Writers' Wednesday with Donna Alward

Brand New Harlequin Romance author...

ABOUT DONNA

Donna says:

After high school I got my B.A. with a Major in English and a minor in Psychology. I ended up working for the provincial government in the Treasury department of all places. Why they put someone who'd nearly flunked math in charge of millions of dollars daily I'll never understand, but admittedly it WAS a great job, and I surprised myself by being good at it (at least I think).

Less than a year after I got married, we moved to Alberta, and a little more than a year after that had our first child. Together we decided I'd be a stay at home mom, and another daughter followed. And here's where the story of Donna Alward, Author, really begins...

MY CALL STORY AND A BIT ABOUT HIRED BY THE COWBOY!

It was surreal, it was fantastic, and it was about bloody time.

On July 21, I got the call from my editor at HM&B. They were buying my story, now known as Hired By The Cowboy.

This story has lots of history behind it, and it was special for me from the get-go. It all started in 2004…when I wrote an ms called "The Reluctant Husband". My hero was a shipping magnate in Southampton and my heroine a pregnant Canadian stuck in London. He needed her to claim his inheritance and save his shipping business. She needed him because she was flat broke, pregnant and had nowhere to turn. I sent it to the Romance line (then Tender) and the full was rejected. One scene though – a kiss – I entered in Harlequin's Ultimate Kiss contest – and I won!

It also got me a critique from my wonderful critique partner, Michelle Styles. At first I cried and thought about quitting. But she'd told me what I needed to hear, so I put on my big girl panties and got on with writing another, better story. Still, the idea, the magic I believed was in that story stayed with me. Michelle is still one of my cp's and probably the most steadying, resourceful influence on my writing.

Last year, Trish Wylie saw a chapter from The Girl Most Likely (Samhain Publishing, September 06) on Romance Junkie's contest, and asked if I wanted a whole critique. I sure wasn't going to turn down a crit from an author of the line I was targeting! From then another cp relationship was born, and with the help of these two fabulous authors, things really started moving. I'd written a partial of Almost a Family (Samhain Publishing, January 07) which was rejected but with feedback. I'd subbed TGML and again, got rejected but with great feedback from my now editor. Good news…the problems with TGML were things I was already working on improving, and during my wait time I wrote the new incarnation of The Reluctant Husband, but with a new hero – a ranch owner – and a new setting – the foothills of the Rockies. Not only that but my writing had improved scads over the last 2 years, so when I started writing it felt like magic. Heck, I even fell in love with them and cried as I was writing it! The crying was a first.

I subbed the partial in March, settled in to wait and worked on something else.

This past June, Maddie Rowe e-mailed me to ask for the full, and I polished it up and sent it, basking in the lovely things she said about the partial. And I settled in to wait – thinking it'd be
September before I heard anything.

Less than a week later I had a request for revisions, which were actually FUN to do and lovely to see the manuscript go to another level. I especially latched on to the last ½ page or so of comments… which were all about how wonderful the story was, LOL. If nothing else I had achieved something great…I made editors cry. And so I did the revisions, obsessed as to whether I'd done them right…and I settled in to wait – thinking it'd really be September now.

A week later, I got an e-mail saying she'd passed it up to the senior for a final decision, and did I have anything else I was working on???? I may have had the precursors to a heart attack at this point. I was still reeling from the fact that she'd said that the ms had made her cry! I sent her the partial from the Modern Extra I'd been working on.

Two weeks later I was on holidays and checked my e-mail, to find she'd e-mailed twice asking me to call her. I did, from my in-laws, and she called me back, giving me the great news! I may have whooped a bit and jumped around and our first stop doing errands was the liquor store for champagne! I got absolutely knackered and played cards that night and had a blast.

I'm thrilled that this story is going to be published by the new Romance line in May and also terrified at how desperately I want everyone to like it! And what a rollercoaster ride. I really wsn't prepared for all the information that was going to hit me straight away. The day I got back I had to do up my bio, dear reader letter and dedication. There were contracts, legal forms, author loops; I did up three proposals so I'd know what she wanted me to write next. And it finally hit me. The day that my line edits arrived in the mail, I was just…gobsmacked. This was my book, with a harlequin cover page, typed up and edited, waiting for me to go through it line by line. At that moment I really was an HMB author!

