Censorship Is Wrong

Milos Foreman, director of such classics as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and the People vs. Larry Flynt once said in his country, they came for the pornographers first. Milos is German and he lost his parents to a concenration camp.

Now, I don't see myself as a pornographer, and when a book I wrote simply deals with a the thorny subject of abuse (NOT RAPE FOR TITILATION) and I get my it taken off of vendors sites because of a tag it infuriates me. I live in the United States of America, not some backward nation that paints every unpopular book with a broadstroke  of 'pornagraphic in nature'.

My book is dark romantic suspense. It owes a lot to the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and James Bond. The villain gets his comeuppance. What he's done to his daughter isn't white washed. Publishers I implore you to be careful when placing your books for sale. In your earnestness not to offend you may inadvertently cause your writer (and yourself) more heartache than not.

The fact is erotic romance and erotica writers are being unfairly targeted. Yes there is a lot of sick shit out there. Stuff I have no desire to read. Stuff that makes me wonder what is wrong with people. But the question we must stop and ask ourselves is, if we start banning books, where do we stop?

I fear in Paypal's earnestness to do the right thing they are doing a very bad thing. Censorship is wrong. I understand the need to protect people from criminals but when a certain segment of law abiding members of society are unfairly targeted it's wrong no matter how you slice it because it makes it easier to go after the next segment of society.

Right now I'm hoping my book is returned to Omnilit and Smashwords. I am so angry I beyond words. To be censored for a second time makes me want to abandon my writing career. But then what? These intellectual terrorists would win.

How Would I Cast Bounty Hunter?

I guess there's really no discussion as to whom I would cast as the Bounty Hunter. Daniel Craig is the pick du 'jour as many of my heroes and Cowboys and Aliens along with books that I read as a kid and a teenager who fueled my imagination. Although I like looking at the lives of people and half-breeds after the war. 

And honestly who looks cooler as a bad ass alien-human half-breed  trying to do the right thing against his better judgment? 

As for the girl, let's be honest I saw a younger version of myself. Who wouldn't want to fall in love and have hot alien sex with a character that looks like Daniel Craig. Lizzie Preston and the judge George Lyle I saw people in the late 50's early sixties. And everyone else was more defined as a character and I didn't use a cheat in. 

General Runyon was a nasty alien and General Mitchum were defined by what they did, not who or what they looked like, But Runyon was one ugly dude lol. Logan Mitchell Jr. favors his father and Alabama resembled her mother. LOL. I know, two Daniel Craigs. Delicious.

I just finished the first round of edits yesterday, maybe my book will have an earlier release date!

When It's Hard

 I deal with anxiety. I'm sure everyone does to some degree but when I get anxious it can be paralyzing. I try to calm myself and center myself and doing the deep breathing exercises I learn in therapy but it can all be too much. And sometimes it can even interfere with my writing process.

When things are going good, and I mean when they are fantastic and  the words are flowing and I'm in this other world where everything is right and nothing is wrong and this world with all of it's struggles and disappointments fall away and I am experiencing my story I am happy.

But sometimes there are days like today, where anxiety riddles me and I doubt my talent and my capabilities and fear of failure and success grip me like the twin tyrants they can be and it is incredibly difficult to get anything done.

I started this blog yesterday and didn't get much of anything done. Today I completed the first edits on Bounty Hunter (232 pages) and finished 1900+ words on my new project. I've also promoted my two books. And Another Way To Die is on sale for 30% off making it a steal at $1.75 http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=209&category_id=8&keyword=Another+Way+To+Die&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

So as hard as yesterday was today I had the momentum to get a lot done today. So when it's hard, remember to just sit down at the keyboard, typewriter, or notebook and just do it. You don't really ask yourself if it's easy to eat a meal or take a shower or go to work at the evil day job, you just do what needs to be done. Writing is a privilidge that I take seriously. And when I see others copping out and saying I don't have the time or I'm just so tired it pisses me off. Yesterday was hard but I did manage to get 20 pages of edits done before I went to bed. And today I just showed up at the keyboard this morning and it took me a while but I got the edits out of the way and by 10 o'clock this morning I was ready to write. I took a break but around 1 I got to working and now have a full chapter it took me three hours to do that.

You have all day to write you say. So what. You make the time. Publication isn't easy but when it comes to getting that way there's no guarantee that you'll get there. Even then you don't know if you'll make the vaunted Best Sellers List.

Oh, and my two cents about Amazon. Get a grip people, and CHANGE. Generally speaking writers, no matter what industry they're servicing, get the proverbial shaft. Things like Smashwords and Amazon are awesome. If you have a thick skin and know how to drive people to your books then by all means take that great story directly to the masses. It doesn't make you any less of an author than Stephen King. Like I said that's just my two cents.




Today so far I've written 7 pages on my new project today. But I'm not satisfied. I want another scene out of myself. And the anxiety builds the longer it takes me to do it.

