All sorts

Back from Vietnam, with a souvenir I hadn't anticipated - the most ginormous black eye! Managed to get mugged on our last night there, and visitors to tonight's New Romantics launch will get a close-up, but I am quite proud of the many colours, so thought I'd share it with you...I'd asked my New Romantic colleagues to wear something pink or red to the event, and Jojo Moyes said I had taken it a bit TOO far...

Actually, the trip was brilliant - fascinating, inspiring, moving - especially the places connected to the recent conflicts. It's given me lots and lots of ideas for books, so watch this space.

In other news, the New Romantics launch tonight is now sold out, so please don't come along unless you have a ticket -it's going to be great fun, I think!

And if you're thinking of enrolling for the women's fiction course I am running with Louise Voss from May 18 to 21, then do sign up very soon as there are only two places left - see here for more information.

Right, off to experiment with cover-up make-up for tonight!

Chuffed to little mintballs...

What a lovely day! Thrilled to receive a phone call from my editor this morning to say The Secret Shopper's Revenge has been short-listed for the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance.

Melissa was a very talented author of five novels combining love and laughter, including The Nanny and The Waitress. She died in 2006 of breast cancer, aged only thirty-seven, and one of her wishes was for an award to be set up for books which celebrate humour and love. I am so honoured to be on the list, especially as the other novels sound terrific. The winner of the award in 2007, its first year, was Marian Keyes and last year it was Lisa Jewell - both authors whose novels I love - so I am sure you can understand why I'm so excited to be nominated. 

The details of the short-listed books are below, but there's lots more to read on the award website, including the work of the Melissa Nathan Foundation.

 

The six short-listed books and authors are:

Bridesmaids by Jane Costello. Pocket Books

Recipe For Disaster by Miriam Morrison. Arrow

A Winter's Tale by Trisha Ashley. Avon

The Marriage Bureau For Rich People by Farahad Zama. Abacus

The Importance Of Being Emma by Juliet Archer. ChocLit

The Secret Shopper's Revenge by Kate Harrison. Orion

Want to write women's fiction? Come on our intensive evening course.

I know a lot of blog readers are writing their own novels - it's one of the reasons why Sue Mongredien and I were so pleased that the Novel Racers took off and became such a terrific community - and now I'm teaming up with Louise Voss, author of To Be Someone and three other terrific novels, to teach a course on commercial women's fiction from May 18 to 21 2009 in London.

It's slightly unusual in structure in that we're holding it over four consecutive evenings, rather like a summer school. But because it's in the evening it's also suitable if you work within commuting distance of Kingston-on-Thames, around 30 minutes from Waterloo.

Here's the lowdown, but if you've any more questions, do post in the comments and I'll do my best to answer! If you do want to book, there's a discount for signing up before A[ril 17.

From light social comedy, to grittier relationship tales, women’s fiction titles sell in vast numbers and there’s a lot more to the genre than twentysomething chick lit. The vast majority of fiction buyers are women, and publishers are always looking for new voices to entertain, amuse and move readers. This is an intensive course, designed to give you the tools and knowledge you need to tackle this incredibly popular – and wide-ranging – genre.

Tutors Kate Harrison and Louise Voss are both best-selling authors with a passion for this area of fiction, and have published ten novels between them. These practical workshops explore the whole process, and are suitable for both new writers, and more experienced ones. The course will cover generating ideas, creating sympathetic yet complex characters, and approaches to story-telling. There’ll also be sessions on approaching agents and publishers, trends in this area of fiction, and an overview of the current publishing scene. As well as group workshops, there’ll be the opportunity for individual advice and feedback from our tutors and the opportunity to send a short excerpt from your current project for the tutors to read before the course starts.

The course runs over four consecutive nights, from 6pm-9pm, at Kingston University (30 minutes from Waterloo).

Cost: Full: £180 (£160 if booked before 17th April)

For booking and more info, call 020 8417 7790, email: fassshortcourse-info@kingston.ac.uk or click here for more.

Win free love for a year - competition closing date extended!

We've extended the closing date on our fabulous launch competition for the launch of the New Romantics until May 8 2009 so that guests at our free launch event (see the previous post to find out how to reserve your ticket) can also enter.

