In conjunction with the National Trust, The Lady is launching a short story competition. The winner will see their story published in a late summer issue of The Lady.

‘With a soft stroke of his paintbrush, Rex Whistler added the finishing touches to the mural at Plas Newydd. Standing back, he considered his work. It was exquisite. Yet laying eyes upon the hidden depiction of himself, he suddenly had the urge to splatter the lavish composition with torrents of red paint. There he stood, the desperate Romeo in wanton anguish, leaning up towards the balcony of his Juliet, Lady Caroline Paget, captor of his heart and daughter of the house…’ [Extract from a sample story].

The unrequited love that Thirties painter Rex Whistler bore for his employer’s daughter Lady Caroline Paget, is well known to visitors of Welsh National Trust property, Plas Newydd. He was commissioned to paint an 18-metre mural, into which he placed coded messages proclaiming his love for Caroline, the daughter of the house. Yet to outsiders, this and many other real-life National Trust romances have largely been ignored. Enter leading romance publisher, Mills & Boon.

As a nation, we have a long-standing love affair with Mills & Boon novels. Founded with a modest £1,000 in 1908 by Gerald Rusgrove Mills and Charles Boon, the publishing company’s first novel was, indeed, a romance – Arrows From the Dark by Sophie Cole – although it was not until the Thirties that, in a growing need for escapism, the genre grew in popularity, and it was the books’ distinctive brown binding that lead to their nickname: ‘the books in brown’.

Now, ‘as books in many colours’, Mills & Boon and the National Trust have joined forces to celebrate Romanticism in Britain’s best-loved houses. Signalling the start of their collaboration is the release of Juliet Landon’s Scandalous Innocent, a novel commissioned to entwine the authentic love stories in the leafy beauty of the 400-year-old National Trust
property Ham House, with a fictional heroine, Phoebe.

An enthralling marriage it may be, but The Lady wants a look-in, too. That’s why we are proud to announce the launch of the National Trust, Mills & Boon and The Lady short-story competition. Readers are encouraged to submit a romance based on or in a National Trust
property – be it about a proposal on a coastline, a wedding in a castle, a love affair between butler and housekeeper. The winner will see their story published in a late summer issue of The Lady.

Non-compulsory writing workshops will take place at various National Trust locations throughout Britain during the month of June. For details of these, see the box below. So set those pens of passion alight and get writing.

Competition Rules

Submissions should be of the romance genre and no more than 1,500 to 2,000 words.

Entrants should submit their stories by 31 July 2010 to: Edwina Langley, Short Story Competition, The Lady, 39-40 Bedford Street, London WC2E 9ER.

The winning story will be selected by The Lady and is scheduled to be published in The Lady on a date at the end of August.

Further details here.

London Comedy Writers does not endorse any of the competitions or opportunities listed on this site and cannot be held responsible for their administration. We provide these links in good faith. You must make your own judgment and do your own research before entering any competition or partaking in any opportunity. If you have had a bad experience with any of these competitions or events listed on the website, please contact us so it can be removed.