Romance Is Not Dead... It's official!

Hey all, had to pop back to announce that the New Voices competition that I told you about after the RNA conference is finally up and running. The website's live at romanceisnotdead.com so all you aspiring writers have to check it out.

Now the prizes are spectacular and easily the best yet for any Harlequin/M&B comp:

A promise of publication for the winning story, plus an ipad and an editor for a year.


Editorial consultations and a Sony ereader for the top three runners up.


And letters of editorial  advice for the remaining six runners up.

Needless to say those prizes make it worth entering anyway for a chance to win. 

But if you're serious about writing for M&B and I know a lot of you guys who read this blog are, I think the best bit is that the entered chapters get posted up on the site and can be commented on by readers and other entrants.

That's the really exciting bit for me. Scary too, yes. But definitely exciting. 

Not everyone's gonna win right. Like most authors I had to write a fair few opening chapters before I'd written one worthy of publication. But the chance to get this kind of feedback doesn't come every day. And feedback - informed feedback from M&B readers and other aspiring authors — is the jewel in the crown here. Yes it's a risk, you'll be putting yourself out there for everyone to see, and that's a massive leap of faith. Heart in throat time several billion times over. And let's be honest, not everyone will like your stuff (not everyone likes my stuff even now... much to my amazement LOL). But if you're serious about publication this is the chance to take that huge first step on the road - and learn something valuable in the process. No one ever got published without taking that step. And whatever happens you'll get a lot more than the standard two-line rejection I got on my first submission... and you won't have to wait eight months for the privilege.

So I say go for it, ladies. Make this contest your contest. A chance to share ideas, get the debate about romance going and show why it is we love this genre.

Oh and if you want to pop by my workshop in Brent I'd love ta see you.

Also, there's gonna be another announcement about the comp next week which I'm particularly excited to be a part of.... So watch that space (and this one).

Thank You Roanne and the other M&B reviewers!

With the fun and inspirational good times of the RNA conference in Greenwich passing into memory, I was sitting at my desk yesterday staring at my current WIP for the first time in over a week and feeling a little despondent about it... As is often the case when I catch up with my characters again after an enforced absense, I discovered that much of what I've written so far (all 30K words of it!!) is good but not nearly good enough. The story is at a crucial crossroads and I know I need to push on with it, forget about the bumps that I've left behind and get to the end before I go back to smooth the path... Or I'll end up going over the same ground forever and Ruby and Cal will be mighty peeved with me because it'll take them forever to get to their happy ever after... But the temptation to stop and fiddle was overwhelming, so to distract me from it and give myself a little incentive for continuing on I decided on a short jolt of internet surfing.

Now, this is of course an excellent time suck, so - taking a leaf out of Kate Hardy's Planner's Guide to Creativity, I decided to time myself. I had exactly ten minutes to browse while I took a coffee break and, after doing a quick round of my favourite blogs, ended up on the M&B site where to my great joy I discovered some very nice reviews of my books! What a pleasant surprise, and what a nice treat... But then on closer inspection I discovered that one particular reviewer has done some really sterling work - posting up a host of wonderfully expressive reviews of my books which not only lifted my spirits considerably and gave me the incentive I was looking for but, completely by chance, brought a really big smile to my face.

So first off I just wanted to say a great big thank you to Roanne Gomez - and all the other reviewers who have taken the time to post such lovely reviews of my books... I'm really chuffed that you enjoyed them and that I've now got a guaranteed pick me up the next time I get a bad review.

 But also a special thanks to Roanne for this particular review of Hot-Shot Tycoon, Indecent Proposal:

"I have just finished reading this piece of romance engineering, because that indeed is what it is. It was sensual, seductive and wow. Rice really knows how to make a romance novel realistic and without cliche. I did not want this book to end. Definitely a must read."