See our website for more information - describe your most romantic moment in 100 words, and you could win Free Love (in the form of great novels posted to your door) for a whole year.

Love,

Kate x

Free literary event on April 30 by the Thames!

Oh, I have lots of news to report now I've emerged from my writing marathon...

You might remember that I've joined forces with six other fabulous writers (Lucy Diamond, Sarah Duncan, Matt Dunn, Veronica Henry, Milly Johnson and Jojo Moyes) to launch The New Romantics, campaigning for the best in modern romantic fiction.

Well, we're having a launch party event on 30 April 2009 in Richmond-upon-Thames and we'd love you to be there. It kicks off at 7pm and there'll be readings and stories from me, Lucy (also known by her real name, Sue Mongredien, the author of many fabulous children's books), Jojo and Veronica. There'll be free pink-themed refreshments, books to sign and lots of laughs along the way.

You can order a ticket online here (scroll down) and, best of all in these credit-crunched times, it's free!

Richmond is on the District Line or lots of rail routes, and the fabulous venue is very close to the Thames, about five minutes' walk from the station. Have a peep around all the lovely shops and pubs with Street View (the venue is down the side of the street past the clothes shop, and the huge green tree you can see ahead is on the river!) - it looks even better on a sunny evening.

Do come along, we'd love to see you!

The beginning of the end or the end of the beginning?

So, it's done. For now. The Secret Shopper Unwrapped, the sequel to The Secret Shopper's Revenge, has been sent off to lovely editor and lovely agent this very evening.

It's the fastest book I've written - mainly because it had to be, as it has a wintry/Christmassy theme and therefore if it misses its publication slot in October, then we have to wait an entire year before we can try again! As a former TV journalist, I'm used to deadlines, but this one has been rather overwhelming!

So here are the vital stats:

Date started 1st draft: 6 January 2009 (though I had been thinking about it, oh, for an entire month before that)
Date finished 1st draft: 17 March 2009
Word count on 17 March: 95,740
Date started my own, self-editing 2ND draft (i.e. before showing it anyone): 19 March
Date finished own, self-edited 2ND draft: 3 April
Word count on 3 April: 105,789

Now I'm sure there used to be a way of finding out how many hours you'd spent on a MS via Properties on Word, but it's currently saying 28 minutes, which would be a record, even for a speedy writer like me. In truth, I've been staring at the computer screen for an average of eight hours a day, five or six days a week, throughout this whole process, probably more.

If that sounds like I haven't had much of a life, you're probably right. An external life, that is. In my imagination, I've been to Christmas grottoes, gangland pubs, luxury hotels, plastic surgery clinics, fun pubs and country villages. I've eaten pomegranates and figgy pudding and turkey (and I speak as a vegetarian of twenty odd years), I've drunk Cristal and egg nog and mint tea. I've had sex with three different heroes (actually, make that four), with varying degrees of ecstasy.
Who needs real life?

I've used Spotify as my new best tool, creating a Secret Shopping play list (which I will work out how to link to, soon) featuring a disproportionate number of Christmas songs. I've also resorted to the truly evil setting on Dr Wicked. I've watched programmes on shop lifting and expat life. And I've enjoyed it, most of the time...

But now the evenings are light, the weather's warm and it's time to emerge into the fresh air. For at least, oooh, a week, before I get the notes back from the Very Important People, and have to start on that third draft.

Wish me luck please!

Blog tour: Fiona Robyn, author of The Letters

I am still up to my neck in the current novel (latest word count: 68,000. Which I know is respectable, given that I only began the book this year, but is still some way from the end. Hmmm). Not drowning, but not exactly waving either...

So I'm asking someone else to do the talking, and hosting a stop on Fiona Robyn's blog tour... she's celebrating the publication of her first novel, which has had terrific response from people lucky enough to receive advance copies! (Oh, and I want her hair...)

Fiona Robyn is a novelist living in rural Hampshire with her partner, two cats and vegetable patch. Her debut novel The Letters is published by Snowbooks, and follows divorcee Violet as she starts receiving a series of mysterious letters, written in 1959 from a mother and baby home.

