Minxes' Favourite Childhood Books - Part 1

We all have books and stories that we adored as children and may even now have passed on to or be reading to our own children.

Today, the Minxes want to share with you the books that shaped us into the readers we are today. One or two may surprise you ;)

Romy Sommer: Some of my earliest memories are of my mother reading me to sleep every night as a kid. She read me all the Enid Blytons. I know I don't need to list them here. I bet you grew up on them too!

As I grew older I developed a love for girls' boarding school books. To this day my favourites are Elinor Brent-Dyer's Chalet School books. These stories not only had all the usual schoolgirl pranks and dramas, but they also had exotic locations (Austria, Wales, Switzerland) and spanned several decades. I'm still collecting these books today - for my daughters, of course!

In my teens the 'Sweet Valley High' books were my first taste of romance, but the first Alpha hero I ever fell in love was Patrick Pennington, the bad boy musical prodigy in KM Peyton's Pennington's Seventeenth Summer. My brother brought the book home from school as required reading. If he ever wants the book back, he just needs to search my bookshelves - it's still there, alongside all its sequels!


Sally Clements: I read everything I could get my hands on, as a kid. And it hasn't changed much! My favorites were the Nancy Drew series - and honestly, who couldn't love a clever girl tracking down a mystery? Other faves were She and Ayesha by H Ryder Haggard, and Kon-Tiki and the Ra expeditions by Thor Heyerdahl, the descriptions of sailing in an ancient craft grabbed me from the start! I also spent a good few years reading P G Wodehouse & all the James Bond books and by the time I'd turned 13 was devouring Papillon by Henri Charriere. So I guess I was a sucker for mysteries, and stories where people faced challenges - and won!

Lorraine Wilson: I used to spend all my pocket money on books and still have all my original Enid Blytons. My favourites were the Adventure series although I still have a secret penchant for the Faraway Tree and used to climb trees when I was little, hoping to find another world at the top!

When I grew a little older I devoured everything by L.M. Montgomery - once I'd finished the Anne series I moved on to Emily and beyond. I also loved anything by E. Nesbit, Noel Streatfield and the Flambard series by K.M. Peyton but as I could go on forever I'll end my part here...



Maya Blake: Having two older brothers and a very tom-boyish older sister meant that as a child I had to ride with the gang or lead a very lonely existence.

This spilled over into my reading life and one of my earliest memories was of waiting patiently for my turn to read the latest Hardy Boys.

After many lame nursery books, discovering the adventure within these novels was very exhilarating. So much so that I pleaded with my mother to take me to the "grown-up" section of the library, whereupon I discovered my second love: Nancy Drew.

Nancy Drew Mystery Stories dominated my life from ages 9 to 12! I gobbled up all the stories I could get my hands on, reading them over and over and over again. My mother had serious reservations about my wellbeing when I would forgo food just so I could read these books.

Of course, by the time I turned 13, my sister, having shunned her tom-boyish ways, was very much into a new series called Mills & Boon. I borrowed a book by one Anne Mather, and the rest, as they say, is history...

Come back next Monday for the second part of the Minxes Favourite Childhood Books.

Before that, though, we'd love to hear what your favourite books were as a child, so dish!

Why I Gobbled Up "The Virgin's Secret" In 3 Hours!!!

I don't normally do book reviews, mostly because I don't think I'm very good at it. But I just had to attempt a review after reading about Abby Green's The Virgin's Secret!

In a word, "wow!".

I started reading as way to pass a quick hour before I had to cook dinner. Dinner never got cooked. My kids went to bed after a hastily prepared sandwich *baaaaad mother!*

But this book hooked me from the first paragraph which set up the fireworks sooo astonishingly beautifully (yeah, it deserves two adverbs), I just couldn't put it down.

If you haven't read it yet, I'll try and give you the skinny without giving the story away (I hate it when reviews do that!).

Angel Kassianides' family have owned up to a terrible secret after generations of laying the blame on the Parnassus family and as a result they're outcasts in Athenian society.

Leo Parnassus has returned from New York to head up the family and bristles and broods from the outset in a way only a hawt, sexy alpha hero can.

But Leo is different. He's never set foot on Greek soil, speaks Greek with a New York accent and this makes him vulnerable. Angel on the other hand, even though she's half-Irish, is Greek through and through. Their first meeting (when they don't know they're enemies) is fiery without being combustible, but their second meeting sets off the fireworks within the volcano in a way that had me turning the pages with indecent haste!

The conflict is set up beautifully and you can't help admire Leo for the cunning way he sets up Angel to fall into his bed like a ripe, succulent peach. Of course, discovering she's a virgin sends him down the slippery to falling in love, but even that is done beautifully.

