The Music of Keeper
A soundtrack to a book? Hell yes. I’m one of those writers who has to have some sort of soundtrack playing in the background when I write. My husband thinks I’m nuts. I think it’s just the dancer in me. Music gives me ALL THE FEELS. When I need to write a scene and am […]
Ilyas san Merin Interviews Amanda Ryan
In which Amanda, a new author who is looking for some crazy-ass way to promote her debut book, forces one of her main characters to do an interview with her. Amanda: Hi Ilyas. I appreciate you doing this. I thought this would be kind of interesting, you know, me as a new author and […]
Lessons Learned
I’m sitting here on a Wednesday night, waiting for my “Proteins Blend” Steamed veggies to cook and getting ready for my weekly Zumba class. Not for the first time, it dawns on me the many different “hats” I’ve chosen to wear – singer, dancer, teacher, writer, artist, blah blah…and that feeling of “switching gears” strikes […]
Book Smarts: Your Smut is Making You Dumb
An article posted March 26th, 2012 in The Atlantic by author Maura Kelly challenges us to commit to a Slow-Books Manifesto.  The idea is this: read 30 minutes a day, every day, mostly classics, to enrich your brainpower and ultimately your life.  Anything non-literary doesn’t count.  That means newspapers, magazines, non-fiction, or foo-foo reading don’t count […]
Life After Fifty: Ten Erotic Novels You Need to Read
On the cusp of the “Fifty Frenzy,” I’ve pulled together a list of erotic romance stories that leave Fifty Shades of Grey in the dust.  There is some really amazing stuff out there, writing that should be in the spotlight for it’s beautifully crafted writing and imagination, writing that is original as well as gripping and poignant. […]
Guest Post: Mr. RaunchyRyan Explains Green Lantern
Today’s post is a guest post hosted by…wait for it…MR. RaunchyRyan! That’s right, folks. My husband is the bomb-shit-sha-bang and actually took time to chat about his love of all things Green Lantern. RR: Welcome, baby! Thanks for doing this. MRR: Do I have to make this all romantic and stuff? RR: No. (shoots him […]
Romance Kills: Romance Readers are Addicts
There was a whir of controversy in the romance community over Utah’s KSL.com posting a short article entitled “Romance Novels Can Be as Addictive as Pornography,” By Kimberly Sayer-Giles. My Twitter feed has exploded in response with many outcries as well as humorous hashtag responses (i.e. RT @anawi Was kicked out of night classes for […]
Ode to an end of an era
I found a short story/post I had written for myself several years ago about my personal experience as a New Yorker during September 11, 2001. Bin Laden’s death this past week brought back a lot of emotions for me, emotions that come from a place that’s hard to put to words. I vaguely recalled writing […]
Because I Can
Everyone, this is Randall. He is a guinea pig. My guinea pig, specifically. I have several, but this picture is one of my favorites. Why? Because, DUH, it’s a guinea pig in a dinosaur costume. GEEZE. He’s adorable, right? He’s a trouble maker, though. He likes to try to chew on by books while I’m […]
What Goes Into a Cover
I’ve often wondered how covers go about being designed, and while searching across the interwebz for info on What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long, I stumbled across this fantastic interview by fellow blogger over at Happily Ever After. She interviewed artist James Griffin, who designed the cover of the aforementioned book, […]