Enjoying the summertime...

I had a great time last week, with the Marrying Cade Wave launch for my new book, and would like to thank everyone who took part and helped launch Marrying Cade into the blue.

Now that's done, I'm wondering where the summer weather has got to - Ireland is grey and rainy, cold and dull. My family are staying at home this year - so no prospect of the warm breezes of a Tuscan island for me - except in fiction. I'm planning a few trips around about, some visits to the cinema, and if the weather improves, a barbeque or two in the garden. If it gets really warm, we might even brave the beach...

My question this Monday is: What's everyone else doing who's not disappearing on holiday? Any good ideas? Kids holidays here for secondary school start at the beginning of June and finish at the end of August - its a very long time, I could do with some ideas!

July Hotties Poll: Jane Austen Heroes

Winner of last month’s Policeman Hotties poll was Chris O’Donnell of NCIS: Los Angeles, narrowly beating out Eddie Cibrian (CSI: Miami) and Simon Baker (The Mentalist).

For something a little different, we have a literary theme for this month’s hotties: all of them have been in Jane Austen films.

When I started researching this post I’ll admit my first thought was “What was I thinking? There’s a shortage of good looking men in the Austen films”.
Boy was I wrong!

An image search proved there are a whole bunch of great looking men in the various adaptations, but since I figured ten hotties was about as much as one poll could take, I’ve left out a few, including the rather more obvious choices. If your favourite isn’t here, feel free to tell us about it in the comments section. And please still vote!

First up is the other Mr Darcy, Matthew MacFadyen (Pride and Prejudice, 2005).

Matthew MacFadyen

Next up is Jonny Lee Miller who has played not one, but two, Austen heroes: Edmund Bertram (Mansfield Park, 1999) and Mr Knightley (Emma, 2009)

Jonny Lee Miller

From the same version of Mansfield Park is Alessandro Nivola, the lone American in this poll.

Alessandro Nivola

And also from the 1999 Mansfield Park, James Purefoy, who played Tom Bertram.

James Purefoy

The role of Frank Churchill in Emma has been played by numerous actors. among them Rupert Evans (2009).

Rupert Evans

I know a few Minxes who’ll be voting for the next hottie: Rupert Penry-Jones, who played Captain Wentworth (Persuasion, 2007)

Rupert Penry-Jones

From Sense and Sensibility comes another selection: Greg Wise (1995), Dan Stevens (2008) and Dominic Cooper (2008).

Greg Wise

Dan Stevens

Dominic Cooper

And finally, from the must-see Bollywood version of Jane Austen, Bride and Prejudice, is Daniel Gillies, who played Wickham (now to be seen on TV screens everywhere as the villain in my favourite TV series).

Author Spotlight - Soraya Lane

New Zealander Soraya Lane, well known to everyone who lurks on the eHarlequin community forum, is celebrating the release of her debut Harlequin Romance, Soldier on her Doorstep. The book is out in June in the UK and July in the US. Her next book, The Army Ranger's Return, follows in quick succession with a July release in the UK.

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

Five years ago, I’d been writing for about a year or so, and was trying to finish my first manuscript. I had started to enter a few romance writing competitions, but looking back now, that first manuscript was dreadful! But I was very committed to making a career as an author, and I truly believe that it’s belief in yourself and in your craft that gets you through the tough times.

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

My first two books are part of a mini-series called Heroes Come Home, and I was inspired by the many men and women around the world sacrificing so much to serve their countries. Soldier on her Doorstep explores the concept of guilt, forgiveness and second chance love – the heroine lost her husband to war, and has been left a single mom to their young daughter. The hero, Alex, visits Lisa to fulfill the wish of his dying comrade to make sure his wife and daughter are okay, but of course he doesn’t expect to fall in love with her!

I think it must be so incredibly difficult to transition from active duty soldier to civilian, and then face being redeployed again, so the challenge I gave myself was to really dig deep into the emotions of my characters.

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

In five years time, I hope to still be writing 3-4 books a year for Harlequin Romance/Mills & Boon Cherish. I’d also like to be writing for another Harlequin imprint, maybe HQN or Mira.

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

Oooh, this is a hard question! I like reading books that I wouldn’t necessarily want to write myself, such as thrillers by Harlan Coben or paranormal romance by Nalini Singh. I would have loved to have written The Wilderness series by Sara Donati if I had to choose!

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

I’ve always read widely, since I was a child, so there are many authors that have inspired me over the years. From The Saddle Club when I was a girl, to Lesley Pearce and Nora Roberts, there are so many wonderful authors to be inspired by!

