Ellen Hartman

A few years ago at the Romance Writers of America convention, Harlequin gave out the convention bags. They have pictures of Harlequin covers on them, including some vintage books. I love my bag. Anyway, I noticed a hockey book on the Harlequin bag. I looked it up online and now have in my hot little hands a copy of Rink Rat  (copyright 1951). As a Harlequin author who wrote a hockey dad book, I was intrigued. I have to share a few tidbits. 1. From the back cover: Look behind the scenes of professional hockey...into the dressing rooms. Okay. What? Really? I'm so in for that. (Except, I've been in the car with a hockey bag before and I really believe a hockey locker room must...well...reek. Maybe that's why we're just looking and not actually going behind the scenes.) 2. More from the back cover: Why did the young man from the back streets of a prairie town fight his way to the very top and then...but that's the story. Back cover copy is a bit less obvious t...

Last year, I started using Scrivener as my primary writing software. I wrote this blog before the new version of Scrivener came out. I have the new version and it's great. Most of what I said here is still applicable. Scrivener is a robust, powerful software program designed specifically for writers. Sounds great, right? Even better? It's cheap. Only $40.00. You can download a test copy or buy it direct from the website . Here are some things I like about Scrivener. 1. The main window includes (from left to right) a working outline, a writing area, and labeling tools all in one view.     The outline is on the left. You can change the titles of sections, move things, and expand or collapse the outline all while you have your manuscript open in the main window. I create a file for each scene because that provides more flexibility when reorganizing. Here's a closer look. (The outline is really just notes to myself about the scene. They wouldn't make much sense to...

Have you ever started something with the certainty that you know exactly how it will go? You know, when you have such clarity that you can make a list of I Will Nevers? That’s how writing romance started for me. I had a whole list of things I’d never do. Here is a sample. 1. I’ll never write a marriage of convenience story. 2. I’ll never write about little kids. 3. I’ll never write about a secret baby. My first book came out in 2007, which means I have almost four years under my belt. How am I doing with my Nevers? I’m 3 for 3. (Yep, I’ve done every one of them.) Heh . So I’m not good with ultimatums. Or rules. Or maybe I’m just bad at predicting my career, because I do have some absolutes in my life. 1. I’ve never gone to bed angry with either of my kids. (Although, I have broken this rule with my husband.) 2. I’ve never littered. (At least not in my memory—maybe back in my toddler days I tossed empty milk bottles out the window of my parents VW bug.) 3. I’ve never s...

Here is an excerpt from my hockey dad book, Calling the Shots . It's coming in October 2010 from Harlequin Superromance! There are purchase links on my website . -------------------- Bryan was beyond late. He’d missed Allie’s entire practice. He just hoped she was still at the rink. He’d texted her that he was going to be late, but she hadn’t replied. His sister, who watched Allie when he was gone, wasn’t picking up either. Not good. So not good. People weren’t almost an hour late to pick their thirteen-year-old kids up from hockey. At least not people who were good at being parents. He was going to have to arrange a backup plan for the nights he was coming in from out of town. One more arrangement he needed to get under control in this whole precarious mess he and Allie were calling a family. He sure as hell hoped Erin’s new life was worth it. He pulled into the drop off circle at the front of the rink. It was past nine o’clock—no one was going to complain if he left the Lexus the...

One thing writers love to talk about is process . What’s your process? Do you use charts or worksheets? Outlines? Do you wing it or do you have a plan? What kind of highlighters? Do you edit on screen or on paper? Do you collage or fill out character sheets or let it come to you during the book? I can answer all of those questions about my process. I like to think I’m a fairly orderly, organized, and prepared writer. Except, once I hit a certain point in a book, the entire process goes out the window and the one word left to describe what I’m doing is desperation . Will I ever be able to finish? Will this pile of nothing turn into something someone wants to read? Will my editor ask for the advance back? How many times can the word “just” possibly appear in a manuscript? Who typed this thing? Who thought this was a good idea for a book? How is this ever going to end? Am I really out of M&M’s again? Etc. I thought it might be fun to share some pictures of what my “process” looked lik...

