So soon? What's going on? Well, I had an interesting day. I attended the monthly meeting of the Pocono Lehigh Romance Writers , a fun group of women who write all kinds of romance, steamy, chaste, sweet, fantasy, historical - you name it - they write it. I'm working on an article for the little weekly I write for - about romance.
I'm not a huge romance reader, though I admit that I've picked up one or two at the urging of a friend. I thoroughly enjoyed Jude Deveraux's Knight in Shining Armor for instance and a young friend at work had me eagerly awaiting the next in a series of Christian romance/mysteries for awhile. I don't mind romance when its an element of a book. What fun would Irene Fowler's books be if Benni and Gabe didn't have their little tiffs and tussles? Well, actually, pretty much fun since her mysteries are well-written. OK! Look at Evanovich. Sometimes the main thing that keeps me going through a Stephanie Plum book is trying to guess which guy she's going to end up with -Morelli or Radar - and just what's going to happen between the two.
So, romance has its place. And a pretty big one if the stats compiled by the Romance Writers of America are true.

Romance aside, PLRW offered its members an excellent workshop by Colleen Warmingham, the founder of Space Inventors and a professional organizer. She led a workshop on inventing the "perfect" work area by asking us to decide what we hated about our work space and what we liked about it. Then she gave us ideas of ways to organize our space so that we can feel at home there, comfortable and capable of being productive. She had some supplies on hand to purchase if we wanted to. But she is one of only three professional organizers in America who can claim to be a Green Business. Check out her website for details. Her newsletter is well-written and has some thought-provoking ideas.
Best thing about the workshop? It was all about us - each individual was urged to find her own manner of organizing. Right now, mine is tossing stuff on the floor because I moved my trash can too far away. Gotta move it back!
Second best thing about the workshop? No insistence on buying a particular brand of organizing supplies. Me - I use old magazine file boxes that are being discarded by the library. Free and recyclable. I love it.

Back to romance. Read My Angelica by Carol Lynch Williams for a great funny teen romance. Sage is going to enter her High School's writing contest with her "romance" novel starring Angelica. George, her lifelong best friend, tries to stop her. He recognizes just how bad Sage's writing actually is. And George would do anything, anything, for Sage because he is in love with her. Sage's writing provides a lot of the humor. The way she misunderstands almost everything that George tells her provides the rest. There is a surprise ending. The book is studded with truly romantic poems by an anonymous poet and of course everyone lives happily ever after. Check it out of your library soon.