As some of you may be aware, writing for Harlequin
Presents/Mills and Boon Modern was something I was actively writing towards for
at least eight years before I got that magic call and became one of their
authors.
The dream to be a published romance author goes back much
further than that. As a teenager I would spend most Saturdays in my local
library getting my latest fix of Mills and Boon. The only books at home were
men’s thrillers, so borrowing my mum’s or grandmother’s romance books wasn’t an option, so
the library became my favourite place and I would go home with my borrowed
treasures only to return a few weeks later for more!
During June and July, some libraries across the UK are
hosting Fall in Love at your Library with Mills and Boon.
#LoveAtTheLibrary Because that is
exactly what I did as a teenager, I will be visiting one of the participating libraries in
Wales. On 25th July I will be in Brecon library, so if
you are in the area, do come along and join in the fun.
Just to prove my love affair with Mills and Boon and my desire to write for them goes back a
very long way, here’s a photo of something I stumbled upon over the weekend
when I was having a bit of a clear out. It’s the writers’ guidelines I
requested around twenty five years ago.
There are details for writing for the
historical line, then Masquerade, the line I was at that time wanting to write
for and a tape recording of what they were looking for. The fact that I've had these for so long is quite scary!
What treasures or memories have you unearthed during a clear out?
Rachael
xx
I have that tape too! But I think I was sent a copy of it after I was published. I remember my editor (then) telling me how much easier she found it to write the bad versions of things, rather than good ones! When I first wrote for info on writing for M&B, they sent out a one-page document. I may still have that (a historical document!) somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI just need to unearth something to listen to it on!
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