Anniversaries!

What happens when you have your head down doing revisions is that Very Important Events tend to pass you by.

Back in February we celebrated my husband's birthday (and I didn't miss that!) because it's on a particular day and it was also my father's birthday for 81 years.  So it's a day I'm accustomed to celebrating.

But back in February, too, I just realized today -- two months after the fact -- was another anniversary of an event that basically changed my life.  In February 1985 my second book, Starstruck, was published!

Second book?

Well, yes, but the first one out of the gate. The first book, Dare to Trust, came along two months later. It was followed by the fourth book, Quicksilver Season, two months after that. And the third, To Tame a Wolf, and fifth, A Chance of Rainbows, came out in December the same year.

Thirty years ago!

How could I have forgotten?  Beats me.  It doesn't seem nearly that long -- and yet so much has happened since.

I've met terrific readers in person and via email from many parts of the world. I've made some wonderful author friends (Kate Walker, Anne Gracie, Maddy Hunter, Sophie Weston/Jenny Haddon, the late great Rose Marie Ferris, Michelle Reid, Linda Benjamin/Jessica Douglass, Peggy Nicholson, Antoinette Stockenberg and Pamela Bauer among others).  I've had the privilege of working with many terrific editors who have all done their best to make my books the best they can be.  In the publishing industry I've met artists, and art directors, marketing people, copy editors, models and photographers  -- all of whom have shared their expertise.

Beyond that, I discovered that writing books gave me the chance to learn about so many places and people, so many occupations and ways of life. Without writing, I daresay I would never have gone to bull-riding school!  I would never have learned how to build an 11-ton sandcastle or tend bar or be a veterinary technician or an architect.

If I'd gone to Australia and New Zealand, I still wouldn't have had the joy of a week at Robyn Donald's house with the creek running through it or have glimpsed the Blue Mountains through the fog with Anne Gracie, Barbara Hannay and Marion Lennox, swapping stories along the way.  I wouldn't have traveled along the Cote d'Azur with Jenny Haddon doing research, or trekked all over Europe (kids in tow) to write a book that mirrored our journey -- which we were on so I could write the book.

If life imitates art, art also imitates life.

Just this past week, I lifted my head from doing taxes (why have I never had a tax accountant hero or heroine, I wonder. Maybe art -- mine, at least -- can only be pushed so far!) and looked around for new ideas amid the old.  I dug through old magazines and prowled through new sites on the internet. I read articles and took long walks -- and rediscovered the joy of starting afresh.

It doesn't feel as if thirty years have gone by.  There are these new people on the horizon (new fictitious people as well real ones) I want to get to know.  There are new friendships and old that will intertwine and grow.

In the meantime, while I write, I will count my blessings -- and the joys and friends I've gained through writing books. Thank you for being among them!  You have made my life so much richer and more varied than I could ever have imagined!

Watch for Anne McAllister's next book, The Return of Antonides, in October.  No cover yet -- but she has sent in the art info and is crossing her fingers.

In the meantime, if you Last Year's Bride, as an ebook, or in the trade paperback duo Love Me, Always with Sara Mayberry's wonderful Make-Believe Wedding.

Keep your eyes open this fall, too, for the story of Cole's brother, Clint, who has come back to Montana -- and the life he thought he'd left for good.

The Friends I’ve Met Along the Way - Kate Walker

As some of you may already know, this year I’m celebrating 30 years as a published author. It’s really a rather special occasion – and one I’m not quite sure how I got here! I was a child author,

of course!  Born with a pen in my hand and graduating to a keyboard before I could walk!    People often ask me how I managed to write so many books (63 and one on my editor’s desk  if you count the romance fictions stories--  another 2 if you take into account the  ‘How To’ books.)

The answers to that one’s easy (well – easier to answer than to managed) I wrote these books one word at a time – and that’s how I’ll continue to do so while I still want to write and people still want to buy my books.

So, last month, I received a box full of my newest book – Olivero’s  Outrageous Proposal – and if you’re one of the ones who gets hold of a copy early through the Book Club you’ll have seen that it has a very special dedication to a very special friend of mine.  My dear friend Pat who  had been a vital part of my life for 35 years lost her battle with cancer last year.  She left a huge gap – one that I will never truly fill.  Pat was one  of the very few people who knew that I was writing when I was just aiming for publication - so she and another long-term friend Noelle  have very special

places in my heart both as a writer and  a woman. But  this made me think about other friends being a writer -  friends who are an unexpected bonus  as a result of this writing life.

