Friends and Readers

It’s been one of those rather special weeks.  A week when I have enjoyed the unexpected, sideline

joys of being a writer.

When I first started writing, all I focussed on was the hope of getting published.  I  wanted  a publisher to buy my story, put it into  book form and put it out on the shelves in the bookshops.  I remember I said to the Senior Editor I met on my very first trip to London to meet someone from the Mills and Boon Editorial team, ‘I just want to see my name on a book and I’ll be happy.’

Of course there’s more to it than that.  When you hope to be published you also hope that people will read your  stories. You hope that people – lots of people! – will buy  your book and read it, and enjoy it and buy the next one.  . .  You hope for readers out there in the world.  But I have to admit that I never got to thinking about those readers  - and other writers  - and that they might become friends and  maybe even part of my life.

I also never thought, back in those early days, when The Chalk Line  was first published,  that I’d get to know other writers, or that the internet, email,  Facebook,  Skype etc would make the world seem so much smaller and people so much closer and  communication so much easier.

This was bought home to me in the first couple of weeks of March as it seemed that every day brought another connection, another communication, with a friend  I had made  as a result of being a writer. Someone I would never have met up with, or even communicated with  if it hadn’t been for this unique job I have.  

March has the birthdays of a couple of  friends – Irish author,  Abby Green  has her special day on March 3^rd , and then  Tote Bags ‘N’ Blogs  own Lee  has her birthday a day later – on the 4^th.   Next up was a special visit from a  dear friend  from ‘across the pond’ as  AnneMcAllister was always described in the past when my  cat Sid and she were great friends. This time Anne came to stay for a few days while she’s in England researching  a new book in  a quartet for Tule that she’s 

writing.   Sadly, Sid the Cat is no longer with us but she had two new felines to get to know – Ruby the black and white rescue cat is always friendly and welcoming, but unexpectedly Charlie the Maine Coon, who is usually rather stand-offish – decided to become her best friend. This can be a double-edged privilege as  Charlie is a very large cat  - and when he decides to sit on your knee . . .well, look  at the photo of him and Anne together!

Another  friend this week let me know that she is embarking on a big adventure later in the year. Rachael Thomas, who was once one of my students at the  Writers’ Holiday Fishguard course and is now multi-published in her own right, has signed up to  walk the great wall of China 

forcharity.   Go for it Rachael – I’m so happy to support her in this.

And talking of courses, I have another one coming up in Cirencester in April – and then a get together  for my birthday in May with some one of the students who have become ‘regulars’ on my courses and are affectionately known as Walkers  Stalkers. When I first started writing, I never even dreamed of doing any teaching but now  I meet up with ‘stalkers’ regularly  - and   their company is another joy I never expected to receive as a result of my writing.

Then there are so many people, more widely flung, sometimes known, sometimes never ever met in any way -  the hundreds, thousands of readers who have bought and enjoyed my books  so that I can continue to write more for your enjoyment. I have had a lot of emails since the publication of Indebted to Moreno  and recently one of these was a reader who has been in touch with me since way back when.  15 years or more I think.  I love it when readers get in touch with me – and just lately  people have been asking just when my next book is coming up.  So I’m happy to be able to say that  this new story – current working title is Claimed by The Corsican – will be out in February 2018/ I know, it’s a

long time to wait, but in the meantime I have to get on with and complete the second part of the duet. These two linked books I’ve called The Scandalous O’Sullivan Sisters  - the first one is  Imogen’s story and now I’m at work on her  sister, Ciara’s romance. I need to get it finished so that they can come out close together.

So while I’m thinking about all these wonderful friends and readers I’ve gained as a result of being a writer – I just wanted to say  a great big thank you to all my friends and readers out there, wherever you are in the world. I value you all and appreciate  your support and  the lovely emails you send me.  After all, that’s why a writer writes-  to be read and the sales of the books means I can keep going, write some more romances – so I couldn’t do it without you!

Thank you to all my friends and my readers (and Student Stalkers!)   Wherever you are,   I’m so glad you’re there.

