The Romantic Novelists' Association has some lofty aims. They're trying to raise the profile of romantic and historical fiction, and encourage good writing in general. And that's got to be a good thing, whatever your preconceptions about Mills and Boon (aka Harlequin) and its ilk.

This week they hold their annual conference shindig, and while that probably doesn't have much to do with you, we thought it would be quite jolly to use it as an excuse to profile some of their members. So instead of our usual week-long feature interviews, we'll be covering a different RNA member every other day in a related clutch of interviews. Get the idea? Good - we'll cut along.

Today we're talking to Kate Walker, a romance novelist for over 20 years. A former librarian, housewife and mother, Yorkshire-lass Kate struggled to get published before finding success with The Chalk Line for Mills and Boon in 1984. Over 40 more have followed, and this year we've got The Antonalos Marriage and (ahem) The Italian's Forced Bride to look forward to. Kate averages three novels a year for M&B, and is one of their most popular authors. Kate also owns a tiger, although not in a practical way.

Best of all, when I asked her to put some answers together for this Q&A, she wrote screeds, bless her. So enough of my prattle, let's explode a few myths about romance writing with the M&B superstar herself.


Great Writing: What inspires you to write?

Kate Walker: I suspect that the answer to that is - everything!  Everyday life is always throwing up some interesting snippet or some idea that makes me want to take it further. Just reading a story in a newspaper makes me wonder ‘what if. . .' or think ‘what happened next?' Stories on the TV, in magazines, stories overheard on a bus, in a café - people and their lives and relationships are so fascinating that they are always stimulating my imagination.

Looking back at that instinctive part of my answer, I suppose that the real point I'm making is that I love telling stories. That's the sort of writer I am. I grew up telling stories - in my head- to my sisters - writing them down and (sometimes) letting my friends read them. I don't feel I have something deep and amazing to say with my writing - but I do think that I can tell stories and the stories I tell are relationship stories. They start of with two people and a ‘what if'? And then I write.  

What I need before I can start writing are two interesting characters - my hero and my heroine. Sometimes I have a plan for a plot, sometimes I have a lot of detail of the plot already in my head - sometimes I just have those two people. But when I have two people who intrigue and fascinate me then I really want to tell their story - in fact, I don't really ‘write' their story - it's more like they come into the room and sit there, telling me their story and I write it down as they tell me!

Without those two characters, I can't get started, but when I know who my characters are and what they're really like and what's in their minds, then I can write their story

GW: What is it about the romance genre that appeals?

KW: Well, part of the answer to question one applies here too. I love telling stories - when I was little, my mother used to read to me and my sisters at night, when we were in bed, or sometimes sitting round the fire - and that's the way that storytelling was practised in the past.  Also, I'm fascinated by people, by relationships, by the way that men and women interact and sometimes it works wonderfully well and other times it fails miserably.

Love stories are universal, ageless. It always amazes me that what I write, living in Lincolnshire UK, is read and enjoyed by women in countries from USA to Japan, Russia and Greece and dozens more. It's that universal, ageless appeal of what happens when two people come together, learn about each other, tackle problems, fall in lust, fall in love, and hopefully make a lifetime commitment that will make them both happy.  The story of people meeting and being attracted, the ‘courtship' and the problems that get in the way of it are endlessly fascinating - half the plot lines in the ‘soaps' wouldn't exist if they didn't follow those themes. It's the ‘will they- won't they' questioning that grips readers or viewers and holds them. So much so, that in a soap, it seems that no sooner has a couple become happy, committed and settled than the script writers have to start running the relationship, breaking them up so they can go through the whole ‘will they/won't they' scenario again - with someone else, or with the same person all over again. In romance, we do much the same - but we write about a different couple instead, so we can tell the story again from new. The reader knows what they expect - they know the ending - that's a convention - but they like to see how it happens - to go through that with the characters.

And the wonderful thing about romance is the way that it speaks to millions of women all over the world, women in different jobs, different family situations, woman aged  from 15 to 95 - who wouldn't want an audience like that? And who wouldn't want to write on a theme that has been celebrated and written about from the earliest  primitive story tellers to the mass market of the modern day?