I've always dreamed of a major book deal. But looking at the publishing industry I wonder if that is ever going to happen. Amazon has their fingers on the pulse and it seems like Traditional Publishing is sticking its head in the sand. I try not to think about that when writing on a project but being a total type A when it comes to goals.

Logan Mitchell, Jr.-Bounty Hunter

Now you know how I like to go on and on about Daniel Craig. But this is more about the hero he inspired in my latest manuscript.

His name is Logan Mitchell, Jr. and he is a human-alien half-breed born to a Resistance fighter and a Lonegal scientist mother who fell in love before the war ever began.

We meet him twenty years after the war has ended and he is the best at what he does. Tracking and taking down criminals on both sides of his family tree. But when Carrie-Anne 'Alabama' Newsome's file comes across his desk his world is turned upside down.

Carrie-Anne knows things. Like what it's like be a half-breed hated by both sides of her lineage. Like what it's like to lose everything at a young age. And what it's like to love someone who can't love you back. And when she comes face to face with Logan it isn't exactly love at first site.

But when she almost dies miscarrying the result of a slave ship rape Logan is forced to choose. His bitterness of who she may or may not be to his father. Or help her escape a life she is sure to die from if she is returned.

Bounty Hunter is a Sci-fi Erotic Romance and it clocks in at over 41,000 words at the moment. We'll see once the edits are complete just how long it is.

True Love

I tend to go through phases when I'm writing. I see a movie, I fall in lust with an actor's looks, in love with his performance and the better the acting the more likely the romance is going to last for awhile. Some take up permanent residence: Maurice Benard is an example. But he takes up residence for a myriad of reasons. It's not just just his dark good looks it's his openness and activism when it comes to his battle with BiPolar Disorder which allowed me to see it in myself and to seek professional help for it. Yes Maurice is special and I plan on sending him a copy of my first print book if only to say thank you in a way to make myself happy and to show him it wasn't a joke when I approached him about an audio version of Another Way To Die.

Then there's Russell Crowe, I loved his GLADIATOR, not to be confused with my Gladiator Chronicles book 1, GLADIATOR and the Insider was awesome, as was A Beautiful Mind. And Cinderella Man. He was brilliant in all four movies. He hates PR, and really who can blame him. It's boring, it's invasive and it's hard to deal with, which is why a fan like me is probably the last person he wants to deal with. But as someone who deals with BiPolar Disorder on a daily basis both of these actors have had a profound effect on me.

There are other actors whose work has affected me in other ways. George Clooney is the ultimate good guy in my book. My best friend and I bonded over his films From Dusk Till Dawn and One Fine Day along with the Nurse's Ball episode of General Hospital (that's Maurice again LOL). Missy absolutely loves George and when I penned the letter to him I didn't exactly think he was going to write her back. But when he did she framed it and now it's a grab in case of fire. I'm thinking, grab the extended hard drive and cat lol.

But currently my true love model for my stories is of course Daniel Craig. The hair, the eyes, the broad shoulders. The narrow hips. The acting chops. His Jake Lonergan is the ultimate silent savage. Since...well

since Maximus. Honestly I'd love to meet Daniel Craig and tell him how his work has affected me profoundly and led to 4 writing contracts and that I'm waiting to hear back on the second book in a series and that the book I'm working on now could have a contract, a PRINT contract attached to it.

But I'm pretty sure it would be Katie bar the door if I was anywhere near him. LOL. I think of Jamie Fox's story about when he first met Denzel. Of what a fan moment it was. And then of how when he made Ray Denzel gave him props. That's the kind of moment I want with any of my heroes. Well, I can dream right?

The Silent Savage

Often when I set down to write I find it difficult to focus at first. Who is my hero? Who do I want to fall in love with for however long this story is going to be? Will he be flawed? Will he be perfect? Will he be violent? Will he be gentle? And for goodness sake what is he going to look like.

As someone who has used different actors over the years to be my hero with which I can play a game of paper dolls with I have to say they have been as varied as George Clooney to Russell Crowe to Maurice Benard to of course, my hero dujour of the last few years, Daniel Craig.

I'm a big fan of the silent savage. The man who says little, but when he does you sure as hell better listen because it's bound to be important. And when he falls in love it's deeply, hopelessly, and viscerally consuming and it drives him to great acts of love and sometimes vengeance. He's always flawed and sometimes he's on the fringes of society with no desire to join the mainstream until the heroine irrevocably changes his life. She draws out the tenderness which lurks deep inside no matter how buried it is.

My heroines are a combination of tough and vulnerable and when it's right she will sacrifice everything just to be with the hero. I love epic, sweeping and timeless love and when it's tragic I want it to rip your guts out and leave you heartbroken. I want it to be satisfying and cathartic even if it isn't always happily ever after. I've yet to write a story that ended bittersweet and got published. Everything accepted has ended happily ever after.

But every time I set out to write a story I never know how it's going to end. Tragic has such an awesome feel to it. Happily ever after is a harder sell. I don't want to swallow a gallon of sugar water to tie up the loose ends. Things left unsaid are often the most powerful things  to deal with. I may even have a continuing series on my hands. YAY!