You can keep up to date with all my news on my web site blog page  or my Facebook page  which is where you can also find details of my courses with    Writers' Holiday  or Relax and Write

What's in A Name with Kate Walker

Last time I posted on here, I talked about the fact that I was celebrating my 65^th published title.  I even asked what sort of gift or other way of celebrating I could come up with to mark this occasion

It was supposed to be a ‘sky blue’ celebration. – which sounded lovely.,

But last weekend I was away on a break with some wonderful friends and they came up with a fabulous gift to mark this special milestone book and this was it:

A  scarf, printed with all the names of all the heroes and all the heroines in all my 65 books.  (There’s an extra one in there for me and my dh The Babe Magnet as well so that makes 67 names!) Someone went  to a lot of trouble to find them all and design this scarf with them on.

Isn’t it wonderful?

So now I’m reminded of one of the little things in my writing that I’m very proud of  - I’ve never repeated a hero or a heroine’s name  in any of my stories. Sometimes it’s be  difficult, sometimes downright hard – but so far I’ve always managed it.  It helps me to feel that I’m writing about someone new, someone whose story I haven’t told – if they have a name I haven’t used before.

So now I’m on my 66^th book. The revisions  (tweaks) my editor asked for are just about done and I’m planning the  follow up – hopefully the 67^th. I already have names for the hero and heroine of the 66^th – they’re  Imogen and Raoul. And the follow up  already has the names in place as  these 2 characters appear in the 66^th – so they are Ciara and  - well,  her hero’s name started out being Aidan,  but it just wouldn’t work.  Even though he’s meant to be Irish – or part Irish – the name just wouldn’t ‘gel’.   

Then I realised why. Back in 1999  - and almost forgotten – I had a hero called Aidan. He appeared in a book called The Groom's Revenge.  And I’d already told his story – so I needed a new 

name.  Somehow when I looked at this name and just moved letters around a bit I found a new name that worked – Adnan. And that felt just right. But it changed ‘Aidan’ completely and the differences altered the story – for the better, I think!

So Adnan he is and I’ll be telling his story next just as soon as I’ve sent Imogen and Raoul’s story off to my editor.

 

And after that? I don’t know? I’ll have to think of a new pair of names for book 68!!   Do you have any ideas? What sort  names do you like for a hero   or a heroine?  Do you have any suggestions that might inspire me? If I use your suggestions I’ll let you know and maybe share a copy of the book with you . . .when I get it done!

You can find further details on all of these books over on my web site.

Meanwhile the 65th title Indebted to Moreno is in the shops now.

In the meantime, all  up to date news will be posted on my blog  or my Facebook page.

A Sky Blue Anniversary! with Kate Walker (and giveaway)

I  have a song that keeps going round in my head  this month – it’s that Beatles'  classic

‘Will you still need me,

Will you still feed me

When I’m  64’.

But in my case, I have a personal version which goes:

Will you still need me,
Will you still READ me

When I’m 65!

That’s because my latest novel – which is out on the shelves right now, Indebted to Moreno is my 65^th published title!   

No I can ‘t quite believe it either. People keep asking me how I got to this  milestone and the only answer I can come up with is ‘one word at a time.’ Oh – and to say that – obviously – I started writing very young.  

The 65^th anniversary is a bit of a strange one – almost a non event, in wedding anniversary terms. It doesn’t really have a real symbolic name – apparently it’s called the ‘sky-blue anniversary.’ That could cause problems when trying to choose a gift! And when it comes to marking publishing milestones, it’s  not really noted either.  I got a silver pin for my 25 th book, (Wife For a Day) a gold one for my 50 ^th (The Sicilian’s Red-Hot Revenge)  and now I need to wait – and write – until I hit the magical #75 before the next official award.  I’ve already started on that – I sent in what I hope will be my 66^th title last week and I’m started on the potential 67^th.

But 75 does seem a long way away! So I’m going to celebrate this 65^th title   anyway – and  when(if) I get to that 75^th  we’ll have a really big celebration!

