Susan Mac Nicol's Blog, page 31
May 28, 2013
How to organise a team building exercise
Reblogged from nobodysreadingme:
You can pay a lot of money to have ‘experts come along to your company or organisation and teach your staff all about teams and cooperation. Thousands of pounds.
Or you can do it on the cheap.
For this to work you need some quirky project such as the miraculous Talliston house, (http://www.talliston.com/) gardens, art installation, and dead nun repository.
My friend Duncan's wonderful post on this past weekend, when we volunteered at the amazing house called Talliston (www.talliston.com). It was an enjoyable and rewarding weekend. Hard work, but everyone enjoyed themselves and the camaraderie was just fantabulous.
May 27, 2013
Bulletin Board v192
Boy Scouts End Longtime Ban on Openly Gay Youths -- The Boy Scouts of America on Thursday ended its longstanding policy of forbidding openly gay youths to participate in its activities, a step its chief executive called “compassionate, caring and kind.” The decision, which came after years of resistance and wrenching internal debate, was widely seen as a milestone for the Boy Scouts, a symbol of traditional America.
Toysoldier always has posts well worth reading. Take a look for yourself.
Things to do when you’re dead.
This is not a particularly cheery post so if you don’t like talking about death and dead bodies, don’t read it. Or if you have any very religious views. Again, I suggest you leave now.
My family and I had the most entertaining dinner time conversation the other day. It started off with us all sat around the dinner table deciding how we wanted to go out into Never Never land when we were dead.
I have this predilection to have a Viking funeral. I want to be laid on a wooden pyre, set on fire and pushed out to sea/The Thames/or wherever they’ll allow this to happen. I really do. I don’t want to be buried as I have an aversion to things eating me. I have a dislike of people coming to visit me at my grave when I can’t talk back. I have a horror of people visiting me in Perpetua with sickly smelling flowers, when they should be getting on with their lives.
Cremation is good, but ever one for a bit of flair, I like the Viking idea very much. Naked or clothed, I don’t really mind, just lay me down on the wooden thingy, light a match and let me go. I’d love someone to build a proper Viking boat and fill it around me with chocolate and crisps, just to put me in the right frame of mind when I get to Valhalla, but I doubt that’s going to happen. So my family have been given their orders and I hope they manage to pull it off –somehow.
My seventy eight year old mother wasn’t too sure. Cremation was definitely her choice, but it was the old ‘ ooh, just shove me in a cardboard box, burn me and then scatter my ashes over Table Mountain in Cape Town, that’ll do me’ conversation that led us in a different direction.
My son came up with the idea of making her into a diamond. (He was short of money at the time and I have a feeling he might have pawned her the minute she was ‘diamondised’ for want of a better word.)
She thought this wasn’t too bad an idea (being diamondised not pawned) but then things spiralled out of control and suddenly, we were running a Mafia like family empire made rich by the bodies of dead people being stolen from morgues and crematoriums, being converted to precious gems and sold on the black market.
My family can sometimes go to extremes when we talk about stuff, going from the sublime to the total ridiculous in five seconds flat. I think it’s the writer in me coming out in them.
Of course, there’s always one in every family. Another member of the troupe decided they wanted a Parsee ceremony where the dead body is placed in a place known as ‘The Tower of Silence’ which is open to the air in a high place, there to be consumed by vultures as they slowly decomposed.
Just in case you’re interested in any of these scintillating possibilities as how to dispose of your dead body, take a look at the links below. You might get some ideas.
Me? I’ll stick with the old heave ho down the Thames, warm and toasty in my very own funeral pyre.
http://www.heart-in-diamond.co.uk/diamonds/what-is-heart-in-diamond.html
http://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/
The Gay Male Romance Genre
I’ve been intrigued by the whole phenomenon of women both writing and reading gay male romance novels. I started out reading this genre when I started writing my new detective thriller called ‘Born Human’. One of the characters in this story is a bisexual serial killer, a man who uses whoever he can to achieve his goals. So, if I needed to write sex scenes between two men, I needed to know how it was all done. That might sound a little disingenuous but honestly? I know the basics of gay man sex but in order to do the best I could in making my two men enjoy themselves, I needed to know a little more than the basics.
