I loved that job – if I couldn’t write boos, then working with them was coming pretty close. I had the opportunity to read some great stories written for children and that taught me a lot about good, absorbing story telling. But then I found I was pregnant and I left work to become a stay at home Mum. That was the perfect opportunity to start writing again. I’d been trying short stories for magazines while I was working, but getting nowhere. By the time my son was at nursery school, I submitted my first romance novel to Mills & Boon. They rejected it – and the rejected the second one I submitted. But the second one was one of those ‘good rejections’, the letter had a lot of comments about my writing and some suggestions to improve it – that old favourite ‘lacks emotional punch’ was one of them! But they also asked me to try again – so I did!

My third submission was The Chalk Line. And that was accepted and became my very first published novel.

CR: You recently celebrated your 20 year anniversary for writing for Harlequin. How has your life changed in those 20 years?

It’s so different now, that it’s hard to look back and remember the person who trained and worked as a librarian and thought that might be my job for life. Some things haven’t changed though – I’m still married to the same man and we still live in Lincolnshire – though we’ve almost moved at least three times. When my first book was published, my husband was a Lecturer in English at the local Further Education College. Since then he’s taught Creative Writing at a University and now he works with the Writers In Prison Network as a Writer in Residence. He still teaches part time at the University of Hull and he writes !

My son, of course, has grown up. He’s been through the school system, to university and now he’s teaching English and Media. He has his own home with his girlfriend so I no longer have to fit in writing around being a full time mother – when he was small, I usually ended up working when he was in bed. As a result, I worked late into the night – or the early morning. Now I try to work office hours.

I’ve been my own boss for 20 years – that’s been great. I don’t have to travel to and from work and I can come down to my office in jeans and tee shirt, no makeup, bare feet – and just a cat or two for company. When I first started out I wrote in the spare bedroom and I had to move out if we had visitors to stay. Now I have a separate office with a big desk and the luxury of plenty of space. It took some time to build up a name and a reader base – people who looked out for my books and bought on my name. When I first started writing, some of my novels were published as Romances and some as Presents (there wasn’t the same division in Mills & Boon as for Harlequin when I started out)so that meant it was more difficult to build up a following. My first ever royalty statement was £200 ! (about $360) – now it’s a lot more than that.

I’ve built up a huge collection of international editions of my boos. Back in 1984, when The Chalk Line was first published, all I knew about romance writing was the Mills * Boon paperbacks in the shops and the hardback editions in the libraries – so getting my first foreign edition was a thrill. The very first one was a German edition. The my second book, Game of Hazard went to America – and the foreign editions kept on coming. I think I have books from about 30 different countries now, from Russia to Greece, Japan to Brazil.

Oh yes – and I first started writing on a small, yellow, manual typewriter – it took some time before I got my first computer. Having a computer and access to then internet has changed so much about my life and the way I work – I can write much more easily, working straight onto the screen, and editing is a breeze. Then email and web sites and message boards have opened up the world to me here in my office. I used to be limited to talking to readers from the UK – and then only the few I met when I gave talks or workshops. Now I can chat to people all over the world. As a result I have made many wonderful friends – people I wouldn’t even know existed, and certainly wouldn’t be able to keep in touch with, without email. And that has meant that I’ve been able to travel and visit them and to go to RWA National Conferences in Denver and New York.

Also because of the teaching and answering questions that I’ve done on the internet, I wrote my ‘how to’ book – Kate Walker’s 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance which won a couple of Cata Romance awards (thank you Cata!). And because of that, I was asked to speak at the Romance Writers of Australia Conference and Romance Writers of New Zealand. These are experiences that wouldn’t have been open to me if I hadn’t been a writer and made a success of my writing and I’m truly grateful for the chances it’s given me.

CR: How has the romance industry changed?

Obviously, romance writing and publishing is always changing and developing – nothing stands still. And one of the great challenges of being a writer is that you have to keep up with the new developments, recognize new themes, abandon old ones that no longer work. That way you keep your writing fresh and up to date

So, what sorts of things have changed? The obvious ones are the way that the books have become more explicit and sensual. Readers no longer expect to have the bedroom door shut in their faces so to speak! Today it’s much more likely that they will be right there with the characters.

Another change is the introduction of the hero’s point of view. When I started writing, the hero was a distant and mysterious figure and the reader only got hints of what was going on in his thoughts. Now the hero gets equal space with the heroine – or the whole book can be written from his point of view. As a writer, I like the challenge of this. You can study two characters in depth and give insights into both, their feelings and their motivation.

One of the developments in romance as a whole is the growth of the industry and the huge numbers of new lines and types of romances – fantasy like Luna – or Bombshell – or the older heroines – all of these make the romance genre wider and different – and it would look as if these new developments would make it easier for a new author to sell their first book. But I’m not sure this is so. The lines are now so defined, with such very specific guidelines that it can be hard for a writer to find the right line for them – their real niche as a writer. And, as we’ve seen this year, lines can be cut as well as new ones opened. If I look back at the way I got my first acceptance, and then had books out in both Harlequin Romance and Presents, that wouldn’t happen today. You need to write to the specific needs of the line and have a voice that fits that line.

