recognized with a RITA Award from the Romance Writers of America 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 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 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 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