Never Enough Hours In the Day...

This is what I want to be doing. Yep. Reading. Except there aren't enough hours in the day sometimes. Sigh. I'm trying to get a couple of stories wrapped up. That's the easy part. I have the outlines for what I need to do, just have to have the *time* to get them done. I'm also trying to spend more time with the kidlet. It's summer time, he's out of school and well, it's time to hang out. Also trying to spend time with the CBs. Gotta get the time for heat, yanno?

So what do I want to be reading? Anything that's not Captain Underpants (if you have boys, you know the character), Flat Stanley or Splat the Cat. I love the titles, I really do. But. It's hard to write heat when you're hearing fart jokes, pee pee laughs, and things the Keystone Kops wouldn't do.

I miss my books. But at the same time, I'm always looking for new titles to read. Any thoughts? Suggestions? Bad jokes? Let me know> My TBR list will love you for it. Grin.

Talking Vampires...Again

What do you want out of your vampire? Silly question? I want to know. I've been investigating vampires again and wanted to know: What do you really want out of your vampire? What turns you off about a vampire? What is a must for a vampire?
You're probably thinking, Slayer's off her rocker again. Nope. Just reading more reviews.

The reviews aren't even for my work. Nope. I go looking for the next good book to read and check out the reviews. I walk away wondering if the book is really that good/bad and how two reviewers read the same book but have such diverging thoughts.

So about those vampires...Scary? Bloodthirsty? Killing all humans? My thoughts are, if the vampire in that particular author's world is destructive and scary sexy, the kind that's out to rule the world without taking humans as pleasure objects...great. Keep that world that way throughout the story. More power to you. Purists don't want vampires that sparkle, wink, make eyes at a female for another other reason than to destroy her in order to get her blood. Wonderful. Not my thing, but whatever works.

But what if the author stays true to the world they've created, but the vampire does something that's not typical. I'm pretty sure Dracula never sparkled. And yet, this practice of sparkling has created such a heated debate there are denziens of teen girls who think all vampires do nothing but. I cite the reviews of Dracula on Goodreads where the individuals are totally shocked that ole Drackie came first and doesn't shimmer.

Is there a tried and true this is the ONLY thing that vampires can do manuscript out there? If there is, I haven't seen it. Is it possible that one can be totally turned off by a vampire that does something out of the norm? Sure. I'm not one for guys who don't shave their bodies. Sorry, not big into hairy men. I figure it this way, if the vampire does something, say eat food, as long as the author has explained why - survival of the fittest and fitting in to do just that - then go for it. As long as it stays logical for the character and the world, who am I to say that the vampire is written wrong?

Or am *I* the one who is totally off my rocker? I'd love to know. Come on and chatter with me. Pros, cons... I'm all ears.

What's in a Vamp?

The other day I was tolling the Amazon fantastic and happened on a couple books that looked interesting. Both books featured vampires. I love a good vamp. Heck, I love a bad one. But the thing that really caught me on both books wasn't the cover, the blurb or even the first chapter. Nope. It was the reviews.

Why would I care about the reviews? Giggle. The reasons are many, actually. Reviews give insight into readers' thoughts while reading the book. They let us know what worked or didn't work on the book. I appreciate reviews. Besides, it feels good as a writer to know someone is not only reading what I wrote, but appreciating it.

I also look at them for what the reader wasn't impressed by. In the case of both books, it was the vampire. So now to my question, what's in a vamp? The one reviewer pointed out the the vamp didn't act like a vampire. Upon first read of the review and that particular comment, I thought, hmm you actually KNOW what a vamp should act like? The reason I said that was my last visit to an indie book store. There were at least five different subcategories of paranormal books. Shifters, faeries, fairies, vampires and witches. Then there are the zombies. I also had a friend who writes paranormal, vampires in particular. From what I've gleaned from not only her, but the store and the books I've read that are paranormal, the rules are your own as long as you stick to them and keep things constant.

