Writing for Harlequin Mills & Boon

skylight

SlopingBird wrote: »

Well done Jei-jei. Now I guess we just keep our fingers crossed and wait. I'm quite fired up by all this romantic writing - my OH is enjoying all the attention.

I'm glad someone is!!

Its driving me potty - I wake up at night scribbling an idea or lay in bed in the morning thinking of dialogue. I was so late up yesterday morning the kids weren't in school until 9.45am.

And I'm not sure my enthusiasm is reflected in the quality being produced. But I am enjoying it for what it is.

mithras

Good luck Jei-Jei and all others taking part in New Voices!

Likestowrite

Good luck to everyone entering new voices. (I can't enter as I'm published with DC Thomson) I'd love to read the entries from this forum but I don't have any clues to help me.

Jei-jei

gingerandrubarb wrote: »

:T:TWow well done hunny,
So what have they said to do next, do you need to send them another chapter for approval ? x

Good god no gingerandrhubarb! (love that tag BTW).

I went into the Contemporary category and I've seen at least six that must be going through to the next round if there's any justice. Plus more in other categories. And I've only ploughed through a few.

Let's just say I'll be writing my Chapter Two in my own time.:D

I'm a bit narked because I think the M&B uploader didn't add an edit that I did; which resulted in a typo. And I'm upset with a couple of tenses that my eyes - damn them - refused to edit. :mad:

Still what can you do? There were certainly others with much more issues to deal with.

You have to be sooo careful because you can't change a thing once it's published and out there for all the world to see.

So if anyone needs fresh eyes for their submission for I'm happy to look over by PM. I know it's hard asking a stranger, but it's no more risky than sticking words from your head up there for even more strangers to critique...

Alternatively, if you don't want to do that make sure you have your Chapter One exactly the way you want it (paras etc) before submitting. Believe me - I shouted '!!!!!!' at that preview a few times.

Your italics don't show up and you can't underline to indicate them.

Print it off without reading it and then go for a read after a couple of days.

You might be surprised at what your eyes decide to show you after they've had a break.:j

BTW is anyone who's submitted brave enough to give a clue here or by PM? Name of hero; heroine; bit of blurb? All I'm brave enough to say here is that my hero's name is Ben.

Jei-jei

Likestowrite wrote: »

Good luck to everyone entering new voices. I'd love to read the entries.
Any clues to help me find them?

See below. Likestowrite.

Ben.

Actually, I think you can find it by the hero!



PS. Oops! Didn't realise that b*gger was a naughty word here!...:D

Likestowrite

Off to find the contemporary with hero Ben

Jei-jei

Oops, sorry likestowrite, can't be done.

I PMed you but then I thought - what a bloody wimp!

So here it is being outed. Some Unfinished Business.

Y'all don't hurt me now! :rotfl:

Likestowrite

Found it and PMed you back. Great chapter.

Jei-jei

Likestowrite wrote: »

Found it and PMed you back. Great chapter.

Ltw, thank you so much for your comments.

Of course there's far too much heat in a competition like NV.

But for a newbie like me it makes such a difference to know that someone likes what you've written.

Thanks again.:j

LuckyLucy11

I'm still working on mine, at the moment I'm adding to the one set in a Chicago Sports T.V show, a young woman named Chloe goes to work there as a Weather Girl and falls for the producer. They have a passionate affair, which she feels no guilt about because it marks a transition into womanhood and is frankly amazing sex. She's still with her first boyfriend but partly due to her success on T.V they've grown apart and she realizes she was never truly happy with him.

Alex is the typical alpha male, he's popular for his success at baseball, coaches little league and has high principles so the affair unsettles his conscience as Chloe is only 20. The attraction between them is so strong that after only a short time they sleep together but he still feels he's transgressed his own moral codes so backs off leaving her to think he no longer likes her.

What's slowed this book down is the facts: I know Chicago has stunning architecture and is a big sports state hence the sporting theme and I have The Media Museum here in Bradford to draw research from which is a huge help. I joined a writers group yesterday which starts next week and I plan to join a second one in town so I'm hoping that will dispel all the doubts and motivate me.

There's lots of other ideas too, slowed down for the same reason that I need to know specialized things and be able to convince. It's tempting to rush something in to New Voices before the deadline but I don't want to submit something that's not as good as it could be.

Good luck everyone

I've decided to change the plot to; Alex is the star player in a baseball team, she's a weather girl in a downtown T.V station. He appears on the TV show as a guest & they begin an affair. I'll try make it more romantic than it sounds though.