Pamela Clare's Blog, page 34

MTM — Special Request: The Flip Side

Wish I could spend Monday like this.

Last week, we at MTM Corporate Headquarters got a request for sexy backs. It's an interesting request for an operation that focuses primarily on fronts. MTM stands for Man-Titty Monday, after all. And, as we all know, titties are not found on the back.

But the mission of MTM is to please women and to bring gratification to what is otherwise the most annoying day of the week. Therefore, the staff at MTM — me — got to work hunting down sexy backs and shoulders.

(Note: As an aside, just let me mention that there's something wrong with today's search engine. I googled "sexy male backs" and got hot nude chicks doing chicks. I entered "male backsides" and got hot naked chicks doing chicks. And you don't even want to know what I got when I entered "sexy men from behind.")

The top photo picks up where with left off last week with photographs of couples. It looks like those two are about to have all kinds of fun. One can't help but be jealous. And though I really do love man chest, I have to say that searching for man backs gave me a new appreciation for the sexiness of the male back view.

Nice tattoo! It says "Mother" Aw!

This guy is taking a break from hard work of some kind. Perhaps he's about to pull up his britches. I'm glad he hasn't done it yet, because in addition to his back and the sexiness of his triceps, we get a good look at the top of his glutimi maximi. His buzzed hair gives him a nice urban look and kind of reminds me of Zsadist from the BDB series.


This gentleman is just amazing. I love the way his traps taper down into a very distinct V, his waist a lot smaller than his shoulders. Very balanced, his skin like marble, he is a pleasure to behold. I just keep wondering what his back would look like covered with scratches...

You probably don't recognize him, but this is Jed Hill: The Flip Side. Notice the tapering V. Notice the symmetry. Notice what ever the heck you want to notice — just keep a napkin handy to wipe up the drool. We at MTM take no responsibility for shorted-out keyboards.


Last but certainly not least is this gentleman, who appears to be doing a triceps press off a footstool. We're okay with that because every muscle in his upper body seems to be flexed. And, yes, there are veins. Who knew that veins in a man's arm could be sexy?

Thanks for joining us for another edition of MTM. We hope that those of you out there who love men's backs are feeling happy. And I hope that the rest of us gained a new appreciation for yet another delectable part of the male body.

Happy Monday, everyone! May hormones get you through your workday.

Review of Robyn Carr's VIRGIN RIVER

Virgin River by Robyn Carr

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I flipping loved this book.

It's my first Robyn Carr book. I've read a lot of good things about her here on Goodreads and also on Amazon, and I ordered several of her books this spring, hoping to get some time to read them.

Recently widowed Melinda Monroe, a certified nurse midwife, decides that to move beyond her grief she must start her life again. She sells almost everything she owns and moves to Virgin River, a tiny town in the middle of the California forest. At first it seems the transition from the violence of working in the hospitals in LA to living in a town that doesn't even seem big enough to be a town is going to be too much for her. But she quickly finds herself drawn closer to this tiny community and its resident, particularly Jack Sheridan, a former U.S. Marine who runs the closest thing the town has to a bar/restaurant. Watching Mel and Jack fall in love was pure pleasure.

I particularly loved the medical realism of the midwifery scenes. I read in reviews that some readers didn't like all the pregnancy/childbirth/breastfeeding talk that naturally goes with Mel's career, but as someone who had two midwife births and breastfed for a long time, I really appreciate that. Though certainly motherhood isn't for every woman, I think having a baby is the most amazing thing women do, and having a midwife as a heroine was truly wonderful. The birth scenes were realistic, but not gory at all.

The quality of the author's research was apparent not only with regard to midwifery, but also the hero's military background and law enforcement aspects of the story, as well as the milieu of the small town and the surrounding countryside, where some residents are wonderful people and some are not.

I also enjoyed the fact that the heroine was strong but not "kick ass." I just don't enjoy reading about heroines who kick butt and are oh so tough. Bores me. I much prefer feminine heroines who can be strong — but in a feminine way. Call me old fashioned, but I prefer the hero to be the one who kicks ass. Heroines with knives, tattoos, and tough ninja moves who swing through the skyscrapers on ropes braided from their own chest hair just don't do it for me.

Though profanity doesn't bother me — how could it? My books are full of it — this book has only mild profanity. The sex is romantic and descriptive rather than erotic and extremely detailed. That's fine with me, because I can take either, provided it's well written. I just like a well-crafted love scene.

I found Carr's style to be captivating. Let's put it this way: I didn't plan to read a book tonight. I sat down with this kind of by accident at about 9 PM and read it in one sitting, finishing at about 2 AM. That doesn't happen for me very often — maybe once a year or once every other year.

Thanks, Ms. Carr, for the hours of enjoyment. Looking forward now to the rest of this series.