Unbeknownst to Roanne, the term 'romance engineering' struck a particularly lovely chord with me because my dad just happened to be a world renowned structural engineer - engineering such buildings as Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Sydney Opera House and the Lloyds Building in London. A softly spoken Irish man with a huge love of literature and the arts, sadly he died in the prime of his life over 17 years ago and I and the rest of my family still miss him. But I know he would have been tickled to bits by that reference too - and the fact that I have become a romantic novelist.

So thanks Roanne, for helping to kick-start my creativity and for really making my day! I'd love to send you an advance copy of my next book which I should get copies of in October or thereabouts, so feel free to email me your contact details on heidi@heidi-rice.com

PHS... It's Complicated

I'm over on The Pink Heart Society today continuing my Meryl Is Magnificent campaign with my take on It's Complicated for their Must Watch Friday slot..

The movie features Meryl Streep as a fiftysomething divorcee who has a wild fling with her cheating love rat ex-husband Alec Baldwin. Written and directed by Nancy Meyers who's become a bit of a specialist in romantic comedies for and about 'women of a certain age' it's not just complicated, it's also irresistible.

Check it out here.

RNA Conference... And a new Writing Comp.

Had a high old time at the Romantic Novelists Association Conference this weekend in the fabulously posh surroundings of the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. Have pinched a photo of myself and Abby Green at the Gala Dinner on Friday night in the historic and gorgeously Georgian Trafalgar Tavern from Kate Hardy's blog because as usual I took my camera and then left it in my bag all weekend.

So who did I see?

All the usual suspects such as Abby Green, Kate Hardy, Natalie Rivers, Joan Hessayon award winner Lucy King, Julie Cohen, Biddy Coady, Kate Walker and a host of other great writers... Plus it was a thrill to speak to Romance Minxes Lorraine Wilson, Joanne Cleary and Romy Summer in the flesh for the first time...

What was my most embarrassing moment?

Was a complete plonker when a young woman came up and asked me to sign a copy of Unfinished Business with the Duke for her. I was so shocked I said "What me? Are you sure??" I was so chuffed I then proceeded to gush all over her. Poor thing, she probably thought I was nuts and wanted to whip the book back. Mind you when it happened two more times that day I was almost getting blase about it!! What a thrill!

And what did I learn? 

That Mira Books are launching a brand new teen paranormal line... Much excitement about that.

That the big selling genres in the US Market include erotica, inspirationals (bit of a contradiction there, don't ya think?), paranormals (still??) and steampunk.

That steampunk is Victorian sci-fi (think Jules Verne basically)

That Kate Hardy has tons of good tips on how to plan your career, from time-management skills to brainstorming ideas!

That Joanne Trollope knows how to inspire romance writers everywhere to be their best (phenomenal closing speech, folks)

And last but by no means least, that Mills and Boon are doing their biggest writing competition yet. Here's what I jotted down about it....

Called New Voices it's open to unpubbed authors only (there will be a proper definition of this on the website in due course). There's gonna be a website where you enter your first chapter, and get it critiqued and where the public can vote on them. It's all happening in September. The ten finalists get assigned a mentoring team (of an author and editor) there are a couple more rounds which involve writing a second chapter and a 'pivotal moment' and the entries are judged X-Factor style by a judging panel that includes Penny Jordan no less and a public vote. The winner receives an ipad, and gets the services of an editor for a year, while the runners up get an editorial consultation.... All very exciting and a great new opportunity for aspiring authors everywhere (not just in the UK). You can find out more on www.romanceisnotdead.com when the website goes live soon... And I'll be doing a lot more about it on my blog shortly.

How do you say "yum" in Italian!!

After a tip off from fellow Modern Heat author Nicola Marsh I discovered this gorgeous Italian cover for my book Public Affair, Secretly Expecting... It's in a two-in-one this July with Lucy King but I'm claiming dibs on that hunk on the cover, Lucy!!

Story is apparently called "Guide to Passion" or something like that according to my terrible Italian. You can check out the whole story here. But wow, that cover is seriously Yummy!