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

I don’t personally like to write hot or explicit love scenes, so I’ve really found the right fit for me with Harlequin Romance/Mills & Boon Cherish. We close the door before the exciting stuff starts! But in saying that, I feel that if a love scene is right for the characters, then an author should never feel embarrassed about writing them, so I guess I don’t find them cringe-worthy or giggle-worthy. Although there’s always that worry about your mother-in-law, grandmother or aunty reading them!!

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

When my husband proposed to me. He took me away to Sydney, Australia (we live in New Zealand) and after a lovely romantic dinner he proposed to me on the beach. Although sometimes it’s the little things that are the most romantic – like him getting up to look after our baby to let me sleep in!

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

When you’re unpublished you can sometimes think that it will get easier when you’re finally published. This is so not true! It gets harder, but it’s absolutely worth it. Suddenly you have an editor who constantly wants to push you to make your writing better with every book, and I personally put a lot of pressure on myself to deliver. Things like copy edits, writing proposals, doing art fact sheets and promotional material takes up a lot of time too, but I can’t say there’s anything I don’t like about it. Except that there’s never enough hours in the day!

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

If you’re truly a writer, giving up is not an option, and I believe that’s the best thing any author can tell an aspiring writer. I also believe in finishing a manuscript. You can polish and polish a chapter or two and even start to win contests, but you’ll never become an author if you can’t finish a manuscript. An editor will never buy a new author based on a fabulous first chapter, so make yourself write until you reach the end!

10. Tell us about your latest release.

This is the blurb about my mini-series, Heroes Come Home: “A love worth fighting for. They live extraordinary lives on the frontline, but back home they’re ordinary men looking for love and family."

Soldier on Her Doorstep, the first book, is about a soldier who’d promised his dying comrade he’d make sure his wife and daughter were okay. He was prepared for tears, but not for the beautiful woman who answered the door – or the little girl hiding behind her. Could Lisa and Lilly help to heal this hero’s heart?

In the The Army Ranger’s Return, Jessica’s best friend is soldier pen-pal Ryan, only she’s never met him in person before. Her letters have offered him comfort while he was away fighting for their country, but is he ready to fight for her heart.

11. What’s next for you?

My second book, The Army Ranger’s Return, is available in the UK in July, and August in the USA. I also have another release this year in November – Rodeo Daddy.

I’ve just turned in my fourth book to my editor, and I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be writing four more books for Harlequin Romance/Mills & Boon Cherish in the next year.

* * *

Thank you so much for having me! I’d like to give away a copy of one of my books – the winner can choose from either Soldier on Her Doorstep or The Army Ranger’s Return. Since I love writing about soldiers so much, tell me who your dream man in uniform is … soldier, Navy SEAL, policeman, fireman??? I’ll pick the winner at random!

Visit my website or blog for more information – http://www.sorayalane.com/ or http://www.sorayalane.blogspot.com/

How much fun can one girl have?

Since none of us Minxes managed to get to Caerleon for this year's RNA conference, we've invited debut Mills & Boon author Scarlet Wilson to guest blog about the conference this weekend instead.

Welcome Scarlet!

* * *

The Gala Dinner

It didn't start well.  The train to Newport in Wales was packed with a variety of dogs and children crawling down the aisles.  At one point I ended up with two unknown babies sitting on my lap. However once we arrived in Newport I recognised some fellow women scrambling with cases and shared a taxi with the lovely Freda Lightfoot to Caerleon.

Jan Jones and Roger Sanderson spend a lot of time organising the conference and their planning was very evident.  There was a huge range of topics covered in tee programme and the hardest thing was picking what to attend.  I have to say that this year I was naughty and ducked out of a few lectures through sheer brain drain. 

Scarlet with M&B editor Flo Nicholl

But the ones I attended were fab.  The conference started with Celebrations and this year there were a lot of members with good news of sales.  It seems great that when we continually hear about tightening purses and less income, writers are still considered a priority.  There was an award winning panel with Louise Allen, Elizabeth Chadwick and Jill Mansell all answering questions on how they wrote.  I was amazed to learn that Jill Mansell writes all her books longhand with a Harley Davidson fountain pen!  I was even more amazed when Fiona Harper (who writes for Mills and Boon Romance) pulled out her moleskin notebook from her bag and showed me that she writes long hand too - her next book was sitting right in front of me.  I nearly snatched it and ran away!

