Nina M fell in love with hot book boyfriends after stumbling onto the romance aisle at the library while studying at university. Shortly after she discovered Mills & Boon and dived into the intriguing world of heroes and stubborn heroines who always found love in the end.
With an ever-growing book shelf of ‘sexy books’ as her mother calls it, Nina has read hundreds of books, and has currently developed a slight addiction to paranormal romances, cowboy tales now and then or contemporary stories.
Having joined the Melbourne Romance Writing Guild, she’s found her place where talking and writing about sexy fairytales that stay with you forever isn’t a weird dream, and couldn’t be happier as her writing craft gets better, as does her storytelling in the romance genre.
She’s had poems published in the Victoria University Platform magazine and The Colony. In 2015 she had a short story published in the Sweet & Spicy anthology by Melbourne Romance Writers Guild which was later self-published as a stand-alone The Blind Date.
A little about the anthology and how you became involved.
In early 2015 when the MRWG members suggested that we publish an anthology to celebrate the group’s 25th anniversary, a big part of me was excited. I’d just started writing a story while doing my writing course the previous year, but never knew how I’d get my stories off the ground. Sure we have a well known editor in the group and most members are published who could help heaps, but as a newbie I had my doubts about finishing the story and ever getting published. The thought of getting my work published alongside my group members and starting to put some light to my pen name looked like a great opportunity and I threw myself into the challenge. I learned a lot and I’m starting to improve in many aspects of my writing. While I work towards getting a novella or a novel length story done and dusted to pitch, I’ll keep contributing to the anthology because I’m in the same boat as people who are learning along with me, and it builds your public profile.
Are you a plotter or a ‘panster’?
I could say I’m a 50% plotter. Before I begin writing a story the plotline is usually in my head but I always jot down at least a sentence about the different scenes I’ve envisioned in my story, just in case the details get jumbled up and later on it’s a mess. But I wouldn’t say I write down a lot in my plot, just a few words per sentence as reminders BUT sometimes when writing a short story, I just do it all from my head.
Favourite genre you either read or write?
So far, I’m interested in writing Contemporary romance stories. I've had this urge to write paranormal, the other subgenre that I read a lot next to contemporary, but since I’m just beginning my writing journey I’ve decided to write contemporary until I know all rules before including Paranormal, although my latest short story to appear in the MRWG 2017 anthology is a paranormal tale that I wanted to test out. In the past, I read more paranormal and SEXY Mills & Boon –although I still feel I have a long way to go before I can write for them—than any other genre, but I knew I’d have little manoeuvre space when writing so I’m slowly expanding my horizons.
What makes a great hero?
For me I like a guy who knows himself. Yes most of romance heroes start off overconfident or obnoxious, but I like a realistic hero. When I pick up a book, I always look forward to the guy sweeping me off my feet just like the heroine, and that his values, drive, and views are things that you could find in man in the real world, not 100% but most of the time. He’s got to be reliable, understanding and a character that is willing to grow and find a place in my heart.
What made you want to be an author?
As a little girl, I’d see my aunt engrossed in books and when we asked her to tell us a story, she always had something captivating to tell. I just recently realised that a part of me liked that her stories flowed, and I remember never wanting them to end. So from a young age I dreamed of reading these kinds of stories that she told and seeing these worlds she transported us to, and as I read I found I had ideas of my own until one day I decided to write a short tale down. It didn’t shine like my aunt’s stories, but the process of putting down my thoughts and adding colour to them interested me.
Find out more about Nina :
Facebook
Blog
With an ever-growing book shelf of ‘sexy books’ as her mother calls it, Nina has read hundreds of books, and has currently developed a slight addiction to paranormal romances, cowboy tales now and then or contemporary stories.
Having joined the Melbourne Romance Writing Guild, she’s found her place where talking and writing about sexy fairytales that stay with you forever isn’t a weird dream, and couldn’t be happier as her writing craft gets better, as does her storytelling in the romance genre.
She’s had poems published in the Victoria University Platform magazine and The Colony. In 2015 she had a short story published in the Sweet & Spicy anthology by Melbourne Romance Writers Guild which was later self-published as a stand-alone The Blind Date.
A little about the anthology and how you became involved.
In early 2015 when the MRWG members suggested that we publish an anthology to celebrate the group’s 25th anniversary, a big part of me was excited. I’d just started writing a story while doing my writing course the previous year, but never knew how I’d get my stories off the ground. Sure we have a well known editor in the group and most members are published who could help heaps, but as a newbie I had my doubts about finishing the story and ever getting published. The thought of getting my work published alongside my group members and starting to put some light to my pen name looked like a great opportunity and I threw myself into the challenge. I learned a lot and I’m starting to improve in many aspects of my writing. While I work towards getting a novella or a novel length story done and dusted to pitch, I’ll keep contributing to the anthology because I’m in the same boat as people who are learning along with me, and it builds your public profile.
Are you a plotter or a ‘panster’?
I could say I’m a 50% plotter. Before I begin writing a story the plotline is usually in my head but I always jot down at least a sentence about the different scenes I’ve envisioned in my story, just in case the details get jumbled up and later on it’s a mess. But I wouldn’t say I write down a lot in my plot, just a few words per sentence as reminders BUT sometimes when writing a short story, I just do it all from my head.
Favourite genre you either read or write?
So far, I’m interested in writing Contemporary romance stories. I've had this urge to write paranormal, the other subgenre that I read a lot next to contemporary, but since I’m just beginning my writing journey I’ve decided to write contemporary until I know all rules before including Paranormal, although my latest short story to appear in the MRWG 2017 anthology is a paranormal tale that I wanted to test out. In the past, I read more paranormal and SEXY Mills & Boon –although I still feel I have a long way to go before I can write for them—than any other genre, but I knew I’d have little manoeuvre space when writing so I’m slowly expanding my horizons.
What makes a great hero?
For me I like a guy who knows himself. Yes most of romance heroes start off overconfident or obnoxious, but I like a realistic hero. When I pick up a book, I always look forward to the guy sweeping me off my feet just like the heroine, and that his values, drive, and views are things that you could find in man in the real world, not 100% but most of the time. He’s got to be reliable, understanding and a character that is willing to grow and find a place in my heart.
What made you want to be an author?
As a little girl, I’d see my aunt engrossed in books and when we asked her to tell us a story, she always had something captivating to tell. I just recently realised that a part of me liked that her stories flowed, and I remember never wanting them to end. So from a young age I dreamed of reading these kinds of stories that she told and seeing these worlds she transported us to, and as I read I found I had ideas of my own until one day I decided to write a short tale down. It didn’t shine like my aunt’s stories, but the process of putting down my thoughts and adding colour to them interested me.
Find out more about Nina :
Blog
 Available in 'Taste of Romance' - click cover to purchase |  Click cover to purchase |
Excerpt from 'A Mate At Last'
A warm hand settles over mine that leans on the balcony. Heat emanates off him and flows into me. Suddenly, my body snaps and jerks. Transfixed, I feel a calming aura settle over me, and heat-like the sunrays on your skin on summer mornings.
A vision unravels before my eyes. I see our faces looking at me before they look at each other. Our bodies standing at a meadow are illuminated. My hands are on his chest and I’m looking into his eyes; his hand strokes the side of my face. The sound of children rings around there somewhere.
Our cubs.
I jerk back and snatch my hand away, turn to look at him and wonder if he saw it too.
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