Now I'm working on my second book, which happens to be a sequel to the first. And it's very strange actually. I'm terrified of not making the cut this time. I feel a pressure to deliver that I've never really felt before. And yes, it's all brought on by myself. I KNOW that my first few chapters don't suck…but that's a long way from the end. And the stakes are so much higher for me now. Before you sell, your dream is to accomplish that. You make statements like "If I could just sell to Harlequin, I'd be happy." And don't get me wrong…its FABULOUS. But it's kind of like after you submit an ms. You then say things like, "It's all about the next book."

And for me it is. Now it's about making that second sale, and getting a career off the ground. Trading in an old dream for a new one. And that's not about never being satisfied…it's about motivation, and not settling, and not resting on your laurels. About being able to do what you love for the rest of your life.

Wish me luck!

Donna's first book is The Girl Most Likely which will be released on September 12th. Her second category length ebook, Almost a Family will be released in January. Check out her page at Samhain Publishing for more info.

Her first Harlequin Romance, Hired by the Cowboy, will be released next in May 2007, and she is hard at work on her second.

Congratulations Donna!!!

Travelling Tuesday ... Arundel, West Sussex

Arundel, Sussex

As anyone who’s read my personal blog knows, I’ve just come back from holiday in Arundel. So that's my choice for this inaugral 'Travelling Tuesday'.

In actual fact, we stayed in a little village called Coldwaltham which is about 4 miles outside – and, if you’ve read ‘Ordinary Girl, Society Groom’ you’ll recognise that as the name of my fictional Abbey.

Sussex is a county, stretched long and thin, right at the bottom of Great Britain and is just about commutable distance from London. Within its boundaries there are marshes, meadows, single-track roads, the rolling South Downs and old, old houses every way you turn.

In amongst it all is Arundel - a very beautiful and very English place. It’s situated at the head of navigation of the River Arun, apparently one of our fastest flowing rivers. In the nineteenth century large sailing ships were towed upriver by a steam tug and Arundel was an important port and, although the ships are long gone, it still has that kind of feel.

Beautiful houses scramble for position around Arundel Castle – any one of which would make a suitable home for a romance hero or heroine. Parking outside their house would be a little difficult but they’d be compensated by an excellent butchers, grocers, bakers, not to mention a very good bookshop and the all-important tea room.

A history ‘boff’ hero or heroine would also be well served. Maltravers Street (once nicknamed White Waistcoat Lane because of the posh gents who lived in it) is full of stunning regency houses. And King Street has flint cottages which are supposed to have been built by French prisoners during the Napoleonic Wars.

A historically informed hero/heroine might also like to point out the blocked up windows which came about when the owner of the house was not able, or didn’t wish, to pay the tax on windows that was introduced by Pitt the Younger in the eighteenth century.

In the High Street he/she might like to notice the gables of the shops and remark that the chequerwork was the sign of a gunsmith.

Dominating everything is Arundel Castle. The eleventh Duke of Norfolk adopted the castle as his ducal seat in 1787 and set about improving it to his taste. The fifteenth Duke then changed a whole lot more and the end result is something that’s very ‘useful’ to a Mills & Boon author looking for a ‘High Society’ setting.

My one caveat is that you cannot write a heroine who’s particularly attached to three inch stilettos. At least, you could but you must make her uncomfortable in them. It’s very hilly.

Also don’t let her push a double buggy anywhere without swearing softly under her breath.

by Natasha Oakley
http://www.natashaoakley.com
http://natashaoakley.blogspot.com

Natasha's latest release is: Accepting The Boss's Proposal a Harlequin Romance.

Check out more about this book at her website!

Male on Monday - Rodrigo Santaro

Welcome to the PHS inaugural Male on Monday, and what a fine male we have first-up!

