All on the inside...

Yesterday I popped into Selfridges where M&B author, Heidi Rice, was giving a workshop on how to write for Mills & Boon. I listened in for a while and then Heidi and I grabbed a bit of lunch and had a quick chat before she started her second workshop of the day - it had been so popular they'd had to add extra sessions!

Heidi, with rapt audience

The small groups asked all sorts of questions but one topic that came up again and again was 'internal conflict', which makes a heck a lot of sense, because unless you can deliver oodles of that in your manuscript you are not going to sell to Harlequin Mills & Boon!

In fact, when I've delivered workshops on writing for Mills & Boon, the issue of internal conflict has always been front and centre. I'm thinking of delving more deeply into the issue and doing a blog post on the subject, actually. Give me a few moments (i.e. the weekend) and I'll be back to elaborate...

A Fun Day

I'm up to London today to spy on Mills & Boon author, Heidi Rice, while she gives a romance writing workshop in Selfridges Wonder Room!

The workshops are today and tomorrow and you can contact tory.lyne-pirkis@midaspr.co.uk if you're interested in attending! (Bit late notice, I know, but why not be spontaneous...it's very romantic!).

Will post pics and some of Heidi's sage advice here tomorrow.

A very glam field trip

One of the things Mills & Boon has cooked up to announce the launch of their brand new RIVA line is to partner with Selfridges, the famous London department store. On the ground floor, near the Marble Arch end of Selfridges, is the Wonder Room – a section of the store full of bright and sparkly things, like Tiffany jewellery, fine perfumes and designer handbags.

Right in the front corner of the Wonder Room is a new ‘pop-up’ shop called the Together Shop, which be around for six weeks, until just after Valentine’s Day. As the perfect place to find a gift for your valentine, the Together Shop showcases products that go in pairs or are meant to be shared, like salt and pepper pots or tandem bicycles and iPod speakers, but there is also exclusive jewellery and tableware.

Of course, as soon as we mention the word “romance” in the UK, we think of Mills & Boon – and it’s only fitting that there should be tables and shelves of M&B books, displayed against a backdrop of vintage book covers. There are even some of the vintage books themselves in glass display cases.

The Together Shop is selling the new RIVA line from M&B, and Three Weddings And A Baby – even though it won’t be available for a while in high street shops – is sitting there amongst the other January and February Riva releases. Of course, I had to take a little field trip, just to go and have a nose…


Here are some of my pics:

The wall of vintage M&B covers, with RIVA books strategically placed as part of the display.
(Many people have asked if they can buy the posters, apparently!)

All the display tables in the Together Shop are made up of mirrored jigsaw pieces, and here's the little jigsaw-themed label on the M&B table.

A stack of RIVAs, waiting for some stylish shoppers to nab them.

Another section of the display wall.

And if you head off to the Together Shop in Valentines week, Mills & Boon author Heidi Rice will in residence, working on one of her books and giving some advice on how to write your own love story! More about that nearer the time...