First and foremost, a heartfelt thank you to those who’ve served our country. I think this quote says it best:

I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning; I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were appropriate on [Memorial Day].  I have rather felt that the flag should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate rejoiced in seeing it where their valor placed it.  We honor them in a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration of what they did.  ~Benjamin Harrison

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My topic today comes at a bit of a surprise for myself. I’m a mom of two boys, 9 and 11. I’ve not been avoiding having the birds and bees talk with them, it just hasn’t happened yet.  Until now, that is. Well, I actually haven’t had the talk yet, but I will have to, and soon.

Yesterday, I was helping my oldest log into our desktop computer and opened a browser only to discover one of the saved tabs was a Boob website. I quickly closed it thinking it was a viral type pop up, when he says “That’s nothing.” Granted, it took me a few, but then it hit me. That’s. Nothing. Holy Shit, he knew what that was?!  So I asked, “What do you mean, ‘That’s nothing’?”  He just repeated it then I watched him walk out of the room with that wave of fear you get before you know you’re gonna crash wash over me.

When I told my husband he chuckled and smiled, like a proud, puffed up peacock. Of course he would. He’s a man and thinks about boobs every two seconds, but for me, for their mama, it hit me like a ton of bricks that they’re not my babies anymore.

So. We have to have “the talk” with them. My husband said he had it when he was 10 but couldn’t really remember what his Dad said, and my mother never actually said anything to me about it, just gave me a book to read. My oldest has Asperger’s Syndrome so explaining things will have to be very simple and direct which I’m hoping works for the younger one too.

Funny how my daily work entails all manner of sex details yet a simple birds and bees conversation with my children is almost paralyzing me! *reaches for brown lunch bag* *deep breaths, Tina deep, slow, long breaths*

I’d love to hear your stories of either your “talk” or how you had the conversation with your kids.

Two random commenters will be drawn to win a free ebook download, the book, of course, will have lots and lots of sex! LOL.

Help!

Tina

is tomorrow, of course, and if you are American, it’s a day to remember those who’ve died while in the military.

Interestingly, it is a holiday that began in the African American community, right after the Civil War. From Wikipedia:

“According to Professor David Blight of the Yale University History Department, the first memorial day was observed by formerly enslaved black people at the Washington Race Course (today the location of Hampton Park) in Charleston, South Carolina. The race course had been used as a temporary Confederate prison camp for captured Union soldiers in 1865, as well as a mass grave for Union soldiers who died there. Immediately after the cessation of hostilities, formerly enslaved people exhumed the bodies from the mass grave and reinterred them properly with individual graves. They built a fence around the graveyard with an entry arch and declared it a Union graveyard. The work was completed in only ten days. On May 1, 1865, the Charleston newspaper reported that a crowd of up to ten thousand, mainly black residents, including 2800 children, proceeded to the location for included sermons, singing, and a picnic on the grounds, thereby creating the first Decoration Day.”

In that spirit, the theme for today is reconciliation after conflict.

Love is such a powerful thing. It moves people in so many ways. As a writer of romance I love exploring the various ways that love unfolds. All the paths it takes are fun to explore.

A few weekends ago I watched movies based on love. Each was so different and to see the ways love came and was shown made me think. The great thing was the movies followed families. The love, tribulations and all the things in between. From the beginning of time people have been falling in love. Love can make you crazy, giddy and bring you such hope and joy.

Love has many types – the love between friends and family. The love between lovers. Each has the core of opening yourself to another person and becoming a unit. With friends it is building a close knit relationship that stands through good and bad. The same with family. With family we share and love.

The love between lovers is what I explore in my books. From the start of the initial attraction, the first steps to getting to know each other, the dating and then finally the all encompassing feelings and knowing you belong together. There are of course the ups and downs and the times when you fall in and out of love. But when you find that right someone it is magical, exhilarating and soul moving. Yeah I am a romantic at heart. All the steps to the power of love fascinates me.

