Scoop! Mills & Boon New Voices 2011!

The Minxes are delighted to welcome Mills & Boon Editor,

Anna Boatman, to the blog today - to tell us all about this year's Mills & Boon New Voices competition! Take it away, Anna!

Whispers of the social media kind are spreading, the halls of Romance HQ are buzzing and wannabe-writers are flexing their typing fingers…. for New Voices – the romance writing competition with the X Factor – is back! That’s right, on September 13th Mills & Boon are launching their second global search for new talent!

Last year’s competition was a fantastic success. As well as Leah Ashton – our fabulous winner – we’ve since bought two new authors and we’re still working with (and hoping to buy!) several more. The number and standard of entries was fantastic, as well as the excellent, insightful comments and debates that went on. But we’re determined that 2011 will be even bigger and better!

So, how does this year’s competition work?

It’s the same basic structure as last year – read on to find out how you could be Mills & Boon’s next rising star!

Stage One – Grab them at hello! From the 13th September visit http://www.romanceisnotdead.com/ and upload a first chapter to enter. Don’t want to write but love reading romance? Visit the site to read the entries and comment – say what you love about their entry and constructive criticism is welcome too. As well as the competition itself, there’ll be debates about all things romance, plus editorial tips and blogs, Q&As and exciting gossip throughout!
The deadline for first chapters is 10th October – miss it and miss out! Then our expert editors will narrow the entries down to the 20 absolute best (always tricky and requiring copious amounts of chocolate). These 20 will be assigned an author mentor to help with their next challenge…
Stage Two – What happens next? The twenty finalists will submit their second chapter and this time you can help decide who wins! This stage is decided 50% by our panel of judges (including a mystery celebrity judge…!), and 50% by public vote, so come and have your say! After the voting’s over, we’ll have only four romance writers remaining!
Stage Three – The moment that changes everything! The fab four will submit their story’s pivotal moment. This is the final stage and the judges get together to discuss which story and writer show the most promise – it’s going to be a hard one to call!

Finally, on the 4th November, New Voices will announce the winner – and Mills & Boon’s newest author!

Among so many, how can YOU (and Romance Minxes everywhere) make your entries stand out? Here are our exclusive top tips…
- Start with a bang, not a whimper! Engage the reader straight off by beginning with a point of change for your characters.
- It’s all about the characters! We’re looking for entries where we like the characters and understand what they’re struggling with.
- Avoid cliché! Exploring your characters’ unique reactions will avoid your story feeling too familiar and really bring out the sparkle of your individual writing. Let’s not just hear that they are the most attracted they’ve ever been, let’s see in detail how that feels for that character specifically!

And there you have it, Romance Minxes! So writers, get thinking about those first chapters, readers get ready to hit the voting button – because New Voices is nearly with us… We editors can’t wait to read all your entries, or to hear your comments, so for now it’s goodbye until the 13th September. Good luck!

For more detail about entering and the T&Cs, take a look at the holding page currently up at http://www.romanceisnotdead.com/. For the newest news and hottest gossip, join our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/groups/250729414946433/

Author Spotlight - Olivia Gates

Today, the Minxes are super excited to have Olivia Gates, a USA Today Bestselling author as our guest author. Olivia lives in Egypt and writes super-hot sheikhs and we're beyond honoured to welcome her to the blog.

Take it away, Olivia!

What is your writing process?

The more books I write, the more I discover that every book is its own entity, follows a process of its own. But in general, I start with either a basic premise, or a character. I then write a detailed outline around either (some of my outlines reach 60 pages for ST length books). This outline serves two purposes. It gives my editors a good idea how the book(s) will unfold, and a chance to contest major plot points when its still on the drawing board, to save us both the pain of major revisions. It also serves as a road map for me, which is especially helpful when I’m pressed for time to save me the pain of second-guessing myself, when I can’t afford the hesitation. Of course, no matter how detailed the outline is, the execution is the hard part, which might I add, never gets easier.

Everyone who writes knows it's not easy - what methods do you use to keep at it on days when it would be so much easier to go shoe shopping?

The above-mentioned investment in a good outline usually saves me from staring too long at a blank page. If I already know what’s happening next, what remains is how to is how to execute it. I also talk dialogue out loud to myself when I’m away from the computer (and preferably alone ;-)) like when I’m driving. This helps make the characters come alive, and develop a unique voice of their own, and gives me lines to build scenes around.

Keeping fit: Do you have an exercise regime to counterbalance all those hours sitting at a computer?

I do aerobics, step exercise and weight training three times a week (though I’ve fallen off the track for the past months, and I’m already paying the price in various aches and pains, not to mention slowing down metabolism….Ugh!)

Do you believe in writer's block?

