Vixenwriter

MA at the Pink Posse says of Sleight of Hand: A 5 Pink Hats Off Salute to Lauren Dane for a sizzling hot and fun to read story that captures the frustration people often face in a new relationship.

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I recommend reading this story because the chemistry between Xander and Lissie is so strong and real that you will feel a part of their story. Grab a glass of ice water and be prepared for an enjoyable read.

Thank you so much, MA!!

No, not that kind of quickie, my short story, Sudden Desire, has been contracted by Ellora’s Cave for their Fun In The Sun summer quickie theme in June! I’m really excited because this is my first short (12k words) and it was really fun to write.

But in the whole title realm, my 50/50 luck fell on the thumbs down side, sigh. Apparently someone else was using Unexpected, the original title, and I had to find another. But in good news, it only took two days to work out instead of weeks so I’m cheered by that.

Look for it in June sometime, I don’t have a release date just yet!!

Anyway, I put up a short excerpt at my loop. Happy day!

I went in search of sandals and a dress/something a bit dressy to wear on my upcoming writer’s retreat/trip yesterday.

In the first place, what is up with macrame on shoes? Uh, no thanks. I love espadrilles and wanted to find a pair but they all looked like some part project my mom made in the 70’s or they had sparkles or spangles or they were gold. And what is up with that? I don’t want to wear gold shoes. I’m not seventy nor am I in Oz. Anyway, total and utter bust on finding shoes although I laughed out loud in one shoe store when I heard a guy say to his wife/girlfriend, “yeah, we definitely need to get you some more slutty looking shoes.” I think my husband would like that guy.

Then I hunted for a dress. It’s formal dance season here, I wasn’t aware of that until yesterday when I had to wade through the knots of teenaged girls giggling and fighting with their mothers over taffeta and sparkles. So I didn’t want taffeta or sparkles. It’s slim pickens out there right now in the non sparkle category. I tried on a skirt that would best be described by my husband as “an at home entertainment skirt” I would have been a bit frightened to sit down in public, unless there was a pole.

At last I found a dress. It’s quite sexy and low cut but not slutty. But the low cut thing required some creative thinking and I found a camisole to wear under it and on the rack next to the camisoles were wonder bras. Now, I’ve never had a wonder bra before. In a rather TMI moment, I’ll confess that I have C cups and so I haven’t needed one. But I thought, “I bet my husband will like this!” and I bought it. Well! I am quite seriously considering an all wonder bra all the time policy. Dude! In the low cut dress? My breasts looked spectacular (for a 38 year old) and I was left marveling at the genius of bra engineering.

All of this left me thinking about my body. More specifically, how my perceptions of it have changed over time. So over the last year and a half I’ve lost about sixty pounds. Yep, a full kindergardener! Anyway, I’m not sure I’ve worn a low cut sexy black dress in at least ten years. And it’s not that I had body issues, I didn’t, I’ve always felt sexy, no matter my size. But suddenly, I’m having to deal with my body in a different way. It’s odd to me to notice men looking at me in such frankly appraising ways. I’m a pretty big flirt and now i have to be more careful about it because I’m more of a sexual being on the outside. Odd. Gah! I think too much.

Oh, one last thing, I went into Waldenbooks and Triad was there. I picked it up and turned to the woman browsing next to me, “I wrote this book!” And she was so sweet. I suddenly realized that I was standing there with a total stranger with a menage vampire/wizard/witch three way, well, more than one, in my hand. I think she bought it actually, she had it in her hand when I left the store. Even if she didn’t, it was veyr nice of her to ask me all about it. Man, I’m goofy.

My friend, Beck, who I adore mightily, posted this story yesterday on a message board where my girlfriends and I hang out.

SAVANNAH, Mo. — A children’s book about two male penguins that raise a baby penguin has been moved to the nonfiction section of two public library branches after parents complained it had homosexual undertones.

The illustrated book, “And Tango Makes Three,” is based on a true story of two male penguins, named Roy and Silo, who adopted an abandoned egg at New York City’s Central Park Zoo in the late 1990s.

Okay, now here’s the thing, I am sick of this attitude. Seriously. A library is a place any person can go and check out books. It’s not the place for rabidly paranoid people to take out their issues on the rest of us. Keep that at home, please.

If you think a story about penguins adopting an egg is a threat to the mind of your child, don’t check out the book. Wow, how simple was that? But no, they couldn’t stop there, no, they had to take their paranoia up a notch and make the book next to impossible for anyone else to find because kids aren’t often in the nonfiction section.

This kind of petty, small minded hysteria is destructive. And I’m not just saying this as an author, I’m saying this as a parent and a citizen. It’s one thing to hold a set of personal beliefs, it’s another to shove them down everyone else’s throat and affect other people’s choices. I don’t want that, I don’t need that and I don’t want people threatened by penguins making my parenting and reading choices.

