Monday, June 21, 2010

Monday Minx: Suzanne

This isn’t going to be personal, I already give out way too much information on my own blog so, if you’re after salacious gossip, you should stop reading now.

Still here? Good, then pull up a chair and I’ll begin...

Today, I’m going to talk about the compulsion that drives me to commit words to paper, the burning ambition that urges me to write romance manuscript after romance manuscript even while the world cares not one jot.

To start at the beginning of this sorry tale, we must travel back in time, to when I was fourteen. This is when I first fell in love with Mills and Boon romances and, somehow, I never quite managed to fall out of love again.

In the tradition of the best stories, this love is unrequited – despite my utter devotion, Mills and Boon have never loved me back. From the age of 16, I’ve submitted a number of manuscripts to Paradise Road, only to have them hurtling back with such speed, I sometimes found them waiting for me when I arrived home from the post office. Of course, these days with that newfangled e-mail thingy, things are not quite so bad – at least I’m able to enjoy a cup of tea before they ping back.

So, why do I do it? Why do I keep going and persistently subject myself to heartache that would fell a less stubborn writer?

Everyone who reads romance novels will be aware these books are entertainment with bells on. Between the pages of a romance novel, you’re guaranteed the read of your life – gorgeous heroes to fall in love with, feisty heroines to live vicariously through, locations so far removed from school runs and supermarket shopping they might as well be on another planet. In other words, these books transport the reader from everyday drudgery to the kind of elegant living only enjoyed by the mega rich in the real world. What’s more, the type of love that most people will only experience once in a lifetime – and that’s if they’re lucky – can be experienced time after time, just by delving between the covers of these books.

That’s why I want to write romance, I want to be able to create the kind of magic that makes a reader identify with my heroine and fall in love with my hero, just as my favourite authors do every time they write a book. Can you even begin to imagine how wonderful that would be?

Besides, now I’m a Minx, I’m having far too much fun to stop.

36 comments:

Lacey Devlin said...

That's such a great story Suzanne! I had no idea you had such a relationship with Mills and Boon you make a girl jealous. Sadly my mother was hiding her Mills and Boon from me when I was forteen and since I've "borrowed" quite a few of them since then I can't blame her...

Jackie Ashenden said...

And you know what's so great about unrequited love stories? It's the part where the other person finally realises the unrequited love and returns it. :-) I've no doubt that will happen to you...

Suzanne Ross Jones said...

Hi Lacey, your mum had a point - I hide mine from my 13-year-old. But, I'm so old, they weren't as spicy when I was 14.

Aw Jackie, thanks - I do hope so.

XX

auntiegwen said...

Will you still be my friend if I fess up I've never read a Mills and Boon ? xxxx

Suzanne Ross Jones said...

How could I ever not be your friend, auntiegwen?
Especially as you've taken the trouble to stop by.

XX

Judy Jarvie said...

I have faith your moment will come.
The editor's eyes will lock with your script (across a crowded room) and life will never been the same.
Great post, Suzanne Minx.
You sum up the love affair with MnBs perfectly. jx

Joanna said...

To escape into another world is a magical experience. As writers, I think we're extra-lucky, because we can escape to better realms through our writing as well as by reading.

I'm sure the world will start caring very soon.

Teresa Ashby said...

Lovely post, Suzanne - You have the talent, the passion and the determination - it's just a matter of time :-) xx

Sally Clements said...

I've read your work, Suz, and you're a great writer. It is just a matter of time, because you're doing everything else right! Great post!

Francine Howarth said...

Hi,

A love story in itself ;) and straight from the heart!



best
F

Maya Blake said...

Lovely, lovely post, Suzanne. Not the part about unrequited love (although I firmly believe it WILL be requited one day soon), but the part about why you love and continue to write HMB! Very touching and inspiring for anyone who's passionate about writing, as you so obviously are! xx

Lorraine said...

There are plenty of call stories out there of people who've been writing for as long as you Suz. I believe you can make it and anyway, you're a Minx now with other Minxes around you to support you so maybe the extra boost will help?
I hope so because you make a lovely fellow Minx :-)

Karen said...

I can clearly remember sneaking downstairs early one Sunday morning and grabbing one of my mum's beloved Mills & Boon's off the bookshelf and reading half of it before anyone else got up. I was hooked for a good many years - Anne Mather was my favourite author - and I did try and write one myself in my twenties. Much, much harder than I imagined!

I still have a collection of favourties upstairs in my cupboard, and look forward to adding yours to it one day :o)

David said...

Fantastic post Suzanne! I have to say I've never picked up a Mills and Boon although oddly I mistakenly got sent one by Amazon once. Maybe it was the gods telling me to get in touch with my romantic side. You make me want to read them though from your post. The right editor will recognise your passion in one of your next MSs I'm sure and snap it up!