Not really. But I believe in being overwhelmed by life and letting yourself be so distracted while you deal with what it throws at you. That happened to me in the past months and for a while I was unable to focus on writing at all. It wasn’t that I didn’t have ideas, it was that I couldn’t focus long enough to finish any quota per day, so my output dwindled to almost a stop. Thankfully, I’m coming back from that, and I’m back on track to a consistent daily output, the key to finishing any writing project.

Have you ever used an incident from real life in a book? If so, did it get you into trouble?

A lot of the medical cases I used in my Medical romances have either been stuff I encountered in my other job, or heard about from colleagues. As for other kinds of incidents, I sometimes feel very tempted to use a lot, but as you say, I know I’ll get into trouble, so I’m sticking with the totally made up in my own mind variety until further notice. J

In what way is being a published writer different to how you thought it would be?

A good thing I did is that I didn’t have expectations. When I was unpubbed, I didn’t think at all how it would be when I got pubbed. I just wanted to get there, and had (and still have) this ‘bring it on’ attitude, which I think is essential to every writer who wants to have a long career. I also didn’t take other writers’ experiences as more than broad guidelines, since our circumstances and paths are so diverse, and it never pays to expect anything that others experienced. So basically, I keep a totally open mind about my career, take the opportunities that are presented to me and keep looking for the next ones. Nothing is ever as you expect anyway, so I forge ahead, and take the great with the good with the bad, and keep the basic thing that made me published alive; the love and joy of writing.

Promotion is no longer a dirty word. In what ways do you strive to reach more readers?

I am so looking forward to the day I can be a full-time author and have more time for promotion. Right now all I can do is occasional—and the stress here is on ‘occasional’—blogs, Facebook and Twitter activity, contests and newsletters. I need to get more consistent, but I think I’ll possibly hire someone to do most of the time-consuming work and organization for me. But what I really long for is opportunities to connect with readers, pre-published and other published authors in person (as in more than on social media). I’m working to change my situation so that this can be possible. Wish me luck!

What is your top promo tip for other authors?

I think the best promotion ever is to consistently write books the readers enjoy. Being prolific is also the greatest way to remain a constant on the publishing scene, and this draws a huge percentage of the feedback and attention. That level of output is what I hope I will be able to achieve after the hurdles I’m currently dealing with are over.

What did you learn while writing this book?

That characters do come alive and take over. I have no doubt anymore. In my previously mentioned outline of TO TOUCH A SHEIKH, Maram, the heroine, didn’t only have a different name, but a different personality. Then I started writing her and she was like: “Are you nuts? You think the simpering, sentimental heroine you’re trying to write will be of any interest to the cynical, rapier-tongued, wounded desert lion Amjad, let alone be a match for him, and hope to fill the position of his future queen? Can you just shut up and let me do the talking? And the touching?”

Needless to say, I let her do both to her heart’s content, and the result was one of the most dynamic, and witty, relationships I’ve ever written.

What was the most fun part of writing this book?

Hands down, the supersonic banter between the hero and heroine. Those two held nothing back. Emotionally, they start out as total opposites, with Maram wholly invested in her emotions for Amjad, the man who’d inadvertently proved to her what a hero he was, even though he wants everyone to view him as a villain. Meanwhile, Amjad is 100% reticent, and it takes everything she’s got, and that was substantial, to get him to open up, accept her love and admit his…only for everything to turn topsy turvy and for them to exchange positions…

But the best parts were when I wrote their verbal duels. Those two sparred even after the black moment exploded, and every salvo they exchanged was mega fun to write.

And just for fun: what would your hero’s honeymoon destination of choice be?

His secluded desert cabin, of course. This is where he fell in love with the heroine. And don’t worry, there’s plenty to do there.

Thank you so much for the fantastic questions. I hope you enjoy my answers as much as I enjoyed responding to them! And thank you so much for having me on Minx of Romances.

Seduced by series

No - not necessarily series romance, but instead a group of linked stories. I've always been a great fan of stories that have a common thread through them, most especially in the crime genre. I love the Nora Roberts In Death series, the Patricia Cornwell stories about Scarpetta, and heck, I even loved the Secret Seven...

But what I'm talking about are romance series. I've recently been reading the Bad Blood series from Mills and Boon, featuring the seven Wolfe brothers, and one Wolfe sister. I'm glad to say I've only touched on this series (2 books) which leaves lots more Wolfe's to be discovered, and I intend picking up the rest from the Mills and Boon site before they disappear forever. Written by a group that includes some of my favourite Mills and Boon authors, I love the fact that they have a shared horrible childhood, all of which has affected them in different ways, due to their ages and position in the family ranking order. I started with Heartless Rebel, by Lynn Raye Harris, which is Jack's story, which I picked off the shelf in the supermarket and loved so much that I accidently bought it twice... The mention of Annabelle, Jack's only sister, was so compelling the moment I saw her book, Forgotten Daughter by Jennie Lucas I shoved my way through the crowd at Tesco to snaffoo the last one. I wasn't disappointed, Forgotten Daughter is one of the best Mills and Boon's I've read for ages, really angsty and steamy, with a hero to die for (although, I don't think I'm guilty of spoilers by saying no-one does, actually die for him that is).

