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Revision as of 01:39, 16 January 2020 by Karanacs (talk | contribs) (→top: rewrite lead)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Born | 1976 |
|---|---|
| Pen name | Courtney Milan |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
| Period | 2009–present |
| Genre | Romance |
| Website | |
www | |
Courtney Milan, the pseudonym of Heidi Bond, is a bestselling American author of historical and contemporary romance novels. After releasing her first few books under a traditional publishing contract, Milan became an early superstar of self-publishing.
Prior to her writing career, Bond was a law clerk for the United States Supreme Court and for Judge Alex Kozinski. As the Me Too movement gained steam, Bond alleged that Kozinski had sexually harassed her. Kozinski soon resigned his lifetime appointment, and Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts ordered a review of how the federal judiciary handled sexual harassment reports.
Milan served on the Board of Directors of the Romance Writers of America (RWA) for four years, spearheading efforts to make the organization more diverse and inclusive. In late 2019, the RWA board voted to suspend Milan for calling another author's book racist. The Board reinstated her days later, noting irregularities with the process. The resulting controversy led to the mass resignation of half of the RWA Board of Directors, the resignation of the RWA executive director, and the cancellation of the 2020 RITA Award program.
Education and law career
Milan was born in 1976, to an American father and a Chinese mother. According to her website, Milan was raised in Southern California. She wrote her first book at the age of ten and intended to be an author from a young age. She received a bachelor's degree with a double major in mathematics and chemistry from Florida State University in 2000.
Milan attended the University of California, Berkley, where she earned a master's degree in theoretical physical chemistry. She then went to the University of Michigan Law School, where she received the Henry Moore Bates scholarship. In 2006, she graduated summa cum laude.
During 2007-2007, Milan clerked for judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. Milan later alleged that during her time in his employ, Kozinski called her into his office three times to look at porn, repeatedly asking her if the images aroused her. Milan discussed the harassment and the discomfort it caused her with her friend author Eve Ortega, but chose not to report it. At the time, there were no methods for clerks to report harassment and remain anonymous.
Milan was then hired to clerk for the Supreme Court of the United States, first for Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and then for Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. She took a year-long sabbatical to transition from practicing law to teaching. For the next three years, she was a professor at Seattle University School of Law, teaching contracts and intellectual property.
Writing career
Milan began reading romance novels during her time as a law clerk, as a diversion from the voluminous legal research she was required to do. During her sabbatical, she decided to write an historical romance novel. Milan told The Washington Post that the transition was natural; "'One of the skills that makes you a good lawyer is the ability to take a bunch of disparate facts and weave them together into something that tells a story that pulls on the human imagination. ... Whether you’re convincing a judge that your client is innocent or convincing your reader that a couple is meant to be, it’s the same skill.'" Her first book, Proof by Seduction, was published by Harlequin in 2010. The novel received a starred review in Publishers Weekly, which called the book "delightful" and praised Milan's humor, characterization, and plot.
Her first several books were published as part of a traditional publishing contract, where a major publisher purchased the rights and Milan received royalties. Under this model, Milan reportedly earned "an average household income" from the sale of her books. In 2011, she chose to self-publish her novels. Within 18 months of embracing self-publishing, Milan quit her job. By 2014, she was producing about 2 novels per year and earning close to $1 million in royalties each year. Many of her books have reached the New York Times Bestseller List or the USA Today Bestseller List.
Although Milan had always believed she could earn more by publishing her books herself, money was not her sole motivation. She also wanted increased control over how her books were designed and marketed. Self-publishing does not mean that Milan is solely responsible for every detail of the publication of her novels. She hires professional editors and contracts out her cover design. As of 2013, she had also hired a full-time project manager to help get the books ready for release.
In early 2019, a reader alerted Milan to similarities between Milan's novel The Duchess War and the novel Royal Love by Brazilian author Cristiane Serruya. Milan blogged about multiple instances of sentences or paragraphs from her book that appeared in Serruya's novel. Other authors investigated and found that their work had also been plagiarized in Royal Love and other of Serruya's works. Serruya at first denied any wrongdoing, then withdrew Royal Love from consideration for a RITA Award and blamed the plagiarism on a ghostwriter she had hired to write the book.
Milan served on the board of the Romance Writers of America.
Advocacy
#metoo
In late 2017, the #MeToo movement gained traction, as increasing numbers of women spoke out about sexual harassment that they had experienced in the workplace. Milan shared details of her experiences working for Judge Kozinski, now the chief justice of the 9th Circuit of Appeals, with The Washington Post. Other women shared similar stories about Kozinski's behavior. Milan was one of only two women to allow her real name to be used; as she was no longer practicing law, she did not fear the loss of her job. After significant scrutiny, Kozinski resigned from his lifetime position on the federal bench. This effectively halted any investigation into his behavior. Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts commissioned a board to review how harassment claims were handled within the judiciary. The group recommended significant changes.
