Ch-ch- changes with Kate Walker

Sometimes life just goes along as it always has – and sometimes things happen that are unexpected.  New things, different things happen, old – often loved things disappear and

for a while you can feel as if it’s never going to  settle down.

Summer – specially the month of July  - always seemed to be such a settled – and full month.  I had the Romantic Novelists’ Association Conference at the start of the month.   Then we would travel to Wales to teach at the fabulous Writers’ Holiday – add in a wedding anniversary to celebrate  and life was pretty full.     But this year, as I got to look at July,  it seemed so much quieter.

There is still the RNA Conference – I’m in the middle of packing and heading out for that as soon as I finish this post.  And (thank heaven!) there is still our wedding anniversary.  Officially it’s a ‘Sapphire’ anniversary, apparently – I know it’s a l-o-n-g time. (If you look up that ‘sapphire  anniversary it’s 45 years!! )  Sadly, the summer   Writers’  Holiday is now no  longer in existence so at first it seemed that there would be a long stretch of July that was going to be empty – calmer, but a hole in the year it seemed.

Until my DH wrote a book (with a friend who is an ex Met Detective )  called  The Crime Writers’ Casebook and he and the detective have been asked to do talks on this book in so many places. So after the conference  we’ll be heading to a couple of those talks. Not in Wales, but Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.  And  the publisher of that book asked me if   he could publish the 12 Point Guide to

Writing Romance  which I’ve been self-publishing for a while.  That has worked well, but it has been tricky for some people to get hold of it – so I’ve worked with Emerald publishing and the new edition is coming out this month. I decided that this was a really good time to look at the original – which, amazingly,  came out  over ten years ago.  There was a lot of revising and updating that needed doing – so  I wanted that done before the new edition appeared.  

It’s all been done now and the new, revised and updated edition  has just been published.  It  will be in paperback and ebook format  - I just checked on Amazon  and they finally have it up on their site.  So one of the new things this month – just yesterday in fact – was an exciting book box delivery of the new edition.  I was thrilled to hold it in my hand  - it seems to be thicker and fuller – or perhaps that’s just the better paper and the binding.

I shall be running a few celebration posts on Facebook and my blog – so if you’re a writer who hopes to be published in romance, look out for those – there should be the chance of some giveaways.

Now I’m heading off to the RNA Conference. Tonight I’m  talking at Leeds Library on  a panel discussing  the Bronte Sisters and

Romance.  This is because of a book I wrote back in 2011  called The Return of The Stranger which was  a reworking of Wuthering Heights.  This has just come out in a new republished ebook format with a brand new cover   to match with the ones that Harlequin UK has recently updated.

See -    nothing stays the same.    There are always changes to look out for.

Another change coming up will be  soon - hopefully - when I get my web site revised and brought up to date. You can find the latest news on my blog and my Facebook page too.  And if you're interested in winning a  new copy of the 12 Point Guide  keep your eyes on those places too.

Sometimes life just goes along as it always has – and sometimes things happen that are

unexpected.  New things, different things happen, old – often loved things disappear and for a while you can feel as if it’s never going to  settle down.

Summer – specially the month of July  - always seemed to be such a settled – and full month.  I had the Romantic Novelists’ Association Conference at the start of the month.   Then we would travel to Wales to teach at the fabulous Writers’ Holiday – add in a wedding anniversary to celebrate  and life was pretty full.     But this year, as I got to look at July,  it seemed so much quieter.

There is still the RNA Conference – I’m in the middle of packing and heading out for that as soon as I finish this post.  And (thank heaven!) there is still our wedding anniversary.  Officially it’s a ‘Sapphire’ anniversary, apparently – I know it’s a l-o-n-g time. (If you look up that ‘sapphire  anniversary it’s 45 years!! )  Sadly, the summer   Writers’  Holiday is now no  longer in existence so at first it seemed that there would be a long stretch of July that was going to be empty – calmer, but a hole in the year it seemed.

