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

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

‘Will you still need me,

Will you still feed me

When I’m  64’.

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

Will you still need me,
Will you still READ me

When I’m 65!

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

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

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

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

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

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

You can choose from:

The Devil and Miss Jones

Destined for the Desert King

Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride

Konstantos Marriage Demand

A Question of Honour

Olivero’s Outrageous Proposal

The Greek Tycoon’s Unwilling Bride

Cordero’s Forced Bride

Bedded By The Greek Billionaire

Spanish Billionaire, Innocent Wife

Kept for Her  Baby

A  Throne for the Taking

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

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

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


EDITED TO ADD WINNERS:


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

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

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

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

Song for two heroes - or heroines . . . Kate Walker

I’m  on a deadline right know. OK, to be honest, I’m rather over that deadline.  I have too little ti

me left and too much book  to write – so I’m fairly pressured for time. Add into that the fact that I’d forgotten to add in the time I needed to run a writing retreat in Swanwick, Derbyshrire  (that’s pronounced Swannick Darbyshire in Brit English of course, not the way it looks on the page!)

So I’m a bit late getting back  home, unpacked, sorted out, and at the keyboard  to write my blog.  And then of course I had to think of something to write.

Now there’s a problem – I’ve been writing blogs -  my own, Tote Bags, Pink Hearts . . . for so many years that sometimes it’s really hard to think what I should talk about. What would be interesting? What would be current? What would readers Actually want to read about?

It’s a bit like the eternal ‘where do you get your ideas from’ question that  writers are asked so often.  That’s the question I usually answer ‘from life’ when I’m asked it.  Well, it’s true -  life is the  one great source of inspiration that comes at us day in and day out, bringing new events, new people, new possibilities for stories, or blogs – sometimes.

I have an idea for my current story, obviously, which is a good thing  - because of that deadline, obviously, but I’m really a bit apprehensive  about getting to the end of this book , this deadline, and starting tom look around for another brand new  exciting and interesting  idea for next time. 

Because I don’t just have to find an idea for this book, but  this one and another one as well.  Because when I was in London last month   for the annual author party, I was talking to my editor about what

might be coming up and she said ‘I’d really like to see a duet.’  And before I knew what had happened I’d opened my mouth and said ‘Fine. I can do that.’

Fine? What’s fine about it? A duet is two books. Two linked books.   I have to think of not one story that excites me and makes me want to write it. One idea  ‘with legs’ that  will have enough interest and depth to develop into  a full length book – but two s

uch stories – and they have to be linked in some way so that they create a ‘duet’.  Eeek!

I have written duets – and a trilogy before.  So I know it can be done. 

There was The Alcolar Family (just republished as   The Notorious Alcolars in Australia). That came about by accident. I was asked to write a free on-line story for the Harlequin web site  so I created Alex Alcolar  and at the end of his story his two half-brothers  Joaquin and Ramon and his half-sister Mercedes appeared and everyone wanted to  know their stories it seemed. So I set to and The 12 Month Mistress   (Joaquin’s story) , The Spaniard’s Inconvenient Wife (Ramon)  and Bound by Blackmail  (Mercedes).  The link between them was  easy – they were all from the same family.

wrote

Other connected books – duets have happened  almost by accident.

I wrote The Sicilian’s Wife in 2002 as a standalone story. But in the closing chapters of that story, the hero’s  half brother Gio appeared  and soon he was demanding his own story. I wrote it –(he didn’t give me much option – he wouldn’t go away until I did!) And so A Sicilian Husband appeared a year later.

Then there was  the Sicilian Brothers duet  which was actually planned as two linked books. Guido and  Vito Corsentino were inspired by a some emails from an American fan who told me about her brothers  with those names and the names were so great – such obvious ‘hero’ names that I had to write their stories. They appeared in Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride and The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge in  2007.

So now I need some new ideas for a new duet. I’d better move away from any more Sicilians – they seem to have had their fair share of  linked stories for a while – do you think?  And Spaniards. The Alcolars have had four books after all.  

But how should I link them?  I’ve done several brothers or half-brothers stories.  There’s even a sister in there.  Family links obviously work well -  but should I write about heroes who are brothers or heroines who are sisters?  Then there’s the possibilities of heroines who work together  - or work for each other. Would that - er  work?  Or heroes who  are best friends – or twins – or . . .

My mind is almost spinning with possibilities but I’m having to shelve the real work on coming up with these new plots until I finish the current story and send it off to my  editor. Then I can start really planning and thinking and imagining.

What about you? Do you like linked stories that form a duet? Or do you prefer a standalone story?

And what sort of links do you like to see in a linked series of books? Family connections?   Brothers? Sisters?  Twins? Friends? Enemies?  Or is there something else entirely, something new that you’d just love to see in a pair of linked books?  Any clever ideas?

In the meantime I’ll  keep my nose to the grindstone and work on – and hopefully finish very soon – this new story. And then I’m going to be brainstorming ideas and plans to see what to write next.  

I just hope I can come up with something soon!

(And if you have any ideas or questions that would create interesting and new blogs, that would be great too!) 

 . Coming next  Destined For The Desert King  which is published in December this year.
  

Then there's the  12 Point Guide to Writing Romance, the newest edition of which is available on Kindle or a revised and updated paperback edition now available on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

Kate Walker's web site is here   and the up-to-date news can be found on her blog or her Facebook page.

Come and Join the Party

If you've visited the wonderful Spotlight that Lee has set up for me over on Leena's Goodie Room then you'll know that right now I'm celebrating something special. This month in the UK and in July in America and Australia, I have a book out that marks a real milestone in my career.

