Time flies...

I can't believe it's eight months since I last posted on the blog. I am a bad, bad blogger, I admit it. Life has just taken over, in the way life does: I've had a big birthday, spent a fortnight in India (tasting the very best vegetarian food I've had in my life), finished another book, started another book, bought a Wii Fit (yes, it has taken over my life: I am hula-hoop queen but I can't do the football-heading thing at all), put on ten pounds, lost six pounds (and counting), had a few minor health niggles (and concluded Chinese Herbs are the most loathsome thing on the planet), signed up for a gardening course and an OU short course on Nutrition, seen long-lost friends and not-lost-at-all friends, and it's all happened in the blink of an eye.

The publication of another book - my sixth! - is always a landmark, so I thought I ought to pop in and say hello. I'm very excited about The Secret Shopper's Revenge. I find it hard to judge my books, but the people who matter - my editor and agent, my parents, my chums - have been incredibly enthusiastic (and before you say, 'well, they're biased,' actually they don't hesitate to tell me what they think!) and it does have characters I grew to adore while I was writing the novel: dreamy Emily, generous Sandie, and cynical Grazia. I also loved writing about the shops my retail spies visited - the glamorous department stores, the snooty boutiques, the coffee shops and nail bars.

There's an extract over at my website - and the novel goes on sale next week, with the most adorable cover ever: worth seeking it out just to have a look at what the talented design team have done! Waterstones also sent out some advance copies to readers and I have been so chuffed at the reviews (though bear in mind that the reviews have been placed on the paperback export version, when the hardback is cheaper and even more covetable!).

I will try to blog a little more about the progress of my tomatoes and writing projects, but truthfully, like most writers, my books are rather more eventful than my life (and long may it stay that way), so it makes sense for me to focus on the fiction...

Kate xxx