Author Spotlight - Donna Alward

Today the Minxes feature the lovely Donna Alward who is so unselfish with her time and always has such wonderful advice for struggling pre-pubbed writers. After reading Donna's answers to our Minxy questions, we're sure you'll join us in thanking Donna for taking time out of her hectic schedule to join us today!

1. Where were you in your writing career 5 years ago?

UNPUBLISHED! I was getting close though--I sold my first book 9 months later (in March, 2006) so I was probably working on the book or books that ended up being my first sales.

2. Where did you get the idea from for this particular book?

HIRED: THE ITALIAN'S BRIDE, which is my first reprint, was actually inspired by a book I wrote before selling. So many things didn't work in the early version, but I did like the idea of a heroine trying to reclaim her life and doing it in the small Rocky Mountain resort town of Banff. The original story had an English story, and I rewrote it with a sexy Italian. I had the heroine as an assistant too, and in this story, she's the acting manager. It does make her butt heads with the hero quite often - something that really puts her out of her comfort zone. And I gave her a different backstory, too - one that really ended up being quite emotional and I loved writing her character arc and how she found herself and also gained her confidence again. Mari has a lot of courage, and Luca is strong and yet gentle enough to understand what it is she needs.

3. Where do you hope to be in 5 years time?

Now that would be jinxing myself wouldn't it? And yet--I've always believed in seeing where you want to be and going for it. David Foster said in his book "Hitman" that the road to success is straight let's just say I still see myself writing, and hopefully expanding my readership in a big way. I also see myself putting in a lot of work to get there ... by then I'll have girls in high school so I also hope to still be SANE. :-)

4. Which was the last book you read that you wish you'd written?

Oh, Gosh! I read the More Than Words anthology which features Harlequin bestsellers and really enjoyed it. I also read Jessica Hart's Oh-So-Sensible Secretary, and had writer envy most of the way through. But Jessica's voice is so very different from mine. I really don't want to emulate anyone. I just want to write the best Donna Alward book I possibly can.

5. Was there any particular author or book that made you want to be a writer?

I say this so often, but LaVyrle Spencer made me fall in love with Romance novels and I have always kind of hoped that I might tap into a fraction of the wonderful warm feelings her writing inspires. I have read her books so often most of them are falling apart. I have been writing since I was a child, but I can't deny the influence her stories have had on me.

6. As a writer for the HMB Romance line, can you tell us what drew you to that line or did the line 'choose' you?

The line kind of chose me - once I found my voice. I fit there. Once I figured it out, it became easier to write the kind of story I needed to write. I knew what sort of story they were looking for and I had the voice for it. It was then a matter of working to get the writing and story elements in line. It took me a few mss to get there, but I finally hit the right notes with HIRED BY THE COWBOY.

7. What's the most romantic moment of your life so far?

After 19 years with the same man, 15 of those married - I can't list just one. But there are moments that stand out. Our first kiss. Dancing beneath the stars while our children slept in the camper. Finishing my first novel and calling him at work to tell him I wrote THE END - and having him show up late for dinner. I gave him a hard time until he told me he'd stopped on the way home to buy me something to celebrate - a new watch. But it's not grand gestures. It's sitting together on the deck and having him reach over and take my hand, or ordering supper if I've had a crazy day. That's real. That's what keeps you going through the tough times.

8. What do you wish you'd known about being an author before you were pubbed?

How hard I'd work. It doesn't get easier; in fact it gets harder as you go along. Being published isn't the key to the city. There may still be rejections, struggles, missed deadlines, poor sales, stress over time management ... I wasn't completely prepared for that. But, you know, I've had books that didn't sell as well as I'd hoped, I've had rejections, and I still get frustrated when writing feels like pulling teeth and I'm still here. Still writing. Still loving the mailman when he delivers author copies and smiling when I get reader mail. It's a damned hard job, but it's a good one. :-) I can't imagine doing anything else.

9. What's the best writing advice you've ever been given?

Oh gosh! I've had a lot of good advice but I'll never forget my first editor at Mills and Boon, Maddie West, telling me to go ahead and take risks. Editorial can always pull you back if you go too far, but taking risks can really result in extraordinary fresh stories.

