Again, Humans Have It Backward

A number of romance writers with whom I have a common link (we have, or have had, the same editor) have been posting pictures of the “real” them on their blogs. Good for them. I previously posted pics of myself on this blog.

This was started, to my knowledge, by Amarinda Jones and spread quickly. Now I don’t always agree with AJ, but in this case I do. If you’ll allow me to paraphrase, she said on her blog that we should be embracing ourselves for exactly who we are, no matter what we look like, no matter how it fits with society’s ideals or our own. We should be happy and proud to the real us.

This course of action got me to thinking. You almost never see a man with these sorts of insecurities about how he looks. I can’t remember who originated the quote and had no luck finding it on the web, but it has stuck with me. “Men and women will never be equal until a woman can walk down the street bald headed and with a beer gut and still believe she’s beautiful.”

But in most of nature, humans stand out as the only species where the majority of its social groupings work backwards from the bulk of nature. In many species the appearances of the genders may differentiate based on size, such as in many dogs, marine and land mammals, etc. In most bird species and among many fish species it is the male who preens and tries to gain the attention of the female. But in all species that I’ve heard of, it is still the male who seeks to win over the females. He seeks to prove he is the most beautiful, most perfect specimen of manhood to mate with her. You see this very clearly with creatures like lions, cattle, fish and birds. The lion’s mane provides protection for his neck during territorial battles but also acts as a way of showing off his gloriousness to the females he is trying to woo. Bulls grow horns for much the same reason.

Ever seen a female beta fish? No, none of those gorgeous fantailed beauties is a girl. Those are the males. Mrs. Beta is much more subdued.

Bees, ants, other hive animals –all dependent upon the queen taking their notice.

Perhaps it is clearest, however with birds. The male peacock clearly is out to impress. The magnificent tail, which the female does not have, not only startles predators, but is used to strut his stuff for his lady love. Cardinals, those gorgeous red birds, are only gorgeous in the male of the species. Female cardinals are quite dull. Robins also, that bright red breast is the sign of a male, while the female is a duller brown.

But for humans, sadly, we have outsmarted ourselves. We have created complex societies that have destroyed the female sense of self. Perhaps it’s time we took back the power we’ve given over to others for so long. Perhaps it’s time that we as women stopped letting ourselves believe that the “real” us is somehow less than wonderful.

There is hope, you know. Just take a look at the Massai of Africa. The women appreciate beauty and wear bright colors and jewels, but nothing compared to the men.

Love by any other name.

For some reason lately the concept of love and it's many variations has been flittering through my mind. Perhaps it's because I have that unfinished story about the gods of love sitting in my computer waiting for me to figure out how I'm pulling it all together at the end.

In doing the research for that story I learned something interesting about the Greek concepts of love. The language and the Pantheon of Greek gods showed that the Greeks recognized distinct differences in the type of love. They had different words for what we simply call love and different gods and goddesses to cover them.

We all know of Aphrodite who was the goddess of love and beauty. But the "minor" gods and the Greek language are far more interesting. Lust was governed by the very minor god Priapus. The Greeks did not revere this god greatly nor the type of "love" he ruled. The son of Aphrodite (daddy's identity ranges from Hermes to Pan to Dionysus and beyond), Priapus was the god of lust. He was taken far more seriously by the Romans and was believed to punish thieves. He is often depicted with a very large…well, not just large but grotesquely large male member.

The word eros in Greek meant passion and physical love. This is also the realm of the god Eros (Cupid). His golden tipped arrows created an obsessive physical attraction that could border on madness. His lead tipped arrows created not hate, but indifference. The son of Aphrodite and Ares, Eros was known for using his powers and his bow for revenge and his own amusement more than for the good of mankind.

Eros was a twin. His brother Anteros was the exact opposite. Anteros was the god of reasoned and returning love. His love was the mature and caring love that begins and ends in friendship, caring and compassion. Anteros was the god of agape love. Christianity has changed the meaning of this word to denote more of a love of God for mankind, but at it’s essence is the idea of a love that is fixed, constant and transcends the concerns of the physical nature.

As I said, I have a Work in Progress (WIP) that deals with the gods of love.

Excerpt:

“Please tell me you are Psyche,” said the low, pleasant voice. She turned and her eyes widened as she saw the man who stood there. The face of her Beloved was burned in her memory and this man looked enough like him to make her gasp. He leaned against the wall of a nearby structure and smiled at her. “A frightened young, pregnant woman looking confused and seemingly carrying all that she owns. Traveling in the company of two slaves, one big and brawny and one a mere boy? Looks like I’ve found you.” His shoulders were broad and his skin a deep golden color. His eyes were the color of raw honey and his smile inviting and sent a shiver up her spine. He was tall and his dark brown hair hung loosely around his face. Though the night was cold he wore only the Roman tunic that accentuated his well formed chest, the belt gathering the garment over narrow hips before it cut mid thigh. And they were marvelous thighs. Legs faintly sprinkled with fine dark hairs; powerful and strong legs that would drape themselves over a woman in the night and hold her tight to him as she slept.

Psyche reached out for Nelek’s hand and found it was trembling. He saw it too. Yuli was so frightened that he’d forgotten all about slaves and free women and had grabbed Psyche’s waist and buried his face in her cloak.

This man before them was no man. A light lit the golden eyes and spoke of power and greatness far beyond the mortal man. His light was maybe not so bright or impressive as her Beloved’s but that he was immortal was beyond doubt. His eyes held hers for a moment and a playful grin spread wider on his face. His eyes flared amber flames and she had the distinct impression of wings spread from his shoulders, black wings.

“Don’t be afraid,” he seemed to shrink instantly and the power that had terrified her pulled back inside the physical form. “You have a paper to show me, I believe?”

Psyche reached into the folds of her robes and pulled out the folded parchment. The man-god reached for it and took it from her, his hands large and narrow, long delicate fingers. He didn’t even glance at it, only held it a moment and then it was gone.

He looked at her and his smile softened. “I am Anteros.” At her blank look he shook his head and frowned. “Why is it everyone knows Eros, everyone knows that walking erection Priapus but no one knows Anteros.” When she could only shake her head and try to stammer that she was sorry, he held up his hand. “Don’t. I’ll tell you why no one knows who I am, it’s because mortals are selfish where love is concerned. Hell, the gods are selfish. Everyone thinks love just “happens,” that it is there and it will last forever because it is love. They walk around saying “love me, love me” but never think about the fact that love only prospers when it is returned. Eros himself, it is said, would not grow until after I was born to be his playmate. And I can tell you he was a puny little thing when we were young,” he winked at her conspiratorially. “Well, I, my little lady am Anteros, god of returning or opposite love. Not the opposite of love, but mature reflective love. What the Greeks call agape.”

Be sure to run over and check out Anny Cook, Amarinda Jones and Sandra Cox. They always have something interesting to say.

Baby Sounds Abound

A couple of years ago some friends of mine introduced me to a site called icanhascheezburger.com. The images on that site were a particular favorite of my friend Steve who used them in his battle for supremacy, or just survival, as the lone male in a group of female friends. Those of you who read Anny Cook or Sandra Cox’s blogs will also be familiar with this website as Anny in particular often posts pics from it. As I scanned it today I found a couple of pics that were too good to pass up and fit well with the events of my life of late.