In my previous answer I also said how much the internet has opened things up for me – this can be a blessing – but it can also bring problems with it. I never read any reviews at all of my first fifteen or so titles. Now there are sites all over the place who will review books – and not all of them are kind! And readers expect to do more than just read your books! They want to visit a web site, to find out more about their favourite authors. They want to ask questions, enter contests, be on a mailing list. Romance authors have to do a lot or personal publicity. It’s one of the kickbacks that comes with the huge Romance market. There are thousands of readers out there, but there are also hundreds of other authors and it can be very difficult to make your book stand out so that readers will pick it up.

The other thing is that there are so many more people now trying to write romance. People have realized what a big business it is and I think some of them believe they are going to make a huge fortune writing romance. (I wish!) So there is a lot of competition, so many writers trying for a limited number of places. There is a lot more information available – on web sites and in the RWA or the UK’s RNA. There are classes, on line courses, ‘How to Write’ books – I’ve written two myself! So there are lots of would-be authors, most of whom are way more informed than I ever was, who are trying for the limited number of publishing slots available. And of course, there are a lot of well-established authors who are all very productive year after year.

But at the same time, the editors are always on the lookout for new, fresh and exciting voices. That’s something that hasn’t changed.

CR: Looking back over the years, who are some neat people that you’ve met due to your writing? Any special editors, authors, a cover model perhaps?KW: One of the unexpected delights of becoming a published writer has been the number of wonderful people I’ve met who belong to the world of writing. It’s been a fabulous experience and one that keeps on getting better with every year that I’ve been in this business.One of the fascinating things I’ve found is that if I’ve read an author’s work and loved it then nine times out of ten I’ll love that author too when I meet her in person.

I’ll never forget the very first time Harlequin held an author day and I arrived at the London hotel where it was held, like the new girl on her first day at school. I didn’t know anyone and I was as nervous as can be. There were authors there whose names had been on the books I’d devoured as I tried to learn all I could about writing romance in order to submit my own, and I couldn’t believe I was in the same room as Charlotte Lamb, Penny Jordan, Lynne Graham . . . I was star struck, trying to spot so many of my own personal favourites. Then, when we got into discussion groups, one author, dark haired, elegant in a smart black suit, came to sit beside me and we started talking – it was the start of a very special friendship. That author was Michelle Reid – and here the’rule of thub’ of like the books/like the author worked perfectly. We found so many similarities that it was uncanny – even our birthdays are just four days apart. We started writing letters to each other (neither of us had access to the internet at that point), then moved on to emails, then to long, chatty phone calls, talking about our writing, families, the world in general. One thing we daren’t do is to discuss the books we’re working on in any great detail. We’re just so alike that if we’re not careful we can find that what we’re working on is very similar too.

Another friend I discovered through my writing is Anne McAllister. Again, I’d read and enjoyed her books for years before I managed to make contact with her through email. As she lives in Iowa and I’m here in the UK, I don’t know how we would have connected in any other way but writing, emails – and her great friendship with my cat, Sid – brought us together and now I can’t imagine my life without her. Anne and her husband came to visit during a trip to England some years ago and it was as if we had been friends for years. We never stopped talking – and we haven’t since. Anne’s husband and mine have ‘clicked’ too – they start talking when we meet them off the plane or the train – and they’re still talking as we wave goodbye. We’ve visited their house, traveled to RWA national with them. We even all ended up in New Zealand together last year when Anne and I were at the RWNZ conference.

Through the eHarlequin message boards I’ve made so many friends that it’s hard to mention them all. But I do have to mention the Hosties from eHarl Dee, Rae, Dream and Jayne, who welcomed me to my first RWA Conference in Denver, and even crowned me Queen Bee and the PJ party there. It as at that first Denver conference too that I first met lovely Holly Jacobs who until then had just been a name on the message boards. And there were dozens of others. There have been reviewers, editors, new authors, but above all there have been so many readers. Some I’ve met in person, others have simply written to me by email. They all give me a special thrill when they say they love my bokos and they all make me realise just how wonderful it is to be part of this amazing world of writing that connects me to people all over the world.

CR: What are some of your fondest memories and recollections as an author?

KW: Well, how can I ever forget the day that i got my first acceptance? I never got ‘the call’ just a letter in a white ebvelope with a big red rose on one side. I remember I had been out shopping with my husband and son and I came home to find the letter on the doormat. I was shaking with excitement – so much so that it took me a long time to manage to open it. The acceptance couldn’t have come at a better time as we had just discovered that my mother was terminally ill with cancer. She died before my first book was actually published but at least I was able to tell her about that first acceptance and she was delighted to know that my first book was going to be published.

