Christa Tomlinson's Blog, page 13

HOT WRESTLER OF THE WEEK: Bobby Roode

Continuing on with our Hot Wrestlers of the Week! This week I'm jumping over to a different promotion, TNA. What's a promotion, you ask? A promotion is a wrestling company. It can also be referred to as a federation.  The different promotions range in size, talent and wrestling styles. Smaller indie promotions can be found across the globe. They often put on shows in places ranging from VFW halls to small arenas. Two of the largest wrestling promotions are World Wrestling Entertainment and New Japan Pro Wrestling. There are also two mid-sized companies, Ring of Honor and TNA. One of the most popular (and good lookin') guys in TNA is Bobby Roode.


STATS
From: Ontario, Canada
Age: 37
Promotion: TNA
Height: 6'0
Weight: 240

If you like the burly, manly, Canadian type, Bobby Roode is for you. When Roode first debuted in TNA he was the enforcer for his group, Team Canada. An enforcer is the guy who you don't want to mess with. He comes in and solves problems by knocking heads, enforcing the superiority of his stable. And with a physique like this, it's obvious why Roode held that role.












Roode has been a key player of TNA Impact Wrestling for going on eleven years. That's the type of longevity that shows a wrestler has a passion for the business. His skill and and passion have paid off with multiple championship titles. He's been one half of several TNA championship tag teams.

Bobby Roode as the "money" in Beer Money Inc. Tag Team Champ with Austin Aries














He's also reached the highest levels as a singles competitor. Roode has earned the TNA World Heavyweight Championship on several different occasions, including one reign that lasted for 256 days.


 

Whether he's sporting a classic diamond encrusted robe or slowly unbuttoning a white dress shirt, Roode has the look of a man who means business.




He says he's got the It Factor, and I definitely agree. Take a peek at a few more of his pics and tell me what you think of Mr. Bobby Roode. Enjoy!


Thanks to creators of pics, gifs, and videos. None of the images used are my own

HOT WRESTLER OF THE WEEK: Roman Reigns

As I write my romance series set in the world of professional wrestling, I will be creating all original characters. But, I still like to look at the real ones for inspiration. I know that some of you know of who these guys are. But some of you are, as my friend Denise puts it, wrestling virgins. So each week, I'll do a hot wrestler of the week profile. That way, everyone can get to know some of these wrestling gods. This week, the 2015 WWE Royal Rumble winner: Roman Reigns.

STATS
From: Florida
Age: 29
Promotion: WWE
Height: 6'3
Weight: 265

Roman is, as the announcers like to say, a power house. As a member of The Shield, the greatest faction ever, (Oops! My bias is showing) he was the muscle that put an emphatic end cap on the beatings his brothers, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, dished out to opponents. He often puts guys down with a Spear, aka a running tackle. This move makes sense for him, since he played football in college.


Roman is also a member of the esteemed Anoa'i family, a powerful Samoan wrestling dynasty. Its members include The Wild Samoans, Yokuzuna, The Usos, Rikishi, and more. In fact, wrestling and Hollywood superstar Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, is Roman's cousin by marriage.

The Rock and Roman Reigns The Rock raising Roman's hand in victory after the Royal Rumble
It's an exciting time for Roman Reigns, as he's chosen to be the next big thing for WWE. He'll have a bit of a struggle, since some of the fans aren't behind him. But that adversity is what builds a wrestler's character and makes their rise interesting to watch.






Roman is definitely gifted athletically.
Ring Apron Drop Kick



Superman Punch










But he's also very pretty! Thanks to his long, luscious locks, he's been given the nickname Samoan Silky. I think you can see why.





Unfortunately he's currently wrestling all covered up. But this is what he looks like when he stops being bashful and shows a little skin.

Well, I think my work this week is done. But before I go, put a bomb shield over your ovaries to keep them from exploding, because I've got a few more pics for ya.


Is this guy a freaking model?!



