Can Men Do It Right?

Romance, that is...but I'm jumping too far ahead. Read on...

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Wow, I see I have a lot of questions to ask Jed when I meet with him this weekend! It's going to be an interesting interview indeed and I'm pretty excited about it. I don't get to have a one-on-one with my characters quite like this before.

Usually they show up while I'm doing odd stuff, like driving to work, and they interrupt the rock and roll music on the radio with a couple of insanely clever lines of dialogue. And then I have to keep repeating them over and over in my mind till I get to a stop light so I can write them down ;-P. It's never a "have a conversation" type of relationship between us.

So, anyway, sometime this weekend, I'll be armed with note pad and paper and of course, a cool demeanor because it's just Not Good to jump up and down while interviewing god-in-jeans. ;-).

*********

Here's an interesting article for discussion:
CAN MEN WRITE ROMANCE NOVELS?
Ray Connolly says Yes and Liz Hunt says No. Do you want to add your thoughts about that? Enjoyed a Nicholas Spark book? Is it a romance novel to you? Or is the sad ending a turn-off to us die-hard HEA (Happily Ever After) lovers?

There are actually more male romance writers out there than you think. Can you name a few?

One thing I feel male writers don't do justice to is the kissing department ;-). I mean, in writing, not their experience, heh. I don't find much kissing in books written by men and when it's done, it's almost a duty or described as "he kissed her ferociously" and not much else. Am I the only one who feel that way? remember the example I brought up ages ago (March 15, 2006, for those who want to check it out) a scene written by a man, depicting the moment the hero stood naked and introduced "himself" to the heroine? Remember his line? ;-P It was "Meet The Creature." How...romantic.

Okay, off I go to yell at some guys on the roof who couldn't even spell romance. To them, romance is having a woman with a car who can drive them to work because they don't have a driver's license for one reason or another. No, it's no use explaining to them the concept of independent uber male.

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Uber Spy Not Doing Mulch

Thanks for the questions for Jed! Keep them coming. You know it's going to be tough pinning His Jedness down but with your help, maybe I can ;-).

The reason why I asked about the sudden surge in cleaning up, inside and outside (and I meant physical and mental environments) was because of the eclipse a few days back. In Astrology, the degree an eclipse falls on in the chart highlights that particular part of our lives.

The annular eclipse of the sun this September fell on the last degree of Virgo and the Sabian symbol for that is: Totally Intent Upon Completing An Immediate Task, A Man Is Deaf To Any Allurement. For an amateur astrologer like me, for fun, I like to just look for the first signs of physical clean-up, the intent to finish projects, the need to get something finally done and over with. At 29 degrees Virgo, it's a completion of the work and the beginning of new things in life, including even a complete change of residence and work environment for some (hint*smile*Leiha), depending of course, on your birthday, blah, blah, blah, triggered in your individual chart. But, like I said, I just like to see how we strive for change, even in our mundane activities. Writers call this SUBTEXT, showing a shift in the story without any real big thing happening, or so it seems.

Now, ahem, if only I can get THAT FOCUS ON COMPLETING HELL BOOK TWO. LMAO. Instead, I went outside to landscape my overgrown garden a few days ago and was attacked by the mulch monster. You should have seen the huge rainstorm that came by while I had to get the mountain of mulch off the road unloaded by the mad delivery man who thought THAT was an okay place to dump the load. Anyway, WET mulch is heavy and hard to shovel, so I ended up just hugging as much of the stuff to my body as possible and piling it on the driveway. Yes, sticky smelly mulch is sooooo attractive on me ;-). Let me tell you, the shower area looked really, really bad when I got done. My friend looked at it later and asked with a straight face: "Are you gardening in your shower now? Easier to water the plants, I guess."

Pffft.

On the spy news front, the woman suspected to have been the infamous Tokyo Rose died. Iva Toguri D'Aquino was 90. For those interested in psychological warfare, here's the LINK to the transcript of a Tokyo Rose broadcast.

