I have to go buy it some more AAA batteries...may it rest in peace.
You know damn hard it is (not that!) to try and type an entire post and load photos without a mouse??? It is virtually impossible!
Anyway, I came to realize tonight (um...this morning...it's 3:21 a.m.) just how ultra-dependent I am on technology to even write a story! Once upon a time, I actually used a pen and college-ruled filler paper to write my stories. Then, in 1987, I bought a wonderful antique Atari Game Console that had a great little plug-in thingy that let you write things and store them on 5 1/2" floppy disks! Ah, yes...the plug-in thingy was a "Paperclip" module...all the rage 27 years ago!
Problem? The old Atari is a 12-bit computer...and I have no way in hell of transcribing 23 hot, sexy books from 12-bit storage media to 16 or 32 bit media. &*)&%#$#&^(*&$%#
So in order to get them from those big, silly floppy disks onto my computer flash drive, I have to find some computer guru to figure out how to do that!
Yep...it's gonna be a long, hard (get your minds out of that gutter!) row to hoe.
Anybody got a link device that can transfer 12 bit to modern computer?
Even with professional, hands on, personal guidance, I am useless when it comes to working with technology. I'm about as tech-savvy as an infant! All right...so...coming soon, Julia Rachel Barrett's new website. You'll be able to sign up for a newsletter, contests, freebies, and lots and lots of fun.
Get ready for announcements galore with all the books coming out next year! Edits are finished on my story, You Might Just Get It, for The Cougar Book with Logical-Lust, arriving on Valentine's Day. Yay!
Once the website is up and running, at least reasonably well, you all will be the first to know!
I am inspired this week by a comment posted by sister scribe, Cerise, to April’s Monday post. She spoke to the benefits of needing the help of her S. O in the shower due to her broken arm. My husband and I spent the next half an hour laughing and re-visiting how my physical “situations” have added spice instead of strife.
We, too, have enjoyed shower togetherness brought on by my injuries. Two broken feet, three broken ribs, thirty some stitches over multiple body parts, a couple of surgeries, a broken hip, torn ligaments…yes, YES, I am accident prone!!! Mercifully, these situations didn’t occur at the same time, and there were always parts we could soap that didn’t cause excruciating pain.
Most recently, hubby and I were at the mall, searching for something for him to wear to the Romaticon 60’s party. Of course, we found his stuff in like five minutes, and went to leave. The sad, worn out state of my bras came up as we walked by Victoria’s Secret. Lured in by the sign screaming, “Huge Sale”, we began searching for replacements. The perky sales associate selected an armful of choices and ushered me towards the dressing room. It was at that moment when reality crashed into me hard. My rheumatoid arthritis was out of control, I couldn’t lift my right arm due to a rotator cuff incident, and hubs had tied my shoes and fastened my old, worn out bra that morning due to my lack of abilities! What the hell had I been thinking? I turned to him, with tears in my eyes, and said, “I can’t do this, let’s go home.”
“You can go in with her,” perky sales girl helpfully suggested.
My husband raised an eyebrow and flashed me his most devilish leer.
I now have two new bras and will always smile when I walk past that store!
My sister Scribe Fran Lee has a terrific new book coming November 10, 2009 from Resplendence Publishing, titled “First and Ten”, part of the Carnal Reunions Anthology Series.
Fran has made it her specialty to pair characters together who think they are unlikely opposites and “First and Ten” takes that theme even further. The anthology, “Carnal Reunions”, is about seven college roommates who reconnect at a ten-year reunion and the emotional complications that result.Each of these friends has her own story.
Fran Lee’s heroine is named Fran Jamison! (You betcha I’m going ask about that in a minute!) Fran J is a smart, successful CEO and owner of a think tank. She is also still single and still hung up on college crush- Jack Gerrard. Back in college Jack’s mixed signals aggravated her and his apparent preference for beauty queens left her discouraged.
The story captures all Fran’s anxiety as she bravely faces a college reunion where she knows that the ugly memories of her past will come back to haunt her. And then she runs into her old crush…and it literally floors her! Saving her from falling on her butt, Jack gallantly takes her to her destination, but a few 12-year-old itches have to be scratched before she gets there.
Fortunately a few of life’s hard knocks have left Jack a much wiser man. He’s had a successful pro football career, married a beauty queen, and then lost it all. Now divorced, he owns a successful chain of restaurants called “Jack Gerrard’s First and Ten,” and he’s more than ready to admit that he’s always been deeply attracted to Fran’s big, soft and curvy frame…but will she trust him after all these years?
