Sommer Marsden's Blog, page 87
November 16, 2011
Attack wiener...
on duty for me today. I'm gonna run, then check email, then turn off my router or possibly set it out in the rain...or maybe in a nice warm bath, heh...and finish this BOOK! I am so close to being done I just need to be done.
Wish me luck and have a great day! :)
XOXO
Sommer
November 15, 2011
"A no win game" or "How Chuck Palahniuk saved my sanity"
So I have a problem. I am the person who takes everything to heart. Squared. And I let anything even mildly negative eat away at me and drive me basically...bat shit.
So when I wrote Big Bad, I knew it would probably be a mixed bag reviews as far as paranormals went. There are folks who read paranormals who want their 'worlds' to be a specific way. Especially wolves. They want packs to be very much like packs in nature--something I learned when I wrote Base Nature and someone told me my werewolves were not behaving like werewolves. Which both startled me and sort of cracked me up.
Bottom line is: I knew it would fly with some and sink with others. I knew it and I was okay with it. I thought.
It's very easy to be brave before something happens, don't you think? It's entirely different to keep your shit together when it actually happens.
So it happened--My first book that came out of the gate at a mere 3 on Goodreads. Yes, 3 is "I liked it". To me that means "You are mediocre" (please keep in mind these are my hangups. Do not read anything at all into it regarding anyone else's writing. This is really just about my own mangled mind fuckery.)
So not to put too fine of a point on it. I freaked out.
Then a review came in from someone who didn't finish the book and didn't like it. At all. And I freaked out some more. Because to me. "I don't like it" means "I don't like you."
Which is stupid. But hey, I'm being honest here.
Then I saw the video above. (specifically 4:34) And I literally felt my entire body exhale. I relaxed. It was like someone had taken a piano off my back and said, hey, take a deep breath.
It is much easier for my type AAAAAAA personality to say: she didn't get it than she didn't like it. Because not liking it=not liking me (not really...just to yours truly). But not getting it=didn't work for her. And that is something my mind 'gets'.
So if you tend to take things to heart and let them eat at you and are a bit of a nutter like moi...I suggest you watch this whole thing. Not just minute 4:34. It's worth it. Totally.
And in the interim the book has picked up 5 stars and 4 stars and yes, more 3 stars. And I think some even lower. Raves and rips, basically. And so far I haven't exploded.
Good stuff ;)
XOXO
Sommer
November 14, 2011
oh and also...
later today author Kiki Howell will be on my December Ink list having some fun and chatting. Pop in and visit her later if you get a chance. Don't worry if you're not a member, it only takes one click to become one :)
XOXO
Sommer
and the random number generator chose...
Barbara! Yay Barbara. You win a copy of Elise's nifty dirty updated fairytale. Wooohoo, we'll be contacting you-hooo! :)
XOXO
Sommer
November 13, 2011
Hmm...dilemma...
I am almost done this book. This book has haunted me. It has taunted me. It's in my head 24/7 even when I backed off to take a last minute emergency project. And now I am almost done! Almost...DONE!But here's that dilemma I mentioned. I have had one particular scene in my head for this book from the first page. It stays in my head and it plays on a loop of good sexy awesomeness. And did I mention I'm almost done? I am right where I thought I'd be at this point in the book--ready to wrap it up and I just realized...I wrote right around that scene! I never did it. It's been in my noggin before I ever set a single word to paper and I didn't put it in.
Now me being me--which is a character driven writer--I figure that means that particular scene, while hot as the gates of Hell, doesn't really belong in this book. Maybe this is a different book. Maybe my characters changed their minds. Maybe someone got shy. Maybe...
Because I'm a firm believer that if it was meant to be, it would be in there. I often get to the end of a book and it feels like a giant laundry basket of tangled yarn. Tons and tons and tons of different colored yarn that's all somehow gotten wound up together and is a giant mess. And when I go back and do a proof reading, I realize...nope. My brain knew what it was doing even if I didn't.
And now that I have rambled over my forgotten scorching sex scene, my brain just told me what we're going to do.
So, hey, thanks for listening! It's all worked out now. Isn't it funny how that happens?"
XOXO
Sommer
November 12, 2011
Bizarres from the Bazaar
I don't know what it is, but I needed it...it makes me think of the 70s.
It's a bottle. It's a leaf. Tada!
It's a looooooooooooooong basket. I have a basket problem. Seriously.
The man and I have an inside gnome joke. And these were too horrid to pass up...Stay tuned! There's another one next week!
XOXO
Sommer
November 11, 2011
what have i been doing lately?
Falling in love with my man all over again. The person I've become over all these years is falling in love with the person he's become. Like brand new.
It's pretty fucking cool. And I wanted to say that.
Have an awesome weekend. I plan to.
XOXO
Sommer
November 9, 2011
Elise Hepner: Not So Pure...
