Liz Everly's Blog, page 142

Beyond Twelve Years, Beyond Slavery: Future Stories of the Past

By Alexa Day

My good buddy and fellow interracial romance author, Tracey Livesay, emailed me a movie trailer recently. I’m really excited about the film, a historical movie telling the story of a black character’s efforts to live within a predominantly white society.

Here’s the trailer:

What? A historical romance with a black woman and a white man that’s not set in the West Indies? And she’s not a slave? Yes! I’m delighted.

So why am I worried I won’t get to see Belle here in central Virginia?

Well, for one thing, I didn’t get to see Frost/Nixon here. I think it was here for about a week. This is a weird place like that.

But my larger concern is that movie distributors are not terribly comfortable with historical films depicting black people outside the framework of slavery or the civil rights movement. This is kind of a step sideways from where film was several years ago, when roles for black actors were limited to drug addicts and gangsters. Some great movies came out of that era, and I’ve no doubt that we’re being offered some good movies now, too. (I haven’t been to see The Butler or Twelve Years A Slave, but I’m sure they’re both perfectly serviceable movies.) I just don’t think the movie industry lived up to its potential then, and I don’t think it’s doing so now, either.

I have to wonder why we’re not seeing more movies like Belle. Certainly the movie industry’s discomfort with a diversity of roles can’t be the only reason, but what else is in the way?

The stories are there. History is full of stories like the one featured in Belle, although they’re not always easy to find. I watched the PBS reality show, Regency House Party, several years ago, and I was more relieved than surprised to learn that black heiresses from the West Indies often traveled to Britain with their families to do business. Many of them interacted with their white counterparts. While I’m sure racism abounded, it’s easy to imagine that romance bloomed there, too.

Also on PBS, I watched a documentary about the Black American West Museum. Its founder began his research on black history in the West after a teacher told him there were no black cowboys. We’re lucky he didn’t take her at her word – after meeting a black cowboy, he learned that the West was home to plenty of them. So we could be seeing more movies from that era as well.

I just wonder why we’re not. I don’t want to minimize slavery. I don’t want to ignore the history at the base of The Butler and The Help. But black history in this country – in the world – is about much, much more than that. Black people have been cowboys, heiresses, businessmen, starlets, explorers, soldiers, journalists, and more. We desperately need to see those stories, too. When no one sees that side of history, well, that’s how little kids end up hearing that there were no black cowboys.

Sienna Mynx has the hottest covers, right?

The good news is that romance novels are taking up the gauntlet. Interracial historical romances featuring black heroines are appearing more frequently than ever. I’m thinking of Afton Locke’s Plucking the Pearl, set in the 1930s, and Koko Brown’s Jezebel from the same era. Sienna Mynx has written quite a few interracial historicals with black heroines, and Beverly Jenkins’s novel, Vivid, while it’s not an interracial story, features a black heroine working as a doctor. In 1876. Beverly Jenkins has been writing black historical romances for a long while now.

Another awesome cover — this one for Beverly Jenkins’s Vivid.

And I might have a couple up my sleeve, too, not that you asked. They’re way the hell up my sleeve, so far up that you can see the corner of one poking out of my collar, but they’re up there.

Belle’s release date is May 2, 2014. I’m hoping that it’s the beginning of a new trend, using the momentum of Scandal and Sleepy Hollow to drive some new avenues for storytelling. Most of all, I’m hoping I get to see it here in central Virginia. The nearest “selected city” is a couple of hours away.

Counting the days until May 2? Follow us here at Lady Smut. We’ll definitely keep you occupied until then!

Sexy Saturday Round-Up

Photo by Dollen

Hello Sexy! Well, hello November and cool cool weather. (Well, at least here in Va.) We’ve got a bunch of interesting blog posts for your perusal today. Sit back, relax, and enjoy!

From Liz:

Ten erotic romance novels you should read.

Four Keys to just the right sex.

New erotic romance releases.

Book subscription services: the next big thing in publishing?