Taige Crenshaw
http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/
…increasing the sizzle factor

Blog: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/blog
Chat Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crenshawcafe
Newsletter: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/newsletterandgroups.shtml
Free Reads Site: http:/ /www.satinnotes.com/

“Always do what you are afraid to do.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t always follow Emerson’s advice. In fact, I generally consider fear and pain to be pretty good indications you’re doing something you probably shouldn’t, and now might be a good time to stop and think about it. Yeah, I’m wimpy that way. When it comes to writing, however, I seem to lose my sense of self-preservation on a fairly regular basis. Or, maybe I just lose my senses. It’s hard to tell the difference at times.

Common wisdom has it that authors need to brand themselves. That our stories should be predictable to the extent that any reader who sees our name on the cover of a book should have a pretty good idea what to expect from said book. It sounds like good advice. The kind of advice I really ought to take. Unfortunately, I rarely do. The trouble is, it sounds an awful lot like being pigeonholed. And who wants that?

I like to change things up as I write. I like to try my hand at a whole lot of different genres, different POVs, different word lengths, different tones and moods. What can I say? Pisces are fickle. I’d like to pass it off as a survival mechanism, but I think we’d all know that was a lie! lol!

Maybe I’m intent on secretly sabotaging my career. Maybe I’m just easily bored. Or maybe writing is the only area where I allow my inner adrenaline junkie to come out and play. Whatever the reason, It’s exhilarating to try something new, to stretch writing muscles I’ve never had to use before.

It’s fun and a little bit scary–but in a really good way! Kind of like a roller-coaster only without the vertigo.

So, what about you? Do you like to read or write the same kinds of books over and over again, or do you yearn for something new? Or are there other areas in your life where you like to cut loose and “boldly go” where you’ve never been before?

It’s almost Memorial Day weekend. What frightful thing might you try?

How long does it take to turn a Yankee into a Southerner? Forever. I moved from Western NY to Virginia over 20 years ago and I still say “pop” instead of soda. I still hate the snow and will never understand why they don’t salt the roads.

But once I lived down south for a while, I realized folks from Rochester have an accent. And the classic southern accent? I only hear it in people from further south than Richmond.

Boiling the sap down to syrup.

But I’m still a Yankee. My mom still roots for the NY Yankees. If I liked sports, I’d root for the Sabres and the Bills. I mean, what’s with this Flying Squirrels non-sense? Yes, that’s the name of the new Richmond baseball team.

My current work-in-progress is set in my hometown during the winter, so I’ve been resurrecting my memories of frigid winds, pelting sleet, and waist deep snow. Then there’s memories of a single general store as a town center with a round of white cheddar cheese under glass. And walking the train tracks at the end of my friend’s property. Touching electric fences just for something to do and chatting with the cows. And let’s not forget the smell of the chicken farm across the road.

The North did win the Civil War. Wait, the War Between the States is still raging in Richmond classrooms and monuments. And, seriously, do we have to cancel school for one inch of snow? And could we plow the road sometime this winter?

But I like it here in the South. Hot and humid enough to melt and stick to the sidewalk. Air conditioners set so cold you can see your breath. A serious lack of good ice cream and maple sugar, but a surplus of malls and Walmarts. Our little house is the only house my son’s ever lived in. It’s safe and quiet (excluding the new neighbors). And any extreme weather is short lived in this fairly moderate climate. We’re halfway between the mountains and the ocean and DC and North Carolina. Easy driving distance to get South of the Border or to NYC. And even though my hubby’s a Yankee, too, I met him down here. So all in all a nice place to live.

However, I still consider myself a Yank, despite the occasional slip-up of saying ya’ll.

Hey, leave a comment and talk about your hometown!

Shara

http://www.sharalanel.com/

Sometimes I have to leave my house to write. You’d think since I live alone, no children, my house would be the perfect writing cave. Not so.

With seven cats and two dogs, life around here is rarely quiet. TomTom thinks he’s big cat on campus and is always jumping on Nommy or picking a fight with Rusty or Romeo. Or Rusty thinks my hands are better suited to petting than typing. Or DC (aka Damn Cat) decides my laptop is ideal for napping.

Except I live in the middle of nowhere. The closest “local” coffee shop is 36 miles away. Sometimes I go even farther astray. When I meet up with my friend Brandi Evans, I travel around 50 miles one way.