Getting ready to go out to the ring.Want to see Roman Reigns in action? Check him out every Monday on RAW at 8/7 on USA. Or take a gander at the below clip. Thanks for reading!


Thanks to creators of pics, gifs, and videos. None of the images used are my own.

NEW DESK!

Furniture building. I am not good at it. I get impatient, throw things, and cry when I'm not done in the twenty minutes I think it should take. But my back was suffering at my old desk so I went out on Black Friday and bought a really cool new one. After a few days of looking at the box, as impatient as ever, I was ready to build it on my own. I figured it would take me an hour - max. Of course when I posted the picture of what the completed project was supposed to look like: desk, attached L-piece, hutch, drawers, and doors, I received both chuckles at my naive belief I could build it on my own and offers of help to build it. Thank goodness!

My friends and roller derby league mates, Speed O' and Sam I Slam came over to help me put it together. At this point, I still believed it would only take an hour to build it. Once we were underway however, I realized I was wrong. We got off to a great start. Speed O' organized the pieces alphabetically (I wouldn't have thought to do that) Sam read the directions (I scoff at directions) and it was on. Well, we did hit one snag. After Sam laid out all the little small baggies of screws and whatnot in order, Speed O' picked one up and ripped it open. Pieces flew everywhere! Thank goodness for spare parts, right?


Sam in black and Speed O' in gray. They rightly relegated me to handing them tools and documenting the process.










My dog, Mindy. She's either making sure we're doing it right, guarding me to make sure I'm okay, or plotting evil. You can never tell with her.
My niece, Tan, came in to play foreman.


After FOUR HOURS we were done. I don't know how in the world I thought this massive desk would take an hour to build. We ran into a bit of trouble with the doors. I of course, was the only one who had a good picture of what the finished product would look like. So when Sam and Speed O' went to attach the doors, they assumed they opened outwards like most doors do. Nope! These raised up like DeLorean doors, but I failed to mention that. We got them all the way on and were confused as to why the handles didn't match up before we realized we'd attached them wrong. Minor setback.


So thankful for my friends! They got my desk built without me having to cry or throw anything once. Just one of the awesome examples of my friends and family supporting me in my crazy career path of writing smexy books.
  And now I have this masterpiece to sit at and work the book writing magic. Love it! Thank you Sam and Speed O'! 

HOT WRESTLER OF THE WEEK: Dolph Ziggler

As I write my romance series set in the world of professional wrestling, I will be creating all original characters. But, I still like to look at the real ones for inspiration. I know that some of you know of who these guys are. But some of you are, as my friend Denise puts it, wrestling virgins. So each week, I'll do a hot wrestler of the week profile. That way, everyone can get to know some of these wrestling gods. Next up, the master of the Ziggle Wiggle, Dolph Ziggler

STATS
From: Ohio
Age: 34
Promotion: WWE
Height: 6'0
The Ziggle WiggleWeight: 213












Dolph Ziggler is a great talent. He's been a fan of professional wrestling since he was a kid. In college he did amateur wrestling, setting a goal at his school for most career wins. On Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling Podcast, he tells a hilarious story of how he convinced his wrestling team to come out to music just like they do in WWE.


Today, Ziggler is a baby face, or good guy. He's a top guy but not the top guy. But, he's on his way. Ziggler is definitely a crowd favorite. The internet wrestling community (IWC) is filled with people wanting the WWE to *push Ziggler. And he's worthy of it. He's a small guy in comparison to many of the giants in professional wrestling. (I met him in person once and was surprised at how "small" he is.) But he makes up for his size with charisma, talent out the wazoo, and a willingness to take insane hits.

Great Height on Ziggler's Drop Kick
Taking a Power Bomb Onto a Ladder
And unsurprisingly, Dolph and his Ziggle Wiggle are very popular eye candy. He's got a sculpted jawline, roughened by the perfect amount of stubble, a great physique, and other assets.




