Showing posts with label Adult Romance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adult Romance. Show all posts

Friday, May 12, 2017

Welcome Back Author Shehanne Moore!



Welcome back fellow Etopia Press Author (how we met) AND weekly Twitter Pal, the lovely and talented Shehanne Moore!  It has been FAR TOO LONG since you were on the blog.  I checked...2013!!!


So thank you for taking time out of your VERY busy schedule and visiting with us along with some of your...umm...associates.



Time Travel and the Time Traveling Mutants.


Firstly Marie, let me thank you for inviting me to your lovely blog and risking me bringing my Time Mutants here.



Not every one does given they can be dangerous




but if one should ever approach you, just don’t sign anything. Okay? More of that later. 

Sure, no problem (*what have I gotten into?*)

Now then, Time Travel. There’s three types.  (And I bet you thought there were none?) Well, maybe there’s no real proper proof but do you think that’s stopped writers from constructing whole worlds around it? Not if the amount of books and films on the subject are anything to go by. 

So yes, in the science of time travel we have---


1 Time machine travel.

2 Time slip travel
3 Being a time traveler.

Time machine travel involves having a machine that can transport us back to a particular time. It’s a device that needs little explanation so it’s a popular method when it comes to whizzing characters back and forth.




Back To The Future, Doctor Who, Timecop, 12 Monkeys. You might say HG Wells was the father of that kind of time travel. When he wrote The Time Machine,



he paved the way for all the books, movies and TV programs that followed. He convinced us such a machine could be made AND it could work too. In case it doesn’t, films like Timecop, Terminator and 12 Monkeys are set in the future where we accept things will be very different given technological advances.


So next up comes, Time slip travel--a paranormal phenomenon in which a person, or group of people, travel through time often through a portal. Outlander, is of course, a major example of this.  The TV series Lost could count as  a time slip, the interesting thing being that there wasn’t a portal as such, there was an island which could be moved..as islands can be…and it led to characters being flashed everywhere.

This medium is very  popular for writers as it takes care of the tricky  business of transportation.

This brings us to the third  type of time travel, that is where the character is a time traveler. We know Doctor Who is a time lord and traveler but he does have a machine. A real time traveler has no machine and there is no portal.


Think  having some kind of disorder, perhaps genetic, like in The Time Traveler's Wife, or the film, About Time, and  because of that disorder you have no control  of  the time flashes. How awful would that be? Imagine yourself landing any place at any time, think of the clash of cultures, worlds, personalities…..


So how did a sweet, smexy girl like you find herself veering off into writing about time travel mutants?


I fell into writing time travel  by accident, and the awfulness of  being an actual  time traveler and that actual clash, was one I wanted to examine in my Time Mutants series. (Okay I didn’t really but that’s another story.)  




Time Mutants, as you can see are cursed, are damned, doomed to immortality. But by making a kiss all it takes for my Time Travelers to flash between two worlds initially, I did give them control of their lives. I was kind to them, honest.

Wait a minute Shehanne...there is a true nugget of genius in what you just said.  So you are saying if you kiss someone (or someone kisses you...maybe even a bunch of times) and they disappear, it could be they are a time traveling mutant?  It all makes sense now!  Thank you so much for that.  And to think, I've been racking my brain ...oh, sorry, do go on.

No problem.   So the fact that they’ve become Mutants is down to their simple failure to find one thing.  
Love.
Even if it’s sometimes




Again, so sorry to have interrupted, but I was overwhelmed.  Quite the "aha moment"...still taking all of that in.  Time traveling mutant...approach with caution.  (*Now she tells me*)

Map of Border DisputeSomewhat of a vicious circle though, isn't it?  They've become mutants because of their inability to find love...which causes them to disappear after making out...oh,sorry...I mean kissing...which in turn prevents them from finding love (because they disappear...possibly from someone who may just love them with all of their heart).  What a predicament!  There must be some way to break the cycle.  Perhaps sheer strength, courage, bravery, the will to live, the knowing we deserve true love, the over-riding natural instinct to break free!  After all, the only way we can be held captive is if we, on some level, give our consent.  I believe Lincoln freed the slaves.  Yes, here it is right here:

So sorry.  I went off on a tangent, didn't I?  But just trying to help.  Now...You were saying?








