tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66819764688803227472024-02-07T03:45:52.268-08:00Meg Amor - Romance Erotica WriterMeg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-20108776222288986572016-03-16T22:09:00.000-07:002016-03-17T16:19:20.422-07:00LITTLE THINGS BLOG HOP!! ~ tons of authors and prizes galore!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Aloha everyone. </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">I’m taking part in a Blog Hop with The Little Things Blog Hop.</span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> This is just one of 117 stops on </span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /><span style="background: white;">the Little Things Blog Hop!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Little Things That Make Me Happy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Aloha
everyone! Thanks so much for hopping by. Spring is one of those times of year
where you start to feel that there is hope again. What looks dead begins to
unfurl into life. You go from stark dark wood to leafy neon green new growth in
what feels like days sometimes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When I lived
in Michigan a hundred years ago, the winters were abysmal. Six long tough
months of the stuff. Snow everywhere. No blue skies for weeks on end. When it
would hit O degrees C or 32 degrees F, everyone would be out there in their
shorts and T-shirts. We looked for the first buds of yellow forsythia coming
out. Driving to work each day was literally like watching time lapse
photography. It was quite incredible actually to see. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And when you’ve
been in a long winter of discontent or despair, sometimes it IS the little
things that suddenly lift you up. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My husband
died just over two years ago and I went through a phase where I couldn’t
imagine EVER enjoying anything again. It all seemed so senseless. Then slowly,
piece by piece, I started to become human again. What I noticed were the small
things that actually made my happy. And they were funny things. Things I had
perhaps taken for granted before or overlooked. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjicR7Kv2OKQ-8-8Q5tIU5n-p5Tb0_z79tjGKhU91QM8QIS9obqyzx-xCG7O4qIBzde2rPzLHlJ30qRK8tasv3XEBiYpvT-eG1iIH6kcvzh2vbkhiEIdvUZj9P1MPnqf8aVKRFkquR8QMs/s1600/Lush+and+Blush+Club+098.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjicR7Kv2OKQ-8-8Q5tIU5n-p5Tb0_z79tjGKhU91QM8QIS9obqyzx-xCG7O4qIBzde2rPzLHlJ30qRK8tasv3XEBiYpvT-eG1iIH6kcvzh2vbkhiEIdvUZj9P1MPnqf8aVKRFkquR8QMs/s400/Lush+and+Blush+Club+098.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">When Aaron died, two pictures on his fb page merged together. I knew he was telling me he was flying home on wings of love. :) and he was okay. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One of the
first things I brought that grabbed my soul was a delicious raspberry pink bath
mat with a nice deep pile that goes in my Hawaiian bathroom and feels lovely to
put my feet on. I could stare for quite some time as I sat on the toilet at
that rug. The colors were just so yummy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then other
things started to grab me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Not quite the shade. Mine is more raspberry fruit color. Gorgeous </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My art
looked vibrant again. I actually started looking at it, not just blankly
passing it by each day. My big waterlily paintings sing to my soul now every
day. I have lots of my art out and my bed/office is in such a position that I
can all of it as I pan around the room. I love it. My black teak Chinese
furniture with my gold good luck dragon on it. The nude statues I love to be
surrounded by. Sensuous men and women—people inhaling life and enjoying it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It wasn’t
until I came to my new hou</span><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">se though, that I started to live again, rather than just
exist.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I hauled out all my Hawaiiana and have a fabulous hula girl bathroom now
which I love. All the bright colors and the feel of the Hawaiian Islands which
are my soul’s home. The red Aloha shower curtain, my raspberry fluffy bath mat.
The hula girl tiles and hot neon colors. Pinks, oranges, aqua blues, neon
greens and reds. Gorgeous!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">The red is my shower curtain fabric. :) </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I unpacked
my paperweights and now the sunlight trips off them every day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrRd4A5efYwsTipJtp4t3_jr8po4oS0qM_WdqtlYZSYrkde3CAiJoFSFIUuwvA9qDsQXwhq7SZAcayfBam9vvAyUiAxaps5yr_mSOkbqJB51LQVGl4YxPuE2Hean8-gCdRfuZisNsDE8U/s1600/tropical-storm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrRd4A5efYwsTipJtp4t3_jr8po4oS0qM_WdqtlYZSYrkde3CAiJoFSFIUuwvA9qDsQXwhq7SZAcayfBam9vvAyUiAxaps5yr_mSOkbqJB51LQVGl4YxPuE2Hean8-gCdRfuZisNsDE8U/s320/tropical-storm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I have my
books out again after they were packed away forever. They soothe me. All my treasures.
When someone gives me a new book now, I get a special thrill from it. I couldn’t
afford new books for a long time. And for Christmas I shouted myself a Kindle
Fire. Now I can read in the dark like when I was a kid. I used to love reading
under the blankets with a torch. Mum always said, “You’d ruin your eyesight.” LOL.
I had 20/15 eyesight for years. We can deep six that old wives’ tale. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">If I get
bored lying in the dark, I can focus on Orion on my ceiling. I said when I came
to this place, that I’d get myself some of the fluro-glow stars. I love those!
I have put up the “Iron pot” which is Orion and it makes me feel part of
Universe. I have to be able to look at the night sky and always see where Orion
is. Then I feel settled and like all is okay with the world.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdlZXx4orXO0WfAlAvyF75ZQ-KfBBQp3Bv2AymXGix2EWGVsxK3TrZAGpeK3r5HjtYzuZ90scNtnEPcy7Ld81UFzyIf0XcJ6hiXt7WiSkjW_OzxkjHsKll4aavBgqFt66OBEmxPzLrXb4/s1600/KC-glow-stars-out.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdlZXx4orXO0WfAlAvyF75ZQ-KfBBQp3Bv2AymXGix2EWGVsxK3TrZAGpeK3r5HjtYzuZ90scNtnEPcy7Ld81UFzyIf0XcJ6hiXt7WiSkjW_OzxkjHsKll4aavBgqFt66OBEmxPzLrXb4/s400/KC-glow-stars-out.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I lie back
on about six feather pillows which I love. Besides me is my nearly
twenty-year-old fur child, Leo Ray Jr, tucked up in his blankies. He’s my baby.
Leo kept me going when I couldn’t put one foot in front of the other and had
stopped caring about me. He sleeps on my big Eastern King on his feather
pillows with his own blankets that are cuddly and warm for him. It means I can
reach out and touch him in the night and know he’s still here with me. He’s
still breathing. If I could have hooked him up to a baby monitor, I would have.
</span><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">J</span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZgUBe7hZ1-kRXxY4npIjDd5auUT6-iDv7Cj5GFPmj2b1LB-OCaNAznoe9t3n6iYqqY7w4tQA3lraHUqajWa_D3jrTuMeNtWS5eiE2P7b47xF68BOjoIYKZQKzljjmHboflPQnJ9dUOhY/s1600/IMG_0062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZgUBe7hZ1-kRXxY4npIjDd5auUT6-iDv7Cj5GFPmj2b1LB-OCaNAznoe9t3n6iYqqY7w4tQA3lraHUqajWa_D3jrTuMeNtWS5eiE2P7b47xF68BOjoIYKZQKzljjmHboflPQnJ9dUOhY/s400/IMG_0062.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He purrs
when I tuck him into his blankies. Just purrs and purrs. Then he snuggles down
like a wee kid, drifting off to sleep. It’s gorgeous. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When he
wants to go out in the morning, he doesn’t do that cat scratching at door
thing. Oh no. First, he stands on me and peers at me. Then a small hand presses
into my face. Next, a light touch of claws. And when all else fails, he has now
resorted to sticking a furry finger up my nose. I have to say, it’s one of the
most unusual sensations I’ve ever experienced. If you took a piece of pussy
willow plant and twirled it around inside your nostril—you’d get the sensation.
It makes me laugh. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVB49NEATs7bXOQg3GYK0oUos611rqN3ZxhjMXRY_BKnK0hJZeL2BTCCGOoMf2T5YE_r8HcbFAZJQaR20PcxMeq-FqApisoI23oQD-a6u6cvRPR-gcAZvgNz1HWh9a5MjQy9EnqmC7egs/s1600/12122603_1002731739789616_4285460440450756228_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVB49NEATs7bXOQg3GYK0oUos611rqN3ZxhjMXRY_BKnK0hJZeL2BTCCGOoMf2T5YE_r8HcbFAZJQaR20PcxMeq-FqApisoI23oQD-a6u6cvRPR-gcAZvgNz1HWh9a5MjQy9EnqmC7egs/s400/12122603_1002731739789616_4285460440450756228_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Another small thing with him that makes me happy. He got up last night and threw up several times. He's been looking rough and worrying me. But when he thew up, it was just a collection of nasty hairballs. Phew. Now I can stop worrying and freaking out over him. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Without him
and my friends who have got me back on my feet, I don’t know where I’d be.
Probably not here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There are
just so many things that grab me now. Little things that makes me happy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When I go
home to Hawai’i in May, I’ll be drinking guava juice and POG like it’s going
out of fashion. Heaven—I first discovered POG twenty years when I first landed
in the Hawaiian Islands on my way to live in Mainland America.
Passion-orange-guava juice. Nothing like it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2LybjCZJWdTkCqB1R5jIhNnbgTDbZp_FLOO9B80sE5Zk_io98pWf0LByzKhGb8T6WBmky-6aGRnx-HekCmWTEWhctiGzcnwArZ5XEuMmp8A3g87oegki3uOhoXRAypQ-bJ5ZQl1wwQ6Y/s1600/PogHula1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2LybjCZJWdTkCqB1R5jIhNnbgTDbZp_FLOO9B80sE5Zk_io98pWf0LByzKhGb8T6WBmky-6aGRnx-HekCmWTEWhctiGzcnwArZ5XEuMmp8A3g87oegki3uOhoXRAypQ-bJ5ZQl1wwQ6Y/s400/PogHula1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ll always
be stuffing my face with mac nuts, gorgeous fatty, salted morsels of pure
pleasure—grown right there on the Big Island. The coffee glazed ones are my
next all time favs. Soooo good. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Flying down
into Keahole Airport in Kona on the Big Island of Hawai’i. Over my all-time fav
beach, Kekaha Kai. Heaven. Knowing I’m going to sitting on that beach soon,
reading a book, eating Kona kettle chips, made on the island, and watching honu
(turtles) swim past. You can’t beat it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When I get
off in Kona, I always go and grab a fresh plumeria lei if no one is there to
greet me. The velvety fragrance. It’s heady and intoxicating. The pure
fragrance of the Big Island. When I get up each day, I’ll pick a single
plumeria bloom, put it on a toothpick and slide it behind my ear. I wear
Jessica McClintock perfume and for a while I ran out of it. My sister Rach bought
me some for my birthday, then for Christmas. Now I have enough to last me for a
couple of years and I wear it every day. It’s a small thing that gives me a lot
of pleasure. I was thrilled to get it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Other smells
tickle my nostrils and give me good feelings. The One N’ Only Argan Oil hair
restorer mask I put in my hair now instead of conditioner. It keeps my curls
all sprongy, springy, and soft. I love this. My boss gave me a fabulous lilac
scented candle for Christmas. Lilac…ohh…more heavenly smells. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I like to
sit down at the end of the day with a 700ml glass, with a quarter of ice in it,
half a shot of Bacardi and filled to the brim with diet coke. That first hit of
fizzy bubbles…I love it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Taste
sensations of old like black jelly beans. Or the new FocacciBites in the tomato
and oregano flavor. Each crisp wee biscuit, baked, and sprinkled with flavor
for Africa. I ate a whole box of them last night. Sooo good!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Flowers of
every kind! Hot pink panties. Royal blue toe nail polish with aqua blue French trim
I can afford to get done at the salon again. Seeing one of my books sell.
Getting a fabulous review or a nice comment. Reading some new pieces of writing
and loving them. Being given a book or knowing I have one to read on my Kindle.
When someone says something nice to me or compliments me. Color!!! Bright
tropical colors. And best of all, realizing that the black sexy panties I
bought which barely went over my bum and only half way up my hips, now fit me!!
</span><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">J</span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What are your
little things that make you happy? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thanks for
hopping by and hearing about some of mine. Please hop over to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rebeccamoonauthor/">https://www.facebook.com/rebeccamoonauthor/</a>
and see what her little things are that make her day. </span><span style="font-family: "wingdings"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">J</span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #141823;">This is just one of 117 stops on </span><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">the Little Things Blog Hop! Make sure you visit
each stop and enter the posted giveaway and don't forget to enter the
rafflecopter which has a $50 Amazon gift card grand prize and a ton of other
prizes! Who doesn't like winning cool prizes?</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Take a look around you might just find your next
favorite book!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Giveaway for this stop is the Hawaiian Orchid by Meg Amor</span><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">To Enter</span><br />
</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #141823; font-family: "segoe ui symbol" , sans-serif;">➜</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #141823;"> Be a follower of our most awesome Club page</span><span style="color: #141823;"><br />
</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #141823; font-family: "segoe ui symbol" , sans-serif;">➜</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #141823;"> Like and Share this post</span><span style="color: #141823;"><br />
</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #141823; font-family: "segoe ui symbol" , sans-serif;">➜</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #141823;"> Tell me what jewelry on a man makes you happy! (if any) :) I like everything! But especially earrings and bracelets. :) </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Next you will want to click on this link and
visit Author Rebecca Moon </span></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/rebeccamoonauthor/" style="line-height: 22.8267px;">https://www.facebook.com/rebeccamoonauthor/</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #141823;">Rafflecopter Link: </span><a href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba44e54f2/" target="_blank"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #3b5998;">http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba44e54f2/</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #141823;">? </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Join the Little Things Blog Hop Event for more
fun and a giveaway!</span><br />
</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #3b5998;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/562506680576207/">https://www.facebook.com/events/562506680576207/</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #141823;">You can find links to all of the hop spots
here! </span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #3b5998;"><a href="http://theclubbookpromotions.blogspot.com/2016/02/LittleThingsBlogHop.html" target="_blank">http://theclubbookpromotions.blogspot.com/…/LittleThingsBlo…</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #141823;">Thank you for hopping by! And good luck y'all!</span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #141823;">Winner (s) will be chosen by Mr. Random and
announced on this page and on the Little Things Event Page by April 6th.</span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #141823;">FB is not in any way responsible or affiliated
with this giveaway or the Little Things Blog Hop</span></span><span style="color: #141823; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399508092347_22715">Meg Amor</b></div>
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<i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_42827"><a href="http://www.troikaromance.com/" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_42826" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #cb008e; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">http://www.troikaromance.com/</a></i></div>
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<i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400384826032_4255">***</i></div>
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<i id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399508092347_22718"><a href="http://www.troikaromance.blogspot.com/" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400384826032_3823" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #652191; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">www.troikaromance.blogspot.com</a> </i><i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_44199">***</i></div>
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1458171522873_81757" style="color: #cd232c; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 16.7pt;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MegAmorRomance/posts" id="yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1458171522873_81756" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">google+</a> </span><i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400384826032_3824">*** </i><i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_42830"><span style="color: #70aced;"><a href="https://twitter.com/amor_meg" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">twitter</a> </span></i><i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400384826032_3824">*** </i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/meg.amor.5" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Facebook</a></div>
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<em id="yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1458171522873_81737">***</em></div>
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<em id="yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1458171522873_81739">~ <span id="yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1458171522873_81738" style="color: #8fca40;">Troika Love Series Trilogy</span> ~</em></div>
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<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Henry and Isolde</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> ~ </span>a committed Troika/poly soul deep sensuous romance ~ <span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/pdreuxc" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">AMAZON</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cb008e; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cb008e; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Hawaiians Series</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Hawaiian Lei ~ </span><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1458171522873_81740" style="font-style: italic;">Sensual m/m gay romance </span><span style="font-style: italic;">~</span><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1458171522873_81745" style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><a href="http://tinyurl.com/n9sn78k" id="yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1458171522873_81744" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">AMAZON</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Hawaiian Orchid ~ </span><span style="font-style: italic;">S</span><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1458171522873_81741" style="font-style: italic;">ensual m/m gay romance ~ </span><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1458171522873_81743" style="color: #8fca40; font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hawaiian-Orchid-Hawaiians-Book-2-ebook/dp/B015G3F1N6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1447151502&sr=8-2&keywords=meg+amor" id="yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1458171522873_81742" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">AMAZON</a></span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-style: italic;">***</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><em>Saint Nicholas ~ </em></span>a beautiful heartfelt m/f love story <span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Saint-Nicholas-Meg-Amor-ebook/dp/B00PE2XJIE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418093755&sr=8-1&keywords=meg+amor" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">AMAZON</a></span></div>
<div align="center" id="yui_3_16_0_13_1400366272663_9" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_44085"><i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_44084">Dark War ~</i></b> a committed Troika/poly relationship. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dark-War-Wild-Darkness-Calls-ebook/dp/B00K2M4AIY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418093815&sr=8-1&keywords=dark+war+meg+amor" id="yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1458171522873_81748" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; font-size: small; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">AMAZON</a></div>
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***</div>
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"Everyone lives a thousand lives, but only one life to remember ~</div>
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Will this be yours?"</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Also I have just put together a sampler of my three novels. There are two m/m gay romance and one m/m/f committed menage romance. All three are of sensuous romances and tell deep relationship love stories. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">NSFW samplers :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Hawaiian Lei</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Hawaiian Orchid</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Henry and Isolde</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><b>BEAU:</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Do you paint there or have a studio?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“I paint there. You’d have to be a
brave person to cope with the smells of paint, linseed, oils, and turps.” I
grimace. It’s a bit of a shithole, actually. When I look at this place, it’s
aesthetically pleasing, not gay. Yes, I know, I’m a disgrace to the brotherhood
or whatever we’re called. But I’ve never been into Marilyn or any of the other
gay clichés. I’m not camp. I don’t flounce. Neither does he. He’s gentle, but
that’s different. I like that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I hand him his wine, and we clink
glasses. He has decent glassware too. I was brought up like this, and it does
appeal to me. Mum always has an eye for fine things. Silver, crystal, nice
china and decor. Perhaps I could hang some of my own work when I get back to
LA. The thought hits me in the gut. I don’t want to go back to LA. Shit. I’ll
deal with this later. Tonight, I’m having a nice dinner, in a nice place, with
a really nice man. This time I’m speared in my chest, and I gasp. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“You all right?” he asks, concerned.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Yeah, sorry, just ah…caught my toe. Ow.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Sorry. Slate floors. Rough in places.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">I
nod. I’m rough in places too and out of practice at behaving like a civilized
human being. Or being emotionally open… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">He
slides the door across, and we go out onto the lanai to get the barbecue going.
It’s a wee hibachi grill, not what I’m expecting. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“Where’s
the big masculine he-man American grill? I’m a Kiwi—we conquered Everest, you
know. And I’m supposed to cook on this wee thing?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">He’s unsure how to react to me. Confusion on his face.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“I’m
teasing. Sorry, bad Kiwi habit. You’ll get used to it.” I give myself a jolt.
That sounded slightly permanent.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">He starts it up, and it’s actually a perfect thing to do
something like fish over.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Hey, this is pretty nifty. I wouldn’t mind one of these.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">He checks to see whether I’m teasing again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Seriously, very choice. Where can you get these?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2.45pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“You probably haven’t heard of it;
it’s called a hardware store.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2.45pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">We grin at each other.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2.45pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2.45pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Touché.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 132%; margin: 0in 6pt 4.15pt -0.75pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 132%;">Again, those eyes look me up and
down, scanning my face. He maps information, studying me. I stand still so he
can look. Watching him, watching me. “See anything you like?"</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 132%; margin: 0in 6pt 4.15pt -0.75pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Yes,” he replies softly.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sometimes he almost gives me the
impression he doesn’t quite know what he’s doing with me. Like this is new for
him or something. I flash on the truck he got picked up in the other day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">I
turn the fish and try to casually ask, “Who’s that woman I saw you with the
other day?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“My ex-wife, Mikey.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">The statement hangs between us. I have to digest that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“How long have you been out?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Not long. Just last year.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Fuck.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“You?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“All my life. Always knew I was gay.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“What did your family say?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“I
told Mum first, and all she said was, ‘Goodo, darling, bring your boyfriend
home for tea one night if you like. It’ll be nice to meet him.’”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">He laughs. “Was she really that relaxed about it?”</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 29.75pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Oh yeah. Mum’s an actress—she’s used
to different people, so she takes things in her stride. She just wanted me to
be happy. One of my uncles kicked up a fuss, and Mum said, ‘For God’s sake,
Ron, I don’t give a wit about my children’s sexuality, as long as they’re happy
and not on drugs or in jail.’ That ended that convo—my Uncle Ron’s kids have
been in all sorts of trouble.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 0in 7.75pt 28.55pt; text-indent: -0.5pt;">
<b><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Beau: </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I smile at him. I’m fascinated by the
way he says it, like it was no big deal. “I was glad my mom had passed, so I
didn’t have to tell her. I’m hoping that in spirit, she’d be more forgiving of
me. I wasn’t sure how she would’ve taken it if she’d been alive. I don’t talk
to my father, so that’s a no-brainer. I doubt he’d speak to me anyway. When Mom
died, I cut myself off from him. I’d had enough.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Sounds like you had a bit of a rough upbringing,” he says.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“It wasn’t the best.” That’s an understatement.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“What made you finally come out?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.6pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“Mikey
presented me with a divorce one day. Said she needed to find a nice man and
thought I did too.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Bugger me,” he laughs. “Did she really do that? She sounds
like a character.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Yes, she is. She’s a nice woman. We’re friends.” I sound
defensive.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“That’s cool. It’s always nice to still be mates with your
exes.”</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He accepts it so readily. Some of my
gay friends find it weird I’d still be friends with her. I always feel caught
between two worlds when that happens. This island’s small when it comes down to
it. Everyone knows everyone else’s business. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.6pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“Do you want to eat out here or inside?” I ask. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.8pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“Let’s eat out here. It’s cooled off a wee bit.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I light the citronella torches, then
go inside for the salad and pilaf. This is nice. I haven’t had this with anyone
for a while. I lean against the kitchen counter and take a sip of my wine. It’s
good. He’s good. Can I let him get under my skin? I hope so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">We
sit down and help ourselves to everything. The fish is <i>ono</i>. The sauce just right—a perfect balance between the butter,
cream, garlic, wine, and lemon juice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 7.95pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“This is really good. Thanks.” He
holds up his wineglass, and we clink. I like the intimacy of the dinner out
here on the lanai. He seems at home, relaxed. We talk all through the meal,
easy and flowing. He sprawls out in the chair after the meal. He’s eaten
everything. A good appetite on him. “That was delicious, thanks. Any pud?” I
frown. I’m not sure what he’s asking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2.45pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">He sees my face. “Pudding. Dessert?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2.45pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“Oh,
got you. Yes, there is.” I laugh. “I have to listen hard sometimes to some of
your words. Some I don’t understand.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“That’s
all right. Just ask. I’m happy to explain.” He reaches across the table to take
my hand, pulling it to him and kissing my palm. “Beautiful meal. Thank you.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“You’re welcome. Anytime.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.65pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">He
studies me. His head to one side, those electric-blue eyes sparking and
flaring. God, I want him.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Shall I get the pudding?” he asks, all eager and peppy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“Okay.
It’s, um, mango crème brûlée, not chocolate, made with all cream.” I feel like
I have to apologize for that.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Okay, sounds good.” He nods. “Do they need torching?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“I’m allergic to dairy products,” I blurt out.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Oh, are you? That sucks. My mum is
too. She gets the most shocking sinus headaches from it. She takes Lactaid, but
if she forgets or doesn’t take enough, then she’s as sick as a dog. It really
knocks her.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“I should try that sometime, see if it works for me.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Worth a shot.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Okay, well, it’s now or never. “Does it depress her or
anything?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">He
thinks about it. “Yeah, actually, it does. She calls it the ‘black dog’ barking
at her heels. Do you get that?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">He’s genuinely interested, and I know I have to start as I
mean to go on.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Yes, I do. Sometimes it just descends on me.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.9pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">I’m
waiting for the judgment or for him to pull back, but I don’t feel him do any
of that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Mum’s the same. Drives her nuts.
Especially in my country. We’re known to have one of the toughest sports teams
in the world—be a man, harden up—all that shit. The All Blacks, our
international rugby team, define our country. The sport’s practically a
religion. We had an All Black that ‘came out.’ Not for being gay, but worse,
for having depression. Bloody disgusting. God forbid New Zealanders should let
themselves feel their feelings. Do you know New Zealand has one of the highest
young male suicide rates in the world? It’s shameful. I’m embarrassed to be a
Kiwi sometimes, when stuff like that comes up.” He toys with the napkin ring. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“I
didn’t know that. We have a lot of young Hawaiian men who get into trouble of
different kinds too.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“We
men—I don’t think we’re getting the best deal in some ways, with this new
millennium.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“What makes you say that?”</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“We’re on the arse end of the women’s
lib movement, but I feel we’ve gotten lost in the shuffle a wee bit. What’s our
role? Where do we fit now? I mean, it is a bit different for gay men. But even
that’s changing. I remember the dreadful old queens that used to roll up at our
place sometimes. Flaming! We used to have to keep the fire extinguishers at the
ready.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">I
bark with laughter. He’s funny. Very dry. I like it. I could get extremely used
to his style and energy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He grins, biting his lip and being
flirty with me. God, he’s stunning. I want him, but does he want me? I turned
him down earlier. I hope I haven’t screwed it up. He’s quite casual in the way
he talks, but he’s got a sharp brain, and it’s highly appealing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.65pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“I’ll
get the pudding. Just point me in the right direction.” He gets up and quickly
kisses me as he heads inside to the kitchen.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“The blow torch is on the bench.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“No worries. I’m good at this.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">He fires up the torch and sprinkles sugar over the desserts.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“No, I’m not good at this. I’ve set the bloody thing on fire.
Fuck.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">The dish clatters to the counter, and I leap up to help him.
“Are you okay?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Yes, I’m fine. A bit singed, but I’ll live.” He grins.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">He’s so engaging.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“I
think my manly skills might be a bit lacking.” He laughs, like it’s the
funniest thing. He sets me off, and he’s so gorgeous, I reach out for him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Ohh, yes, yes, yes, fuck, I want
you,” he groans, kissing me, plunging his tongue into my mouth, making me sigh
deeply with pleasure. “Take me to bed,” he commands. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2.45pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">Hot blue eyes sear into me. His mouth
grabs my lips, tugging, sucking, tasting. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">His hands frantically unzip my shorts, pushing them down
abruptly with my briefs. My penis springs free, and his hand automatically
slides onto it. I grunt. I’ll come too fast at this rate.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Slow down,” I beg him.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“I can’t,” he cries out, frantically unzipping his shorts and
pushing them down.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I go with it because my own fierce
passion is just as intense. The sight of his thick shaft swinging makes mine
jerk and harden even more. We kiss and fondle. Gorgeous warm skin. I grab him
by his cock and pull him upstairs with me. After more groping, we tumble onto
the bed, and he pins me down. Suddenly, it’s going too fast for me. It’s lost
its seductive, sensuous edge. I want to make love, not have sex. His energy
feels frantic and frenzied, like I’m not even here. I don’t like it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Slow down,” I repeat.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">His cock grinds into me. As turned on
as I am, I’m feeling pushed and like an object, a vessel for his compulsion.
He’s going to get his rocks off whether I’m with him or not. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“What the fuck is with you?” I shove him off me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Don’t slow me down, please.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 5.95pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“What’s
going on?” The change in pace and energy has thrown me. I don’t know what’s
happening. The aggression bothers me. I want to make love, not fuck with
someone.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">His chest is heaving. He looks everywhere but at me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“What’s going on?” I ask him gently.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">He shakes his head. His eyes plead with me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“Talk
to me, please. I want you, but I want to make love. I don’t want just sex. If
you want that, maybe you need to go home.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“No.” He buries his head in my chest,
and I wrap him in my arms, kissing and stroking his thick hair. I love the feel
of his warm body against mine. His cock rubs mine, sending a sharp spike into
my balls.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Baby, what’s wrong?”</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 0in 7.75pt 28.55pt; text-indent: -0.5pt;">
<b><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Matt: </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Oh God, fuck it all. How do I explain
this? I can’t even talk. I’m about two seconds off bawling my eyes out. What
the hell will he think of me then? All the emotions well up in my chest,
choking off my breath and speech. He lifts my chin, and fuck, I’m shaking
badly.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“It’s okay, I’m here,” he whispers.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Shit, tears stream down my cheeks. He
pulls me to his chest and soothes. His big hands stroke my back. He kisses my
hair, and his soft mouth nuzzles my neck. All the tenderness I crave, but it’s
unraveling my defenses. I want to stop crying. What a fuckwit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“Don’t
try and stop it; just let it come. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere,” he
says quietly. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 105%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 105%; text-indent: 0.5in;">And I bawl.
Blubbering all over him, snotting up his chest, unable to stop. </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 105%; text-indent: 0.5in;">No kidding on the leaving my manly skills
somewhere. God, he’s going to think I’m a real dick.</i></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I keep
repeating between crying jags. What a wanker. I finally start to slow down and
struggle for breath. “Can’t breathe.” I push myself off him and sit on the side
of the bed, embarrassed, feeling about an inch high. Shit, where are my
clothes? I need to get dressed, get out of here. He moves on the bed. Probably
getting up, escaping from me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So I’m surprised when he slides in
behind me, his legs either side of mine. He pushes tissues into my fingers and
wraps his large hands around my chest, rocking me gently. Then he starts a soft
chant. I try to get up, but he holds me to him. Rocking, the drumbeat tattooed
on my chest with his fingers, and the soft lullaby lulls me into calmness. I
blow my nose about a hundred times. His hand leaves me for a moment and pushes
the tissue box forward. Then his arm wraps around me again, and he continues to
rock us. The soft Tahitian chant relaxes me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">When
I can breathe and have stopped crying, he says, “Come back into bed. I don’t
want you to go.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">What?
I’ve just bawled my fucking eyes out, and he wants me to stay? What the fuck? I
bet I look ratshit too.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“I’m sorry,” I whisper.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Why?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“Bawling,
being all emotional on you.” I can’t look at him. I feel like a bloody idiot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2.45pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“It’s good to cry.” He strokes my
hair again.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Not in my country. </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Kia
kaha.</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"> Stay strong. Toughen up.” I almost spit.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“I thought your mom would have been good with feelings.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“She was. Dad wasn’t great. Half the
time, I think that’s what put him in an early grave. All that holding in of
emotions. It reminds me of an old ad we had in New Zealand for Tanalised fence
posts. They were treated with a preservative, Tanalith, and their tagline was,
‘They’re tough, rugged, and durable.’ It’s a legacy all New Zealanders are
brought up with, including the women. My sister Rach hates it. She won’t live
back there because of it. I suppose, in a way, that’s why I don’t go back
either.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">This is a lot for me to admit.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Come here, baby. Get into bed. We’ll cuddle and talk.”</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 18.3pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I realize he’s just called me baby
and I don’t want to kill him. I let him ease me back into bed and spoon himself
around me. Shit, it feels good. He gently kisses the back of my neck, and I
want to give in to him. Just let myself be loved and cared for. I turn around
in his arms and finally face him. “I’m sorry. I fucked up a great evening.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“I don’t think so,” he says simply.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">I
shake my head in disbelief. “What do you mean? I just pushed you with sex. Then
bawled my fucking eyes out.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“You let me in. You opened up to me.” He shrugs. “I like
that.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">I look into his eyes, and all I see is care.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“It’s hard for me to do, you know.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">He nods.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“It makes me feel </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">really</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">
vulnerable.” My voice catches again.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“I don’t mind. What got triggered?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.65pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“I
don’t know. I think just you being gentle with me. Caring, loving…” I shrug.
It’s embarrassing how much I crave that.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Well, that’s kind of who I am.”</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I consider what he’s told me. Trying
to sort it out in my head. I feel the pull of his gorgeous body again. Our
cocks pressed together, balls getting nicely squished. I slide my hand down and
touch him, running my fingers through his black pubic hair. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“Hey,
you have pubes—what’s up with that? It’s un-American.” I try for lighthearted,
distracting him and me away from my intense display of emotions earlier. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">He
laughs. “I’m still a man,” he says, echoing my earlier sentiments this week to
Roberty Bob. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“Yes,
you are. A very nice man.” I kiss him slowly this time. Feeling shaky with the
barrier I’m taking down but wanting to do it. The reality is—I need to. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I slowly kiss down his neck, planting
soft, small kisses along the lei lines on his chest. Feeling his center,
tugging on the big brown nipples. They pucker and point under my tongue. I lick
down his taut belly to bury my nose in the tangy scent of him. He’s thick and
uncut, just how I like them. A thick vein throbs and begs for a tongue. His
balls are already high and tight. I slide him into my mouth for the first time
and groan with pleasure. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">I
love to suck cock. He’s thick and juicy. Meaty. His foreskin is full and
velvety. Fuck, yes. I want this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“Yes,”
he sighs. His hands tug the hair on my head, pushing my head down onto his
dick. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I get lost in the sensations of
licking and lapping the smooth, velvet head. His balls are shaved, but I can
live with that. They’re plump and sensitive to my touch. I part his thighs,
spreading his legs so I can get at the delicate pucker I want to be buried in.
His legs jiggle. I reach over and grab the lube from his bedside table.
Flicking the lid, I drizzle the silky lube slowly down the side of his balls,
watching it slide down his perineum and onto his arse. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He groans as his hands clutch my
hair. I suck a ripe nut into my mouth. His musky male scent fills my nostrils.
With my finger, I ease open the place I want to be. I desperately want to be
inside him, fucking his brains out, until he can’t talk, can’t move. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He reaches down to turn my body
around. I know what he wants. I straddle his face and lower my hard cock to his
waiting lips, watching his tongue flick and lick. His mouth opens wide, and I
thrust into his warm wetness, my length scraping his teeth as he adjusts to my
size. I slide the lube down to him, our hands connect, and he squeezes my
fingers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">His long hair is spread on the
pillow. I keep kneeling on it, tugging it by accident. He gathers it into
bunches and wraps it around my cock and balls. It’s the most exotic sight. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’m so caught up in what he’s doing,
I’m neglecting him, but I can’t concentrate on two things at once. I rest my
head instead between his thighs, caught up in the scents and sensations at
every end of my body. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Oh God, I want to come. My balls
tighten, and my shaft is rigid, pulsing with need. His hot mouth leaves my dick
and slowly licks my arsehole. I cry out. I’m throbbing everywhere, all the
nerve endings alive and scorched. He works his tongue into my pucker, and I
nearly lose it. More lube. A thumb, and the sensation takes me to guns zone straightaway.
I nuzzle his cock, sinking my nostrils into his ball sac. He takes me back into
his mouth and fucks my arse with his thumb. Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I can’t help it; I thrust into his
mouth, my balls burying his nose. He slides out of my pucker, and I want to scream.
But the sensation is back as he slides in two fingers. I like watching him
finger fuck me as my cock fucks his mouth. Jesus, I can’t wait. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He’s moaning in pleasure. I’m
whimpering; the deep sensations and tugging are close to taking me over the edge.
I pull away, but he holds me there, increasing his rhythm, and I let my body go
there. Pumping his mouth as he stretches my arsehole, through the sphincters,
hitting the pleasure nerves.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Shit, shit,” I pant. I’m coming.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He holds me tightly, increasing the
fucking motion inside me and on me. The push comes up through my balls, the
tight tingling, and I press down into his throat. He gags and pushes my dick
into his cheek, holding me there so I can jet into his mouth and down his
throat. Long fingers plunge deeper inside me, hitting the sweet spot. He
tightens his mouth on my shaft, and I orgasm. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I shoot into his mouth, look back,
and watch the saliva-laced cum dribble down his chin. His eyes are closed with
an ecstatic look, biting his lip, shaking, as my cock rests on his face. The
glisten of cum trails across his beautiful brown skin. He slowly withdraws his
fingers and kisses each arse cheek tenderly. My stomach clenches when he does
it. It’s so intimate. Loving.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">I roll off him, and he pulls me up to his chest.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“You
taste good,” he says, those sultry, shy eyes soaking it up. He sticks out his
tongue, and I lick it. We smile at each other.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Fuck, that was good. I came hard.” I moan softly, burying my
face in his chest.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“I’m glad, baby—I wanted you to.” He
strokes my hair, nuzzling my head. It’s the same sensation I use when I want to
come quickly but the guy I’m with isn’t quite getting me there. I soak it in,
even though I’m quivering with feelings on a level I can’t place my finger on.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Can I make love to you?” he asks gently, and my heart
catches in my throat.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I nod into his chest. I’m caught in
the sensations I don’t usually let myself feel. I release my hold on the armor
plating slowly. I’d pulled it up sharply after bawling before. It had left me
shaky and exposed. But he’s got to me. The gentle caring, his mellow energy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I squeeze his hand and slide off him
onto my stomach. The click of the lube bottle, the foil on the condom packet
being torn, and I push up onto my knees, offering my arse. He fingers me,
scissoring. His big hand slides down to my balls to fondle and play with them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“I
like your balls. Your cock’s thick and uncut. You’re beautiful,” he says
slowly, and I nearly bite through my lip. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He slowly massages my bum, working
his thumbs into me, kissing my back. With my cheeks in the air, I can see his
dick swinging. I want that juicy cock inside me, fucking me to death. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Involuntary groans leave my lips.
He’s teasing me, pushing the head in and then leaving me empty again as he
pulls out. I glance at him over my shoulder, and his eyes meet mine. There’s
deep caring in them. I can’t look anymore; too many intense feelings course
through my body. I’m panting and rasping for breath. He slides partially into
me again, and I cry out. Fuck, enough. I reach back and pull his arse into me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">His fullness stretches me, the base of his shaft in as far as
it will go.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Goddd…” I cry out in pleasure,
clutching fistfuls of the feather pillows on his bed. He pulls me onto my hands
and knees to ream his dick into me. My cock flops between my legs, creating
little currents each time it touches my thigh or balls. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">He
slowly pulls back from me, and I cry out with the delicious sensations. He
pulls all the way out, and I hiss, “No.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He tumbles me over onto my back and
swings up on his arms to kiss me slowly. Our tongues entwine, lingering, while
his cock brushes mine. Long, silky hair feathers my chest. His sensuous eyes
smile as I suck his tongue into my mouth.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“I want to see you,” he whispers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">I close my eyes. Already this is way more intimate than I’m
used to.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">His warm mouth kisses and licks down
my stomach as it contracts and aches with desire. He pushes my legs over for me
to hold. It’s the most exposed position. One hand holds my penis and balls out
of the way. The other positions his cock into my hole again. Fuck, yes. The big
tip slides in, and I’m going crazy with this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He steadily pushes into me, watching
my face the whole time. I want to look away, but his gaze holds me there. It’s
like being stripped bare, having my insides eviscerated, on display for all to
see. I start to lose it and break eye contact. His cock completely fills me
now. He stops, and I want to scream. This is like being on a rollercoaster, but
weirder sensations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He nuzzles my ear, licking the shell,
nipping lightly along the lobe, then a firm pump into me. He finds his rhythm,
thrusting his hard, thick cock in and out. I let go. Closing my eyes and
letting him fuck me hard. It’s what I want. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.8pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">I
relax my legs and play with his long hair, burying my face in it, getting
myself reamed good and hard. Fuck, this is good</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">He’s grunting, and we’re both panting hard</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Baby, baby,” he cries out, and I don’t want to tell him to
fuck off.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Come, babe,” I whisper, and a
strangled gasp ripples through the air as he orgasms, collapsing onto my chest.