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Uber Roofer Trying To Find Time

Mood today:



I lost two days somehow...***looking around...where did they go? I swear I hadn't been touching the wine again! It's like one moment, I'm jumping up and down the roof and the next moment, I'm in bed refusing to move, and it's morning again. Whoa!

Let's blame it on the eclipse, shall we? It tired me out. And put a lot of people in a bad mood, it seemed, because everyone is yelling at everyone around here. Not very conducive to writing.

I've been rereading some of my old posts from previous months. I didn't realize I told you guys so damn much about Hell's book, especially the virtual reality and remote viewing part. Me and my big mouth ;-).

I thought for this next few days, I'll make it an open forum for JED, since I highlighted Heath last week. Yup, you can ask questions and Number Nineness himself will answer you. He won't guest-blog but he'll consider your questions. How about that concession? So anything you're curious about Jed, please drop a line and I'll...hmm...pass your questions on to him.

Wow, that sounds insane-scary. I can hear y'all going: "does this chick know that those are her characters and they don't actually exist?" ;-) Well, yes and no. When you write deep POV like I do, sometimes you aren't really sure which world is more real, the one you're writing or the one you're living in. Also, "talking" to your characters is standard insane author activity.

So are you guys interested in putting His Jedness on the hot seat?

Another curious question: Are you guys redecorating? Redoing a room? Landscaping your garden? Besides blowing up at people for no reason, I mean. Or maybe you see your friends or neighbor doing this? I'm just seeing a trend at my end. Cleaning up on the outside and inside--are you? Or is it just me?

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Uber Hot Sex Wearing A Tool Belt!!!

Here's some inspiration for those writing for the Harlequin BLAZE line.

I got this ad for workclothes from Vanessa Jaye. ACTION!!! Blue collar romantica! Men in tool belts! Working muscles! Hot babe encounters! HOT SEX!!! Moving parts! Hard...hats! Even...a blow job. Holy cow. Being a construction worker is EXCITING! ;-)

Forget the clothes--where do I find these men on my job site? LOL. Roofers are just too stinky and toothless....

Did you see the machine with the crane strategically going up? Heehee. And of course, getting a blowjob while standing on the window ledge of a tall building IS kind of erotically-charged. Who knew my work clothes were so damn functional?! Action trousers! Knee pad inserts! Adjustable front loops! Yippee!

Well, after watching that, going to my roofing job this morning sounds so much more exciting now ;-). Maybe I'll put on my fur-lined miniskirt or whatever it was that the babe was wearing in the ad, to keep me warm. It IS the first day of Fall, ya know.

McDreamy would look hot in a toolbelt, don't you agree?

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Moon Spies Are Delicious

It's the last solar eclipse of the year today. It's called an annular eclipse because it's not total; you can see the ring of fire around the moon.

The interesting thing is, it's also the SECOND new moon of the month, which happens once every two or three years. It's called the Dark Moon.

It's also Equinox time. Harvest is over and we're about ready for our next season.

The skies, to me, is the ultimate story teller. There are twists and turns as the heavenly bodies plot their individual paths, making grand gestures and in their way, influencing our lives. We live our seasons through their movements and yet we barely acknowledge their power over us. Barely. ;-) Once in a while, we decide whether a planet is or isn't one.

The funny thing is, I've been writing a story about a woman whose nickname is Hell. She has a virtual reality trainer, who playfully introduced himself as Hades. Hell and Hades in virtual reality. If you remember the story of Hades--he is PLUTO in Roman mythology--he kidnapped Persephone, daughter of Ceres/Demeter, and umm...pretty much seduced her into staying with her. In the myth, she ate a fruit during her stay with him (temptation) and because of that, she couldn't just leave him (gooooood sex). In my story, the VR Hades tempts our kick-ass Hell; I'll leave you to your imagination as to how.



