Mills & Boon and The Lady Short Story Contest

From The National Trust Website:
Try your hand at writing a romantic short story and you could see it printed in The Lady magazine.

Our places are full of romance, from grand stately homes and magnificent castles to gorgeous gardens and charming cottages.

To help celebrate the publication of Scandalous Innocent, the National Trust and Mills & Boon have launched a romantic short story writing competition, using any of our places as the setting - a proposal, a wedding, an encounter in the rose garden, an ‘upstairs, downstairs’ tale – the options are endless.

How to enter
Visit The Lady website to enter and for competition terms and conditions.
The prizes
The winning entry will be published in The Lady magazine and there is a hamper of books, worth £200, for the runner-up. Stories should be not more than 1500 words in length and the deadline for entries is Saturday 31 July.

Mills & Boon Writing Workshops
To inspire you with top tips and hints for romantic fiction writing, Mills & Boon authors and editors will be holding a series of writing workshops at our places around the country.

Tickets cost £15 per person.
Places are limited to 30 people per workshop so book your place now.
To book a place, telephone the contact number shown under your chosen date (N.B. a booking fee may apply)

Quarry Bank Mill, Styal, Wilmslow, Cheshire
Sunday 13 June, 10.30am – 12.30pm
With Mills and Boon author: India Grey
Tel: 01625 445845

Ham House, Richmond on Thames, Surrey
Thursday 17 June, 10.30am - 12.30pm
With Mills and Boon editor: Linda Fildew
Tel: 0844 249 1895

Blickling Hall, Blickling, Norwich, NorfolkS
aturday 19 June, 10.30am - 12.30pm
With Mills and Boon author: Kate Hardy
Tel: 0844 800 4308

National Trust, Heelis, Kemble Drive, Swindon,
WiltshireMonday 28 June, 2pm – 4pm
With Mills and Boon author: Nicola Cornick
Tel: 0844 249 1895

All About Alphas 13 - Louise Allen

I'm hearing from lots of you about how helpful you're finding this survey and discussion. I must admit that I'm enjoying it too. I'm loving reading everyone's contributions and delighted to see the way that there is no one strict and narrow definition of an alpha hero but a range of attributes and characteristics that fit into every line but are more emphasised more in certain ones than in others.


And I sincerely hope that we're erasing the image of an alpha only as a domineering bully as more layers are added to the image. This should help those writers who felt that they wanted to make sure their characters weren't too alpha, or too horrid. And that the discussion on the way that alpha traits come to the surface most when the circumstances demand it has already given Monique a moment of clarity and hopefully helped those of you who feel they don't how to write alphas because they don't know any guys like that.


I particularly like Donna Alward's comment on her own post yesterday that:

most heroes are alpha in one way or another. It is how they rise to the
challenge, and it is the balance of how beta or gamma qualities mix with the alpha qualities.

Today we move on to another line, another approach as we look at the way that some authors of Historical romances create their own particular alpha heroes. And perhaps at this stage, it's a good time to remind you that the editors' views on what makes an alpha for each line is in the checklist that I posted back on April 18th so that you can refresh your memory on those details.



Today's Historical author is Louise Allen whose series Those Scandalous Ravenhursts features a wonderful set of intense and absorbing alpha heroes. Here's what Louise has to say - and it goes without saying that a lot of this is important and relevant to the contemporary alpha hero too. Particularly that code of honour.

For me, the Historical Alpha hero is a man with a strong code of
personal honour, and I think that works across all periods and for the out and
out rake as much as for the most respectable nobleman. That sense of honour goes
with pride - and maybe arrogance - but then these men have a lot to be proud
about and they will fight to the death to defend it. Their attraction for the
heroine may often seem to threaten that honour - but the good news for the
heroine is that he'll fight to the death for her too.





I like heroes who have a sense of humour and who show grace under
pressure and my latest hero - Theo Ravenhurst - is an example of that type of
man. Intelligent, tough and resourceful, he is also strong enough to learn to
accept the heroine, Elinor, as an equal partner in some fairly hair-raising
adventures.

The Disgraceful Mr Ravenhurst, the fourth in the Those Scandalous Ravenhursts series, is out now in the UK and in July in the US.










Those Scandalous Ravenhursts, Book 4



Stumbling upon his bluestocking cousin Elinor in France, Theo Ravenhurst can hardly believe his luck. His dangerous lifestyle has finally caught up with him and her family connexions could be put to excellent use.



