Carol Marinelli recently filled in a form asking for her job title. Thrilled to be able to put down her answer, she put writer. Then it asked what Carol did for relaxation and she put down the truth - writing. The third question asked for her hobbies. Well, not wanting to look obsessed she crossed the fingers on her hand and answered swimming but, given that the chlorine in the pool does terrible things to her highlights - I'm sure you can guess the real answer.

When Canadian Dani Collins found romance novels in high school she immediately wondered how one trained for such an awesome job. She began writing, trying various genres, but always came back to her first love, Harlequin Presents. Often distracted by family and "real" jobs, she continued writing, inspired by the romance message that if you hang in there you'll reach a happy ending. In May of 2012, Harlequin offered to buy her manuscript in a two-book deal. She is living happily ever after.

Michelle has always been a voracious reader and always loved to write. So it stands to reason that one day those two great loves would come together. The turning point came when she had to decide whether or not to take up a psychology honours position at university.

With her youngest child about to start kindergarten she decided to defer the honours placement and penned three chapters of what was to become her first completed novel and sent it out into the slush pile at Harlequin Mills and Boon. She then did a 10 day Vipassana retreat and sat down to write more stories.

The Vipassana retreat was instrumental in Michelle's journey from dream writer to published author because when the editors at Mills and Boon requested the full manuscript of “Girl Behind the Scandalous Reputation” she was – after many years of self-doubt – finally in the right headspace to take up the challenge and pursue a life-long dream.

What followed was a marvellous roller coaster of a journey where she learnt that there is more to being a writer than the romantic notion of finishing up a wonderfully productive morning at the computer and then swanning along the Seine with a glass of vin rouge, a smile and roasting chestnuts on every street corner!

One of my more fantastical notions of the writer's life… Possibly driven by the fact that she's read Hemmingway's A Moveable Feast way too many times and not because she lives in Paris. In fact, she lives 15,000 kilometres from Paris! Before writing full time Michelle studied at the University of Melbourne and then at Monash University, worked on a myriad of different careers and travelled extensively.

She currently lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband and three children, a Siamese cat and three chickens. When she's not writing Michelle reads, watches movies, thinks about exercise and spends time with her family. She writes sexy, contemporary romance novels with strong heroes and sassy, modern heroines they can't resist.

Sophie Pembroke has been dreaming, reading and writing romance ever since she read her first Mills and Boon as part of her English Literature degree at Lancaster University, so getting to write romances for a living really is a dream come true! Sophie lives in a little Hertfordshire market town with her scientist husband and her incredibly imaginative four-year-old daughter. She writes stories about friends, family and falling in love, usually while drinking too much tea and eating homemade cakes. Or, when things are looking very bad for her heroes and heroines, white wine and dark chocolate.

Caitlin Crews discovered her first romance novel at the age of twelve and has since conducted a life-long love affair with romance novels, many of which she insists on keeping near her at all times. She currently lives in the Pacific Northwest, with her animator/comic book artist husband and their menagerie of ridiculous animals.