Like today. Now I turned 50 this year and suddenly developed CRS disease. That’s “Can’t Remember Shit” disease. Especially in the mornings. Personally, I blame my doctor. He insisted I cut back on caffeine. I think there’s a direct correlation to my lapsing memory and the lack of real coffee… But I just got off track. Which is a symptom of CRS disease.

So back to today. Normally when I have to go somewhere the next morning, especially early morning, I get everything prepared the night before–clothes (especially pants–long story), computer, flash drives, iPod, cell phone. All the essentials of a writer’s life on the road.

I slept a little later this morning than planned but thanks to my amazing planning, I was on the road on time. Except 40 miles into my 50 miles trip, I had a sudden realization… My flash drive was still connected to the laptop at home.

Oh, shit.

Okay, don’t panic. Before I go to bed at night, I send a copy of my current manuscript to an online email account as well as save it to the hard drive of the computer I’m using at the time–which in this case is the laptop at home. I’ll just log in to my email account and pull my backup copy.

Sweet. That’ll work.

Except I’m meeting Brandi at Starbucks and I don’t have AT&T so I can’t get online. But wait! I have a Starbucks card for the reward points. (I drink soy lattes and I can get free milk options and drinks with the card.) I’m eligible for 2 hours of free internet with it as well.

Sweet! That’ll work.

Except I can’t get it to work. At all. Called AT&T help. Played stump the customer service dude. Brandi was running late but she texted me her login–she has AT&T. Still didn’t work. She said she’d log in when she arrived, download the file to her flash drive then we could transfer the manuscript to my mini-computer.

Sweet! That’ll work.

But at this point, I’ve already wasted an hour plus of prime writing time. Cinnamon dolce soy latte fires creative sparks in my brain. I resigned myself to waiting and started notes on a short story I want to write. My stubborn side made me keep trying to log in. And finally! It worked!

I jumped on that sucker, downloaded the manuscript and got everything open and ready to go as Brandi walked in. All’s well that ends well. The writing session ended around 12:30 and I had 2200 words written. Except I could have had 1k more if I could still remember shit! *cackle*

Oh, and before I forget–again–the moral of the story…when you can’t remember shit, start checklists.

Hoping you have a memorable day!

Hugs!
Shayla

I love to mix my genres. I love taking my characters who are surroundedby technological marvels and plopping them into a rigid social structure that would have made King Louis himself shiver. Or how about taking this French court structure and adding a temple of samurai-esque warriors just outside the palace. Oh, yes..I hear ya now! Sprinkle liberally with high-tech bombs, transport shuttles and years of distrust among two countries and you have kismet.

That’s what I’ve done in my first Liquid Silver release, Private Negotiations.

Essentially the story started as a military/wartime romance. A kind of put one part Romeo and Juliet into the blender with one part Dune and two parts Farscape and mix on high until a nice smooth puree is achieved. But the more I wrote, the more intricate the details became. The more interesting the world and the hotter the love story.

Rinalda and Loden just couldn’t seem to keep their hands off each other. But more than that, I learned that not only is Loden totally stoked over Rinalda, but he’s such a romantic at heart. *hint: read the scene where he takes her to the ancient tower and tells her the story of his grandparents* – When I wrote that, I felt more as if I were channeling it than creating it. This really happened to someone! I thought.  These people are real, their emotions and fears and loves. 

But what are my characters to do when they are trying their damnedest to find a lasting peace (or piece as the case happens-hehehe) and outside forces thwart them at every turn? Fight like the seasoned soldiers they are, of course.

Though I started this as a story of lost and found loves, it became so much more. It became a story of political intrigues and private scandals. And it was so much fun to write.

****

For the past ten years, war has ravaged the planet of Scicia. The countries of Telesia and Vanden have painted the land with the blood of their people, neither side coming out the clear victor. The recent death of the Vanden Regent has brought his heir to the throne and with it a new chance for peace. That is, if the memories of an illicit love and a false identity do not derail the process first.