Introducing Rodrigo Santaro (born 22.8.75), a delicious Italian/Brazilian combo who captured our attention on the screen in Love Actually, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and Lost.
Or if you're like me, he captured my attention for the following reasons: dreamy dark eyes, chiselled cheekbones and that all-round hero quality we search for and try to capture through words in our books.

Rodrigo is the inspiration behind my upcoming hero, Samman(Sam) al Wali, a sexy sheikh in search of a wife. I needed a commanding hero, someone who would stand up and be noticed immediately in any crowd anywhere and the instant I saw this pic, I knew I'd found Sam. I'm really looking forward to starting this book, for the sheer number of times I'll have to look at the hero pics for inspiration!!

Now, a few other interesting facts about this enigmatic man before I start drooling:
-he lives in Rio.
-he practices transcendental meditation
-he's a fan of The Doors
-he likes to read William Shakespeare
-his favourite actors are Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.
-he's shy and reserved (aww...)
-a searching website announced the most searched subjects in the year. One of them was "fotos del actor Rodrigo Santoro" (Rodrigo Santoro pics). (Why am I not surprised?)
-he's also a model, starring in a Chanel commercial with Nicole Kidman.
-he enjoys painting
-the scar on his forehead came from a surfing accident when he was 12.
-he also likes horses.

Had enough yet?
As you can see, I've researched my hero thoroughly and I hope you find as much inspiration from him as I have.

Enjoy.
Nicola
My blog
My website

Sunday Spotlight - Liz Fielding

Our spotlight has been shone on award winning Harlequin Romance author, Liz Fielding. In the past month she has won both the RITA for Best Short Contemporary and the Cataromance Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Mills and Boon Tender Romance.

FIRST UP, ABOUT LIZ

Liz says:

I've been reading since I was knee-high to a gnat. My mother taught me, the way she taught me all the good things in life. She read to me when I was little and then she bought me books of my own. Little Women, What Katy Did and Anne of Green Gables. I read them all until the covers fell off.

The only thing that is better than reading, is writing. Bringing to life characters that you love so much that finishing the book, leaving them to get on with their lives without you, is the hardest thing.

I started writing when my children were small and my engineer husband, John, was working abroad. We'd met working in Africa and had travelled the world together before settling down to raise our family.

My first romance, An Image of You, HR # 141, was set in Kenya, in a place I knew well, and was plucked from the slush pile because the feisty feminist heroine made my editor laugh. Emotion touched with humor has been the hallmark of my books ever since.

Now we live in the house that John built for us in Wales. The landscape is magical, with soft, misty hills, sudden rocky outcrops and crumbling castles. This is Carmarthenshire, the land of Merlin and, according to legend, half a mile from our home King Arthur and his knights are sleeping in a cave, waiting for a bell to be rung to summon them to action. It's nice to know that help is so close at hand should we ever need it!

SPOTLIGHT!

Where do you get the inspiration for your books from?

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been asked this question and the reason it never gets any easier is, I suspect, because I don’t really know. Oh, I say all the usual things. Snatches of overheard conversation. A glimpse of a house through the trees. That …who lives there, what bolt from the blue is about to shake their lives to the foundations … moment. All of that is true. But where the story comes from is, mostly, a total mystery. Only once can I actually pinpoint an exact event when an incident – a busker being brought in from the street to play “Happy Birthday” to the manager of a shop – actually inspired a book, DANGEROUS FLIRTATION, which opens with a busker serenading the heroine. I have to tell you now, that an incident is not a plot!

Occasionally minor characters are so special that they beg for a story. After reading GENTLEMEN PREFER … BRUNETTES, my editor casually remarked of one of the minor characters that a “…woman that cool deserves a book, don’t you think?”. I didn’t need telling twice and the result was A SUITABLE GROOM. And the hero’s sister in DATING THE BOSS made her own bow in THE BABY PLAN. These stories already have a setting, a character with traits that drive their story – something of a blessing and a curse. If I’d known WILD JUSTICE was going to grow into a trilogy, I’d have made Claudia, the older sister – WILD LADY -- much nicer; probably just as well in retrospect. She was a challenge that brought out that little extra in me!