To celebrate the grand opening of our website and author group, we’re holding a contest. For details, please go to the contest page of our website.

Closing Date: 28 March – winner announced at Night Whispers Authors NovelTalk chat on 29 March 2006 9.00 pm EST

Prize A: Download of any of Maggie Casper’s books
An autographed print copy of Erin’s Fancy by NJ Walters
An autographed copy of Triad by Lauren Dane
Download of any of Kate Hill’s books
Download of any of Jeanne Barrack’s books
An Elementals charm bracelet from Liddy Midnight

Prize B: Autographed copy of one of Jory Strong’s print titles
Download of Out There in the Night by Laura Baumbach
$5 Venus Press Gift Certificate from Mary Winter
Download of any of Eve Vaughn’s books

Prize C: Download of any of Lena Matthews books
Download of Blood Kiss or Conduit by Mechele Armstrong

Prize D: Download of No Holes Barred: Stranded by Shelley Munro
Download of Peppermint Creek Inn by Jan Springer

All answers are available on the authors’ websites. Links are available on the Night Whispers Authors’ pages.

Every reader who joins our Night Whispers Author group will receive a second chance in the draw. Mention you are a member when you send in your answers to the scavenger hunt to get that second chance!

You know, I often have no idea what to write until I open the window here and start typing. I know and here you all thought I was so organized (eye roll). But I often think of this blog as sort of a conversation with the people who read it. Many of them have blogs that I read too and comment on. It’s sort of a way of keeping in touch.

Which makes me think about the concept of community in general. For instance, as an author, I’m on a few author chat loops. It’s funny how each chat loop has its own personality but there are two of them that I absolutely love to participate on, I just click there I suppose. The authors are not constantly trying to one up each other and there’s real celebration for the successes that people earn as well as real sympathy and great advice when folks get rejections or suffer personal setbacks.

Without community, I’d shrivel up and die I think. Without my friends there to help me and give me advice and to say, “do your research before signing that” or “don’t submit there, they suck” or even “you rock” I’d live in isolation from the writing world.

And that’s so easy to do as a writer. Because I live in my head a lot. And my work is solitary quite often (except for research with my husband). So being able to reach out and be heard is important because it lets me know I’m not just talking to an empty room.

And so you see, I’m totally blathering and some days it’s obvious that the real meaning for “off the cuff” is “talking out of my ass” But here’s another blog entry down and now I have to make lunch for my kids and clean my kitchen. Because writing is all about the glamour.

Oh! One thing though, I just read in the EC newsletter that woman on top is a dumb sexual position. I totally disagree! I also disagree that the woman does all the work. I love that position, it’s a great position because it leaves all your best parts exposed to touching and kissing. Hmm, maybe I’ll write about sexual positions sometime…

Yesterday marked the beginning of Women’s History Month and today is Women of Color Day.

Which is cool because I’ve been thinking about Octavia Butler a lot over the last days since her death. What a trailblazer Butler was. As a black woman writing in a genre that is still very male and white, she kicked down a lot of doors. Her writing is deft and clever and the weight of what’s between the lines in her books is better than what a lot of people say straight out. Her death is a great loss to the creative world.

Other authors of color who’ve fired my imagination? Sandra Cisneros whose short novel, House on Mango Street remains a favorite some fifteen years after I read it the first time. I wish she’d get more attention, her writing is unique and beautiful.

Isabel Allende - her books, all very different but all amazing, are on my keeper shelf. I remember reading In the House of the Spirits and when I finished it, I put it down for an hour and picked it up and read it again. Daughter of Fortune is a marvelous historical covering a period of time rarely written about in fiction and nearly unheard of from the woman’s perspective.

When it comes to inspiration - Audre Lorde is someone whose words have given me something to hold onto when things get bad or when I’m needing something to push me through.

Her writing on sexual identity is insightful and revolutionary.

Yesterday’s simultaneous loop parties were fabulous! It was slightly dizzying keeping track of everything and there was a glitch in the download system at Whispers but all appears to be okay today.

My brain is still fried today but I did write last night anyway and edit a bit too. I also started and finished Alison Kent’s, The Beach Alibi, which was delightfully smutty and entertaining. I like Kelly John a lot and Emma is a wonderful sexy heroine. Alison is one of my favorite romance authors out there because she writes sex with such zeal and joy. She pushes the boundaries in an authentic way. Her scenes are not forced or silly, they’re sexy and they fit well with her characters.

Wow, March already. Sigh. The time is flying by this year. I’m going to Las Vegas with my bestest girlfriends in two weeks for a mini writing retreat. I can’t wait to write all day without interruption. There will be pictures. Heh.