October 6th
A big thanks to all of you who have entered my competition so far, to win a copy of the Christmas anthology "One Candlelit Christmas" (and various other goodies). If you haven't entered yet, there is still plenty of time. Closing date is 15th December.
I have set up "google alerts", and this week, have discovered that my first published novel, "His Cinderella Bride", has appeared on a site that sells books to India. I never imagined Lady Hester would be so well travelled!
September 21st
Last week was very eventful. My booky news started off with the arrival of a carton of paperback copies of "One Candlelit Christmas", which will be released in the States in November. I have now read the other two tales, from Julia Justiss, and Terri Brisbin who have both written lovely, heartwarming tales about the magic the season can bring.
Then, on Wednesday, I took the train south to London, and a talk given to the Romantic Novelists Association by Penny Vincenzi. (here she is, signing copies of her books, after her talk)
Penny has had 14 books published, which she laughingly told us have been described as "Chickensian" (chick lit, with wonderful characters and a big story)
It was fascinating to hear how her inspiration comes from articles she reads, or scenes she witnesses while out walking her dogs, and also how her characters quite often change the direction she wants to take them.
I then went off to the home of the wonderfully hospitable Carol Townend (author of the Wessex Brides series for Harlequin Historicals) and the next morning, off we went to the annual lunch for Mills & Boon authors. This year, it was held at Browns, which used to be a courtroom. We convened in the bar downstairs, and were soon chatting to old friends and swiftly making new ones. (pictured below, in the bar, Carol, shyly turning her head away from camera, Sharon Kendrick, and Michelle Styles, who did such a brilliant job of organizing the event)
Suitably lubricated, we headed upstairs to what used to be a courtroom, for a lovely three course lunch, followed by speeches from Karin Stoecker, Clair Somerville, and Tim Cooper. Please don't expect a coherent report from me! I'm not used to drinking at lunchtime, as the quality of the next few photographs will prove.
(Trish Morey, Roger Sanderson, Fiona Harper, after the starters)
(Fiona Harper, Lucy Gordon, and half of Carol Townend, after the 1st course...and no, you are not imagining it, the photo is a bit blurry!)
(Carol Townend, Kate Walker taking a photo of me, and half of Clare Somerville, after pudding, when we are all very relaxed. I think if you want some decent pictures of the event, it might be an idea to visit Kate's blog...hers might be in focus!)
After the speeches, presentations were made to authors who have reached milestones in their publication history. Nicola Cornick received a pin for reaching her 25th novel for Mills and Boon, as did Louise Allen, who began writing as half of a partnership known as Francesca Shaw.
There was a bit of a lull then, while the tables were cleared away to set a more informal tone for drinks and mingling. I bumped into Julia James, and spent a wonderful half hour wandering around the National Portrait Gallery and talking about the books she writes for the Modern line, which I absolutely adore.
No pictures of the evening event, sadly. I was far too busy mingling and chatting to bother getting the camera out. I managed to have a brief chat with my editor, Sally Williamson (hope you enjoy the crazy golf at Padstow, Sally!) and senior editor for the historical line, Linda Fildew.
And then, while I waited for my train home, spent a relaxing interlude in the bar downstairs with Melinda Hammond, who has been writing for Robert Hale for some time, but who will soon have her first novel out for Mills & Boon under the name of Sarah Mallory.
Thanks again to Michelle, for organizing such a brilliant day, and to Carol, for putting me up (or putting up with me!)
It was lovely to meet so many other Mills & Boon authors, and I'm already looking forward to next year's do.
September 2nd
Apologies to anyone who may have been trying to leave a message on my contacts page. My email appears to be down. Will get back to you all whenever the webmaster fixes the problem!
August 30th
Summer is almost over, and everyone goes back to school next week. Fortunately, I have a couple of things to cheer me up. First, I heard from my editor, Sally Williamson, this week, that the short story I wrote for the brand new "historical undone" series, has been accepted.
These short, sexy stories will only be available as downloads. It is a whole new venture for Mills & Boon, and I'm very excited to be a part of it.