                    As it says on his spankies, he likes to show off. So I'm gonna let him do it. Enjoy!



        Dolph as Intercontinental Champion 


 

Want to see Ziggler in action? Check out the below video, or watch him live on Monday Night RAW on USA 8/7 pm.


*A push in wrestling is when a wrestler gets put into top storylines, is chosen to win, and generally made into a star for the promotion.

Thank you to the creators of the pics, gifs, and videos used in this blog post. None of the images used are my own.

HOT WRESTLER OF THE WEEK: Seth Rollins

As I write my romance series set in the world of professional wrestling, I will be creating all original characters. But, I still like to look at the real ones for inspiration. I know that some of you know of who these guys are. But some of you are, as my friend Denise puts it, wrestling virgins. So each week, I'll do a hot wrestler of the week profile. That way, everyone can get to know these wrestling gods. First up, the man we like to call Crossfit Wrestling Jesus, Seth Rollins

STATS
From: Iowa
Age: 28
Promotion: WWE
Height: 6'1
Weight: 217

 

Although Seth is young, he's been doing this for a long time. The two pictures just above are from when he wrestled in the independents as Tyler Black in his early twenties.

He's also rather infamous for a role he did in his youth, Cyber Fights. How do I explain Cyber Fights? Well, it's not porn. But it's a way for pretty young wrestlers to showcase their talents and assets in order to make money. They wrestle in skimpy (skimpier than usual) trunks while getting themselves into suggestive (more suggestive than usual) positions. It goes on the internet, fans pay to watch it and the wrestler gets paid. Everyone is happy. Below, a few gifs from Cyber Fights, courtesy of P.o.J. from tumblr.





 Right now, Seth Rollins is the top heel, or bad guy, in the WWE. The WWE is the biggest wrestling promotion in the world, so he's at the top of the food chain. And his character is a smug little bastard who knows it.


Seth is also amazing in the ring and is an insane fitness nut. We call him Crossfit Jesus because he works out daily in Crossfit gyms across the world, in whatever city the promotion is in that week. And it shows.



Want to see Mr. Rollins in action? The link above will take you to a match featuring Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose. 

And that's hot wrestler of the week #1: Seth Rollins. You can learn more about him on his WWE profile and catch him Monday nights on RAW at 8/7 on USA.  Here's a few more pics of him before you go. Enjoy!






 

Why Wrestling?

As I mentioned last week, my current WIP is set in the world of professional wrestling. But I bet a lot of you are confused as to why I chose this setting. Or, you're curious about it and would like to know more. Well, I'm here to help! As I work on my series, I'll also spend time posting about wrestling so that all of you lovely readers will be well informed by the time the first book in my series comes out. As you read, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about when I say ring rat, go home, or kayfabe. To be clear, I'm not an expert on wrestling. I'm a mark, but not a smark. The only info I have is what's readily available to the public and what I've picked up in my twenty odd years of watching.

Let's start with kayfabe. It basically means to be fake. Yes folks, professional wrestling is scripted. You'll notice I didn't say fake. That's because the wrestlers are athletes and they work hard. They protect each other when they are doing their moves in the ring, but it still hurts when they crash onto the mat, take a chop across the chest or any of the other dozens of moves they do.

Northern Lights SuplexThese men and women have to be skilled in order to make it look like they are killing each other, while at the same time keeping themselves and their opponents safe. Unfortunately, in spite of this, accidents and injuries do happen.

Of course, outcomes of the matches are decided before they ever hit the entrance ramp. But that's okay, because it's a TV show. For example, fans of Law & Order enjoy watching Benson and Stabler (why did he leave SVU?!) chase down sex criminals. You know there's a formula to the show, but you don't know who the bad guy will turn out to be and if he will get jail time. Same with wrestling. There's a formula, but the fans don't know who will win the match.