10. Tell us about your latest release.

This year has been crazy with releases which is very good for me. :-) I had an ebook release from Samhain Publishing in April - Sold to the Highest Bidder. It will be out in print in February. July sees the reprint Hired: The Italian's Bride in the UK in the anthology Mediterranean Men and Marriage along with stories by Carol Grace and Raye Morgan. Then in October, Proud Rancher, Precious Bundle is out in the UK, and will be out in North America in February 2011. I round out the year with two releases in November - a reprint of A Bride for Rocking H Ranch, a Christmas novella in another UK anthology and Breathe from Samhain Publishing. There are excerpts from all these titles on my website.

11. What's next for you?

I have two more stories written for the romance line that are just waiting for final approval and revisions. This summer I am switching gears a bit to work on an independent project that I'm really excited about. I can't wait to get some chapters in the hands of my agent!



You can catch up with me at my website http://www.donnaalward.com/. I'm also on Facebook - Donna Alward, Romance Author and on Twitter - @donnaalward. Stop by any of those places and say hi!

Monday Minx - Sri

I’ve postponed writing about myself for 2 weeks and not because I’m lazy. Being 33 weeks pregnant, working full time and managing a 2 year old are making me forgetful. But my fellow minxes have been patient with me, so before they go, 'where is Sri again?' :) here I go. Being the least 'popular' of the minxes, not in terms of being hated, we are all lovely people, but as in, even with a blog of my own, I’m what they call an online recluse, I thought I would just mention a few points about me instead of a boring bio about how ordinary I am.

1. My father and my grandfather were both writers, and I grew up surrounded by books, so my eternal love story is with books. I think it was Romy who said she was a book whore and I'm right there with her. And I adore Romance, and find myself looking for it even in the most suspenseful crime thriller.

2. English is not my mother tongue. But, I have studied it through high school, so can’t use that as an excuse for bad grammar.

3. I’m a vegetarian. I’m asked once at least every day by one of my colleagues how I do it, and I say “I never ate meat, fish, or chicken in my life. So really, it’s easy for me.”

4. Once I had discovered Romance novels at the age of 13, I was obsessed with reading as many as I could lay my hands on. And this didn’t make my mother happy for she was worried about my grades. So I used to cover the novels with school text covers, hid them in my 7 year old cousin's school bag, because she didn’t check his bag like she did my own, and even bribed my brother to bring them home for me without her seeing them.

5. Being a part of the minxes is the best thing that could have happened to my writing because I’m surrounded by a fabulous group of lovely ladies who all get what I do every day and whose help can only make me a better writer. So, love ya minxes!!!

Anything Goes Friday - Good Telling & Exciting News

I have a confession to make. I am really bad at showing. Telling comes way more naturally.

Happily, thanks to my lovely crit group and the editor I've been working with at Wild Rose Press, I'm learning to spot 'telling' the moment my fingers type the words on the page. But there are still times when a telling sentence works better for me than going into the detail of showing, especially when I want to make a quick point. So imagine my surprise when I followed a link to an article that was all about Good Telling. And yes, apparently there is such a thing!

So if, like me, you suffer from this affliction, here's a link to the article at Kidlit.com. The rest of you can go back to polishing your haloes.

* * * * *

On the news front, there's been some talk lately on the Subcare board at eHarlequin about a few changes to the Mills & Boon lines edited out of London. (If you're an aspiring writer and haven't yet discovered Subcare, I highly recommend it. You can click here to join the eHarlequin forums).

While no official announcement has been made, the Minxes have gone sleuthing and discovered that the Romance line appears to be splitting into two distinct categories called Riva and Cherish. According to Michelle Styles, this is more a re-branding exercise than a change in content, so there's no fear of your favourite writers disappearing from the shelves.

Cherish, as the name implies, will have the same "wonderful heart warming hearth and family" and "feel good" qualities that the current Romance line embodies, as represented by authors like Donna Alward. [Quotes are from Michelle Styles on the Subcare forum].

Riva will be a fun and flirty new line, or in the words of Kelly Hunter, whose With This Fling will launch the new line in January 2011: "Choc full of warmth, wit, and varying degrees of sensuality. Vibrant and gorgeous packaging." Writers will be sourced from both the Romance and Modern Heat lines, though Modern Heat will continue to be distributed as Presents Extra in the US and Sexy in Australia.

