Guest Author: Pippa Roscoe

 My guest author today lives in Norfolk in the UK but has attended two Romance Writers of Australia conferences in Melbourne. The first time she attended she wore an editorial hat, representing Harlequin Mills & Boon and taking pitches from romance authors who aspired to be published in a Mills & Boon line. This year, she came as an established romance author who now writes “passionate, sexy, powerful Mills & Boon romances with Happy-Ever-Afters, always”!

 I was fortunate enough to meet Pippa Roscoe at her first RWA at a Harlequin author’s cocktail party, where I mentioned I had been reading stories from the Presents line since my teens. Pippa asked me to send her three chapters. Now, because I was busy writing my medieval romances and contemporary romances for Escape Publishing, it took a while for me to get the chapters to her. I still can’t believe that she took the time out of her very busy last day as an editor at Harlequin Mills & Boon to send me some feedback and copied another editor into the email suggesting I might like to submit to her directly. Amazing! I’m still blown away by how kind she was to look at my chapters personally as she was clearing her desk — that she had such professional commitment.

When Pippa told me she was leaving her editorial position to be a Mills & Boon Presents author, I was thrilled for her and determined I would buy her first story. Unsurprisingly I enjoyed it and have since purchased all her titles as they’ve been released.

It’s my very great pleasure to welcome Pippa Roscoe as my guest author today!

Hi Pippa and welcome to the blog!

Thank you for having me. It’s always a pleasure!

First I’d like to talk about your transition from being a Mills & Boon editor to being a Mills & Boon author. You were in London as an editor for five years. When did you decide that you wanted to swap roles and how did that happen—did you sign a contract first?

It’s such an interesting question! I grew up in London and spent all my life there, but it was actually the desire to be closer to my family - most of whom live in Norfolk - that mainly caused the change. I think we get to points in our lives when family becomes more important than ever. I knew that I wanted to ensure that my time was spent actually being present in their lives, not just dropping in once a month or even less. That began to creep in at the same time as I started to wonder about ‘what would happen if…’ For me this is how most of my stories start. What would happen if you could tell a romance in ‘real time’? This became my debut, Conquering His Virgin Queen, where each chapter takes place over an hour. 

Soon I realised that I wanted to explore these stories on paper and not just in my head. It was so hard to leave the editorial department – my colleagues and the authors I worked with were such a huge and important part of my life. They had inspired, encouraged, supported me for five years. But the ‘what if’ had begun to be about my own life too. And I realised that it was something I really wanted to try. So, I left Mills & Boon, sold my flat in London and moved into my little cottage in Norfolk and started typing! It was just under a year later when I received ‘the call’. 

                                       

Thanks for sharing that. I had wondered whether perhaps you had a contract before you resigned your position. I think it's fabulous you took a leap of faith in your own abilities and made the transition. So often as writers we are told, don't give up your day job!!

As an editor did you make any discoveries of new authors from the famous slush-pile?

I was absolutely thrilled to find two new wonderful authors in my time at Mills & Boon. My first was Tara Pammi. I still remember reading her first three chapters and being completely swept away by the drama and power in her voice! My second came through Brenda Novak’s Online Auction for Diabetes Research. I had offered to evaluate three chapters and Angela Bissell’s opening was fabulously mesmerising! There are so many different ways to be published, but no matter how you get there, it’s always the greatest, most wonderful moment when it does happen. Over the years I have worked with some incredible authors, established, emerging, and some still on their way to publication. Each and everyone of them has been a source of inspiration and joy that I am greatly thankful for.

                                     

I enjoy Tara Pammi's stories but hadn't realised you were the one who "discovered" her.  I was fortunate enough to meet Tara at an RT convention at an event that Dani Collins hosted with some other presents authors. We had a fabulous time at the event.

Would you please tell us a little about your latest release, Virgin Princess's Marriage Debt?

VIRGIN PRINCESS'S MARRIAGE DEBT​

‘I want what you once promised me…’

The Greek’s demanding proposal!

At an opulent Paris ball, Princess Sofia meets a man she never thought she’d see again—billionaire Theo Tersi. Theo’s certain she abandoned him years earlier, but in truth, heart-broken Sofia was forced to return to her royal duties. Now, as their chemistry reignites, Theo creates a scandal to finally claim Sofia’s hand—in marriage! But can their desire overcome his quest for passionate revenge?

