Celebrating The Minxes of Romance New Release!

This week sees the release of the first anthology bringing together the talents of the fabulous Minxes of Romance, BLAZE.


Q: What could be more appealing than a lovely romance anthology?
A:  A lovely romance anthology with firemen!

This collection includes eight stories, all set in a fictional village in England's beautiful Lake District, and with each story focusing on a different member of the local retained firefighting crew.

It showcases the writing talents of eight of the Minxes, two of whom write for Harlequin Presents, another for Harper Collins, one for Pocket Novels and still another successfully self-published. Eight very different voices to try and a mix of heat levels to suit all tastes.

There are times when shorter length stories are exactly what I want - the fact that it's possible to devour the whole thing in one hungry gulp is brilliant - and a linked collection of stories like this one has added appeal because you still get that wider familiarity with characters and setting that usually only comes from a longer-length novel. They are also the perfect 'taster' for trying out an author for the first time - if you like what you see, there's always a backlist to follow up!

So what do you think? Do you like anthologies? Would a group of similar-themed stories or a linked collection like this one be an added appeal or do you prefer the depth of a full-length novel?

BLAZE is available now!
- Buy from amazon.com
- Buy from amazon.co.uk

To find out more about BLAZE, you can read Minx Romy Sommer's interview over at the Hot Pink Typewriter Blog from Monday or visit minxesofromance.blogspot.com

The Next Big Thing!

I've been tagged in a blog chain by the lovely (and recently signed) Rae Rivers - read about her Next Big Thing here. Not that I need an excuse to blather on about my first release lol! So without further ado...

What is the title of your book?
Secrets of the Rich and Famous

How did you come by the idea?
After finalling in New Voices I was lucky enough to be given the chance to work with a M&B editor to develop a story from scratch. I was asked to submit three story ideas and the RIVA team picked the one they thought was the strongest. I got the original idea when I saw a news story about executive house sitters - people who get to live in gorgeous houses at a fraction of the rent in return for keeping the place occupied and secure. I wondered what would happen if you were using a posh place like that as a cover story for something and then the real owner reappeared, wanting it back. That is essentially the beginning of Secrets...

What genre does your book fall under?
Contemporary Romance

Which actors would you choose to play your characters if it were a movie?
As I mentioned in my last post, Alex was always based on Alex O'Loughlin, who plays Steve McGarrett in Hawaii Five-0. I didn't really choose an actress for Jen from the start but I think Kate Hudson would be good.

What is a brief synopsis of your book?
Jen is a village journalist trying to get a foot in the door at a top women's magazine by pitching an article that investigates whether an ordinary girl with a high street wardrobe and an overdraft can land a Chelsea millionaire. Since a man like that would immediately think gold-digger, she needs a makeover on a budget and a fictional new life. Jen has bagged herself a Chelsea apartment to house sit, passing it off as her own, and is scuppered when the real owner, Alex, returns, needing the property back as a bolt hole from a media scandal. Having flown halfway round the world to escape the press, he isn't impressed to find one of them has moved in with him. Jen sees him as a fantastic source of information for her project and when she ropes him into helping her, sparks begin to fly.

Will your book be self-published or traditional?
It will be traditionally published by Mills & Boon RIVA.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I'd been targeting M&B for a while and doing well in New Voices really made me more determined than ever. I began to take my writing more seriously and I was determined to grab the chance to work with an editor and throw everything at it. Thankfully it paid off!

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
As this book was written with editorial guidance, I submitted three chapters at a time and then received feedback and revisions on them which I did before proceeding with the next part of the story. This kept me on track and avoided major rewrites/ revisions at the end. Chapters 7-9 took about 3 months including time waiting for feedback and then I wrote the final three chapters in two weeks! By then they'd offered me a contract and asked for the end to be completed quickly. I nearly had a meltdown over it, but the pressure must have done me good because they accepted the final part without revisions.

What about your book might pique the reader's interest?
I think (hope) it's a fun story that will make people smile. And it's set at Christmas time in Chelsea - twinkly lights and frosty pavements - what's not to like!

For the next author in the chain, check out the fabulous (and also newly signed!) Christy McKellen's blog to find out about her Next Big Thing!

My First Cover!

