After three decades, much-loved Medical Romance author Meredith Webber is hanging up her writing hat. Read on for Meredith’s goodbye letter to her readers and accolades to Meredith from her colleagues and fellow authors as we celebrate her fabulous career and her just released and final book with us A Wedding For The Single Dad!
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Dear Readers,
After thirty years pursuing the best job in the world, writing Mills & Boon Medical Romances – I am closing the computer.
Best job in the world? Well, you set your own working hours, you don’t have to get dressed up or commute anywhere – except to the fridge for snacks/drinks/inspiration. You get to keep your brain active with the medical research, and you get to give people all over the world a few hours of escapism from whatever’s going on in their lives.
I must admit the research part was usually the best for me, although it did lead me down some weird and wonderful paths, fully aware that whatever I happened to be feverishly reading about would never go into a book – too grim, too complicated, or simply too unappealing – the ‘oh yuk’ factor.
And I was fortunate in that my editors offered a variety of challenges along the way – a book from the hero’s point of view, a book set over twenty-four hours, a short series of CSI-type books with forensics and mysteries – this suggested by the then head editor who was a fan of CSI. But the most challenging of all was one I set myself, a book written in the first person from the heroine’s point of view, so it was ‘I’ did this rather than ’she’. I loved that one!
And I was even more fortunate in finding some wonderful local Medical Romance writers – local in that we all came from either Australia or New Zealand, although we lived many thousands of miles apart and met up infrequently – who were always teeming with ideas of series of books we could write together. Crocodile Creek was the first, and largest undertaking, four of us contributing three books each to what was eventually a twelve books series.
Friendship was the biggest gift my writing brought to me, friendship with other writers – slightly strange people who understand about living in another world. Really? Another world?
Yes, really, because while you’re writing, you are living in that particular book – in its world – doing what the characters are doing, in the setting where they live, feeling their emotions, and thinking their thoughts.
So, all in all, it’s been a wonderful journey, and what made it special were the readers who came along on it with me, buying my books in so many different languages, and finding pleasure in the lives of the characters I’d brought to life.
Thank you all, editors, readers, librarians, writing friends, and fans, it’s been a great journey!
Meredith
Meredith Webber has been delighting her legions of fans for almost thirty years with her gorgeous heart-warming romances. Whether it be a story set in the outback, or one in a busy ER in the metropolis, Meredith’s characters always leap off the page and sweep us along with them on their romantic journey! It has been my great pleasure and privilege to edit Meredith for the last few years, most especially to see her achieve the fantastic milestone of her 100th book. She will be sorely missed!
Julia Williams, Mills & Boon Editor
Meredith Webber is a phenomenon in the world of Medical Romance. Her first books, published in 1994, were some of the first ones I read when I joined the company that year. I have been a fan ever since. Over the course an incredible 103 books, Meredith has delivered to her readers stories with intriguing characters, heartfelt romance and poignant emotion and featuring everything from flying doctors to sheikh docs – what a range! She is also a wonderful, wise and warm lady with a great sense of humour. I will never forget meeting Meredith during a writer’s conference in Sydney, Australia in 2007. I was blown away by her warmth and kindness and will never forget the day we spent together shopping for an Australian opal for my mother (something Meredith is something of an expert in!), and the beautiful necklace that she helped me to choose for her. A gift she wore with pride and pleasure, and one that I now cherish. So thank you, Meredith, for being so wonderful, for the fabulous memories, and above all for your gorgeous romance novels. It’s been a real pleasure to know you and to work with you all these years. All my very best wishes for a very happy future. Thank you, Meredith.
Sheila Hodgson, Senior Editor, Mills & Boon Medical Romance
Meredith is a wonderful person, and a friend of long standing!
She’s so thoughtful, and has a lovely sense of humour. We’ve known each other for years … both our husbands played bowls, and once Meredith had her first book published we joined the party she hosted to celebrate her success.
She is lovely, so kind and entertaining. There were a few long-standing fellow authors who managed to get together over coffee two or three times a year and laugh a little. Later there was a group of us who managed to share lunch together in a coffee shop … and talk writing!
We formed friendships, which have lasted all these years. Although some of the authors have retired … the friendship remains! We keep in touch … Whether it’s weeks, or months we get together whenever we can. Picking up where we left off before!