GW: How do you manage to stay fresh in a genre that is to some extent formulaic?

KW: The truth is that the whole idea of romance being written 'to a formula' is heavily overdone and tends to be one of those universal myths that is  repeated over and over again without ever really being looked at properly. If there is a 'formula' to writing romance then the honest truth is that I've never found it in the 20 years I've been writing them!

There is a format for romance, just as there is a format for, say, a thriller or a western or a detective novel - a set of bones, a skeleton, around which the story is hung. There's a basic plotline - boy meets girl, they are strongly attracted but there is some conflict/some problem/some complication that keeps them apart and prevents them rushing straight to the happy ever after. Through working out that conflict/problem, they come to really know each other and realise they want to be together. There is a convention of a happy ending in a romance novel, with the hope of the couple being happy together in the future.

But this is only a format in the same way that, say a sonnet is a form of poetry that then lends itself to endless permutations of different topics, ideas, thoughts, images. Basically, the writer follows the set pattern that is defined as  'a sonnet' - or 'a romance'  - but then is free to work within that framework  to create the story, the book, they want. There are innumerable different types of romances - Modern, Historical, Medical, Fantasy. Intrigue . . .

The way to keep fresh is to forget about any ideas of a 'formula' or thoughts of restrictions - that usually don't exist - or 'rules' that are a fiction in the minds of people who don't really have any knowledge or experience of writing to a popular and demanding market.  The way that I keep the freshness is that each new book is a new story - and, more importantly, it has a whole new set of characters. The hero and heroine in Book A are not going to be the same age, same nationality, have the same jobs, the same relationships, the same problems, the same life history as the hero and heroine in Book B or Book X  Y or Z - and it's those characters I write about, not any 'formula' that must be followed.

The problem is that people - critics who've never read one - journalists who've never read one - or perhaps only one! - and who delight in perpetuating the many urban myths bout writing romance, and especially writing for Harlequin Mills and Boon - people who've got their opinions of the genre from those inaccurate and usually hugely outdated reports - are the ones who have the ‘formulaic' opinions and thoughts on what a romance is and what writing it is like. They have one set image of a romance - and a romance writer - in their heads - and it's usually based on the vivid and totally unrepresentative image of the late Barbara Cartland. As a result, there is an image or romances and romance writers that is years out of date.  People get stuck with that image and because they never read the books, they never see how much in fact the genre has changed and developed over time.

When people know I write for Mills & Boon, they tell me the stories of the ‘rulebook' they say M&B  writers have to follow - I've also been told about the computer that apparently writes the books - program in the name and nationality of the heroine the hero, the jobs they do .  .etc . . . press the right key and the computer whirrs away and comes up with a brand now romance story, carefully calculated according to the formula! I wish it was that easy! The problem is that ‘everyone knows' what a Mills & Boon book is like and they tell me all about it - without stopping to think that I'm the one who's  been writing these books for 20 years and maybe I know a little more than they do.  I can honestly say that writing strong, emotional stories that are consistently popular and interesting to the readership is far more of a challenge than, say, writing my thesis for my MA ever was.

GW: What is your writing routine? Are you disciplined in your work? How do you prevent 'real life' from intruding?

KW: When I'm writing, I tend to be an ‘all or nothing' writer. I write long hours, sticking with a story while it's working and while the emotional intensity is right.  So I've been known  to start at 6am and work through until 10pm or later. But that's when I'm at the writing stage of a story. There's a lot of thinking and planning and working through ideas before I get to that point. So sometimes I can look as if I'm working really really hard because I'm at the keyboard and the words are flowing out, and then other times I might not be actually writing but answering emails, or interviews like this - or just filing, or doing accounts, but at the back of my mind, my characters and their plot are waiting, growing, developing.

I try to work office hours - and then it depends on what stage I'm at with a book as to what I spend most of my time doing. Of course, as a fulltime, self-employed writer, there are plenty of other office jobs that are not just creating the stories. I find that the part of my mind that deals with admin is not the same part as the one that creates so I work on the different things separately.

