Melange Books is giving away several of its new releases tonight, including The Smell of Gas by Erin O'Riordan and Tit Elingtin! Melange authors Ruth J. Hartman, Bobbi Groover, Rie Sheridan Rose and Lewis Levite are blogging with me today at Nights of Passion. Our host is the incomparable C. Margery Kempe, not the historical mystic but the erotic writer featured in I Kissed a Girl. Stop by, leave a comment, maybe win the book!
You can also catch me guest-hosting the Weekend Creation Blog Hop at WordsInSync. Stop by and find some new favorites among the truly creative blogs, and read a new excerpt from The Smell of Gas.
Finally, come get your book geek on with me at Celebration of the Nerd.
Hope to see you there!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
'An Exchange of Love' reviewed by Carol Upton
Animals Healing People in Past,
Present and Future Lifetimes
Madeleine Walker
O Books
Paperback, 2008, $19.95
ISBN: 978-1-84694-139-9
Available on Amazon
Reviewed by Carol M. Upton ~ www.dreamsaloud.ca
The more I learnt, especially from horses, the more amazed I was at their insight into their owners and the deeper implications of their messages began to dawn on me; that there was an exchange, a two way healing. ~ Madeleine Walker
Equestrians are definitely embracing a myriad of ways to better understand their horses, whether to improve show performance or simply enjoy a more pleasant trail ride. In this book, U.K. horse and rider trauma consultant Madeleine Walker draws on her extensive knowledge to help readers gain insights into the links between past trauma / lives and present behavior.
Walker shares compelling true stories from her daily practice and she puts forth ideas that require the reader to see unlimited intuitive connection possibilities.
“When trust is established, even the most apparently aggressive and dangerous animal relaxes, and communication begins,” says Walker.
Walker can heal both horse and rider on many different levels and help us change what we see as ‘misbehavior’ in our animals. Rosie, a mare who was rescued just hours away from slaughter, could not be shoed or touched near her girth. After discerning a terrible past, Walker helped Rosie become a well-balanced saddle horse for the rest of her days.
Walker employs various forms of energy healing such as chakras, visualization, and soul retrieval to help discover emotional issues an animal may be carrying. Her central theme is that animals are our teachers and we have only to listen with open minds. There is so much we can do instead of giving up on a horse with challenging behavior. This book will appeal to all animal lovers, but particularly trainers and those presently involved in rescue.
Madeleine Walker works as an animal intuitive/healer, horse and rider trauma consultant, and empowerment coach for people. She will be offering workshops in Canada and the U.S. in 2011. Her newest book The Whale Whisperer will be released in June 2011. For details of her clinics and courses, or to arrange a consultation, visit Madeleine at: www.anexchangeoflove.com
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
K.C. Lauer's 'Bad Girl Gone Mom' is not your average recovery memoir
K.C. Lauer opens Bad Girl Gone Mom, her memoir of drug and alcohol addiction and recovery, with an author's note referencing James Frey's A Million Little Pieces. Lauer's harrowing and ultimately hopeful depiction of her earlier life may remind some of Frey's memoir, though Lauer attests she's done her best to fact-check where possible. Given the obstacles she's had to overcome, Lauer's memoir could be no one else's but her own.
Lauer was born with a cleft palate, a condition that wasn't discovered until after her parents left the hospital with her. Somehow her doctors wouldn't notice until Lauer's teen years that she was also born with vaginal agenesis, an underdeveloped vaginal canal. In Lauer's case, she had no vaginal opening. One had to be surgically created. Lauer writes poignantly of her sense of being a sexless being turned into an artificial woman, created expressly for the purpose of male pleasure. By the time she had her surgery at age 15, Lauer no longer considered herself a virgin; she and a boyfriend had been having interstitial intercourse without knowing any better. Still, she felt violated and offended at the thought of having to use a set of plastic vaginal dilators (dildos, essentially) until, as her doctors liked to put it, she got married.