But how strange, huh, that I've been writing all this stuff and then Pluto came into the public awareness because the poor thing was demoted by the lordly scientists. Do you know how significant that change is? All your history books are now WRONG. And there are no longer nine planets!

It occurred to me late last night that I had nine commandos, a world I created about seven years ago, "killing" off four of them and replacing a few in my head. Now there are seven. Along came Hell this year and we now have eight. Crazy, huh? Crazier still: I wrote in "Hades" without really thinking about the deep thematic meaning to the story of Hell's initiation into her new world of spying.

I feel as if I've hit the jackpot of plot revelations. Of all the mythological planetary "gods," Pluto/Hades is the embodiment of dark spy. I ask you, tongue planted firmly in cheek, who among the commandos is the god of death and destruction? Of seduction of sex? Of hidden secrets? And so, so alone?

Yeah, I know. You think I've gone bonkers. Writers always claim they're channeling their characters. I, uh, chanel planets. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

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Strange Spies

Mood today:









I took a few days off the blog. It's been one of those weeks! You know, when even the handy broom you pick up breaks apart in your hands, that kinda week. It all started with a flying knife and ended with a flying broom ;-). You would think I'm practicing some form of special kung-fu exercise the way I keep twirling things in the air.
Here is some more interesting book trailers gathered by the Book Standard:

EVEN MORE BOOK TRAILERS

One of them is promoting teen books so it's all about your teenage years. I still don't know who's watching these vids--you or the teens. I'm sure those on dial-up internet won't be clicking on any of these. I also wonder whether Amazon.com will one day have book video buttons to click on.

Have you read the loooooooong discussion thread on the Romantic Times Forum Board on male-on-male erotica? Do you read them? By male-on-male, I mean, totally m/m, not male-female-male, which usually just features the heroine getting pleasured and very little contact between the males. I'm talking about full-fledged homosexual love relationship. Have you ever read a gay romance? Did you enjoy it? It's a niche market but from that discussion thread, many women appear to enjoy reading m/m action.

Which brings us to the most anticipated book on My List of Must Buy and Must Read ASAP: Anne Stuart's COLD AS ICE, the spy whose sexuality is a bit on the ambiguous side. I really, really, really want to see how La Anne is going to write it! There's always a special spot in my heart for her dark heroes with their gray moral code.

What's your most anticipated book right now?

And to make the day PRETTIER STILL ;-).....

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The Uber Kitchen Vs The Uber Chicken

This was sent to me this morning. I haven't really explored it yet but just moving my cursor around it had me peeing in my pants.

Click on:
FABIO'S KITCHEN OF LURV

There are two rooms. You can check out his refridgerator. I love the invitation to "arrange my magnets." Ahahhahahahaha. And "send some of my wisdom to your friends." I'll have to click on that and learn some wisdom from Fabio when I come home tonight. Your assignment today, spy-lets, is to click on the arrows and tell me what you see. And don't pee!

Somebody stop that irritating waterfall in the background!

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Spy Blogger

Hi.

Number Eight here. Sorry, Gennita's passed out on the couch, something to do with wine, pizza, and a knife stabbing her foot while she was trying to move the pizza box. Don't worry, she's okay, just a slice, but she really should just leave sharp objects to me.

Anyway, I'm just here looking at stuff. I saw that some reader was asking about me at COMCEN BLOG. Who's Number Eight and all that. Well, that's me. Heath Cliffe. Let me answer those questions in your mind right now.

