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.

Favourite Places - Kate Walker

A week from today I’ll be packing my bags, ready to head for the writing weekend where I’m teaching a course from Friday. I can’t wait. Because not only will I get to meet interesting new people - people who want to learn about writing are always intriguing – and catch up with some I already know, but also I get to visit one of my favourite places in the world. That’s because the Writers’ and Artists’ Weekend is held in Fishguard in the beautiful country of Wales which has some special memories - and one particular very special memory for me.

Wales has always held a very special place in my heart – and, really, it doesn’t seem to matter which part of the lovely country I visit. When I was a child, my family and I used to travel to the Isle of Anglesey in summer and stay in a tiny place called Treaddur Bay. Apparently this wasn't the first place I ever stayed in Wales. Before Anglesey, we used to stay in Nefyn, also in North West Wales, but I was only in my pram then so I don't remember too much about it!

But I do remember Treaddur Bay. My aunt used to come over from Ireland - the Irish ferry docked at Holyhead, just down the road, and we would all get together for a family holiday. It was a perfect place for my sort of holiday – a wide, sandy beach, sand dunes to play adventure games in, the sea for swimming – if you were brave and immune to the cold. And there were outings to places like the South Stack Lighthouse where –once you’d got over the terrifying swaying bridge high over the sea – you could see puffins and other birds and occasionally dolphins out in the waves.

When I was choosing a university to study at, some kind man told my mother that if he had a daughter who wanted to be a librarian – which I did at the time – he would make sure she went to University College of Wales Aberystwyth where they had just started to very first Bachelor of Librarianship degree. I went to ‘Aber’ for an interview and fell in love - twice. First with the place. I would work my hardest, I vowed, if only I would get a chance to study there in the wonderful ‘Old College’ building by the sea. There was another wide, curving beach – two of them actually, more dolphins in the sea, (They would occasionally come and swim with you if you were brave enough to venture into the freezing waves) and an old ruined castle looking out over the water.

And that second time I fell in love? Well, I had to wait two and a half years for that but it was in Aberystwyth, one cold and very wet October night that I met my husband. Someone I already knew from the drama group brought a gang of friends round for a cup of coffee and one of them was the man who became my husband and is known worldwide as the Babe Magnet. So our relationship is very much tied up with connections to and memories of Wales.

Connections that were renewed when we started working with Caerleon Writing Holidays based in Newport near Cardiff. The Babe Magnet had written a How To book on Writing and Publishing Poetry and he was asked to run a course on poetry at Caerleon. Could I come along too, we asked. When they discovered that I wrote for Harlequin, they asked me to give a ‘main’ talk on the subject. So back we went to Wales – and I fell in love all over again. With Caerleon village, with Writers’ Holidays as an event - and with Anne and Gerry Hobbs. The warm-hearted, generous, welcoming people who run the event for writers, with writers, with no financial support whatsoever.

Caerleon gets you addicted. Once you’ve been there, you want to go back – again and again. The Magnet and I have given lectures, taught courses, and sometimes we’ve just paid our money and joined in the event because we can’t bear to stay away. This year we’re going back again – can’t wait. I’m teaching  a five part course on the 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance and the Babe Magnet is talking about researching his new books on Conan Doyle, Jane Austen and other writers’  criminal relatives. We’ll meet up with old friends, make new ones – you always make friends at Caerleon.

Caerleon itself is lovely with the ancient Roman Fortress and its supposed links with King Arthur. Some even think that it might have been the site of Camelot. But there's another attraction not too far away that always draws us.  Hay-on-Wye has become the world's largest second-hand and antiquarian book centre. Every year we visit, I arrive with lists of books to look for from friends and family - and I usually leave with - er - one or two for myself. The Magnet has been known to fill the boot of the car!

And this Writing Weekend I’m heading for next week? Well that follows on from Caerleon really. Anne and Gerry also run Writers’ and Artists’ weekends in Fishguard, a little further up the coast from Caerleon, where the ferries run to Rosslare in Ireland and where Dylan Thomas' famous tale 'Under Milk Wood' was filmed starring Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Peter O'Toole.  Some of years ago Gerry asked me to create and Advanced Writing Romance course there at their at the Writers’ and Artists’ Weekend (from 15th – 17th February) and this course has been sold out for months.  From our first visit to Fishguard we fell in love with another part of Wales, its people, the scenery – and of course the sea. It’s a long journey to get there – around 300 miles – but we don’t care. We’re looking forward to being there. And to being in Caerleon in the summer.

After all, we have so many wonderful memories tied up with that country. If we hadn’t both decided to study at in Wales all those years ago we might never have met and our stories would have taken very different paths.

It doesn’t bear thinking of. So we have a lot to thank Wales for – and it’s no wonder we’re both looking forward to going back again – and again . . .