She had already turned to drugs and alcohol to ease the pain of being different. After Lauer's surgery, she added promiscuity to her list of self-destructive behaviors. I don't mean that to sound negative toward teenage sexuality in general. Some teens have sex because they enjoy it or because they fall in love, but Lauer wasn't one of them. She seemed to be out to prove to the world that she was a "real" woman in the only way she could figure out how to. This led her into destructive relationships, two bad marriages, sexual abuse and generally being used.
As one can guess from the title, Lauer got pregnant and had a daughter, despite the uterine complications that are sometimes associated with vaginal agenesis. Her transformation was slow and, at times, painful, but eventually she transitioned from recovering addict to responsible parent.
Lauer suggests this book be shared with teens who might be headed down the same self-destructive path. It's not what would typically be considered a "young adult" book. It contains explicit depictions of sexual acts, including acts in the context of a Dominant-submissive relationship. However, mature teens who struggle with drug use, alcohol addiction or abusive relationships may relate to Lauer and learn from her experience.
The best pull-out quote from Bad Girl Gone Mom is this one: "I already knew that I loved words, but I discovered that I loved words about sex even more."
Disclosure: I received a free copy of this e-book from the author in exchange for this review. I was not otherwise compensated.
Lauer was born with a cleft palate, a condition that wasn't discovered until after her parents left the hospital with her. Somehow her doctors wouldn't notice until Lauer's teen years that she was also born with vaginal agenesis, an underdeveloped vaginal canal. In Lauer's case, she had no vaginal opening. One had to be surgically created. Lauer writes poignantly of her sense of being a sexless being turned into an artificial woman, created expressly for the purpose of male pleasure. By the time she had her surgery at age 15, Lauer no longer considered herself a virgin; she and a boyfriend had been having interstitial intercourse without knowing any better. Still, she felt violated and offended at the thought of having to use a set of plastic vaginal dilators (dildos, essentially) until, as her doctors liked to put it, she got married.
She had already turned to drugs and alcohol to ease the pain of being different. After Lauer's surgery, she added promiscuity to her list of self-destructive behaviors. I don't mean that to sound negative toward teenage sexuality in general. Some teens have sex because they enjoy it or because they fall in love, but Lauer wasn't one of them. She seemed to be out to prove to the world that she was a "real" woman in the only way she could figure out how to. This led her into destructive relationships, two bad marriages, sexual abuse and generally being used.
As one can guess from the title, Lauer got pregnant and had a daughter, despite the uterine complications that are sometimes associated with vaginal agenesis. Her transformation was slow and, at times, painful, but eventually she transitioned from recovering addict to responsible parent.
Lauer suggests this book be shared with teens who might be headed down the same self-destructive path. It's not what would typically be considered a "young adult" book. It contains explicit depictions of sexual acts, including acts in the context of a Dominant-submissive relationship. However, mature teens who struggle with drug use, alcohol addiction or abusive relationships may relate to Lauer and learn from her experience.
The best pull-out quote from Bad Girl Gone Mom is this one: "I already knew that I loved words, but I discovered that I loved words about sex even more."
Disclosure: I received a free copy of this e-book from the author in exchange for this review. I was not otherwise compensated.
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| https://amzn.to/3Uzusnd |
Monday, April 25, 2011
Art, Caramel Corn and Murder with Jodi Webb (guest post)
“I bet you could kill somebody with that wooden oar.”
My teenage daughter, accustomed to my murderous musing, practiced the “I’m not with her--I don’t even know who she is” tactic by silently moving away from me and staring off into the distance as we stood in line for the most delicious caramel popcorn at the beach. But the man in front of us in line was not ready for murder questions as he waited for his snack. He casually glanced back at me, eyeing me from my flip flops to my sunglasses, perhaps checking for dangerous weapons. All I had was a plastic caramel corn bucket, ready for refilling. I smiled, hopefully in a non-crazy and non-threatening manner. Maybe not. He hustled his wife closer to the group in front of them in the long, slow moving line.
I’m writing a murder mystery. It all hinges on the history of some very interesting characters and an unusual piece of art. The murder itself is standard stuff…the church deacon is bonked over the head with a heavy wooden picture frame. As I’ve been editing this story it occurred to me that next time it would be fun to have a really outrageous murder. So lately I’ve been seeing murder everywhere and testing out the possible scenarios on my family. Verbally, of course.