The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge is a special title for me because this bok marks my 50th title published by Harlequin Mills &Boon. Since my very first title, The Chalk Line was published in 1984, there have been all these other titles through the years - so many stories, so many heroes, so many heroines - and now I've published my 50th title.

So I'm celebrating. And when I celebrate I love to share with everyone else - with all the wonderful readers who have bought and enjoyed my books over the years - because without you there wouldn't have been a career and all those titles to celebrate.

So I'm hoping you'll join me at my Great Big Blog Party over on my blog. Every day there is a new guest blogger and every guest is giving away something special as a prize. Already joining the party has been Holly Jacobs, Abby Green, Trish Morey, Michelle Styles and many more. And they've given away signed books, banners and souvenirs of the countries they live in.

But don't worry that if you're a latecomer to the party then there will be nothing left - this party is going to run all through June and probably into July before all the guests have arrived and all the prizes been given out. Still to come will be Michelle Reid, Anne McAllister, Liz Fielding, Trish Wylie . . . and many more. And everyone will have their own giveaway that you can have a chance to win. All you have to do is answer the question, leave your reply in the comments section and you're in with a chance. Right now I have a static banner for your web site, a signed copy of Sold & Seduced by Michelle Styles (together with my own The Antonakos Marriage) and signed copies of my 'baby' books - His Miracle Baby and Their Secret Baby in a special post for UK Father's Day. So why not come along to my blog and join in the fun?

And this isn't all I'm giving away - check out that Spotlight and answer Lee's questions and you could be in the running to win a special gold heart necklace to mark the publication of this golden title.

Oh and I should remind you that The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge is part two of The Sicilian Brothers duo. This is Vito's story. Vito's brother, Guido had his own story in Sicilian Husband; Blackmailed Bride that came out in April and is still aound on Amazon or eHarlequin if you want to make sure you have the set.

Want another way to win? Well how about voting for your Top 5 Kate Walker titles? Everyone who vots has a chance of winning a signed copy of a book from my backlist together with a Kate Walker bookmark and pen. All you have to do is to list your Top 5 Favourite Kate Walker books and send them to me with Favourite Book (yes - the English spelling ;-) ) in the subject line.

If you need any help deciding which are your favourites, then check out that spotlight Less has worked so hard on - and take a look at the Backlist pages over on my web site to remind you of some you might have enjoyed. And if you'd like to know how the voting is going - then here's the current Top FIVE

1.A Sicilian Husband

2. The Sicilian's Wife

3. The Italian's Forced Bride

4. Desert Affair

5. The Spaniard's Inconvenient Wife

jointly with

5. The Antonakos Marriage.

Would you choose these ones? Or perhaps somethig totally different? I'd love to have your vote.

And I'd love to see you over at the Great Big Blog Party - and maybe send you a prize.

Good luck!

And thank you all for buying and enjoying my books over the years

Kate

Writing Linked Books by Kate Walker

Some readers love linked books, others are not so keen on them, so for me the important thing about writing books in my own self-contained mini-series, the important thing is to make sure that each book stands on its own and tells one separate story. Then any reader who picks up one story doesn’t have to buy and read all the other books in the series to make sense of the whole story.


I was reminded of this only this week when a reader wrote to me, asking about the books in The Alcolar Family trilogy. Well, it’s a trilogy of books and an on line short story that appeared on eHarlequin and the Mills & Boon site. This reader had found the middle book of the Trilogy - The Spaniard’s Inconvenient Wife and wanted to know the titles of the other two books so that she could read them all. That was tricky, coming to it so long after the original trilogy has been published (The Alcolars came out in 2005) but at least I could help her find the short story – Wife For Real – that started it all off. That’s now published as an ebook and is also to be found on the Mills & Boon web site to read on line.

And all that reminded me that I had meant to come on here and talk about my latest pair of linked books – the ones I’ve called the Sicilian Brothers duo – the first of which Sicilian Husband, Blackmailed Bride is out now in Presents. The second The Sicilian's Red-Hot Revenge will be published in June (UK) and July (USA and Australia). And I wanted to make sure that everyone knew they are linked – there’s nothing worse than reading a book and then wishing you’d got your hands on the first one.


The Sicilian Brothers duo came to me when a lovely reader and a friend I met at the RWA Conference a couple of years ago told me her brothers’ names and I said that Guido and Vito Corsentino were just perfect names for Presents heroes. Lori told me that I could ‘borrow her brothers’ names – they didn’t mind either! – and I’ve written these two books with each brother as the hero in one. The stories, as I said, are totally separate, but each book has connecting points – the first one (Guido’s story) takes place in the middle of the second one (Vito’s story). That meant that I had to know what had already happened to Vito before I even started writing Guido’s story. If you read the book then in the opening scene you’ll find that there is already a clue to what has happened – when even Guido doesn’t know what has been going on in his brother’s life.

Writing a new hero is always a fascinating process – I’ve just finished a book with a sexy Spanish hero and getting to know him took some time – even then he had one last little secret that I didn’t know until the very last scene. So working with two devastating Sicilians was even more fun. I had to make sure that they were each heroes in their own right – tall dark, handsome and stunning – and yet make them separate and totally individual. I think I succeeded. I hope you do too.And don’t forget that as the first of these books is out now, the contest Lee is running to celebrate that is still open over on the Contests page. Of course The Sicilian’s Red-Hot Revenge will be appearing soon and as that will be a very special book for me – my 50th published title - then look out for some very special celebrations too. I’ll be working with Lee on those and we’ll have lots of prizes to give away – so watch this space.


What about you? Do you love books that link to each other and perhaps bring back characters you've met before? Or do you prefer stand-alone stories?