That's where the reviewer had the issue. The vampire wasn't acting like a usual vampire. Now hmm. Is that fair? I'm not sure. If the author stuck to the constructs of the book's world, then the whole thing should be taken and reviewed on the story as a whole. Not the accepted practices of a vampire/zombie/witch/etc. Here's the thing. Zombies don't fall in love. Right? The standard for a zombie is an undead indivudual who wants to eat brains. Love doesn't factor into it. And yet, zombies are accepted within the paranormal community as being capable of romance. Back to my question - what's in a vamp? Just because he can eat/drink/pee, does that mean he's not a vamp? Maybe there was a reason behind what the author gave for him being able to do these things. And if the author stuck to that, then what's the issue?

So I ask, does a vamp have to stick within the standards of what a vamp - or any other paranormal being - should be or is the deviation okay? I'd like to think it is and that the story should be reviewed on the merits of itself. What are your thoughts? Am I off the mark? Losing it? Maybe a little closer than I think? Let me know.

Friday Fun With Megan - When You Say Short, You Mean How Short?

I've been thinkng a lot about reviews. And the lengths of stories. I'm noticing a lot of short stories on Amazon, AllRomance ebooks, and publisher sites. I write mostly short stories. So short stories fascinate me. I've also got a short attention span. Like the attention span of a gnat. Why? I have children and well, you get distracted.

But my thoughts about short stories are heading in the direction of reviews. I love to write quick reviews of books. Why? Because I liked the book. I want to tell everyone about it. There are some books that just don't shake me. Shrug. It happens. Do I review them? Sometimes and sometimes not. I'll review it and post the review if the book was interesting, but not really my cuppa. I probably won't post the review or take the time to write one if I just plain wanted to toss it against the wall.

Why? I've got a mentality of "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." Momma taught me to keep it quiet if I didn't like something I can't change. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

What I'm seeing as a trend with short story reviews... I've wanted to talk about this for a while. I'm seeing a lot of, this book was too short and I didn't like it short, type of comments. Now I don't mind if the reader wants a longer book. It's like Almond Joy and Mounds. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't. Fine.

But why mark it down because you wanted to spend more time with the characters? I call that the mark of a good book. It must've drawn me in and made me think about the characters after I closed the book. If I dream about the characters, then yes, it's a book worthy of review. I'd mention that I was totally engaged with the characters and wanted to know what happened afterwards, before, whatever and hint, hint to the author, I'd like another book with them in it.

Then there's the complaint that there's not enough story to it and it's too expensive. Um. Most sites place the length, file size, page length and word count on the buying page. Most authors don't set the price of the books, especially when with a publisher. It doesn't seem right to knock down a rating because the book was too expensive.

Does the length of the book turn you off before you get a chance to read it? Does the length affect your rating? And are you willing to overlook the length if the characters draw you in? I'd love to know.

Have You Ever...

Had one of those days where no matter what you do, you're wrong? Doesn't matter if you've more or less done nothing but keep to yourself, you can't seem to keep out of trouble?

I'm having one of those days. Seems even when I don't say anything, I say too much. If I do say something, it's the wrong thing. And if I get upset? Then I'm wrong. Plain and simple. I'm wrong.

Do you have those days? You don't set out to be wrong. Don't even set out to end up bawling your eyes out. But it happens.

I'm so there. I won't go into details, but suffice it to say that even when I had a valid point, the point got lost in the tidal wave of blame. It wasn't much fun. Still isn't, if you want me to be frank.

I'm attempting to work on a WIP, but it's hard to work when you can't focus. Seems the story doesn't focus either. Goes all over the place and meanders. The characters mirror my thoughts and well, right now it's not real rosy.

I could use a stiff drink and some tylenol, although not in that order. Don't even have to mix them. Oh well. I'll stop being depressing.

Have some eye candy. At least it's fat free.

Did You Ever....