Our sweat rolls and mixes as it courses down our bodies.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Fuck, fuuuckkk,” he hisses in my ear.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">His head comes up, and we nuzzle and kiss. His eyes are
glazed and dreamy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 8.1pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">I did
that to you, I think. I made you feel that good. It dips into a deep pit in my
stomach and worms its way into my heart. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 0in 12.45pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<h1 style="margin-left: -.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">HAWAIIAN
LEI ~ <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 0in 8.85pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 103%; margin-bottom: .55pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 2.25pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;">Beau Toyama,
biplane pilot and flight instructor on the Big Island of Hawai’i has only been
out for a year. His last relationship with a man was a disaster. When he meets
Matt Quintal, who’s visiting his sister, he’s stunned by the instant attraction
to him. But Beau’s afraid to ask for what he needs in a relationship; his anger
frightens him. The “mixed plate” H</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 103%; text-indent: -0.5pt;">awaiian/Japanese/Tahitian
man works on being Zen calm but Matt brings all his emotions to the surface. It
uncovers a devastating secret from his childhood and deep shame that needs
healing.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 0in 7.95pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 103%; margin-bottom: 8.45pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 2.25pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;">Matt Quintal, New
Zealand painter has been living the wild gay life in LA. After one more night
of soulless mechanical sex where his body is engaged but his emotions aren’t—he
knows he needs a change. His sister wants him to come to Hawai’i for a visit;
another big rock in the middle of the Pacific doesn’t seem like a solution but
he has to do something. When he flies with Beau in his biplane, he feels a
strong pull toward both man and plane that he can neither explain nor deny. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 0in 8.05pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 103%; margin-bottom: 8.45pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 2.25pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;">Matt’s a New
Zealander, they’re encouraged to be tough, rugged and durable. He is, but he's
emotionally a wreck, afraid to show his emotions, so he’s surprised when Beau
encourages him to be all of himself. Has he finally found the freedom to be the
man he wants to be? The heat between the two men is like watching Pele let her
hair down, releasing her hot, molten lava. Will the gorgeous Hawaiian with his
long silky black hair and soulful brown eyes finally convince the gypsy nature
in Matt to put down roots in another island culture? </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 0in 7.95pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 103%; margin-bottom: 8.45pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 2.25pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;">Hawaiian Lei by
Meg Amor </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 103%; margin-bottom: 8.45pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 2.25pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;">Edited by Heather
Hollis </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 103%; margin-bottom: 8.45pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 2.25pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;">Cover Art by
Syneca Featherstone </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 103%; margin-bottom: 8.45pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 2.25pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;">Published by
Loose Id, LLC </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 162%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 106.75pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 162%;">Amazon: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/n9sn78k">http://tinyurl.com/n9sn78k</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 162%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 106.75pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 162%;"> www.loose-id.com/hawaiian-lei.html </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 162%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 103%; margin-bottom: 8.45pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 2.25pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;">Barnes and Noble:
http://tinyurl.com/nesruz2 </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 103%; margin-bottom: 8.45pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 2.25pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;">Kobo:
http://tinyurl.com/jw3azvt </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All
Romance Books ARe: </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/mgso4c4"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">http://tinyurl.com/mgso4c4</span></a><a href="http://tinyurl.com/mgso4c4"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none;"> </span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2 style="margin-bottom: 5.85pt; margin-left: .5pt; margin-right: 2.8pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Rob <o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">I
come back into the here and now. Kulani’s waving one hand in front of my face,
his other laced through mine, squeezing firmly. “You okay?” he asks me quietly.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I can’t speak. I just nod, tears
aching in my throat. He pulls me gently into his arms, and for a brief moment,
I feel his heart energy open up and engulf me. Then it withdraws, like a hand
jerking back abruptly from a hot stove. He stands back and softly strokes my
hair back on either side of my face. Two wounded men trying to find a middle
ground, an even keel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I exhale some of the tension I’ve
built up, and he holds my hands, running his eyes over me, checking me
emotionally on some level. He nods and steps back, dropping my hands. He leans
in and kisses me softly on the lips, and I realize he’s given me a gift. A
piece of him he doesn’t let many people see.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Thank you,” I say quietly.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He nods again, his deep brown eyes
opening the shutters to his soul for a moment. He knows the pain. That’s why
I’m finding it hard to tell him to fuck off when he’s being a wanker.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“It’s a good day to be on the water,” he says.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Too right,” I agree.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">He
nods again, and we both work to get her underway. I let Kulani take her out
through the breakwater. His energy is a wee bit steadier than mine at the
moment.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“You’re a natural on the water,” I tell him. “I’d trust you
anywhere on a boat.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“Yeah,
well, don’t get your confidence in me too high. I come from an oceangoing
family that lost one of its own.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“I’m sorry, what happened?"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“You heard of the </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Hokule’a</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">?”</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Of course, the double-hulled
voyaging canoe that does the ancient sea routes between here and all over the
Pacific by starlight navigation. The zenith star that rises above Honolulu is
Arcturus. You guys call it Hokule’a.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Yeah.” He smiles, looking pleased.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2.45pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“The only guy I know who lost his
life was Eddie Aikau when she capsized in <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.7pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">‘78 off Molokai.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2.45pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">He nods. “He was my grandfather’s
cousin.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Wow… You wouldn’t have even been born then.”</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Yeah, I know. But you grow up here.
The legend lives on. My family still goes over to ‘the Eddie’ surf champs at
Waimea Bay on O’ahu every time the conditions are right and they run it. I’ve
competed once.” He smiles shyly, and I’m intrigued. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“That
means you’re a big-wave rider. You have to be invited to surf in that.” I’m
slightly in awe. Holy moly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">He
nods, grinning, proud of himself. And rightly so. They don’t just let anyone go
out there in thirty-foot waves. Pretty bloody gutsy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“I’m a ‘regular foot’ like he was.”
He grins shyly again. Hell, he’s appealing. Dangerous too, if he goes out
surfing in waves that big. The adrenaline rush would be off the charts. I can
just see him on a board, that long, curly hair blowing in the surf spray. Pinup
poster boy—Hawaiian surfer hunk. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">What
the hell does he want with me? I’m twice his age, and starting to get that
weather-beaten look, life-beaten maybe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ve got two inches on his six feet,
my hair’s dark brown with touches of gray and slightly long on top, but without
his length. It’s thick and just long enough to spike up a bit. Brown eyes,
olivey skin that tans relatively easily. I don’t think I’m anything to write
home about. I’m no Pierce Brosnan, despite having a Black Irish background. A
bit more of a rugged Colin Farrell apparently. But I think you’d have to be
half-cut, squinting slightly, and have a rabid imagination to reach that
conclusion. Despite tanning well, initially I still have to keep the sunscreen
companies in holiday homes for the next hundred years. It’s a pain in the arse.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He watches me spraying myself down
for the second time today, like I’m trying to kill some infestation of lice. I
have a low burn time, but once I get a good layering of tan, I do better. It’s
been a while since I’ve been out on the water all day. He takes the can from me
and sprays the backs of my legs and arms. His hot eyes strip me down, and my
cock gives a twinge. I grunt slightly, and he laughs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Once we’re out in open water, I take
the helm and let him run around doing the sails. He’s younger than me and just
watching him move gives me a nice semi-hard-on. His brown limbs and hard
muscles coil and uncoil with ease. His hair’s tied back in a loose bun with a
bone comb, so it’s not streaming around his face. We sail hard for Maui, the
wind with us all the way, and it’s exhilarating, freeing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A pod of spinner dolphins runs with
us half the way, enjoying the company. Kulani lies on the deck with his arm in
the water. They brush against him as they plow under the bow, before racing
back to take another pass. They’re playing a game. When we start the tack for
Maui, they jump out of the water, almost en masse saluting us, and head back to
the Big Island.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Friends of yours?” I ask.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Yep.” Kulani grins, lightly
springing up from the deck. He comes and stands with me at the wheel and some
impulse makes me pull him in front of me, wrapping my arm around him as I steer
the boat. He leans his head back on my shoulder, and we stay like that until
we’re closer in to the island of Maui and the sails need trimming. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We drop anchor in Hamoa Bay, one of
the most beautiful beaches in the Hawaiian Islands. A golden sand-swept beach
that’s accessed from a steep set of steps, but it’s worth it. Nice shelter and
smooth, creamy sand. Though, truthfully, we have some pretty gorgeous ones on
the Big Island too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Kulani pulls out his comb and dives
straight into the clear blue water. I throw on a rash guard, toe my boat shoes
off, and do the same. He’s like watching a seal in the water, powering through
it slickly. Diving and swimming, he darts down between my legs to palm my cock.
Coming up for air, laughing and teasing, flicking those luxurious curls out of
his face. He’s really quite beautiful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He pulls my body into his and kisses
me hotly, rubbing his groin invitingly into mine. His hot eyes, black now from
arousal, spear me in the balls. We roll around in the water, acting the goat
and playing. He makes me feel young again. I still wonder what the hell he sees
in me. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<h2 style="margin-bottom: 16.65pt; margin-left: .5pt; margin-right: 2.7pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Kulani <o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Man, I’m enjoying this. Out here with
Rob, just us. Shit, he pushes some buttons in me, though. He asks really
personal questions and deep probing ones. I’ve felt put on the spot a few
times. I’m trying to not be defensive, but shit—it’s like someone taking a
filleting knife to my gut. I’m not sure whether he’s doing it on purpose or
what. It pisses me off sometimes. As if I want to dig up my shitty fucking
past. Spill my guts and show someone my broken bits. He catches me off guard
all the time, though.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">The thing is, I like him.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">I like him a lot.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He’s older and sexy. He’s got this
rangy, hard-ass, Colin Farrell thing going on. Cute accent. I’ve always enjoyed
hearing that Kiwi accent in my travels around the globe. Not the hard American
Mainland sounds. He says things like “cah,” for car. But my cousin’s a Kiwi
too, so I mostly understand Rob. When I don’t, I just nod like an idiot. He
talks faster than Mattie, but I don’t want to say I don’t understand him. He’ll
think I’m a dick.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">I think he already does a bit anyway.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">When I get around people I like, I act out. Get stupid.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My counselor and I have been working
on it. But it still has a ways to go. I don’t think we’re getting anywhere
sometimes, but my kahuna elder won’t let me continue training as a healer
without it. I see his point. I can’t help others if I can’t help myself or
don’t look at my own stuff. But it hurts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.6pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">Sometimes
it’s like a knife through my gut. The sharp edge slicing into my fucking soul.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">He says I’m confrontational and won’t face things.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">I’m too fucking scared to.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Now, I’ve just found out Rob’s a therapist by training. Joke’s
on me, Universe.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Still, I like him. He’s interesting.
I think he must have had something painful happen in his life. This morning on
the boat, when I first got there, he went stock-still, staring off into space,
a million memories playing across his face, the pain etching into the corners
of his mouth and eyes. I wanted to ask, but I was too scared. I didn’t want to
upset him further, although maybe he needed to talk. I was frightened of my own
reaction. Now, I feel bad I didn’t take it further. I don’t know how to bring
it up; I’ve been trying to think of some way to do it, but I’m out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Instead we’re playing around in the
water, and I’ve got a throbbing hard-on. He’s sexy, fuckable—except I’m not
sure he’s a bottom. I’d do him, though. Just thinking about fucking him makes
my cock jerk. We clamber back on board the boat, and I strip my board shorts
off in the galley. He turns around from taking his rash guard off, and his eyes
widen. He swallows hard, and I stroke my cock, walking toward him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I mouth his lips, licking the salt
off, trailing down his body to the tight pink nipples. Tugging them hard with
my teeth and pushing his sexy blue bikinis down at the same time.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">He groans. “You’re a wee bit too sexy, you know that?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">I come back up to his ear and whisper, “So are you. Suck my
cock.”</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I push him down onto the banquet
seating and lean into him, placing my hands on the wall behind him. He clutches
my ass cheeks, slurping my dick, the cute little earring jiggling as his mouth
devours me. His thighs are spread, and his cock jumps up and down. I want him
too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I pull him up, and we dance our way
back toward the stateroom cabin. It’s not big, but we can lie side by side on
the bed, mutually blowing each other. His cock’s long with a good knob; his
dark pubes stand out starkly on the sexy olive skin. The split line on his nuts
is taut and tight, already high and tense. His scrotum is goosed. I smooth it
out with long, flat laps of my tongue, sucking the soft skin into my mouth
while thrusting my cock between his eager lips and down his throat. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He’s uncut, with a thick foreskin,
which I love. I roll it back and forth over the head, slowly licking the drips
from his dick, catching the squirts in my mouth. I hook his leg over my
shoulders and bury my nose in his ass. Nuzzling his pucker, I push my tongue
into him, licking him hard between his balls and butt. The smell and taste of
him makes my dick jerk. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He’s always given me an instant
hard-on. When I saw him at the restaurant last night, I couldn’t believe my
luck. Made a dick of myself, of course. Every time I’ve run into him, I’ve been
tongue-tied and awkward. The only time I’ve been smooth was when I was out with
some friends, and I was pretty wasted. I’d managed to get his number in my
phone, but the next day I was too shy to call him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now I have his meat rubbing my
throat, and it’s epic. I trail along his taint, then slide my mouth back onto
his cock. We’re crying out, moaning and pleasuring each other. Shit, hope we
dropped anchor far enough from shore. I nearly laugh, but he’s sucking my dick
hard, and I lose myself in the arousal. My balls are tightening, his finger
wriggles into my ass, and I contract my back, twisting as I shoot my load into
his mouth. I’m panting so hard I can’t suck him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All I can do is rest my head between
his thighs, inhaling the pure masculine aroma of Rob. “God, babe,” I moan. He
opens a side drawer, extracts lube and a condom, then crawls up to me and rolls
me onto my stomach. Oh fuck, yes. When he finally penetrates me up to his
balls, I’m completely gone. I surrender to him. He puts a pillow under my
stomach and fucks me smoothly, pumping between my thighs, kissing the back of
my neck. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.85pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“I
love your long cock in me,” I whisper, and he releases a high-pitched cry. He
likes the sexy talk. “Fuck me harder, baby.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“Yes,”
he grunts, rutting into me, hitting my pleasure spot over and over, until I’m
nearly speechless. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Love your big cock fucking me up the
ass.” I hiss, and he comes, bellowing out. I milk his balls gently. He hangs
over me, rasping for breath, sweat dripping onto my back. It’s fucking awesome.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“Fuck,
babe, good,” he pants, collapsing his weight on me. “Hot, sorry,” he gasps.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Don’t care. Love you here with me.”</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He brushes my hair aside and kisses
the back of my neck, coming around to my face. Our eyes meet, and he looks
completely chilled out, happy. We smile at each other, and I want this day to
not end. I’m already a little bit in love with him. Ever since I first saw him,
I’ve had a bit of a crush going on. Now I’ve gotten to know him even a small
amount, I know I’m going to be a lost cause. I should slow it down, but fuck, I
really don’t want to. I want this man. I haven’t felt like that about anyone
for a long, long time. Now I just have to not fuck it up by being a hot mess. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 12.7pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">When
he rolls off me, he doesn’t completely leave me. One leg still draped over my
ass. We’re sweating like pigs, but I don’t care. I want his touch and him as
near me as possible. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h2 style="margin-bottom: 16.65pt; margin-left: .5pt; margin-right: 2.8pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Rob <o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Holy mother of God… This man blows my
nuts off. We doze for a while, waking up in a pile of sodden skin and bed
sheets. The cabin’s damn hot. We stagger up and throw on the wet togs, diving
straight into the water. I stay in the shade of the boat until Kulani makes me
get out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 7.75pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“Even
in the water and no sun, you’ll get burned with your skin. Come on, out you
get. You can get back in, but I have to spray you down.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">He’s oddly maternal at times.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We haul ourselves out. He quickly
dries me off and sprays me down from head to toe. Then we dive back into the
clear blue water. A nice wee breeze keeps it from being too hot and sticky. We
snorkel for a while, then get out for a bite to eat. Sitting on the deck under
the awning, we open up containers and bags. He laughs, and I look up to see
what’s amusing him.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“There’s a half-eaten sandwich in here.” He grins.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“I
was test driving it to make sure it had enough seasoning. Don’t eat that one if
it’s yucky.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He leans into me. “Baby, I had your
juicy cock in my mouth. I don’t think a halfeaten sandwich is anything to worry
about. You sex me up.” His eyes twinkle, and damned if I don’t want to fuck his
brains out again.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“You’re a turn-on and incredibly gorgeous,” I tell him.</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 8.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“So are you.” He smiles again, and I
suddenly realize we’ve had a few hours now of Kulani not snarling or spitting
or hissing at me. It’s lovely to see him relax and start to trust me possibly a
little. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<h1 style="margin-left: -.25pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">HAWAIIAN
ORCHID ~ <o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 0in 8pt -0.25pt; text-indent: -0.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Kulani
is “The Orchid,” a young, insecure, pro-surfer who comes from a rough
background on the Big Island of Hawai’i. He’s Beau Toyama’s cousin from
Hawaiian Lei. But he’s also a healer and has a heart as deep as the ocean he’s
part of. Like the great Hawaiians, who have gone before him, warrior Kulani
Mahikoa epitomizes the spirit of aloha and love. Kulani’s not only healing his
own wounds, but “The Lost Boys”—young, homeless, abandoned and abused gay boys
he’s taken under his wing. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.5pt;">Rob
Masterson is a wounded psychologist who’s trying to come to terms with his
husband Tony’s death. When he died, they were separated but still living
together. Can the lone and lonely New Zealand widower reconcile all the pieces
of guilt and love, to heal and fall in love again? When he drops anchor in Kona
Harbor and meets the exotic islander—young, bolshie Kulani—explosive heat makes
sparks fly between them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.5pt;">Is
the age difference between them a barrier or something they’ll get past? Kulani
has more layers than Rob ever bargained for. And Rob’s tangled knot of responsibility,
grief and guilt with his New Zealand heritage and past life is something he
needs to untangle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Two
wounded men have to learn to trust and love one another. Traveling between the
South Sea Islands of beautiful New Zealand and the exotic Hawaiian Islands—they
forge a sea change, finding a home for their shrapnel laced souls. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;">Hawaiian Orchid
by Meg Amor </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;">Edited by Heather
Hollis </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;">Cover Art by
Syneca Featherstone </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;">Published by
Loose Id, LLC </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;">Amazon:
http://tinyurl.com/pkg5vks </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 103%; margin-bottom: 8.45pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 2.25pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;">Loose Id: http://tinyurl.com/nuklqoy
</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;">All Romance Books
ARe: http://tinyurl.com/qfn6245 </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 103%; margin-bottom: 8.45pt; margin-left: -.25pt; margin-right: 2.25pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;">Kobo:
http://tinyurl.com/qaltpgz </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Barnes
and Noble: </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/phg6qey"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">http://tinyurl.com/phg6qey</span></a><a href="http://tinyurl.com/phg6qey"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none;"> </span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Chapter One <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 110%;">Henry: </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 110%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">God, I feel antsy. I tell myself, <i>you’re an adult for God’s sake, a sixty-eight-year-old man. </i>I feel
more like an extremely gauche teenage boy, though. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I get in the car; then out. I try to appear casually waiting
in the sticky, pervading heat that is New Orleans. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Giving up on my cool image, I end up back in the car,
cranking up the AC. I’d put on a suit and tie to give a good impression to
Izzy’s family. God knows why because Izzy certainly never expected this of
me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Today I’m playing chauffeur because I can’t wait to see
her. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">We have a stretch town car from a friend on permanent loan
from when Izzy took a tumble and snapped her ankle. Getting in and out of my
tall truck and her sports saloon with a cast on her leg had been impossible.
She usually rode up front with me but the few times she rode in back, when her
leg ached, she’d teased me. “You can call me Miss Daisy today, Henry.” An
infectious giggle would erupt and her big eyes would spark, dancing across my
soul. Hazelnut she called them. She meant hazel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">Hell, she makes me laugh, the sound that joy makes. Ms. Izzy.
She’s not some Southern belle, though, she’s a New Zealander. Despite being in
the States a long time, her view on the world is different. More accepting.
More broad. Less conventional. I love that about her. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">In fact, here’s the hard part, I love </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">everything</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"> about her. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">I’d looked at myself in the mirror this morning and
thought—you’re an old fool. I’m still tall. Thank God. I still have all my own
hair with traces of black. The darkness doesn’t extend to my pubic hair,
though. Nothing like seeing gray down there to feel the grave beckoning, but on
the up side, I still have all of mine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">My body’s still fit; the job keeps me pretty active. But my
face, with its creases, age spots, and lines on my neck, shows my age. I have
“freckles” on black skin, like one of the distinguished black actors—the one
people say is sexy. Guess he is, even if he’s older than me. I think about
weird inconsequential things like this a lot and wonder if it’s a feature of
getting older. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin: 0in 2.65pt 0.05pt -0.75pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I’m grateful not to be his age, as if
there’s actually a difference. Some days I feel so old I wonder if I’ll make
next month, let alone next year. People tell me I look and sound a little like
that actor too, which makes me laugh. I suppose it’s a compliment. My voice
isn’t as deep, though. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Ms. Izzy agrees.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">She’s my boss.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Some days, though, it doesn’t feel like that. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Anyway, I was up early, filled the wet bar in the car,
unfilled it, swiped at imaginary dust, refilled it, fiddled, and paced. I’d
checked my watch every five minutes until I was finally able to drive to the
executive jet airport here at Lakefront.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Now what seemed like a good idea at the time is catching up
with me. The suit and tie feel like an iron lung I’m slowly being compressed
and squeezed to death in. For reasons I can’t fathom, I’d taken out my
earrings. Usually, either my ears sport thick gold hoops or square cut
diamonds. I feel naked without them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She’s been gone a month. We talk on the phone every day, but
it’s not the same as seeing someone in person. What if she’s different when she
comes back? I don’t want to think about that and push the thought aside. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">God, I’m nervous. I feel about fifteen years old on my first
date, wearing a borrowed, badly fitting suit, and offering up a nasty pink
carnation corsage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I see their plane flying the pattern on final approach. <i>Here she comes</i>. Sweat rolls down my
body. My shirt sticks to me, and my underwear’s clammy. Scared and sick to my
stomach, the urge to cry overwhelms me. If I could, I’d drive off right here
and now. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I rip the offending shirt and tie off, stuffing them in a
carrier bag. In record time, I open the new shirt I’d brought, just in case. <i>Jesus. </i>One of the many thousands of pins
they put in these damn things sticks me.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Looking down, the crease marks stand out. Oh, </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">fuck</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Their plane has landed and is on the taxiway. I’m as nervous
as all get out. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">They park on the ramp, the jet engines roaring. They start to
lose some of their high pitched whine and the aircraft door opens. Izzy waves
madly from the doorway, bouncing around, urging everyone to hurry. I start the
longest walk to the steps to greet them and help with the luggage. She watches
me walk toward her, and we both smile at the same time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Izzy,” I barely whisper. Her eyes hold mine, and I see the
longing, the joy in seeing me. I don’t think I’m imagining it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">She rushes down the steps, and throws herself into my arms.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Henry, I’ve missed you so much.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I twirl her around, laughing, breathing her in. She’s wearing
her signature Jessica McClintock perfume, a sensuous plumeria scent reminiscent
of the islands. The feel of her, oh God, her warm sweet body in my arms,
giggling in my ear. Beautiful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Still in my arms, she pulls back from me. “Oh my God, have
you been to a funeral?” She looks aghast, concern written all over her face,
her small hands clutching at my lapels.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">It breaks some of the tension I’m feeling, and I laugh. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“I was trying to make a good impression.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">She frowns and strokes my ears gently, running a soft thumb
down each lobe.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Henry, your earrings?” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">My breath feels caught in my throat. And it’s not the damn
weather doing that. “I was going for professional.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">She bursts into
laughter, her eyes dancing. “Oh, Henry, never take your earrings out, they’re
so sexy.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2.45pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2.45pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">I think I just blushed down to my
toes. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2.45pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2.45pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">No, she hasn’t changed. This is pure Izzy. Never afraid to
say what’s on her mind.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">God, I love having her home. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Sexy? Does she actually think I’m sexy? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I mull that over, finally putting her down to meet the rest
of the family. I’ve stopped sweating and begin to breathe again as I realize
Izzy <i>has </i>missed me. Izzy’s father
Brian and I handle the bags, stow people, and open bottles. I’m so busy
savoring my moment with Izzy that I don’t realize Brett’s missing. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Iz, where’s Brett?” I ask her quietly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Still in Vegas, on the slots.” She shrugs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Okay,” I say softly, touching her arm. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-right: 88.75pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-right: 88.75pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“He’s coming home later
with some friends on their plane.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-right: 88.75pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-right: 88.75pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">This is nothing new,
Brett does his own thing a lot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Then breathing in deeply, she exhales and a mischievous grin
spreads across her face. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“I’ll sit in the front with you.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I arrange her skirt, click her seat belt, and hand her a
mimosa. She nearly drops it when my hand brushes hers. Maybe she’s as nervous
as me. I wrap both of my hands around hers. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Do you have it?” Our eyes meet and hold. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Yes, Henry,” she whispers softly as though she isn’t talking
about the drink. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Hell. A twinge of hope passes through my old body, and I pray
this isn’t the day it decides to return the call of the siren. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Izzy gets even more animated after only one sip of a drink.
Soon she’s wriggling, legs up on the seat, legs down. She twists around to talk
to everyone in the back, flashing black lace panties and a raspberry lace,
Simone Perele bra. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I know this—because she opens the parcels on the kitchen
counter to show Marie. She only orders the French line in the hot colors. I’ve
watched her trace a polished purple fingernail over red poppy flowers
embroidered on sheer black fabric. The green one with orange satin ribbon threaded
through the bra straps and orange embroidery on the cups is also a favorite of
mine. They’re pretty and yes, sexy. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">She’ll say, “What do you think, Henry?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">"I usually think I might have a heart attack right there and
then. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She always wears dresses, never jeans or pants. Exciting,
sexy sundresses in hot tropical colors, a nice show of cleavage, and what she
calls “fuck me” shoes, with lots of fun hats. She’s a breath of fresh air in a
world full of mediocrity—one that attracts me like no other. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">In my fantasies, I whisk her away to a life with me. Crashing
back to earth with the realization I’m her employee, an old man, and a black
man in the South for God’s sake. Let’s face it; I can’t keep a hard-on going
more than a few minutes at best. I tell myself I’m bored, and lonely. It’s
natural to daydream. However, even in private moments, in the shower or bed—I
don’t touch myself or stroke myself to climax. It would only make it too real
and increase the longing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I do touch Izzy whenever possible, though. But it leaves me
feeling like a dirty old man afterward. She’s thirty-eight, a grown woman, but
still—that’s thirty years’ difference. Movie stars do it all the time, but <i>real people</i>? Do they? I don’t know. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I’m tall and she’s nearly a foot shorter than me. My
transport’s a big pickup truck. Listen to me, trying to justify it. Anyway, I
began helping her up into the truck. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Sometimes she’ll say, “Henry, are you going to get me down?”
She’ll wear that big smile and her eyes will twinkle. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">My hands will slide down her body, occasionally touching her
breast or skimming across her fanny, and God…it gives me the odd twinge, a
slight quickening. In truth, I don’t know when I last had a really hard
erection that lasted more than a few minutes. Probably a good ten years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">Like most things about getting older, you tend to go with it
after a while. It’s not for the faint of heart.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Truth be told, at one point, I thought I was probably near
the end of my days and that had been okay. When my wife died a few years back,
my life kind of fell over. The stupid thing was—I didn’t even miss her that
much, which sounds like an awful thing to say. We were friends, I suppose, but
never really lovers or partners at the end of the day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">There was no animosity with it, but
somehow her death felt like another blow to me, in a life already lacking in
real meaning or purpose. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">I’d been adrift. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Then we met Izzy… Oh God. I grin like a stupid bastard,
thinking about that first day. Her wild red curls escaped from under a huge
hat. That smile, <i>hmm…hmmm</i>. My heart
nearly stopped beating. I felt such a fool, barely able to speak. Izzy touched
my arm and this sounds crazy, but it was like part of me that had been missing
for sixty-seven years, got plugged into the life-force, and I clicked into
being. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">She took me around the garden, gently touching my arm. “What
do you think, Henry?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I couldn’t think much of anything. All I wanted to do was
enclose her small white hand in my huge brown one and not let go for the rest
of my life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">To be honest, that hasn’t changed or gotten any better. I
fell in love with her that day and continue to love her more every day. We do a
lot together, field trips for plants, fried chicken, Welsh dressers, and door
handles for the old house. We went on trips for everything. She has boundless
enthusiasm, always hugging me spontaneously and kissing me on the cheek. “Thank
<i>You,</i> Henry!” She tends to speak like
that, full of energy and fun. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">All the way home, she’s been giving a running commentary on
the city. You’d think she was born and bred here. Her love for this city
probably equals my own. We like the steam and heat. The sultry air of this
soulful Southern city. She laughs loudly and often; her enthusiasm is
infectious. She fits right in. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Oh, Henry, please can we just stop at La Petite Grocery.
Guess, what I’m dying for? I have so missed them.” She’s grinning madly, and I
laugh. I’m surprised she hasn’t made me stop already. Food and Izzy go together. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I head over to Magazine Street and everyone goes in for a
look see, while I wait in the car. They pile back in with Izzy already
conveying a lobster beignet, dripping with remoulade to her mouth. She offers
me a bite, and I hold my hand under hers to catch the drips. I don’t know what
I enjoy more—the rich taste of the beignet or the feel of Izzy’s soft hand in
mine. But she’s home where she belongs, and I feel like the world is turning
properly again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; text-align: right; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; text-align: right; text-indent: -0.5pt;">“We’ve got
blue crab as well.” Her hand proffers another light and fluffy seafood</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">ball. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Good?” she asks; her sultry eyes light up as she wraps her
sensuous lips around another bite. Her pink tongue licks the tangy sauce
enthusiastically from her lips. God, she’s sexy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">“<i>Hmmm, hmmm</i>.” I
nod, using my thumb to wipe a small piece she’s missed from the corner of her
mouth. Our eyes meet and hold. We slowly smile at each other, eyes locked, hers
warm and intense. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Where’s this cornstalk fence you’ve been telling us about?”
says Brian, and I’m jolted back to the here and now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Izzy rolls her eyes and grins. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I put the car in gear and drive over to Royal Street,
stopping at the Cornstalk Hotel. Izzy has listened to me enough times on the
history of various places here in New Orleans and makes it come alive, as only
she can do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Look at these French fountains everywhere,” says Mea. “All
the amazing wee hidden courtyards too with their cascading vines and flowers
off the balconies, it’s so beautiful. It’s like being in France. No wonder you
love it here.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Beautiful wrought iron in this city,” says Brian, his hand
tracing the yellow corncobs perched on the fence with their green stalks in the
ironwork railings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">“This particular fence
is cast iron. Wrought iron started being replaced with cast iron in the 1840’s
or so,” I say. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Really? Is that right? It’s still in remarkably good nick
for its age. It even has blue morning glory. That would save me a lot of work
at home if we had this rather than the hedge I have to cut back every year.
It’s really quite gorgeous,” says Brian who’s a tool-and-die-maker by
trade. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">It took us a while to get home. Just when I thought we were
going to get a straight run at it, Izzy would say, “Henry, go up this street. I
want to show them that house you worked on. We’ll just have a wee tiki
tour.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">She and I often go on “tiki tours.” It means, we’re either
taking the scenic route or going nowhere in particular. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">When we arrive home, her exuberant self is all set to rush
out of the car and up the path. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Wait, Ms. Izzy, it’s a surprise.” I chase after her.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Oohhh.” She sighs. “I love being home, Henry. I missed you.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She flings her arms around me. I give her a quick squeeze and
release her. Holding her arms, I look into her eyes. “I’ve missed you too, Ms.
Izzy.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">We smile. A secret shared. What secret, I don’t know. But
that’s what it always</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">feels like. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I get everyone inside, luggage piled up in the entryway. Izzy
dances around, having already stripped off her shoes. She’s left them in the
danger zone to trip up some poor unsuspecting person, dying to get to the
garden. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Come on, Henry, come </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">on</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">As she rushes down the hallway, I grab her waist, and my
other hand covers her eyes. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Stop, Ms. Izzy,” I say quietly. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Okay, I trust you.” Her tense body softens in my hold. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She and her husband Brett bought this big old grande dame of
a house in the Garden District when it was nearly a shell. The pool leaked, the
tile all cracked, weeds growing creatively through the grouting. A dead bird at
the bottom, along with the slime which apparently didn’t see fit to leak
through the hole. Izzy was distressed over the bird—my first burial. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">The garden was completely overgrown. The house… Well, put it
this way, Izzy had a vision for it, the pool and the gardens. She saw what the
rest of us struggled to see. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I’d worked on restoring some pretty
run-down homes in my time but this one had needed every ounce of Izzy
enthusiasm to turn it back into the Duchess she was. Once I’d gotten beyond the
initial knee-jerk reaction, I <i>could </i>see
her vision. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">The house is a Greek Revival, wide centerhall. Typical of its
time, half a dozen steps lead to the five openings across the front. The
central entrance is flanked on either side by a pair of black shuttered French
doors. White columns hold up double galleries trimmed with fancy black
ironwork, extending around the whole house. Painted in a crisp white, she has
black trim on her doors and pelmets. The frontage is complemented by a thick,
black ironwork fence and pretty, low box hedges with abundant tropical
greenery. It’s a striking house. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Inside is just as grand but it’s comfortable and welcoming.
Izzy doesn’t like a stuffy house. She’s turned it into a light, airy place that
always makes me feel instantly at home the moment I walk in the door. Vibrant
red, green, yellow, and blues on the walls lift my mood on any given day.
Interesting art everywhere, bookcases filled with every subject imaginable, and
objet d’art she’d collected on her travels. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Out back, I’d been able to really let loose and create a
garden that Izzy and I had both planned. It framed the pool, which was an old
Hollywood extravaganza a previous owner had seen in a magazine back in the ’40s
and decided it was a must have. I’d heard about this pool, but when I’d first
laid eyes on it, well…speechless, and not in a good way, would have best
described it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many tacky spouting dolphins and
carved turtle fountains in one place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">Instead of pulling it out, though, Izzy said, “It’s fabulous!
I love it! Let’s recreate this gorgeous old pool.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">We had, and now it was glorious. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I just hoped that my past months work on it had brought about
the vision we had both seen for it. I loved it. But would Izzy? We’d worked
hard to get it finished before she came home.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">At the French doors, I carefully walk her down the steps into
the pool area. Everyone troops down behind us, already sounding appreciative of
what Izzy is about to see. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">“Open your eyes.” I whip my hand away. Probably stupid as she
blinks and squints in the sunlight. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Oh crikey, it’s bright.” She winces. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Her eyes adjust and it’s easy to follow her expression as it
slowly comes into focus. The pool I’d mosaicked with decorative turtles,
dolphins, and the French fleur-de-lis. Along with the now working, gushing sea
animals, it was truly beautiful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I’d replanted the ferns, and probably gone a little overboard
with the orchids, but Izzy loves them. The twin waterfalls drop into the pool,
adding another touch of the exotic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Brian, seems hugely impressed, which I know is a big
compliment. Izzy says he can be grizzly and snide about “flashy” things. It’s
the “Tall Poppy Syndrome” in her country—where people who have done well, who
stand out, are often disparaged. His comment on entering the house and seeing
the sweeping double staircase had been, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">“Marble? A bit pouncy, isn’t it?” Izzy had just flapped a
hand at him and rolled her eyes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Despite being extremely wealthy from—of all things—a huge win
on the lottery, she’s unpretentious and down to earth, like most Kiwis.
Culturally I’d had a big learning curve when I first met her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Her accent, is extremely pretty, but sometimes hard to
understand if she’s speaking fast, which they all seem to do. Coupled with our
slower speech, it makes for some interesting conversations between us
sometimes. “Talk faster, Henry, get to the good bit.” She’ll tease me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Well, you just need to slow down, Missy. This story’s not
going anywhere.” I’ll tease her back. Then we’ll grin at each other. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">Though, now, I’m used to the lyrical cadence and light tone
of her New Zealand accent. She uses different words that took some deciphering
initially. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I hadn’t known her long when we all went to the beach one
day. When she said, “Crikey dick, move you bum, Henry. These mozzies are
driving me mad. See if there’s any mozzie spray in the chilly bin, will you? I
can’t find it in my handbag. Bugger.” I think, I’d just stood there with my
mouth open. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Would you care to say that in English, Ms. Izzy,” I’d teased
her.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">She’d laughed. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“I speak English.” She’d pointed to herself. “You speak
American,” she’d said, a naughty Izzy grin on her face. “I’ll speak slowly too,
would that help?” We’d both laughed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Okay, in American. Hell’s bells, move your backside, the
mosquitos are driving me insane, the spray might be in the cooler. It’s not in
my purse. Damn.” And she cusses like a
sailor. Izzy says most Kiwis do. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Another confusing thing—the term Kiwi. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“We’re not named after the little, round, brown, fuzzy fruit.
We’re named after our national bird, <i>the</i>
Kiwi, a flightless, blind, flea ridden, oversized chicken—not like your
American eagle.” She’d laughed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“You Americans have it all wrong. The fruit is a kiwifruit,
not a Kiwi. We’re Kiwis.” She’d grinned which was infectious too. Kiwis have
the ability to make fun of each other and themselves, taking it with a grain of
salt. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Now we have an influx of Kiwis. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Her girlfriend Kamea, who everyone calls Mea, I’ve met
before. Like Izzy, she’s full of enthusiasm. “<i>Wow</i>, isn’t this amazing! Look what you’ve done to that sad, old
pool, so groovy!”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">But Izzy just stands there, saying nothing, and my heart
sinks. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She turns to me, and slowly shakes her head, swallowing hard.
She mouths “thank you,” fiercely hugging me. I cup my hands on her face and
kiss her forehead as I’ve done a million times before. “You’re welcome, Ms.
Izzy.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">We fan out behind her. I want to show Izzy the orchids and
plumeria she loves. Also a special garden I’ve made away from the pool area,
behind the big palms and hibiscus hedges. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Oh God, I want to swim,” says Mea. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-right: 2.45pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">My daughter Marie opens the screen
doors. “Y’all come on in out of the heat.” “Good idea, it’s like a bloody
sauna,” says Brian. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“I’ll fix some iced tea, and snacks,” says Marie.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Food sounds good. I don’t know about cold tea, any chance of
a cuppa?” asks Brian. “Isolde?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Oh, Henry and Izzy
will be ages, inspecting every single plant; we’ll leave them to it.” Marie
rolls her eyes, laughing as she ushers everyone inside, leaving us alone in the
gardens. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Izzy walks with her arm through mine, which I love, the sweet
feel of her arm touches mine. As we talk, I relax, rolling up my sleeves and
opening the neck of my shirt more. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Despite the tropical climate, Izzy loves roses. I’ve created
a rose arbor, laid with gravel paths around a grass labyrinth circle. It leads
to the secret garden. Large, wide wrought iron gates, and tall hedges enclose
the garden. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">She’d known about the arbor, but seeing it laid out, the
roses bedded, she looks thrilled. I’m extremely pleased. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“It’s gorgeous, Henry.” She went from bloom to bloom,
smelling the sweet and spicy scent. We’d only bought heavily perfumed
old-fashioned roses. She has a huge love affair with them and collects chintz
china, and feminine pretty things for her rose tearoom. The big white hutch
dresser that lines one side of her tearoom came from an old house up country
someone had put me onto. And the other day at an auction, I picked up some
particularly nice looking, vintage Redoute botanical rose prints which she’ll
love. I’m always overjoyed when I find something special for her.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; text-align: right; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; text-align: right; text-indent: -0.5pt;">“You know me
so well,” she’ll always say, her soft lips kissing me on the cheek. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">We walked over the gravel path through the hedge alley into
the jungle haven, a fragrant, wild looking place. With the heat of the day, the
sweet perfume of the tropics hits us—ginger, plumeria in every color, and
heavily scented gardenia. As well as every tropical plant I know she
loves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">To the right is a large screened gazebo, my friend Tony
helped me build. A queen-size daybed gives a panoramic view of the jungle
garden. In my heart, I see Izzy, reading or sleeping, at home in the tropics,
like her days in Hawai’i.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She jumps onto the bed, her eyes shining and looks like a
princess. Well, to my tired old eyes anyway. She gasps. “Wow.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“You like it, Izzy?” I know she does, but I want to hear her
say it again, to see the joy in her face. I can’t take my eyes off her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Izzy wriggles off the bed, never breaking eye contact. She
holds my hands, then slides her arms around my waist, her warm forehead on my
chest, whispering, “Thank you, Henry. This is exquisite, it’s gorgeous.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I naturally hug her back, feeling her warm skin in her
backless sundress, her long hair halfway down her back tickles my arms. My body
starts to shake, my control slipping away. This isn’t the usual exuberant arms
flung around me, thank you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">It’s achingly slow, sensuously alluring. Usually I know when
a hug is over or needs to be released. While I think I should—my body says no.
She isn’t letting me go either. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Sighing softly, her breathing deepens, and her
face nuzzles into my chest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">My hands move over her bare skin, gliding up her back. I’m
trying not to be sexual, but my body of its own volition, sinks forward into
hers. Rather than pulling away, she pushes into me, and to my intense
embarrassment, I’m becoming aroused. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">I run my hands up into her hair, lifting it from her neck and
face. On some level, my intention is to kiss her on the forehead and step
away. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Then one of us groans, and my penis takes on a life of its
own, growing and thrusting through my underpants against her. I’m mortified and
pull my lower body away slightly, not wanting to break Izzy’s embrace. Nor act
like some hormone laden teenage boy or worse, a dirty old man. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Probably even more embarrassing than my huge erection nudging
into her soft belly is an uncomfortable sensation behind my eyes, and I want to
cry. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I release her, turning away to hide the uncomfortable bulge
in my pants, and the hot tears pricking my eyes.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Henry,” Izzy says urgently and caresses my arm gently. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I feel like I might stroke-out on the spot, die from
embarrassment, fear, love, everything at once. My hard-on aches. “Izzy…I’m
sorry. I…” My brain stops working, and she moves back into my arms, pressing
into me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I’m shaking badly and notice—God knows how in the state I’m
in—she is too. Her eyes are wet. Her hand reaches up to wipe my tears, gently
kissing me on the lips. I nearly come on the spot. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; text-align: right; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; text-align: right; text-indent: -0.5pt;">Part of me
thinks, get out of here, this is my employer. Another part says, hell no. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She kisses me again, and I part her warm lips with my tongue,
plunging into her wet, welcoming mouth. I want to cry out in pleasure and
terror, and push into another wet, welcoming part of her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She tugs my shirt out; soft hands sear the skin on my back. I
slowly kiss her face and throat, trailing down to her breasts. She shudders,
gasping against me. Her hands slide to my chest, shakily opening the buttons on
my shirt. She starts the smooth glide down my stomach to my penis, stroking the
length through my pants. I’m trembling so badly; my head barely feels attached. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She kisses me again, running small, soft kisses down my neck
onto my chest. Finding a nipple, she sucks gently, twirling her tongue and
softly nipping the bud. A jolt shoots straight to my balls. She strokes me more
firmly, increasing her speed, groaning softly. The first hint of coming wetness
seeps through my pants. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I’ll come soon, but I want to touch her wet, secret place.