1) I may or may not be Hell's monitor/trainer
2) Yes, I've seen Hell naked but then she likes to swim in the nude. Lady's got a pair. Of balls, I mean. What do you think I was insinuating?
3) Yes, I'm Number Nine's back-up. Meaning, I've been following his footsteps for a while. You mean you never heard of me in those Gennita declassifieds? That just shows how good I am at my job.
4) Yes, I have put my hand inside Hell's pants.
Yes, I'm better looking than Jed McNeil. Yes, I know when to stop. Yes, that's the word I like to hear.
5) Just in case you think I'm a yes-man, no, I won't tell you how I interrogate my subjects.
6) Pain and pleasure are my specialties.
7) I'm training Armando Chang to be less noble. He and I talk quite a bit. Nice dude. Warped sense of humor. Long way to go to get out of that hell hole in his head. But that's part of my job--dig people's graves and look for their buried secrets.
8) And what's Hell's buried secret? If I'm the monitor...

That's eight things you now know about me. Back to Gennita's little flesh wound...don't worry, she'll live. Luckily, it wasn't her fingers she chopped off. She can still type without a foot.

Kidding.

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Uber Hot

I meant the weather! I've been melting in the sun all week.

Because Leiha said she wants a fireman...and it IS her Bird Day Month...







You see how much I love you, Leiha? And how your dream could suddenly come true just like that? LOL.

Okay, first chapter needs reworking...too much infodump, like I feared, so that's what I'm going to try to reconfigure tonight...wahhh. I need a fireman myself.

I'm also staring very sadly at Lover Awakened sitting here by my laptop, calling my name. I want, I want, I want....sigh***

Maybe a glass of wine will help. Maybe two. *g*

I feel like I've been rewriting this first chapter forever. It's times like these that I feel that I CAN'T FREAKING write. Why can't I just let go and continue with the other scenes? I don't know. It's as if my character, the monitor, doesn't want to share me with Hell till I get him right. Sheesh. I haven't even started on my wine yet and I'm already arguing with a fantasy man. Oh wait...isn't that what Hell does in the book? Argghhh...I'm Mary Sue-ing, except the character is supposed to be me, not the other way round.

Need. That. Wine. You girls discuss amongst yourselves ;-).

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Recovered Spy Stuff!

Yay! I received news this morning that The Protector has been sold to a publisher in Estonia! The Hunter in Croatian/Serbian and The Protector in Estonian--how cool is that?! Maybe Sleeping *** will be sold to Bosnia!

Yesterday I was cleaning out one of my drawers and I found a complimentary copy of a book that I've forgotten about....

It was one of those "oh!" moments. Flip to the contents page:

If you click on the pic, it will show up in an enlarged size, but can you see on the right hand side...Short Story #9, page 88, the name of the author? ;-D This book was "published" in 1982 in Malaysia. All the authors were winners in the Her World Short Story contest from the past few years and I was in high school when I entered, probably around 1979.

I think I was the youngest winner, and the prize was $20 and being in a published anthology of Malaysian stories.

So, anyway, I had totally forgotten about this till I saw the book, hidden among all my journals! The book didn't come out immediately, as you can see. I remember getting it in the mail from Malaysia while I was in college and showing it off to my English major boyfriend, with a "Nyah, nyah, look at this, Mr. Shakespeare lover, I'm published before you!" Hmm. The look on his face was worth it, heh.

1982. Well, actually, 1979. Yoikes. That was 27 years ago. ***shriek*** I was an ambitious kid even then, LOL.

I remember holding that book in my hand and thinking, "Wow! (Actually, in Malaysia, we say "Cheeeyea!" which was the corrupted version of Che-bah!) I'm published!"

Now, fast forward twenty years to 2002 and holding Into Danger in my hands. And yeah, I said the exact same thing: "Wow! (Actually, I went, Wow! Wow! WOWWWWW!) I'm published!!!)" Same feeling from years ago, multiplied a thousandfold. I had the biggest smile on my face all day too!

My dream of being a writer started a long, long time ago. What was yours? You never know.

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Technology Killed Uber Roofer

It's funny that I write high-tech spy romance. I'm so technologically-challenged that programming an Ipod is an adventure. One reason is that I suddenly nurture my inner-guyness when it comes to stuff that has INSTRUCTIONS booklets; I tend to just go for the toy without reading the how-to manual first.

