Sandra Ross's Blog, page 3

A Year Older in Three Days

Life has its bright side, or the silver lining in every cloud. What is this? Hey, pets, I’m turning 32, wouldn’t you know? So, I’m normal after all? Yes, I dread birthdays, mine specially.  Now that I have you all now to shield me, how about some nice suggestions on how to carry off this most dreaded day of my life?

Let’s talk about some REAL birthday preparations. Suggest some party theme that you’ve done or would feel like doing. I actually want a safari-or a circus-themed event, with real animals.  Just to be different. Sometimes, when I really get far off center, I imagine myself as a lion tamer – yes, one who places her head inside a lion’s gaping mouth. But make it toothless please, may I hasten to add?

How about you, sweetie? An Alice-in-Wonderland theme? Or the latest, Bella and the Twilight Saga theme? One fascinating item is the franchise heroine’s transformation from human to vampire, and this can be seen in videos available at YouTube. If you are a Twihards, you will go beyond the make up to see more of Kristen Stewart as she hunts prey, drinks blood and, yes, discovers the perks of vampire sex.

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Bella in the recent episode is essentially a whole new character this time around – no longer awkward and reticent, but now confident, earthy and inhuman in strength. Stewart says she was prepared for the character’s evolution. She says of the transformation process:

Everything that makes the vampire characters special, all their really great qualities, are aspects of how they were as human beings — amplified,” she said. “Because I got to play her and really get to know who she was, it didn’t feel hokey. It never felt like I was playing a vampire in a crazy fantasy movie, it really just felt like a more realized version of who I’d been playing.

Who wants me as “Bella”? This calls for another poll. As my fans, I will leave it among you to decide what party theme you would like to hold for my birthday. What? But of course, all of you are invited!

 

See you at my party,

Sandra Ross

The Golden Gate Bridge

 

This structure is, perhaps, the biggest tourist attraction in San Francisco. As a permanent resident of the city, driving on the bridge is an absolute daily necessity. Looking at the bridge is a rarity for a tourist. For me, it’s a routine. Nonetheless, I still regard this bridge highly. But a handful ten-year-old contradicts my perception completely.

It’s just a bridge – painted orange. Why do they even call it Golden Gate Bridge?

Andy would not stop ranting as we drove to see the bridge like foreigners do. He was under my and Jonathan’s custody last weekend. His parents took an out-of-state vacation for their wedding anniversary. Every couple needs an alone time – at least annually. I could not say no, clearly. They live in San Jose, which is not too far from here. Yes, Andy’s been here before – many, many times. But he’s not a native. He deserves a trip.

Apparently, we were more excited than he was. Kids these days, they get bored too easily. The Golden Gate Bridge does not excite him anymore because he’s been here before. He was a smart boy and he knew the history of the bridge better than I do. But the timeless story and profound architecture behind the bridge seemed irrelevant to him. He had a question which his perpetual complaints made very clear for me to hear – Why do we have to come here?

I pondered over Andy’s notion on the Golden Gate Bridge. He may be young but he had a point. It’s just a bridge painted orange. Why is it so important? After careful deliberation – oh yes, I let a little boy bother me that much – I finally understood why this orange bridge never loses its golden splendor. It’s a landmark, it’s San Francisco’s own distinction. When you see a post card with a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco comes to your head. It’s what draws the thick line between San Francisco and all other cities worldwide.

A distinctive feature – it’s what every writer must have to succeed, it’s what every story must have to be a worthy read, and it’s what every character must have to be remembered. Concepts and issues tackled in books are cliché. It is the delivery – the choice of words to play – that makes one love story a bestseller and another love story a struggling chart climber.

Andy, in a two-hour outdoor trip, showered me with wisdom for keeps. I must build my own bridge, paint it orange, and make it golden!

 

Hats off to little kids,

Sandra Ross

Scroll and Drool

The title says it all. You’ve been warned!

We think of German food as being meat and potatoes. But actually, Germany excels in dessert-making. As you can see, I love desserts! And the choices here at a small lakeside restaurant near Gütersloh were mind-boggling. Choices, choices…oh dear…

Which one would you like to try? Don’t say everything – because that’s my answer. But I really wish I could share every slice with each of you, dear readers.

