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

Brighter Days - with Kate Walker

There’s a strange thing happening today – the sky which has been grey and cloudy and miserable  for – well, for ages it seems,  is suddenly blue with just  tiny bits of wispy clouds here and there. And there is a strange golden thing shining high up there in the blue   . . . and it’s warm! I’m told it’s called the sun!  I haven’t been outside when there was any warmth  -or any sun  shining in I don’t know how long.  Last week, the clocks changed here in the UK and it seems like at last spring is finally  on its way.

After a cold, difficult few weeks,  suddenly things look so much brighter.  And there has been  a good week on the books front that have added to the brightness too.  Sometimes I can go for weeks and weeks with no  sign of any books being delivered –then suddenly there’s a whole rush of them.   Believe me, even when the days are bleak and cold that can brighten things up instantly.

And it’s even more fun  when the deliver brings a collection of foreign editions, translations into different languages,  all with different cover designs. It always intrigues me how  differently the same books can be presented all over the world.

Here’s a few of the books I’ve had this week.
There was the Norwegian edition of The Twelve Month Mistress.  The USA edition was  sexy and sensual -  the Norwegian copy (in a 3 in 1 collection)  has this pretty, spring like edition.

One of my favourite  things about the Czech editions is the way my name change – I become Kate Walkerova!  Not quite as much fun as my fellow author (Historical) who becomes Elizabeth Rollsova  but it’s still fun. And the cover of this edition of  The Konstantos Marriage  Demand has just the right atmosphere (and the suggestion of sun and heat to make me sigh even on this milder spring day.)

There was a great delivery from Japan -  the new Japanese edition of The Devil and Miss Jones     and a fabulous Manga reprint of a book that came out  12 years ago – The Hostage Bride  - that now has a great new lease of life in this specialised art form.  Don’t you think the illustrations are just great  - and the cover is wonderful.

But perhaps the best delivery was the box full of my brand new title – A Throne For The Taking,   There’s nothing to beat that  moment when you open the parcel and first hold your  printed and bound book in your hands. If I open it and read the pages, I can remember writing those words – the  moments of inspiration and the places where an editor  gave her input! But it all seems so different now  a real book rather than a work in progress.  I only have the  Presents editions right now, but the M&B Modern  one will arrive soon.  And then in a few weeks it will be publication day.  Now there’s something  to brighten the days – no mater what the sun is doing!

I hope you have some brighter  days to make  you smile now.  And  I hope to brighten someone’s days today too.  I have to apologise that life  rather exploded which meant I never managed to pick the winners of my giveaway last month. I originally had one book to give away but because of the delay, I got Charlie to pick two winners – and they are Linda Henderson and Mary Kirkland.  Mary and Linda will you please email me ( kate AT kate-walker dot com) and I’ll sort out the books for you.

Kate’s latest hero is Alexei Sarova, a black sheep prince who has to face up to a new and unexpected destiny. A Throne For the Taking will be published in the Royal and Ruthless miniseries on May 21st in Presents and in June in UK

Other up to date news and details of all Kate’s books can be found on her web site and in her blog.

 

 

 

 

 

What I'm Doing On My 'Holidays' by Kate Walker

We used to get the essay topic every time – did you? On the first week back after the school holidays, usually around the end of August,  we used to have to write on the topic of ‘What I did on my holidays.’    It was supposed to be an easy subject, something we would all be Able to find something to say about.  Except that I didn’t.

As one of five daughters in a single parent family,  I  very rarely had anything to say about ‘what I did on my holidays’. There wasn’t the money to go anywhere.  We didn’t even have a car so outings were rare. I can’t say I minded  that much – I was perfectly happy  with a trip to the local library to select something I wanted to read,  and then a chance to sit and enjoy my books – in the garden if there was sunshine or curled up in a chair if it was raining.  But it did means that there wasn’t much I could write about when I got back to school:

Monday – I went to the library and  then  when I came home I read my books

Tuesday  - I went to the library and then  when I came home  I read my  books.