Did you ever do something so totally foolish and out of your personality that the moment you did it you thought, gee, why did I do this?

What am I talking about you may ask? I'll be general, but this.

I usually at least look at the person I'm friending when I accept a friend request. You never know who might want to friend you. I like to friend readers/writers/potential readers etc. So this person sends me a request.

Seems harmless enough.

I check the pics out and this person looks harmless enough. So I hit accept. Don't want to discourage a potential reader or faithful reader or whatever.

That's when it got strange.

The person wanted to chat. Fair enough. I chatted. But then this person started asking questions. Was I married? Did my kids live with me? Where did I live?

Um...yeah... I'm a pretty open person and I don't really hold much back. But if I've JUST been friended by you and I really don't know you...um sorry. I'm not just going to tell you my street address and blood type.

I had this odd feeling at the time that it wasn't a good idea to hit accept. Was this person dangerous? Probably not, but what if?

Have you ever done something like that? Something you knew in your gut wasn't real smart and then had to take it back? Just wondered if I'm the lone stupid one.

Friday Fun ~ What If You Could Use Fire?

What if you could control fire? I don't mean start fires and be disrespectful. I'm talking about fire being part of you? Like a fire elemental.Your emotions are a measure of the flame. When you're happy and excited, it burns brighter. When you're sad or down, it's a tiny little flicker.
And what if you could somewhat control the flames? Like, say, singing someone's hair to get them out of the way? Well, I know I'd be pretty dangerous. Cut me off in traffic. POOF. Act rude? POOF. Cancel my favorite show? POOF. Yeah, I'd be dangerous.

In my latest WIP, my heroine controls fire. She's not real thrilled about it. See, her issue is when she makes love to a man, he tends to go up into flame. You guessed it. Poof! Gone! Ashes.

What's a girl to do? I mean, she'd like the affections of a handsome man. Especially if that handsome man is the tattooed, pierced, bassist for Glow, Zac Frost. Trust me, he's noticed her.

I can't tell you what happens next to Atria. She'd probably set me on fire if I did. But what if you could control an element, say, fire or water? What would you do?

What are YOU reading?

I'm sitting here going through my files and wondering what I want to read. I've got lots of choices, but yanno sometimes the same old, same old, just isn't what fits the bill.

So I'm wondering what you're reading right now. I've got some go-to authors, but I'm open to new ones. Some of my faves are TA Chase, Devon Rhodes, KA Mitchell...

What would you recommend? I'm in between WIP's and wanting to read something hot. M/F, M/F/M, M/M, M/M/M, bdsm...I'm good.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

I'm waiting.

At This Moment....

I've not been up to much. I know, not the thrilling update and or post you expected. Sometimes we need down time. Yanno?

I've spent a lot of time with Kealie working on Hotties and making the blog look awesome. Let me tell you, looking at men isn't a hardship. It's...really...hard....

But in all that looking, I've sorta let the story slide. Tory and River are sitting prettily waiting for me to let them finish the story. Kinda funny to watch a couple of gay men who really want to have oodles of hot monkey sex sit back and be...still.

Don't get me wrong. I want to get back to them. I'm dying to. I'm really emotionally involved in this story. So how do I get out of the rut? How do I get back from stagnant?

I'm listening.

OH! Want to see how I picture Tory and River? You do. I'll leave you with that.

When is Enough, Too Much....

I happened to be chattering away with Kealie, looking for the week's next hottie and well, we're besties so we talk about everything. Now, after the stuff with the menfolk and some other issues, it came down to this: what's enough to share and what's too much?

Get your mind out of the gutter. We shared the CB's only a couple times. Er... I mean...Anyway...

I also happened to be participating in a chat where the discussion turned to sex toys. Which ones? Nipple clamps. Or are they clips? Or...oh you get the idea. And mind you, we were sharing story ideas and how we'd come to the conclusion that the particular toy/position/partner was what should be used in the story.

