One of the highlights of the year for me is to catch up with who has been shortlisted for the Prestigious Romantic Novelists Association awards. The shortlists were announced this week and cover every type of romance fiction.

Last year I was fortunate enough to be shortlisted for my very first Mills and Boon Romance Line Book – ‘Always the Bridesmaid’ and know from first hand experience how totally exhiliarating and exciting being shortlisted can be. My good friend Nell Dixon won the ‘Love Story of the Year’ award in 2010 for her terrific book ‘Animal Instincts.’ The shortlist for this award this year is so varied that it will fascinating to discover the judge’s decision.

Of course Valentine’s Day always brings the attention of the media, and this year there was a very special opportunity since it coincides with the launch of the RIVA series in the UK. Heidi Rice ran some workshops on how to write for Mills and Boon at the Selfridges Department Store in London , which were visited by the Daily Telegraph journalists. Go HERE to read what they had to say.

Some of the article was a little snarky but overall I think reasonable. We have to grow thick skins in this business to cope with the arrogant snobbines which denegrates popular fiction of any type – and in doing so insults the readers. Which is the ultimate crime.

I am now going to be very shallow and say that I was quite pleased that the RIVA books on the shelves behind Heidi and Anna included my own book [ green and yellow sunflowers] which was released this month. Squee.

Happy Valentine’s Day!