Wednesday . . .

It’s funny, looking back, because now that I’m a published writer, I often think of those long, lazy summer days – and all those books – and wish I could have them back again.  Specially now it’s the 1^st of July and the ‘holiday’ period has begun for me.

Most of the year I’m working-  and working means writing – and that means staying at home, at my desk, and creating new stories. But July –August is the time that I get out and about and travel  and meet people.   For a start, July is the Conference season. The  Romantic Novelists’ Association has their conference from  July 13th to 16^th. I’m going to be there, and I’m running a workshop on putting the emotion into  your romance novel.   Romance Writers of America have theirs July 25^th – 28^th. In the past, I’ve managed to do both, but this year I’d find that impossible. Because the other thing I  always have to do in July is to travel to  South  Wales – to Caerleon  near Newport  where I spend a week at the wonderful Writers’ Holiday there.   But Caerleon takes place  2^nd – 27^th July. So after the RNA Conference I’m home with just enough time to  do the laundry, dry it (well – I can hope. The way the weather has been this ‘summer’ it’s more likely to get drenched all over again while out on the line.) And then I’ll set off again. Most times I teach a course – this year it’s  A Complete Introduction to Writing Romance -  but that’s only for half the week (five one hour sessions). The rest of my time I can go to other  given by so many fascinating writers my DH is giving on this year) , talk about writing,  or even attend one of the other courses.   

Then it’s home -  do the laundry again!  My husband has a book signing for Yorkshire Day  and then we’ll snatch a breath before travelling to the seaside. But this still isn’t a holiday, I’m doing another workshop in Bridlington at the beginning of August. But at least I’ll get a moment or two to see the sea – I  love to watch the waves and feel deprived if I don’t get to see them.

Phew! After that, I think I manage to stay at home for a couple of weeks -  and by then it will be time to get back to my desk again.  It’s no wonder  I feel nostalgic for those ‘and when I came home, I read my books’  days.  I’d love to grab a week or two to do nothing but read.

Still, this hectic time  in July is always a lot of fun – and I get to meet up with so many friends, make new ones, and to talk about writing  (and the fantastic food at Caerleon helps a bit too!)

So that’s what’s going to be happening to me between now and the next time I post  on the first Sunday in August. What about you?  Do you have any interesting plans for your holidays? Are you going anywhere exciting  - or do you just plan to stay at home and read? (Guess which one I envy you for most!)

As I know that  people love to have new books to take with them on holiday (or to read at home) I’m offering a giveaway of one of my books – my most recent title The Devil and Miss Jones which is still for sale in paperback or ebooks. Or something from my back list if you've already read this one.   Just tell me what you’re up to this summer, and I’ll get Charlie the Maine Coon to pick the name of  a winner – when he comes in from the garden. It’s actually stopped raining today so he’s outside enjoying the sunshine.

And I’ll be back in August , when I’ll be glad to stay still for a while!

You can keep up with all my news on my web site  or the most up to date details are on my blog 

And the winner is Michele!
Michele please email kate AT kate-walker.com  with your postal address and I'll get your prize in the mail to you.  I'd email you direct but I can't find an address for you

Diamond Celebrations - with Kate Walker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Presents

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you all for sharing in my celebration.

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

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

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

Back to Normal . . .With Kate Walker

Last month I told you all about the chaos I was living in.  There was the work on the kitchen,  the wall knocked down, the new space crfeated, the new cupboards and fitments, the flooring ..  . It was all at perhaps the craziest stage this time last month and  the Babe Magnet and I were feeling very close to the end of our tether as we began to wonder whether it would ever be finished.

And that was before they started work on the bathroom.  . .No shower, no toilet upstairs, no water a lot of the time . .   and the noise, the dust, the mess. . . I was actually heard one morning saying was it too late to say that I'd changed my mind?

