Milling desi romances

Mills & Boons has broken the cultural barrier to publish ‘made-in-India’ romance novels. The Monsoon Wedding Fever which won a writing contest last year, has made Shoma Narayanan Harlequin’s Indian romance writer. Her book will be sold globally under the international brand of romantic fiction. Shoma, who is senior vice-president at a reputed bank, always thought a career in management was the safest bet until she took up writing a couple of years ago. And fate turned tables when she entered the contest. She was chosen one of the three winners, and was working on a full-length book – which became the first Mills and Boon book by an Indian author to be released globally.

The Passion writing competition, held in December every year, is a flagship platform for writing talent globally. Manish Singh, manager of Indian arm of the publishing house, admits that it made sound business sense for the company to enter the Indian market. “Romance works globally, and Indian authors are adding variety to the flavour of romance. Typically, many of our writers worldwide have been our avid readers. And romance is the largest of any fiction category to have a growing market,” says Singh.

The next desi Mills and Boons to be published is Take One For Arrange Marriage by Mahi Jay. Mahi, a management graduate, says, “Now that I see my name on the cover of the book, I can’t wait to create many more stories with hunky heroes and spunky heroines.” The book is set to release later this year.