Enjoy these highlights from the blogosphere published over the past week. We’ve got links to articles by some of the fantastic bloggers on H&H who also write for their own sites, plus the odd link from the outside world that catches our fancy.

Do you have trouble committing? Are you chronically late? Are you celebrating your twenty-ninth birthday for the third year in a row? There’s a word for people like you. The adroit Dolly Sickles over at The Doctor is IN dissects the uses of the adjective “ish.”

Miss_D sure got everyone revved up about reading multicultural romances on H&H, but what goes into crafting one? Kwana Writes adds to the awesome-sauce, approaching the topic from the writer’s perspective. The key? Write people, not caricatures of color. Get in on the convo!

During a visit to Harlequin Junkie, hot new author Megan Mulry finds love in the archives of romance with Vintage Harlequin. Her Mystery Science Theater 3000esque commentary (“Oh! The dirty shades of grey!! Oh! The mocking eyes!!") is to die for!

Heather Massey of The Galaxy Express nerds out with Zoë Archer about her latest steampunk romance, Skies of Steal. Among things readers should know about the series are: “that there are men known as Man O’ Wars. They’re technologically enhanced to be stronger and faster than normal men,” and that the “stories are action-packed and full of hot, hot romance.” Um, yes please! More scoop here.

Seeing a lot of pink these days? It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month. There are a lot of great ways to join the effort, and here’s one: read a book! More specifically, buy a book. Contemporary superstar Wendy Wax’s popular Ten Beach Road is part of Penguin USA’s  2012 Read Pink™ Initiative. Wendy says, “I'll be Reading Pink in October. I hope you'll join me.”

Cowboy with lasso image courtesy of Williac via Flickr

We’ve talked about the ripple effect of the show before, but it appears that no one is immune to the phenomenon that is Downton Abbey. Indeed, the ITV drama that showcases the lives of Britain’s working classes and the aristocracy they serve during the early 1900s apparently has fans from all walks of life—even the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, executive producer Gareth Neame talked Season 3 guest stars, rumored celeb cameos (did you hear the one about Jamie Lee Curtis?), and set visits from real-life royalty (Pippa Middleton). According to the article, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and Michelle Obama are also among the obsessed viewers, while Maggie Gyllenhall is another who hopes to get in front of the camera at some point.

Looking beyond Season 3, Neame said about the longevity of show, “We have to balance between continuing to make it for audiences around the world that adore it and making sure that we don’t take it too far … which is not now and not next year, but likely five years or six years, not 10 years.” And with reports that fan favorite Dame Maggie Smith, who plays the Dowager Countess, Queen of the pithy one-liner, has not yet signed on beyond Season 5, the future landscape of the show is ever evolving.

What Hollywood celeb would you love to see grace the halls of Downton Abbey? And would you still tune into a Downton without a Dowager? Plus, if you haven’t already, be sure to check out the Season 3 spoilers released earlier this week.

Every day people flirt, fight, and confess via Twitter, Instant Message, e-mail, and text. These technologies are showing up all over the pages of today’s fiction (After all, where would Christian and Ana be without e-mail?).

What would our favorite characters have to say upon logging on to Twitter? What gossip would they exchange via text? The ladies over at thehairpin.com bring the world of Jane Austen into the 21st century with these texts between Jane Eyre and Rochester, capture the diva that is Scarlet O’Hara in these texts, and reign supreme in the world of teenage angst with these Sweet Valley High texts. We’ve even featured historical romance author Kieran Kramer’s take on how the ladies of Pride and Prejudice would rock Twitter.

Which characters would you most like to see engage in a text conversation? What hero and/or heroine’s Twitter account would you follow?

Text screen shot via Barnorama.