But to return to the question, I suspect that writers’ brains are wired slightly differently -- they see the same things as everyone else, but they do something different with it. Take a walk in someone else’s shoes. Ask the magic questions – Who? Why? What if…

What makes you mad?

Cruelty to children. Cruelty to animals. Cruelty. War. Rudeness. Litter.

Those large format paperbacks that look impressive but weigh a ton and are impossible to read in bed.

What’s the most romantic thing that has ever happened to you?

I suspect you don’t want me to be obvious here! Will you accept the dh cooking the dinner and doing the washing up while I battled with a deadline – my idea of a true hero, btw!

What in a hero makes you drool?

Well, I’m as shallow as the next woman; I like something good to look at -- tall enough, honed enough (but please no waxed chests or oiled muscles) and not too pretty. Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Liam Neeson, Paul Bettany, Michael Wood …

But that’s just the skin deep stuff. What’s going on inside is more important. I like a man who can talk. Who lives who he is. A man who can change a nappy, amuse a child, feed himself and me. Brains turn me on, but I need integrity, a sense of humour to light me up.

If you weren’t a writer what would you be?

Retired.

What do you do to relax and wind down?

We’ve been having amazing weather, so lately it’s been a glass of wine in the garden with the dh while dusk gathers and the pipistrelles come out to play. Driving down to the nearby coast is a great way to blow the cobwebs away, too. I confess however that, like most people, I tend to veg out in front of the television when I’ve had a long, hard day slaving over a hot computer.

How do you get out of a writing rut?

I scare myself. I write a book that doesn’t fit into any mould. Take a risk. I accept challenges that, um, challenge me. Say “yes” first, think “what have I done” afterwards. A trilogy, a continuity, a short story (I find short stories a really, really difficult form).

And when it gets really difficult, when the rut is so deep that I can’t see over the top, I start writing opening scenes – allowing myself just one paragraph – until my brain catches fire.

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

I have little fantasies about where I’d like to live. I’d love a small town house in Chelsea for the times when I feel like a City Girl and need the shops, the theatres, the museums.

But then I’d love a little cottage in north Devon or Cornwall, overlooking the sea. I’d like a clapboard house in Cape Cod, too (just for the summer) and a beach house somewhere along the Californian coast.

A smart flat in Melbourne would be good, so that I could hang out with all those great Aussie writers who live in and around the city – no garden in Australia, I have a spider “problem”!

Then again I sometimes dream of a little place in Tuscany, or the south of France, with my own olive grove and lemon trees.

And sometimes I think it would be just fabulous to load the bare necessities into one of those camper vans and set myself free.

But even if I had every one of them, I’d never give up the house that “Jack” built in a little Welsh village in Carmarthenshire.

Who would you most like to give a hug to for a fabulous book you’ve read?

Susan Elizabeth Phillips for This Heart of Mine. I’ve just read her latest, Match Me If You Can and I’d give her a hug for that one, too. She’s funny, she’s emotional, she never lets you down.

What music do you listen to when writing?

Nothing with lyrics. Classical -- Mozart, Vivaldi are best. I know the music is working for me when I don’t notice that it’s stopped.

Tell us a secret nobody knows about you?

If I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret, now would it? A woman has to have a little mystery about her!

What was your most embarrassing moment?

Oh, good lord. I do my best to forget them. Yes … it’s worked. :D

What have you had to celebrate in the last year?

Thirty-four years married to the most patient, tolerant and supportive of men.

One of my offspring getting engaged.

The Marriage Miracle being voted Best “Tender” Romance at Cataromance.

Finishing two new books and a short story (so far!).

The Marriage Miracle being nominated for a RITA by Romance Writers’ of America.

The Marriage Miracle winning a RITA.

And it’s still only September!

What’s beside your computer when you’re writing?

A bottle of water. The file with all my notes, pictures, for the wip. A flower pot filled with pens and pencils. A nail file. Post-it notes. At least one spare pair of specs – I put them down and they just disappear. My cell phone. Music cds.