The first one is called I Hope You Kept the Receipt. As anyone who pops by here regularly knows, we are having our first baby. We are not unfamiliar with the patter of little feet in our house, it’s just that up to now they’ve mostly been of the four footed or pawed variety. As the birth gets closer we’ve been contemplating just how we anticipate the four dogs who share our home will respond. We’ve heard lost of stories about, and seen plenty of animals at shelters because, the new baby and the pets just didn’t mesh. When it’s an issue of allergies, that’s unpredictable and tragic.

Here is how we anticipate things. Our Brittany, George, will simply look at the baby and walk away. He has no concept of pack order other than that I am the alpha and shows no interest in anything besides food, sleeping in his crate, pointing things in the backyard and occasional pets from the momma. Our Cavalier, Gracie, we foresee being her usual happy, cheerful self and trying to lick the poor babe unrelentingly. The dachshund, Wendell, will most likely be rather nervous and run about squeaking at it. It is our cocker spaniel, Shiloh, that we are most worried about. Shiloh sees her pack in the following order: Momma, Shiloh, and everyone else. She has her space on the couch next to momma and heaven help you if you’re in it. She has to sleep in the momma’s bedroom or she will bark and howl all night. Shi is on medication for separation anxiety and has significant problems with it.

We were reading the books and looking for ways to introduce the baby to the dogs. We ran across the usual advice such as bringing home a blanket that smells like the baby a day or so before baby comes home and let them smell it and get used to it. Another site suggested momma sleep with the receiving blanket one night and wrap the baby in it so the baby’s scent becomes mixed with momma’s. But it was the CD that we found in our local PetSmart that caught our eye the most.

The CD has baby sounds on it. The sounds range from soft cooing to baby talk to crying to a full blown tantrum. The idea is that you play this at increasing volumes while petting and talking to your pet so that they get used to the sounds and aren’t distressed by them. Since we love our dogs and see them as our children as well, we made a lifetime commitment to them when we adopted them, we were willing to give it a try.

Sunday night I put my laptop in the baby’s crib (which I have to remember not to call its crate or people look at you funny) and played the CD. As expected George totally ignored it and laid on the floor waiting for his Mom to rub his stomach. Gracie is mostly deaf. She can hear lower registers and feel vibrations from claps or bangs. The baby’s noises were too high for her and she had no idea what was going on, just that they had finally been allowed to sniff out the baby room. Shiloh barked a bit at first but then settled down and seemed ignore the sounds and enjoyed playing with her pack and checking out the room.

It was my dachshund who had the most profound response. Wendell ran semi circles around the crib whimpering and whining. He tried repeatedly to climb the crib sides and get to whatever was so upset. We have no sheets on the crib yet, so I lifted him up and let him investigate the inside. (Yes, I later wiped it down.) He ran back and forth and finally fixated on one of the hippo decals on the wall. He growled at it and barked at it, keeping himself between the crying laptop and the hippo. I think he believed that whatever was wrong, it was Mr. Hippo’s fault.

The experience was reassuring and amusing for the most part. Wendell and momma will be repeating the exercise until he settles down a bit about the sounds. Oh, the nursery is done. I finally finished the curtains, which I sewed by hand and have only the quilt (which you can’t really use anyway) left to do. I’d post pictures but it’s really very simply done and my batteries just died on my digital camera.

Writing wise, I want to thank everyone who made Lover’s Stone such a well received book. I recently saw my sales figures and was so wonderfully surprised and pleased. Thank you all. I really am still in awe that anyone wants to read my stories and even more flabbergasted that people are willing to buy them. The final book in the Ursine trilogy, Soul Stone, will be released November 19th (my birthday and just a few days before Smudgie will be making his appearance). There will be a contest to go along with it featuring a pendant and earrings as a prize. Soul Stone is not a “Jewel” but it does feature a stone just as the other two did. This time an opal, as when I was writing it I had anticipated it to be an October Jewel. However, Tarris—our hero—was not going to be satisfied with the shorter word count required by the Jewels and demanded his own full-length novel.

Be sure to check out Amarinda Jones, Anny Cook, Sandra Cox and Kelly Kirch for more interesting stuff and just a good bit of fun.

Acheron, a Dark-Hunter Addict's confession

I finally finished reading Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I had several other books on tap that I had to finish before I could read it. The first 400 pages are about Acheron's life prior to the present. Those pages were hard to read. Not because the book wasn't well written, compelling or paced well but because Acheron is one of my absolute favorite characters and reading about the horrors of his past was disturbing.

Beyond the joy that all Kenyon fans felt that Ash finally got his HEA, there were images of the cool, totally zen, philosophical, kick-ass leader of the Dark-Hunters/God of Fate that were so heart touching that you remembered again why you fell in love with the character whose image is that of the ultimate preditor. One of his men even refers to him as T-Rex. But the glimpses of him away from the Dark-Hunter world where his absolute adoration and love of children and the true extent of his loyalty to his men and his committment to mankind as a whole were put center stage were priceless and brilliant on Kenyon's part. And brave on her part.

It was great to see all the characters we have come to know and love flitter in and out of this picture of Ash's life and to see the man who thought he stood alone, finally recognize that he wasn't and hadn't been for some time.

So we Kenyon Minions will continue to await her next book with excitement (Fury's book is coming out at Christmas! I'm so blasted excited I could squeal. I love me some Fury Kattalakis). We will continue to take that second look at the very tall, leather clad guy with long hair as he straddles his motorcyle or slides behind the wheel of his ride and entertain the fantasy of what if...

Oh, and one more important thing. Be careful with your carbonated beverages. Who knew Atlantean gods couldn't hold their Sprite?

First Day of School

My kiddies had their first day of school today. Everything went relatively smoothly and I didn't have to threaten anyone with my body bag. Just kidding. They were all on their best behavior today, we'll see how long that lasts.

(I had a very cool comic graphic for you, but blogger doesn't want to upload graphics today. What a shame.)

I have very little voice right now. I'm not sure how much of it was from having to talk all day and how much of it was from the activities engaged in last night. The SO had been dying to see a concert called Projekt Revolution. It was an all day music event with 10 or so bands including Linkin Park, Chris Cornell, The Bravery, Armor for Sleep, Hawthorne Heights, etc. Unfortunately said concert was scheduled on the day before the first day of school. I tried for months to get out of it, suggesting that my darling find someone at work to go. No luck. I was petulantly told that this was the last time we'd get to do something like this because we would have the baby.

True. I have no plans to take a baby to a rock concert and damage it's hearing. Of course from the way Smudgie was kicking during the concert he's either an aspiring music critic or he was having a good time too. He was quiet until Chris Cornell came on, then got quiet through most of Linkin Park but started kicking up a storm during the LP encore. I'm concerned he had his own little mosh pit going on in there.

