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How to Write a Mills and Boon

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# Please hold me close

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# And whisper that you love me... #

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'Publishing giants Mills & Boon are celebrating their centenary in a way only they could,

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'with champagne, red roses and semi-clad men with finely honed torsos.

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'All the ingredients for the classic romance stories on which they've built their reputation.'

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I think all of my novels have, at least in some degree, quite a lot about truth and lies.

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'My name's Stella Duffy, and the kind of events I get invited to

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'are usually a little more down-to-earth...like my novels.'

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'I write literary, and crime fiction.

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'Traditional romance isn't really my thing.

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'But the BBC's set me a challenge...

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'to write a Mills & Boon.'

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What do you know about Mills & Boon?

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Nothing! Nothing! I know nothing!

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'It'll prove even more difficult than I thought.'

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I can't do it! I can't do it!

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'Along the way I'll be learning from the fans...'

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I went to boarding school, and the Mills & Boon were like drugs.

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'And I'll get some frank advice from the experts.'

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Where's the grit? You know, there's got to be the real grit of raw emotion here.

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'But will it be enough to crack the secret of writing a successful Mills & Boon?'

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I'm only singling out the couples, because I hate the couples,

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the f... couples, the f... kissing, smiling, simpering,

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love you, love me, make our baby, we'll be a family, couples.

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'I've written 11 novels and they're all fairly realistic about modern relationships...intentionally so.

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'The images that Mills & Boon conjure up for me

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'are of doe-eyed virgins submitting to men in slacks,

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'as if the delights of Girl Power never happened.'

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Everything's going to be all right.

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'I'm really not sure how best to approach this.

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'But if I've got any chance of making it as a romance writer,

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'I'd better get some sensible advice.

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'I'm off to Romance HQ to meet one of Mills & Boon's editors, Maddie Rowe.'

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-Hello.

-Maddie?

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Yeah. You must be Stella.

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Hi, come this way.

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That is a very large pile of books you have there.

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-Isn't it?

-Talk me through them.

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-So, the whole point is, I have this challenge.

-Hmm...

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-I see it as a challenge rather than an obstacle.

-An opportunity!

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Yes, opportunity, good!

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I have this opportunity to try and write a Mills & Boon novel.

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-Do you call them novels or books?

-Books.

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Books. A Mills & Boon book.

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And I don't know how to do it.

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-OK.

-What really makes a Mills & Boon?

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-A sexy hero.

-Yes.

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Very, very, very sexy. Ruthless, powerful, arrogant, preferably.

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A feisty heroine who can hold her own with him and really intense emotional conflict, based on passion.

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-Right.

-That's it. After you've got those three things going on,

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you can put it within any of our sub-genres, but those are the three key.

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What are the things I can't...? I have got a list.

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What are the things, OK? Am I allowed to have drunkenness?

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-Yes.

-Oh, good, because I can write drinking, that's good.

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-Divorce?

-Yes.

-In all of them?

-Yes.

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Fantastic! Bad language?

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I think if the character really needs to swear, the character should swear.

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-Sex outside marriage?

-Definitely. Lots of it!

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Brilliant! Good. Which sort of finishes with,

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does she have to be a virgin? I guess it's no.

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No, definitely not, although, obviously, you can have

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the ruthless hero explaining the ways of the bed to her.

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So, for the first-time writer, sending in their chapter, chapters

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and synopsis, what is the likelihood of them getting published?

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-We receive about 2,000-3,000 submissions a year.

-OK.

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-And on a good year, which was 2006, we bought 20 authors.

-Wow!

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So, low, but possible.

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We do buy all the time.

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'If I'm hoping to become one of the chosen few who do get accepted by Mills & Boon,

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'I'd better read some of their books, and Maddie's given me a load to start with.'

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Jennifer LeBrec, kind of a made-up name!

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"She harrumphed."

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Who harrumphs?

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"Maddie Guthrie's nipples were hard, but her mouth was dry as she stared

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"into the sea-green eyes of the man standing a few feet away.

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"He was tall and dark and dangerous..." So much, so Mills & Boon...

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"A man she'd admired for his jungle cat reflexes, his steel-trap mind.

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"His tough body, honed to the physical specifications of an Olympic athlete.

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"Only Jack Connors was no athlete. He was an ex-CIA agent she often worked with on special projects.

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"He gave her a small shrug.

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" 'If you want me to go in with you on this mission, you'll go to bed with me first.' "

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-TANNOY:

-'Change for the Circle Line via High St Kensington...'

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Reading through the pile of books Maddie gave me,

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I was a bit shocked to see just how much Mills & Boon have raunched up.

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Their books now come in 12 highly-branded genres.

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Blaze are the full-on sexy ones,

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but for the more modest reader you've also got Modern,

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which always features wealthy alpha males and Hello! Magazine locations.

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Nocturne, a new imprint with Buffy the Vampire Slayer-style supernatural romances,

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and Medical.

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Think Holby City but with sexier staff.

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Oh, no, that's ER.

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OK then, ER but...not.

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OK, so, like this one, Rebecca York's Body Contact, for me,

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there does feel like there's another sex scene every 10 pages.

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These are the ones that she said were full of a lot of sex.

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You know, I'm sure lots of people really enjoy this.

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And clearly, this woman is very successful at it, and people want to buy them.

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I'm just not really sure I want to write things that say, like,

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" 'God, you're magnificent,' he said, his voice so low, it was almost a growl."

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"I knew your body would be like this,

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"feminine curves with underlying strength,

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"but I always wondered if you were a natural blonde?"

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SHE LAUGHS HYSTERICALLY

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That's fine. What I mean is, it's not possible for me to write that without knocking it.

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You know, I can barely read it, without laughing at it.

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And certainly, reading them in the tube, was making me shy.

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And I have written fairly graphic sex, but it's not fantasy sex.

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When I've written it, it's been as real as I could make it. That's been the point.

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I think that I'll probably be writing this sort of "Modern" imprint, which is these ones.

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They've got much more character.

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There's a bit of sex, but that's not the main thrust of it, as it were!

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Unlike the Blaze ones.

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I think that might be more possible, because the character thing, I think, I can probably do.

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I'm not sure I can totally buy into the alpha male who wins her over in the end, even though she's feisty,

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and brilliant and strong, she gives in in the end.

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That's not because I think all women have to be brilliant and strong either.

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I find the idea of every single man being alpha male and every woman giving him in the end,

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that would bore me to write that all the time.

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Why do you think women read these?

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SHE LAUGHS

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Oh, this sounds really rude, I don't know.

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What is the secret of a good Mills & Boon book?

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Well, I don't know, really, I just like 'em!

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I think if you want a real genuine answer, you better go and ask Mr Mills & Mr Boon.

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I'm ever so sorry to interrupt, but I'm just getting to this dead good bit, I'm sorry, I'll have to go.

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Mills & Boon, founded in 1908.

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Phenomenal success after publishing a steady stream of romantic fiction, written by women, for women.

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Through the depressed '30s, reading became the favourite form of escapism.

