Kate Walker's Blog, page 90

Favourite romantic novels?

Over on the New Voices website - while you're all waiting for the announcement of the top ten submissions to the contest , the editors are talking about their favourite romantic novels.

So far,
Gone with the Wind
Cross Stitch
Wuthering Heights
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
The Devil's Cub
Lady Chatterley's Love
The Mists of Avalon
The Far Pavilions
These Old Shades
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveller's Wife

. . . are all on the list

And I have to admit to putting my vote in for - from this list - Jane ...

Good news

A special thank you to everyone who commented on my post about the New Voices yesterday. I was really just thinking aloud but I'm thrilled that it touched a chord in so many of you. One of the things I truly believe about this writing business is that any writer who forgets what it felt like to be at the beginning of things, nervous about sending in a submission, and struggling to deal with rejection, is one who risks becoming complacent and complacency risks putting you on the slippery slope...

New Voices - first stage

As the clock ticks down to the time when the first round of the New Voices contest closes, and the preliminary judging begins, I know there will be a lot of nervous writers chewing fingernails, crossing fingers (if you can do both at once), worrying and very probably praying.


I know how you feel. Or, rather, I know something of how you feel. Believe me, I remember only too well just how it felt to submit a first attempt at writing a novel, the stomach-churning panic that went with it, the fea...

To catch up . . .

A few things that I need to catch up with since I've been away -

1. I was thrilled to discover that the ebook version of The Good Greek Wife? was the #1 bestseller over on eHarlequin.com at the end of the week. Many thanks to everyone who bought a copy to put it there. The print version will of course be available next month,

2. As a result of two people having to back out of the Advanced Course on Romance Writing at Fishguard in February 2011, the course, that was full, now had two places...

Versatile Blogger Award

While I was away in London, Teresa Morgan awarded me the 'Versatile Blogger' Award.

Thank you so much for this Teresa - specially as it says that you will have awarded it to me as one of the bloggers you have recently discovered and think are fantastic - that's a real compliment.

Linking back to Teresa's blog, you can find her here.





So, I've done the first part of this list of how this works -



Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.


I apologise in advance because I'm only going ...

Back

It's Monday so I must be back from London . . . right? I think I left part of my brain in the capital as it has taken me till now to catch up with all I have to do.
And I had such a great time meeting up with friends old and new and talking and drinking a little wine . . .
Let's see, Wednesday afternoon was spent settling into the hotel, making a mad dash to Oxford Street to find a book for the Babe Magnet - I told him his History Magazine wouldn't be enough to read - but I think that was...

Kate's Corner and AMBA

I'm busy planning and packing . Yes, I'm on the road again. Or, more accurately, taking the train this time. I've barely had time to breathe, turn round, unpack my case and do the laundry after the trip to Durham and NAWG, and now I'm off again.


This time I'm heading for London and the annual meeting and lunch of the Association of Mills & Boon authors. I'm so looking forward to meeting up with old friends, making new ones, and learning everything that's been happening since we last met...

My First Kate Walker - Sarah Morgan

I'm a bit late with this - OK, a lot late !

As you know, I've been doing an occasional series of My First Kate Walker (or My Top Five Kate Walker books) from my writing friends and readers to mark my 25th anniversary of being published. The lovely Sarah Morgan wrote me a blog on this topic back in July and I've only just got around to posting it.

But I was in the middle of the posts on Conflict at the time - and I'm realy quite glad that I didn;t post this before now because it means that I ca...

New Voices Thoughts

Yesterday I received a very special gift. A book containing the very first venture into print - in a short story - by a dear friend. I have a wonderful collection of these 'firstborn' now - the wonderful signs of the earliest success (hopefully only the first of many) from writers I've known, in many cases worked with, encouraged, supported and had my fingers tightly crossed for over the years. Many of them I've met through the RNA, others through courses I've run or workshops I've given. Oft...

NAWG Festival

The Babe Magnet and I had a thoroughly enjoyable time at the National Association of Writers' Groups Festival of Writing at the weekend. The weather was warm and sunny and so we grabbed a chance to spend some time in the lovely old city of Durham where we walked around by the Cathedral and the river before heading to Collingwood College where th er Festival was being held.

I wrote a book - Give and Take - set partly in Durham way back in 1991 and so lots of memories came back as we wandered...