Tall, dark, handsome? Not according to Britain's romantic novelists. Loyal, honest and intelligent is rather what makes the perfect man according to a poll published today by the Festival of Romance, the UK's only literary festival dedicated to romantic fiction. The Festival of Romance is calling on the women of Britain to take a similar poll and see if they… Continue

The deadline for entry to the New Talent Award is approaching and so I thought I'd share some of my tips on writing the opening chapter to a romantic novel.

 

1. Introduce - and describe - the heroine. Your opening chapter should take care to introduce the heroine as a full rounded character so think "characterisation" from the very start. You might only need a few words but readers want to know what their key characters look like.

 

2. Don't set scenes…

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Hi everyone,

 

I just wanted to say that when I spot a new face to FoR I kind of leap in and welcome with a handshake (Friend button), because that's how I am in real life when at social functions. I'm not a wallflower type of person, but I think that comes from having held numerous parties and gatherings including hosting a masked ball/party! That said, I have no official capacity to do so. 

 

All the above may seem somewhat at odds to my present lifestyle, that…

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The deadline for the Festival Reader Awards is fast approaching: 1st September - So if any of you published authors have novels out, or about to come out, that are eligible for the Awards then please submit soon! There are Awards available for both Best Romantic Read and Best Historical Read. Submissions will be accepted of any novel of romantic fiction first published in print in the UK between 1st October 2010 and 30 September 2011 whose author is attending the Festival (on Friday…

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Hi Everyone - You are very welcome to pass on this link for a free e-book to anyone who might enjoy it! I've decided to make one of my titles free on Smashwords  - Kingfisher Days.

 

Previously published in the UK by My Weekly and the Linford Romance Library.

This story has also been serialised in Italy.

 

I don't want to tell you exactly what…

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OK, I’ll ‘fess up right now: this is another recycled blog,  but as this is the craft post that has had the most positive feedback I thought it was worth re-posting in case it was of interest to anyone preparing their chapters for Mills & Boon’s New Voices competition.  Be warned, it’s a very long post, but if you can wade through it, I hope it will be helpful.

 

Emotional tension is essential to the success of a romance.  Without it, your story has no structure,…

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Romance novels are all full of idealised relationships, which give women an unrealistic idea of sex and get them into trouble.  That’s the impression of many people who love to knock the very idea of the romance novel, and much as I’d love to leap in to defend the genre I write in, I have spent some time this week thinking about both sides of the argument.

 

I followed a comment thread on Facebook, which had been stimulated by an article in the Sunday Observer by Catherine…

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I've just completed a list of book reviews at my blog: most in the romance genre, though three fantasy fables as well. Fantastic reads all, inclusive some by Festival of Romance authors!

 

http://tgunwriter.blogspot.com

 

I have two historical novellas to finish reading and then I'll be off to the Amazon Kindle store on a shopping spree. If you have a novel/novella you'd like reviewed tip me the wink!

I've just realised I haven't drawn a winner for a download of 'Dancing With Fate from my recent 'Spotlight'. So sorry, I've been so busy lately, not to mention having lost my internet access for several days it just slipped my mind!  Anyway, I used Blogger's 'Random Number Generator' to pick a winner - and the winner is KIRSTY.  Congratulations, Kirsty, and thanks again to everyone who was kind enough to comment on my Spotlight!

Hello everyone, I've been  'out of it' for a couple of days thanks to internet meltdown.

Back on-line though and I've been working through the conversation threads, and trying to catch up with all my emails etc.

I'm on Scottish author Rosemary Gemmell's blog today,…

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The Right Man, my short story is now live on Kindle! 

Amazon UK

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Right-Man-ebook/dp/B005FDMIUM/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312714356&sr=1-3

Amazon USA…

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Hello, all.  I'm Jessica Hart, with 58 romances for M&B under my belt, and currently working on a mainstream 'time slip'.  Kate Allan suggested I add my blog here for anyone interested in entering Mills & Boon's New Voices competition this year, so here, without further ado, it is ....

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August 2nd 2011. A hot, humid day in Hertfordshire. I arrived at Hunton Park delighted to leave the close confines of the car for an assignation with romantic hero (aka event organiser) Jeremy Guy. We crunched across the gravel and into the newer portion of the building. The waft of cool air conditioning hit.

Won't need that in October, I thought, but, looking out onto the terraced gardens I still hoped the weather would be nice enough.

We sat down on a comfortable…

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