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The Second World War, says Mills & Boon, broke down the class barriers,

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both in the romantic world and the real one.

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Through the permissive Swinging Sixties into an age of increasing cynicism,

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the world has always been able to buy itself a happy ending.

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Well, I think it's because there are fewer happy endings

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in life and reality

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that our readers like to read about them.

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I suppose, really, we are probably the most profitable paperback firm in the world.

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'Writing for Mills & Boon is a big deal.

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'They sell a book every three seconds.

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'So if I pull this off, I could be writing for an audience of millions!'

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I'm Stella. Hello.

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'But it always helps to have an idea of who the readers are,

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'so I'm meeting up with some real Mills & Boon lovers.'

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So, you're the Mills & Boon super-fans.

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-Definitely.

-Gillian, you're clearly, you know, something of a not just super, but super duper fan.

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Be brave, tell me how much money you've spent on Mills & Boon in all this time.

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I understand, although I haven't worked it out, but I understand from

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Mills & Boon that I have spent somewhere in the region of £20,000, but I hasten to add,

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that that is since the '70s, so that's 30-odd years, so that's not so bad when you look at it that way.

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No, it's not, but some of those were probably only 50p back then.

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That's a lot of books!

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I must admit that I usually read between 30 and 40, perhaps more than 40 books every month.

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I'm like an addict.

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Tell me how you got into it?

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Linda, what was your first Mills & Boon?

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By first Mills & Boon was probably one of the older Modern ones

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when I first had my children.

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I was probably about 19 and I had, sort of, my first daughter,

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then I had two others within the year, so I had three young children

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and I didn't go out very often, so I used to subscribe to the reader service,

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and used to sit at home when they had gone to bed and just read those

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cos I used to find it relaxing and that's how I got into it.

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And I've been there ever since. That was 20, 25 years ago.

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What was your first?

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I think my mother gave me my very first one.

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My mother was an English teacher, and I think as far as she was concerned, any book was a good book.

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The other thing was, I went to boarding school,

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an all-girls school, and the Mills & Boon were like drugs.

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Basically, they were passed round.

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You'd find out who had the latest or had any and we would, basically, go off and go,

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(have you got any?!) I do remember sitting on a beanbag during my A-levels in someone's room.

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They revised while I read Mills & Boon.

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Did you pass?

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Yes. I went to university.

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But I think it was just that relaxation, it's like, the world is

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-stressful enough, I don't actually have to engage every part of my brain in reading this book.

-Sure.

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It's just the bit that stops me worrying.

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The last novel I wrote was a love story.

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A love letter to South London, which is where I live.

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For this one though, I'm going to have to stick to good old making things up.

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Well, that's a blank screen.

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That's a blank page.

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And that's a blank whiteboard.

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At least the basic principles are set in stone. Boy meets girl...

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-I beg your pardon, I didn't catch your name.

-Shaw. Teddy Shaw.

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-Mine is Chick Kirkland. Very pleased to meet you.

-They fall in love...

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-There's a bit of conflict in the middle...

-Let me go!

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Teddy!

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Before the compulsory happy ending.

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-Chick?

-Yes.

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I've got a backgammon board.

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I won't have to write the happy ending.

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Like every first timer submitting to Mills & Boon,

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the first three chapters and a synopsis are all that's required.

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And I think I'm onto something already.

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This is my character idea.

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So you've got good twin...

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Bad twin.

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Good twin is looking for The One.

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Right?

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Bad twin doesn't care.

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She's just a bit of a goer. Good twin is holding out for The One.

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I don't think she's going to be a virgin.

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There's not many of them in the Mills & Boons I've been looking at.

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Then you have the bloke.

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The whole point is, good twin is looking for The One in order to find her true self.

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Bad twin doesn't care, but she probably gets with him at one point anyway.

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Um...just because that's what bad twins always do.

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And I don't know, other than that, that's where it is.

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I did ask some friends what they thought they should do.

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My friend, novelist Victoria Routledge, suggested ice sculptress.

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And I really liked this, because I think you can start an interesting first chapter.

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Good twin, right, is an ice sculptress,

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because you can...

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Sculptress, let's spell that right.

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Because if she's in a cold, scary place, with a chisel and a hammer,

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it sounds like it might be a different kind of novel.

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And I do think they like that, from the ones I've read, they like them starting off in a way...

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the historical one I quite enjoyed starts off like an Egyptian, going into a Pharaoh's tomb,

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kind of story and then comes back to the traditional romance, so I think they might kind of like that idea.

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Mills & Boon, I'll put a question mark there,

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because there's no guarantee they're gonna go for it.

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I know I can't afford to be too blase about this.

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Since I started my little adventure, I've discovered other experienced

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writers who have tried their hands at Mills & Boon and failed.

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One of those who didn't manage is crime writer Mark Billingham. Maybe he can warn me about the pitfalls.

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-OK, so...

-Shouldn't you be writing?

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Haven't you got a deeply passionate romantic novel to write?

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That's the entire point of me coming to talk to you,

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so you can tell me what to do.

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Cos I've made a big success of it(!)

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Yeah, you have. That's the whole point.

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Big successful crime writer, big successful stand-up.

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-Not such a big successful Mills & Boon writer?

-No, a complete wash-out at Mills & Boon.

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-Why did you even think you wanted to do it in the first place?

-I didn't think I wanted to.

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I thought, naively, I can do this, I can make money, it's easier than a paper round. What a doddle.

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And it was anything but a doddle.

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-It was horrendous.

-How far did you get?

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About six chapters.

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That's a start. But they do tend to be about 30 or 40 chapters.

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It was a novella. It was a... a pamphlet is what it was!

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It was a deeply sensitive romantic pamphlet. It was really hard.

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-Because?

-Because there...

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Because of the formula, because of the genre, because you don't care about it?

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It is formulaic, but formulaic in a good way in that you can't be self-indulgent.

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You can't just go, oh, I know, now I'm going to go into her

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head and her family background.

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-You have to get on with the story that they want.

-You've got to tell a story.

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That's always the problem with quite a lot of writing, isn't it? You've got to tell a story!

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That's what writing is, isn't it really? It should be.

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-Don't you have to care about the story you're telling?

-Yes.

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And if you're doing the Mills & Boon because you can, because apparently they make lots of money...

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Then you're not doing it because you care.

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And I think that's gonna show. It's the same as anything.

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I'm sure most of the people who write Mills & Boon, whoever they are,

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and I'm sure you'll tell me who these mysterious people are,

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it's their job, but I'm sure they care about their characters

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every bit as much as Ian McEwan cares about his characters.

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-Because otherwise you just can't do it?

-No.

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-So are you actually writing to a formula when you set out to write a new book?

-Erm...

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no, never. Never to a formula.

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The only formula is, you have a man and a woman and a happy ending,

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which, after all, is what every man and woman is looking for.

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That's the aim in life, isn't it? To find someone you can love.

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Whether it's another man, another woman, or even a little doggy.

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I wrote a first chapter.

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And I got really excited because it wasn't the first chapter I thought I was going to write.

