Mills & Boon Historical Heroes

What a day I’ve had! 

 I was planning to do a blog entry today all about my experiences on my first ever RNA conference – an inspiring weekend, by the way. However, while taking a short break from my work this morning, I opened up my emails to find one from Mills & Boon saying that my entry in their Historical Heroes competition had been awarded first place in the Medieval/Tudor category. 

I was gobsmacked – not least because in all the conference excitement, I’d completely forgotten about the competition. That’s how good the conference was! So to all my friends from the RNA Birmingham Chapter who were cross that I didn’t breathe a word of it over the weekend – I would have done if I’d remembered!

You can find my entry on the Mills & Boon blog. It’s up against stiff competition from Faye Delacour and Phoebe Randerson. Please read and vote for your favourite!

'My Main Character' blog hop

Oops! I've really let this blog slide. But rest assured that I've been slaving away at my WIP, desperate to get it edited in time to submit to the New Writers' Scheme before the August deadline.

Thankfully, the lovely Anne Harvey tagged me in the 'My Main Character' blog hop. That's given me the kick up the backside I needed to post an update! I've chosen to introduce my hero, rather than my heroine, because he's the one I'm having to get to grips with more as I edit.

Wroxeter today

What is the name of the main character? Is he real or fictitious?

My hero is called Justus Drusus Metellus – a bit of a mouthful, so I usually just call him Justus. He is fictitious, more’s the pity!

When and where is the story set?

The story is set in Roman Britain – in Viroconium (modern-day Wroxeter, in Shropshire) during the second century AD. 

What should we know about him?

Before the story begins he served as a centurion in Dacia but received a severe leg wound and was invalided out. He now runs his family’s import business from Viroconium. Civilian life is something of a mystery to him – he’s abrupt with people and expects them to do what he says without question. Then he wonders why he’s not Mr Popular…

What is the main conflict? What messes up his life?

When Livia appears – seemingly out of nowhere – he takes her under his protection. He expects her to slot neatly into the role he assigns her, but when she refuses to conform, he finds his life turning in a direction he didn’t expect.

What is his goal in life?

He still believes that if he trains hard enough, he will get strong enough to return to his legion.

Lack-of-progress update / IT Crowd

Moss - not your typical M&B hero

This summer has been such a wash-out that you'd think I'd have stayed in, writing. Well, I have stayed in, but to cheer myself up, I've been watching re-runs of the IT Crowd. The trouble is, I've now watched so many episodes that whenever I try to add more to my new Medieval romance, in my head, my hero sounds just like one of the IT Crowd characters - Moss. Not exactly the effect I'm trying to achieve with my alpha male, twelfth-century warrior...

So I have made some progress since my last update, but it's been painfully slow. Hopefully now that there are some breaks in the rain, I can get out for some walks and bike rides, and clear my head.

Can I learn anything from my experience? Umm...(sounds of barrel being scraped out)...I suppose that I should aim to create characters who are so strong that I can predict what they would say or do in any given situation. Just as long as they don't sound like Moss.