Kate Walker blogged today about The Pink Heart Society which Irish author Trish Wylie started at the beginning of the year. Tired of romances being dissed by all and sundry, and particularly weary of people thinking she should somehow hide her “addiction” to romance fiction, Trish decided instead to wave the banner proudly.

So she began The Pink Heart Society and invites all readers and writers of romance fiction to join. The “official” launch is tomorrow, September 1st. Of course it’s been gathering steam for months. And the launch will be a formality — but what a great formality it is. Drop by tomorrow and visit the rest of us pink heart aficionados. Join us on a yahoo!groups list, if you’d like.

I’ll be there when I’ve finished shooting — er, lining up — my ducks!

Five of Spence and Sadie’s ducks are marching pretty nicely now. So we’re, I think, more than halfway there. The stragglers will get a look-see in the next couple of days. The goal is to have them ready to fly in good formation by Monday. Some of them are flying Monday, regardless of whether all of them are ready to go or not. Those who are ready are taking off.

They’ve been promised to the editor, who has promised to read them this week (which is why we want ALL of them ready to go). It would be lovely to know what she wants done with them before I head off for England mid-month. If it’s not a vast amount I might even be able to do it. But first I have to get them ready and send them in the first place.

Once they are gone, I think Spence and Sadie might come back and blog again. They’re too busy right now to do anything other than work. But by next week they should have their happily ever after (I hope). Wish them luck.
Last day to sign up for the Wedding Bells II contest is Sept 1st. Stop by my website and do so, if you haven’t already.

Gunnar is looking forward to lots of treats (he learned from Sid, Kate Walker’s cat, that he who chooses the winners gets lots of treats — a treat for every entry.) So he wants LOTS of participants! Do Gunnar a favor — sign up!

Three of Spence and Sadie’s ducks are in a row. Five more of them are weaving a bit drunkenly around behind the first three, alternately clamoring for their turn to be lined up and then saying they’d rather wait.

Can’t wait. Gotta get in line. It’s that time of the book. Once the first scene — which has conservatively taken more time to write than the all the rest of the book put together — worked, I had a much better handle on how to make sure everything else was working too. One thing, circularly, leads to another.

I was going to say it’s like the chicken and the egg, but I think we’re relying a bit too much on poultry here. So, it’s like the duck and the egg. Okay. And now that the chapter one duck is in full feather, the rest of them are looking better too. I figure with about 5 more 10 hour days I should have them all lined up and marching toward Richmond. Or winging cyber-spatially toward Richmond. I can hardly wait.

I want to have a life again. I want to walk my dogs further than three quarters of a mile. I want to watch movies and read books and go to the aquarium. I know I just got back from a week of “life” in Montana. I know I saw a son get married. I know I spent 10 hours in the Denver airport (which, by the way, seems a lot longer than ten hours at the computer working). But I want more of it.

I want to do genealogy again. I want to find clues to the family of mysterious gggg-grandfather, Thomas Hocking of Crowan, Cornwall. Was he hatched? (More poultry. We have a theme!) Did he drop from outer space? Did someone find him under a rock. Inquiring minds are going to be trying to find that out in Cornwall. And mine wants to do some work before I leave.

So . . . back to the ducks.

Just two and a half more days until the Wedding Bells II contest ends. Sign up now on my website if you haven’t already.