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It doesn't have the good twin, bad twin thing I thought it might have, although they might come in.

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And it does very much have the ice sculpture idea.

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And just as I was getting all excited about writing that, I thought,

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she can have an old crumbling building, in the meatpacking district in New York, it's got a

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freezer in it - because it's in the meatpacking district.

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The meatpacking district in New York's very groovy now

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and everything's getting #done up and redeveloped.

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So she can have a developer to be the bloke who is her sort of nemesis,

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and therefore the one that she falls in love with in the end.

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A nice classic bit of Mills & Boonism.

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Then I suddenly realised that the ice sculpture she'd made was beautiful.

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So she needed to kiss him. And when she kissed him, of course he comes alive.

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But she doesn't know that, we know that at the end of the first chapter.

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So I got all excited by that, partly because I like writing fairytale stuff.

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A couple of my novels have been a bit magical.

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And partly because it wasn't what I thought I was doing.

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That's the bit I like best about writing - suddenly it's not what you thought you were doing.

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And then that fits into their Nocturne strand, so that's OK.

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It's not like it's a completely irrelevant Mills & Boon idea!

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It does actually fit into one of their imprints, a sort of modern Buffy style.

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So far, I've made a start on my plot.

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I've got a heroine I like, and I think she fits into the type that Mills & Boon want.

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Mills & Boon heroines can be everybody. The heroine's the reader's gateway into the story.

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So as long as the reader can empathise, put herself

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in the reader's shoes and want to be her,

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anything at all goes.

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Which is great, because my heroine's an ice sculptor.

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In Mills & Boon, the heroine's traditionally been a working woman.

0:18:310:18:34

I've come across air hostesses, nurses and even an undercover secret agent.

0:18:340:18:39

Any job where a girl can meet an eligible professional male.

0:18:390:18:44

Now I need to work on my hero.

0:18:440:18:46

In the books I've read, the men all seem pretty much the same.

0:18:460:18:49

They're the rich alpha male and they're usually in business.

0:18:490:18:52

Here we have not mere millionaires, but billionaires,

0:18:520:18:55

lots of tanned Europeans, and the ever-popular Sheik.

0:18:550:18:59

Ordinary blokes need not apply.

0:18:590:19:02

The Mills & Boon hero has to be very strong, very together, very powerful.

0:19:020:19:08

The kind of man that maybe would be difficult to live with on a day to day basis.

0:19:080:19:12

But in a romance, he's just absolutely perfect.

0:19:120:19:15

The hero of my last novel was a 67-year-old dry cleaner from south London -

0:19:150:19:21

hardly classic Mills & Boon material.

0:19:210:19:24

How do you spell limousine? I don't think I've ever written "chauffeur-driven limousine"

0:19:310:19:35

in anything before, ever.

0:19:350:19:38

Eleven novels, 30-odd short stories, half a dozen plays, I cannot imagine

0:19:380:19:43

I have ever written the words "chauffeur-driven limousine"

0:19:430:19:46

ever before. But it fits here.

0:19:460:19:48

Matt Macdonald climbed out of a chauffeur-driven limousine

0:19:480:19:51

and looked up at the building in front of him.

0:19:510:19:53

Unlike the others on the street, it had not yet had the Macdonald treatment.

0:19:530:19:56

His firm took old buildings, run-down apartments, and turned them into modern palaces,

0:19:560:20:02

with cool lines, elegant architecture

0:20:020:20:04

and something that had come to be known as the Macdonald touch.

0:20:040:20:08

Matt was nothing if not excessive.

0:20:080:20:10

He was well known for his four perfect homes.

0:20:100:20:12

Do you think four is enough? Shall I make it five?

0:20:120:20:15

"his five perfect homes." I know, we should add where they are.

0:20:160:20:20

Eh...

0:20:200:20:22

"Three in the United States,

0:20:220:20:26

"and two in Europe.

0:20:260:20:28

His classic car collection

0:20:300:20:32

and the even longer string... even longer collection...

0:20:320:20:38

the even larger collection of beautiful ex-girlfriends."

0:20:380:20:44

How many words is that?

0:20:440:20:46

One hundred and thirty-two words.

0:20:490:20:51

That's not bad actually.

0:20:510:20:52

You do that 10 times in a day and you're done for the day!

0:20:520:20:57

'Getting it all down on paper is one thing. Getting it done the right style is another.

0:21:000:21:04

'How do I make it sound like a Mills & Boon?'

0:21:040:21:07

To find some answers, I'm off to Italy for something that feels a bit like going back to school -

0:21:190:21:24

a special writing course for aspiring Mills & Boon authors.

0:21:260:21:31

And this week-long romance-athon is being held in Tuscany.

0:21:310:21:36

It will be useful to go to Italy and speak not only to Sharon Kendrick, the tutor, but actually I think it

0:21:510:21:57

might even be more interesting to speak to the other people who

0:21:570:22:01

are there because they want to write Mills & Boon.

0:22:010:22:04

And write out your ending to this book.

0:22:040:22:07

Sharon is one of Mills & Boon's most prolific authors, with worldwide sales of over five million.

0:22:070:22:13

We decided right at the beginning that Mills & Boon was no different

0:22:150:22:20

from any other writing in that you always write with integrity.

0:22:200:22:26

And lots of people try and write these books, and where they fail is they

0:22:260:22:32

write what they think

0:22:320:22:34

people want to read.

0:22:340:22:37

We're working on a 12-point structure, really.

0:22:370:22:40

We have a hero called Luca and a heroine called Ellie.

0:22:400:22:46

And at the end we know that this hero is going to end up with this heroine, and they're going to be

0:22:460:22:53

madly and passionately in love, but there's going to be a strong enough commitment between them that the

0:22:530:22:59

expectation is a happy ending.

0:22:590:23:01

You must know your characters inside out.

0:23:010:23:04

In truth, you want to make your character a three-dimensional person that will leap off the page.

0:23:040:23:11

This afternoon I'd like you to go away and to write the...

0:23:110:23:17

scene where the hero and the heroine make their commitment to one another,

0:23:170:23:22

and this is like the huge emotional high point of the book.

0:23:220:23:28

So don't hold back...

0:23:280:23:31

Don't hold back on emotion.

0:23:310:23:33

Just remember how you feel, how you felt in those moments where you think

0:23:330:23:39

all that love is going to come out, and you daren't hope that it's going to be reciprocated, and it is.

0:23:390:23:47

I'm writing the final scene of a Mills & Boon novel.

0:24:140:24:19

It's not the last scene in the book, it's the final scene in the story.

0:24:190:24:23

There's a nice epilogue that goes into the future.

0:24:230:24:26

He reveals he loves her, she reveals she loves him, all their past problems are out of the way.

0:24:260:24:32

And they cannot but fall into each other's arms in big love.

0:24:320:24:36

As Sharon said, it's more heart than groin.

0:24:360:24:38

So this is the big heart revelation.

0:24:380:24:41

Have you written a scene like this before?

0:24:410:24:44

I think I probably have written things like this before actually,

0:24:440:24:48

but normally when I've written the rest of the book.

