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Editorial
Romance novelist and north Londoner Heidi Rice talks to WeLoveCamden.co.uk
North London’s very own romance novelist Heidi Rice saw her seventh book, Public Affair – Secretly Expecting, published last week.
The author, a self-confessed romance novel fan, tries to write two novels a year for the publisher Mills and Boon, talks to WeLoveCamden.co.uk about what it is about north London that she loves and where she finds inspiration for her stories…
How did you fall into romance writing?
I’ve always enjoyed reading romance novels and so the next step was to try and write about it. I’m a journalist and worked as a film reviewer, I’ve always loved Mills and Boon.
Are you London born and bred?
Yes I am. I was born in Notting Hill, moved to Shepherd’s Bush and then to Highbury. I love north London, Camden and Islington especially, I definitely see north London as my home.
Does London feature in your novels?
One of the books was set on Portobello Road in west London and bits of the one I’m currently working on has locations in Islington. One of my heroines is the manager of a pub theatre in Islington.
North London is full of interesting characters, do you get any inspiration from us for your novels?
Characters in romance novels tend to be very gorgeous, so if I see a good-looking bloke I think hmmmm, might use his hair in my next book! But I get a lot of inspiration from films and TV too.
Avenues in a property newspaper, do north London properties ever feature in you romance stories?
I love looking in London property magazines, especially when you look at houses in places like Hampstead Heath. I definitely get inspiration for homes for my heroes in the gorgeous and huge Hampstead houses.
You travel a fair bit, what do you miss about the city?
I love the transport system believe it or not, the fact that you can get anywhere fairly quickly. And I like the buildings, it’s just a beautiful city, there’s so much going on and if you’ve lived in London you’ll never be in trouble if you go to New York or LA or somewhere like that, you just feel that you can cope.