Not at all.  All assistance and advice welcome.  I was just about to say I'd love to share a blurb for The Writer and the Rake

Oh yes, please do!


1765 had bugger all to recommend it.
He saw her coming. If he’d known her effect he'd have walked away.

When it comes to doing it all, hard coated ‘wild child’ writer, Brittany Carter ticks every box. Having it all is a different thing though, what with her need to thwart an ex fiancĂ©, and herself transported from the present to Georgian times. But then, so long as she can find her way back to her world of fame, and promised fortune, what's there to worry about?
Georgian bad boy Mitchell Killgower is at the center of an inheritance dispute and he needs Brittany as his obedient, country mouse wife. Or rather he needs her like a hole in the head. In and out of his bed he’s never known a woman like her. A woman who can disappear and reappear like her either. 
And when his coolly contained anarchist, who is anything but, learns how to return to her world and stay there, will having it all be enough,  or does she underestimate him...and herself?  


And...You can read chapter one and find out more here:  The Writer and the Rake - Time Mutants

That is awesome; thank you so much for the free chapter.  We will check that out right now.  

And thank you so much for visiting us, Shehanne.  And all the way from the UK (Dundee, Scotland to be exact, for anyone that doesn't already know that). Oh...that reminds me...please forgive the fact that my spell check insisted on "American-izing" the spelling of several of your words - sheesh!

But this went by too fast.  I didn't even get to ask you how the hamsters are.  Keeping busy, I'm sure.

Image result for hamsters 


Well, that's OK, that leaves something to discuss next time.  And speaking of next time...let's not wait so long.  

Come back sooooooooooooon!!!!!!!!!!!!  Love you! XOXO



Here are links for Shehanne:

S M links:
ShehanneMoore on:

Facebook - Kilting the Book  "A community for lovers of highland romance about books, Scotland, kilts..."







Wednesday, March 30, 2016

A tribute to Katharine Hepburn & Spencer Tracy And to "Unconditional Lovers" everywhere... Yesterday, today and tomorrow...





The following are excerpts from her autobiography, Me-Stories of My Life, by Katharine Hepburn, with regard to her long standing, 27 year love affair with Spencer Tracy:

"It seems to me I discovered what "I love you" really means.  It means I put you and your interests and your comfort ahead of my own interests and my own comfort because I love you.
What does this mean?
I love you.  What does this mean?
Think.
We use this expression very carelessly.
LOVE has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get - only with what you are expecting to give - which is everything.
What you will receive in return varies. But it really has no connection with what you give.  You give because you love and you cannot help giving.  If you are very lucky, you may be loved back.  That is delicious but it does not necessarily happen.
It really implies total devotion.   And total is all-encompassing - the good of you, the bad of you.  I am aware that I must include the bad.
I loved Spencer Tracy.  He and his interests and his demands came first.
This was not easy for me because I was definitely a me, me, me person."

"At lunchtime they'd just meet and sit on a bench on the lot. 
They'd hold hands and talk
- and everybody left them alone in their little private world."
 
- Gene Kelly
"It was a unique feeling that I had for S.T.  I would have done anything for him.  My feelings - how can you describe them?  The door between us was always open.  There were no reservations of any kind.
He didn't like this or that.  I changed this and that. 
Food - we ate what he liked.
We did what he liked.
We lived a life which he liked.
This gave me great pleasure.  The thought that this was pleasing him.

Certainly I had not felt this way with my other beaus. I was looking for them to please me.  It is a very different relationship.  It's like a wonderful cocktail party.  But it ain't love."

"There is an enormous difference between love and like.  Usually we use the word 'love' when we really mean 'like'.  I think that very few people ever mean 'love'.  I think that 'like' is a much easier relationship.  It is based on sense.  A blind spot - 'love'."