Will post news of when it will be available, as soon as I know it, on my "Books" page.
Second, I will be going to the NorthWest chapter of the Romantic Novelists Association lunch on 3rd September. The speaker this month is going to be Martin Edward, a writer of crime fiction.
August 12th
This morning my author copies of my next book "Captain Fawley's
Innocent Bride" arrived. This is the first time I have seen the cover. It is
always exciting, to open the box, and not know what the book is going to
look like. Fortunately, I love it!
August 5th
I have just found out, courtesy of an email from Carol Townend (Mills & Boon author of the Wessex Weddings series) that I have been translated into Italian.
My first book, published in the UK as "His Cinderella Bride" comes out in Italy on August 20th (so far as I can make out), under the cutest cover...
...as "Il marchesa cerca moglie"
Thanks for giving me the heads up, Carol - you're better than Google alerts!
August 4th
Just returned from a lovely weekend in Oxford, visiting son who has taken a vacation job in college. While there, we spent a fascinating afternoon at Blenheim Palace, home of the Dukes of Marlborough. Though an afternoon is not really long enough to experience it all. Earlier on, while it was raining, we took in two of the many tours available of parts of the house, and later, when the sun came out, went round the maze.
According to the guide book, this is the second largest hedge maze in the country...and as you can see, it is the real deal...you cannot see over the tops of the hedges to get a clue as to where the heck you are!
Later, we went into the butterfly house, which was a magical experience,
We could have spent far longer exploring the grounds...except they closed everything at 6 p.m!
July 20th
Over a month since I last posted any news! this is not because nothing has happened, but because I have been too busy.
On the writing front, I am involved in 3 projects all at once, so my front room is a mountain of files and papers.
And I have just returned from a lovely holiday in Madeira.
(cable car going up from harbour at Funchal)
This was the first holiday my husband and I have taken, without the children, since our honeymoon, 27 years ago! It felt really luxurious to get on a plane, and fly off to a sunny, scenic destination, and stay in a hotel (with a balcony and everything!) after being used to towing a caravan down to Cornwall, or, occasionally, across the channel to France.
Madeira is a mountainous island, with some stunning scenery (involving the occasional white-knuckle ride to get to viewing points)
Above, picture of a waterfall known as "The Bride's Veil".
I could have posted loads of pictures of the rugged scenery, but since all my regency novels to date have the word "Bride" in the title, I thought this was the most apt.
If you are off on your holidays soon, I wish you safe journeys, and as relaxing and enjoyable time as I have had...
June 14th
Manchester Central library hosted a Regency Day, well, afternoon, really.
When I got there just after one, it was to the sound of the "Pleiades" (three ladies, accompanied by a man on a guitar) singing "Greensleeves". The group research their material carefully, assuring me that everything they performed would have been accessible to musicians during the regency era.
Lynne Connolly, (who writes for the epublishers, Ellora's cave) watching them, admitted to having been struck by inspiration for a scene involving a musicale...she could just picture how a flirtation could be struck up during the performance...eye contact... singing certain lines with meaning to the object of your affection, etc.
While Lynne was hanging onto every nuance of their performance, I strolled over to one of the craft tables, where I set to work picking the brains of a member of the guild of embroiderers. The novel I am currently working on has a seamstress as a heroine, so it was very reassuring to discover I had described some of the techniques correctly.
Lynne and I then made our way into the committee room, where authors Melinda Hammond, (pictured with palm frond) and Nicola Cornick gave a very informative talk about writing regency romances.
Melinda has had over a dozen of her books published by Robert Hale, and will also be writing for Mills and Boon under the name of Sarah Mallory. She explained the differences in style between the traditional regency romance, which is a comedy of manners, and the more popular Regency Historical genre, which is usually longer, and far more sensual in tone.
When the floor was opened for discussion, one reader said that she liked regency set books, because they brought romance with a capital R! They take you out of this life, and into a world that seems to us to be cool, ordered and elegant, and when you have finished, you just want to go "aaahh!"
