SEx – Silver Expressions

Welcome to Flash Fiction Sunday! Today we’re going to be looking for lust in the mundane. You know what I’m talking about … the everyday chores and routines that take up such a large portion of our lives.

Relationships have a tendency to settle into a rut – especially the sex part. Like many others, my hubby and I have been together a long time. Some couples have been together for shorter times, but it feels like forever because each day just blends into the next. It doesn’t have to be that way. Spice things up. What woman hasn’t done something completely spontaneous, like search for that lost something hidden waaaay under there, knowing full well that her deliciously rounded derriere was pointing to the sky and her man (or woman) was coming down the hallway to ask her where she’d left the key to the shed … or something equally inane?

My challenge to you:  Step into the everyday life of your characters. Catch them washing dishes, folding laundry, repairing the toilet, or patching a hole in the wall. It doesn’t matter what they’re doing, as long as it’s something typically considered non-sexual. Give it to me in roughly 100 word bites and let’s see just how hot the everyday can be! I’ll start things off with Mia and Wayne:

The Right Fit
Mia pulled her minivan into the garage beside Wayne’s car, trying to tap down the dread as she cut the engine. Each time she arrived home, she had to stop herself from mentally adding things to the neverending To-do list. She glanced in the rearview mirror where Tess stirred in her car seat, then gathered her bag, purse, Tess’s bag, and the one shoe the baby had kicked off at some point during the ride from Wayne’s parents’ house where Tess had spent several hours this afternoon. She held her sleeping daughter in her arms, then picked up the travel mug from the cup holder. A reminder of something on the To-do list. With a sigh, she wondered if it was too much to hope that Wayne had repaired the dishwasher.

Did anybody else grow up with bookmobiles? I wonder sometimes if any still exist. I grew up in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by farms, and the library a twenty minute drive away to get into the nearby town. From May until September, the bookmobile would park itself on the closest corner – a half mile down the dirt road I lived on – and stay there for an hour every other Friday. We always ran to get to it, then stayed until we got kicked out, always checking out the maximum two books we were allowed. If it wasn’t for that bookmobile, I wonder if my reading habit would have been quite as pronounced.

Probably. Reading was my addiction. I would have found a fix one way or another.

My daughter doesn’t have any clue what a bookmobile is, but she’s only ever lived in urban/suburban areas where it was a five-minute hop in the car to the nearest library. She even disparaged the idea when I brought it up to her, because she quickly deduced that the traveling bookmobile would only have a fraction of what the library could offer.

She didn’t understand that was actually part of its appeal. Because every time the bookmobile came, it was like Christmas. Stock rotated. There was no telling what was going to be on the shelves the next time it rolled around. I loved the anticipation, the mystery of what my choices might be. I loved talking to the bookmobile driver about the books I was checking out. She was always saying, “Now, are you sure this is the one you want?”

I was always polite, even though I thought it was a dumb question. Why would I check out a book I didn’t want?

I wish there was a bookmobile around here, so I could take my kids. Maybe that would be enough to show my daughter it isn’t a lame substitute for a real library. Maybe I could prove to her what a treasure trove it could be.

Or maybe I just want to find that treasure for myself again.

Sorry, did that sound a little excited?

I’m running in two directions today, and will make it quick. Looking forward, I’m excited because there are a few ‘next in the line’ series that I’m so interested in. I just read Grimspace by Ann Agguirre, and now have to go get the second book. There’s the fourth book in Larissa Ione’s demon series coming this summer. On a personal level, the next book in my Six Pack Ranch should be out in April.

But looking back? I’m celebrating and I wanted to invite you to join in. It’s almost a year since my first book released, and during the past 12 months I’ve had the good fortune of publishing with Liquid Silver and getting to know some of the editors and other writers a bit better. And really, that’s what has made the writing gig so wonderful. The people.

If you’re into making a little noise, pop on over to my blog, Romance, Hot and Wild, and we can get some partying happening. Because while it’s fun to look back, there’s so much good to look forward to, we’d better get at it!

At this year’s Academy Awards, Michael Giacchino, composer for the film Up, won an Oscar for Original Score. In his acceptance speech, he said something I’ve never heard anyone say before: “being creative is not a waste of time.”

I thought this was a pretty incredible thing to say. If you’re a kid who wants to pursue a creative career, you generally won’t get a lot of support from your families or teachers. They’ll tell you it isn’t practical, the odds are against you, you’ll end up broke and so on. If you continue to pursue your art of choice as an adult, especially if you have kids, the pressure to give it up will intensify. People often think being creative is only worthwhile if it leads to stardom. Simply being a weekend novelist or musician can invite a lot of scorn from people who assume that if you’re not a household name by a certain age, you should just give up already.

