Laila Blake's Blog, page 15

Birthday Updates

So, today is my 28th birthday.

And this is just the first of a lot of gratuitous John Krasinski gifs to celebrate it.

Oh, and don’t worry everybody, I know I’m not allowed to complain about getting older until I hit thirty, but you know what? I don’t feel inclined to it all this year — I had a weird freak-out at 27, and I think that is carrying me along on a cloud of adult-hood-acceptance for another year (hopefully).

In case you’re thinking – hey, this silly young woman should have some kind of present… you could always buy my book . Wow, that was shameless. But I’ll keep it, shame is underrated. Great fuel for writers.

 

Anyway, there was definitely a point to this post. It’s my birthday, so I get to be a little bit self-centred on my own blog and I thought I’d catch you all up on the stuff I’ve been working on in the last half year since By the Light of the Moon was accepted for publication. It’s been a really interesting 6 months, with setbacks and triumphs and all in all it’s a kind of time I really look forward to looking back on with a slightly romanising sense of nostalgia.

- The Lakeside Sequel (A Taste of Winter, 75k) is currently with my publisher, awaiting its fate.

- An erotic novel (~60k) written with L.C. Spoering, also recently finished after a long period of editing and re-editing: we are shopping it around with a few select publishers.

- An erotic novella (Driftwood Daughter, ~30k) is also finished but I am a little bit hesitant sending it out because I want to hear back from some other projects before I do. I might even go self-pub with this one, we’ll see.

- I’ve also written several (latest count 21, ~60k) erotic/romantic short stories, 6 of which are already accepted for publication and most of the other ones are circulating in several calls for submissions. One, of course, is already published in Harper Bliss beautiful anthology Anything She Wants.

When it comes to current projects, there’s also a bit to talk about:

- NA Dystopian love story written with L.C Spoering: currently in the editing stage.

- NA Dystopian love story sequel-ish, also with L.C. Spoering: writing stage

- YA contemporary “Where the Wind Settles“: currently writing for free in its first draft on Wattpad

- Lesbian Erotic Novella, yes, you guess it: writing stage

Yeah, okay this was particularly gratuitous… but look at him! *squees*

Interview with Morgan O’Neill: On Co-Writing

Let me welcome Deborah O’Neill Cordes and Cary Morgan Frates, fellow Crimson Romance co-authors, on my blog. Under the pseudonym Morgan O’Neill, Deborah and Cary are penning fantastic time-travel romances – the Roman time travel series LOVE, ETERNALLY, AFTER THE FALL, and RETURN TO ME, and their new medieval Italian time travel series, THE OTHER SIDE OF HEAVEN, and the forthcoming TIME ENOUGH FOR LOVE. 

I asked them to tell us a little bit more about the process of co-authorship and they have very graciously accepted.

 

First of all, for those who are not familiar with your story – how did you come to write together?

We met by chance at a writers’ conference over a decade ago and discovered we both love time travel and historical fiction. After the conference, we joined the same critique group, and while working with each other there, we decided to team up and write time travel romance epics.

The two of you are writing under a single pseudonym: Morgan O’Neill. Why is that?

Our collaboration necessitated the search for a pen name, since our given names are almost as long as the epics we write. And because our maiden names worked well together, “Morgan O’Neill” was born. The only other “famous” Morgan O’Neill is an Australian film director, so we’re hoping for a collaboration with him, too, somewhere down the road.

Is that pseudonym completely separate from your other writing ventures? Do you consider that beneficial or detrimental for marketing and reader-loyalty purposes?

The pseudonym is separate from our solo writing ventures. It is beneficial because we have other interests and projects written under our own names (as yet unpublished). As for reader loyalty, our Morgan O’Neill series are not set in one time period or place, and readers don’t seem to mind going from one era to another. Fans of ancient Rome are enjoying our medieval Italian series and vice versa. We have an Elizabethan time travel series in the works and anticipate our readers will embrace it, too (there is also the possibility for sequels to our Roman and Italian series!). In the future, as our solo projects find their way to publication, we hope Morgan O’Neill’s readers and fans will follow.

