Ellen Hartman

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...