NOTES

by Christina Hollis

In January 2007, my first Modern Romance for Mills and Boon was  published. The Italian Billionaire’s Virgin will always have an extra special place in my heart for that reason. I’ve written historical novels, radio plays, short stories and non-fiction magazine articles by the Jiffy-bag full, but nothing has given me as much pleasure as writing for the Modern Romance and Presents Extra lines. It’s the chance to write on the edge of possibility: I try really hard to make my characters believable, but set their romance in a fantasy world where money is no object, and washing up is strictly optional! In my Modern Romance The Count of Castelfino, Meg must struggle against a grim new aristocratic employer to keep the job she fought so hard to win. She is brilliant, but it isn’t only her work that thaws Gianni’s frozen heart. Her simple honesty is the perfect foil for his high expectations. Meg soon learns that you can’t go back, only forward. Gianni discovers something, too—that the future is only complete when he shares it with the woman he loves.

It’s only human to want to love and be loved. The see-saw of emotions is different for everyone, yet we can all relate to the feelings romance inspires. Writing about those heart-stopping moments brings back all the fizz and excitement of my own once-in-a- lifetime love. I was “volunteered” for a blind date when the original girl backed out at the last moment. That made me suspicious, but she was the one who should have been more careful. The guy was drop dead gorgeous! He turned out to be the perfect blue-print for an Alpha Male. Tall, dark and handsome he was the strong silent type with a heart of gold that conceals a soft marshmallowy centre (though don’t dare tell him I told you that!). Only a few months later we were married, and he’s kept me in heaven ever since. He’s such a support: I’d be lost without him.

A Little About Christina

Christina has been writing since she was big enough to hold a wax crayon. Fiction now takes up most of her time, but her hobbies are growing and cooking food, and beekeeping. Her favourite cure for writer’s block is a new notebook. All those lovely empty pages have so far proved an irresistible challenge. Sadly, the Woolworths pencils that always used to be her weapons of choice are now only a memory!

Visit Christina at her website:  www.christinahollis.com
Or follow her on Twitter at: christinabooks

I received this notice from Mills & Boon in relation to the Virgin Trains kissing ban in England.

Mills & Boon® and Virgin Trains kiss and make up…

Following Mills & Boon’s passionate opposition to Virgin Train’s kissing ban at Warrington train station, Virgin have been seduced by the world’s leading publisher of romantic fiction.

This Friday, Virgin and Mills & Boon will officially kiss and make up.

In support of Comic Relief on Friday 13th March, Mills & Boon and Virgin Trains will be indulging in a day-long romantic reconciliation at mainline rail stations including Euston, Warrington Bank Quay and Glasgow.

Warrington-based Mills & Boon author Annie Burrows and Virgin Trains’ Director of Communications Arthur Leathley will be launching the initiative at Warrington Bank Quay station at 9.45am.

Kissing-friendly platform events taking place throughout the day include:

• Mills & Boon book jacket photo-opportunities
• Brad Pitt look-a-likes and Virgin staff selling kisses for Red Nose Day
• Free ‘kissing mints’
• Love-seats designed by Mills & Boon and Virgin
• Live readings by costumed Mills & Boon ‘Romantic Heroes’
• Mills & Boon book giveaways

Mills & Boon in numbers:

In 2008, Mills & Boon celebrated 100 years of romance publishing – A Mills & Boon book is sold every 5 seconds in the UK alone – 130 million Mills & Boon books are sold worldwide every year – In the past 50 years, Mills & Boon characters have shared 10,325 weddings, 29,500 kisses and 35,250 embraces.

IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED…

Portia Da Costa

Once upon a time, I had a dream of becoming a published romance author, and writing books for Mills & Boon…

I always wanted to write romance, and my ever first attempt at writing was a short erotic love story about a handsome zombie and the mortal woman who fell for him. Even though there was no brain-eating involved, it was still colossally stupid, and probably one of the worst stories ever written, but I was so thrilled to have just written something that I didn’t care. And it was romantic. Sort of.

A few years passed, and I wrote more of these stories, just for my own amusement. Gradually, it got a bit easier, and the stories were slightly less stupid, and I started to dream of writing books, and being published. My day job was librarianship, and though I read in all different genres, what I really adored were Mills & Boon romances. As many as I could lay my hands on, especially by great authors like Sophie Weston, Sara Craven and Kate Walker. So obviously, my goal was to emulate these writers and become a Mills & Boon author. Foolishly, I hoped I could succeed quite quickly, and in 1988, I started submitting manuscripts. And submitting them and submitting them and submitting them…

I think I subbed about six or seven times in those early days, and even though I loved my stories and my characters, I see now that those first efforts were silly and self-indulgent with paper thin plots and zero emotional conflict. They had slightly more going for them than the zombie story, but there was still a big difference between what I was writing, and the high quality of the romances I was reading.

But then, fate took a hand, and I got shunted onto a slightly different writing track. A writers’ advisor took a look at one of my manuscripts, and amongst all the terrible plotting and the flimsy romantic conflict, she picked up on something I seemed to be pretty good at. Writing sex scenes. She advised me to try writing erotica, as that was an easier market to break into at the time. I took her advice, and with a speed that still surprises me today, I had a book accepted. And some stories. Pretty soon I started writing for Virgin’s famous Black Lace imprint, and I’ve been writing Black Lace novels ever since. My latest IN TOO DEEP, came out in November 2008, and KISS IT BETTER, my 15th title [including novellas] comes out in August 2009.