It's hard to prevent real life from intruding - especially when you work from home but the words that matter are that this is a job - not a hobby or fun, it earns money, pays the bills. And the other word is professional. I am under contract to produce 3 books a year. That's 55,000 words minimum every four months - more if a book needs revisions. I have deadlines on which I am expected to deliver the books, and there are slots in the publishing schedule allocated to the next Kate Walker. That means I have to be professional and arrange my life and work so that I deliver. I use and answer machine on my phone quite ruthlessly - too many people think that saying ‘I won't keep you long' means they aren't distracting you, when often just speaking to someone else can destroy the scene you had in your head.  I treat this as a job. I write when my husband is at work, and  then I can relax when he does. The knowledge that there is that deadline waiting for you to - and the fact that if you don't fill your slot then someone else will get it concentrates the mind wonderfully. You need to keep your name current and out there in the mass market publishing world.

GW: Tell us the story of how you got your first novel published.

KW: After some years working as a Children's Librarian, I left work when I had my son. That was when I first decided to concentrate on writing and aiming for publication in what spare time I had.  My first attempts at novels were written on the kitchen table, often late into the night when my son was asleep or during a few snatched hours when he was out at nursery school.

The first novel sent off to Harlequin Mills & Boon was rejected, and I'm not surprised. The worst mistake I made was to go along with that ‘formula' idea that everyone knew what Mills & boon romances were like. I'd read some M&Bs written by a friend of my mother some years before and assumed that was what they were still like - I couldn't have been more wrong! So before I wrote the second attempt, I read a lot more of the more up to date stories and I know the second book was much better because it came back with a positive letter. It said that there had been a lot about the manuscript that the editor had enjoyed and pointed out why they had rejected it, They suggested some authors I should read who seemed to write the same sort of story as I did, and try again. So I did, and my  third attempt was successful. I can still remember the moment that a letter arrived instead of the rejection slip I had been dreading. I think I must have read it over and over at least a hundred times before the reality of what it said sank in, and for days I kept checking it just to make sure I wasn't dreaming. In 1984, The Chalk Line was published just in time to be one of my best Christmas presents ever.

I always say that my first acceptance was the result of delirium. I had a dose of flu and a temperature of 102. My husband put me to bed with some aspirin and a hot drink but  a couple of hours later, I came downstairs declaring that I had an idea for a book and I wouldn't go back to bed until I'd noted it all down. It must have been intriguing and different because, as I say, The Chalk Line was accepted with just a few revsions.

GW: There's a certain preconception that certain kinds of romance novels are 'easy' to write. What would you say to that?

There's a famous quote by Enrique Jardiel Poncela that says:
"When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing. "

And that really applies to writing romance - or writing any form of ‘easy reading.' As I said, I used to work as a children's librarian, and a lot of people think that writing for children must be really easy - simple stories, simple plots, simple language. But it isn't like that., Writing ‘simple stories' can be one of the hardest things in the world. You need a good storytelling style, you need interesting characters. You need a plot.
Plots - well, there are theories that there are only seven or so plots in the whole of literature anyway..  Some say twelve, but however many there are, it's limited. And romance plots are very limited too. That's why so many of the same or the tried and tested plots come up again and again.

So it's very difficult, if not actually impossible, to write a romance plot, or any popular reading, that hasn't been written before and probably a thousand times over. So the difficulty comes in creating characters, a setting, an individual touch that creates a whole new world in which the same plot can be acted out but with different characters, different touches, different motivations so that although the reader knows they are reading that plot again, it has a freshness and an interest to make them want to know what happens this time, to these characters whose story they have never read before.

It isn't really possible to be original and different - but it is possible to put in your own individual style, adding individual touches that make the book authentically ‘yours'. And that's what an editor is looking for  - they're looking for an author who can  take the tried and tested storylines and create a book that readers will recognise as a Kate Walker novel, or whatever. Editorial don't want a pale copy of some of the famous names - Michelle Reid, Lynne Graham etc - they want a brand new Jenny Jones or Susan Smith.                                     

