Courtney Milan
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Courtney Milan, a pseudonym for Heidi Bond, is an American author of
historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...
and contemporary
romance novels A romance or romantic novel is a genre fiction novel that primarily focuses on the relationship and romantic love between two people, typically with an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending. Authors who have contributed to the developme ...
. After releasing her first few books under a traditional publishing contract, Milan has self-published more recent works. Prior to her writing career, Bond was a law clerk for
Sandra Day O'Connor Sandra Day O'Connor (March 26, 1930 – December 1, 2023) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. Nominated by President Ronald Reagan, O' ...
of the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
and for Judge
Alex Kozinski Alex Kozinski (; born July 23, 1950) is a Romanian-American jurist and lawyer who was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1985 to 2017. He was a prominent and influential judge, and many of his law clerks went on to ...
. As the
Me Too movement #MeToo is a social movement and Consciousness raising, awareness campaign against sexual abuse, sexual harassment and rape culture, in which women publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was init ...
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 John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American jurist serving since 2005 as the 17th chief justice of the United States. He has been described as having a Moderate conservatism, moderate conservative judicial philosophy, thoug ...
ordered a review of how the federal judiciary handled reports of sexual harassment. Milan served on the board of directors of the
Romance Writers of America Romance Writers of America (RWA) is an American non-profit writers' association founded in 1980. Its mission is to "advance the professional and common business interests of career-focused romance writers through networking and advocacy and by inc ...
(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 The RITA Award, presented by the Romance Writers of America (RWA) from 1990 to 2019, was the most prominent award for English-language romance fiction. It was named for the RWA's first president, Rita Clay Estrada. After not being awarded in 202 ...
program.


Early life and education

Milan was born in 1976, to her American father Doug Bond, a professor of chemistry at the
University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...
, and her Chinese-American mother, Gloria. According to her website, Milan was raised in
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
. 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 Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
in 2000. Milan attended the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, where she earned a master's degree in theoretical physical chemistry. She then went to the
University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (branded as Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparati ...
, where she received the
Henry Moore Bates Henry Moore Bates (March 30, 1869 – April 15, 1949) was an American lawyer. He was dean of the University of Michigan Law School for 29 years. Born in Chicago, Bates received a Ph.B. from the University of Michigan in 1890 and a LL.B. from ...
scholarship. In 2006, she graduated ''
summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
''.


Career

During 2007 and 2008, Milan clerked for judge
Alex Kozinski Alex Kozinski (; born July 23, 1950) is a Romanian-American jurist and lawyer who was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1985 to 2017. He was a prominent and influential judge, and many of his law clerks went on to ...
of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Milan later alleged that during her time in his employ, Kozinski called her into his office three times to look at pornography and repeatedly asked if the images aroused her. Milan discussed the harassment and the discomfort it caused her with her friend and fellow 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 The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
, first for Associate Justice
Sandra Day O'Connor Sandra Day O'Connor (March 26, 1930 – December 1, 2023) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. Nominated by President Ronald Reagan, O' ...
and then for Associate Justice
Anthony Kennedy Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American attorney and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirement in 2018. He was nominated to the court in 1987 by Pres ...
. 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 Seattle University School of Law (formerly ''University of Puget Sound School of Law'') is the law school affiliated with Seattle University, located in Seattle, Washington, United States. The School is accredited by the American Bar Associat ...
, teaching contracts and intellectual property.


Writing

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. She decided to write a
historical romance Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Lord Byron, Byron helped popularize in the early 19th century. The genre often takes the form of the novel. Varieties ...
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 ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'', 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 two novels per year and earning close to $1 million in royalties each year. 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. Many of her books have reached the
New York Times Bestseller List ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...
or the USA Today Bestseller List. In 2015, Milan's series, The Brothers Sinister, was listed among NPR's "100 Swoon-Worthy Romances". NPR described Milan as "a master of the intelligent relationship discussion". Milan's novella, ''Her Every Wish'', was recognized with a
RITA Award The RITA Award, presented by the Romance Writers of America (RWA) from 1990 to 2019, was the most prominent award for English-language romance fiction. It was named for the RWA's first president, Rita Clay Estrada. After not being awarded in 202 ...
from the
Romance Writers of America Romance Writers of America (RWA) is an American non-profit writers' association founded in 1980. Its mission is to "advance the professional and common business interests of career-focused romance writers through networking and advocacy and by inc ...
in 2017. 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 The RITA Award, presented by the Romance Writers of America (RWA) from 1990 to 2019, was the most prominent award for English-language romance fiction. It was named for the RWA's first president, Rita Clay Estrada. After not being awarded in 202 ...
and blamed the plagiarism on a ghostwriter she had hired to write the book.