Until my DH wrote a book (with a friend who is an ex Met Detective )  called  The Crime Writers’ Casebook and he and the detective have been asked to do talks on this book in so many places. So after the conference  we’ll be heading to a couple of those talks. Not in Wales, but Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.  And  the publisher of that book asked me if   he could published the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance  which I’ve been self-publishing for a while.  That has worked well, but it has been tricky for some people to get hold of it – so I’ve worked with Emerald publishing and the new edition is coming out this month. I decided that this was a really good time to look at the original – which, amazingly,  came out  over ten years ago.  There was a lot of revising and updating that needed doing – so  I wanted that done before the new edition appeared. 

It’s all been done now and the new, revised and updated edition  has just been published.  It  will be in paperback and ebook format  - I just checked on Amazon  and they finally have it up on their site.  So one of the new things thins month – just yesterday in fact – was an exciting book box delivery of the new edition.  I was thrilled to hold it in my hand  - it seems to be thicker and fuller – or perhaps that’s just the better paper and the binding.

I shall be running a few celebration posts on Facebook and my blog – so if you’re a writer who hopes to be published in romance, look out for those – there should be the chance of some giveaways.

Now I’m heading off to the RNA Conference. Tonight I’m  talking at Leeds Library on  a panel discussing  the Bronte Sisters and Romance.  This is because of a book I wrote back in 2011  which was  a reworking of Wuthering Heights.  This has just come out in a new republished ebook format with a brand new cover   to match with the ones that Harlequin UK has recently updated.

See -    nothing stays the same.    There are always changes to look out for.

Kate Walker - Advent Calendars

Happy December!

It’s the first of December – hard to believe because I’m sure that when I last blinked we were actually enjoying some sun shine in the last days of summer. But it’s  the first day of December and I’m  writing my last blog of the year – so the countdown to 2014 has started!

First there is the count down to the holiday season  - whichever one you’ll be celebrating. Here, we’re counting down to Christmas and I’ve just come back from a weekend away in York  where they have a special  St Nicholas Fayre at the weekends between now and the big day. It was packed! But I did manage to get some special gifts to wrap and put away until December 25^th.

These days I don’t have to tell my son that Santa/Father Christmas has brought everything  he finds under the Christmas tree – not do I have to get him to write a letter to Santra to say what he’d  like to find there. He’s in his own home with his partner now so they do things their way.  But one tradition I know he keeps up – as do I – is the opening of the special advent calendar one day at a time as the days of December go by.

We’ve always had an Advent Calendar . Always opened one little door each day to find out what is hidden behind the numbers 1-24 on the brightly coloured sheet. In the early days of The Offspring’s life, it was a help to show him how it was getting closer to Christmas – but we weren’t there yet.  Then it was just for fun, but we would always  have a special moment together as he opened the ‘door’  after we’d first guessed what would be hidden behind it.  We even had a special Advent Calendar for the cats  - one sent by a special friend (to me and to the cats) Anne McAllister.  Sadly there is only one cat around to see the countdown these days since we lost

 beautiful Flora to cancer last month, but Charlie will be happy to have sole access to the cat treats in the little felt pockets.

My personal Advent Calendar also comes from Anne – in the form of a lovely animated design she sends me from the Jacquie Lawson Site and I really look forward to opening it every morning and seeing what  delightful creation is there to enjoy.

Another Advent Calendar tradition  I’ve always had is  the one that I’ve opened on my blog each year. In the countdown to Christmas I ask visitors to the blog to come along and tell me about their preparations, or  their hopes, their plans for the holiday period over the next 24 days.  Every day I  ask a question – one that’s so easy to answer, and there’s no right or wrong,  you just tell me a bit more about yourselves.   And every day Charlie the  Maine coon picks and answer from one of the contributors  and the chosen person wins a signed book  from my backlist – it might be an older title. Sometimes it’s a 3 in 1 anthology where my book has been published along with a couple of others – I don’t quite  know what title I have in my backlist titles collection these days. I have to go and sort things out  before I can announce what books I’m offering.