From Madeline:

The Blog Romance Novels for Feminists reports on the problem of ‘monolithic attitudes’ towards romance.

Reading the article above made me realize that I have monolithic attitude towards porn – but maybe this Salon post on Best Tumblr Porn will change my mind.

Nina Simone’s “I put a spell on you”  meets very Lady Smut-esque video montage by ‪DivljaKupinAo31.

For kinky lovers: Pondering the downside of gags? Dr. Charley Ferrer has answers for you.

I just realized: OMG Legolas is single!

Yeah bitches! Abercrombie will finally sell larger sizes as a result of their messed up controversy.

Sexiest men over 50. ;>

5 romances that changed history.

Harlequin’s Kinky flow chart.

From Elizabeth:

At long last, nude male celebrities all in one place!

Get out the Crest whitestrips. Apparently good teeth are one of the keys in getting a guy to fall for you.

One of the most touching love stories ever.

Feet wide, chest out! According to guys, here’s how their body language attracts us.

Give me one for every wall! The 2014 hunky men and kittens calendar!

Interview: The Last Chanteuse, Anne Pigalle

Anne Pigalle by Derek Ridgers (2013)

by C. Margery Kempe

Today I’m happy to host the enchanting chanteuse, Anne Pigalle. Like Edith Piaf , The Last Chanteuse grew up at the back of Montmartre in Paris, France. Her teenage years were spent playing guitar in an all girls punk band and watching films. Pigalle moved to London, recorded with Michael Nyman and Adrian Sherwood and then went on to sign a recording contract with Trevor Horn’s record label ZTT, with whom she recorded an album and a few singles. Hailed as the Queen of Chic Bohemia, she will tour Europe and Japan. Her self styled photo in 1985 in front of the red velvet curtain has become iconic.

1) How would you describe your music to new fans?

My music is really a mixtures of different styles – ( it has lately included poetry but remains poetic even in a classic song format ) – I am French, so you will always fins find a trace of French culture, but the good stuff you know, the black and white stuff – when people had guts – it is sexy, but also intellectual, and mainly it comes from the heart! I do believe that it is truly original and so one must experience it, It travels through darkness and light, it deals with a woman issues in a collapsing society.

2) How did your career get started?

I grew up with Punk in Paris (and skived to London to see my boyfriend who lived with Glen Matlock) I played guitar in an all girls band, and so this gives me ammunitions – My father played in a jazz band a la Django Reinhardt style, so that gives me soul and cultural background.

3) Who or what inspires you?

Then of course from Punk to classic old chanteuses, to good rap to jazz, anything genuinely created inspires me

4) Many would-be stars try to use sex for its shock value: how do you embody sexuality in your music & performances?

It’s not new that sex sells – for me it came in a natural way without thinking about it, I used to perform sex and erotic poems in London before anybody else made it trendy, then I has a photo exhibition at the very prestigious gallery Michael Hoppen in London in 2006 where I photographed myself in the nude on vintage Polaroid and then transformed and painted the photos so you couldn’t really see much – there was esotericism to the photos and romanticism ( as there is to the poems on the Madame Sex Art Cds.)

I called the show Amerotica – Ame means soul in French – everybody jumped on the bandwagon after that, it was a very successful show – and the corporate’s American popsicles pantomime bimbos have been ripping this off, my photo and my ideas since 2009 ( no names lol ) but they are truly pathetic – no beauty, no thoughts , no experience, no love, just trash

5) Our culture often seems suspicious of avidly sexual women; have you ever experienced any negativity? How do you deal with it?

I don’t feel avidly sexual, just sexual sometimes, and not always. At the beginning some people laughed – Most people who jumped on the bandwagon only want to see the sensationalist and commercial aspect of this – typical – but most of those puppets are activated my men – the point of my work is to create a debate, not to offer my pussy to who wants to see it – my work is about relationships, more than about sex - poets and real artists live in another dimension, these bimbos live in their condos – I told one of their record executive ( he was a fan, hence all the rip offs ), that their bland commercial stuff might make millions, but it will never be post mortem as it is not transcendental.

