We managed to grab the author Rebecca Winters for five minutes to talk about a few of her favourite things. Rebecca has just published her 140th title with Mills & Boon, The Millionaire’s True Worth.

Name?
I’m Rebecca Burton/Rebecca Winters

Star sign?
I’m an Aquarius.

What coffee would you like?
I’d prefer a soda, thank you.

And which cake can we get you?
Chocolate.

What’s your earliest childhood memory?
I have always seen my handsome father coming up the walk in his military uniform and sweeping me into his arms. He was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army.

What was your favourite lesson at school?
Biology. I loved looking through the microscope so much that I wanted to be a scientist. Unfortunately I couldn’t do math well enough.

If you could invite three people, dead or alive, to a dinner party…
I would love to see my parents again and my great grandfather. He came into the Salt Lake Valley in 1847 leading a wagon train, the first group of 147 Pioneers. What a day that would have been. I have so many questions to ask him. As for my parents, I adore them and would love to just talk and talk to them because I miss them terribly.

What’s your favourite quote?
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Do you prefer sunrise or sunset?
I love both, but at sunrise there are the most beautiful colours coming over the Wasatch Mountains here in Salt Lake. Faint purples and soft pinks fill the sky. It’s so gorgeous.

Love is…
…all-encompassing acceptance straight from the soul, never wavering.

What achievement are you most proud of?
That I’ve made it this far raising my precious children. It’s an ongoing process, but they are all terrific and I’d like to think (hope?) I had something to do with that.

Describe what you can see right now?
I’m in my den, looking out at the park across the street from my house. My computer screen is there along with little mementos on the computer table top – gifts my children have brought me, my printer, a scented candle of blueberry muffin lit and filling the den with delicious smells. I have a picture of the Saviour and the woman at the well propped by my printer. I see an oil painting of a French town my parents brought me from Paris, and below it a small Impressionist still life painting my son and his bride brought back from their honeymoon in San Francisco. I have a bottle of lotion and a jar of body butter, plus my diet coke and my phone. That’s everything I see in front of me.

Who’s your favourite writer?
Victor Hugo.

If you could go back and do it all again, what would you change?
I wouldn’t. I’ve had a wonderful life, so wonderful I can’t begin to express the words adequately.

What’s your favourite flower?
A gardenia.

What are your favourite films and books romantic or otherwise?
Films would include; AMADEUS, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, A MAJORITY OF ONE, RANDOM HARVEST, ROBINHOOD, CAPTAIN BOOD, THE GODFATHER, THE NUN’S STORY, AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, GIGI, FLASH GORGON, THE OFFICE. Some of my favourite books; THERESE RAQUIN, THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK, DEAR AND GLORIOUS PHYSICIAN, LE PETIT PRINCE, THE HELP, LE MALADE IMAGINAIRE, SEPT DIALOGUES DE BETES, DR. DOOLITTLE BOOKS, ALL THE OZ BOOKS, BABY ISLAND, A TALE OF TWO CITIES, ROOTS, THE CRUCIBLE, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY. Way too many books to mention here.

What one piece of advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Read, read, read the kind of books you love, then sit down and write.

Who would play you in a movie about your life?
My favourite actress is Greer Garson. I wouldn’t want anyone else. How would it be if she played me? She could make the dullest story come alive!

Any interesting / fun facts we should know about?
I love to speed, wish I could have been a Formula One race car driver. I love to travel and get lost in little towns in France or Italy or Spain. I love to be on a ship crossing the ocean. I’ve been on six ocean liners. It’s a fantastic experience. I love to view the heavens at the observatory and feast my eyes on the wonders of the universe. I wanted to be in a Flash Gordon movie with Larry Buster Crabbe and a movie with Errol Flynn. Instead I just had to dream about them. I collected pictures of movie stars when I was young. I still have an album with a lot of my Grace Kelly photos.

And finally, the perfect man/woman must have…
…empathy and compassion to carry them through life successfully.

By The Mills & Boon team