My New Year’s Resolutions for 2015

calvin-hobbes-new-years-resolutionsIt’s that time again to focus on our goals and resolutions for the upcoming year. I reread mine from last year and many will be the same for this year. I almost hit all my writing goals (different stories than I imagined), which is good and bad. I still haven’t found a good balance between writing, social media and relaxing. I definitely worked too much this year as well. So here goes: Continue reading

The Art of Conversation

converseOne of the more important factors for me, in writing a novel, is the dialogue between the characters. It must flow in a natural way and my readers should actually feel the different cadence between different people in the story.

Why is this on my mind? Well I’ll tell you…

My husband and I were out for our walk the other day and we ran into some female friends. When my girlfriends and I get together and are excited about a topic, we tend to share the conversation. Sometimes our comments even overlap. Maybe it’s a girl thing? Continue reading

And the Breast Wins

boobageFor those of you who don’t follow me on Facebook, I periodically ask questions of my friends, on my timeline, about all kinds of things. After having a conversation with my daughter about the different words for breasts, I decided to ask my Facebook crew how they weigh in on the terms. Terms ran the gambit from breast, boobs, tits, boobies, mammaries, the girls, to milk jugs, twin peaks, bazookas, knockers, fun bags, sweet tomatoes, and many others. Continue reading

What Women Really Want in a Man

robert-redford-shared-photo-1181617560Here’s what I’ve learned from interacting with my readers:

  1. We want a man who is strong with a sensitive side.
  2. Romance us. We want a man who will surprise us now and again.
  3. We crave empathy and understanding. Put away all your tools for fixing things and just hold us and tell us it’ll be okay.
  4. Most of us enjoy a door held open for us and chair pulled out.
  5. We love you taking control in the bedroom but not in the rest of our lives.
  6. We never tire of compliments. Telling us we look beautiful never gets old.
  7. We crave your interest in us. Take the time to get know us. Ask questions.
  8. We want a man who is confident enough to share his flaws. We aren’t looking for perfection.
  9. Loyalty and honesty tops the traits most women look for in a man.
  10. We want a man that takes his time to learn our body. His excitement steams from bringing us to intense orgasms.

Continue reading

Nanowrimo and Fitness Challenge

November is the month for me to get off my ass, literally and figuratively. Although I’m not entering any of the Nanowrimo contests and I’ve already started my novel, I am using the daily discipline to help me finish Blue Persuasion this month. That’s right, you heard it here first!  Continue reading

Suggested Etiquette for Fair Reviews

Picture1Since anyone can call themselves a reviewer these days and an authority on authored works, I thought as an author I could offer some advice for well-written, fair reviews. Here are my top ten suggestions on how to be a good and fair reviewer:  Continue reading

Blakely’s Friday Interview with Luke Christodoulou

Please give a warm welcome to Luke Christodoulou, author of The Olympus Killer.

Looking for murder sites for THE OLYMPUS KILLERTell us a bit about yourself and what you’re currently working on or promoting.
I am an English teacher, an author, a husband, a father and a coffee-book-movie lover. I am currently working on Book 2 from my Greek Island Mysteries series of standalone thrillers while promoting The Olympus Killer (Book1). Continue reading

Is the Vaginal Orgasm a Myth?

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Let’s discuss the latest study on the female orgasm entitled Anatomy of sex: Revision of the new anatomical terms used for the clitoris and the female orgasm by sexologists by Vincenzo Puppo and Giulia Puppo.

I love science and understand that the “current” belief systems change with new evidence, but this scientific study seems flawed to me. They used MRIs of the vagina to conclude that there is only one type of orgasm, clitoral and that the G-spot doesn’t exist. Continue reading

Blakely’s Friday Interview with Joan Barbara Simon

Please give a warm welcome to Joan Barbara Simon, author of Long Time Walk on Water, Mut@tus, and more!

JBS for smashwordsTell us a bit about yourself and what you’re currently working on or promoting.
I’ve been an author all my life I’d say, but a serious writer for about a decade. I’ve published three works of fiction, two academic books on children’s early literacy development and I’ve edited three anthologies of creative writing. At the moment, I’m working on a novel, Verses Nature, which will be submitted as part of my second doctoral thesis. The plot is still being worked out, but essentially it’s about family secrets. As I’m no fan of the traditional begining-middle-end style of writing, Verses Nature is written as slices of story you can juggle. I also tell more than one story at the same time; characters keep butting in, disrupting, each other’s performances. In so doing, I’m making statements about reality, about time. I’m making concessions to the many voices in my head that don’t always like to wait patiently in line. Whether we are multilingual or not, reality, in my opinion, is many-voiced. Origins, obscure. Plurality, obscurity, secrets, sex. That’s a good summary of key themes in Verses Nature. Continue reading

Blakely’s Friday Interview with Ronald Paxton

Please give a warm welcome to Ronald Paxton, author of Winter Songs, Deep Water, and Haven.

photo[1]Tell us a bit about yourself and what you’re currently working on or promoting.
I’m married and Live in Newport News, Virginia. I’ve been writing seriously for about ten years and have published over forty short stories. I have also written five novels, three of which are currently available on Amazon. I’m in the process of developing ideas for my next book.

“Soul Man,” is scheduled for release by Moonshine Cove Publishing in April 2015. “Broken” is scheduled for a January 2016 release by Deer Hawk Publications. “Haven” was released on 7/1/14 by World Castle Publishing and is available on Amazon. I am currently working on “Silent Waltz,” the fourth novel in the Salem Matthews series. Continue reading