It got me thinking...in this world of sharing and talking about everything, what's the point at which TMI really is TMI? I mean, there are lots of things I won't share (beyond the boys). There are certain things no one needs to know about and I'm sure there's plenty they just plain don't want to know about. Kealie and I would readily admit we're TMI royalty. And get us in the same room. Nothing is sacred.

Almost.

Where do you draw the line? As I said, get us in a room together and certain things are shouted that I'm sure our mothers would die if they heard us. But we also have lines we won't cross. What are those for you? I might say I've experimented with a set of nipple clamps (gotta keep those boys in line somehow), but I won't go into details. That would be uncivilized. Or something like that.

Thoughts? What are your boundaries? I'm listening.

To get you talking/commenting, I'll leave you with this yummy morsel I found on T.A. Chase's blog.

Bogged Down....

I've had a lot going on in the last few days and it's not much fun. I don't generally talk about my private life because, well, it's private. I'm going to break my rule for a little bit.

The boys have been the boys and one expressed his desire to be go out on his own. Now, I'm a firm believer in "if you love them, let them go...if they return, it's meant to be. If not then it's not." I gave him my arguement for wanting him to stay and he was adimant--not enough attention, too much of my attention went to writing, not enough private time... So...I let him go.

I'll be honest. It sucks. I love them all equally. I don't want to lose any of them. But I'm also at a loss. I want to write--that's in my blood. Am I supposed to stop doing something that's ingrained in my soul because it upsets my partner?

Anyway, this isn't my normally fun Friday type post. I'll post a hottie tomorrow and make up for it.

Who Do You Resemble?

My characters have been chatty. Oh man, have they been chatty. I fell asleep and dreamed about River and Tory. Not a bad dream. Quite nice in fact. Then in the grocery store, I happened to pass the magazine rack. Tory shouts out "Hey! They put me on a magazine cover!"

Well, ok.

River propped his head on my shoulder and sighed. "Yeah, that's a nice picture of him, too. But hey, did you see I was on TV?"

Um, no. I didn't see.

But this is how my characters let me know precisely what they look like. they shout when they see themselves. It's kinda nice, cuz then I can really see them. Then again, sometimes I feel like they push in whenever they want. Men.

How do you know what your characters look like? I'd love to know.

Length or Girth

So technically I'm on vacation. The boys dragged me away - ok, it didn't take much - just sayin'. And you gotta admit, I got you snagged in with that post title. Don't lie. I know it did. (That was my point.)

All silliness aside, I wanted to pop on here and post a question. I'm in the midst (I'd like to say homestretch) of a short story and I keep wondering as I approach my anticipated word count (I plan to go over, but how much is up for debate), how short is too short?

I've read some stories that are say...6k that are fantastic. Sometimes it shocks me how darn much gets packed into 21 pgs. At the same time, I've read some 70k work that is equally fantastic. Again, a lot going into those 300 pgs, but what makes it better or not than the 6k one?

I ask this because my story is right about 5k at the moment. Not earth shattering, I know. (I said it's still under construction.) I'm a firm believer in the story will be the length its meant to be. You can probably make a 6k go on for 50k, but in the end is it worth it? I mean, did it just draw out the story for the sake of pages or was it really adding to the overall meat of the tale? I'll tell you, I've read some 60k stories I thought could've been pared down to 30k and it would've made the story better.

Which do you prefer or does it not matter as long as the story is tight? Short? Long? Good story make the length irrelevant?

I'm dying to know. Really.

What's a Girl to Do?

I'm stuck. Yup. Stuck. I have about sixteen story ideas floating around in my brain, but I need to...research a couple. Figures the boys are asleep (That's the bummer of vampires...not always available).