6) What are you working on next and where can people see you perform?

I want to start my next album, real beautiful songs and I want to do it my way, except the unexpected, so this time I will be careful in talking about it – I don’t want to make a habit of being ripped off by the corporates – I’m trying to raise some funds to do so – It will definitely be my ultimate album, and I know the time is right – It is hard for the masses to make their  subconscious wake up, but when all the soul will have been squeezed out of their lives , they will have to do something in order not to die. Our spiritual life (aside from our stomachs ) is the reason why the human race has kept going…

My next concert: Edinburgh Voodoo Rooms, December 8th. And always somewhere in Soho…

Follow her online:

Madame Sex CD  http://annepigalle.bandcamp.com/
Fund the CD  http://www.sponsume.com/project/anne-pigalle-new-album-making
Blog http://annepigalle.wordpress.com/

F*** My Brains Out: Why Smart Guys Are Soooo Sexy

by Madeline Iva

Hi girrrrrrls!

I’ve been thinking lately. Some women like a guy who plays guitar.  Some women like the guy with a hot car.  Some women like the guy who gives that little smile and says, “I love kids.”

Arthur Miller you hottie you.

Not me.  No sir.

What turns me on?

Oh, preppy glasses.

A guy in a tie.

Cute dorks.

Large foreheads.

I don’t know people, for some reason I just find intelligence highly attractive.

Add to that a guy who’s very articulate and I’m almost panting.  You see a pocket protector, I see someone so brilliant he’s transcended fashion all together.

Who said sex is all in the brain? I have no idea, but there’s definitely some massive erogenous zone lurking in my cranium.

We aren’t supposed to like you as Charles Idris, but we do…we do.

Egon from Ghostbusters –I definitely had a crush on him the first time I saw the movie.  (The genius-guy who is otherwise totally oblivious—utter catnip for me.)

Keanu Reeves — no, wait.  Not a man known for his punishing intellect.  But he does have a nice forehead.

Doesn’t that sound so idiotic? Being into foreheads? But I am.  I noticed lately on my pinterest board all my inspirational guys I use to physically model heroes on have these really nice, large foreheads…

Please don’t judge.

Jeremy Renner–some might think he’s sorta meh in the looks department.  But he plays smart.  And look at that forehead.

So why preppy glasses? Well, they are an obvious signal of someone who isn’t afraid to look intellectual.  Who is too busy reading to put in contacts. (?) I don’t pretend to understand it–all I know is preppy glasses just send me.

Ties — well, I’ve always had a bit of a tie fetish.  Even in high school–I joined the debate team just so I could hang out with a lot of guys in ties on Saturdays.

Great voice, great glasses. I’d do him.

Perhaps ties signal to me that here is a guy who in some way works with his brain for a living.

In fact, I remember walking up to a guy at a party simply because he was the only guy there wearing a tie and asking him about his work.  He looked pretty startled for a second.  It turned out he investigated insurance fraud.  Most people would already be in a coma, but I was fixated on his loosened tie so I said, really, that sounds fascinating…and found out that he–I mean it–was.

(BTW, don’t use your local gas station to load up on gas before torching your car across town.  Each gas station has it’s own unique blend. They can trace the gas from the burned car back to the convenience store, look at the security cameras and…uh-oh!)

Won Bin — looking like the sensitive intellect you are.

Ultimately this guy was a real detective dealing with the criminal mind.  His job involved crunching the grey cells to catch the bad guys…which to me made him surprisingly yummy.

So there you have it — are you a smart guy? Show it off — get that hair off your prodigious…forehead.  Wear those glasses with pride.

I think the only thing sexier than a super-smart guy is the guy who really is turned on by super smart women. ;>

Like all you readers who follow our blog! — Jump your I.Q a few points and follow us if you haven’t already.

Satisfy Me, Baby

By Elizabeth Shore

You know how it is when you’ve just finished, and you lay back in the bed feeling completely satisfied, expel a contended sigh, and think to yourself, “Wow. That was great.”