In addition to doing FAQs about my books, I post lists of behind-the-scenes facts on my website. Here's the one for Plan B: Boyfriend . Plan B is the sequel to The Boyfriend's Back . Included with the eBook version of The Boyfriend's Back , was an exclusive story set when the characters were in high school. You can see young Charlie and Sarah flirting with each other in that story. The eBook is still on sale if you want to check it out. Charlie loves his Phillies, especially Jimmy Rollins. I'm not a Phillies fan (my team is the Pirates), but I knew Rollins's name because my niece named her hermit crab after him. My niece also had a hermit crab named after Shane Victorino, but his name is too hard to spell so I didn't put Shane (the crab or the Philly) in the book. Yes, we have bar like Wilton's in my hometown. No, I never ordered a Rob Roy there while wearing my cheerleading uniform. (I wasn't a cheerleader.) I did appropriate that story from a friend...

I’m a technical writer. That means I write Frequently Asked Question pages (FAQs) at work. It’s become a bit of a tradition for me to post an FAQ when I have a new book out. (Previous FAQs for The Boyfriend's Back and His Secret Past .) So here goes… 1. In the first chapter Sarah’s son gets suspended from school for bringing a knife in his backpack. Would a school really suspend a kid for that? My friend’s daughter got the boot for a butter knife in her lunch bag. My husband said she must have been using it to spread anarchy. 2. I heard this book includes a Drunken Breakdown scene. What kind of research did you do before you wrote that? Have you ever seen the movie Barfly with Mickey Rourke? I spent a few weeks immersing myself in that lifestyle, Heh . No, seriously. I didn't need to research to write that scene. I’m a writer. I make stuff up. 3. In the book, Charlie is obsessed with Jimmy Rollins from the Philadelphia Phillies. Are you a Phillies fan? No. Like all good Pitts...

For the past two years, I've been posting this challenge in my blog (originally stolen from my friend, Diana Holquist's blog). I've thoroughly enjoyed the fantastic book recommendations and conversation so I'm going to post a new round! How does it work? You post 12 books you're planning to read in 2010. Doesn't have to be all romance--it's tons of fun to see the range of reading we all do. Then we all sit back and enjoy the conversation. Here are my 12. The Foundling --Georgette Heyer. I really shouldn't admit this, but I've never read a Heyer book. (I hope they don't revoke my romance writing privileges after that confession.) The Giant's House --Elizabeth McCracken. I read a memoir McCracken wrote and absolutely loved it. This one is fiction and includes a love story. Double Play --Jill Shalvis. Shalvis was recommended several times in a best books post I did last year. I'm a fan of sports books, so I'm hoping for a winner here. Pl...

I like to post an excerpt of upcoming books here, but this time I'm torn. The opening scene is all the heroine's. It's a good scene (I think), and makes a fine excerpt. The issue is that I love the hero, Charlie McNulty. He's why I wrote the book. So...I'm posting the opening scene here, but there's a link at the bottom to my website where there is a second excerpt that's all Charlie. :-) Sarah Finley examined herself carefully in the mirror on the back of the closet door in her front hall. The gleaming walnut woodwork surrounding the mirror provided a dark counterpoint to her “hip, yet involved and respectable mother” outfit—a knee-length charcoal skirt with a slight flare at the hem to soften it, crisp, white shirt patterned with pale pink circles from the newest Talbot’s catalog, and a cropped black knit jacket with chunky, artistic buttons. She was debating about the abstract print scarf. If she wore the scarf would it say “I’m taking this issue serious...

I'm going to be part of the newly launched Super Authors blog on eHarlequin. We're having an official kick-off week starting June 1, but since the space is there and the community is there…it seemed like a prime opportunity for a little word game! Last December a community member posted a game where we guessed retitled holiday songs? Example: Embellish Interior Passageways = Deck the Halls . Jeannie Watt and I adapted that game by running the titles of the 2009 Supers (January-May) through the Obfuscation Machine. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to decipher the real titles. Jeannie and I will each choose a name from the comments to win a book. I’m giving away The Boyfriend’s Back , and Jeannie is giving away The Cowboy’s Redemption . (Both of them are on the list--there's a clue!) Kay Stockham is also giving away one of her books. If you want to be in the drawing to win books, post guesses in the comments on eHQ . Here they are, the New 2009 Super Titles...