But there will be 24 of them – and you can be in with a chance to winning one.

So because it’s  my day to blog on Tote Bags today, I’m launching my Advent Calendar here today – and today’s book is the first one I grabbed when I opened my prizes box this afternoon –

So you can win a copy of The Return of The Stranger –

Standing high on the windswept moors, the lone figure of Heath Montanha vows vengeance on the woman

who destroyed the last fragments of his heart...

Lady Katherine Charlton has never forgotten the stablehand with dangerous fists and a troubled heart from her childhood. Now the rebel is back, his powerful anger concealed under a polished and commanding veneer.

When ten years of scandal and secrets are unleashed, with a passionate, furious kiss, Heath's deepest, darkest wish crystallises...

Revenge -- and Kat -- will be his!

And all you have to do – well, seeing as I’ve been talking about Advent Calendars – why not tell me if you have an Advent Calendar of not?

Do you have an old  one that comes out year after year (like the one my Cats have shared and passed down from cat to cat for years)?  Or do you buy a new one each  year – perhaps with a little bit of chocolate behind the ‘doors’?  Or perhaps one on your computer, like the one Anne McAllister sent to me? When do you open the special door – in the morning, first thing to start that day? Or perhaps in the evening to mark the fact that the day has passed and we’re now 24 hours closer to the big day?  Or do you share the enjoyment of an advent calendar with your children/ grandchildren?

Let me know and I’ll put your name into the prize draw for Charlie to pick a  winner when I open a  new door on my Advent Calendar tomorrow.

And then perhaps you’ll come along and share in the new Advent Calendar days over on my blog for the rest of December – with a  new question – and a new prize to give away each day for a new winner each time. See you there?

Kate Walker’s new title, A Question of Honor will be published in Harlequin  Presents in June 2014. Her most recent title was A Throne for The Taking  which came out in June 2013:

Alexei Sarova, the black sheep prince who has to face up to a new and unexpected destiny with his heroine Honoria Escalona (Ria) as the woman he wants as his queen.

A kingdom's safety...

Betrayed by those she loves, Honoria Escalona must now face the only man capable of bringing stability to the

Mediterranean kingdom of Mecjoria. A cold, hard man who once called her his friend... Alexei Sarova-the true King of Mecjoria.

In exchange for her happiness

 But Alexei's tortuous past has changed him into someone she hardly knows. He blames Ria's family for his bitterness, and his help-when he offers it-comes with a price: he'll take his rightful place as King with Ria as his wife, until she produces a true-blood heir 

 A Throne For the Taking  was  published in the Royal and Ruthless miniseries in both Harlequin Presents and Mills & Boon Modern.

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

And I finally got Charlie to pick a winner - the name he's chosen is Jeanne M - Jeanne please email me kate AT kate-walker.   com and send me your postal address and I'll organise the prize.

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

When You're Not Reading Romance

I've had a bit of an enforced break from writing,  working on  the keyboard, looking at the screen, just recently.  It wasn't what I wanted but it's been necessary and I hope  it will be doing me some good. A few health problems have  meant that I'm having to follow doctor's orders to 'pace myself' and one of  the  things I'm supposed to 'pace' - or in this case 'ration' is my time at the computer screen. A series of bad headaches that have a nasty tendency to turn into flashing migraines if I over do it means that I need to restricrt the time I spend at the computer and do other things.

It's slightly scary how much 'extra' time I have when I'm not  able to work or blog  - or even email. (If you've been expecting an email from  me then  please accept this as my excuse!)  I've done some gardening, cleared out a coiple of cupboards, planned a new kitchen . . . ready for work to begin next year.
And I've read. Reading doesn't give me migraines - the print doesn't flash in my eyes, and I can focus on the page for much longer than a screen.

But because I'm not supposed to work too much   then reading romance  hasn't been so enjoyable as usual - if I read romance, I immediately want to write it. I see how someone has dealt with a plot point in their story and it makes me want to work on a  similar problem in mine. Or a character fascinates me and I want to  go away and work on my hero or heroine and make them as interesting and give them added depth - but I'm not supposed to!

