In Memoriam

Today is the 15th of the month and as so many of you know, on the 15th I have my regular Kate's Corner post over on We Write Romance's blog.

But today is also the day before, sadly,  I travel to Lancashire to attend the  funeral of Penny Jordan.   Penny and her books have been so much a part of my life, so closely connected with my own career from the first day, right back in 1981 that I opened her  first books - Falcon's Prey and Tiger Man - and lost  myself in the world she could create - a world that took you away from  the problems and worries of the actual day and into a world of passion and excitement and great story-telling.

So what else could I do but dedicate my Kate's Corner post to Penny?

And tomorrow, when I come home, I'm going  to open Falcon's Prey,  Penny's very first book and  remind myself of how it all began - and I'll raise a glass to her memory too.

Perhaps you'd like to join me in that? Pick your own favourite Penny Jordan novel  and remember her that way.

Penny Jordan

This is a difficult and sad post to write.

As I said,  2011 ended with news that  saddened me so much and while it wasn't unexpected, it was still the worst sort of news to get of a friend.  I said I'd share when I could - but by now I think many people will have become aware of the sad news that Harlequin  Mills and Boon star Penny Jordan lost her battle with terminal cancer on the last day of 2011.

I'm sure so many of you, like me, have known of, read and enjoyed her books for years. Way back, before any book of mine was ever accepted I read Falcon's Prey and Tiger Man and was blown away by them - so when my first rejection from Mills & Boon came back with 'not quite right yet - please read novels by authors like Penny Jordan to see what we are looking for' it was no hardship to follow that advice!

I have followed Penny's career for all of the 30 years she's been published - admiring her work, astounded at her output, and eventually, to my delight, honoured to be able to call her a friend. She was a non stop worker - the perfect epitome of the saying that Writers write, other people make excuses, and I've lost count of her amazing total output which included not only her Harlequin titles but single titles and more recently sagas under the name of Annie Groves.

She was generous and welcoming to new writers, several authors now published were encouraged and helped on their way by her warm advice and encouragement, I was honoured to know that she recommended my own 12 Point Guide to the writers’ group she ran in her own home town.

She knew she had cancer for some time before she even let anyone know and she continued to write while dealing with her health problems. Sadly she didn't achieve her ambition of completing her final contract, as she had to go into hospice care before Christmas and, sadly, died on the last day of 2011.

She was a powerhouse in a tiny, slender frame, always supremely elegant and perfectly groomed with a shy smile that would light up a room. She will leave a very large hole in life for her family, her many friends, admiring fellow writers and hundreds of thousands of ardent fans.

I know I'll find it hard to face a world with no Penny Jordan in it and no new Penny Jordan books on the shelves.

Rest in peace Penny.

And the winners were . . . .

Winner of the 2011 Romantic Novel of the Year – recognising the best of the year’s novels exploring the deep mysteries of the human heart – is Jojo Moyes for her book The Last Letter from your Lover.
Also honoured  at the Pure Passion Awards were two of the world’s best-selling and much-loved authors - Josephine Cox and Penny Jordan. Both authors were presented with Outstanding Achievement Awards for their contributions to the ever popular genre.


Author of 43 novels in the last 23 years, selling 24 million copies in the UK alone, Josephine Cox has had six number one, and sixteen top five, Sunday Times bestsellers since 2004. Josephine Cox said: “I am thrilled and delighted to be receiving such a prestigious award. It’s something I never expected and I would like to thank all those concerned for thinking I am deserving of it.”


Penny Jordan was first published by Mills & Boon thirty years ago in 1981, after entering a writing competition run by the RNA. Since then her books have been translated into 26 languages and have sold 85 million copies worldwide. “To receive this award from the RNA – the organisation that helped me toward my first publication via its New Writers’ programme – reinforces for me everything that the RNA is and does for the writing community,” Penny Jordan said. “I am thrilled and honoured to be recognised with this award”


The RNA Pure Passion Awards celebrate the very best in romantic fiction, encompassing the breadth of the genre. Three further and equally coveted awards were presented – the Historical Novel Prize, Romantic Comedy Prize, and Love Story of the Year.
Winner of the Historical Novel Prize was Elizabeth Chadwick with To Defy a King, published by Sphere. The judges all agreed that “the history is deeply felt and conveyed, and is essential and integral to the plot.”
The Romantic Comedy Prize went to Jill Mansell with her book Take a Chance on Me, published by Headline. The judges said the book has “beautifully understated humour” and is “an utter delight.”
Winner of the Love Story of the Year for a shorter romance with a strong emphasis on the developing central relationship was Louise Allen with The Piratical Miss Ravenhurst published by Mills & Boon.