I’m a technical writer. That means I write Frequently Asked Question pages (FAQs) on a regular basis. Did you know that most FAQs are made up by technical writers and have nothing to do with actual questions anyone has ever asked? Yep. It’s like writing fiction, except about bytes and bandwidth and secure passwords. And also the FAQs are usually nonfiction. Usually. Anyway, I wrote an FAQ for His Secret Past and the comments were a ton of fun so I thought I’d do one for The Boyfriend’s Back. 1. The title is The Boyfriend’s Back, but the cover shows his front. What’s up with that? Um. Good observation? But the title refers to the fact that The Boyfriend was gone and has now returned. He came back. Get it? 2. See that part on the cover where it says “Going Back?” Is that because her hair is blowing back in the wind? Is it, like, a caption? Because I didn’t think her hair needed a caption. Well, no. Sorry. You’re 0 for 2 here. Going Back means this book is part of the Superromance themed ...

His Secret Past , my May 2008 Superromance, has been invited to the Big Dance. It’s one of the 64 lucky books chosen to compete in the Smart Bitches/Dear Author March Madness Tournament ( DABWAHA —Dear Author Bitchery Writing Award for Hellagood Authors). Sweeet ! The author in me is delighted. What an honor. I must immediately go to the contest site, fill in my bracket, and crown my book the ultimate champion, right? Because it’s all about pride and I am proud of my book. (Look, I devoted an entire page of my website to it!) So yeah, I’m proud. The trouble is, on the tournament page there are prizes . Really good prizes like a Sony Reader and fantastic gift certificates and more. You win those prizes by guessing correctly about which book will ultimately win the tournament. Of the more than 400 people (as of this writing) who have so far filled out a bracket, not one has picked His Secret Past to win. ( Umm…Mom? Hellooo? Too busy for the internet today? ) So that’s my dilemma. If I ...

Thought I'd post an excerpt from my upcoming book, The Boyfriend's Back . It's available from Harlequin Superromance in May 2009. Here we go: Church, bar, church, bar. Statlerville was exactly the same as the last time JT had been here. But he was lost. How did a person get lost in their own hometown? Move away and stay away for fifteen years. That’s how he’d done it, anyway. Now he was late which was just perfect. He was only coming because his brother, Charlie, said he couldn’t do this without him and now he wasn’t going to make it in time. He glared at the empty expanse of dashboard. Of course his rental didn’t have a GPS—why use technology when you can keep right on making the same stupid mistakes forever? He should never have agreed to this. But Charlie had asked him. JT rolled down his window and took a good look at the streets of Statlerville. Something would ring a bell—show him the way. There . St. Pete’s, his high school. His mom’s funeral was being held at the S...

Last year, my friend, Diana Holquist, posted a reading challenge on her blog. I stole her idea and we had quite a fun time on eHarlequin posting our reading lists. I thought we might as well try it again this year, especially since I found some great books and new authors by reading the lists other folks posted! The eHarlequin post from last year is here: 2008 Book Challenge . So, here we go. You post 12 books you're planning to read in 2009. Doesn't have to be all romance--it's tons of fun to see the range of reading we all do. Here are the 12 books I've preselected. Natural Born Charmer --Susan Elizabeth Phillips. This was on my 2008 list and will continue to be on my list for as long as I'm reading books. How to Tame a Modern Rogue --Diana Holquist. She's the godmother of the list so she deserves a place of honor. Plus she's my buddy and I've read a bunch of drafts of this already but haven't seen the finished work. A Cowboy's Redemption --...

I was folding the socks this weekend and I realized that I have memorized the sock preferences for three people who aren't me. My husband and my sons all wear similar socks, but with key differences. If I don't remember the differences, I can't get the correct socks into the correct drawers. Evidence: My husband is the only one who does not wear his socks outside without shoes. Therefore, his socks are relatively clean and he likes to keep them that way. #2 son wears only AND1 brand socks and only the style that doesn't show above the sneaker and only in his exact size—no bigger socks need apply. #1 son wears all the other permanently dirty, too tall, too big socks. Except if they're scratchy. That's a lot of information, right? Does any of it have anything to do with writing? Absolutely not . Which is my point. I'm carrying all this useless knowledge around in my head which means I can instantly categorize and sort other people's socks and in the me...

