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Why do you write romance? Mainly because I like happy endings. I think life is tough enough without reading something depressing.
Why did you decide to write a book? A combination of reasons. My husband bringing home a laptop, missing working in the theatre, wondering what to do with my life... I've always told myself stories. I thought everyone did! But, essentially, I'm a lazy person and it's far easier to write them in your head than it is to get them down on paper. I needed an incentive to make myself sit down and do it. In August 2000, shortly after our fifth child was born, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. There's a great deal to be said for being in control of your world and writing is a marvellous way of creating your own reality. This was the time I began my first book.
Did it sell? No, but the second one came close. After two rewrites, my first submission to Harlequin Mills & Boon was rejected because it was felt it fell between the Tender/Modern divide. Book three, aimed specifically at Harlequin Romance, sold.
What is your top writing tip? Don't sit down with aim of writing THE perfect book. Just sit down, relax and tell the story. Until you've actually finished the first draft you've got nothing to play with. After that, buy Kate Walker's '12 Point Guide to Writing Romance'. It says it all.
Is it worth belonging to the RWA and/or RNA? Absolutely. As an unpublished writer I joined the Romantic Novelists' Association. The RNA run a 'New Writers' Scheme' where unpublished writers can submit one manuscript a year for a critique by a published author. Although I didn't know it at the time, my mystery reader was the phenomenally successful Harlequin author, Kate Walker. She sent me five pages of criticism and a good sprinkling of encouragement - but better than that were the marks she made all over my manuscript. Lots of 'cut for pace' and ticks where I'd done something she liked. When Kate heard I'd been asked for revisions by Mills & Boon she made contact with me and has been a mentor and friend ever since. Membership of the RWA came after I'd sold my first book. RWA is a mine of information.
How do you manage to find time to write when you have five young children? It's difficult. I steal time from all over the place and cut corners where I can. I also find it helps to take off my glasses when I come in so I don't see the dust! Truthfully, I think it's always possible to find the time to do the things you're really motivated to do.
Will you ever write a longer book? It's a tempting thought. Watch this space! That said, I love writing for Harlequin Mills & Boon and hope to keep doing it for years to come. It's a very pure, disciplined kind of writing. A bit like writing down a tube - anything that doesn't further the central romance needs to be ruthlessly pruned away. It's great fun.
Do you have a critique partner? Yes, I do. A critique partner is invaluable - but you must pick carefully. They need to understand the genre you're writing for and be someone whose judgement you trust. My critique partner is Julia James, Harlequin Presents/Modern author. She sold her first book in the Summer of 2002 and faithfully kept our 'until publication' pact until I made my first sale a year later. Irritating that she beat me to it! Always at the other end of email, Julia has been fantastic. And no, you can't share her.
Will you ever go back to acting? The short answer is that I'm unlikely to. But I'm still a member of Equity (British Actors' Union) and 'never say never'.
Have you worked with anyone famous? Yes.
Has your acting background helped with your writing? Without a doubt. The overlap is enormous. When you're presented with a script it really isn't enough to stand in the right place and say the lines on cue. People are layered beings. What they say is not necessarily what they think. They have primary objectives, secondary objectives, secret objectives, regrets that inform their decisions... The list goes on. The best actors are the ones who can bring to life all of that. Writing is very similar - but, of course, you get to be everyone!
HARLEQUIN 'ROMANCE' AUTHORS
Ally
Blake |
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This
year Mills & Boon celebrates a century as one of the most enduringly popular
brand names in publishing. Over the past 100 years the Mills &
Boon imprint has become synonymous with romantic fiction and today is part of
Harlequin, the world’s largest publisher of romance fiction.
