Nora Snowdon's Blog, page 4

Meet the Cows of Steveston – Tiffany

Tiffany is a pearl amongst swine–I mean bovine. The ethereal, artistic type, Tiffany is often seen dancing alongside her plodding peers. Her dream is to one day join Idaho’s famous dance company, Cows Across America. Meanwhile, she practices daily and continues to spread joy in her small Steveston community.

more mini reviews

Still going through the books I read last week to see which ones you should read.  Isn’t it nice of me to cull through them to save you time and effort?

side note–in my first set of reviews, I slammed an unnamed Harlequin Presents book.  I don’t mean to imply all of this Mills & Boon line are bad, just that that particular book was outstanding.

onward:

10) This Heart of Mine by Brenda Novak  Amazon

genre Women’s Fiction/Romantic Tear Jerker

After serving 17 years in prison for a murder she didn’t commit, gutsy outcast braves the small town’s hatred as she tries to forge a bond with the son she left behind with her ex-boyfriend.  She also must repress her love for her ex to maintain her fragile existence.

verdict Sniff. I’m still recovering emotionally from this book. It grabbed me from start to finish. My only complaint was the heroine was just a little too good to be true.  Still, you should buy it.

11) On A Night Like This by Barbara Freethy  Amazon

genre Firefighter/Nerdy Girl Next Door

Sara is home from N.Y. to try to connect with her cold, mentally abusive father.  Aiden returns to deal with his guilt about  the work related accident that claimed his best friend. They both try to repress their simmering lust for each other. (guess how well that works...)

verdict  Fabulous, steamy and gripping!  I might actually buy another of Barbara Freethy’s books, I enjoyed this one so much.  And that’s saying a lot.  As an author I get so many free books, I rarely seek them out. But well, you know the feeling when a book hangs onto you even after you’ve finished it and are trying to move on?  Sigh. Buy it now.

and a bonus book because I kept reading after my computer came back…

12) Busted by Shiloh Walker  Amazon

genre Romance

Reclusive author, Trey Barnes, falls in lust with the librarian  running the children’s program. The lust is reciprocated, but due to circumstances–they’re both single-handedly raising 5 year olds and have tragic pasts–they dance around each other (and do steamier things) but won’t commit.  There is some mystery with Trey’s twin brother, Travis, but that appears to be set up for a different novel and really only serves to muddy the plot of this one.

verdict  Good sex scenes but I got a little tired of the dithering as the heroine spent what seemed like a third of the book worrying about how to tell him her terrible secret.  Recommended if you just want a sexy read.

 

 

 

 

My Reading List (part two)

Whilst awaiting the return of my wounded computer, I binge read many of the books piled up beside my bookshelf. (yes, my bookshelf overfloweth and I’m trying to cull.)  Here are snap reviews of some more of the books I sped through.

5) Alejandro’s Sorceress by Alyssa Day  Amazon

genre Humorous Paranormal Romance Novella

A paranormal cop and a witch join forces (and lust after each other) in a battle against a garden creature that turns people and animals to stone.

verdict  Snappy and fun writing style that makes me want to rush out and buy other works by this author.  Unfortunately in this story she forgot to include much of a plot. The cop’s partner is turned to stone, but that doesn’t seem to be much of a concern for anyone.  Meanwhile, an army of wacky extras run in and out of the story solely for comic effect.  definitely try another work by this author.

6) Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley  Amazon

genre  Women’s Fiction with Romance and Mystery

Actress travels to Italy to star in a play written for the actress she was named after.  A couple of the staff at the mansion/theatre they are staying at go missing. Some mystery evolves, along with a bit of discreet smut, and then all is solved.

verdict Lush descriptions and fantastic attention to details, but the pace dragged for the first half of the book and the eventual denouement was anticlimactic.  But great descriptions and characters.  It was also interesting to see backstage of a theatrical production.   try something else by this author.

7) Someone Like Her by Sandra Olsen  Amazon

genre  Navy Seal Romance

Navy Seal lusts after a co-worker’s sister but due to his slutty reputation and inability to commit to one woman, is determined not to have her.  She’s got issues of her own, but once they are thrown together trying to thwart her would-be assailant, all bets are off.

verdict Exciting and sexy read. recommend

8) This Thing Called Love by Miranda Liasson  Amazon

genre Contemporary Romance with Baby

Successful and driven big city editor returns to her small hometown after inheriting dead sister’s 4 week old baby.  She is torn between career, sexy ex-boyfriend she had left behind years ago, and baby guilt.  (no one in town seems to be actually mourning the dead parents much. then again, how much grief do you want in a romance?)

verdict  Easy to read and easy to forget. a tepid recommendation

9) When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn  Amazon

genre Historical Lite

Michael Sterling, the Earl of Sterling, has hidden his unrequited love for Francesca, the wife of his cousin, for years.  But now that she is widowed, will their passion win out over their sense of propriety?