My next book is a series of sorts, in that it is part of a series set within a small town in California. But I find myself as a writer more and more seduced by the idea of writing a series of books featuring a group of people who are either related, or very close friends or colleagues. Once a world has been created-it seems only right to hang around there for a while, experience it more than once, and explore the characters within in more details.

So what do you think? Anyone else out there seduced by series?

Movie Review: The Adjustment Bureau

I sum up this movie in one word: “INCREDIBLE”

As a die-hard movie buff, I tend to get totally anal and do a bit of research before I watch any movie to see if it’s worth my time. This carefully honed craft (aka procrastination) means I can usually tell within three minutes of starting any movie if I’m going to love it or hate it. Yes, call me a movie diva!

With The Adjustment Bureau, although I’d seen posters for it, nothing really pulled me to research it. All I knew was that it starred Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. To be honest, I don’t even physically remember requesting this movie, so when I came across it, I just shrugged with a “why not” attitude.

It started off a bit dull – a young, charismatic front-runner in an election campaign, effing up at the last minute due to something he’d done back in his even younger and stupid days. How many times have I seen that in a movie? But then I started wondering why Matt’s character (David Norris) was being portrayed as so young? What was it about him that had made so many people want to vote for him?

Heh, I soon found out his political career had nothing to do with the move! Well, it did in a way…but…read on…

**Spoiler alert**

This was more, so much more than a political movie. At the heart of it was a gut-wrenching love
story. Cue my writer’s happy-ever-after-loving wheeeeeee! Basically, the powers that be - “the adjusters” or angels in men in black suits, had been tasked with keeping David Norris's career on track no matter what.

His destiny, laid out on some funky moving paper tracker thingy, was supposed to be “adjusted” so that it absolutely did not collide with Elise's (Emily Blunt’s character) for the simple reason that their love would impede his intended meteoric rise to become President of the United States.

So he was given a choice – lose the love of his life or watch her lose the one thing she yearned for most – to be the incredibly amazing dancer she was.

At first he arrogantly believes he can have his cake and eat it and boy, does he try hard to! But when the very thing she cares about it threatened, he makes the hard choice.

He gives her up. For a while. But fate being what it was, she crosses his path again. And the fireworks really kicks off when his “guardian angel” tells him that Elise is about to marry someone else.

My heart was in my throat the whole time he was evading the “the adjusters” in order to get to his true love. I cried when he got his girl. And cried even harder when the big boss, “The Chairman”, finally agreed to let him keep her because…well…their love was just too damn strong.

I defy any romance reader or writer to watch this movie and not be moved or inspired to let your fingers fly over your keyboard after your very own happy ever after.

It was awesome, awesome, awesome! Ten out of ten and definitely a keeper for me.

Author Spotlight: Lucy King

This week we're delighted to welcome Riva author Lucy King to the blog and to hear all about her latest release "The Crown Affair".

• What is your writing process?

Haphazard, but hopefully getting less so the more books I write. I’d like to be able to claim that the characters and the story pop fully formed into my head overnight, but I can’t. When I first started writing, I’d open up a document without a hint of an idea and hit the ground running. While initially quite liberating, I’d find myself speeding off in completely the wrong direction and continually having to go back and rewrite, which was very inefficient and extremely frustrating. Now I spend at least a week mulling over ideas and characters and making copious notes about them (although while I might have some idea of a plot it’s only ever very vague). Then, once I’ve made a start I send my editor as much as she can stand – usually the first chapter followed by Chapters One to Three – and she gives me feedback. If I could, I’d send her the lot paragraph by paragraph!

On a day to day basis, I have a spreadsheet with dates and word count targets and days blocked off when I know I’m not going to be able to write, which keeps me more or less in line. The days I delete more than I write I ignore.

• Everyone who writes knows it's not easy - what methods do you use to keep at it on days when it would be so much easier to go shoe shopping?

I live in Spain, a country where my feet are practically double the average size, so shoe shopping is isn’t something that tempts me away from the keyboard. Plenty of other things do, though, and when it gets really bad, I have been known to iron bedsheets. But as I’ve found that the longer I stay away from my wip, the more difficult it is to get back into it, I try to keep going and write through the pain. Having said that, when I do step away I often find that I’m refreshed from not having looked at it for a while so (depending on where I am deadline-wise) I try not to beat myself up about skiving!