From there, it seemed quite natural for Nicola Cornick to go on to focus on that staple of regency romance, The Rake. We all love to read about these men of leisure and pleasure, these ninenteenth century "Bad Boys". We thrill to their hard, devil-may-care attitudes at the opening of a novel, because we know that they have a really good reason for being so bad, and feel confident that the author will show them being reformed by the love of a good woman. A strong, resolute heroine is necessary to take him in hand, and we all agreed, dealing with such a man in the real world would not be a piece of cake!
Melinda and Nicola, in the library, with the roses.
After a short interval, where Regency refreshments were served (oh, all right, I had a cup of tea and a chocolate chip muffin, but there were some authentic goodies available), Jay Dixon spoke about Georgette Heyer.
About her life, her family, her possible sources, and most importantly, her books.
Reading a Georgette Heyer novel is truly to be transported to another world, almost completely a product of the novelists vivid imagination. Georgette Heyer, Jay argued, wrote about love, not romance. You won't find fluttery eyelashes, and heaving bosoms in her works, but you will find yourself plunged into a world that feels absolutely authentic.
That is so true. All I want to do now is raid my bookshelf, and read everything she has ever written, from start to finish.
June 7th
My interview was on a link at the BBC website for a while, and I set up the above so you could click anywhere on the picture, and it would take you to the interview.
Sadly, the link has now expired.
My 15 minutes of fame is over!
June 6th
It has been a really exciting week for me. As part of Mills & Boon's centenary celebrations, Manchester Central library is holding an exhibition called "And then he kissed her..." which opened to the public on Friday 6th June.
(above - library entrance. The pink banner advertises the Mills & Boon event)
As an author living locally, I agreed to help with promoting the exhibition. I assumed this might mean speaking to local journalists. In fact, I ended up being interviewed by the B.B.C for the local news programme Northwest Tonight.
David Guest, chief reporter for Northwest Tonight, came to my house, resplendent in a pink shirt (presumably in keeping with the "romantic" theme of the story) and turned my front room into a recording studio...
...single handedly acting as cameraman, interviewer, and lighting technician... (though I made the tea).
It was the first time I have ever been interviewed for the telly, and although I started out being quite nervous, David was very easy to get on with, and soon put me at ease.
I also got interviewed for BBC radio Manchester, but the least said about that the better...
Anyway, later in the day, all glammed up, I went up to Central Library, for the exhibition launch.
Rose Ryan, one of the librarians responsible for organising this exhibition, greeted me with a glass of wine, and showed me round. There are some fascinating items of memorabilia from the early days of the publishing house, including a little book entitled "How to live without servants", and a letter to the editors written by Jack London, from the deck of his yacht in 1914! Yes, surprisingly enough, Mills & Boon have not always specialized in the romance genre.
My favourite exhibit, though was an installation by artist Ros Burgin, entitled "Stays, Holds and Ties"
It has been made from cut up covers of Mills & Boon novels.
The Halle singers were stationed near to the buffet, providing a lovely selection of romantic ballads. They too are celebrating a milestone year, although in their case, it is 150 years.
They opened by singing "And then he kissed me..."
Very apt!
I spotted several fellow Mills & Boon authors there, including Iona Grey, June Francis, Sophie Weston, and Melinda Hammond. Some of the editorial staff came up from Richmond, too including (pictured, centre) my newest editor, Sally Williamson.
Some of us got roped into having photographs taken with some guys in tuxedos, who were supposed to be Mills & Boon heroes. I hadn't realized what an expressive face I have, until I had a look through what the photographer had taken. The scene was supposed to be romantic, seductive even. I looked completely embarassed, to the point of wanting to slide under my chair and hide. Poor Leo, my "Greek billionaire" was probably used to working with much more photogenic models. He did his best, but sadly, all I wanted was to get back to my husband.
But isn't that what romance is all about? When you find that one special person, who is your soul mate, nobody else will do, no matter how hunky, or what a sexy accent they might have. Sorry Leo!
Back home, much, much later, I couldn't resist watching the tape I made of myself on t.v. (since I missed the programme due to being at the library!) and made a depressing discovery.