So I researched the topic. My web browser has never seen such action, I can promise you. It certainly saw more than I ever have . Gay chat sites, gay sex education sites, ‘How To’ YouTube videos, medical sites that dealt with the subject and of course, the occasional soft gay porn site. It started out, I promise you, all in the name of research. I bought books by well know authors already established in the genre, like Kindle Alexander, Josh Lanyon, Con Riley, L A Witt, Sue Brown, Liz Lister to name but a few. And the more I read, the more I wanted to read. Reading a smoking hot, sexy romance story between two men was becoming an obsession. I kid you not.
If you look at my Goodreads profile, you’ll see I currently have read 79 books of this genre in the last few months alone. I honestly cannot get enough. This genre, with all its different facets of BDSM, romanticism, involving macho professions like cops and fireman and others less so, such as authors and professors, are still stories of just plain honest to goodness men dealing with everyday life. It’s addictive.
I asked bestselling author Liz Lister what she thought earlier today, what the fascination is with women wanting to both read and write these type of books. She said, and I quote:
I think that if you really like men and enjoy their bodies, there’s nothing like seeing them get it on together. And the tenderness that two men can show each other in this circumstance is so different from the macho posturing of straight guys that we usually see.
I can relate to this, to the extent that I had to try my hand at writing my own story of two men falling in love. I’m glad to say it’s complete and I should have the contract in my hand for my new book, ‘Loving Matthew’ with lead heroes Matthew Langer and Shane Templar, any day soon.
I intend writing more in this genre as I so enjoyed writing the story of Matthew and Shane. I’m musing over exactly what it will be about but I have no doubt inspiration will strike soon. I’ve made a promise to my publisher to try and take a little more time with this one so they can catch up on my backlog of produced works, having five full length novels with them awaiting publication dates. 
I will be posting more updates on the development of this genre and its impact, and anything else interesting that crosses my Google Alerts service. So watch this space for more scintillating posts on reading and writing gay male romance.
And of course I’ll keep you posted on the development of ‘Loving Matthew’ and its publication date. Then perhaps once you’ve read it, you can tell me whether I succeeded at writing a love story about men in love with each other.
May 20, 2013
The Sunshine Award - May 2013
Thank you, Sophie Sansregret, for giving me the opportunity not only to add something to my blog, which has been sadly neglected of late, but also take me away from the focus of writing and creating stories for a while.
The rules are simple. Answer a few questions and make your own nominations.
Favorite Color: Purple. I love the various shades of this colour. From pale lilac to deep, rich velvet plummy tones. Just like Benedict Cumberbatch’s voice.
Favorite Animal: Polar Bear. It’s a well known fact polar bear livers are utterly toxic to humans if consumed. A friend of mine wrote a whole blog post on this -check it out here
http://nobodysreadingme.wordpress.com/2013/02/16/how-not-to-get-killed-by-a-polar-bear/
Favorite Number: 7. I’m a Wiccan, so for me, this is what the number 7 means Thought, consciousness, analysis, understanding, knowledge, awareness, studious, meditating, spiritual, eccentric, a loner
Favorite Non-alcoholic Drink: Ginger Beer. Yes, I know. Bring on the strait jacket.
Facebook or Twitter: I can’t choose. Both are good for me. I love my cyber buddies SOO much.
Your Passion: Writing great stories and creating worlds and characters. Writing sexy scenes.