Katie Fforde, Chair of the RNA said: “Once again, in our 51st year, the Romantic Novel of the Year Award has produced a sensational winner. Of Jojo Moyes’ The Last Letter from your Lover the judges unanimously agreed that ‘this novel combines exquisite writing, a truly romantic yet original theme and a blissfully satisfying ending. A worthy winner in a very strong list.’”


Of the outstanding achievement awards, Katie Fforde said: “Penny Jordan has written over 180 novels for Mills & Boon, selling 85 million copies worldwide. Her wonderfully crafted novels bring happiness and romance to millions of women every year and she is truly worthy of this award. Josephine Cox, another recipient of our special Outstanding Achievement award, is a legend. From humble beginnings she fought her way to become a writer of 43 books which not only sell in millions but are among the top of the ‘most borrowed’ list in libraries. It’s likely that she’s the favourite author of more people than any other writer.”

You can see a selection of photographs of the event here.

Heroes and countries

I love the fact that my books sell all over the world. And I love the way that this blog has so many visitors from so many different countries - the collection of flags and places in the sidebar is evidence of that.

Recently I mentioned the fact that Mills & Boon had lauched the distribution of their lines in India where they knew there was already a large market for romance novels and they hoped that this new venture would be a great success. I haven't yet seen the royalties fro the 3 books of mine that have been published in India but I do know that it is in the top twenty countries for visitors to this blog. I know that the publisher of the 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance has sold the Indian rights to that book, too.

Then this morning I discovered that I discovered that I am this month's Featured Author on the M&B India site. My newest title in the UK - Bedded By The Greek Billionaire is published in India this month and as I've already said the cover art has been changed to suit the country of sale. So today is a good day to send a special hello and welcome to all my readers from India if you're visiting as a result of that. If you are visiting from India please say hello in the comments section and tell me where you're posting from. To celebrate being the featured author, I have a 2 small prizes on offer in the form of some M&B centenary goodies for the first couple of posters with Indian home addresses.

It seems so appropriate that as this interest in M&B romances in India is growing , over on the I heart Presents site, Penny Jordan has been talking about her new book and how she is pushing the boundaries of the types of heroes that are popular as she has written this one with an Indian hero. That made me wonder what other countries that are not well represented in the hero populaton of the Modern Romances/Harlequin Presents titles, you would most like to see. Again, I have a couple of small prizes for those whose posts interest me.

Or, rather, interest Sid. Sid of course will be busy this weekend anyway as the Super September Contest that I'm running with Michelle Reid is now closed and The Cat will be choosing my winner just as soon as I can get him organised. Meanwhile, Michelle will be asking Saffy the Labrador to pick her winner. Two lucky winners will win signed copies of Bedded By The Greek Billionaire and The De Santis Marriage both of which are out now in the UK, together with a copy of Her Passionate Italian the 3 in 1 By request volume in whihc Michelle and I both appear. The results will be announced when we know them and have got together to disover the two winners' names - probably on Monday. Watch this space.

And talking of heroes - as you know, sometimes I use a photograph to imspire me when creating a hero - sometimes I don't seem to need one. I was working on the current book and my brooding Italian hero without any extra inspiration but then yesterday I came across this. . .

Not quite sure why this particular image of Richard Armitage inspired when all the photos of him in black leather as Guy of Gisborne - or frock coat and cravat as John Thornton didn't. Perhaps it has something to do with the screen behind him that looks as if it might have a place in the historic island villa that is his home - but I took one look and knew that that was Ricardo. So I'm hoping that having a little extra inspiration will help the book grow even more and get me to The End a little faster. It should please Natasha Oakley anyway!