Because romance books are so well known all over the world,  one of the surprises that writing for Harlequin brought me was meeting up with people who read my books –and/or wrote their own – from  so many different countries.  For example - he reason I’m on this blog is because of one of those  readers. Lee Hyat came to visit my brand new web site and told me how much she enjoyed my books –  that’s always a great start!  I think she wrote first because of Constantine's Revenge  - We’ve been friends ever since.  And now here I am writing on Lee’s web site!

Regular readers of my blog will know that Michelle Reid and Anne McAllister are  writer friends pf mine – writers whose books I’ve enjoyed and then met the authors and enjoyed being with them too.   Well, actually the list of authors I now count as friends has grown too long for me to list  here – I’d only forget someone. But I do have to  mention my ‘twins’ – Holly Jacobs and Donna Alward.  We didn’t know we were twins until we met at a RWA conference. (What do you mean you can’t have 3 twins – we can!)

There’s a special place in my friends list for people who have come to my courses to learn about writing romance. Some of them  I’ve met on line – Julie Cohen, Anna Louise Lucia  and Abby Green  were all people I’d chatted with in forums or on line writers classes and  Abby came to my course at Writers’ Holiday. Now they’re all published authors with thriving writing careers behind them.

And that’s another reason why friends have been on my mind, Tomorrow   I’ll be heading to Weetwood Hall  in Leeds (UK)  to run another course – this year’s Writing Retreat.  I’ll meet up with a bunch of people who were originally students but now are affectionately known as my ‘Stalkers’!  I’ve had the great thrill and privilege  to see some of my students progress from studying writing to being successful at it – the latest student to be published had been Rachael Thomas, brand new Harlequin  Presents author. She is the 14^th of my students who has gone on to be a published writer. 

So now I’m hoping  to see another one – perhaps one of this group in Leeds – become the 15^th!  There are a couple of people I have hopes may well make it soon (fingers crossed) and that being so I’ll be delighted to in traduced them to you over on my blog.  But in the meantime I’m looking forward to spending this weekend with them – and  meeting up with some I know as friends

already and getting to know newer friends better as the weekend progresses.

Friends are important. I knew that with my dear Pat and I lost her way too soon. So I’m grateful for all the other friends – writers, readers, students . . .  I’ve made as  a result of  this writing game!  So that’s why Olivero’s Outrageous Proposal is dedicated to Pat. 

Thank you to all my friends – and to the readers out there  - too many to list – who write to me and tell me you enjoy my books.  You’re an important part of my life even if we’ve never met. And I’m so glad you’re there.

What about you? Do you have one special friend or a gang of friends?  Are your friends all close to you – or, like mine, spread out all over the country – the world. Tell me about a special friend and I’ll get my furry friend – Charlie the Maine Coon  - to pick out one comment so that you can give your friend a present of a  Kate Walker backlist book.

The 63rd book of mine  Olivero's Outrageous Proposal will be out at the end of March /early April.

And the 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance is now available on Kindle. (I hope to have some extra news about that 12 Point Guide - for people who prefer print books - very soon. Watch my blog for that.)

You can catch up with all of Kate's news on her website  or on her blog.  You can also find her on her author page on Facebook.

Birthdays and Celebrations by Kate Walker

It’s my birthday this week. On Friday to be precise. It’s quite a momentous birthday, really. One of those milestones that make you stop and think and wonder just how did I get here? It’s a strange feeling, because life just comes along day by day, and it’s only when you stop and look back that you realise there’s been a l-o-n-g journey from A to . . .well, I hope it’s not quite Z! More like M or perhaps Q?

Anyway, because I have a birthday coming up, people keep asking me what I’d like as a gift – and I’m not very good at answering that. I’m really lucky in that there isn’t really anything I want and there certainly isn’t very much that I need. There are always books I’d love to read of course – but I have a pile of those – and I always say I’d need a voucher for some time to read them in if I’m to make even a dent in my TBR mountain. I love jewellery – but how many pairs of earrings can one person wear at one time? It’s the same with perfume. One of the things about sitting at a desk in my home writing romances is that I don’t really wear much makeup, perfume or posh clothes to work these days. So there’s plenty still in my dressing table drawers. Most days I don’t even wear shoes so there’s something else that’s not on my gift list.

