I've been hooked on romance novels for as long as I can remember, and it all started one day in my grandmother's bedroom in the west of Ireland where I spent all my summer holidays. She had taken one of the distinctive rose-emblemed books out of the library, and being a voracious reader of everything and anything, I devoured it in one sitting. It could have been a Penny Jordan, or a Sally Wentworth, I can't remember now. All I can remember is being swept away into a story that was passionate and romantic and wanting more.
The fact that I am now writing for that company is a dream that still hasn't quite sunk in, although deadlines and the pressure to keep things fresh and original is helping!
I've lived in Dublin all my life but was lucky enough to spend a lot of time in Kerry with my grandmother.
When I left school I got a place in Sussex University to study Social Anthropology (it’s a long story!). I deferred my place for the first year and in that year ended up working for free on some short films. I loved it. By the time I was meant to take up my university place I was working on the film Braveheart. You can imagine which direction I chose..!
I’ve since then spent many years working as an Assistant Director on other films like Saving Private Ryan; Anna and the King; King Arthur and then smaller productions for TV, and commercials.
It’s been an extremely rewarding and enjoyable career but eventually the early starts, long hours and inevitably adverse weather conditions got to me. Not to mention the actors who wouldn’t come out of their trailers.
So I thought of doing something else, and that something was writing. Thanks to a friend I lived with for a few years who was also a big Mills & Boon fan, I found out about submitting to Mills & Boon. After so many years of reading them, surely I had a chance of recreating one?!
Many years of procrastination later, I finally sat down and started to write a story. My first partial was rejected albeit with an encouraging letter from Tessa Shapcott who is now the Senior Executive Editor. That letter is almost worn through completely by now as it’s been handled so much.
My second attempt was a full manuscript which ultimately got rejected but by then I was determined to succeed and number three was the charm.
I sold my first manuscript to Mills and Boon Modern Romance in March 2006.
I would say to any aspiring author out there that it really is worth it to keep trying, the only difference between an unpublished author and a published author is persistence, I truly believe that.
(From the Author's web-site.)