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, when he was still the Chief Judge (2007–14) of the Ninth Circuit Court 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 John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American jurist serving since 2005 as the 17th chief justice of the United States. He has been described as having a Moderate conservatism, moderate conservative judicial philosophy, thoug ...
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 eleven other women who had accused Kozinski of harassment, submitted a letter to the ''Los Angeles Daily Journal''. They criticized 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 elected to the
Romance Writers of America Romance Writers of America (RWA) is an American non-profit writers' association founded in 1980. Its mission is to "advance the professional and common business interests of career-focused romance writers through networking and advocacy and by inc ...
board of directors for multiple terms and served four years. As a board member, Milan pushed for changes to make the organization more diverse and inclusive. More than 80% of the members of the RWA are white, compared to only 61% of the United States population. Milan encouraged other authors of color to join the board and publicly pressed a publisher for answers as to why they had never signed a non-white romance author. For her efforts to increase diversity within the RWA, the Board gave Milan a Service Award in July 2019. In August 2019, Milan joined an ongoing Twitter conversation about racism and gatekeeping in the romance publishing industry. The conversation originally focused on Sue Grimshaw, a longtime romance buyer who allegedly refused to buy romance novels by authors of color. Grimshaw was hired as an acquiring editor by Suzan Tisdale, an author who had started a small publishing company. Milan reviewed a book written by Tisdale's other acquiring editor, Kathryn Lynn Davis, calling its depiction of a half-Chinese heroine racist. Tisdale and Davis filed ethics complaints with the RWA against Milan, who was at the time the chair of the RWA's Ethics committee. In her complaint, Davis wrote that Milan “cannot be allowed to hold a position of authority, or to use her voice to urge others to follow her lead" and alleged that Milan's comments had caused Davis to lose a book contract. On request, Milan resigned as chair of the Ethics committee to avoid any conflicts of interest. On December 23, 2019, the RWA Board voted to suspend Milan for one year and ban her from all leadership positions for life. As Milan noted, the board sanctioned her for the same behavior that had resulted in an RWA Service Award in July 2019. There was an intense backlash against the RWA's decision. The board reversed the sanctions a week later, citing irregularities in the process. In a mass resignation, the women of color on the Board of Directors resigned, as did the President, Carolyn Jewell. The RWA was forced to cancel the 2020 RITA Awards after hundreds of authors resigned as judges and more than 300 stories were withdrawn from consideration. Major publishers spoke out against the RWA's decision and announced their intention to skip the 2020 RWA annual conference. The Cultural, Interracial, and Multicultural Special Interest Chapter of the RWA organized a petition to recall the new RWA President,
Damon Suede Damon may refer to: Places in the United States * Damon, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Damon, Missouri, a ghost town * Damon, Texas, a census-designated place * Damon, Virginia, an unincorporated community * Lake Damon, Florida * Damon M ...
, which gained over 1000 signatures in two days; Suede and RWA executive director Carol Ritter both resigned on January 9. Davis admitted to ''The Guardian'' that her initial complaint was exaggerated - she had never had a contract for more books and did not explicitly lose anything because of Milan's comments. Davis further acknowledged that she had rewritten parts of her book to address racial issues after other people told her "calmly" that there were issues.


Romancing the Runoff

Milan was a co-organizer of
Romancing the Runoff Romancing the Runoff was a charity auction held in 2020, supporting voter organizations in the U.S. state of Georgia. It supported the Democratic Party's Senate candidates participating in the 2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia and ...
, a fundraising event during the
2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia The 2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia was held on November 3, 2020, and on January 5, 2021 (as a runoff), to elect the Classes of United States senators, Class II member of the United States Senate to represent the Georgia ...
.


Personal life

Milan and her husband live in the Rocky Mountains with their cat Katya.


Bibliography


Carhart series

*''Heart of Christmas'' (2009) HQN Books , October 1, 2009, Paperback *''Proof By Seduction'' (2010) USA HQN Books , January 1, 2010, Mass Market Paperback *''Trial by Desire'' (2010) USA HQN Books , September 28, 2010, Mass Market Paperback


Turner series

*''Unveiled'' (2011) USA HQN Books , January 27, 2011, mass market paperback *''Birthday Gift'' (2011) USA, Short Story published on her website *''Unlocked'' (2011) USA , May 31, 2011, ebook *''Unclaimed'' (2011) USA HQN Books , September 20, 2011, mass market paperback *''Out of the Frying Pan'' (2012) USA, Short Story published on her website *''Unraveled'' (2011) USA , December 9, 2001, paperback


Brothers Sinister

*''The Governess Affair'' (2012) USA
CreateSpace On-Demand Publishing, LLC, doing business as CreateSpace, was a self-publishing service owned by Amazon. The company was founded in 2000 in South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, So ...
, June 2, 2012, Paperback *''The Duchess War'' (2012) USA CreateSpace , December 12, 2012, Paperback *''A Kiss for Midwinter'' (2013) USA CreateSpace , January 8, 2013, Paperback *''The Heiress Effect'' (2013) USA CreateSpace , July 15, 2013, Paperback *''The Countess Conspiracy'' (2013) USA CreateSpace , December 16, 2013, Paperback *''The Suffragette Scandal'' (2014) *''Talk Sweetly To Me'' (2014)


Cyclone series

* ''Trade Me'' (2015) * ''Hold Me'' (2016) * ''The Year of the Crocodile'' (2016) * ''Find Me'' (forthcoming)


The Worth Saga

*''Once Upon a Marquess'' (2015) *''Her Every Wish'' (2016) *''After The Wedding'' (2018) *''The Pursuit Of...'' (2018) *''Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure'' (2019) *''The Devil Comes Courting'' (2021)


The Wedgeford Trials

*''The Duke who Didn’t'' (2020) *''The Marquis who Mustn't'' (2023) *''The Earl who Isn't'' (2024)


See also

*
List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 1) A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, bu ...
*
List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 8) A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Milan, Courtney 1976 births Living people American people of Chinese descent American romantic fiction writers Florida State University alumni Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States RITA Award winners Seattle University faculty University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Michigan Law School alumni