So I've been changing my reading habits around and grabbing books from my TBR pile that are not romance and so don't tempt me in this way -   and I've really been enjoying it.

It's sort of refreshing to read stories  that aren't romances and I've been gobbling up books at a surprising rate. I think it's because I'm deliberately reading something differernt and so it's refreshing and new.

So what's  movedfrom my TBR pile to the HBR (has been read) shelf?

A couple of great thrillers.  Last year my son and I discovered  Linwood Barclay at the same time and now we both read the new book as soon as we can. My son gave me Never  Look Away and last week I  started this   knowing what would happen. It grabbed me, as  Barclay's books always do, and I stayed up late at night to finish it.

Back in February I taught my usual Fsihguard Writing  Weekend  - where I teach the advanced course in Romance Writing - and one of my 'students' was a published novelist called Susan Moody -  she wanted to learn how to put more romance into her stories - though personally I'm not sure she needed to. She has a new book out this year Losing Nicola, a story about the way that finding out the truth about the past can affect the present - and solve the mystery of a long ago murder.  I lost myself in this one.

Or how about Second-Hand Heart? If you've seen the film Pay it Forward then you'll  know  the work of Catherine Ryan Hyde. I've been fascinated by stories  of  the way that heart transplant patients seem to take on some of the characteristics of their donors and this fascinating book deals with that - and then what happened wheh the heroine  who has received the heart meets up with the widower of the donor. . . .

I have  more non romance books on my TBR -  the story of  The Princes in the Tower - and whether one escaped - a biography of Billy Joel  . . . The story of the murder(?) of Amy Robsart in 1560 . . . all  very different from the romance I usually read and write.  And I'm having a great time - I feel refreshed, stimulated - keen to get back to what I'm reading. I think taking a break has renewed my interest in books and sparked off new ideas . .

The only trouble is that now I want to put those new ideas into writing my own books - and 'pacing' myself isn't easy!

What about you? If you're not reading romance - what do you read? Have you tried anything new,  discovered any great new authors recently? I don't really need anything now on my TBR pile - but I'm always open to suggestions.

And as Charlie the Maine Coon hasn't picked any winners lately, he'll be glad to know that I'm celebrating.  I just heard this week that my  Presents Extra title The Proud Wife has been nominated for Best Presents Extra Reviewer's Choice Award   2011 in Romantic Times.  You may remember that The Konstantos Marriage Demand won this  award in 2010. This was one really great email I read in the time I was allowed to look at the screen!

So I'm offering a copy of The Proud Wife as a giveaway to someone who comments today - or a copy of The Konstantos Marriage Demand if you've already got TPW. I love sharing celebrations with everyone.
This post is the latest stop in my Big Blog Tour that is still going on. (you can find the details here)   So I hope you’ll join me as I visit lots of different blogs all over the world. There are posts, writing advice – and lots of giveaways. 

Kate Walker’s The Return of the Stranger is out in Presents Extra in America or Sexy Romance in Australia. You can find out more details over on Kate's Web site – with all the most up to date news on her blog.

And Charlie has just picked the winner (s) He's greedy and he's picked two so
Brunette Librarian and
Di please email me with your postal addresses and I'll get the prizes in the mail to you!
Hope to see everyone else along the way on my blog tour - there will be more giveaways then

And What Happened Next . .. By Kate Walker

Why do we read novels?  To relax?  To escape from the stresses and  troubles of the world? (I’ve been trying to do that with a lot of things this year!)  To learn new things?  To indulge in fantasy? 

All of those, I’m sure – but for me the most important part of reading fiction is  because my curiosity is  sparked, I get involved with the characters, I start out on a journey with them. I watch the hero and heroine of a story  meet, get to know each other – then something comes between them – a problem develops – they argue . . .and what happens next?   That’s what keeps me turning the pages. I want to know what happens next.

