by Heidi Rice, author of Hot-Shot Tycoon, Indecent Proposal (Harlequin Presents, September 2009)
Have to say when I got an email from the Mills and Boon’s PR lady a couple of weeks ago asking me if I would like to be the Guest of Honour at the first meeting of a Mills and Boon book club in the lovely Yumchaa Teashop in London’s Soho, I jumped at the chance. My first thought being ‘what a brilliant idea’. What could be more wonderful than discussing your favourite M&B hero over a cup of tea and a cake in a deluxe teashop?
And Yumchaa is seriously deluxe. It’s not just a teashop, it’s a temple of the tealeaf, a veritable tea utopia. When I arrived on Tuesday evening, I was offered an assortment of about fifty loose leaf teas to choose from. After much deliberation I picked out the Raspberry and Vanilla blend, had it brewed and iced (because Summer of course had finally decided to arrive just when I was in the heart of the city dressed in my posh frock!) and went downstairs to the pristine, pleasantly airy basement tearoom which was beautifully decked out with bunches of flowers, china teapots, comfy sofas, trays of sweets and cakes and hundreds of copies of my latest book, Public Affair Secretly Expecting. All in all, it was quite simply delightful!
I should point out here that Public Affair is the second in my Brody Brothers series, featuring bad boy Irish movie star Mac Brody and London dress shop manager Juno Delamare, and is out in the UK in November. The first book in the series, Hot-Shot Tycoon, Indecent Proposal, starring Mac’s estranged brother Connor and Juno’s best mate Daisy, is currently out as a Harlequin Presents in the US.
Okay, plug over, back to the deluxe tea and cakes…
It was only when I was introduced to some young and pretty PR women, the reporter and the photographer from The Telegraph (a leading British broadsheet) and the wonderfully enthusiastic wife of the shop’s manager whose brilliant idea it was (being a life-long fan of M&B books), and thirty or so M&B fans and aspiring authors started to arrive with expectant smiles on their faces, that I began to realise being the Guest of Honour involved a tad more than talking hunky heroes while quaffing a very good cup of tea and eating yummy cakes…
The words ‘photoshoot’ and ‘interview’ and ‘little introductory speech’ and ‘question and answer session’ were bandied about and I was suddenly extremely grateful that I’d gone the posh frock route and made a quick trip to the beauty parlour that morning. But even so, my head was spinning. To put things in perspective, I’m a veteran of exactly one library talk in Essex (which was fab but fairly low-key) and having only written six books so far I wasn’t quite sure anyone would believe I knew what the heck I was talking about…
Luckily I had emailed a few other authors (who had more experience and do know what they’re talking about), such as Abby Green and Kate Hardy, and gotten some great advice. Plus, I had unpublished author Biddy Coady on hand who has media experience as a radio presenter and had this uncanny ability to jump in and rescue me every time I waffled myself into a corner and started talking rubbish!
But anyway, I needn’t have worried. Because once things got going and I got over my initial nerves I had a whale of a time. Everyone was enthusiastic about the books and the setting was so relaxed and congenial it was pretty hard to panic. In fact I had so much fun, two hours of chat went by in about a nano-second.
I can hardly recall what I said, but here are a few of highlights I can remember.
‘Do you find it hard to write the sex scenes?’
My reply: ‘No, not at all, I think of them as action scenes.’ (Which had the very dishy guy in the front row’s eyebrows shooting up his forehead!). ‘And I love getting to that moment of intimacy between my characters when they are at their most vulnerable. It also helps a lot if you fancy your hero like crazy.’
Or ‘What do your family and friends think of what you do?’
‘They’ve all been very supportive. My mum and three sisters all read my books and even my brother has read a few, including The Mile-High Club on a flight to Dubai. Although he admits he hadn’t really thought that one through and did get some funny looks from the stewardesses when he left the plane!’
Or: ‘Have you ever based any of your scenes on something that’s happened to you in real life?’
‘Sadly not.’ But as soon as a gorgeous Irish movie star snogs me in Heathrow Airport, I will have!
So there you go: Tea, cakes, hunky heroes and a tired but very excited Presents author who may well be forced to crash the next meeting in a month’s time!