If there's one minor complaint about this book, it's the "eavesdropping" device which is used in part to bring about the black moment. Abby used the same technique in her Ruthless Greek Boss, Secretary Mistress, which is the prequel (I believe) to The Virgin's Secret.

Although this threw me out of the book (long enough to make a much-needed cup of tea) I was truly rooting for Angel to get her man and for Leo to win her hand, which he did admirably.

If you haven't read it yet, do, you won't be disappointed.

With this book, Abby Green has moved one step closer to my 'autobuy' list!

Very well done, Abby xx

Author Spotlight: India Grey

The Minxes have been looking forward to this day for aaaggggeesss! Why? Because we have serious Minx-Love for India Grey!!! Her books go straight to the Keeper Shelves of all the Minxes and we are thrilled, thrilled, thrilled to welcome her here today. Ahem. Okay, before we scare her off with our manic heroine-worship, here's India...

Where were you in your writing career 5 years ago?

Five years ago I had no writing career, and didn’t really imagine that I ever would have one! The previous year (September 2004) I’d seen in our local paper that a new writer’s group was being set up in the town where I live. Deep down I very much wanted to go, but thanks to three small children and a part-time job - which often involved evenings - I told myself I had neither the time nor the energy. Of course, what I really didn’t have was the confidence, and when I finally admitted that I had to spend ages going through our recycling bin to find the newspaper and get the number of the person running it. Who turned out to be Penny Jordan.

In January 2005 she encouraged me to have a go at writing the opening chapter of a Mills&Boon Modern/Presents (just like New Voices!) which I did, and emailed off to her. Unbeknownst to me, she then sent it straight to her editor at Richmond, whose feedback was astonishingly positive. The editor asked me to keep going and let her have three chapters and a synopsis as soon as I could. It was an enormous thrill, but also a complete shock, and the start of eighteen months of hard work as I negotiated several dead ends and wrong turnings, and tried to get my head around the fact that something that for years had been nothing but wishful thinking was finally looking like a possibility.

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

Ah, that’s easy because Emily’s Innocence is part of the Balfour Legacy continuity series, which means an outline of the story was given to me by the editorial team. However, although the idea was easy to come by, actually bringing it to life and making it mine was quite a challenge.

Where do you hope to be in 5 years time?

Gosh, usually looking ahead to the end of the week is a bit overwhelming for me, so thinking ahead five whole years feels terrifying. I’m the kind of person who is deeply intimidated by change, so I hope things are still pretty much the same.

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

I recently re-read E.M. Delafield’s Diary of a Provincial Lady, which I adore and admire in equal measure. E.M Delafield was the original Bridget Jones – only older, provincial (the clue to that is in the title) and married, which gives me loads more in common with her than urban singleton Bridget. Although the book is set 80 years ago, in an era that has vanished forever, the humour is still utterly sparkling. I really wish I’d written it (preferably with a fountain pen, with tea in a rose-patterned china cup on the walnut writing desk beside me.) I also think that, were she alive today, Delafield would make a world-class blogger.

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

The first romance book that I ever read was Imogen by Jilly Cooper when I was ten, and from the moment I turned the first page I felt like I’d stumbled into a world where I belonged. From then on I devoured all her books, and if I couldn’t be a slender blonde show-jumping prodigy or a wickedly sexy journalist, I decided the next best thing was to be the person that created the vivid, racy, romantic world they lived in.

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

At risk of sounding a bit weird, I actually find writing them really intense. They’re always the scenes where the emotional threads are pulled tightest and where each character’s conflict is at its most heightened. If a love scene is difficult to write it often means that the relationship between the characters isn’t really working and some back-tracking is required to fix what’s wrong, so it’s a bit of a testing point in the writing process. And since it’s also where past and present, body and mind, internal and external conflict collide, there’s so much to think about that there’s no time to giggle or cringe. I do often feel in need of a glass of wine and a cigarette when I get to the end though. (And I’m a confirmed non-smoker!)

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

*blushes* I would get into SERIOUS trouble if I broadcast that on the internet…

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

Hmmm… that’s a difficult one, since I didn’t really have any expectations (only profound gratitude!) I suppose I wish I’d known that creativity is only a small part of the job, and administrative organization, time-management and iron self-discipline are also vital. I would have worked harder to acquire those skills earlier on in life, before I became a completely hopeless case.

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

Write something. And then submit it. (That came from Penny Jordan and without having it spelt out to me I’d still be failing to work the till properly and giving the wrong change in Laura Ashley)

Tell us about your latest release.

My latest release is the third book in the Balfour Legacy series, which is about the eight daughters of wealthy, powerful Oscar Balfour. My heroine is Emily, the adored baby of the family, who has lived a charmed and sheltered life and dedicated herself to becoming a prima ballerina. She’s serious, focused, determined and she applies the same rigorous expectations she has of herself to those around her, which means louche, idle playboy Luis Cordoba is top of the list of people she disapproves of.