The Mills and Boon editors delivered a talk on being Unpredictable - their latest buzzword.  They want new twists on the old stories and are still keen to acquire new authors.

M&B editor Anna Boatman, Romance author Nina Harrington and Flo Nicholl

Sphere books also delivered a talk, they are also acquiring authors - admittedly only a few a year - but specifically asked for timeslip stories and WW1 and WW2 women's fiction.

Jenny Hutton and Anna Baggaley from MIRA and Mira Ink gave an overview for their line, highlighting all areas that sell well in women's fiction and teenage fiction.  They also have new websites www.mirabooks.co.uk and www.miraink.co.uk

My favourite talk was given by Fiona Harper on getting emotion on the page and keeping it there.  You could have literally heard a pin drop in the room while she was speaking.  She has promised to put her notes for the talk on her website www.fionaharper.com

Scarlet with M&B Romance author Fiona Harper

The conference ended with agent Carole Blake and her client Elizabeth Chadwick letting us know how they were 'A Perfect Match'.  Their working relationship has lasted longer than Carole's two marriages and they were a true doubleact!

It was a perfect end to a great conference and after the long journey home to Scotland I am now going to spend the next few days in bed recovering!

* * * 

Thank you Scarlet! The Minxes look forward to meeting you again next year, at the Penrith conference.

Scarlet's debut novel for M&B Medical is It Started With a Pregnancy, out in September. Scarlet will be back here in September to talk about her book.

Words of wisdom from Trish Wylie - Part Three

This is the final part of our Friday series on how to start your romance novel, with Trish Wylie. It's been great fun having Trish here being Minxy-next Friday will be lonely without her!
I know everyone is dying to read what she has to say, so without any further ado, here's the final section.
Take it away, Trish!

8/ Back-Story.


The trick with back-story is to remember it is in the past. While relevant to the characters and containing the key to their emotional conflict, it is the ‘here and now’ the reader is most concerned with and for that reason the writer should focus the story on what is happening as it happens. Think of meeting someone for the first time and having them tell you their entire life story in one sitting and you’ll get an idea of how it would be for the reader to wade through a back-story dump at the beginning of the story. Instead, as it is in real life, the characters will get to know each other better as the journey continues, with hints of the past and the experiences that made them the way they are trickled through conversations, inner point of view (to assist the readers understanding) and their reactions to the things that happen.

9/ Theme.

Every story has a theme. Since more often than not this is used to help the publisher title the book and create appropriate cover art, the easiest way to get an idea of the themes used in a specific line within category romance may be to look at how they are marketed. For example, if there’s a baby or children on the cover or the mention of a father or mother in the title, there’s a good chance the theme is family. Put the word ‘Cinderella’ in the title and the theme may be self-image, self-acceptance or a character discovering the truth in the old adage that looks aren’t everything. Put the word marriage in the title and it’s pretty self-explanatory. Outside of category romance the theme may not be as obvious on the cover or in the title, but since every story ever told has themes based in mythology as far back as when the first stories were told around a campfire, I can guarantee there will be one.

10/ The Hook.

Quite simply the hook is a question that requires a reader to keep reading in order to discover the answer; curiosity driving them forward as it would for any of us in real life. The easiest way to create a hook is to start with something that profoundly changes the character’s world, the question becoming how they deal with it and what they will do next. If an external problem is solved too easily, the PLOT comes to a standstill, so every time something seems resolved, there must be something else to take its place so the story can continue and the characters have something to do. Think of it as a domino effect; the external problem leading to reaction and action which in turn leads to another action and another reaction and so forth until the internal problem comes to the surface in the black/all is lost moment and the characters are able to deal with it.

It may seem like a lot to pack into the beginning of a story, but pick up any book at random from your keeper shelf, read the opening chapters, and you will discover each of these points are there. Having said that, when starting out on a new story, many of us don’t get it right the first time, even when we’re supposed to know what we’re doing. But don’t panic if that happens! Beginnings continue to be a weak point for me, but theoretically, now that I know what I’m looking for I can go back and strengthen it with my trusty check-list at hand. Hopefully you’ll find it helpful too and if you do, my work here is done...

Trish’s long-awaited book, ‘The Inconvenient Laws Of Attraction’, will be out in the UK and Ireland in December 2011.

In the meantime, her third book, ‘Her Unexpected Baby’, is available for the first time in the USA and Canada direct from eHarlequin RIGHT NOW!
You can pick it up here.

You can find out more about Trish and her books at http://www.trishwylie.com/ or follow her between deadlines on Twitter @TrishWylie