by Rachael Blair
I’m a full time mum, domestic goddess (yeah right) and a wannabe published author. In a past life I was also an English teacher.
Unlike most romance writers, I’d never read a Harlequin Mills & Boon novel until early 2006 when I had a bet with a writing friend of mine. Disillusioned that neither of our writing was going anywhere, we decided (for a laugh) to write an M&B. How hard could it be?
I borrowed two arm-loads of romances from the local library and bought a couple of new releases from each Mills & Boon line at K-Mart. By the time I’d finished the first romance Having The Boss’s Babies by Barbara Hannay the challenge to write one was no longer a joke. I’d fallen in love with category romance and wanted to write and publish them more than anything.
I spent a solid month reading and making copious notes on all those library and K-mart novels and then I began my first attempt at category. That manuscript, entitled “The Divorce Coordinator” (oh how romantic), will NEVER see the light of day, but it taught me heaps. The next attempt was better and finalled in the Romance Writers of Australia 2007 Valerie Parv Award.
Since the bet, I’ve joined the Romance Writers of Australia, attended two Australian RWA conferences, collected a fabulous assortment of critique partners, read a whole lot more M&Bs and decided that Modern Heat is the line for me. Discovering I was one of the runners up in the Feel The Heat contest was better than winning the lottery and I absolutely can’t wait to chat with Lucy about my mss.
My blog site if anyone wants to pop over and say hello is www.rachaeljohns.blogspot.com
Congrats, Rachel! And you’ll love Lucy. She’s fabu.
Congratulations, Rachael! This is going to be a fabulous time for you. Enjoy it, and don’t get too stressed about the work. You CAN do it.
It’s neat how you came to romances. So many people think they are easy to write, but those of us who toil to do so know better. I’m glad you fell in love with the genre and wanted to write it!
(Didn’t realize you had K-Mart down under. Hmm, the things I learn on this blog!)
Congratulations Rachel. Sounds like a natural talent has been added to the mystical magical world of HMB. Can’t wait to read your book.
Karen in California
Rachael,
Congratulations on being chosen as a runner up in this fab competition. The whole world thinks it’s easy to write a romance, you simply choose the names, scenario and put pen to paper. There should be a class in school to explain just how ‘hard’ this can be to accomplish.
But you’ve taken a step further and I wish you all the best with Lucy. You might see your own book in K-Mart before too long.
Aideen.
Rachael
Congrats again on your contest entry which was obviously something really special. And yeah, isn’t it funny how many people think it’s easy to write category romance.
I have to fess up here and say I was one of those people too. A journalist for fifteen years and a huge romance fan, I’d always figured that writing category would be an easy route to best-seller status. Yeah right. It took me two years to get the hang of POV and I think I’ll be struggling with internal vs external conflict until I die!
Writing category is really hard, and it’s still a learning process even after you get published. But I love the intense emotions and the sharp, streamlined quality of the books and, right now, I couldn’t see myself ever enjoying writing anything else.
So now, when people say to me ‘Oh, you write for Mills and Boon, I thought I might write one of those one day.’ Like they could easily dash it off in a weekend. I always smile sweetly and say. ‘Really? How many have you read?’ And surprise, surprise, the answer’s always. ‘None.’
Hi Rachael,
Congratulations on coming runner up in the contest. This is a marvellous opportunity and I know you’ll make the most of it. Isn’t RWAustralia a brilliant organisation to help you connect with other writers and learn about writing?
So glad to see you ‘converted’ on your first book. I don’t know why it is that people think romance is easy to write. But it’s so very, very satisfying. All the best with your writing.
Annie
Rachael, I had a conversation with some work colleagues yesterday about writing romance. They wanted to know what the ‘formula’ was and when I started talking about balancing internal vs external conflict, their grins kind of vanished. “Actually, that sounds hard,” said one of them.
No kidding I wanted to say…
Looking forward to seeing your chapter.
