Chrissy Munder's Blog, page 63

Is that a kite in the sky?

Why no, it's our outdoor shed floating free over the West Coast of Michigan!

We've been enthralled by the high winds here at home. Luckily, not bad enough to do any real damage other than some power outages, downed tree limbs, and missing trash cans. But we couldn't help but wonder what things were like on the West Side of the state and Lake Michigan.

Last night's phone call from our next-door neighbor up there let us know. The winds hsve been quite severe. They ripped our metal shed off the foundation and sent it careening away. No damage to our cottage and the rest of the neighbors are fine. But one had a tree fell on his car. A fact that will make his mother-in-law quite happy and set him up for months of "I told you so". She's been nagging him to cut those tree branches for the last couple of years. :)

We'll head up this weekend to take a look and see if anything is salvagable. But it's funny, as the years go by it's easier to just shrug and say it's only things and not get upset as long as those we care about are safe.

Clare and Chrissy Turn Up the Heat ... or do they?

Clare: and Chrissy: Good morning! Welcome to the April Shower Edition of The Clare and Chrissy Show. Being a new quarter, and a new month, we're feeling motivated! Let's grab our coffee and jump right in.

Chrissy: Wait! Wait!

Clare: What?

Chrissy: We need a confetti toss!

Clare: Really?

Chrissy: *opens mouth*

Clare: Forget I asked. Toss away, dear. Just let me duck first.

Chrissy: Wheeeee! It truly is the little things. You must need another vacation.

Clare: Holiday. The proper term is Holiday.

Chrissy: And there is our British-ism for the day. *wink*

Clare: One of the miracles of writing life is that there are just as many different readers and their personal preferences as there are writers eager to fill them.

Chrissy: But no matter how hard we might try, we can't please everyone.

Clare: It's guaranteed at one point or another an author will receive a comment from a reader who finished a story and didn't find it to their sexual taste.

Chrissy: Rather like Goldilock's porridge - some may find a story too hot, others may find the same story too cold.

Clare: (Porridge?? *shakes head*) Add to that we run right up front into the very solid wall of misperception if we write M/M…

Chrissy: …as for many readers, M/M fiction equals Erotica.

Clare: Despite our blurbs, despite the use of the word Romance…

Chrissy: …there are those who still haven't realized that there are just as many heat levels in M/M fiction as there are in any other type of fiction.

Clare: It's frustrating, because as authors, we welcome the opportunity to write a variety of romantic encounters between our main characters.

Chrissy: And as a reader, it's a pleasure not to have to skim through page after page of detailed sex, no matter the gender, when I'm not in the mood.

Clare: You're a skimmer?

Chrissy: There's been days. Sometimes life's too short and my head's just not in the game, no matter how sensual the writing.

Clare: The things we learn. *shakes head*

Chrissy: Pfffft.

Clare: One of the first questions we hear from many new authors is a simple one.

Chrissy: How do you know how much sex to add a story?

Clare: This always makes me chuckle, as I picture us sitting at our computers with aprons on and a large wooden spoon in hand to start stirring. This isn't a recipe we're following.

Chrissy: *gasps* What? You mean it isn't a case of mix two parts sex to every one part plot? Hmmm, or is that the other way around … I never remember.

Clare: As humans, we're lucky to enjoy the full spectrum of human interaction…

Chrissy: …why wouldn't our writing reflect that?

Clare: When asked, our answer is to write the amount of intimacy the story requires. No more, no less.

Chrissy: All right, we hear all the groaning out there. But that answer isn't a cop-out, it's true.

Clare: Common sense wins the day. We know the story, we know the characters, and we know the context. What heat level will those combined items support?

Chrissy: Maybe this is more like cooking than we first thought. Where did you put those aprons?

Clare: Down girl.

Chrissy: We've all heard the complaints from readers eagerly engrossed in a nail-biting scenario of imminent danger. The main characters are moments away from either a successful escape or dreadful discovery. Of course that's when they are suddenly overwhelmed with passion and drop their drawers, despite their approaching potential demise.

Clare: Gawd, I've written that scene myself *g*. But unless this is written in a framework informing the readers that the author is deliberately giving the characters one last opportunity for a quick shag before a horrible death, it tends to nullify all the hard work the author put into creating the nail-biting scenario in the first place.

Chrissy: And leaves the reader crying foul.

Clare: Or even worse, giggling.

Chrissy: We can examine our stories in the Winter Warmers anthology as examples.

Clare: In Chrissy's story, Butterscotch Kisses, Matthew and Andrew come to know each other through a series of brief encounters over the course of a single week. The gentle pace of their relationship and the sweet promise still to come would have made a suddenly graphic sex scene a jarring addition.

Chrissy: Or perhaps, turned the story into an example of a Penthouse Forum Letter.

Clare: Naah, if that were the case they would have only met once, and never exchanged names. And the adorable hats would be some weird kind of sex aid.... .