So I’ve been looking at the stocks of my backlist books I still have available and I’m going to share these with my readers to mark the publication of Indebted to Moreno. Some of them have already been given out – but I’m also offering a small giveaway here to mark this important book. Well, it’s important to me!

So here’s a little puzzle for you – if the 65th is the ‘sky-blue anniversary’  - what would you think would be a suitable gift for someone who was celebrating that big event?  I have  a choice of these books to giveaway  for the best suggestions  - well, the ones that Charlie the Maine Coon and Ruby his little black and white sister cat  - pick out from the names in the comments. So put your suggestion in the comments  - and add the title of the book you’d choose if you win – and see if Charlie and Ruby can help you celebrate along with me.

You can choose from:

The Devil and Miss Jones

Destined for the Desert King

Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride

Konstantos Marriage Demand

A Question of Honour

Olivero’s Outrageous Proposal

The Greek Tycoon’s Unwilling Bride

Cordero’s Forced Bride

Bedded By The Greek Billionaire

Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife

Kept for Her  Baby

A  Throne for the Taking

You can find further details on all of these books over on my web site.

Meanwhile the 65^th title Indebted to Moreno is in the shops now. Sorry, but this one is not included in the special giveaway – not this time. But perhaps when I reach that magical 75^th!!

In the meantime, any other celebrations will be posted on my blog or my Facebook page. 


EDITED TO ADD WINNERS:


I'm in a happy mood with celebrating  - and I just had a bit more good news this morning too  so Charlie and Ruby are happy  to pick winner(s)  - and they've picked -   ALL 4  OF YOU  who commented!!  

So  Debby -  A copy of The Devil and Miss Jones
Laney - The Konstantos Marriage Demand
Denise . . .????  Can you let me know your choice of book.

and Mary  - I'll replace that copy of Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride!

Pleae email me katewalker @ ntlworld.com with your postal address 

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. 

Notes and Notebooks - with Kate Walker

I went into town yesterday. I had bills to pay, food to buy, parcels to post . . .

(I'm sending out copies of my new book, Indebted to Moreno to reviewers to read.) 

I also went into WHSmith in the precinct and of course now they are starting with the ‘Back To School’ specials and stationery promotions are everywhere.They also had a stationery sale. For me, a stationery sale is a worse temptation than the serpent in the garden of Eden.

I love notebooks. They always hold such infinite possibilities.

Just think of all the amazing words, the wonderful stories that can be written in those pristine pages. The memories and images recorded for posterity . . .

And some of them at 75% off. I was so, so tempted . . .

But . . . errr - I don't need any notebooks I have notebooks. I have a practical ring file pad that sits beside my keyboard where I scribble notes to myself as I work so that I don’t forget important ideas.

I have a handbag notebook for ideas that strike me when I'm out and about.

I have beautiful notebooks that my friends and family have given me. Notebooks so lovely that I don't dare to sully them with my scribbles. They paralyse me - but I love them.

So why do the really important notes - the ones that come in a flash of inspiration and mark points on which the plot of my book, the development of character, the intensity of emotion always turn so importantly, end up on the tattiest piece of paper, along with yesterday's shopping list?

I recently went to Wales, to teach a course at Fishguard Writers’ Holiday and there not one but two of my friends gave me the most  gorgeous notebooks – and  files . . . I am sitting at my desk looking at them now – and I have resolved not to put them away carefully  but  to use them right now. In fact I’ve actually just pulled one right next to me, marked the first page with the  working title of the new book I’m working on – and  I will be making notes.  On this new book? Er – well, no – I have lots of notes for this one – they’re all on the usual tatty pieces of paper scattered over my desk.

But the notes for the second book in the  series – I’m writing a duet of linked books about two sisters – they will go into this lovely new notebook, honest – just as soon as I can make myself use those lovely new pristine pages!

My latest Modern Romance/Harlequin Presents was Destined For The Desert King, which was published in December 2015.

A new title, Indebted to Moreno, will be published at the end of September this year - and if you missed A Throne For The Taking the first time around, that will be reprinted in the 3-in-1 By Request Collection: Claiming His Princess in August 2016.