Of course, it was easier in the old days. Hit play, right? What's the big deal? Find the button and hit it. There. See? It's working. I'll figure out the rest.

But these days, every freaking cool-ass gadget comes with a manual for every button. You should have seen me and my first venture with cell phone programming. Too many choices. Too many things I don't need. I've sort of conquered the Address Book (and entering addresses on that mini-pad is a pain--how do you guys text-message? I'd die in an emergency if I had to text someone....) now. I even know how to use the camera! Okay, I cheated a little...I asked some guy to show me ;-). But that's another way I get by without actually reading Da Manual.

However, there are some things that I have to deal with on my own. Take, for example, my really, really cool HDTV set in my living room, the one my former assistant purchased on my account. I love it but I don't know how to do much with it except turn it on and off. There is this "Device" button that scares the shit out of me because every time I click on it, the screen lights up and tells me which "component" I want and there are obviously 1001 components for choice. Argghh. I avoid that button as much as possible.

So last night, I clicked the ON button to watch my two guilty pleasures, House and Rock Star: Supernova. Argghhhh...the screen was blue! And remained that way no matter what I did. I had no idea what the heck that meant but clicking on that "Device" button didn't help. I did several things with the remote that apparently made the TV do the equivalent of sticking its tongue out at me. And yeah, it had a blue tongue.

Wahhhh. I was going to miss the show! I do have a small TV in the bedroom but I've been spoilt by the big size screen. I want my HDTV!

Let me tell you--desperation speed reading of manuals doesn't help this kind of situation much ;-). I scarcely understood what it said about Component One and Troubleshooting with Device Blah-Blah. And the man who could help me (and I don't mean RB who is worse than I am when it comes to technology. Besides, he was probably too busy GOOGLING at that moment, bwah!) was away doing his annual baseball tournament. I didn't think calling him on his cell phone whining about the blue screen was going to bring me any loverly sympathy. Maybe sarcasm, which he's pretty good at.

So who you gonna call? (Gotcha humming that song now, eh?)

The Cable Company of course! And you know what? I want to publicly thank that sweet techie for being so patient with the hysterical woman with the Buttons Issue. He was remarkably calm about the fact that the woman was asking him to describe the "button" to press because there are so many buttons on the remote and on the cable box. He did crack up, though, when I wailed, "Why can't it be like that commercial with the Easy Button?" You know, the one with the big red button that takes care of everything.

Sigh. Lovely, lovely man. He walked me through what is called the Rebooting Process with the cable box. It wasn't the TV. I just didn't know the cable box had to be reset. Silly me.

Goodie! That means I can put off reading Da Manual for another day! Until the next blue screen emergency....By the way, do you guys know how to figure out the DVD buttons and which component is that for a Mitsubishi HDTV? If you do, come visit me. I'll buy you dinner ;-).

Thank goodness, on the roof, I just shoot a gun. No buttons there....Ain't I brill about the Easy Button suggestion, or what? Yeah, thought so.

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Uber Author Random Mode

I finally got my copy of Lover Awakened, hoooyah! Also bought:

three Presents, my guilty pleasure...trying out Carol Marinelli to see whether I like her style. The others are by my favorites, Helen Bianchin and Susan Napier. The titles, as usual, are mind-bogglingly horrid.

Divine Madness by Melanie Jackson. I haven't heard anything about this book but I liked this author's stories and the back blurb sounds so dark and yummy. Have any of you read her yet?

Anyway, buying them doesn't mean I can dive into any of them immediately. I have not written the 10 pages a day I wanted so I must inflict self-punishment ;-(.

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I've become addicted to hot waffles topped with humongous helping of whip cream on top. Help. Just the thought sends me into craving. Help, help, help.

What is your guilty food that you know you shouldn't EAT SO DAMN MUCH OF?