Finally it’s our turn out the caramel corn window. I shove our container at the frantic looking college kid and, instead of moving on to the pick-up window, pause.
“Can I ask you a favor?” I can see my daughter’s eye roll heavenward.
The college kid stops, holding my container. “What?” Favors are not something he’s used to dealing with on the job.
“I’ve been writing a murder mystery.”
“Oooo-Kaaaay.”
“And it just occurred to me that those oars would make a perfect murder weapon.” I point toward the three sweaty college kids behind him stirring gigantic vats of caramel and popcorn. He turns and looks. For what feels like a long time. Or maybe he’s just too freaked out to look back at me.
“So is it okay if I take a couple of photos of the place?”
“Huh?” He turns back. I’m waving my camera at him. He steps into a corner, leaving me a clear view. “Go for it.” So I do. Click, click, click. I can picture the metal shelving lining the walls tumbling noisily to the floor. A puddle of melted caramel slowly making its way across the tiled floor. A murderer sneaking out the only door in the place.
So tell me, when you read a murder mystery do you prefer a complicated backstory leading to an uninspired method of murder or a wild and crazy murder with a predictable motive?
Jodi Webb is still working on her murder mystery, when she isn’t organizing WOW Blog Tours at www.wow-womenonwriting.com. You can read about her writing adventures as well as her reviews and giveaways of books at Words by Webb. This week she’s giving away FM for Murder by Patricia Rockwell and Twice A Spy by Keith Thompson.
My teenage daughter, accustomed to my murderous musing, practiced the “I’m not with her--I don’t even know who she is” tactic by silently moving away from me and staring off into the distance as we stood in line for the most delicious caramel popcorn at the beach. But the man in front of us in line was not ready for murder questions as he waited for his snack. He casually glanced back at me, eyeing me from my flip flops to my sunglasses, perhaps checking for dangerous weapons. All I had was a plastic caramel corn bucket, ready for refilling. I smiled, hopefully in a non-crazy and non-threatening manner. Maybe not. He hustled his wife closer to the group in front of them in the long, slow moving line.
I’m writing a murder mystery. It all hinges on the history of some very interesting characters and an unusual piece of art. The murder itself is standard stuff…the church deacon is bonked over the head with a heavy wooden picture frame. As I’ve been editing this story it occurred to me that next time it would be fun to have a really outrageous murder. So lately I’ve been seeing murder everywhere and testing out the possible scenarios on my family. Verbally, of course.
Finally it’s our turn out the caramel corn window. I shove our container at the frantic looking college kid and, instead of moving on to the pick-up window, pause.
“Can I ask you a favor?” I can see my daughter’s eye roll heavenward.
The college kid stops, holding my container. “What?” Favors are not something he’s used to dealing with on the job.
“I’ve been writing a murder mystery.”
“Oooo-Kaaaay.”
“And it just occurred to me that those oars would make a perfect murder weapon.” I point toward the three sweaty college kids behind him stirring gigantic vats of caramel and popcorn. He turns and looks. For what feels like a long time. Or maybe he’s just too freaked out to look back at me.
“So is it okay if I take a couple of photos of the place?”
“Huh?” He turns back. I’m waving my camera at him. He steps into a corner, leaving me a clear view. “Go for it.” So I do. Click, click, click. I can picture the metal shelving lining the walls tumbling noisily to the floor. A puddle of melted caramel slowly making its way across the tiled floor. A murderer sneaking out the only door in the place.
So tell me, when you read a murder mystery do you prefer a complicated backstory leading to an uninspired method of murder or a wild and crazy murder with a predictable motive?
Jodi Webb is still working on her murder mystery, when she isn’t organizing WOW Blog Tours at www.wow-womenonwriting.com. You can read about her writing adventures as well as her reviews and giveaways of books at Words by Webb. This week she’s giving away FM for Murder by Patricia Rockwell and Twice A Spy by Keith Thompson.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
A Post Blogged by an Idiot, Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing
Melange Books has released The Smell of Gas, an erotic, pulp-style crime thriller by your humble author and her husband Tit Elingtin. It's available now in print and e-book formats. I don't want to blog about it here, though. I already blogged about it today on Breaking In Before Breaking Down. I would rather blog about...breakfast.
