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& Book Giveaway Comments Contest!

Ruth Hartman started out as a dental hygienist but morphed into a romance writer. She has fun working the dental industry into her romances. While Pillow Talk features a dental hygienist/tooth fairy, her next romance Flossophy of Grace also follows the love life of a dental hygienist. Who knew the dental world was so romantic?

Ruth's first book, My Life in Mental Chains, is a memoir about her struggle with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Ruth, her husband and two very spoiled cats live in rural Indiana where Ruth dreams up new and exciting romances. And flosses regularly. Really!

Find out more about Ruth by visiting her websites:
R.J. Writes blog: http://ruthjhartman.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/RuthjHartman


Pillow Talk

By Ruth Hartman

Trixie Trident has a secret. Everyone knows she creates one-of-a-kind jewelry during the day. It's what she does on her night job no one would ever guess. She's a tooth fairy. Not the tooth fairy, just one of many. It would take her whole life just to combat the many misconceptions people have about TF's. Like how nobody wears tutus or uses a wand. Or stands three inches high. Nope, Trixie looks just like any other woman in her mid-twenties. And she'd tell people all of that stuff. If she was allowed to. But she'd sworn a sacred tooth fairy oath that she'd never tell a soul. And she hadn't. Except for her best friend, who would never breathe a word to anyone.

Graham Keebler meets Trixie when she comes to his dental office as a new patient. He's had lots of single women patients before, but no one has ever sparked his interest like Trixie. What is it about her that's so unique? He can't quite figure it out, but he's determined to try, even when she turns him down for a second date.

Trixie is attracted to Graham, like she's never been to any man before. He's what she always dreamed of in a man. And they even have the subject of teeth in common! But a relationship with the gorgeous dentist can never be. How could it? When she's a tooth fairy, and not only can't she tell him, he'd never believe her anyway.

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Class Act Books (August 2010)
ISBN: 9781935048688

Pillow Talk is available through Class Act Books in both print and as an ebook, and is available through Amazon as a Kindle edition.

Book Giveaway Comments Contest!
If you received our Events Newsletter, remember, we are holding a contest to win a copy of Ruth Hartman's novel,

This past weekend, I attended the annual Missouri Writers' Guild conference, and I have come back inspired, refreshed, and renewed. (Okay and a little tired.) I thought I'd do a few blog posts on things I learned at the conference; and I'm going to start with a wonderful three-hour workshop I attended on Sunday morning with historical romance writer, Bobbi Smith. Her workshop was "Romance Writing A to Z,"and she had several tips, ideas, and inspiration for each letter of the alphabet, including X and Z! I took the course because my young adult novel has some romantic elements, and I'd heard Bobbi was a wonderful and generous teacher. I wasn't disappointed. Here are a few highlights for The Muffin readers from Bobbi's workshop:

• D is for Dialogue: Don't be an adverb junky when you are writing dialogue tags. When your protagonist is talking to your antagonist, she doesn't need to shout loudly or state angrily. By her words and actions, we can tell that she is not happy with his (or her) actions. Each character has his or her own voice. If you read the line of dialogue without the tag, you should be able to tell which character said it.
  
• H is for Hero: If you write romance or any novel where you have a hero, the following might be helpful to you. Bobbi shared a list of eight male archetypes: the chief, the bad boy, the best friend, the charmer, the lost soul, the professor, the swashbuckler, and the warrior. Workshop participants had a great time trying to think of popular movie and book characters to fit each type. For example, how about Indiana Jones? Is he a combination of the professor and the swashbuckler? Where would you put Edmund (the lost soul or the charmer) or Jacob (the best friend) from Twilight?
• O is for Opening: Bobbi said, "You've got to grab them by the heart." One of the most interesting things she talked about was how quickly you have to grab a reader and editor in today's market. She started writing in the 1980s, and she said you had 50 pages to get the story started and a reader invested. Now, you're lucky if you have 10!
  