The concert was terrific. We were in the first section infront of the stage, just about 10 rows back. Loud, bright lights, and lots of fun. I did find it a bit depressing when Chris Cornell came on. I remember him from ages ago, back when he fronted for SoundGarden. I looked at him and couldn't help but think, "Damn Dude, we got old." No criticism of him. Now that he's given up that dorky spiked hair and grown it out again he looks good. Really good. But neither he nor I are spring chickens any longer. It was cute, from our angle I could see his kids with their protective head gear dancing along to dad.

Of course the kids around us were interesting. Just like when GreenDay released their last, today's teens and preteens think they "discovered them." SNORT! I used to have a GreenDay button that said, "I was listening to GreenDay when you were in diapers." I felt the same way last night. The teens and early 20 somethings were looking at us older folks like, "What are you doing here?" My students when I introduced myself and told a bit about me were shocked to find out I'd attended the concert last night.

So I'm about to take my "I was up til 2am and then back up at 5am" backside to bed. My SO is so sweet to me the first day of school. A dinner I didn't have to cook, a hot shower, and a foot rub I didn't even have to ask for. {hugs precious} Can you hear the teeth grinding from there? Precious isn't exactly someone's favorite endearment. Something about it sounding prissy. *giggle*

Now run along and check out the blogs by Anny Cook, Amarinda Jones, Kelly Kirch and Sandra Cox. Lots of good stuff.

Nancy Hunter and New Reviews

Got a very nice review from Dawn Epton at ParaNormal Romance for Lovers' Stone. Thanks so much Dawn for the nice words. I appreciate it and I'm glad you enjoyed the book.

This was an intriguing twist on the Were legends, or at least a variety I have never heard before. I really liked the way the author set polar opposites to attract and be mated. I really enjoyed the erotic passages and each of them was well thought out. I love the tenderness and compassion in this story as well as the passion. Each character's take on what was happening was thoughtful as well as thought provoking. I would love it if this story was a little longer, but I guess I'll just have to wait for the next installment of the story.

Thanks again. The final book in the trilogy will be released November 19th and is titled Soul Stone. Soul Stone will follow Tarris the incubus and reveal what really happened the night the youngest Ursine brother died, an event that lead to the rift between Mark and Luke, the twin Bears whose stories are told in Mating Stone and Lovers' Stone.

Speaking of which, Tamic who won the free copy of Mating Stone needs to contact me at jae@jacquelineroth.com to claim her book.

Cerridwen Press writer Nancy Hunter has offered to share a bit about her new release Tasting Liberty with us. It fits perfect with the historical trend I've been on lately.

Book Info:
Taste of Liberty
by Nancy Hunter
Cerridwen Press
ISBN: 978 14199 17394

Buy Link:
http://www.cerridwenpress.com/productpage.asp?ISBN=9781419917394

Blurb:
In a time of war and loss, tragedy unites two enemies who seek vengeance but find love, only to learn that it was never their destiny to be together…

Liberty MacRae, daughter of an American Revolutionary, and Sebastian Cole, a British soldier, share a vendetta against the brutal British commander who killed their loved ones. Each brings a special gift to their quest – Liberty has a second sight that allows her to predict death, and Sebastian is a Fated One, a man who died before he could kill his enemy and has been sent back by the spirits to complete the task. When they fall in love, they have to find a way to defeat not only the murderer, but destiny as well - a destiny that demands that Sebastian either forfeit his life to defeat his enemy or forfeit his soul. Can they find a way to change their destiny before Liberty’s most harrowing premonition - that of her lover’s death - comes true?

Excerpt:

Libbie would have screamed but her throat was frozen in fear. Death had hurled itself at her, had stumbled, had— Landed in an azalea bush? She was still shaking, still felt the cold fear curled in the pit of her belly but the bright strands of red hanging in the air had dissipated. The death that had lurked just beyond Lady Jane’s garden was no longer there. And the creature who had frightened her beyond reason and was now struggling to right himself looked uncannily like one of her dinner companions.

Libbie shook again but this time with laughter. She wiped away the tears that had begun to dry on her cheeks. With the threat gone, she felt light again and joyful and invincible. She reached down into the azalea bush and grasped Mr. Cole’s hand to help him stand.

“Miss MacRae, are you hurt? I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there.” He stopped to catch his breath.

Libbie covered her smile with one hand and nodded. “I’m fine,” she finally managed to say. “I daresay you bore the brunt of our unfortunate encounter.”

He was breathing normally now. “I do apologize for that. It’s just that I heard a noise and I…” He shook his head.

Libbie took a step back from him, hoping to shrink into the shadows. He had heard her crying like a baby, like a lunatic driven insane by the full moon. Like the aberration of nature that she was. But somehow she didn’t want Mr. Cole to know the truth about her, to believe anything bad about her at all. It wasn’t just that he was handsome, although he truly was. His black hair shimmered in the moonlight, his dark blue eyes were so wide and intense that she felt she could fall into them. He was much taller than she, broad-shouldered and lean. A sleek black panther, tense and still but ready to spring into action at any second.

“Miss MacRae?”

Libbie realized he was proffering his arm to her.

“I asked if I may escort you back to the party.”

She nodded and took his arm. As they walked slowly up the garden path, Libbie struggled to find a reason to explain her previous state.

“Were you lost?” Mr. Cole asked quietly.

“Pardon me?”

“On the garden path. I thought you might have been lost, trying to find your way back to the house.”

“Yes, I was… I mean, I got turned around on the path.” She smiled up at him. She wanted to throw her arms around his neck, to kiss him and thank him for not making her explain herself as she so often had to do. To kiss him…

“Here we are,” he said as they stepped onto the veranda. “I wonder if I might ask one favor of you, Miss MacRae.”

“Anything,” she said quickly, then blushed.

Mr. Cole smiled. “It seems you stepped outside just before we were to share a dance.”
Yes. It all came back to her. She hadn’t wanted to dance with him. The things he’d made her feel, even from across the room when she’d first seen him, the touch of his hand as he escorted her to dinner, the sound of his laughter as he sat next to her. Something about Mr. Cole made her want to say and do strange things, like kiss him in the garden and dance with him on the veranda. But then he had mentioned her father…

He stepped back from her and stood in position for their dance. Libbie decided she had been overreacting to an innocent comment and obligingly curtsied to him as he bowed to her. They started a minuet, one Libbie had danced dozens of times but she couldn’t quite keep the rhythm. The song was slow but she was breathless. As they stepped back and then forward another time, her knees bent under her against her will as another vision pressed in on her. Before she sank to the ground, she felt Sebastian’s arms around her waist, pulling her against him, and the vision faded.

“Miss MacRae, are you all right?”

“I’m fine. It’s just the heat. It’s unseasonably warm this evening, don’t you agree?”

“And you had a fright earlier.”

“No, I’m fine,” she insisted, steadying herself and pushing away from him. “You merely stumbled over me and I’ve recovered.”

“I meant before that. You were afraid of something. You went out into the garden alone and got frightened.”

“I go many places alone and I assure you I don’t frighten easily.”
“Perhaps then you should frighten more easily, because the world can be a very dangerous place.”