The minute I do, it’ll probably be all over. Even feeling the skin on her back
as I ran my hands through her thick hair is sending me over the edge. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She looks at me with her big eyes and whispers, “Please touch
me, Henry. I’m so wet. I want you so much.”
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Oh god, babe.” I gasp, closing my eyes and resting my
forehead on hers. The throbbing between my thighs escalates. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Weird thoughts race through my head like, thank God for the
gravel path so we’ll have plenty of warning. And please don’t let my skin repel
her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I slide my hands down her fanny, lifting her skirt. Hooking
my fingers into her delicate lace panties sends ripples of heat down my spine.
I gently squeeze her rounded cheeks, pressing her into my erection. Slipping
her panties down, I gently brush her secret hair with the back of my hand. By
now, we’re both gasping and panting. We won’t <i>hear</i> anyone on the gravel. And the pool waterfalls are noisier than
I realized or everyone just seems heightened.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She pushes against my hand. I gently ease my finger between
her lips, the silky wetness sending another jolt to my groin. One finger slips
up into her, then another, wanting it to be something else long and hard. She
convulses around my fingers, squeezing hard. It’s been a long time since I’ve
touched a woman. The feel of her is astounding; she’s extremely wet and tight,
and I nearly lose it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I’m lightheaded and close to passing out, but don’t want to
move to the bed, breaking the moment. It’s doubtful I can walk anyway. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“There,” she whispers, positioning my thumb and rocking
against me as I rub her swollen clitoris. I know I’ve gotten the right spot
because she clutches at me, fingers digging in, panting, making high-pitched
mewls as if she’s trying to hold in the escaping noises. I bury her head into
my chest, bringing her to what I know would be a screaming climax if we were
alone. I’m surprised I still remember how to do this, but Izzy’s body feels
familiar to me. As if we already have the rhythm of lovers. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">She stumbles against me, unable to stand, shaking as much as
I am, it’s so beautiful. I hold her closely, gently stroking her back. The feel
of her is indescribable.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">She whispers, “Need you inside me. Now.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">My fingers can’t undo my belt or my pants. She has to do it
for me. I’m trembling and crying, but don’t care. My only need is to sink into
her warm wetness, get lost in her body and come. She undoes my pants, her hands
exploring my penis, which embarrasses me. I’m a big, tall black man—all
over. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">But she says, “Oh God, you’re so beautiful.” She strokes me
firmly, cupping my balls and gently tugging them. Her hand pushes my thick
foreskin back to reveal the throbbing slick head. Her head bends to kiss the
tip, sliding her mouth and tongue down my length. It takes everything I have to
not climax, watching my dark thickness disappear between her pale pink
lips. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She seems to realize how close I am, because she comes up to
my stomach to caress me, bringing her beautiful mouth to mine. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; text-align: right; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%; text-align: right; text-indent: -0.5pt;">“Please, I
need you inside me,” she begs and my penis jerks against her stomach.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">With shaky fingers, I skim her panties down all the way and
lift her to my waist. She lowers herself onto me and my legs give out. I sink
to my knees, spreading her out before me.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">God knows what that does, but I slow slightly, scared of my
ability to come. Then I think, hell, I’m coming right now. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She wraps her legs around my waist as I sink deeper; my balls
nestle against her, and I pray this will go on forever. She squeezes me
internally with her pussy muscles, gently, but firmly grasping my penis, then
releasing it. The sensations sear into my balls. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I rock with her, sliding in and out of her slick wetness.
“Let me see,” she whispers. I pull back, so she can watch my swollen length
sinking into her satiny pussy, slick with her juices. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“So beautiful.” She moans. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I’m really crying now, so many feelings at once. Happy,
terrified. So hard, the skin on my penis feels like it will burst. She begins
to cry too, and it’s okay. We press back together. “Make love to me,
Henry.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Slowly, gently, trying to make it last, I pray my first long
erection in years doesn’t give out on me. Or we wake up from the dream we seem
to be in. Thinking irrelevant things like…it’s just like riding a bike, you
don’t forget. God knows where <i>that</i>
comes from. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She’s panting again, opening herself up more. My own breath
is ragged. She drives my butt into her and bites my lip gently. I try to muffle
my cry as the pure ecstasy floods my system. I come so explosively, that for a
brief moment I think I’ll lose consciousness. My penis pulses as she squeezes
it internally and my hot wetness trickles down our thighs. Out of politeness, I
try to pull out, but she clamps me to her.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“My God,” we both pant, clutching each other.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">Touching each other’s faces, we’re lost in the other one’s
gaze. She wraps her legs more tightly around me. I open my mouth, and the words
just tumble out. “My beautiful Izzy, from the first day I laid eyes on you,
I’ve loved you more than I’m capable of expressing.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She says nothing for an eternity—her big eyes search my face.
Panic wells up inside me, and I want to snatch the words back. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Oh God, Henry…” She says softly, pausing and I fight the
urge to bolt. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“I love you more than life itself. This month away from you
was hell.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I let out such an explosive breath of relief that we end up
laughing and crying— and hearing people on the gravel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Her eyes widen, and we scramble up. I’m embarrassed to be
hanging out of my pants at half mast, wet and disheveled. Wondering if she sees
an old man with gray pubic hair and shriveling manhood. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-right: 133.85pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She touches my face. “I
mean it. You’re beautiful.” She’s being truthful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">We hurriedly stuff ourselves into clothes. I’m a mess. My
crotch is wet. My shirt looks like it was last ironed in April 1973. Crap.
Izzy’s birthday, what a time to remember that. She’s my daughter’s age for
God’s sake. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Izzy whispers, “I’ll go out there, and you slip home.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I have the overwhelming urge to tell her I don’t usually get
an erection, haven’t had much of one in years, and don’t make love to
employers. All said, hurriedly and stupidly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2.45pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">She puts her hand on my chest. “I
know, Henry.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Voices are getting closer. I slip through a gap in the hedge,
down to my house, feeling a million things and leaving her to deal with
everything. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 146%; margin-bottom: 7.3pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 193.55pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 184.1pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 146%;">* * * * <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 146%; margin-bottom: 7.3pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 193.55pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 184.1pt;">
<b><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 146%;">Izzy: </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 146%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">My <i>God!</i> I can’t
believe I’m having some inane conversation about the bloody hedges with my
parents. Seriously? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">I stand back, I must reek of sex. Mea’s expression says <i>what in God’s name have you been up to?</i>
Thankfully my parents seem oblivious. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Where’s bugalugs?” asks Dad. He means Henry. Dad’s appalling
on names.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“He went a while ago. I had a wee sleep.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">We all look at the unslept-on bed. I flap the cover to show
it fluffs like new. Dad looks like he wants to examine how the daybed’s put
together. I herd them back out to the pool area instead.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Come on, drinks by the pool. It’s so hot. How are the
rooms?” I waffle on. </span><br />
<i style="line-height: 105%; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 105%;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="line-height: 105%; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 105%;">Oh my God, I just had sex…no, made love in the
garden—with Henry… </span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“I’m just going to the bathroom, won’t be long. Make
yourselves at home.” </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Shit.</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">I rush into the bathroom and burst into tears. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">A million thoughts swirl. I take in deep gulps, blow my nose
about ten times and exhale. <i>Bloody hell,
did that really just happen?</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Shit, I told Henry I loved him. Who said it first? Oh God,
was it me? No, hang on, he did. Maybe he thought he should say that, some
standard thing said when you’d unexpectedly had sex in the garden. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 105%; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 105%; text-indent: -0.5pt;">That doesn’t
make sense. </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 105%; text-indent: -0.5pt;">Gentle, kind, loving
Henry. </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">He’s undressed me when I’ve been sick, washing me carefully
and putting me to bed after a rark up at a stupid party. He held my hair back
as I threw up in the toilet for God’s sake. I’ve fallen asleep in the car, and
he’s carried me inside, gently removing my shoes, and looking after me with
such care. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 2.45pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">Now he’s built a garden of love for
me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I sit back so hard, the toilet lid nearly snaps. It’s the
shock of realizing Henry…loves…me. He’s loved me from the first day he saw me.
A rush of freedom blasts through me. The truth is, I’ve loved him just as long.
Brett and I are good friends, but not much else. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Now I have to act completely normal. Face my family. Marie.
Mea with her raised eyebrows. Brett. Shit.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">My mind soaks up every look, gesture, word, touch, and moment
of being with Henry. I’m startled out of my daydream with a knock at the door.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">It’s Mea. “Are you all right? Everyone’s out by the pool.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Shoving my sodden panties into the hamper, I usher her in.
She hands me a glass of champagne, and I guzzle it down. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Mea’s known me since I was twelve, she </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">knows</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"> me. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">I tell her everything, and she’s not surprised. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">But I am. “Why?” </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“The last trip out here, you guys were really close.” </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“</span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Shit.</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"> Does
everyone know?” I look like a startled hedgehog in the mirror. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">She shakes her head. “He loves you.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Yes, he does…how do you know?” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">“I know <i>you</i>. Henry
adores you. He’d do anything for you. He’s completely <i>besotted</i>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">So gentle and caring, a real honey. Nice looking too. Is
he good in bed?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Yes.” I nod emphatically. Crikey. Today. <i>Fuck</i>. The enormity of the situation now
making itself known.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“So, what’s he like in bed?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">A bolt of electricity shoots up my spine, and I flap my hands
about. “Mindblowingly good.” </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">She grins. “Good kisser?” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">“Ohhh yes…gorgeous. No, I’m not answering the next question.
Not small, put it that way.” We both laugh and clink glasses. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Bloody hell. I’m a walking cliché; I’ve just had sex with my
pool man,” I say, trying to make a joke of it. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“There’s more to it than that,” she says seriously. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">I sigh. “I know. But what do you mean?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“It’s like you’ve known each other forever, across many
lifetimes, like some…”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 5.9pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">She shrugs. “Eternal flame or something. He’s always been
there for you.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She’s right. The connection’s strong. We’d been guided to
each other. I don’t know how many horrible houses Brett and I looked at before
we came here. I’d finally thrown a wobbly, and we’d changed to another
agent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She’d sized me up immediately, and said, “Look, there’s a
gorgeous old place in the Garden District, but…it’s a wreck. I have a feeling
it’s right, though.” She’d grinned. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Tyrell warned us it was gutted. A hardware store’s wet
dream—not in those words, but that was the gist of it. Brett looked a wee bit
startled, but I’d perked up. “I’ll go with a feeling.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">As soon as we walked in the door, I </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">knew.</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"> This was the place. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Brett looked like a stunned mullet when I said, “It’s
perfect.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">She’s called <i>Four
Seasons</i>, and I fell in love with her instantly. “I’ve always wanted to live
at the <i>Four Seasons</i>,” I joked. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">“Bloody optimistic person who named it that,” grumbled Brett.
The heat drove him up the wall sometimes.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">There are only two seasons in New Orleans, a mild winter, and
a hotter than hell summer. There wasn’t much in between, but I like the steamy
heat, so does Henry. I’d lived in Singapore, Queensland in Australia, the Big
Island of Hawai’i, and Florida. The tropics sang to my soul and something had
called me to the languid, sultry warmth of New Orleans. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Henry and this house…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Tyrell hadn’t been underselling it. It <i>had</i> been gutted, stripped down to studs. The outside walls,
hallways, staircase, floors, and basic bathrooms remained. The kitchen was
gone. The guy selling it had ripped out interior walls making the spaces larger
and airier. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Thank God. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I love these old houses but they often had small rooms,
decorated with ancient Victorian furniture, heavy drapes, and lace curtains. Or
nasty uncomfortable French furniture, designed to keep chiropractors in
business for years. The only reason they’re a bloody antique is because they’ve
never had a chance to wear out or become matchsticks through overuse. A large
clock often ticks sonorously in the background. It fits the period of the houses,
but it depresses me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">The rubber plantation look always grabs me, though. Lots of
cane, wicker, bamboo, and Asian black lacquer furniture. Interiors painted in
light airy pastels or strong tropical colors. Every single piece of trim, door,
and ceiling painted in boring Greek white, but it brings these lovely ladies
into a fresh space with their high ceilings and days of grandeur feeling. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I’d asked Tyrell if she knew anyone who could help us. We
needed someone handy, who knew contractors, and these big old houses, and you
know…I’d trailed off, unsure what I was really asking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">She gave me the oddest look. I thought I’d offended her, but
she scrolled through her phone, hitting an entry. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Hey, Marie, Tyrell here, is Henry about?” She’d told him
what we needed, then looked at me. Covering the phone, she said, “I don’t
suppose you need a chef as well, do you?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I’d thought about it for half a second. The thought of never
having to cook a meal again unless I wanted to and having decent food on tap
when we didn’t eat out was hugely appealing. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Yes,” Brett and I said in unison. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">She laughed, gave the address, and hung up. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“This is not how things are usually done, but this feeling is
strong. I hope it’s okay. My cousin and his daughter are coming over. Y’all
will like them. He’s a phenomenal sax player, but his wife passed a few years
ago. He’s slightly lost, but he’s a house restorer, amazingly creative with
these big houses and gardens. Marie’s a ball of efficient energy, and a
fabulous chef. It might work for you.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Thanks.” I was impressed—my universal dollar, hard at work
with things clicking into place already. It was right. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">When he’d turned up, I felt I knew him. He was a tall,
distinguished, rather arresting looking black man, with striking eyes. A wee
bit shy, but my hand touched his arm, and we seemed to click. I felt like I
talked a mile a minute, like a parrot on speed. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">We’d gone outside to the pool area. Holy shit. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Brett said, “Fuck, let’s just fill it in and start
again.” </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“What a mess,” I said. It was revolting actually, but it had
potential. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Don’t let this bother you, Ms. Izzy.” It was the first time
Henry called me that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: 35.25pt; margin-right: 56.3pt; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">“I’ll re-tile this, take out the
dancing dolphins, and re-rock the waterfalls.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">But my mind hadn’t gone
there. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Oh no, it’s fabulous. So cool and kitschy, let’s restore
it.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Brett’s mouth dropped open. But Henry gave me one of his
gorgeous smiles, and his eyes twinkled. “I’m happy to do anything for you, Ms.
Izzy.” <i>Oh God, what a lovely man</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">In the briefest of flashes in and out, so quickly I barely
registered it—I thought, and someone who knows me on a deep level. Mea’s right
about us. There’s an unbroken connection over many lifetimes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I can’t question it now. Donning a halter neck sundress, we
join everyone by the pool. Conversation flows around me, barely touching me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Dad notices I’m off with the fairies. “Earth to, Isolde, come
in.” </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">I’m startled out of my daydream. “Oh sorry, I must be
jetlagged.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">He gives me an odd look with his eyebrows raised. “A
three-and-a-half-hour flight from Vegas?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Thank God Marie announces Henry will start the barbecue soon.
Oh shit. In my sex-hazed brain, I’d forgotten. We <i>always </i>do a Southern barbecue for visitors, and Henry always cooks
it. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Bugger. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><b><i>HENRY:</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">The call came to fire up the grill. How the hell will I do
this? What’s Izzy thinking?</span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin: 0in 214.55pt 0.05pt 35.25pt; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">Maybe I
should send a text to her and say what? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><i>Hi Izzy, how are you feeling? </i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">No…<i> How was today? </i>Worse.<i> </i></span><br />
<i style="line-height: 105%; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 105%;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="line-height: 105%; text-indent: -0.5pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 105%;">How’s the get together? </span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 105%; text-indent: -0.5pt;">Awful.<i> </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I examine myself in the full-length mirror. Izzy says she
loves me. What does she see in me? A crushing thought—what if it was said in
the heat of the moment, a thing she’ll want to retract later. I give myself a
mental shake. This is Izzy. She’s genuine.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">But the idea bothers me. How will I act up at the house I pop
in and out of several times a day? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I throw on causal clothes after my shower. Is this shirt
dressy enough? My brain’s whirling, trying to find the normalness in my life.
What would I usually wear? Things have tilted on their axis, and I’m at a
loss. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 149%;">I’m afraid to see Izzy, what if she’s changed her mind? I’m
scared of what will happen next. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<b style="line-height: 17.6px; text-indent: -0.666667px;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 20.5333px;">Izzy:</span></i></b><br />
<b style="line-height: 17.6px; text-indent: -0.666667px;"><i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 20.5333px;"><br /></span></i></b>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">Here comes Henry, so beautiful, that long easy stride of his.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Henry.” I do a half wave like I might be trying to stop
traffic. He smiles and waves back, but he looks nervous too. He asks how
everyone is. How are the drinks? Let me get the grill started. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">He’s so normal! Maybe it isn’t that big of a deal to him?
Part of me is outraged and hurt. It must show on my face because Mea whispers,
“It’s okay.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 148%; margin-bottom: .15pt; margin-left: -.75pt; margin-right: 2.45pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Henry doesn’t come over to talk to me, and I fight back
tears. <i>This is ridiculous.</i> I tell
myself off. Henry’s being “busy” with the barbecue, checking the gas, which he
would have done earlier. He fusses, disappearing into the house, not looking
once at me. Oh my God, he’s embarrassed about what happened, how awful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I can’t stand it, and go in to “help” Henry. He’s in the
butler’s pantry randomly folding and unfolding napkins, his back to me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“Henry,” I say rather sharply.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Izzy,” he states flatly, facing the wall, leaning his hands
on the bench, exhaling abruptly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">My heart’s in my throat, and panic engulfs me. I touch his
arm and long brown fingers shakily rub my hand. Someone comes into the kitchen
area as I say softly, “Henry, please tell me today wasn’t a mistake.” “Izzy…”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">He pauses, and my throat’s closing up with fear. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“If I could steal a moment in time…” His fingers drum on the
wooden bench. “I would never let you go.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">I deflate with relief, nearly sinking to my knees. “And I
would not go.” </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">He turns to face me, and I say softly, “Please talk to
me.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">“Izzy, today was not a mistake…for me.” He pauses again,
gently rubbing my arms, and looking into my eyes, breathing in, his nostrils
flaring. “I love you, Izzy— always have and always will. The future’s unknown,
but I know I need you in it.” A rush of
air expels from my lungs in intense relief. Marie barges in. “What the heck are
you two doing?” We both start guiltily.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 109%; text-indent: 0in;">“The meat needs to go on, none of the plates are out, come
on, let’s go.” She swans</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 109%;">off. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I look at Henry and start to laugh. His eyes dance and his
rolling laugh is triggered, sending glee down my spine. He hugs me, kissing me
on the forehead. “Can we talk?” </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">I nod.
“God knows when, though.” I’m just as desperate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 148%;">Before I can get out another word, Marie reappears; loading
us up and no more can be said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">HENRY AND ISOLDE </span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;">~ New Orleans,
city of soul, home to Henry and Isolde, the first in the Troika Trilogy
series. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 103%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 103%; text-indent: -0.5pt;">A coming of age
romance, and heartfelt love story. Three souls reach across more than one
lifetime to rekindle a deep and passionate love between them. </span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin: 0in 0in 8.05pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 103%; text-indent: -0.5pt;">Henry Bovary, an
older black musician and house restorer feels his life is nearing its end—until
he takes on the restoration of a big old Grande dame of a house in the New
Orleans Garden District. What he’s not counting on, is walking in the door and
falling in love with the much younger, exuberant Izzy. She touches his arm and
part of him that has been missing his whole life is plugged back into the
life-force, and clicks into being. In his fantasies, he whisks her away to a
life with him, but crashes back to earth with the realization he’s her
employee, an old man, and a black man in the South for God’s sake. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 103%; text-indent: -0.5pt;">Izzy Buchanan is
a passionate, outspoken, New Zealander, with wild red curls to match her
personality but she’s also lonely and isolated in her life. Some mysterious
force draws Izzy to New Orleans, though, and the house. Despite the house being
gutted and a hardware stores wet dream, she knows it’s right when she walks in
the door. What she doesn’t bargain for is the instance connection to Henry when
he turns up to inspect it—it's as if she already knows him. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 103%; text-indent: -0.5pt;">Their friendship
turns into a steamy, passionate relationship that astounds them both. Henry’s
life goes from fifty shades of beige to a rainbow of textures, sights and
sounds, but most of all— feelings he’s allowed to have. As their love grows,
and inhibitions die, Henry comes into his sexuality for the first time in his
life. Their deep friendship, love and breathtaking romance revitalizes Henry’s
old bones. But will he be able to keep up with this achingly beautiful, younger
woman? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 103%; text-indent: -0.5pt;">Their growing
relationship exposes family secrets. When Henry suffers an emotional crisis, a
surprising World War Two lifetime memory resurfaces. It reveals Henry and
Izzy’s intense connection to Henry’s best friend, Charlie Laralde, another
musician from a wealthy Creole family. Charlie’s gorgeous and charming but he’s
lost the ability to be vulnerable, and a connected lover with someone. He
guards his heart, carrying deep wounds from a relationship that ended in
tragedy. The only person he trusts is Henry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 103%; text-indent: -0.5pt;">But when Izzy
comes into their lives, an old heart and soul connection between them all
brings surprising desires to the surface. How </span><i style="font-family: calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 103%; text-indent: -0.5pt;">does</i><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 103%; text-indent: -0.5pt;"> Charlie fit into their lives? It's complicated...</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Website:
</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://www.troikaromance.com/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">www.troikaromance.com</span></a><a href="http://www.troikaromance.com/"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none;"> </span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Amazon:
</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/pdreuxc"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">http://tinyurl.com/pdreuxc</span></a><a href="http://tinyurl.com/pdreuxc"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none;"> </span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Amazon UK: </span></u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/o49zfjw"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">http://tinyurl.com/o49zfjw</span></a><a href="http://tinyurl.com/o49zfjw"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none;"> </span></b></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Amazon AU: </span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/olfsx6r"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">http://tinyurl.com/olfsx6r</span></a><a href="http://tinyurl.com/olfsx6r"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none;"> </span></b></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Amazon
FR: </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/qjdvnkl"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">http://tinyurl.com/qjdvnkl</span></a><a href="http://tinyurl.com/qjdvnkl"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none;"> </span></b></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-56680668405867983452016-02-04T03:38:00.000-08:002016-02-04T03:42:33.554-08:00Writing by the Seat of my Pantsers - It's time the redheaded stepchildren flouted the anti-rules!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<h2 class="entry-title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Cabin, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 27px; margin: 0px 0px 25px; padding-bottom: 0px;">
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Writing by the Seat of my Pantsers by Meg Amor - published on BTS Reviews</h2>
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Please help us welcome our guest author Meg Amor to the blog today.</div>
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Aloha pantsers, my fellow “redheaded stepchildren” of writing. I’ve decided it’s time to take a stand because the plotters make me feel like I’m being a wayward, naughty child when I won’t “be sensible” or plan things out. They see my writing by the seat of my pants style as shambolic and disorganized.</div>
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Plotters remind me of morning people.</div>
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If I never hear another person say, “It’s the best part of the day.” Or I’m woken at seven a.m., just as I’m drifting off to sleep with a surprised and slightly offended, “Are you asleep?” It won’t be too soon.</div>
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Like the night owl, the pantsers are largely misunderstood and considered slightly “abnormal” and “weird” to the day larks and plotters.</div>
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I’m in several writers’ groups and every day there’s some poor soul who writes in and says things like:</div>
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I don’t think I’ll ever be a real writer; I can’t seem to get into a routine or write in the mornings. Sometimes I don’t write for days on end. They’re two minutes away from slitting their wrists and I want to yell, STOP! You’re fine, you’re normal. And um, you do have a backup copy of the manuscript you just deleted from your computer, don’t you?</div>
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When I first started out as a writer, I read ALL the books on how to be a good writer. Because somewhere it probably has that on a rules list.</div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box;">Do not <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">attempt</em> to even write one word until you have read every single book on being a writer. You won’t be eligible for your gold stars if you do. </li>
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When I read other people’s rules on being a writer, I came away feeling completely demoralized. I thought, I haven’t got a hope in hell of pulling this off. There’s no way I can follow all those rules. I really did want to be a writer, but obviously I was kidding myself. Bugger!</div>
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I let it set me back for a while, but eventually I got brave and just wrote anyway. I flouted convention, and discovered that regardless of the way I write, publishers still wanted to publish my work and the readers seemed to like me.</div>
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I want to give the pantsers PERMISSION to be themselves. No apologies, feeling silly, guilty or like rotten awful people because they didn’t do a three-page character analyze of every single character in their book.</div>
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The pantsers need a different view from the one they normally encounter. So please plotters, don’t send me death threats. The only thing that consoles me is that you’ll have to plan it out in detail—that should give me time to move somewhere else and go into the Witness Protection Program.</div>
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In the meantime, I want someone starting out to realize, you <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">can</em> write anything and be good at it, even if you never follow a single writer’s “rule.” And there are lots of them. Every famous writer has a list of what works—for them.</div>
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What worked for Ernest might not work for you.</div>
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Jack wrote out in the wilds of California. Ernest in piratesville Key West. John on the Monterey Coast. None of them sound alike. They were all unique in their own way. So are you.</div>
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Take advantage of that. It doesn’t make sense that we all follow the same path in the stories or styles we write, or the way we set up our workday.</div>
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The fact is: the plotters and pantser writers just do it differently and that’s okay. If I’d listened to the “experts,” I’d still be unpublished.</div>
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So, here are my pantser “anti-rules.” Feel free to COMPLETELY ignore them!</div>
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I don’t have set times I write.</div>
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I write with a half shot of Bacardi in a 700ml glass, a quarter filled with ice and overflowing with diet cola at hand.</div>
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I write at three in the morning or five at night.</div>
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I write in dribs and drabs.</div>
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I write some days and not others. I’ll percolate a wee fantasy I play over and over in my head until it’s perfect. Then I write it down while it’s running “hot.”</div>
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I never walk away from a hot scene. I write it down before it disappears.</div>
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I don’t care about spelling, my dreadful syntax or my New Zealand education, grammatical errors etc. I’ll edit later.</div>
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I don’t care that I’m slightly dyslexic. Sometimes odd words turn up in my manuscripts. I fix them later. I wrote the whole of one book, reading it (no kidding) at least two hundred times, and it was only on the read through out loud that I realized I’d put in clique instead of cliché. I laughed and laughed.</div>
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If I have a scene that’s <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">delicious</em>. I don’t wait to get to the juicy part. I start in the middle of it, then “backfill” it later. Adding in the texture or setting of the scene.</div>
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I write the end sometimes before I have the beginning.</div>
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I write random scenes, and dialogue. Cut and paste is my friend.</div>
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I make random notes to myself on yellow legal pads, which are all over the house. God help me if I ever had to ACTUALLY find a piece of info. But that’s okay. The notes say things like: “Kulani, surfer, abused? Orchid tattoo.” “Charlie, pocket watch? Very sexy.”</div>
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I research randomly, Hawaiian history, a phrase here, a fact there.</div>
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I edit when I feel like it. Editing is fun.</div>
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I let my characters and the Muses do what they want. I just take dictation and type like billy-o to get it all down. And I write more than one story at once if it’s there.</div>
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I write whole novels from one scene in my head, one sentence I hear, or one picture that grabs me.</div>
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And my editor does not want to kill me when I submit a manuscript.</div>
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So buy a good pair of ear plugs and blinders my wee redheaded writers and get typing.</div>
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By <span class="fn" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="http://btsemag.com/author/admin/" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;" title="Posts by admin">admin</a></span><span class="sep" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 5px;">|</span><span class="published" style="box-sizing: border-box;">February 4th, 2016</span><span class="sep" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 5px;">|</span><a href="http://btsemag.com/category/daily-blog/" rel="category tag" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; text-decoration: none;">Daily Blog</a><span class="sep" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 5px;">|</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Comments Off<span class="screen-reader-text" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> on Writing by the Seat of my Pantsers by Meg Amor</span></span></div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-43867657245748280822016-01-22T23:27:00.002-08:002016-02-02T22:20:57.045-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_PJ_3N_vSdJtsSeDslkiUYEIKQyv9l7-h7Lo7vJLv0DLNxWngfmhQfpJvlYncsiO_p3FFyakLrZS3kYsUkx2v_I2WBPwJhpdCtAg2FypZgm98ivpJmO8r24cPAPfgI_Ogaze_fxYkHY/s1600/Man+love+white+edge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_PJ_3N_vSdJtsSeDslkiUYEIKQyv9l7-h7Lo7vJLv0DLNxWngfmhQfpJvlYncsiO_p3FFyakLrZS3kYsUkx2v_I2WBPwJhpdCtAg2FypZgm98ivpJmO8r24cPAPfgI_Ogaze_fxYkHY/s640/Man+love+white+edge.jpg" width="443" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Aloha everyone :) This was a wonderful promo and competition I got to participate in. We all had to write a short story about this picture for the winter edition of ManLove Fantasies. And I hadn't written for a while but I loved doing this. It was really fun. So have a wee read and all the stories are over at manlovefantasies.blogspot.com</span><span style="font-size: large;"> :) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Aloha Meg :) </span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><strong style="background-color: white;">WINTER IN PARADISE</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Despite growing up in the tropics, I can’t get used to winter in Hawai’i. I’d come out from the cold, hard winters of Michigan where we didn’t see sunlight or even blue skies for weeks on end. But here on the Big Island of Hawai’i, it feels like an affront to my senses. Every day I wake up to sultry warm air, and birds chirping. The summer scents of ripe tropical fruit permeate the air, and the impossibly aqua blue water of my pool and the ocean is just outside my bedroom slider that opens onto a private lanai.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">It’s paradise but I’m still wallowing in the “winter of my discontent.” I’m not ready to “hang loose” and go “native.” Aloha shirts and slippahs. Partly because my ability to relax has gone the way of the dinosaur. I can’t unwind, and take little pleasure in things that once had my attention. Yes, I’m burned out, slightly cynical, and tired. God, I’m tired.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I stand out on the lanai in my boxers and survey my new kingdom. The sweet but subtle rich, velvety perfume of plumeria trees in hot and soft pinks, pure whites, and golden yellows cloak my nostrils. They look so silky, I want to reach out and pluck one, nibble on its delicate flesh. I laugh at my fanciful mind, making up childish images. The islands of my youth, a place I’d played as a carefree kid, but that kid is long gone.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I walk back inside and open my closet to grab something for work. A multitude of black on black, and discreet classical navy shades with the odd tiny white thread running through them invade my closet—suits. I can’t get out of the habit, and I’m not sure I want to. I like looking and feeling professional in my job. It’s a point of pride for me. I’ve worked too long and hard to get where I am. Maybe too hard.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I don a subtle lightweight charcoal one and pick an attractive flame colored tie with subtle flecks of yellow and reds in it. Against the black suit, it looks like a long tongue of lava—Madam Pele’s hair flowing down my chest. I look good.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I run my hand over my shaved head and wonder if I’ll ever grow it back. There aren’t any visible scars to cover up but I still feel exposed to the world. And I still look pale and non-Polynesian, even to myself. I need a tan, something to make me look healthy on the outside at least.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Turning away from my image, I grab badge and cuffs, adjust my shoulder holster and slide into my suit jacket. All set for another day in paradise.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">We’re investigating a series of break-ins. Expensive homes occasionally visited by off islanders. Ripe for the plucking in a way. Today, I’m checking on properties that are isolated to see if anything looks disturbed or out of the ordinary.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">****</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">When I round the corner of the monster house with an unimpeded view of Maui across the channel, I’m surprised to find someone swimming in the pool.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I hold up my badge. “Detective Marques Tuisamoa. Are you the owner of the house?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“No, why?” he asks.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Friend of the family, relative of some kind?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He shakes his head, regarding me with some amusement. “Why are you wearing a suit?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“I'm Samoan. It's part of our religion.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He laughs, his green eyes twinkling, a wild mouth shows expensive American dentistry and a sexy pink tongue caught between them.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I’m trying hard not to smile, surprised I managed to make a joke, dry as it was—and he got it.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“It's too hot to be wearing a tie. You should at least take that off.” Another puzzled look as if I’m defying logic.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">The truth is, I am hot. But I also don't like to expose parts of my body to public scrutiny. It makes me uncomfortable. A bullet with flying shrapnel had made a mess of my collarbone and part of my neck. I’m aware of not having the body beautiful in some of the clubs I like to frequent. I have calves the size of ham hocks like a lot of Samoans but my chest is a mess. I’m ashamed. I don't want to let it affect my masculinity but sometimes I feel less than. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“What’s your name and address?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Duke and around.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I sigh heavily.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Full name, full address.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Edward Duke Kukeakalani Dole. Hawaiian Coastal Beach Access, Big Island, Hawai’i.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I purse my lips at his smart-ass answer. He doesn’t look like he has Hawaiian ancestry but I bet he’s a local, not kama’aina with that last name. Hapa perhaps, half Hawaiian, half haole. And possibly homeless. A good candidate for the break-ins. He’s probably camped around here somewhere.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">But when I question him further, I don’t get the feeling he’s behind them. You get a feel for people over the years and this one just doesn’t strike me as a criminal of any kind. Other than the odd skinny dip in someone else’s pool. He’s young, early twenties maybe. Short hair with a striking tinge of red in it and dark eyebrows.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He pulls himself out of the pool, and I do my best to maintain my cop face. It's hard to, though, with what he barely has on. A pair of neon green bikinis mold over an impressive coil of cock and meaty plump balls. They're dragging his swimwear down slightly and dark pubic hair is tantalizingly displayed at the waistband. I feel myself responding and shove my hands in my pockets to tent my pants out and do some swift rearranging if need be.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">There's a slight gape of fabric at his thigh, and my eyes are glued to it.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“You can't swim in here. It's private property.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Says who? There's no fence. It's not harming anything. No one uses it.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">For a moment I'm lost for words. He seems so sure of the logic of these statements.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“You should wear a lava-lava suit. Let your balls breathe,” he says like he’s been considering this for a while.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">My brain busily dances around these images, and I imagine wearing a traditional formal pinstripe lava-lava sarong with an impressive erection tenting the fabric.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He adjusts his bikini, swiping his hand over his tasty looking package, and I want it to be my hand. My mouth. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Duke grabs a nearby towel and dries himself quickly and efficiently, lingering slightly over his crotch. Rubbing his cock and balls with the towel, making them jiggle in the skimpy costume.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I breathe in sharply and resist the urge to lick my lips.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Like his namesake, Duke Kahanamoku, he has a powerful swimmers body. Heavily muscled shoulders. A solid, defined chest above ribs that look like they’ve been damaged at some point. I wonder how he can be okay with showing that in public. Belatedly, I wonder if it's why he chooses to swim in private pools. Away from prying eyes.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Intelligent green eyes regard me. Waiting to see what I'll do next.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Well, you can’t just go around swimming in people’s pools that don’t belong to you,” I say, hoping to sound stern and authoritative.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Why?” He’s toweling his head now. Then he drops the towel and adjusts his swimsuit. Cupping his balls, hefting the weight of them in his hand, snapping the waistband of his bikinis as they cover the pubic hair.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">My mouth jets with saliva, balls tingling and already aching. I’m grateful for theform-fitting pair of boxers I put on this morning.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I can’t answer his question. “Just don’t do it again, there’s a whole free ocean there.” I point to the turquoise water gently rolling onto the golden sand beach. Then gruffly stomp off back to my truck, turning up the AC as far as it will go and spreading my thighs, palming my cock. The intense throb and need sends spikes of desire thrumming down my thighs.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Punk kid.</span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">****</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I keep running into Duke on the island. It’s not that big, so this isn’t that surprising but he’s got a knack of being around. I start to wonder again whether I have him pegged wrong. There’s a vulnerability under the casual, hang loose, <em>da kine</em> attitude. But I still don’t like him for the break-ins. The jobs are too professional; they know what they’re targeting.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">We always have a funny conversation, and he always wants to get me out of my clothes but not in the way I’ve fantasized about.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“That’s a nice tie, I haven’t seen that one,” he comments as I once again catch him swimming laps in a borrowed pool.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I’ve given up telling him off because he’s rubbing off on me, and even I’m starting to wonder what the harm is. I must be finally relaxing; I realize with a start. I’m slowly defrosting from my painful past on the Mainland.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Besides it’s good security to have someone around these places occasionally. Give it a sense of someone living there. I notice he often does small jobs around the place, and in the end I co-opt him into keeping an eye out for me. He’s been giving me bits and pieces of information he’s noticing on his travels and some of the intel is checking out. We’ll get these cocky bastards soon.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Call me,” I tell him.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Don’t have a phone.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I end up buying him a cheap throwaway one with some minutes on it and slip him a twenty here and there as a look out fee.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Every time I see him, he has on a different swimsuit. I thought he was probably boosting them but I didn’t have the heart to talk to him about it. Later, I realize he’s borrowing guest bikinis, which he seems to prefer, from unlocked pool cabanas. It’s Hawai’i. People aren’t always fanatical about locking everything up. I’m finally getting used to the casualness here but I’m no further ahead in this investigation, and it’s frustrating me.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I often pick up a couple of plate lunches or bento boxes in the hope of finding him somewhere. I’m seeking him out more and he seems in tune with my schedule too.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">We now have long conversations about personal things I’ve never talked to anyone else about. There’s an anonymity in it, a safe feeling. Two lost men, nursing some serious wounds and confessing to all our inadequacies and guilt.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He is homeless, kicked out for being gay, but still wants to try and make the Olympic swim team one day. The rib marks are past abuse and my stomach curls in horror for him. I gingerly show him my chest and he traces his fingers over it, examining, commenting, not letting me put my tie back on that day.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Warrior scars. We all have scars, some are just more visible than others,” he says.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I clasp his hands between my thighs as I sit on the edge of the pool with my suit pants legs rolled up. We sit in companionable silence and eventually he rests his forehead on our hands, kicking gently in the clear blue pool water. I release one hand to gently stroke the back of his head and eventually shrug out of my hot black jacket.</span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">****</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I’m lulled into peace and feeling good with the intimacy when there’s an excited call over the radio.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Damn.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">We smile at each other, and he pushes off the wall to start swimming laps again.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I slide into my shoes, no socks, and take off at a fast clip, heading for my vehicle and a property a couple of miles away. I arrive in the middle of it, adrenaline pumping, gun drawn, but it doesn’t take us long to round everyone up. Surprisingly no shots fired. Welcome to the islands. Three guys from O’ahu—all with some serious form.</span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">****</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">After we process them and get them situated in their new home for the night, I’m hot, aggravated, and tired. I’m glad to see the back of the little bastards.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">The captain assigns us to a new case each, and I realize with a pang that I won’t be in the area to see Duke as much.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“You want to go for a surf?” asks my partner, who’s finally arrived back at the station from his training course.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Sorry, man, got something to do, but another time.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“No worries, yeah,” says Kukio. He gives me the shaka, his thumb and little finger jiggling as he ambles off.</span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">****</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I drive a little too fast for the island, where the tourists are easy to spot because they speed. Whereas the locals just cruise, often under the speed limit, taking their time, relaxed and laid back. I’m finally starting to do it myself.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">But not now. I’m on a mission.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">When I pull up to the property, I sit for a moment, hoping I have this right.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He’s swimming laps, his powerful, wiry body, cutting through the blueness. I lean down and put my hand in the water on the wall as he does a turn. He pushes off but stops, floating on his back, clearly pleased to see me.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“We got them.” I sit down on my ass by the edge of the pool. Legs akimbo, black regulation shoes lined up with the tile edge.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“You look like you need to cool off, get out of that hot suit.” He hooks his finger at me, an invitation. He’s wearing cute little black bikinis today with a pinky trim.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I hesitate and he swims toward me. He reaches up, grabs my legs, then my tie, and pulls me into the water.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">The first kiss is hot and searing. My hands automatically reach for his sexy ass, sliding my big hands beneath the skimpy fabric onto his rounded cheeks as I hoist him onto my hips. His lips are damp and salty from the pool water, they pull mine slowly, then his hot pink tongue searches for mine.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Duke groans softly, nibbling my earlobe, shuddery lips pulling the soft skin, sending spikes of intense need into my groin. He rubs his crotch against my wet shirt, his cock already thick and curving up toward his stomach. I pull back to admire him and he loosens my tie enough to drag it over my head. His nimble fingers undo my buttons, pushing the suit jacket off my shoulders, letting it float away and sink into the pool.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He points, and I frown.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Oh! I wade across the pool to set him on the edge and carefully lay my service weapon on the side with my holster.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Quick fingers unbutton my shirt and it’s flung behind us into the pool.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“God, you’re beautiful,” he whispers, tracing his tongue over my scars, seizing a brown nipple. Flicking and tugging the nub until it’s hard and erect, so sensitive, it’s sending tendrils of intense need to my cock.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He’s sexy as hell, his cockhead defiant and proud above the waistband of the tiny bikinis. I squeeze his length through the wet fabric and he arches his back, lifting his ass, allowing me to slide them down. It exposes shaved plump balls that beg to be sucked and fondled.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Spreading his muscled thighs, I pull him closely for my first taste, running my tongue down his long slender length. Swirling his balls, lifting his thighs with my hands so I can lick all the way to his asshole. My tongue pushes at the tight sensitive pucker, and he cries out with pleasure.