Chrissy: *cocks an inquisitive eyebrow*

Clare: *clears throat* Or so I've been led to believe.

Chrissy: Clare's contribution, Lucky Dip, gives us a humorously modern take on second chances. Greg and Andy already have an intimate history together, and the sexual tension sparking between them kindles into a satisfying rendezvous despite a few misadventures along the way.

Clare: In either case, the circumstances of the story appropriately support the heat level - and I'd say, so does the limit of the word count.

Chrissy: Could we decide beforehand what heat level we wish to write? Sure. But then we would deliberately tailor elements of the story to enable the desired intimacy.

Clare: We also need to factor in our comfort level when it comes to writing intimate encounters.


Chrissy: Some authors can make us tingle with just a single kiss.

Clare: Others make us wish they had stopped there :).




Clare and Chrissy: So we could say that the level of heat in a story depends on four C's: Characters, Context, Comfort, and Common Sense.

Authors, what methods do you use to determine how graphic a story will be? Readers, are you skimmers of intimate scenes or do you savor every syllable? And, just like in real life, does it all come down to our mood?

Leave us a comment and share your point of view. All entries will be used in a random drawer for some festive Clare and Chrissy swag. Winner to be announced during our next monthly blog post.

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SPECIAL NOTE: We're gearing up for a special "open forum" episode of The Clare and Chrissy Show later this year. Do you have a question about one of our posts? One of our stories? Love or Hate our characters? Interested in our favorite music? Reader's choice! All Clare, all Chrissy, all questions will be answered. But fear not shy soul, no names will be used, only questions.

You have between now and September 2012 to think of a question you'd like answered and email it to chrissymunder@yahoo.com. Be sure to mark which one of us the question is for, and then sit back and get ready to learn all.

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March Winner: sandra_lindsey - Congratulations! Please email your mailing address to Chrissy at chrissymunder@yahoo.com for your festive Clare and Chrissy Swag.

Missed a month? Follow the sticky post for these rambles of ours HERE

Be sure to catch the latest from Clare London. 3 Sexy Shorts featuring the men of True Colors.



And to learn more about us:


Here's Chrissy! website // blog .


Here's Clare! website // blog .

S T R E S S relief...

...of a most pleasing kind. Purchased a 120 color collection of crayons. Am now off to release my inner toddler.

Finding Love in Unexpected Places

Yes, I've found new love. Not with a person, or even a place. But with my new super-duper extra-comfy desk chair. Sounds odd, I know. Chairs aren't something I've given a lot of thought to. At work my chair, like my desk, was a hand-me down from the employee before me. You takes what you get (after you scratch all the weird, dried tape off).

Usually this means ending up with a small, rickety task chair, or secretary chair as they are sometimes called. You know the type, no arms, little seat, and littler back that's suposed to press right up behind your lower back for lumbar support. Turns out, by the time my rear graced the seat the hydraulics were shot, and any support had left the building years ago. I'd count myself lucky if all the casters were still there.

At home it's not really been much different. I'm a floor sitter. Always have been. Put it down to being the youngest of six, and lowest on the totem pole. Even now, I'm happiest crosslegged and on the floor, especially while reading or watching television. It's easier to play with the cat and the kids that way. Since we've not seen the top of our kitchen table in ages, I eat there most nights as well. A nice low Japanese table serves me nicely.

My desk chairs at home over the years have been second, third, or even fourth-hand items as well. It was never a matter of money or want, chalk it up to one of those things I never thought about. This chair was there, great. Repurposing, I think it's called. My last partner-in-writing had a back held on by several pieces of twine wrapped from one side to the other. (I think we were out of duct-tape, or I'm sure we would have used that for the repair.)

But, as part of a recent spate of fixer-upping we brought home a new chair. As in, never before out of the box. Oooooooohhhhh My. The things this chair has taught me. I never knew a waterfall seat aids in leg circulation. I never knew that a chair could take your weight, support your back, and leave you feeling like you are sitting on a cloud.

It's a desk chair, padded arms and all, and it's a man's chair. Big and Tall according to the paperwork. And boy, at the risk of giving you TMI - this puppy is very happy to see me. The side cushions wrap around and say hello, the lumbar support actually supports, and all the tilts and whirls do their things.

Good times, people. Good times.

Playing around with 750words.com

Numbers and stats, oh my. More ways to please my checkbox marking little soul. I recently started playing with the website http://750words.com/ . Based on the idea of "morning pages" from the book The Artist's Way, it's a website where users login every day and write at least 750 words of whatever is swirling around in their head. The theory is by getting all this out in a spontaneous, unfiltered dump you'll free your mind of all the surface crap currently clogging things up and get your ideas flowing. You'll also develop the habit and muscle memory to sit and write every day. All of this, private, unfiltered, and a surprising amount of fun.