I think part of this comes from living in a materialistic society that measures success in monetary terms. But it also comes from living in a society that doesn’t really respect or discuss the rewards of creativity. Anyone who writes, paints, takes photographs or composes music knows the deep fulfillment that comes when you’re immersed in the act of creation. That’s where the real joy is, not in any money or fame that might or might not come later.  Just as playing basketball can be joyful without leading to an NBA career, writing a book or a song has its own magic. Sometimes it leads to “success” and sometimes it stops with that individual magic. And that’s enough.

What rewards does being creative bring you? Were you encouraged to pursue it or were you told it was impractical?

For St. Patrick’s Day, I dug up a few fun facts about the holiday to share with you all.

The very first St. Patrick’s Day parade was not in Ireland. It was in Boston in 1737.

The phrase, “Drowning The Shamrock” is from the custom of floating the shamrock on the top of whiskey before drinking it. The Irish believe that if you keep the custom, then you will have a prosperous year.

Nine of the people who signed our Declaration Of Independence were of Irish origin, and nineteen Presidents of the United States proudly claim Irish heritage — including our first President, George Washington.

In Chicago, on St. Patrick’s Day, the rivers are dyed green.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the highest number of leaves found on a clover is 14.

Legend says that each leaf of the clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.

Comment with any additional facts you may have or general stories of good luck. And have a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day!!

Fellow LSB author Gem Sivad is hosting a chat over in her chat room from 7 to 8:30 pm Eastern today. No password necessary to log in. Please stop by and join in the fun. http://gemsivad.wordpress.com/chat/

Looking back, it’s funny to think that I actually began to write Psyche’s Gate on a whim. Around late 2008 I was facing a very stressful time in my life: my husband was entering law school and could no longer work, which left me handling all of the finances. I was suddenly faced with the immense job of paying all the bills and keeping house while my husband hit the books day and night. I began working two jobs and struggled at the same time to maintain my creative drive; all of this put enormous stress on me, which I was having trouble relieving. I had enjoyed writing as a teenager, publishing poetry and short fiction in student arts journals and newspapers, and began to ponder attacking that activity again simply for fun and stress relief. I spoke to my husband about it and he encouraged me strongly, so I sat down and began to write out the first skeletal “bones” of Psyche’s Gate. The basic concept was simple at best: I wanted to write a story about an artist who gets a commission. Initially, that was all there was to it. After a while I began layering my love of mythology and folklore onto that skeleton and gradually the story was fleshed out. The romance between Alexius and Psyche became a major part of the story, but I sought the entire time while writing to make the characters individually rich and believeable, despite their extraordinary histories and circumstances. Psyche’s struggle represents the struggle of all creative types trying to make their way doing what they love; I was able to express a lot of my frustration through her.
 

A lot of people ask: why angels?   The concept of angels, both mythologically and anthropologically, has intrigued me since my adolescence. I grew up with grandmothers and a mother who believe firmly in angels; to this day my mother always “asks her angels” to keep an eye on her loved ones and their affairs. Images of winged beings–male, female, or beast–can be found in many ancient cultures. From Mesopotamia to the Greco-Roman empire to the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, images and beliefs in angels and “proto-angels” have been strongly embraced and depicted in cultural and religious art and folklore. When I began to work on Psyche’s Gate I was pondering society’s concept of an “angel” and, in comparison, what my own concept would be. It seems that angels have become almost innocuous–fluffy, Xmas card-esque figures that seem more like poufy, androgynous cliches than the formidable supernatural hitmen that do God’s work by any means necessary. I am not into this “vision” of the angel: I want to see the supernatural badass back on the battlefield.

I wanted to return to the concept of the angel as warrior: the immensely powerful celestial mega-soldier who would cast down Evil (in whatever form you view it) and instill fear and awe in the hearts of those who invoked the wrath of the Universal Presence. My soldier angels are like Spartans: powerful, physically imposing beings who have a taste for the fight hard-wired into their very being. I wanted to make them immensely strong and achingly beautiful, just as I would picture them to be in fleshly form. Psyche is drawn to Alexius because he is a balance of strength and tenderness, beauty and fierceness. My angels are both alluring and frightening, which makes them more complex and, I feel, therefore more interesting.   

Care for a slice? 

www.liquidsilverbooks.com/books/psychesgate.htm

www.danielledsmith.com

Love and lust. We love to be turned on. We feel the rush of euphoria. Feel like we’re flying or like we’re on a roller coaster ride. Colors are brighter. Sounds are sharper. We just generally feel freakin’ awesome! Right? But why is it?

The asnwer is dopamine. Dopamine is the reason we feel so great when we’re in love and or are aroused. Dopamine is the drug that literally sprays through our brain when we are aroused by somebody. The drug peaks in our brain during orgasm. Dopamine also floods the brain when people eat food they love, when they gamble or when using cocaine.

According to Nora Volkow, a leading researcher on drug addiction and director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, that splash of dopamine alerts us to things we need to pay attention to for survival. Consequently, the addictive subsance, whether being triggered by cocaine, gambling or sex, becomes to the user a substance or behavior they need for survival.