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Sucking and licking, his hands grip my shoulders, soft moans and impressive guttural sounds when I slide a mouth-lubed finger into his ass. “Yes, yes,” he whispers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I heave myself out of pool and strip down for him. He lies back wantonly on the warm tile, thighs spread, his hands pulling his stiff dick and fondling his high, tight balls, trailing his fingers down to his sensitive hole and pushing a finger in. Fucking himself for me, inviting me in.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I’m shaking so badly; I can barely undo my zipper. When I finally pop out of my sodden suit pants and wet boxers, he stills and squeezes his cock, lips trembling.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Want you so badly,” I mumble, as I sink to my knees between his thighs.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Yes.” he agrees and sits up to heft my balls in his hand, then sinks his hot mouth over my knob.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I push into his throat, whimpering with desire.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">When’s he’s sucked and jacked my dick until I can barely kneel anymore, he pushes me over onto my back and crawls over to his backpack. His cock and balls swing beautifully in the encroaching sunset and he returns with lube and a condom.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He sits on my chest, facing away from me, and I nuzzle his sexy ass, licking the delicate asshole as he cries out with lust. I run long laps of my tongue from his pucker to his balls until neither of can stand it any longer. Lubing my finger, I push his pucker apart and squirt the silky fluid inside and he shudders deeply. Pulling his thighs apart farther, I shimmy him back and drop his smooth balls into my mouth, one by one, rolling them, sucking the skin through my teeth gently.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He sinks down onto my face, the male smell of him overriding the salty pool water now, and my dick is like granite. When he stops sucking my cock and slides the condom over it, lubing and jacking me, I nearly come on the spot. He turns himself around, and I hold his hips as he lowers himself over my aching hard-on, that’s begging for an ass to slip into.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Fuck, your cock’s big,” he moans, grinning like crazy, sinking himself onto it inch by inch, pulling away, coming back for more, until he finally lets himself be filled by my shaft, balls deep.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He curls down onto my chest and tenderly kisses me. I rub his back and sweet ass cheeks, letting him ride me at his own pace. Licking his neck, watching him tremble, matching my shudders of need. Slow, hot kisses, tongues entwined, skin to skin, sensuous love making like I haven’t had in a long time.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">His ass clamps, squeezing my cock and fire shoots down my thighs, my ass throbbing with the intense ache. Both of us moaning, the sounds drifting off into the dusky, heated air.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">My hand is wrapped around his length, twisting and twirling the satiny head as it pushes up through my fist, the red tip urging me on. I push up into his ass and he cries out as he explodes, long white filaments shooting over my hand and our stomachs. Guttural sounds of deep need emit from us as I’m also pushed over the edge, feeling the sweet release into this sweet man.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Both panting hard, his damp head flops onto my chest, and I nuzzle his hair, wrapping him in my arms, enjoying the connection. Enjoying him.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">When we finally come up for air, he points at my suit jacket and shoes at the bottom of the pool. “Don’t think you’ll be wearing those again.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I laugh and laugh. A sound that breaks up the last hard pieces of defense in my chest.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Yes, it’s about time I trusted again and slipped back into my island roots where my inner self gets to exhale every day.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Want to come and help clean out my wardrobe. Make some room in there for your sexy little bikinis.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He stills, his eyes wide, questioning.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“There’s a pool that’s just right for you. I don’t like you living down here on the beach. It worries me. I want to know you’re safe in my arms at night.” I pause…“I think I’m in love with you…” I wait, worried I’ve given too much away, making myself too vulnerable.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">But he smiles and says softly, “I love you too. I have for a while.” We stroke each other’s faces tenderly, eyes locked. I close mine as intense relaxation soaks into my soul.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“I’m only coming on one condition, though,” he whispers in my ear.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Name it.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“On <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack" style="text-decoration: none;"></a>Aloha Fridays, I get to choose what Hawaiian shirt you wear.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><strong><span style="color: lime;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">~~<span style="color: magenta;">@</span>~~</span></span></strong></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVpw17S8YJV2qY5jm1hfpNs2s_G-v4O6jS1_j6NJlTlgaOH_pha0gvhR-c5drpR6D_9irub2w2do3vEuyVHKJGhkODtpUFNPFdwhZ0fY1_qBSJgj7C3No0feGIDY3YZOVvAyVumEt-_y24/s1600/MA_HawaiianOrchid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVpw17S8YJV2qY5jm1hfpNs2s_G-v4O6jS1_j6NJlTlgaOH_pha0gvhR-c5drpR6D_9irub2w2do3vEuyVHKJGhkODtpUFNPFdwhZ0fY1_qBSJgj7C3No0feGIDY3YZOVvAyVumEt-_y24/s320/MA_HawaiianOrchid.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 51, 102); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 8px; position: relative;" width="213" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"><strong>HAWAIIAN ORCHID</strong> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">available now!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Kulani is “The Orchid,” a young, insecure, pro-surfer who comes from a rough background on the Big Island of Hawai’i. He’s Beau Toyama’s cousin from Hawaiian Lei. But he’s also a healer and has a heart as deep as the ocean he’s part of. Like the great Hawaiians, who have gone before him, warrior Kulani Mahikoa epitomizes the spirit of aloha and love. Kulani’s not only healing his own wounds, but “The Lost Boys”—young, homeless, abandoned and abused gay boys he’s taken under his wing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Rob Masterson is a wounded psychologist who’s trying to come to terms with his husband Tony’s death. When he died, they were separated but still living together. Can the lone and lonely New Zealand widower reconcile all the pieces of guilt and love, to heal and fall in love again? When he drops anchor in Kona Harbor and meets the exotic islander—young, bolshie Kulani—explosive heat makes sparks fly between them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Is the age difference between them a barrier or something they’ll get past? Kulani has more layers than Rob ever bargained for. And Rob’s tangled knot of responsibility, grief and guilt with his New Zealand heritage and past life is something he needs to untangle.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Two wounded men have to learn to trust and love one another. Traveling between the South Sea Islands of beautiful New Zealand and the exotic Hawaiian Islands—they forge a sea change, finding a home for their shrapnel laced souls.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Hawaiian Orchid by Meg Amor</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Edited by Heather Hollis</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Cover Art by Syneca Featherstone</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Published by Loose Id, LLC</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.troikaromance.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">www.troikaromance.com</span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Amazon: </span><a href="http://tinyurl.com/pkg5vks" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">http://tinyurl.com/pkg5vks</span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Loose Id: </span><a href="http://tinyurl.com/nuklqoy" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">http://tinyurl.com/nuklqoy</span></a><span style="color: #9fc5e8;"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">All Romance Books ARe: </span><a href="http://tinyurl.com/qfn6245" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">http://tinyurl.com/qfn6245</span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Kobo: </span><a href="http://tinyurl.com/qaltpgz" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">http://tinyurl.com/qaltpgz</span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">Barnes and Noble: </span><a href="http://tinyurl.com/phg6qey" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #9fc5e8;">http://tinyurl.com/phg6qey</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Kulani</span></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Out in the living room, I get a fright to see Rob leaning on the kitchen island with his arms crossed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“What do you want?” I snarl. Just fuck off, Rob.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“You,” he says, and Danny’s head swivels around. The twins stop cutting up the sandwiches.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I lick my lips. I don’t like being put on the spot like this.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Kaleho opens the screen door and steps inside. He touches Zane’s arm, and Zane takes the headphones off, standing behind Kaleho, clutching his shirt. His eyes big and wide, scared.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I turn to Zane so he can see my lips moving. “It’s okay,” I say, as smoothly as possible, though my heart is jackknifing, thumping hard. “It’s okay,” I say to everyone again. “This is Rob.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Danny fist bumps him. The twins say “hi” in unison, then pile up their sandwiches on a plate and rush out the door to their ohana unit, leaving everyone else’s food scattered on the counter. I’m pissed off at Rob for intruding on my space. I divide up the sandwiches and put them on plates. Rob doesn’t move, and I’m trying to calm myself. The panic edges up into my throat. I rip off paper towels for everyone and pour glasses of milk.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Come and get the sandwiches,” I tell them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Danny piles everything on a tray and shuffles the other boys outside onto the lanai.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Rob has a million questions on his face.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Do you want a sandwich?” I ask him. God knows why.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“No. I’m…I’m good,” he says. He rubs his nose, looking pained.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I realize he isn’t going anywhere.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Taking in a deep breath, I say, “Come down to my bedroom.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He pushes off the counter and follows me. I shut the door and stare at him. He looks out of place. His elegant self in my flop house.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I indicate the bed, and he slowly sinks down. His knees come up around his chest on my soft bed, which sits on the floor.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I’m embarrassed when I look around. It looks like a teenage boy lives here. Surfboards lean against the wall, surf shit everywhere, clothes, my office stuff wedged in the corner. You can’t even see my desktop. The rest of the house isn’t any better. Half the kitchen doors are missing. I’m working on it slowly. The whole kitchen needs to be ripped out and refitted. Beau and I are going to do it. We just haven’t made time. It looks like shit. I’m seeing it all through his eyes, and it’s not an attractive picture.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“You flat with all these guys? Room with them?” he asks.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Sorta, yeah.” I feel itchy.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“They’re kids.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I nod.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“You rent this place together?” Rob’s clearly puzzled.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“No.” I know I’m being awkward, but I can barely talk. My chest feels like it’s going to cave in. I’m fighting for breath.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I see the concern on his face, but everything’s coming down a tunnel at me. Oh shit, fu—</span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">* * * *</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">When I come to, he’s bathing my face with a cold washcloth. One hand on my wrist takes my pulse while Danny holds his phone, showing Rob the face.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Let’s get him on the bed,” Rob says.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“He fain sometimes, when things too untens. Random,” says Zane, his voice high-pitched and frightened. He can’t hear himself with his hearing loss.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Oh fuck, just go, Rob. Enough humiliation for one day.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">They lift me onto the bed. I feel helpless and woozy. He strokes my hair back off my face. The gentleness makes me want to cry.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Kaleho hands him some water. Rob’s arm pulls me up slightly so I can sip it. I feel like a weak baby. Everyone’s faces are worried. I don’t want the kids to be upset.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“I’m okay. I just got a bit overwhelmed. Rob’s a good person. Danny.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He nods and ushers Zane and Kaleho out, shutting the door.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">God, I’m exhausted. I haven’t had one of these attacks for months. They leave me wiped out. Fuck it. Another fucked-up thing to add to my list of faults.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Go,” I say to Rob.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“I don’t think so.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“I’m okay.” I feel like I’m slurring.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He sits, eyeing me up, and I wonder what he’s thinking. Probably that I need to be sectioned.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He stands up, and I figure he’s going, but instead he undresses himself and then me. Rolling me under the sheet, he slides in next to me. He pulls my body into his, spooning me into his groin.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“I want you to sleep. I love you. I’m right here. You’re safe. It’s all going to be okay. I’m not leaving you,” he whispers tenderly.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">My throat instantly closes up, and fat tears track down my face. I squeeze his hand, and he murmurs, “I know.”</span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">* * * *</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I wake thinking I’m alone, but he’s only in the bathroom. When he comes back, he slides against my ass again. The comfort of his warm skin on my back, his pubes and cock against my ass, drops me back into sleep.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">When I’m awake again, the sun’s on its way up. He’s lying on his back now, dead to the world. I remember last night and cringe. But I also realize—he’s still here.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I lie with my head on my elbow, noting all the contours of his face and chest. He has sexy shoulders. Then I remember him saying I love you. He said it several times. Maybe that was just to comfort me. But I don’t think Rob would do that. He’s too straightforward. I want it to be real. I probably have it wrong. Fuck, my head’s messed up.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I slide out of bed and check on the boys. Zane and Kaleho are cuddled together in their bed. Danny’s asleep in his room. The twins will be okay; they weren’t here when it was all going down.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I switch the coffeemaker on. Cursing at whoever didn’t fill the dispenser or do the filter. I switch it off and start from scratch. While it’s gurgling and doing its thing, I check on what supplies we need. Fuck, how many sandwiches did they eat yesterday? The three fresh loaves of bread are all gone, and there’s none in the freezer. God, they can eat. Teenagers. Christ.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I grab a pen and find the grocery list. At least they’ve remembered to write down what we need. It’s Zane and Kaleho’s turn to come with me for groceries after school. I make them take turns so they get used to things like this. We need toilet paper, water, condoms, and bulk stuff.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I come back to the fact that Rob said he loved me—several times. Maybe I don’t have it wrong.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I want to say it back, but I’m too scared.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">One time, I said it to my mom, and she’d rolled her eyes at me. Shoving that thought aside, I grab a coffee cup. When I’ve ladled in the sugar and cream, I go back to check on Rob. He’s still asleep. I look around my room, wondering if there’s any damage control I can do before he wakes up. Not really. I give up and slide back into bed with him.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">When he finally wakes up, he reaches for me, cupping my cock and licking my lips.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Coffee and cock—it’s a nice way to wake up.” He smiles. It makes me laugh.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Do you want a coffee?” I ask.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“God, yes, please. I’ll use your toilet, and is it okay if I use your toothbrush? Wine always leaves me feeling furry.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I laugh and nod. He kisses me and sits up, scratching his head and balls. I reach down and nip his ass. He grabs me around the neck, planting a kiss on my head.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">When he stands up, I appreciate the view as he walks to the bathroom. Nice ass on him, strong legs.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I grab him a coffee and a fresh one for myself. I’m calmer now. My brain’s not so fuzzy and fucked-up.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He comes out of the bathroom and slides back into bed with me. “Thanks, babe. God, that smells good. Pure Kona. Yum.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I let him take a couple of sips, not sure where to start.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“I’m sorry I fucked up last night,” I blurt out.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“It’s okay. We have to talk about some things, though. I’m not going anywhere, all right?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I suck in air, and his hand rests on my chest.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“You’re safe. I would never want to hurt you.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I put my hand over his and take some deep breaths, like I’ve been taught to calm myself. His finger grabs my thumb, and he nods in time with my breathing.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“How often do you faint? Is it from a panic attack?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Yeah. Um, just, you know…sometimes.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Weekly, monthly, every few months?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“It depends on what’s going on. How stressed I get.” I shrug.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Okay. Do you know it’s coming?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Yeah, mostly. I know I’m getting wound up.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He nods, his warm eyes showing me only concern. I’m trying to breathe into this. Telling myself he’s still here, he didn’t leave me. He kissed me this morning, and he’s got his hand on my chest. He said nice things before.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“I can probably help you with those, if you’d like to let me try,” he says gently.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I shut my eyes in embarrassment. I hate them. How can this man keep on loving me when I’m this fucking broken? “How can you say you love me when I’m so fucked?” I burst out.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He sighs heavily. “Kulani, I find you beautiful in so many ways. You’ve got a special soul that’s captured me. I know things are hard for you sometimes, but it doesn’t change how I feel about you.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“I fuck up. I say the wrong things. It’s messed up.” Like now. He’s just told me nice things, and I’m mouthing off at him.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He smiles.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“I don’t mean to be rude all the time.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“I know.” He strokes my face, love in his eyes for me.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Why are you doing this with me? You can go out with anyone. You’re gorgeous and together. I’m just a fucked-up islander.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Kulani, you’re so stunning. You have no idea. Why do you want to be with me? I’m an old man. You can get some young, studly guy.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He’s kidding, right?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“I don’t get on very well with young guys. I like older men.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“I have gray in my hair.” He points to his temples. “I have gray in my pubes.” He searches for one to show me, and I laugh.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“So. What do I care?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“I’ve got lines on my face.” He grimaces.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Yeah, I like them. Sexy.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He laughs. “What do you mean you don’t get on with younger guys? You’ve got a household of them. And actually, they’re really young?” His look is questioning.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“They’re just kids who need a break, you know.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Are they all gay?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I nod. I see the realization sweep over his face, and he shuts his eyes, biting his lip.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Are they all homeless?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I nod, wondering what he’s going to say.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Jesus, Kulani.” He runs his hand through his hair, making it spike up. I love that look. Then he grabs the back of his neck, like he’s trying to squeeze some tension out. I’m not so crazy on that look.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He swallows hard. “You’re a good man.” His voice catches.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“I just do what I can.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“You feed them all? Look after them?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I nod.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Tell me about them, please.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“The twins are fifteen. Haru and Kisho. Lived with mom—she’s a druggie, got a new boyfriend. Thought they’d be nice, fresh young meat for him.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Rob’s mouth opens in a silent gasp, and I nod.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Danny got thrown out when he came out. He’s seventeen. Good waterman. He was living on the beach.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Wow,” says Rob, taking it all in.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Zane and Kaleho have been best friends since they were little keiki. They’re sixteen, nearly seventeen. Kaleho’s really good at school. He should get a scholarship. Zane has a harder time—he’s quite deaf and has been bullied. Kaleho’s dad threw him out when he found him cuddled up with Zane one night. They weren’t doing anything, but his dad threw a shit fit.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Rob’s lips press together in anger.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“When Zane’s dad found out, he did his nut as well, and they were either forced to not see each other or suffer the consequences. They ran away, stole some things from me. We sorted it out. I’ve tried to talk to their fathers, but no one’s budging. One of them is really religious, and you don’t want to hear what he has to say. The other one’s just stupid. All Hawaiian he-man. ‘My son’s not gay; he’s been corrupted by that little faggot, retard kid, Zane.’ You know, the usual shit.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Bloody Nora,” says Rob.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Yeah.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Who owns this house?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“I do. My grandfather left it to me. It’s not great, but it’s okay for everyone. Needs some work, as you can see, yeah?” I grimace slightly.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Just cosmetic stuff. Nothing major. It has good bones, fabulous view.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I smile. He’s right. It does. My bed looks out on the lanai and down to Kona harbor.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“You’re a good man, Kulani Mahikoa.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I screw up my face and shake my head at him.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Yes, you are. You’re very loving and caring. You have a big heart.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“I’m fucking broken.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“No. You have some pieces that might need a bit of duct tape and tender loving care. But you, the person, are not broken.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I frown. “How can you love me when you saw what I did last night?” I’m holding my breath, waiting for Rob to deny it, roll his eyes at me or something.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Despite being a bolshie wee shit, you’re actually pretty easy to love.” He reaches for me, and I put both our coffee cups down. I want to cave, just give in to him, feel safe and loved…</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Rob strokes my cheeks, his eyes never leaving my face. My cock’s already stretching, reaching for him. His lips pull my mouth, and I groan. Damn, he’s a sexy man. We fondle each other’s cocks and balls. I love his shaft in my mouth. Sucking his dick sends me off the charts sometimes. I push him onto his back and run my tongue down into the hollow of his throat. Cupping his neck, I work my way down to his tender pink nipples. I pump his cock while I tug the delicate treats for my tongue. He’s sensitive too. He’ll jerk, and his back will spasm when I play with him. It’s a turn-on.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Shit, this is arousing. He moans slowly, running his fingers through my hair, stroking my head. I like my hair being touched; it’s comforting. I lick down his stomach, dancing my tongue over his knob. “Ohhh fuck…” He sighs. I wrap my hair around his dick, using the strands to lever it into my mouth. I tie it around his cock and balls, like a present, and he laughs. “Stop teasing me,” he groans.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Pushing his thighs apart, I take long, lingering licks along the soft inner part of his thigh. I cup his balls in my mouth, one by one, rolling them around, sucking them in and out. He grips my hair hard. It’s a pleasure to take him up to the edge, then roll him onto his stomach. He lets me spread his thighs as far as they’ll go and pull him slightly onto his knees, so his ass is exposed. His dick swings beneath him. I want that shoved in my ass, but I also want to rim him, make him squeal. Touch his secret hot spot.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Normally we go faster than this, but today I want to explore the territory of his body, open him up.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I lap him from his ball sac to his pucker. He clenches slightly, and I tease around his rosebud with my tongue, flicking and licking. His thighs are shaking. I suck one of my fingers, wetting it to slowly penetrate him. He gasps sharply, and I add more natural lube with my tongue. I still my finger, then slowly vibrate it until he pushes back onto me, and I can enter him farther. He’s shuddering, his breath shaky, but I want to hit his hot spot. I push his spine down and lick along his backbone. He’s panting, pressing back into me, letting me probe him more. When I slide in another finger, he fists the pillows.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I hit the prostate, and he squeals into the pillow. Now he’ll let me fuck him with my fingers. I nuzzle his face and suck his ears.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">He’s groaning, “Yes…”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I’d love to slide my cock into him, but I’m not sure he wants that.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">As if he’s heard my thoughts, he turns his face up to me, and I stroke his cheek. “Make love to me,” he whispers.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">Fuck. Rob’s never this soft. It nearly makes me cry.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I work his ass open, so he’ll be able to take my girth. Kissing his soft lips, and inhaling his male smell. I’m squirting precum—my cock’s slick with it.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I open the bedside drawer to grab a condom and lube. His feet kick when I add more lube inside his hole. Deep moans as I widen him. My cock’s thick—not that long, but it’ll fill him hard. When I nudge my cockhead in, his back springboards. I tap his ass and push in another inch of my dick. I like watching my wood enter him, penetrating my man.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">His hands are in fists, but he’s whimpering with pleasure now.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">When I finally push into him all the way, I’m ready to come. He’s so tight, gripping me hard. My balls are slammed into his ass. I make love to him slowly until he groans. “Faster.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I push him up onto his hands and knees to pump him deeply. His face drops onto the pillow, and one hand comes back to massage my nuts. I cry out, trying to keep it down, not wake anyone, but it’s agony. My orgasm rips through me. “Love you,” I rasp out, pumping his cock hard while he grips his balls, shooting cream all over my hand.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I clasp his chest; my sticky hand smears cum on his body. I pull out of him and burrow under his arms, on my back, letting the sexy spunk cover us. We kiss and mouth each other. Rubbing noses, stroking hot skin. Jesus, fuck, this is good. His weight settles into me, and I scissor him with my legs. He strokes my hair back from my face, his eyes on mine.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Do you know, I think you’re beautiful,” he says quietly.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I shake my head. “I’m not.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“Yeah, you are. You just don’t see what I see.” He kisses my nose.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">“I fuck up.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; margin: 1em 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;">“Yeah, sometimes, but so do I. Everyone does.”</span><span style="background-color: #225588; color: #eeefff;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></span>
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<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-decoration: none;"><a href="https://post.pinterest.com/e/H9_EmpLzyWS8I4hOYilpAg~~/AAAAAQA~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" style="color: #211922;" target="_blank"><br /></a></span></b></div>
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<b style="text-indent: 0.25in;"><a href="https://post.pinterest.com/e/H9_EmpLzyWS8I4hOYilpAg~~/AAAAAQA~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" style="font-size: x-large; text-indent: 0.25in;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;"><b><span lang="ZH-CN" style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">✿</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "segoe ui symbol" , sans-serif;"> ✿ </span></b><b><span lang="ZH-CN" style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">✿</span></b></span><b><span style="font-family: "segoe ui symbol" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;"> ✿</span></span></b></a></b><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.25in;"><a href="https://post.pinterest.com/e/H9_EmpLzyWS8I4hOYilpAg~~/AAAAAQA~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" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; text-indent: 0.25in;" target="_blank"><b style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "segoe ui symbol" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">⊱╮</span></span></b><b style="color: #211922; font-family: 'times new roman', serif; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span style="color: #211922; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hawaiian Orchid</span></b><b style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; text-indent: 0.25in;"><span lang="ZH-CN" style="font-family: "ms gothic";"><span style="color: #38761d;">╭⊰</span></span></b></a></span><a href="https://post.pinterest.com/e/H9_EmpLzyWS8I4hOYilpAg~~/AAAAAQA~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" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: x-large; text-indent: 0.25in;" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;"><b><span lang="ZH-CN" style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">✿</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "segoe ui symbol" , sans-serif;"> ✿ </span></b><b><span lang="ZH-CN" style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">✿</span></b></span><b><span style="font-family: "segoe ui symbol" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;"> ✿</span></span></b></a></b></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Kulani is “The Orchid,” a young,
insecure, pro-surfer who comes from a rough background on the Big Island of
Hawai’i. He’s Beau Toyama’s cousin from Hawaiian Lei. But he’s also a healer
and has a heart as deep as the ocean he’s part of. Like the great Hawaiians,
who have gone before him, warrior Kulani Mahikoa epitomizes the spirit of aloha
and love. Kulani’s not only healing his own wounds, but “The Lost Boys”—young,
homeless, abandoned and abused gay boys he’s taken under his wing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Rob Masterson is a wounded
psychologist who’s trying to come to terms with his husband Tony’s death. When
he died, they were separated but still living together. Can the lone and lonely
New Zealand widower reconcile all the pieces of guilt and love, to heal and
fall in love again? When he drops anchor in Kona Harbor and meets the exotic
islander—young, bolshie Kulani—explosive heat makes sparks fly between them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Is the age difference between them a
barrier or something they’ll get past? Kulani has more layers than Rob ever
bargained for. And Rob’s tangled knot of responsibility, grief and guilt with
his New Zealand heritage and past life is something he needs to untangle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Two wounded men have to learn to
trust and love one another. Traveling between the South Sea Islands of
beautiful New Zealand and the exotic Hawaiian Islands—they forge a sea change,
finding a home for their shrapnel laced souls.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Hawaiian Orchid by Meg Amor <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Edited by Heather Hollis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Cover Art by Syneca Featherstone <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Published by Loose Id, LLC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">www.troikaromance.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/pkg5vks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Loose Id: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/nuklqoy">http://tinyurl.com/nuklqoy</a> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">All Romance Books ARe: http://tinyurl.com/qfn6245<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Kobo: http://tinyurl.com/qaltpgz<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Barnes and Noble: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/phg6qey">http://tinyurl.com/phg6qey</a></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-18110679130969147692015-12-26T19:04:00.003-08:002015-12-26T19:04:43.576-08:00DAMN, THAT'S HOT EROTICA 4 - Fun and interesting interview with Meg Amor!<header class="entry-header" style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Montserrat, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="background: rgb(245, 245, 245); border: 0px; clear: both; color: #303030; font-family: inherit; font-size: 25px; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 0px -40px; outline: 0px; padding: 15px 40px; position: relative; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline; width: 460px;">
DAMN, THAT’S HOT EROTICA 4 FEATURED AUTHOR — MEG AMOR</h1>
<div>
Thanks to John Tucker for organizing this event and asking such damn good questions! :)</div>
<span class="entry-format-badge genericon genericon-standard" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background: rgb(32, 32, 32); border-radius: 50%; border: 0px; color: white; display: block; font-family: Genericons; font-size: 30px; height: 60px; left: -120px; line-height: 2; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; speak: none; text-align: center; text-decoration: inherit; top: 0px; transition: all 0.25s ease-in-out; vertical-align: top; width: 60px;"><span class="screen-reader-text" style="border: 0px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; left: -1000em; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; vertical-align: baseline;">Standard</span></span></header><div class="entry-content" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Montserrat, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 20px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<img alt="DIRTY SEXY FUN HEADER" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1696" src="https://johntuckermustlive.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/dirty-sexy-fun-header.jpeg?w=687" style="height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%;" /></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We’re gearing up for the Damn, That’s Hot Erotica 4 event on Facebook from January 11</span><span style="border: 0px; bottom: 1ex; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 0px; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span></span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> to the 17</span><span style="border: 0px; bottom: 1ex; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 0px; line-height: 0; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span></span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">with this series of Provocative Interviews with every participating author. In these blog posts you’ll learn about the writers, their naughty offerings, and read their responses to offbeat questions that display their wit, outrageousness, and the sexy imagination that befits a person who deals with the steamier side of Literature.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Come and Join Us —<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/826602524132674/" rel="nofollow" style="border: 0px; color: #a162ba; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.25s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">https://www.facebook.com/events/826602524132674/</a></span></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Today’s Featured Author — Meg Amor !!!</strong></div>
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<img alt="Meg Amor Banner 2" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2009" src="https://johntuckermustlive.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/meg-amor-banner-2.jpg?w=687" style="height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%;" /></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">THE BIO</strong></div>
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Meg Amor is a multi-published contemporary author and has always believed in love and romance. She writes deep, sensual, romance stories about heartfelt connections and deep soul relationships. Meg feels that passionate sex, as well as her characters inner workings–their vulnerabilities, emotions, and thoughts–are what make a love story exciting and real. She loves to write sensual, erotic romance, with committed poly, and gay male/male relationships.</div>
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Meg hand-wrote and “published” her first book when she was eleven about her parent’s separation. Constantly told as a child she had a vivid and (over) active imagination, the dawn of the computer era meant she could now take dictation at speed from the interesting characters galloping around her head.</div>
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She grew up in New Zealand, and temporarily lives in California with her American fur children: Leo Ray Jr., and Mr. Beaumont, the Ginger Ninjas. Her heart and soul are split between her American home state of Hawai’i in Kona on the Big Island, and the sultry, steamy Southern city of New Orleans. Nearly all her books are set in Hawai’i or New Orleans, along with snatches of New Zealand for good luck.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Meg’s a gypsy at heart and loves to travel all over the world. She has a love of open cockpit biplanes and the gentle waft into the air from a grass strip. Given a choice, she’d eat out most nights. Fine dining, French, Fusion, Afghani, and Burmese food are some of her all-time favorites. But her favorite junk food is New Zealand fish and chips cooked in pure fat. Never one to do things by halves, she believes in the motto “Amor Vincet Omnia”–Love Conquers All.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">THE Q & A</strong></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Which one of your fictional characters would you like to do the nasty with?</strong></div>
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<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">MA — Um, all of them. :-D But in particular, Henry and Charlie from Henry and Isolde. If I could roll those men into one body, it would be perfect. Or maybe I’d just like both of them. There’s a reason I wrote m/m/f, after all. Although, I have to admit, I haven’t explored that one too deeply within my own psyche. LOL. Henry is slow and smoldering. Charlie has a raw sexuality which oozes off the page. I want both.</em></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Who’s your most exciting character and who would play them in the movie?</strong></div>
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<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">MA — I think Charlie is, in Henry and Isolde. He’s got serious raunchiness and sensuality to him. His personality is larger than life. I can see Benjamin Bratt as my Charlie. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: Wingdings; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span> Next up, Danny Lucerno Jr. in Hawaiian Orchid. Willy Cartier the incredibly sensuous, sexy, sultry French/Vietnamese/Senegalese model and artist is Danny to a T. Smoldering!! Good lord, that man…</em></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Which Naughty Historical/Literary Person/Character would you most like to have dinner with?</strong></div>
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<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">MA — I think Oscar Wilde. He was one of the great eccentrics who I always admire enormously. He once walked a lobster down the street on a leash. I mean… you can’t make that stuff up. He was wildly free in many ways and that is hugely appealing to me. Also James Baldwin, who was a very sensuous man and saw our sexuality as very fluid. He had the most incredible brain on him and was a deep and thoughtful thinker, emotionally very intelligent and that’s so rare but so sexy and sensuous.</em></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A great erotica novel must have what three things?</strong></div>
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<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">MA — Deep sensuality and smoldering heat. Vulnerability and emotions that are shared and exposed between the characters. And um, not sure on the third one. But a good story line goes without saying. I like all aspects of a romance. I want to see not just the good sex between them but the emotions and story that are part of their life and relationship.</em></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Who’s Your Favorite Porn Star and Why?</strong></div>
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<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">MA — I call him Javonne but I think I have the name wrong. LOL. He’s a gay porn star and he always looks like he’s having a good time. That’s why he appeals to me so much. He genuinely looks like he’s enjoying himself, giggling and smiling, talking softly. Whereas the majority of actors always look like they’re doing their grocery list in their minds. Or they’re at a coffee morning. :-) It’s not sensuous or steamy. It’s just boring.</em></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What genre of erotica are you most hesitant to write about and why?</strong></div>
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<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">MA — BDSM. Because I don’t enjoy it personally and it’s very hard for me to write about something that doesn’t interest me. I also know from a good friend who’s into the scene that it has many psychological layers to it and I’m not sure I’d get it right.</em></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What is the least favorite word you’ve seen in Erotica and why?</strong></div>
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<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">MA — My choice would be Cunt. It’s possibly cultural for me because I’m a New Zealander. But that word is not a sexy word in my country. It’s the mother of all swear words. And I have to be at flashpoint to use it. I’d never use it to describe female genitalia. It’s offensive to women and derogatory. It’s ugly.</em></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What couple gets your vote for having the sexiest love scene in a movie and why?</strong></div>
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<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">MA — The shower scene in How Stella Got Her Groove Back. It was slow and sensuous. I could feel the heat from them and the passion. It was gorgeous.</em></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Where is one place you would never consider having sex at and why?</strong></div>
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<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">MA — Er, not sure there’s really anywhere I’d say no to. Maybe an abattoir but you wouldn’t get me in one to start with, so might be redundant. The thought of what went on there and the smell would turn me off in a heartbeat. Otherwise, all bets are off on places.</em></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On an average day you would most likely be wearing cotton panties, a thong, or going commando?</strong></div>
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<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">MA — Black lace or sheer panties, or nothing.</em></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">THE BOOKS</strong></div>
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<img alt="Meg Amor 1" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2010" src="https://johntuckermustlive.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/meg-amor-1.jpg?w=687" style="height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%;" /></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">HAWAIIAN LEI</strong></div>
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Beau Toyama, a “mixed plate” Hawaiian/Japanese/Tahitian man, is a flight instructor on the Big Island of Hawai’i. He’s a lovely, gentle, shy soul from a dysfunctional island. One day his wife Mikey said, “I love you, babe, but this isn’t working. I need a good man…” She’d paused. “And so do you.”</div>
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Matt Quintal, a New Zealand painter with a Norfolk Island and Maori background, has been living the “gay scene” in LA and knows it’s a crock. Needing to escape, his Polynesian soul is drawn back to the Pacific. He visits his sister Rach in Kona on the Big Island, where his spirit connects.</div>
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When Matt’s heart is drawn to the sound of a biplane’s radial engines flying overhead, his life is about to change. There’s an instant soul connection and heat between Beau and Matt. Unbeknownst to them, the spirit of Beau’s mom, Tehani, has guided Matt home to Beau.</div>
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Beau and Matt need to work together to overcome family dysfunction and abuse. Can they reveal their deep emotional vulnerabilities to find redemption and healing? What they both want is a loving relationship. But they must allow their hearts and souls to open before they can love and trust again.</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hawaiian-Lei-Hawaiians-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00UUL7V1A/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" rel="nofollow" style="border: 0px; color: #a162ba; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.25s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.amazon.com/Hawaiian-Lei-Hawaiians-Book-1-ebook/dp/B00UUL7V1A/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8</a></h5>
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<img alt="Meg Amor 2" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2011" src="https://johntuckermustlive.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/meg-amor-2.jpg?w=687" style="height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%;" /></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">HAWAIIAN ORCHID</strong></div>
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Kulani Mahikoa is “The Orchid,” a young, insecure, pro surfer from a rough background on the Big Island of Hawai’i. He’s Beau Toyama’s cousin from <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hawaiian Lei</em>and a healer with a heart as deep as the ocean he’s part of. Like many of the great Hawaiians, Kulani epitomizes the spirit of aloha and love. Kulani’s healing his own wounds, and “The Lost Boys”–young, homeless abandoned and abused gay boys he cares for.</div>
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He meets the lone and lonely New Zealand widower, Rob Masterson–a wounded psychologist who’s trying to come to terms with his husband’s death. When he died, they were separated but still living together. Rob needs to reconcile all the pieces of guilt and love to heal before he can fall in love again.</div>
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The age difference raises one barrier, and besides that, Kulani has more layers than Rob–with his own New Zealand heritage and tangled knot of emotion–ever bargained for. Traveling between the South Sea Islands of beautiful New Zealand and the exotic Hawaiian Islands, they forge a bond–two wounded men find a home for their shrapnel-laced souls.</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hawaiian-Orchid-Hawaiians-Book-2-ebook/dp/B015G3F1N6/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" rel="nofollow" style="border: 0px; color: #a162ba; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.25s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.amazon.com/Hawaiian-Orchid-Hawaiians-Book-2-ebook/dp/B015G3F1N6/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8</a></h4>
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<img alt="Meg Amor 3" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2012" src="https://johntuckermustlive.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/meg-amor-3.jpg?w=687" style="height: auto; margin: auto; max-width: 100%;" /></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">HENRY AND ISOLDE</strong></div>
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New Orleans, city of soul, is home to the first of the new Troika Trilogy series ~ Henry and Isolde, a steamy, deeply sensuous love story.<div style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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A coming of age romance about three friends, Charlie, Henry and Izzy who become three lovers, across three lifetimes.</div>
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Henry Bovary, an older black musician and house restorer feels his life is nearing its end—until he takes on the restoration of Izzy and Brett’s big old grande dame of a house in the New Orleans Garden District. What he’s not counting on is walking in the door and falling in love with the much younger, exuberant Izzy. She touches his arm and part of him that has been missing his whole life gets plugged back into the life-force, and clicks into being. In his fantasies, he whisks her away to a life with him, crashing back to earth with the realization he’s her employee, an old man, and a black man in the South for God’s sake.</div>
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Izzy Buchanan is a passionate, outspoken, New Zealander, with wild red curls to match her personality but she’s also lonely and isolated in her life. She and Brett are mates, but not much else—they’ve missed the boat emotionally and physically in their marriage. Some mysterious force draws Izzy to New Orleans, though, and the house. Despite the house being gutted and a hardware stores wet dream, she knows it’s right when she walks in the door. What she doesn’t bargain for is the instance connection to Henry when he turns up to inspect it—she feels like she knows him.</div>
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Their friendship turns into a steamy, passionate relationship when Izzy seduces Henry in the secret garden he’s built for her. His life goes from fifty shades of beige to a rainbow of textures, sights and sounds, but most of all—feelings he’s allowed to have. As their love grows, and inhibitions die, Henry comes into his sexuality for the first time in his life. The deep friendship, love and breathtaking romance revitalizes Henry’s old bones. But will he be able to keep up with this achingly beautiful, younger woman? And will she leave her husband?</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Henry-Isolde-Troika-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B017RSJ5I0/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" rel="nofollow" style="border: 0px; color: #a162ba; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.25s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.amazon.com/Henry-Isolde-Troika-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B017RSJ5I0/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8</a></div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">THE LINKS</strong></div>
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<a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MegAmorRomance/posts" rel="nofollow" style="border: 0px; color: #a162ba; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.25s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MegAmorRomance/posts</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.troikaromance.com/" rel="nofollow" style="border: 0px; color: #a162ba; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.25s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.troikaromance.com/</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.troikaromance.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" style="border: 0px; color: #a162ba; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.25s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.troikaromance.blogspot.com</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Henry-Isolde-Troika-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B017RSJ5I0/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8" rel="nofollow" style="border: 0px; color: #a162ba; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.25s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.amazon.com/Henry-Isolde-Troika-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B017RSJ5I0/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8</a></div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-90517195791550183162015-12-24T16:49:00.001-08:002015-12-24T16:53:50.056-08:00REAL MEN CRY! - Let's start treating men like human beings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">REAL MEN CRY</span> </span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Aloha everyone. Lately I
have been reading a lot about what men do and don’t do. The list is long and
seems really inaccurate. I wonder how much these things damage men in general.
And it’s making me madder than a wet hen!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Women often
complain that men don’t talk about their feelings. Why the hell would they? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They’re
discouraged to. If they cry, they’re weak. “Grow a set” or “be a man,” “boys
don’t cry” and all that bullshit. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And it IS
bullshit. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I come from
a country that has one of the highest male youth suicide rates in the world,
although slowly that is coming down, but it’s still high. That’s shameful and
appalling. We’re known as a tough nation of men AND women. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We’re brought
up to be tough, rugged, and durable. There was an ad back in the seventies by
New Zealander Colin Meads, an All Black (our international rugby team who are
known as warriors and hard to beat.) He used to advertise Tanalised fence posts
because back in the day, rugby players volunteered to play for NZ, but they
didn’t get paid like a professional sportsman does today. They all had
“regular” jobs and a lot of them were “tough” men like farmers and other
“manly” things, so advertising things like fence posts was a huge endorsement
in a farming country like NZ. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLbDvPeU75cks33lth7y1gmjTq7vk6T3QDNtDFJAKyYxhiyllFsgNGETRfthQBroUPoujs-XEM0oU_bGUtYHNsDU_CZtIxiQqls3nRkFsnXUKPfVBWugjDBX9zgZbkHPzMx5h2UxxGQbQ/s1600/eight_col_Colin_Meands_16x10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLbDvPeU75cks33lth7y1gmjTq7vk6T3QDNtDFJAKyYxhiyllFsgNGETRfthQBroUPoujs-XEM0oU_bGUtYHNsDU_CZtIxiQqls3nRkFsnXUKPfVBWugjDBX9zgZbkHPzMx5h2UxxGQbQ/s400/eight_col_Colin_Meands_16x10.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Colin Meads playing Rugby for NZ</span></td></tr>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Colin Meads
line that stuck with </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 107%;">NZ, was, “they’re tough, rugged, and durable.”</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thank you
bloody Colin! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s an
awful legacy to live by. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of the
first people to get to the top of Everest was New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary,
along with Nepalese Tenzing Norgay. Mad bastards! But putting that aside, they
were the first people in the world to reach the apex of the highest mountain in
the world. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My sister
and I often joke that the only reason they got there was because Sir Ed just
ignored his feelings like all New Zealand men are taught to do. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Stop
complaining, Tenzing, we’re nearly there. It’s only a wee bit brisk today.