Libbie widened her eyes in shock. “I’m more aware of that than you’ll ever know, Mr. Cole. I’ve seen things that…”

She looked away from him. It was more than seeing things. It was feeling unbearable pain, reliving deaths died a hundred years ago and yesterday, feeling evil coming but not knowing when or where it would arrive. She looked him in the eye. “I don’t need a lecture from you about it.”

He grabbed her shoulders and stared at her with the same determination she saw in her father’s and brother’s faces when they wanted to convince her that she needed their protection. But as she stared up into Sebastian’s dark, hooded eyes, his look changed. Determination seemed to give way to confusion, then to resignation as he leaned closer to her. His soft breath brushed her cheek, his fingertips caressed her shoulders. Libbie closed her eyes, willing him to come closer, to actually kiss her.

http://www.nancyhunterbooks.com/
www.myspace.com/nancyhunterbooks
Taste of Liberty available NOW at Cerridwen Press

And don't forget to check out the blogs and books for other great writers such as Anny Cook and Amarinda Jones who have new Ellora's Cave releases, Kelly Kirch who has just launched the print edition of Marriage Plot from Replendence Publishing and Sandra Cox whose wonderful stories just might move you to tears.

Something New

Midnight tonight is the deadline for getting a comment entered into the drawing for a free copy of Mating Stone by Elyssa Edwards. The second book in that trilogy, Lovers' Stone, was released this month from Ellora's Cave. Each comment gets you entered. If you've read Mating Stone and want another title, just let me know.

I've been doing a lot of promo for Elyssa Edwards, the name under which I write erotic romance because the last three releases have been from Ellora's Cave. But I do write not quite erotica, fantasy/paranormal romance as Jacqueline Roth. As myself, because I really am Jae Roth, I've written and released two books for Cerridwen Press. The first, Access Denied was a labor of love and stands alone. It's not part of any series of books. James, the hero, will always own my heart, but it took a while for him to open his to the heroine I had planned for him. So much pain and misery had led him to give up on himself and life.

The second, Measure of Healing was the first book written in my little Weres/gifted humans world, The Children of Semira. It stands on its own and you don't need to have read anything else to read it. It focuses on a Were-Cougar who finds himself responsible for a traumatized Cougar child and no one to turn to but a human doctor. She is his only hope to help the boy. Only problem is that Dr. Gabriela St. Jerome's secrets are far more dangerous than any that Alejandro might hold. So dangerous they could just get them all killed.

Bet you thought I was gonna give you and excerpt from Measure of Healing, right? Nope. Today it's something absolutely new. I'm going to give you a taste of the second book in the series that is contracted with Cerridwen, but is still in my editor's capable and brilliant hands awaiting edits. It follows the young Wolf introduced at the end of Measure. It will be a stand alone so no worries. Oh, and if you did read Measure, just know that Damian Santiago will get his own story eventually. He just has to wait until all the pieces are in place for it.

But for now allow me to introduce you to Evan Forester.

Excerpt from Circle of Wolves:

“What the hell is going on?” Sethlin Lasater came storming, or rather rolling, into Evan’s room letting the door slam back against the wall. A long ago accident had left him confined to a wheelchair, his lower body twisted and withered. “Ryder comes storming in with Singer and they lock themselves, and you, in his workroom. You come back out ten minutes later and start packing. Exactly where are you going?”

“Europe,” Evan answered without looking up from his task.

“Why?” Seth insisted.

“I have to find them.”

“Find them?” Seth’s eyes narrowed. “Do you mean what I think you mean? Are you actually going to try to find…” his voice broke off as he read the answer in his friend’s posture. They were actually going through with this ridiculous plan? Ryder, Guardians forgive him, had gone crazy and was taking Evan with him.

“Evan, you don’t have to do this.” Seth watched his friend continue to throw items of clothing into a bag. “It’s asking a lot.”

“You’d do it.” Evan glanced over at his friend then back to his packing. “You’d do it without a second thought.”

“Would I? Are you so sure about that?” Seth’s words stopped him. He looked down at the sea green eyes that were narrowed and watching him carefully. “It’s dangerous Evan.”

“But you know as well as I do that I have to go. I have to try. Someone has to make these people see reason. If we can’t do that, we are going to lose credibility, lose our place. Pulling off this little coup is the best way and maybe the only way to prove we still control things.” He shook his head, “Come on, Seth, we know what Ian really is. We know what lies behind that simpering smile even if the rest of the world doesn’t. It’s our obligation.”

“So you’re going to let him exploit your…” his friend’s voice trailed off and he looked away.

“My deformity,” Evan offered calmly as he resumed his packing. “That’s what you mean, isn’t it, Seth? Am I going to let Master Ryder exploit the fact that I am a nasty, snarling, dirty little monster one night a month to get what he wants?”

His friend looked up at him startled. “Evan, you know none of us thinks of you that way. You can’t help what you are and we’ve loved you almost your whole life despite it. Don’t you know that? Don’t you get it?”

Evan shook his light brown hair out of his face, “Don’t you get it, Seth? We’re only holding our place as the highest circle by a thread. Like it or not, fair or not, the world sees Ian’s new rank as Julien’s failure.” Evan’s mouth twisted into a wry grin, “Though I’d love to see the idiot fool enough to say that to Julien’s face.” He met Seth’s eyes, “And since everyone still believes, no matter the truth or not, that Julien is Master Ryder’s son, the failure is his too. If we can pull off this alliance, get the werewolves to agree to cooperate, it will solidify our position once again. More importantly it will solidify our master’s position.”

“How can you unite a bunch of people you can’t find? You have no idea who is or isn’t a werewolf unless he tells you or you’re caught out on a moonlight stroll at the wrong time of the month.” Evan could smell Seth’s frustration hanging heavy in the air. He could hear it in the deepening of the soft Southern twang in his voice.

“That’s why I have to be the one that goes. I can tell.” Evan tapped his nose. That sensory organ, along with his ears, was heightened by what his mother had euphemistically called his “special nature.”

“So you’re going to walk up to everyone on the European continent and say, “Mind if I sniff you?” Or,” Seth scowled, “Gee I can tell from your smell you’re a werewolf, wanna come submit humbly to absolute control and oppression? We don’t give a shit about you, but hey, we’re the good guys. Come help us shore up our faltering dynasty.”

Evan sighed. The mage conclave that had been held last week, in addition to sparking what looked to be a nasty power struggle, wanted tighter controls on werewolves and other dark creatures. Seth had come swooping down on him as soon as the announcement was made public, demanding to know what he was going to do about it. What was he supposed to do about it? Any action on his part would jeopardize everything he had built the last couple of years. Hell, it could destroy everything for which he had spent his life struggling. “You’ve been ranting about the conclave for the last week. This is what I’m doing about it, Seth. I owe our master everything I have. He didn’t have to take me in. He could have turned my parents away, or more so, turned them into the conclave for hiding a werewolf. But he didn’t, he took me into his own home and trained me. I won’t risk what I have for anyone, not even others like me. If that’s selfish, then so be it. I like my life Seth. It’s much more than I ever thought I’d have.”