Giving or getting presents: I’m a selfish cow but I’m honest- getting them is good for me
Favorite Day: Saturday
Favorite Flowers: Definitely tulips. All the colours of the rainbow, vibrant and such a lovely shape
And now… to pick some friends for this lovely award. C’mon, don’t disappoint…
Serena Clarke - Author of her debut novel, ‘All Over the Place’. Serena is away at the moment so don’t expect anything from her anytime soon. We recently drank a Pims and lemonade in a London Spaghetti House in London together…
Geoffrey Wakeling - Author of Inside Evil, The Tower of Souls, Spirits of the Middlelands, Rise of the Immortals and Pacifier 6. Science fiction writer extraordinaire.
Jessie B Tyson, author of White Heaven Women, a supernatural and spooky tale…
Kindle Alexander, best-selling author of Up in Arms and Texas Pride, wonderful stories about men loving men…and my inspiration to try write in the same genre in the hope that I can be as good..
J T Cheyanne - another best- selling author of Grand Slam, a story about men and baseball…
Duncan Swallow - Blogger, genius in training, friend, tormentor and all round good guy.
Renee Heath - a lady as crazy as me, that also loves Duncan (yeah, I know we ask why every single day, don’t we Renee??) and is always ready with a quip and something to make me smile.
If you want to join in the fun, and continue the process, the rules are to:
(1) Thank the person who gave you the award in your blog post.
(2) Complete the Q&A below in your blog post.
(3) Pass on the award to some deserving and inspiring bloggers/authors with blogs, inform them and link to their blogs. (Not anyone already featured, that’s a cop out!)
May 8, 2013
Oh how the world turns- Research serves its purpose
I think I’ve said this before but I’m going to bore you and say it again. I love my new role as a writer/published author/scribe/wordsmith/woman of letters….
Whichever way you look at it, it has changed my life to the point where I meet the most interesting, supportive, funny and downright irreverent characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. And now that I have ‘branched out’ into writing stories about the world of the gay male romance relationship, it’s just got better. I do talk about things in this post that may offend sensitive viewers, so feel free to look away now.
This group of writers is incredible. In the words of the ladies in that wonderful British sitcom, they are ‘Absolutely Fabulous’. Eddy and Patsy would be so enamoured with this lot.
You can read more about Ab Fab here http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105929/ if you’re interested. It’s a classic if you like neurotic, sarcastic, chain smoking, drug popping and hard drinking women with attitude. And let’s face it, who doesn’t…
Anyway I digress. Back to this group of writers who have given me such pleasure over the past few months. Not the pleasure your dirty mind is thinking of, although …hmm, I guess there is an element of that when you’re reading hot, loving, gay man sex scenes…
Despite me being a newbie to the scene (in every way really, both writing and in this genre- my first book was only published August last year and my first M/M romance will be due out soon) they have taken me into the proverbial fold, offered me support and encouragement, some jaw dropping moments, an education beyond compare in the ‘ins and outs’ of writing this type of story and a lot of entertainment.
Like my beta reader for ‘Stripped Bare’ (a well-known author and gay man himself sense checking some of my scenes) coming up to me and saying ‘Sue, page 14 – honestly, cum doesn’t travel that far.” Ahh. That’s telling me isn’t it. Right, I might have to revisit that bit. The realistic distance of travelling cum needs to be addressed. (I have to say I think he said this for maximum impact when there were other people around who may not have known what we were talking about. He can be such a tease that way. I shudder to think what they thought but they were too polite to say anything if so.) And I have a feeling there will be more little gems of wisdom from my mentor before he’s through with me.
There was the debate on whether a tongue stud will affect a blow job and if so, in what way? Good, bad? Anyone tried it, have an opinion? Of course they do. I am now enlightened up and beyond the call of duty on the effect of a tongue piercing on a man’s penis.
There was the whole online discussion about solo shower masturbation and whether men used this as their happy time to relieve themselves. That garnered quite a few responses.
