Kate Walker
Personal Information
Description
Kate Walker was born on 10 January 1950 in Nottinghamshire, England, but her family moved to West Yorkshire when she was just 18 months old, and she has always regarded Yorkshire as home. She was the middle child in a family of five girls, growing up in a home where books were vitally important, and she read anything she could get her hands on. Even before she could write she was making up stories. At the age of four she was telling the tale of The Three Little Raindrops Drippy, Droppy, and Droopy to her two younger sisters. She can't remember a time when she wasn't scribbling away at something, and wrote her first "book" when she was 11. But everyone told her that she would never make a living as a writer, and that she should work toward a more secure career. So she decided that if she couldn't write books, at least she could work with them, and settled for becoming a librarian. On leaving school she went to the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth to study English and librarianship. While there, she met her husband, who was also studying at the college. They married and moved back north, eventually settling in Lincolnshire, where she worked as a children's librarian until her son was born. After three years of being a full-time housewife and mother she was ready for a new challenge, but needed something she could do at home, so she turned to her old love of writing. Her first attempts at writing novels were done at the kitchen table, often working late into the night when her son was asleep, or during a few snatched hours while he was out at nursery school. The first two novels she sent off to Mills & Boon were rejected, but the third attempt was successful. She can still remember the moment that a letter of acceptance arrived instead of the rejection slip she had been dreading. She must have read that letter over and over a hundred times before what it said sank in, and for days she kept checking it just to make sure she hadn't been dreaming. But the moment she really realised that she was a published writer was when copies of her first book, The Chalk Line, arrived just in time to be one of her best Christmas presents ever. Kate is often asked if she's a romantic person because she writes romances. Her answer is that if being romantic means caring about other people enough to make that extra special effort for them, then, yes, she is. Romance is about making the important people in your life feel valued and letting them know that you care. But she also writes about relationships and the difficulties people sometimes have in understanding each other, or expressing their feelings, or overcoming problems. Sometimes, when the right words won't come, or an idea hasn't worked out as she thought, she wonders why she doesn't have a regular nine-to-five job but only sometimes. When the story's flowing and the characters come alive, she really can't imagine doing anything else. And there's a tremendous satisfaction in knowing that she's doing what she always dreamed of and proving wrong all those people who said she would never make a successful career out of her writing. During her working hours, her four cats, all adopted from the RSPCA, keep her company in her study, though they have to be dissuaded from sitting on the piles of papers that they are convinced are there just for their benefit. Fitting in hobbies around writing and being a wife and mother can be difficult, but Kate always finds time to read. She loves all sorts of fiction, especially romance, obviously, but she also enjoys historical novels, detective fiction, and long, absorbing biographies, and she can spend hours in bookshops, just browsing. Kate loves to hear from her fans. Kate says "I've watched my books go out into the shops, not just here in the UK where I lives but in so many countries all over the world and I've been thrilled to think that so many readers, of all colours, creeds and races, have bought and enjoyed the stories that I've told, sympathised with my heroines and fallen in love with my heroes. I've been sent copies of my books in so many different styles and different languages and known that they've gone out to places I'll never see, to be read by so many people that, sadly, I'll never meet. But we will always share that special link because of my books."
Books
Rocks
An introduction to types of rocks on earth and how they are formed.
Weather
First Man
On July 20, 1969, the world stood still to watch 38-year-old American astronaut Neil A. Armstrong become the first person ever to step on the surface of another heavenly body. Upon his return to Earth, Armstrong was celebrated for his monumental achievement. He was also--as NASA historian Hansen reveals in this authorized biography--misunderstood. Armstrong's accomplishments as an engineer, a test pilot, and an astronaut have long been a matter of record, but Hansen's access to private documents and unpublished sources and his interviews with more than 125 subjects (including more than fifty hours with Armstrong himself) yield the first in-depth analysis of this elusive, reluctant hero. Hansen recreates Armstrong's flying career, from his combat missions over North Korea to his transatmospheric flights in the rocket-powered X-15 to the first-ever docking in space. For a pilot who cared more about flying to the Moon than he did about walking on it, Hansen asserts, Armstrong's storied vocation exacted a dear personal toll, paid in kind by his wife and children.--From publisher description.
Spies in history
Provides a brief overview of spies and espionage from the Bible to the early twentieth century, using examples from the Spanish Inquisition, the American Revolution, Tsarist Russia, and more.