0:24:480:24:51

Or maybe at the beginning of a book and then everything goes wrong.

0:24:510:24:56

My books don't tend to end with this kind of a scene,

0:24:560:24:59

but I'm sure there's been things like that in them before.

0:24:590:25:03

They do tend to go wrong quite soon after this bit.

0:25:030:25:06

I don't think I'd be building up to this.

0:25:060:25:09

But it's quite nice to write, and it's a lot easier than writing at home of where there's...

0:25:090:25:14

a phone and the e-mails and the mobile phone and the neighbours' builders getting in the way.

0:25:140:25:20

This is great.

0:25:200:25:22

I could do this all the time.

0:25:220:25:24

She realised now, perhaps too late, that the feelings she had for him

0:25:370:25:41

as a teenager had not died, just quietly gone to sleep, curled up inside her heart.

0:25:410:25:47

The river path stopped abruptly in front of the old loggia.

0:25:470:25:51

She walked under the trailing vines, heavy with ripened fruit,

0:25:510:25:54

through an open door into the main sitting room. Her heart lurched.

0:25:540:25:58

Sitting behind a long, makeshift table were a group of workmen eating their midday meal.

0:25:580:26:03

And that the head of the table sat Luca.

0:26:030:26:06

The look of surprise on his face mirrored her own.

0:26:060:26:08

Before she could say a word, he was at her side leading her back out into the garden.

0:26:080:26:12

-That's as far as I have gone.

-Brilliant!

0:26:120:26:16

That's good. Well done, I loved it.

0:26:160:26:18

Everything. The sort of...

0:26:180:26:20

The river... Because I hadn't thought of the river.

0:26:200:26:25

The ripe fruit, that whole kind of way... You made it so real.

0:26:250:26:29

It was fantastic. And I want to read on.

0:26:290:26:32

Feelings curling up inside of you.

0:26:320:26:34

Yes, that was beautiful.

0:26:340:26:36

Which I'd never heard before.

0:26:360:26:38

It was lovely, original, fantastic.

0:26:380:26:41

Stella, would you like to read?

0:26:410:26:43

Luca paused for a moment to survey his handiwork.

0:26:430:26:46

The water level, as high as it was, and the hill so steep there was no

0:26:460:26:49

way they'd be able to get earth-moving machinery up here without watching it sink

0:26:490:26:53

into the earth or worse, roll down the hill taking the driver with it.

0:26:530:26:56

So the hardest of the work, moving old boulders from the stubborn earth

0:26:560:26:59

to create the new mill wall, had to be done by hand.

0:26:590:27:03

Luca had been far more hurt than he'd let on by Ellie's refusal.

0:27:030:27:06

Hurt and pushed into making changes.

0:27:060:27:09

Luca was still working in the low field an hour later when the small, dusty rental car pulled up.

0:27:090:27:14

The first he was aware of Ellie's presence was something in the air.

0:27:140:27:18

The scent of peaches and vanilla in the light perfume she always wore.

0:27:180:27:22

He looked up to see her standing at the outside door.

0:27:220:27:24

She was as surprised as he...

0:27:240:27:26

And as cold. "I wanted to say goodbye...

0:27:260:27:29

"To the mill." "Just the mill?"

0:27:290:27:31

She didn't answer and Luca repeated his question.

0:27:310:27:34

"Just the mill?" She shook her head.

0:27:340:27:37

"To be honest, I don't know. Maybe not, maybe I want to see you too."

0:27:370:27:41

Those few words were all the invitation Luca needed.

0:27:410:27:44

He ran the 20 paces to where she stood, held her to

0:27:440:27:47

him regardless of the mud on his boots and the dirt on his hands.

0:27:470:27:50

And then he was kissing her and she him.

0:27:500:27:52

They were in each other's arms where they were meant to be, and he was whispering, "I'm sorry."

0:27:520:27:56

And she was saying, "I'm sorry," back. And then he was saying "Ti amo."

0:27:560:28:00

And she was saying, "I love you, my darling, I love you." They were saying the same thing.

0:28:000:28:04

Well, I really liked a lot of it but the beginning bit, which was kind of like it was his internal...

0:28:060:28:14

His point of view.

0:28:140:28:16

Saying about all the mistakes he'd made.

0:28:160:28:19

That completely kills the suspense for the final moments.

0:28:190:28:25

The thing is, it's very interesting about the earth-moving trucks

0:28:250:28:29

coming up the valley and the actual logistics of the difficulty

0:28:290:28:33

of earth-moving, but that's not the kind of earth we want to see moving, do know what I mean?

0:28:330:28:37

You can't just start a scene. You've got to give all the back story.

0:28:370:28:40

I know, but sometimes, particularly in these, 50,000 words, less really is more.

0:28:400:28:45

And really, the reader, to be frank, doesn't want to hear about earth-moving, not that kind.

0:28:450:28:50

She doesn't want to hear about the thrashing river.

0:28:500:28:53

She doesn't want to hear...

0:28:530:28:55

She wants to hear the conversation between them that makes it absolutely clear in her mind

0:28:550:29:02

and in their minds that she loves him - whoever's going to make the first step - that he loves her.

0:29:020:29:08

And that it really...

0:29:080:29:10

They really mean it.

0:29:100:29:12

I've never done that in my life, I've never shown anybody a completely rough first draft.

0:29:120:29:17

I think everyone was incredibly brave.

0:29:170:29:20

She said nice things about some of the writing and people have written some really lovely pieces.

0:29:200:29:25

But, actually, people had written them - and I had - in prose.

0:29:250:29:28

What Sharon was saying was that for Mills & Boon they don't want that,

0:29:280:29:31

or at least in her experience, they don't want that.

0:29:310:29:34

What they are after is mostly dialogue where the two characters reveal themselves to each other.

0:29:340:29:40

That's very different, certainly different to the kind of stuff that I do where normally,

0:29:400:29:44

rather than having somebody say,

0:29:440:29:46

"I love you. I'm completely furious with you and I still love you anyway."

0:29:460:29:51

I'd want write that in a prose form with a little bit of dialogue

0:29:510:29:55

so that the reader could work out what was going on at the same time as the characters were.

0:29:550:30:00

I'm kind of rewriting the whole thing...

0:30:000:30:04

In dialogue.

0:30:040:30:06

'All this seems a bit too much like hard work. Time to have a chat with the other students, I think.'

0:30:130:30:20

Ring up every week and say, "How are you getting on with that story?"

0:30:230:30:26

Jennie has already published five Mills & Boons,

0:30:320:30:35

but given she's slightly closer to my stage than million-seller Sharon,

0:30:350:30:39

maybe she has a few tips.

0:30:390:30:40

If I have a core story I would say it's a woman who has nothing saves a man who has everything.

0:30:400:30:47

-And how does she save him?

-By helping him realise what's really important in life.

0:30:470:30:52

-Right. And...

-So he's giving her financial security?

0:30:520:30:56

Perhaps, but I also like her to be strong enough on her own where she could survive without him.