Well of course it will.  This wouldn’t be much of a romance if passion didn’t win, but Julia Quinn writes a delightful and steamy story of how these two charming lovebirds get together despite themselves.

verdict Sexy, fluffy fun without too much of those pesky historical details to drag the pace down.  recommend

and more book reviewlets to come.  stay tuned…

puppet smut redux

I don't usually re-read books or see movies or plays a second  time, but last night I went to see the remount (tee-hee) of Avenue Q.  It was great, again. so I decided to also revisit my blog about seeing Avenue Q.  Here it is:  (easiest blog, evah!!!)

The New Pornography?

As always I’m trying to find more ways to make money from my writing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled to be a published novelist, but I’ve found that regardless of the amount of dough I rake in, there always seems to be more money going out.

Well recently I’ve found a niche market. Puppet Porn. Turns out there is an audience for the depraved antics of little cloth creatures with people’s hands stuck up their butts. Who knew? (well maybe the hands up their butts might’ve been my first clue, but I missed it.)

Let me start at the beginning. I went to see a fun musical called Avenue Q at the Arts Club Theatre on Granville Island. (held over for another week)  This show is an adult version of Sesame Street complete with learning moments—Everybody is a Little Bit Racist, The Internet is for Porn—and more importantly, puppets having sex. And holy cow, they were going at it!

You might think, given their limited parts, the aforementioned hands, and perhaps even their previous lack of propensity for sex, that puppet sex would be tame, if not non-existent. (although that would beg the question as to where new puppets come from…)  Apparently these puppets—a monster puppet and a recent university graduate puppet—can go at it for quite a while in a variety of positions without straining themselves or even needing protection. What a bonus for a smut writer!

(hey, wait a second— interspecies breeding? Does that mean I can shift my puppet smut into the werewolf and shifter genre lit as well? Can you have vampire puppets given that they don’t have blood? Now I’m getting confused.)

Anyway, the point is, the audience watching the fuzzy sexual antics (to the song of You Can Make As Much Noise As You Want To, When You’re Making Love) really seemed to enjoy the voyeuristic spectacle. As did the puppets—so don’t go sending me no, Against Puppet Exploitation Petitions to sign. And I realized that there is really not a lot of other puppet lewdity out there for general consumption.

Now all I need to do is figure out a great plot to throw all this puppet fornication into, and I’ll be laughing all the way to the bank. So keep your eyes peeled here for new updates as to when my new writing endeavours will be available. And if you see me with my hand up… well, you’ll know why.

My Sexy Saturday

 
My Sexy Saturday is a blog hop where authors give sexy excerpts of seven words, seven sentences, or seven paragraphs from one of their books. After my seven paragraphs, please click on the link to take you to the other author's scrumptious snippets.
So for this week’s theme of a Sexy First, I present to you Lu's first kiss from my Crimson Romance novel, Arsonists Anonymous.  (She may or may not be kissing the hero...) 

Arsonists Anonymous
   “You alright?” The concern in his voice was her undoing. The most Lu could do was nod her head. But the tears she‘d been holding back came coursing down her face. She hoped he wouldn‘t see them in the darkness.      
   “Hey.” He pulled her in toward him with her face tucked into his chest. “You‘re allowed to feel.” His hand stroking her back only made the fucking tears flow more.
    Shit. Now her nose was running. Lu shook her head and pulled away. “I … n-need a Kleenex.” She felt her pocket before remembering she‘d used them all earlier.
    “Here.” He handed her a small package.
    Lu dove into it, trying to catch her runny nose before it was too gross. Then the memory of the screams flooded back into her senses. God, here she was vainly concerned about a little snot. Her shoulders shook as she tried to hold back the sobs.   
    Again Reynolds hugged her and this time she let him. She felt so safe in his arms, his hands in her hair, his voice murmuring soft encouragement. She tucked herself in tighter to his chest and let his strength and warmth infuse her. He seemed endlessly patient as her wracking sobs dwindled into gulping hiccups. Her hand crept up his chest, feeling his muscles ripple against her fingers.
    She looked up at him to apologize, but the look in his eyes froze her. She shouldn‘t, but—Lu closed her eyes as his lips brushed against her own. With a moan she pulled his head closer and opened her lips against his. He answered with the same hunger, his tongue sliding in to explore her mouth. His hands became more urgent too, molding her to his body. The frustration, pain and fear all bundled into a massive need she felt pooling between her legs. She let out a small groan as he shifted to nuzzle her neck, his light stubble scratching her sensitive skin. His breath in her ear while he nibbled her earlobe sent chills of excitement down her spine.