"Mommy, where do books come from?" "Well, dear, if they're Harlequin books, it's likely they come from the warehouse in Buffalo, New York." "A book warehouse? What's that?" Glad you asked... A few weeks ago I had the enormous pleasure of participating in the Harlequin Customer Service Representative Appreciation day. It was a fascinating day, meeting the customer service representatives and touring the Harlequin distribution center. First thing I saw when I pulled in? Geese. Okay, that wasn't interesting. But the very next thing I saw was an eighteen-wheeler with the Harlequin logo on the side. That was totally cool. Too bad I forgot to take a picture. Next time. When I met with the customer service representatives I was delighted to bring them gifts. Thanks to the generosity of the other Superromance authors, I had piles of signed books, bookmarks, pens, and other small presents. I'd also collected signed book covers and made them into...

I’m a technical writer. That means I write FAQs. Did you know that FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions? I bet you did. Did you also know that most FAQs are made up by technical writers and have nothing to do with actual questions anyone has ever asked? Yep. It’s like writing fiction, except about bytes and bandwidth and passwords. And also the FAQs are nonfiction. Usually. Anyway, I’ve decided to do an FAQ for His Secret Past . The lead character’s name is Mason Star and he’s a rock star. Weren’t you trying too hard with the name? Excellent question. Yes. Of course, I was trying too hard. My sister told me it was cheap. My editor told me it was cheap. My critique group told me it was cheap. But I am a sucker for a cheap name. So pulling from my bag of tricks, I wrote fictional backstory for the name, blaming it all on the parents. (Because in fiction, as in real life, it’s the parents’ fault.) Mason’s mom was a stripper who changed her name legally to Sierra Star. So he can’t he...

My friend, Diana Holquist , makes funny book trailers. A book trailer is like a movie trailer, except with a really, really, really low budget and no actors. The exception to this is the trailer for a book written by Dennis Hopper's daughter. Watching it I learned that industry connections go a long way toward improving the look and feel of the trailer. Where are my movie star relatives when I need them? Note: Because I'm petty that way I'm not posting the title of that book or the author's name because who wants to advertise the competition? But if you did happen to go to Amazon and search for "celebutantes" you might find it. Anyway. If you'd like to see MY no budget, cheesy music, cut and paste 'cause we can't afford actors trailer, click here. What we lack in funding, we make up for in wit. Or in hot, hot men. Take your pick. P.S. Okay. Fine. Whatever. I'm not that petty. Here's the link to the other trailer. It's not that great,...

I write because it’s tidy. No, not the process. The process sucks. The writing process is a horrendous disaster involving way too many stimulants (all unhealthy although not, in my case, illegal), way too little sleep, and way too much self-doubt and bad temper. (Plus a little euphoria but I’m on a woe-is-me kick here so I won’t be admitting to that.) The tidiness comes in when I take life--big scrambles of human emotion and chaos--and sort it out on paper. I write romances, so my books have happy endings. The villains get theirs, the hero and heroine get some, and my psyche is at peace knowing that these people, the fictional ones, will do what I tell them when I tell them to do it. Non-fictional people do not respond to me in this way. They persist in leading their own messy lives, making bad decisions, living with ambiguity, and even, at times, settling for settling instead of striving for their Happily Ever After. Blech. Who wants to spend their time with people like that? (Note: ...

In romance circles there are periodic kerfuffles about offensive language, themes, descriptions, and situations. I have always believed that it’s a big world out there and we should all just find something we do enjoy and ignore the other stuff. Who am I to tell you what words to write or read? So open-minded, right? Except…I decided I do care. And I also decided that I’m in charge. There are words that are offensive to me and I want them banned right now . Except...(another exception already? I suck at fanaticism)...I’m too lazy to figure out how to get things banned through official channels and I don’t really like petitions, besides, would I have to walk to all your houses to gather signatures? I'm exhausted just thinking about it. So this is a list of words I will forthwith cease and desist from employing in speech or written expression both professional and personal. (That’s a little petition language in case I do decide to come around your neighborhoods with a clipboard.) P...