The list of things I have vague notions of achieving... or, trying to set goals.

I’ve been asked to concoct a list by my lovely writing mentor, Louise Cusack. A list of what comes next. Now there are many things in life I would like to achieve. I want to learn how to shoot a gun and actually hit the target past the ten metre point. Yes. I’m really that bad at it. And let’s face facts, when the sh*t goes down that is going to be wildly insufficient for fighting off the zombie hordes. My partner will probably ditch me for someone cooler and younger who can actually aim. In his dreams this woman most accurately resembles Emma Stone. Or so he says. To his detriment. But I haven’t been to the pistol range in a year and a half now. I’ve been... busy.

I imagine completing my list would feel something like this. I can fly, you fools!

I want to lose 8kgs and fit into the Levi’s that have been sitting in the back of the closet for about the last two years. Preferably before the Romance Writers Conference in August, pretty please Fairy Godmother. Funnily enough, sitting on your butt all day is not so great for the size of said butt. I am in fact doing something about this one. I’m Hoola Hoopin twice a day and eating these diet bars that most closely resemble compressed bird food with foul fake chocolate poured all over. Mmm. Tasty. But I don’t care. I’m a doing it!

I also want to catch up with my To Be Read pile. I’ve managed to get it down to “Sheltered” by Charlotte Stein, “The Chimera Vector” by Nathan M. Farrugia, “Destiny of the Light” by Louise Cusack (truth, not a product placement), “Guilty as Sin” by Denise Rossetti, and four others that have slid down the back of the bedside table and I can’t be bothered fishing out right now. I’m trying not to buy anymore. Trying. But people keep publishing. What can you do? And Chuck Wendig put out a book not long ago, now that I come to think of it...

There are three ‘I wants’ that come immediately to mind. None of which are likely to be what my mentor is after, however. She might not even be interested in my lack of aptitude with a gun. I’ve mentioned the pantsing versus plotting approach before around these parts. In many ways we could apply this to life. Deep, huh? Do you set goals or do you just fandangle around and deal with whatsoever shall arise? Fact of the matter is without setting goals books don’t get written. Absinthe can’t do everything. 

I spent the weekend plotting out an approx 80,000 word novel. I’ve got a novella and two shorts that need spanking into shape. How are these things magically going to happen? And I should have a website by now, really. And get an Authorial type head shot photo done. Yep. Write a bio. Keep the blog up to date. Continue trying to figure out how twitter works. I’m not even sure what Tumblr is. Do I even need it? And I should have a rich and fulfilling home life wherein my eldest child ceases to liken me to the Evil Queen and my intake of alcohol is greatly reduced.

So yes, goals. Lists. Hmm. Life is a painful explodey beast that easily gets out of hand. The above however is roughly my three month plan. Not letting new, bright and shiny objects lure me off the path is the key to success. I’ve signed up for the 50k in June that Romance Writers Australia is running because prodding from a wide array of sources is always helpful. Are you a member of RWA? If not, become one. Any book with a whiff of romance is how they roll. http://www.romanceaustralia.com/

P.S. I’ll let you know if I make it to the pistol club so you can put me back on your Z List.

Fairytales and Feminism...

With Snow White and the Huntsman soon slated for release and the awesomeness of Once Upon A Time well underway I thought we’d talk Fairytales. Or the various updated versions of same. Hands up if you’ve read Robin McKinley’s ‘Beauty’. If your hand is high then you can go to the top of the class. It’s a wonderful re-telling of the classic Beauty and the Beast by one of the best fantasy authors of all time. Or have you done Angela Carter’s dark and sensual ‘The Bloody Chamber’? She puts a masterful erotic spin on some familiar tales.

People have been re-telling fairy tales and tweaking them as they go for a mighty long time and now-a-days is no exception. Disney made a small fortune off their Snow White and Cinderella and so on, but I like the edgier versions. The fairytales that don’t mind getting down and dirty. After all, people died in gruesome fashions and kingdoms rose and fell based upon the outcomes of these adventures. The Grimm brothers weren’t short on carnage. It isn’t all singing bluebirds and whistling while you work. Or it needn’t be once you pass a certain age.