[[[I'm actually posting this a bit early. Apologies for confusion. It was a rough day and a rough evening which ended in me getting pretty damn ill. So I have just about enough juice to put this up in case I'm MIA tomorrow. So I wanted to say,]]]
Yay! Elise Hepner, fellow Marylander, is on my blog with a guest blog and a snippet and all that fun stuff.
So, welcome to her and enjoy a snippet. Maybe I'll have to trick her into lunch one day. I like meeting actual people in actual person. LOL
While you're here leave a comment. There's a giveaway of an e-copy so just say hi for a chance to win. What's say we run it until...Monday? Then I'll choose a winner.
~~~~
Kinky Fairytales
I always thought kinky fairytales were the best of both worlds because they can encompass and cross through so many different genres but still have the heat factor I love most of all. I've read historical ones, modern ones, magic ones, or just stories with a quick twist that made me go "huh"—though it wasn't a twist of the nipple variety, I promise. It's one genre I keep going back to over and over in my buying book habit because I never know exactly what I'm going to get with each tale.
Most often I find myself picking up kinky fairytale anthologies because then I get the best of both worlds, but I'm a series girl at heart so if I fall in love with the fairytale book one of my dreams I'm rushing to buy the others in the series. Cross-genre appeal, sexy situations, and sometimes even a little hocus pocus? How can I resist? I'm a sucker for it.
Also, with every fairytale there's that glimmer of familiarity, that spark of that old story inside the new story that makes me think how awesome an author was to think of the old tale in this fashion. There's so much to play with it's hard to find any two redux that are exactly alike. With every twist and turn I know it's a story I loved when I was younger and now it's a story I can love again when I'm older. Like bringing new life to an old, well-worn sweater by making it into a pair of mittens. Can you tell I don't sew? Oh well, I tried, you get the idea right?
Fairytales are cozy for me. A place of comfort. Hit that with the kinky sex hammer and I am so down for some e-book buying fun.
Blurb:
White runs from her prison of a past and enters into a sexual deal with seven men that alters the course of her life for eternity. Caught between her need to take control and making up for her serious lack of good sex, she enters a wonderland of kinky possibilities with men who show her that Prince Charmings come in all shapes and sizes. For White and her men—once upon a time doesn't cut it—three or four times sound just about right.
With each partner—not always one at a time—White beats back her trust issues. But the shadow of her past comes back to haunt them all. Now she must introduce them to her personal battle, hoping they'll fight beside her as their sinful nights turn into hellish days. Happily ever after isn't by the books anymore.
Bright morning sunshine filtered through the trees, casting warmth all over her dirty body, and not bothering to look down at herself, she continued to pick her way through the forest. The light breeze blowing against her cheek was thick with scents from the night before—blooming night jasmine and sweat. She gritted her teeth against the nausea rooted in her stomach and noticed the fine shaking running up her bare thighs. How long could she go without food or water before she passed out? Her last meal had been yesterday afternoon, would that be enough? She didn't know.
A plan was paramount.
She heard stories of men out here. They all lived together outside of town, away from the glitz and glamour of the city. Would they help or not? Either she found the nearest path back to a main road or she searched for a random cottage. There was no way to tell which would be easier.
Why had she even gone with Huntsman! This train of thought would get her nowhere and at least she was out of the house. She quickly stopped questioning and made a choice.
She would try to find the infamous cottage in the woods.
The reasoning was simple enough. It was logically easier to persuade a few people to help her out than walking to town and relying on a larger group of people. With more people, the odds of them saying no went up. Townspeople had that "who me?" aspect to them that made ignorance bliss. So many people would probably glance out of the corner of their eye at her begging and hurry along because of the implications of helping street filth.
And that's what she looked like right now. With no money, no prospects and no work experience, so she had to start from scratch—there wasn't much else but pity to fall back on.
This wasn't a fairytale where someone would slip money into her hand and offer her a warm bed for the night. Most people were too selfish. White was better off going one-on-one with a group of men who'd already shed society's rules by living in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, the trip was neither close nor easy.
Now she was caked in god-knows-what, looking toward the morning sky and waiting for a cottage to come in sight. What other option did she have? There was no indication of what awaited her there. But it had to be better than what was back in the woods—embracing destiny and all that jazz.
"Or running away from it," she mumbled.
All the same. But it was hard to ignore her survival instincts. They had at least gotten her out of that prison and from now on it was her own way or she could bolt if she wanted to. Yet, this was the first time she'd been out of the house in how long? For a second her whole world rotated a hundred and eighty degrees.
The fresh air was joyous as it whipped around her half-naked body. It moved along the sensitive nape of her neck and brushed lightly against her shoulders and her spine. Inside her head it was peaceful and maddening all at once. Sure, she could do whatever she wanted now—that was a relief—but she couldn't do anything without a good meal. So technically, she still didn't have half as much independence as she would have liked.