Of course, in  a romance novel, we already know how the story is going to end. That’s the promise that Harlequin, and the author, makes to the reader – that no matter what happens to the hero and heroine along the way, they will end up with a happy ever after ending. But we want to know  how they are going to get there – what happens next?

This is what got me fascinated by Wuthering Heights - When I was eleven, I was  at a very small junior school that was in an old building, where the wiring wasn't very reliable. The was in West Yorkshire where the weather was often wild, and storms could break over the hills with great drama and  force.  One day there was a huge thunderstorm, great flashes of lightning, and the lights in the whole building fused.  We were sitting in darkness, with  a lot of the girls getting scared and screaming when the thunder roared and the lightning flashed. (Not me - I have always loved storms and still do.)

To distract us from getting worried and while waiting for the electricity to be restored, the teacher - told us to sit quietly and he would tell us a story.  The story he told was about a man who returned home to his farm, high on the Yorkshire moors, bringing with him an orphan gipsy boy he has found in the streets of Liverpool . The farmer already had a son and daughter, Hindley and Catherine - and the gipsy boy's name was of course Heathcliff. This story was the beginning of the classic romantic novel  - Wuthering Heights.

I never got to hear the end of the story that day because the lights came back on before my teacher had got past the point where Heathcliff and Cathy fight, and Heathcliff runs away,  to go and make his fortune. I never learned what happened when he came back - because it was  obvious that he did come back - and I always wanted to know.  But of course most of the story of Heathcliff's revenge was probably not suitable for young children.

But the story stayed with me and I wanted to know so much about it.  I wanted to know what happened next.   It was some years later that I found a book on my mother's bookshelf and, opening it, saw the names I remembered so well. I started to read  - and didn't put it down until I had finished. It was an amazing story - but  it never had the happy ending that I had hoped for. 

So I was excited when editorial told me about the mini series The Powerful and the Pure  where authors were inspired by the classic stories of romantic fiction and using them as a  springboard created a whole new romance for the Presents line.  This time I could create my own ‘what happens next’ – the one that I’d been wanting to know about all that time when I was younger.

So I wrote The Return of the Stranger. It’s not Wuthering Heights – it’s a brand new story. You don’t need to know anything about the original to reader it. And, I hope enjoy it.  Lots of readers in the UK have already loved it - it was the #1 bestseller on  the Mills & Boon  website for the whole  month of August after its release here in the UK.  It also had a great five star review that said:

Mrs Walker triumphantly produces a powerful and intense novel which involves your emotions from start to finish. Heath is a super hero full of brooding passion and the delightful Katherine evokes your sympathy. Not to be missed - as they say they saved the best till last.

This blog is just one part of my great big blog tour (you can find the details here)  to celebrate the publication of The Return of the Stranger – so I hope you’ll join me as I  visit lots of different blogs all over the world.  There are  posts, writing advice – and lots of giveaways.  And talking of giveaways, I have a copy of my book Bedded By The Greek Billionaire  to give  away with this post – just tell me what is the latest  book  made you think ‘what happened next . . ‘  so that you couldn’t put it down but just had to keep turning the pages. And all the posters in the comments section will be put into a draw to win a copy of this book.

Kate Walker’s The Return of the Stranger is out now in the UK and published on October 4^th in Presents Extra in America or Sexy Romance in Australia. You can find out more details over on Kate's Web site – with all the most up to date news on her blog.

Boooks that have stayed with me all my life

In July, my husband and I travelled to Wales where every year we teach at the fabulous Writers’ Holiday  at Caerleon near Newport. And as we do every  year on the way there , we stopped overnight in a small Worcestershire town called  Great Malvern (I always think it’s funny that it’s called Great Malvern when it’s such a tiny place – but that’s England for you, in the same way  that  the name of the county in which this town lies is pronounced  Woostershire!).  Anyway, we  spent a pleasant day wandering  round the town, had tea in a lovely teashop,  my husband indulged his love of old second hand bookshops  - and then we had a leisurely dinner in the hotel.