Arsonists Anonymous is available at Amazon and other fine e-tailers.
Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment and then be sure to click here to read other authors' My Sexy Saturday excerpts!

Art and Beer?

This is one of my favourite pics (acrylic) that my mom picked up at an art exhibit in 1994 by James W. Cummins, aka I. Braineater of Vancouver's punk rock scene. My mother was not too thrilled when people asked her if it was a portrait of her, but there is an odd likeness. 
Jim Cummins is still very active in both art and music, and apparently he has also recently added beer to his portfolio. Check out the I.Braineater Pumpkin Ale just in time for Halloween.
Cheers!  

writing smut 101

When writing your fabulous, soon to be best-selling novel, there are many things you need to keep in mind. Having a plot, for example, is often a good start. Intriguing characters, good pacing, too much sex, and lots of things blowing up are also recommended. But what many writing books fail to mention is the one novelists' tool that helps pull all these aspects together and make the whole endeavour more enjoyable.
   Wine.
   Wine is the smut enabler extraordinaire. Things you couldn't write sober will, under the influence, pour from your fingertips faster even than your computer can transcribe them. (or that's how it looks the next day when you eye all the bloody typos.) And the grapes of purple prose are even more essential for those of us repressed Canadians, eh?
   Unfortunately wine is often expensive once you get past the Baby Duck palate stage of youth. (those of you who don't get this reference, count your blessings.) So what is a starving (and thirsty) writer to do? Well lucky you came here for advice. Make your own wine. And by that I mean go to a you-brew store where they'll walk you through all the steps and store your fermenting inspiration until it's ready to do its job. A quick bottling expedition, pictured here, and you're ready to pump out that erotica like it ain't nobody's business.

   A little Melange a Trois from France, or perhaps some Four Skin Merlot and your mind will be happily ensconced in the gutter and ready to play. For those writing less steamy, baby boomer romance, perhaps a little Red Zeppelin or Three Dog White wine. At about the same cost as fancy-dancy lattes, who can afford not to be WUI? (writing under influence) 
    So cheers, my friends. And just remember my motto, Write wine, write more... or something like that. Hmm, let me open another bottle and see if I can come up with something better.

(thanks to Richmond Wine Boutique for letting me photograph mid bottling today.)

A New Leaf! Maybe...

A friend recently returned from a big writers' conference with the news that, if you want to be a best selling author, you must blog regularly and often.  In her words, once every three or four weeks doesn't cut it.  Damn.
  This may surprise you, but I often have difficulties thinking up blog topics. (And then actually writing them stalls me even more)  But the good news, she says, is you don't need to write long thoughtful blogs, just throw something up there every day. This will put you on Google's algorithm and more people will accidently stumble upon your site.
   Now, aside from the fact that algorithm has become one of my least favorite words in the world, it also seems counter-intuitive as a writer to be throwing filler crap out there to get attention.  Then when people do stumble onto your site, they'll mostly just think, 'what a bunch of drivel!' and never return. 
   But who am I to argue with unknown conference experts? So here is a photo of a painting I have by Melesio Mendoz. He is/was a student at The Art Student's League in New York. (the picture is about 4 feet X 5 feet and looks even better in real life, but for those of you who can't visit me to actually see it, this photo will have to suffice.)

Crime And Punishment

A recently paroled, dangerous, sex offender just brutally murdered a teenage girl in Vancouver. Apparently the judge, parole officers, cops and everyone else who’d come in contact with the man were fairly certain he would re-offend and yet this man was released into the public without 24 hour monitoring. The question seemed to be not, would he offend again, but when would he offend again? Well, now we have the answer. And cases like this with seemingly incurable sociopaths makes people start wishing for a return to the death penalty.

As much as this senseless death horrifies me, I remain against capital punishment for a couple of reasons.