When the sun came through the breaks at the top of the tree-line, the outline of a house was illuminated and she tried to hold back her curiosity. Her stomach plunged as nervous butterflies fluttered in her abdomen and she crossed her arms around her waist. This must be the place, they had an auto body shop and car parts were spread everywhere.
Everyone in town knew about the men who lived in the woods to get away from the catty glitz of the real world. People said the men lived in a fairytale. White believed it when she had the chance to examine the cottage up close. Aquamarine windows lined with chipped, coal black casings glistened with grease. There was a sloping roof with red tinted shingles, though some were missing in a weird pattern.
No one did the place justice—because it was a complete mess
Why would they need a door with bars on the peep-hole window? Were there normally robberies in the middle of a forest?
They topped it all off with a yard of rusted metal—which made sense because they were rumored to be mechanics. But motorcycle parts, engines, and tires laying out on the lawn without rhyme or reason? She supposed everyone had to have a hobby.
White gingerly sidestepped her way through the car parts. The scent of cooked meat beckoned her closer toward the door and her stomach twisted with hunger. Caught between the need to bang on the door or to let herself inside—damn the consequences—she settled for something in between both actions.
"Hey!" White shouted, throat burning with thirst. "Can I get a little help out here?"
She moved toward the door when she heard footsteps because moving backward was cowardly. A man, judging by his broad shoulders. He peered through the window. Barred rectangular shadows hollowed his face and forehead. He slightly opened the door to peek out at her with suspicion through the small crack.
Maybe she had been expecting a deformity because they lived in the middle of nowhere. But when she searched his face for a pockmark or fake eye, all that she could see was the bone structure of a model with a little bit of scruff on his chin. His amber brown eyes narrowed. Wasn't she the one who should be suspicious?
A tiny tremor shot up her spine when he opened the door all the way and eased his toned, sculpted frame through the gap. No peg leg either. From what she could see, he was all there. A perfect specimen. She absently rubbed the fuzz on her head, wondering why men did it electively. Like the stranger in front of her with white blond hair buzzed to his scalp. She dropped her hand and tightened her jaw.
He squinted at her because the sun was directly in his eyes. It meant he stood somewhere in the range of six-feet-four-inches with a high metabolism as evidenced by his lithe, muscular build. He rolled his shoulders, hands ducking into the pockets of a pair of brown corduroys. The cotton shirt he had on exuded spicy, musky man smell and she shifted from foot to foot.
"Are you willing to help me?"
"It depends on what you want and why you're here." His voice came out in a guttural lullaby. "Not many people venture out here without a car."
He gave her a cursory once over with his eyes.
"And you really don't have much of anything."
"I just want some food and to get some sleep. It's been a long night." She crossed her arms, acting like his answer didn't define the next few minutes. "I'll be out of your house by morning if I can help it."
"Where are your clothes?"
"Long story, but at least I have underwear, right?"
His gaze snapped up and down with heat flickering in his tawny pupils. That look was familiar, lust was easy to pinpoint. He wanted her even if he didn't know it yet. So, there was a foothold now and she was going to take advantage of it.
If this is what it took to get some food, then so be it. Weirder things had transpired at the mansion—and worse things had been traded for drugs. Besides, whoever got anything in life for free?
A simple flashing wouldn't do her any harm. She hadn't seen anyone react to her body who wasn't coked up or twice her age in awhile and deep inside she enjoyed knowing that he wanted her. A little thrill made her heart beat faster—no one else would see her half naked—they were in the middle of a forest. But the idea that someone could see turned her on more than she'd like to admit.
There was no getting around the fact that he was hot.
She uncrossed her arms and let them rest by her sides, giving him an eyeful of her breasts. Without pausing, he was by her side, offering his shirt with an outstretched hand.
"W—what?" she stammered, uncertain.
"I'd feel more comfortable talking to you if you were dressed."
Ellora's Cave Buy Link
More info on Elise Hepner:
Final stop...
Whew. What a ride. First a zombie tour. Then a werewolf/vamp tour. And we wrap it all up with a lovely hopeful romantic, KD Grace. Go over and say hi and if you haven't already won a copy (cause lots of folks have) you could win the final giveaway copy of Big Bad.
Tomorrow, I'll pop in and announce the winner of Ruby's socks and I also have a nifty visitor coming to say hi.
Have a hottie hump day, folks.
XOXO
Sommer
November 8, 2011
Today's chunk of my WIP brought to you by the letter S...
for Suit. Here's where I've been hanging out all morning. I mean, the in my head part of my morning. The actual not in my head parts of my morning included running, sprints, gasping, showering, eating, talking to the fat wiener and doing some other writerly type crap.
Now I have to go deal with her. She finally put her clothes back on.
XOXO
Sommer
p.s. tomorrow shall be the FINAL stop on the Big Bad Blog Bash. So you still have time to catch up on past posts if you are shooting to be wearing Ruby's socks before turkey day! (full schedule is to the right on the sidebar...somewhere)
