to my editor before the end of this month. I can’t wait to see what she thinks of  the ‘Corsican Bandit’ Raoul  and his Irish heroine Imogen. I hope she loves them as much as I do.

And as soon as  the Corsican Bandit book has gone, I have a brand-new project to begin on. Because Imogen’s book is Part One of a duet of two linked books – next up is her sister Ciara’s story. I can’t wait to get down to serious work on that as I’ve got to know both her and her prospective hero Adnan as I’ve been writing Imogen’s story.

So, with the TV dramas to inspire me and the glorious autumn gathering in, I’m hoping for a really fruitful period of my own over the coming months.

As I said, Indebted to Moreno is out at the end of September (the 20th onwards). I can't decide which of the two covers I like best so I'm including them  both for you to choose. 

I recently updated my web site  so there are all the details of this new title  there   and the even more up to date news can be found on my blog.