Christ, it’s colder than this in New Zealand when that Southerly comes up from
Antarctica, man up!” etcetera, etcetera, etcetera… Tenzing would have perhaps
rolled his eyes if they weren’t glued into a permanent frozen rictus in his
face from the cold. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglkDCLTZ4Np4IJNAPqv9Vuot8-PtUcjsynkjdOfLf2AcUi6lAp3fWPzDNl9u13AEpjF85jyKrA5ip371fp5t4W00eZ3VOEMlbgdxgh_gIySxcytozN15cpIiLM65J5VIyvlqlJVf6N8iw/s1600/sir-edmund-hillary-on-mount-everest-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglkDCLTZ4Np4IJNAPqv9Vuot8-PtUcjsynkjdOfLf2AcUi6lAp3fWPzDNl9u13AEpjF85jyKrA5ip371fp5t4W00eZ3VOEMlbgdxgh_gIySxcytozN15cpIiLM65J5VIyvlqlJVf6N8iw/s400/sir-edmund-hillary-on-mount-everest-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay</span></td></tr>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And we
expect men to “push on.” To be able to handle all sorts of things we don’t want
to handle. Then we complain that our men don’t show their feelings, won’t talk
about them and are generally shut off. Why would you want to expose yourself to
ridicule? You’d be mad to do that. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Years down
the track, another famous NZ All Black “came out.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In a country
that expects its men to be—well—men, this could have been professional suicide.
Young boys look up to All Blacks. They’re heroes. Rugby is our national
RELIGION for god’s sake! Coming out was a big risk for John Kirwan. Here’s what
he had to say about it: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"When I
was first asked to do the national health campaign, I was scared," he
said. "I was scared people would think I was a freak." – <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No, he
wasn’t talking about being gay. He was talking about depression…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thankfully,
John Kirwan and other famous Kiwis paved the way for men in NZ to start to
express themselves and our suicide rate has taken us out of the top spot with
Finland to about #10. Yes, still not great. We have a way to go yet before
we’re culturally more sophisticated and show some care toward our men. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is one
of the reasons I can’t live back in my country of birth. I find the Kiwi
attitude toward feelings hard to deal with. I’m not interested in men who can’t
be whole men through society, conditioning, their own self etc. I want men who
feel and express everything. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcntXm7yg34pnv3H3gdEe8UmEil3OVp7OPHtyWGTw6CUYeNE5fUmGmup6zSFCVqIwhmb9JAg8WbigbNb80X-clJCYaxr-v5gTp8rz0voqGP8KcWZUGT9BXT9YkMGlWeiIEMIdu5cn5cEo/s400/john-kirwan.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="316" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">John Kirwan</span></td></tr>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think that’s
one of the reasons we’re so attracted to the gay community. And reading about
m/m romance. Men who express their feelings and are real people. Whole men,
gentle men, tough men, but all men who are emotionally there. We get let into a
“secret” world of things we’re not usually exposed to with men—feelings and
emotions we crave. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some of what
I’m writing about today is spurred by a discussion I was involved in last night
on an intersex person and her recent troubles. The remarks that people made
were just awful. I can’t believe the things people think sometimes. They saw
her as a man, even though she was female. But again, the “be a man” thing came
up. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOXJ5RGc-rUjdBd2Slo4A5anP7ZClV9tzXBDT5HgvCo-_Zbe41Yq7w-zNlJZDNWAz8YliCBOLthExN8suoCExcG0MR0B1F-3WqBXffQN1o3WrL6Nfi3Ap47eYxH1muARcqLbhjB2qK8ig/s1600/10475263_530521457083016_602347389246002590_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOXJ5RGc-rUjdBd2Slo4A5anP7ZClV9tzXBDT5HgvCo-_Zbe41Yq7w-zNlJZDNWAz8YliCBOLthExN8suoCExcG0MR0B1F-3WqBXffQN1o3WrL6Nfi3Ap47eYxH1muARcqLbhjB2qK8ig/s400/10475263_530521457083016_602347389246002590_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Thanks to Cody Kennedy <br />for this brilliant and perfect intersex symbol</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And in reviews
I keep reading and things people mention regarding something in a book, there
are a lot of “rules” regarding what men can and can’t do. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Men don’t
giggle.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Actually,
men do giggle. Pacific Island men are gigglers. They’re gorgeous. My late
husband was Maori and he giggled. He also laughed but he did not chuckle. I was
talking to Phetra Novak, another author about this and some things are
cultural. Men in her country of Sweden don’t giggle, they chuckle. Men in my
country, giggle and laugh. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My dad will
say, “It was a bit of a giggle.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of my
favorite memories of my late husband Aaron—drunk as a skunk, giggling his heart
out as I’m trying to get him into bed. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiui5kLcjMNxRgF73vq3jEh41jqWBer2grUhr_liFdtqE5aD9Vw0qXNi0c5Wxj98wsTWR_gTEHoA4zGQP-i6xEiG5AyzgcEvmoXKU17dtjpykjRPEHl53qyYkMW_EP2DlwmzGVurx-46vs/s1600/th+%252823%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiui5kLcjMNxRgF73vq3jEh41jqWBer2grUhr_liFdtqE5aD9Vw0qXNi0c5Wxj98wsTWR_gTEHoA4zGQP-i6xEiG5AyzgcEvmoXKU17dtjpykjRPEHl53qyYkMW_EP2DlwmzGVurx-46vs/s400/th+%252823%2529.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Billy T James, a NZ Maori comedian who was known for his "Maori giggle."</span> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Insta-love
is not real.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I can’t
understand where this one comes from. It only seems to apply to the gay
community and m/m stories. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you’re
hetero and have “love at first sight” with someone, that’s acceptable. It’s
even seen as an incredible love story. But if you’re gay, it’s called
“insta-love” and it’s bullshit, tawdry, cheap, and “silly.” Excuse me! How the
hell does that work? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Love at
first sight DOES happen to every gender. It’s happened to me. But it’s
“frowned” upon by others outside the gay community or in book reviews. It’s
another thing that is dumped on the gay community and is just ridiculously
sexist and arrogant. I’m so sick of this attitude toward men.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP7AZMlMtNUa445xNrPSXKd8lvBlgazt7eH4PaUV5-bv-6hBw99-ERlxohAv9a5Zs1JaKAoqQsI_CuJqovSQbX-aVX5hUQLhx0a4Xhz3bUEZrSDmM0-t3n6600CgQlXbtirf7W0lo6pbM/s1600/th+%25285%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP7AZMlMtNUa445xNrPSXKd8lvBlgazt7eH4PaUV5-bv-6hBw99-ERlxohAv9a5Zs1JaKAoqQsI_CuJqovSQbX-aVX5hUQLhx0a4Xhz3bUEZrSDmM0-t3n6600CgQlXbtirf7W0lo6pbM/s400/th+%25285%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTM5jcLVjGMze0MyTRG1JcYXIygKXditBJTgpQgKN3LItsvj7VFYWgRwL7ezfk8MadF-rDKuIhWJ-uwbmlimtjP3wE6Vpg4Xlnz4IVnhPtiIo9KtmfH5RfbOg4hZOd6vhwsPdPivMEEkY/s1600/th+%252819%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTM5jcLVjGMze0MyTRG1JcYXIygKXditBJTgpQgKN3LItsvj7VFYWgRwL7ezfk8MadF-rDKuIhWJ-uwbmlimtjP3wE6Vpg4Xlnz4IVnhPtiIo9KtmfH5RfbOg4hZOd6vhwsPdPivMEEkY/s400/th+%252819%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUfLuOX5qAImA-cAiHwp_kKWi3Smjx5K3a-6WU9_P4DN08sxSoHn4f42tBjDsgTGUH9hYZ9l9F6nrxL-Isxtttyj0D0ZdceNiJ8jozTPJXZSUmkRvIAX3q5oo-KEa9P-GLgHezGrbJroM/s1600/th+%25289%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUfLuOX5qAImA-cAiHwp_kKWi3Smjx5K3a-6WU9_P4DN08sxSoHn4f42tBjDsgTGUH9hYZ9l9F6nrxL-Isxtttyj0D0ZdceNiJ8jozTPJXZSUmkRvIAX3q5oo-KEa9P-GLgHezGrbJroM/s400/th+%25289%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Men don’t
use sweet names all the time, that’s just ridiculous in adults.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I actually
had someone say this in a review or words to this effect, a few years back. All
the men I go out with do use sweet names, all the time. Also, if you’re in New
Orleans, expect someone just walking down the street to say, “Hey, baby.” My
kind of place! Again, this is probably cultural or also seems to relate to
people who don’t allow themselves to be feel and be real. Just because you’re
shutoff, it doesn’t mean the rest of the world is.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFmK8DWaLDoL2Dj097dSYWg96VeEsdulcAdVWn6XwOH3ec-xyqyWSPPnxXUsO0llnYY0z9UyURZ91ms9FwKN0ZYMQyvVcDLfL-vm3toeU7thWlpwqEoeQqEgCkNYT4DIlS3GFJVPCeaE8/s1600/Hey-Baby-game.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFmK8DWaLDoL2Dj097dSYWg96VeEsdulcAdVWn6XwOH3ec-xyqyWSPPnxXUsO0llnYY0z9UyURZ91ms9FwKN0ZYMQyvVcDLfL-vm3toeU7thWlpwqEoeQqEgCkNYT4DIlS3GFJVPCeaE8/s400/Hey-Baby-game.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Men don’t
like cats.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Really? I
only go out with men that like cats. Men that don’t like cats are persona non
grata for me. Seriously. There are very distinct personality differences
between cat and dog lovers. Morgan Freeman is a cat lover—enough said. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWpW4urUFle-oFxcNF1HuhTt5kzl0ELIJGdZUBV41QhawpsXfttsZ0bSov7wwKv8O3UBg5-wvrnGY6EdgMO-XD8sztwW3HzMPTJpl6vPrxM3qavno6Wqf_3_VQtzbU408TCvzx0_-5x0k/s1600/tumblr_mdlezsifPx1qbspido1_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWpW4urUFle-oFxcNF1HuhTt5kzl0ELIJGdZUBV41QhawpsXfttsZ0bSov7wwKv8O3UBg5-wvrnGY6EdgMO-XD8sztwW3HzMPTJpl6vPrxM3qavno6Wqf_3_VQtzbU408TCvzx0_-5x0k/s400/tumblr_mdlezsifPx1qbspido1_400.jpg" width="326" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhueULr023UOiITusfp4gX6olk3Sdb0oHo-LYrv4CUvmefYkaLjK1lhRYXKNBvB5w08keqHuylar4-aqdpK0OPDIV81WFxyWveiMKzYK28Ra-vEgTyFnZl1NS666ZWzx0pZwcNtvXoaU1s/s1600/morgan-freeman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhueULr023UOiITusfp4gX6olk3Sdb0oHo-LYrv4CUvmefYkaLjK1lhRYXKNBvB5w08keqHuylar4-aqdpK0OPDIV81WFxyWveiMKzYK28Ra-vEgTyFnZl1NS666ZWzx0pZwcNtvXoaU1s/s400/morgan-freeman.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What all
this is about, is that we don’t allow men to be humans. We want them to be
superheroes who don’t worry about their weight, their hair, their intense fear
of spiders, or the shitty remark from Joe Blogg at the office. We don’t allow
them to feel, be hurt, fall in love madly, badly and gladly. We want them to be
tough and “be a man” “handle things” but then complain that they don’t open up
and tell us their feelings. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Pick one.
You can’t have both. </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What I
notice about the gay men I know who are in long term relationships is this.
They all seem to really love their partners or husbands. They like them and
think they’re wonderful. I often wonder why their relationships seem happier
and more content than hetero relationships. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some of the
things I hear often are: I can be myself. I can tell him everything. He never
judges me. He gets how I feel. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yeah. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There’s a
lot to be said for that. <span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-57973502691092895582015-11-17T22:11:00.001-08:002015-11-17T22:11:15.721-08:00Menage m/m/f committed erotic romance<a href="http://www.troikaromance.com/troika-love-series-blurbs.html#.VkwWbcFaQ9s.blogger">Menage m/m/f committed erotic romance</a>Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-23180903119096645592015-11-11T20:53:00.001-08:002015-11-11T21:29:56.736-08:00<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="background-color: #1c1c1c; color: #cccccc; font-family: Cuprum; font-size: 30px; font-stretch: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative;">
Wednesday Whine & Wine with Meg Amor (NSFW) from Coffee and Porn guest appearance. </h3>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b>Research Purposes Only…</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Aloha everyone. Pour yourself a wine and let’s talk sexy men. I always find a wine or three helps </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">loosen </span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">people’s tongues. And this is possibly why I get onto these wandery subjects in my brain. I </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">wonder </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">what…</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">?</span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">So…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I write m/m stories and menage. I LOVE writing the sex scenes. Getting lost in the exotic imaginings </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">and </span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">textures… gorgeous. Sites like Coffee and Porn and a few on fb I belong to where everyone is </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">open </span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">heartedly happy about the gorgeous pics that are posted here make me smile. Like most</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">people, </span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">I save </span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> lots of images for my “research files.”</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The biggest smile I got out of having my computer stolen by some “machismo” guys was the look I </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">imagined on their faces if they went through my sexy guys folder.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I imagined their gonads inching rapidly up into their intestines as my many pictures were flicked </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">through. </span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">Okay, so yes, it’s a wee bit of a fantasy. They may have opened it and thought… WTF? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">And </span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">rapidly </span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">closed</span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> it again. Still… fantasies are good when you fancy a spot of revenge.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I’ve also considered getting a boyfriend in the coming year. What will he think of my collection?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">It made me wonder what anyone would think going through my computer files. I have them all </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">grouped </span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">into folders for easy access. Anal sex, Balls, Beautiful black men, Blowjobs, Cartoon Art, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">Cocks, Exotics, </span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">Kilties, Kiss and Cuddle, Lingerie, Long hair, Masturbation, Men in Uniform, Teabag, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">and Underpants.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I start to wonder how other people group their sexy men pics. I wonder what types of pics really grab</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"> them or the type of men that really do it for them?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Which piccies on Coffee and Porn do we flick to each day first to check them out? I always love the<br />
nooner one the best – sexy as hell. Anal sex shots always ramp me up, and piccies of thick cocks<br />
and<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> good balls, WITH pubic hair. Please give me pubic hair!!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"> </span>I love my exotics. Men of different ethnicities, brown skin really does it for me and black hair. I don’t<br />
like<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> muscled men. Long hair and earrings really amps me up. Someone like Willy Cartier (one of the</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> few</span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> men in the world other than Morgan Freeman and Tom Selleck I can tolerate facial hair on.) He </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">is my</span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">muse for Danny Lucerno who is introduced in Hawaiian Orchid and will appear in his own story</span><br />
Hawaiian Fragrance next year.</div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAJM-D7s3yY72lPv6765xS7Q2QLS_YytcJ2_238kOTQ3y2g6Qp1wtFM7WHY1tu01yexchh41ZCu8C4A57ctH96cI77BTSRgKv4C0Xvf4ZbfXOTnNlxb554UQ6BDmSSo68cv3iz3aUDHpvz/s1600/Willy+Cartier+sleeping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #dd7700; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAJM-D7s3yY72lPv6765xS7Q2QLS_YytcJ2_238kOTQ3y2g6Qp1wtFM7WHY1tu01yexchh41ZCu8C4A57ctH96cI77BTSRgKv4C0Xvf4ZbfXOTnNlxb554UQ6BDmSSo68cv3iz3aUDHpvz/s400/Willy+Cartier+sleeping.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="257" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 11.088px;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">Willy Cartier</span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">Or someone like Dayvid Thomas – Hawaiian musician with long black curly hair and earrings, brown</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"> skin</span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> (sheer perfection) nearly make me bite through my lip. Gorgeous! He’s my muse for Kulani </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">Mahikoa in </span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">Hawaiian Orchid.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 11.088px;"><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: start;">Dayvid Thomas</span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">I’m also a huge fan of men with lovely erections in form fitting underpants… my reaction is always… </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">Nice Panties!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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What’s sexy? What’s not?</div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Do you like redheads?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Hairy or not - Pubic hair? Facial hair, chest hair, leg hair, arse hair?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Earrings or long hair?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Ink? How much and where?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">How about manties? I was surprised at a fb party I was at and put up a manties shot, thinking I’d be </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">one</span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> of the few people who think they’re sexy and was surprised at how many other people said, Me </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">Too!!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">What squicks you too? No pubic hair squicks me and some types of kink.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Favorite types of cocks? Long, short, skinny, thick, circumcised, or not?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I’m also a huge fan of balls… all shapes and sizes. I like the dangly ones and the big ones, all of them</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">really. I don’t know many other people with this love. I think they get overlooked sometimes with men.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Like most of us on here, I love seeing nude men. They’re just gorgeous. And I want to know what your</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"> personal OMGOD ones are?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I’m a big fan of freckles, long legs, sexy bums and good hands. And killer eyes and good hair. (To</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">name</span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> a few of my favorite things.) LOL.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Other things my brain wanders aimlessly around, thinking about. One of my edit clients was chastising</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"> herself because she thought she had an “overly wild imagination.” I said, “You’re a writer, you’re</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"> supposed to!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Which brings me to: Worst and best names of all time for genitals in writing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Worst – manhood, member (member of what? Parliament?) slong, wand, (reminds of a guy I once</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"> had</span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> sex with who had no idea what he was doing and waved his extremely white one around like a </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">wand – </span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">very off putting,) and man jewels. I can do jewels and even family jewels… but not man jewels. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">Call me </span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">picky. And in all fairness I have used manhood ONCE. Henry is an older black gentleman in </span><br />
<i style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">Henry and </i><i style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">Isolde</i><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">, and it was appropriate for him to say ONCE when he was still feeling a bit shy</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack" style="color: #dd7700; text-decoration: none;"></a><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I like cock, dick, penis, length and shaft. And balls, nuts are less sexy for me. Erection, hard-on, </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">thickness all work for me too. Sometimes I think the formal words like erection can be very sexy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Now I want to hear what everyone else likes when we get right down to it in RL and books. :) Knock </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US">yourselves out in the comments! Return on Friday for the Friday Free For All and be in to win a copy</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"> of </span><i style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">Hawaiian Lei</i><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> or </span><i style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">Henry and Isolde</i><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">. I’ll give away a copy of each to two lucky people. Aloha and</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> thanks </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">for being fellow lovers of beautiful sexual and sensuous men. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "wingdings";">J</span></div>
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*~*~*~*~*~*~*</div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16pt;"><i>HENRY AND ISOLDE</i> ~ Book One<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>New Orleans, city of soul. Home to the new Troika </i></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>T</i></span><i style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">rilogy series</i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>Henry, Charlie, and Izzy... three friends, three lovers, </i></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>across three lifetimes.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>A sensuous, sultry, steamy, romance erotica story.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">~*~ … So a woman who’s open with me about </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">everything is a revelation. Actually, everything about </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">this beautiful woman is. I’ve stepped from a life of </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">several unappetizing shades of beige into a glorious </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">rainbow buffet of textures, sights, and sounds. But </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">most of all—feelings I’m allowed to have. ~*~<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0cm;"> A steamy, deeply sensuous love story, set in </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0cm;">modern </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">day New Orleans. Henry, an older black </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">musician </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0cm;">and </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">house restorer feels his life is nearing </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">its end. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">Until he </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">falls in love with the exuberant New </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">Zealander, Izzy—</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">his white, younger, richer, married boss. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">The passionate Izzy seduces him in the secret garden he built for her. His life goes from fifty </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">shades of beige to a rainbow of textures, sights and sounds, but most of all—feelings he’s </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">allowed to have.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">They launch into a torrid romance, full of secrecy, steamy seductive sex in car washes, </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">beds, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">and a public park—anywhere to escape the endless stream of house guests.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">As their love grows, and inhibitions die, Henry comes into his sexuality for the first time in </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">his </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">life. The deep friendship, love and breathtaking romance revitalizes Henry’s old bones.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;"> But </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">will he be able to keep up with this achingly beautiful younger woman? And will she </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">leave her </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">husband?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Their growing relationship exposes family secrets. When Henry suffers an emotional crisis, </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">a </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">surprising World War Two lifetime memory resurfaces. It reveals Henry and Izzy’s intense </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">connection to Henry’s best friend, Charlie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">A trilogy romance that spans a decade and two past lives between New Orleans, England </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">and France. It takes the three close friends from friends to lovers. Charlie, Henry and Izzy </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">are </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">the chi circle where the flame still burns and love never dies. Proving that love is love.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #cccccc; font-size: 13.86px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Available on Amazon </span></span><a href="http://tinyurl.com/pdreuxc" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="color: white; font-size: large;">http://tinyurl.com/pdreuxc</span></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16pt;"><i>HAWAIIAN ORCHID</i> ~ Book Two in </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 16pt;">The </span><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">Hawaiians series</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0cm;">Kulani is “The Orchid,” a young, insecure, pro-surfer </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0cm;">who comes from a rough background on the Big </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0cm;">Island of Hawai’i. He’s Beau Toyama’s cousin from </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0cm;">Hawaiian Lei. But he’s also a healer and has a heart </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0cm;">as deep as the ocean he’s part of. Like the great </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0cm;">Hawaiians, who have gone before him, warrior </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0cm;">Kulani </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">Mahikoa epitomizes the spirit of aloha and</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;"> love. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">Kulani’s not only healing his own wounds, but </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">“The </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">Lost Boys”—young, homeless, abandoned and </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0cm;">abused gay boys he’s taken under his wing.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Rob Masterson is a wounded psychologist who’s </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">trying to come to terms with his husband Tony’s</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"> death. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">When he died, they were separated but still</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;"> living </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">together. Can the lone and lonely New</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;"> Zealand </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">widower reconcile all the pieces of guilt and</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;"> love, to </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">heal and fall in love again? When he drops anchor in Kona Harbor and meets the </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">exotic </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">islander—young, bolshie Kulani—explosive heat makes sparks fly between them.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Is the age difference between them a barrier or something they’ll get past? Kulani has more </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">layers than Rob ever bargained for. And Rob’s tangled knot of responsibility, grief and guilt </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">with his New Zealand heritage and past life is something he needs to untangle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Two wounded men have to learn to trust and love one another. Traveling between the </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">South </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">Sea Islands of beautiful New Zealand and the exotic Hawaiian Islands—they forge </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">a sea </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">change, finding a home for their shrapnel laced souls.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><i>Hawaiian Orchid </i>by Meg Amor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Edited by Heather Hollis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Cover Art by Syneca Featherstone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Published by Loose Id, LLC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/pkg5vks" style="color: #dd7700; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Amazon</a> </span><a href="http://tinyurl.com/nuklqoy" style="color: #dd7700; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0cm;" target="_blank">Loose Id</a> <a href="http://tinyurl.com/qfn6245" style="color: #dd7700; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0cm;" target="_blank">All Romance Books ARe</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/qaltpgz" style="color: #dd7700; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Kobo</a> </span><a href="http://tinyurl.com/phg6qey" style="color: #dd7700; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0cm;" target="_blank">Barnes and Noble</a></span></div>
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<b>Excerpt</b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Rob</span> </blockquote>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">“Are you always this stroppy? Or only on a good day?”</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0cm;"> </span></blockquote>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">“What do you mean?” he says, all attitude.</span></blockquote>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Jesus Christ, gorgeous he might be, but with the chip on his shoulder the size of a log, </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">it’s more work than I need right now.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">“There’s the door.” I indicate with my head. “See yourself out.”</span></blockquote>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">“You really want me to go home?” he says despondently.</span></blockquote>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">I sigh. “Kulani, you’re so damn prickly, it’s like having a cactus shoved up my arse </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">every</span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">two seconds.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">He runs his fingers through his long, curly black hair, sweeping it back with one hand, </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">and digging his other one into his back pocket. I’d love to take him to bed, but this isn’t</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;"> worth </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">it. Too much attitude, too many issues. If I’m not picking prickles out of my skin, I’ll be</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">treating </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">myself for burns. He’s a lot of work.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">“I’m sorry.” He shrugs. Even that has “fuck you” attitude. I’m past the age where I feel</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">like</span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">babysitting someone.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">I walk over and place my hand on his shoulder. “You’re stunning, but I’m too old for</span></blockquote>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">you.”</span></blockquote>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">He drops his head, and I mentally exhale, waiting for the next bite from him. But when </span></blockquote>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">he</span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">looks up, he has tears in his eyes, and my heart takes a direct hit.</span></blockquote>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Bugger.</span></blockquote>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">“You don’t really like me, do you?” he asks, biting his lip, eyes cast down.</span></blockquote>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">“You’ve got an abrasive personality. I feel like I’ve been rubbed raw this evening. It’s</span></blockquote>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">like</span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">being in a boxing match.”</span></blockquote>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">His shoulders slump, and I have to hold myself back from pulling him into my arms.</span></blockquote>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">I don’t need this sort of energy in my life. There’ll be tantrums and fights…hurt feelings </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">over stupid things…</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">His hand comes up and rubs mine on his shoulder. He needs the touch, the</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">connection</span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">with another human. I recognize that feeling. But this is inviting trouble, even</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;"> for a quick fuck </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">and one-night stand. I could do with the sex, but not the aftermath of spiky</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;"> energy.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">His breathing is up and down, as he’s trying to get himself under control. Fighting </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">emotions, no doubt. Bugger it. He’s tugging at my bloody heart for some reason. That’s </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">probably why I blurt out, “Come sail with me tomorrow. We’ll go over to Maui.”</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">For a split second, all the aggression falls away, and I get to see the vulnerable kid </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">underneath. I shouldn’t really call him a kid. At twenty-five, he’s an adult, but still half my </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">age. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">He squeezes my hand, and I take that as a yes.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">“Meet me down at the boat about seven. Bring coffee from Lava Java. I’ll bring </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">everything else.”</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">“Can we make it eight?”</span></blockquote>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">God, he can’t even get his arse out of bed and be there early for an invitation. But I </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">give</span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">in, nodding.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">“Okay,” he says, tough-guy stance back in place. Oh to be that young and stupid again.</span></blockquote>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Speaking of stupid. What the hell am I doing inviting him out again tomorrow, when </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">all I </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">want to do is throw him out the door? Beautiful, yes, but the attitude leaves a lot to be</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">desired. If I had to take a wild stab in the dark, I’d say he’s sitting on a ton of hurt. Layers </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">and </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">layers of it. He’s so bloody bolshie and oppositional, I’m exhausted from the evening. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">I like a </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">decent intelligent convo with someone, interplay back and forth. The opportunity to </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">get to </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">know someone more. Flirt a little, or a lot. I’m probably too old-fashioned and been </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">out of the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">game too long, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">but I need something different than what he’s after.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">Then he throws his energy, and I get sideswiped again. “Don’t I get a kiss good night?” </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">he says, raw sex appeal oozing from him, and I nearly grab him by his shirt to yank him to </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">me. Now I’m fighting to control my breathing. “Please,” he says so softly I wonder if I’ve</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;"> heard </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">it right.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">What a mix he is—seething rage, the log on his shoulder bashing me in the head all</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">night. Then he becomes so vulnerable, it’s like someone rubbing balm into my abraded</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;"> skin. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">His own version of BDSM, just done in a mental fashion. I amuse myself for a </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">moment, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">thinking of a safe word I could use. Fun. That would be a good word. It’s the least</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;"> likely</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;"> word </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">I can think of for this </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">evening so far.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">No, it’s not my thing. I wrote a paper for uni once and interviewed people in the scene. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">I probably know enough to be dangerous, but not enough for anything else.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;">I look at his eyes, the fragility. He’s asking me to not reject him, but I also see the </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">humiliation at having to ask, to beg. I do my best internal Bogart voice. Buckle in, </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.4; text-indent: 0cm;">schweetheart, this could be a rough ride.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://tinyurl.com/nuklqoy" style="color: #dd7700; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Longer R-rated version on Loose Id</a> </span></blockquote>
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<b>Meg Amor</b>, a multi-published contemporary author, has always believed in love and romance. She<br />
writes <span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">deep, sensual, romance stories about heartfelt connections and deep soul relationships. Meg </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">feels that </span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">passionate sex, as well as her characters inner workings--their vulnerabilities, emotions, and</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;"> thoughts--</span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">are what make a love story exciting and real. She loves to write sensual, erotic romance, </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">with committed </span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">poly, and gay male/male relationships.</span></div>
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Meg hand-wrote and "published" her first book when she was eleven about her parent's separation.</div>
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Constantly told as a child she had a vivid and (over) active imagination, the dawn of the computer era</div>
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meant she could now take dictation at speed from the interesting characters galloping around her head.</div>
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She grew up in New Zealand, and temporarily lives in California with her American fur child Leo Ray Jr.,</div>
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the Ginger Ninja. Her heart and soul are split between her American home state of Hawai'i in Kona on<br />
the <span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">Big Island, and the sultry, steamy Southern city of New Orleans. Nearly all her books are set in </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">Hawai'i or </span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">New Orleans, along with snatches of New Zealand for good luck.</span></div>
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Meg's a bohemian and gypsy at heart, and loves to travel all over the world. She has a love of open</div>
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cockpit biplanes and the gentle waft into the air from a grass strip. Given a choice, she'd eat out most</div>
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nights. Fine dining, French, Fusion, Afghani, and Burmese food are some of her all-time favorites. But <br />
her <span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">favorite junk food is New Zealand fish and chips cooked in pure fat. Never one to do things by </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">halves, she </span><span style="font-size: 13.86px; line-height: 1.4;">believes in the motto "Amor Vincet Omnia"--Love Conquers All.</span></div>
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<i>Aloha!</i></div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-53168706979404642482015-11-11T20:51:00.001-08:002015-11-11T20:51:46.223-08:00Coffee and Porn in the Morning: Wednesday Whine & Wine with Meg Amor (NSFW)<a href="http://cupoporn.blogspot.com/2015/11/wednesday-whine-wine-with-meg-amor-nsfw.html?spref=bl">Coffee and Porn in the Morning: Wednesday Whine & Wine with Meg Amor (NSFW)</a>: Research Purposes Only… Aloha everyone. Pour yourself a wine and let’s talk sexy men. I always find a wine or three helps loosen people...Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-41022044553381299192015-06-22T00:39:00.003-07:002015-06-22T01:12:04.494-07:00JAY GAUDETTE ~ Fantastic interview ~ male erotica writer ~ DAMN, THAT'S HOT EROTICA 2! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px;">Aloha everyone!! Sorry it's been a while. A few technical 'issues,' but today we're back in the saddle with international man of mystery ~ </span><b style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px;">Jay Gaudette ~</b><span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px;"> erotica writer and lifestyle/travel writer! (for me, that's the ultimate lifestyle, I'm a wee bit envious. :)) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px;">But today we're here to ask Jay some writerly and sexy questions to celebrate the </span><b style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px;"><span style="color: red;">Damn, that's Hot Erotica 2 ~ June 23rd to 28th 2015!!! </span></b><span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px;">So welcome Jay, People always want to know what makes erotica writers tick? Over to you :) </span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">What makes you write erotica?
What appeals to you about it? Are you a ‘closet’ erotica writer or ‘out’ to
people?</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Why do I write erotica? Well, I like sex! I like talking about it. I
like thinking about it. I like doing it! So, why not write about it! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">No, I am not out as an erotica writer. Jay Gaudette is a pseudonym.
Under my real name, I’m a published lifestyle/travel writer. I thought it would
be better to keep the two endeavours separate.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Any odd habits or rituals when
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<span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">I think the closest thing you’re asking about would be when I write. I
live with several odd sleep disorders and I’m usually wide eyed and bushy
tailed when most people are hard asleep. Heard of a morning person? Someone
that wakes up around 5am or so? Ha! Slacker! I have lunch around 6am. So, my
office is open at around midnight or 12:30am. That’s when I write. (<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Me too Jay, I don't crank up until about 11 at night. Daylight... ugh... horrible stuff!)</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Do you like writing the sex
scenes? Are they arousing? What are the hardest or easiest scenes to write? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Funny you mention that...While I’m certainly going to continue to write
erotica, I’m also getting into more PG13/R rated works. One of the reasons is
that I think that 100% erotica all the time is becoming limiting. I think it
would be easier to start further on the PG13 end of the scale and ratchet up
when needed, rather than start at the X-rated end and soften things for the
work’s purposes. It’s like, when you write erotica you HAVE to include sex
scenes. When you write PG13/R material, you don’t have to do anything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">As far as arousal goes...well...yeah, I get off on it all. But not when
I’m writing; only when I’m rereading it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">And is it easy? NO! How many different ways can you say someone is
fucking, was fucked, or is going to fuck?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Who is the favorite of your characters and why?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><br />
</span></b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">At the moment, Marie Kessel, from Tough Cookie, the third book of the
Unconventional Affairs Trilogy. She’s a member of the Coast Guard and earned
the nickname Tough Cookie. She smart, strong, capable, beautiful, resourceful
and a badass. But her feelings for Mark, her love interest, drive her to do
things that, for such a young woman,
would have seemed impossible to her earlier.
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<b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">How did you get some of your titles for your books? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Unconventional
Affairs – took place at a Las Vegas convention, they had an affair, so bingo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">Tangier- the
male love interest’s last name. Sounds exotic.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv6080681795msolistparagraphcxspmiddle">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">Tough Cookie-
The heroine’s nickname.</span></div>
<div class="yiv6080681795msolistparagraphcxspmiddle">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf2GY2ZOtBVZp8c0iMg1U0-ol2NGgpXOTHP9WterAo4mYBqEsqTIK-jndHpUFjWmjWGHYNZ0l4OBOJVz2CwUmiYTOFC_ana6922BrigEK8Y69t6xg2seSDWMm4ayfYEupUmBFpp-SvHCM/s1600/ToughCookie_cover_RevMay2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf2GY2ZOtBVZp8c0iMg1U0-ol2NGgpXOTHP9WterAo4mYBqEsqTIK-jndHpUFjWmjWGHYNZ0l4OBOJVz2CwUmiYTOFC_ana6922BrigEK8Y69t6xg2seSDWMm4ayfYEupUmBFpp-SvHCM/s320/ToughCookie_cover_RevMay2015.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="yiv6080681795msolistparagraphcxspmiddle">
<span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Somethin’
Somethin’ – from a piece of dialog that happened several times in Tangier.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv6080681795msolistparagraphcxspmiddle">
<span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv6080681795msolistparagraphcxspmiddle">
<span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Porn Star Party-
self-explanatory.<b> <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="yiv6080681795msonormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv6080681795msonormal">
<b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="yiv6080681795msonormal">
<b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">When
you enjoy a book you’re reading, do you read fast or slow? Do you ever read the
end first? Do you flick through a book for the sexy bits?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="yiv6080681795msonormal">
<span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="yiv6080681795msonormal">
<span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">The Earth’s tectonic plates move faster
than my reading speed. I usually start at the beginning of a book, and just
like music or a movie, a book has only a few pages to hook me. If I’m not
hooked quick, I won’t go any further. I’m too slow a reader to drudge through
something.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv0098104496msonormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="yiv0098104496msonormal">
<b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">Do
you collect pictures of people who represent your characters or pictures of
things in your books? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="yiv0098104496msonormal">
<b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><br />
</span></b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">I’m a Pinterest junkie. Here’s the link to my Unconventional Affairs
cast. A few of the characters have their own boards.<br />
</span><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/jaygaudette10/unconventional-affairs-saga-cast/"><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">https://www.pinterest.com/jaygaudette10/unconventional-affairs-saga-cast/</span></a><span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv0098104496msonormal">
<a href="https://www.pinterest.com/jaygaudette10/carol-wehrli-fictional-character/"><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">https://www.pinterest.com/jaygaudette10/carol-wehrli-fictional-character/</span></a><span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv0098104496msonormal">
<a href="https://www.pinterest.com/jaygaudette10/monica-kessel-fictional-character/"><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">https://www.pinterest.com/jaygaudette10/monica-kessel-fictional-character/</span></a><span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="yiv0098104496msonormal">
<span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/jaygaudette10/marie-kessel-fictional-character/">https://www.pinterest.com/jaygaudette10/marie-kessel-fictional-character/</a></span><span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwl5cWa6eO4p62aVgkTFkPjEUkFrLKLxzEO-AAzPelE1ArS7NxUK2VGy67uzJz6lTptqPjTkiT_rZXwIQEVGbKQAYGlSFmHCHriS3Qikg14_PCoeD9rIYllxlfW_7gkwHTtmdtIO1Oe7I/s1600/287header.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwl5cWa6eO4p62aVgkTFkPjEUkFrLKLxzEO-AAzPelE1ArS7NxUK2VGy67uzJz6lTptqPjTkiT_rZXwIQEVGbKQAYGlSFmHCHriS3Qikg14_PCoeD9rIYllxlfW_7gkwHTtmdtIO1Oe7I/s400/287header.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">What country captures your
imagination the most and why?<br />
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<!--[endif]--></span></b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">The US, only because I’m familiar with places and things.<b> <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-mMj7NVpMw2Nx6rRoUutR7pjMcdXQMK-1IMtNrnCa7HL2YUvKyUYolcBje15FsmBIel9a0rHscx16Ad8vsDF65kHtYO6A8zGrw8dqVbOarHWzcSPA0ea_r6Aydc4EYr2HwyidR9Qf2gI/s1600/1108170524Usa_-_Flag_1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-mMj7NVpMw2Nx6rRoUutR7pjMcdXQMK-1IMtNrnCa7HL2YUvKyUYolcBje15FsmBIel9a0rHscx16Ad8vsDF65kHtYO6A8zGrw8dqVbOarHWzcSPA0ea_r6Aydc4EYr2HwyidR9Qf2gI/s400/1108170524Usa_-_Flag_1_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">What
parts of you are incorporated into your characters?<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I think my sense of optimism and confidence.
In the trilogy, one of the tropes use is this expression first uttered by the
character Gina Elliott—Confidence is magic. Be confident and have faith that
good things will happen.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I believe that.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Personal confidence is a theme I even use
when it comes to sexual relationships. Another idea is for my lead female characters
to learn this about themselves and their relationships-- There’s no other woman in the world like me, and I’m
everything that you’ll ever want or need. There is no greater love for you than
mine, and I’m always ready to be loved by you. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;">SEXY QUESTIONS
</span></b><b><span lang="EN-NZ" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-NZ;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Do you like curvy women? <br />
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<!--[endif]--></span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Yes!<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Do you like long hair on men or women? <br />
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<!--[endif]--></span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Yes!<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">What’s the biggest turn off in a lover? <br />
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<!--[endif]--></span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Passiveness<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">What’s the biggest turn on in a lover? <br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Confidence<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Favorite body parts in a lover? What attracts you
physically? <br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The whole package. I will say
though, I woman with good posture does the trick for me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">What’s your favorite underwear on a man or woman? Do
you like sexy lingerie on men or women? What kind? <br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">On a woman—I think they’re
called Boy Shorts(?)<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Lingerie—not so much.