I've just been sent a copy of my brand-new Harlequin Presents cover for Indebted for Moreno - so I can share it with you here (the UK one hasn't appeared yet).

Visit Kate Walker's website and blog for up to date news; or find her Facebook page here.

Celebrating with the Queen by Kate Walker

 As  you probably know, here in the UK there have been extended celebrations for   the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II.

 Because she has both an actual, personal birthday ( 21 April 1926)  and an 'official birthday' this weekend, these celebrations have  gone on for rather a long time. But after the  special service  of thanksgiviing, the Trooping of the Colour and the official 'street parties' this weekend I think that most of the official celebrations are  now complete. But these celebrations and  all the programmes looking back at the past 90 years  made me wonder just how many Harlequin/Mills and Boon  romances had been published in that time - which set me looking at the  past covers and the way they've changed. If you've seen either The Art Of Romance or the brand-new Mills and Boon Colouring book, you'll  be able to find lots more of these  - and as I'm short  of space here I thought I'd just  select one cover from each decade to  illustrate that period - so  here  you are - Ninety years - nine decades   of romance novels so I thought I'd share with you a  cover from a best selling author of each decade:
1920s   The Fortune Hunters by C.N. & A.M. Williamson



1930s - Nobody Asked Me by the great Mary Burchell
Ida Cook (24 August 1904 – 22 December 1986) was a British campaigner for Jewish refugees and a romance novelist as Mary Burchell.
Ida Cook and her sister Mary Louise Cook (1901–1991) rescued Jews from the Nazis during the 1930s. The sisters helped 29 people escape, funded mainly by Ida's writing.   Ida Cook's story  was  written in  Safe Passage in 2008.

I actually have a copy of Nobody Asked Me in my 'antique' Mills & Boon Collection - found in a junk shop long ago.

1940s - The Reluctant Orphan  Sara Seale




1950s    - Romance Goes Tenting by  Phyllis Matthewman



1960s Mystery at Butlins - another one I have an old copy of  - and it's a gift to someone who worked as a 'Redcoat' at Butlins, signed by all her friends!

1970s -  The Devil at Archangel  this one has a very special importance for me as it's a favourite book by a favorite author. I read this before I was ever published and know this was the sort of  romance I just wanted to write. Thankfully, Sara Craven is still  writing!






1980s - I hope you'll indulge me if I now pick some of my own covers. It's amazing to see the way that covers have changed even in the time I've been writing.  

So I start with my very first title ever - The Chalk Line - published in 1984

I can still remember how,m in the week before Christmas 1984, I  opened the very first ever box of my books  in published form. It was such an excitement -  and not even the fact that my hero (Leo Dane Vincent) had jet black hair  and this cover image  was of a very blond hero could spoil it!

In the 1990s  the covers went through  quite a few changes so that there were different designs -  perhaps the most interesting ones were the 'half a heart' design where  one book would have an image in the right hand side of a heart shape and another would have the left hand side - so that when put together they made a complete heart!

 So here we have two  covers to  show that - No Holding Back  1995 and Flirting with Danger 1996.

In 2000   there was one of my favourite covers ever - for Constantine's Revenge. I  think this must have been a very popular cover for everyone else as this book  has sold one of the most copies in all of my career - and it's still selling as  a 'Vintage Modern' in ebook form.

Another really successful title was The Konstantos Marriage  Demand - published in  2010. This book was  the title that won me a Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award for that year.


So  that brings  me right up to date. As I said, if you'd like to see some more classic vintage  cover artwork, check out   The Art of Romance 

or if you fancy a little relaxing 'art therapy'  there is the   other 'Art of
Romance '  - the Mills & Boon Colouring book.

Oh -  no - that's not quite 'right up to date.'  There is one more cover I want to share with you adn that's the brand-new cover for my  next book, coming  at the end of September.

I don't have the UK cover yet  - but I can share the USA Harlequin Presents cover with you for the first time now.

What do you think?