Helen Bianchin, Mills & Boon Modern Author
I adored Meredith Webber long before I was lucky enough to meet her.Her book A Different Destiny is one of my all-time favourites and shall forever live on my keeper shelf. As well as that her Wings series and outback books are stories I love and return to again and again. Her plots are always intriguing and there is a depth to her characters and settings that sets her stories apart.
When I finally met Meredith in person, I found out that her wonderful stories came from real experience and that many of her rich settings she had experienced and lived firsthand. She is one of the most perceptive people I have ever met and that deep wisdom shines through in her characters – they have real flaws, wants and needs that are always so relatable, even if he happens to be a desert sheikh! Her dry humour also shows in her writing as well as in person.
I have been lucky enough to spend time with Meredith on many writing retreats held on her beloved Gold Coast. She shares her deep knowledge so freely, but more than that she has been a wonderful friend and trusted confidant to me. I have been privileged to be on the receiving end of her sage advice and shall be forever grateful for it.
Meredith’s books are not just an escape but in each there is a little life lesson to glean. I treasure them, along with her friendship.
Thank you, Meredith, for the many, many hours of reading pleasure you have brought to so many and for being the amazing person you are.
Carol Marinelli, Mills & Boon Medical and Modern Author
I met Meredith Webber at a Romance Writers of Australia meeting almost thirty years ago. Our passion for writing made us click, but Meredith’s warmth, generosity, her humour and her wisdom have made me feel blessed to call her my friend.
Meredith’s books are fun, sexy and skilled, but what sets them apart is her eye for detail. Her forte is medical romance, and her tolerance for inaccuracy is zero. On a number of occasions we’ve written linked romances. Our Crocodile Creek series (with Alison Roberts and Lilian Darcy) was an enormous amount of fun, but what made it a breeze was Meredith’s meticulous planning. The rest of us would say vaguely `let’s set the series on a tropical island’, and next thing we knew we’d have a detailed map of our imaginary island, an internal plan of the hospital – we’d practically have staff rosters! Meredith made our worlds real.
As she does with her own stories. Meredith’s sheiks are renowned in the world of Harlequin Romance. No one does them better – she creates Sheik heroes who are gorgeous, passionate and totally believable.
Meredith has also been more than generous with her time, as an integral member of Romance Writers of Australia she’s fostered new talent, supported remote writers and always been there for fellow writers who needed her.
While I’ve watched Meredith’s career grow, her non writing life has been fun to watch, too. She and George have raised a family to be proud of. They’ve also had a passion for fossicking, travelling Australia in their search for gorgeous gems. I have a small `tree’ on my desk made of Meredith’s gemstones, and it reminds me of friendship, of fun, of the work and laughter we’ve shared over the years.
Meredith’s decision to retire has made me sad that there’ll be no more Meredith Webber stories to read, but there’s such a backlist to enjoy. There’ll be stories of a different kind ahead – Meredith is one amazing woman – but sheiks may well have to take a back step in this next chapter of her life. We all wish her well.
Marion Lennox, Mills & Boon Medical author
Meredith Webber is an absolute champion, who for many years ran the isolated writer’s group of Romance Writers of Australia as wise contact for far-flung aspiring authors. The face who looked so delighted to see you at yearly conference amidst strangers.
Meredith was the person I contacted when I got ‘the call’. Mills and Boon wanted my latest manuscript. It must be a mistake. Surely. After ten years? What if I couldn’t do these last few things, they asked of me? It was 1999, Amstrad computers, manuscripts were printed and posted instead of emailed, and Meredith, sage and warmly congratulatory on the phone, grounding me with such calm, common sense while I was hyperventilating.
‘Let me explain how this works.’ Meredith at her most pragmatic.
Meredith is the super cool, strikingly stylish aunt everyone wants in their family. I feel blessed for our past meetings and look forward to the future ones. There’s history and admiration and huge gratitude for Meredith Webber, the wise woman as well as the gorgeous writer of more than one hundred amazing books. We all adore you, Meredith, you’re a star. Thank you for being you.
Fiona MacArthur, Mills & Boon Medical Author
I have had the joy of reading Meredith Webber’s books for many years. I’ve also had the privilege of working with her on our linked series of the Crocodile Creek and Wildfire Island books. I can say with certainty that the elegance, intelligence and warmth that shines through her writing is a true reflection of her personality. Meredith is the person I want to be when I grow up 🙂
Alison Roberts, Mills & Boon Medical Author
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Buy A Wedding For The Single Dad by Meredith Webber now!