Theo and Sofia’s story was a really interesting one for me. In fact, I had to walk away from it for a time, because in the first draft something wasn’t quite working for me. It was an amazing learning experience – to be able to come back to something that was problematic, identify what it was that was causing the difficulties and work through that. But Sofia and Theo were demanding that their story be told! I’m a massive fan of revenge stories and the moment when the hero realises that he’s been so very wrong and that he must change his ways! It’s a great journey to take a character on as an author.

Yes, it's always lovely to see an alpha hero have to eat humble pie!!

You love “gorgeous brooding alpha heroes” and “sympathetic, innocent heroines”. Do you have any other favourite tropes?

As I’ve said, I do love a revenge story. But really, I enjoy them all! Give me a secret baby, a marriage of convenience, a marriage reunited, a working together trope. All of these allow for ample opportunity to explore that incredible tension between the hero and heroine that draws us in and makes us forget that the happy-ever-after will happen, within that precise security that the happy-ever-after will happen!

A RING FOR HIS REVENGE certainly highlights your love of the revenge trope!  

                                

What’s next for you as an author?

In March 2020, Demanding His Billion-Dollar-Heir will be on sale. I really love this story! Maria and Matthieu were so present in my mind throughout the writing of the book that I just couldn’t shut them up! Almost the entire story came from a piece of jewellery I saw, made by a friend of my sister’s, and I love that from such a small moment came an entire story!

Demanding His Billion-dollar-Heir

The woman he can’t forget…

The son he can’t deny!

Wild. Powerful. Ultrarich. Matthieu’s reputation was infamous. And he wanted to keep it that way! It was a way to shelter from the pain of his traumatic past. Until enchanting Maria entered his world of unimaginable wealth…and unraveled his carefully ordered life with a night of blistering passion.

She was the only woman to see the man behind the scars. Yet, to protect her, Matthieu pushed her away. Now Maria is back, with an announcement that leads him to question everything: “I’m pregnant.

Wow! I've made a note in my diary in December (for when I have my 2020 diary) to make a note in March  to look out for this title. (Does that make sense?!!) I'm intrigued as to how this piece of jewellery inspired your story!  

Thank you for joining me on the blog.

Thank you for having me! I’ve shared a little about what tropes I like most, but would love to hear what tropes the readers of this blog like most and why!

That's a great question, Pippa! I hope our readers will take a few minutes to leave a comment at the bottom of this page about their favourite tropes. It would be especially nice to hear from you all as I see all these "hits" from 90 odd countries coming up in my page stats yet sometimes it feels as though there really isn't anybody out there!!! Remember, if you have difficulty leaving a comment, you can email me direct and I will post it for you! (alyssaj.montgomeryromance@gmail.com)

If you’d like to learn more about Pippa and her passionate and emotional stories, please visit her website:  http://www.pipparoscoe.com/home.html

I hope you'll join me next week with my next guest author. Until then, Happy Reading!

Best wishes,
Alyssa

www.alyssajmontgomery.com

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About the Blogger:

Alyssa J. Montgomery is an Australian contemporary romance author who is published by Escape Publishing (Harlequin Enterprises, Australia) and writes polished, passionate stories including the Royal Affairs Series and Billionaires & Babies series. 

Her latest release is Seduced by the Stranger (October 4th, 2019) is Book 2 of The Billionaires & Babies series - stand alone reads but with characters who reappear in the trilogy.

The Magic of Christmas is scheduled for release on November 12th (Escape Publishing, Harlequin Enterprises, Australia)

NEWS!!!! Alyssa's title: THE IRRESISTIBLE ROYAL is now available on a $1.99 price promotion for readers in the USA. The promotion is running from the 7th to the 21st of October. 

See Alyssa's website for a list and description of all her books or go to the Harper Collins site:  https://www.harpercollins.com.au/cr-149414/alyssa-j-montgomery/   .

You can read a sneak peek of SEDUCED BY THE STRANGER on the romance.com.au site. Here's the link:
https://www.romance.com.au/read-a-sne...

The romance.com.au also has a sneak peek of THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS.
https://www.romance.com.au/read-a-sne...

If you would like to subscribe to Alyssa's mailing list (sent out with each new release) please email her at alyssaj.montgomeryromance@gmail.com 

Alyssa also writes medieval romance under the pen name Alyssa James.