His friend looked at him sadly but smiled. It was a weak smile, but a smile. “You deserve to be a bit selfish, Evan. God knows you’ve never done anything remotely selfish before. But I have to tell you, taking on this assignment doesn’t seem very selfish to me. It seems damned well noble and fool-hardy.” Seth looked away from him and frowned. “How will they welcome you, Evan? If you do find one of these mysterious packs, how will they welcome you?”

“I’m not sure, Seth. I’m not sure.”

Go check out Anny Cook and Amarinda Jones. They've posted their winner. Also take a look at the blogs by Kelly Kirch and Sandra Cox.

Impromptu

Got a review for Lovers' Stone today from Christine at Simply Romance Reviews. And since I believe in being honest, I'm going to post all of her comments, not carefully edited ones. Though I'm not above highlighting the good parts.



While I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of suspense, romance and eroticism, I wish I had known it was part of an ongoing series. I felt the author assumed I knew more about the universe the story took place in than I actually did. The ending was rather abrupt as well. That said, I thought the story well-written. The romance and meeting of the main characters was magical, and the conflict needed for a short story such as this was indeed present. The author created a universe I want to read more about, and if you choose to read this installment, do yourself a favor and be sure you have the previous ones as well.


Thanks, Christine, for your nice words about the way the story was written and the main characters. I'm glad you enjoyed the story. Lovers' Stone is part of a trilogy of stories. The first two books (Mating Stone and Lovers' Stone) are not marked as part of a series on the Ellora's Cave Website and as I understand it won't be until the third (Soul Stone) is released. After three books, EC let's you mark it as a series.


And truthfully, this trilogy "Jewels of Ursus" is a trilogy within a greater world that I write in both as Jacqueline Roth and as Elyssa Edwards. For those who want to know more about the trilogy from Ellora's Cave please visit: The Jewels of Ursus. For more about the world see: The Children of Semira.

So, how about a little help. Impromptu contest. Anyone who leaves a comment over the next three days will be entered to win a copy of Mating Stone. If you've already read it and would like a different title if your name is drawn, just let me know.


The review staff at eMuse online literary magazine is currently working on a feature on historical novels for our September issue. We've been reading, and in some cases passing around several novels. When one is particularly good, we make sure we tell the rest of the staff. I just finished one that is actually up for review by another reviewer but wanted to share my thoughts on it. It is a particularly excellent story.



Song of a Druid Princess by Jean Hart Stewart was a lovely romantic story. I enjoyed coming to know her heroine and hero. Gabriel Jourdain, the dashing musician and war hero was charming and heart wrenchingly conflicted. Kate Dellafield, one of a set of Druid twins introduced in Druid's Daughter is sweet and gentle with enough of a spark to make her a strong young woman. Her strength is the kind I admire most in literary characters. The wise-cracking, hard as nails heroine has her place, but has of late gotten a bit cliche. Kate is the type of young woman whose poise and confidence shows through in a way that is real and exactly the right foil for her hero.

The story is filled with romance and suspense as the insanity of the truly obsessed stands in the way of their happiness. There is a strong link between this book and Stewart's book My Darling Druid which tells the story of Kate's twin. These are part of an ever growing series by Stewart called Garland of Druids and is available from Cerridwen Press.

Up next for me is a book by another talented writer, Sandra Cox. I'm thrilled to have a good reason to push her Silverhills up on my to be read list.

Be sure to check out the blogs by Anny Cook, Amarinda Jones and Kelly Kirch along with those listed along the side over here. Many have contests as well as witty and sparklingly wonderful blogging. I promise you won't find any of them pukable.

Sexy or not Sexy?

I know I've mentioned before that girls will be girls and that we do at times share little bits of eye candy with one another either on our blogs or on chats. While we all enjoy a pretty, we don't always agree on what constitutes sexy. One or two of the ladies usually agree with me but I know one in particular who always seems unimpressed with guys I find particularly heart pounding. I don't think either of us is out of the norm, simply that different woman find different kinds of men sexy. Like the long hair/short hair issue I mentioned in a previous blog.

I contemplated this last night as I was cleaning out my photo files and disposing of pictures I'd downloaded for a blog but will never need again. I began to notice a pattern to the pics that I had downloaded. It seems I do have a "type". None of the guys were the short hair, button down, spiffy kind of dude. I have a friend who favors this sort of gent. B. loves a man in a suit and if he has glasses, the clean cut intellectual look gets her motor racing. Now for me the put together, GQ, metrosexual look just doesn’t work. Neither does the lean, pretty boy who looks like an escapee from a boy band. The only urges Orlando Bloom and Justin Timberlake inspire in me are the urges to feed them cookies and pat them on the head for being good little boys.

Don’t get me wrong, I find a nicely turned out guy to be attractive, but not necessarily sexy. The award shows red carpets are boring to me because the guys look too polished and too manicured. But don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against tuxes per se. I’d just rather see them rumpled, tie untied, shirt unbuttoned like the guy just had to have breathing room.

So what do you think? Cleaned up or slightly scruffy and dangerous looking? Check out these pics and tell me which ones you find the most appealing.

Anyway, I began to wonder if there were any universal ideas or common traits that make a man sexy to women. After a little internet research, and we all know how amazingly reliable that is, I’ve come up with four essential characteristics. Feel free to argue with me.

Masculine- The man must be masculine. Now this doesn’t mean he has to be a macho jerk-wad or a leather bound biker. Simply that there has to be something in the way he moves, carries himself, holds himself that says “I am a man.” It can be subtle or blatant and different women will be attracted to different degrees of masculinity, but overall a man must be a man. He should be gentle, compassionate and tender, but there must also be that slight hint of the predator about him. Masculinity includes his body, his scent, his mannerisms, his walk and his voice. Studies I saw said that men with speaking voices in the baritone range or lower were consistently ranked as sexier than men with voices in the higher range of the male spectrum. And despite what most of us tell ourselves and others, over 95% of the women in one survey and over 98% in another said that they found just a touch of jealousy a very sexy trait. Cavemen need not apply, but a man with just the right balance of respect and territorialism was considered to be very sexy.


Good Communicator- intelligence is incredibly important to women in terms of finding a man sexy, but he must also be able to convey that intelligence in a meaningful way. Eye contact and an easy personable smile that welcomes you in and encourages you to trust him and get closer to him are tremendously sexy. But it must be sincere. He must show himself willing to listen and to hear what is being said to him. He must be able to express himself with wit and heart. Even a bit of bumbling can be forgiven and seem endearing if it advances the idea that he is sincere. As a good communicator he can make you feel comfortable and at ease. You know he finds you interesting and attractive and don’t have to guess.

Personality –He has to have one. 9 out of 10 women in several surveys indicated one of the top three sexiest things about a man was his sense of humor. A man who can make a woman laugh, laugh often and laugh freely is seen to be tremendously sexy. A sexy man is a self confident but slightly humble man who knows he is sexy, intelligent and good at what he does but doesn’t feel the need to demonstrate it to everyone or the need to be told repeatedly how wonderful he is. A supportive man who encourages his woman is sexy. A man who can charm us and our friends is sexy.

