Destined for the Desert King

Back home  after a wonderful trip to Leeds and  a great evening with 'Uncle Albert' in Churwell. It was fascinating meeting people who remembered the original  characters behind the fictional ones in  some of the stories -  specially to hear that the shop  Aunt Clara  ran in reality was always known as 'Clara's shop' to the locals.  The houses where some of  the stories are set no longer exist though, having been knocked down and new buildings put up where they used to be.  So we didn't get a chance to try to find any of the toy soldiers the Babe Magnet had buried (with full military honours!)  way back when . . .

Saturday evening was spent at a wonderful, joyous, laughter-filled production of Kiss Me Kate by  Opera North - fantastic singing and fabulous dancing.  A very special evening.  And a little trip down memory lane as the theatre was where we went on out very first date. . . one or two years ago!!

If you buy  your M&B romances from the Harlequin Mills and Boon  web site, then the newest titles are available from today,   That means that if you  can't  wait for your copy of Destined for the Desert King to be on the bookshop shelves, then you can  find a copy of the book on the M&B site right now.

I took a look at the site just now and delighted to find that, after just one day,my book is already at #4 in the Top Ten Bestsellers chart  - that made my day.

Mind you, the same page also told me that it's just seven weeks till Christmas - help!  Good job I took the opportunity to do some shopping in Leeds!

Wearing my other 'hat'

I'm off to Leeds this evening  - to play my other role, that of Mrs Babe Magnet and supporter and PA to  my husband when he's appearing at the Morley Festival this evening.

He's doing his 'Uncle Albert' one man show with readings from his book of Yorkshire short stories by the same name.  (Priory Press) 

This  should be specially interesting though  as he's appearing at Churwell Community  Centre - and Churwell  is the village where he grew up  and the village is the Uncle Albert book is based on.    Should be a real trip down memory lane - both in fiction and reality!

Tote Bags Day

Today's the 12th of September  - which means that it's my day for blogging over on Tote Bags 'n' Blogs so that's where you'll find me today.

I'm talking about some of the things I'm looking forward to this autumn.

One of those things is the upcoming Focus on Writing Romantic Fiction guided retreat  coming up at Swanwick in Derbyshire,  Numbers on this retreat are strictly limited but  unexpectedly I do have a space or - ata  push two spaces - if you'd like to come along. Part of the weekend is an intensive one to one session focused on your individual writing.

'Focus on Writing Romantic Fiction' - a Retreat with Kate Walker.  This course has a limited number of places, so if you have not booked, please hurry.  Retreats are popular with those writing a novel.  They can receive feedback during the year, as Retreats are twice yearly, they will help you progress chapter by chapter!

Or you might like to look into writing stories/memoirs/articles  inspired by your family - 

 

Write About your Uncle Joe with Stephen Wade links you to not only writing short stories about the past, but putting into words the Family anecdotes that are more personal to each of us, whether for your memoirs or for fiction.

Check out the Relax and Write website for details if you're interested 

Back from the Book Launch Tour

I’ve finally caught up with my own writing after the five day trip we had to the Isle of Man.  That was a lot of fun  - if  a bit hectic.  I spent the time there wearing my other ‘hat’  -  that belonging to the Babe Magnet’s PA as he set about launching his new book of Yorkshire based  short stories -  Uncle Albert  - and the ‘one man show’ that goes with it.

We started off at the Henry Bloom Library in Douglas  where there was a warm and  enthusiastic crowd  in spite of the rather chilly and damp evening.  As well as Uncle Albert stories there was selection of ‘good bad poetry’ as requested by the publisher of Uncle Albert,  Linda  Mann.  The lovelorn  black ‘widower’ spider’s lament  reduced Linda to tears – of laughter.

The next day was spent doing radio interviews  - after we had found the Manx Radio Broadcasting House high on Douglas Head above the town. It was still cool and blustery  so this exposed headland was rather wild –  I dread to think what it would be like getting up there in the depths of winter!  During this trip  was the only time we actually saw any cat – in spite of the reputation the island has for breeding the famed Manx(tailless) cat. This one had a fine fluffy tail so we missed out on the Manx breed.

On Saturday morning  there  was coffee and croissants at the  Port Erin Arts Centre where Uncle Albert once again regaled his audience with tales of Yorkshire,  carol-singing, betting   . . . and the ‘good bad poetry ‘ again – with the Spider  poem  back 

'Uncle Albert' is introduced bt John Bethell,
Director of the Port Erin Arts Centre

by popular request.  There are rumours of the  bad poems  appearing in  a new volume of Uncle Albert’s stories which is being planned for  hopefully future publication.

