Blue Monday ~ 7 Ways to Rock Blue Hair

Blue Monday - the day to show off a few of my favorite Pinterest pins. On Mondays I hook up with Pinning! at A Night Owl Blog/Baxtron{Life}. On Wednesday, it's Oh, How Pinteresting! at The Vintage Apple.

What is it about blue hair that looks so appealing? Maybe it has something to do with all the different looks associated with it. Take, for example, wearing blue hair Beltane-style, with the horns of fertility.



Witches love blue hair - remember in Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone when Harry accidentally turned his teacher's hair blue? It's in the book, so if you only saw the movie, you missed out.

Then, of course, there's the Marge Simpson look.



Blue doesn't have to be monotone. You can rock blue hair with subtle shading, and maybe hints of lavender.



You can go bi-colored, perhaps with black.



You could go for the Corpse Bride look, with a wreath of roses.



A bright, shiny apple could make a flattering complement to a blue 'do.



Or you might choose a less traditional accessory. This one reminds me of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters.

SOC Sunday ~ I Need the Internet and the Internet Needs Me

Today’s Writing Prompt: How has the internet changed your life – professionally and/or personally?


The writing prompt comes from Stream of Consciousness Sunday, hosted by AllThingsFadra. It's a 5-minute free write. Publish your stream of consciousness, then link up at Fadra's website for an SOC Sunday blog hop. 

Are you kidding me? Without the Internet, I have no career. 


My "day" writing/editing job is a telecommuting position. I live in the Great Lakes region, but the company I freelance for is in California. Obviously, I would have major commuting problems if it weren't for the Internet. I work from home, doing all my work online. 


As for my creative writing - well, I know writers accomplished their craft for thousands of years before the Internet was invented, but that doesn't mean I want to return to the traditional route. Sure, Ernest Hemingway never Tweeted about his latest work in progress - but I'm glad I can. 


I remember the typewriter ; my parents got me an electric typewriter as an eighth grade graduation gift. But I don't want to go back to the days of Wite-Out and hand-written corrections. Give me the ability to blog and live-Tweet any time. It helps me connect with other writers and potential readers. 


The Internet is an awesome research tool, too. Sure, I remember how to go to the library and use the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. I still do, sometimes. Rachel's blog title is accurate: You Just Can't Google Everything. Libraries are still an awesome resource - and fun, too. 


I'm still glad I can Google almost everything. 

Journey Beyond 2012: A Novel ~ Review

It's Friday, so I'm recovering from Thursday night TV. The Vampire Diaries season finale - spoiler alert! - had Elena becoming a vampire. It happened in the book series, but the TV series doesn't follow the books very closely at all. So that was surprising, but it wasn't the most shocking thing. The big shocks were a) Alaric Salzman is dead, and b) Klaus is not truly dead, but somehow transported into Tyler's body.

I hope Tyler's not dead. I love TV-Tyler and TV-Caroline together. I'm already unhappy about losing Alaric. He never even got the chance to have a romance with Meredith!

Sticks with you through your werewolf transformation, even though your bite can kill her. Caroline is a ridadie chick. 

Speaking of Thursday-night fictional couples, Person of Interest revealed something most intriguing about the mysterious Mr. Harold Finch: Finch has a fiancee who believes him to be dead. This woman was played by Carrie Preston, the lovely lady who plays Sookie Stackhouse's fellow Merlot's waitress Arlene on True Blood. Only a few days ago, I learned Preston is married to Michael Emerson, the actor who plays Finch. (Apparently, his last gig was as a villain on Lost, I show I never watched, but which also featured current TVD actor Ian Somerhalder.) When Person of Interest and True Blood collide, I'm a happy lil' cupcake - even though the storyline was a rather sad one.

What would I do without TheDorkMistress' Tumblr?

At least the love of Finch's life is alive and happy. Reese's Jessica is still dead. (Sad face.)

Springing the POI from Carter's precinct required Reese to don a police officer's uniform, in which, it should be noted, Jim Caviezel looks so ridiculously man-pretty. He's always ridiculously man-pretty (in fact, I think Caviezel means man-pretty in Rhaetian), but in a uniform? I feel faint.

Reese, take off the cop uniform. Slowly. 

But enough about TV. Let's talk about a different Italian-American, one whose talent lies not in acting (that I know of), but in writing (and cooking).

In Italian Cuisine a la Piero Rivolta, I promised you a review of Rivolta's novel Journey Beyond 2012. I have now finished reading said novel. These are my thoughts - but first, the trailer.



I loved this book. When I first read the title, I thought it was going to be a harrowing action-adventure story of the catastrophe that awaits the world when the Mayan calendar ends on December 21, 2012. This is not that kind of book, though. It's thought-provoking and inspirational.

I don't want to give too much away, but in Rivolta's vision, the world doesn't literally end when the Mayan calendar ends. Instead, the human race is presented with an opportunity to evolve. This is sort of an allegory, with Ryan representing one way of looking at the work and Valeria representing the opposite.