 

Drool some more, 

Sandra Ross

Childproofing a Lustful Craving

One of the biggest challenges of parenting pre-school kids in my line of work is painting a huge amount of decency in and out of the house. Like most, if not all, writers, I have a tall pile of references to help me succeed in every writing endeavor. Given my mature genre, you would be right to assume I have countless books on eroticism – because I do.

I treat my adult content materials like Aspirin tablets or sources of lead. I have to keep them out of reach of children, or else they will suffer poisoning of its worst kind. The kind which activated charcoal at maximum dosages and lavage by expert gastrologists could do nothing about. Staining the purity of a child’s mind is irreversible. And I strive to preserve the innocence of my little ones until they come of age. Their mom is a writer. They know that much. One day, they will ask, “of what”?

And I will tell them of love and its wildest human expression. Eyes that mirror an undeniable desire, lips that breathe a sigh of intense and heated longing, a mouthful of bite in all the intimate private places, the breaking of sweat after the sensual act of couples – all these and more, at the right time. Always, at the right time – or so I thought.

Rare moments of glimpses on the television introduced me to a whole new meaning of eating a burger. Staring at it as if it were a snowflake in June, holding it as if it were a bottle of water in a desert, chomping it as if it were a piece of bread after a month-long famine – where have I seen that before? It took time to put my thoughts together until I realized it’s a scene from at least one chapter…of my every novel! My kids saw that, certainly more than once or twice.

Maybe it’s just me and my endless bouts of erotic fantasies. But I think I just unraveled an unlikely analogy. So when my kids catch me staring at their daddy playfully and ask, “Mom, are you okay?” I would let out a big smile and say, “Of course, I’m just craving for a burger. ”

Just like that – I will see burger differently. Forever.

 

Eat like you mean it,

Sandra Ross

South Padre Privacy

This is a portrait of the romantic loneliness of an empty beach on a cool winter day in South Padre Island, Texas. Two lovers in the distance, a place to indulge in your sexy beach fantasies without getting caught.

Sex on the sand of an isolated island is on top of every honeymooner’s to-do list. If you’re planning a steamy getaway with your lover, look no further. I have found you a paradise where you could lose control of your body and soul. After all, nobody else is watching. And even if somebody was there, you would be too elated to bother.

 

Take it to the beach, 

Sandra Ross

English Sweet Hearts

Sweetheart is a famous term of endearment. I always thought a sweetheart could only be born. But no, they can be made! And they’re just as satisfying as your sweetheart. Hot and fresh out of the oven, a part of you waters involuntarily after a second of sniff.

English sweet hearts – a perfect Sandra Ross treat to go with a cup of hot English tea and a hot romantic novel. Pastry has never been this sexy.

 

Sweet treat for a sweet heart, 

Sandra Ross

Lazy Girl

Lazy boy furniture is so cliché – it’s all over my house! Luckily, I stumbled upon a discovery that is not as costly but just a cozy. Friends, meet Lazy girl. 

A hammock is just what I need for lazy summer days by the lake in Minnesota. It’s a perfect time and place to relax and dream up new romantic love stories! I know I call my little rocking bed lazy, but I can’t say the same thing about my stories. You know to me, each book is a hard-earned legacy.

 

Sit back on a lazy girl, 

Sandra Ross

Doughnuts Japanese Style

There is one thing I notice about the Japanese…they love their green tea. There is one thing I notice about myself…I love doughnuts. Here is a doughnut, Japanese style – a perfect blending of their culture and my taste buds!

Sometimes, an unusual combo can make you go loco.

 

Have a bite,

Sandra Ross

Chipping Campden

In the small village of Chipping Campden, deep in the Costwolds of England, this cozy cottage beckons. What an ideal place to sip a cup of tea by the warm fire and write more love stories!

I guess it would be safe for you to assume that the book by me you’re currently reading right now could be made in England. I hope you like your read with a little English twist!

 

Happy reading, 

Sandra Ross

The Sweet Life on Board

You will never feel at a loss in the middle of nowhere with these much soiree of desserts that make your mouth water. I could just stare at the week-long buffet and say to myself, this is the life!

I took a picture of a few lunchtime dessert choices on board an intimate Windstar cruise. Hmmmm… should I be good and have fruit, or should I be naughty and have the pastries? I mean, the pastries DO have fruit on them, right?

 

Here’s to a sweet life,

Sandra Ross