But of course I want to celebrate. I believe we should grab at the good things that life sends us and mark them and enjoy them while we have them. There’s too much darkness and pain and sorrow as it is - the papers are full of it. So we should mark the special days as they come along even if we don’t quite feel like it.

I’m actually much better at other people’s birthdays. I love planning for them, thinking about them, hunting down just the right gift – the perfect card. A very special friend of mine and a wonderful romance author, Michelle Reid, who also writes for Presents, has her birthday tomorrow (people think that we’re sisters, our birthdays are that close) and I’ve loved finding something I know she’ll enjoy, wrapping, it, writing the card, posting it. I suspect that this preference I have for other people’s celebrations has something to do with the reasons why I’m a writer. I love getting inside people’s heads and thinking what will be just right for them. What will make them specially happy. Some people complain that they find choosing gifts difficult – not me. Perhaps that’s why I create my own people and make up their stories – because then I can create the special gifts that mean so much between the two characters.

But gifts don’t have to be things. What I’m most looking forward to for this birthday is time. Time spent with friends – I’m having lunch with a long term friend on Thursday, then a family meal and get-together on Friday. Next week there’s a dinner with some writing friends and then I’m heading for Michelle Reid’s lovely cottage in the Lake District to share our birthday celebrations together. If along with that I can just have an acceptance for my latest book, and a lot of inspiration for the new one then I’ll be happy.

Actually, I have all the ideas I need for the next novel so that’s a bonus. It’s part of a special project that means I know exactly what I’m doing for this one – that’s a real birthday gift in itself. So, family time, friends, get-togethers, new projects to anticipate. . . . fingers crossed on that acceptance. If my editor could just let me know that the revisions on the last story worked, then it will make my week. Who needs gifts?But then again, a small parcel or two to open would be the icing on the cake . .

. . . Cake! I forgot about birthday cake!

Anyway, as people who know me know already, when I’m celebrating, I love to share so this week over on my blog I’ll be giving away some books to celebrate my birthday – starting right here and now. So why don’t you post a comment? Let me know how you’ll be celebrating your birthday this year – or is there a really special gift that you’d just love to receive? Come and tell me about it and I can’t promise I’ll be able to deliver on that – but I will give away a signed copy of one of my backlist books when I can get Sid the Cat to pick a winner from everyone who posts.



Kate’s latest USA title is The Konstantos Marriage Demand, still available in Presents Extra. In the UK, her By Request 3 in 1 volume Claimed by The Sicilian contains reprints of three of her best-selling titles – The Sicilian’s Wife, Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Wife, and he Sicilian’s Red-Hot Revenge.

You can find all the details on Kate’s website and the most up to date stuff is on her blog.

And the winner(s) are (I knew I shouldn't let Sid choose when he's hungry!)LOIS and HOSTAnd there are two special extra prizes as birthday gifts for my fellow May birthday readers - RACHIE G and PATTI

Check out the Comments section to see how to claim your prize

London Calling - Christina Hollis

I’ve just spent 363 days chained to my computer. Then last week, I escaped! I left my home in the countryside, and went up to London. This was a big deal for me. It was the first time I’d spent away from home, alone, in seventeen years. Kate Walker and Michelle Reid were hosting a dinner for the Harlequin Mills and Boon ‘Presents’ authors, so it was a very special appointment. I’d met Kate, Jacqueline Baird and Abby Green last year, at my first Mills and Boon event. This time I got to chat with India Grey and Natalie Rivers, too. Next day, there was a lunch organised by the Association of Mills and Boon authors. That was followed by a reception where, among other excitements, Kate Walker received her commemorative gold brooch for the fantastic achievement of writing fifty romances.

Meeting up like this is a great opportunity to socialise and swap experiences. Writing romance is the best job in the world, but it’s a solitary affair. It’s good to know that you’re not alone in sharing the pleasures and pitfalls of sitting behind a computer screen all day. We keep in touch regularly via e-mail, but there’s no substitute for a face-to-face chat. Especially when it comes complete with good food and a glass of wine!

If you’d like to read more about my first trip to London alone, I’ll be posting on my blog when I get the chance. Find it on my website, http://www.christinahollis.com/, by clicking on the link to ‘Christina’s blog’