When it comes to those first stages of a partnership, do you have any tips on how to set out right and avoid possible future mishaps?

For those authors considering a writing partnership, we recommend hiring an entertainment attorney or finding an online service to draw up a contract. Should things go south, it will protect you. It is also something agents and publishers want to see when they are considering you as a client.

 

Can you tell us a little bit about your process? How do the two of you contribute and how do you edit?

We always use the historical record and timeline as guides for our plots, which gives us a template for needed scenes. After writing together for over ten years, the process of creating a series has gotten a bit easier, and we almost never quibble about what we individually want to handle. Certain scenes and characters just call to us, and we divvy up the rest. Because of the inherent complexity of time travel epics, its almost like writing two separate plots – the present and the past – and we must edit and blend our scenes after they are written to make a cohesive whole. Sometimes we write important scenes together. And you don’t even want to know what that’s like when it comes to the sex scenes – hilarious, but we’ll never tell who wrote what!

Can two authors query one agent? And will that agent represent only the partnership or both individual authors as well?

That depends on the agent. It is certainly something you must discuss before signing a contract.

And last but not least – what for you is the best thing about co-writing novels and what, if anything, drives you back to solo projects too?

The best thing is when we surprise one another by taking the novel in a unforeseen direction. It adds richness to our stories, and so far it has always worked for our plots. Also, having two pair of eyes for edits and typos is invaluable. As for what drives us to writing solo projects, we are individuals who have different interests, talents, and experiences to bring to life, and we always encourage one another in those pursuits.

Thank you so much, Laila, for giving us this opportunity. We enjoyed sharing a little bit of ourselves with your audience.

 

Guest-Post: M.J. Schiller | Abandon all Hope

When the wonderful M.J. Schiller was looking for spots on her blog tour for the release of ABANDON ALL HOPE, I challenged her to tell us a little bit about her writing and the way she writes female characters in particular — because you know that’s kind of what this blog tends to come back to ALL THE TIME (I call it theme, but you’re allowed to call it repetitive) . And so I am super proud to hand my blog over to M.J. Schiller and her take on the character-writing process and realistic characters!

Hello!

Our lovely hostess, Laila, asked me to talk today about the portrayal of women in the media, and specifically in my writing. At first I was hesitant. After all, the motto I use for my writing is “If you’ve learned something from an MJ Schiller novel, our educational system has definitely failed you!” I’m the rock star romance girl, not the deep thinker. And politics for me is a four letter word. I believe in the politics of you and me, bud. The politics of how we treat one another. The politics of interpersonal relationships. Webster-Merriam’s online dictionary defines politics as “the total complex of relations between people living in society.” But that “total complex” is made up of millions of little pieces. It’s how I interact with my kids, the neighbors, my church community, and so on. I feel like anything bigger than that is a little overwhelming. It seems out of my control. But how I think about, react to, and treat other people, that is definitely something that I can look at and strive to improve. The big picture hurts my head, so I concentrate on what I can handle. Hey. At least I know my limitations.

But the more I thought about Laila’s concept, the more I liked the challenge. My heroines are not generally the fainting, I-need-a-man-in-my-life-to-solve-all-of-my-problems types. Nor are they domineering or strong-willed to the point of being overbearing types. They are real people. Real people who sometimes have the strength to stick up for themselves, but who also sometimes cringe when faced with a tough choice. They are real people who make mistakes, who sometimes don’t act right and have to apologize. Both my men and my women. They are no different. They both make mistakes; they both are human and therefore weak. They both have unbelievable strengths, unflaggingly unique spirits; they both are human and therefore strong.