Do you feel your boobies?

Do you feel your boobies? There are people who want to know — for your sake.

My younger son, Benjamin, and his friends put together a video about breast cancer awareness and are competing with other filmmakers for a $10,000 prize. As some of you know, Benjamin is studying filmmaking at Ithaca College in New York.

How does he win this prize? It's kind of like American Idol in that he wins through votes. People can vote once a day, and the video that gets the most public support wins.

Benjy's video plays on the Old Spice commercials, and it's pretty clever. So if you get a chance, I'd really appreciate it if you'd click here, watch his video, which is titled Intervention, and then vote for it. You have to register, but it's a pretty painless and quick process.

If Benjamin wins, he plans to use his share of the money as the budget for his senior thesis film, so it could really help him. And that helps me!

Thanks in advance for your support! And do remember to feel your boobies!

Contest details

MTM — Special Couples Edition

Happy Monday!

Man-Titty Monday is dedicated to the peaceful enjoyment of the male body, but it doesn't hurt to throw in some sexy couples shots, especially when you can't really see the women...

The photo above definitely looks like the start of something fun. Wet, undressed man, nails on his chest, woman on top. I find it inspiring. You?




This woman clearly has very little patience. I can sympathize. If I were standing body-to-body with that male body, I wouldn't have much patience either. Forget the "bodice ripper." We're talking "briefs ripper" here. And isn't it about time to turn that paradigm around?



Here's a variation on the nails theme — from behind this time. What's nice about this is that all that lovely man titty is left there for us to peruse without some annoying female in the way — and yet having her fingernails digging into his skin is kind of sexy.



This woman clearly knows what she wants and is going for it. But I think she needs to be careful. Squeeze the wrong bits, and it will be over before it begins. Note his cool wristband. I like wristbands and armbands on men, particularly sexy, shirtless men.


This woman is a sister of the heart. She's about to take matters into her own hands, and this gentleman looks like he's pretty satisfied with that. He's reaching back, perhaps to draw her closer so he can kiss her. Either way, the photo is delicious.

Speaking of couples, the results of a big national sex survey were recently released and indicate that women are still less satisfied by sex than men. Some of it may be the men that these unsatisfied women are sleeping with. We all know that some men can be selfish pigs in bed. My advice: Move on. Life is too short to spend with a boor.

But part of it may be that women are still faking orgasm. The survey found that 84 percent of men believed their most recent partner had climaxed, while only 64 percent of women said this was true. Part of this is no doubt due to male cluelessness. But part of it must also be due to women committing that cardinal sin: faking orgasm.

Faking orgasm is like giving your puppy a treat for pooping on your floor.

When you fake an orgasm, you're teaching your guy how not to please you. In the end, it may make him think he's a stud, but at your expense. No man is worth that. Sexual pleasure is a woman's right. It falls under "pursuit of happiness" in the Constitution, as far as I'm concerned.

So don't fake it! And have a lovely Monday!

Involuntary home improvement

And there it is — my new refrigerator.

It arrived on Friday, and this time the one I chose fit. It's got the freezer on the bottom, with French doors that open to refrigerator on both sides. It dispenses filtered water and ice from the door, as you can see, and the cool part is the light — it shines a kind of purply-blue.

I didn't want a new fridge, but if you read my last post you know I didn't have a choice.

Now that it's here, of course, I'm happy to have it. The best part? No more mopping up leaking water off the floor.

My dear friend Libby came over to help, unloading and loading food while I sat and was supremely lazy. Bending over still hurts a lot, so the help was very much appreciated.

Yesterday, I spent the day at Colorado Romance Writer's annual tea. I was among several published authors who gave talks about our books. I spoke about Naked Edge, talking about the emotional underpinnings of the story. I talked a bit about the fact that it seems to be a hit-or-miss book, a novel that readers either love or hate depending on their ability to relate to Kat, the Navajo heroine.

Of course, this is Colorado, so there were some people there who come from climbing families, as I do, and they were interested in the climbing aspects of the story. I got into a fun conversation with one writer whose relatives likewise climb walls, trees, trellises, everything and anything, if they have a spare moment. No family get-together is complete without someone climbing a real wall. And then there are piles of ropes and pitons and cams and... It was fun to talk about.

The coolest thing about being at the CRW tea yesterday was watching Libby win second place in the Heart of the Rockies contest for her urban fantasy novel. Go, Libby! I was so happy for her and had to be there to represent.

Needless to say, I haven't much writing done, so that's my focus today. I'm down to the last five chapters of Breaking Point and am hoping to finish by early November. My deadline is Oct. 15.