But today I sit here  - at last  - in peace and quiet. The kitchen is finished, the bathroom installed, the builders  have packed up therir tools and departed, the last skip of subbish has been taken away and we can pause, draw breath and look around us.  We've  actually been able to cook a meal again after weeks living on microwave food or salad. We've been enjoyin having showers and baths again  in the lovely new bathroom. The cats - Flora and Charlie - have decided that they're not leaving home after all. What started out looking like this  (left) now looks like this (right). (We were still in the middle of cleaning and sorting when I took that picture!)

Already the memories of the cold and dirt, the non stop noise are starting to fade, and all we can remember are some of the trickier bits -  as we sit back and enjoy the final result, the lovely new creation that is so much better than we ever anticipated. It's very much  - as someone once said - like giving birth when  you soon forget all the pain and struggle because the ened result is so worth it.

Or the way I feel when a new book is finally on the shelves in the bookshops, and no matter how much I had to struggle with it, no matter how many rewrites, revisions, tweaks there were to do, I always look at this brand new novel and think it's a lovely book - one of my favourites. No matter how much I may have cursed it, or muttered that it just wasn't working - that maybe I should scrap it -now I'm glad to see it  finally appear and I forget all about the  struggle to get it done.

So perhaps it's appropriate that just as I'm sitting back and enjoying the new kitchen, and the bathroom,  I'm also celebrating that other moment of feeling the achievement of having my latest brand new book out in Presents Extra this month.  The Devil and Miss Jones is published on April 4th - next week. And  that sort of feeling is happening with this one too.   I know I had  some revisions to do on this book. I know there were tweaks and tightenings and general reworking that my editor asked me to do - but as always I can't quite remember them.  The book is  complete,  it's out there ready for readers to try it.  My 'baby' is born and I just hope that everyone loves it as much as I do.

UK readers really seem to have enjoyed it - there are several 5 star reviews on the Mills & Boon web site   and one reader said :

This is a little gem - everything a Modern M&B should be which had me wanting to cheer at the end!
So I'm hoping that American readers will take my sexy Argentinian hero Diablo  and his Miss Jones to their hearts as much as the UK readers have.

And now that I have time to breathe  and to enjoy the publication date of this latest book, I'd like to celebrate with you - and I'm offering a signed copy of The Devil and Miss Jones as a giveway on this blog today.

Spring has sprung - at least it has here with the sun shining and Easter just around the corner so why don't you tell me what you're looking forward to for the holidays? Will you be having afamily get togther? Or eating far too many chocolate egss?  Putting bunches of daffodils all over the house? Or just curling up with a great book? (Which one is next on your TBR list?).

Let me know and I'll get Charlie the Maine Coon to pick a winner from everyone who comments.

Me? I'll be choosing colours and painting all the walls - and the ceilings - and the woodwork . . .


And Happy Easter to everyone when it comes - I hope you have a lovely time.

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


So - Charlie has picked a winner and the name he chose is - Chrisbails! Christine please email me kate at kate-walker.com with your postal addrss and I'll organise your prize for you. Everyone else - have a  fabulous Easter holiday.

Living in Chaos - Kate Walker

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

Why is  this?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

An Important Anniversary - Kate Walker

I didn’t know whether to write this post this month – in February  -or a little later – in  April. I’ll explain why later. But last night as I slept it snowed, thickly and heavily, and this morning when I woke the white stuff lay all around, making it so difficult -  almost impossible at first – to get out of the house or travel anywhere.  And  that snow reminded me that this month is an important anniversary for me.

My very first ever book -  The Chalk Line – was published back in 1984 – 28 years ago!  But then there was a gap before I had any more novels accepted.  My mother was terminally ill, I was ill myself -  several family crises meant that I didn’t get much chance to write and I got the ‘second book blues’, finding it hard to follow up my first success.   I wrote one book that didn’t work – tried another. And then, just as I was wondering if I was a one book wonder, I wrote a new story and this one worked.

OK, I had revisions – I even had to cut a lot of words (15,000 to be exact!) Because it was far far too long. But I n the end it was accepted and  Game of Hazard became my second romance  to be published.  And it came out in February 1986.  So that’s why I’m looking back at it today.

