MamaWriter Jeannie here.  I’m thrilled to welcome Harlequin Presents author Kate Walker to join us.    This woman is amazing… twenty-five years as a published author, over fifty books published and a now-grown son who made sleep a thing of the past.  Can I just say I’d like to be her when I grow up (err, with a little more sleep)? :)   Welcome, Kate!

Kate Walker

SC-1004Author -1Hello to everyone  – and thank you to Mamawriters – specially Jeannie – for inviting me along to chat with you today.  I’m thrilled to be here and I was delighted to be asked.

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Kate Walker and I write for Harlequin Presents. In fact I’m celebrating my 25th year as a published author this year. (Yes, I was just a child when I was first published – honest!) I live in Lincolnshire UK with my husband and 3 bossy cats including Sid The Cat who helps me pick all my winners for  prizes. I am also a mamawriter  – or I was when I started out. My son is now grown up and has his own home and partner but I remember so well the way it used to be in the early days, when I was trying to fit in my writing round his routine.

Routine? What routine? My son  was one of those kids who never slept. Never ever. Or so it seemed. He didn’t nap. He didn’t even rest. He stayed awake half the night . . .I learned to manage on a few hours’ sleep a night. The doctors said there was nothing wrong with him – he was just really bright, intelligent . ..  and I’d be thrilled and proud when  he reached 21! They were right about the when he was 21 bit -but when I was trying to write at the same time, it was exhausting. I remember one night when I’d been staying up scribbling down a great story (I hoped) and I’d crawled into bed at 1.30 am – and my son woke at 5.30!

But somehow I managed it. You see I’m a great believer in the fact that if you truly want to write then you’ll find the time. And it’s amazing what you can fit in to an hour or so each day. If you focus. And  concentrate only on what you want to do – your writing. When my son went to playschool, I had just two and a half hours free. I would run home, sit down to write (I literally wrote at the kitchen table in those days)  and worked.  I might have made a cup of coffee but that was all. I would write until I couldn’t leave it a moment longer and I had to dash back to fetch him home.  I wrote my first book that way. And the second. Both were rejected – but the second one earned me a letter from an editor. Please try again she said. So I did and my third book, The Chalk Line was published in  December 1984.

12-point2cover0001Since then I’ve had 54 more books published with another one out this month (more about that in a moment) a new title scheduled for October ’10 and  a new story just on my editor’s desk.  I’ve written as  a full-time mother and I’ve mothered as a full time writer.  And there’s one thing I really miss about not being a full time mum any more – and that’s thinking time! I know that all the mums who are trying to fit in writing round the kids probably envy me the freedom to write all day if I want to and it really is great. But sometimes you can’t write because you need to think. The words won’t come because you haven’t let the story take root in your imagination and ‘sprout’ enough.  When I was looking after my son, we could walk in the park, go swimming, play with bricks or puzzles . . .and my mind could work on my story at the same time.  Then when I was actually free to write, I could sit down and write. One of the most important, often the hardest parts of writing a novel is that thinking  and planning time. These days I can spend hours just about staring at the screen and . . .thinking. It looks like I’m doing nothing and I’m not getting the words down. But the words won’t come without it.

That’s why, when I wrote my How To guide to writing romance – Kate Walker’s 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance. I deliberately put in some special sections at the end of each chapter. These sections turn the book from just a guide into a workshop in a book and one of them is headed – ‘Something  to think about.’ I know that Mums have so little free time to themselves – but if you read these ‘Something to think about’ sections then you can work on them through the day – even when you’re cooking or washing dishes! I often do my best thinking when I have to do the ironing!

And as a sort of PS about my son who never slept . . . He still doesn’t. He’s often up so early in the mornings. And so am I.  From someone who used to write late at night when all was quiet, I’ve turned into someone who wakes early and gets to my desk sometimes before dawn breaks. I’m writing this at 6am right now. As my own mother used to say once you’re a mother you never stop waking when the kids woke!  And I still think that that ‘thinking time’ is so important.

konstantosusaThat’s how I did it anyway. And as I said here I am with my 56th book due out this month.

When Jeannie asked what date I’d like to come and visit with you, and she suggested March 17th I was delighted. You see, March 17th is St Patrick’s Day – a day that always makes me think of family. My Mother and Father were both Irish though I was born in England and I still have lots of family in  The Emerald Isle.  And family is what is behind the story of my latest novel – The Konstantos Marriage Demand which is out in Presents EXTRA right now (publication day was yesterday – March 16th). Because it was a feud between their two families that destroyed the love between  Nikos and Sadie the first time around, breaking their engagement and splitting them apart right on the day that should have been their wedding day.  Now they have a second chance to put things right – but will they manage it or will the feud between their families still come between them? I was really thrilled to discover that Romantic Times have given this book 4.5 stars and chosen it as one of their Top Picks for March. The review was wonderful to. It said that: Misunderstandings and family betrayals propel this terrifically well-paced and fiery romance to its very rewarding conclusion.paul-042

I have a signed copy of The Konstantos Marriage Demand to give away to someone who chats with me in the comments section. Tell me about yourself – how do you fit  your writing  into your day? Are you an early riser or do you work late into the night?

As I said- I don’t pick the winners of my prizes, my cat Sid does. I put all the names of the entries on pieces of paper and then I put a cat treat on top of each one. The first one that Sid eats is the winner.  And the more entries there are, the more treats Sid gets to eat. So come on, make my cat very happy – post a comment!

You can find out more about me and my books on my web site -  http://www.kate-walker.com or get the really up to date news on my blog    http://kate-walker.blogspot.com/