Jackie
Hi Rach
Great post and congrats again!
Can totally relate to you what you wrote – I never thought it would be so HARD so write a romance novel, I’d been reading them for years, I was so sure I could pen one – yeah right! 
Anyway, I’m so glad that out of a room of 200+ women at the 2007 Sydney RWA conference, I sat next to you. You have been the best and most supportive CP and writing buddy a newbie writer could ever hope to have. I love reading your writing and I’m sure it will only be a matter of time before you are published
**Jackie – your comment made me smile, I’ve had the same thing happen to me
Cheers, Joanne
Congratulations again, Rach. I’m so glad I met you at the RWA Melbourne and can visualise your face and your lovely, bubbly personality.
It’s a bit of a coincidence, but I had a similar sort of epiphany with M&B myself. After years of lunches in the staffroom with my workmates trying to think up get-rich-quick schemes,(Ha! Fat chance!) one friend and I came up with the idea of writing an M&B book.
He didn’t enjoy it, but I absolutely adored it from the start.
Like you I borrowed so many books from the library, that I actually damaged my shoulder on one occasion carrying a load of Presents hardcovers!
You’ve made a fantastic achievement in the comp, and scoring some advice from the magnificent Lucy will be a marvellous boost on your path, so I wish you the very best of good luck. And fun!
cheers
anna.xx
Well done Rach! You’re very lucky to get runners up after just a couple of years at writing. You must be a natural! All the best with your consultation, I hope to see your book in stores in the future!
Cheers,
Madeline
Congratulations Rach! I love the modern heat books and one of my favorite authors of the line is Robbie, one of your fellow countrywomen.
Good luck with your writing and I can’t wait to read about your progress.
Thank you so much to everyone for your enthusiasm. I can only imagine how Lucy must feel winning this wondrous contest, as I’m over the moon!
Big waves to Joanne and Anna – so lovely to meet the both of you as well!
Can’t wait to read more about Lucy, Felicity and Jackie and especially to read their work
Rach!
Hi Rachael
A great story – hope the chat with Lucy goes well (for a moment I thought you meant me!).
I’ll post something about how I came to try my hand at writing M&Bs soon
Lucy
Hi Rach!
Congratulations again – yep, writing romance is no joke – its hard, hard, hard – but so wonderful and fun and rewarding too. Best of luck with your manuscript!
~Natalie
Hey, Rach,
First, congrats on the contest.
Second, I am one of those who found category romance late, but I am soooo happy I found it. I started reading them about 2 years ago, starting with Medicals and I now read Presents, MH, Medical and Romance.
Modern Heat is my favorite line. And, I agree that most people think it is easy to write romance, but it is not by any means. I enjoy the challenge, though.
Again, congrats to you and the other winners.
Barbara
Rach! Mega congrats! I’m so excited for you. It’s a fabulous opportunity and you’re obviously targetting the line that’s right for you. It was great meeting you at the conference this year – hopefully next year you’ll be receiving a first sale ribbon!
Robbie, waving madly to Betty =)
Congratulations, Rachael! What a wonderful post. You’re obviously very talented. No doubt we’ll hear more good news from you in the future.
All the best,
Gail
Hey Rachael, do you know if we get to read your submission? I’d love to see the entry that got you to this place: along with the other two runners up and winning entry. Is there a link that I missed so we can all admire your talent?
Cheers,
Madeline
Congratulations Rachel on your win and best of luck to you and your writing career. I look forward to reading one of your romance novels one day.
Madeline, we’ll be posting the chapters, synopsis, and editorial comments for each of the winners of the next couple months.
We’ll also be featuring posts from more Presents authors about their new books in the future as well, so there’s lots of good stuff from our favourite writers as well as the newbies coming up!
~Amy, Harlequin Digital
Thank you Amy – I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait to read the winning entries, not to mention being inspired by the Presents authors!
Cheers,
Madeline