Here's to the next  decade  of covers and great books.

PS If you were wondering why the Queen has an 'official birthday' in June, it's supposed to be to ensure that there will be better weather for the celebrations - er . . . I think the hundreds of rain-soaked picnickers on the Mall will   think that that's not worked out too well!

But all the same - Happy 90th birthday to the Queen

If you want to see any more of my colovers, old and new - check out my web site   and for all the really new ones and up to date info  there's my blog  or my Facebook page

A Surfeit of Delights - Kate Walker

I’ve just had a birthday – well, it was five days ago to be exact  but the time in between then and

now seems to have disappeared in a flash. We’ve had the decorators in, the  old wardrobes in the bedroom ripped out, new ones put in, and today the final stage was completed as the carpet was put down and the room is  complete at last. (OK  well it will be once we’ve hung the curtains again – but that’s a minor point after all the upheaval!)

  So I’m only just finding time to breathe and take stock again after the bustle and  fun of the last week.  And if I’m honest I’ve only just managed to take stock of the lovely  birthday gifts I received. My friends know me so well –  there are books – and more books – and stationery.  A belated package arrived  today with not one by two beautiful notebooks in it  - believe me, I’ll  won’t need to find myself a new notebook  for – oh, at least until next birthday that’s for sure!

And then there’s the ‘book’ that’s sort of a combination of  a note books and a book. Did you know that Mills and Boon have brought out a colouring book with pages of classic Mills & Boon covers  to 

colour in? And of course if you have a colouring book then you have to have lovely coloured pencils to fill the pages with.

I admit that I’m a stationery addict but now I’m looking at this wonderful pile of notebooks, pencils,  colouring pages . .  and wondering where I start to use them. Are you like me that you  have to have a particular notebook for a particular  use – the one in my handbag, or the one by my bed? The one that I use to plan out a story -  that one has to be a big, A4 pad so I can make lots of fast rough  notes-  and there has to be a selection of freshly sharpened soft HB pencils ready to scribble down ideas as they come.

Then there are the books that I want to read. I want to read ALL of them. Well, yes you see that’s where having lovely understanding and generous family and friends is both a blessing and a curse. Because  they listen when I tell them what books I’d love to read  - and then they buy them for my birthday. And so I have all the new novels I’ve wanted to put on my TBR pile, a couple of fascinating books on Irish History (I’m going back into my family’s past and investigating the time when my mother was growing up in Dublin).  And a couple of fascinating biographies that I’d been dying to read, but they were too expensive to buy for myself . . . but not too expensive for a lovely birthday gift!

With the upheaval of the bedroom decorations I haven’t had a moment to sit and read in peace and quiet, but now that that’s completed I might actually have some time to settle down to these.  So which one do I start on first ? This  novel -  or the biography? The history . . .or perhaps some colouring in??

HAWORTH VILLAGE

Oh, no I forgot. I can’t quite start yet. This weekend I’m meeting up with a friend of 40 years  (I know – it doesn’t seem possible!) and we’re celebrating my birthday with a trip to Haworth where the Bronte sisters lived and wrote. That’ll be such fun as  she has never visited the village before and I’ll be showing her round. The trouble is that there is a new collection of the childhood writing of Charlotte Emily and Anne that I’ve been just longing to get my hands on and of course it will be for sale in the Parsonage bookshop . . . One more for the TBR pile.

I’m not complaining! It’s a wonderful selection of delights I have waiting for me. I can’t wait to dive in – but I want to read them all at once!

And – oh dear -  when I get back from Haworth, then my priority will be to finish planning out and writing up my next novel for which the deadline is fast approaching. .  .

Oh well, that’s a use  for one of these  lovely new notebooks. 

But which one shall  I use  this time?

My most recent book is Destined For The Desert King  -It was out in Harlequin Presents in December. The next title will be Indebted to Moreno - where my brooding Spanish hero meets up again with Rose  the girl who knocked his life off balance ten years ago. And that's out in October

The next one I'll be working out in detail just as soon as I can decide which notebook to use  for the ideas and scenes planning.

