The First is Always Special #MFRWAuthor

I have been writing most of my life. Although every story has a permanent place in my heart, House of the Rising Son is my favorite work. The obvious reason could be that it was my first traditionally published novel. Firsts always have a special place in your heart. But that isn’t the only reason it’s my favorite. It’s special to me because of Cheyenne. The original story was born in 1993. Cheyenne, the hero of the story, has changed over the years, and his family has had many incarnations. Some variations worked better than others. For example, Chey has always been a rockstar— the talent is in his blood—but being human didn’t seem to suit him.

Another aspect that has remained constant has been that this unlikely and totally unprepared rock star became a parent. His children’s ages, names, and even the number of his offspring have varied as Cheyenne’s world evolved. Only his reactions and judgments have changed. Consequently, some of Chey’s stories were adventures, others were love stories, most were funny and all were outrageous. He was not a hero to anyone or savior of anything in any of his previous lives.

When I decided to submit his story for publication and introduce him to the world, Cheyenne changed more than he ever had before. In House of the Rising Son I expanded the number of people in his life and focused less on his primary role as parent, instead focusing more on his role in the world as an important member of the Incubi Nation. Of course, he remained a rock star.

The sequel to House of the Rising Son is scheduled for publication later this year, with more books and short stories planned. It’s time for the rest of his story to be told. Then who know? Maybe his children’s stories will make their way into published works. I imagine it will be fun watching their stories unfold, too.

Book Quotes I Love

My weekend was not what I hoped. I missed the deadline to join the 52 Week Chalkenge Blog Hop, but I thought I’d share my thoughts anyway. I still prefer paper books to ebooks. One reasis the ability to underline and write in a physical book. For awhile I kept a 3x5 file box of favorite quotes but it was lost in a move and I never quite got back into the habit.

The quotes I love are rarely found in a collection of famous or inspirational quotes. But for whatever reason they resonate with me. Sometimes I read them later and can’t remember why I marked them. Some have even been paraphrased in my memory. For example my memory of this quote is “children are born knowing magic and the world takes it away.” But here is the actual quote from Robert McCannon’s Boys Life.

“ See, this is my opinion: we all start out knowing magic. We are born with whirlwinds, forest fires, and comets inside us. We are born able to sing to birds and read the clouds and see our destiny in grains of sand. But then we get the magic educated right out of our souls.”

During emotionally rough periods, these quotes came to mind. “The night is the hardest time to be alive and 4am knows all my secrets.” (From Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite.)Or-

“Sometimes being a bitch is all a woman has to hold onto.”

Stephen King’s Delores Clairborne.

As a human services worker this one has often been in my mind, but honestly, I disagree with it.

“Once you let yourself feel pain, really feel it, you can’t make someone else suffer very long.”

Keith Ablow, Denial.

Most of the time I prefer humorous quotes. Tanya Huff is my favorite author for that reason. Some of her series I’ve read multiple times and still chuckle. Most wouldn’t make sense without being read in context but this one gives an example.

“But I am a knight of the Round Table," he protested, weakly. "I am a protector of the realm, a slayer of evil, I defeat all those who raise their swords in opposition to Arthur, King of all Britain." "Trust me, kid, women prefer a man who can cook.”

Tanya Huff, Nights of the Round Table and Other Stories of Heroic Fantasy

I suppose this is yet another peek into my psyche. Your turn. What book quotes resonate with you?

These Words #MFRWAuthor

When I hear the phrase “words to live by” I think of Facebook memes and quotes at the end of writing exercises. But they are more than that. Often they’re a shorthand for someone’s philosophy toward a particular thing or life in general (Don’t sweat the small stuff), or an emotion. Speaking of which, I am not sure where “Bless her heart” became a “fuck you”. That is not how it’s used in the South, rumors to the contrary.