• V is for Vision: What is the vision you have for your career? Sure, we all want to be the next Stephenie Meyer or Dan Brown; but realistically, those Cinderella stories can't happen to all of us. Bobbi said that her vision was once she was published, she would always have a book contract. She would become a full-time writer and continue to create stories for her readers. She also hoped to get her books into grocery stores and super centers like Wal-mart. And guess what? Her vision has come true. She told us to envision what we want out of our writing career and set goals to attain it.
  

Q: I notice that there are very few male authors or stories written from the male point of view in Romance novels. Could this be because most editors or publishers in this genre are women? The best romance novel ever written, in my opinion, was "LOVE STORY," and a male wrote it from a male point of view. Why aren’t there more?”—Jim

A: There often seems to be a misconception that romance reading (and writing) is reserved for women-only, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Men are not only welcome to enjoy the genre, they are also currently writing some of the most popular romance novels to date—though you may not realize it.

"There are a lot more men writing romance than it would appear because we all have to be published under a feminine, or feminine sounding, pseudonym," says Harold Lowry, multi-published romance author and Past President of RWA. "I say 'we' because I’ve published 46 books under the name Leigh Greenwood. Probably as a result of my longevity and visibility, my publisher puts my picture in the back of my books so that my readers know I’m a man. Because my sales have never suffered, I think it’s safe to say readers are interested in a good book and won’t be scared away by the gender of the writer."

It is true that the majority of folks reading romance novels are women. According to the 2009 Romance Writers of America Reader Survey, women make up 90.5 percent of the romance readership, with men holding down the other 9.5 percent. But even while readership leans heavily toward women and, on the outside, romance writing may look like a women's-only sport, the truth is the genre is very much co-ed. Like any other category of writing, great romance fiction is written (and sold) by both women and men.
One of the most successful writers in the early years of romantic fiction was Tom Huff, who wrote under the pseudonym of Jennifer Wilde. There's also Vince Brach (Fran Vincent), Mike Hinkemeyer (Vanessa Royall) and—well, you get the point.

As for the issue of few romance novels written from the male point of view, Lowry took great issue with that statement.

"Because a romance involves a man and a woman, each character participates in the development of the romance and the resolution of the conflicts. I don’t recall having read a romance – and I’ve read over a thousand – where only the female point of view was used," Lowry says. "The male protagonists often have as many conflicts to resolve as the female protagonists.  This requires the writer to use both points of view in order to resolve all the issues in the book. Many times a book may seem to be one protagonist’s story more than the other – this has happened in several of my books – but the book still ends up being divided almost equally between the two points of view."

So there you have it. While the road for men may be a little bumpier in their quest to write and sell fiction than it is for women, the road is there. And like with all genres, great writing will win out—no matter who writes it.

Brian A. Klems is the online community editor of Writer’s Digest magazine.

Have a question for me? Feel free to post it in the comments section below or e-mail me at [email protected] with “Q&Q” in the subject line. Come back each Tuesday as I try to give you more insight into the writing life.

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Every little girl plays dress up in her mother's clothes and imagines that she would be as beautiful as her mother if she were tall enough or old enough. Of particular interest in Mom's closet, of course, are the party clothes and accessories - hats, jewelry, scarves, belts and shows. Mama's Saris, written by Pooja Makhijani and illustrated by Elena Gomez, warmly tells this rite-of-passage story from a young Indian girl's perspective.

Instead of in the closet, the Mama of this story keeps her treasured special clothing in a suitcase under the bed, carefully and lovingly folded. It is the little girl's 7th birthday and Mama is preparing to dress for the party. As the little girl helps her Mama choose the sari for today's special event, she begs and pleads to wear a sari herself. The vibrant jewel tones of the saris themselves are set against other dense patterns in the backgrounds of the bedroom wall, a photo frame and bedspread. The wonderful array of patterns emphasize the importance and beauty of special occasions when you change from your ordinary self (in this case a blue shirt and jumper) to your beautiful, festive self. For many children, this book will be their first introduction to clothing and family tradition from another culture than their own.

At heart, it is a retelling of a story that children will find familiar - most having experienced some variation of it in their own homes. Taking a familiar story to a broader canvas is one of the great joys that a picture book can provide. Mama's Saris is terrific reminder to all of us of the universality of our life experiences no matter where we live.