0:30:560:31:03

It's a choice. I think the financial stuff, the fantasy and

0:31:030:31:08

the glamour, that's really just the frosting, the gift wrapping.

0:31:080:31:12

The really good stuff

0:31:120:31:14

isn't about the money, that's just the fun...

0:31:140:31:18

-wrapping paper.

-What's the good stuff then?

0:31:180:31:20

The heart and the emotion

0:31:200:31:24

of believing that you can have that one special person

0:31:240:31:28

that will change your whole life and that it lasts forever.

0:31:280:31:31

Yesterday you all wrote the ending of a book and we decided that it was slightly too soft, too romantic,

0:32:000:32:09

not enough passion, power and not enough dialogue.

0:32:090:32:12

So just to quickly say a few things about dialogue.

0:32:120:32:18

What... When you are reading books...

0:32:210:32:25

I just think that...

0:32:250:32:27

the importance of dialogue is to make it - obviously, make it sound like something you would overhear.

0:32:270:32:33

To remember when you are writing dialogue...

0:32:330:32:37

The best way is to recapture conversations you've had with someone.

0:32:370:32:41

In a way, that gives you a bit of practice because people do not speak in perfectly made out sentences.

0:32:410:32:47

They speak in short, snappy...

0:32:470:32:51

Often, particularly in moments of high passion, they will speak in cliches.

0:32:510:32:54

So have you all written me a nice dialogue-y, punchy ending?

0:32:540:33:01

-Tried.

-Tried something.

0:33:010:33:04

-More or less.

-Good. Perhaps you'd like to read it out to the group.

0:33:040:33:09

Luca was still working in the low field an hour later when the small rental car pulled up.

0:33:090:33:14

He was swearing so loudly in peasant Italian at the recalcitrant boulder that he didn't hear the sound of

0:33:140:33:19

knocking at the front door, nor the click clack of low heels against the stone floor.

0:33:190:33:23

He did, though, hear Ellie's voice.

0:33:230:33:25

"What you doing?" He looked up. She was there on the patio, her hand gripping the rusted iron railing.

0:33:250:33:31

He stared for a moment then answered,

0:33:310:33:33

his calm tone only just masking the torrent of emotions beneath.

0:33:330:33:36

"I'm re-planting your mother's garden. What are you doing here?"

0:33:360:33:40

"I came... The agent told me...

0:33:400:33:42

"Her letters... I didn't expect you to be here." "No, why would you?

0:33:420:33:46

"Arrogant, money-hungry tycoons don't need to bother getting our hands dirty with real work."

0:33:460:33:51

Ellie flinched at hearing the words she'd shouted at Luca repeated back at him.

0:33:510:33:55

She knew she'd spoken in anger and have been regretting it for weeks.

0:33:550:33:58

What surprised her was that he'd obviously listened.

0:33:580:34:01

He started to walk out again and instinctively, Ellie put out her hand to reach him.

0:34:010:34:05

"Luca, please... Everything that's gone between us, everything we've been through..."

0:34:050:34:09

"You want to be FRIENDS?"

0:34:090:34:11

His emphasis on friends left her in no doubt he didn't appreciate the idea.

0:34:110:34:14

Luca turned, his arm raised.

0:34:140:34:16

For a moment she thought he might actually slap her.

0:34:160:34:19

He clenched his fist, punched the air in frustration, fury at

0:34:190:34:22

the rules Ellie had set for herself and his own inability to just let go.

0:34:220:34:26

"God," he whispered, "Ellie, cara, ti amo."

0:34:260:34:29

He was holding her now, kissing her and she him, both of them sure,

0:34:290:34:34

Luca whispering over and over again, "Ti amo."

0:34:340:34:37

After a moment he felt her hesitating and pulled away. "What is it?" he asked.

0:34:370:34:41

"Nothing, really," she answered. "No, say it."

0:34:410:34:44

Scared he would say no, shy that she was asking

0:34:440:34:47

a stupid question, frightened to push it away again, Ellie said, "Can you say it in English?"

0:34:470:34:52

And on bended knee Luca said, "I love you. Will you marry me?"

0:34:520:34:57

Stella. That was good, punchy dialogue.

0:35:000:35:05

But two things just screamed out at me

0:35:050:35:08

which I couldn't get rid of and it's just showing in a different way, as you know, the power of words.

0:35:080:35:15

The one that really jarred is when she said she actually thought he might hit her.

0:35:150:35:20

Because, you know, there is at no point in any book...

0:35:200:35:25

A Mills & Boon hero might be angry, he might be furious,

0:35:250:35:29

but he would never, ever, ever hit a woman... or a dog or a donkey.

0:35:290:35:36

I don't want to detract... The power of their dialogue was amazing.

0:35:360:35:41

You brought them to life and that's what I really wanted to explain the importance of.

0:35:410:35:46

Is that dialogue brings a scene to life in a way that narrative never can, in my mind.

0:35:460:35:52

Well, that went a bit better. Maybe six out of 10?

0:35:540:35:58

I'm keen to get back to my iceman story,

0:35:580:36:01

but before I go I need to pick Sharon's brains on one more thing.

0:36:010:36:05

The sticky matter of writing Mills & Boon sex.

0:36:050:36:09

Any hints for how best to go about it, given that I'm a first timer?

0:36:110:36:15

-Have you...

-Writing a sex scene for Mills & Boon.

0:36:150:36:18

How do you normally write sex scenes?

0:36:180:36:20

As graphically as possible actually, without being romantic.

0:36:200:36:23

-Ah.

-My choice has been, in my other novels, to be utterly honest about bellies and flab and...

-Urgh.

0:36:230:36:31

-I know, I knew you wouldn't like that.

-No.

0:36:310:36:33

To try and do passionate and love realistically.

0:36:330:36:37

OK, let's get one thing straight. There's no bellies or flab.

0:36:370:36:40

The bodies are perfectly honed, just like ours.

0:36:400:36:44

And, um...

0:36:440:36:47

Taut skin...

0:36:470:36:49

But I would just say don't write gratuitously

0:36:490:36:54

but write passionately and with feeling.

0:36:540:36:59

I think Stella is a very realistic writer and I think that one of the

0:37:160:37:20

problems for her could be that she may make her hero a little too real.

0:37:200:37:26

The kind of man who would be very concerned with the land

0:37:260:37:29

and all that it symbolises rather than just being completely concerned with his heroine.

0:37:290:37:35

But I'm really looking forward to reading her submission and waiting to see what the editor thinks.

0:37:350:37:40

I think I've learned a lot more about how it's done,

0:37:520:37:55

and about how somebody who really cares to do it can do it.

0:37:550:37:59

And I think that's great, and I love to know about narrative structure and things like that.

0:37:590:38:03

They really appeal to me in my own writing.

0:38:030:38:06

I also think it's really clear to me, not that it ever wasn't before,

0:38:060:38:09

you have to want to do it, and I'm not sure I want to do this.

0:38:090:38:15

I don't necessarily want to know that everything's gonna end up happy in the end.

0:38:150:38:19

I really do want to write real life and not fantasy.