Six months after Kozinski's resignation, Milan, along with a eleven other women who had accused Kozinski of harassment, submitted a letter to the Los Angeles Daily Journal. They scolded the paper and its editor for publishing a column by Kozinski without noting that he had resigned under a cloud of suspicion. As the letter noted, Milan, under her real name Heidi Bond, and the other women will always be known as Kozinski's accusers, and it seems unfair that after six months Kozinski would no longer be known as the accused.
Diversity and inclusion
Milan was suspended by the Romance Writers of America (RWA) in December 2019 after novelists Suzan Tisdale and Kathryn Lynn Davis filed complaints about her Twitter comments on their past novels, including one calling Davis’ 1999 novel Somewhere Lies the Moon a “f—ing racist mess.” The suspension was followed by the resignation of several RWA officials, after which Milan was reinstated. The RWA went on to cancel the annual RITA Award program, and announced plans to hire a law firm to audit the processing of the ethics complaint “to provide a clear report of the facts.”
Bibliography
Carhart series
- Heart of Christmas (2009) HQN Books ISBN 0-373-77427-3, October 1, 2009, Paperback
- Proof By Seduction (2010) USA HQN Books ISBN 0-373-77439-7, January 1, 2010, Mass Market Paperback
- Trial by Desire (2010) USA HQN Books ISBN 0-373-77485-0, September 28, 2010, Mass Market Paperback
Turner series
- Unveiled (2011) USA HQN Books ISBN 0-373-77543-1, January 27, 2011, mass market paperback
- Birthday Gift (2011) USA, Short Story published on her website
- Unlocked (2011) USA ISBN 9781937248000, May 31, 2011, ebook
- Unclaimed (2011) USA HQN Books ISBN 0-373-77603-9, September 20, 2011, mass market paperback
- Out of the Frying Pan (2012) USA, Short Story published on her website
- Unraveled (2011) USA ISBN 1-937-24802-X, December 9, 2001, paperback
Brothers Sinister
- The Governess Affair (2012) USA CreateSpace ISBN 1-477-58903-1, June 2, 2012, Paperback
- The Duchess War (2012) USA CreateSpace ISBN 1-481-20747-4, December 12, 2012, Paperback
- A Kiss for Midwinter (2013) USA CreateSpace ISBN 1-481-91275-5, January 8, 2013, Paperback
- The Heiress Effect (2013) USA CreateSpace ISBN 1-490-99471-8, July 15, 2013, Paperback
- The Countess Conspiracy (2013) USA CreateSpace ISBN 1-937-24830-5, December 16, 2013, Paperback
- The Suffragette Scandal (2014)
- Talk Sweetly To Me (2014)
Cyclone series
- Trade Me (2015)
- Hold Me
- Find Me
The Worth Saga
- Once Upon a Marquess (2015)
- Her Every Wish (2015)
- After The Wedding (2016)
References
- ^ Woodruff, Mandi (1 August 2014), These romance writers ditched their publishers for ebooks - and made millions, Yahoo! Finance
- ^ Brady, Sara (12 Feb 2015), How Romance Novelist Courtney Milan Does, & Writes About, Money, the Billfold
- Milan, Courtney. "Frequently Asked Questions". www.courtneymilan.com. Retrieved Dec 28, 2019.
- Milan, Courtney (Feb 16, 2014). "Some thoughts on author earnings". Retrieved Dec 28, 2019.
- Zielen, Lara. "Romancing the Known". Retrieved 19 March 2019.
- ^ Zapotosky, Matt (8 December 2017), "Prominent appeals court Judge Alex Kozinski accused of sexual misconduct", The Washington Post
- ^ Silber, Maia (17 Aug 2017), "These attorneys practiced law by day — and wove stories of seduction by night", Washington Post
- "Faculty - Seattle University - Acalog ACMS™". catalog.seattleu.edu. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
- "Proof by Seduction", Publishers Weekly, 2 Nov 2009
- ^ Flood, Alison (20 Feb 2019), "Romance novelist Cristiane Serruya accused of plagiarism", The Guardian
- Geier, Thom (December 24, 2019). "Romance Writers of America Suspends Novelist Courtney Milan for Calling Rival's Work 'Racist Mess'". TheWrap.com. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
- ^ Zapotsky, Matt (24 July 2018), "Judge who quit over harassment allegations reemerges, dismaying those who accused him", The Washington Post
- Cite error: The named reference
Wrapwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - Concepción de León (9 January 2020). "Romance Writers of America Cancels Awards Program". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 January 2020.