I know I said it on your blog site Heidi – but I really really really would have liked to have been there – it sounded like a great evening was had by all! If only I didn’t live 320 miles away. Sadly not commutable unfortunately otherwise I would have been there! Take care. Caroline x
Ah Caroline, thanks. It did turn out to be a real laugh. And I’d definitely recommend the book club to anyone within a commutable distance.
Heidi,
That sounds like a fabulous evening, makes me wish I wasn’t so far across the pond in County Cork!! Did you say guy in the front row, as in, was he an aspiring author or was he there as eye candy?????
It is a wonderful opportunity to meet M&B authors in the flesh and have a good old natter because seeing people’s facial expressions as they express themselves helps tremendously to understand. In my opinion of course.
Next time you pop over the water, perhaps using research as an excuse for any future Irish characters, be sure and let us Irish fans know. ~We’d love to hound you with some very interesting questions.
All the best,
Aideen.
It sounds wonderful. Wish we had those here in Missouri in USA. I’ve often thought about starting up a book club but haven’t done so yet. Maybe soon.
Heidi – Eye Candy; you discussing sex; tea; posh frocks; copies of your new book…sigh, I wish I’d been there, Dublin is too far away! Bet you were a complete star and gave all those M&B fans an evening to remember.
x Abby
Oh Aideen, if you ever hear of an M&B book club in Cork that needs a guest author let me know and I’d be there in a second. Problem is you probably wouldn’t be able to get rid of me. And yeah the guy in the front row was very cute, pretty sure he wasn’t an aspiring author either or a huge M&B fan, but he certainly added to the experience!!
Linda, sounds to me like Missouri needs a Presents Book Club!
And Abby, I so wish you had been there too. Reckon you would have had some interesting things to say too, or certain subjects!!
Heidi, your talk sounded divine. Cakes and deluxe tea varieties and the press and gorgeous guys raising their brows! I wish some of my guest speaking spots were so glamourous!
It’s fun though being asked about what you do. I think romance writers are asked that much more so than other genre writers. People are just so fascinated by us writing sex scenes. But they are a natural progression of the romance between the couple and yes, they definitely are action scenes!
All the best with this new title. Keep em coming, girl!
Melanie x
That sounds brilliant, Heidi. Tea, cakes and glamour all rolled into one. Wish I’d been there!
Thanks Christina and Melanie,
Well, this may come up twice now cos I’m sure I already posted it… Either that or I’m going batty.
Yes, the book club was super glamourous, the PR people did a great job and the teashop itself was fabulous. Such a wonderful location frankly. (In fact I thought I might give my next heroine a job there!!)
And then all those questions about writing sex and hunky guys (real and imagined) made it all the merrier.
Tea, cake, sex, books… Sounds like my idea of heaven!
Bet your talk was as brilliant as your new book. xx
Aww cheers India, now I’m blushing… And I’m not even talking about sex at the moment!!
Yumchaa was a perfect venue for the club and it was great to meet Heidi and listen to her talk about her books, how she works and her tips for would be authors. And, not least, I picked up a couple free books one of which was Heidi’s entertaining ‘Public Affair, Secretly Expecting’ (to add to the 1000 plus Mills & Boons I’ve got at home!). I have been reading Mills & Boons since I was 13 and have often thought of writing; so I know it’s not as simple as some misguided people seem to think. It’s great that Mills & Boon are always seeking new authors as I can’t imagine there will ever be time when I’m not reading them! I hope to attend future meetings and it would be lovely to meet more authors of the books I love reading.
Great idea and a really enjoyable evening – even the teas had names full of the possibility of romance! Thanks Heidi for the practical advice and a glimpse into what really goes in to creating a compelling story. Good to meet readers and aspiring writers and to compare notes on which genres we read and what makes the stories so great to turn to.
Looking forward to the next club evening!
Jackie and Janet,
Thanks so much for coming. And listening to me waffle! If Tuesday wasn’t the night I played with my netball team I’d definitely be back for another fix myself next month
Oooh look what I found
The Telegraph article about the book club now online: http://ow.ly/qjhl They even gave a shout-out to the Writing Competition, how fab!
(I find it appropriate of the co-owners of Yumchaa is Canadian, just like Harlequin, lOL)
~Amy