***********************
Great visual of the day: Ranger Buddy entertaining and impressing a group of young Spanish-speaking construction workers by pointing at different tools and saying it in Spanish. Sniff*** I have never been more proud of him. And I mean it. The man is in his mid-fifties and never in a million years would I have thought he would decide to pick up another language. When he's got a goal in his head, that man just goes for it. I need this attitude... ***whining*** Ten pages a day, Jenn, ten pages....

Writing-wise, I changed the beginning of the scene when Hell wakes up with the knowledge of who her monitor is. I've decided I just can't do that in a Book Two. I mean, wouldn't that confuse a new reader? Nonononono, got to backtrack a bit without info-dumping. So I went back to reread the last scene in Book One (Virtually His) and figure how to present the same scene in a different way, a new way that would convey to the new reader that Hell has special abilities.

Arrghhh. Second book killing me.

************************

Here are more book trailers for those who are interested: More Book Standard Book Trailers

Talking about book trailers, the video below is my snarky reply to Vanessa's blog showing Captain Kirk/Spock (Spirk?) slash-vid.

heeheehee. I know, I know. I'm so sowwy, Trekkie fans.

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Dreaming Doggie

Mood Today:



My seventeen-year old furbabee had a nightmare last night. He's the only one of my dogs that consistently wakes me up in the middle of the night at least once a year with his sleep-crying. If you have never heard a doggie crying in his sleep, it's somewhat between a mid-yelp and a baby having a tantrum. And it always sounds like he's in horrible pain, so you're sitting up in bed, half-asleep and panicking. The first time I heard Brando having a nightmare I fell out of bed getting to him, thinking he'd hurt himself or something.

I always wonder what he was dreaming about that had him so afraid. Some nights he'd hide his head under my nightie while I comforted him, fully waking him up and then talking to him like one would to a child. What is a dog's biggest fear? A huge scary monster-dog? Giant rabbits coming back for revenge?

And if he dreams about monsters, then he must dream of goodies too. Do dogs have sexy dreams? ;-) I know my seventeen year-old is ancient in doggie years, but he still thinks he's a stud, chasing the ladies when they're in heat. It cracks me up because he could barely climb anything, so he just parks himself in front of the girl and whines and begs. I guess males of ALL SPECIES have similar tactics, heh.

Have you ever watched the episode in Everyone Loves Raymond where he was begging his wife for sex during Christmas? Of course everyone and everything kept interrupting and he grew more and more desperate. Well, Brando sort of sounds like Raymond when he's begging his girls here. :-D

So here comes the inevitable plot spoiler for those of you who have read this far....If two people were hooked to a Brain Entrainment Machine and undergo virtual reality training and sleep with their brainwaves modulated, enhanced, reprogrammed (whatever you wanna call it), wouldn't they too start to simul-dream? And if they simul-dream, would their altered states connect at the dream level?

Just wonderin'.

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The Challenges of Spying

So you think being a roofer is tough, huh? And writing is full of scary challenges? So you think being a SPY is dangerous?

Nononononononono...being a weatherman can be tres scary, my sweeties....



And all done on national TV, no less ;-). Hey, we have SCARY BIG FLYING ROACHES in Florida, 'kay? Give this weatherman a break.

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Imagining Torture Scenes

I wasted a lot of time this morning watching a really bad mini-video. It was titled Interrogation and the man strapped and tied was really, really cute looking, and the little heading suggested that "he had secrets but they couldn't make him talk..." that kind of stuff.

Anyway, I was just going to watch a few minutes of it to see whether he was as cute as he looked. HE WAS extremely good-looking but this was also a pseudo-gayish male vanilla s/m movie. Pseudo because these dudes definitely were trying to make money and vanilla because it was very fake (no bruising or really hard hitting). It had such bad acting I think I tortured myself worse with coffee in my lungs and out my nose.