A cork board with covers, cards, receipts, photographs, phone numbers as well as a list of all the cities, towns, villages I’ve created over the years and the books that are set in them (so that I don’t have to waste time looking them up). A white board with pictures relating to the wip.

A pile of reference books. (The Shorter Oxford Dictionary, Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, Rodale’s Synonym Finder, Roget’s Thesaurus, Baby Names. Research books and magazines

– at present Hello, OK, Homes & Antiques, as well an some Italian magazines for the next book. A bookshelf full of writerly books.

If you could kiss anyone in the world who would it be?

That would be telling!

What are you working on now?

I’m working on a trilogy set in the UK, America and Australia with Barbara Hannay and Jackie Braun. Three women reach a moment of crisis in their lives. The stories are

their journeys back into the past to confront something that happened to them, to put something right.

Remember I told you that I scare myself? My heroine in this book is a blonde “bombshell” weather-girl (not your average Romance heroine), a trophy wife; the book begins with her leaving her millionaire husband, a man she married for the security he offered. It was falling in love with him that was the mistake. Her hidden past that makes it impossible to stay.

I tried to duck Belle Davenport. I even hated her name – Belinda -- but the moment it lodged in my head I knew neither of them were going to disappear. To say it’s easier to just get on with it would be an exaggeration. Nothing about this book is easy. But sometimes you just have to grin and bear it.

Tell us about your latest book.

THE SHEIKH’S GUARDED HEART is published in September. “Romance” has fabulous new covers in both the UK and the US as you can see and I’m really looking forward to getting reader reaction to them.

There is a real fantasy element to the “sheikh” book; the whole whisking the heroine away to the harem thing which, even today, seventy-odd years after E M Hull’s The Sheikh, taps into something slightly dark in the female psyche, relieving the heroine – and the reader by implication – of guilt in indulging the forbidden. But while Lucy Forrester is in danger, it is not from Sheikh Hanif. He is her knight, a man of honour but an exile from life, trapped by grief and guilt. Han rescues Lucy from certain death, but she takes on the greater challenge, to rescue him from a living hell…

Liz's current book is THE SHEIKH'S GUARDED HEART. For anexcerpt, check out her website.

Liz would love for you to come have a chat at her blog and for more about the book, check out her publisher's website.

And watch this space over the next month as Liz is giving away a signed copy of THE SHEIKH'S GUARDED HEART, a purse calendar and a Liz Fielding Screen Saver.

Thanks Liz!

Coming Up in September!

As promised, here is a taste of what we have coming up this month at The Pink Heart Society!

Spotlight Sunday

On Sunday's we have the first of our Guest Bloggers with an under the Spotlight Interview - where we ask the questions we'd all love to know the answers to... What's beside their computer... Who would they kiss... What was their most embaressing moment... Wanna know the answers??? Then Sunday is the day for you...

Male on Monday

Yes, we hear ya! And your wish is our command... On Monday's we have – Potential Heroes – The guys we can all nominate for the Hero Database as the best examples of potential romantic hero's out there!!! We may even discuss what makes a hero along the way... So if hot guys is your scene or you're shopping for a new hero for your latest Manuscript or you just have a keen eye... Monday is the day for you...

Traveling Tuesday

What makes a romantic setting - is it the great beaches, the exotic location, the moonlight, or just who you're with? We take you on our very own tour of places we think are romantic - whether you're shopping for a backdrop for your latest story - want a peek at five star locations - are an armchair traveller - or even shopping for a holiday of your own... Tuesday is the day for you...

Writers' Wednesday

The romance industry is a vibrant, evolving, of-the-times business. And to start off our Writers' Day we bring you the stories of the new generation!!!! Those authors who are the latest names to break through into the industry tell you about their story - How they got there, what happened when they got the call - The things they're still learning along the way... Interesting in writing? Then Wednesday is the day for you...

Thursday Talk-Time

It's MEMBERS DAY - Our very own Pink Heart Society member's Blog on a range of subjects in support of all things category and romance – So if you want to see what's on fellow members minds - want to meet a new friend who shares your passions - want to hear what our members are doing out there in the world to persuade others to think like we do - then Thursday is the day for you...