Then you close the pages of the book you’ve just read and ponder what you’ll read next. (what? did you think I was talking about something else?)

Writers know what gives us book satisfaction when we’re producing our own material. We like how the characters turn out, when our pacing is smart and snappy, when our dialogue is realistic, when our prose flows like a river. But what about readers? What makes a reader feel deeply satisfied at the conclusion of a book versus howling with indignity and slamming it against the wall?

An important determination in the quest for book satisfaction is what exactly we’re trying to get out of the book. Readers of erotic romance, presumably, read it because they like the turn on they get from a hot book. They experience their own arousal through the characters, they enjoy reading explicit details of the sexual encounters as the romance progresses. I know reader friends who’ve told me that they use erotic romances as a way to spice up their sex lives with their spouses or lovers. So if a reader is left unsatisfied by an erotic romance, does it mean the sex scene were no good?

We all remember – while cringing, no doubt – the era of purple prose sex descriptions. How many books have we all read about the hero thrusting his love lance into her fiery honey pot? Nowadays readers expect better writing, and they get it. They also expect their sex scenes to be hotter, longer, and more varied. Writers deliver that, too. Erotic romances run the gamut from traditional m/f same race couples to gay couples, paranormal couples, interracial couples, ménage, BDSM, orgies, and everything in between. Yet readers, in the words of the Rolling Stones, still sometimes say:

I can’t get no satisfaction,

I can’t get no girly action.

‘Cause I try and I try and I try and I try.

I can’t get no, I can’t get no.

Mick and the boys – they look happy, but sometimes they’re just not satisfied.

Sometimes I think that an unsatisfactory book can honestly be attributed to a reader just not being in the right mood when they read it. Years ago I tried reading Frederick Forsyth’s Day of the Jackal. I read maybe twenty pages but couldn’t get into it. I’d heard it was good, but thought maybe it just wasn’t for me. Later on I tried again. Same result. It ended up taking me four tries before I could finally get into it, but to this day it remains one of my favorite books ever. It was, as reviewers often say, “a very satisfying read.”

The truth is, no matter how much we try to analyze the reasons behind why a book fails to please, emotion often trumps logic. It’s like romance and love itself. Why the hell are we falling for the bad boy when the upstanding, straight-laced, hard-working fatherly type would be a much better, more logical choice? Maybe so, but our emotional pull goes without reason or sense to the bad boy. He never fails to satisfy.

When do you find yourself unsatisfied by a book? Is there a base need that fails to get met, or are there any number of reasons why a book may leave you high and dry? Comment below and be sure to follow . . . ’cause here at Lady Smut, we aim to please.

Exotic, Erotic Ecuador

By Liz Everly

I often set my books in exotic locations and I love the research that goes with it. I’ve learned so much about cultures, food, and so on. It’s a great vehicle for showing who my characters are, as well. Sometimes in a new culture my characters are often thrown off-balance, as they try to navigate through legal systems or hospitals and so on. They also sometimes have that sense of freedom that we all enjoy when we travel.  We might, just might, have sex with that stranger in the Amazon, whereas on our home turf it could be harder to let go of our inhibitions.

Photo by Magnus Braith

One of the settings in my newest book, CRAVINGS, is Ecuador. Both of my characters are well-traveled. Sanj is a wealthy globe-trotting Indian man. And Sasha is an ex-sexworker whose clients included some of the wealthiest men in the world. They both know their way around as travelers, but they are in a sticky situation in Ecuador. Even though Sanj is smart, he doesn’t have the street creds that Sasha does. Besides that, she is a woman—and sees the planet a little differently. Take this scene in which they a questioning a tour guide about their missing friend, food journalist Maeve:

The man paused and considered the photo. “I’m sorry sir. Maybe she was in someone else’s group. But I don’t remember her.”

“Can you do me a favor? Take the photo and ask around. Here is my card,” Sanj said.

“What is the situation with her?”

“Her husband is looking for her, you see,” Sasha spoke up. She looked at him with a knowing expression.

“Ah,” he said. “I see.”