I'm neck-deep in a M/M story. River and Tory are literally crawling all over each other. Somehow, I don't think they mind...well, not yet. Perpetual foreplay can end up being a super PITA. (pardon the pun--or maybe not... ***enter evil laugh*** muwhahahahahahaa)

I've aslo got a vamp who is desperate to claim his mate, but she's not having any of it. She's too busy avoiding him. It's kinda funny to watch him chase and her sprint. I'll get them to settle soon. I hope.

What do you do when you've got the idea, but aren't positive of the mechanics? (Who DOESN"T like to practice? Yanno?) I'm all interested in what you have to say. Come on, give me your best!

What are You Gonna Be for Halloween?

So? What'cha gonna be? I thought and thought about this. There are lots of ideas. I'm going to show you some I came up with...I'm still undecided.

This one is fun.

This one is pretty and flirty.

Who says I can't be Holmes?
Then there's this one... Hmmm....

He wins as the freaking scariest horror legend...
Tilting head...tilting head...
hmmmm.....

***Oh and come back this weekend! We're having a party!!! Costumes, hotties, and a hot little story. Don't miss it!!!*****

Talking Characters

I know I say this all the time, but I'm behind. I know. It's not an excuse any longer. Phooey. I really don't have a lot of time.

So I was trying to sleep and my characters decided that was the time they all needed to talk at the same time. Sleep? Yeah, I didn't get any. And they had to *all* talk at the *same* time. I have a hard enough time figuring them out individually, let alone in a gang. Sheesh.

Do your characters do that to you? Or do they have pesky things they do just to drive you to the brink?

I'm gonna try to head back to the batcave. I have a couple of gay men yearning for me to stop writing their story in the notebook and finally get it onto the computer.

Wish me luck.

What Makes You Buy a Book....

I've had this question on my mind for a while and decided now was as good a time as any to ask it. What makes you buy a book?

I promised the youngling I'd buy him a book if he accomplished a goal. Real exciting? Hey, if you like books, it's a jackpot. Plus it was a good reason to troll the bookstore. I looked at the typical children's books and found the one he wanted. It's not hard when I know he's very much into comic-type books.

But any good reader-slash-aspiring-author knows, you can't just pass by the books in your intended genre and you can't leave the store without a perusal of what's there. It's unhead of.

I'll admit right now I am a cover snob. I've totally walked away from books that had covers I hated. One in particular had a woman who resembled Marilyn Monroe draped around a man who looked like an average romance cover model. Ok...so I read the blurb. The blonde on the cover looked NOTHING like the heroine in the book. The cover made the heroine look cheap and cheesy, which she was not. It really got under my skin. To boot, it was an author I'd usually auto-buy. No joke, I put it back and walked away. Now I happen to know the book was actually really good. How? The cover was redone and more tasteful for a subsequent printing. Thank Goodness. Sheesh.


I've read others that had covers to make the mouth water. (There is a Harlequin cover model who could model on the cover of the phone book and I'd probably buy it because I think he's so yummy. Sad, I know. Yup, that's him, right up there. **Le sigh*** (and I recommend the book, too.)

Then there are the misnomers. The ones with striking covers that happen to be the only thing going for the book. Drives me nuts. Yes, I'm a visually oriented person. I want to see the characters and have the book cover convey the story. Is that wrong? Maybe, but it's my opinion.

So once the cover is no longer an issue and the book has gotten to the level of...hmm...should I buy this, I read the blurb. Oy. Talk about a way to kill a perfectly good book. I've done more than my share of reading. There are some blurbs that totally sell the book. Reel you in. Then there are the turkeys. Does the turkey blurb turn you off? Does me. Great cover, check. Tag line hooky, check. Blurb....oh dear. Yes, I read a blurb that had this in it: He was bitten. He wasn't thrilled and he was having a bad day. First off, three versions of was in the same line? Passive voice? Telly... I shook my head and wandered far from the book. And I'm usually an easy sell for paranormals.