• Keeping fit: Do you have an exercise regime to counterbalance all those hours sitting at a computer?

Keeping fit? What’s that?

• Do you believe in writer's block?

I believe it exists, but haven’t suffered from it yet. Thank goodness.

• Have you ever used an incident from real life in a book? If so, did it get you into trouble?

Hmm. Good question. Several of my books have an initial spark that comes from a real life story. My first book came about after as a result of watching a Top Gear interview on TV. Say It With Diamonds, which is out in January 2012, was inspired by a newspaper article I read online about the history behind a jewellery collection.

My current release, The Crown Affair, opens with the heroine ogling the hero with a pair of binoculars, which is a very liberal adaptation of something I’d heard had happened in real life. And apparently the village in which the story starts, whose name I thought I’d made up, actually exists and is very close to where my parents live, which I think was a bit of a surprise.

So far nothing has got me into trouble but it’s early days!

• In what way is being a published writer different to how you thought it would be?

In pretty much every way. As I’d never imagined being published I had no idea what to expect. While in many ways it’s fabulous (here I’m thinking of the lunches, the fan-mail and the email that tells you your book has sold) for me, there’s also the issue of meeting expectations – deadlines, revisions, delivering a book the editor and readers will love. I live in constant fear of not meeting those expectations!

• Promotion is no longer a dirty word. In what ways do you strive to reach more readers?

I’m on Facebook and Twitter, I blog and I try to keep my website updated. I’m sure, though, I could be doing more (any tips very welcome...)

• What is your top promo tip for other authors?

I suspect I’m the last person who should be giving promo tips! (see above)

• What did you learn while writing this book?

To get to know the characters inside out before starting and to make sure that what they do is consistent with their personalities. And to focus on the romance, which you might think was obvious! But the first draft of this book had characters who did nothing but bicker all the time and was littered with plot devices. There was a broken leg (not very conducive to nookie), a kidnapping (because I wanted one) and sub-plot involving stolen public money. What was I thinking?!

• What was the most fun part of writing this book?

Finishing it. Honestly, this was a tough one. I sent in the manuscript a few weeks before my son was born and received revisions just afterwards. When I say revisions, it was actually a complete rewrite, and sorting it all out while dealing with a new-born (my first) was quite a … um... challenge. Having said that, once I got on the right track, it was a joy to (re)write. I reread it when I received my author’s copies, and loved it - I hope others do too!

• And just for fun: what would your hero’s honeymoon destination of choice be?

My hero’s the ruler of an isolated Mediterranean island. As he’s young, hot and royal, he’s a target for the paparazzi, so it would have to be somewhere where there are no reporters and no photographers. His manor house in the Cotswolds would be perfect.

• What have the changes to the current Harlequin lines and branding meant to you? Have they affected your writing process?

I think the different covers and the more interesting titles in both the Modern and the Riva lines are fantastic, although I will admit to having a tiny weeny soft spot for ‘the clinch’, and both reflect both the content a lot better. The re-branding hasn’t changed the way I write – I just carry on writing stories with characters I love. In fact, my January 2012 book, Say It With Diamonds, is actually being released as a Modern (a marketing decision), although being very Riva.

• What do you think makes a Riva book Riva?

I think it’s really hard to define, as there isn’t any one thing that identifies a book as a Riva. There’s a contemporariness to a lot of them and humour and wit in many, but mainly I think it’s the voice of the author. The heroes and heroines in the Rivas I’ve read are people I could imagine hanging out with.

Thank you so much for having me on the Minxy blog. It’s been great to be here (and sorry if I’ve gone on a bit!)

Not at all Lucy, thanks for a fab interview :-)

"The Crown Affair"

Close encounters of the Royal kind!

After being made redundant and finding her boyfriend in bed with another woman, Laura's decided it's time to take charge of her life! However, the last thing she expects is the new Laura to end up having wild, naked fun with the gorgeous guy next door…

Okay, she virtually runs away afterwards in shame—but so what? She soon gets a new job—on the Mediterranean island of Sassania, no less! But the island has a new king—aka Laura's guy-next-door! Now they're both in trouble, for King Matt should be focussing on affairs of the state, not be intent on re-igniting a hot affair of his own…

Buy the book:

Mills & Boon:http://www.millsandboon.co.uk/books/riva/the-crown-affair.htm

Harlequin:http://www.eharlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=24361

Amazon UK:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crown-Affair-Mills-Boon-RIVA/dp/0263883906/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1311863904&sr=8-5

Amazon US:http://www.amazon.com/Crown-Affair-Harlequin-Presents-Extra/dp/0373528329/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311863958&sr=8-1

The Book Depository:http://www.bookdepository.com/Crown-Affair-Lucy-King/9780263883909

iBooks:http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-crown-affair/id447725593?mt=11