Melanie Milburne is the author of many romance novels, most recently His Innocent’s Passionate Awakening. She read her first Harlequin Mills and Boon novel at age seventeen in between studying for her final exams. After completing a Masters Degree in Education she decided to write a novel and thus her career as a romance author was born. Melanie is an ambassador for the Australian Childhood Foundation and is a keen dog lover and trainer and enjoys long walks in the Tasmanian bush. In 2015 Melanie won the HOLT Medallion, a prestigous award honouring outstanding literary talent.
Today, Melanie Milburne is on the blog to tell us all about her new book and all things reading and writing. Read on!
Melanie Milburne
Please tell us about your latest book!
My latest book is a modern-day retelling of Sleeping Beauty. My heroine, Artemisia Bellante, has severe social phobia and hasn’t been outside her crumbling Castello for a decade. My hero, Luca Ferrantelli, offers Artie a fortune to be his wife on paper in order to convince his beloved grandfather to have much-needed chemo. She can fix her home and have money to spare but only if she is seen in public with her handsome husband. But how can a shy shut-in like Artie live in the fast-paced world of Luca?
What do you love so much about writing?
I enjoy the writing of my first sentence, not always knowing exactly where my characters are taking me, and then a few weeks later typing ‘The End’. It is so satisfying to complete a manuscript that a few months later will be in readers’ hands. I am often surprised by what is lurking about in my subconscious!
What does a typical writing day look like for you?
I am a morning person, so I aim for 1000 words before lunch and another 1000 in the afternoon. It doesn’t always work out that way but I aim for 10,000 words a week. Some days will be 500-word days, others will be 5000. But somehow, it all works itself out … sort of!
What’s the first thing you do after you’ve delivered a finished book?
I have a day or two off and then I get restless to start another one. I am not all that good at doing nothing!
What’s one bit of writing advice that’s stuck with you?
Finish the damn book! The legendary Emma Darcy said that at a conference many years ago and it has really stuck in my head. It is so easy to walk away from a manuscript when it’s not working for you. But I would have walked away from every one of my 88 books if I hadn’t taken on board that advice. The book won’t be perfect but at least you will have something to whip into shape if you get the words on the page.
And finally … name five books that you love or that inspire you and tell us why you love them!
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I love the trope of enemies to lovers and I particularly love the way Mr Darcy falls so deeply in love with Lizzie Bennett. I read it every couple of years and always find myself smiling at the end. What a masterpiece.
Mary Stewart’s Nine Coaches Waiting. This is another book I reread every couple of years because it has all the elements of a fabulous page-turning romance. A dashing hero and ingenue heroine who come from different worlds and yet manage to overcome impossible odds to be together.
And for something a little more modern, Minnie Darke’s Star-Crossed was a brilliant read. I laughed out loud most of the way through it. So clever and witty and utterly satisfying as a romantic read.
I know Me Before You by Jojo Moyes is not a happy ending romance but I loved it so much. Very few books make me weep – that usually only happens when I watch movies. The book and the movie adaptation have stayed with me in a way few books or movies do.
And last but not least, another Mary Stewart book. This Rough Magic is one of my all-time favourite reads. It is so romantic and full of nail-biting suspense. Max the hero and his wonderful father Julian were so fabulously drawn as characters. And Lucy the heroine was so courageous and certainly deserved her happy ending.
Thanks Melanie!
—His Innocent’s Passionate Awakening by Melanie Milburne (Mills & Boon) is out now.
His Innocent's Passionate Awakening
Once Upon a Temptation: Book 8
Rather than lose her beloved estate to ultrarich playboy Luca Ferrantelli, Artemisia agrees to wed him…on paper. Traumatized by a devastating accident, the heiress hasn’t left the castello in years. She knows nothing of the world outside—nothing of a man’s touch.
If there’s a chance that marrying Artie will give his grandfather the will to live, Luca must do it. But he’s determined to resist the addictive pull of Artie’s vibrancy and vulnerability. Until their scorching wedding kiss stirs the beauty to sensual new life!
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