A friend of mine got me a subscription to Red Book.  Now normally I don't read magazines, unless I am in the waiting room of a doctor or dentist, but I have to admit RB has some fantastic articles.  They are enlightening and funny as hell!  I'm all about funny these days.  Make me laugh and I'll love you forever.  Laughter helps counteract these dreary winter blahs as well as my total lack of love life.  But...enough about me.

One article was entitled, Vampires...Really?  Guys were asking questions about women, things they truly didn't understand about the superior sex.  They don't understand our fascination with vampires.  The explanation was a bit cliche for my taste. ( fangs = penetration = sex.  Blood loss = euphoric stupor = great orgasm.)  Not that it isn't inherently correct, but baby, that's not why they turn me on!

Okay, so more abut me.  (This may fall under the heading of TMI.  Feel free to cover your eyes.)  I am a neck girl.  Yep, from soft kisses behind my ear,  to full fledged bites on my shoulder,  the very thought makes me weak in the knees.  Little nibbles along the tendon (or is it a ligament?) running from my neck to my shoulder puts my motor in overdrive.  Vroom-Vroom! 

Feel free to weigh in her boys and girls!  What melts your butter?

So fellas, don't knock those vamps--learn from them.  Oh, and there's always the femoral artery down south!  Vampires looking better to you yet, boys?

I have WAY too much time on my hands...

My dear friend KevaD recently released a short story via
Noble Sensual Romance, The Zombie with Flowers in Her Hair.
Whatever the title conjures in your mind, you are in for a delightful surprise!  Are there zombies?  Certainly.

But...there is so much more.  A must read!

https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/385/The-Zombie-with-Flowers-in-Her-Hair

We all go through changes, some good, some...not so much.  We begin new relationships or end old ones.  We get a promotion at work or move to a different company.  Some of us must pull up roots and move to a larger (or smaller) home or pack up and move across the country for work or family.  These changes can be exciting and open new vistas in our lives but they can also be  stressful, painful and cause an emotional upheaval that reflects on all we do.

As writers, sometimes we embrace the changes and draw from them, ideas for new works.  A contract from a publisher sends us to the moon, validating our existence in the literary world.  A rejection sends us to the pits of despair.  We are unworthy to breath the air of our published idols and friends.

It's a rocky road we travel and some of us get lost along the way.  A rejection doesn't mean you are a bad writer and a contract doesn't make you the next Hemingway.  Beware the pitfalls of either fork in your road.  Have confidence in your abilities to weave a story, but remember there is always room for improvement.  Many have traveled this road before you.

The piece one editor may reject, the next may adore.  When your latest masterpiece releases, celebrate the joy of it's birth, but do not forget all the people who helped get it past conception.  All those who critiqued and encouraged you deserve your gratitude.  Help them as they helped you.  Some may attain a place in the ranks of "published author," while others may not.  Rejoice with those who do, but don't disdain those who do not.  Some are luckier than others.

Writing, like life, is a crap shoot.  None of us know how the dice will fall.  We all have our highs and lows but we must soldier on, striving to do our best.  Success won at the expense of others is a hollow victory.  Don't let your triumphs go to your head.  No one likes a diva.  Don't be a whiner and lay the blame of your failures on others.  You alone, are responsible for your life.  It's up to you to make it the one you want.

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_This is not DD's usual fare but is certainly a cause worthy of your efforts.  Please read carefull


Please pass this along to all your writer friends and loops! ~DD

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Wild at Heart
Editor: Delilah Devlin
Publisher: Diamond State Romance Authors
Deadline: April 1, 2012

Wild at Heart is open to all authors.

Editor Delilah Devlin is looking for stories for a special project to benefit the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge.

Recently, six Diamond State Romance Author chapter members spent a weekend falling in love with the Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge and its exotic inhabitants. The refuge is home to large cats and a variety of exotic animals that would otherwise have to be put down because they aren’t suitable for placement in zoos or to be returned to the wild. The need for financial support was apparent. Our chapter decided to pool its resources and find a way to help.

What we propose is to produce a volume of short stories, all centred around animals in need of refuge. All proceeds from the sales of the book will go directly to the Turpentine Creek Refuge. We will edit the submissions, seek professional cover art and formatting, and assist the refuge by uploading the anthology to online bookstores like Amazon’s Kindle store and Barnes & Noble’s Nook store.  Additionally, we will help upload the book to CreateSpace so that printed volumes can be available for sale in brick-and-mortar bookstores throughout Arkansas and inside the refuge’s shop.