Uniqueness –A sexy man has those one or two little things about him that are quirky and unusual. Things that make him not too perfect. Maybe his misplaces his keys regularly and goes on a mad hunt for them. Maybe he’s overly attached to his autographed baseball. The way he mispronounces a certain word or can quote lines from The Godfather verbatim. These little things open up just a tiny crack in the perfection and make him real.

So what do you think? Did I get any of this right?

Don’t forget to check out Anny Cook, Amarinda Jones and Kelly Kirch to see what’s up with them. Anny and Amarinda, along with other authors, will be chatting Saturday from 7-10pm EST on Night Owl Romance’s Yahoo loop. Stop by, read some excerpts and ask the authors some questions.

Oh, for those of you interested. I’ve gotten a couple of questions about Smudgie’s due date. December 3rd is the date they’ve given us. And it looks like we have a winner in the name race. The SO has finally agreed to Aidan James. But he’ll always be mom’s little Smudgie.

Didn't do Diddly...

That's right, I didn't do diddly-squat today. (Is diddly-squat hyphenated?) Not one single productive thing except feed animals and take the trash out. And you know what? I don't care. I'm not in the least bit guilty about the fact that I pretty much blew off an entire day.

Since we won't be traveling this holiday season (would you want to be 9 months pregnant and driving 11 hours in a car?), the SO is spending a week in Florida with my MIL getting parenting advice, being hauled about to look at baby bits and brushing up on dealing with kiddies by way of the niece and nephews. (The play by play of which I've been enjoying tremendously I must tell you.) So I had nothing pressing upon me to do and so, I didn't do anything. That being the case, unless you really want to hear about a Law and Order marathon, ordering pizza and the wonderful intricacies of brewing iced tea, I haven't much to tell you today.


I did get the first review on Lovers' Stone today. Thank you to Lori from The Romance Reader's Connection for your review.


"LOVERS' STONE pairs together two lovers who were supposed to be enemies and at the same time proves that love can help conquer any obstacle. It will provide a sensual treat for paranormal fans. I will give you a fair warning, this story does contain some unexpected male on male interludes."

I will admit I was surprised by her surprise at the m/m interaction but I guess the warnings put on the stories by the publisher don't always get passed on to the reviewers with the books. I also don't think the interludes will be of surprise to anyone who has read Mating Stone. To those people it won't be a surprise to see Tarris, the incubus, as an active part of the Bears' intimate lives.



Speaking of Tarris, I did get news recently that the release date for his story, Soul Stone has been set. Soul Stone, the final book in the Jewels of Ursus series, will release on November 19th. A neat release date as it means Tarris and I will share a birthday.

Here's a preview by way of the blurb:

Soul Stone
Elyssa Edwards

He is physical perfection. He is sex personified. He is an incubus. All his life Tarris has followed the rules that would keep him from transforming into the dark soulless predator who fed on the sexual energies of women, draining them to madness or to death. But now that he can no longer feed in a safe and controlled way, he faces a choice: hunt or starve. Callista is quiet and reserved. Her restrained exterior hides an astonishing passion and vivid imagination that has captured him. Who knew that a creature that had no soul could love a woman so deeply? Tarris must now find a way to control the change he feels coming and defeat the hunter who pursues him, obsessed with possessing Callista and destroying the incubus.

I adore this cover, by the way. I love the gently hungry expression on his face and the absolutely soulful eyes. I do think it's the best of the covers I've had for any of my books. So once again, thank you, thank you, to the wonderful cover gods at Ellora's Cave.

Don't forget to stop by the blogs of Anny Cook, Amarinda Jones, Kelly Kirch and Sandra Cox. They always have something profound or witty to say. Also be sure to check out the chats tomorrow on the EC chat loop from 7pm to 10 pm EST and on Saturday night on the Night Owl Romance Yahoo chat loop from 7pm to 10pm EST. Anny Cook has put together a grou of authors to share excerpts and answer questions. She and Amarinda will no doubt be giving out pecific instructions about their upcoming contest which starts tomorrow. And since the prizes are Cook and Jones books, who wouldn't want to be first in line to win?

Lovers' Stone

Wednesday, July 9th, is the release day for Lovers' Stone, the second in the Jewels of Ursus trilogy. Lovers' Stone is the sequel to Mating Stone and focuses on Luke Ursine, the bad boy and black sheep of the Ursine family. Luke doesn't do things the easy way or the nice way. He does them his way.

To celebrate the release I'm holding a contest where the prize is a genuine diamond and ruby pendant with matching ruby stud earrings. The delicate pendant is a small circle of gems set in gold, of course, on an 18" chain. Entering to win this prize is easy. All you have to do is visit this blog and leave a comment. Each day's comment will earn you a slot in a drawing for the necklace. All entries must be received by midnight, July 11th (Friday) EST. The winner will be announced on Saturday (7/12).

Blurb:

Luke Ursine is drawn to the most sacred place in his Were clan’s lore. There he finds a woman who touches him like no other and his own mating stone. Not a common mating stone, but a lovers’ stone that declares he has only one true mate, one great love that will claim him body and soul. Anna is the most inappropriate of all mates. She’s a hunter and they are sworn to destroy the Weres. Even if they can set aside generations of hate and murder, will their families let them live long enough to enjoy the promised destiny?

Tomorrow's blog will feature a profile on our bad boy Were-Bear and an excerpt from Lovers' Stone.

I was watching bits and pieces of a movie today to inspire my attempts at JulNaNoWriMo. I'm sadly and pitifully behind on the goal targets. I've added a bible and 4,000 words to my WIP since the 1st. Truly a sad beginning. The movie I popped in is one where the dynamic between the hero and his sidekick remind me of the dynamic I'm creating between the hero and his second in my WIP. Not to mention that one of the actors fits the model of one of the characters, or at least closely anyway.

I do believe that part of my stall has come from the deviation from the original story I had thought to write. This deviation was absolutely necessary and not my blasted idea. One of my characters decided to reveal something rather surprising to me about himself and it has forced me to redirect the entire story. I do believe it was calculated on his part because it has earned him a reprieve. He was supposed to die to spurr forward the big confrontation between hero and heroine. Their mutual grief pulling them together. But his little bombshell would have made his death such a cliche that I refuse to do it. And he knows it, the irreverent and impossible little scamp. Well, not little. He's 6'5".

6'5" is tall. It is very tall. This has caused my little ADD brain to ping off in a new direction today. Why are all romantic heros over 6' tall? What is so magic about that number that we have set it as a measuring bar for romance. Would the hero be any less sexy and appealing if he were 5' 10"? I mean, as a slightly below average height woman, 5'5", the prospect of a tall man is appealing, but in real logistics of kissing a 6'3" man (I read somewhere that that was the average height of a hero in a romance novel- wonder who did that study?) would not come easy. For either of us. Women are often quick to say, size doesn't matter, but really now... come on, be honest... how short is too short? how tall is too tall?

Stop by and visit the blogs of Anny Cook, Amarinda Jones and Kelly Kirch. Anny is writing about comfort and Amarinda is taking on controversy. And Kelly...well, stop by and see for yourself.