Theo is convinced Elinor’s dowdy exterior disguises a fiery, passionate nature. He gives her the adventure she’s been yearning for - and along the way discovers his new-found accomplice has talents beyond his wildest dreams.

Christmas Stocking Stuffed With Books 1 - Louise Allen

Today I'll start to tell you about the books that are going into the Christmas Stocking for this wonderful prize that you have a chance to win.

I'll talk about the authors alphabetically so the first up is Louise Allen . I met Louise through the UK's Romantic Novelists' Association and I work with her a lot as she currently runs the New Writers' Scheme with great efficiency and skill. I find it hard enough to read my way through the scripts she sends me, never mind organising the scheme, selecting the readers and sending scripts out to them etc . . .

Louise is a very popular writer for Mills & Boon or Harlequin Historicals and she's generously give two titles from her series Those Scandalous Ravenhursts to go into the stocking. The winner will receieve either The Shocking Lord Standon or The Dangerous Mr Ryder as part of their prize.

Here's what Louise has to say about this series of wonderful characters that she has created:

The Ravenhurst cousins emerged when my editor asked me to think about a trilogy featuring brothers and sisters and I realised I already had my first hero - the mysterious Jack Ryder who had made a spirited attempt to take over in No Place For a Lady. As I worked on the family tree I found there were too many ideas for just three siblings, and I kept discovering cousins - seven of them who have six stories between them.

The first three of Those Scandalous Ravenhursts came out this year - The Dangerous Mr Ryder (Jack), The Outrageous Lady Felsham (Bel) and The Shocking Lord Standon (Gareth). Next year in April in the UK it is the turn of Theo and Elinor (The Disgraceful Mr Ravenhurst); in July - Eden (The Notorious Mr Hurst) and September - Clemence (The Piratical Miss Ravenhurst).

In the US they are out with Harlequin in July, August and September, respectively. In May I have one of the new Undone e-books linked to the Ravenhursts. (Title to be decided).

With six books it was fun to play with different ideas and styles: Dangerous is an adventure with a Ruritanian Grand Duchy as a back-drop, Outrageous sizzles by the seaside, Shocking is set firmly in the world of Almack's and polite Society. Disgraceful is another adventure complete with dungeons and mysterious treasure, Notorious is set in the world of the Regency theatre, Piratical takes to the high seas with a villainous Caribbean pirate and the e-book has a highwayman hero.

It was a real wrench to leave the Ravenhursts behind but I am now exploring an equally engrossing set of heroes and heroines with five other authors (Annie Burrows, Julia Justiss, Christine Merrill, Margaret McPhee and Gayle Wilson) for a Regency continuity of eight books to be released in 2010.

If you'd like to know a little bit more about the books Louise has donated - here are the summaries for each of them:

The Dangerous Mr Ryder

(Those Scandalous Ravenhursts: Book 1)
A government agent with a difference, Jack Ryder is not sure he wants to be responsible for smuggling the Grand Duchess Eva de Maubourg out of her castle and across France, one step ahead of Napoleon’s agents, not after what he has heard about her temperament. But if Jack is reluctant, Eva is torn – where does her duty lie? With her beleaguered Duchy or her son in England? And how can she tell what is right, when all she wants is to be in the arms of the thoroughly unsuitable Mr Ryder?

The Shocking Lord Standon
(Those Scandalous Ravenhursts: Book 3)
Gareth Morant, Lord Standon might be contemplating a match with childhood friend Lady Maude Templeton with dismay, but it is not until he finds his arms full of the naked form of Miss Jessica Gifford, respectable governess in a fix, that the solution to his problems presents itself to him - a solution that forces the respectable earl to become a shocking rake, all for a good cause.

Now doesn't that just make you want to read them? If it does then you won't be the only one because I have to tell you that I had to fight to keep these books safe. When I had weekend visitors recently, one of my friends needed something to read on the train going home. I offered her a choice from my bookshelf - which was where the Christmas Stocking Contest books were also stored. She pounced and the Louise Allen titles and would have run off with them if I hadn't explained that these were for the contest. She was very disappointed - and may well enter the contest herself in the hopes of winning one of Louise's titles.

You can find out more about Louise and her books on her website here. And the details of how to enter the Christmas Stocking Contest are on the Contest page of my website.

So these are the first books going into the stocking. Come back tomorrow for more.

PS I had some really good news yesterday but I can't share it with you until it's official - so watch this space!