The hotel’s lounge has a bookshelf full of books, some that have been there for ages and some that past guests have finished with and  left behind.  He picked up one that interested him and started to browse through it.  I  looked up and noticed the title and was immediately taken back to my  childhood and to a date when I had first read this book – it was originally published in 1962.

The book was  The Escape of the Princess by Jane Lane and it’s a historical novel written about the Princess Clementina Sobieski, the grand-daughter of  King John III of Poland who eventually married James Stewart the exiled son of James II of England and became the mother of the prince known as Bonnie Prince Charlie. But this is the story of her life before all that  when as Clementina travels from to meet her bridegroom, she is captured and imprisoned in Innsbruck as her cousin tried to prevent the marriage taking place.  Captain Charles Wogan, a young Irish supporter of James, was sent to try to rescue the princess and, aided by two Irish kinsmen, another Irish cavalry officer and his young French wife, together with her unpredictable maid,  bring her safely to her wedding.   This book had intrigued me when I was younger and I had read it avidly for a very special reason – that Charles Wogan was my great-great-great-great-great . . .  (I’m not quite sure just how many greats!) grandfather on my mother’s side of the family. In fact I have a very old silver spoon that has the initials CW  on it that  everyone believes may well have belong to Charles himself.

I read the copy of this story in the library all those years ago, returned the book,  and then  largely forgot about it . If I remembered it, it was only vaguely – and now here it was right in front of me bringing back all sorts of memories.   But this time there was something I could do about it – a quick search of the used book shops on the internet soon found me a copy of this novel for myself and by the time I got home it was waiting for me. I spent a very happy afternoon rereading it and reminding myself of the dramatic and romantic story of Clementina and Charles and their journey.

One of the very best things about having  the internet has been being able to do this – to find long ago treasures from my childhood , get hold of copies and reread them. I discovered a really old favourite  - Simona’s Jewel (this was old even when I first read it!) and another book by the same author Two of Red and Two of Blue. There were the Romney Marsh Stories of Monica Edwards, too – lots of books that I had once loved so much but hadn’t seen again in years.  Interestingly enough, they all had dark, ambiguous, strong heroes – even if those heroes were only 15 or so!

It’s easy to see where my personal alpha heroes in my modern day romance come from when you look back at these  childhood stories. And it’s particularly appropriate that I should be thinking about these older  books now when the newest book of mine  - then one that’s coming out very soon -  is inspired by one  of favourite ever books, one that swept me away when I first read it (about the same time as  The Escape of The Princess)  - and that’s Wuthering Heights.

The Return of the Stranger is coming  out in the UK just now and is being published in America and Australia in October 2011. (Some people have been worried that this is a copy – or steals from the original.  Instead it’s a book that takes Wuthering Heights as its launch point and inspiration. So much so that in fact the Bronte  Society at Haworth Parsonage itself has asked me to give a talk about writing this book and using that amazing novel as a starting point. But you don’t have to have read Wuthering Heights to understand it, The Return of The Stranger stands up as a romance all on its own.

I’ll tell you a bit more about The Return of The Stranger next time, when it’s so much closer to the publication date. To celebrate the publication  of this book, I’m going to be really busy with a hectic and full Blog Tour that launches on September 11^th when I’ll start it all off on my web site. After that,  you can follow  my tour all over the blogosphere – and maybe win yourself some great prizes of books that  you’ll want to remember just as I’ve always remembered these ones.  Check out my blog – and this great AuthorPage  so you can join in all the fun.

In the meantime, to start things off here – what favourite book from your childhood or youth would you love to find again? Have you tried to track one down? Or like me have you actually found a very special book? I have a book from my backlist for one lucky poster in the comments section.

Kate Walker’s The Return of the Stranger  is out now in the UK and published on October 4^th in Presents Extra  in  America or Sexy Romance in Australia.  You can find out more details over on  Kate's Web site  – with  all the most up to date news on her blog.