Hair, men and other stuff

Tomorrow I'll announce how to go about winning the ruby and diamond necklace that marks the release of Lovers' Stone later this week. I promise it won't be too hard. I'm all about simple and will definitely make this simple.

I wrote a couple of months ago about three books by Brynn Paulin that had given me a wonderful new perspective on the Dominant/submissive lifestyle within the BDSM community. Paulin's erotic romances gave me a lot to think about when it came to the dynamics and the depth of feeling between people who lived the lifestyle and didn't just engage in some recreational spankies and tie me ups/tie me downs. Her stories about the Cress brothers, Ryan, Max and Theo were just as filled with love, affection and respect as any romance. The true distribution of power, how much control the submissive actually has in the situation was surprising. And I thought I'd read all the Cress brother books. I was wrong. It was announced recently that all of the Cress brother's books would be going into print as an anthology called Brotherly Bonds in the next few months. As I looked over the announcement I discovered that Paulin had released the story of the youngest Cress brother, Josh.

I don't know how I missed it because Josh was definitely an intriguing guy just from his supporting role. The family rebel, pierced in ways and places that made his brother's wince, the computer expert did things his own way. And after reading Gentle Control I can tell you that even the way he lives his D/s lifestyle is different than his brothers. That I found Josh's story to be incredibly erotic, and the depth of emotion that Paulin is so skilled at communicating was no surprise. What did catch me off guard was how identifiable the situations in Josh's story were and how incredibly appealing this Dom was even to a nice, tame, butterscotch pudding reader. (Not quite vanilla, but not getting too wild there, either.) Those who might hesitate to pick up a BDSM content will, I think, still be drawn to and delight in this book. Josh is a keeper. His dominance is powerful, loving and gentle, just as advertised.

Some authors I know and I were discussing a variety of things on a chat loop yesterday. As is want to happen when you get romance and erotica writers together, we occasionally share our inspirations and attitudes about men. We have even been known to support each other's muses with bits of eye candy to perk up that boring day. In the course of this conversation and exchange of interesting photographs came the question of men and hair. Now this arises on two levels.

First hair length. Some women find a nice clean cut short cut to be sexy and some love long flowing locks. Myself I fall somewhere in the middle. Just at or below the collar, looking like he just missed his last haircut is about perfect for me. I always worry that a guy with hair too long will take too much time in the bathroom and use up all my conditioner. Just kidding, but extra long hair, for me is about equal to the short cropped buzz cut look. Neither really gets my engines revved.

Second on the issue of hair arose the conundrum of manscaping. A good number of the pictures out there of sexy men and 99.9% of all romance cover models sport the smooth chest look. For some guys this is natural and that's fine. The part that puzzles me is the guys who naturally have hair on their chests but choose to wax it. And based on my diligent research of the photographic evidence available, far too many of them are also manscaping a good bit lower. When did we decide as a society that men should all be smooth? Give me a guy with a nice sprinkling of hair on his chest, even a bit on the abs, and for heaven's sake, guys, don't deprive us of the inspiration of the treasure trail. But smooth or hair, guys the sexiest thing of all is just to be real.

Well that's my two cents, anyway. I'm wondering what everyone else thinks. Where do you come down on this issue?

Make sure you check out the blogs of Anny Cook, Amarinda Jones, Kelly Kirch and Brynn Paulin. You'll be glad you did.

Saturday

Now that the fireworks are over here in the US, there's finally some quiet in my neighborhood. We live next to this huge housing development. There are more than a half a dozen "neighborhoods" in this one development. It is so large it has it's own pool, swimteam, clubhouse, grocery store and newspaper. Personally I think it's a cult. They even convinced one of the most popular pizza places in the neighborhood to shut down on the 4th of July and come sell food exclusively for them.

One benefit of living next to cult central is that we do get to see the fireworks display they put on each year. It is so large the city in which we all reside moved it's fireworks display to the 3rd so it didn't conflict. I'm telling you it's scary. One of the neighborhoods has a 25 lb. weight restriction for dogs in thier covenant and they actually weigh people's dogs. Another made someone I know take a small ceramic statue of a dog off their front step. It was less than a foot high and white. I am not a big fan of homeowners associations.

I'll be rolling out the contest for Lovers' Stone on Monday, so make sure to stop by and figure out how to win a genuine diamond and ruby pendant with matching ruby ear studs. The hero was one of my favorite guys to write. He pulled no punches and had no diva fits during the writing. He sat down and we knocked out his story in about three weeks time.

I got the dreaded school letter on Thursday. Each year my principal sends out an "almost time to come back" letter telling us the schedule for preplanning events. The arrival of that letter is the beginning of the end for the summer vacation. New teachers and leadership staff have to report back on the 25th of July. I have to report back on the 30th. I'll be there sooner however, because the scheduled the open house for parents on the 31st. So I have to get my entire room ready to go in one day skirting around the faculty meetings that are scheduled. And since we have to completely box up our rooms and strip our walls, that means I have to start from scratch every year. The one year I didn't go in early I had parents complain that my room was awfully "bare".

About ten days left until we find out if we have a girl Smudgie or a boy Smudgie. That is if Smudgie cooperates. We now keep hearing how so and so couldn't tell because the baby was positioned wrong. Such an occurance may cause the SO fits as the line around here has been, "Let's wait until we know what we're having." Curtains, furniture, bedding, clothing and even name selection have been put off "until we know what we're having." Very sensible advice if you didn't live with the OCD queen of "lets do it now!now!now!" Unless of course I'm talking about writing then I become the queen of procrastination.

I've written nothing in a couple of days.

Go check out Anny Cook, Amarinda Jones, Kelly Kirch or Sandra Cox. All have delightful blogs that are far more interesting than mine.

Talismans

Grrrrrr……………


I had a blog all finished and ready to go when the blasted thing had an error and I lost all I had typed. Now I had been typing my blogs onto a word document and then pasting them into the blogger box. Did I do this today? No I didn’t. Stupid me. So I just lost what was a far more interesting and clever blog than I could ever recreate. *grumbling loudly*

I was talking about talismans. Webster’s defines a talisman as something that is thought to bring good luck and or provide protection from evil spirits. In the book Soul Stone, coming from Ellora’s Cave, Tarris has a talisman. It is a stone that he keeps with him. The oblong, smooth stone is unusual in that two thirds of it appears to be a white opal, sparklingly iridescent. But one third of it is smokey black glass. There is no explanation for how this could have happened, but Tarris keeps it as a reminder and it seems oddly to sooth him at times.

Do you have a talisman? I don’t have a single, general talisman that I feel brings overall good luck. But I have noticed that writer’s are fairly superstitious people. Sort of like athletes. Maybe it’s because we don’t really understand where the creativity comes from or why it is us who are blessed with it. Maybe it’s because since we don’t know how it started we don’t know if or how it will stop one day. Think this isn’t you?

Lets replace the word superstition with the words compulsion or habit. Do you have a particular place that you write? Not jot down notes or scenes, but truly write? Is your space organized a certain way? Is it neat and organized? Your ideas outlined on a white board or written down neatly in a notebook. Hanging files showing notes or hows for characters and stories. Do you always begin your writing process a certain way? Do you approach your new stories in a certain way?