But I kept watching because the main guy has a really nice body ;-). Which just shows that I'm a shallow person when it comes to bad movies, LOL. At one point, they were zapping him with, supposedly, electric rods (they don't look like they were hooked to anything, don't worry), and he was moaning out, "Fuck! My armpits are on fire!" and he started blowing at his armpits! HAHAHAHAHAHA. I think that was when I had the coffee seizure.

Did I tell you that the main guy was very cute with a gorgeous bod? ;-) They had him hung from the ceiling and he was flexing those muscles while they "smacked" and "whipped him." LOL. Don't worry. He DID NOT betray his agency, whatever it was, LOL. In fact, he escaped and then tied up his captors and started smacking them back. YAY! LOL.

Anyway, wasted half an hour on that. So sorry. I should have been blogging about writing instead. Baddjenn.

Watching this does give a spywriter ideas, though, about physical torture. I've been trying to imagine certain positions of a tied-up body swinging in the air and how it might move when it's being beaten. Since I don't like watching gore, I guess this was the universe's humorous way to help my research!

Uh...I promise I won't have Jed screaming, "Fuck! My armpits are on fire!" if he's ever captured. Heeheehee. And definitely, Heath, the Interrogator, won't go for the armpits. I'm still laughing my ass off every time I think about that scene.

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Uber Spy Revealed

Mood today:

Full Moon tonight and a Lunar Eclipse! Whoa baby, talk about dichotomies ;-). You get bright and dark all at the same time; lies and truth; obvious and hidden. How deep izzat?

I work in the sunlight and write in the moonlight. It fascinates me how I'm two different creatures at two different times of the day ;-).

Are you a day person or a night person? My brain (or whatever that's left of it!) function definitely goes up after hours--I study better and I think I think better, heehee. And I love walking in the full moon's light.

See if you can enjoy the Harvest Moon from where you live today. It's always the brightest and the most beautiful and with an eclipse happening (if you can see it from where you are), it should be spectacular. I say so because it is my Bird Day Full Moon! Of course it's ze best! And the Harvest Moon is a gooooood time to think of your achievements and what you want in life.

Writing Update:
And to make it so, so interesting...I'm writing the scene when Hell finds out AND confronts her secret trainer/monitor! Wow, good timing! Maybe I should write in a lunar eclipse in the scene too ;-). I haven't decided whether Mr. Secret Trainer is going to be surprised or pissed off to have his identity revealed. Of course, first he has to deal with Hell....

If something Big and Revealing happens today, will you tell me? I think you should. After all, I warn you here first!

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No Spying For Busy Roofer

I haven't been reading much lately because I've been so busy with work and trying to break through the writing barrier (whatever that is). The last book I read was Cherry Adair's Edge of Danger, the first of her Wizards of T-Flac series, but I find myself not wanting to finish the rest while I'm trying to get my own super-secret-agency book being done. I still haven't seen the new Ward book out yet, which I'm dying (heh) to read, even though I now know what happens to Tohrment and Wellsie.

What's your latest read that you're enjoying? Because I have to add to my TBR pile, of course ;-). I don't usually buy the hardcovers because I'm so behind in my reading that I can't justify spending the money when I'm not going to read the book immediately. With the exception of La Linda Howard, of course. I always buy hers hardcover ;-) because she is my goddess. I learn a bunch from every one of her books, even though these days she seems to have fallen in love with the metrosexual male....

THIS IS NO METROSEXUAL MALE, but he does live in Boston...(LOL, I'll give you THAT, SQ!)













I'm really hurt...no one commented on the little excerpt about Jed and Hell from the other day! NO ONE! Either everyone is still on vacation or they hate His Jedness *sob*. Maybe it's a good thang he isn't the monitor/secret trainer. Ha!

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Spies Are All Alike, Right?

Mood Today











How does one create what one sees in the mind? And then project one's emotions onto the creation?

And once created, can one do this over and over again, copying and repeating, like the artist above, for the thousands who want this One Statue?

;-)

Those are just questions that wander into my mind as I ponder the photo above. Heavy stuff, but still relevant for an author writing a series.