The one thing that annoyed me about this book was Rivolta's habit of referring to the human race as "mankind." That sort of casually sexist language may have flown in 1965, but it's out of place in today's literature.

Interestingly enough, the Mayan calendar is in the news again today. It appears that archaeologists in Guatemala have discovered a version of the Mayan calendar that goes well beyond 2012. You can read the USA Today story here.

Whether or not you believe the world is going to go through some kind of turmoil on December 21st, read this book. It might just teach you a little something about yourself.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher at no cost. I received no other compensation for this review, which represents my own true opinion.

Lots of Interesting Sex: The Pagan Spirits Interview with Nomi Eve

In a June 25, 2011 post, I wrote:

"The History of Love is not my favorite Jewish fiction ever. That might be Nomi Eve's The Family Orchard, Markus Zusak's The Book Thief or possibly Mona in the Promised Land by Gish Jen."

The post then deviated from a discussion of fiction, as one might guess from its title, "5 Jewish Dudes I'd Most Like to See Lewd." ("Lewd" was the buzzword of last year's Congressman Anthony Weiner scandal.) At the moment, it's my #7 all-time most viewed post.  

Imagine my surprise when Nomi Eve sent me an e-mail saying she'd read the post and thanking me for mentioning her book. It was a bit of an awkward way to start a literary dialogue, but Nomi Eve agreed to answer a few questions for me and my readers. 

Erin O'Riordan: Some of the reviewers of The Family Orchard criticized the book for its emphasis on the erotic. How did you respond to this criticism?

Nomi Eve: My characters break many taboos.  They steal, lie, and have lots of interesting sex.  Personally I don't like to read about boring people doing ordinary things.  And so I don't write about people doing ordinary things.  I responded to those reviewers by not responding at all.  If someone was offended, I assume they stopped reading after the third or fourth page.  And if they kept reading, well, then they couldn't have been all that offended in the first place. 

Erin O'Riordan: To create your novel, you used your father's research into your family history, but fictionalized that history. Other authors have been caught at passing fictionalized memoirs off as their true stories. In your mind, is there a clear line between a carefully-shaped historical account and fiction? 

Nomi Eve:  Absolutely.  I very consciously blended fact and fiction in The Family Orchard.  I was blatant and upfront about my use of my father's narrative. But my whole point was to show that the line between fact and fiction is naturally blurry.  We tend to think that memoir is devoid of fiction and fiction is devoid of truth.  I have always found otherwise.  Each contains elements of the other.  Now, historians are different.  Historians need to build their narratives out of sturdy fact-based materials, whereas fiction is made of soul, memory and imagination. That doesn't mean that good fiction can't rely upon research and historical veracity.  Only that readers need to be aware that the fiction writer can take them anywhere, and that adhering to a character's truth isn't the same thing as being factually accurate.  

Erin O'Riordan: Did you create the family tree and the glossary of orchard terms before or after completing the novel? I wonder if you used it as a reference as you were writing, or added it afterward for the benefit of readers.

Nomi Eve:  I created both of these things afterwards.  The whole time I was writing I had all the characters floating around in my head, and the same goes for the glossary of orchard terms.  They were two of the last things I did before the book was sold. 

Erin O'Riordan: In an interview for The Jewish Federations of North America, Jodi Werner compared your writing style in The Family Orchard to Latina fiction. Was the work of the Spanish-language magical realists something you had in mind as you were writing the novel?

Nomi Eve:  I have always loved Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabelle Allende, but I also love Isaac Bashevis Singer, Cynthia Ozick and Meir Shalev.  Jewish writers have always been magical realists. The Talmud, and the mystical Jewish texts are nothing if not magically real.  There is tremendous cultural and spiritual overlap between the great Spanish language writers and the great Jewish writers.  

Author: שחר דרורי Creative Commons license

Erin O'Riordan: Why do you think it is that Israelis seem so infatuated with trees? Is it just a consequence of living in a desert area, or is there something more to it?

Nomi Eve:  My Israeli grandfather was of the generation who planted the orchards in the early twentieth century, and then made a livelihood by harvesting the fruit.  That way of life is mostly gone now.  But the history of Israel can certainly be told as a story of the grafting of disparate people, the planting of hearty trees, and the harvesting of the fruit of ancient days on modern soil.  Orchards provide endless metaphors, and for a writer, and the granddaughter of an orchard man, well, they proved irresistible. 

Erin O'Riordan: If I were to visit Brookline, Massachusetts, what would be the one cultural attraction - whether part of the Jewish community or otherwise - I would not want to miss?

Nomi Eve:  I no longer live there.  Now I live with my family in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.  And the one thing I would recommend not to miss is a construction site.  Our community has come together to build a food co-op on the site of an old abandoned empty grocery store -- which also happens to be located in the heart of our tiny town center.  It is just glorious to see what can happen when people come together to build something out of nothing.  Every day we watch more beams go up.  Our entire community is thrilled by the progress and promise of this one communal undertaking. 