Friday Film Night

Pop that corn, don those jammies, thaw that Haagen-Daz - cos it's film night!!! We bring you reviews of the romantic/chick-flick films that we have loved so you can stay in your jammies and rent that DVD or you can get out of those jammies and get thee to the cinema!!! Need help with a film to put a smile back on your face or to bring a tear to your eye - Then Friday is your special day...

Saturday Surprise

What can we tell you about Saturday??? Not much as it happens - cos it's a Surprise! – But we can tell you there'll be a varied selection of blogs - Some from your very own Pink Heart Gang - some from Guest bloggers - maybe even some from the Pink Heart Society members - And the last Saturday of every month is Hamper Day- when we round the month up and offer you the chance to win the selection of prizes our guests have put up that month - We'd tell you more, but well, you know, it's a SURPRISE - So if the unexpected is your thing - Saturday is the day for you!

So, now to you! If you had a wish list of category authors you'd like to see under the Spotlight, who would they be? Mmm? We can't make any guarantees but we're nothing if not keen to try...

The Pink Heart Society Launch Party!

Let the Fun Begin!!!

If you are here then you are a loud proud lover of category romance just like we are and you're not afraid to say it to the world!!!

You're a lover of hot heroes and lovable heroines, of having them thrown together in a situation you simply can't see them finding a way out of, only to have them show you a thing or two about heroism, and hope, and truth, and love as they beat all odds to come together.

We all need to believe in Happily Ever After, right? So let's spread the word gang, let's shout it out - We love Category Romance - Say it Loud, Say it Proud!!!

A little Pink Heart History:

The Pink Heart Society was founded on New Years Day 2006 when Harlequin Romance and Modern Extra author Trish Wylie had an epiphany. She decided that for every one person out there with a bad opinion about category romance, many of whom likely haven't read a one, there should be ten of us punching the air and rejoicing in the fact that these books have made a difference in our lives. Whether through a couple of hours of delightful escapism, or unforgettable emotional journeys taking us through laughter and tears and back again, or in finding a reflection of ourselves in a heroine that has shown us that we are not alone out there. Millions of readers couldn't be wrong, she reasoned and it seemed that rather a lot of people agreed with her as within days The Pink Heart Society mascot was winging his way through cyber space as fellow lovers of romance stood up to be counted...

Since then she has been joined by her close writing friends Ally Blake, Nicola Marsh and Natasha Oakley who will be bringing you daily blogs about all things category, with a lot of help from many, many others in the fabulous, supportive, exciting romance writing community.

Come Meet The Team:

Trish Wylie - Irish based writer Trish tried varying careers before she got where she said she'd be at eighteen. In fact, she jokes it would take a lorry to deliver her CV if she ever had to go to an interview again. Her first submission sold to Harlequin Mills & Boon in 2002, was first published in the UK in 2003 and when it hit the U.S. in 2005 it lifted the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award for Best First Series Romance. She now writes for both the Romance line and the new Modern Extra line which will hit Australia as Sexy Sensation by the end of 2006 and is scheduled as Promotional Presents in 2007. Trish is a single gal who likes it that way.... But would be open to the idea of maybe... someday... maybe.

Ally Blake - Melbourne based Ally was a dancer, a cheerleader and an actress before she entered the world of publishing. She sold her first book to Harlequin Mills & Boon in 2003 and has recently had her tenth book accepted. But not content with just being successful in her career Ally is also living the romantic dream in real-life too, having married her gorgeous hubby Mark in in Las Vegas! The technical whiz of the Pink Heart Gang, Ally does all of our gorgeous blog design and designs websites and blogs for others on request.

Nicola Marsh - Nicola was a physiotherapist for 13 years until she finally got sick of saying 'I'm going to write a book one day' and actually sat down and did it! One of the most prolific writers you will ever meet, she first sold to Harlequin Mills & Boon in 2003 and now writes for both the Romance and Modern Extra lines (three of which she has written in the last two months!!! - We did say prolific, right???) She was a finalist in the HOLT Medallion and Booksellers' Best Award for Traditional romance in 2006, and loves setting her books in her beautiful home city Melbourne, where she lives with her lovely husband and gorgeous toddler.