I’ve had editors accuse me of having my heroes and heroines act out of character at times, to which I counter, don’t we all act out of character sometimes? Like, when the doctor told us that we were having triplets, I’m not sure that we acted in character. No, wait… I was ecstatic; my husband’s split-second reaction was, and I quote, “Four college educations?!” It was going to take my mind a while to get there, but his went right there.  Perhaps this is a bad example, as both reactions were probably what you’d expect from either one of us. Better example: when I attend Nickelback concerts, I act out of character. I have led the Christian Family Movement Group and the Children’s Liturgy at our church. That’s not the gal you see trying to sneak backstage. My point is, I later see the error of my ways, (I should have lied to the security guy when he asked me if I had a backstage pass! Darn!) Kidding! I see how foolish it is to border on illegal activity in trying to get in secure areas of a building just to meet the boys in the band. (Personally, I think they should just let me back there, but that’s a debate more for Juli Page Morgan’s blog tomorrow.) Certain circumstances have us acting differently than others would usually expect. For some it’s crises. For me, it’s rock stars.

Back to how I portray women in my books. Example one: Beth Donovan of TRAPPED UNDER ICE, mother, widow, lunch lady, romance writer. Beth shows that vulnerable, “weaker” side, if you will, when she is afraid to become involved with Chad after the loss of her husband Paul. But she shows her stronger side when dealing with her teenaged daughter’s heartache and when faced with a physical threat at the beginning, and again, near the end of the story. And ultimately, when she makes the decision to go forward with her relationship with Chad despite all the problems they have to face. She is both strong and weak; she is human.

Bashea, of TAKEN BY STORM is a woman who appears totally in charge of her life, totally in control. But underneath the surface, there is a lot brewing in her. She is afraid to trust Tahj because of being assaulted by Lord Boltar’s men and because the prince comes from a family that is superior to hers. She is extremely flawed and extremely brave at the same time. She has a strong heart and is a good woman despite sometimes being sharp-tongued and stubborn.

And finally, Hope, from my newest release, ABANDON ALL HOPE. Hope is strong in one sense because she has survived a lot of turmoil. In a second sense she does not have the inner fortitude to really ask for, and work for, what she wants in her life. By the end of the book, she matures and gains that strength of spirit to reach for her dreams, and it is more than winning back the love of the man she feels abandoned her eight years prior to the story’s beginning. The story doesn’t end when Chase and Hope get together, because, ultimately it is about Hope testing herself on an even more personal level and coming out on top.

So in closing, I try to portray my heroines, and all my characters, for that matter, as realistically as possible, which means that sometimes they are found lacking; sometimes they are downright inspiring. Thank you for listening to my take on writing and portraying women. It was a fun assignment after all.

___________________________________________________

It was one of those mornings for newspaper-writer/photographer Hope Creswell.  The alarm clock didn’t go off and she cut her finger on broken glass.  Not one to let such things get her down, Hope headed into her assignment meeting with excitement, only to leave it stunned.  Her new assignment is to trail the sensational rock-star, Chase Hatton, for an article.  Chase Hatton!  No one knows the power that name holds for her.  No one knows of the childhood friendship that blossomed into romance, only to abruptly die on the night of Hope’s senior prom.  No one knows of the ache that still fills her heart. 

What starts out for Chase Hatton as an average publicity trip to Chicago suddenly becomes complicated when his manager tells him that Hope Creswell will be interviewing him in the morning.  He had spent eight years trying to forget Hope, and now she would be in his penthouse in a matter of hours?

When Chase opens the door to his penthouse and finds Hope on the opposite side, his heart begins beating a rhythm the rocker has yet to capture in any of his music.  The smoldering embers of their former romance are fanned by their mere proximity.  Will they both be burned again?  Can Hope ever trust her heart to Chase after what he did?  Can Chase bear to see her walk out on him a second time?  And what about Hope’s boyfriend, Phillip?  Where does he fit into the picture that Hope is developing?

Find M.J. Schiller

www.mjschillerauthor.blogspot.com | MJ on FB | twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads.

You can find ABANDON ALL HOPE at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

So what is a Manic Pixie Dream Girl anyway?

The trope of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl was first established and named by film-critic Nathan Rabin and quickly made it into the general (often feminist) media critic vernacular. Rabin wrote in reference to the movie Elizabethtown: “The Manic Pixie Dream Girl exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures.”