WIP Wednesday: Mary Hart Perry Update

Authors needed - all genres! Are you an author who'd like to share a 100- to 200-word blurb about a current work in progress on a future WIP Wednesday? If so, please send an e-mail to Erin O'Riordan (erinoriordan AT sbcglobal DOT net).

Read Mary Hart Perry's previous WIP Wednesday guest post here.

Mary Hart Perry: As of today I'm diving back into Seducing the Princess, the second book of my new Victorian thriller series that features the daughters of Queen Victoria. The first, The Wild Princess, comes out  August 1 of this year, and I don't have a release date for the second. But I'm hoping to have it ready for 2013 publication...maybe. 


I'm nearly halfway through with this novel, not as far along as I'd have liked, due to interruptions such as an increased teaching schedule at The Writer's Center in DC and a multitude of writer's conferences. But the good thing about being among other writers is you get recharged. So I'm throwing myself into an aggressive writing binge. 

Queen Victoria painted by Franz Xavier Winterhalter, 1843.  Public domain image

By the end of May I hope to have my draft done, leaving the summer for fine tuning. The first novel is about Princess Louise, the fourth daughter of Victoria and Albert, who dreamt of becoming an artist at a time when women weren't allowed the same training in art as men. The second is about Beatrice, whose fate was to be the aging queen's caretaker. Victoria wanted Beatrice to remain unmarried and "pure". (Read that: a virgin.) Beatrice wasn't too thrilled with that idea. Anyway, back to work now. I'm in the middle of a very exciting chapter! Hugs to all as you write and read...


Mary Hart Perry on Goodreads, Twitter and Facebook

Read an excerpt from The Wild Princess on Mary Hart Perry's website

Ad-Dick-Tion Volume 2 ~ anthology is released today!

Breathless Press would like to announce the release of Ad-Dick-Tion Volume 2! This anthology of erotica contains my m/m/f short story "Aftercare."

The anthology's official tag line is, "In this collection of sizzling hot male obsessions, feel the heat with m/m stories by our wonderful Breathless Press authors."

"Aftercare" has been described this way: "When respectable Dr. Maggie is propositioned by one of her patients and his sexy partner, flirtation flares into a 911 emergency of passion." A little excerpt:

"We have to take our time. We have all night, don't we? Or are you wearing that goddamn hospital pager again?"

I ran my hands over my hips to show that I wasn't concealing the pager under my skirt. "I'm not on call," I said. And since he wanted to do things slowly, I decided to take my time and play with him. I got down on the floor, kneeling.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking things slowly." I showed him. Joey had very big feet. Those feet were one part of him I'd left unexplored the last time we'd been together, but I wouldn't make the same mistake this time. I kissed the top of his foot.

As my fingers brushed against the bottom of his foot, I discovered what he meant; he was very ticklish. I was hoping what followed would be like great porn, but instead it was more like a cartoon. I tried to keep hold of Joey's foot while he repeatedly jerked it away. Trying to kiss it again was even more futile. Soon I gave up and started kissing my way up his leg.

 I worked my way up to his thigh, then stopped.

"Why did you stop?"

I took hold of the waistband of his white shorts and tugged at them. "Let's get these off of you."

He looked excited by the idea, but said, "No, Maggie. I don't want you to do me. I want to do you."

There was something about the way Joey said "I want to do you" that melted me like a popsicle on a dashboard in August. I felt a surge of moisture in my panties. Not cool like a frosty treat, but hot like the touch of Joey's hand on the small of my back.
          Then he did something I wasn't expecting: he lifted me off the floor. I struggled a bit; I usually don't like being picked up. Loss of control throws me off my game. Not to mention that I'd operated on his back only weeks ago.

"Careful," I started to say.

He laughed. "My back is fine, Maggie," he said. "You're a great surgeon. I do this to Max all the time." He carried me toward the bedroom.

"Really?"

"No." He snorted. "He weighs, like two-twenty. And he's not a girl."

It's available in a variety of formats, and you can get it on Amazon for your Kindle (or Kindle for PC program).

You won't need to have read the first volume to follow the second. If you're the type who likes to read a series in order, you can also catch up with the first one on Amazon.

Blue Monday ~ Bejeweled Blitz

Look! Shiny objects!

On Monday I link up with Baxtron{Life} and A Night Owl for Pinning! On Wednesday it's The Vintage Apple for Oh, How Pinteresting!!! If you're dropping by from either of these blog hops, welcome, and please leave a comment! 

These pins mostly come from my I've Got the Blues board. This pretty, pretty mineral is aqua quartz.



The bluest eye - not the Toni Morrison novel. (Although, if you've never read Toni Morrison before, I do recommend starting with The Bluest Eye. It's probably her most accessible, not nearly as layered as Song of Solomon or Beloved. Those are the three that I've read.) 



Earrings in the classic Mexican "sugar skull" motif

Conch-shell mosaic.

The prettiest crystal and silver bracelet. 

The blingiest pumps. (Okay, the bottom one's pink, but the top one's blue.)