Can you get past a bad cover, a poor blurb, and a so-so tag line? Truly, there are books out there that just plain get screwed. Good story but the presentation sucks. Then there are those that have gorgeous presentation, but lousy writing.

What do you think? I'd love to hear you sound off on this topic. Might give me some titles to check out that I might have passed on before. You never know unless you post. :)

Ciao baby.

Calgon...Take Me Away

Sounds like I'm whining, doesn't it? Haven't you ever wanted a bubble bath, the kind where you can literally sit in piles and piles of bubbles and know that no one is coming in to bother you, there's a stock of chocolate covered strawberries and something sparkly by your side, and you can stay there until you get nice and prune-y....

Well, I want to. Know where I can?

Didn't think so.

It's thundering outside. If you've never read my MA bio...the dirty version, you'd know I love thunderstorms, as long as the boys are nearby. Keep me safe and you can have your way...ok, well, you have to be one of my three. And it figures, it's nowhere near bedtime...for me or them. They've been out a while now. **Sigh**

Think I'll find some nice scenery to encourage my muse. Kealie's been gone so much that the muse has receeded into herself. He won't even come to the door. Punks. Our muses seem to feed off each other...funny since I have a male and a female muse, they LOVE Kealie's muse and I swear they have threesomes without telling us.

But what can I say? She's my bff and they are all whatever they are. I guess I'll get the yummy scenery now and write a bit.



Perfect...a man's nekkid ass and it's a fine sight....**le sigh**

Take It Off!!!!

You saw that right. Take it off!

What? You might be asking yourself as you read this post, what does she want me to take off?

It's up to you. Reading email or blog posts in the buff is kinda fun. For all you know, I could be sitting here in my fluffiest, dowdiest jammies, or I could be stark nekkid. I'll let you use your imagination.

My point?

They're all in the other room, dead to the world.

Oh, wait! You mean my blog post point. Yeah, that...

You see, I happened to be watching LOGO with my pal Bret...it was one of those summer movie fests. Anyway, the hotties in the movies were wearing very little (we found out later that if you get the movie on one of those dvd services, you see a whole lot more. Kinda funny to see me and Bret drooling over pecs and asses and other bits...)

But in between the movies were music videos. Kinda reminded me of when MTV just played music... Anyway, they played "Take It Off" by Ke$ha. I was perplexed and a tad inspired. Bret, well, he just got up and yanked me to my feet to dance. Before we knew it, it was dark out and the boys were around to play. You don't need me to tell you we had a great time.

So the next time I see the video or think of glitter, I'll think of that night. **Sighs** I think I need to call Bret and have movie night again.

Why Can Men But Women...Shouldn't?

I happened to be watching television a week or so ago and happened on a movie about a couple of gay men. I stopped on the channel because I caught a glimpse of one of the guys. He was cute--a bit young for me--but cute nonetheless. I continued watching the movie and found the scenes where the guys kissed, touched and so forth....interesting. I mean, the guys were hot and totally into what they were doing. The confidence and desire was sexier than just looking an nicely built guys.

It got me thinking.

If a guy can be turned on by "two girls going at it" then what's to say I can't find two men engaged in an--how shall I put this--amorous entanglement sexy?

From my time reading and working in the romance genre, I can tell you that many women write M/M romance and the biggest readership for M/M romance? Women.

Piqued, I asked the boys. I mean, they are my partners and they don't get into getting it on with each other, so I figured they'd be honest with me. Funny thought, that.

All three turned a beautiful shade of crimson and stumbled all over their words. Confused me greatly. They liked to watch girls who may or may not be lesbian have sex. Two girls and one guy? Even better. Hell, the boys all play with me when we play, so I'd think that M/F/M/M shouldn't bother them.

Apparently when it's just guys, it bothers them.

So my question, and yes I want to know what you think, is why is it perfectly fine for men to watch and lust after two women having sex in front of them, but if its the reverse--a woman watching lustfully as two men go at it, it's considered 'wrong on so many levels'?