Underpants (boy shorts!), tank top, bare midriff…that’s the ticket. Oh, and a woman wearing her man's dress shirt...oh my. </span><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWM-aMa7jE2OCOLOFUGCXbMEZlkXdNo7Rx-d3Fy0nXv6V3C6dGbAURHPah7WprlxNAQnXvu8AQsIoSjqjt6bNnnU8JzOLbwRUNwpg6yqrPTdr4AWZCJ-dZ3H16oACzfOOj2_pVo-G05WY/s1600/woman-in-mans-shirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWM-aMa7jE2OCOLOFUGCXbMEZlkXdNo7Rx-d3Fy0nXv6V3C6dGbAURHPah7WprlxNAQnXvu8AQsIoSjqjt6bNnnU8JzOLbwRUNwpg6yqrPTdr4AWZCJ-dZ3H16oACzfOOj2_pVo-G05WY/s400/woman-in-mans-shirt.jpg" width="291" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">BIO</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Jay
Gaudette is an author of a variety of erotic genres. His novels include the
Unconventional Affairs Trilogy; The Unconventional Affair, Tangier and Tough
Cookie—epic sagas about the kind of love and life we all aspire to. Short
stories include sequels based on the trilogy, Jay Gaudette’s Friends and Lover
series, and various other titles.</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdMChxWu2ewOd4JFUNvzg6l8qQ19ShwkVXGybXmQZI2Hr256BlwjwK0YsVO6VmkmFA306ct3X1q44E9aCL9T3GBt39k2vmnoV0Qz8W8JDiaZHvYaxsTZcZIkD_Tj5xGn7baDLDUkap9V4/s1600/about-the-authorts-alt-300x127.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdMChxWu2ewOd4JFUNvzg6l8qQ19ShwkVXGybXmQZI2Hr256BlwjwK0YsVO6VmkmFA306ct3X1q44E9aCL9T3GBt39k2vmnoV0Qz8W8JDiaZHvYaxsTZcZIkD_Tj5xGn7baDLDUkap9V4/s1600/about-the-authorts-alt-300x127.png" /></a></div>
<div style="text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .3in;">
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<div style="text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px;">"The difference between porn and erotica and romance is simple -- porn is all about the physical sex act. Erotica is all about the characters, with a healthy dose of sex thrown in. Romance is all about the emotions of any relationship with some juicy bits strongly intimated. My greatest pleasure of writing these stories is not the sex; it's the people. Nothing has given me greater pleasure than creating these wonderful characters."</span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0.3in;">You can
see and buy all of his titles by going to his Pinterest store.</span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0.3in;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px;">Themes -- Optimism, confidence, liberation, mentor-ship, friendship, healthy sexuality, healthy opportunism, recognizing one's destiny and following it.</span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .3in;">
<b style="text-indent: 0.3in;">Connect with Jay</b></div>
<div style="text-indent: .3in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-indent: .3in;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Blog </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://jaygaudette.blogspot.com/">http://jaygaudette.blogspot.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br /></div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-1654015765308451112015-04-23T21:24:00.000-07:002015-04-23T21:40:29.650-07:00LUSTFUL POSSESSION - Amorous spirits in HK Carlton's second release of the series!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Aloha <b>HK</b>!! So nice to have you here again with us. It's always a pleasure. :) And today we've got the new release in the Lustful Possession series! <span style="color: red; font-weight: bold;">Dark Foursome!! </span>If memory serves me, this is a series of seven books so far. I love a good series. I'm always waiting for the next one to come out with barely concealed impatience, so it's grand to see another one of these books out now!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>HK Carlton</b> is a prolific Canadian writer who writes across many genres. I envy that ability. So tell me HK, what's happening this time to our lovers Josh and Crishtin. :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Aloha, Meg. Thank you so much for inviting me back to share the release of </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dark Foursome</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">. This is the second book in the Lustful Possession series and picks up right where the first book,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Meet Me in the Dark</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">, left off.</span><br />
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429836442580_3535" lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Josh and Crishtin find themselves in an unexpected foursome when two randy ghosts get in on the action!</span><br />
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<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429836442580_3351"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429836442580_3350" lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'Tempus Sans ITC'; font-size: 14pt;">Blurb: Dark Foursome (Lustful Possession Book Two)</span></b><br />
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429836442580_3544" lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Is it possible for the human body to recover from supernatural possession?</span><br />
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429836442580_3331" lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">That’s the question, Josh Hewes and Crishtin Davenport grapple with daily.</span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429836442580_3532" lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">After being controlled by some amorous spirits during a paranormal investigation, their lives have not been their own.</span><br />
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1429836442580_3528" lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In an attempt to help the apparitions “crossover” the only thing they’d been successful in doing, is allowing the souls of Miles Townshend and Shelley Smythe — two long dead individuals — to take up semi-permanent residence as their hosts and use their corporeal bodies at whim.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Josh and Crish are beginning to have feelings for one another, but to complicate matters; they are also developing affections for the insatiable phantoms who visit them nightly.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">As Josh and Crish attempt to find a way to rid themselves of their bothersome visitors, normal life <i>has</i> to resume, and Josh having work commitments to fulfill, jets off to Ireland on yet another paranormal investigation with his colleagues.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">But Josh soon discovers that mixing spiritual possession with a malevolently haunted castle can carry grave consequences.</span></div>
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<b><u><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Tempus Sans ITC'; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://mybook.to/4some" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Amazon</span></a></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">This erotic romance series is my first attempt at paranormal. And since the writing of this series, I am hooked on all the ghost hunter/adventure type shows. Some of them are corny and some are so downright fabricated, it</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">s laughable. And yet there are others who claim to be experts who are in way over their heads. Some things are not meant to be messed with or taunted when you have no idea what you</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">re dealing with. Evil exists in many forms. And there is no place for ignorance when making contact with the other side.</span></div>
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I was looking at these old photos where spirit have shown up on film. I think it's because the process was so slow, like using a very very very slow film speed and that's why you could often see them. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">But there are a few of those shows that I give some credence to. And I have a healthy respect for things the experts can</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">t explain. My favourite show at the moment is called The Dead Files. It</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">s a team. A former detective and a physical medium. For the investigation they work separately and don</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">t communicate with one another until the reveal at the end of the show, where they present their findings to the homeowners or whatever establishment has called them in for help. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The medium, does a walk through and reveals who or what she is seeing. Meanwhile the detective does all the leg work and tracks down the history of the property. At the end they put it all together. It</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">s quite interesting. I like the way they back up what the medium is sensing with the facts and history of the property and the people who lived or worked in the dwelling over the years. It makes the idea of haunting plausible. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I try to convince myself that I am a big sceptic, but there are times when the experts can’t debunk certain events, and it makes me believe we are not alone. I’ve also had a couple of my own experiences which I also have no explanation for. </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">(Meg: I'm a huge fan of these type of shows. I've had many experiences with people on the other side and it's nice to get answers to things people desperately need.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I believe when certain events take place, a location can hold on to the essence or emotion of it. Especially if it was violent or extremely emotional. Though, I don</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">t want to believe that souls are left behind when a person dies. I was raised in a strict religious household and even though I do not practice anymore, I still believe in a higher power. It goes against everything I was ever taught, that souls might be trapped, earth bound and suffering or worse haunting or hurting the living.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">’</span><span id="yiv3731999845yui_3_16_0_1_1427711220892_2859" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">d love to know your take on this. Do you believe in ghosts, spirits, demons, shadow people, haunting, possession? Or something else. Have you had a supernatural experience you‘d like to share? Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of the first book in the Lustful Possession Series, <i>Meet Me in the Dark</i>.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'Tempus Sans ITC'; font-size: 14pt;">Blurb: Meet Me in the Dark (Lustful Possession Book 1)</span></b><br />
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<span id="yiv3731999845yui_3_16_0_1_1427711220892_2891" lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Crishtin Davenport thought she was attending a simple Halloween event—A good scare to get the blood pumping. But instead she finds her pulse racing over one of the event’s organizers.</span><br />
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<span id="yiv3731999845yui_3_16_0_1_1427711220892_2857" lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Josh Hewes loves nothing more than investigating paranormal activity, but after meeting Crishtin the only thing he wants to explore is her.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">However, getting to know one another takes an unexpected turn when some randy spirits get in on the act.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Crish and Josh are inexplicably drawn into a heady web of desire and want nothing more than to possess each other. But they’re not the only ones.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Be careful what you invite in to play…</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'Tempus Sans ITC'; font-size: 14pt;">Excerpt: Dark Foursome (Lustful Possession #2)</span></b><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Boo!”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">Frightened by the unexpected voice, she spun around and repeatedly slapped the ghost she expected to see.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Hey, it’s me. Stop, hitting.” Josh chuckled as she slowed the strikes.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Oh, you asshole! You scared the shit out of me.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“No kidding. I got that.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“What are you doing here?” she asked, surprised to see him.</span><br />
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<span id="yiv3731999845yui_3_16_0_1_1427711220892_2851" lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“I’m guessing the same thing you’re doing here. Trying to convince myself that they’re really gone.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“You too?”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">He pulled her into his embrace. “Yeah, me too.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Why didn’t you say anything?”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Because I know how freaked </span><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">out you were to begin with. I didn’t want to pile on my uncertainties, too.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“They’re still around, Josh.”</span><br />
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<span id="yiv3731999845yui_3_16_0_1_1427711220892_2849" lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">He sighed heavily. “I’m inclined to agree. I’ve been doing some research. I found out, in this type of possession, the spirits generally choose a medium whose desires match their own. This way the host body is much more malleable and controllable, making the spirits’ desires and cravings easier to fulfill.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“And I think they’re still in us. Somehow. How is this possible?” she asked, clinging to him.</span><br />
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<span id="yiv3731999845yui_3_16_0_1_1427711220892_2847" lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“I don’t know. What I do know is—I fucked up.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">Crish stared up at him.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“I made a mistake, Crish. Chalk this one up to ignorance. My lack of information did this to us. Apparently, it’s one thing for a spirit to take possession of an individual without permission. It is quite another thing entirely when invited in. It would seem </span><i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT; font-size: 14pt;">that </span></i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">comes with consequences.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Consequences? Is there any way to get rid of them?”</span><br />
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<span id="yiv3731999845yui_3_16_0_1_1427711220892_2845" lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">Helplessly, Josh shrugged. “I’ll find a way. I promise you, Crish, if it’s the last thing I do.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Oh please don’t use those words.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“I’ll get us out of this.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">But Crish had already come to her own conclusion—Miles and Shelley weren’t going to be easy to evict.</span><br />
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<b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">* * * *</span></b><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">In the middle of the conversation, Crish slid her hand between his legs and gave his balls a firm squeeze before stroking his cock through the stiff denim.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“You don’t want to get rid of me too soon, Joshua Hewes.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">Josh tensed when he realized Shelly’d just taken complete control of Crishtin. She was the only one who called him by his full name. But the knowledge didn’t stop his traitorous cock from lengthening under her expert ministrations.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“See.” He didn’t miss the smugness in her tone. “I know that you’re enjoying Crish’s body, but even more so, you are enjoying </span><i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT; font-size: 14pt;">my </span></i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">expertise.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">Expertise? Christ, if she kept it up, he’d be blowing his load in less than a minute. He placed his hand over hers, in an attempt to slow things down. They were out in public after all. She made his brain go to mush.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">Leaning in, she rose on her tiptoes and traced her tongue around the shell of his ear, all the while tempting him with her words. “Move your hand, Joshua, let me get you off. I know you like it.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Please. Not here. People can see me. Er, us. Crish and I can’t do this out in the open.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Well, if you hadn’t burned down the Allen house I could be giving you the blowjob of your life in my very own bedroom.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">He tried his best to get his mind off his dick and listen. “I did no such thing!”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Okay, technically, Miles did, but he used your body to do it.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“He did </span><i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT; font-size: 14pt;">what</span></i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">!” Josh bellowed, twisting from her grip.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Just like I use </span><i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT; font-size: 14pt;">her </span></i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">body to drive you to…”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Stop!” He grabbed her hand roughly.“How about you take your husband and leave us the hell alone?”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“That’s just it, Joshua. My husband seems to have formed a strange attachment to your girlfriend. You should hear the perverted things he wants to do to her.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Don’t. I don’t want to hear it. Is that why I barely ever get to remember making love to her? ’Cause that motherfucker takes over?”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Mmm.” She sidled up to him, fingering his collar while looking up at him coyly. “But you are present when I’m in charge. Now that’s worth remembering.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">She leaned in and sucked on his collar bone sending a charge of sensation right to his cock, making it throb, just thinking about the things she did to him. “Isn’t it, Joshua.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">You don’t want to send me away. Be honest with yourself. Crish may not be very aware of me, but I know quite a bit about her. And you two barely have any sexual history. And she is not experienced in the least. Not compared to my background, anyway. I can drive you crazy. She will bore you to death in no time.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Don’t use those words. And that’s just your jealousy talking. You’re pissed off that you waited ninety years to make Miles your husband and he remained loyal to you, for what a whole thirty seconds. What a guy—as faithful to you as he was his first wife. He moved on to the next best thing as soon as it presented itself.”</span><br />
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<span id="yiv3731999845yui_3_16_0_1_1427711220892_2840" lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Well, I would be mighty…pissed.” She said the word slowly as if it were foreign to her vocabulary. “If it hadn’t happened to me as well. I find myself a little sweet on you too, Joshua. If only I’d met you sooner, I wouldn’t have married him.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Don’t give me that BS, Shelley. You don’t have feelings for me. You just wanna fuck.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">Plunking a hand on her hip, in a very un-Crish-like gesture, she said, “Hey, I’ve never had a man have a problem with that.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“No, your problem is relating to men </span><i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPS-ItalicMT; font-size: 14pt;">outside </span></i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">of the bedroom. Bring Crish back.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">She regarded at him coldly and her mouth turned hard. “Very well. But I’ll be seeing you later, honey. I’ve something real special in store for you.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">Just as quickly, Crish re-emerged, weaving slightly and holding her stomach as if about to throw up.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Oh God!” She swallowed convulsively.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, he guided the way to their parked cars.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Are you sure you’ll be okay to drive.”</span><br />
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<span id="yiv3731999845yui_3_16_0_1_1427711220892_2837" lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“Yes, I’ll be fine. It’ll pass. It always does.</span><br />
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<span id="yiv3731999845yui_3_16_0_1_1427711220892_2835" lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">“It’s strange the way that it affects you, don’t you think? I mean, I don’t feel that bad when Miles leaves me. Unless…” he trailed off as the thought occurred to him. </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">Perhaps Shelley did it on purpose. To get back at Crish for Miles falling for her. But Miles wasn’t the only one developing an attachment to her. If the two spirits would just fuck off and give Crish and him a chance on their own without cutting in, he could seriously see a future with her.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">He watched as she drove off. This trip to Europe couldn’t have come about at a worse time. Although a part of him was psyched to go, the other half wanted to stay with Crish. They needed to figure out how to get rid of their unwanted guests.</span><br />
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<span id="yiv3731999845yui_3_16_0_1_1427711220892_2833" lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 14pt;">Until then, the best way to keep Miles and Shelley at bay was for him to avoid Crish, as much as it killed him. This foursome was becoming entirely too complicated.</span><br />
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<b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'Tempus Sans ITC'; font-size: 14pt;">Coming Soon…</span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'Tempus Sans ITC'; font-size: 14pt;">Book Three in the Lustful Possession Series</span></b><br />
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<b><u><span lang="EN-CA" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Tempus Sans ITC'; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://museithotpublishing.com/index.php/museitup/romance/paranormal-romance-erotica/the-dark-son-the-fall-of-cairnnon-castle-detail" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #196ad4; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">The Dark Son : The Fall of Cairnnon Castle</span></a></span></u></b></div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-32624171913888407082015-04-08T00:51:00.001-07:002015-04-08T01:13:50.318-07:00LIVE ALOHA! - A circle tour of the gorgeous Big Island of Hawaii<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">Aloha everyone!! Today I am homesick…
Homesick for the sultry heat of the islands that rarely overwhelms. It wraps around my skin like a piece of silk sliding across my body. My spirit
instantly feels lighter, freer. I feel connected to myself and the island, to
the ancestors. I slip into my island skin and shrug off my Mainland wrapping…instantly
feeling like a different person. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">One I like much better.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">When I’m home, I go to the beach
every second day. I drink cocktails like they’re normal things. I drive slowly
along Ali’i Drive, just to take in the gorgeous blue water. I drive slower generally…all
islanders do. Big decisions of the day—Honaunau or Kekaha Kai? Snorkeling or
swimming? Four Seasons for lunch or Royal Kona? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I love having visitors and showing off
the island. She’s the most diverse of all the Hawaiian Islands and I love to
showcase her in my stories. She’s a living, breathing entity in her own right. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So come with me today and I’ll take
you on a partial circle, island tour. We’ll only get so far because there’s so
much to see and do, but we’ll come back every couple of weeks and do the rest
of it. We’ll stop at all my favorite spots, eat at my favorite restaurants and
shop here and there. Cocktails and a sunset at the end of each day if we’re on
the West side of the island. Someone commented that my piccies of the sunsets
are photoshopped. They’re not. They’re real. Each day we get something
different. It’s magical. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">The allure of the beautiful exotic
Hawaiian Islands still calls my soul and it seems to call other people as well.
So come with me. Put your togs (swimsuit) on under your sundress or shorts
because we’re bound to find somewhere to hop in the water. All locals carry
plenty of towels, snorkel gear, chilly bins and beach crap in the back of their
cars or trucks. So just bring yourself…</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you’re staying at my place, it’ll
be in Kona on the Big Island of Hawai’i. Officially called Kailua-Kona but none
of us call it that. There’s another place called Kailua on O’ahu. The whole
island is home to Kona coffee, Macadamia nuts, plumeria farms, orchid farms,
the slow moving active volcano, the best snorkeling in the Hawaiian islands, gorgeous beaches, every type of sea life you can imagine and fabulous restaurants. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Even better, it’s local. Laid back, cruisy, Hawaiian-American
energy rather than the energy of Maui and O’ahu which is American-Hawaiian.
There’s a distinct difference. Even on O’ahu they look at us strangely when we
stop to let people cross the road. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We’re from the BI we say and they
nod and grin…that answers a lot of things. <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbJlJnxzvToiIqpXkimod9h9WacWH2dOLLttLES_8BQqIbJ1c1UqLPxCJE3usW3Lm8B9BhtvmEqsivDiBVNbO1PjaxEfpv9qXhwVIg0D3zMW1I_LVH26f0sGSkbyy2Ev0f7QEZHSlIvs/s1600/Hawaii1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqbJlJnxzvToiIqpXkimod9h9WacWH2dOLLttLES_8BQqIbJ1c1UqLPxCJE3usW3Lm8B9BhtvmEqsivDiBVNbO1PjaxEfpv9qXhwVIg0D3zMW1I_LVH26f0sGSkbyy2Ev0f7QEZHSlIvs/s1600/Hawaii1.jpg" height="320" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">There’s still an old island feel to
the place. Anyone who comes to live there and doesn’t settle in within a year,
tends to go back to the Mainland. If you’re going to freak out because you can’t
get a coffee grinder for a month until the next barge comes in—you’re in the
wrong place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It’s the perfect mix between
American high energy and convenience and island laidbackness and community. We
accept more interesting people. We worry less. We smile more. We’re casual… We live aloha. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">You’ve just arrived and the air is
warm and humid, coating your skin in sensuality. You’ve been anointed with a
traditional, delicately, sweet smelling plumeria or orchid lei. Even if you’re
a local and you’re coming home, you get one. It’s that instant island
connection that lets you know you’re now back in Paradise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXBlyeQKD-3TjtBwW5elTpjwbpB1x8mOPvgQWrul-mfc0JgGDvJ-7sAFGu1y6zlN7yXW4h_kILiw6jfiyH54kXQv0S-4m17YV6dNbCko2YcoPUzDTOfkmlicShx7BTQIRNtcCBSGsV10/s1600/Megs+pics+from+old+computer+029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXBlyeQKD-3TjtBwW5elTpjwbpB1x8mOPvgQWrul-mfc0JgGDvJ-7sAFGu1y6zlN7yXW4h_kILiw6jfiyH54kXQv0S-4m17YV6dNbCko2YcoPUzDTOfkmlicShx7BTQIRNtcCBSGsV10/s1600/Megs+pics+from+old+computer+029.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a><span style="text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdvR6_ubnMd5jXfdfaTZKlY9I-wxvq24dsei0cly07wf5yeXcgMKvoaoFUkLUCb_BrYIWysjyhKCjC2ykpkJpMHXE_dKF0imOG92GxPsS1vtRAZVA9DH3vpzOaTeKbGQqTPUdglrAFqik/s1600/Megs+pics+from+old+computer+030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdvR6_ubnMd5jXfdfaTZKlY9I-wxvq24dsei0cly07wf5yeXcgMKvoaoFUkLUCb_BrYIWysjyhKCjC2ykpkJpMHXE_dKF0imOG92GxPsS1vtRAZVA9DH3vpzOaTeKbGQqTPUdglrAFqik/s1600/Megs+pics+from+old+computer+030.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">Let’s stop at the Harbor House bar
just up the road from the airport at the Honokohau Marina. It’s a local bar
that caters to everyone. They have good snacks here. You can sit at the rail
and watch the boats come into to dock. Plus, they have the BEST drinks. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">You’ve
probably already been given some POG on the plane coming into Kona’s Keahole
airport, but I’m thinking something a little more alcoholic. POG is a passion,
orange, guava mix of fruit juice that is unique to the Hawaiian Islands. It’s
gorgeous! The local passion fruit are called Liliko’i at home but LOG probably
wasn’t a great selling name. They’re a sweetie, yellow skinned passion fruit
and they grow all over the island. We use them in everything we can think of,
even our local beers!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsyysuNOthp6EKPO5LcQfCA6jJGrgzrUowyJxLT5hCVGQVB9cjvZ368U_vznF9yjJaXXvtSDeCnMP1RJ-R_3bOCDSDRDQKbiDibT-RXv48YfSXA6LwPPj6KcPjWfn-arSpea9EAQ73SE8/s1600/Liliko'i%2Bbars%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsyysuNOthp6EKPO5LcQfCA6jJGrgzrUowyJxLT5hCVGQVB9cjvZ368U_vznF9yjJaXXvtSDeCnMP1RJ-R_3bOCDSDRDQKbiDibT-RXv48YfSXA6LwPPj6KcPjWfn-arSpea9EAQ73SE8/s1600/Liliko'i%2Bbars%2B2.jpg" height="328" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">At the Harbor House, they keep their
ENORMOUS fishbowl schooners in the fridge, and all the ‘fizzy’ drinks are
served in them. Icy cold beer, Mikes Hard Lemonade etc and anything else
carbonated. </span><i style="font-size: x-large; text-indent: 0in;">Ono</i><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">—that means they’re
damn good. Try some of the local sashimi—Ahi tuna sliced or mahimahi in a fish sandwich. Fresh off the boat! </span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">The Bite Me boat is in and you wonder what fresh fish they’ve brought
in today. You might take a wander down to the shop near the bar afterward and
see what they have. There’s always Mahimahi and Ahi tuna. But maybe they’ll
have some Onaga or Opakapaka today too… sweet tasting snappers in various
shades from the pale pinks to the ruby’s. Lovely fresh, marinated in a wee bit
of Lawrys lemon sauce and barbecued. Yum!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Alan Wong's Onaga ~ gorgeous dish!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We make it home before the sun goes
down and shuck our shoes in a big pile by the front door. The sign, PLEASE
REMOVE YOUR SLIPPAHS, means everyone. Nobody wears shoes inside on the island. It’s
an old Japanese custom that’s been adopted by all islanders. It’s easy to wear
slippahs/slippers, flip-flops, thongs or jandals and just slip them off
your feet when you enter a house. There’s dress up slippahs and casual, but
nearly everyone has pairs for all occasions. And it would be an odd restaurant
that turned you away because we were wearing them. Even the flash ones. :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now you’ve removed your shoes and
your bra…slid into some casual shorts or a wee dress, come outside onto the lanai
(the patio) and have a cocktail or three. We can watch the velvety colors coat
the west coast of Hawai’i. Some days it’s reds, other’s oranges, yellows,
purples… it’s gorgeous!!! And it’s quick. Within half an hour, the sun has set,
dipping below the horizon where the view is endless. Being out in the middle of
the Pacific means there’s no other energy for thousands of miles. It’s
soothing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">Toast to the neon green geckos
running around catching bugs for their dinner. They’re not dangerous or scary.
They’re very cute actually and we all like them inside—good bug
catchers. If you’re lucky, when you're having your juicy, bright orangy, half papaya for
brekky with fresh lime juice, and a sprinkle of mac nuts, one will pop up
and have a wee lick of the juices. LOL. They like the local Kona brewing
companies beer too. Gourmet locals!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">We’ll sit outside and put our feet
up. Casually eat island food, sip on drinks and talk all evening. There’s a
deep peace that steals over the Kona coast at night. When we go to bed, the
ceiling fans will be turning lazily and the sliding doors will be pulled back,
with the screen doors letting in some coolness. If the nights very still, you
can hear the waves breaking gently on the shoreline, even from up the hill. It’s
hilly over most of the Big Island, giving us spectacular views from all angles.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">You’ll probably wake surprisingly
early… I always do and I’m a classified night owl. But the island energy always
gets me up early. The first lights coming up on the water in Kona Harbor. In winter,
you’ll probably be able to spy some Humpback Whales going past with the
binoculars. They cruise up and down the Kona coast, often coming down to us
from the cooler Alaskan waters to give birth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you go up in a small plane,
you’ll see them under the water. They give off an iridescent blue for some
reason and you’ll be able to see their bulk. Circle them with a small plane and
they’ll follow the noise of the plane around. I’ve never been out on a whale
watching boat and not seen one up close. Magnificent creatures. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Breakfast can be anything, but I always like
to give people the sweet papaya for a starter. Pure 100 percent Kona is a must.
Spend a wee bit more and get the pure stuff. It’s smooth…rich and deep. I like
Bayview the best and the Bong Brothers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">When you through South Kona, you’ll
go past farm after farm of coffee. The naturally draining, rich lava rock soil
and the warmth is ideal for growing coffee, along with the elevation. We’re the
only island that still hand picks it—the slopes are too steep for machinery. That’s what gives Kona its distinctive mellowness. You’ll see signs on the
side of the road advertising. "Now buying Cherry." When you have to handpick
the "cherry," (The red ripened coffee pods) you get an even roast.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Arabica coffee trees were first
in Kona from about 1828 or 1829, brought by a missionary Samuel Ruggles. Every
morning the farmers get out and do a pick of what’s ripe. And there are four
different grades of beans. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Kona Coffee Grades:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><u>Kona Extra Fancy</u><br />
Size: Will not pass through a 19/64" round hole<br />
Moisture Content: 9% to 12%<br />
Defects: 10 or less, full imperfections per lb.<br />
Other Beans: 50 or less, other type beans per lb.<br />
Undersize: No more than 10% by weight<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><u>Kona Fancy</u><br />
Size: Will not pass through a 18/64" round hole<br />
Moisture Content: 9% to 12%<br />
Defects: 16 or less, full imperfections per lb.<br />
Other Beans: 50 or less, other type beans per lb.<br />
Undersize: No more than 10% by weight<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><u>Kona Number 1</u><br />
Size: Will not pass through a 16/64" round hole<br />
Moisture Content: 9% to 12%<br />
Defects: 20 or less, full imperfections per lb.<br />
Other Beans: 50 or less, other type beans per lb.<br />
Undersize: No more than 10% by weight<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><u>Kona Prime</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Moisture Content: 9% to 12%<br />
Defects: 25% defective beans, by weight.<br />
Included therein no more than 5% by weight sour or black beans.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background: rgb(255, 240, 211); font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Kona Coffee from Cherry to Roast - Learning
the Terms</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Kona Snow</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">White sweet-smelling blossoms that
cover the trees at intervals from January through May.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cherry</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The fruit of the coffee tree,
starts as green berries, turning through yellow to orange and picked when
deep red.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bean</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The two flat seeds formed within
the normal cherry - Type I.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peaberry</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When coffee cherries produce only
one round seed instead - Type II of two flat ones.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Pulping</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Separating the beans from the
outer red skin.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Processing (wet-method)</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The beans are fermented from 12-24
hours, and then washed in fresh water.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Drying</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The washed beans are laid out on
decks and sun-dried to a moisture level between 9-12.2%. Some mechanical
drying may be used, but most Kona beans are sun-dried on large concrete pads.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Parchment</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The dried seeds covered with a
stiff white skin, called parchment.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Milling</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Removal of stiff parchment skin
and the thin silverskin below it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Green</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Coffee beans milled and ready for
roasting.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Roast</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cooking the green coffee to the
desired taste.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I’m not generally a coffee drinker,
but I love the smell of it. I find it too bitter and acrid, but Pure Kona calls
to my soul. Mellow and soothing but don’t be taken in by it mildness. It’s
still got the fuel level of regular coffees. Try eating a few (about 3 should
do it) choccie covered coffee beans and you’ll see what I mean. Gorgeousy
delicious but I shake like a leaf after them. LOL. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now you’ve had your breakfast, let’s
think about where we’d like to go for the day. I’m thinking Kekaha Kai or Two Step at Honaunau for snorkeling. We’re a little late in the day to go up to Mauna Lani
but we’ll go another day. So…swimming or snorkeling? When you decide, I’ll
take you to some of my favorite spots around Kona and the coast on our next
circle tour blog. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Until then, a hui hou (until we meet
again.) Mahalo (thank you) for visiting my gorgeous island home and souls sanctuary. I hope you love the magical Hawaiian
Islands and Aloha State as much as I do. :)</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Guava Cake!</div>
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Donnie and I at the Royal Kona :)</div>
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<b id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399508092347_22715" style="font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Meg Amor</b></div>
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<i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_42828">***</i></div>
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<i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_42827"><a href="http://www.troikaromance.com/" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_42826" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #cb008e; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">http://www.troikaromance.com/</a></i></div>
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<i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400384826032_4255">***</i></div>
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<i id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399508092347_22718"><a href="http://www.troikaromance.blogspot.com/" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400384826032_3823" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #652191; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">www.troikaromance.blogspot.com</a> </i><i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_44199">***</i></div>
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1427855642860_293592" style="color: #cd232c; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 16.7pt;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MegAmorRomance/posts" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1427855642860_293591" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">google+</a> </span><i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400384826032_3824">*** </i><i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_42830"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1427855642860_293604" style="color: #70aced;"><a href="https://twitter.com/amor_meg" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1427855642860_293603" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">twitter</a> </span></i><i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400384826032_3824">*** </i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/meg.amor.5" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1427855642860_293580" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Facebook</a></div>
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<em>***</em></div>
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<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Hawaiian Lei ~ </span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1427855642860_293590" style="font-style: italic;">Sensual m/m gay romance ~ The Hawaiians Series ~ Loose Id Publishing </span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1427855642860_293589" style="font-style: italic;">~ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hawaiian-Lei-Meg-Amor-ebook/dp/B00UUL7V1A/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_img_1" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1427855642860_293588" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">AMAZON</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-style: italic;">***</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cb008e;"> </span><a href="https://museithotpublishing.com/index.php/our-authors/50-our-authors/authors-a/380-meg-amor" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1427855642860_293587" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #cb008e;"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic;">~ Muse It Up ~</span> </span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1427855642860_293586" style="color: #652191; font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">Sensual</span><span style="color: #845aa7;"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1427855642860_293605" style="color: #cb008e; font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">romance<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> ~</span></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-weight: 700;"><em>Saint Nicholas ~ </em></span>a beautiful heartfelt m/f love story <span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Saint-Nicholas-Meg-Amor-ebook/dp/B00PE2XJIE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418093755&sr=8-1&keywords=meg+amor" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">AMAZON</a></span></div>
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<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_44085"><i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_44084">Dark War ~</i></b> a committed Troika/poly relationship. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dark-War-Wild-Darkness-Calls-ebook/dp/B00K2M4AIY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418093815&sr=8-1&keywords=dark+war+meg+amor" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; font-size: small; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">AMAZON</a></div>
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<b id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399508092347_22710"><i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_44180">The Mystic Manifestor ~</i></b> Spiritual/Self-Help </div>
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***</div>
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"Everyone lives a thousand lives, but only one life to remember ~</div>
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Will this be yours?"</div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-68801555916857867692015-03-30T04:32:00.000-07:002015-03-30T05:30:12.231-07:00BONJOUR! Please welcome French m/m romance author Alex C. Clarke!! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px;">Aloha and Bonjour or Adishatz everyone! I am so thrilled to have <b>Alex C. Clarke</b> with me today all the way from France!! Alex comes from the Southwest of France in the Bearn area. Their neighbors are the Basque if that gives you some idea. Alex says that Bearn and Pays Basque had a kind of friendly hate between them :-) A wee bit like the Kiwis and Aussies. LOL. Like all fabulous food from France, it often comes from a particular region. Alex's area is the home of the Bearnaise Sauce ~ that particularly fabulous French sauce similar to a Hollandaise but flavored with herbs. Yum!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px;">Alex says the cartoon says: "Hey, what if we changed our capital city too?" It's means we're proud of our nice part of the country! The Parisians often forget us. :D (And we have this blog in English and French!! After the book blurb and cover is the French translation or is this the English translation :-) )</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNS3YxxZIJoc86AHyP_QpoWiMXkDBUYnuLaWtNNYdfte1AwJUItKZ07Y1hbQnYcq2soWt8eDbL2ot-O7kz8eAqPr3O5EAGGTrr9THhNwf6sOUWRURRfrrvAbfzlZXiBvOAA9aoa3LFNtw/s1600/2012-07-13-Salies-de-B+%C2%ACarn-64-encadr+%C2%AC-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNS3YxxZIJoc86AHyP_QpoWiMXkDBUYnuLaWtNNYdfte1AwJUItKZ07Y1hbQnYcq2soWt8eDbL2ot-O7kz8eAqPr3O5EAGGTrr9THhNwf6sOUWRURRfrrvAbfzlZXiBvOAA9aoa3LFNtw/s1600/2012-07-13-Salies-de-B+%C2%ACarn-64-encadr+%C2%AC-web.jpg" height="311" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is the beautiful little town that Alex lives in. :)</div>
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The flag of Bearn</div>
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Alex's town in real life. :-)</div>
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<span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px;">From Wikipedia: </span></div>
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<b style="color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">Béarnaise sauce</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">is a</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauce" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-decoration: none;" title="Sauce">sauce</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">made of</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarified_butter" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-decoration: none;" title="Clarified butter">clarified butter</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emulsion" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-decoration: none;" title="Emulsion">emulsified</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">in</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_(food)" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-decoration: none;" title="Egg (food)">egg yolks</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">and white wine vinegar and flavored with </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbs" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-decoration: none;" title="Herbs">herbs</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">. It is considered to be a "child" of the mother</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollandaise_sauce" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-decoration: none;" title="Hollandaise sauce">Hollandaise sauce</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">, one of the five sauces in the</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_cuisine" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-decoration: none;" title="French cuisine">French</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haute_cuisine" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-decoration: none;" title="Haute cuisine">haute cuisine</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_sauce" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-decoration: none;" title="Mother sauce">mother sauce</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">repertoire.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">The difference is only in their flavoring: Béarnaise uses</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shallot" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-decoration: none;" title="Shallot">shallot</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chervil" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-decoration: none;" title="Chervil">chervil</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pepper" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-decoration: none;" title="Black pepper">peppercorn</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">, and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarragon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-decoration: none;" title="Tarragon">tarragon</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">, while Hollandaise uses</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-decoration: none;" title="Lemon">lemon</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">juice or white wine. Its name is related to the province of</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9arn" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-decoration: none;" title="Béarn">Béarn</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px;">, France.</span></div>
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In appearance, it is light yellow and opaque, smooth and creamy.</div>
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Béarnaise is a traditional sauce for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steak" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Steak">steak</a>.</div>
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<span class="mw-headline" id="History">History</span></h2>
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The sauce was likely first created by the chef Collinet, the inventor of puffed potatoes (<i>pommes de terre soufflées</i>), and served at the 1836 opening of <i>Le Pavillon Henri IV</i>, a restaurant at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Germain-en-Laye" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Saint-Germain-en-Laye">Saint-Germain-en-Laye</a>, not far from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Paris">Paris</a>. This assumption is supported by the fact that the restaurant was named for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_IV_of_France" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Henry IV of France">Henry IV of France</a>, a gourmet himself, who was born in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9arn" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Béarn">Béarn</a> region, a former province now in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Departments_of_France" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Departments of France">department</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyr%C3%A9n%C3%A9es-Atlantiques" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;" title="Pyrénées-Atlantiques">Pyrénées-Atlantiques</a>, in southwestern France.</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-indent: 0in;">In the </span><span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-indent: 0in;">Southwest of
France, Alex says they have a local language, le béarnais. She doesn't speak it much but can
say hello and goodbye (same word) so "Adishatz"!!!! from Alex. I love having someone from France here and especially from outside Paris. I love her accent! Please read her interesting answers with a French accent for the full impact. :-) Welcome <b>Alex</b>!!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-indent: 0in;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">First I would like to thank
you for hosting me. I’m a quirky 32 year-old French author of m/m romance and
it’s pretty brave of you to ask me to come here ;). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">No bravery needed on my part. I am so thrilled to have you here! And not only do we have Alex's terrific answers in English. Further down, we also have them in French too. :-) I love this :-)</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Tell our readers a wee bit about yourself. What are 5
things you wished you’d done, have done or are still to do, on the Bucket List?
</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">1. The first thing on my
bucket list is traveling a lot more, especially visiting the US. I have a thing
for Boston and for a moment I thought I was going to live there. But I
chickened out! </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">The Church is Holy
Cross, in Boston. The story takes place right in front of it. There is an
actual bar and a 5-story building right where I planted my own bar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Boston's Back Bay Brownstones</div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16pt;">2. I’m a very social person.
I like people and I do want to see more of them. As I have several friends
around the world, it would mean more trips so I guess this is still a part of
my first wish ;) I especially want to visit my dearest friends in England <3</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt;">3. Traveling… No, I’m kidding
! I wish I had begun to write a lot sooner sometimes. Because I’ve got people
talking in my head for a long time now and I should have understood earlier
that I was not crazy (hmm… yes I’m a bit crazy!), but that these people wanted
their story told :D On the other hand, maybe it was just time for me now to
write these stories…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">4. I’m blessed in life. I’ve
got a wonderful family, especially two wonderful kids, an awesome job (I’m a
translator for m/m romance English to French) and even more awesome friends. My
4<sup>th</sup> wish is to carry on like that until death. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">5. The only thing that I can
think of as a 5<sup>th</sup> wish is earning more money with my translations
and my books so I can feel free to travel whenever I want ;) (no, I’m not obsessed
at all with travels… )</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Nantucket Island</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Tell us about the genre you write, why do you love it
and how did you get into it?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt;">I write men on men love
stories. I’ve been sick a few months ago (last September) and was forced to
stay bedridden because of my back. That’s when I read my first gay book. It was
Lover At Last (The Brotherhood of the Black Dagger series) by JR Ward. I will
never forget how I felt about this story. It was so hard, raw and tender in the
same time. I wanted more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt;">So I tried to find more m/m books translated in
French. But I couldn’t find a lot. So I tried to read directly in English. It
was hard at first. I read it on my iPad with Google Translate opened and went
back and forth to try to understand better. Oh my God ! It was really hard. My
first in English was Forgiving Thayne by JR Loveless. I had read the first of
the series in French and couldn’t wait to read the follow-up. Impatient girl ;)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt;">What I love in this genre is
that in each book you can identify in one or the other character. In m/f stories,
if you’re a woman, you tend to identify to the female character. You don’t have
to choose in m/m books. I haven’t stopped reading m/m romance in English ever
since.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">What’s your most favorite restaurant in the world?
