#GuestAuthor - K.M. Jackson

This week at Romancing the Pen, my guest is K.M. Jackson.  Her debut novel is Through the Lens!

Kwana discusses something that's really close to my own heart.  Strong heroines!

Kwana will also giveaway a free digital copy of Through the Lens to one lucky person!  So, don't just lurk...tell Kwana what you think.  Leave a comment, and you might be the lucky winner.

Blurb: Mika Walters is a normal-sized woman working in the not-so-normal world of New York fashion. As longtime assistant to uber-sexy photographer Alejandro Vega, she's tired of being the girl in the background. Just once she wants Alejandro to look at her with the same smoldering look he gives to his willowy models and now she has her chance. Stranded. After a travel mishap where the rest of the crew and the models can't make the remote island location shoot for another three days, Mika is taking her moment to catch Alejandro's eye and put herself in front of his camera and if all goes to plan, his bed . . . at least until the real world catches up with them.

Alejandro doesn't know what's gotten into Mika. Maybe it's the sand, maybe it's the sun, but he doesn't really care. All he knows is that he's finally opened his eyes and is seeing her clearly for the first time as the smart, gorgeous, and incredibly irresistible woman she is. But why can't she realize that what he's feeling for her is not one of his usual one, well, three night stands. This is real. Real love, real passion. What's it going to take for him to prove to Mika that she's the woman he wants? Now and forever.

Rules for writing fiction

As written for The Guardian by Colm Tóibín, novelist and short story writer.

1 Finish everything you start.

2 Get on with it.

3 Stay in your mental pyjamas all day.

4 Stop feeling sorry for yourself.

5 No alcohol, sex or drugs while you are working.

6 Work in the morning, a short break for lunch, work in the afternoon and then watch the six o'clock news and then go back to work until bed-time. Before bed, listen to Schubert, preferably some songs.

7 If you have to read, to cheer yourself up read biographies of writers who went insane.

8 On Saturdays, you can watch an old Bergman film, preferably Persona or Autumn Sonata.

9 No going to London.

10 No going anywhere else either.

Body Image - What do we owe our children?

This post purposely has no pictures.  Why?  Because recently, I saw an interview with a young woman who'd posted an image of herself on her blog with a caption "This is my body, deal with it!"

When I think about my childhood, and how difficult I thought it was...I can't believe how easy it was compared to today.

As a child, I was incredibly thin, and I wore glasses.  A definite set-up to be teased and taunted by anyone who knew the word nerd, geek, or whatever.

But, I don't remember people telling me I should hate myself, or hurt myself, or kill myself because I was thin.  Why do kids today think it's okay to be so cruel to each other?  Who are they listening to?  Who is teaching them to be so mean?

Then, I remember...

They're learning from us.

We--adults--are the ones rating women and men on clothes, physiques, hair, anything we can.  And we wonder why teenage girls take to the internet to ask people if they're pretty or to state that they don't need anyone to reaffirm that they are pretty.  Two sides of the same thing isn't it?

I look at my little niece who is as thin as I was when I was her age with the same large eyes and full lips.  Will she have to face the same things I did or worse?

To every girl or boy that's ever had a mean or nasty word said to them or about them, I hope that you all know that yesterday was then, today is today, and that tomorrow has too many possibilities for you to ever think nothing will or can change.

Stop Bullying!

As an author, this affects me because I've been thinking about the characters in my books.  My heroes and heroines.  Are they representative enough of everyone.  I've written characters that are tall, short, larger in statue, athletic, and of various races.

But, is it enough?  What do we owe our children?

#Bookfair in Memphis, TN - Bookstock

I had the best time at Bookstock held at Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library!  Forty authors from the beautiful south lectured, networked, and sold their books.  Authors ranged from Christian fiction writers to Romance writers to "How-to" writers.  Great mixture of nationally, digital first print, and indie authors.

I made lots of new friends and look forward to what's next!

Me and Roger C. Bethel

Check out my shirt :-)!

If you missed this one, don't miss it next year.  Or, check out the Southern Festival of Books.

I love #BradPitt I don't care what anybody says...

CHANEL N°5.  I've never bought a bottle a day in my life.  But, yes, because of Brad Pitt, I will give it a look on my next trip to the perfume counter.



I don't understand why people are bashing the commercial. 

Is it any different from Charlize Theron's J'adore DIOR ads?





 Or, Natalie Portman's Miss Dior Le Parfum


 

 What is this really?  Brad is gorgeous.  I'm not personally upset about the fantasy that if my man wore the same cologne as him that he might be a little more just like Brad: sexy, gorgeous, financially set for freaking life!

Come on.  Men thumb through the pages of Playboy drooling over women who's turn-offs are what--people who don't read Playboy :-)
Is this just a matter of people not loving the stylistic choice of the director of this spot? Or, are people hating on Brad because he's beautiful?

Is there only room for humorous male cologne commercials?


 


 Humor or sexy?  Or both?  What do you think?

#BookReview - Once Burned by Desiree Holt

I picked up Once Burned while attending RT2012.  I picked up so many books at that conference, and I've still got a long way to go before I finish the pile of books I brought home.

I've probably said it before, but I don't normally read Erotica.  So, when something catches my eye, there's normally a reason.  My reason - curiosity ;-)

Once Burned is an Erotic Romance Suspense.  It layered in just enough suspense to keep me turning the page.  Once Burned is not a thriller, but is truly a cozy little "whodunit," think updated "Murder She Wrote."  I found myself despising the people of the small town of Stoneham just as much as Cassie Fitzgerald.  And, honestly, couldn't wait for the next scene between her and Griffin Hunter :-)

It's one of those intriguing stories of when you leave home can you really return.  And do you really want to?

If I were Cassie, I don't think I'd want to.

Although this book has murder and break-ins, I never get the sense Cassie Fitzgerald is ever in danger.  I feel that she is instead in the middle of a conspiracy that would rather her gone than dead.

The characters were developed well, and the story moved at an even enough pace appropriately spaced with sex and story.  The sex moved the story forward and wasn't just thrown in to titillate, but it did!

I had the discussion with a friend of mine of what is Erotica.  Before I read the book, I'd imagined the sex would be more hard-core.  I was surprised by this book, and enjoyed it.

What makes you cry?

My girlfriends all tell me how they were pure emotion during their pregnancies, but I've never been pregnant, and I'm not now.  So, can anyone tell me why I cry all the time.

I was watching a freaking Google+ commercial with a father and daughter, and literally teared up at the end. Like what was that?

And come on, who doesn't cry at all of the holiday commercials.  Do you remember the one when the soldier returns home from duty, and his younger sister knows he's home first? It's a coffee commercial that makes me cry every single time.

Whether it's my little nephew smiling at me or an episode of "Sons of Anarchy" I seem to cry at the drop of a dime.

Help me :-) I swear if you guys respond to this, I'll probably cry!