In a blog published today by the Telegraph newspaper, Scottish author Allan Massie pays tribute to the "extraordinary talent" of the late romance author Penny Jordan who died recently. Penny Jordan wrote over 190 romance novels during her long career. Writing mostly for Mills and Boon, she was one of the world's best known romantic fiction authors.

Massie recalls his surprise at meeting Neil Paterson, a famous author of the 1950s, when he was seventeen who told his school class that he had started his career writing romantic serials for D.C.Thomson. By then famous for his novels and screen adaptations, Neil Paterson had told them: "Let me tell you one thing... You have to believe in it while you write. Any hint of insincerity will be spotted by the reader.”

In his blog, Massie, an author of 30 novels himself, explains why he feels that literary writers do not have the talent to write popular fiction. "Attempts usually end in failure," he writes. "Irony creeps in. The tongue finds its way into the cheek. They feel themselves superior to their material, and the reader senses their dishonesty."

Penny Jordan passed away on 31st December 2011. Her obituary in the Telegraph can be read here.