This is a national call for submissions of short stories to be donated for the cause. Only the best stories will be accepted. All genres of fiction (contemporary and paranormal, sweet adult romance and Young Adult) will be considered. Please keep in mind that stories must be PG-rated as the book will be two-sided—one side geared toward adult readers and the other toward teenaged readers.

Examples of the kinds of stories we seek:          

• A maimed Iraqi war veteran learns to accept his disability by working with equally damaged animals
• A teenaged girl helps a were-cougar hide his true nature while both hunt for an escaped cat
• A teenaged couple encounters a tiger escaped from its private owner’s cage and work together to find help to capture and care for it
• A pushy animal psychic must gain the trust of the refuge’s veterinarian to help a depressed bear
• A troubled teenager discovers a tiger living in a national forest, then seeks a way to prevent locals staging a hunt from killing it

How to submit: Prepare your 1,500 to 4,000 words story in a double-spaced, Arial, 12 point, black font Word document with pages numbered (.doc, NOT.docx) OR rich text format. Indent the first line of each paragraph half an inch and double space (regular double spacing, do not add extra lines between paragraphs or do any other irregular spacing). US grammar (double quotation marks around dialogue, etc.) is required.

In your document at the top left of the page, include your legal name (and pseudonym if applicable), mailing address, and 50 word or less bio in the third person to dsrawildatheart@gmail.com. If you are using a pseudonym, please provide your real name and pseudonym and make it clear which one you’d like to be credited as. Authors may submit up to 2 stories.

About the editor: Ms. Devlin has published over one hundred stories in multiple genres and lengths. Her published print titles include Into the Darkness, Seduced by Darkness, Darkness Captured, Down in Texas, Texas Men and Ravished by a Viking. Her short stories are featured in Zane’s Purple Panties, and Cleis Press’s Lesbian Cowboys, Girl Crush, Fairy Tale Lust, Lesbian Lust, Passion, Carnal Machines, and Dream Lovers. She is published by Avon, Kensington, Harlequin, Atria/Strebor, Ellora’s Cave, Samhain Publishing, and Berkley. In Fall 2011, she debuted her first anthology with Cleis Press, Girls Who Bite.

Direct any questions you have regarding your story or the submission process to Delilah at dsrawildatheart@gmail.com.

Get in bed with Delilah. Everyone else has!
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Begging For It Ellora's Cave Available Now! Says Seriously Reviewed:
“This was the most gripping, emotionally charged sexy foray into BDSM I’ve ever read.” Girls Who Bite Cleis Press – Available Now! | Enslaved by a Viking Berkley – Available Now!
Five Ways 'Til Sunday Samhain – Available Now!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
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Do you ever get the feeling things have spun out of control in your life?  That would be me.  As a control freak, this is a very disconcerting  thing.

Get a grip!  I tell myself, yet I don't know where to begin.  Everything seems entangled with something else and I can't find a loose end to hang onto.

A dear friend told me not very long ago that her Bible study group did a study on the differences between women and men.
(Yes, I write erotic romance so I THOUGHT I knew the differences.  But NO!)  The study was entitled, Women are Spaghetti--Men are Waffles.

Confused?

Women tend to link everything together like a continuous strand of spaghetti.  The falling out you had with your spouse/boyfriend/significant other three years ago is directly linked to the five pounds you gained and that five pounds is the reason you can't enter a new relationship.  Get me?  That's why women tend to bring  all their past hurts into the current argument or  "discussion".  We can't help it.

Men on the other hand, compartmentalize.  Each thought, idea, or problem, has its own separate waffle hole.  Nothing touches.  He can't see that not mentioning your new hairstyle is the cause of your bad mood.  He can't grasp the concept.  He doesn't understand why you bring up the fact the last red car you owned got in three traffic accidents in one year...ten years ago, so you don't want a red car.  He only knows red is your favorite color.

Is it any wonder relationships fail?  So what are the sexes to do?

Relationships are works in progress...or they should be.  If you stop working at i, it will certainly fail.  Each side must understand the others way of thinking and be willing to accommodate to a degree.  If you aren't willing to make the effort, there was never anything worth while to begin with.

So is life.

I must learn to use a fork on the spaghetti of my life.  I must cut the never ending strand into bite size pieces and not chase the errant meatball across the tabletop. 

Chew slowly and savor the flavor of your existence.  After all, it's the only one you have.