With four titles a month, Riva is a wonderful opportunity for new writers, and an even more wonderful source of books for readers like me who love that modern, sassy tone. If you like the sound of these books and haven't yet discovered them, look out for authors like Liz Fielding, Jessica Hart, Fiona Harper, Ally Blake and Nicola Marsh - and of course, Kelly Hunter.

If any of our blog readers have more information on the changes in Richmond, or corrections to anything we've heard so far, please feel free to leave a comment or send us an email. Our Minxy ears are pricked and ready.

Author Spotlight - Lynn Raye Harris

This week, the Minxes are very happy and honoured to have with us Harlequin Presents author, Lynn Raye Harris. Lynn won the Harlequin Presents Instant Seduction Competition in 2008 and has gone on to publish several books since that momentous event. She's also appeared on the USA Today Bestseller List

The Minxes put these questions to her: -

1. Where were you in your writing career 5 years ago?

Five years ago, I was still aspiring to be published. I was living in Hawaii (I know: poor me, right?), and I’d joined the local chapter of RWA. Though I’d been a member of RWA for quite some time, this was my first local chapter. The inspiration and camaraderie were great, and I was working hard on my writing. (I was also writing my master’s thesis, but that’s another story!)

I’d finally settled on writing contemporary romance, after trying my hand at historicals, and I was having fun. I also met Jane Porter for the first time, when she came to our chapter and gave a talk, and I remember thinking how strong and intelligent she was. See, I’d always loved Harlequin Presents, but I’d stopped reading them during my college years because I’d let myself be convinced they were trash. And here was Jane, no fainting flower, who wrote these books. I promptly went out and bought a whole bunch and fell in love all over again. I still didn’t try to write my own until 2008, however.

2. Where did you get the idea from for this particular book?

The Prince’s Royal Concubine sprang from the usual what-ifs that plague writers. Princess Antonella was a minor character in Cavelli’s Lost Heir, and I kept thinking that she deserved her own happy ending. She was so intriguing to me that I absolutely had to write her story. Where Cristiano came from, I have no idea – but I knew Antonella’s prince would be strong and ruthless and very, very focused on his goal. Once I got them together, the story just sort of magically happened. It was one of those books that comes relatively easy. That doesn’t usually happen to me, so I enjoyed every moment of it!

3. Where do you hope to be in 5 years time?

I want to be writing Harlequin Presents, of course! I love these books. They are so intense, emotional and passionate, and they are tough to do well. Believe it or not, I find them to be quite a challenge! I would also love to write other books that are longer and have subplots. I have a range of ideas – from historical to paranormal to women’s fiction. What will get written and published is anyone’s guess, but I’d certainly like to try some of these other ideas out in addition to writing for Presents.

4. Which was the last book you read that you wish you'd written?

It wasn’t a romance, believe it or not. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell. Gorgeous, gorgeous language. And such a compelling story! I couldn’t put it down. I wanted a different ending, but that doesn’t change the fact it was a great book.

5. Was there any particular author or book that made you want to be a writer?

No. I always knew. It was just something I grew up wanting to do. I read a lot as a kid, and I wrote short stories. I also tried writing my first novel at fourteen. Unfortunately, being rather autobiographical, it was boring and short. I fizzled after chapter one. Though I read lots of Harlequin Presents back then, it simply never occurred to me to try and write one. Those were Real Authors with Exotic Lives and I was just a kid from the South.

6. Do you find writing love scenes giggle-worthy or cringe-worthy?

Neither. I love writing love scenes. That’s the moment at which the emotional boiling point of the story is reached. It’s not the black moment, but it’s when both characters are at their most vulnerable. It’s a mini-black moment of sorts, I guess. My love scenes have been described as hot and steamy by various reviewers, but I swear it’s the emotional impact I’m focusing on when I write them. The steamy factor is a by-product of the emotion as well as just something that happens to be my authorial voice. I do get a bit wound up about not writing the same love scene over and over, though. Each book is different, and I want to do the characters justice.

7. What's the most romantic moment of your life so far?

Hmm, I don’t really know. My husband doesn’t do big dramatic moments, but he’s always been great about the little moments. Bringing home flowers for no reason, taking me to dinner without prior notice, buying me things I want just because I want them. He also never complains when I want to go away for writerly things – my chapter’s retreat, conferences, the RT convention – and I find that terribly romantic. He supports me in all I do, and that’s worth so much more than a big dramatic moment would be.