Why do you write?
I write to help me pay attention. And because I want to appear on Richard and Judy. (joke)

Where did the idea come from for The Letters?
My novels start with my main characters, so Violet 'appeared in my head' and the story unfolded from her. She is a prickly character, but I am very fond of her.

Planner – or pantser? Do you write a detailed outline for your novels, or do you have a vague idea where you’re going and then fly by the seat of your pants?
Oh, definitely pantser! I wish I was a planner - it sounds much less scary. Sometimes things happen in my novels that surprise me!

Tell us about your writing methods – times, rituals, moments of procrastination… LOTS of procrastination, especially during the first draft - amazing how many other things I suddenly find around the house that urgently need doing. I light a tea-light before I start writing and blow it out when I'm finished. I like to write first thing in the morning before I get distracted by anything else (Facebook!) and I use my lovely blue laptop. I wish there were more helpful tips I could pass on but I think you just have to sit down and get on with it.

Where do you write? Do you have a room of your own?
I write in my tiny office in our little thatched cottage which we borrow from the Duke of Wellington (for a fee). I can touch both walls when I put out my arms. I'm an extreme minimalist so it suits me just fine - pretty much me, my laptop and my cat Fatty (who likes to lie on the rug behind me and keep me company).

Kate says: I can't see a cat in this picture!

You have a range of blogs and creative outlets on the web – how do you juggle them all and how important is it to have different ways of expressing yourself?
Yes - three blogs is a bit excessive! But 'a handful of stones' doesn't really count as other people write that one - I just choose the pieces. 'a small stone' is where I write something creative every day - it's usually very short so doesn't take long. I suppose you could say it's a way of honouring my muse. And Planting Words is where I get to write whatever I want - what my Nana thought of the rude bits in my books, how much I love making soup - it's fun to write these pieces. If I'm in the middle of writing a novel, I try not to touch my blogs until I've finished my 'proper writing' for the day!

What’s coming after The Letters?
Snowbooks will be releasing The Blue Handbag - where Leonard, a gardener, becomes a reluctant detective - in August, and then Thaw - where Ruth gives herself three months to decide whether or not her life is worth living. I am working on a fourth novel but I haven't touched it for a while - doing interviews is much more fun!

Thanks to Fiona - I have her gorgeous looking book on my TBR pile but I am not reading fiction at the moment - saving it as a treat for when I finish!

Become a New Romantic - and win a year's worth of Free Love...

You know I mentioned the Top Secret Project in the last blog? Well, all is revealed...

Working with six other brilliant authors, we've created the New Romantics, a group dedicated to promoting commercial novels that deal with relationships and love...

And we have the most terrific prize on offer - an entire year of free love...of the literary kind. Valentine's Day is over for another year, but scoot over to the New Romantics website and you could win a book a month for the next twelve months. You can also read about my fellow New Romantics, and find extra material about what we do and why we do it! 

The idea of working with other writers in my genre to promote our work - and the genre itself - came more than a year ago, and I thought of our name while I was at the conference of the Romantic Novelists' Association itself. The RNA is a terrific organisation, with many talented authors, but the members encompass a huge range of different genres, from historical fiction to medical romance.

I wanted to work together with a smaller number of writers I know and admire for their different takes on the genre I write in - known variously as commercial women's fiction, contemporary fiction, chick lit and...um, well, many less complimentary names. Crime writers in the UK have already done something very similar with the Murder Squad, a group of friends and authors who offer events and talks to libraries and festivals, and I felt there was a brilliant opportunity to do something similar in the women's fiction genre. 

Anyway, there's a little more information below - but the best way to find out more is to head over to the site itself. I'd love to know what you think.  

The New Romantics – www.thenewromantics.org – brings together seven British authors of novels that deal with love in all its forms. Lucy Diamond, Sarah Duncan, Matt Dunn, Kate Harrison, Veronica Henry, Milly Johnson and Jojo Moyes write in a wide range of topics and styles, from laugh-out-loud romantic comedy to intense love stories and relationship tales from the male point-of-view.

They’ve launched the New Romantics to champion the cause of commercial fiction with a heart –a perfect antidote to the credit crunch. They’ll be promoting their genre through events, reading group campaigns and online promotions.