  This performance was in the lovely  Harry’s Bar in the Arts Centre as part of the Manannan Festival.  The event had a special – and unexpected – extra zest to it  with the discovery that two members of the audience had actually grown up in the village of Churwell  where so many of the stories are set.  So many of the references had a particular emphasis for them.

Port Erin was where the Babe Magnet and I  - together with the Offspring when young – stayed back in 1987 so this was a nostalgic trip for us as well as a very successful launch for the book.

Finally, reluctantly, we had to leave the island – just as the weather was warming and the sun coming out -  and all the new friends we made there and come back home.   But we now know that Uncle Albert  and his stories (and very possibly the bad poems too) will be appearing at some festivals here

'Uncle Albert' spots some fellow 'Yorkies'
from Churwell in the audience.

in the UK later this year.

So far, the list of venues is : Morley Lit Festival (Morley in its fictional form being another of the places Albert’s stories are set ) on October 29^th and Ilkley Festival Fringe on October 3^rd. There’s also the possibility of Wakefield Festival  - and the Babe Magnet is running two courses  on the ‘Writing Local’ theme/Writing about Your Uncle Joe – at AlstonHall in September and at Swanwick with Relax And Write in October.   ‘Uncle Albert’ won’t actually  be there in person  but there might be some bad poetry of some sort!

So now I’m  taking off the PA’s hat  and settling down to my own work  - the ‘To Do’ list is l-o-n-g and needs tackling. There’s my own Complete Romance Writing Course for Writer’s Holidayat Fishguard in July  and  I’ll be joining Uncle Albert at Swanwick to run another of the popular Focus on Writing Romantic Fiction Writing Retreats.(If you’re interested you’ll need to make inquiries/book soon as the last I heard this was almost full already.)

Incidentally, if you are a writer yourself – specially if you write short stories -  the Priory Press are looking for  new stories to publish:

We are aiming to publish a new collection of short stories on the lines of our previous Manx collections, in particular 'A Tail for All Seasons volume 4'. The stories we are looking for should have their own 'voice' and evoke the spirit of a Yorkshire past or present. They should have a beginning, middle and end, be well written, easily readable and just plain memorable!

Further details are on the Priory Press web site.  (Where you can also get your own copy of Uncle Albert.)

And that’s enough of the PA stuff – back to my own latest novel . . . . planning those courses . . .

Back from the Book Launch

I have just about recovered from a hectic weekend!   We had a family reunion in York with two of

my sisters and a brother-in-law.   The rain was lashing down when we set off but luckily had dried up by the time we were in the queue  for lunch in Bettys. 

From there it was off to Haworth where the book launch for the Babe Magnet’s  book  of short stories   Uncle Albert   was to be held in The Black Bull. 

Haworth of course is  the Yorkshire village where the Bronte sisters, Emily, Charlotte and Anne all  lived and wrote in the Parsonage there, producing  classic novels like Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and  The Tennant of Wildfell Hall.  And the Black Bull is  the inn where their brother Branwell spent   many hours of his life drinking in the bar.  There is even an old chair reputed to be the chair Branwell sat in regularly during his long drinking sessions.  We had to pass this chair every time we went  upstairs to our room.  That room looked out over the back of the pub and the graveyard by Haworth Church where so many past inhabitants of the village are buried.  Charlotte Branwell and Emily are buried in the crypt below the church.

The Black Bull is reputed to be haunted  by several ghosts – one of which is supposed to be Branwell

Bronte himself -  but in spite of that we slept very well!   It was only in the morning when the Babe Magnet said he had heard an animal –possibly a fox? – crying  in the night. Er, yes, well – one of the ghosts is reputed to be a child crying in the middle of the night.  Fox or child?  . . .   We didn’t investigate further.

Saturday was a cold rainy day but we still enjoyed exploring and revisiting some of our favourite places in Haworth  before we got ready for the evening and the official book launch.  There were glasses of prosecco, great snack food (the Black Bull does great food)  live music – and of course Uncle Albert! There were even Uncle Albert  beer mats all over the bar tables.  I’m not sure that many of the regulars in the bar quite knew what was going on but they  enjoyed the readings and several of them came up afterwards wanting to buy copies of the book for their Dads on Father’s Day.

The publishers also announced their search for new short story writers – check out their web site www.priory-press.co.uk  for details.

By the end of a long  evening we were too tired to care whether any sounds in the night were animal or spectral.  Sunday morning was lovely and warm and we all – the Babe Magnet’s brother, the 

publishers (Priory Press Isle of Man)  and us  enjoyed breakfast on the balcony as the sun warmed up.

So  that’s the official launch – next thing is a trip to the Isle of Man where  ‘Albert’ is appearing at the Douglas library,  talking on Manx Radio – and appearing at  the Mananan International Festival in the Erin Arts Centre Port Erin.  I shall be there in my role as PA  and ‘author’s wife’. It’s 15+ years since I last visited the Isle of Man so I’m looking forward to seeing how it’s changed and visiting places  I last saw in   1987 – when I only had 6 books published!  The island isn’t the only thing that has changed a lot!