It was a fine, sunny morning in my home town this morning, so Tit Elingtin walked over to our usual breakfast spot, then went on a 3-mile walk along the river. I had the pancake special, chocolate chip pancakes. Delicious. Along with the chunks of candy in my breakfast, I was also treated to a hunk of eye candy, a guy at a table across from us who looked just like Sam Worthington. (I wish I had a Hunk du Jour photo to link to, but somehow HdJ has managed to miss the Aussie stunner.) Well, almost just like - this guy's hair was a little redder.
Many of you will remember Sam Worthington from Avatar. I like to remember him from Terminator: Salvation, because, well, I just like to think about Christian Bale.
I also like to remember Sam Worthington's interpretation of MacBeth. Those who love Claire and Leo in the contemporary telling of Romeo + Juliet (may Pete Postlethwaite rest in peace - best Friar Laurence ever!) will enjoy the 2006 version of MacBeth starring Worthington. I like the sexy, redheaded Scottish witches. They're like a trio of soothsaying Shirley Mansons.
This weekend I have rented, but have not yet watched, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead. Should be a good one, though. It has Hamlet, vampires and a score by Sean Lennon. So far, the best film take I've seen on the Hamlet story remains Royal Deceit, with Gabriel Byrne, Kate Beckinsale and Christian Bale. Not just Christian Bale, but a NAKED TEENAGE Christian Bale. Best Shakespearean version? I like Ethan Hawke's attempt. Julia Stiles is a particularly charming Ophelia.
Do not get me started on the Mel Gibson version of Hamlet. I will no longer watch films with that anti-Semitic, misogynistic douchebag. Except maybe Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome; Mel is canceled out by Tina Turner, feminist icon supreme and possible reincarnation of ancient Egyptian woman-pharaoh Hatshepsut.
Sooooo anyway, Sam Worthington's redder-haired doppelganger sat in the restaurant, eating sausages off a fork in a way that would make an erotica writer with an active imagination think impure thoughts. In stepped a cute woman with a ponytail, approximately Sam 2's age, and I thought they would make a good couple. They would have adorable babies. Because, you know, babies are what you're supposed to be thinking about when it's a warm spring day, you're surrounded by egg and bunny decorations and everybody's getting ready to celebrate Ostara.
I would like to have some brilliant post connecting the Pagan celebration of Ostara with Jewish Passover and Christian Easter, since Passover was this week and it is Easter weekend. I don't. I have this, a post blogged by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. (I promise you a worthy Beltane post on May 1.) Buy a copy of The Smell of Gas!
It was a fine, sunny morning in my home town this morning, so Tit Elingtin walked over to our usual breakfast spot, then went on a 3-mile walk along the river. I had the pancake special, chocolate chip pancakes. Delicious. Along with the chunks of candy in my breakfast, I was also treated to a hunk of eye candy, a guy at a table across from us who looked just like Sam Worthington. (I wish I had a Hunk du Jour photo to link to, but somehow HdJ has managed to miss the Aussie stunner.) Well, almost just like - this guy's hair was a little redder.
Many of you will remember Sam Worthington from Avatar. I like to remember him from Terminator: Salvation, because, well, I just like to think about Christian Bale.
I also like to remember Sam Worthington's interpretation of MacBeth. Those who love Claire and Leo in the contemporary telling of Romeo + Juliet (may Pete Postlethwaite rest in peace - best Friar Laurence ever!) will enjoy the 2006 version of MacBeth starring Worthington. I like the sexy, redheaded Scottish witches. They're like a trio of soothsaying Shirley Mansons.
This weekend I have rented, but have not yet watched, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead. Should be a good one, though. It has Hamlet, vampires and a score by Sean Lennon. So far, the best film take I've seen on the Hamlet story remains Royal Deceit, with Gabriel Byrne, Kate Beckinsale and Christian Bale. Not just Christian Bale, but a NAKED TEENAGE Christian Bale. Best Shakespearean version? I like Ethan Hawke's attempt. Julia Stiles is a particularly charming Ophelia.