Vanden Regent, Loden Espacian has waited a long time to claim Rinalda D’Aubry as his bride. Four years before, on a mission to Presari Station, Loden attempted to seduce secrets from the Telesian Chancellor’s beautiful daughter. His quest failed when she did not divulge even so much as her family ties and Loden fell helplessly in love. Now, the war has taken a terrible toll on Vanden’s resources. With his country on the verge of collapse, Rinalda is within the walls of his palace as the Telesian peace emissary. The only chance for Loden to save his country is to find a way back to Rinalda’s good graces and once again win her heart.   

When Sergeant Rinalda D’Aubry agreed with her father’s plan of going to Vanden as the emissary in a peace envoy, she had no idea she’d come face to face with the man she thought was lost to a wartime romance. Dreams of him have sustained her during some of her worst days and nights, fighting in a bloody war of her father’s making. The man she remembers was a common foot soldier, not the heir to the Vanden throne. Betrayed and humiliated, Rinalda vows to rise above her broken heart to save both countries from destruction, before it’s too late. But memories of their passionate love making threaten to ignite the air between them, and burn all who stand in the way.

***

I’m busy at work on the sequel Intimate Weapons. It features nanites and an invasion force of nightmare porportions. I hope you have as much fun reading Private Negotiations as I did writing it. Enjoy!

-Kathleen Scott

My muse is…

 ~A perfectionist – Rough draft?  Bah, we don’t need no stinking rough drafts.  How many stories does it take before she’ll realize that there must always be a rough draft?

 ~A drill sergeant – Bless her soul it’s her badgering that gets my butt in the chair every day.

 ~A smart ass – She has to be in order to deal with my craziness every day.

 ~A wicked wordsmith – How many times have I heard that voice in the back of my brain say, “Sweetie, we can do better than that.”  And you know, she’s usually right, a thesaurus and an idea are a magical combination.

 ~The idea (wo)man – I once overheard someone say that they would only ever write one book because there just weren’t enough ideas out there.  Clearly, this person had never met my muse!  If they had, the tune of their song would have gone something like this…”I’ll never have time to write all of the stories consuming my brain!”  Now that’s a much better problem to have in my estimation. 

So, for these and many, many more reasons, I’m calling today ‘honor my muse day’.  I wonder what she’ll want to do?

What about you out there, any special days reserved to honor your muse?

Okay, you don’t know this guy from Adam. But he turns your insides to molten lava and just once you want to do something wild. Something that you’ll remember when you’re old and gray, wearing sloppy slippers and trying to find your glasses. Something that will warm your insides no matter how cold the days might get.

You’re going for it, you’re going to have a one night stand with a bad boy. Just this once, you’ll taste him, and then…well… then is not in your plans.

Here’s a snippet from 5 Card Stud:

“One time,” Eden whispered. “Just so we know…” she sighed. “I’m a woman traveling alone. It has to stay that way. But…” She pulled his head down and continued the moment that had been interrupted earlier.

She undressed him first. Her nimble fingers unbuttoned his shirt and brushed it from his shoulders. She bent forward, touched her tongue to his nipple a feathery stroke teasing the male bud till it puckered. At the same time, she trailed her fingers down to his belt.

Sam did what he’d threatened. “I owe you an outfit. Now it’s two.” The sharp blade sliced through her dress and chemise and they fell loose across her shoulders exposing her back. Eden shivered, more afraid of the rising heat between them then the weapon he held.

He flicked his knife again and the corset strings parted. Her bare breasts tumbled free and he pushed the material from her body, kicking the remnants of their clothes across the floor. That done, he pulled her close, skin to skin, his cock pushing its demand against her belly.

Now it’s your turn. One hundred words (more or less) just fantasize or (confess). What was it like? What did you feel? Was it worth it? Flash us, and tell it all...

~ Julie Newmar as Catwoman in the TV Series, Batman ~

Now that’s what I call Cat Sassitude!

Sassitude, that’s a word variation that hit my writerly brain, out of the blue from my hard-working Muse. A while back, I blogged about what the word meant to me, and gave examples of heroines with true sassitude.

Mew-sing, since my Kougar Kisses blog is written from the perspective of my Big Cat altar ego, that combo word seemed like a meow-natural.