So yes, kayfabe means to be fake. It's from carny, or carnival, talk. Wrestling as we know it today got it's start in traveling circuses and carnivals. The wrestlers would use their own made up language to keep the locals from knowing what was going on in their matches. Today, most fans over the age of ten are aware of kayfabe, but we suspend our disbelief in order to enjoy the show.

But other than my love of the sport, why did I choose professional wrestling to write about? Well, I think we can all agree that most romance novels feature MCs who are in over the top career fields, yes? Sheiks, billionaires, and firemen, oh my! There are novels that have regular Joes, but most people want to read about characters who are doing something exciting and outside the norm. Professional wrestling definitely fits the bill. They travel the world, take on larger than life personas when they're on screen, and have dangerous jobs. Most of them have tons of charisma and they have very fit bodies that are pretty much all on display. Bless whomever decided that the official wrestler's uniform should be little spankies and boots. 

Swiss Superstar, CesaroAlso, the men and women in the elite wrestling organizations are on the road 5-6 days a week, nearly 50 weeks a year. They spend more time with each other than they do their families. Even those wrestlers who are on the smaller indy circuits become so close that they form their own brotherhood. Combine that closeness with the drama of the industry and it's the perfect setting for a romance.

And last, but certainly not least. Wrestling is so super slashy. Sweaty, mostly naked, oily men rolling around with each other is pretty darn homoerotic. I give you:

Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C
And in order to win, you have to make your opponent submit, by laying on top of him and errr... raising his legs in the air.
I could go on, but I think you get the gist. So! That sums up why I choose professional wrestling for my next erotic romance series. Any questions? Ask me in the comments. Thanks for reading!

Love,
Christa

Ring Rat = Fan, most often female, who hangs around wrestlers with the goal of sleeping with them. Wrestler groupie.
Go Home = Final moves to end a match. Or, final televised show before a big Pay-Per-View event.
Mark = Giant fan of wrestling. Wrestling geek. Me
Smark = Smart Mark. Fans who profess to have all the insider knowledge. Armchair wrestling bookers.

WWE House Show Pictures

I went to a WWE house show this past Saturday. What is a house show you ask? A house show is a non-televised event put on by a wrestling company. These are normally a lot of fun. The wrestlers are more relaxed because they aren't bound by the things that have to be done for the TV show. They interact with the crowd, do silly moves in the ring and just all around have a good time. The crowds are also smaller, so you normally get to sit closer and it feels much more intimate. I enjoy going to them. I had a great time at this Saturday's show. My favorite part was a small silly thing. Referee Charles Robinson (you'll see a pic of him below) was counting out someone who'd been knocked out of the ring. In professional wrestling, you have until 10 to get back in or you'll be disqualified. And as he counted, he looked to this little kid to make sure he was staying on track. He didn't move on to the next number until the kid held up the next finger. It was adorable. I let him know I thought it was cute on Twitter, and he was kind enough to respond.  (I may have fangirled for a moment that he tweeted me.)

Here are some of my pics from the show.

From left to right, Cameron, Sasha Banks, and Summer Rae. They're yelling at super fan, WWE Sign Guy.





Naomi, Emma, and Alicia Fox going for a triple baseball slide right onto their opponents. Cesaro. He's cheering for himself after doing something dastardly. Cesaro, with a sleeper hold on Jack Swagger

I'm the cheapo who sneaks Crunch 'N Munch into the arena. Habits learned from my parents stick with me!
Darren Young. He's an Out and Proud gay wrestler. He's also just returning from ACL surgery. I admire the hell out of him!
Tyson Kidd. He's a bad guy, but he's amazing to watch in the ring. He returned last year from a severe knee injury. Here's Kidd putting Sin Cara in the Sharp Shooter.

I got to take a pic with referee Charles Robinson! He's a crowd favorite for his groovy hair and hilarious reactions in the ring.
Roman Reigns! He's a current fan favorite. Roman after his signature ring apron drop kick.
He did take a beating from the Bulgarian Brute, Rusev.
But somehow managed to look cool even when 'on the ropes'. Twin brothers, Jimmy & Jey Uso making fun of The Miz. But not his stunt double, Mizdow. They liked him.