0:38:190:38:23

The grey reality of South London doesn't seem to have dampened my post-Italy enthusiasm.

0:38:400:38:44

What's more, I think I've finally nailed the plot...

0:38:440:38:49

Sort of.

0:38:490:38:51

We've got the...

0:38:510:38:53

ice sculptor, who's the heroine.

0:38:530:38:56

Who makes an ice sculpture...

0:38:580:39:02

Who looks like he might be the hero because when he kisses him he comes alive

0:39:020:39:06

and she thinks he's lovely and they have a bit of passion.

0:39:060:39:08

I'm not sure I'm going to put that in but that's the idea.

0:39:080:39:10

And because every heroine protagonist needs a hero antagonist,

0:39:100:39:15

she gets to have the hero who is the classic Mills & Boon alpha male...

0:39:150:39:20

property developer who is wealthy and successful and a man

0:39:200:39:25

from her past, which means I get to have a flashback sex scene early on.

0:39:250:39:29

I think Sharon quite liked them as a concept.

0:39:290:39:31

So what that does, and this is possibly a little too complicated for

0:39:310:39:35

a 55,000 single line narrative Mills & Boon but I can't help myself...

0:39:350:39:39

You get a nice, classic love triangle

0:39:390:39:42

because she falls in love with the ice sculpture, who loves her back.

0:39:420:39:46

But we find out later that he is loving her wickedly, not purely.

0:39:460:39:50

She does still love the hero property developer who she loved from the past.

0:39:500:39:54

Then the hero property developer and the ice sculpture

0:39:540:39:57

have to fight it out to win her love in whatever way they can.

0:39:570:40:02

See? A nice love triangle.

0:40:020:40:04

I'm quite liking the story but it still doesn't feel very Mills & Boon.

0:40:140:40:19

Despite having written two chapters, I'm finding it difficult to write what I think they want.

0:40:190:40:25

I reckon it is time to get some feedback from the one person I know who'll tell it to me straight.

0:40:250:40:30

PHONE RINGS

0:40:320:40:34

-Sharon Kendrick.

-Sharon, it's Stella.

0:40:390:40:42

-Hello, darling!

-How are you?

0:40:420:40:45

I'm really good.

0:40:450:40:47

-That's better.

-Are you sitting down?

0:40:470:40:50

I have to ask you important questions now.

0:40:500:40:53

Do you remember just as we were getting ready to leave Tuscany,

0:40:530:40:56

I was telling you how I think at the end of my second chapter I'd just brought the two of them together?

0:40:560:41:00

You were horrified that I'd waited until the end of the second chapter to be my hero and heroine together.

0:41:000:41:06

Yes. Utterly.

0:41:060:41:08

But I think it works really nicely, Sharon.

0:41:080:41:11

You've got the whole first chapter about her and the whole second chapter about him and then they

0:41:110:41:14

come together and then you get a nice flashback in Chapter 3.

0:41:140:41:16

It might work very nicely, but you won't be meeting reader expectations.

0:41:160:41:21

If you go out to buy a white shirt, you don't want a shop assistant telling you a blue one looks good.

0:41:210:41:26

OK, but is there never any place for surprising your reader?

0:41:260:41:30

Yes, of course in the freshness of intimacy of the relationship between the hero and the heroine.

0:41:300:41:36

There has to the chemistry right there early on. What are they called?

0:41:360:41:42

She's called Tyler Ogilvy.

0:41:420:41:46

It's American. She's allowed to have that surname, first-name thing.

0:41:460:41:50

Because he's Irish and Italian mix and because I've got him in the Tuscan hills,

0:41:500:41:56

he's called Matt Bonari.

0:41:560:41:58

-I quite like those, yes. Good!

-He's a property developer, which is why he's so wealthy.

0:41:580:42:03

What he puts into his properties as an extra thing at the very end,

0:42:030:42:08

he always adds what he calls the "Bonari Bonus".

0:42:080:42:12

It's like a studio or a swimming pool. ..Sorry?

0:42:120:42:19

The "Bonari Bonus"? Yes.

0:42:190:42:21

Can I call it the "Bonari Bonus"?

0:42:210:42:23

-I don't like that.

-Why not?

0:42:230:42:26

Because it sounds...

0:42:260:42:28

I think the "Bonari Touch"

0:42:280:42:31

would be better. To me it just sounds like something - some extra points to be gained down the supermarket.

0:42:310:42:37

No, no...

0:42:370:42:39

The "Bonari Touch" is a nice play on him also touching her.

0:42:420:42:46

He touches her more than anyone else.

0:42:460:42:48

That's fantastic. Brilliant, Sharon, now I've got a title.

0:42:480:42:51

-That's marvellous. Thank you so much.

-Good luck.

0:42:510:42:55

Speak to you later, goodbye.

0:42:550:42:57

Good.

0:43:000:43:02

So...?

0:43:020:43:04

She doesn't pull any punches, that woman, does she?

0:43:040:43:06

No, that's terrible, don't do that!

0:43:060:43:08

The "Bonari Touch" is actually better. The "Bonari Bonus"

0:43:080:43:11

is definitely more of a joke.

0:43:110:43:13

Obviously, as we know about Mills & Boon, you've got to look like you're taking it seriously.

0:43:130:43:18

I completely disagree with her in terms of what I want to write

0:43:180:43:24

about bringing them together in the first chapter.

0:43:240:43:26

The problem is whilst I completely know that Sharon knows what she's

0:43:260:43:30

talking about, and I absolutely get it, and she says you've to get the

0:43:300:43:33

heroine and hero together sooner, that's what the reader wants, I understand all of that.

0:43:330:43:37

But it's not what I want.

0:43:370:43:39

I think this would be the crux of the matter if I ever did try to write a whole one of these.

0:43:390:43:46

I want to write what I want. That's why I'm a writer.

0:43:460:43:49

-Are you enjoying it?

-I'm not enjoying it because I'm caught between wanting to do what I would like

0:43:490:43:54

to do and wanting to do what they say they want their writers to do.

0:43:540:44:00

And probably not succeeding with either, which isn't great.

0:44:000:44:06

No, Paul.

0:44:060:44:08

No, this can never be.

0:44:080:44:11

Not for us, Paul.

0:44:110:44:13

You and I are worlds apart.

0:44:140:44:16

It cannot be.

0:44:160:44:18

I need some support so I've come to see Lauren Henderson,

0:44:210:44:25

a friend who writes all kinds of genre fiction.

0:44:250:44:28

She's bound to have some kind words for me.

0:44:290:44:32

Isn't she?

0:44:320:44:33

I have to say you are probably the worst person to be writing this.

0:44:330:44:38

When I heard you were doing it, I seriously thought

0:44:380:44:41

you were going to have a problem with it.

0:44:410:44:43

You're not going to be able to do it in a sexy, ironic way. It's going to annoy you.

0:44:430:44:47

You can't be ironic. It isn't even allowed to be ironic a little bit.

0:44:470:44:50

It has got to be just sexy because everybody

0:44:500:44:53

we talk to about Mills & Boon were saying they read them for fantasy.