Then there’s my personal favourite, another fellow author, also a gay man, who offered to ‘test drive ‘my sex scenes with his boyfriend so that my research could be validated. Whether it actually happened or not I have no idea but this man and his partner deserve a commendation for their commitment to duty. If there’s an Oscar out there for this, someone let me know. Maybe we should think of a name for it. Feel free to give me your suggestions. Not too rude please. It might have to be mentioned on national TV.
The wonderfully named Gayology101 forum on Goodreads is a complete eye opener and I thank the stars we have actual gay men and women answering questions that we straight women pose on their sexual activity. It gets a little raw in there I can tell you, but nothing we writers can’t handle in the name of ‘research’.
I mean, honestly, where else could one talk about these sorts of things without feeling like a pervert? And believe me, getting it right is extremely important. There’s nothing worse in my eyes that the research not being done properly and ticking someone off when they’re reading a book because it’s so blatantly wrong or unrealistic. You may not get it all right, and others may disagree with your take on some things but at least you tried like hell to do it right in the beginning.
Of course, all of the above applies to heterosexual sex as well, but I have a far better idea how that works, being an active participant myself. But when you’re writing about something you’ve never physically experienced or done (note I don’t say visually experienced and I shall leave you all to ponder on the relevance of that statement) you need help to make it work.
So befriending these authors, most of whom are more experienced in writing in this genre than I am, who have already run the gauntlet and had their men have mind blowing sex with each other, was a privilege and an honour. Discussing things in forums which may seem a little ‘out there’ was an education. Reading their books and finding out how they tackled the subject matter was enlightening and rewarding and most pleasurable. I doff my hat to them all.
All in all, I am enjoying this phase I’m going through and have every intention of continuing it. After all, David Sarnoff, businessman and pioneer of American radio and television, said:
‘Whatever course you have chosen for yourself, it will not be a chore but an adventure if you bring to it a sense of the glory of striving.’
Well, I am definitely striving…..so the path ahead can only be a LOT of fun.
May 7, 2013
I trust you'll have some polar bear liver handy to, Susan? You never know if a warlock will try and crash the party
You know I never go anywhere without it Duncan. I like to be prepared for all eventualities…
May 6, 2013
People I'd invite to my Halloween Party
Characters I’d invite to my Halloween Party
I was asked recently who I’d invite to a Halloween party if I could invite anyone in the world that I wanted. I gave it a bit of thought and came up with this list.
Stephen King - horror writer. I love his writing, his characters and the fact he lives in Maine. This is one place I’ve always wanted to visit in the US so if I invite him to my party, his innate politeness will dictate he feels obliged to invite me to his place. As long as he pays the bill to get me over there of course. His house looks so spooky and I’d love to sit and shoot the breeze with the man.
I’d insist that Stephen brings Pennywise with him. The clown from IT has to be one of the scariest dudes ever. I have two reasons for inviting this rather malevolent entity to my party. One is that he will scare the crap out of the neighbourhood kids and I rather like that idea.
As an aside, I think I have this deep rooted desire to feed on people’s fear -a little like old Penny himself. Not to mention the fact that my twenty year old daughter has a bit of a phobia about clowns. I once offered a birthday present to her that she almost had a heart attack over. There’s a gent that dresses like a clown and stalks the birthdayee. (It’s a great word, so stop frowning) The guy hides behind lamp posts, jumps out of dark corners, and generally makes their life miserable as they wonder where he’s going to turn up next. My daughter didn’t like that idea for some reason so letting Pennywise smile at her from across a crowded room while gently fondling a carving knife sounds like a great substitute. (Uhhmm, she doesn’t seem to like that idea either. But who cares. It amuses me.)
So that’s two party goers taken care of. My next guest would be the incredibly talented chef Hannibal Lecter. The young Hannibal is pretty yummy, but Mr. Hopkins would be a delight too. Hannibal is a man of great discernment, witty conversation and he’s remarkably intelligent. He’s dapper, well spoken and honestly, any hostess should be privileged to have him. I’d sit him next to someone I really didn’t like and watch the chemistry between them ignite. I hope nothing else develops though, like a torn out liver in a state of being flambéed and served with a nice cranberry coulis.