Taken aback, Sanj tried not to show it. Why would she say that? What was she doing?

“Oh look, “ Sanj said. “It does look like you know her.”

He held out a photo of him. “She had this on her camera. We downloaded it today.”

The man stiffened and shuffled his feet as his face reddened.

“Her husband is quite livid,” Sasha said.

“We’ll see what we can do,” he said, nodding his head.

“Thank you, sir,” she said.

“What are you doing?” Sanj turned to her.

“Trying to help. You see. Latin men? They will be much more willing to help find a woman if she is a runaway wife, than say, a journalist who doesn’t know how to mind her own business, ” she told him, in a low voice.

—

Every time I write a new book that entails a lot of research, there’s always a few things that take hold of me and spin around in my brain. When I was researching for CRAVINGS, I found out so much about Ecuador that made the country so attractive to me. I’d love to visit. I’ve added it to my ever-growing bucket list. I thought I’d share a few of the things I found intriguing about Ecuador.

Recent archeological digs suggest that Ecuador, not Mesoamerica, is the birthplace of chocolate.   Archaeologists  found traces of theobromine—a compound found in cacao beans, the raw material for chocolate—on 5,300-year-old pots in a southern province. Around the same time, an heirloom variety of cacao, called Nacional, was found growing wild about 300 miles south, in northern Peru. The beans, prized for their pure flavor, dominated Ecuador’s chocolate market before disease struck in 1916.
Some restaurants in Ecuador serve food in music boxes. That’s right. My editor and copy editor both questioned this. Music boxes? Really? If you’d like to see one, check out my pinterest page. I’ve not been about to find out why they do it—but it is charming, isn’t it?
Ecuador is the most megadiverse country per square kilometer. In relation to its surface, Ecuador holds the greatest amount of species of plants and animals in the whole planet.
It’s in the middle of the world. At latitude 0º, in the middle of the world, shadows disappear in the presence of the midday sun. How about that?
Cacao will sometimes grow under Coral trees, which have red waxy orchid –like flowers on them. In fact, some farmers take very good care of these trees because cacao grows so well beneath them. What gorgeous trees.

I have to admit that before I began to research Ecuador, I hadn’t given it much thought. but now it’s on my mind and in my dreams a great deal. One of the other places I researched for CRAVINGS was Saint Lucia. More about that later.

How about you? What place intrigues you? What’s at the top of your travel bucket list?

Forget the Bloodsuckers. Give Me the Wolf

by Kiersten Hallie Krum

All Hallows has past. The Great Pumpkin never arrived (poor Linus), and many of us are now swimming through vats of leftover candy (Hallelujah). But the obsession with the dark and deadly of the night never truly ends, does it? A happy happenstance for those who write in the paranormal genre.

There was a television special Friday night called Why We (Heart) Vampires. Ostensibly a retrospective on vampire movies and television shows with a focus on the men (and a few women) who’ve played the main fanger, it was not-at-all subtle, full-on promotional hour for the new NBC drama Dracula. I’m kinda watching Dracula, because, hel-lo Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Victorian England! But it feels as if they took Colleen Gleason’s Victorian vamps and vamp hunters from her Gardella Vampire Chronicles, folded it into the Dracula back story, and slapped it onto Friday night TV. Frankly, I’d rather read the books.

As for the television special, despite my avowed (evil) Spike affection (which is deep and devoted), I couldn’t get passed the title. I do not (heart) vampires.

Give me the wolf.

Strong. Wild. Fierce. Passionate. Uninhibited. Raw. Alive. Let’s take the gloves off here; no matter how pretty they may be, you bed down with a vamp, you’re banging a corpse. Werewolves can shag go out in the bright sunlight and roam through the dark. Why anyone wouldn’t prefer werewolves/ wolf-shifters to the vamp camp escapes me.

Let’s take a look at some, shall we?