Where, why and the best dish/es they make? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt;">There is a great little
restaurant in Laas, France (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) called L’Auberge de la
Fontaine. They make wonderful soufflés and Salade au frois gras.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I know how you like food so
here are some pics ;) (Meg: Merci Alex! I am mad about food pics LOL) </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchKfECbLQ-dNUPzxDbCWwuFRd1ccSl0lBGWTEkE_wxR6C0ljGeXCnox08Mgf0PI3vl8kg5glxcJPSu7ZEl2fSTFtAU0boGCNy4sMuk_wa_XgttvCe3-IMHRjMJgi3cjdXz4_pgktuzFA/s1600/Foie+gras.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchKfECbLQ-dNUPzxDbCWwuFRd1ccSl0lBGWTEkE_wxR6C0ljGeXCnox08Mgf0PI3vl8kg5glxcJPSu7ZEl2fSTFtAU0boGCNy4sMuk_wa_XgttvCe3-IMHRjMJgi3cjdXz4_pgktuzFA/s1600/Foie+gras.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Salade au foie gras</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsTkOPwGJ7P38v9iRGzzJf9wvavH0nlAfLn4EVoojOiN_TbZIsPafyXaGBwMVHn4-Z0A67S4W_W2dtkpV313T4GsmlNKu5StabZh9vr3XFF9pqlmN0Jl9BCkFtNtPB4nE7nVItCd2fXV4/s1600/Souffl+%C2%AC+au+Grand+Marnier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsTkOPwGJ7P38v9iRGzzJf9wvavH0nlAfLn4EVoojOiN_TbZIsPafyXaGBwMVHn4-Z0A67S4W_W2dtkpV313T4GsmlNKu5StabZh9vr3XFF9pqlmN0Jl9BCkFtNtPB4nE7nVItCd2fXV4/s1600/Souffl+%C2%AC+au+Grand+Marnier.jpg" height="202" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Souffle - au Grand Marnier (I personally LOVE a good souffle and am glad to see them making a come back here. Fabulous!)</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Remember those ads for Expedia (if not, just play
along) that asked, ‘If you could go anywhere in the world, but have to go right
now?’ Where would you have gone and would you have said to YES to right now? What
pulls and entices you to that country? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt;">The States, obviously (see my
1<sup>st</sup>, 2<sup>nd</sup> and 5<sup>th</sup> wishes ;) ). It’s a young
country, unlike the Old Continent where I live. But there is a diversity there,
so much different kinds of people, doing so much different things. When I said
I loved “diversity” the other day (as a caption under a photo showing a man
cross-dressed and saying “Too sexy for gender norms”), someone told me they
wanted to check out I wasn’t talking about the political meaning of this word. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt;">So I’d like to add my answer
: </span><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">“</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: #F6F7F8; color: #141823; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="background: #F6F7F8; color: #141823; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">Diversity is not
thinking as a sheep and follow the others. It's being who you are and be proud
of it. I've had a pretty sh#tty day, having someone narrow-minded giving me sh#t
about my own "diversity". So this photo to me means "be who you
are".</span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">That’s what I like in the US,
this kind of diversity. But I wish some people to be more open-minded…I’m aware
that things can look pretty cool when you don’t live there. Maybe how I picture
this country is not really conform to the reality. That’s what I would like to
know.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">What parts of you, are incorporated into your
characters? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">A lot and not so much :D I
share little things, like the job of my best friend in real life for a
secondary character, or some names. What they like to do as a hobby, …. That
kind of things. But it’s more about my environment than really about myself.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Favorite male hero/public figure you admire in the
world, dead or alive, and why? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It’s a tough one because I
admire a lot of people. But, as I have to choose one, Victor Hugo it is. He was
a French poet, a writer and a political figure, born in 1802 and deceased in
1885. He made great changes at his time. I know several of his poems by heart,
learned them when I was a kid and still know them :D</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv4Z9ps1QYw1Ydu_2LWGIT51N5UUU8i_CWrO5gcYlqAR-rEooeJgIMFaoefSHQe2i3hKJEdFD7m6WDZR6qu2QThG-EfnGRjVFGP2dtA13r_wWkxLGSJ3zVPkf5UK4Lq2LcMmFHUX1uIEI/s1600/download+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv4Z9ps1QYw1Ydu_2LWGIT51N5UUU8i_CWrO5gcYlqAR-rEooeJgIMFaoefSHQe2i3hKJEdFD7m6WDZR6qu2QThG-EfnGRjVFGP2dtA13r_wWkxLGSJ3zVPkf5UK4Lq2LcMmFHUX1uIEI/s1600/download+(1).jpg" height="226" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Favorite female heroine/public figure you admire in
the world, dead or alive, and why? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Every woman who dares to rise
her fist in the air and tells what she thinks is unfair and does things to
change situations. Every woman should be proud of being a woman, nothing to be
ashamed of. I’ve seen too many times shame on pretty faces. If I had to choose
one, it would be Rosa Park.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Have you ever had a character just “do their own
thing?” Have you ever had an argument with one of your characters? Or anything
else odd happen? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I often dream about them and
very very often, they do things in my dreams that I write the day after. I have
a little notebook at the head of my bed for this purpose. That way, I don’t
forget what they whispered during the night ;) </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">What’s your passion in life? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I have several. Obviously,
reading/writing/reviewing which could be summed up as BOOKS !!! I always find
some good books to read on Goodreads and on the blog Bike Book Reviews.</span> (<a href="http://bikebookreviews.blogspot.fr/">http://bikebookreviews.blogspot.fr</a>)
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt;">I also like DYI, transforming
things like pallets into furniture, painting (preferably on walls – murals are
so fun to do !), playing with my kids.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And food. I’m allergic to a
lot of things so I have to be careful but I love good food of every countries.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrnvZyn-aNsWWI-KdS5wPzD8i6HOz78XNh6z4AoLPAQE-rMAWf3WN3RFrHdHXQsK0zjv8t3XSzkPkilJ2ZRqQMBWGLVj6-d5FIcS1IMxpm_j2M3omThIDt1g6nrRf7WqVCw5WgSrqJkhE/s1600/Flowers-Wall-Murals1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrnvZyn-aNsWWI-KdS5wPzD8i6HOz78XNh6z4AoLPAQE-rMAWf3WN3RFrHdHXQsK0zjv8t3XSzkPkilJ2ZRqQMBWGLVj6-d5FIcS1IMxpm_j2M3omThIDt1g6nrRf7WqVCw5WgSrqJkhE/s1600/Flowers-Wall-Murals1.jpg" height="287" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">What’s your writer’s routine? Do you write whenever or
at certain times? Are you a pantser or plotter? Where do you like to write? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt;">Before having this job, I
used to get the kids to school, sit and write until it was time to go get them
back. My average was around 3K words a day. Now that I work fulltime as a
translator, it’s a bit tricky. I work whenever I can, mostly at nights. I
published one story for now, called Un Nouveau Rêve, which is written in
French. It’s published for free for now on Wattpad. I’m still editing it to
publish it “for real”. I want it to be really perfect so it takes some time! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">As for the story itself, I
take a lot of notes, when I stop dreaming about it but also whenever comes the
idea. I have a folder on my browser where I put every info about the city where
it takes place, bars where they’re supposed to go… I do a lot of research. When
I have what I want, I write a storyline. I have another folder for the names of
the characters I will use and the connections between each others. I name each
chapter so I keep track of discarded names, just in case. I try to be thorough
because I don’t want to forget I talked about something. I don’t want to
confuse the reader.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">If you could pick a past life, what time period would
appeal to you and why? Would you be male or female? Rich or poor? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I would be a gay man, not too
rich, not too poor, now. Or a beautiful Lady in England, 1300. Pick the one you
prefer ! lol</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRIInXWVvCJzQh0mT8klWxkYMm2PZmuV3zgD7IaDxOwUm8ck3Y232UPP_XUvJQI-1cVVD-mVXO-01b4vB7HMoWr3l21543CV3HGzT-iYIoRR4I7-fRawU7twZwMQ3eTsGLfmto9jHWqDs/s1600/pierre_et_gilles2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRIInXWVvCJzQh0mT8klWxkYMm2PZmuV3zgD7IaDxOwUm8ck3Y232UPP_XUvJQI-1cVVD-mVXO-01b4vB7HMoWr3l21543CV3HGzT-iYIoRR4I7-fRawU7twZwMQ3eTsGLfmto9jHWqDs/s1600/pierre_et_gilles2.jpg" height="400" width="251" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">How do you come up the names for your characters? Do
they just pop in ‘out of the blue.’ Or do you have to really think about them
and research them? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">For my MCs, no research. They
just came out as David and James. No need to think about it too much. The
secondary characters are more difficult to choose. Some are names of my real
friends, some are Facebook friends (Chris, the hero of the #2 in the Rêves
series). But no real research for that either. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLewLLa7jz7gsy5xm6wXMvTRbmgrmkk9h04nlIN0ahNmmcK6a_OKjUkEAXhkSwnunmuH92bKPKyKwYbWPvdkFwQVyye1L7Zna8LGq3Zv7Uor6v4o2lkg6VS_3c8ZKcm8NgMmxvcQqTlOA/s1600/James.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLewLLa7jz7gsy5xm6wXMvTRbmgrmkk9h04nlIN0ahNmmcK6a_OKjUkEAXhkSwnunmuH92bKPKyKwYbWPvdkFwQVyye1L7Zna8LGq3Zv7Uor6v4o2lkg6VS_3c8ZKcm8NgMmxvcQqTlOA/s1600/James.jpg" height="400" width="342" /></a></div>
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James looks like this guy, just imagine him a little older and more muscled. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqZmuiVPHvkMYXHroSve5uLhx4_Avn-3yhhT2X_szXoBVedNaFy5Ll8bTtIqyQPU8B1ZCX0BQcTVZ2bibUwk-YcWxc-t7K2KoV4oTPEL8MHIEFwxxRs4CIPTkSPRRa3IYSYHsCPdiR3Y/s1600/David.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqZmuiVPHvkMYXHroSve5uLhx4_Avn-3yhhT2X_szXoBVedNaFy5Ll8bTtIqyQPU8B1ZCX0BQcTVZ2bibUwk-YcWxc-t7K2KoV4oTPEL8MHIEFwxxRs4CIPTkSPRRa3IYSYHsCPdiR3Y/s1600/David.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Huge Grant is the closest Alex can find for her muse for David - YUM!!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">What new things are you working on? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I’m working on editing Un
Nouveau Rêve, on the translation in English because a lot of people asked for
it and on Chris’s story.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><b>I would like to add some random
details:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt;">Jay Aheer has made my cover
and she’s just awesome. If you need someone to help you out finding really what
you want when you don’t know it yourself, she’s the one.</span> <span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="http://www.jayscoversbydesign.com/">http://www.jayscoversbydesign.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt;">I would love to have a cat
and play it Hemingway-like. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt;">I’m a total geek, easily
distracted by shiny new toys and drool in front of the last iPhone/Pad/Pod
(pick one!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt;">I collect mugs with Jay’s art
on it but also with covers of my favorite authors. I just bought one saying
“Sage Marlowe rocks!”. I love him <3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I would like to make people
realize that being different is a chance, not a burden. I’ve always been
different. Always read a lot, been the geeky kid, been bullied a lot for that.
When you grow up, you realize that being different is kinda cool. You’re not a
sheep. Even if you’re the black sheep, take the bright light out of you and
shine, baby! Special people rocks! (I would love to buy a mug with that message!!)</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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A house in Bearn</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvZoWxSbD42n_4MOlhf4yvMg8TcYDJfzAzgJkODyjDG_B2dIq0Do0MpRiFz8yfU6Gyk5TuODJzt4dTrbRLa7JlKzMcaitFkr7wzVkqOig9BWoDdJI_SyqN8ggXa666QUXnb4ubvxcPPy4/s1600/french-quote-on-kiss-by-alfred-de-musset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvZoWxSbD42n_4MOlhf4yvMg8TcYDJfzAzgJkODyjDG_B2dIq0Do0MpRiFz8yfU6Gyk5TuODJzt4dTrbRLa7JlKzMcaitFkr7wzVkqOig9BWoDdJI_SyqN8ggXa666QUXnb4ubvxcPPy4/s1600/french-quote-on-kiss-by-alfred-de-musset.jpg" height="290" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF0jHyrDjzH9l-46bXFIDxtNwlupb1Otj-E6Ezb_RuLuJB_Of2RtvhdXkc5K7GHLjypKvQHI_usf7o2YK6uU43lOXI6XeVilbFlE55HXlxpVXV5VsVXUHXypHACM09i_kopGCw7tGaFm8/s1600/TOURISME-2657-FRANCE-Bearn-Chateau-de-Sauveterre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF0jHyrDjzH9l-46bXFIDxtNwlupb1Otj-E6Ezb_RuLuJB_Of2RtvhdXkc5K7GHLjypKvQHI_usf7o2YK6uU43lOXI6XeVilbFlE55HXlxpVXV5VsVXUHXypHACM09i_kopGCw7tGaFm8/s1600/TOURISME-2657-FRANCE-Bearn-Chateau-de-Sauveterre.jpg" height="295" width="400" /></a></div>
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Bearn</div>
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<span style="color: cyan; font-size: x-large;"><b>Contact Alex: </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Facebook : <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009284442727">https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009284442727</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">FB page : <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alex-C-Clarke/904952769538496?ref=aymt_homepage_panel">https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alex-C-Clarke/904952769538496?ref=aymt_homepage_panel</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Google + :</span> <span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/100849422928224963014/posts">https://plus.google.com/u/0/100849422928224963014/posts</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I mostly repost things there.
But you always leave me a message. :D <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Twitter :</span> <span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ACClarkeAuthor">https://twitter.com/ACClarkeAuthor</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Goodreads : it’s where I put
reviews. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/37403361-ladyc---mm-bookworm">https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/37403361-ladyc---mm-bookworm</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Wattpad : to read my book for
free in French (for the moment ;) ) <a href="http://www.wattpad.com/story/30618105-un-nouveau-r%C3%AAve">http://www.wattpad.com/story/30618105-un-nouveau-rêve</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan; font-size: x-large;"><b>Un Nouveau Reve</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiowLPgCXvAzguW0dMViAj1QfnFbyB5nepDHISdm-S041x_2zJ7EaEa_legjreaeOgbqIpCiFPkfpzpdWDh8QhRDYhYcgWglccs3tBYzfoQZfNAGa7ZsZtapbmkOtyk0OAdS_HFyjDKyfg/s1600/Unnouveaur+%C2%ACve-CustomDesign-JayAheer2015-smallpreview.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiowLPgCXvAzguW0dMViAj1QfnFbyB5nepDHISdm-S041x_2zJ7EaEa_legjreaeOgbqIpCiFPkfpzpdWDh8QhRDYhYcgWglccs3tBYzfoQZfNAGa7ZsZtapbmkOtyk0OAdS_HFyjDKyfg/s1600/Unnouveaur+%C2%ACve-CustomDesign-JayAheer2015-smallpreview.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: cyan;"><b>David was married until three years ago when they were involved
in a car accident. His wife didn’t make it and he woke up after a coma with guilt
the size of Texas. </b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: cyan;"><b>After three years mourning, feeling guilty and slowly retreating
into depression, he decides to leave France for Boston. He’s going for a
complete life makeover as a manager in a bar. On the plane, he meets James who
turns out to be the co-owner of the bar. <o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: cyan;"><b>David has never been with a man but finds himself very attracted
to James.<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: cyan;"><b>James is a former Marine, a very gay one—tattooed, muscled,
yummy. The problem is, David would like to explore this new thing he feels for
his boss and soon has strong feelings for James. </b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: cyan;"><b>But James doesn't do feelings. At all. Like, never. <o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: cyan;"><b>Well, never say never…</b></span><span style="color: #555555;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">EN FRANCAIS</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">D'abord je voudrais te remercier de me recevoir. Je suis une auteur
française de romance m/m de 32 ans, un peu fofolle, et c’est plutôt courageux
de ta part de me demander de venir m’exprimer ici :p</span></div>
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<b><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Dis-en un peu plus à nos lecteurs
à propos de toi. Qu’elles sont les cinq choses que tu aurais voulu faire, a
fait ou voudrais encore faire, sur la liste des choses à faire avant de mourir
? </span></b><b><span lang="FR" style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></b><b><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">1. La première chose serait de voyager beaucoup plus, notamment aller aux
Etats-Unis. J’ai une faiblesse pour Boston et pendant un moment j’ai cru que
j’allais m’y installer mais je me suis dégonflée ! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">2. Je suis une personne très sociable. J’aime les gens et j’aimerais aller
les voir un peu plus. Comme j’ai beaucoup d’amis autour du monde, ça veut dire plus
de voyages et donc, retour au point numéro 1 !!! Je voudrais tout
particulièrement visiter mes très très chers amis en Angleterre. <3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">3. Voyager…. non je rigole ! J’aurais aimer avoir commence à écrire plus
tôt parfois. Parce que j’ai des personages qui parlent dans ma tête depuis des
années maintenant et j’aurais dû comprendre plus tôt que je n’étais pas folle
(enfin si en fait ;) ) mais que ces personnes avaient juste besoin de
m’entendre raconteur leur histoire. D’un autre côté peut-être que je n’étais
pas prête et que ce n’est que maintenant que je suis assez mûre pour ça… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">4. Je me sens bénie dans la vie. J’ai une famille merveilleuse, tout
particulièrement mes deux adorable enfants, j’ai un super boulot ( je suis
traductrice anglais-français pour des romans m/m) et j’ai des amis encore plus
géniaux. Mon quatrième voeu serait de continuer comme ça jusqu’à la mort. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">5. La seule chose à laquelle je pense comme cinquième voeu serait de gagner
plus d’argent avec mes traductions et mes histories pour povoir voyager plus où
je veux ;) (non, je ne suis pas du tout obsédée par les voyages !!!) </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Parle nous du genre de livres que
tu écris, pourquoi tu aimes ça et comment tu en es arrivée là ? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">J’écris des histories d’amour entre homes. J’ai été malade il y a quelques
mois (en septembre dernier) et j’ai dû rester allongée à cause de mon dos.C’est
à ce moment là que j’ai lu mon premier roman m/m. C’était le tome 10 de la
Confrérie de la Dague Noire de JR Ward. Je n’oublierai jamais ce que j’ai
ressenti dans ce livre. C’était si dur, si brut comme sentiments et si tender à
la fois. J’en voulais plus. Alors j’ai essayé de trouver d’autres romans en
français. Mais j’ai vite été limitée. Alors j’ai essayé de lire directement en
anglais ! C’était vraiment très dur les premiers temps. Je lisais sur l’iPad et
je faisais les allers-retours entre l’appli Kindle et ma page Google
Traduction. Seigneur, Jésus, Marie, Joseph !!!! C’était incroyablement long et
difficile. Mon premier en anglais c’était Forgiving Thayne de JR Loveless.
J’avais lu le premier tome en français et je n’avais pas la patience d’attendre
la traduction ! Je suis très impatiente ;)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Ce que j’aime dans ce genre, c’est que dans chaque livre on peut
s’identifier à l’un ou l’autre des personages. Dans les romans m/f
(male/female), en tant que femme on est un peu obligée de s’identifier au
personages feminine. Là on n’a pas à choisir.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Je n’ai pas arête de lire des m/m en anglais depuis lors.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Quel est ton restaurant préféré
dans le monde ?Où, pourquoi et quell est le meilleur plat qu’ils font ? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Il y a un petit restaurant à Laas, dans les Pyrénées L’Auberge de la
Fontaine. Ils font des soufflés incroyables et une salade au foie gras à
tomber. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Je sais comme tu aimes les bons petits plats alors viola à quoi ça ressemble,
pour te mettre l’eau à la bouche !!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchKfECbLQ-dNUPzxDbCWwuFRd1ccSl0lBGWTEkE_wxR6C0ljGeXCnox08Mgf0PI3vl8kg5glxcJPSu7ZEl2fSTFtAU0boGCNy4sMuk_wa_XgttvCe3-IMHRjMJgi3cjdXz4_pgktuzFA/s1600/Foie+gras.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchKfECbLQ-dNUPzxDbCWwuFRd1ccSl0lBGWTEkE_wxR6C0ljGeXCnox08Mgf0PI3vl8kg5glxcJPSu7ZEl2fSTFtAU0boGCNy4sMuk_wa_XgttvCe3-IMHRjMJgi3cjdXz4_pgktuzFA/s1600/Foie+gras.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Salade au foie gras</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsTkOPwGJ7P38v9iRGzzJf9wvavH0nlAfLn4EVoojOiN_TbZIsPafyXaGBwMVHn4-Z0A67S4W_W2dtkpV313T4GsmlNKu5StabZh9vr3XFF9pqlmN0Jl9BCkFtNtPB4nE7nVItCd2fXV4/s1600/Souffl+%C2%AC+au+Grand+Marnier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsTkOPwGJ7P38v9iRGzzJf9wvavH0nlAfLn4EVoojOiN_TbZIsPafyXaGBwMVHn4-Z0A67S4W_W2dtkpV313T4GsmlNKu5StabZh9vr3XFF9pqlmN0Jl9BCkFtNtPB4nE7nVItCd2fXV4/s1600/Souffl+%C2%AC+au+Grand+Marnier.jpg" height="202" width="400" /></a></div>
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Souffle ~ Grand Marnier</div>
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<b><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Tut e souviens ces pubs d’Expedia
(si ce n’est pas le cas, fais comme si) “Sit vous pouviez aller n’importe où
dans le monde, où iriez-vous ici et maintenant” ? Qu’est-ce qui t’attirerait
dans cet endroit. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Les Etats-Unis bien sûr (voir mes voeux 1, 2 et 5 ;) )C’est un jeune pays,
contrairement au Vieux Continent. Mais il y a une certaine diversité qui
m’attire là-bas. Tellement de gens different, faisant chacun des choses très
différentes les uns des autres.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">L’autre jour, en parlant d’une photo d’un jeune home qui portrait des
collants et des chaussures à talons avec la mention ‘Trop sexy pour les normes
sexuelles’, j’ai dit que je n’aimais pas les normes et que je préfèrais la
diversité, on m’a demandé de préciser si je parlais de diversité au sens
politique (et hypocrite). Alors j’aimerais préciser ma réponse en ajoutant ce
que j’ai dit ce jour là : “La diversité c’est ne pas penser comme un mouton.
C’est être qui tu es et en être fier. J’ai eu une assez mauvaise journée car
quelqu’un m’a fait des réflexions désagréables sur ma propre “diversité”. Alors
pour moi cette photo signifie “sois qui tu es””.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Je précise que le problème de diversité par rapport à moi était lié à une
photo que j’avais posté d’un couple d’hommes s’embrassant. J’avais gagné un
concours sur Facebook avec cette photo et mon nom apparaissait partout à côté
d’elle…. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">C’est ce que j’aime dans les Etats-Unis, cette sorte de diversité là. Mais
je souhaiterai simplement qu’il y ait moins de gens étroits d’esprit pour que
cette diversité puisse s’exprimer… Je suis consciente que mon image mentale de
ce pays n’est peut-être pas conforme à la réalité. C’est ce que j’aimerai
verifier !</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Quelle part de toi peut-on
retrouver dans tes personages?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Beaucoup et pas tant que ça à la fois ! Je partage de petites choses, comme
le boulot d’un de mes meilleurs amis dans la vraie vie pour un caractère
secondaire, ou des noms de personnes, ce qu’ils ont comme hobbies. Ce genre de
choses. Mais c’est plus une affaire d’environnement global qu’à propos de moi.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Ton héros/personage public
masculin préféré, mort ou vivant et pourquoi?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">C’est une question difficile car il y a plein de monde que j’admire. Mais
s’il faut choisir je dirai Victor Hugo. C’était un poète français, un écrivain
et une figure politique. Il est né en 1802 et mort en 1885. Je connais encore
plusieurs de ses poèmes par coeur, les ayant appris dans mon enfance. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Ton héros/personage public
féminin préféré, mort ou vivant et pourquoi ?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Chaque femme qui ose lever son poing et dire ce qu’elle pense des
injustices et qui fait des choses pour changer les situations difficiles.
Chaque femme devrait être fière de qui elle est, il n’y a pas de honte à être
une femme. J’ai trop souvent vu la honte sur leurs jolis visages. S’il fallait
en choisir une, ce serait Rosa Park.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Est-ce que tu as déjà eu un
personage qui fasse sa propre vie ? Est-ce que tu t’es déjà disputé avec un de
tes personnages ? Ou n’importe quoi de bizarre ? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Je rêve souvent d’eux et très très souvent, ils font des choses dans ma
tête que je retranscris dans l’histoire le lendemain. Je garde un petit carnet
à la tête de mon lit pour ça. Comme ça, je suis sure de ne rien oublier de ce
qu’ils m’ont murmuré pendant la nuit ! </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Qu’elles sont tes passions dans
la vie ?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">J’en ai plusieurs. Evidemment, lire/écrire/faire des critiques de livres ce
qui pourrait se résumer en un seul mot : LIVRES !!!!Je trouve toujours de bons
bouquins à lire sur Goodreads et sur le blog de Bike Book Reviews.</span> (<a href="http://bikebookreviews.blogspot.fr/">http://bikebookreviews.blogspot.fr</a>)
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">J’adore aussi tout ce qui est le DYI, transformer des obejst, comme les
palettes de bois, en meubles, peindre (particulièrement les fresques murales,
c’est tellement marrant à faire !!!) et jouer avec mes enfants. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Et les bons petits plats. Je suis allergique à des tas de choses alors je
dois faire un peu attention mais j’adore essayer des nouveaux plats du monde
entire (hmmm… peut-être pas les insects grilles…)</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Comment se déroule ta journée
d’écrivain ? Tu écris n’importe quand ou seulement à certains moments de la
journée ? Tu prévois tout ou tu laisses filer l’histoire ?Qu’aimes-tu écrire ? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Avant d’avoir ce boulot, j’amenais les enfants à l’école, je rentrais et
m’asseyais pour écrire jusqu’à ce que les enfants rentrent. Ma moyenne était de
3 000 mots par jour. Maintenant que je travaille à temps complet dans la
traduction, c’est plus compliqué. J’écris quand je peux, la plupart du temps le
soir. Je n’ai publié qu’une histoire pour l’instant, Un Nouveau Rêve, en
français, disponible gratuitement sur Wattpad. Je suis encore en train de faire
les derniers changements avant de le publier” pour de vrai” sur Kindle. Je veux
que ce soit parfait alors ça prendre vraiment longtemps !</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">En ce qui concerne l’histoire en
elle-même, je prends énormément de notes, quand j’ai fini de rêver d’eux mais
aussi quand vient l’idée. J’ai un petit dossier dans mon navigateur internet où
je mets tout ce qui concerne la ville dans laquelle se passé le livre, les bars
où ils sont senses aller… je fais beaucoup de recherché. Quand j’ai
suffisamment de materiel, j’écris une trame. J’ai un autre carnet où je garde
tous les noms des personages que je vais utiliser et les connexions entre eux.
Je nomme chaque chapitre et je garde un trace des titres que j’ai rejetés,
juste au cas où. J’essaie d’être vraiment consciencieuse car je ne veux pas
oublier à un moment donné que j’ai déjà parlé de tel détail. Je ne veux pas que
les lecteurs soient confus.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Si tu pouvais choisir une vie
antérieure, quelle période serait-ce et pourquoi ? Serais-tu un homme ou
une femme ? Riche ou pauvre ?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">J’aimerais être un homme gay, ni trop riche, ni trop pauvre, maintenant. Ou
une merveilleuse dame en Angleterre dans les années 1300. Celle que vous
préférez !! </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Comment choisis-tu les noms de
tes personnages ? Est-ce qu’ils arrivent comme ça, par l’opération du
Saint Esprit ? Ou est-ce que tu dois beaucoup y réfléchir et faire des
recherches ? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Pour mes personnages principaux, il n’y a pas eu de recherche du tout. Ils
sont juste arrivés comme David et James. Je n’ai pas eu besoin d’y penser,
c’était évident. Les personnages secondaires, c’est plus compliéqués. Parfois
ce sont les noms de personnes que je connais, parfois ceux de mes amis sur
Facebook (comme Chris le héros du second tome de la série Rêves) mais il n’y a
pas non plus de recherches intenses. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Quels sont tes projets
futurs ?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Je travaille sur la révision d’Un Nouveau Rêve, ainsi que sur sa traduction
en anglais car beaucoupd de gens me l’ont demandé. Je travaille aussi sur le
tome 2 de la série Rêves, avec l’histoire de Chris.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Je voudrais ajouter des détails
aléatoires :<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Jay Aheer est l’artiste qui a fait la couverture de mon livre. Elle est
juste extraordinaire. Si vous avez besoin de quelqu’un qui vous aide à trouver
ce que vous cherchez ce que vous voulez, c’est elle qu’il vous faut.</span><span lang="FR"> </span></span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><a href="http://www.jayscoversbydesign.com/">http://www.jayscoversbydesign.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">J’aimerais trop avoir un chat et me la jouer à la Hemingway!!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Je suis complètement geek, très facilement distraite par de jolis jouets
brillants et je bave devant les nouveautés iPhone/Pad/Pod (choisissez en un !)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Je collectionne les mugs qui portent les illustrations de Jay mais aussi
avec les couvertures de mes auteurs favoris. Je viens juste d’acheter celle qui
dit « Sage Marlowe rocks ! » Je l’adore ;) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Je voudrais que les gens réalisent qu’être différent c’est une chance, pas
un fardeau. J’ai toujours été différente. J’ai toujours beaucoup lu, moi la
geek de service, on m’a harcelé à l’école pour ça. Quand tu grandis, tu
réalises que c’est cool d’être différent. Vous n’êtes pas des moutons. Et même
si vous êtes un mouton noir, faites sortir la lumière qui est en vous et
brillez, mes chouchous !!! Les gens spéciaux, c’est trop de la
balle ! (je devrais me faire faire une tasse avec ce message !!!) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Les liens !</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Facebook : <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009284442727">https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009284442727</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">FB page : <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alex-C-Clarke/904952769538496?ref=aymt_homepage_panel">https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alex-C-Clarke/904952769538496?ref=aymt_homepage_panel</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Google + :</span><span lang="FR"> </span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/100849422928224963014/posts">https://plus.google.com/u/0/100849422928224963014/posts</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Ici je fais suivre les posts des autres surtout mais vous pouvez toujours
laisser un message. :D <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Twitter :</span><span lang="FR"> </span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ACClarkeAuthor">https://twitter.com/ACClarkeAuthor</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Goodreads : c’est là où j’écris mes critiques ( en anglais ;) <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/37403361-ladyc---mm-bookworm">https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/37403361-ladyc---mm-bookworm</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="FR" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR;">Wattpad : pour lire l’histoire en français gratuitement (tant que je ne
publie pas sur Kindle) <a href="http://www.wattpad.com/story/30618105-un-nouveau-r%C3%AAve">http://www.wattpad.com/story/30618105-un-nouveau-rêve</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-37853393619997728032015-03-16T06:01:00.000-07:002015-03-22T23:41:46.535-07:00**HAWAIIAN LEI** releasing St Paddy's Day ~ How to speak like a Kiwi!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRCXaK-eGydSxgJPxcjo-6T-aPQUjDdPy-gb80agrBVVVKN1LEejv1iXSZNfoEcgLEgS4qSwR95yyM7jDc2JaCP5ekPW0zL8VDp92NlrbR7Jh81w9Za6EI37Rl0Jy7e3pe1EEFhv2cerM/s1600/MA_HawaiianLei.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRCXaK-eGydSxgJPxcjo-6T-aPQUjDdPy-gb80agrBVVVKN1LEejv1iXSZNfoEcgLEgS4qSwR95yyM7jDc2JaCP5ekPW0zL8VDp92NlrbR7Jh81w9Za6EI37Rl0Jy7e3pe1EEFhv2cerM/s1600/MA_HawaiianLei.jpg" height="640" width="425" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Aloha and Kia ora everyone, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">In light of my new book coming out tomorrow on St Paddy's Day ~ <b><i><span style="color: magenta;">Hawaiian Lei</span></i></b><i> </i>~ the
first book in <b>The Hawaiians</b> series, I
thought it might be fun to talk about a subject fellow Muse It Up author, Ken
Hicks suggested. He asked whether “flat tack” was a Kiwi or Hawaiian phrase. Then
Monya Clayton, another Muse author contributed the “flat out like a lizard drinking”
Australian saying. Thanks Ken (a Yank) and Monya (an Aussie.) </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14pt;">J</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">We Kiwis and the Aussies avoid using
proper words AT ALL TIMES. LOL. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">No, we New Zealanders are not named
after the small, round, brown, fuzzy fruit. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14pt;">J</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> We’re named
after our national bird, THE Kiwi. A small(ish,) round, brown, fuzzy bird. It’s
about the size of a chook <i>(chicken,)</i> flightless, and riddled with fleas! As
national symbols go, it’s not up there with the mighty American eagle,
but we’re terribly proud of it anyway. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">It represents New Zealand’s uniqueness
well. Stuck at the bottom of the world, largely cut off for years, we’ve
developed our own language and culture. We’re similar to the Aussies, but not
quite the same… Like New Zealand, their culture is largely influenced by immigrants
from the UK but also Europeans that came out in large numbers in the fifties
and sixties.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">New Zealand though has a native New
Zealand Maori background, giving us a Polynesian mix in our culture. It’s only
recently that Australia has started to give more acknowledgement to the native
people of Australia—the Aborigine and it hasn’t influenced the culture as
strongly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">So, our national symbol—THE Kiwi
bird is as unique as we are. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">It has external nostrils on its long
bill to sniff out food. Belonging to the ratite family, it’s the smallest
member which includes ostriches and emus. Its eggs are HUGE and the male does
most of the incubating and egg sitting. Despite a stroppy <i>(volatile, pissed off)</i> relationship between them, Mum and Dad Kiwi
bird are monogamous and live in pairs, mating mostly for life. But the woman
bird wears the pants—she’s bigger and dominates the male. No wonder New Zealand
was the first country in the world to give women the vote!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Our culture and character is unique
and I bring these differences to my books when I write my Kiwi and American
characters. I recently started a part-time job where I’m on the phones helping
customers. Because I’m learning, I often have to put them on hold to ask my
supervisor what the hell I’m doing. LOL. And unbeknown to the poor customer, I
can hear their comments in the background, while I’m fossicking around <i>(trying to work out where the bloody info is
I need.) (Fossick – find.)</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">They like my accent, but can’t
always work out where it’s from. I’ve heard I’m sexy, cute, Irish, Australian…
“She says wee.” “She said, ‘Just a tick.” When a customer manages to hit New
Zealand, I think I should give them a special prize. LOL. It’s also made me
acutely aware of how strong my accent still is and how many Kiwisms, idioms,
phrases and words I use without being aware of it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Monya reminded me we all use “flat
out” but they also use “flat out like a lizard drinking,” and “flat strap.” :-)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Flat
out like a lizard drinking</span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Extremely busy, at top speed. Working hard. This
is a word play on two different meanings of the standard English “flat out.”
The literal sense is to lie fully stretched out (like a lizard,) and the
figurative sense means as fast as possible. The phrase also alludes to the
rapid tongue-movement of a drinking lizard. It is sometimes shortened, as in “we’re
flat out like a lizard trying to meet the deadline.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">This was from </span><a href="http://andc.anu.edu.au/australian-words/meanings-origins" target="_blank"><span style="color: #196ad4; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">http://andc.anu.edu.au/australian-words/meanings-origins</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Yes, how that is shortened, I’m not
sure. It’s one of those weird idiosyncrasies of Australasian English. We like
shortening words and if we can’t do that—we lengthen them instead. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14pt;">J</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> We have
convos, bizzos, arvos and cuppas. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">“So, I said, look mate, if you want
to have a decent convo about this bizzo, too right. We can have a cuppa this
arvo, then have some tea down the pub. Ring bugalugs and see if he’ll be
around. Last time I saw him, he looked like he’d been pulled through a gorse
bush backwards. He might’ve have been a wee bit crook. We can put the jug on
and rustle up some biccies too if you’re lucky…”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Right. So I hope you were all
keeping up with that conversation. The number of times I use expressions and
everyone looks blankly at me is quite funny. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">What was just said: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">“I said, look mate <i>(friend or just a general male person,</i>) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">if you want to have a decent <i>(good)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">convo <i>(conversation)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">about this bizzo <i>(business, matter to be discussed,)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">too right. <i>(I agree.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">We can have a cuppa <i>(cup of tea)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">this arvo, <i>(afternoon,)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">then have some tea <i>(dinner, not the stuff you drink and we only
drink black tea generally with milk and sugar)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">down the pub, <i>(at the hotel or bar).</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Ring bugalugs <i>(general name for someone, could be a friend or just a general person)</i>
and see if he’ll be around. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Last time I saw him, he looked like
he’d been pulled through a gorse bush backwards<i>. (He looked unkempt, or scruffy.)<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">He might have been a wee bit crook. <i>(unwell, ill.)<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">We can put the jug on <i>(electric kettle to boil water. The moment
you walk in the door in anyone’s house in NZ, they say, “I’ll just put the jug
on.” You’ll be expected to have a cup of tea or coffee.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">and rustle up some biccies <i>(short for biscuits, which are cookies)</i> too if you’re
lucky…” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Here's a Kiwi slang page. </span><a href="https://englishlanguagehelp.info/kiwi-slang/kiwi-slang-f/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #196ad4; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">https://englishlanguagehelp.info/kiwi-slang/kiwi-slang-f/</span></a><u><span style="color: #196ad4; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">. </span></u><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Change the
letter at the end for the rest of the alphabet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">As well as talking nineteen to the
dozen—we talk very fast! We then have short vowel sounds or arbitrarily miss
some out altogether. Our accent marks are in different locations sometimes.
LOL. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Batteries for the Americans are
Batt-ter-ries. We say Batt-ries. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Pro-duce in the States is prod-uce
in New Zealand. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">To-may-to, To-ma-to… let’s work the
whole thing out. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14pt;">J</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">On top of this incomprehensible list
of sayings, we have a distinct accent. Yes, we do sound like the Aussies <i>(and that’s Oz-zees… not Oss-sees) </i>but
our accents are subtlety different. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14pt;">J</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> The
Australians have a more nasally sound while ours is flat and monotone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">They say feesh and cheeps. We say
fush and chups. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Yes, we do get a bit “thingee” being
mistaken for Aussies even though we are similar. But no we don’t hate them—only when
they beat us in rugby. And especially if the All Blacks—our international rugby
team—are playing. It’s our national religion in New Zealand and is taken very,
Very, VERY seriously. However, if the Wallabies (the Aussie international rugby
team) are playing against the English or Springbok, (the South Africans) we
support them. It’s terribly complicated. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14pt;">J</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The New All Blacks do a Maori haka before every game, as do most Kiwi sports teams now. :-) It's a challenge to the other team. <i>Ka mate, ka mate</i>, roughly means "to the death" and variations of dying. It means they will fight to the death. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">There's a lot of good-natured ribbing back and forth between the two nations. Not all our words are the same though. One
that's different is “dag.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">If you say someone's “a bit of a
dag,” in NZ, it means they're funny, a bit of a character. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">In Australia, it means they're not
that nice or a bit of a drongo. <i>(Idiot)</i>
Dags are the fecal matter that sticks to sheep's wooly bums. <i>(backsides, butts)</i> Not that
complimentary if you think about it. Lol. You'll also hear "rattle your dags," in Australia, meaning to get a move on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Whereas our dag comes from a
comedian in NZ called Fred Dagg who took the mickey out of farmers and farming
things. He was a scream. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Right… so I hope you’re all keeping
up! There’ll be a quiz at the end of this blog. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14pt;">J</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> We “take
the mickey” <i>(tease or rib) </i>out of all
sorts of things. We’re quite irreverent and anything is fair game.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">On my first trip to Australia, I
insulted lots of the Aussies. When someone asked me, so what do you think of so
and so. I'd say, "Yeah, they're a bit of a dag."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">The Aussies would look a bit
startled. "Really? You really think so."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">And I'd enthusiastically say,
"Yes, yes, a real dag."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Thus making things <i>even</i> worse… I couldn't work out their
puzzled looks. It wasn't until I got to the end of my trip (of course) that I
realized I'd insulted half of Australia when my uncle explained the two
meanings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Oops. Sorry!! :-)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">So, back to our original thing Ken
asked about. Flat out…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">It's suggested it came from the dawn
of the motor car where you had your foot “flat out” to the floorboards and you’d
be going “like the clappers.” <i>(very
fast.)</i> Or a horse race where the rider lies flat against the horse, cutting
down the aerodynamic effects. Possibly that's where flat tack comes from. Flat
to the tack?? (Horse tack or tackle possibly.) Not sure. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">You can be flat out racing. “Going
like the clappers.” <i>(Fast).</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Flat out broke. Not a cent to your
name.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Flat out indignant—absolutely indignant. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">It tends to heighten what is going
on. Flat out brilliant—really brilliant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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We used to tell people "ladies a plate—men a crate." The men would bring beer that used to come in big bottles in a crate. Many a poor woman turned up with an empty plate—not realizing it meant bring something yummy to eat on a plate to share, often baking. </div>
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The New Zealand Meat Pie or Poi! Yum. Flaky or puff pastry filled with meaty goodness. And the classic 'sausie roll.' Sausage meat encased in pastry... yum... Steak and cheese, mince, curried mince, peppered steak - these can be brought at any service station or dairy (gas station or 7/11 type convenience story)</div>
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Jandals can be worn year round in New Zealand, even when it's bloody freezing. Elsewhere in the world they're called flip-flops (US), thongs (Aussie) slippahs (Hawaii)</div>
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The New Zealand lolly cake. Made from sweets called Eskimos and really really good. :-) </div>
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Our national dessert - the Pavlova! Now the Aussies reckon it's their dessert. They DID name it. It was named after Anna Pavlova the ballet dance. BUT fierce and intensive NON-BIASED research suggests the Kiwis made it first as a 'Meringue cake.' The Aussies will kill me for this. :-)</div>
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Afghan biscuits—Butter, flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and cornflakes. Always topped with choccie icing and a walnut which people either love or hate. (the walnut) Not a fan myself. :-) </div>
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The Custard Square, which the Aussies call a Vanilla Slice. Made from thick custard, sandwiched between layers of flaky pastry and topped with white icing. Yum!! </div>
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Choccie Fish - pink marshmallow encased in thin chocolate. The traditional way to eat one is to bite one end and stretch the marshmallow, before snapping it off. So good!!</div>
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Hokey Pokey is a New Zealand institution. Honeycomb candy that it put in everything we can think of. Fabulous in ice cream!! I love it!</div>
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Pineapple Lumps—pineapple flavored marshmallow coated in thin choccie. Great in the fridge or freezer, when you bite into them they snap or crunch. Yum!! :-)</div>
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New Zealand whitebait fritters! A delicacy in NZ. They are the young fry of the inaga fish, translucent wriggles of things that are cooked into omelettes. </div>
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"Kiwi Ingenuity" is a unique part of our culture. It means we can fix just about anything "with a piece of number eight fencing wire." We are young European wise and still have a large pioneering spirit on board. Being on the other side of the world, far from anywhere (even Australia - 3 and 1/2 hours away by modern aircraft) we had to "make do," often making things ourselves out of what was available. </div>
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The car that is featured in this artwork is the Morrie Minor. My best friend had one called Costa (cos it Costa-lot) and we used to go EVERYWHERE in it. :-) It was made in 1958 and was a bullet nose Morrie. :-) We used to drive incredibly ancient cars in New Zealand until Japanese imports came in. :-) My other best friends mum is Gurty (short for Gertrude, a popular car name in New Zealand) and she has the Tiki Tour plate on her car here in the States. :-) </div>
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<a class="word" href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tiki+tour&defid=3238968" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #134fe6; font-family: Lora, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 2rem; line-height: 41.2799987792969px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: middle;">tiki tour</a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">(New Zealand slang)</span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">1. a sight-seeing journey with no particular destination in mind.</span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">2. taking the</span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=scenic+route" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #134fe6; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">scenic route</a><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">to a destination.</span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">3. to wander aimlessly.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">The</span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=rellies" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #134fe6; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">rellies</a><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">came over for a visit and I took them on a tiki tour of the city.</span><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #2c353c; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #2c353c; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">We took a wrong turn at Huntly and had to tiki tour through the </span><a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wop+wops" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #134fe6; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">wop wops</a><span style="line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> to make it back to Hamilton.</span></span></div>
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The rellies are the relatives, friends and family.</div>
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The wop wops are rural, the back of beyond, miles from civilization type thing. The Boonies I think it would be called in the States. :-) </div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0in;">Our Kiwi culture includes lots of funny wee sayings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">If you're doing anything for Africa, it means you're doing a lot of it. "She was shopping for Africa.” "They were partying for Africa." It's applied to all sorts of things. :-) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0in;">They’re “a wee bit feral.” (Often
refers to someone’s 'darling' offspring) meaning they’re out of control and a wee
bit on the wild side.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">If someone is “as mad as a meataxe.”
