Gifts and Dreams

Today I received a very special gift in the post, The parcel that arrived had two books in it but although the books were wonderful, they were books I had been longing to see, and books that brought tears to my eyes as I held them for the first time – the books were not the real gift. The true value of the present comes from the person who sent them and the meaning they have for both of us. And it’s something truly special. An extra gift that my writing has brought to me and something I never anticipated when I started out.

Writing romances has brought me some very special friendships. I still find it pretty stunning that authors whose books I have admired and read are now people I can call my friends. You’ll see some of their names scattered around this blog from time to time. And now there are other names I can start to add to the list - the names of some brand new authors I’m also proud to call my friends.

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I love working with new writers. With those who are not yet published, but who soon – I hope - will be. I give workshops, run internet classes, read for the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme. I expect that quite a few people reading this I have ‘met’ on the eHarlequin message boards or other web sites devoted to romance writing. There are some people who cannot understand why I encourage, work with and support ‘New Writers’ as I do. To them it seems to be either ‘training up the competition’ or ‘encouraging those with no talent to believe that anyone can write a book.’ These people and I will never, ever agree. New writers, unpublished writers, ‘wannabees’ , ‘Gonnabeez’ or whatever you want to name them are the lifeblood of the writing world – any writing world – but perhaps Romance writing most of all.

A genre like Romance writing that is so tightly defined and so uniquely restricted in its subject matter – restrictions which create challenges rather than reducing them – needs to continue to grow and develop or it will stagnant and then die. I’ve studied the short romance genre from its earliest beginnings when in 1908 Mr Mills & Mr Boon first set up their publishing company together, and I’ve been fascinated by the way it has developed while still staying true to the basic ‘format’ (note I did not say formula) that started the hugely successful genre. The books must – and do - constantly change, adjust, develop to reflect the changes in society and their readers’ needs. New writer, young writers, modern writers coming into the genre bring with them new idea and new lifeblood for the genre that will feed it and all its other authors for the future, rather than taking away that vital nourishment.

But for me working with new writers is a personal joy. Talking to them, discussing writing, answering questions, makes me think about my own work and how I do things. It also opens new windows on what I write, seeing it in very different lights and showing new potential, new ways of tackling things. Connecting with the new arrivals in the writing world gives me a buzz, shows me different ways of approaching this genre that I love, opens doors I might not even have noticed as I keep my head down over the books I’ve written for 20 years. I have every hope that while I’ve been enjoying talking and teaching and debating with these new writers, I will also have been given an extra little infusion of ‘new blood’ that will stop me succumbing to the long-established author’s failing of writing ‘as I have always done’ so much that what I’ve always written suddenly becomes what no one wants to read any more.

And on a personal level, this connection with the would-be writers has given me an unexpected and deeply valued gift of some truly special friendships. Friendships without which my life would be infinitely poorer and the writers events I go to just that – events – instead of the way they are now, when they are more like family reunions with dearly loved people. As someone who only has one son, I have become someone who has 3 beautiful ‘cyber daughters’ and they are only the peak of the pyramid of friends, published and unpublished, wannabees, gonnabeez and just plain tryers who now enhance my world as a result of my writer and the links the internet has given me.


And that is why today’s parcel was so truly special. Today I got my hands on the first two books – Featured Attraction and Being a Bad Girl - by one of those ‘daughters’ – Julie Cohen. I have been waiting for this every bit as long as she has, and with just about the same excitement and impatience at the thought of seeing her books in print. I held them, read the wonderful inscription inside them and knew that those others who look down their noses at the way I help and encourage new writers have got it all wrong. I truly believe that Julie would have made publication on her own – as would another of my very special writer friends – Michelle Styles whose M&B Historical novel - The Gladiator’s Honour – will be out in May. Both these talented writers would have been published with or without me. The true value of our connection is in the learning experience with all been through – myself included – and in the warmth and depth of the wonderful friendship that our shared love of writing has brought to my – and I hope to their lives.

When I was young, very few people encouraged or even understood my dream of being a writer. One person only – before the BM – actively supported me in that dream. Margaret Baumann was a writer for Mills & Boon in the 1960s onwards. She was a friend of my mother and she was the first published author to tell me I cold write. Luckily, she was still alive when my first book was published in 1984 and I was able to make sure that she saw a copy of it. I can only hope that it brought her just a little of the joy that the gift of Julie and Michelle’s books have given to me.