In this way, the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, or MPDG, is a static character with no development of her own. She often meets a tragic end (also to further the male hero’s plot and assumedly because this frees the writer from having to give her any kind of development). In this first version, she is exceedingly girly, beautiful, full of child-like enthusiasm and – very importantly is given zero honest emotion that would explain her attachment to the whiny young man she is trying to inspire.

Here’s Anita Sarkeesian’s take on this trope.

Like all tropes (and after reading too many ignorant comments about feminist frequency’s videos this apparently still needs explaining), the MPDG critique rarely goes against a single piece of work, but describes a systemic problem in which female characters lack character development of depth and only exist to further the male hero’s plot line. If this was a problem solely in Elizabethtown or Gardenstate (to name two of the most famous examples) we would not be having this conversation.

It is also important to note that to point out this trope is a criticism against the writer for perpetuating potentially harmful ideas when it would be just as easy to give the character a true three-dimensional self. The criticism is not against “the character” if such a thing exists as a criticisable entity.

Unfortunately, something about the MPGD seems to have resonated a little too much with amateur reviewers and now-a-days, I read it to describe almost every single quirky, slightly off-center female character – and even actual human beings like Zoey Deschanel.

Get that irony? The term is meant to describe a problem that women aren’t written as full human beings and now we use it to dehumanise full and real-life women into the idea of a trope!

In order to shorten this read a bit, I would actually quote this next video, which takes a more critical view to the always-pejorative idea of the MPDG – and points out positive examples. As much as I love Anita – I find this video far more helpful in getting to the difference between a harmful trope and just an interesting, off-mainstream female character. Rovioffical calls these characters Manic Pixie Dream Bitches – but I don’t like the b* word and think Bi-polar Pixie Dream Girls far more fitting . Here take a look:

Now that we are kind of caught up on what the idea of the MPDG is – I want to talk about the most recent incident of an “accused” MPDG that bothered me: Alaska Young in John Green’s Looking for Alaska.

So let’s break this down. [If you haven’t read looking for Alaska, this contains spoilers, I also won’t elongate this post by summarizing the book – you can google ]

Alaska is a highly intelligent teenage girl,
gifted especially in mathematics and organisation,
a very feminist with very strong beliefs,
a reader, a lover of poetry,
a smoker and kind of border-line alcoholic,
she’s brash and moody and shows the typical idea of a very confident exterior under which she hides a lot of insecurity and pain,
she comes off as very overtly sexual and beautiful, but again that feels at least partly like a front for something else,
she is brave but when it gets to the point of real trouble, she’s also a coward, a traitor and a liar,
and she is totally obsessed with death.

First of all – does that sound like a three-dimensional, interesting character to you? To me it does!

So let’s tick this off, shall we:

Does her attraction to Miles (the quiet protagonist) feel unreasonable?

I don’t think so. Alaska has a boyfriend. He seems very nice and handsome, basically like the Ryan Gosling of the story. But with Miles, Alaska can be a different person – I feel like they connected on that macabre level where Miles is obsessed with last words and they both share that teenage darkness that she hides a lot with others. Her slow and hesitant attraction to him made perfect sense to me.

Does she teach Miles to embrace life?

Well, she certainly teaches Miles’ girlfriend how to give a blowjob – does that count? My issue with this is that Alaska is someone they all look up to, but she doesn’t inspire Miles any more than the Colonel does. And nobody accuses him of being anything but a good, three-dimensional character. Also, while she teaches Miles to smoke and drink and so on, I wouldn’t call Miles all that broody to begin with – he’s just quiet and studious and he’s just never had friends like this group. I don’t feel like he needed that lesson, in fact both Alaska and the Colonel got him in trouble far more than they got him to love life.

Is Alaska childlike, over-enthusiastic or in any other way unrealistically cheerful?

No. She’s moody, kinda mean sometimes and then surprisingly open and vulnerable at others. She helps her friends but she also betrays others and she doesn’t help without her own motives.

And the main question – is she a static character?