"People have asked me what was it about Spence that made me stay with him for nearly thirty years.  And this is somehow impossible for me to answer.  I honestly don't know.  I can only say that I could never have left him. He was there - I was his.  I wanted him to be happy - safe - comfortable.  I liked to wait on him - listen to him - feed him - talk to him - work for him.  I tried not to disturb him - irritate him - bother him - worry him, nag him.  I struggled to change all the qualities which I felt he didn't like.  Some of them which I thought were my best, I thought he found irksome.  I removed them, squelched them as far as I was able."

"When he was sort of toward the end of his life - his last six or seven years - I virtually quit work just to be there so that he would't worry or be lonely.  I was happy to do this. I painted - I wrote - I was peaceful and hoping that he would live forever. "



"Someone asked me when I fell for Spencer.  I can't remember.  It was right away.  We started our first picture together and I knew right away that I found him irresistible.  Just exactly that, irresistible."


A Contemporary Love Song 

With The Same Message of Unconditional Love -

 Stand By You (my new favorite song...it may become yours, too!)




Stand By You - Lyrics
Hands, put your empty hands in mine
And scars, show me all the scars you hide
And hey, if your wings are broken
Please take mine 'til yours can open, too
'Cause I'm gonna stand by you
Oh, tears make kaleidoscopes in your eyes
And hurt, I know you're hurting, but so am I
And, love, if your wings are broken
Borrow mine 'til yours can open, too
'Cause I'm gonna stand by you
Even if we're breaking down, we can find a way to break through
Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through Hell with you
Love, you're not alone, 'cause I'm gonna stand by you
Even if we can't find heaven, I'm gonna stand by you
Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through Hell with you
Love, you're not alone, 'cause I'm gonna stand by you
Yeah, you're all I never knew I needed
And the heart—sometimes it's unclear why it's beating
And, love, if your wings are broken
We can brave through those emotions, too
'Cause I'm gonna stand by you
Oh, truth—I guess truth is what you believe in
And faith—I think faith is having a reason
And I know now, love, if your wings are broken
Borrow mine 'til yours can open, too
'Cause I'm gonna stand by you
Even if we're breaking down, we can find a way to break through
Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through Hell with you
Love, you're not alone, 'cause I'm gonna stand by you
Even if we can't find heaven, I'm gonna stand by you
Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through Hell with you
Love, you're not alone, 'cause I'm gonna stand by you
I'll be your eyes 'til yours can shine
And I'll be your arms, I'll be your steady satellite
And when you can't rise, well, I'll crawl with you on hands and knees
'Cause I... I'm gonna stand by you

Even if we're breaking down, we can find a way to break through (come on)
Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through Hell with you
Love, you're not alone, 'cause I'm gonna stand by you
Even if we can't find heaven, I'm gonna stand by you
Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through Hell with you
Love, you're not alone, 'cause I'm gonna stand by you
Love, you're not alone
Oh, I'm gonna stand by you
(even if we can't find heaven, heaven, heaven)
Yeah, I'm gonna stand by you

"You don't pick who you fall in love with. There are so few people to love. It's hard for one adult to even like another. Almost impossible."         - Katharine Hepburn
"Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get -- only what you are expecting to give -- which is everything. What you will receive in return varies. But it really has no connection with what you give. You give because you love and cannot help giving."                                                              - Katharine Hepburn


                             

"It is a great love story such as this that does not need to be spoken of, does not need words and can never truly, no matter how many times one tries, be denied.  Most certainly not conventional or traditional, this great love affair is a testament to the power of true love and the notion that, once one has crossed paths with one's soul mate, the force of that encounter may make it impossible not to be swept completely and utterly away..."                                                                               - This Glamorous Life Blog, By Joey Bailey

Kate is quoted as saying:  "Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get - only with what you are expecting to give, which is everything."  And give everything she did.  Spencer was married to Louise Treadwell, the mother of his two children, and as a devout Roman Catholic, he would not divorce her.

Nevertheless, Katharine and Spencer began a relationship that spanned 27 years. Outside of work, they were careful never to be seen in public and they were never photographed together. Despite this, they became one of Hollywood's most recognizable couples. 

