Lissa Morgan

Do you - like me - read primarily within the genre you want to write?  Harlequin Mills and Boon publish several diverse lines, from historical to suspense, medical to nocturnal.  Aiming at the line that most interests me - Presents or Modern - I tend to read mostly within that line too, enjoying books that were published several years ago, sometimes decades ago, and also keeping up with current trends and new authors. I was interested recently to see that Harlequin are running a new Blitz in February, this time on Romance ( http://www.soyouthinkyoucanwrite.com ) and it got me thinking of the books I've read outside of my chosen line and what made me place them on my book shelves, alongside the numerous Moderns. Liz Fielding is an author who has published over sixty books in the traditional and contemporary lines but her writing somehow refuses to be typecast.  She brings a freshness and humour to her work and has been doing so ever since her first book was published...

As someone who doesn't normally make New Year resolutions, this year I find myself making several.  And, while I aim to keep all of them, top of the list is to complete a book. I once blogged here about the importance of always finishing a book  (April 2016 ) but for the last couple of years, I've been unable to do that. The reasons why have been many and varied but, on reflection, the main one has been a lack of focus and determination following a run of rejections.  Keeping going, keeping believing, fending off doubts and finding inspiration, let alone actually sitting down and putting fingers to keyboard, can be hard at such times.  Who was it that said that success is 99% persistence?  They might be right but alongside persistence is the support of fellow writers and friends who are there backing you every step of the way.  And, even more importantly, believing in you when you don't always believe in yourself. So to all those fabulous people I'd lik...