I have a double chin.
May 14th
On Friday, I went down to Richmond, where the UK offices of Mills & Boon are situated, and finally met my latest editor, (I've had three so far) Sally Williamson.
I meant to take lots of photos to post here, but as usual, I got so carried away chatting to all the lovely editorial staff who were around I totally forgot to be practical about it. Sally and I chatted nineteen to the dozen over a fabulous lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Thames. If only I could remember its name, I would recommend it. The food was really nicely presented, even though the portions were small. Still, the upside of that was that there was room for dessert!
In the afternoon, I made my way back to the Holiday Inn in Bloomsbury, via the route that my hero will be chasing my heroine in the novel I am working on at the moment, taking pictures so that my descriptions can be as accurate as possible. Yes, I know London has changed a lot since the 1800's, but Berkeley Square was around a good 50 years before my story opens.
I won't bore you with photos of all the architectural features I snapped en route, but I will admit that I had to nip into a branch of Black's to buy some flip flops...all that walking gave me blisters! Well, aren't we supposed to suffer for our art?
The first thing I did on arriving at the hotel was to switch the air conditioning on full...bliss!
London on Saturday morning was like being abroad. The sun had come out, and with it hordes of people determined to enjoy the (rare) warm weather. Even on the Friday evening the pavements had been crowded with office workers, shedding jackets, and having drinks OUTSIDE.
I spent the morning going round Apsley House, home of the Duke of Wellington in his later life. Boy, did that man get given a lot of decorative dinner services! The most interesting room, from my point of view, was tucked away in the basement, and not mentioned in the guide book. (I only discovered it by pure chance, when I visited the ladies). In it were the death masks of both Wellington and Napoleon, a fascinating sketch of the elderly Duke visiting Madame Tussaud's waxwork of Napoleon on his deathbed, as well as many satirical cartoons dealing with his years as Prime Minister.
Not allowed to take photos of the museum, but this is Wellington Arch, over the road, which houses another museum of Wellington memorabilia.
By this time I was all Wellington'd out, and besides, I could smell a hot dog van. The rest of the day was spent in Hyde Park, watching the fascinating things that people get up to in London.
I saw:
a cool Asian youth speed roller blading, closely followed by
two girls learning to roller blade (the funniest thing I have seen in ages),
two guys with ski poles, dragging tractor tyres (Why?)
families thrashing up and down the Serpentine in pedaloes,
and lots of people riding horses down Rotten Row (sadly not in Regency costume, but you can't have everything)
And there are horses in this picture, honestly, though you might need a magnifying glass to spot them!
May 8th
"Freda Lightfoot is thinking of turning to crime..."
Yesterday I went to the RNA's northwest chapter lunch at the Scarisbrick hotel in Southport, where the guest speaker was Freda Lightfoot, an author of sagas, most recently, set in Manchester.
Her news about what is going on in the publishing industry was sobering. Although she has been successfully writing sagas for many years, her publisher has recently told her that they are not selling well any more, and that it is difficult to place them in supermarkets, for instance, which at one time were good outlets for her work.
The only sagas which still do well, apparently, are those like the works of Cathering King (Silk and Steel), which contain plenty of sex and violence. Freda quipped that crime novels can be "softer", and at one point, considered turning to writing crime.
However, the good news is that she has, at the request of her editor, written a new novel in a new style, which is known as "mis lit". These books tend to dwell on difficult topics such as child abuse, domestic violence, or other serious problems facing the central character. Called "Trapped" it is the story of a woman trying to escape a bad marriage.
Freda finished by stressing that writers have to be prepared to adapt to the market if they want to keep on writing. June Francis commented that she had been approached to work as a ghost writer. Publishers are prepared to produce books about people with an inspirational life story, who do not always have the skill required to write the book themselves.
It was a glorious, sunny day. The car park I normally use, which is just at the back of the hotel, was already full by the time I got there - many people were clearly taking advantage of the weather to enjoy a day out by the sea. So it was quite a hike back to the side street where I had finally managed to find a space. And, oh dear, I had no idea there were so many fab shops in Southport. I blame Lynne for dragging me into most of them, though...