The site offers daily points, checkmarks, badges, an interesting analysis of your subconcious/typing speed/# of distractions, and other external validations that end up hooking the anally retentive like a free supply of crack.

Share as much or as little as you like with others on the site. You can also export your entries, just in case you're free of subconcious crap and actually use the time to work on a current story.

The best laid plans...

...had great plans of catching up on the f'list, Facebook, Twitter, and writing a few blog posts.

yep. Sure did. LOL. How was your weekend?

I'll Take That in Neptunian Years, Please

Sneaking in a bit of science. Go ahead, calculate your age on other planets with this handy link HERE . You know you want to.

Loved and filched from the lovely foxrafer

eBook Anthologies 20% Off at Dreamspinner Press

The Dreamspinner Press 1000th Title Celebration continues with 20% off all eBook Anthologies April 4th - 10th. Here's your chance to catch up on these oldies, but goodies.

Milestones in the Reflections of Love Anthology - Things started out great for Devon and Jeff, but as time passes and their work commitments grow, so does the distance between them. As Valentine's Day approaches, it takes a stranger's advances and a friend's well-meaning interference to remind them that sometimes it's more important to celebrate the little milestones in life than the big ones.


Odds Are in the Mr. Right Now anthology</a> - Returning to an annual conference without his long-time live-in boyfriend, not only does doctor Rick Page have to cope with his aversion to elevators but he discovers his lover had a secret he never suspected. Luckily, Smoking Hot Jonah is willing to provide sexy therapy that just may help him with both issues.


Spontaneous , in the Curious Anthology - Michael Vincent didn't know what to call it when his boyfriend, Derek, called him boring and took off leaving Michael with a week off work and his vacation plans in shambles. Rather than sitting around moping, he decides to prove Derek wrong and show him that Michael can do spontaneous as well as the next guy. However, Michael's newly changed plans have definitely gone awry. At least until he spies construction worker Eben Bowman out of the bed and breakfast's window, and Michael finds spontaneous depths he didn't even know he had.

Stormy Weather in the Make Me a Match Anthology Volume 2 - Meteorologist Grant Singer is sick of dates who only want to bed the TV "weather guy". But the matches from the online dating service he signs up with are even worse. In fact, the only thing that makes the endless dinner dates bearable is Craig, the cute waiter at his favorite restaurant. Luckily for Grant, Craig never misses one of his forecasts


Third Times the Charm in the Make Me a Match Anthology Vol. 1 - John Turner went to the 24-hour Urgent Care center to get his employee Bobby some medical attention, not to scope out the doctors. But Nick Davros was awfully hard to ignore. So when Bobby's cousin gets hurt at the construction site, John knows exactly where to go. Despite Bobby's best matchmaking attempts, Nick doesn't seem interested in John - until a calamitous event throws them together a third time.

Just Call Me a Dam Fool...

...or a frustrated engineer. If it involves water, power, and construction, I'm a happy woman. Despite a paralyzing fear of both water and heights, I love to spend my time poking about and contemplating the minds involved in the creation of something so amazing.




Among them the Croton Dam, or more officially, the Croton Hydroelectric Plant. First opened in 1907 and still in use today. Looking for an oh so romantic evening? Swing by the dam after dark and spend some time out on the Muskegon River under the lights. The view, especially in the winter, shouldn't be missed.



Next on our trip was a stop at both the Hardy Dam and the Rogers Dam. The Hardy Dam has an amazing resevoir, which according to Wikipedia offers excellent fishing and a nature trail system regarded as one of the best. The three mile unpaved path parallels the Muskegon River and contains 26 different trees with identification plaques. The trail area is home to wild turkeys, grouse and bald eagles as well as beaver, mink and otter. Fishing includes salmon, steel head, rainbow trout, brown trout, walleye, bass, perch and other pan fish. Have spent many happy hiking hours there we definitely agree.



Of course, no trip to favorite spots would be complete without a stop at the Ludington Pumped Storage Power Plant. I love this photo we took of the resevoir, it looks so fake.







A true test of your lungs is the hike from the turbines shown below, to the top of the resevoir.

Unfortunately, in our post 9/11 world much of the freedom to get up close and personal with these amazing sites has been reduced to a few tours when and if, available. We count ourselves lucky we were able to spend hands-on time and get to know several of the wonderful employees at these facilities pre 9/11. They encouraged our interest and answered our endless questions during many visits over the years.






photos copyright Chrissy Munder

All Short Stories 20% Off at Dreamspinner Press! March 28th-April 3rd

More reminder fun about Dreamspinner's 1000th Title Celebration.

March 28-April 3 - All short fiction (daydreams and nap-size dreams) will be discounted 20%.

Why, yes, I do have quite an assortment of shorts available during this sale. Cast your eyes to the left sidebar if you have any doubts. Or simply visit my author page at DSP.