I can think of three phrases I use often and the reasons behind all of them. I fall back on “everything happens for a reason” to help cope with minor disappointment. An example would be the events of one evening when we had tickets for a concert two hours away. First my partner had an appointment she had to keep so I was to meet her. Being pathologically early, I left home in plenty of time. Along the way I realized I had forgotten the tickets and had to return home. I’d never taken this exit before, ended up wandering around the back streets of a city and being totally lost. (This was before GPS). When I did finally get back on the road I ran into traffic that was literally stopped. Basically I was in a parking lot for nearly an hour. When I picked up my partner we decided that something was telling us not to make this trip so we went home, convinced that we would have been in an accident or something had we continued.

“I can do anything for 15 minutes” is another I use often to make myself start something I don't want to do. It isn’t always true of course, but it does usually urge me to action. I try to use it when scheduling big tasks, and setting goals I am resistant to, even though I know I must (for instance, physical therapy exercises).

One I remind myself of (although sometimes don’t listen to myself), is “don’t love anything that doesn’t love your back”. This includes jobs, possessions, and toxic people. Sometimes that even includes a story that won’t let itself be written and causes too much stress.

My favorite is “life is short”. Sometimes I’m so busy working on one thing to another that I forget to stop and enjoy my life. Then I remember another favorite,  “Life isn’t a rehearsal”. These words to live by remind me how to live.

'Tis Always the Season

I have friends who say they would like nothing better than to have static seasons, preferably in a warm climate. I can't imagine being happy with that. There are things I don't like about each season but why deprive myself of the good parts? It will be difficult to limit myself to the best part of each season as there are so many. As we head into Autumn I'm excited to be able to go outside again. The temperature is cool and nature is putting on a show of amazing colors. The beach is deserted, and the amusements, while on a shorter schedule, are still operating. And the holiday season of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas gives us something to celebrate.

Then there is winter. I love snow. I love watching it snow. I love playing in the snow with my partner and our dogs. I even like shoveling snow unless it is the 3 footers we sometimes get. The earth is beautiful, quiet, and serene.

My favorite part of Spring are the colors on the mountains of home. The tender greens mix with redbuds and dogwoods painting a picture no mere human could create.

And finally, summer. The best part of summer is that my partner works less so is home more. We manage to take the occasional vacation and day trips if we watch the weather carefully. Too hot? Too humid? Too much. We use those sweaty days to go to the movies or the bookstore.

I used to be the type of person who complains about the weather constantly. One day I realized I was missing out on a lot of great stuff being so grumpy. In every season there's a reason to smile.

The Way to My Heart is--Hold on, I'm Not That Easy #MFRWAuthor

I admit it. In some regards I'm a tough nut to crack. I don't impress easily and I surely do not trust easily. However, there are a few traits that I find appealing, characteristics that will touch my heart immediately and lower my guard. Probably the easiest way to my heart is showing gentleness and compassion for animals. Watching a man romp with his pit bull is nice, but there is something about big men with little dogs that makes me smile. A photo of Seth Rollins, a WWE Superstar, playing with his Pomeranian simply melts me. Roman Reigns (WWE Superstar and #manofmydreams) surrounded by chihuahua’s in Santa garb make me swoon.

The internet is full of videos of ordinary men who who take extraordinary risk to their safety and sometimes their lives to rescue trapped or abused animals, or, as we've seen recently, rescue abandoned animals in hurricanes.These are true alpha males, in my opinion.

Which I suppose leads into another trait—competence.  Men who excel at what they do and have confidence in their abilities are sexy as hell. Sometimes, these men come across as arrogant, but a bit of arrogance can be forgiven when the expertise is indisputable. Case in point: #theartistforeverknownasPrince

On the other hand, taking everything, including oneself, too seriously is a total turn off. I'm drawn to folks with a sense of humor.  Like the Rock. He's smart, gorgeous, and has the body of a god. If anyone would have a right to be over the top arrogant, it's him. But he doesn't come across that way. Didn't he once play the tooth fairy, tutu and all? 

Finally, I'm drawn to those who are adventurous. No one wants to do the same thing all the time, no matter how much you might like that thing. The world is too large and too varied. That being said, I never tire of music and going to concerts. Give me an talented musician with a sense of humor and a love for animals and I'm a happy, happy girl. 

