Cate Ellink's Blog, page 70

Sunday Story - Detained

WISHES: I announced the winner on Friday for the Three Wishes blog, so scroll down to see if you won!


Through the week I read Detained, Ainslie Paton's latest release with Escape Publishing. I loved it! I love everything she writes. This is no different. A cracker story. Huge. Full of twists and turns. Real. Addictive. Fantastic.

Ainslie and I email regularly - usually trying to understand something relating to writing, publishing, marketing, some aspect of the industry. The other day the emails were about Detained. I'd sent one in the wee small hours to congratulate her on her book. She sent one many hours later saying, 'in the cold light of day, why did you like it?'

This is a great question. And good that I'd been able to sleep before answering it because I think the story percolated inside me more while I slept.

My short answer was TENSION. The book is full of tension. Not sexual tension, although there is some of that, but tension caused by not being able to pick where the story is going.

I won't ruin the story by saying too much. But it's romance, so you know the end will be happy. But when you start and you meet the hero and heroine, you just know that they're doomed. Their situation is such that it will never work. My gut was churning. No matter how good they were together, how much fun they had, how well suited they were, they were doomed.

I was compelled to keep reading because I couldn't work out how they'd work this out. How could they get beyond all the problems? How could they ever get a happy ending?

That's tension. That's what keeps me turning the pages even when my eyelids are drooping. That's what lets me plough through her story in 2 nights when any sensible person would take a week or more. That's what I love about books. That's what I'd love to write.

So... if you like tension... if you like to be taken on a sweeping story where the twists and turns have you biting your nails or staying up all night, then read Detained! You'll love it :)

WINNER: Songs to Wish by

Thank you to the people who left comments on the Three Wishes Blog, and especially to those who shared their wishing songs.

The winner of an e-copy of The Virginity Mission and a hunky magnet is...

SAMSTILLREADING Congratulations!

If you can send me an email to cate@cateellink.com I'll organise your prizes.

And for everyone else,

Lily, Laurie, SE Gilchrist, MJ, Amanda and Iris
because you left me a comment I'm going to give you a prize too. Please send me an email (cate@cateellink.com) with your mailing address and I'll send you a hunky magnet (that looks much like the cover on the right) too. And you can own more than one hunky magnet, Lily and Amanda! :)

Thanks very much for participating!

Cate xox

Phallic Friday - Doms

I just finished a book that had been highly recommended by many people as a book with fantastic BDSM scenes. And you know, I was disappointed.

It had lots of BDSM scenes in it... but they were all 'soft'.

By 'soft', I mean sweet, gentle, kind.

The Dom was so caring, so sweet, so kind... I didn't believe him. I didn't believe her reactions to him, or to the scening.

I guess the author was showing that trust had to be earned through love, even for the smallest things. But it didn't work for me.

And I know I'm weird. I know that most people love this sweetness in a man because my heroes are often 'unsympathetic', 'unlikeable' and I am asked to soften them or tone them down (especially their speech).

But you know, as I read this last night and felt my disappointment and disbelief grow, I wondered if there are other people out there like me, who want a man to be ... harder, tougher, more severe?

Now, in real life, I want something different... but in my BDSM fantasies, I want a bad bad boy who doesn't sit and hug me, stroking my hair and pressing kisses to my head. I want a man who fucks me senseless, then lets me get over it. One who pushes the pain barrier and makes me deal with that. One who doesn't apologise when he's short, or snappy, or rough. One who makes me a stronger person.

I don't want abuse. I don't want a prick. I don't want someone who's rude or ignorant or abrupt or horrid.

I just want a man who is a man and doesn't soften to pander to my emotion.

Do you like the hand holding, hugging Dom? Or are you voting for the tougher man? (And feel free to call me weird... I can handle it!)

Wildlife Wednesday - Pacific Gull

 For the next few months, I'll be sharing wildlife from my Western Australian travels.

First up today is a Pacific Gull. These guys are about twice the size of a regular seagull and have such poise and a debonair nature.

We were sitting at Geraldton beach eating fish and chips, and at the end I saved some chips for the seagulls (the regular one who had sat eyeing me off while I ate!). Then along came Mr Pacific Gull. I was excited. I'd only ever seen them in a book and he was so magnificent. So I lured him with a chip, took a few snaps, then fed him.

Mr E is looking dubiously at me. "It's a Pacific Gull," I say, quite breathless and in awe. He scoffs. "It can't be, we're on the Indian Ocean."

And it threw me. Damn it. I thought I knew this bird. I thought I'd seen a bird I've been waiting to see. And now I was wrong. I had some other bird mistaken for the magnificent Pacific Gull. Shattered, we left. And I wanted my Pizzey (a bird book I have right in the lounge room ready to look up whenever I see a new bird) but in a campervan, after flying across the country, you don;t have your bird book (but when we get our own campervan, I'm having a bookshelf for bird, plant and animal ID books!).