The Married Mistress
The mistress's secret...is hot news! Gorgeous Greek tycoon Damon Nicolaides is always in the news...so when the paparazzi get a tip-off about his new mistress, they come banging on her door! Actually, Sarah and Damon were married a year ago! Sarah left him, thinking their marriage was a lie. Now Damon's come back to claim the wife he truly loves. But first he must protect her from the press by pretending that Sarah is merely his mistress...and to do that, he tells her, they'll have to make their love affair real! -- Blackmail Brides Book 4
The frog who would be king
Reginald and Lil's love for each other is complicated by the fact that he is a frog and she is a princess.
No Gentleman
The past had come back to haunt Anna Seeing Ryan Cassidy again was a shock to Anna Miller. He'd been a part of another life--a life she'd fled in order to start over. And now that she was on the brink of success, she didn't want anyone reminding her of the past. Unfortunately for Anna, Ryan was all too willing to do just that. He said it was for her own good, but Anna knew that revealing her secrets would cost her everything she'd worked so hard to achieve. Which left her wondering whether she was always destined to be hurt by Ryan--the man she'd once thought she loved
Jester's Girl
Quite unwittingly she played the fool The argument in Jessica Terry's little restaurant was more than a single, isolated scene. For her infuriating customer turned out to be Daniel Tyson, hot new comic sensation in the world of entertainment. But Jessica knew him as someone from her teenage years who she'd tried--successfully until now!--to erase from her mind. So when he topped the evening by simply leaving two complimentary tickets to his show Jennifer was grateful that, at least, he hadn't remembered her....
The dragon of Mith
When everyone else runs away and wants to find a way to get rid of the dragon, a young girl tries to find out why he came to town.
Leap In The Dark
Nothing made any sense to Ginny! She'd been dutifully helping one of her domestic agency's clients by running his children to school--then wham! Not only was Ginny kidnapped along with the children by their dynamically attractive uncle Ross Hamilton--even worse, she was being treated as if she and the children's father were the criminals. There seemed to be no escape from this man who'd suddenly disrupted her life--though Ginny tried. And by then, she wasn't sure she wanted to!
Man of Shadows
He was a puzzle worth solving From the moment she laid eyes on him Madeleine knew that Jordan Sumner was to be the special man in her life. All her instincts told her so. Jordan was far from indifferent to her, but he imposed a restraint on their relationship that she was unable to breach. Then her impetuous desire to know him better unleashed a dark side of his character--one that was rooted in the past and one he refused to discuss or forget. And Madeleine, faced with whatever haunted him, found herself powerless to help.
Chase the Dawn
She despised the role she had to play. — When a tragic accident killed her twin - and crippled her little sister - a devastated Laurel Grahame needed money for the doctor's bills. And Laurel counted on her dead twin's estranged husband for the impossible amount. — The broodingly attractive Englishman, Hal Rochester, knew nothing of his wife's death. Moreover, upon meeting Laurel, Hal was utterly convinced that she was Lorraine.
Game Of Hazard
"You can't trust me," Nick said softly. The words rang in Erin's head. Why was she acting like a ministering angel to this man who'd broken into her home, slept in her bed—all without any explanation? Until the storm that kept them isolated and snowbound ceased, there was nothing she could do about the intimacy of their situation. It was dangerous. She should be afraid. Yet Nick had become so much a part of her life that she couldn't imagine how it had felt not to know him.
The chalk line
At seventeen years old and totally inexperienced, Rowena had no idea how to cope with a sophisticate like Leo Vincent. She had naively told him of her love, had given him her heart, her body, and he had taken both, used them callously for his pleasure, and then abandoned her without, apparently, a second thought. Six years later, circumstances have seen them become temporary housemates; sharing the same house - but with a 'Chalk Line' drawn down the middle for his side of the house and hers. Rowena, now matured by life and engaged to another man, should have been able to face Leo on more equal terms. But could she in fact? And did she even genuinely want to?
Destined for the desert king
"A queen of convenience? There's no doubt that their marriage is one of convenience and political maneuvering. But shy beauty Aziza El Afarim secretly hopes that her husband, the boy she once idolised, remembers something of the closeness they shared as children. Except Sheikh Nabil Al Sharifa is far from the boy he used to be. The weight of loss and power has changed him beyond recognition. Where once there was warmth and generosity, now only a ruthless passion burns. He'll give Aziza everything, except his love. But as pressure to produce an heir mounts, could there be more than duty in the marriage bed?"--Page 4 of cover.
Her Secret Bridegroom
Bride by deception! After a whirlwind wedding in Venice, Amy discovered that her brand-new husband had married her to gain a priceless old ring! Fleeing Italy, Amy never told anyone of her marriage to ruthless billionaire Vincenzo Ravenelli. Four years later, while Amy knew she'd never really love another man as she loved Vincenzo, she needed to be free of the past. The time had come to return to Venice and confront her secret bridegroom....