Tote Bags and Book Launches

Today is the 12th of June so that means it's my day for blogging over on Tote Bags N Blogs  where I'm talking about the fabulous Manga in English Harlequin Comics editions of my books.

That's because there is a new Manga comic book out next week - the Manga edition  of  Bedded By The Greek Billionaire.

It has the most amazing cover !

But this isn't the book launch I've been busy with. The reason why I've been missing on this blog for a while is because I've been helping the Babe Magnet and his publisher Priory Press with preparations for the launch of  his new book of Yorkshire short stories - Uncle Albert.

You may remember that I wrote about this book and interviewed its author back in April   Now there's the official launch in one of my favourite places   in all the world - Haworth, the village that was home to  Charlotte Emily and Anne Bronte.

The launch is being held in one of the iconic buildings in Haworth - the Black Bull Inn  where the sisters' brother Branwell Bronte just about  drank  himself to death.

The launch is there on Sunday night -

An evening with Uncle Albert and friends

                              At the Black Bull,

                                       119 Main Street, Haworth, Keighley, BD22 8DP.

                                       On Sunday the 14^th June 2015

             

The main festivities kick off at 8pm with a short introduction and Stephen Wade’s one man show.

       ‘Introducing Uncle Albert’.

           A rare Yorkie wit, raconteur extraordinaire and little known poet.

                                 There will also be

    live music from the simply fabulous Joe and Ann Gallagher Acoustic Experience

So that's where I'm going to be this weekend.  If you're passing  do drop in!   At the moment the forecast is for violent thunderstorms, lightning and torrential downpours - which seems very suitable to the place where Wuthering Heights originated.  I hope it won't be too wet and make everyone reluctant to turn out.

                             

Double Publication Day!

 As I announced yesterday - April 1st is the official publication date of my latest book Olivero's Outrageous Proposal. But,  as I'm sure so many of you know, I'm not the only writer in this  house.  My husband, Stephen Wade, also known as the Babe Magnet is also a multi-published author.
Usually he writes non-fiction, local history, true crime, biographies,  but April 1st is also the ;publication date of his collection of Yorkshire based short stories  -  Uncle Albert. (Priory Press) 

So, to mark this double publication date,  I thought we'd  do a double blog post with each of us talking about our own new titles - but there's a twist. I've interviewed  the author Stephen Wade -   and he's interviewed the author Kate Walker  -  so here's the result:

Kate Walker to Stephen Wade on Uncle Albert

What is the book about?

I wanted to go back to my childhood –in fact I think my best writing has always been on that theme. The stories are an exaggeration of people and events from a Yorkshire village in the 1950s. I wanted to make it larger than life, very much influenced by Peter Tinniswood, who used to write about a northern family, or maybe a bit like Carla Lane’s Bread.

What made you write these stories?

I decided I’d had enough of miserable tales about crime and decided that I wanted to encourage people to smile at a thoroughly daft character.

    Is Uncle Albert  based on someone real?

      Only in a very small way – about 2 % of Albert is actually my real Uncle Albert, from Churwell, near Leeds.  He and Aunt Ivy never had children, and they looked after me when I was little, as Mam went out to work as a dressmaker in a clothes factory. Later, they gave a home to three boys – sons of my Uncle Harry Medd.

  Is the village where the stories are set a real  one?

Gawpham is vaguely Churwell but there is something mythic about the lace- it’s locked into my DNA. There are key locations such as the cottage garden, the working men’s club and the small-holding.

  Did you use the local dialect words when you were a kid? (the ones you have to explain in a glossary for non Yorkshire tykes!)

I was a dialect speaker until the age of 7. So I asked my mates, ‘Are tha laikin’ aht toneet?’

‘Are you coming out to play tonight?’

Description

Everyone has an Uncle Albert somewhere in their family tree and he's usually the one having a quick smoke around the back while trying to think up a new get-rich-quick scheme that doesn't actually involve work. The sort of uncle who is wonderful to talk about unless he actually turns up on your doorstep carrying a still-moving sack and wearing a furtive look.
Uncle Albert is a nostalgic look at life in a small Yorkshire village when Tetley's Yorkshire Bitter was still made in Yorkshire and a pie and a pint with ketchup was at least two of your five-a-day.

A wonderful collection of Yorkshire-voiced short stories by Stephen Wade which will appeal to young and old alike.

Stephen  Wade to Kate Walker  on Olivero's Outrageous Proposal.

  Was the title difficult to create? – or do you find satisfactory titles always to be a tough ask?