"Born to shop...Lynne Connolly showing off her brand new Asos lap top, purchased during her recent trip to the RWA conference..."
28th April
Annie West, Margaret McDonagh and I have been running a competition over our three websites to promote the anthology, "Mills & Boon presents..." to which we have all contributed stories.
Annie West picked a winner over the weekend...Eva from New Zealand. I will be sending her a copy of "His Cinderella Bride," Annie will be sending her a copy of "For the Sheik's Pleasure", and she will be picking a book of her choice from Margaret McDonagh's backlist.
Congratulations Eva!
(must get to the post office...sadly my local one has recently closed, so this means a trip into town...last time I went I gave into the impulse to buy two pairs of shoes, although, as I told my husband, it was very nearly four pairs!)
5th April
On Thursday this week, I went down to Oxford for the Mills and Boon event at the Times Oxford Literary Festival. It was billed as The Centenary Debate: How heroes and heroines have altered in the last 100 years.
I quote from the Mills & Boon website:
"Mills & Boon has shaped our fantasies for a century. Should heroines still swoon and heroes swagger? Or do tastes in fiction, not jsut the romantic variety, change over the years?"
The venue was the picturesque Christ Church College, (well, all right, a big marquee in the grounds)
A panel comprising (left to right) Matt Dunn, Katie Fforde, Joanne Harris and Nicola Cornick were led in discussion by Daisy Goodwin (in the yellow, centre)
I'm really not that good at taking photos, am I! Lovely shot of the back of the lady in front of me, but you need a magnifying glass to identify the panellists!
Anyway, they were all marvellously eloqent speakers. Daisy Goodwin got the evening off to a flying start by asking each panellist to state who was their favourite hero and heroine. The answers varied from Richard Sharpe, (Nicola Cornick's choice) to Professor Moriarty. It very soon became apparent that a male who was something of a rebel was far more appealing to the female authors than someone who was too blandly perfect. And Matt Dunn chose as his heroine a woman who is renowned for being far from perfect - Bridget Jones. She, he professed, was not only sexually attractive, but with all her imperfections made him want to look after her.
From there, the panellists went on to talk about which heroines of fiction they would like to hang out with. Scarlett O'Hara would be much more fun, they all agreed, than Jane Eyre!
I picked up a goody bag from Mills and Boon as we trooped out to the bar to get my free glass of bubbly. It contained a copy of Nicola Cornick's novel, "Deceived", which I have already read, and can heartily recommend, as well as some very useful pens and post-it notes.
9th March
It has been an eventful week. The author copies of my latest book arrived, which is always an exciting moment for me. I finished the novella that I have been working on, ahead of deadline, (woohoo!!) and I attended a chapter meeting of the Romantic Novelists Association, in North Wales. They refer to themselves as the Welsh Dragons, and the meeting this month was geared up to celebrating the launch of Trish Ashley's latest novel "Sowing Secrets"
It was a thoroughly enjoyable occasion - Trish kicked off procedings by reading the prologue of "Sowing Secrets", which intrigued me so much I simply had to buy a copy. Having read several chapters now, I can heartily recommend Trish's cleverly amusing style.
I know my photography leaves a lot to be desired - believe me, this is the best of the half dozen or so snaps I took. At least Trish looks good in this one, and Anne Bennet's gorgeous earring is in focus.
25th February
I was on the radio on Friday! (BBC Radio Lancashire) And according to those who listened in and reported back, I didn't sound like a blithering idiot!
I couldn't get into the studio, so I was interviewed over the phone. My hand was shaking so much, with nerves, I had to use both hands to hold the receiver steady at one point. Silly really - I had been listening in to Gilly's show most afternoons to "get to know" the dj, and he was always really nice to everyone he interviewed.
Anyway, on Saturday afternoon, I went along to Blackburn library to talk with readers, in the company of Penny Jordan, (who writes for the Mills & Boon Modern Line, and for Harper Collins as Annie Groves) and Susan Stephens, (who writes Modern, and Modern Heat for Mills & Boon).