The Only Love There Is

As a writer of Urban Fantasy,  I live to tell stories that transport you to a super- natural world, one that intrigues you, touches your heart, and entices you to return over and over again. I also hope to give you something to think about.  The characters you meet are a motley bunch of beings: humans, Weres, vampires, incubis and wraiths. More than that, they’re diverse in terms of race, culture, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, and power bases. Conflict in these worlds  occurs due to differing goals. Or crazy family drama. What they come to understand is that the path to peace is intention. You have to want it, and commit to creating it.

As for real life, we live in a challenging time- if one can define challenging as racist, sexist, homophobic, and divisive. Conflict, often violent,  occurs simply because we’re different (apparently too different to coexist as equals). Fortunately, the resolution is the same. The road out of this horror begins with wanting out, and committing  to change the conditions that created it.

And then we must take action. Create peace by being peaceful. Sow the seeds of acceptance by being accepting. Foster love by being loving.

The Beatles told us love is all you need. Prince told us the only love there is, is the love we make.

Let’s intend to love each other.

From Novel to the Big Screen: *Meh*

The blog hop topic this week is my "favorite movie made from a book". It would have been so much easier to write about favorite books that had been ruined by being made into a movie. I'm not generally a fan.

One of my earliest favorite movies is The Haunting (1963) based on The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. It was a faithful adaptation as far as the technology of the day allowed. Now, 54 years later, I still consider it the scariest movie I've ever seen. I was thrilled when it was available on Amazon a few years ago.

Another favorite of my youth was the Conan series by Robert E. Howard, which appeared in the 1930's. Three movies have been made from it. I liked them all but have to admit the one with Jason Momoa as Conan is my favorite because, of course, Jason.

The movies from Salem's Lot and The Shining by Stephen King were also fairly effective. Usually, however, movies from books fail (in my opinion) because they choose actors who don't quite fit or change important factors. One example is a television show made from an urban fantasy series by Tanya Huff. The TV version turned my favorite male character into a very irritating young woman, and "updated" the vampire's career from romance novelist to graphic artist. The same is true for the Janet Evanovich movie based on her Stephanie Plum series. I don't know who those people were, but they were definitely not Stephanie, Morelli and Ranger.

The takeaway on this is that if you make a movie based on a vastly popular book, perhaps you need to put some thought into why it's so popular before you consider any changes.

Guest Author: Peyton Brittany Clarke

Join me in welcoming Peyton Brittany Clarke and her newest release, Bound to Them (Siren Menage Amour: Erotic Consensual Cowboy BDSM Menage a Trois Romance, M/M/F, HEA)

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Jake Hargate is a man with a past. Born into a rich and powerful political family in Massachusetts, they were all raised to believe one thing: protect the family's interests at all costs. After leaving that life behind, Jake finds love and happiness married to Max Krause, a Dom, and Ally Renjel, a submissive. Being Max's submissive gives Jake the security he needs, and topping Ally gives him the control he craves.

But when a political scandal threatens to ruin Jake's brother, a prominent governor who hopes to move up the political ladder, Jake is drawn into a dark world of vengeance he swore he'd never enter again. Jake's family gives him a choice: help them or risk the life he cherishes with Max and Ally.

Deciding to do whatever it takes to protect Max and Ally, Jake is drawn into a world of darkness. Will Max and Ally be able to rescue him, or will Jake be lost forever?

Note: This book contains double vaginal penetration.

A Siren Erotic Romance

STORY EXCERPT Lear went to his favorite chair and sat down. He leaned back, crossed one leg over the other, and tapped his fingers on his thigh. If Baldwin’s marriage fell apart, his own life would go to crap. Not only would he be out of a very cushy, well paying job but he’d also lose access to the best pussy he’d had in a long time and the child it produced.

It was better for everyone to keep everything moving forward as planned. And in order to do that they had to make sure the public kept believing that Baldwin and Eleanor were happy and very much in love despite the rumors. Problem was Phoebe Jones was determined to get to the bottom of this affair thing and ferret out the truth.

“Phoebe may be snooping around, but she doesn’t know anything yet.”