  I rarely get to keep a title that I've come up with - usually my editor chooses one that fits the book in the  Presents line-up.  The last title I had used as a working title for my book was the previous book - A Question of Honour so I was pleased to keep that. But when I was writing this, to me it was  just 'Alyse and Dario's story' and my editor rechristened it Olivero's Outrageous Proposal. She's good at thinking up good titles - and the one she has for my next book is just fabulous. (But I can't reveal that until it's all signed and sorted and officially scheduled)

       Would you say it has the Kate Walker hallmark – and if so, what exactly is that key element that makes a Kate Walker story?

      Oh that's a tricky one -  I'm not sure authors are the best at describing their 'hallmarks'.  I did have an editor once who said she loved my dark heroes (and she wasn't just talking about tall dark and handsome)  so there's that of course. And there's an intensity of focus on the  emotional journey of the hero and heroine.  And  there's also an intensity of passion! I'd have to go with the way Romantic Times described it: This couple heats up the pages with their battle-worthy banter and sensual conversations. 

Is the hero a personal favourite? (Where does he stand vis a vis the long line of heroes in all the books?)  

       Dario was fun to write    and I fell in love with him as I wrote his story. But then I'd have to say that about every hero I write.  They're all my favourite when  I've just finished writing there story (not so much when I'm battling with them to get the story written!) 

       I'm loving having Dario's story in my hands - but I'm afraid I have to confess that I'm now being unfaithful to him with Nabil my new, sexy, scarred sheikh hero!  

 Do you still get a thrill when your new book drops through the letter-box?

 

   Oh yes! That's one of the best bits of being a published author - seeing the new book, with a shiny cover and   somehow the words look so different in printed form.

            Even when I'm not so keen on the cover it's still a special feeling- and then seeing the book in the shops is always a thrill

I 

  If you compared yourself to Him Indoors, what differences would you find – that is, in the kinds of writers  you are?

I think the different sort of writers we both are just proves the truth of the fact that there is no right way to write a book - we all have our own processes, we go about this writing business in  very different ways and neither is better than the other we both end up with published books in the end.

I write in silence and  the books take time to put together - thinking of the emotional story and the motivations of the characters etc. And my characters get very serious and intent about things - there's none of the humor that Albert brings to the page,  This Stephen Wade person writes fast  - specially with Uncle Albert! and  always has music playing  while he's at the keyboard - often jazz which I can't stand. So it's just as well that we have managed to set ourselves up in separate studies so we can each work in our own way. 

What's that they say about opposites attract? It certainly seems to be so with two such very different writers. 

Description:

One problem...
Dario Olivero, Alyse Gregory was supposed to be a way to reap revenge against his estranged half brother. But Alyse carries the key to the family acceptance he's always craved and, realizing just how much trouble she's in, he can't turn away.

One solution!
A marriage proposal is not what Alyse was expecting. But this deliciously sexy Italian will resolve her family's debts if she becomes his convenient wife... Her head says no but her body begs her to say yes.

With an intensity rivaling the Tuscan sun, their mutual desire soon escalates to something inconvenient, creating a whole new dilemma!

More covers - but not mine this time!

It seems to be the month for new books/cover designs arriving here. As  you know, the Babe Magnet is a writer too. His books are mostly non-fiction.  Past titles have been about local history/ true crime  that sort of thing, but recently he's written  some biography  - and a new venture into fiction.

So the books that have been delivered have some very different sort of covers to the romance novels I've had.  It's always fascinating to see what other publishers' designers come up with.  The newest ones are these:

A Victorian Somebody - 
This is a new biography of the star of Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy Operas when they first took the Victorian theatrical world by storm.
He was also perhaps more famous generally for his writing the classic work of English humour, The Diary of a Nobody.



And that fiction  book is Uncle Albert -

Everyone has an Uncle Albert somewhere in their family tree and he's usually the one having a quick smoke around the back while trying to think up a new get-rich-quick scheme that doesn't actually involve work. The sort of uncle who is wonderful to talk about unless he actually turns up on your doorstep carrying a still-moving sack and wearing a furtive look.

Uncle Albert is a nostalgic look at life in a small Yorkshire village when Tetley's Yorkshire Bitter was still made in Yorkshire and a pie and a pint with ketchup was at least two of your five-a-day.


As  the Babe Magnet says:    These tales are light and entertaining, going back to my Yorkshire roots. 

One thing about Uncle Albert that made me smile is that because  some of the language is is broad Yorkshire dialect,  there had  to be a glossary to make sure that everyone understands some of Albert's  sayings!

It's certainly been a month for special book deliveries  at this house - and I still haven't received the UK copies of  Olivero's Outrageus Proposal so I'll be looking out for them.

But I'm finding it fascinating how different covers can be.