They took great pains to keep their private life out of the spotlight.  Although Spencer had already left the family home, he never legally separated from his estranged wife.  Tracy soon settled into a cottage near Hepburn's Beverly Hills house.  Louise never did ask for a divorce, which was the only way that Tracy would end his marriage.

Louise Tracy was often quoted as having said, "I will be Mrs. Spencer Tracy until the day I die."  And indeed, she was.

Louise wanted the title.  Kate wanted the man.  They each got what they wanted.  Or closer to it than the alternative.  Close enough to make life better - not only "bearable", but actually pleasurable, each in it's own way.

“I didn’t need the title.  She could be ‘Mrs. Spencer Tracy’, that was important to her.  She had the children and she needed that.  I didn’t.  I was happy just to be with him.  Any little part of him, on any terms, his terms."
                 - Katherine Hepburn  


Hepburn's friends were stunned by the change in the woman they knew to be fiercely independent.  To them, Kate suddenly appeared to be morphing from a "dyed in the wool" feminist into what they perceived to be a submissive role, ceaselessly doting on and seemingly sacrificing everything (marriage, children and even some career choices) for Tracy.

Hepburn always vehemently protested such accusations, stalwart in her perception that it was not sacrificing when you truly love someone, as their happiness becomes the most important thing in the world to you.  Spence's happiness became Kate's happiness and it gave her great joy to bring whatever comfort she could to him, to soothe any heartache and bring as many smiles and as much fun as she could into his otherwise tortured life.  An unconventional viewpoint for the feminist, to say the least, but one she believed with all of her heart until her death at age 96 in 2003.







The random thoughts that possibly went through Kate’s mind at the beginning of their relationship:

You can tell me anything.
And yet, I understand, even without words.
But still…trust.  Communication. 
Is this fair?  No.  
Do we want it anyway?  Yes. 
A deep, far reaching (from long ago) desire and need to comfort, nurture, make things easier.
It’s not a burden.  
It’s an honor and a privilege.  
It’s called “unconditional love”.
A familiarity – like coming home.  
Oh, there you are!  I’ve been waiting for you – I just didn’t know it.
Grounded in the present, yet looking ever forward.    
This time need not be quite so horrific.  
Quite the contrary.  
We can bask with gratitude in every day, one day at a time, right now.
So what’s right and what’s wrong?
One thing need not have anything to do with the other. 
How could it hurt?  How could it help?
Don’t overthink it.


Click here for more info.: "Tormented by guilt and a family tragedy, why Spencer Tracy never left his wife for Katharine Hepburn"


The "unconditional love letter" Kate did write to Spence, 15 years after his death:



The "unconditional love letter" perhaps Spence should have written to Kate (and Kate - as well as any woman - would love to have received):

Dear Kath (his name for her),

Thank you doesn’t seem adequate, but since there are no words that can accurately express all that is in my heart, I will say thank you so much for bringing joy back into my life.  I say “back”, but it is joy as I’ve never felt before.  Laughter, love, passion and life as I’ve never known them.  Thank you for being my best friend.  Thank you for sharing my life as two halves that have become whole.  You are the one thing that has been missing from my life, for all of my life – until now – thank you for being here!   Thank you for making this the very best time of my life and for bringing me to life; not again, but for the very first time.

Thank you for making everything fun.
Thank you for making every day an adventure.
Thank you for loving me, incredibly, as much as I love you.
Thank you for sharing your life with me.

I love you talents, your heart, your intelligence, your perfectionism, your persistence, your sweetness, your tenderness, your warmth and your beauty – inside and out.  I love that you love me.

I love and appreciate your loyalty and your faith in me.  You’ve taught me the true meaning of “unconditional love”.  I know I can never find the words to tell you just how much that means to me.   

I love you.  More than I’ve ever loved and more than I thought it was possible to love.

What a blessing you are for me and how very much God must love me to have sent such a person to me!
I am truly blessed.  What a journey we are about to embark on.   I know you are grateful – as am I – as we should be!