This is difficult to answer because she doesn’t survive the novel and while the others get some development out of her death, she obviously doesn’t. However, I do think she very much developed up to that point. She is that perfect façade that holds it all together but she’s crumbling like crazy all over the place throughout every experience and every part of this novel. I also don’t think that her death is surprising – she even says it a couple of times. And I do feel like she is an extremely fully three-dimensional character that develops over time especially in her friendship with Miles.

 

Now, why am I writing this? Clearly John Green doesn’t need my defense. But for me this accusation, too, is a system problem. Because imagine for a moment it was true: that Alaska is somehow a problematic character. Which actually means that I basically don’t care what you call her – but the idea that she is a character that is perpetuating anything harmful is really offensive to me.

The resolution I would draw from this is that we aren’t allowed to write off-center women, who talk larger than life and inspire people. Those rolls have to fall to the men? Again, I feel like the Colonel and Alaska actually serve a very similar function in Miles’ life – but when the Colonel is larger than life and gets Miles to do all kinds of crazy things it is perfectly okay where it isn’t for Alaska?

Yes, Miles romanticizes Alaska – but every human being romanticizes people in one way or another. None of us have the ability to see people exactly how they are at all times. That cannot be the problem. And in this book, while told from Miles’ perspective, I think Alaska is a brilliant character who very much comes across as three-dimensional and very vibrant and a real human being.

She is the one who constantly calls the boys on objectifying women – what we have here is a very eloquent a teenage feminist that the main boy is utterly in love with! Hello! This is awesome.

We NEED these kinds of female characters. I love seeing people like Alaska – she is clearly strong but with oceans of depth, worries, fears, insecurities – without actually becoming unrealistic, annoyingly over-tragic or apologetic.

Being a quirky, different, interesting love interest does not in itself constitute a problem. And I feel like we have to be far more careful in our application of that trope before we severely limit ourselves in the beautiful characters we can create.

Here, by the way, is John Green’s own (and far more humble) take on whether or not Alaska is an MPDG – if you don’t mind the occasional shouting about football in between .

Sexy Snippet Sunday

And because yesterday was so much fun, we’ll do it again. What a fun weekend on my little blog. Today, I’m joining the brilliant Sexy Snippets Blog Hop. Rules: Seven sensual sentences of an on-going or published work .

This time, I chose a snippet from By the Light of the Moon, my latest release while I’m waiting to hear back from my publisher about the sequel.

 

Only when something tore again did he snap out of it, looking down at her pale shoulders and the swell of her breasts. Letting go of the fabric, it slid down further, snagging at her broad hips. Her undergarments were fresh and creamy, but for the moment, they just breathed and stared at each other.

“You’re mine, aren’t you?” he exhaled, still with that wolfish raw quality to his voice. “My Momo, my wild one, my beautiful girl.”

She nodded, once at first but then again and again. “And … and you’re mine,” she stammered.

“I’m yours.”

 

Driftwood Daughter – exclusive snippet!

Because I am participating in a wonderful spanking blog hop and because I haven’t shared anything I’m working on in quite a while, I thought it would be fun to post a little snipped of an erotic novella that has kept me busy in the last weeks. It’s called Driftwood Daughter — oh, and this snippet is definitely not work safe although your co-workers would have to lean in pretty closely.

 

Driftwood Daughter

by Laila Blake

-extract-

“What was that?” Paul asked then, fingers running slowly between the elastic of my panties and the sensitive back of my knees.

“Yes… Sir,” I breathed on the exhale of another moan. My fingers curled against the carpet, everything smelled like him – rugged and sea-worthy and I felt like I was drowning, deliciously, sweetly drowning. “Yes, Sir!”

The tape proved it, he didn’t even have to tell me – I seemed so eager to be his, to shout it out with each sound he drew from me. From that moment on, he was Sir and I had sunk one rung deeper into a game, into a body, into a life I had hardly dared to dream of.

“That’s my girl,” he answered, then pulled at my underwear and untangled tights and panties from my legs. But still he didn’t touch me even as I was all but wriggling my wanton arse at him. Instead, he leaned to his side again, petting my hair. I could smell myself on his wrist and before I could think about that, he held my panties in front of my face. The soaked panel hung there, right in front of me, then flapped against my nose and my lips. I closed my eyes and all I saw was red heat.