Katalina Leon: First things first, why do you and your heroine share the same first name?
FL:Because it’s rather unique nowadays, and because I have used most other names half a dozen times in books.So I thought about it, and decided she would be MY namesake…BBW and all!
KL: I love that Fran J is your spiritual twin in body and spirit. Both Fran and Jack are smart and successful. In the material sense they are un-needy but emotionally they both require a lot of reassurance. What is Fran’s greatest hurdle to accepting love and what is Jack’s greatest challenge in convincing her, she’s the right woman for him?
FL:Well, they are both very successful in business, but not in life.Fran spent seven long years in therapy because her body image back in college was way off kilter. It took her a long time to feel confident in herself. At 5’ 11”, she SHOULD weigh about 160, but to her, it was “fat”.But she learned a lot since high school, and lot more since college, and when she see Jack again she realizes she isn’t going to give him up again.
Jack has always wanted Fran, but when she innocently let a friend know she had a crush on him back in high school, his buddies gave him so much shit, he couldn’t take it. His ego back then was too fragile to handle the derision his buddies heaped upon him when they found out. And by the time he pulled his head out and tried to apologize for his stupidity, she had closed him out of her heart. All he knows is that he isn’t going to let her get away again.
KL: I have to admit class reunions scare me and I’ve never attended any of mine. Do you go to your class reunions?
FL:Absolutely…not.School was not my favorite pastime, and I would rather have been writing stories than walking down the halls.I didn’t socialize much, and kept a terribly low profile, so I would be the least likely to be remembered when the invites went out. I was the one with her nose buried in books, getting all those “A”s.
But I am drawing on real life experiences here with my characters. Fran always thought she was big and fat and ugly because she was tall and wore four sizes bigger clothes her whole life.I outweighed all my classmates (including some of the guys) but when I look back at photos when I was in school, I am totally shocked to see that I was not half as big and fat and ugly as I thought I was. Just because I had a full figure (not a fat one), and couldn’t fit into a size 6, I was devastated. In fact, the photo I use as my avatar was one I shuddered over when it was taken because I thought it looked awful.Now I just wish I still looked that great.
KL: I love your avatar! I see a beautiful woman in that picture. As women, it amazes me how far off track our self-image can get. Most of us could use some healing in that arena. I also think that’s why “First and Ten” will be such a refreshing read. We could all learn from Fran J! Tell me what you love about your hero Jack Gerrard.
FL:Jack is based on male reality.That completely unreasoning, shallow fear of being ridiculed. Letting a wonderful relationship that could have been exactly what he desperately needed walk away because he feared what his buddies would say. It is his coming of age here.He realizes that he doesn’t give a royal damn what they think now, and he isn’t about to blow off the real thing this time.
KL: OMG. You’re so right about men fearing ridicule. If I could go to a “Jack Gerrard’s First and Ten” restaurant, what should I order? What would blow me away?
FL:Well, since Jack always loved to cook (don’t let his pals know, or they’d never let him live it down) he makes up his own gourmet menus.His restaurants offer everything from gourmet burgers (and a “Yours Truly Burger” that you design yourself with various toppings and sauces) to Scampi Polonaise and Chateaubriand with pinot noir sauce.The finest of wines are in his cellar, everything from a fine Campredon blend to a lush red Chambolle Musigny Pinot noir and specialty bottles of Cristal.(And of course, the most expensive screw tops as well, specially ordered for his classy pals. LOL!) Fresh wild caught seafood, and only the finest hand-blended, make as we go sauces.
KL: Sounds yummy. Jack is officially forgiven for all past shallowness. On with the love affair! I can’t wait to buy “First and Ten.”