Yours Forever, Love,
Spence


In total  Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy made nine films together:

Woman of the Year (1942), Keeper of the Flame (1943), Without Love(1945), The Sea of Grass (1947), State of the Union (1948), Adam's Rib (1949), Pat and Mike (1952), Desk Set (1957) – pictured - and Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967) 






 "It's a force of life, sex, you can't deny the thrill of riding high, wide and handsome with someone you love," Kate later said of their affair. "The only thing is that age doesn't bring any sexual wisdom. You're just as confused 40 years later as you were when you first heard about it."- Katherine Hepburn








Monday, January 18, 2016

Absolutely EVERYTHING (or at least the most interesting things) you've ever wondered about Mermaids - explained by Awesome Aussie Author and Mermaid Expert, Demelza Carlton


Welcome back Demelza!   




It's been quite a while since your last visit and I see you have been quite busy indeed! 

Demelza has written many books...some not on mermaids...but we will focus on the latest mermaid selections today.  Before we get into the books themselves, let's face it, what you really want to know (I already know, see disclaimer, below) is...how, EXACTLY, do mermaids have sex?




I must first issue this short disclaimer:  I am actually a "Certified Realm Reader" - a course taught by none other than the famous and fabulous Angel Expert, Doreen Virtue.


During this certification process, I discovered I am actually from the Mermaid Realm.  There are several types of Mermaids within the realm - more about that later.  I just wanted to put that out there in the interest of full disclosure, as I am not totally unbiased on this subject! 

OK...enough about me.



So Demelza, let's get to it...Where do little mermaids c
ome from?





Everyone asks me where little mermaids come from. I mean, it's the first thing you think about when you hear someone writing books about mermaids, right? Especially books for adults. So I put together a little explanation for you:

(Ahh...the moment we've all been waiting for!)


Basic Guide to Mermaid Reproduction

Mermaids are closely related to humans - so close that the two can interbreed. Mermaids, by definition, are female, after conflict with humans wiped out all the males.  Humans called them dragons, but to the mermaids, they were all people of the ocean's gift.


(So, humans wiped out the male mermaid population?  Could that be why some mermaids, still to this day, shall we say, hold a grudge against human males?!  A little different when you look at it from our...I mean their side.  Ooh, we are learning so much today!  Again, I apologize for the interruption.  Carry on!) 


The Little Sea-Maid, as written by Hans Christian Anderson, is fiction. 

Mermaids, like dragons, can shift their skin to cover more or less of their legs (and what lies between them) and change the colour accordingly. Like hair, eye and skin colour, a mermaid’s tail colour is determined by genetics. She can close her gills to appear human, when she breathes air on land.





Now, having chosen to permit her tail to part, her gills to close and her skin colour to normalize, a mermaid looks like any normal human – with a distinct curve as she needs to store fat reserves for cold water swimming.  


(Aha!  That explains it.  Sorry, personal comment.  Please continue.)



Essentially, she is as capable as any human woman (with her high level of fitness and flexibility from swimming all her life, perhaps a little more capable and with more "stamina") at sex and "child" birth.

(But we don't like to brag.)


There are mermaids masquerading as humans among our population.  (No!  Ya think? *wink-wink*)


No man is safe.


(Yikes!  Check out that picture - and caption.  For the record, I am a nice mermaid.)
Mermaids are often said to be "sirens" that lure unsuspecting human males to their deaths.
Editor's Note:  Viscous lies, I tell you!



As for how the mermaid children are born…you’ll find descriptions of births in Ocean’s Infiltrator and Ocean’s Birth.
If you want more information or more detail, I highly recommend you start by reading my Turbulence and Triumph series.
If you’d like to get two of my mermaid books for FREE, all you have to do is click on the link in my video, below, or at the end of this post and tell me where to send them.


From Sex to Stories

The idea that the girls had to come ashore to breed – with human men – was the concept that inspired my Ocean's Gift and Turbulence and Triumph series. Ocean's Gift is set in the modern day, while the Turbulence and Triumph books are set in the 1920s and 1930s.




An observer remarked on the transition from legs to tail:

 She placed her heels together and gave a flick with her feet. The movement rippled up her body, before she did it again. It looked like her skin was darkening, or was it just the waves washing over her? Another flick, her feet rising out of the water this time, and I saw the blue wasn’t just the water. It was like the skin of her legs had grown together, extending over her feet into curved flukes, as blue as the water. It blended seamlessly up her body, though her torso remained pale.   She turned on her side, her eyes curious.  In the skin along her ribs, I saw dark lines that looked like gills.  I couldn't take my eyes off of her.  She'd never looked less human.
 - Ocean's Infiltrator

Check out Demelza's video for more mermaid info. as well as how you can get two of her books for FREE!!!





Be sure to scroll all the way down for some final comments on the various categories of mermaids.  More information available upon request.



Here is all the info., buy links, etc. on the books!

  

Ocean’s Justice (#1)

Cast adrift on the Indian Ocean, eighteen-year-old Maria is saved by the crew of the steamship Trevessa.
 She can’t tell them her tragic tale, so the superstitious sailors make up their own stories – and some would sacrifice her to the seas to save themselves from the coming storm.
 Scottish engineer William McGregor boarded the Trevessa in search of adventure. He finds a crew convinced their ship is cursed, as he fights to protect the mysterious girl and bring her safely to shore.
 When the sharks start circling and the storm closes in, are sirens more than just a myth?







Purchase Links:

Ocean’s Trial (#2)


Smuggled ashore by the kind widow Merry D’Angelo, Maria begins her new life in the colonial port city of Fremantle.
 With the help of a young fisherman named Tony, she fights to find her place among a people so different to her own.
 Yet danger lurks beneath the surface of the turbulent harbour waters as her past races to catch up with her; threatening her future and her friends, and forcing her to choose between her old love and the new.








Purchase Links:

Ocean’s Triumph (#3)


Maria thought stowing away on a ship to follow the man she loves was a great idea – but sleeping in the cargo hold and fighting rats for food isn’t at all what she bargained for, and that’s before she reaches her destination: the desolate colonial outpost of Christmas Island.
 Now the man who was once her world won’t even look at her. Perhaps she’d be better off swimming hundreds of miles home.
 It’s time to lay the ghosts of their past to rest…or are some ghosts not dead at all?







Purchase Links:

Ocean's Ride (#4)


Finally reunited with the man she loves, Maria agrees to become his wife. Little does she realise this will catapult her into the cream of Christmas Island society. Now a lady of leisure with servants to cater to her every whim, all Maria wants is to spend time with her new husband, learning to ride a motorcycle and sneaking off for a romantic swim.
 But with her husband’s increasing work pressures and all eyes upon her, even Maria begins to wonder if she has what it takes to be a society wife. And the ocean’s siren call is growing stronger…

One thing’s for certain: Maria is in for a bumpy ride.




Purchase Links:


Ocean’s Cage (#5)


Forced to choose between the ocean and the man she loves, Maria accepts the gilded cage of her life on land. But the ocean will not be thwarted so easily.

All Maria wants is to live happily ever after with her husband and a honeymoon in Singapore seems like the ideal start to their life together. But between the crazed crabs, a mysterious illness and a monstrous shark, Maria may need all her skills as a siren to succeed.

Can one woman oppose the ocean and win?


Purchase Links:

Ocean’s Birth (#6)


With a baby on the way, Maria thought her troubles would be over, but a new storm is brewing with the power to sweep away everything she holds dear.

When Maria’s mother appears, insisting that Maria return to the ocean and threatening the lives of everyone she loves, Maria is faced with a heartbreaking choice: what price will she pay to protect both her husband and her unborn child from her own family?





Purchase Links:

Ok, as promised, for those interested, there are six types of Mer People (aka, "Mermaids") that walk among us:


  • Mer Fairies
  • Mer Angels
  • Mer Cherubs (Me!)
  • Mystic Mer
  • Star Mer
  • Incarnated Dolphins
If interested, let me know and I'll be happy to send anyone more info. on each type!

Thank you so much for joining us again today, Demelza, and thank you, too, for the generous offer of (click here) TWO FREE BOOKS!  It's been entirely too long - please come back again soon.  Best of luck to you - stay busy and stay in touch! xo