“Tell that to my press secretary,” Baldwin said dryly. “She’s been fielding calls from that woman every day. And we’re both tired of it.”

I bet you are. It’s probably because it’s interrupting your fuck sessions.

“Really? I thought you liked having a reporter on your ass day and night.” Lear grinned savoring the little jab. His brother was a namby-pamby, he needed to have a little dirt shoved in his face on occasion.

As Baldwin’s senior adviser, aka crisis manager, it was his job to watch Baldwin’s back at all times. When there was trouble, he handled it. Why this escaped Baldwin’s brain now irked him. “Fuck you too, Lear.”

“Whatever.” Lear checked his watch. He hoped he’d be able to get the airport early, so they could take off ahead of schedule. He reasoned it wouldn’t matter too much if he was late since he was using Baldwin’s private jet. “Are you done losing your mind? Because I have a job to do so back off and let me do it.”

He pulled the phone away from his ear while his brother yelled and ranted. He rolled his eyes as he waited for his brother’s caterwauling to end.

“Feel better?” Lear asked.

“For now, assuming you do your damn job,” Baldwin said. “How are you going to fix this?”

“Do you really want to know, or do you want to see the result?”

“Of course I want to know,” Baldwin snapped. “That’s why I’m talking to you.”

A smart politician would have said no, preferring to keep his hands clean, but not Baldwin. He was too controlling for his own good. In forty-two years, Baldwin had not changed one bit. He was still as high-handed as ever despite the everyman persona he showed to the public. His arrogant and dictatorial manner was legendary among his staffers and the servants that kept his house in tip top shape.

Lear knew Baldwin thought of him as just another lackey to do his bidding and not a partner in his bid for the White House. If there weren’t bigger things at stake, he would have dropped Baldwin a long time ago, leaving the asshole and his lofty political ambitions far behind.

“I’m going to use Dalcourt,” Lear said.

“What about him?” Baldwin asked.

“He’ll get that reporter and anyone else she’s alerted off of your back,” Lear said. “They’ll be too busy tearing apart his life to even think about you or your...friend.”

“Dalcourt is your big solution? I knew I should have went with Smith.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Lear asked.

“It means it’s a stupid idea. He’s not going to roll over and play dead for you,” Baldwin said.

“Yes he will,” Lear said. My talent is wasted working for him. “Why?”

“Because he will. God, man you are infuriating. Father always said you had the brain of an ox.”

“I won’t say what he said about you. Mostly because it will piss you off too much and I still need your help.”

Lear sighed. “My God you are a pain in the ass.”

“Are you just going to give that reporter Dalcourt’s name and address and hope for the best?” His tone walked the line between bitterness and incredulity.

“No. A little birdie is going to tell her that I’m leaving town and that it has something to do with this affair thing. Naturally she’ll follow me, I’ll get her to meet me and then I’ll dangle our little brother in her face. The story will be so juicy she’ll have to bite.”

“Why don’t you do that here?” Baldwin asked. “Dalcourt doesn’t live here. He lives in some dinky town in Wyoming called Wildsage. And I’m luring her to Wyoming to make sure she does her job and latches on to him, there. I can’t risk her getting distracted by you and your antics.”

“What if she refuses to bite and decides to return here?” Baldwin asked. The uncharacteristic fear in his voice was unnerving.

“She won’t. If you knew what I know about Dalcourt, you’d be drooling over this too,” Lear said.

“Finding dirt on Dalcourt is damn near impossible. He’s too shadowy,” Baldwin said. “You have got to tell me what you have on him.”

“I can’t. I’ve already said too much. The less you know about this the better it is for you and me.”

Baldwin laughed even louder. “You think that little pipsqueak scares me?”

“I didn’t say that. It’s my job to make sure your name stays out of these things and that’s what I’m doing.”

“Okay, okay.” Baldwin fell silent. “Once he finds out you that you’ve fucked him, he’s g oing to be pissed.”

“He won’t find out unless you tell him,” Lear said.

“I’m not going to tell him. But he will find out nevertheless. Doing that sort of thing was his job remember?”