I love those kind of ‘opposites attract’ stories. It’s enormously satisfying to take two characters who, on the surface, seem to be the antithesis of each other, and gradually unpick this and show how they actually complement each other perfectly. I find that kind of psychology in romance fascinating, and creating characters that fit together, psychologically, is one of the most interesting parts of the job for me.

What’s next for you?

The book I’m working on at the moment is a bit different (and a lot exciting) in that it’s part of a duo which features the same hero and heroine in both books. I’m loving writing it as it’s giving me scope to develop the characters and the world of the book a little more deeply than usual – and as people who read my blog might know, I always go waaaaay over the maximum word count in my books, so I’m liking the freedom of a longer story. However, it also means there’s more chance to take a wrong turning. As I’m discovering…

You can keep in touch with India by visiting http://www.indiagrey.blogspot.com/ or
http://www.indiagrey.com/

Buy Emily's Innocence

It's been a blast having you here today, India. Many, many thanks :)

A Gentle Black Moment?

Anyone who reads romance will be familiar with what a black moment is – you know, that part of the book when all seems lost and you wonder whether the characters will find their happy ending?

Or if psychological thrillers are more your thing, it's that part when that psycho killer has killed one too many people and simply must be stopped but the detective is almost at the point of despair of ever catching said killer.

In a movie it’s the penultimate scene where the score goes all crazy and you're sitting at the edge of your seat wondering how on earth the goodie is going to triumph after being pummelled to within an inch of his life!

In most romances (because that’s what I read and where I get most of my black moment fixes) this most often is the part where doors are slammed, huge hiccupping tears are shed (or in the alpha hero’s part, held in with ruthless control, dammit!), where bags are packed, and, unfortunately, when the b*tch ex-girlfriend swans off with the cat-got-the-cream smile because she thinks she's won the hero away from the deserving heroine.

But guess what I discovered recently?

There can be such a thing as a gentle black moment. I know, it sounds like a contradiction in terms, but it’s exactly what happened. There were no tantrums (from either hero or heroine), yes there was a b*tch ex-girlfriend, but she was disposed of adequately by the heroine (yayy!). What struck me was how the black moment came about. The H&h weren't standing at the opposite ends of the room shouting at each other, although she was busy glaring at him. He took her in his arms, asked what was wrong and she said simply, "I'm not happy.” His next words? "I will change."

Wow.

Right there was some powerful writing for me. Of course they had a lot to work through before finding their HEA and the whole scene was very intense, but I love, love, love the way the writer shifted away from the usual crash-boom-bang black moment! For me, it took the refrain "it's all in the execution" to a whole new level, while of course, making me totally green with envy.

So, tell me, how do you like your black moments? If you answer and ask nicely, I might just tell you the title of the book :-)

New Voices - Competition Fever

There's nothing like a competition to bring out any latent obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Do you find yourself regularly checking the Romance is Not Dead site and placing the entries in 'most popular' order?

Even though you haven't entered yet?

If you're still writing/polishing and have neglected your usual blog surfing we hope these links will help save you a little time - we've scoured the web for the best competition tips and news stories and while this may fuel your fever the good news is that it will run its course (although it will get worse before it gets better I'm afraid) and be out of your system by ooh, about mid-November...

Links:

Jessica Hart's top tips

Michelle Styles' summary of her competition workshop advice

Sharon Kendrick's competition post about breathing life into your characters

Jackie Ashenden's post from the rival gang, the Sassy Sisters (We love them really ;-)

And not forgetting the official New Voices site tips

Need word count clarification? Click here.

Once you've polished and uploaded (and had a stiff drink) head over to Lacey's blog and ask to be put up on her wall of fame.

Then sit back and try not to worry about whether it should have been a comma or a semi-colon in that last paragraph. It's time to let it go.

And to start obsessing about your second chapter instead ;-)

Just in case, because you never know...

If you get worried because your entry hasn't appeared on the site yet, have a read of this explanation

And for all those people concerned because of the glitches in the ratings, this comment from Bethan Hilliard is interesting - "The rating at the moment doesn't go towards who gets through to the next round and who does. Romance HQ will be choosing the Top Ten which we'll then ask you guys to vote on. So, no tactical rating possible at this stage!"

So, good luck to the afflicted is all we can say.

Minx Lorraine Wilson has uploaded her entry "In Too Deep" and is not stressing at all about it. She merely asked Lacey to pass her a paper bag because she wanted to do some, um shopping...

Okay, she's actually scared witless ;-)

Keep a look out next week for more Minx entries to come.