Alcide:

Joe Manganiello immediately springs to the forefront of any discussion of the modern day werewolf. As reluctant (and now former) pack leader Alcide in True Blood, he is torn by the desire to indulge his lone wolf tendencies and the compulsion to exploit his innate need to protect and serve. (I have not read the Sookie Stackhouse books, so all discussion of Alcide is based on the television show.) Both options seem to require him to be frequently naked. For which we give profound thanks.

I’ve stuck with True Blood long past any interest in it solely for Alcide and the wolf pack story line, holding out hope that repeated promises of exploring that dynamic would go beyond crazy pack members acting crazy and/or having tons of sex as a plot point. Despite his bad taste in women (Suckie? Really?) not to mention a penchant for the lethally crazy women in his pack, Alcide is at heart a good man and a better wolf than he believes. Manganiello himself is a work of art in physical form, admirable and impressive. He takes playing Alcide quite seriously and is as committed to making Alcide’s emotional and character journey as tight and cut as his physique. I am only too pleased to enjoy both.

Richard:

Long before I dumped the Anita Blake series for its epic ton of WTFery, I devoured every book like it was covered in caramel and whipped cream. Before Anita turned into the sexual Mary Sue porn-star of paranormal novels, she had the original vampire-human-werewolf triangle with Master Vamp of the City Jean Claude, Anita herself, and reluctant alpha werewolf Richard, and holy hell was it hot.

Okay, Richard whines. I’ll give you that freely. And the hemming and hawing he does between desiring a white-picket human life while increasingly forced to take a power position in the pack gets old fast. But I lay that blame at his creator’s feet as author Laurel K. Hamilton seemed so keen to keep her heroine from making a choice and thus alienate half her readers, she kept Richard from ever following through on his character development. But those few times he embraced his true werewolf nature? Boy. Howdy.

What most draws me into the were lore of these novels is the Nordic mythology Hamilton applies to the pack structure.  This is most on display in my favorite of her wolf-focused books, Blue Moon. Blue Moon steps out of the usual (dare I say procedural) locale of an alternative St. Louis and takes Anita Blake and her vamp posse out into the woods where Richard is romancing a scientist and making nice with another pack. (Jean-Claude can’t go along because of some vampire politics nonsense, which helps ups the wolf factor big time.) The series and pack mythology is deep and rich and even Anita gets to explore how her metaphysical connection to Richard and his pack is enhanced by her necromancer powers and vice versa. In Blue Moon, Richard gets to be strong and alpha with a serious reduction of the whine factor and Anita (and readers) delight in him. I also love this book for the climatic scene of faith enacted against the (seriously evil) Big Bad of the book. It continues to be one of the best paranormal climaxes I’ve ever read. Damn. Now I’m gonna have to dig that out and re-read it…again. (Update: I did.)

Elena:

Kelley Armstrong took the werewolf jones and twisted it just slightly cock-eyed by making the heroine of Bitten, the first book in her Otherworld series, the only female werewolf in the world. Holding a unique position in the pack, she struggles to rectify her human and wolf-related lives as someone begins to turn criminals into werewolves…and starts picking off members of Elena’s estranged pack.

I love the fact that it’s the woman who is crucial to the pack here (despite it having a more-than-capable alpha) and am intrigued by the proposed conflict Elena goes through as she increasingly realizes how much more at home she feels in the wolf world than with humans. This is another case where I’ve yet to read the books—don’t judge; I’m visually oriented so I do better when I see the movie/show first—but I’m intrigued by the changes Armstrong makes to the lore. First with the “only one female werewolf” plot point and then by making her werewolves much more vulnerable than is typical. No silver bullets required.

Bitten has been made into a new television series, which is scheduled to debut in the U.S. in early 2014. I’ve been following the production of its first season as stars Laura Vandervoort, Greg Byrk, Greyston Holt and other cast members tweeted their way through production with lovely behind-the-scenes images that suitably whet the appetite. Their delight in the show they’ve made is palpable and goes a long way to making me excited for the project. Personally, I hope the Syfy channel has the wherewithal to pair Bitten back to back with Lost Girl come January 2014 so I can get my wolf on and on again.