0:44:530:44:57

I want to have them both taking charge.

0:44:570:44:59

I want to have them both being passionate.

0:44:590:45:00

This is going to be a disaster!

0:45:000:45:03

No, so far it's only a bit of a disaster.

0:45:050:45:09

Just think about this as a chamber piece.

0:45:090:45:11

Think of it as an expanded short story.

0:45:110:45:14

I don't want to. I want to write a book with other characters and extra things happening.

0:45:140:45:18

-You're fighting this with everything you have.

-I am.

0:45:180:45:20

I thought it would be simpler to go, "OK, I'm doing a format, I'll do the format."

0:45:200:45:27

You're coming across as being really...

0:45:270:45:29

I know, I know I am. No, I'm not.

0:45:290:45:32

It's partly because I am taking the writing of it quite seriously.

0:45:320:45:36

As opposed to sitting there with a bucket of martini and just churning it out.

0:45:360:45:40

I think that's where you're going wrong. You want a nice gin pail.

0:45:400:45:43

And just scoop up some more.

0:45:430:45:46

I want to try and do it right and because I'm trying to get it right...

0:45:460:45:50

-I think you are thinking about this too much.

-Maybe.

0:45:500:45:52

You're thinking about this too much and not drinking enough.

0:45:520:45:55

That and having a camera over my shoulder. It's not ideal.

0:45:550:45:59

Usually writing when drunk is something I would never advocate and there have been those times

0:45:590:46:03

in the evening when I have had a couple of drinks and thought, I have got a really good idea.

0:46:030:46:06

You wake at the next morning and it is...

0:46:060:46:09

In this case I think a stiff martini before work might actually...

0:46:090:46:13

You need to project yourself into that world and you're having trouble finding the magic door at the back of

0:46:130:46:19

the wardrobe that will help you walk through.

0:46:190:46:21

I definitely have every intention of a very strong vodka martini for the writing of the sex scene.

0:46:210:46:27

# Nothing's impossible, I have found

0:46:270:46:31

# For when my chin is on the ground

0:46:310:46:35

# I pick myself up, dust myself off

0:46:350:46:40

-# Start all over again... #

-Do you want an olive?

0:46:400:46:42

"She'd never been in love like this before

0:46:590:47:00

"and though he was almost seven years older, she believed him when he said

0:47:000:47:06

"he hadn't either."

0:47:060:47:09

Maybe you should leave the room now.

0:47:090:47:12

It's probably a little rude to look over somebody's shoulder when they're writing a sex scene.

0:47:120:47:16

# Work like a soul inspired

0:47:170:47:19

# Till the battle of the day is won

0:47:190:47:23

# You may be sick and tired

0:47:250:47:29

# But you'll be a man, my son

0:47:290:47:34

# Don't you remember the famous men

0:47:340:47:37

# Who had to fall to rise again?

0:47:370:47:42

# They pick themselves up, dust themselves off

0:47:420:47:47

# And start all over again. #

0:47:470:47:49

You can only use this if you are sober. I'm joking.

0:47:500:47:52

"Back in his apartment, they rushed from elevator

0:47:550:47:57

"to door to bedroom, not seeing the walls, let alone the floor, not seeing anything until the bed.

0:47:570:48:03

"His body and her body fitting like they were made for each other,

0:48:030:48:06

"an easy fit, a smooth fit, a perfect fit, an "Oh God, I can't believe it can be this good" fit.

0:48:060:48:13

"They both burst out laughing and, looking deep into each other's eyes, said it again."

0:48:130:48:18

5,000 words, three martinis and a sex scene later, my supernatural- style romance is finished.

0:48:200:48:27

I'm fairly pleased with what I've written, but is it right for Mills & Boon?

0:48:270:48:31

I might just run it by some experts before Maddie, the editor, makes the final judgment.

0:48:310:48:36

"She turned back and blew a kiss to the beautiful ice man.

0:48:360:48:39

"She hoped the 16th birthday Princess would appreciate him

0:48:390:48:43

"when he stood at the centrepiece of her party table tonight. She certainly did.

0:48:430:48:47

"Tyler turned off the light and closed the freezer door.

0:48:470:48:50

"Behind her, in the dark, the ice man smiled and blew a kiss in return.

0:48:500:48:55

"He rather appreciated what he'd just seen as well."

0:48:550:48:59

Oh, interesting.

0:48:590:49:03

I think it would fit very nicely into the Intrigue Nocturne series.

0:49:030:49:07

Absolutely. There wouldn't be a problem with the fact

0:49:070:49:09

that she is in love with and having sex with someone else not the hero?

0:49:090:49:13

Has she created the ice figure in his image at the back of her mind?

0:49:130:49:18

That's good. That's lovely.

0:49:180:49:21

That would make it less of a...

0:49:210:49:24

And she doesn't realise that until later on. That is very nice.

0:49:240:49:28

Thank you. I like that.

0:49:280:49:30

That was the only bit I thought they might stutter at.

0:49:300:49:35

That she's having sex with somebody who is not the hero.

0:49:350:49:37

But if you make it that it's in his image, it is almost like...

0:49:370:49:43

If she can't have the real person, she's got the image.

0:49:430:49:46

But she hasn't connected the two.

0:49:480:49:52

He doesn't see it until the end.

0:49:520:49:54

Also when he has to fight off the ice man at the end, he is fighting himself.

0:49:540:49:59

That's very nice.

0:49:590:50:01

Like a negative in a photograph.

0:50:010:50:04

I like that, because to me a lot of the Mills & Boon I've seen, he might save her financially or

0:50:060:50:14

from being too busy or not having enough time for emotion, but she

0:50:140:50:18

tends to be saving his heart, his soul.

0:50:180:50:21

That would be quite nice, actually. Good, OK.

0:50:210:50:24

That was great. They were really lovely, they were very kind.

0:50:300:50:33

But the best bit, they solved my entire...

0:50:330:50:35

"You're not allowed to have them meet at chapter two, it's got to be chapter one."

0:50:350:50:38

I'll make chapter one the prologue, chapter two, chapter one, chapter three, chapter two,

0:50:380:50:42

I'm going to cut my synopsis and make it a blurb,

0:50:420:50:45

then I'm going to make my synopsis to my narrative arc.

0:50:450:50:47

It's all fantastically sorted and the best bit, even though

0:50:470:50:51

I thought the synopsis was a bit too long for them, they went ooh, at the right bit, not, ugh!

0:50:510:50:56

so as long as they are going, ooh, I think at least I've got a chance of Maddie not hating it.

0:50:560:51:02

I've only got one more to go.

0:51:120:51:14

So, with the last few changes made and a note

0:51:150:51:18

to Maddie saying "here you go", my Mills & Boon is ready to send.

0:51:180:51:22

I'm feeling very nervous about it, I haven't...

0:51:240:51:27

posted something like this for about 14 years.

0:51:270:51:30

Also, these days, most people do it by e-mail.

0:51:300:51:32

Mills & Boon, unusually, still take unsolicited manuscripts, that don't quite fit!