That being said bad things have to happen, love interests have to die and heroes have to suffer. That's when I love writing the most. And spending time with the Silent Savage is always the most fun of all. And an excuse to do it over and over again? Geez, I guess I have the best job in the world. I'm a writer full time. And I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Romance On the Run

I've written several books for publication. Four of them to be exact and three of them feature one similar element. Whether it's fantasy, science fiction, or suspense GLADIATOR, No Ordinary Love, and Another Way To Die feature people on the run and falling in love.

I suppose I like a little action in my story too. The most restrained and subtle of my writing is Set Fire To The Rain features something else I like, angst. And lots of it. If the themes I didn't work in were so violent and in other cases so sensual then I could probably write YA. But I'm not a kid, and I don't think like a kid. I tend to write about grown ups doing very grown up things and sometimes people are offended by that.

It used to bother me since it's the readers favor that I curry. But you can't be all things to all people. And sometimes people just aren't going to like what you have to offer. Hard pill to swallow. But swallow it I did.

But I tend to like an element of danger in my stories, whether it's emotional, physical, or mental I like the heart stopping will they be okay element that keeps me glued to my seat when watching a movie or a television show or reading a book. And the more the danger, the more wild the action, the more angsty and forbidden nature of the relationship the better.

I like it whether I'm writing or directing too. People say abuse is sensationalized by the media, and to some degree, in the wrong hands it always is. But folks, here's the reality. 1 in 3 girls have been abused by the time they are grown and it's 1 in 4 boys. That's an epidemic and if reading about that makes you uncomfortable and ill at ease it should. These things need to be brought out into the open. I write about these things not because it's the trend or popular to do so, but because I have first hand experience with it. So I could no more NOT write about it than I could NOT breathe.

So maybe what I write is polarizing. It's just something I'll have to live with. Love yall'.

Backlist, New Release, and an Award

I woke up today to some amazing news. My books are selling, maybe not at massive rate but they are selling. Here's how the last three months plus a few days have gone.

October 28th: NO ORDINARY LOVE releases. I mean here's the scoop on this puppy:

A human rebel against the Capturian Forces, Caliope was enslaved for five years and tortured. She never expects to meet James, a half-breed too human for his own good.

Their connection is electric.

Their love is forbidden.

Their daughter may be Earth’s only hope.


It's available at most online retailers like Amazon, Smashwords, and MuseItUp Publishing. Here is the buy link: http://www.amazon.com/No-Ordinary-Love-ebook/dp/B005ZH2SEE/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1324058441&sr=1-2


My newest release is Another Way To Die, here's the scoop on this story. 

Almira Sands has been running all her life from her abusive father Jack. She knows one day the running will end and only she or her father will be left standing. What she doesn’t expect is to be kidnapped by Daniel Logan.

Daniel Logan is a mercenary who only intended to use Almira long enough to get to safety, but when she takes a bullet and almost dies he finds himself questioning who he is and what he does and saves her life.


On the run and falling in love they are forced to decide: a life on the run together, or face her father, the man who has the power to separate them forever.


It to is available from most online retailers like No Ordinary Love above. Here is the Amazon buy link:


http://www.amazon.com/Another-Way-to-Die-ebook/dp/B0072YDL7G/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1328201296&sr=1-1

And finally I opened my email box to a great surprise I was given Kayelle Allen's RLF Real Gem award as a top poster who was blogged about the most. YAY! Thank you Kayelle I'm humbly honored to receive this award and am more than happy to post this button to my site.

I hope everyone has a good day and produces lots of pages.

Let's Drool

I had a dream last night. And I think it was affected by a WWE themed episode of Celebrity Wifeswap that was on last night. Mick Foley was one of the participants. And just so that you know, no the dream wasn't about Mick Foley. Although he seems like a very sweet man I think the squared circle and pyrotechnics were the only thing I got from the WWE in my dream.

Then I got a much sexier thing. Adrian Paul. He gave me a bracelet in the dream and I was wearing a ring on chain around my neck. (I think the Lord of the Rings themed eppy of the Big Bang I watched got to me too).

Now this is what I would love to come home to. What a gorgeous, beautiful hunk of man to come home to. I mean, who wouldn't want to get wet with him?

Now his wife might have something to say about that lol, and I certainly don't want to see her claws come out, and their daughter would probably be mortified to hear everyone ogle her daddy that way.

But man, he would make my day just to see him in person. Too bad he's going to be in England and not at Fandom Fest. I would pay VIP price to get his autograph. But oh well, such is life.

I wish I could tell this Highlander that when things were bad and I was afraid to sleep at night it was Highlander that I watched to make me feel better. Hey wouldn't you feel better if you had him to look at?

So if you have something that makes you feel better like a fantasy with a character who looks suspiciously like the guy in this picture which I am currently drooling over then write it, Adrian Paul won't mind. And I suspect the reading public won't mind much either. Imagine him with a Scottish brogue, mmmm even better.

Have fun ladies and gents.