Natasha Oakley - Natasha was a professional actress before her husband was diagnosed with cancer and she began writing as a 'creative displacement activity'. She sold to Harlequin Mills & Boon in December 2003 and her first book hit the shelves in October 2004. A two times Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award Nominee, Natasha is currently one of the authors launching the new 'Romance' line with her book 'Accepting The Boss's Proposal'. She lives in Bedfordshire, England, with her inspirational husband and five children. Yes folks, five!!! Did we mention she has FIVE kids???

Come tell us about you !

Now it's your turn!!! Please introduce yourselves - writers and readers and first time visitors alike. Let us know what you love to write, what you love to read, who you like to drool over, what romantic films made you go Awww... Share with us the current dog-eared category novel on your nightstand or the latest addition to your DVD collection or the hot guy now pinned to your laptop/computer workstation/wallet and let us know why... Give us your ideas on what you would love to see on here that you haven't been able to find elsewhere because we're pretty confident we're gonna be different from anything else out there... With your help!!!

And join us for a chat or three...

Please do come on over and join us all in our Yahoo Group (you can find the icon in the sidebar) where you can find out how to become a member of The Pink Heart Society, how to load the little pink dancing guy onto your website or blog or myspace, where you can have a say in shaping the information and insight that will in future appear on the blog and later the website and where you can chat amongst friends about the articles and pics we have posted on the blog each day.

So let's get this party started!!!!

And tomorrow we will let you know our schedule for this month's fun and games, give you a hint of who we have guesting for us (and the guests are flooding as word spreads so we're very excited!).... and we might even let you know about a teeny tiny bit of a giant hug fantastic giveaway we have coming your way...!!!

Ciao for now!
The Pink Heart Gang

September's Fantabulous Line-Up

Big names, big dreams and big muscles!

This month the Pink Heart Society will be bringing you more fun than you can poke a stick at!

We have spotlights on best-selling authors such as Liz Fielding and Lucy Gordon. Didn't you always want to know who they could kiss if they could kiss anyone in the world?

We will be discussing the relvant parts of hunky hero types such as Mr Big, and...now grab a hanky for the drool which will no doubt spill...Hugh Jackman!

We will be traveling to far flung locations such as the Ring of Kerry in Ireland and the Australian Outback, with travelogues from authors who have been there, done that and written the romance novel to prove it!

And to give you those warm and fuzzies month long, we will be finding out how four fabulous new Harlequin authors made the leap from wannabe to published author.

When you add Dirty Dancing, Mr Darcy, "why we love cowboys" and "how romance book covers come about" to the mix, then this month is going to be a blast!

Believe us now about the fun and sticks and stuff?

THE PINK HEART SOCIETY

A blogazine for lovers of category romance novels!

Welcome to The Pink Heart Society

If you're here then you may already know what we're all about...

The Pink Heart Society is here to show we all love romance!!!! Specifically we love category romance!!! And we're not afraid to say so!!!

The Pink Heart Society members & all their friends are free to pop in here and rave about romance any time they please... So why not come join us and tell us all about you and what makes you love the books we love to read and write!!!

We have plans for Guest Bloggers/weekly updates to the Hero Database/articles/reviews/Blogs of the Week/Romance destinations/Rom-Com reviews/Romance Tips/Nominations for Shipper Shows/Competitions & Giveaways/Challenge of the Week and MUCH MUCH more...

So, what would you like to see happening in The Pink Heart Society - in support of Category Romance - and ALL FOR YOU???

DON'T BE SHY NOW....

This is YOUR CHANCE to help shape the latest Blog & Website for a whole new generation! Now, how often does that opportunity come up???

So if you have suggestions, would like the chance to become a reviewer (free books!!!) or are just interested in nominating hot guys & Great Movies for us to add to the Hall Of Fame then pop on by. Or join our Yahoo Group for free at The Pink Heart Society's present Home-Page (which incidentally will also be up for a re-vamp fairly soon).

The official LAUNCH PARTY is 1st September...