Details of both the Fishguard weekends and Writers’ Holidays – and any other courses/events I’m running can be found on the Events page of my web site.

Kate’s new title –A Throne For The Taking- will be out in Mills & Boon Modern and Harlequin Presents in June. In the meantime, several of her older titles have been reissued in the M&B Vintage or Harlequin Treasury as ebooks and she’s thrilled to find that 14 years after it was first published, The Groom’s Revenge is in the Top 10 Bestsellers of these Vintage ebooks

For the most up to date news and details visit her web site or her blog.

My Self-Indulgent Week by Kate Walker

Winter is definitely here. The  clocks have gone back, the evenings are closing in so early – and  there are even  reports  this weekend of snow piling up in several places in the UK. I know it’s nothing like the appalling weather that has savaged  New York and other places recently  - but it’s a real sign that the seasons are changing.  (My thoughts go out to everyone affected by the terrible storm ‘Sandy’. I’ve watched the news reports  with shock and  deep concern and I hope that  the efforts to rebuild and repair  make things so much easier soon.  To anyone who lost loved ones or were injured in those appalling days, my deepest sympathies to you all. )

But here the cold weather is really rather a welcome event. I have just had my latest book accepted after working on revisions, and now I can say that A Throne For The Taking is scheduled for release in June 2013.  So I’ve ‘rewarded’ myself with a bit of time  off and a long, indulgent week of catching up on the reading  I  neglected while I had to concentrate on those revisions. And the  cold weather hasn’t worried me as I’ve curled up indoors – beside the fire, with a cat on my lap most days with my Kindle, and a few ‘real’ print books, and  escaped into  some imaginary worlds that other authors have created. It could rain (it’s certainly done that!)  hail, sleet – luckily there hasn’t actually been any snow -  and I wouldn’t care. I was perfectly happy.

What have I been reading? Well, one thing was that I made myself  a promise that I would try and work my way through my TBR pile – alternating romance with other books . I didn’t have to think about the next book of my own, not for this week – and I didn’t have to worry that very different reads would affect my romance style – so I could grab hold of whatever I wanted and go for it – here’s the result

Romances:

Doukakis’s Apprentice by Sarah Morgan – I’ve been meaning to read this since before it was nominated  - and then won – the RITA this year. Now I’ve finished it – well, I’m not surprised it won!

The Darkest of Secrets and The Husband She Never Knew by Kate Hewitt – two linked books about the Tannous brothers

Others:

One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf – a tense story centring round the day when an armed man goes into the local school. Told from many different viewpoints.  Gripping

Pushing the Limits – Katie McGarry.  Before I started to write full time, I was a children’s librarian  and I had a special interest in Young Adult books.  I would have bought this for the library like a shot  and I really enjoyed reading it  for myself.   Some of the best fiction is being written  in YA novels these days and this is a great example.

The Lies We Told by Diane Chamberlain – I’ve really enjoyed the novels by Diane Chamberlain that I’ve read – again, like One Breath Away, they’re written from multiple viewpoints.  This one wasn’t one of my favourites, but I still have another couple of her titles on my TBR list  and I’m looking forward to those.

While My Sister Sleeps by Barbara Delinsky. This one was a present from my son for my birthday and I’ve  only just got round to reading it.   This was a compelling and emotional book  that sometimes dealing with some difficult issues and some complicated family relationships. But it was none the less enjoyable for all that. 

And finally – just for pure indulgence – the reissues of some of the 90s Modern ‘Vintage’ titles by Mills & Boon (Treasury in Harlequin) meant that I could indulge myself and go back and reread some of my ‘oldie’ favourites – Gold Ring of Betrayal and Passionate Scandal by Michelle Reid . The Second  Mrs Adams by Sandra Marton. And – OK, I’ll admit it, a little touch of nostalgia made me go back and reread a couple of my own ‘Vintage’ titles  - The Groom’s Revenge. Hers For a Night and The Unexpected Child.  It’s been so long since I read those that it’s almost like trying a new author!

So that’s what I’ve been enjoying this past week.  It’s been a real indulgence and a lot of fun. And escaping into these other story-tellers’ world has been a joy, and an inspiration – filling up the ‘well’ of my imagination so that I’m ready to look at my own next story with more inspiration and  interest than before.  And the great thing is that now with my TBR pile nicely reduced, I can indulge myself even further by finding some  new titles to add to it!

What about you? Have you read any  of these?  Did you enjoy them?  Or what  books have you tried and enjoyed lately ? What’s on your TBR list?  What would you recommend I should add to mine?

 

Kate's  really pleased to know that five of her earlier titles have been republished as eBooks in the new Mills & Boon Vintage (90s) collection. She’s not too sure about being described as ‘Vintage’. But they’re also republished in the Harlequin Treasury and she can cope with being a treasure!

 

You can find out more about Kate Walker, her books and her latest news over on her web site and her blog.