Read more… »

Ingredients:

One incredibly sexy Italian hero
One small vulnerable child
One smart good-looking nanny

Mix them all together and what do you get? An explosive situation!

In other words – The Italian’s Ruthless Baby Bargain – my latest Mills & Boon Modern – on sale now!

Santo De Luca is the head of a global advertising agency, based in London. He has a five year old daughter and when his wife dies he employs a nanny to look after her. None have been able to put up with the impossibly long hours he expects them to work – until Penny Keeling.

This was one of those stories that seemed to write itself. I hadn’t done a nanny book in ages and I had great fun with Penny who wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself – or for little Chloe. She dared to criticize Santos for the way he looked after his daughter, yet he didn’t dismiss her. For one thing she was the only nanny who had stayed the course, and for another, how could he when he was falling in love with her?

And when he takes her and Chloe on holiday to his native Italy and Penny finds out that Santo has been estranged from his father in Rome for many years she insists that Chloe has a right to meet her Grandfather. Not surprisingly she gets her way.

It was an emotional book to write and if you’d like to win a copy I’m running a competition over on my website.

Inspiration for Stories
by Annie West

Writers are asked time and again ‘Where do you get your story ideas?’. It’s the sort of question that can drive a writer crazy, for the truth is that sometimes we have no idea.

Occasionally though we can pinpoint a thought, a place, a tidbit of news, a face in a crowd. Something that sparked an idea that inspired us to sit down and write a scene, then a chapter and eventually a whole book. Amazing, isn’t it, where ideas can lead you?

My last Harlequin Presents release, The Greek Tycoon’s Unexpected Wife, came about when I was working on another story and the words ‘The Unwanted Wife’ popped into my head. It sounded like a great title so I jotted it down, intending to come back to it one day. What actually happened is that I thought about it continually while I was finishing the other book. Why was she unwanted? What had gone wrong with the relationship? Who were these people?

I even got to the stage of asking writer friends why my poor heroine was unwanted! They came up with all sorts of fascinating ideas but I knew none of them were right for this story. For, yes, I was convinced Tessa (I had her name by that stage) had a story and I’d know it when I came across it. Fortunately, at last, my brain kicked into gear with what became Stavros and Tessa’s unique story and it didn’t matter a jot that the final title was different. That working name served its purpose in kick starting me. Since then I’ve thought about other things that influenced that particular story. They include friends who lived in South America, who had amazing stories to tell of emerald mines and brushes with armed guerrillas, a house on the Greek island of Hydra, ancient jewelery in the Heraklion Museum, buckets of iced champagne in an old Alfred Hitchcock film and a man with the most amazing eyes.

By comparison, my next Presents release The Desert King’s Pregnant Bride was triggered by a place. On the east coast of Australia, north of Sydney, is the Hunter Valley. Some may know it as the home of terrific wines! The upper Hunter though is acclaimed for the quality of its thoroughbred stables. I used to drive through there often, enjoying the lush greenery as the hills closed in. The horse studs are impressive and there’s a lot of foreign investment in those estates, including from the Middle East.

On a trip past neatly-fenced pastures and king-sized stables I began playing that lovely writer’s game of ‘what if’.

What if a hard working local girl, who knew far more about horses than men, fell for the visiting owner of the estate? What if he was more than a wealthy horse breeder, but a man with much bigger things on his mind, like suddenly inheriting a kingdom that needs all his skills and energy to drag it into the 21st century? What if, despite the wariness they’ve learned over the years, they’re drawn together so powerfully that their meeting has irreversible consequences? What if he believes he can never again give his heart to any woman but feels duty bound to care for the woman whose life is now inextricably bound to his? Soon I had two fascinating characters and a story that rolled out before me.

Some of the other things that played a part in creating this story were sweet middle eastern tea, memories of a visit to the vast Ottoman palace of Topkapi and of my first sniff of Attar of Roses, photos of stark mountain landscapes, a hunky engineer who worked in remote areas, vividly coloured handwoven rugs, a friend’s belly dance costumes (even though there’s no belly dancing in the book) and another friend’s affection for her Arab horse. The result was Maggie and Khalid’s story: a Cinderella tale with a difference.

I can never predict in advance what will be the key that unlocks a new story for me, but I love thinking about what inspired me along the way. Have you found a chance word, sight, sound or smell can inspire you? Maybe to write a book or take up a new hobby or try something different? What inspires you? I’d love to hear.

Warm wishes,
Annie

The Desert King's Pregnant Bride

Annie’s current release, The Desert King’s Pregnant Bride, is available now in the UK, in December in Australia/New Zealand and in April in North America. You can find out more on her website at http://www.annie-west.com or visit the UK Mills and Boon (Harlequin) site to buy the book or read an excerpt.

Also through the end of October, you can win a copy of both Annie’s upcoming release, The Desert King’s Pregnant Bride, and Abby Green’s latest book—details are on Annie’s contest page. Be sure to check it out today!