There is no "recipe" to follow, like a favorite dessert by a favorite pastry chef. It's similar, yet it's not. I know I tend to go back to the same pastry store because I want to get THAT particular torte that tastes sooooo damn good that no other place seems to be able to duplicate.

But in the art of writing, the reader goes back expecting the same flavor, yet looking for MORE. Yet, sometimes, adding more can change the flavor, and then the reader will tell you, "no, no, nononononono, that's not right. That's not the SAME character. He/She wouldn't have done that."

Our tastebuds, it seems, have exacting memories.

So what is the artist to do? He can:

1) Be like the artist in the picture above, patiently recreating the same statue over and over
2) Be like the artist in the picture above, adding a slight variation in expressions, only noticeable to discerning buyers
3) Be like the artist in the picture above, in the mode of auto-recreation where the art is lost among the statues

I pick the picture and the thought, you decide! ;-)

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Uber Roofer Belaboring Today

Hey, Happy Labor Day! It's the American worker's holiday, or so I've heard, since I'll be working, LOL.

But if you're interested about the origin of Labor Day and why it's different from any other American holiday, click HERE for your cultural lesson today ;-).

Personally, my cultural lesson would be:





I think this might be my favorite pic for "Sullivan" yet! My girl Helen will definitely enjoy a game of baseball with him!

Now doesn't that make you want HIM to be the secret monitor/trainer?

I mean, I wouldn't believe everything that COMCEN Eight Ball Dude tells you. Lies, red herrings, detours over there, I'm warning you! Besides, none of you really think it's HIM, right? Soooo obvious! :-)

Off I go to labor on the roof. Y'all enjoy your cookouts!

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Sullivan and Shahrukh Want A Scene Together

Ha, and not in an Anita Blake way, thank goodness ;-).

Here's another picture I use when I'm thinking about Sullivan, one of the commandos. Remember, he's the All-American athlete type and he likes to wear his baseball cap to meetings.

Please meet Gabe Kapler, the god of the Red Soxxxxxx. He's the reason I'll cheer for the Red Soxxxxxxx against the damn Yankees (sorry SQ!).


This guy is almost as beautiful as my Steve Findlay, who's also mine, mine, mine.

Sigh, I told you baseball is a beautiful game!


Here he is in uniform













Here he is OUT OF UNIFORM. He's Sullivan-perfect.

I like the idea of a scene between him and Shahrukh, you know, the guy that does the kata nekkid on the beach, but in this scene, Sullivan and Shahrukh are boxing because Sullivan "don't do no kata at any ungodly hour." ;-)

Sullivan likes to sleep late, messes with his Harley, runs and boxes. He is messy. He likes baseball. He yawns during paper-meetings.

Shahrukh, "his twin," is the complete opposite. That's why they get along so well.

Anyway, I see this boxing scene but I have to think of a way of inserting it into the book naturally, you know?

But back to Gabe. Sigh.

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A Book By Any Other Name...

I read from the Book Standard that you can now read some of the Western classics in Chinese:

Chinese Publishing Initiatives

and some of the books available in Chinese are Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist and Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. As you should know by now, being faithful readers of my blog ;-), that my most favorite book from college is Melville's Moby Dick. Not. I wonder how they are going to translate "There she blows!" into Chinese. Heeheehee.

I just realized that those titles are all names of the major characters in the novels. Isn't that strange? I wonder whether they would "rename" them into something different? Quixote would be difficult to transcribe into Pinyin, I'd imagine.

Some of you are living in different countries. When you pick up a translated version of an English book--classic or romance--is the title very, very different? Laur?

This is the Dutch cover for Into Danger:



I think it means "Blind Trust." I wish I have a copy but my former publishing house never did send me any ;-(. I also haven't found any image of the Macedonian or Finnish translations yet, so if any of you happen to see it on cyberspace or OWN one, please contact me!

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