Dyson:

Lost Girl is an urban fantasy show on the Syfy channel about a succubus, Bo, who was raised by humans and what happens when she discovers the supernatural world of the Fae from whence she truly comes. Dyson is a wolf-shifter, as opposed to werewolf, who is in love with Bo. Not controlled by the phases of the moon and completely in control when in wolf form, Dyson comes from a family of shifters who choose their animal form when they hit Fae puberty.

This is a key difference from werewolves who are typically either transformed humans who have been bitten or born a lycanthrope. Dyson chose the wolf. In this, his choice of animal form aligns with the qualities that already defined him as a man. Protector. Fierce. Loyal to a fault. Frisky. Passionate. Noble. Sly sense of humor. Occasionally goofy. Leader. Brother. Lover. Dyson can manifest physical attributes of the wolf—glowing gold eyes, razor-sharped teeth, elongated claws—without going full on wolf. But when he does wolf out…

Where Hamilton mines the Nordic myths for her pack structure in the Anita Blake novels, Dyson’s ancestry is in the Celtic pantheon. Though his back story has yet to be given an in-depth treatment in the show, Dyson’s ties to and history with a brotherhood of Celtic wolf-shifter warriors explored his pack mentality and how he became a lone wolf…until he found a new pack with the other characters who populate Lost Girl.

I also love the quiet moments Dyson’s alter ego, actor Kris Holden-Ried, works into his portrayal that make Dyson more than just a checked box next to “alpha male” on a casting director’s clipboard. At a thousand years old, Dyson’s seen and done a lot more than nearly all the other main characters on the show. The gravitas that experience and longevity has bred in him is as key to his character as his chiseled form. Over three seasons of the show, Holden-Ried has built a layered portrayal of a complex man who occasionally finds himself in wolf’s clothing.

Yeah, I got the wolf jones, baby. How ’bout you?

Follow LadySmut where we really like to howl…

Smut in Office: May All Your Bedfellows Be So Strange

By Alexa Day

Election Day is this week in Virginia and in a few other places across this great nation of ours. Like many dedicated citizens, I’m looking forward to it because I am sick to death of listening to political ads.

Some of you are starting to push back from the table. Don’t worry. I would never bring politics into our time together on Sunday morning. Seriously. I like everyone here too much to do that.

I would, however, post pictures of hot people playing politicians in the movies and on the television set. That’s right. No real politicians. No political content. That’s my pre-election promise to YOU.

Here’s Tony Goldwyn. He’s keeping Thursday hot as President Fitzgerald Grant from Scandal. He’s entirely too hot to be President, I think.

Not too late to start watching Scandal, you know. Time for November sweeps and all.

In fairness, Tony has been hot for years. After Kiss the Girls, I know I wasn’t the only one who wanted him to read the phone book. The big Manhattan phone book. Because I, my friends, am that sort of a sicko.

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“Please, Alexa. Please, not the phone book again.”

Because Fitz is at his hottest with Olivia Pope, here’s one more.

My favorite fixer knows how to handle a little pressure from the leader of the free world.

Speaking of people too hot to be President, check out John Cusack as President Nixon in The Butler.

It’ll take more than that killjoy frown to turn this handsome fellow into President Nixon.

How did he manage to avoid Historically Accurate Uglification for this movie? No, I’m not kidding. Did you even recognize Alan Rickman? I feel bad even telling people he was in the film because I didn’t know that was him until someone told me. Here’s John again, this time right next to the real Tricky Dick.

I see just a shade of resemblance here. Now it’s like seeing President Nixon, and President Nixon’s younger, hotter cousin.

Am I sidestepping James Marsden as JFK? Yes, I am. I’m just being capricious about it.

As he ages, Sean Penn is making that wonderful metamorphosis from hot to sexy to compelling (which is white hot). This is one of my favorite shots of him, from All the King’s Men.

Is he sexy because he’s a demagogue, or is he a demagogue because he’s sexy?

I’ve never seen it, so I don’t know what he’s on about. Even if I did know what he was talking about, I wouldn’t say so here because I promised I wouldn’t. But I love how alive he looks here, all flushed and bright-eyed with passion. He’s on fire.