I love my Muse because she doesn’t seem at all put off by a new, unique way of perceiving and describing events and actions in a story. Hey, I admit it. My trigger is tripped whenever I see a newly created word that describes something in a way that offers a current day insight, feeling, or mood. One such word, that’s been around for about seven years now, is gigundis. I mean how big does it have to be, to be gigundis? ~ That’s one gigundis bulge. Looks like his zipper is about give up. ~

Another one of my faves is foodgasm ~ That cherry chocolate fudge delight dessert gave me a foodgasm with the first bite ~ my goodness what you can do with ‘gasm’. Your Muse and you can have a real good time, not to mention your characters…your heroines and heroes. How about? ~ thoughtgasm, martini-gasm, hunk-gasm ~ yeah, yeah, I just made those up even with my sluggish-running mind… too many gray goochy days in a row. Still, I bet those ‘gasms’ have been used before. There’s probably a whole list of ‘gasms’ out there that I don’t know about. If you do, please clue me in.

As I pen on my latest WIP, I’ve discovered my super witch heroine likes to use made up, unique words. It fits the quirky part of her personality and also suits her innate intelligence. Plus, she’s not from around these parts, meaning not from Earth. Even though she was adopted by good parents and raised in suburbia, a small mid-California city…well, her true nature asserts itself more and more. Using language in creative ways gives her a much-needed outlet.

And, don’t you know it, my Muse was all too happy to offer up ‘Scentacular’ or ‘Scent-tacular’ for my heroine, since the English language seems devoid of words that adequately describe smells. To demonstrate, here’s a snippet from my WIP ~

~~~
Reclining next to their one witch, Zin swept his hand down her petite back. He savored the curve of her waist, then the swell of her butt.
“Scent-tacular,” she murmured. “You two smell like burning Purple Sage.”
“That’s one way you will know it’s us, darling.” Zol rolled on his side with her, so that their one witch lay sandwiched between them.
~~~

So, if you’re in the mood, offer up your own fave word variations or penning mutations. Give an example of how you use them. I’ve started my own personal list of these newfangled words and I’d love to add to it.

Oh, if there are lists out there, please in the name of authorly greed…er, writing creativity…please, let me know where. My Muse won’t be too jealous. She rarely lets her ego get in the way of a fabtastically good word.
~~~~~~

HAPPY MAY MEW-SINGS!

Savanna Kougar

~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~
~~~

Available at Liquid Silver Books ~

BLACK CAT BEAUTY

Blurb: A private Halloween party in a gothic mansion hidden in the Hollywood Hills. Add one party crasher, Sable Kiki, a naughty black cat with a sexy wild human side.
Her covert assignment from her devious, always-cunning father: use her seductive wiles to find out the truth from Devon Zant, a movie star on the rise to super stardom.
Posing as the superhero actor, Devon Zant, D’Torr has arrived on Earth seeking revenge for the capture of his younger brother, and to assist in stopping a powerful enemy.
The leviathan warfleet of the Altirrux wants rule of all intergalactic trade routes to Earth, endangering the survival of D’Torr’s race, and all the inhabitants of the rare blue jewel, Earth.
~~~~~~

RED LIONESS TAMED

Intro ~

If yer partial to a futuristic adventurous romp of lust and love on the high celestial seas of space…if you have a yen for those cat shifter types, lament no longer…
And watch out if yer a bad kitty shifter roaming the galactic ports, there’s a kick-ass Lioness on your fleeing furry tail.
Year 3051, the Earth calendar used on Terra-Mars, a terra-formed moon orbiting Mars, the home world of ‘Sun Rocket’ Kahoqua of the Windgrass Clan.

Blurb ~

What does a lioness shifter do when she’s suddenly trapped in an unknown space cruiser’s cargo hold? Then, despite her ability to savagely defend herself, she’s trapped beneath the handsome human Captain. And next, cat-scratching ridiculously, she finds herself carnal-trapped, and meow yowl! bound by leather straps in his bed?
Answer: She fights tooth and claw. Problem: The loner Captain is nova-hot at seducing her.
~~~