For your own happy-ever-after, and the chance to win a year of Free Love, check out the website www.thenewromantics.org. The group’s first public event is a debate, What’s Love Got to Do with It? at the very romantic venue of the Old Town Hall in Richmond-upon-Thames Old Town Hall on 30^th April at 7pm. More details will be available soon on the website.

The group is the idea of author Kate Harrison. ‘The market for romantic fiction is worth £118m a year, and growing, yet there’s a stereotypical view of readers and authors in the genre as old-fashioned or deluded. We think we’re typical of the audience – we’re intelligent professional people with satisfying lives who happen to like happy endings.’

Between them, the New Romantics have published thirty novels, in seventeen countries (including Brazil, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Malaysia, Portugal, Russia, and Spain) and sold well over 1.5 million copies of their books.

Based around the UK (with one currently living in Spain), they take different approaches to exploring love and relationships in their fiction, but they share a passion for reading, writing, talking about books, and for their genre. Their books have won or been shortlisted for awards including the Romantic Novelists' Association Novel of the Year, the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance, and the Good Housekeeping Book Award.  

Author and screen-writer Veronica Henry argues that romantic fiction can be a credit-crunch proof treat: ‘There is nothing more indulgent than a brilliantly written, page-turning romantic read. Prepare to curl up in front of the fire, loll in a hammock or slide into a scented bath with one [or all!] of the New Romantics.’

Founder member Milly Johnson is urging cynics to get in touch with their romantic side. ‘Our novels bring hope that your own personal hero is somewhere out there in real life just waiting to find you too.  They are the ultimate escape and stuff of secret fantasies even for the most capable of modern women.’

And Lucy Diamond, who recently moved into writing for the genre after enjoying huge success with her children’s books, says ‘When real life feels too stressful, I love to lose myself in the perils and angst of a romantic heroine, breathing a great, contented sigh of satisfaction when she gets her happy-ever-after."

More excuses...

OK, so the usual excuses follow: I was teaching a terrific group of very talented sixth-formers in deepest, snowiest Derbyshire, I was dealing with impending life change, I was celebrating a birthday, I was appearing in the Mail on Sunday's YOU magazine (see here: though after the birthday and snow, I am weighing a little more than I do in that picture).  

I also played a small role in rescuing an absolutely adorable cat. How could anyone abandon this terrific boy? He was so affectionate and also starving hungry when we encountered him, having been hanging round in middle of nowhere, trying to find shelter from the freezing weather. 

He'd obviously once been a house cat - I have no idea how anyone could abandon their pet, it makes me very angry. Was so tempted to take him home with us, but the Cat in Residence would not have been pleased, having had life her own sweet way for fourteen years...

Then there's writing the book. And I've also been very busy with a Top Secret Project. Which won't be very top secret once I post my next blog post. Would love to know what you think of the project (and the cat!).

The dog ate my homework and other excuses...

Bad blogger or what? The reasons are many and varied:

• I’m trying to write 100,000 words by April and somehow blogging doesn’t seem as tempting by the time I’ve got to the end of my daily quota.
• I am also trying to write a play, and a story for young adults. Neither earning me any money but it’s good to stretch the brain.
• When I’m not writing, I’m trying to learn to play the piano, from scratch. It hurts my head.
• When I’m not writing or tinkling those ivories, I am at the gym. Amazing but true. I love it!
• When I’m not writing, gymming or trying to play the piano, I am playing Star Worse on the Wii.
• The credit crunch. God, it’s depressing. As a fully signed-up Marvin the Paranoid Android, I believe we’re likely to be a bankrupt nation by the end of the week. Worst thing is, so do experts. That’s not good.*
• The credit crunch has, very recently, hit very close to home. Not going into details, but it makes the future seem even more uncertain. That might be uncertain in a good, life-changing for the best way, but it’s still change. I am like my cat. Not good with change. OK, I don’t scratch the carpet or wee in briefcases, but if I could get away with it, I might see if it helps.

Thank you to all the fab people who have bought The Secret Shopper's Revenge – it’s been doing so well, and I am thrilled. It’s due in Tesco this week, and also seems to be at a very low price on amazon so if you haven’t bought it yet, you can still find it out there.