This article shows a picture of the brain of a male during orgasm, which is behaving exactly as the brain of somebody who is shooting herione. Wow. That explains a lot.

After the burst of dopamine we get during orgasm, the body releases a drug called prolactin. According to this article, prolactin is the body’s way of regulating sex. Prolactin is also a stress hormone, which is associated with feelings of despair. In fact, the dopamine rush that we get during orgasm quickly drops off, literally leaving us hung-over for up to two weeks. Of course, most of us seek an orgasm before two weeks are up. Who wants to feel like that, right? So what do we do? We seek more of the drug.

To make matters worse, if the sex was really hot, resulting in one hell of a rush, then the low will tend to be even lower, leading us to need more of the drug. More intensity, to make up for the crash.

This is how all addictions work. It’s the cycle of addiction.

Of course, just because you like sex doesn’t mean you’re an addict. But this does explain why we like orgasms so much.

It also explains why I love chocolate so much. Mmmmm.

We’ve all seen them in movies, read them in books, and waxed poetic about them in our own fashion. A moonlight stroll. An open ocean sunset. An early morning sunrise. Winter wonderlands, spring rains, and autumn leaves. The backdrop to romantic strolls, happy ever after endings, and reflective moments of deep insight and realization. Nature is the backdrop and our actors take full advantage of the moment.

Today, as every Sunday, is Flash Fiction day. A day when we let our imagination wander and write pictures of a hundred words. And today I’d like to write the romance set against one of nature’s naturally romantic backdrops. The balance to the erotic, the sentiment that is the remnant to all that passion found between the pages of our books.

We’ll be flashing in the morning. I’ll have to leave early today but feel free to play if I’m not around.

Thanks for dropping by.
Roscoe James
www.roscoejames.com

So anyone who’s seen my facebook page knows I’m a die-hard Roller Derby Fan and Follow the FM-Derby Girls. Here are a few of my favorite derby skaters:

Caitlynstigator
MaulFlower
Sgt. Largent
Karmic Recall
Hjelle Roll

And new to the team and one of my FB friends, Chronic Masterskater. Chronic has posted on her page the difficulty in finding a name. They are registered with the league and once it’s picked the name is gone.

So in my effort to help I thought I’d find out what mine is according to a scientific Test.

What’s your Derby Name?

I picked Zoom Hilda…I don’t know it appeals to me.

Feel Free to post yours in the Comments.

Okay I need run and get tickets for the next BOUT!

Tina

I was asked recently to write a true Job Description for myself. At first I balked thinking that to do so would be a job in and of itself. I didn’t want to really take a look at all that I do. Overwhelmed is typically my word of the day, but I don’t complain because we’re all overwhelmed. We all have a million balls up in the air, some fall, some we catch, we just have to get through the day and be thankful for the little things. If I can’t be thankful and take joy in the little things, I will go insane.

This year for me personally has been a journey of introspection. So, in light of my commitment to digging deeper into who Tina really is, and taking joy in finding myself again, I felt that writing the job description would be good, possibly even therapeutic, and a sight cheaper than my therapist.

Without further ado…

Title: Wonder Woman

Department: Life

Reports to: God, Husband, Children, Boss(s)

Overall responsibility: Manage household of three males and one dog while holding down two jobs, one in which each day is worse than the next and the other the lifeline to your sanity.

Key Areas of responsibility:

• Maintain a high level of cleanliness in the home.
• Prepare healthy, tasteful meals in a timely manner.
• Raise two boys into men that respect themselves and others.
• Interface with school teachers, medical staff, and other influences in the boy’s life.
• Facilitate daily interactions with husband to maintain a high level of communication, ensuring continued intimacy and development of relationship that will endure the test of time and trials of life.
• Coordinate individual schedules to ensure timely departure for daily activities, sending each off with a loving kiss, no matter how you feel.
• Manage the evil day job with integrity, decorum, and expediency that belies your true feelings about those you will work with on a daily basis and the job itself.
• Fit into the evil day job aspects of the wonderful second job, communication and interaction with staff, authors, and readers via email, phone, and social networks.
• Continuously generate innovative ideas to bring in more authors, energize current authors, and entice readers.
• Coordinate interactions with review sites, newsletters, and other promotional areas.
• Facilitate a timely publishing schedule, while coordinating with editorial and art staff.
• Note: all wonderful second job activities must be completed while maintaining attentive action to evil day job, and home job.

Term of employment: Life

Qualifications:
Strong sense of self.
Insane organizational skills.
Self-motivation.
Parenting experience not needed, must be able to wing it and learn along the way.
Excellent communication skills.
Ability to take joy in the little things.

I challenge you. Take stock in your job description. Really look at what you’re doing and be sure it’s your “job”, if it’s not, let it go. And when it’s all said and done, it’s the small things piled up on top of each other that make our lives worth living.

Much love ~ Tina