Wrestling: Entertainment and Inspiration

Wrestling. I'm a big fan. But not of the collegiate / Olympic style. I mean professional wrestling. I've been a fan since I was a kid. My dad was in to it, and every Sunday morning my little brother and I would have our pancakes then sit on the floor to watch with him. In fact, some of my earliest memories are of attending wrestling matches.

The big shows were held at what used to be The Kiel. It was a great building. There was this long, smooth, circular ramp that lead up to the nosebleeds where we always sat. I remember sitting there in that smoky arena, watching Junk Yard Dog, Ric Flair, and the Von Erichs destroy each other in the ring. It was always a great night, but the only reason I was able to stay up for it is because my step mom would make me take a nap that I always swore I didn't need.

At one show, Bruiser Brody was in the ring, stomping around like a mad man. I leaned over to my Dad and went, "I think he's sexy." I couldn't have been more than six or seven so I don't even know how I knew that word. My dad just laughed and said, "What do you know about sexy?" I didn't have an answer of course. But that was clearly a bit of foreshadowing for the future grown up fan within me.
Bruiser Brody. The perfect man for a seven year old to think is sexy, right?
I wish I had pictures of me and my Dad at one of those long ago wrestling shows. I don't unfortunately, but I'll always have those memories in my head. And at least I have these pictures of us:
This is me and my wacky family going to a WCW show, probably around 1998-1999.






And this is me and my Dad at the WWE Royal Rumble in 2012.








Dean Ambrose. Maybe he is a bit skinny.We still continue to go to shows. I think it's nice that we have it as a common interest. We even have some of the same favorites. My current fave is Dean Ambrose, or as my Dad says, "Oh, that skinny boy? I like him." If it were anyone else I'd pinch him until he took it back, Dean is a perfect male specimen after all. But it's my Dad so he gets a pass.

When I watched as a kid, I loved wrestling for the over the top characters, the story lines, and the wow moves in the ring. As an adult, I enjoy those same things. But now I appreciate the moves they do a lot more. Not only because wrestling has changed and become much faster and more athletic, but because I know they are putting their bodies, careers, and lives on the line in order to perform.

Speaking of bodies, *cough* these guys look good. It does irritate me when guys say women only watch for the hot guys in tiny trunks but, there's hot guys in tiny trunks!  And they're all shiny. Like new pennies.
Randy Orton. Bronzed god, shiny penny, professional wrestler.So when you take my life long love of the sport, the hot guys, gorgeous women, and over the top drama, you'll see it was only natural for me to start a series about the wrestling world. It's something I've wanted to write for awhile. And now that I have other things taken care of, I'm pushing forward with it. I'm excited and I hope you'll follow along as I share fun and sexy facts about wrestling (it's so slashy!) and chronicle my journey to book completion. It'll be fun. There will also be tears. Prepare to console me on tough writing days with chocolate.

Thanks for reading!

Love,
Christa

NaNoWriMo Eve

It's NaNoWriMo Eve. I'm not putting any cookies on the mantle, but I am looking over the low star reviews for The Sergeant and Bad Boys Need Too. Why am I reading them? Isn't it awful to read reviews and see the bad things people say about my story? I'll be honest. Reading the negative reviews stings. But it's like getting a shot. It only hurts for a moment and afterwards, I'll be better for it.

So how will I be better for having read negative reviews about my boys? Because I'm using it as a learning experience. Listening to my audience is the best way to figure out what I can do to improve my writing. The main two complaints for The Sergeant especially and BBNLT on a smaller scale are that they are too long and have too many sex scenes. Alright, guys you've got me! That is 100% true. Like most authors I have lots of ideas and scenes in my head for my stories. And they all seem so lovely, I don't want to lose any of them. So I had to learn the hard way - through tough reviews - that readers enjoy a long journey, just not one that makes unnecessary pit stops.