The reader who picks up a romance knows exactly what she's going to get but that doesn't mean she wants to have exactly the same thing dished up to her each time. It's like writing pop music really - it needs to be appealing, close enough to other records that have been brought out to be recognisable, but different enough not just to be just the same and so boring. That's not an easy task!

GW: Are there any story themes or styles that appear more commercial or easier to sell to a publisher?

KW: It depends on the line. One thing that many would-be romance writers neglect to do is to study their market. They think ‘M&B buy romances - a romance is boy meets girl . . .' and they set to to write a story.

But if you take a look at the Mills & Boon shelves, you'll see that there are so many different lines - Modern Romance, Tender Romance, Medical, Historical, Sensual, There's Silhouette Desire, Special Edition, Sensation, Intrigue, Superomance. And each of those lines has its own individual approach, themes, levels of sensuality, types of characters. The line I write for - Modern Romance or Harlequin Presents in the USA - has a very sophisticated feel, the themes I write about can been dark and deeply emotional - revenge, blackmail, broken marriages. I've just written about the effect that a miscarriage has on a relationship. The themes of a Modern romance are strong and they can be things that could tear a marriage or a relationship apart, or stop an relationship developing.  They're not just books about people arguing and not liking each other until they finally say ‘I love you.' They are about people working out their problems.

Each line has its own individual ‘flavour' so a writer needs to be a reader first. Read, read, read - read all the types of romance and see which ones you enjoy. See which ones appeal and which ones you feel you could write yourself.

And that reading will also show you what themes or styles the editors of those particular lines are looking for. There are guidelines available - on the Mills & Boon web site or the American site for the whole of Harlequin and those can give some help but the real way to get a feel for the line you're writing is to read it. Read the authors who are successful in that line and see why they are being bought in thousands and thousands of copies.

There are always ‘hooks'  and very popular  themes like marriages of convenience or  ‘Secret Baby' plots  - I deal with a lot of these in my award-winning how to write romance guide Kate Walker's Twelve Point Guide to Writing Romance (Studymates) but they aren't all the same for each line - and knowing the popular themes isn't any help without also knowing the flavour of the line.

GW: Does writing romance novels pay the bills? What would you say to someone who intends to quit their job and write full-time?

KW: For me, yes, writing romances pays the bills - and pays them very nicely thank you!

But - and you knew there was a but coming, didn't you. - I have to be practical - and truthful - and say that yes, writing romance brings me in a very nice income, more than I would be earning if I'd stayed in librarianship - but it does so because

1. I've been writing for over 20 years (my first book was published in December 1984)
2. I've written regularly and my books have appeared frequently  - as I said, I'm contracted to write 3 books a year and I've just completed my 45th title and I'm busy with the 46th.
3. I write for Modern Romance - a line that sells particularly well both here in the UK and abroad. In America, as Presents, it is probably the top selling line of all romance. But other lines don't perform as well. Sometimes lines are closed because they are not selling very well - there are some changes coming up with some of the lines in 2006 that are as a result of that.
4. I'm sold internationally and have been doing so for years - I've sold millions of copies of my books and that takes time to build up and  hard work to maintain.

There is a myth that selling to Mills & Boon is a fast track to instant riches and tax exile. But it's a rare author who is picked up as a first timer and sells fast, instantly - and then stays at the top. Readers need time to get to recognise an author's name, to build author recognition. If they like you, the rewards can be great  - but if they don't, your book could end up pulped - there was a story not too long ago about how motorways were built on pulped, remaindered M&B titles, so your book could end up there!- it's that pop music image again - if you hit the right note, you can become famous, make money - but you have to do it again and again and again. And you have to keep current and up to date - and popular.

Harlequin Mills & Boon books are sold all over the world - my books have been published in dozens of languages, in over 35 countries - and all those sales add to my income. But not every author is picked up by the international market - and not every international market is big - I'm lucky, I sell well in America and Japan where the market is big and that helps up my income.

So to anyone thinking of quitting their job and writing fulltime, I'd advise caution. Even if you make good money, it can take up to three years to come in from some of the foreign markets, you are only paid royalties every six months, and the percentage isn't huge. I was advised not to give up the day job for about five years - and certainly I wasn't earning a living wage for several years from the beginning.  

