Ellen Hartman

Rick Reilly wrote an essay for Sports Illustrated about season tickets for the Green Bay Packers. I'm not a fan of Green Bay in particular or the NFL in general,* but the essay made me cry. I'm a sucker, I know. Packers fans, man. They are true romantics. Evidence? Oh, yeah, I've got evidence. Here are the top three. 1. I love you all day, every day, no matter what, even when you suck : You can't buy a single game ticket for the Packers. It's the whole season or nothing. Not so bad, right? Except it's Green Bay. Football is a winter sport. Lambeau Field is outdoors. Season tickets for this team sounds like a bigger commitment than 'til death do us part. At least if you're married you can snuggle your honey indoors in the winter. 2. I love you now and forever : If you put your name on the Packers Season Ticket Wait List, (What? They capitalize it on their site.) you can have your tickets after the 74,000 people on the list in front of you. By the time yo...

A funny thing happens when you tell someone you've written a romance novel. (Well, any number of funny things can happen, but we're only talking about one right now.) Scenario 1: Tell it to a Woman Me: I just turned in my newest novel, His Secret Past . Woman: Really, what's it about? Conversation ensues. Scenario 2: Tell it to a Man Me: I just turned in my newest novel, His Secret Past . Man: Am I on the cover? ...???!... Before you ask, no, I don't hang out with men who should logically be expecting to grace the cover of a romance. They're nice enough looking, but I think if you can model for a living, you probably do model for a living. (Full disclosure: I write technical documentation for a living. You do the math.) That's beside the point anyway. If they want to be cover models, by all means, they should go for it. The thing I think is funny is it's always the men who make this joke. Never the women. Not once. I, of course, have many theories about t...

Introductions. Eek. First lines. Opening scenes. Boo. At least this is quick. (Yeah. I thought the blog needed an introductory post and then it seemed so fraught that I chickened out.) Ellen Hartman, romance novelist. Pleased to meet you.