When we got home, I opened up Pizzey and to my complete relief, the bird was a Pacific Gull, even if he was wading in the Indian Ocean. Pacific Gulls are found in WA.

Songs to Wish by - Three Wishes Blog Post

Today I’m participating in the Three Wishes Blog Blitz, hosted by author Juliet Madison! From 2nd to 6th September you’ll have the chance to win some awesome prizes at all the blogs participating in the blitz, including mine. All you have to do is follow my instructions below for winning the prize I have on offer, and then you can click over to Juliet’s blog to enter her prize draw, and see the list of all other blogs taking part and enter their giveaways as well. How cool is that? Why is it called the Three Wishes Blog Blitz? Juliet’s new  romantic comedy release, I Dream of Johnny, is about three wishes, a high-tech genie in a lamp, and one very unfortunate typo that proves magic isn’t all it cracked up to be…
Rather than share three wishes, I thought I'd share three songs that have "Wish" in the title, and what they mean to me.

Pink Floyd sang " Wish You Were Here " in 1975. I'm sure I didn't understand it then, but now when I hear that song I think about all the people I've loved who aren't here with me right now. It has a haunting guitar riff and a melody that sticks in my head. And the way he sings, "So... so you think you can tell..." is so heart-wrenching.

In 1988, Terence Trent D'Arby sang " Wishing Well ". This is a totally different song, really upbeat, and I don't know why I like it, but he had such a sexy voice (although, listening to it now, I'm not so sure!).

And in 1992, Sophie B Hawkins sang, " Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover ". This song really hit a chord with me. I'd moved out of home, had an imagination that was really active, and a string of infatuations I did nothing about...but damn, I wished I was their lover! :)

So, do you have any songs that inspired you to Wish? And if not, do you have a favourite song?


Giveaway
I'm giving away a copy of "The Virginity Mission" where Mac wishes she could lose her virginity to the very sexy Jason. All you have to do is leave me a comment on this post. I'll pick one random winner for an ebook prize and a hot magnet for your fridge.

Contest closes 12 noon, Friday 6th September (Sydney time). I'll announce the winner here on my blog.



Once you’ve entered my giveaway, visit Juliet’s blog & enter her giveaway too. Then visit any or all of the other participating blogs to enter more prize draws (I think there are 45!). You could potentially win a whole heap of prizes! Good luck! Visit the official Blog Blitz post here: http://julietmadison.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/3-wishes-blog-blitz-official-post/

Sunday Story - The Inevitability of Stars

Firstly - Happy Father's Day, especially to my Dad! If you aren't in Australia, today is Father's Day and I'm off to visit my Dad, armed with chocolate and books (for Dad, not me, but see where I get it from!).

Okay, so to Sunday Story. This was in my RWAus Conference goodie bag as a freebie from Harlequin MIRA. But I'd heard something about it - or seen the cover, or something - and so I was pleased to find it in my goodies. And of course it jumped up the TBR pile, which has no order to it at all. I just grab whatever takes my fancy at the time I'm picking.

The writing in this book intrigued me - it's beautiful. But at the start, I wasn't into the story, or the people. It seemed weird, sad and I was wondering if I should keep going or not...

And then something happened and I loved the story, the writing, the characters and the book.

Rip and Sahara grow up in Byron Bay, inseparable. Then Sahara needs to 'find herself' and moves to Sydney, leaving Rip broken.

This is the story of how they each heal.

Sahara's journey is through the pits of hell - drugs and self loathing.

Rip's journey is more mystical.

The story has a lot of mystique, "hippie stuff" as some would say, but it also has some amazing life 'truths'. Like these:

"It's no one else's business what another soul chooses, and we don;t know the workings of each other's journey anyway."

"'Don't lose focus and don't get distracted...' [another character says] 'I say lose focus and wander off the path. ... deviating away from that leads to self-discovery.'"

"You ask, you get more asking. ... You must see what you want happening."

"Sometimes in life you can only tell the truth. And I am learning that life will always present you with that opportunity, no matter how far gone you think you are."

"Because that is life. Letting go of it all in each moment, in each day, dying to the past and being birthed into a new reality in each breath we take. Nothing is static. It is all fleeting and transient, like the beauty of falling snow that exists only for a moment before it melts."



I've been writing a story about Past Lives for a couple of years - dabbling a bit but never getting it 'right'. Lately so many things are pointing at me to make me finish that story. I think I have to do it. I just have to finish my diving one first, then fix up the mo-ro, then death, then past lives. Simple, huh!? Why do so many stories flitter in my head!?

Have you read this book? How are you with mystique or past lives or "hippie stuff"?

Phallic Friday - the Pinnacles

I'm stretching a little here... but on my recent holiday, I went to The Pinnacles in Western Australia (a couple of hours north of Perth). Being a soils girl, I've always been intrigued by this place and wanted to go. And I had an idea of what it may look like...and I was so very wrong!

It's an exquisitely beautiful place, just off the road, tucked into some small hills. There was a mystical kind of feel there, like I was visiting somewhere special - but that may have just been me! And the colour was amazing.