For those of you on Goodreads, Dangerous Hero Addict Support Group, is hosting "Getting to Know Pamela Clare" starting on October 22 and running through the weekend. If you want to participate, click here and see about getting yourself invited. I love Goodreads because it enables me to connect with readers and chat about all kinds of books in a friendly environment without the trolls and the periodic flame wars one sees elsewhere. If you're not a member, check it out.

MTM — The Second Coming: Jed Fest

Sorry I've been gone so long.

I spent the last couple of weeks before my return to work working on Breaking Point with the religious zeal. It was glorious to do nothing but write, truly glorious. That's the life I want. I have to say it felt very busy, even though all I was doing was going for walks, making meals and writing.

Last Monday, I went back to work. Everyone was fantastic and very helpful. Although I thought I was ready, I found it much more exhausting than I'd realized, and I spent a lot of this weekend sleeping.

But last week was a crappy week for reasons having nothing to do with going back to work. It was the Week of Homeowners Hell.




Sunday night as I was doing laundry and rushing to finish Chapter 24, my main sewer line backed up into my downstairs bathroom. I was sitting within sight of it and just sat there staring, unable to believe what I was seeing. I stopped the washer, which stopped the flooding, then I threw towels on the water, called a plumber, called my parents and sat down on the couch and cried. (Yes, very effective technique.) My parents cleaned up the mess — God bless them! I'm still not up to that — and the plumber found a giant wad of thick, blond hair in the pipe. (Where did that come from?)




Monday involved going back to work, calling the carpet cleaners and.... Buying a new refrigerator because my fridge broke. Yes! Bonus!

On Friday, the carpet cleaners came and made my cream white carpet look like new. And my new fridge arrived — but was about two inches too wide for the space. Who knew fridges came in different sizes?

I had spent about an hour getting everything out of the old fridge, and it wasn't easy. The most painful thing these days is bending over. I doesn't hurt to bend; it hurts to stand upright again. That unhealed bone graft at C5/6 shifts just the tiniest bit, and it flipping hurts. So getting stuff out of the fridge was not fun or easy. Putting it all back in again when the delivery guys drove away with my new fridge was even worse.

Then I had to go find a skinnier version of that model, which should be here on Friday again. Fortunately, this time I'm going to have help from one of my gangsta BFFs, who promised even to feed me grapes (hopefully not the shriveled ones at the bottom of my veggie crisper) while unloading my old fridge.



All of this is a way of explaining my prolonged absence, though truly I don't think there's anything more interesting I could post here than the cover to Breaking Point and the excerpt.

Unless it's several photos of Jed Hill...

I hope these photos bring a rush of estrogen to your Monday. And thank you to all of you for your e-mails, messages, letters and cards during these past two months while I've been recuperating. They meant so much to me.

I probably won't be around much during the next four weeks as I work to get Breaking Point written, polished and in to my editor. I would hate for you all to have to wait longer for the book. July is far away enough as it is.

Here it is — BREAKING POINT cover! Plus EXCERPT

Here it is! I'm so excited to share it with you — the cover for my next I-Team novel, Breaking Point.

And who's on the cover, but the achingly delicious Jed Hill. I recognize those obliques and those lips. Tasty.

This demands an excerpt, don't you think?

From Breaking Point:

Zach hung limply from the manacles, unable even to hold up his head. His shoulders ached from supporting his dead weight, manacles biting into his bloody wrists. But none of that could compare to the residual pain of that l...

For Kristie J — Get Well Soon!

One of the best kisses in film history

There are likely few residents of Romancelandia — authors or readers — who haven't seen the name KristieJ somewhere on a blog or who don't know Kristie J from her own blog or from her various crusades for books and movies she loves.

I've had the great pleasure of meeting Kristie twice — once at her first RWA conference (in Atlanta?) and once right here in Colorado. She was part of this summer's Pamela Clare Reality Tour and sat squished in the very back of...

Special treat from BREAKING POINT

Jenn J from Sapphire Dreams is an amazingly sweet and talented person. When I approached her about making a series of trailers for Breaking Point, she got to work tracking down images. I lamented that what we needed was a photo of Zach MacBride, the hero, in chains and that we weren't going to find one.

But Jenn took an image of the model I have in my mind's eye for Zach and painted him in chains. She sent the image to me and, having no idea what I was opening, I downloaded it, opened it and ...

The Return of MTM — Men in briefs

Still recovering, but I thought I'd do a quick Monday update and share some sexy men with you all. Who wants a Monday when you can have a Man-Titty Monday?

This week's theme: Men in briefs.

The gentleman in the photo above appears to be just as excited about MTM as we are. I don't know about you, but my gaze sort of fixes on one thing there...


The sleeping Adonis above looks like he needs to be wakened with love's true kiss. Any volunteers?



I don't really have anything to say about this one exc...