My thanks to Angela Robinson, the librarian who organized this event, for sending me these photos. I forgot to take my camera with me.
Pictured, left to right: Susan Stephens, Penny Jordan, me (being very impressed by Penny's words of wisdom)
Same as before (with me admiring Penny's shoes)
21st February
Last night I attended the final of the "Pure Passion" competition in Manchester Town Hall. The drink flowed, the conversation sparkled...and then we had the speeches and presentations.
And the winner is...
Christina Jones, with "Love Potions". Her book was voted the top romantic novel, gaining votes from not only readers from the four Northwest library authorities running the award, but from all over the world via internet voting.
Christina was presented with a magnificent bunch of flowers and engraved vase to mark the occasion, by Jan Etherington, (pictured in background) who had earlier given a very amusing speech. Not sure if I wholly agreed with her assessment of Mr. Darcy...anyone can see why Lydia forgave his lack of verbal skills after seeing him in that wet shirt (!)
Runners up Elizabeth Chadwick (with her novel Scarlet Lion) and Linda Gillard (Emotional Geology), got a huge box of chocolates each.
The library which had managed to drum up the highest number of votes was Kirkby Stephens.
And the reader who won the "prize draw" was Val Arris, who is a member of Dukinfield library in Thameside.
There were also representatives from Mills & Boon's marketing team, who had sponsored the evening.
19th February
Just a reminder I will be guest blogger tomorrow at the Pink Heart Society, for Writer's Wednesday. I will be talking about what I have learned in the year since I landed my first writing contract.
And if anyone would like to hear what I sound like, I will be interviewed by BBC radio Lancashire on Friday afternoon between 2 - 3 on "Gilly's" prog.
On Saturday, I will be at Blackburn library, in the company of Penny Jordan, and Susan Stephens, to talk about Mills & Boon's centenary year. I have heard a rumour that chocolates might be given away at some stage.
Quite an eventful week for me! Especially as I will be going to the final of the Pure Passion event in Manchester on Thursday night, to find out who won. (Not me, I did not enter!) I am still wondering what to wear. The outfit I bought to attend my first novelist's lunch, and which I still get out whenever I do anything "writerly" has suffered a bit of a setback. The belt buckle of the trousers has snapped. (Honestly, they don't make things to withstand any sort of strain these days!) So I will have to trawl through my wardrobe to see if I can find something suitably glam. I do have a dress, but it is not the sort of thing I want to get on the train wearing, never mind the prospect of tottering down Oxford Road on the heels that I normally wear with it. I suppose I could wear trainers, and take my heels in my handbag...
This morning, I had a lovely email from my editor, Sally Williamson, to tell me my next book proposal has been accepted. Hurrah! I am dying to start writing about the devilishly cold Lord Matthison, whose fiancee mysteriously disappeared seven years before the opening of the story.
For all those who attended the RNA Northwest lunch last week in Southport, here is a picture of Roger Sanderson, (who you may have seen on the Richard and Judy show recently) who was our guest speaker.
He gave a very entertaining talk about the value of writing courses.
Valentine's Day
Johnny Depp and Pierce Brosnan make Romantic Novelists’ hearts throb
Members of the Romantic Novelists’ Association have voted Johnny Depp as the
Number One Perfect Romantic Hero in a poll to mark Valentine’s Day.
According to these authors, a romantic hero should be gorgeous, deliciously
sexy, intensely masculine and have a commanding presence.
‘We should be qualified to judge,’ one writer commented. ‘After all, we
create these heroes on paper every day.’
The top ten male celebrities voted the Perfect Romantic Hero were:
1. Johnny Depp
2. Daniel Craig
3. Sean Bean
4. Richard Armitage
5. Hugh Jackman
6. Colin Firth
7. Alan Rickman
8. Pierce Brosnan
9. George Clooney
10. David Tennant
A second poll, taken by members of the RNA bravely admitting to being ‘over
a certain age’, voted for male celebrities over fifty who’ve ‘still got it’.
