Modern/Modern Heat Presents Competition

The line my mother used to write for, now known as Modern Presents - I hope that's right! - had a contest recently, which I entered with a first chapter and synopsis. I didn't win, alas, but four talented writers did and you can read all about their success at iheartpresents.

Some have queried the fact that two of the winners are already published authors, one even with a history of publishing with Harlequin, when many felt the competition was aimed at 'aspiring authors' - which they interpreted as meaning 'unpublished'.

Looking at their books, it seems to me that no rules have been broken. Though I daresay all will be made clear in due course. I myself am published, of course, and still entered within the rules, because I am not under contract to Harlequin. So I have sympathies on both sides of this debate.

However, this contest and the subsequent communications flying about the eHarlequin world have jolted me into updating this blog - neglected for too long!! - so that's one good thing to have come out of it.

The main advice my mother used to give aspiring authors was that, as a romantic novelist, you have to believe in romance, heart and soul. She used to say that readers can spot a fake instantly, the sort of writer who is only in it to make money. To write series fiction well, you have to genuinely love the genre you're working in and believe in its validity, whatever others may say of it and however many rejections you receive on the long path to publication.

Charlotte Lamb didn't have a long path to publication, of course. With talent like hers, it's not surprising that she placed her first full-length novel immediately - with Robert Hale - and never looked back.

For the rest of us mortals though, the path is certainly long and frequently thorny. But one thing we can all do is be genuine about romantic fiction. Because if we're genuine, according to my mother's advice, we can't go wrong.