8. What do you wish you'd known about being an author before you were pubbed?

Ha! I always thought, even though I’d been told differently, that getting a contract suddenly changed everything. That your doubts would go away. That you’d suddenly feel like you’d “made it.” Trust me, you are the same person after that offer as you were before. Granted, you are quite happy and giggly and it truly is the best feeling ever to sell a book, but the thing you need to know is that it doesn’t change everything. You simply trade one set of worries for another.

You’ll worry about your sales, about list placement, and whether or not your editor still loves you. You’ll worry that you can’t possibly write another book, that you’ve peaked early and your best work is behind you, that readers will hate you – it goes on and on.

See, one set of worries for another! Of course you want those worries when you are unpublished because that would mean you had sold a book. But believe me, when it happens, you’ll still get the same sinking feeling that rejections or contest scores gave you before you sold.

9. What's the best writing advice you've ever been given?

Never give up. Cut the backstory from chapter one. Never give up. ;)

10. Tell us about your latest release.

The Prince’s Royal Concubine is a story about surviving storms both literal and figurative. I really loved writing this book because it’s all about two characters learning to love and trust one another when they are the last people who should do so. Cristiano wants to end a war to assuage his guilt at losing his wife. Antonella wants to save her country to prove she’s worth more than she’s ever believed. But their goals are directly opposed, which means that one of them could be destroyed in the end.


Here’s the back cover copy:

Two glittering royal houses…

Prince Cristiano di Savaré hunts his prey by ruthless means. Tonight’s pickings…Antonella Romanelli, crown princess of a rival country and part of a dynasty he has every reason to despise…

…one majestic seduction

Antonella is rocked by Cristiano’s unexpected magnetism. But there’s ice in his wolfish smile… She’s far from the promiscuous, spoiled socialite he believes her to be, but Cristiano is here to persuade her into compliance. If bedding her is what it takes, then it will make his mission all the more pleasurable…


11. What’s next for you?

My next UK release is The Devil’s Heart, which is available now.


After that, I have a story in an anthology: Mills & Boon New Voices, coming in September. The same story that appears in the anthology, “Kept for the Sheikh’s Pleasure,” will also be out in North America in a Harlequin Presents 2 in 1 with Kim Lawrence in November. That collection is called Chosen by the Sheikh.

In January 2011, I have another UK release called Prince Voronov’s Virgin. This is a Russian set story! To read about any of my releases, including excerpts and my Behind the Book feature, visit me at http://www.lynnrayeharris.com/.

Monday Minx: Suzanne

This isn’t going to be personal, I already give out way too much information on my own blog so, if you’re after salacious gossip, you should stop reading now.

Still here? Good, then pull up a chair and I’ll begin...

Today, I’m going to talk about the compulsion that drives me to commit words to paper, the burning ambition that urges me to write romance manuscript after romance manuscript even while the world cares not one jot.

To start at the beginning of this sorry tale, we must travel back in time, to when I was fourteen. This is when I first fell in love with Mills and Boon romances and, somehow, I never quite managed to fall out of love again.

In the tradition of the best stories, this love is unrequited – despite my utter devotion, Mills and Boon have never loved me back. From the age of 16, I’ve submitted a number of manuscripts to Paradise Road, only to have them hurtling back with such speed, I sometimes found them waiting for me when I arrived home from the post office. Of course, these days with that newfangled e-mail thingy, things are not quite so bad – at least I’m able to enjoy a cup of tea before they ping back.

So, why do I do it? Why do I keep going and persistently subject myself to heartache that would fell a less stubborn writer?

Everyone who reads romance novels will be aware these books are entertainment with bells on. Between the pages of a romance novel, you’re guaranteed the read of your life – gorgeous heroes to fall in love with, feisty heroines to live vicariously through, locations so far removed from school runs and supermarket shopping they might as well be on another planet. In other words, these books transport the reader from everyday drudgery to the kind of elegant living only enjoyed by the mega rich in the real world. What’s more, the type of love that most people will only experience once in a lifetime – and that’s if they’re lucky – can be experienced time after time, just by delving between the covers of these books.

That’s why I want to write romance, I want to be able to create the kind of magic that makes a reader identify with my heroine and fall in love with my hero, just as my favourite authors do every time they write a book. Can you even begin to imagine how wonderful that would be?

Besides, now I’m a Minx, I’m having far too much fun to stop.