I know I must be missing someone. Who else is making politics hot? You know the rules – no real politicians and no political content. Bringing sex and politics together in the most superficial way available. You’re welcome!

We’ll be here after the elections. Follow us and see.

Sexy Saturday Round-Up

Photo by Dollen

By Liz Everly and the Lady Smut Bloggers

Hello Sexy! It’s Sat-ur-day! We’ve been searching for the most interesting blog posts to bring you this week. We have the gambit this week–everything from how to have better orgasms to the weirdest sex stories of the ancient world.

I should mention the Hungry Hearts Blog Hop here, which my own blog (click here) is a part of this week. It’s an opportunity for you to check out some delicious recipes from your favorite culinary romance writers. PLUS you can win some fabulous prizes.

On the blog posts!

From Liz:

Holding sex writers to task.

Kensington CEO Steven Zacharius on the publishing scoop.

How to have better orgasms.

From CMK:

Jane Austen RPG Kickstarter

Popular Romance Conference round-up  including Jennifer Crusie’s keynote (via Romance Novels for Feminists)

Lucy Felthouse on Eroticon 2013

Geek Girl Con: Growing! (via Publishers Weekly)

7 Weirdest Sex Stories of the Ancient World (via Publishers Weekly)

From Elizabeth:

Get over your oral sex insecurities with these healthy approaches.

50 absolutely fabulous real-life romantic moments. #14 was AWESOME.

Forget spending on that time making sure your face looks pretty. What guys see first, study proves, is our bodies.

From Madeline:

I like the photos, but yeah, as Jeremy Bender points out on Buzzfeed, these Cosmo sex positions rarely work.

Upworthy video on our society’s ridiculous standards of beauty.

There’s a show called Crime Time on You Tube.  I’m loving the episodes with criminal profiler Jim Clemente, hosted by Allison Hope Weiner.  Check out this episode about Jody Arias here.

Wanna get your Sherlock fix? Suzanne Moore recommends an early Benedict Cumberbatch BBC show.

BDSM Writers has a kinky scale! Now you can see how you rate.

This one goes out to all my writer friends gnashing their teeth over one star reviews. Upworthy.com’s latest song about annoying online commentary.

Don’t forget to subscribe to Lady Smut!

Stay Hungry,

Liz

Five Reasons Why Ghosts Make Better Lovers

Happy Day of the Dead!

Halloween is too good to let go of too soon, so if we slide into our remembrances of the dead, it’s the perfect time to say once more that Love doesn’t end with death. Ghostly lovers have long been a staple of romance. While intangible lovers seem to have an insurmountable problem, surely the eternal nature of their love is something to sigh for. And they do have advantages:

1) Nothing to do but think of you

Surely there’s something appealing in a lover who has nothing but time to spend thinking of you, watching you adoringly and available for amusing conversation any time day or night because where else do they have to be?

2) Scare away unsuitable would-be lovers

Don’t you be fooled by that caddish George Sanders look-alike who charms you for a while before revealing his nefarious purpose. Your ghostly lover isn’t fooled for a moment and that’s why the vase keeps getting knocked over!

3) Timeless style

Okay, maybe Hollywood is lying but ghostly lovers seem most likely to die wearing snappy Edwardian clothing or stylish Victorian garb. Who needs a trend-grabbing lover in disco threads or 80s hair? Style all the way!

4) Someone to watch over you

As Ella (and Frank and just about every singer worth their salt) has sung, there’s a lovely feeling of safety in knowing someone’s got your back everywhere:

There’s a somebody

I’m longin’ to see

I hope that he turns

Out to be

Someone to watch over me

5) Waiting for you

When the inevitable end comes as it must to us all, isn’t it nice to know that you don’t have to face it alone? Let your eternal lover take your hand and lead you into “The undiscovered Country, from whose bourn / No Traveller returns” and be reunited once more.

Some of the most fun ghost love stories: what have I missed?

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