0:51:320:51:39

There.

0:51:390:51:40

I expect she'll say no, and even though I expect she will say no,

0:51:440:51:47

I'll still be hurt and mind if she says no,

0:51:470:51:49

We don't like it, it's not our kind of thing.

0:51:490:51:51

Of course it would upset me. I'm a writer and I want everyone to love everything I do.

0:51:510:51:56

We all do, it would be stupid not to.

0:51:560:51:59

So, we'll see.

0:51:590:52:01

I'm leaving for a few days, when I return, I hope to bring interesting news.

0:52:060:52:11

The big day. And like any good Mills & Boon heroine, I'm all a-flutter. Will I get my happy ending?

0:52:190:52:28

So, how are you feeling?

0:52:280:52:29

Erm, more than a little bit nervous.

0:52:290:52:31

It's like that bit where you go to a doctor's to get test results, and they say, how are you?

0:52:310:52:36

And, let's chat. You go, just tell me what's happened!

0:52:360:52:38

So, I'm going to go in

0:52:380:52:40

and she will want to say, hi, how are you?

0:52:400:52:42

Be all nice and I'll just want to go, do you like my book or not?

0:52:420:52:45

Get on with it. But I will be more polite than that, obviously.

0:52:450:52:49

Hello, lovely to see you.

0:52:540:52:56

You're so warm! It's freezing outside!

0:52:560:52:58

It's disgusting, isn't it?

0:52:580:53:00

Thank you so much for looking at it, Maddie, it's brilliant.

0:53:060:53:08

No, it's great, loads of fun. Overall, I thought it was beautifully written,

0:53:080:53:12

wonderful to read and I was really excited about it.

0:53:120:53:15

It's the first magic realist Mills & Boon that I've ever read in my entire life.

0:53:150:53:20

Where did you think you were aiming for, because we talked a lot about series?

0:53:210:53:24

Nocturne, maybe Nocturne Intrigue.

0:53:240:53:28

I truly did try and do a straight story.

0:53:280:53:30

But, at the end of the first chapter, which was just the first chapter, because Sharon was so

0:53:300:53:37

certain you can't have your hero and heroine not meet until chapter two, that's just so bad and wrong.

0:53:370:53:43

The fans said, why don't you make the first chapter a prologue and chapter two chapter one?

0:53:430:53:47

-So you cheated?

-So, I cheated!

0:53:470:53:49

It was the fans who suggested it,

0:53:490:53:52

so the end of what is now the prologue,

0:53:520:53:54

I would've just had her making an ice sculpture,

0:53:540:53:57

but then it just seemed so sensible that he kissed her back.

0:53:570:54:00

So, well not sensible, but sensible in a magical kind of way and I had read a couple of the Nocturne ones.

0:54:000:54:06

So, I thought that, really.

0:54:060:54:09

What I really liked about this was, the hero who is absolutely spot on, alpha male wonderfulness.

0:54:090:54:16

I thought you had a great sense of glamour and glitz and excitement.

0:54:160:54:21

I loved the Manhattan setting, I thought it was really, really, really well evoked.

0:54:210:54:25

This is very kind of languorous and beautiful, but I think when you're talking about 50 to 60,000 words

0:54:250:54:31

you might have to think about upping the pace.

0:54:310:54:33

You know that pace is so upped, compared to what it was!

0:54:330:54:36

I don't think I've ever worked so hard on three chapters, also I

0:54:360:54:39

haven't done three chapters and a synopsis since my first book.

0:54:390:54:42

-As you said in your e-mail.

-Yes, it's really, really daunting.

0:54:420:54:44

What about the sex scene? That was quite hard work for me.

0:54:440:54:47

I did wonder about that, no, it was brilliant.

0:54:470:54:50

It was properly sexy and I like the way you were doing

0:54:500:54:53

it in flashback as well which gave you an opportunity to do very happy, very uncomplicated, very sexy.

0:54:530:54:58

That was a three-martini sex scene.

0:54:580:55:01

Well, whatever it took, it worked.

0:55:010:55:04

I did then edit it and make it tidy.

0:55:040:55:06

-SHE SLURS HER WORDS

-I did tidy it up.

0:55:060:55:09

But to write the first draft of it, was definitely, I will have a martini

0:55:090:55:13

to think about it after I'd been thinking about it for a week, then sit down and do it.

0:55:130:55:17

By the time I had taken four hours to write the thing, we'd gone through an entire martini shaker.

0:55:170:55:24

I do think you found your own way.

0:55:240:55:25

I was thinking, if this had come in the slush I would have been overjoyed,

0:55:250:55:29

because it's got an individual voice and great narrative drive and

0:55:290:55:33

I did want to know more about the characters, I would have sent for the next bit, had you written it.

0:55:330:55:38

-That's good.

-Thank you very much.

0:55:380:55:40

So, shall we go and have a pint of wine, to make me happy.

0:55:400:55:43

A whole pint of wine?

0:55:430:55:45

We might have to share it. Is that all right?

0:55:450:55:48

I believe now, what you said the other night.

0:55:520:55:55

So, the Mills & Boon epilogue.

0:56:070:56:09

You know, where our heroine looks back on her journey and reflects on what she's learned.

0:56:090:56:14

It certainly wasn't love at first sight.

0:56:140:56:17

But, sure enough, once she was swept off to a glamorous location, her heart started to melt.

0:56:170:56:24

There were some last-minute doubts, but, helped by alcohol, they finally got it together.

0:56:240:56:32

And our heroine was surprised at how much she'd come to care.

0:56:320:56:38

I tried to do the best I could, to do what they like.

0:56:410:56:45

It's not quite them, but at least she liked what I did and she liked it a lot, so that's really nice.

0:56:450:56:50

All the things I really believe are true, you should write what

0:56:520:56:55

you want to write and you should do it for yourself, not for a market or

0:56:550:57:01

what your perception of what a market might be is, because who knows what that market is?

0:57:010:57:06

According to Maddie, there's a dozen different markets for Mills & Boon,

0:57:060:57:11

so the idea there's only one that works is entirely silly.

0:57:110:57:15

ROMANTIC MUSIC

0:57:160:57:18

Overall, I think there's this vast appetite for fantasy and escapism

0:57:270:57:32

that maybe we don't all think exists.

0:57:320:57:36

Maybe we think it belongs to television or to film, or theatre.

0:57:360:57:41

Clearly, there's a huge desire for it in the Mills & Boon audience,

0:57:410:57:46

which is many millions of people.

0:57:460:57:49

Secure in the knowledge that our heroine has learned all she needs,

0:57:550:57:59

she can now go off into the sunset of a perfect life, happy, and fulfilled.

0:57:590:58:06

Well, more or less!

0:58:060:58:08

# I know a falling star

0:58:090:58:11

# Can't fall forever

0:58:110:58:14

# But let's never

0:58:150:58:18

# Stop falling in love

0:58:180:58:21

# No, let's never

0:58:220:58:26

# Stop falling in love. #

0:58:260:58:28

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0:58:280:58:31

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0:58:310:58:33

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