Here it is! My first ever cover for Secrets of the Rich & Famous - I can't describe the unreality of looking at it and seeing my name on it! It's an old-style cover since RIVA is still in its relaunch stage until the end of the year, but I don't care! I'm so delighted with it and I couldn't wait to share!

Here is the back blurb...

"Can she fake it until she makes it?
Join me, journalist Jen Brown (aka Little Miss Ordinary), as I research my next article: can anyone bag a Chelsea millionaire if she looks the part? I'm discovering that the glossy, I-haven't-spent-any-time-on-my-appearance look isn't quick...
To make sure I can fake it with the best of them at the whirlwind of intimidatingly glam Christmas parties, I've blagged myself a secret weapon: the help of genuine billionaire and deliciously gorgeous film director Alex Hammond."

The girl on the cover really looks perfect for my heroine Jen, skinny and blonde, she even looks like she's wearing  fake tan just like Jen does, but interestingly the guy looks nothing like I imagined Alex to look. In my head Alex looks like Alex O'Loughlin (you see, I even gave him the same name!), who plays Steve McGarrett in Hawaii Five-O. Here's a pic on the right in case you haven't seen him.

 But to be honest, they could have put two warthogs on the cover with my name underneath and I would still have been excited! It's the stuff of dreams.

Secrets of the Rich & Famous is due to be released 7th December, but due to the RIVA relaunch it will only get a limited release - it will be part of the UK Mills & Boon Direct To Consumer programme. There will also be a few print copies available on Amazon UK only, click here if you would like one and it will take you there. Hopefully a wider digital release will happen at a later date.

In other news I have emerged from the revisions cave and have pressed SEND on the full MS of The Date Pool. There are likely to be still more revisions but hopefully not horrific ones now, so I am feeling much calmer and am busy catching up on neglected housework and family stuff for a day or two.

Back with a progress report soon!

Revisions!

Greetings from the kitchen Revision Cave!

And thank you so much for all the lovely supportive comments I've had on here and on Twitter following my recent conviction that I suck at writing. I feel particularly bad about said wallowing in the light of SYTYCW, since so many of the entries I read were fantastic - I have no idea how the judges manage to whittle them down to any kind of shortlist - and I know there are lots of people out there who have as their goal the very thing I have been whinging about.

I thought self-doubt would be something that would simply disappear after I got the magical validation that is the publishing contract, but have to admit I have struggled with this darned book 2 far more than I have with anything I ever wrote on the journey here. I knew the constant thought that 'this isn't as good/sparky/funny as book 1' was inhibiting me, but I couldn't seem to help myself dwelling on it.

I submitted revised Chapters 1-6 of the Date Pool plus new Chapters 7-9 at the end of last week, absolutely convinced that I would receive back the revisions from hell, and very possibly rewrites. And having bitten my nails all week, yesterday I got an email back from my lovely editor.

Yes there are revisions. Of course there are. But they are not the monstrous rewrites from hell that I thought they would be. And she counterbalanced them with lots of things that she likes and that I am doing right. (*fragile ego sighs with relief*) What I have overlooked in my self-criticism is that I am not floundering around on my own to make this story work - she wants it to work as much as I do. And she is a brilliant  source of ideas, plot tweaks and suggestions on how to deepen conflict and improve scenes I already have. As I prepare myself for a couple of weeks working through these revisions, I feel part of a team and I feel like I have a sense of perspective again.

I know there will likely be even more revisions down the line. But I feel like the ones I have are doable, I'm even excited about them because I can see already how they will make the story flow and work so much better. And so meltdown is over, for now.

Scuttling off now to the cave and I will keep you posted!

Book Two and Brick Walls

I know I've been a rubbish blogger the last month or so.

I am currently squashed under my insecurities about Book 2, also known as The Date Pool. I read on the internet that the second book (ie the book after you get your publication contract) is the hardest one to write and I would have to agree with that. I'm not sure why - maybe it's the worry that this time it matters whether I deliver or not - but I just know I'm capable of better than some of the dross that seems to be appearing on the page.

Chapters 1-3 have been revised and thankfully at least they seem to be working. Chapters 4-6 are currently pants. Fortunately I received an email from my lovely new editor on Friday full of encouragement (which is great because I'm now wondering if they will be regretting their decision to give me a contract) and fantastic suggestions, some of them specific (areas that are too dialogue-heavy) and some of them general (scene ideas that I can play around with). As always I wish I'd thought of all of them myself.