This month I joined two author friends for our own version of the NaNo challenge. It's been a great experience for the last three years and I hoped this year wouldn't be any different. I'm pleased to announce it's been just as successful this year. For those who don't know what NaNo is, it's a National challenge to write a 50k book in a month. Last year and the year before I finished to romantic comedies of more than 50k. This year my focus is a little different. I've been in a funk for the last two months and couldn't find a way out. Suddenly as of November 1st, I'm writing 1,700-2,200 words a day. My normal average is 1k. I've finished a novella that had been sitting since August. Now I just need to polish it up and sent it off to my editor. I'm a few thousand away from finishing another novella and plan to finish the other two in the series before month's end. If I don't finish both I know I'll come close. I can't explain why, but November and NaNo have been freeing for me. I'm not going to question it, I'm just going with the flow. And this year I'm having lots of fun doing research for my three book series. It's about a club where three women will live out their fantasies. Along with researching women's fantasies for the books, I'm also planning a short story for one of my editors based on role-playing. So, one idea is leading to another. I'm stock-piling these ideas for when the well runs dry, because it will or come very close in a few months when I get burned out from writing so much. :) But that's okay, because I'll have books out to editors to hold me over.
Fran Lee, Taylor Tryst, Paris Brandon, Cindy Spencer Pape, Anny Cook, Regina Carlysle, and Tessie Bradford. You can't go wrong with any of these wonderful, talented authors!
Raise your hand if you don't fantasize about some hunk, tending to your every need and desire. Hmm. I don't see a hand in sight! Sit back and fantasize with me about hunks and how useful they can be.
Things a hunk can do:
1. Give you a massage. Just imagine those strong, masculine hands molding your flesh as you lie serenely in a panting combination of bliss and desire. He starts by your shoulders and then his hands travel lower, lower, lower.
Are you squirming yet? How about when he begs you to turn over so he can do a complete job?
2. Wait on you "hand and foot". Picture him telling you to relax while he serves you a drink called "Sex on the Beach". Then he disappears into the kitchen to whip up a romantic dinner for two...wearing nothing but a VERY short apron, a smile, and a cute bow tie.
Did you reach out to touch his hot body?
3. Prepare a bubble bath for two. He leads you into the bathroom and turns on the tub's faucet, adjusting it so it's "just right". After adding the bubble bath soap, he removes his clothing...slowly, and swivels his body in all directions so you don't miss a thing. Next, he offers to undress you before you both step into the tub, bubbles popping, so he can help you enjoy a relaxing soak.
Do you run your fingers down his muscular body as he begins to unbutton your blouse?
4. Satisfy your sexual needs. He leads you into a bedroom where he's lit dozens of candles to add ambiance to the room. The aroma of lavender, roses, vanilla, or whatever is your favorite, mingles with his all-male scent. He's placed satin sheets on the bed...in your favorite color. You lie down, and he tells you to enjoy the evening, since he plans to cater to your every wish. Your urges and requests become his dedicated demands.
Have you told him what you want done first, fast, and all night?
Now that I have you panting with images of that special hunk you've always desired, you can answer the questions in your dreams. You will dream about him tonight, won't you?
Here's a link to a special hunk who's appearance, though a surprise to the lady in the video, makes sure he satisfies her craving for a particular service in a naughty way. Be sure to scroll down until you see the video box on the left and click to start. Enjoy!
Sometimes we get up on the wrong side of the bed...and sometimes we get up on the wrong side of midnight.
Things are all screwed up. Nothing seems to look right. Everything is upside down or inside out. Ever had one (or ten) of those days?
This is one of those days. It would normally be Cerise's day, but she said we should go ahead and use her days until she got well and was back to her computer. So I am.
I have been sick for about 40 days...since I took my grandson to the doctor to see what we needed to do about his freshly broken nose. He looked sorta like the Wolfman in Out of Her Dreams...bloody and crooked nose, black eyes. The works. He had gone to a street concert and had been popped by another kid's elbow in the "mosh" pit.
Well, I took him to the after hours clinic and saw a doctor. I've known this doctor for over 20 years. He came into the exam room and was coughing. He smiled and said, "I hope I don't get you two sick..."...and then he proceeded to examine the kid, coughing into his hand and so on.
Well...you guessed it...three days later the kid and the grandma are sick with mild bronchitis and a runny nose. My "mild bronchitis" stayed pretty mild for over a month, and then, last week, flared up into a major upper respiratory infection. I went back to the clinic today and yep...who came into the exam room, wearing a surgical mask so he wouldn't get infected? The same doctor.
So I took my antibiotics for my sinus infection and bronchitis, took my cold medicine, and took a putrid-tasting cough syrup with codeine...and crashed for the last twelve hours!
No flu. No pneumonia. Just a bad cold with bronchitis that just won't go away! No high fever. No nothing. But I have coughed so much, my ribs hurt. And I will never let another doctor around me who smiles and says, "Gee...duh..I shore hopes I don't gets ya sick..."
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