There is money to be made in romance writing - some authors can make huge amounts but it takes time, it depends on the popularity of line you're in, whether the readers take to you, whether you can keep up the regular output that makes the income regular.

GW: How important is getting an agent?

KW: I've never had an agent; never needed one. The Harlequin Mills & Boon contract is a standard contract and it stays the same with each author, whether on the first book or the 100th. I've never heard of any agent being able to negotiate anything different for any of their authors and I've always been able to deal with the business aspects of my writing myself.

If I wrote something else, for another publisher it would probably be a different matter, but as things are, it's probably a waste of money. And of course M&B read all the submissions they receive with the same attention whether they are unsolicited or come from agents so you are just as likely to be picked up if you submit yourself rather than going through an agent.

GW: How important is self-publicity?

KW: Well, as someone who is published by one of - if not the most recognised names in the whole of publishing, I start of with a distinct advantage here. Shops and supermarkets have designated Mills & Boon shelves -  many buyers are regular readers who know that the books are replaced every month, and so they're looking for the new books on the specific date. There's a readers' club with thousands of readers buying by subscription. So there's already a huge audience who are brought direct to that section of the shop - they drawn there by the M&B - or, abroad, the Harlequin name and imprint. And the books are displayed, not just shelved with only the spine showing out.

But then of course when they get to that section, there are dozens of romances by different authors. So you hope the readers will pick your book from amongst all those others. And the other problem is that the UK market is minimal compared to the USA market. So it helps to be known in America. I can't do signings etc in America - but I do have a web site where I have information about new books and dates of publication for both UK and USA readers.  I have my books reviewed on specific category romance web sites in America and I have done ‘chats' and contests on those to bring my name forward.

But I really believe that the best way to win popularity is to write the best book you can. If a reader buys your book and loves it, she'll look for the next one - if she doesn't enjoy it, then all the publicity in the world won't make her buy your next.

GW: What are your do's and don'ts in writing a romance?

KW: Read, read read.

Treat the genre with respect and don't see it as silly books written by silly women for other silly women to read. The romance market is huge - huge numbers of readers, potentially huge numbers of sales. They love what they read - and they read it for enjoyment. And they can be highly critical of what they read. If you can love what you write and write it for enjoyment - your and theirs - you'll have a chance of winning them to your books. Cynicism, or the fact that a book is just ‘dashed off' or ‘churned' out' to make a fast buck shows and turns the readers away.

Learn about the differences between the lines and what the editors are looking for.

Learn what is currently being written, not what used to be written in 1994 or 1974 or 1964 - romance is a growing, changing genre, not something that is ‘all the same'

Don't try to copy any of the established stars by rehashing their plots and just changing the names, settings etc - the editors are looking for new, original voice, not  pale copies of established stars.

Don't believe there's a simple, easy formula and all you have top do is to write according to that formula and you're made. Write because you enjoy writing (and hopefully enjoy reading too.) If the only thing you're looking for is to arrive at the destination (being published) then there's a huge likelihood you'll be disappointed. But if you enjoy the journey then you'll have a great time, no matter how great or how little success you have.
 
GW: What's the most important thing you've learned about writing for publication?

KW: There are no days when you can ‘coast' - no writing you can do on automatic pilot. You are only as good as your latest book - if the reader liked the one you wrote last time, she'll pick up the one you've just published. But if you disappoint her then, she may never be back. So ‘it'll do' doesn't work.

And nothing ever happens quickly in publishing! Editors take ages to read submissions,  when a book is scheduled it's usually a year or so before it comes out, and the royalties from that book are only paid out every six months - if they've been collected in. If not, you're waiting again for the next six months.

So the most important thing is to be realistic. Don't expect to just dash of a simple book, a book that's ‘just the same' as all the others and expect to win instant fame and fortune.  


Kate Walker's books are available from supermarkets and bookshops everywhere, and online at Amazon. Kate's website is here, where you can find out more about her novels, her advice for writers, and the thing about the tiger.

For more information about the Romantic Novelists' Association, and for details of upcoming events (including the Commercial Women's Fiction workshop in October) visit the RNA website.