Let’s take a gander at the Snow White of new. In Snow White and the Huntsman, instead of merely letting the young beauty run free in the forest after deciding to forgo cutting out her heart, the Huntsman (Mmm, Chris Hemsworth.) teaches her the art of war. Snow gets armour. And a sword. How cool is that? In Once Upon a Time Snow is a very capable thief, going all Robin Hood on Prince Charming’s fine ass. The iconic blue and yellow frock is nowhere in sight and no one is staying home to decorate and dust for dwarves... so far.

How’s about Red Riding Hood? Ruby from OUAT is no wolf fearing weenie, that’s for sure. She’s channelling Amy Winehouse at her saucy best with her tiny outfits, her big black hair and her red, red lips. If anyone could run with wolves it would be her. Even Granny is a modern day business woman with her Inn and her Diner. No lackadaisical lying about in bed waiting for recalcitrant grand-daughters to show for her.

There seems to have been a definite shift into feminist fairytales here. Waiting to be rescued is no longer on. There more of a balance in power between hero and heroine. Charming rescues Snow from the Evil Queen's henchmen and Snow in turn rescues Charming from the Trolls. And she does it by sacrificing her best chance at defeating the Evil Queen. Don’t even get me started on the Queen, aka Mayor of Storybrooke. She’s so bad and her motivation so strong, you really have to wonder how Snow is going to get out of this one alive.

Can Princess Emma the bail bondsman save the day? Will Charming ever get his act together? Why is the Sherriff banging the dastardly Regina? Well, not so much that one. Classic case of a man being lead around by his penis, truly. And Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltsin is sheer genius. Sooo creepy. My daughter rants at the TV everytime someone makes a deal. Will they never learn?!

Anyway, enough from me. Got a fresh fairytale I should have mentioned? Have at it...

A look at Chains of Revenge by Keziah Hill and Her Best Worst Mistake by Sarah Mayberry

First up, Chains of Revenge... Lissa is the sexy spoilt Princess of Horvald where people have a tendency to indulge all sorts of appetites. Having turned eighteen she chooses one of the brawny battle slaves to be her first lover. But the key word here is ‘slave’.  Devadas is a Prince of Catiscal, captured in battle and forced to become bait for the warriors of Horvald in the training ring. Servicing the Princess is a welcome respite from the constant bloodshed but being treated like her pet poodle is not on. Can you see where this is going? Cool, huh? But the true story starts ten years later when the pair are reunited, both having grown and changed over the course of time. Lissa is no longer an over.- indulged little sexpot and Devadas has become a mighty fearful Warlord. With a grudge. And guess who’s going to cop a spanking...

Ms Hill weaves all sorts of excellent erotic happenings into the story with deft fingers and she manages it without losing any of the emotional connection growing between our unlikely couple. Lissa’s evolution into a mature responsible woman is completely believable. Equally, Devadas’ turn to the darkside (perhaps!) is totally understandable given the conditions he was kept in during his time as a slave. Well, with the exception of the rockin’ kinky sex. But it was the degradation! Anyway, read it and you’ll see. It’s a great story.

http://www.keziahhill.com/

“Pull a Mayberry” (pr. pool a may-bear-ree). Verb. Defⁿ: to simultaneously bare one’s breasts and poke out one’s tongue. An offensive act expressing extreme derision and contempt. A useful method for searing the image of one’s assets into the memory of one’s hero.

Her Best Worst Mistake is a follow-up to one of Ms Mayberry’s earlier works (which I haven’t read so it obviously stands alone just fine). It documents the tangled relationship that develops between Violet and Martin. Tangled because Martin has just been dumped by Violet’s bestie, Elizabeth. Now Violet and Martin have loathed the sight of each other for many a year, butting heads at each and every opportunity. But something’s changed... Violet feels bad that Martin’s been left in the lurch even though she steadfastly believed he was all types of wrong for her friend. Keeping up? When Violet takes a bottle of Peach Schnapps to Martin as a peace/pity offering trouble starts a-brewing. They fight, as per the usual, and nasty things are said. In retaliation Violet 'Pulls a Mayberry' (And I hope to see much more of this eloquent act in books from now on. Go Girl!). 

But is all that simmering anger and bubbling angst passion in disguise? Has it always been? Violet dresses to be noticed and is loud and gregarious, not his type at all. Martin is... subdued. Staid. And maybe a little stuck-up in his posh designer suits. Which just makes his gargantuan fall for our heroine all the better. Ms Mayberry has written us a truly wonderful tale of opposites attract whilst paying due homage to the bond between our long time female friends.

http://www.sarahmayberry.com/

Chains of Revenge and Her Best Worst Mistake are both first Self-Published outings for these two great Australian Women Romance Writers. I think it’s vitally important that writers have options when it comes to publishing. I also think e-publishing is a wondrous thing. If I had a little mind control widget I’d press the button and make you all go buy them and read them. Alas, technology isn’t keeping up with my need for World Wide domination so I’ll simply say, go buy these books, you won’t be disappointed.

If you haven't checked out the Australian Women Writers 2012 Challenge yet then you're silly. Go do it. And read their blog while you're there. http://www.australianwomenwriters.com

Six Sentence Sunday...

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday. There was a lot of concern regarding the one sided kiss last week so I thought we'd continue with that. See if we can't find out why Natalie isn't getting with the program already and kissing the poor boy senseless. This is, afterall, a romance. Silly heroine. I swear... characters can be so difficult sometimes.

Now this one comes with a language warning so if the F-Bomb offends then I wish you a lovely day and on your way. To everyone else, thank you very much for dropping by! Big gushy appreciation to everyone who leaves a comment, I love hearing from you each week.

     Angus opened his eyes to find hers were huge, shocked. Oh, no, had he read her wrong? His dick was killing him, fucking with his head, maybe she hadn’t meant what he’d thought she’d meant. “Is this okay?”

     “You want...” Her lips grazed his as she spoke because he wasn’t moving back, not until she said to. 

http://www.sixsunday.com/ 

A look at Kiss of the Goblin Prince by Shona Husk

Dai (like his brother Roan who was the subject of Book 1 in the series) has recently been freed from a nasty curse that made him a Goblin. No longer grey skinned and craving gold, Dai is setting out to figure what comes next now that he’s a talk, dark and handsome human stranger living in Australia. Now, we all know what happens next right? For it is a truth universally acknowledged that a tall, dark handsome stranger in Oz must be in want of a woman. Poor guy never stood a chance. Sad really. Bam! Pow! Girl of his dreams hits him upside the head and romance drags him under. 

But there’s a lot more going on here than the will-he-or-won’t-he with our heroine Amanda. This book is primarily about the Shadowlands, the world Dai and Roan have just escaped from, and its effects on Dai. It’s also about magic (which Dai has in the form of a variety of funky tats, yippee!) and past lives, the people they loved and lost along the way on their path to breaking the curse. There’s a lot to this story and it carries you away rip-tide style. That being said, I hadn’t read book 1 in the series and I didn’t have any trouble catching up. Ms Husk has done a bang up job on the world building and the rules of magic make sense. Dai is tortured in all the right ways and he has tats. Did I mention the tats? I really do like tats on a big, burly man. Tortured with tats. Nice. The building attraction between Dai and Amanda is sweet and sensual and handled with sensitivity and it was a great all-round read.

You can find more about Shona Husk and her books here...  http://www.shonahusk.com/

This has been another Australian Women Writers 2012 Challenge Review. If you'd like to find out more about this awesomely wonderous thing then bang here... http://www.australianwomenwriters.com/p/australian-women-writers-book-challenge_25.html

Once Upon a Zombie Movie...

Okay, so I owe you an apology. The vodka-fuelled rant was out of line, cool Lego pictures or not. To make it up to you I thought we’d do a looksee at some of the best Zombie films of all time. We’ve done a lot of romance stuff lately so time to give the undead a go. Starting with...

1.       Evil Dead 2

There are many reasons why this is leading the charge. The undead weren’t your traditional gruesome grey skinned shambling hungry types but the presence of Bruce Campbell supersedes any complaints regarding breaches of official zombie policy. Oh, Bruce. Has anyone ever rocked quite so much? I think not. With a chainsaw replacing his lost hand and his lost hand skittering around trying to kill him or diss him the magnificence of this classic cannot be contained. Evil Dead 1 was going for straight horror and 3 played it solely for laughs but 2... now 2 was just right. They keep threatening to remake this but the fact of the matter is without Bruce it ain’t gonna work. Give it up. Evil Dead 2 summed up the fundamental guiding principle for any zombie apocalypse: don’t wallow in misery or quake in fear trying pathetically to hold onto the last vestiges of your sanity. Sanity is for losers: Go crazy, pull the ripcord on your chainsaw and roll with it! Who’s laughing now!?!

2.       Resident Evil 1

Milla in the red dress and black army boots is an image seared into many a mind. A lot of them being barely post-pubescent boys with a tissue fetish but don’t be dismayed. There’s something here for the whole family. Well, not the littlies. It is after all a zombie film. And if Milla Jovovich wasn’t enough they gave you Michelle Rodriguez as well along with some pretty boys to ogle. The sets were grand and the undead plentiful. It was the big boomin Hollywood blockbuster we deserved, shiny, sparkly and a whole lotta fun. I’m reluctant to delve into the RE’s that have followed since. The joy seems to have steadily gone downhill. The less said the better. Final comment... kicking rabid zombie dogs in the face with your funky black army boots is best left to the professionals. Don’t try this at home.

3.       Zombieland

1.      Cardio

2.       Double Tap

3.       Beware of Bathrooms

Shit. What can you say? I’ve turned people with this film who steadfastly refuse to ever watch a schlocky horror with me. They enjoyed it so much all was forgiven once circulation returned to their extremities (careful how tight you tie the ropes). Easily the most fun and accessible zombie film to ever strut across our screen. So many mighty one-liners and good times to be had. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any better Bill Murray showed up! Perfection!

4.       28 Day Later

Now this was a good, gritty film with great actors but there was one problem... running Zombies. I don’t hold with that new fangled business. Deep down in the pit of my despair I believe it is profoundly fucking wrong, okay? Romero did it right and I don’t see the need for change. Make them shamble. I mean seriously, how would ANYONE survive if zombies could chase you down the street with their pants on fire? True, mostly no-one is knocking around in London but I guess I’m a traditionalist. Still a good movie though and Christopher Eccleston is genius. As always.

Speaking of Non-American efforts an honourable mention goes to Undead, a small Australian film a while back. Nice humour, nice effects, suitably gory and very Oz. Extra points granted for working alien abductions into the script. Go the home team!

5.       ROMERO

Misleading putting George A. Romero at the bottom but I wanted to finish up with him. Firstly, where to begin...

 He is the Godfather of Modern Zombie Cinema. My favourite this month is Diary of the Dead. I think it was a cool idea and a nice return to a smaller scale, home-grown effort after the bigger bucks Land of the Dead. Simon Baker was in ‘Land’ along with Dennis Hopper and whilst it was fun I have issues believing money would mean squat in that world. The growing awareness and gathering of the undead beneath the leadership of ‘Big Daddy’ was a terrific twist in the tale. Zombies are fun for a bunch of reasons and how they relate to our humanity or lack thereof is just one slice of the cake. A more deep-thinking slice but an interesting one none the less. We could go on and on about Romero’s films, from Night of the Living Dead made in 1968 through to the current day. Romero gives you all the grit and survivalism you could require from a post-apocalypse film and he isn’t afraid of carnage.He also likes to turn up in his films disguised as a Zombie. What fun!

Got a film you feel should have been in the top 5? Let rip...

Who’s Wearing the Skirt? Or, a wee little Rant about Romance.

Once upon a time an established writer  told me I must write stories that change people’s lives. I MUST. Bite me. I beg to differ. But the recent debates regarding ‘Feminism in Romance’ over at Australian Women’s Writers ( http://www.australianwomenwriters.com/2012/03/in-defence-of-books-written-by-women.html ) and the success of 50 Shades of Grey has got me thinking about where we’re going with all this. What is the future of Romance Writing? Should I be attempting to write the next great Women’s Movement Bible? Because I can tell you now, I don’t have it in me. I’m simply not that deep. But then nor is 50 Shades of Grey and its filling up the shelves in department stores like nobody’s business. So what are readers after?

I believe it’s a story that speaks to them, heart and soul. It’s the tale that captures their imagination and carries them far, far away. There was a poster on my classroom wall in High School that said finishing a good book is like losing a good friend. Isn’t that what a reader is searching for?

But back to the serious stuff. Is romance reflecting the times? Does it encourage unequal relationships? Does it present us with disempowered, choice-less heroines waiting to be rescued? Is it focused on sex and an emotional rush rather than more literary minded, mental pursuits? Does it matter? Well... yes. It does. But only in so much as these issues are fundamentally important. Should they dictate what we buy and read? No. Never. But the Golden Rule here:  If the heroine is too stupid to live and the hero an ass in the making then it’s likely to sink in a nano-second. Go read the discussions over at AWW2012. They can express it far more eloquently than me.

Still here? Okay. Let’s start with - Is it focused on sex and an emotional rush rather than more literary minded pursuits? Answer: Who cares? Seriously? Why should feminism be boxed into being literary minded and cerebral? Men for centuries told stories about how reason was more important than fluffy emotions. They often swilled wine and wore weird hats while they did it. Usually this division was justified by associating men with reason and women with said fluff. Such stuff lingers. If we decide we want to take emotion by the horns and run with it then all power to us. Or am I missing something?

Does Romance present us with disempowered, choice-less heroines waiting to be rescued? Well, it’s a rather broad genre with many, many contributors, far and wide. For every kick-butt self-rescuing princess you’re going to get a sappy, suffering waif who probably would have been evicted long since by a hero with any sense. And the ones in-between? The closer to normal women who are trying to be strong and get along? Well, they’re like most women actually are... but with a buff, chiselled hero ready to fall at their feet given the right wind conditions. Lucky things. It wouldn’t be so useful if every romantic protagonist was Wonder Woman. It would get dull for starts. Give the guy less to do for seconds. And it wouldn’t really empower anyone, now then, would it? If everyone was fantastic all the time then what’s the fuss about? But should Ms Average represent the issues and concerns of the modern age? Authenticity wise, I’m going to lean towards the yes side of things. Does the Author owe us a lecture on safe sex however? No. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t doing the right thing by discussing and raising awareness of these issues through debates like the one over at AWW2012...

Does it encourage unequal relationships? Let us reflect upon Pride and Prejudice. When Darcy first proposes to Elizabeth, if she had accepted then and there it would have been an unequal relationship. He all but believes himself bewitched. He’s been smacked upside the head with lust. It isn’t real love at this stage. Not until he respects her and she respects him do we have our Happy Ever After. Is this balance of power reflected across the board in romance? We can only hope. But satisfaction will not be guaranteed if it isn’t. Let’s give the reader some credit. We know a forever after when we see one. We also know a ‘Well, she’s bound to be just his starter wife...’ when it falls across our bedside table. Or Kindle.

All of what we have discussed thus far is stuff that happens in the books. How about the process? Romance books are by and large written by women, for women, and f*ck what men think. Doesn’t this strike you as feminist? Women exploring fantasies and heady, convoluted tales of love, lust and passion, in whatever form they so please.

So, to sum up. Does romance impact negatively in any way shape or form on how women are thinking? No. Women can think for themselves. We can. So there.

DISCLAIMER: This is what happens when you drink vodka and have drunken debates with your partner the philosopher. Avoid vodka and never, ever marry a philosopher. You've been warned. And sorry about the length of the post. It won't happen again.

Six Sentence Sunday...

So if last weekend was a whole lot of women taking charge, I figured we best give the boys a turn this round. Here's a nice young man jumping the girl of his choice following some Zombie carnage and chaos. Because there's nothing like a near death experience to get the juices flowing, right? Right. This 6 is from a short I submitted for an anthology so fingers crossed and I hope you enjoy it. 

Happy Mothers Day to all the Mum's of one description or another out there. May your day be magic!

Maybe next week should be crazy action scene week. Who's with me?

     Natalie’s mouth was amazing.

     Angus slanted his head, kissed her again. Slower and without butting her in the nose this time. He brushed his lips against hers, stroked her neck with his fingers. Her skin was silken warm, her soft hair tickling the back of his hand.

     If only she would kiss him in return.

http://www.sixsunday.com/ 

A look at Love's Rhythm by Lexxie Couper

Nick Blackthorne is a rock star. Actually, he is THE rock star. Money, fame, groupies, the whole she-bang. And he’s a wee bit over it. Suddenly, the one woman he loved way back when is all he can think of. So it’s a return to the backwoods town of his youth and to Lauren, the girl he done wrong.

Lexxie Couper has a cunning way with words and tells a rockin good story. She takes a couple of old Romanceland favourites, such as lover’s reunion, and spins them into a fresh and thoroughly enjoyable tale. Now, I’m not going to go all spoilers on you but the way Ms Couper handled the difficult situation of Nick the Rock Stars return and his impact on Lauren’s small town life was way believable.  Faint praise? No. I don’t know that I've read many books where this set-up is carried off well, it’s a tricky one, but here it is handled in a super credible fashion.

The story carries you along and it’s full of likeable seconds who are apparently getting their own HEA sometime soon. I love that. The sex is hot and there’s a goodly amount of it. I love that too. And above and beyond all this, the ending is SOOOO satisfying. Probably the best wrap up I’ve read in quite a while.

 

 

For more information on Lexxie Couper and her books http://www.lexxiecouper.com/ 

This has been another review for the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2012. For more information on this awesome endeavour please bang on the button to your right.

Bad Boys... or, the Art of the Anti-Hero.

Han Solo was the first Anti-Hero to ever cross my path. But he wasn’t bad. Not really. Or he was a safe sort of bad. Yes, he was only out for himself and looked awesomely dashing in tight pants. He had a blaster on his hip and he knew how to use it. His best-friend could tear people apart without trying but was a big cuddle bunny at heart. Han was a bit of a rapscallion was he, but he wasn’t out to hurt anyone. To my young, impressionable, girly mind he was just right. And he came through in the end, didn't he? Risking his life for the universe. He won the Princess and got given a medal, he even danced with Ewoks. Or was that Chewie? No matter. Bravo!

But it’s about more than a willingness to thumb their nose at the establishment, this Anti-Hero business. Many moons later a certain Captain Malcolm Reynolds (in pants not unlike those of Han Solo’s) would seduce us with his wild ways. All Mal wants is to keep his crew alive and his ship flying, and quite how he manages that each episode was a true delight. The Captain deals in the grey areas, juggling right and wrong as needs be in his quest to continue. Strikes me there’s a certain charm to these rogues.  A wily tongue and quick wit are often on deck, along with a jaded outlook. They’re men that know how to handle themselves. Some just exude these qualities, no matter what side they’re standing.

Take Alan Rickman for instance. Who wasn’t a teensy bit disappointed when Robin Hood done the dastardly Sherriff in at the end of the movie? Yes, he was bad, but he was so GOOD at being bad. Oh, Good Lord was he GOOD! Kevin Costner kind of paled in comparison, bum flash and all. And when Alan faced off against Bruce Willis in Die Hard(still the best Christmas movie of all time, my friends)? Oh, damn, dead again. But didn’t he shine... strutting around the sky-scraper, snapping out one-liners like they were going out of style. Sigh. Seeing him as Snape was a treat, lank black hair and all. Alan is genius eternal.

How about Mark Sheppard? He only needs to walk on screen and you know trouble’s afoot.  Whether as Badger on Firefly, Crowley in Supernatural or (squee!!) Canton Everett Delaware III in Doctor Who he steals the scene. He’s a dash of chaos, pure and simple. He even turned up in Battlestar Gallactica as a dubious lawyer. With a cat. Nothing is every clear and simple, there are degrees of right and wrong.

But when our Anti's step over the line? Toeing it is fine and good and expected but some take things a little too far. Al Swearengen from Deadwood comes to mind, as charismatic and brutal as he was. Then there's Cullen Bohannon from Hell on Wheels. He's been knocking off naughty types aplenty in his quest for revenge. Has he gone too far? Season 2 will tell. Has he lost his chance with Lilly Bell, the fair haired maiden of the west? He's a tortured Anti-Hero, the best kind.

Anti-heroes keep things interesting. They’re complex, complicated creatures who just need a good woman to sort them out, they do (yes, I know Canton’s gay, relax my purist Whovian friend).  Enough from me. Another thin pretext to put up pictures of hot guys and Lego characters nicely completed. No, I don’t know what that combination of interests says about me. Nor do I want to.

Got an Anti-Hero I should have mentioned? See you in the comments...

Six Sentence Sunday...

Welcome to another Six Sentence Sunday. This week a snippet featuring that awkward moment when you're sitting half naked on your hero's lap and he's actually dithering over the wisdom of them getting to know one another in the biblical sense. Practicality has no place when hormones surge. Fortunately our heroine knows this and acts accordingly, bless her.

I've decided to pop this one on Smashwords later this month, give self-publishing a go with some short stories. Any sage words of advice regarding the process would be gratefully received.

Have a great Sunday and thanks for your feedback!



She slapped a hand over his mouth, effectively silencing him. “Do you want to have sex with me or not?”

The hand lifted and he was permitted to speak. “I think casual sex between us could be a mistake if you’re going to stay.”

“Not the answer I was after, Aiden.”

And then she kissed him, hard.


http://www.sixsunday.com/