And I'm thrilled to be able to say that my other 2015 title,  Olivero's Outrageous Proposal has been re released in the Mills &; Boon collection The Best of 2015.  

All my most recent news and book details can be found on my web site here or on my personal blog:  and my Facebook page

Spring Organising . . . with Kate Walker

It’s Spring – at last.

Well,  that’s how it feels. It’s been so cold and wet and miserable recently , with Easter vanishing

in a downpour all through the holiday weekend. But now, at last it really seems as if the season is changing and Spring is actually starting to appear.

So that’s been changing the way I’ve been feeling. I’ve been doing crazy things like Spring Cleaning. That’s crazy because  we’ve  created so much upheaval that  at the moment it’s got worse before it will get better.  We had the hall, stair and landing decorated, and then our bedroom. Fine – it looks lovely  - but the bedroom. . .  Well it’s going to look lovely. The wallpaper is beautiful , just as I hoped it would be, but there’s just the wallpaper – and a bed in the room!  No furniture – we’re waiting for the new wardrobes to be built in – and no carpet – we’re waiting for the wardrobes to be built in before we can get the carpet land. And  no curtains – we’re waiting for them too!!

Oh well, I’m really looking forward to seeing it all finished and organised. And then I can  sort out all the clothes  and things that have been stored in the other rooms, causing absolute chaos while  we wait. It’s will look  wonderful . . . eventually.

It’s sort of a bit like the way I’m feeling with my writing  right now as well.  With the last book  done, accepted and scheduled – it will be my 65^th title, out in October with the title of Indebted to Moreno – I now have to plan a new book and get that written before the deadline in the summer. But this book needs to be a bit different. It’s the first part of a linked duet, two books that are connected in some way so that they come out as a mini series all their own. So I need  not one but two stories  - and right now that’s what’s making me feel like the stories are like the bedroom -  everything has been changed around, planned  and – hopefully – made wonderful and attractive – but nothing is yet in it’s proper place and really looking good. I have 2 heroines  -  half sisters (that’s one of the links)- two heroes – one for each heroine, obviously.  I have a complicated family situation – and a very important scene where the two sisters end up in a very tricky situation . . .   And then I have another

couple of very important scenes – one for each sister – where things are going to change yet again.

In the end, I hope it will all work out. And that it will all come together and make a great story -  two great stories.  But right now it feels like the  situation with the bedroom – lots of planning and reaming but nothing concrete really making things work out. I can’t wait to sit down and really write out these two stories – but I haven’t quite got everything in place just yet.

So perhaps it’s really lucky that this coming week is going to be really busy. I have a long drive to Winchester where I’m giving a talk on writing romance in the University there,. Then I’m heading for Oxford to meet up with a  lovely writer friend  - and  from there I’m heading to Cirencester and the Royal Agricultural University where I’m teaching a course for the weekend.  The good thing is that this course has the title  - Beginning Middle and End ,planning your romance novel.   That seems just perfect.  While I’m talking to my student about how to plan your novel, hopefully I’ll get some time and ideas to plan for mine.

 I’ll be back home next week – when it will just about be time for the wardrobes to be built into the bedroom, and  so very soon everything in the house will be back in order, refreshed and renewed and ready for the real arrival of Spring. And hopefully the same will happen with my new book(s) . This time away, and with all the planning and organising I’m doing for my course, I should be ready to  write my two connected stories. . .I can’t wait.

But in the meantime I’m going to enjoy thinking as I travel about the country in – hopefully – some lovely early spring weather.

My most recent book is Destined For The Desert King  -It was out in Harlequin Presents in December.  As I said, the next title will be Indebted to Moreno - where my brooding Spanish hero meets up again with Rose  the girl who knocked his life off balance ten years ago. And that's out in October

And I'm thrilled to be able to say that my other 2015 title,  Olivero's Outrageous Proposal has been re released in the Mills &; Boon collection The Best of 2015.  

All my most recent news and book details can be found on my web site here or on my personal blog:  and my Facebook page