Happy New Year and a Happy New Look for Mills and Boon!

So I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and you're all settling in for some equally fab New Year celebrations... Or if you're in Oz you're already hunkering down to work off that hangover!

I had a busy and exciting year in 2017 writing-wise. Managing to publish my first classic Presents, Vows They Can't Escape, in Feb was a major milestone for me. In March I joined up with wonderful authors Kaylie Newell, Kate Hardy, Patricia W Fischer and Jeannie Moon to write the Men of Marietta series for Tule - which kicked off with my book Tempting the Deputy! And then in July I had the digital release of my second longer women's fiction book for HQ Stories, Summer at Willow Tree Farm. In September my second classic Presents, The Virgin's Shock Baby was out and then in October and November, I enjoyed tutoring Writing Romance, my seven-week online course for The Professional Writing Academy, for a new group of writers. With all that going on I'm actually kind of amazed that I managed to finish two more books for Presents - one is due out next April - Captive at Her Enemy's Command is the sequel to The Virgin's Shock Baby - and I've just finished revisions on the second which is scheduled for release in September. I'm still waiting to hear back from my poor over-worked editor on my Nano-Sheikh story which I completed during NaNoWriMo! Needless to say I have big plans for 2018, to hopefully write at least three more Presents, another book for Tule (a rodeo cowboy this time!!) and I'm exploring ideas for several longer women's fiction books I want to write.... And we're also doing another run of Writing Romance kicking off on February 5th, so if you've ever wanted to write romance yourself, or are already a romance writer who is struggling to get your writing to the next level and want seven intensive weeks of writing and learning with a group of other like-minded authors and tuition and feedback from a USA Today bestselling author, then start the new year right and sign up....

Wow! I'm exhausting myself just thinking about all that. But that's the way it should be, having new projects to look forward to is always the best place to be if you're a writer.

But enough about me! Also in the new year is the long awaited Mills and Boon Makeover in the UK... Mills and Boon authors learned all about the new look for our books in September at a top secret meeting after our annual author lunch. I'm not gonna lie, I LOVE the new look. Clean, cool, and fiercely contemporary, the new cover design says everything that needs to be said about Mills and Boon in the 21st century – that while it may be a heritage brand with a long history that authors and editors alike are justifiably proud of for supplying readers with that shot of escapism from their every day lives – there's nothing old school about the content of these little books with a big heart! We write smart, sexy, fiercely contemporary stories for today's readers, so I'm super excited that the look of the books will now reflect that. I hope it will attract a whole new readership to our stories who've never realised before now how much they are gonna love these stories!! Because seriously, what's not to love about reading stories where women (and men) get what they want and, perhaps more importantly, what they need out of positive, empowering relationships? Life can be hard in today's world where everything seems to move so far, so fast, and it sometimes feels like there's not nearly enough compassion, enough empathy, enough kindness (especially on Twitter!). So why not take a break from all that real-life angst and enjoy watching two other people work out their problems knowing they are guaranteed to get their happy ever after (if they work hard enough for it) and you don't have to lift a finger!! Do feel free to tell me what you think in the comments.

I'm so excited about the Mills and Boon makeover I'm putting my money - or rather one of my author copies - where my mouth is and giving away a copy of my first new look book on Goodreads. Call Me Cupid is a By Request 3-in-1 featuring stories by me, the lovely Fiona Harper and the lovely Nina Harrington.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Call Me Cupid

by Heidi Rice

Giveaway ends January 05, 2018.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Good luck to everyone who enters.... And whatever happens have a wonderful 2018! Full of love, light and great reading.

NaNo-What Now?? And Book Giveaway News

Box o' Presents!

Writing is always super hard for me... That was until this month. After finishing my second longer book and sending it off to my editor I had only a month to write my next Presents. I had already done six chapters of this book... So I wasn't too panicky.. Yet.  I signed up for NaNoWriMo to help get me motivated. Only thing was, the day before it was due to start I read those first six chapters... And realised I had a problem, the external plot was way too complicated, my hero was a jerk and my heroine was a psychopath!!

I had two choices:

1) Try moulding that lump of crap into something more appealing.

2) Start from scratch.

But I only had a month. And it usually takes me three months to write a book anyway. But then a strange and wonderful thing happened. On the first of November, I just opened a new document and started again. Because I suddenly had a whole new vision for this book. The basics of the external plot were similar, but my heroine was a totally different person. And I soon realised so was my hero, not as ruthless, but just as alpha. And suddenly the words started to flow... And flow... And flow.

And now it's Day 13 of NaNoWriMo and I've written 36k words... And I'm still going folks. And I am LOVING this book. Which means either I'm completely delusional. Or it's actually as good as I think it is.

Here's a sneak peek of my Pinterest board to give you an idea of what it's about.

So now I know. Writing is always hard for me, except on the very rare occasions when it's not – and I turn into Joan Wilder at the beginning of Romancing the Stone. And seriously there is nothing more uplifting. This is good news for me, because I needed something to lift me up right now. And locking myself in my study and ignoring the news and just writing about love and romance and two people who desperately need each other but haven't figured it out yet – and then throwing in a marriage of convenience and a touch of pregnesia to spice things up a bit – is TOTALLY the answer.

In other news, my box of books arrived from Harlequin for my first Classic Presents: Vows They Can't Escape which is out in Jan 2017 in the US and Feb 2017 in the UK... I'm doing a Goodreads giveaway, but will also be doing a couple of giveaways to people signed up to my newsletter list. I'll be arranging that as soon as I finish this book... So if you're not signed up already and you want a chance to win, you can find the sign up form on my Facebook Author Page or my website or from the form on the sidebar.

Here's the giveaway which should be live soon... ish!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Vows They Can't Escape

by Heidi Rice

Giveaway ends November 30, 2016.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway