Cindy A. Matthews's Blog, page 17

Boy Meets Girl No More?

Each month it increasingly becomes more difficult knowing what to write, in the erotic-romance arena, at least. I have plenty of ideas for stories, but they all seem to possess a fatal flaw according to some publishers. I wanna write love stories with a hero and heroine as opposed to a love story with two heroes.

Don't get me wrong--I'm very glad to see that there's a wide variety of authors and publishers out there providing stories that m/m fans wish to read. More power to you all! It's just that I'm not one of those authors/readers who wants to add to the glut of m/m fiction currently in the e-book erotic-romance market. I'd rather create the fiction I prefer to read myself; that is, boy meets girl or girl meets boy, they have lots and lots of hot sex and then go on to live happily ever after or at least happily for now.

Is there something wrong with me? Am I old-fashioned? I don't know. I've tried to come up with a m/m story idea that's not been done a million times before, but I'm not that inspired I guess. But if you described a hot-blooded male (alien or human) and a hot-blooded female (alien or human) to me, a million storylines would pop into my head. It's just that easy.

What do you think? Should I throw in the towel and give up trying to write erotic-romance of any kind until I can hop on the m/m bandwagon? Or should I just wait and see if m/f, boy meets girl, romantic fiction makes a resurgence in the near future?

Readers please leave me some feedback in the comments below. Here are some questions I'm dying to know the answers to:

What do YOU like to read the best--m/m, m/f, f/f, all of the above?

Do you feel the glut of m/m erotic fiction is just a phase and will gradually die down or that it's here to stay and will further eclipse the m/f erotic fiction market?

Is it all about vampires, shapeshifters, werewolves, ghosts, demons, etc., or do readers occasionally like to read about human characters (contemporary, historical or futuristic)?

Should I focus on writing straight science fiction/fantasy and vere away from writing stories with erotic-romantic themes altogether?

Thanks for your comments. Drop me an email at celinechatillon @ hotmail.com (no spaces) and put "Free e-book" in the subject line, and I'll email you an "Outrageous Extended Excerpts from Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures" PDF e-book as a thank you.

I love me some pirates!

Yo-ho-ho! I do love me some pirates... particular the ones that hang out at the St. Louis Renaissance Festival in the merry month of May. Let me show you some and see if you don't agree with me.




These strapping lads are part of the singing and comedy troupe the Musical Blades . They can tell a naughty joke and sing a rowdy song with the best of them. Can you tell which pirate caught my eye?



You're right--it's their captain. He had a great singing voice--honestly! Why else would he stand out? ;)


Bill from 3 Pints Gone joyously sings the infamous "Moose Song". This pub song is definitely for mature audiences only. (Please don't call the SPCA on him!)



They even got an ASL signer into the act (far right). Can you imagine signing the words to a naughty drinking song? Me neither! (What a great sport he was to keep up!)




My hubby likes the sweet sounds of the Limeybirds . Yes, who wouldn't love a trio of buxom songstresses singing about what they enjoy doing in the hardware store: "He asked me for nails, so nail him I did,,,and I don't work there anymore!"


Unfortunately, the batteries gave out in my camera before I could take anymore photos, but I sure did have a lot of the Musical Blades for some reason...



I do love me some pirates... I can't wait until September when the St. Louis Pirate Festival comes to town. Yo-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!

If you like pirates--space pirates in particular--then be sure to check out my latest release Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures: Chapter 6--Kidnapped by Time Bandits!  now available from eXtasy Books:  
Brandi Whyne Chapter 6 purchase link

You can catch a red hot excerpt at Brandi's blog and read all about the series online at my web site . Click here for the You Tube book trailer .

Red Hot Excerpt Now at Brandi's Blog

If you're in the mood for a red hot excerpt from Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures: Chapter 6--Kidnapped by Time Bandits, now available from eXtasy Books, then head on over to Brandi's blog and read it. Don't be shy, either--you can always leave her a comment begging for more...

Click here to read Brandi Whyne's Blog

And for a quick video summary of the entire series (so far):




More excerpts to come. (Pardon the pun!)

Style? That's my middle name!

I feel highly honored to be nominated for a Stylish Blogger Award--especially since my "other self" made the nomination. ;)

If you've never checked out my alter-ego's blog, Confessions of a Blonde Writer, I encourage you to do so. You'll find out more about my tamer, more "blonde" self. ;)


As part of the award, I have to tell you seven things you don't know about me. Well, when I'm Celine, I'm no longer a girl-next-door-blondie--I'm a "redhead" with a flaming libido to match! ;)


1.) I love men who are tall, dark and handsome. Tall, fair and handsome works as well in a pinch.

2.) I don't like to sleep in lingerie. It just gets in the way.

3.) I think bras were invented by a sadist. I wish I didn't have to wear one in public, but I get tired of all the stares at the "bouncing action" up top. Same for high heels--sadism by any other name. I'm not much into the BDSM thing personally. I like to be the one in charge. ;)

4.) I was once kissed by the actor who played the Master on the classic series of Doctor Who at a sci-fi con. I didn't ask him for a kiss, either, he just gave me one--tongue down the throat and everything. Nice guy!

5.) I've always wanted to play Magenta on stage. You know who I mean... from The Rocky Horror Picture Show: "I'm lucky, you're lucky, we're all lucky!!!"

6.) The most romantic movie I've ever seen is Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour. I still cry at the end.

7.) The reason I sometimes write humorous sex scenes is because sometimes sex is just plain funny! You ever watch your home bedroom videos and not laugh? ;)


Now my nomination for the Stylish Blogger Award... I nominate Brandi Whyne: Adventurous Space Pirate, a blog by a fictional heroine who just won't let me stop telling her story! ;)

Brandi Whyne Chapter 6 has arrived at last

Check out the new book trailer. I hope that it catches you up on the series so far. (What if you can't follow what's happening so far? Well, go out and buy the other five books and read them!);)


Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures: Chapter 6--Kidnapped by Time Bandits! is now available in multiple e-book formats at eXtasy Books at the link below:

Kidnapped by Time Bandits!

What do you get when Star Wars meets Sherwood Forest? Mix in a little Pirates of the Caribbean, Fanny Hill , Red Dwarf and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and you get Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures (with Robin Manhood and His Totally Sexed-Out Space Pirates). With a series title that long, you know it's going to be filled with loads of laughs, tons of sci-fi fun and plenty of hot sex!

In Chapter Six, Kidnapped by Time Bandits, Brandi is sucked into an alternate dimension and forced to do a little sucking on some not-so-nice space pirates—including Robin Limpdick, the evil twin of her own lover Robin Manhood. After a good licking, she meets Captain Jacques Swallows and his right hand man Francois who put her to the test. Can Brandi convince the Time Bandits that the crew of the Pulsating Purple Parsnip can do more than just throw a great orgy?

And for those of you who need a refresher, here's the links to the first five books in order:

Captured by Space Pirates!

Lashed at the Mast!

Bound for Adventure!

Little John's Very Big Problem

The Search for Brandi's Crack

(All of these titles are also available for the Kindle e-reader. Click on the link to the righthand side.)

You can ask Brandi questions or make comments about her memoirs at her blog, too:
http://brandi-whyne.blogspot.com

Support Judy Mays! Support Your Local Authors!

I know there's a lot of talk online about this story, and I don't want to give those who have maligned Ms. May any more press, so here's a link to my publisher's blog that gives a few more pertinent details:

http://extasybooks.net/essenceofextasy/

I hope most readers realize why writers often use pen names in the first place. No one wants to suffer this kind of grief over his/her art. For some reason, readers will buy (hopefully not pirate) and read our erotic-romances, but if they find out we're teachers in our day jobs... All of sudden we're suspect human beings.

I'd be more afraid of my kid's English teacher writing "true crime" or murder mysteries. Do you think they go around killing folks to gain "experience" to write their stories? If you find that idea ridiculous, then why should romance authors be accused of being "dangerous perverts"? Aren't we exercising our imaginations like mystery writers do? ;)

Please support Ms. May and all your favorite and local authors. Stand up for our write to create stories the way we see fit. Stand up for the First Amendment's freedom of speech. Together we can make the world a better place.

Spring Break in the Sunshine State!

We're back from our spring break. Rather than bore you with lots of details, I thought I'd post a few photos instead. :)


Don't you wish you were on a beach right now? (I know I sure miss it.) Where is your favorite spring break locale?

Stop the Presses!

Stop the presses! This is out-of-this world news (of a sort). ;)

A photograph that I snapped two years ago at the Dogtown St. Patrick's Day parade will be featured in an upcoming episode of "Car Science" on SPEED TV. The episode will be airing Wednesday, April 6th on SPEED at 10pm EST. Here is a link to the page on SPEED for the TV schedule: http://www.speedtv.com/programs/car-science/

We don't get the SPEED TV channel, but if you do, please check the episode out for me and tell me when my photo shows up. Thanks! It appears that you can watch older episodes of "Car Science" on Hulu, so eventually I hope to see it.

Wow... I never would have imagined something like this would have happened to me. You post a photo on Flickr to show friends and a TV producer tracks you down and asks if they can show it on their show. No money involved, alas, but she did say she'll send me a DVD of the show. Cool!

If you wanna see the photo of the "motorized bar stool" car, here's the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cynthianna/3376903570/in/set-72157625249212234


Have you ever had a snapshot you've taken noticed by someone else other than family and friends before?

The All New, All Dancing, Singing, Performing Blog

It's time to throw beads! Happy Mardi Gras! Opps, that was last month, wasn't it?

Happy April Fools' Day! The blog title is no joke. I'm attempting a new format with my blog(s) and this seems as good a time as any to implement it.

I'll admit it right here and now: I was born sometime B.C. (before computers). I'm not so keen on the daily blog thing. Sure, many people blog daily, but having worked as a columnist in the time B. B (before blogs), when words were actually printed on paper, monthly postings worked best for me. I'd come up with one good idea (or even one not so good), write it and post it on the blog. I'd write several hundred or a thousand words on a topic and hope to get some sort of feedback from readers. Most of the time I heard only crickets chirping in the distance.

Times change. People don't have time to read long blog postings. Short blog postings are perceived as being more entertaining than one longer, in-depth rant. Short blogs also more conducive to promoting one's other writings I'm told. Being unemployed, I need to promote and sell more books in order to survive, so it's time for me to bite the bullet of blogdom and attract more readers to both my blogs and books.

On our way to Sesame Street, Mardi Gras style!

A lot of what I use to send out in my monthly e-newsletter for many years now, I'm going to post here whenever it happens. I enjoy sending out the e-newsletter, but I understand how much email you read everyday for work, play and other groups. From now on, the newsletter will be very brief and direct you to where the information can be found online. That way, you can pick and choose what interests you most and skip the rest if you're rushed for time. If you're not already one of my general e-newsletter members, sign up for it at http://groups.yahoo.com/cindyappelnewsletter If you just want to know what's going on with my erotic-romance persona Celine Chatillon, you can join that newsletter at http://groups.yahoo.com/celinesdreams

Since I possess "multiple personalities" (I write in multiple genres), I host separate blogs for them. But time and health issues have kept me from making them all that different lately. That will change over the next few months. This blog will continue to feature news, excerpts and other ramblings about the erotic-romance writings of Celine Chatillon. My more mainstream (G to PG rated) book news will be found exclusively at Confessions of a Blonde Writer: http://momsday.blogspot.com . The Brandi Whyne series has a blog site of its own, too. As the series relaunches Brandi will be having more fun and games there as well: http://brandi-whyne.blogspot.com . Please become a "follower" of any and all of my blogs by clicking on the "follow this blog" button on the right hand side. Thank you.

What is it? Whatever it was--it works!

I used to share lots of fun and fascinating articles and web sites I came across on the 'net in my e-newsletter, but in this day and age of Twitter, I tend to "tweet" them instead. If you'd like to follow my infrequent tweets, I invite you to become one of my followers. http://www.twitter.com/cynthianna3

I enjoy interacting with my readers, my friends, family members and other denizens of the electronic age at my author page at Facebook, too. You can "like" my author page at http://www.facebook.com/cynthianna.celinechatillon This past month, I sponsored a contest for new members of my Facebook page. (You can read about it there.) A free e-book prize has been awarded to Linda for joining my Facebook page and leaving a comment. I plan on doing some more giveaways and contest promos again in the future, so keep checking back here for details.

Slowly I'm becoming more in tune with the digital world around me… And I am publishing on a more regular basis again. Many of my books are now available in Kindle format (especially Celine's titles), so if you got a Kindle for Christmas or your birthday, can I entice you to give them a try? You can find direct links to my Kindle books at my Amazon author pages:
Celine Chatillon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002CQY3BM
Cynthianna: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002CQZYGK
Book reviews and "tagging" and "liking" of my books at Amazon is appreciated.

Mardi Gras tip #6: If you're nice to the parade marshals and the cops, you get more beads!

I'm still updating my author pages at Goodreads. I should get there in the end, but if you're tech-savvy and can walk me through it, feel free to drop me a line and share your sage advice. Thanks! So far, I think I've discovered Celine's author page and updated it at http://www.goodreads.com/celinechatillon_cynthianna
If you're a Goodreads junkie, please feel free to become my "fan" and rate/review my books.

Okay, now's the time to actually blog a little about my upcoming releases…

Faster than a speeding tortoise… More powerful than a praying mantis… Able to leap tall buildings if such things as a gargantuan trampoline and a circus trapeze catch net were available to all… Look up at your computer monitor! It's not a bird, it's not a plane, it's

Brandi Whyne and Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures!

Check out the new cover art--Brandi is hot! (And I love her boots.)

The long awaited, desperately longed for, long absent sixth chapter, Kidnapped by Time Bandits, is about to make its debut at eXtasy Books. No release date has been given yet, but let's say I do keep reminding my editor that I literally left Brandi hanging up in the air in the fifth installment. If you want to see what I mean, check out Brandi's blog at http://brandi-whyne.blogspot.com for a recap of the… action… and what's coming in the next story besides Brandi and several dozen horny Time Bandits.

Brandi hopes to make her blog a place where fans of the series can hang out, find out about upcoming stories, and leave her questions in the comments section. She fancies herself as a sort of "Lonely Hearts" advice columnist I think, so ask her something and see how she responds. ;-)

Excerpts, review blurbs and more about Brandi Whyne: http://www.cynthianna.com/brandi.html

Direct links to the Brandi Whyne series available for the Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002CQY3BM

Here's something different I've written lately—I'm writing sketch comedy and I've seen it produced onstage at a local night club. My husband, fellow erotic romance author A. J. Matthews, and I know Brendan Allen, an up and coming actor. We thought we'd like create some new material for him and his fellow cast members. Our sketch "2011: A Fridge Oddity" was performed this past week by The Non-Prophets Theater group during their "Non-Prophet Militant Propaganda Bingo Machine" sketch night at Lemmon's in St. Louis. We really enjoyed seeing our work performed and thought the cast did a great job. They might even do another sketch we wrote next month.

So just in case you've always wondered where Brandi got her comedic timing… Now you know! ;-)

Both my romantic fiction persons are working together on another science fiction book series along with several other writers. We're still in the preliminary planning stages and we don't want to spill the beans just yet—sorry. Keep it tuned here for updates… particularly if you're a fan of vampires, steampunk, action-adventure and romantic-suspense.

This new blog post has gone on long enough! If you want to see what my other romantic person Cynthianna is up to bookwise, head on over to her "Confessions of a Blonde Writer" blog—now. And be sure you leave a comment here about what all you'd like to see in upcoming blogs.

Brandi Rides Again!

Coming Soon from eXtasy Books and the wickedly wacky mind of Celine Chatillon...

What do you get when Star Wars meets Sherwood Forest? Mix in a little Pirates of the Caribbean, Fanny Hill and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and you get Brandi Whyne… And Her Incredibly Erotic Adventures with Robin Manhood and His Totally Sexed-Out Space Pirates. With a series title that long, you know it's going to be filled with loads of laughs, tons of sci-fi fun and plenty of hot sex!

In Chapter Six, Kidnapped by Time Bandits, Brandi is sucked into an alternate dimension and forced to do a little sucking on some not-so-nice space pirates—including Robin Limpdick, the evil twin of her own lover Robin Manhood. After a good licking, she meets Captain Jacques Swallows and his right hand man Francois who put her to the test. Can Brandi convince the Time Bandits that the crew of the Pulsating Purple Parsnip can do more than just throw a great orgy?


Kidnapped by Time Bandits! is not quite yet available for sale at eXtasy Books, but you can catch up on her first five adventures at the links below:

Captured by Space Pirates!

Lashed at the Mast!

Bound for Adventure

Little John's Big Problem

The Search for Brandi's Crack


More info, excerpts and review blurbs at this link: http://www.cynthianna.com/brandi.html

Here's hoping you'll become a part of Brandi's fan club until then!



Steal this banner--put it up at your blog or web site. Help spread the word about Brandi Whyne's Incredibly Erotic Adventures! ;)