Friday saw the annual Association of Mills and Boon Authors
lunch with the Toast to the Authors following in the evening.
It is always a glamorous occasion and this year was no
exception. In fact, this year, Mills and Boon gave each of attending authors a
small goodie bag which included a small bottle of champagne, chocolate (Kir
Royale), a pink notebook, pen and a candle which helped to make it more
special. The authors also had a photo shoot with a professional photographer.
As ever the event was well attended. I ended up sitting next
to Tim Cooper who is the Director of Digital and Dirct for Mills and Boon and
Historical author Barbara Monajem. Both very charming lunch companions. Also on
the table was Kate Hardy who is celebrating her 50th book (in ten
years!) I met the lovely Lynne Grahame for the first time.
Among other things we were treated to a sneak peak of the
covers for the new KISS line (debuting in the US in Feburary 2013).
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| Kate Hardy gets her 50 books (in 10 years!) pin |
After the lunch, and photo, I had tea with Kate Hardy, Caroline
Anderson and several other medical authors before going to the toast. We were
met with champagne.
My editor was already there and looking beautiful in white
with these fantastic candy floss pink shoes. I was also able to meet several of
the newer editorial assistants including Katharyn Carlisle who started two days
ago. She is primarily working with the Riva/KISS team. Sadly, a number of
editors are leaving – for a variety of reasons, including 2 pregnancies and moving over to the single title section of M&B UK. All
departing editors were given flowers.
The highlight of the evening happened when an American
author (who shall remain nameless but writes for the relaunched Riva) slipped outside for a cigarette break and
ended up literally slipping on the cobblestones. These things happen to
authors particularly authors of fun flirty romances.
An off duty policeman who also
had just married at the hotel that afternoon rescued her and escorted her back
to the party. Truly a hero. It turned out that his bride is a HUGE Mills and Boon reader.
Once he learnt who we were, he went back for his bride as she'd never believe this.
The bride approached the dying embers of the party with some
scepticism as she thought her new husband was teasing her which quickly turned
to unbridled joy when she realised that we were indeed Mills and Boon. Her
dress was utterly gorgeous. She claimed to be near 50 but looked far younger. She was given a goodie bag (or two – to make sure
she had enough champagne). She confided that she kept her M&B books in
shoeboxes, read all sorts but had a real fondness for the more steamy ones.
It was an utterly surreal moment.
And a fitting end to the 2012 AMBA lunch and party.
Sometimes you can’t make these things up!
Michelle Styles writes warm, witty and intimate historical romance for Harlequin Historical. Her next release is Hattie Wilkinson Meets Her Match (November 2012) You can read more about Michelle and her books on www.michellestyles.co.uk
6 comments:
Thanks for the recap! I was wondering how it went! Sounds wonderful.
Mills and Boon seems to know how
to host a great gathering, both
planned and impromptu! Best Wishes
to the bride and groom for a long
life together!!!
Pat C.
A perfect ending for what sounds like a fabulous time.
it'd be wonderful time there :)
It was wonderful!
Pat -- I think everyone at M&b hopes the couple will be v happy. The groom seemed v caring but didn't understand why his bride was such a huge fan. Apparently it really made her day.
It sounds like everyone had a wonderful time. How great that the bride got to meet some of the M & B crowd. What a special wedding treat for her.
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