Then there was the day that the first copies of my brand new book arrived . Or they should have done. My first book – The Chalk Line – was published just before Christmas so there were a few parcels arriving then. But once again this box had the Mills & Boon label on it with the trademark (then) red rose. I’d been out Christmas shopping when it arrived, and my husband and son had been waiting impatiently for me to come home so that they could see the copies of my first published title. I ripped open the box and pulled out my six hardback (library edition) copies – only to find that someone had packed up the wrong book and I had receieved six copies of a Betty Neels book! I had to wait some days before the replacement copies arrived and this time they were the right book. Even if the cover wasn’t quite right – my hero had jet black hair and on the cover her was very definitely blond! – I was thrilled to have my book in my hand. I read it through – it seemed to read very differently in print from the typescript I’d submitted – and then I left the book on my bedside table when I went to sleep so that I could see it first thing when I woke up and know that it wasn’t a dream. In those days, not every M&B title went to America or even into paperback so the very first paperback and American edition were great thrills too. That was my second book – Game of Hazard – and seeing the paperback editions on the shelves in my local bookshop really made me feel that my dream of being published had come true.

Going to London to meet my editor for the first time was a really exciting experience. I was so nervous at the thought of meeting anyone from thies world famous company – and real life editors too! But everyone was so warm and welcoming and they soon made me relax. I remember I read the menu time after time and I still couldn’t make head or tale of what there was on offer. But it didn’t take long before I was chatting away and really enjoying myself.

My very first RWA National will always stay in my memory. Meeting all the people I’d been chatting with on the message boards and loops like Cata – sitting in that huge literacy signing in a foreign country and realising that people recognised my name ebven if they didn’t recognise me! Going to the Harlequin party – and the eHarlequin PJ party. I’ve already mentioned beign crowned Queen Bee – that was such a special moment. And while I’m talking about RWA – there was a moment in New York that made me cry. I had let slip that my husband and I were celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary and the Gonnabeez – and the eHarl hostie Dream in particular had all got together to make up a wondeful album of thoughts and photographs with pages from so many of my friends from the boards as a gift for us. I was so touched by the kindness and the album is one of my most treasured possessions. I take it out every now and then to look at it again.

And how could I not mention last year’s trip to Australia and New Zealand and their conferences where I was made so welcome and had such a wonderful time. I’d always wanted to visit Australia and when my sister emigrated to Tasmania I vowed I would visit one day. Vsiting the RWAu Conference and the RWNZ one too juts made the whole experience even more special. Once again I got to meet authors I’d admired for so long – Robyn Donald, Susan Napier, Anne Gracie . .. and to renew my friendship with Marion Lennox and Trish Morey who I’d met in NY. On the last night after the conference, before everyone went home, we all had a wonderful meal together and Anne McAllister, Marion Lennox and I shared this huge seafood platter. It was meant to be for two people but the three of us couldn’t quite finish it. I shall always remember that night when I eat seafood again – and it won’t taste quite as good as it did in the company of such great friends.

It’s interesting – looking back at my memories, I realise that I’m lucky – these things still give me a thrill. Each new acceptance is like a new adventure. I’m always nervous when I send in a new book and an acceptance is still a cause for celebration. Seeing my books on the shelves, here in the UK or America or anywhere I’ve visited is something that lifts my heart, and the company of good friends and meeting new ones is such a bonus that comes from being able to travel and visit some wondeful places because of my writing. I’m creating great memories for myself every time.

CR: You’ve been writing Harlequin Presents for years. Do you ever get the urge to write something really long and involved? Any single titles in your future?

KW: Writing Presents is always a challenge. Each new book is the story of a new hero and heroine. They have their own stories to tell and their own conflicts. their own ways of coming to terms with things. So I love writing these books. And it’s never boring – you need to keep up to date with what the reders enjoy, create new plots that are not just rehashing the same ideas over and over again, and meet the deaadlines the editors set. Writing for presents means I can write about themes and conflicts that are strong and gritty – often challenging – certainly satisfying. So I’ve never had a real urge to go off and write something new and different and possibly longer – YET!

But I’m like James Bond I’ll never say never! At the moment I’m having a wonderful time writing the books I love to read. I have built up a great reader base and I love to see my books selling so well across the world. But maybe one day I’ll come across a story that just won’t stay within the boundaries of a 55,000 word Presents romance. A story that just won’t let me go until I’ve written it. I have one or two ideas but none of them have yet grown into that ‘really long and involved’ story that I can’t resist. If they do, it will be because the characters demand it. Because they tell me so much more about themselves than I can include in a Presents book – I suspect it will happen one day. And then I’ll be in trouble. Because the deadlines for the minimum of three Presents books I write each year are pressure enough. I’m not sure when I’d be able to fit in the writing of it! – but ‘never say never!’