Where do they live ? by Kate Walker

I'm starting work on my new book. Well,  I've been working on it for a while, in my head,  even if I haven't got many words down on the screen.   I know who the hero is, who his heroine is going to be I have to put them in that order for this particular  book, because that's thye way  they came to me - it's the hero's position and situation that gave me the story. Thinking about that told me who my heroine needed to be.So I have  a  hero, a heroine - and a plot. I have an opening, a stiuation that  starts off the story as a whole, and I have conflicts. A big problematical conflict that starts off the  story and puts it into motion, and deeper, more personal ones for both my central characters.  The ones that will come between them and stop them falling into each others' arms.

I even have names - I think.  These are liable to change if they end up not fitting as I tell their story. But right now, Alexander  (Alex)  and Ria are the hero and heroine, and they're names I can work with. I even have a villain - though I'm not sure of his name yet.

But  I have a problem with one thing. I don't know where my book is set. And that's important because the setting is part of the story, part of the plot, part of the problem.

Usually when I write a book, I set it wherever the hero or the heroine live - if the hero is Greek, then a Greek island,  or perhaps a Spanish city. The book I just finished - the one my lovely editor let me keep my favourite title  for - The Devil and Miss Jones - is set partly in Argentina  and the UK - one is where my hero (The Devil) and one is where Miss Jones (my heroine) live.  My hero in my next book out - The Return of The Stranger - is Brazilian, but the book takes place in the UK for a very special reason, as well as the fact that it's where his heroine lives. (More on that next time).

But with this new story I need to invent a country for myself. I'm writing a Royal' book - one where one of my characters (not telling you which yet because it would spoil it) is heir to a small kingdom. It's not a real country of course - I'm creating my own conuntry, with its royal family, its history, its customs. Its a European country - just - because it's almost in Russia it's that far along the coast of the Black Sea (at least this is how I'm imagining it at the moment.) 
It's a tiny country, not much  more than the size of Monaco, but it has  some real importance - its major port for one - and an invaluable mineral that is mined in its northern mountains.

I already know a lot about it, but as of now I don't have a name. I think  a name is important because it will also tell me more about it.  Ruritania, for example, the country where The Prisoner of Zenda is set,  was a Germanic country, Shangila was in the Himalayas. Nora Roberts has Cordina. The Sheikhdoms I've had in the past have been  Kuimar   (Desert Affair) and Barakhara (At The Sheikh's Command.)   But as I said, I wanted a more European - possibly east European  - name for this kingdom.

So I thought I'd run a contest. And I'd ask you all to join in.  Have you got any suggestions for the name of my ficitonal kingdom?  Any ideas what it looks like? If so to enter please tell me about it in the comments section,  give me the name of the country I'm crfeating - and perhaps a few details about your imagining of it to inspire me. 

I won't promise to use any name from here, but itf there is a really great one then I'll not only use it, I'll acknowledge it - and you - on the dedication page of my book.  And I'm offering prizes too. If someone  gives me a name I' really want to use, then I'll send you two signed books from my backlist as a thank you for the help. If I don't pick the actual name of my fictional kingdom from here, then I'll get Sid the cat on the job of picking a couple of winners anyway, and  they'll get a signed book as a prize.

So  - what would you name an imaginary country and what would it be like? I'd love to know.

Kate's newest title - The Return of The Stranger -  is officially released in the UK in Mills & Boon Modern on Septermber 2nd. It will be published in Australia and America (in Presents EXTRA) in October.   She'll be back next month to tell you more about this book and why it's very special to her.

You can find out more about The Return of The Stranger and all Kate's books on her web site, together with her most up to date news on her blog.

Sorry to be late in replying but I only just managed to post before I was hit by a migraine and have only just been able to look at the screen again. I'm tempted by four of these suggestions  - can't make my mind up yet!

So if Laney, Caroline, Sonali and Michelle L would email me  -
kate AT kate-walker.com I'll let you know which of my backlist I have copies of and you can choose a prize for helping me get this far

And if I do decide on one of these for definite then I'll let you know!