I found some Phallic looking Pinnacles...but now I go to write my post, they don't look quite so phallic anymore! But I was thinking of Phallic Fridays as I took these photos.

So here are the Phallic Pinnacles for your entertainment.


This is the first one I saw - pretty impressive!
And this one just screamed Phallic at me

Then Mr E took a pic of me at the Phallic Gates (not that he knew what I was calling them!) And the beautiful view with the ocean in the background The ground had tiny pinnacles, along with the large ones, here

Wildlife Wednesday - Shag

The Shag, or the Little Pied Cormorant, is a bird I've recognised for many years. My grandfather had a distinct dislike for the birds when he was fishing. He was convinced they went hunting for his bait, or his fish, and would take off with his fishing line (or maybe he made that up for my entertainment!). So a Shag duck-diving into the water always makes me think of Da.

The Little Pied Cormorant is black above and white below. They hang their wings out like this to dry, because their wing feathers are not waterproof. You often see them basking on rocks in this pose, and usually in groups, not singly. There were a bunch of cormorants on the sand here (in the river at low tide - when I extended my backyard again!) I just zoomed in on this one by himself.

Oh, look what I found in my web searching:
The diet of the Pied Cormorant consists mostly of fish. When foraging, the cormorant swims low on the water, and when it spies a fish, it quickly plunges below the water’s surface. When it pursues the fish, it swims by propelling itself with its large, webbed feet and steering with half-opened wings. Fish may be eaten below the water or when the cormorant returns to the surface. Unfortunately, cormorants sometimes also feed by stealing the fish that have been caught in fishermen’s nets. Taken from here. Maybe Da wasn't making up stories for me!

Little Pied Cormorants breed either in colonies or, less commonly, in single pairs. The nest is a flat platform of sticks, lined with green leaves and is usually placed in a tree. Both adults share in egg incubation and care of the young.

Sunday Story

Oh, how did Sunday come around so quickly?
I returned home from conference with a pile of books - many freebies, a couple I bought.
The exciting one for me was Bronwyn Parry's Darkening Skies, because it was out early just for conference. Ooooohhh, love getting a sneak peek. I bought it at the conference bookshop. It's the fourth book set in Dungirri...and it may be my favourite (but it's so hard to pick!). Anyway, it was a cracker read.
Then I had Annie West's Imprisoned By A Vow in my conference goodie bag. I wanted a quick read so picked it up. Silly silly me. I thought I'd be able to read a bit and put it down...but alas, Annie West held me captive with my pain for Leila and my concern that she end up okay. Another great read.
I think that's all I've managed since conference. On my holiday I took an iPad full of books, plus 3 print books. Do you know how much I read? Zero! My idea of a holiday is not zero reading - but somehow that's what I did. Guess lots of driving, sightseeing and snorkelling aren't conducive to reading. And you can guess that there was absolutely no writing either.
I'll try to do a holiday blog...just have to get my hundreds of photos sorted. I do have some great wildlife pictures for Wednesdays :) 

Phallic Friday - vagina backlash

I'm just back from 2 weeks of holidays and the RWA conference and I was struggling to think of what to write for this post (actually, I'm struggling to string 2 words together!).

Then I went to the news website and there's a ready made kerfuffle happening - a Sydney University student newspaper went and put 18 vaginas on their front cover! Needless to say it was confiscated, but it has started a big social media discussion.

Here's the news article I read, which gives an account of one of the girls who participated. I think she deserves a medal for coming out in public in this discussion and I hope she doesn't regret it in the future, especially with her name and photo publicised, meaning she has no anonymity.

I know genitalia on a cover is confronting. And I think whether it was vaginas or cocks, the same reaction would have occurred.

But sometimes, to get people to take notice of things, we need to do something outlandish to be noticed. I read some horrifying statistics a while back about the number of women who elect to have cosmetic surgery on their vagina so it is 'perfect' and that is terrifying to me. Cosmetic surgery on any body part concerns me, but on a body part that the majority of people would never see, why on earth do you need it 'perfect'? What's wrong with living with what you have?

I don't live with a perfect body - far from it. I have rosaceae, severe cystic acne, and something called Hidradenitis suppurativa.  I do feel pressure to change - and even to spend large amounts of money to change - but I live with what I got, largely because (1) mostly what I have is unchangeable, (2) I don't have large amounts of money, (3) I spent years trying to change and ended up undervaluing myself because of this constant pressure to change something that is unchangeable, and (4) sometimes you just have to suck it up and do the best with what you have (that was the conclusion I came to after years of trying everything known to man). Plus I firmly believe you have to look past the outside to see good in people - and if I can't do that in myself, then what hope do I have of doing that with others?

Although putting vaginas on the front cover is confronting, I believe we need confronting to change the focus of society, from the 'perfect' outside, to loving what's inside... but maybe I'm a bit biased :)

How do you feel?