Mills & Boon editor Pippa Roscoe tells us about her inspirational women for our #31Women campaign.

I was 28 when I realised the amazing impact of supportive, creative women. It happened at a specific moment, with a specific group of women in a beautiful Tuscan setting. Women, who weren’t family and who were effectively strangers, but who soon became friends. The experience was life-changing for me.

These fabulous women certainly helped set me on the path to working in the publishing industry with the best and most brilliant romantic books in the world. And from there, it’s been like playing a giant game of ‘it’ or ‘tag’. (Remember the game from the school ground? It wasn’t just for chasing boys!) With every person I’ve met, worked with, learned from and taught, each has passed on an inspiration that has invigorated me in more ways that I could have ever imagined.

Below, I‘ve tried to capture some of the pieces of advice and support I’ve been given by friends and family, to share the love and the laughter, in the hope that I might somehow be able to pay it forward…

• You need a thick skin in the world of writing – good advice is never personal, it’s constructive.
• Go BIG or go home.
• You always have a choice. No matter what you think or how you feel, the power to change anything you want is within you.
• Find the thing that makes you glow, and never let it go.
• If you’ve ground to a halt in a project or a story, go back. Look at the tone/direction. Flip it on its head, take the opposite rout and see where you end up.
• If you’re ill, read Jilly Cooper, but perhaps wait until you’re at least 12 yrs old. (Thanks Mum!!)
• It’s not about the rejection; it’s what you do after it that shows your true strength.
• Limit yourself to five minutes of complaining per day. Any longer than that is too much.
• Be kind, be generous. It doesn’t take much, but it’s enough.

We never stop being inspired, we never stop learning and we should certainly never stop recognising the women who are our teachers, or our inspiration – mums, sisters, nieces, aunts, grandmothers, bosses, colleagues, friends, even the stranger on the train who lets you sit when you most need it. Every one of them can give you something that could push you on in your journey to find your very own happy ever after.

And lastly, the most important thing to remember is that we are all full of wonder.

If you had any doubt whatsoever, then just listen to Emeli Sande. She’ll put you right!

You can follow editor Pippa on Twitter @PippaRoscoe

Got a #31Women story you want to tell? Drop us a line in the comments below and we may just publish it on this blog!

By The Mills & Boon team