Do not get me started on the Mel Gibson version of Hamlet. I will no longer watch films with that anti-Semitic, misogynistic douchebag. Except maybe Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome; Mel is canceled out by Tina Turner, feminist icon supreme and possible reincarnation of ancient Egyptian woman-pharaoh Hatshepsut.
Sooooo anyway, Sam Worthington's redder-haired doppelganger sat in the restaurant, eating sausages off a fork in a way that would make an erotica writer with an active imagination think impure thoughts. In stepped a cute woman with a ponytail, approximately Sam 2's age, and I thought they would make a good couple. They would have adorable babies. Because, you know, babies are what you're supposed to be thinking about when it's a warm spring day, you're surrounded by egg and bunny decorations and everybody's getting ready to celebrate Ostara.
I would like to have some brilliant post connecting the Pagan celebration of Ostara with Jewish Passover and Christian Easter, since Passover was this week and it is Easter weekend. I don't. I have this, a post blogged by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. (I promise you a worthy Beltane post on May 1.) Buy a copy of The Smell of Gas!
Friday, April 22, 2011
'Spirit of the Horse: The New Myths of Equus' reviewed by Carol Upton
Spirit of the Horse
The New Myths of Equus
Carole Devereux
Windhorse Press
Soft Cover, 2010, $24.00 U.S.
ISBN: 978-1-884422-24-9
Available at Amazon
Reviewed by Carol M. Upton: www.dreamsaloud.ca
Animals have the capacity and the power to expand their minds into extraordinary states of consciousness. My horses have often shown their otherworldly journeys into The Dreamtime to me. Buddy once told me that he can "feel" the hoof beats of his species running all over the Earth. ~ Carole Devereux
This graceful and timely book takes us on a transformational journey like no other, to the mystic world where the spirit of the horse resides. Carole Devereux introduces a rich language for concepts we may have felt while working with horses, but have been unable to articulate.
Animal-lovers know they can communicate, to one degree or another, with their animals, and there have been many books written on this subject. Devereux guides us beyond that familiar landscape, advancing our understanding of equine perspective and unlocking the endless possibilities present when we truly listen to what horses are saying.
Spirit of the Horse examines the early life of horses, from Eohippus through the Stone Age, and the ancient relationships horses had with human beings. Devereux reminds us that historically, we depended on communion with animals in order to live, much of that wisdom forgotten as we began to exploit resources and work within a paradigm known as “dominion over the earth”. Today, we are moving back to the lessons of nature, and animals, particularly horses, are here to help.
These lessons are evident in the hidden treasures of equus mythology as narrated by Devereux’s horses Buddy and Ellie. Through the myths, we begin to feel the emotional and spiritual impact of horses on our lives. Now, a series of guided visualizations gently assists us to explore our own stories of connection, truth, and healing.
One of the most revealing chapters covers the Yogic system of India, discussing how Yogic practices can help both horse and rider unite body and mind in their work together. We may already know that horses are experts at reading energy, but how do we use this knowledge in our riding? The answers are here.
Spirit of the Horse demonstrates that horses can tell us much more than we have dreamed and can lead us along paths of continuous spiritual growth. Reading it stirs us emotionally, significantly uplifts our souls, and leaves us hungry for more.
Carole Devereux is an internationally known Animal Communicator, spiritual life coach and teacher. She has more than fifteen years experience counseling thousands of people and their animals across North America and Europe. Visit Carole at www.animalinsights.com and learn more about Spirit of the Horse at: www.spirit-of-the-horse.com.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
'The Smell of Gas' Virtual Book Tour
Tuesday, April 26 - De's Stories
Friday, April 29 - Jen Wylie's Blog
Friday, April 29 through Sunday, May 1 - Words in Sync
Saturday, April 30 - Nights of Passion (with other Melange authors!)
Thurs. May 5 - Silver and Grace (for a change of pace, a Mother's Day post)
Saturday, May 7 - Jenny Hilborne's blog
Tuesday, May 31 - Tour wrap-up at AO Bibliosphere
Date TBD:
An Author's Tale
My Hot Sex Storys
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