It was in that moment that he decided to touch me again, easily reaching between my legs, he held my sex in his hand – thumb in the crack of my arse and the rest of his palm and fingers pressing against my labia. I wanted to cry I was so aroused and the sounds I was making were all but desperate whines and whimpers.

“Will you look at these panties?” he asked, tutting with a smile and letting them swing against my face again. They were so drenched, I could feel all the places where they left my juices on my nose, my lips and my chin. I can’t lie – I adored that sharp smell then. It, too, was salty and overwhelming, and it went so perfectly with the way his middle-finger was stirring against my painfully swollen clit.

“Yes, Sir,” I whispered, inhaling deeply through my nose all of that cunt filtered air.

“Did you make them so terribly wet?”

I nodded first, torn between shame and pride as he forced my nose to rub against the moist panel.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Explain yourself.” As he said so, another finger slipped between my labia and he was trapping my sopping clit between the two, squeezing and rubbing until I had curled my firsts against the carpet, wriggling like a fish on his lap. And suddenly his fingers stilled: ““Answer me, Iris.”

“I made them wet because… because I’m so… I need……”

My voice petered out into silence and hung heavy for several seconds until I tried again: “It got wet because I want you so much, Sir.”

He hummed in agreement and his fingers moved again, stirring just a little against my nerve endings.

“And… do you think that deserves punishment or reward?”

Additions and Maintenance

1. Newsletter

For some of us, staying up to date with people’s blogs and careers is as easy as checking twitter a few times a day. For others, it is less so. I myself often find myself overwhelmed and then saddened when I missed some piece of news or opportunity. This is why I decided to start a real newsletter. It will be sent out about once a month, maybe less – depending on the amount of information and contain updates, links, special offers and exclusive snippets.

If you would like to receive a little email from me from time to time, please sign up

 

2. More Networking options

Others have their own way of staying on top of the blogs they follow. For this reason I also signed up for linky, networked blogs and blog lovin’.

 

3. Easy navigating

If you let your mouse hover over the blog menu item, it will now offer you several different filter options.

a. Are you here to read about my current and upcoming releases as well as to find snippets of my writing? Then the Promotions and Release News filter is for you.

b. Are you interested in the writing process? Methods, musings and ramblings on the craft? Check out Writer Talk!

c. The Media and Society Talk is for those of you who share my interest in culture and society and who enjoy reading about social issues like feminism and lgbt equality.

d. The Book Talk filter will show you all of my posts as a reader – books and characters that I love, how I read and the ideas and insights reading gives me.

e. And last but not least, we have the Personal Thoughts filter. Here you will find some more personal entries about my journey as a writer and a person. Some trigger warnings regarding anxiety and depression should be issued here.

New Release: Anything She Wants

As you may already know from twitter or facebook, we are celebrating a new release this week. The amazing Harper Bliss of Ladylit Publishing put together a wonderful little anthology of lesbian erotica. It features not only my first published short-story in this field, but the amazing L.C. Spoering’s as well. Next goal: both get into an anthology where our stories… touch. Hehe.

Without further ado, I am incredibly excited to present ANYTHING SHE WANTS – a lesbian erotica anthology edited by Harper Bliss – who happens to also celebrate Ladylit’s first birthday today.

Happy birthday, Ladylit! Many merry returns!

 

And the best thing? For just a very short time (until June 9th) you get get your e-copy of Anything She Wants absolutely free on Amazon. Go get it now and help up climb those Bestseller ranks!

Here are the download links (FREE until Sunday (midnight PST):

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon DE / Amazon CA / Amazon FR / Amazon ES / Amazon IT

***

And if that isn’t enough – here’s a tiny little teaser excerpt from my contribution:

The Corner Chair

There was nothing extraordinary about the chair. It was simple, narrow and

unpadded, light wood with a stark and rectangular back. It stood in a corner of a spacious loft—the lonely corner, as it were: with no bookshelves, cabinets, plants or curtains, pictures on the wall or a rug on the floor. Two naked walls—one exposed brick, one white wall-paper—met at a right angle and a simple, unadorned chair had been pushed into the space between them, its back

towards the corner but not quite touching either of the walls.