Don’t think these are superstitions or compulsions? Try mixing it up and see if it still works.

I have no shame in admitting I have specific compulsions. I can edit and tinker with one of my stories anywhere, lap top, work, anywhere. But I can’t actually “write” my stories anywhere but sitting at my desk. The keyboard and rests are just in the right spot, I have just enough room and everything fits snuggly and perfectly enough that I can lose the surroundings and sink into what I’m doing.

My mug is always by my side. Either my Circle of Crones or one of my Sherrilyn Kenyon Dark-Hunter/Sanctuary mugs. A hodge-podged stack of reference books are piled on my right and my little focuses, my talismans are scattered about. In front of me sits my green dragon, Flame. Flame was designed to be an incense holder but now he holds the focus stones that helped me think about my little mages. In Circle of Wolves, coming from Cerridwen Press, the hero Evan uses a piece of green aventurine as a focal stone. Evan is a mage who also happens to be a werewolf. Not a great thing to be unless you want to be tagged, studied and possibly exterminated by your own people. So he keeps his “disability” quiet from all but those he loves dearly. But the wolf inside him makes him the perfect choice as envoy to the shapeshifters, the Weres. Sent to broker an alliance that will shore up his master from the challenge of the dark mages, Evan finds more than he bargained for and everything he’s ever dreamed of.

The big piece of black obsidian? That’s Julien. He’s a whole other story.

I also use much less serious things to help me think about what I’m writing and to help me self direct when ADD strikes. Beau the bear and Glimmer the dragon sit on top of my monitor and urge me to stay on task. Beau was of great help when I was working on the Jewels of Ursus trilogy for Ellora’s Cave. Glimmer is for another WIP that is filled with warriors, princesses, healers and scoundrels. Of course there is a dragon.

So these are my talismans for writing. The pictures of elemental beings that hung on my wall to my right have already given way to posters of crystals and crystal healing as I prepare the next WIP, working title- Heal Thyself. Samantha is a healer, terrified of her own gift and worn down by those who would misuse it. She takes a job that should demand little or nothing from her, certainly not her “special talents.” She’s just there to pander to Haven’s more exclusive clientele and incorporate holistic and new age philosophies. She doesn’t count on Matthew. Someone who actually needs her skills.

What are your talismans, compulsions or habits? Share, share.

Flame, Glimmer, Beau and I want to wish congratulations to Anny Cook for getting 5 hearts from Loves Romances and More for her book Daffodil from Ellora’s Cave. Anny’s books are always wonderful and the Flowers of Camelot series is no exception.

Stop by and check out the blog of Amarinda Jones who is celebrating a great new cover for her Resplendence release and Kelly Kirch who is talking about being famous…or not.

Ping! Ping!

I had what I've begun to call an "Amarinda moment" today. Amarinda Jones is probably the most assertive and plainspoken people I've ever almost met. I say almost because though I know her from the internet a bit, I've never actually met her. But I read her blog regularly and I've come to admire how she deals with people in complaint departments and the like. She does not take crap. She does not let them push her around. Well today I put on my Amarinda hat and dealt yet again with our alarm company.

Our alarm system stopped functioning properly in March. Yes, March. They have the trouble ticket on file and everything. A closed trouble ticket even though the trouble was never solved. Well, several calls on my part yielded the opinion that all that was wrong, or so they kept telling me, was that my phone connection hadn't been updated due to some FCC/FAA some federal regulation that had changed and now the old backup wasn't worth a tinker's damn and that's that. (I've always wondered why a tinker's damn was worth less than anyone elses, unless it was originally dam and a reference to his mother? Anyway...) Well we called and they scheduled a time to come out and fix it. Only they couldn't come out in the evening or on a Saturday for three weeks and because we are people who actually have jobs where they expect you to show up at work, we needed an evening or Saturday appointment.

So we got the appointment and were all set. Then the day of the appointment they don't show up. We call to find out and they tell us they left a message the previous day to cancell the appointment. Right. And I just overlooked it, I suppose. Or maybe my answering machine doesn't like security maintenance folks and it ate your message on purpose. So I speak to this woman named... oh, what the hell, Rachel and Rachel tells me they will be out next Saturday to fix the problem. We are now into April.

Next Saturday comes and goes and guess what? No repair people. I call and Rachel doesn't remember making the appointment. She doesn't make appointments, she can't remember saying anything like this. But she'll get with the guy who does make appointments and call me back. HA!

So, several cancelled appointments and still no show on upgrading the security system when my cell phone gets a call tonight telling me that they had a warning of a fault in the backup system. I chewed the guy on the phone a new ass. Then he connected me to customer service where I chewed another person a new ass. Second person, oh let's say Lorraine, says that I have to talk to Antoine and he is at lunch (at 7:40pm) and will call me back. HA!

Nine rolls by and I call back. I get a poor hapless young woman from the monitoring center who informs me that the customer service people all went home at 9pm. Why was Antoine taking his lunch an hour and 20 minutes before he went home? Why didn't I get my call back? Why? Because the entire place is filled with crap monkeys for employees and can't manage to get anything right. So tomorrow as soon as I get myself out of bed I will be calling back and chewing yet a third person another new ass. At this rate I'll bet I could get very sore jaws.

I am going to be late getting my father's day cards out. Of course this will be no surprise to my dad or my step-dad since they know me well enough to be surprised I remembered the holiday at all. Now there was a time when I did the whole Martha Stewart thing. Flowers in the house, hand made cakes and candies, crocheting scarves and mittens, all the happy little homemaker stuff including keeping track of holidays, cards and the like. Now, I'm generally sending out ecards at the last minute. *shrug* I have no excuse.

I got told today that I'm acting like a first time parent. This was said with a mocking note of condescension from exactly the wrong person to be saying this to me since they are also involved in this whole first time parent thing and came dangerously close to getting something thrown at their head for patronizing me. I am a first time parent and I will be as silly, giggly, and happy family as I choose to be. So there!

I bought a photo frame for the ultrasound picture with an adorable little poem on it. Yes, it is just the sort of thing a first time parent would do. Just like the baby book that I'm putting together. I picked out the one I wanted and got it. I've scanned photos and all that good stuff. I'm filling out the inside and pasting pictures. So all I have to say is "get with the program." We are first time parents. We are allowed to be first time parents. Everyone who has children gets that first time parent pass where for a few months you are allowed to be totally obsessed with all things your baby. Suck it up and stop trying to play it cool. I saw your face when you heard that heartbeat for the first time. You are just as excited as I am, so shut up and grab a paintbrush.

Thank you, I feel better.

Hurrays to all the folks who got great reviews today. Kelly Kirch got two of them for her Cerridwen release Time For Love. It was a great book, check it out. Regina Carlylse also got a great one for Tempting Tess. Something about wild monkey sex? And the aforementioned Amarinda Jones got a stunning review on Marlow's Curse. These ladies are always a good bet for romance-warm, hot or steaming.