It was  my second novel but it was also my first in a couple of other important ways. Back in 1986,   Mills & Boon published 16 Romances  in a month . They didn’t separate them into Modern and Cherish(Romance) then – just brought them all out as Romances with a couple of Historical titles and a two Doctor Nurse Romance. And not all of those Romances went into paperback.   This is why Game of Hazard was such an important novel for me – it was the first one that went into paperback. The Chalk Line had never done that – it wasn’t published in paperback until 1991.  And every book published in  the UK didn’t go to America -  Game of Hazard was my very first romance ever to have that happen. The start of a very important stage in my career.

It was also published in Harlequin Romance not Presents.  Back then, I didn’t know very much about the international market  - there wasn’t anything like so much  information about the  way the books were published, and of course there was no internet, so it wasn’t as easy to find out about things.  I was just thrilled that my book was going to be published In America and thrilled to have a USA edition in my hands later that year.

Why did the snow make me think of the publication of Game of Hazard? Because the book starts on a day of heavy snow, with the heroine arriving back at her isolated cottage on the Yorkshire moors, to find that her  ginger cat, who had been inside when she left home that morning, is now waiting for her outside on the doorstep of her cottage. And that means that while she was away someone had come to her house and let themselves into her home.  So who is he (of course he’s the hero, Nick)  and what is he doing there?   I remember I got the idea for the opening because I had taken my son to nursery school and when I came home, in a whirling snowstorm, our big ginger cat was sitting on the doorstep just like the one in the story.

Looking back at Game of Hazard it makes me realise how much my life and  writing romances has changed in the 26 years since that February.  The little boy I took to school that morning  is now fully grown up and set up in his own home. The ginger cat is sadly long since passed over the Rainbow Bridge but his name was Rumpuss and our current ginger cat Charlie has  the full name of Charlie Rumpuss in   his honour.  And I  now have well over 50 titles published  since then.

The book itself – well the hero was no billionaire, no sheikh, but a TV reporter, and international correspondent  who had been kidnapped  and held hostage before he had escaped.  But he had left behind someone important  and when he had an accident in his car on that snowy day he lost his memory,  wiping that important memory from  his mind. I remember too that he also smoked! Something I’d never want my hero to do these days – and  I doubt if I’d ever get away with it.

The list of other authors published that month when Game of Hazard came out, now reads like a roll call of some of the greats of romance writing – Robyn Donald, the Late great Penny Jordan, Betty Neels,  Margaret Pargeter,  Margaret Way, Lindsay Armstrong  . . .  There are also names that I remember from the distant past who are only vague memories -  Katrina Britt,  Maura McGiveny,  Wynne May, Annabel Murray, Sandra K Rhoades . . . . I was so honoured as a new beginner to be listed amongst all those famous names.

It was a long time ago – but it was the start of something wonderful and special  - the real start of my international publishing career.  I was so excited to have my first book coming out in America, so thrilled to have a copy with  the Harlequin  logo on it as well as one with the Mills & Boon rose.

I could have marked this anniversary today – because Game of Hazard came out  first  in  hardback In February. Or  April when it appeared as my very first paperback. Or indeed in August which is when it first came out in Harlequin Romance.  But when I woke up this morning and saw the snow thick on the ground it reminded me how  the idea for this book had  come to me in a whirling snowstorm, and  made me think that today was the day to mark its publication.

Besides, when  April comes around I’ll have a  brand new  title – The Devil and Miss Jones – to tell you all about and that book is a very special on for me too. But more of that  later.

Do you remember any of those past stars of romance writing. Penny Jordan of course we sadly lost only recently, and Robyn Donald is still writing. But did you read any of the others?  What books by them do you remember?

Kate Walker’s The Return of the Stranger is still available  in  Modern Romance or Presents Extra.  Her next title is The Devil and Miss Jones which is coming in Presents Extra in April 2012. You can find out more details over on Kate's Web site – with all the most up to date news on her blog