Anyhow...This week I will be sitting in the revision cave, also known as my kitchen, hunched over and working through the revision points one by one in the hope that at the end of the process I will also have serviceable Chapters 4-6. On the bright side the small one has started full-time school so at least I have plenty of time on my hands to angst over the story, and when I look back over my blog I can see that I was feeling pretty much the same way at the same point when I was writing Secrets of the Rich & Famous. Bit of a double-edged sword because I know I came out the other side with a good ms last time, but on the other hand I now fear that the pants-middle-bit and the feverish rewriting of it may be part of my process (please, no!).

Back with a progress report soon x

RIVA's Back! And So You Think You Can Write...

RIVA is back with a bang!

If you haven't seen the gorgeous new covers click here to find the launch books and there is also a very cute Facebook App, where you can find out more about the RIVA titles, their authors, and enter a competition to win lots of RIVA goodies.

I am so happy to join the line at such an exciting time and can't wait to see what people think of its fabulous new look!

And talking of joining the line, I know without a doubt that if it hadn't been for Mills & Boon's New Voices Competition last year I would not be where I am now. Since New Voices has been amalgamated this year into Harlequin's global competition So You Think You Can Write, I want to recommend to anyone who might be thinking about having a bash at it, to put any doubts aside and go for it. You can find all the details here.

There is a ton of information and lots of writing tips to be found on the competition site and I will be checking out some of the articles myself - (I think because I have a contract I should know what I'm doing but a lot of the time I still haven't a clue. Writing is a massive learning curve and I am constantly making mistakes. Fortunately now I have a lovely editor to turn me round when I end up facing the wrong way but I still love a how-to book or a writing article!)

My advice to anyone taking part would be to immerse yourself into the experience as deeply as you can. When I entered New Voices, I read as many entries as I could, left lots of comments, watched all the podcasts and read all of the writing tips and articles posted by Mills & Boon. I literally squeezed everything out of the experience that I could. Even if I hadn't gone as far as I did in the competition, I learned tons in that couple of months. So if you are going to give it a go, loads of luck!

Back soon with an update on The Date Pool. :0)

Unexpected Happy News!

I received a set of revisions this week on the first three chapters of 'The Date Pool'. Not too bad thankfully, and as usual all the suggestions are wish-I'd-thought-of-that brilliant. I know they will make the story much stronger. I've already started on them and hope to get them out of the way this week, then I move on to writing chapters 4-6 and submit to my editor again at the half-way point.

I wanted to discuss one of the revision points before I got stuck in and emailed my editor to let her know, so when I got a phone call from her later in the day I naturally expected it to be about that. I was absolutely floored when instead she offered to buy my very first MS, the one I submitted via slush back in summer 2010, which went through two rounds of revisions under her supervision and was eventually rejected.

I am thrilled to announce that 'The Proposal Plan' (as I called it, the name may yet be changed) will be published by Mills & Boon RIVA in the UK only, in Spring of 2013!

Following the relaunch of RIVA in the UK and the introduction of the KISS line in North America, the intention is that titles will be simultaneously released in both lines from the middle of next year. In order to line the releases up in this way, there will be a short period early next year where a slot is available for a UK-only release. 'The Proposal Plan' will take up one of these slots.

I am absolutely over the moon that this story - which really was my baby - will finally see the light of day. I started it twenty-odd years ago, stuck it in the wardrobe when life and kids took over and only finished it when I stopped work to have the small one. With the encouragement of DH I finished it and sent it off, thinking that it might be rubbish but at least it wouldn't be rubbish cluttering up my cupboard anymore. The revisions were tough. The final third of the book was total cliche *toes curl as I remember*, and had to be completely rewritten, I had to cut one of the characters out and there were some major scene changes. But I loved the end result and I was so disappointed when it was rejected. I always hoped if I got published that I might be able to rework it one day and get it out there. I just didn't expect it to be anytime in this decade!

I am waiting to hear about the title and release details, and in the meantime I am cracking on with 'The Date Pool' with renewed enthusiasm.

So my message of the week is: never give up hope on those rejected MS's. They might make it out there one day!