I need a lady guest or two to balance this out. So I say a warm welcome to Nurse Ratched, she from ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.’ Unfortunately she won’t be able to say anything back as her vocal cords were irreparably damaged when Randle McMurphy tried to choke her to death. But I’ll put a pen and notepad at the side of her table setting and she can at least have a conversation that way. She promised she would bring her little black bag of drugs with her in case any of the other guests got out of hand.
And of course no Halloween party would be complete without the loveliness of Bellatrix Lestrade, the loveable, psychotic pure bred witch and Death Eater from the Harry Potter series. Her Gothic beauty and her sadistic and violent tendencies, coupled with her narcissistic tendencies would fit in really well with the other dinner guests. She and Hannibal could trade cooking recipes perhaps, while Pennywise could nuzzle her lovely neck with his rather large teeth. Stephen would be sitting observing the character interplay for his next book, and Nurse Ratched would probably be trying to bully and intimidate all the dinner guests. I’m guessing though that this would be quite a feat to achieve…
And of course, there would be me, Hostess Extraordinaire, watching the casual interaction between my dinner guests with a fond smile and a very large gun held in my hand under the table. The weapon would be necessary in case any of the humans decided to turn on me. Of course, I’d need a couple of magic spells, an incantation or two and the Ritual of Chüd. (Google this if you’re not sure what the hell I’m on about and you’ll find out which character it can kill) I would wine and dine these guests, listen avidly to their stories, laugh at their jokes and then set them loose on an unsuspecting public. After all, it is Halloween. People expect to have the bejesus scared out of them and I think my dinner guests will do this admirably.
I look forward to seeing you all at the next one on the 31st October 2013. Come along and join the fun. I think you’ll enjoy yourselves. Oh, and leave the children at home. Just in case. You know how IT loves little kiddies.
May 5, 2013
These are the two new characters in my new gay MM (male male)...
These are the two new characters in my new gay MM (male male) romance novel, tentatively titled ‘Loving Matthew’. Meet Shane Templar, escort and hacker, and Matthew Langer - lawyer. Shane is the really cute blonde one, Matthew is the dark, broody fellow. This is the first time I’ve written a book in this genre and it’s been an absolute blast. Not only do I have gay friends (men of course) checking the realism of my rather sensual sex scenes (a sense check is always good), I also get to participate in the most incredible forums with fellow MM authors. This band of brothers is an incredibly supportive community and I have to thank each one of them for their support so far. Don’t these two make a gorgeous couple? This is the short blurb for the book.
When lawyer Matthew Langer is called to the hospital by his boss to deal with a family emergency, he has no idea his life is going to change. While waiting to see how his best friend is recovering from a beating, he comes face to face with the irrepressible and sexy Shane Templar, Carrington Knight escort and master hacker. There is a definite attraction between the two men and despite Matthew’s reluctance to get involved with anyone again, he finds Shane very hard to resist. Shane needs to work hard to get past the barriers of Matthew’s past tragedy and get close to a man who controls his own life with focused determination. Shane has also had his share of trauma in his past but he’s trying to move on. The two men begin a relationship filled with passion, conflict and a strong physical desire for each other. But Shane’s talents as a hacker one day opens a door Matthew had wanted to keep closed. Feeling betrayed by the man he is falling in love with, Matthew cuts himself off from his lover. Then violence and tragedy strikes and he finds himself wishing that he could turn back the clock. The lovers are reunited, but there are still obstacles to face as their relationship develops into something lasting.
The book is finished and the (hopefully) final edits are with my editor Jill Limber. I’m not sure yet when the expected publication date is, but I will certainly keep everyone in the loop.
I agree whole heartedly. My mind is like a sieve and losing a...
I agree whole heartedly. My mind is like a sieve and losing a great idea would kill me.