Participating in National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, will help me with that problem. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. If I'm held to that number, I won't be able to create another epically long masterpiece. (I know they're not really masterpieces. But in my head they are. Gotta have that confidence to be able to share my scribblings with the world). So as I work on my outline for Ortega's Pet, I keep reminding myself to keep it right and tight. If I dream up a scenario, great. But I'll be ruthless in deciding if it's necessary to write into the story. And even then, I'll still have to "trim the fat" and remove some of what makes it onto the computer screen.



On to the next complaint. Too much sex! Are sex scenes necessary to the story? Well, considering I write erotic romance, hell yes. But! Do I have to have so many? This one is difficult for me. I did a previous post where I discussed how I try to use my sex scenes to further the plot and to build the characters' relationship. I will continue to do this of course. I'll just have to do less of it. (Boooo!) I suppose if I'm planning a shorter story over-all, it won't be as hard to cut back on all the sexy good times as I think. And since there will be less of them, I'll just have to make sure they're even more deep and intense than usual. So that's a win for you, the reader. *insert cheesy wink*

I look forward to seeing how I come out this go round. I've got my red pens ready. Maybe I should also get a few boxes of Kleenex. I know I'll have copious tears to shed as I cut words out of my manuscript. 

Are you entering the madness that is NaNoWriMo? What are you doing to prepare? 

Here's a few links to visit that cover trimming the fat from your manuscript:
http://www.writingcorner.com/resource...
http://www.novelrocket.com/2014/07/tr...
http://www.rachellegardner.com/how-to...

The ARCs Are Coming!

Today I'm going to be offering Advanced Review Copies of my upcoming release, Bad Boys Need Love Too, to readers. And I'm terrified. Why? Well, of course there's the usual, "What if my book is horrible and no one likes it and they all laugh and WHY did I ever think I could be a writer?!" fear. But now I have another fear. Pirates. No, not the scurvy, swashbuckling kind. I'm too far inland to worry about them.

I'm talking about internet pirates. People who steal others work and put it out there on the interwebz to be enjoyed for free. I hate this. Not because I'm stingy and don't like to share. But because I work my brain hard to come up with my stories and I go through the expense and trouble of having them made into books. So having them stolen and given away for free not only hurts my feelings, it hurts my pocket book too.

As a new writer, there isn't that much to steal from me and put online. But the two books I have are out there. In fact, I woke up this morning to a Google Alert that found The Sergeant on a torrent site. Lovely. Now I have to send take down notices.

So yeah, it worries me that I'm about to give out a few copies. Especially after the huge book sharing scandal that Tymber Dalton broke a couple of weeks ago. Hell, it worries me that the book will be for sale in a few weeks. But if I don't put it out there, no one will read it and I won't get any money from it. Which leaves me no choice. It's a terrible thing all creative people have to deal with. As long as there have been inventors and artists, there have been thieves. It's so much more wide spread and easy to do now a days, but the practice isn't new.

Hell, I was a thief.  When I was promoting The Sergeant this spring, I used all kinds of pretty pictures that I found on line. And they didn't belong to me. Shame! I was stealing from photographers! Once I had my duh! moment and realized what I'd done, I stopped using them. And this time for official BBNLT promos, I'm only using pictures I've purchased or that are free domain.

Some people see the piracy as just another form of promotion. I think that's utter nonsense. I just can't imagine that the amount of piracy that goes on brings anyone enough resulting sales to make up for it. Of course, I don't have any data to back this up, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

In the end, all I can do is create what I want to create and share what I choose to share. I feel strongly that the number of good people out there who come by my work honestly, outweighs the meanies who like to steal. Besides, I don't have any choice but to write. It's in my skin. Literally.


Oh, and PS. It's Teaser Tuesday. Take a look at sneak peek from Bad Boys Need Love Too

Thanks for reading.
Love,
Christa