Killing another person, even by proxy, is murder. I don’t wish to be a murderer no matter how convenient it might be to simply dispose of the warped and sick people who commit heinous crimes.

It has been proven that capital punishment is not a deterrent to others as these are sick individuals who either don’t understand the consequences of their actions or just believe they won’t get caught. Aha, you say, but if we kill a murderer, then that particular murderer cannot murder again. True. But If we had capital punishment then along with these murderers, we also would’ve killed wrongly convicted men such as Donald Marshall ,   David Milgaard    and Stephen Truscott  amongst others.

So do I believe we should let evil murderers, paedophiles and rapists roam the street after having been convicted and then serving time for their crimes? No. I believe a life sentence should be just that. If you commit an atrocious act against another person, you should lose your freedom for your entire life.

But this brings up another point. Our government spends far more money on locking up criminals than on housing and helping homeless people. (perhaps we could prevent a lot of crime if we cared for the mentally ill and addicted better.) And the cost of incarceration is astronomical and will only get worse as Harper keeps pushing for more draconian laws and minimum sentencing. Harper has also suggested we might consider outsourcing our prisons since it’s worked so well in the States. Well, if you want expensive, poorly run and inhumane cesspools to ensure more recidivism, then sure, that’s a good idea.

Check out John Oliver’s brilliant piece on how badly the American prison is faring.


 But this rant is not just to criticize. I'd also like to propose a few ways we could improve our prison situation.

Abolish Harper’s minimum sentences. These mainly target minorities and serve no use other than make police and politicians feel like they’re doing something. A program in downtown Vancouver where drug addicts are re-routed out of incarceration and into rehabilitation programs is proving much more effective in lessening the revolving door aspect of jail in the downtown eastside.

Give up on the damned War on Drugs. It isn’t working and, in fact, is perpetuating the problem even further. Decriminalize drugs. Selling drugs to minors would be an indictable offence much the same as it’s now illegal to sell them alcohol and cigarettes. But otherwise, illegal drugs really aren’t much different than the legal ones of alcohol and prescription meds. Some people will abuse them and for those poor souls, we should offer rehabilitation instead of punishment.

Compel those incarcerated for more than one year to work to help defray the cost of their room, board and monitoring. Instead of outsourcing jobs to India, let’s in-source them to our prisons.

Rescind whatever hair-brained law gives Clifford Olsen and his ilk a pension for their time served. He owes the Canadian people far more than he can ever repay.  

There. Now that I've solved that problem, can we get back to protesting bee-killing  Neonicotinoid pesticides  , global warming and unbalanced trade deals made in bad faith?  Man, there's just too much to rant about. Can I cry Uncle?
  

My Sexy Saturday--Pirates, Arrrgh!!!

My Sexy Saturday (episode number 60 where Ethel tells Lucy...)

So what seems like many decades ago--actually only 2011, I wrote my first and only pirate story. This was also my first non-magazine writing contract. Then the publisher went under and so it took another year before I shopped it elsewhere. Rebel Ink Press polished my pirates and published them under "A Pirate's Booty" in 2012.  In My Sexy Saturday tradition, here are 7 paragraphs from Rosie's story:

A Pirate's Booty

    Rosie stared at the polished floor of his cabin. Had he really wanted to kiss her three nights ago, or could she have been mistaken?
  He lifted her face again, but this time with his crooked finger under her chin. The softness of his touch brought back the memory of his previous caress. Dared she to hope? She had dreamed so often about him, how much was her own fevered fantasy and how much was real? He arched an eyebrow in question, waiting.
  “I thought…tomorrow we dock in Jamaica...” She searched his eyes, desperate for a clue as to his thoughts. His face gave no quarter. She took a deep breath and continued with a rush. “I won’t see you again…after.”
  Still no reaction. With a sigh, she closed her eyes, wishing the floorboards would open and swallow her whole.
  Shock jolted through her when his lips pressed hard against hers. Her nose bumped his and she stifled an apology. Before her clumsiness could change his mind she curled her hand around the back of his neck and stretched up, inviting the kiss.
  This time there was no awkwardness. Iain deepened the kiss, pulling her hard against his body. His gentle touch couldn’t disguise his raging hunger for her.His eyes followed hers and he sheathed his weapon. His expression was inscrutable. “Nay…Why came ye here?”

A Pirate's Booty is available at Amazon.com, etc.

And now to check out the other My Sexy Saturday offerings, click Here.