“Okay so what if he does,” Lear said.

“You just need to be prepared.”

“I am because I know how to get him where he hurts,” Lear said.

“What if he manages to get that reporter off his trail?”

“He’ll have no choice but to do what I say if he knows what’s best for him,” Lear said.

“You’re a killer Lear, you know that don’t you.”

“That’s why you have me on your team,” Lear replied.

“Dal court’s our brother, why would you even think about doing that to him?” Baldwin asked.

We all have to make sacrifices for the family and it’s time he made his. “Don’t worry about it. I have to go or else I’ll miss my flight. I’ll talk to you later.”

Lear ended the call and glanced at his luggage beside the front door. He checked his watch. He had just enough time to get to the airport, to check in and head to the bar for a drink. He needed a few drinks before he dealt with his younger brother.

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My Life: Laughing Out Loud

I've been known to embarrass myself by breaking into laughter at inappropriate moments. Who doesn't enjoy laughing? I have laughed so hard at movies that my sides hurt. In fact, I have laughed through movies that apparently the rest of the audience did not find funny, like Tremors. Anything by Kevin Hart is sure to be a hit. I love Katt Williams even though his specials are bleeped so much it can be hard to follow his stories. Offbeat humor is one of the things that make my favorite books just that-favorites. Having read Smoke and Mirrors (Tanya Huff) at least 20 times, I still occasionally laugh out loud.

Those things are typical sources of laughter. After all, they are designed to be funny. But my day-to-day life is hilarious.

My dog, Toby, brightens even dreary days. He came to my partner and me in November when my elderly aunt died. He is 13 pounds of insecurity, exacerbated by my other dogs that weigh in at 40-50 pounds, one with her own anxiety issues.

Toby's feet never touch the ground except, well, the ground when we go out. Otherwise he moves from sofa to chair to bed, which keep him at more or less eye level with the girls. Because they are all so sensitive, I have to treat them exactly the same. Toby came with a bed, our girls had to have beds like his. He had a coat because he’s tiny and he freezes; they had to have coats. Chloe gets medicine for a couple of issues so Molly and Toby get fake pills so they don't feel left out. You see the amusement. I’m sure our dog sitters think we’re nuts.

In the past week, Toby has surprised us with something. He can bark.

Scream and shriek might be more accurate.

For 6 months he’s kept his vocal hysterics to himself but I suppose he now feels completely at home. His screams can be heard all over the neighborhood. That is not an exaggeration; neighbors have asked about him. It starts when our car pulls into the driveway. The fact that we are outside in plain view is the only defense we have against claims of abuse. The screeches continue until we are in the house and they are replaced by leaps and digging at our clothes.

I know that it probably irritates the neighbors, especially when we get home in the wee hours of the morning, but he always makes me laugh. How can you not love something that is so happy to even hear you that he can’t contain his joy in a regular bark?

Do you have something you laugh about even though you probably shouldn't?

Little Glimpses, Big Inspiration

I have far more ideas for stories written in my notebook than I will ever have time to write. Some are favorites for me to think about as I fall asleep or as I'm driving. I've tried to bring them into being a few times but so far it's not worked. They're fun but dont have enough conflict to move a story. The characters are my playmates, like the imaginary friends we have as children. Inspiration comes from many places, anything that raises a question of why, who, what, where, or how. It could be a snippet of song or a glimpse of an image from a movie, TV program, or an interesting or beautiful photograph. I usually say that music is my biggest inspiration because most of my ideas come from songs.

But not always. Once, while on vacation, I noted four boys crossing the street and something about them caught my attention--they were all dressed in white, but not in a uniform way. The image was incorporated into a story a few months later. Another story and character came from a T-shirt on someone walking across a bridge. It became a hobby to find a t-shirt for every occasion for that character.

I try to make a note of things that catch my attention for whatever reason. I never know when they might come in handy.The inspiration for my current work in progress came from the punchline of a joke: You're special just like everyone else. I wondered what would happen if young supernatural creatures, feeling alone and different, met other types of creatures feeling the same.