Remarkable for his appearance on both polls, Pierce Brosnan took the crown
for the over fifties by a huge margin.
The top ten Over-Fifty Perfect Romantic Heroes were:
1. Pierce Brosnan
2. Harrison Ford
3. Ranulph Fiennes
4. Bill Nighy
5. Liam Neeson
6. Sam Neill
7. Sean Connery
8. Peter O’Toole
9. Clint Eastwood
10. Omar Sharif
(One or two of us were a little disgruntled to find that Philip Glenister was missing from these lists. But we cheered up on realising it just means we can keep him to ourselves!)
February 8th
As part of 'Love Month' Blackburn Central Library is pleased to present a panel with 3 Mills & Boon authors.
Bestselling author Penny Jordan, who writes Modern Romance and many other styles.
Bestselling author Susan Stephens, who writes Modern Romance and is known for her shower scenes.
Finally, newcomer Annie Burrows who writes Regency Historical Romances.
Free tickets are available from Blackburn Central Library.
Date | Time:
Saturday, February 23 At 2pm
February 3rd
My Lady Innocent has hit the shelves of Asda! Yes, I couldn't resist taking my camera to my nearest branch, and taking a couple of snaps of my book. In fact, I went twice. They hadn't put them out when I went on the 1st, which is the "official" release date. But that trip wasn't wasted. I discovered that it is "Pancake Day" this Tuesday, so I got some eggs and oranges. Yes, oranges. We love to sprinkle our pancakes with caster sugar, then squeeze orange juice over them.
I might have to go into town tomorrow to see if they have put them out in W.H.Smiths, and then maybe pop into Tesco's too.
26th January 2008
The Times ran an article today about How to Write a Mills & Boon romance. Melissa Katsoulis went to meet two senior editors, Kim Young and Tessa Shapcott, to pick up some pointers, and decided (as I have already discovered) that "making up love stories is fun".
Also on the page was printed a list of 2007's best selling titles for Mills and Boon. I was amazed to find that my "His Cinderella Bride" came in at number 4!
Number 1 was "The Petrakos Bride" by Lynne Graham
Number 2 was "The Boss & his Secretary" by Jessica Steele
and
Number 3 was "The Magic of Christmas" by Sarah Morgan
21st January 2008
This year Mills and Boon are celebrating their centenary year. There will be all kinds of events to mark one hundred years of publishing romantic fiction, starting with a glittering cocktail party to be held in London on February 7th.
There will also be a nationwide tour of memorabilia, which will start off in Manchester Central Library in June.
There is to be a range of Mills & Boon branded
products focussing on retro cover styles
including jigsaw puzzles, games and greetings
cards.
Events are also scheduled at various literary
festivals, including the Sunday Times Oxford
Literary festival, Manchester library festival,
Stratford on Avon literary festival, and Lincoln
literary festival.
Will keep you posted on the events I manage to attend!
Sadly, I won't be able to go to the opening cocktail party, even though there is a rumour circulating that the drinks are going to be served by "Butlers in the Buff."
17th January 2008
Happy New Year!
I just heard yesterday that my first novel, "His Cinderella Bride" has won the Cataromance reviewers choice award.
I am really thrilled about this - it means somebody out there really enjoyed my story.
I also heard that I have a new editor, and another contract with Mills and Boon for three more books.
They already have the manuscript for the first one, the story of how Captain Fawley (a character you will have come across before) fights the injustices that have dogged his life since before his birth. And in the process of which, of course, finds his True Love.
A novella will follow, which will be released in a Christmas anthology in the States.
I have yet to make up the third one, but I have a couple of ideas...
By the way, I will be guest blogger on the Unusual Historicals website again this Sunday, 20th January. I will be answering some questions about my second novel, "My Lady Innocent", and running a competition to win a paperback copy.
30th December
I will be the guest blogger next Sunday, 6th January, on the Unusual Historicals blog spot - do come on over and read all about the upcoming release of My Lady Innocent.
(see links page)
24th December
Wishing you all a really good Christmas, and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.
As you can see, I am going to have to spend the New Year sweeping up pine needles!