Reviving Memories - Kate Walker

February has never been one of my favourite months. It's dark and damp and  - well, frankly, pretty dreary. Christmas is well behind you, the celebrations - and resolutions  - of New Year  are something of a hazy memory. And there are weeks and weeks  before Easter or anything  like that on the horizon.

But this year, February has been doing pretty well for itself. First of all, there's the fact that after the terrible snow we had through December and the danger and disappointments in trying to travel  about in it - friends had to cancel visits - we couldn't make it to visit family - even the tiny brightening of the weather, with the darkness of night  no longer descending  well before teatime,  is really welcome.

And then there are books -  for my ,money, books will always brighten a day or more! One of the very best things about being a writer is the publication of a band new title, one that has never been on the shelves before. I've got one of those coming up - The Proud Wife is my next Harlequin Presents release -  but that's not actually the one that's brightening my February.  No, the books that have been making me smile have been turning up like old memories, old friends, and I've been so happy to see them. 

For a start, there's the  special 3 in 1 Collection Mediterranean Tycoons  that  was published on February 1st.   Here's a book of mine that first came out in  2007 - The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife  rereleased in a brand-new form, and in great company too - there are books by Michelle Reid and Sarah Morgan in this volume too.

Then I've been receiving bundles of foreign language books - all of these are reprints, some old, some new - and the fun is in finding out just which book of mine has been translated, reprinted and rereleased in this new format.

For a start there's  the book that was shgort-listed for  Romantic Times Best Presents Extra Award for 2010 - The Konstantos Marriage Demand - only it doesn't say that on the cover  - either of them - of the two translations - no, three - one is Dutch, one Japanese and one Korean. (For two of them,  the Japanese and the Korean,  I had to look inside to see the original English title to know just which book I had in my hand.). There's  a Lithuanian edition of The Antonakos Marriage too.    The Antonakos Marriage first appeared in 2005, so we're going even further back.   But not quitre as far down memory lane as the German translation I've been sent - that one is  Her Secret Bridegroom which was first published back in  2001! That's ten years ago.

That had to be the oldest title currently being reprinted, I thought,  but no - there was one more book in the box. Another one from Japan. And this time it was a reprint of The Unexpected Child  which was first published in 1997!  That means that it's 14 years since I wrote this  book - no - 15, because of course I wrote it some time before it  was actually published.  And still it keeps coming back, being reprinted,  hopefully being enjoyed by a brand new set of readers.

And that started me thinking about the books I have coming out this year - starting with The Proud Wife  - and another coming in September.  And  of course the one I'm writing now.  Will they still be being reprinted, still reappearing on my desk in different editions, different translations in - eeek - in  2025!   I wonder what sort of a life I'll be living then - and what sort of a world those books will be published in. Wll there only be ebook readers then? Or will the traditional paper and print volumes still exist?   And as the book I'm writing now will be my 60th title in 25 years - so how many books will I have produced 15 years from now?

One thing I think is that when that 2025 rolls around, I hope I'm still enjoying  reading and writing romances as much as I do now - and I wonder if I'll remember writing this post then!

As I know that  the 3 in 1 volume Mediterranean Tycoons isn't available outside the UK (though you can get yourself a copy  from The Book Depository if you can't live without it)  I thought I'd run a small giveaway this month  - so  I'm offering a copy of Mediterranean Tycoons to someone who posts a comment today.  Tell me what book from the past you'd love to get your hands on again - a romance   or any other novel. Post your comments  as usual and I'll get Sid the Cat on the job of picking a winner tomorrow.

Oh - and seeing as I was talking about the book that's coming out soon - The Proud Wife - that won't be available in Presents Extra until April - but if you'd like to be in with a chance of winning it, check out my blog or my web site Contest page where Anne McAllister, Liz Fielding and I are running  for the fourth time our annual Here Come the Grooms Contest with the chance to win 3 great romances , one from each author.

You can keep up to date with all my news and every new book I have  coming out over there too.

The winner of ther copy of Mediterranean Tycoons is pageturner  - please email me kate AT Kate-walker.com   with your postal address.   Thanks!

Here Come The Grooms! : : Anne McAllister

Four years ago, Kate Walker, Liz Fielding and I all had books out in February. All of them one way or another had to do with brides, and so we decided to a Here Come the Brides contest to celebrate our books.

Being the easygoing egalitarian writers that we are, we even magnanimously allowed our heroines to come and blog while we took a little time off.

We should have known better.

Two weeks into our contest, three heroes announced they weren't about to be upstaged by their brides and so launched their own Here Come The Grooms! contest. They sweet-talked the heroines into relinquishing time and space on our blogs and next thing Kate and Liz and I knew, these guys were running the show -- or trying to.

It turned out that they had a lot of rapport with readers and the next year our current heroes wanted a contest of their own. Their heroines were busy planning weddings and the three of us authors had plenty of things to do that didn't entail running a contest,so we said, "Fine, Go for it. But don't expect us to run it."

So they did. It was a big hit. "We told you so," they said.

Now, after four years, the Here Come The Grooms! contest has become an annual event. It is celebrated on all three of our blogs and our websites. Each of our current grooms -- that would be Christo in my case (that's him on the right), Kalil in Liz's (that's him below on the left) and Nikos in Kate's (he didn't show up for his photo -- maybe when Kate gets back from Wales!) -- has taken over our respective blogs for the rest of the month. Well, Kate and Liz might be back on theirs, but Christo has given me the rest of the month off while he holds forth -- and runs his part of the contest.

To enter the 4th annual Here Come The Grooms! contest you have to answer the three questions posed by our grooms. Send those answers to Christo, Nikos and Kalil through the contact links on our websites (Christo's is on my contest page) and you have three chances to win.

The prizes:

• Christo is giving away a copy of his book (my book, I tell him, but he just rolls his eyes): One-Night Mistress . . . Convenient Wife.
• Nikos is offering a copy of his book, The Konstantos Marriage Demand.
• Kal has decided to give away copies of the new wonderful absolutely huge Romance Novelists' Association anthology, Loves Me, Loves Me Not (in which Liz has a story -- see details on her blog)

The questions they have asked are:

• KAL'S QUESTION (from Her Desert Dream): Of which literary character did Kal remind Lydia? (apart from Prince Charming!)
• CHRISTO'S QUESTION (From One-Night Mistress. . . . Convenient Wife by Anne McAllister)
  Why is Natalie staying at her mother's house?
• NIKOS'S QUESTION (From The Konstantos Marriage Demand by Kate Walker)
  What name did Sadie use so that Nikos would not know his 10 o'clock appointment was her?

Answers can be found by checking our blogs, websites and excerpts. The contest began on Valentine's Day and ends the end of February. Winners will be announced March 1st.

So stop by my website, Kate's and Liz's. Enter all three contests.

And while you're there, visit our blogs and harass Christo, Nikos and Kal a bit. Keeping heroes on their toes is a Very Good Thing.