It's morphed into a story totally different from how it started. The original main character had no real arc other than dealing with his parents. Eventually, I changed the main character and made him older, which allowed a more interesting story arc. I kept my notes from the first version, however. Who knows when those ideas may be needed.

My Writing Journey

Writing isn't always a linear journey for me. There are fits and starts, good days and bad. Sometimes I write the story chronologically. Other stories come in seemingly haphazard segments, as my focus drifts from one disjointed scene to the next. My most productive days happen when something specific inspires me, usually a song, or photograph, or something that embeds in my subconscious. The part that seems to be unusual is that I start with how the story will end—I often envision the final scene.. Then it’s simply a matter of learning what must happen to get my people to that moment.

My biggest obstacle is often the backstory. Not because I can’t think of one, but because sometimes I become so immersed in the backstory that it becomes more interesting than the original. I can spend way too much time playing with how people became the people they are.

By now you’ve realized I'm a plotter. The thought of embarking on my story quest without a map makes me physically ill. There is, however, a downside. Sometimes I lose interest in the story if the outline is too detailed, or if I've sat with it too long. To stave off boredom, I then start adding things that are fun to write but not always needed for the story.

I enjoy the planning stages. That's an issue for me too. Making notes, finding pictures to represent my characters, looking at blueprints for houses and apartments, filling out my sticky notes and 3x5 cards all make me feel productive without actually being productive and finishing the book.

Eventually I have to sit down to write. So I sit. And sit, staring at a blank page and eventually seeing the scene in my mind as if watching a movie. Writing becomes describing what I see. Sometimes the finished product is barely more than a sketch that needs major work to be complete and usable. But once in a while everything falls into place, and I have a strong scene that only needs minor changes.

Those are the good days.

My Not-So-Guilty Pleasures #MFRWAuthor

We all have guilty pleasures, although I’m not sure guilty is the correct word. The things that I really feel guilty about are not things that give me pleasure. Things like buying clothes that I rarely wear, or books that I never read do make me feel guilt, but the pleasure component isn’t there.

I tend to think of guilty pleasures as things other people look at askance or tease me about, but that I’m going to continue to do anyway.

In no particular order, here are my top seven guilty pleasures:

Gorgeous men I can discover gorgeous men in many places, such as  TV, movies, and WWE. The men for whom I obsess tend to have traits in common--long hair, facial hair, and often they're unusually tall. Consider Jason Momoa, Roman Reigns, and Steven Strait. Interestingly, if you line these guys up side by side, they'd pretty much look like brothers. Of course, my longstanding love was--is--Prince. He was the exception to the rule, "unusually tall". Then again, he was the exception to all the rules.

Weird TV I am teased quite a bit about watching WWE. I also can’t seem to pass up miscellaneous documentaries, programs explaining conspiracy theories, ghosts, hauntings, aliens, and ancient civilizations.

Journals If I never bought another journal and wrote pages and pages every day, I would still never run out. My family refuses to add to the collection at gift giving time, so I'm forced to buy any new ones I want.

Re-reading my old favorite books. There are books by favorite authors that I have practically memorized and I still read them over and over again. This wouldn’t be too bad if I added new books to the list. That's one of my goals for 2017.

McDonald’s cones.  I'm allergic to dairy products but McDonald’s cones are purely chemical.  I can eat this frozen treats with no problems at all.

Hats I can’t seem to pass them up even though I rarely wear them. I have a huge collection of fedoras in various colors, patterns, and materials. I’m also attracted to steam punk hats because of all the accessories hanging from them. I’ve yet to find one with goggles that's small enough to fit my head. Usually they slide over my ears and cover half my face. At the last ComicCon I attended, I found a woman who has agreed to make one for me.

Expensive magazines I love magazines like Bella Grace, Daphne’s Diary, Breathe, and all the Somerset lines. These do have a degree of guilt because many of the craft magazines are expensive  and I never get around to doing the craft.

As far as the guilty pleasures go, mine are pretty mundane. I’m sure yours are much more interesting. Why dont you tell me about them?