In fact, there is some breaking news. The response to Secret Shopper 1 has been so great that I'm writing Secret Shopper 2. The working title is The Secret Shoppers Unwrapped and it's due to be published in the Autumn. Which is yet another reason I might be a bit absent from the blogosphere for a wee while.

See you soon,

Kate xx

*NB: the only man who can save us happens to be my local MP, the marvellous Vince Cable. I love him so much I even stayed at The Vincent Hotel in Southport this weekend, in his honour. Boyf used to see him commuting to Westminster on the train. A) the man went standard class and b) he was on the early train. Nuff said. I wish he was in charge of everything…you know, if there was any justice in the world, the man had been picked for Strictly Come Dancing, I think there'd have been a coup by now (a very civilised one, no blood shed or anything) and things would look very different.

Not so bleak midwinter

I don't have any proper news - too busy writing and wrapping and, um, mastering Mario Kart (early Christmas present!), but just wanted to post this photograph I took during a carol-singing session at Trafalgar Square last week - what we lacked in tunefulness, we made up for in enthusiasm!

And surely at this time, more than any other, it's the thought that counts.

Have a peaceful, happy time, blog friends. Try to forget financial meltdowns etc, and focus on what counts - and see you in the New Year.

Kate xxx

Shelf Life

So, the book’s out there, and I’ve seen it looking very sparkly in Smiths, Sainsbury’s, Woolworths but not yet in Asda (though I have had many reported sightings). There’s a retail saying that applies to books and their shelf life – ‘longer than milk, shorter than yogurt’. That might surprise you as much as it did me when I first heard it, but it is true – unless a novel begins to sell very quickly in the first few days (and of course, technology makes it possible for stores to see at a glance how many ‘units’ have been sold), the chances are that it will be removed from the shelves without ceremony, to make way for the next book…which is a very scary thought for an author. The retail world, as we all know, is a chilly and potentially inhospitable place at the moment, and sending your book out there feels like sending your baby off to the workhouse to earn its keep.

The good news for me is that so far The Secret Shopper's Revenge is earning its keep – it's in the fiction bestseller chart today - so sincere thanks for anyone who has bought it, and for all the lovely messages. I’m cracking on with the next book, so going quiet again, but I really am so grateful that people are being kind to my 'baby.'

Oh, and if you want to know more about the background to the book, there's an interview with me by the brilliant Danuta Kean on the Orion website,
Kate x

Glittery book in a store near you….

Woohoo, The Secret Shopper's Revenge is out in paperback this week! And very satisfyingly chunky it is too. It is also the first book I’ve had published that features glittery bits on the cover. Obviously other books have glittery stuff, but mine is extra glittery. Go on. Stroke the screen. Use your imagination. It feels a little bit rough, doesn't it, like festive sandpaper?

The cover also features cute charms below the title – those were my idea!

I’m always excited and nervous when a novel comes out, and this time is no exception. Especially as the book is the Asda Book Club book of the month for December, which means it should be in all their stores AND if you buy it in Asda, you get an extra section at the back with special material from my three secret shoppers – a guide to luxury on a budget from Grazia, advice from Lucy on how NOT to be treated like dirt by shop assistants, and a shopper’s guide to spotting the best stores by Sandie. And all for the same cover price… I believe it’s also in the WH Smith’s travel stores as their book of the week, too (not sure WHICH week) so if you see one in a station or airport let me know. Or if you see one at all, I'd love to hear how it looks. I can never quite believe it's on sale until I have confirmed independent sightings...

The novel begins just a few days before Christmas, with my poor underdog heroine Emily (not Lucy, as I wrote before - doh! I get my characters confused!) realising that her dreams of a perfect celebration in London aren’t going to plan – read the first chapter here – and as the book even looks a bit like a parcel, it makes a great present...!

Right, end of hard sell. Back to reality.

In other news, have hit a bit of a block with the new novel. I’m at the 25,000 words stage of an extremely rough draft and am now wondering what to throw at my characters next. I also have a cold and have just hit my head on the door above the washing machine, so I don’t think I’ll be finishing the Nanowrimo challenge unless I can write 25,000 more words in five days. This would be technically possible but utterly insane.

Ah well, knew it was too good to last.