To call it unadorned, of course, was not currently correct, although most of

the time it was just that. Looking over into that corner at this point in time, even the most distracted observer couldn’t help but notice the living, breathing ornament kneeling on the chair.

Her knees pressed tightly together to fit onto the narrow surface and her

loosely tied hands resting on the back, a woman perched on the chair. She was

naked except for a simple leather collar, almost hidden by her long tumbling

hair, and a small anklet glittering in the light that cast through the open window: a string of silver with a tiny amulet in the shape of the letter C, my initial.

Claire, nice to meet you. Don’t worry, you can shake my hand—she might

get messy sometimes, but I haven’t touched her yet.

Discussing Books

I am not a book reviewer.

Frankly I think this would be conflict of interests and I could never give a truly honest review because I am too involved in the industry. As an author, other authors are my people – I like them and understand them and I have no interest in tearing them down or putting them through a public evaluative process. On the other hand, if I only were to give positive reviews, that in itself wouldn’t make me much of a reviewer and much more of a promoter – which I am more than fine with.

I am also not a book reviewer because on the scale of reader to writer, I am far more writer than I am reader and my point of view about books is not really what a reader wants to know when they are questioning whether to pick up a certain book or not. That doesn’t at all mean I engage in some kind of higher form of reading – in fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that the opposite is true.

Reading simply isn’t a pure experience for me. I think about books in terms of craft for more than in terms of enjoyment. I compare them to my own books and ideas, I contemplate the implications of female characters vs. male ones, of purpose and achievements, I find myself wondering how much is intention and how successful the authors was in getting it across. It’s a little bit like policemen can’t really enjoy crime shows or nurses Grey’s Anatomy the same way regular people can. Not all authors feel that way at all of course, but I do.

However, I am still a reader. Reading fuels me and it gives me my very best ideas, just because I read with a different eye. I learn from almost every book I read, just because my brain won’t shut up and forces me to analyze what is working for me and what isn’t. And yes, I have a lot of feelings about books – feelings I want to write about because that’s what I do. I have feelings and I put them into words. Reading a book without writing about it at all makes me feel unsettled and like I am only partaking in half the reading experience.

So I have decided that going forward, I want to blog about the things that these books taught me, the discussions and epiphanies, the leaps in understanding and skill that spawned from their pages. And not about quantifiable evaluations of enjoyment.

Stay tuned for my first book-inspired craft chat: John Green’s Looking for Alaska – or what the heck is a Manic Pixie Dreamgirl anyway?

Smut Marathon Challenge 2: Like Nobody is Watching

I am still a contestant in Alison Tyler‘s awesome Smut Marathon. This is the piece for the second challenge. Spoiler Alert: I ended up winning with it this round!

Challenge:

“Choose a location described in Round 1. Any location. Except the one you wrote. Keep the location in your mind as you write a 200-word (max) character description of someone who might venture to the location..”

Piece:

Like Nobody is Watching

She was like a mirage – an image that didn’t fit. She made you want to rub your eyes just to make sure she was still there and not a strange shimmering thing that vanished with a cooler breeze in the overcooked streets.

Barefoot, a pair of simple flats dangling from her fingers, she seemed to be balancing on the mounds of her toes from buttery smooth cobblestone to cobblestone. Her chin was tucked against her chest, carefully avoiding any of the narrow gaps.

She wore what looked like a man’s shirt and pair of jeans cut-offs, so short they vanished under the starchy cotton that was too long but puckered and stretched around her pillowing breasts and made her look extraordinarily and gloriously bare. Her stature added to the impression – small and compact but with curves, wide hips and round, tanned thighs that most women had long been shamed into hiding. She wore no make-up but her eyes and lips looked puffy and soft, as though she might just have wandered out of bed with that tangled pink hair, an odd dreamy thing playing on the cobblestones and soaking up the heat of the ancient city.