My boys are back in school and once again the focus of my
life shifts to the car line. My kids
are always excited to go back to school, to see their friends, and pick up
their social life where they left it at the end of May. I, too, am excited to see the kids back in
school. Mainly because I like to be on a
routine. So in the afternoon, I sit
and wait in a car line that snakes through the school parking lot. Those 15 minutes of waiting are
peaceful. The quiet solitude of my
mini-van calls to me. And I find I can
read another chapter or two in the book I am currently devouring. I become engrossed, traveling through time
and seeing a romance bloom. I am
happy. But as the car line moves, I
feel…

Public displays of affection are not the norm for London. Yet, on two occasions, July 29, 1981 and September 6, 1997, thousands of people thronged the streets, and billions watched on telly, as the person they adored swept by, the first time for her wedding and the second time for her funeral.

Friday is the tenth death anniversary of Diana, the People’s Princess. She won the hearts of millions of people and loosened the moral strictures of hidebound society by not just talking the talk, but also walking the walk. From a shy bride to a devoted mother to a passionate campaigner, the Princess of Wales didn’t just transform herself, she changed a country. She was one of the first symbols of "girl power" — despite her desire for something that…

In the essay A Room of One’s Own (1929), Virginia Woolf writes, "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is going to write." I extend Woolf’s concept to: A person must have a space of her own if she is going to live as an individual.

This space that you stake ownership upon need not be a large room. In fact, it could be a hidey hole in the attic of your home or a specific couch in the family room. This space is where you can withdraw to be completely yourself. The guarantee is that it is inviolate and your privacy and access to it is respected by everyone. By definition, this is not a shared space. No one has the right to comment on…

The national conference of the Romance Writers of America is always held in the month of July. Two to three thousand members of the publishing industry and adjunct professions, including writers, editors, publishers, agents, reviewers, bloggers, and readers, make the annual pilgrimage to network, learn, gossip, and enjoy themselves at the largest professional gathering targeted for romance novels.

The 2007 conference was my first one. For all the five days that I was at the Hyatt Regency on Reunion in balmy downtown Dallas, the very air was vibrant with the energy and excitement participants felt for their chosen profession. "You can do it, too, and let me show you how." This was the message I received over and over again, until I began to repeat it in my head like the…

For all the readers of books and all the viewers and fans of Romance Novel TV, here’s a poem for you and for all the hours you spend on our board making it one of the most entertaining spots in the blogosphere.

Woman Enough is by Erica Mann Jong, author of Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life.

Because my grandmother’s hours
were apple cakes baking,
& dust motes gathering,
& linens yellowing
& seams and hems
inevitably unraveling
I almost never keep house
though really I like houses
& wish I had a clean one.

Because my mother’s minutes
were sucked into the roar
of the vacuum cleaner,
because she waltzed with the washer-dryer
& tore her hair waiting for repairmen
I send out my laundry,
& live in a dusty house,
though really I like clean houses
as well as anyone.

I am woman enough
to love the kneading of…

July is a month of celebration in North America with Canada Day and the U.S. Independence Day. In keeping with the spirit of the holidays, here are a list of my favorite romance novels incorporating themes of personal independence and national independence.

Seeing Fireworks by Elaine Coffman, Victoria Barrett, Ashland Price, and Trana Mae Simmons
Dear Lonely in LA… by Jacqueline Diamond
Just the Way You Are by Barbara Freethy
Christmas in July by Julie Kistler
Midnight Blue by Nancy Landon
Last Chance by Jill Marie Landis
Holiday Honeymoons by Merline Lovelace and Carole Buck
The Fourth of July by Joyce Livingston
Remember When by Judith McNaught

In the world of romance, Harlequin had the loudest pyrotechnic display this year, with ten Made in America book bundles published in honor of the holiday. Each volume contains five previously published books.

Which books would you add to this list?

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