Dx

Anonymous said...

Great post Suzanne. I love your honesty. Passion, hard work and dedication will surely have its reward. Best wishes.

penandpaints said...

Hi Suzanne
Lovely to read about how your love of romance writing began, You're a great writer and I'm sure your Mills and Boon day will come!
x

Jan said...

You WILL hit the jackpot with that superb attitude! You deserve it!

Kaye Manro said...

Very interesting, Suaanne! I loved your article. and I agree with others here, you deserve it and it will happen for you!

Becky said...

What a lovely post Suzanne. Its lovely to fill our heads with words and images, to transpor us away ..and its so much more satisying somehow to create the images in our mind's eye from what we read, than to see them played out on a screen. Even better to be able to create those stories...you have a precious gift there.

Scarlet Wilson said...

Congrats on the post Suzanne, may this be your year!

Talli Roland said...

I love this story - thanks Suzanne! :)

I also enjoy reading romance, although I haven't read a Mills&Boon for some time now. I have one waiting for me in my stack of books, though!

Kath said...

Hi, Suzanne. I have to admit the only Mills and Boones I've ever read were hospital romances when I was pregnant, sometimes three or four a day.
But I do think if you pursue a dream for long enough, you'll succeed - especially if you've already succeeded with other things, as you have.

Jayne said...

Mmmmm, you make it all sound so dreamy....you've inspired me to press on with my novel again tonight - thank Suzanne, heaven knows I needed the push! lol

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

I agree, you can't beat getting lost in a beautifully written romance novel. x

Caroline said...

I, too have read your work Suzanne, and one day mark my words you WILL be published! Great blog BTW. Caroline x

Colette McCormick said...

Keep at it Suzanne, you'll get there one day.

aka Susie Gardner said...

Thanks for sharing your unrequited love with M&B, Suzanne.

My first M&B reads were by Sally Wentworth & Anne Mather and I was 13 when I tried my first attempt at penning a romance.

I'm sure you'll get your HEA with them one day soon. I believe that determination & persistence will win eventually. Sending lots of positive writerly vibes.

Sue : )

Kat said...

I love your way with words Suzanne, and I'm sure that Mills and Boon will too soon.

x

Suzanne Brandyn Author said...

Hi Suzanne,
Great post. It's the ones that perservere that get there. Keep it up. Mills and Boon, I have quiet a few sexy ones on my shelf, some medical, and a few others. lol

Suzanne :)

Suzanne Ross Jones said...

That truly would be a HEA, Judy

Very true, Joanna – and thank you.

Hi Teresa, thank you so much for those lovely words.

Aw thanks, Sally.

Definitely a love story, Francine.

Thank, Maya.

Thanks, Lorraine. Power to the Minxes.

Thanks, Karen – and you’re right, definitely very hard to get right.

Aw thanks, David. Isn’t it odd what Amazon got wrong – they once sent me an unordered history text book.

Thank you, Christine.

Thank you, penandpaints.

Thank s, Jan.

Thanks, Kaye.

Thanks, Becky.

Thanks, Susan.

Thanks, Talli. Hope you get to that M&B in your tbr pile soon.

Thanks, Kath. The medical romances are great – I love reading them, but I don’t have the technical experience to write them.

Hi Jayne, hope the novel’s progressing well.

Very true, Debs.

Aw thanks, Caroline.

Thank you, Colette.

13, goodness, Sue – and I thought I was young at 16. Thanks for the positive vibes – need all the help I can get.

Aw thank you, Joanne.

Thanks, Suzanne.

Apologies for taking so long to reply – internet problems and I haven’t been able to get online (in fact, I’m still having problems with e-mail). Huge thanks to all of you for dropping by and offering encouragement. Your support really means so much.

XX

Victoria Lamb said...

I too am sure you'll achieve your dream one day ... if you keep working at it the way you've been doing. Are you also sending elsewhere while you wait for the team at M&B to pick you up? It's such a confidence booster to be published, even if it's not by the publisher you're really after, lol.

Cheryl said...

Here's to your tenacity which I have much admiration for. You will get there one day and you will deserve it x

DJ Kirkby said...

Awwww this was very well written (but of course). You're a great writer and good things await you :)

Anna said...

Great post. :-)

HelenMWalters said...

Lovely to hear about your motivation.

Suzanne Ross Jones said...

Aw thanks, Jane. I've been working on short stories and fillers - and had a bit of luck with these - but really need to get working on those longer projects.

Thanks, Lily - here's to success for all.

Thanks DJ - that means a lot.

Thanks, Anna.

Thanks, Helen.

XX