Interview by Paula Roe

April  2002

The buzz at our 2001 Sydney Conference was unmistakable -- not only conference fever... Darcy Maguire had just become Mills & Boon’s newest Australian author. 

Darcy talks to Hearts Talk about writing, staying motivated and her future plans.

How did you get started writing?

I never contemplated being a writer until I read about Emma Darcy and her ‘how-to’ book in a women’s magazine, about six years ago. I had enjoyed school and had done well academically but deferred university to experience life. Ten years and four children later… I decided, with my youngest approaching school age, that I had a good shot at being a writer and there was no doubt as to what to write -- I read romance, I watched every movie with romance (as long as it had a happy ending) and dreamt about romance.

It took me almost a year to get any sort of serious words down on paper. I started writing by hand but deciphering my handwriting was impossible! Then I borrowed an old typewriter from a neighbour and that was almost as bad. I ended up saving for a computer, reading and researching while I counted pennies. Finally, after a year of struggling, I bought my computer and I could write. But then I had computer problems, battled for time with my young children and the housework, and wallowed in a ton of self doubt. I went through so much to get the first book written that I was sure I’d get accepted. So sure, that I wrote my second novel firmly in the delusion that any day I’d get the call. Four rejections and almost five years later…

Over the years did you think you’d ever get published? What motivated you?

I guess deep down I always thought I was going to get published. You can call it blind faith, or ignorance, but I knew (most of the time) it was going to happen - even if it took 20 years or more! There’s a quote I reminded myself of often -- “The difference between a published author and an unpublished one is that the unpublished one gave up!” And every time a rejection came (nasty little things) in the mail, I told myself the book I was in the process of writing would be the one to win me the Call, and that was enough to give me the courage to go on.

Can you tell me a little about the submission process from your viewpoint?

I sent a query letter and synopsis to the M&B office in London first, then had a request for the partial. Several weeks after I sent the partial they wanted to see the whole book. I don’t know what miracle occurred for such speed—every other partial took at least six months for a response!

How long before you got THE CALL saying they were going to publish?

I submitted the completed manuscript in February 2001 and received The Call six months later, in August. I was serving dinner at the time and was in absolute shock. I have to admit, I didn’t believe it, and had the poor editor, Lucy Mukerjee, trying to convince me it was for real. Finally it sunk in. She said they wanted my book! I think I stopped breathing for a while -- it was just so amazing. As much as I’d dreamed of the moment, as many times as I’d visualised it happening -- it was so different, so astounding, so surreal that after I’d hung up I wasn’t sure it had happened at all. I had to ask my husband if it was real… he had the nerve to tell me he had no idea, as far as he was concerned I was jumping around with the phone -- he had no idea who, if anyone, was on the other end! Men, don’t you love ‘em?

Did Lucy ask you to do any rewrites or make any changes to your original ms? How long did it take you to do this?

Yes. Lucy sent me some revisions to tighten up the book. In real time the revisions probably would have taken less than a week, but with the insecurity demon perched on my shoulder, telling me I’d muck it up, it took over two.

Do you have any indication of the release date?

Three weeks after I sent in the revised book with my second novel I received a second call from Lucy. This time I believed her right away. She told me my book was retitled Her Marriage Secret (originally called Taming the Beast) and scheduled for release as a Tender Romance (Australia’s “Sweet” line) in the UK in August 2002. She also said they wanted my second novel and were sending me a three-book contract.

Did you go through the standard route (i.e. contests, partials, full mss) before you were accepted?

I guess it all depends on what you mean by a standard route. I wrote whole manuscripts for each book, not submitting to HM&B until each one was finished. I didn’t get any rejected synopses over the years but received rejections on partials for each of the early books. I entered almost every contest RWA had and although I received some very helpful feedback, my entries didn’t win any prizes.

What do you credit as the biggest help to getting published?

I would have to say my own blind faith and tenacity got me the distance, but there was a lot of encouragement from my fellow writers. One of the milestones I remember vividly was my first romance writer’s conference. I learnt so much from the speakers there, but most of all I realised the writers were just like me and I could do it too.

Then, there was my husband, my rock -- threatening conventional employment every time I felt it was too much, too far, too hard.

Above all, I couldn’t have done it so quickly if it hadn’t been for Valerie Susan Hayward’s critique service. I had decided after I received my fourth rejection from HM&B that I really needed to kidnap an editor and pick her brains. I did. Valerie is in Canada, she’s a former Silhouette senior editor and Harlequin editor who gave me a very thorough, very honest critique and made me look at areas in my work that I was in denial over. After facing the truths in her critique and working damn hard, I got the Call.

And the biggest hindrance?

The big, fat demon that sat on my shoulder whispering doubt -- you know the one. The other was me. Until I paid for an honest critique I was happily writing in ignorance. Facing up to the truth meant challenging myself and accepting I wasn’t perfect. I had to work even harder to get it right.

What are your plans for your writing future?

I’m polishing my third book for M&B and have started writing my fifth. The piece of advice to rest a manuscript in the drawer has helped me enormously. I keep one in the drawer all the time. When I finish a book I pull the previous one out and give it a ‘fresh’ read, a polish and then send it off. It’s amazing how much I can pick up and improve.

I have so many ideas and plans that it’s hard to work out where I’m going to find the time for them all. I have aspirations toward writing mainstream romances, but for now I’m focusing on establishing myself as a Tender Romance writer.