They’re bonkers <i>(slightly nuts, not
dangerous, but just slightly unhinged or odd.) </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">And if something is “as silly as a
two bob watch.” That refers to something that’s a wee bit ridiculous. A two bob
watch was something pretty cheap and nasty and cost two bob, (in old currency
before we went to metric, dollars and cents.) Given it was so cheap, it was
unreliable and did silly things like not keep time correctly, slowing down or
speeding up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Some of our sayings have deep
English, Scottish and Irish roots and you’ll hear them in the American South as
well. “As slow as a wet week” <i>(it’s
taking ages and is dragging) </i>or “like a month of Sundays.” <i>(A very long time.)<span style="text-transform: uppercase;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">My speech has the Scottish “wee” in
it as all Southern New Zealanders do from the South Island. When the Scottish
immigrated to New Zealand, they brought their delightful accent with them. They
started out in Dunedin in the far south of the South Island and the wee has
spread up the whole island for some reason. Even my dad who’s an Aucklander and
Northerner originally, uses the wee now in his speech. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">We get stroppy when we’re angry. And
throw wobblies and berkies. <i>(temper
tantrums.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">We swear a lot more than Americans
and are a largely secular country—using words like god, Christ, good lord has
no real religious meaning. It’s just a set of words that gives emphasis. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">We use bloody and bugger a lot—in
all sorts of circumstances. They’re mild inoffensive swear words, that have
multi-purpose meanings. It’s like saying damn or darn in the States. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">“That bugger of a mongrel ate the
bloody leg of lamb for tea.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">(“That
darn dog ate the damn leg of lamb for dinner.”) <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Things can be buggered <i>(they don’t work.)</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">“Well bugger me!” <i>(An expression of surprise.)</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">“Bugger, Bob.” <i>(I’m annoyed with Bob.)</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">“I buggered up the paperwork.” <i>(I made a mess of the paperwork.)</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">“Bugger!” <i>(Darn, that’s a shame.)</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">“I’ll bugger off home then.” <i>(I’ll go home.)</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">In my new book <b><i><span style="color: magenta;">Hawaiian Lei</span></i></b> which is out
tomorrow, I have a glossary of words used at the end of the book. I also have words
lists on my website at <a href="http://www.troikaromance.com/">www.troikaromance.com</a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Under Kiwiana are words from <b><i>Henry
and Isolde</i></b> ~ due out soon in spring from Muse It Up Publishing. <a href="http://www.troikaromance.com/kiwi-ana.html">http://www.troikaromance.com/kiwi-ana.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">And the Kiwi and Polynesian
Dictionary from <b><i><span style="color: magenta;">Hawaiian Lei</span></i></b> releases tomorrow from Loose Id Publishing. <a href="http://www.troikaromance.com/kiwi-and-polynesian-dictionary.html">http://www.troikaromance.com/kiwi-and-polynesian-dictionary.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">I’m as pleased as punch to have my
new book coming out. It’s a sensuous, heartfelt male/male gay romance set in
the beautiful Hawaiian Islands. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">I’m born and bred in New Zealand but
my American home state is Hawai’i. Combining these two special cultures into
one story has really called to my heart and soul. I’ve lived in the States for
20 odd years now and have become a hybrid of both New Zealand and America. I
received my citizenship in the courthouse over in Hilo on the Big Island of
Hawai’i. It 's the perfect blend of the Polynesian Pacific Island culture
which sings to my soul, combined with the convenience of the American lifestyle
I’ve become used to. I am happiest at home in Kona, on the Big Island of
Hawai’i. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14pt;">J</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">All my
stories are ultimately about soul deep relationships, the intense love and
connection we all crave with another human being. The core need to be accepted
just as we are. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Thanks to Ken for originally
suggesting this blog. It’s been a lot of fun to write :-) I hope you enjoy our
Kiwiana and enjoy the new book <span style="color: magenta; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Hawaiian Lei. </span>I loved writing using my Kiwi and Hawaiian voices. It's lovely to showcase my own countrymen and the gorgeous aloha state of Hawai'i. :-) The gorgeous cover is by Syneca Featherstone! :-) The book will be ava</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18.6666660308838px;">ilable on Tuesday the 17th March, St Paddy's Day on Amazon and Loose Id websites. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"></span></div>
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My muse for Beau Toyama. Beau has long hair and is slightly older, but just as gorgeous. </div>
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My muse for Mattie Quintal who is slightly darker in skin tone, has blue eyes and slightly longer hair, but this is Matties build, energy and look. The lovely eyes and smile. :-) </div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Mahalo and aloha Meg. :-). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: magenta; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>Hawaiian Lei</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0in;">Two
stunning Polynesian men, each experiencing existential crisis, meet and fall in
love. They find healing against the beautiful backdrop of the mystical Hawaiian
Islands.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Beau
Toyama, a 'mixed plate' Hawaiian/Japanese/Tahitian man is a flight instructor
on the Big Island of Hawai’i. He’s a lovely, gentle, shy soul from a
dysfunctional island family and was married for a long time. One day his wife
Mikey said, “I love you, babe, but this isn’t working. I need a really good
man…” she’d paused, “And so do you.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Matt
Quintal, a New Zealand painter with a Norfolk Island and Maori background has
been living the ‘gay scene’ in LA for a year and knows it’s a crock. Feeling
the need to escape the scene, his Polynesian soul is drawn back to the Pacific.
He visits his sister Rach in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, where his spirit
is always more connected. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">When
Matt’s heart is drawn to the sound of the radial engines of a Stearman bi-plane
overhead, his life is about to change. There’s an instant soul connection
between Beau and Matt. Unbeknown to them, Beau’s mom Tehani, who has passed on,
has guided Matt home to her son Beau.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">They
both bring things to the relationship which get triggered. Family dysfunction,
abuse, redemption, healing, trust and love come to light, as Beau and Matt work
together. They need to reveal their deep emotional vulnerabilities to heal.
What they want is a loving relationship, allowing their hearts and souls to
open and trust. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: magenta; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hawaiian-Lei-Meg-Amor-ebook/dp/B00UUL7V1A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427092789&sr=8-1&keywords=meg+amor" target="_blank">AMAZON</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">EXCERPT ~ </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.troikaromance.com/hawaiian-lei-and-hawaiian-orchid-blurb-and-excerpt-1.html">http://www.troikaromance.com/hawaiian-lei-and-hawaiian-orchid-blurb-and-excerpt-1.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The Stearman biplane that Beau flies over the Big Island of Hawai'i. :-) </div>
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TO CONTACT ME: </div>
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<div align="center" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399508092347_22713" style="font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<b id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399508092347_22715">Meg Amor</b></div>
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<i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_42828">***</i></div>
<div align="center" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399508092347_22708" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_42827"><a href="http://www.troikaromance.com/" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_42826" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #cb008e; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">http://www.troikaromance.com/</a></i></div>
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<i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400384826032_4255">***</i></div>
<div align="center" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399508092347_22719" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<i id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399508092347_22718"><a href="http://www.troikaromance.blogspot.com/" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400384826032_3823" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: #652191; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">www.troikaromance.blogspot.com</a> </i><i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_44199">***</i></div>
<div align="center" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399508092347_22712" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="color: #cd232c; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 16.7pt;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MegAmorRomance/posts" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">google+</a> </span><i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400384826032_3824">*** </i><i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_42830"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1426482257680_20461" style="color: #70aced;"><a href="https://twitter.com/amor_meg" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1426482257680_20460" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">twitter</a> </span></i><i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400384826032_3824">*** </i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/meg.amor.5" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Facebook</a></div>
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<em id="yui_3_16_0_1_1426482257680_20439">***</em></div>
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<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Hawaiian Lei ~ </span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1426482257680_20437" style="font-style: italic;">Sensual m/m gay romance ~ The Hawaiians Series ~ Loose Id Publishing </span></div>
<div align="center" id="yui_3_16_0_13_1400366272663_9" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1426482257680_20438" style="font-style: italic;">~ 17 Mar 2015 Release</span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1426482257680_20440" style="font-style: italic;">***</span></div>
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<span style="color: #cb008e;"> </span><a href="https://museithotpublishing.com/index.php/our-authors/50-our-authors/authors-a/380-meg-amor" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1426482257680_20452" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1426482257680_20451" style="color: #cb008e;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1426482257680_20450" style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic;">~ Muse It Up ~</span> </span><span style="color: #652191; font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">Sensual</span><span style="color: #845aa7;"><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: #cb008e; font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;">romance<span style="font-size: 14pt;"> ~</span></span></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" id="yui_3_16_0_13_1400366272663_9" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1426482257680_20449" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">Henry and Isolde ~ </span>Troika Love Series ~ Book 1 of Trilogy </div>
<div align="center" id="yui_3_16_0_13_1400366272663_9" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
~ Spring 2015 release<br />
<span style="font-weight: 700;"><em>Saint Nicholas ~ </em></span>a beautiful heartfelt m/f love story <span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Saint-Nicholas-Meg-Amor-ebook/dp/B00PE2XJIE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418093755&sr=8-1&keywords=meg+amor" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">AMAZON</a></span></div>
<div align="center" id="yui_3_16_0_13_1400366272663_9" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_44085"><i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_44084">Dark War ~</i></b> a committed Troika/poly relationship. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dark-War-Wild-Darkness-Calls-ebook/dp/B00K2M4AIY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418093815&sr=8-1&keywords=dark+war+meg+amor" rel="nofollow" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; font-size: small; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">AMAZON</a></div>
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***</div>
<div align="center" id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399508092347_22711" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<b id="yui_3_13_0_1_1399508092347_22710"><i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1400366272663_44180">The Mystic Manifestor ~</i></b> Spiritual/Self-Help </div>
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***</div>
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"Everyone lives a thousand lives, but only one life to remember ~</div>
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Will this be yours?"</div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-29281383919899955252015-02-25T10:58:00.004-08:002015-02-26T16:49:12.207-08:00Delores Swallows ~ Fabulous interview with British erotica author!!! ~ Great answers!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Aloha everyone! Today I have, all the way from the UK ~ British author of erotica, romance erotica and generally good stories ~ <b>DELORES SWALLOWS! </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I've read a few of his books and stories, they're good! The characters are real, often intelligent and there's sometimes a wee twist thrown in rather subtlety. Two of my favorites come out <span style="color: #351c75; font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif;">in March (on 20th and 27th) HORS D'OEUVRES ~ (a night train Paris voyeur story) and CLOSEST STRANGERS ~ (a novella-length one which has a nice twist and believable gritty characters). And IN THE SHADOW OF THE RIOT is already released! :-)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We don't have zillion of male erotica writers who write erotica rather than porn (do not all write in to complain to me!! You all know what I mean!! LOL) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Good story lines with lovely explicit sex in them and emotions. There's a difference! I've enjoyed hosting these men who write in this largely female dominant field. They give a fresh energy and angle to the stories they write. So welcome Del, let's ask you some questions. :-) (of which, I get excellent and interesting answers to!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16.0pt;">Tell our readers a wee bit
about yourself. What are 5 things you wished you’d done, have done or are still
to do, on the Bucket List? :-)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">1.<b> There are so many things I’d like to see before I pop my clogs. I wish
I’d ‘gone to see the world’ when I was younger, rather than doing the ‘sensible
thing’ of getting my qualifications and a steady job. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><b>I’ve visited some great
places, but still on my ‘wish list’ are The Great Barrier Reef, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Yellowstone</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">National Park</st1:placetype></st1:place> and the Serengeti. I’d
also like to see Everest – but only from a distance. I have no ambitions to
climb it, but I wouldn’t mind having a go at Kilimanjaro. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The Northern Lights is another thing I’d love to witness,
and to show my children. I remember taking my youngest son outside to lie on a
hammock one night to watch a comet shower. For us all to lie on a blanket and
watch the whole sky changing colours would be pretty special, and something
they’d remember for their whole lives.</span></b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">2. <b>I enjoy music, and write songs as well as stories. Now I’ve finally
lost my virginity as far as publishing my stories is concerned, I’d love to
record some of my songs. I have a few friends who also play, and they’re up for
it. It’s just a matter of getting us all together for the time it would take. I
have all the software I need on my pc to do it, but would love the chance to
work with professional engineers and producers in a real studio. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">One of my published stories, <i>In the Shadow of The Riot</i>, is about a punk band. My ideal scenario
would be for that to be made into a film and for me to write the musical score.
Some of the song titles and lyrics within the story are actually from songs I
wrote when I was in a punk band, years ago.</span></b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: large;"><b>It’s 1979 and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Britain</st1:country-region></st1:place>’s
still clinging on to the punk rock era. </b></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: large;"><b>Jag’s band Frenzy has been invited to
join two other bands as support acts for The Riot as they tour the <st1:place w:st="on">Midlands</st1:place>.</b></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: large;"><b> Is it all sex, drugs and Rock’n’Roll?</b></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: large;"><b>No, but
two out of three ain’t bad.</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Riot-Delores-Swallows-ebook/dp/B00RDTFNRG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424889240&sr=8-1&keywords=in+the+shadow+of+the+riots" target="_blank">AMAZON</a></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">3. <b>I’d like to write a mainstream story so I can include torture, murder,
rape, cannibalism, under-age sex, bestiality and all my other fetishes which
I’m not allowed to include in my erotic writing. Okay – that’s not entirely true.
But I do intend writing a smut-free story, and am considering using the pen
name Millicent Spits.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">4. <b>I’ve always been interested in wild life, and have a special
fascination for sharks and whales. I went swimming with sharks in the <st1:place w:st="on">Caribbean</st1:place> a few years back. They weren’t man-eaters, but
they were about 9 foot-long with big ragged teeth. As Paul Merton would say –
‘You wouldn’t want one of them swimming up your arse’.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I’ve also been scuba-diving in The <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Maldives</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
Although I saw turtles, stingrays and a variety of fantastic coral and fish, I
was disappointed at the time because I knew on the previous day the divers had
encountered a whale shark. Seeing that would have made my year!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">One thing I’d love to do is go on a whale-watching
trip and see orcas leaping out of the sea. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I suppose if I could choose any one living creature to
see before I die, it’d be a blue whale. I know size isn’t everything, but to
actually see the biggest living creature in the world would be pretty cool.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">5. <b>I’d like to design (with the help and advice of an architect) our own
house, and then oversee the building of it. My wife is really into this idea,
too – so the hardest part for me might be getting her to agree to include any
of my ideas. But I really admire people who come up with a plan for their dream
home, and then spend all their time and energy working hard to make it a reality.
I think you’d get a fantastic sense of achievement when you sit down at the end
and look round your home and see the result of all your ideas and hard work.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Tell us about the genre you
write, why do you love it and how did you get into it? </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I think I write erotica, but people tell me if there’s
a HEA ending it can be termed <i>erotic
romance </i>because that’s easier to market. Not all of my stories have a happy
ending, but I like to think that most of them have a believable and interesting
plot. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I suppose like any normal person, I used to think
about sex and situations that I found appealing as a way to pass the time if I
was doing a task that didn’t need much thought – cutting the grass, painting
the house, or something like that. Sometimes an idea would stick with me, and
my mind would work it into a scene that could actually happen. After a while I started to write short
stories around them for my own entertainment. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">A couple of years later I did a web-search and found an
erotic writer’s site called <i>The Fish Tank</i>
(can be found under Desdmona.com). I read a few stories there, and then started
posting my own. I received a lot of help and advice from the other members, and
I still use the forum now. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Last year one of the members suggested I also joined
ERWA, and that was the best thing I’ve ever done. It’s full of talented and
knowledgeable people who are very generous with their time and advice. Thanks
to the advice and help I received from them I’ve now started getting my own
stories published. I’ve had four published so far, and there are another four
scheduled for release in March. By the end of the year I should have over
twenty stories available.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">What’s your most favorite restaurant
in the world? Where, why and the best dish/es they make? </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I don’t know about listing them as my <i>favourite</i> restaurants, but the two meals
that stick in my mind after several years were both eaten in places we visited
while on holiday. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The first was a small diner in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Chicago</st1:city></st1:place>, which I don’t know the name of. We ate
breakfast sitting at tables on the side-walk. It was a beautiful sunny morning,
and I had eggs Benedict, which also had a layer of spinach, and was absolutely fantastic.
At the next table, a guy ordered a bottle of Evian water for his pet dog. Maybe
little Fido didn’t like tap water. I didn’t point out that Evian spelt
backwards is naïve!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The second was a place called <i>Barrique</i> in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Old</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Town</st1:placetype></st1:place> district of Zurich.
It’s more of a wine bar that also does food, and I had a steak that was
faultless. But the main thing I remember is the wine list. It was incredible –
I’ve never been anywhere with such a wide selection of great wine. Just before
we were due to leave, we combined all our Swiss francs and went back there to
enjoy one final bottle while we waited for our train back to Germany.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Remember those ads for
Expedia (if not, just play along) that asked, ‘If you could go anywhere in the
world, but have to go right now?’ Where would you have gone and would you have
said to YES to right now? What pulls and entices you to that country? </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I’d go to <st1:place w:st="on">Africa</st1:place>. I’m
so jealous of all my friends and family members who’ve been there and gone on
safaris. <st1:country-region w:st="on">Kenya</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Tanzania</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">South Africa</st1:place></st1:country-region> – I wouldn’t mind
which as long as I could see the wildlife. I want to see a sunset with animals
wandering beneath Baobab trees.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">New
Zealand</span></b></st1:country-region></st1:place><b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"> is another place that really appeals. I
think my wife would prefer NZ, so maybe we’ll have to save up and have two
trips.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">What parts of you, are
incorporated into your characters? </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I like to think my sense of humour shows up in a lot
of my characters. I keep the physical parts of me out of my stories, because
nobody wants to read about a fat bloke who’s hung like a hamster. No, that’s a
joke. Honest. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I try and make my stories ‘believable’ - and often put
myself in the position of some of my characters to see what response I’d give
if I was in a similar situation to my character. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">A lot of my stories have a voyeuristic slant, and that
is probably a characteristic of mine that I hadn’t known about (or maybe ‘admitted
to’ would be more accurate), before I started writing.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><b>Should I mention again that the hamster reference was just
a joke, or would it sound like I’m paranoid now? </b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">(Meg: Yeahhh... maybe a wee bit paranoid, but don't let me stop you... LOL)</span></span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Favorite male hero/public
figure you admire in the world, dead or alive, and why? </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I could list a lot of people here, just to show how
shallow I am. As a kid growing up, I loved football (soccer) and music. All
through my teens my hero was John Lennon. When I started playing guitar I got
into the music of Neil Young, and I’ve been a fan of his ever since. I like the
way he veers off and changes his music, following whatever path appeals to him without
caring about markets, or even how it’s received by his fans. Although I don’t
like every song he’s ever done, I have to admire his ability to experiment with
so many different sounds. And he’s written some fabulous songs.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Another person I have a lot of respect for is Cristiano
Ronaldo. I remember reading the coaches at <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Manchester</st1:place></st1:city> United said he trained harder than
anyone – he’d spend more time in the gym and more time practicing on the pitch.
A lot of football fans love to hate him, but I think for a person who has more
natural talent than everyone else, to show that sort of commitment and
dedication to being the best he can be is a really good quality. And I have
paid money to watch him play many times. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">But I suppose if I had to name the person who’s life
achievements I admire the most, it would be Nelson Mandela. Reading his
autobiography ‘Long Walk to Freedom’ is a humbling experience. The things he
and others like him had to endure are unbelievable. As I read the book I felt
ashamed to be white. Yet even after all that had happened to him, when he was
finally released from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Robben</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Island</st1:placetype></st1:place>, he still showed
so much dignity. An amazing person.</span></b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Favorite female heroine/public
figure you admire in the world, dead or alive, and why? </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The first name that springs to mind here is JK
Rowling. I loved the entire Harry Potter thing – it showed she has a fantastic
imagination. Not just the idea and incredible story plots and twists, but
little things like the terms and phrases she used for magic spells. I think
it’s all really clever. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">My eldest daughter was a teenager when the first ones
came out, and she got me into them. That’s the only time I’ve pre-ordered more
than one copy of a new book at a time, because we all wanted to read the latest
installment as soon as it was released. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I have also read and really enjoyed the novels she’s
written since. It takes a special writer to make a story about local councilors
interesting! I love both the Cormorant Strike books, and hope she carries on
with the series because yet again she’s invented some great characters. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">She also does a lot of work for children’s charities,
which is another good reason for choosing her.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">In addition to all that, I find her very easy on the
eyes, and I think she’d be excellent company at a dinner party. I’m sure that
with her talent and imagination, she could also write much better erotica than
most of us manage!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Have you ever had a character
just “do their own thing?” Have you ever had an argument with one of your
characters? Or anything else odd happen? </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Yes, frequently. When I first get an idea for a story
I usually write it down in bullet-point form. Not necessarily scenes, but just
what takes place in order to get to where I want the story to go. Then when I
start actually writing the story, the characters come to life and get an
identity of their own. Quite often some of the original ideas in the
bullet-points don’t seem to be appropriate for the characters anymore, because
that’s not who they turned out to be. Does that make sense?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">What’s your passion in life? </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I’m sure I should list a lot of things here that would
be more in keeping with trying to be a writer. I do love making things up – be
it stories, songs, or just excuses for the wife when I haven’t done all of my
chores… <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">But I think my real passion now is my family. I have
three fabulous grown-up children from my first marriage, and I love spending
time with them. They each have their own great personality, I am very proud of
them all. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I re-married in 2001 and we have two young children aged four and
three. They are both fantastic and a joy to be with. I am now a house-husband
and look after the kids while my wife works away during the week. But
understandably she finds not seeing the kids every day very difficult, so our
current situation will have to be temporary. Once she decides where she wants
to work and live, we’ll move so we can all be together full time.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">What’s your writer’s routine?
Do you write whenever or at certain times? Are you a pantser or plotter? Where
do you like to write? </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I write at a desk in a spare bedroom. It’s the room
where all my guitars are, and I have a desk in the corner with a pc. I have
recently bought a laptop, but think I’ll still set it up on my desk and work
there. Once I’ve got the kids to school and nursery, I theoretically have a few
hours during the day to write. But there are always chores to do, either in the
house or garden. And real life gets in the way, so I don’t have as much time as
you’d think. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Once the kids are asleep, I tend to go back into my ‘den’ and
write during the evenings rather than watching TV.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I kind of ‘plot’ – but often things take a turn I
hadn’t plotted, so maybe I’m a bit of a pantser, too.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7um3AQ-SDOz1nPQTcpS8UHNy2EJLm5XdWPdNIYZ-AKbBIvuGmjyoam0fb7Id5KuMGpKXMpJenBVMRpNE3uCMATFngHKiQN86S32mkemB6xukWfRFBKiVFOjweMsFTn6inXZV1Ug_p2OY/s1600/Recording+Studio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7um3AQ-SDOz1nPQTcpS8UHNy2EJLm5XdWPdNIYZ-AKbBIvuGmjyoam0fb7Id5KuMGpKXMpJenBVMRpNE3uCMATFngHKiQN86S32mkemB6xukWfRFBKiVFOjweMsFTn6inXZV1Ug_p2OY/s1600/Recording+Studio.jpg" height="283" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Isn't this the coolest room!!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">If you could pick a past
life, what time period would appeal to you and why? Would you be male or
female? Rich or poor? </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I grew up watching cowboy films, and have always had a
fascination for the old west. But rather than being a cowboy, the life that
appeals to me the most would be that of the Native Americans. I
think their life must have been idyllic before the arrival of the settlers –
riding bareback on black and white horses surrounded by fantastic scenery, and
spending your nights in a teepee with a pretty squaw under your buffalo-skin
rug. It sounds like a good life to me. So I’d choose that, but preferably
before the arrival of us ‘pale-faces’.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: 16pt;">How do you come up the names
for your characters? Do they just pop in ‘out of the blue.’ Or do you have to
really think about them and research them?</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">This can be the hardest part for me. I try and use
names that I’ve come across in real life (I don’t have characters called
Chardonnay or Quentin), but I also don’t want to use names of people I’m close
to. So none of my character names are the same as members of my family, or
close friends. Once I give a name to a character, they then take on that name.
Sometimes I realise later a friend’s wife or child is called by the same name,
but by then the character is already real to me, so it doesn’t matter.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">What new things have are you
working on? </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The story I’m working on at the moment is called <i>Stranger than Fiction </i>(not original, I
know). It’s about a guy who writes erotic fiction, and in his current story he
writes a scene where the female main character has unfulfilling sex. Then she turns
up in his real life, complaining about her lack of satisfaction and asking him
to write her a better love life. I wrote half of it a few months back, and am
now finishing it off. I’m really enjoying it – it’s a change from my others
because I usually try and keep them as ‘realistic’ as I can. Like all my other
stories, I’m trying to include some humour in there too, and this story-line is
a great vehicle for that.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I also have a series of short stories called <i>Pillow Talk</i>, where we take a peek inside
a different bedroom for each one. They involve couples having intimate
conversations in bed, which leads to them having sex. I’ve got seven already
written, and have ideas for the next three. When I get stuck on longer stories
I often visit this series to get a few ideas written down.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Pillow Talk
series takes a fleeting glimpse inside private bedrooms. We find couples having
intimate conversations, which inevitably lead to them having hot sex. They
reveal histories, f<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">antasies, confessions,
and we get to enjoy them all.</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: large;">In #1, Debbie
reveals the chills and thrills she'd shared with an ex-boyfriend, while John
confesses to enjoying a previous girlfriend's exhibitionism.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pillow-Talk-1-Debbie-John-ebook/dp/B00SNSG0BE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424889420&sr=8-1&keywords=pillow+talk+delores+swallows" target="_blank">AMAZON</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><span style="color: #f1c232; font-size: large;">Alison confesses to an indiscretion with someone else.
But instead of being angry, Chris seems to find it strangely arousing…</span><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.deloresswallows.com/" style="background-color: transparent;">www.deloresswallows.com</a></span><br />
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<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1424980247757_177211" style="text-align: justify;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1424980247757_177243" lang="EN-US">Delores Swallows has been writing erotica for a number of years. Delores is also a songwriter, over-worked husband and father, ex-research</span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1424980247757_177210" lang="EN-US"> <span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1424980247757_177209">chemist and qualified plumber.</span></span></b></div>
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<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1424980247757_177237"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1424980247757_177236" style="color: #20124d;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1424980247757_177239" lang="EN-US">If you would like to give feedback</span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1424980247757_177235" lang="EN-US"> <span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1424980247757_177348">on his stories or contact him, you can do so via e-mail</span> <a href="mailto:deloresswallows@gmail.com" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1424980247757_177234" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background: transparent; color: blue; cursor: text !important; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank" ymailto="mailto:deloresswallows@gmail.com"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1424980247757_177233">deloresswallows@gmail.com</span></a><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1424980247757_177729"> or twitter @deloresswallows</span></span></span></b></div>
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<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1424980247757_177217"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1424980247757_177216" lang="EN-US"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1424980247757_177215" style="color: #20124d;">If you would like to get a free short story and updates on all new releases, simply join the mailing list by writing to his e-mail address above.</span></span></b> </div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">Here's a taste of other books from Del which might interest you: </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMZjwrvFzYELI70eQSjfw_6iJTo70ur4_6XUoBgbwfGT76gLHLrLFPkJpHvE5oGTz-uRd95w40Z89j6NMQ7liat9AqAD1vdxFUjuBrF13eOzCmBN800YguxYDIQwGS3a2WzawFH5WXZ9w/s1600/End+of+the+Line+Cover+(200x300).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMZjwrvFzYELI70eQSjfw_6iJTo70ur4_6XUoBgbwfGT76gLHLrLFPkJpHvE5oGTz-uRd95w40Z89j6NMQ7liat9AqAD1vdxFUjuBrF13eOzCmBN800YguxYDIQwGS3a2WzawFH5WXZ9w/s1600/End+of+the+Line+Cover+(200x300).jpeg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #674ea7;">When Kerry's husband finds out he's going to be spending
several hours on a train, he asks her to break the monotony by sending him sexy
text messages. She does this and finds herself enjoying them much more than
she'd expected to. She reveals fantasies they'd never spoken about face to
face. But then he calls to announce he's lost his mobile phone. Does this mean
she's been sharing sex-filled texts with a stranger, or is he actually trying
to see how she reacts to the possibility it's someone else?</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/End-Line-Delores-Swallows-ebook/dp/B00QL3P3MU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424890226&sr=8-1&keywords=END+OF+THE+LINE+DELORES+SWALLOWS" target="_blank">AMAZON</a></b></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAd2nxMPS5QbiS8XLWM6ZYuut_AAXZWGH25x3xkpIGE1rgGEPUfQ89ojZS8Gl7NdvBPI1KmB3KMBpXvDuVKECehiUFT2W2zk1FZqesnLUt9FGg_BLje68WjFkcmmznFpNg6_mMpcdod3Q/s1600/Bon+Voyeur+Cover+(200x300).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAd2nxMPS5QbiS8XLWM6ZYuut_AAXZWGH25x3xkpIGE1rgGEPUfQ89ojZS8Gl7NdvBPI1KmB3KMBpXvDuVKECehiUFT2W2zk1FZqesnLUt9FGg_BLje68WjFkcmmznFpNg6_mMpcdod3Q/s1600/Bon+Voyeur+Cover+(200x300).jpeg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-size: large;">A hot ménage story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-size: large;">Dirty-talk about a threesome is
an effective way for Sophie and Jim to enhance their sex life. But who could
they trust to turn their fantasy into reality? They don’t feel comfortable
involving a total stranger, but inviting a close friend may lead to
complications afterwards… But then an opportunity presents itself that is too
good to miss, and they discover Jim gets even more out of the tryst than they
expected.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bon-Voyeur-Delores-Swallows-ebook/dp/B00T0TIYXW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424890376&sr=8-1&keywords=bon+voyeur+DELORES+SWALLOWS" target="_blank">AMAZON</a></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_I8oFmHcew043jiAiIVN6nLkvBEKrehdGfQRZqcJbCH-jeKlVgAFl5HkpGmX1peEpKluG_zil2bxHZI0HXFqU_Jx5yMBHZqYtHPNOSalQEuJTsVSPoPjPsLg7V0sbg-oAT1RFFcQyNGo/s1600/TakingThePlunge-DeloresSwallows-150x225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_I8oFmHcew043jiAiIVN6nLkvBEKrehdGfQRZqcJbCH-jeKlVgAFl5HkpGmX1peEpKluG_zil2bxHZI0HXFqU_Jx5yMBHZqYtHPNOSalQEuJTsVSPoPjPsLg7V0sbg-oAT1RFFcQyNGo/s1600/TakingThePlunge-DeloresSwallows-150x225.JPG" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04; font-size: large;">Releasing on the 15th March 2015</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: large;">During an intimate
conversation, Nick had asked his wife Molly about her ultimate sexual fantasy.
She'd revealed it would be a threesome with two men, preferably in a hot-tub.
After further questioning it became evident that Molly had given the idea quite
some thought, because she already had an entire 'script' for how the evening should
go. Nick had since re-visited their conversation many times in his own head,
and soon realised how much the idea appealed to him. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: large;">Two years after their
original conversation and they book into a resort set high in the Swiss Alps.
They have everything they need except the third party. All they have to do to
make their fantasy into reality is to let Molly take her pick from the many
visiting hikers. She chooses a Frenchman called Claude. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #783f04; font-size: large;">Now all that's left is
for Nick to see if Molly can 'direct' proceedings to get her ultimate fantasy
exactly how she wants it. He also wants to see how his own feelings cope,
because her fantasy had now become his obsession.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 9.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-2522059233924721532015-02-17T12:51:00.001-08:002015-02-17T12:52:17.618-08:00Writing by the seat of your pants-ers! ~ Breaking all the rules, so you can write!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHuK0hD5qjkSOpzxl8PZsMP5kw01Bgefr-rEObX4uK-OMuRE523TcjxJS7ra_yCXrOL4xoeEbqXT3DX3-BDMMLCtAATppyPBI6Y_svOeb8TvEW3nfcXsv-ILfzzwnOET3SHVIlHngBpCU/s1600/breakthem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHuK0hD5qjkSOpzxl8PZsMP5kw01Bgefr-rEObX4uK-OMuRE523TcjxJS7ra_yCXrOL4xoeEbqXT3DX3-BDMMLCtAATppyPBI6Y_svOeb8TvEW3nfcXsv-ILfzzwnOET3SHVIlHngBpCU/s1600/breakthem.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Aloha to all the pantser
writers out there. I’ve written this blog with the “redheaded stepchildren” of
writing in mind. While it’s slightly tongue-in-cheek, it’s also a little how
the plotters make me feel sometimes. Like I’m being a wayward naughty child,
because I won’t “be sensible” or plan things out. They see my writing by the
seat of my pants writing style as shambolic and disorganized. And I’ve just had
enough! I’m taking a stand. This is the anti-writers rules. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">They remind me of the people
who are morning people: If I never hear another person say, “It’s the best part
of the day.” It won’t be too soon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">If I never get woken at <st1:time hour="7" minute="0" w:st="on">7 a.m.</st1:time> just as I’m drifting off to
sleep with a surprised and slightly offended, “Are you still asleep?” It won’t
be too soon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Like the night owl, the
pantsers are largely misunderstood and considered slightly “abnormal” and “weird,”
to the day larks and plotters. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Yge2yhcZsA3us8OI1Yi7JoAsdB4WWK9w2_Qq-IMAeCv7siwdZKD-349RUYSquVq00PQIUFpNMo6hFfgyxhIdgF_eMHUAl73LX-RXX9bPYXFPAHDC7n4tIbYySFSn7VlO-QvA6WB9qww/s1600/18rc05xfeqlakjpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Yge2yhcZsA3us8OI1Yi7JoAsdB4WWK9w2_Qq-IMAeCv7siwdZKD-349RUYSquVq00PQIUFpNMo6hFfgyxhIdgF_eMHUAl73LX-RXX9bPYXFPAHDC7n4tIbYySFSn7VlO-QvA6WB9qww/s1600/18rc05xfeqlakjpg.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">I decided it was time to show
some support to the pantser writers out there. I’m on several writers groups
and it seems like nearly every day, there’s some poor soul who writes in and
says things like: I don’t know if I’ll ever be a real writer, I can’t seem to
get a routine or write in the mornings. Sometimes I don’t write for days on
end.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">They’re two minutes away from
slitting their wrists and I want to yell, STOP! You’re fine, you’re normal.
Come back! Put that razor blade down! Gently now. That’s…right. Phew. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">You see, when I was first
starting out as a writer, I read ALL the books on how to be a good writer.
Because somewhere it probably has that on a plotters list... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Make sure you
read every book you can on being a writer before you even start writing one
word! Do not <i>attempt</i> to even write
one word until you have done that. You will not be eligible for your gold stars
if you do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTEOgNk_oZ7tcoksThn0eIs8Zmh3u6EXXwOAa2swqonhcmGSZmiVLMgo452pe3SXz2AFoPBgM_6VC4wkehVkZ9dL4MJ9d7hOzba3N4CLQAIJVOljAFnWNerZ2_D9XNCH1c59HOHnDSpfo/s1600/star_of_the_week.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTEOgNk_oZ7tcoksThn0eIs8Zmh3u6EXXwOAa2swqonhcmGSZmiVLMgo452pe3SXz2AFoPBgM_6VC4wkehVkZ9dL4MJ9d7hOzba3N4CLQAIJVOljAFnWNerZ2_D9XNCH1c59HOHnDSpfo/s1600/star_of_the_week.png" height="356" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I know I sound like I’m
giving the poor old plotters a hard time here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I am and I’m not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I’m more trying to give the
pantsers a different view from the one they normally encounter as a pantser
person. So please don’t write into me plotters with death threats. The only
thing that consoles me with that is that you’ll have to plan it out before you
do it, so I have time to move somewhere else and go into the Witness Protection
Program. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Okay, enough acting the goat.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The fact is: the plotters and
pantser writers just do it differently and that’s okay. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I want to give the pantsers
PERMISSION to be themselves. No apologies, feeling silly, guilty or like rotten
awful people because they didn’t do a three page character analyze of every
single character in their book. I want someone starting out to realize, you <i>can</i> write anything and be good at it,
even if you never follow a single writer’s “rule.” And there are lots of them.
Every famous writer has a list of what works—for them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The thing is, we’re all
different.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">What worked for Ernest might
not work for you. Jack wrote out in the wilds of California. Ernest in piratesville
<st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Key West</st1:place></st1:city>. John
on the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Monterey</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Coast</st1:placetype></st1:place>. And they all wrote different
things. None of them sounds like the other. They were all unique in their own
way. So are you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAwHsPyM1RqvmyY_dlgKV0dg42GI3OlYUosD4Blapg0m3oCt0S9GO_z5X-2sek2KRbP0aer85HMj3g7qx7zZGa-3aPD6cGucN8z3EklEbPW-0qCk-bz1gsKJAFpjVh1-lbym5_5mZRv24/s1600/ernest-hemingway-home.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAwHsPyM1RqvmyY_dlgKV0dg42GI3OlYUosD4Blapg0m3oCt0S9GO_z5X-2sek2KRbP0aer85HMj3g7qx7zZGa-3aPD6cGucN8z3EklEbPW-0qCk-bz1gsKJAFpjVh1-lbym5_5mZRv24/s1600/ernest-hemingway-home.jpg" height="400" width="297" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of Hemingway's poly-dactyl - 6 toed cats. Be unique!!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Take advantage of that. It
doesn’t make sense that we should all follow the same path as writers either,
in the stories we write, the styles or the way we set up our workday. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I started out reading other
people’s rules on being a writer and came away feeling completely demoralized.
I thought, <i>I haven’t got a hope in hell
of pulling this off. There’s no way, I can follow all those rules.</i> Bugger! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I really did want to be a
writer, but well, the rules made it seem like I’d never succeed. I was kidding
myself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I did let it set me back for
a short time, but eventually I got brave and just wrote anyway. I flouted
convention, something I’m good at, so I made the most of it and discovered that
regardless of the way I write, publishers still want to buy my work. By spring this
year, I’ll have four books published. Two are already out and I’m in contract
for two others. My pride and joy, the first novel in my Troika trilogy series comes
out in spring. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">But if I’d listened to the "experts," I’d still be unpublished by a house. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I’m also published in
self-publishing. I wrote that book by the “plotter” method to some degree. It
took me ten long years. What a slog, compared to the novel <i>Henry and Isolde</i> coming out next year, which took me a year with
other projects going on around it to write, edit and submit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfdnze_zSILjA3VdHRtj-mSdvo5Ft4EYLdkEHUlglkCkQiiMqeW31EhGa34Bs7b8QrC-GXdjTsTUKue1STWTK17OFLT0JqnYlnyRoZj4Yok-GJeEIyLXthm3d3vR9VFyO6KZwQzQEn_5U/s1600/Lush+and+Blush+Club+613.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfdnze_zSILjA3VdHRtj-mSdvo5Ft4EYLdkEHUlglkCkQiiMqeW31EhGa34Bs7b8QrC-GXdjTsTUKue1STWTK17OFLT0JqnYlnyRoZj4Yok-GJeEIyLXthm3d3vR9VFyO6KZwQzQEn_5U/s1600/Lush+and+Blush+Club+613.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Troika sleigh and horses - 3 equal things. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">When I wrote my plotter PITA
book, in a way I’d given up on being a “real” writer. It had been hard work. I
hadn’t enjoyed it at times. It took me ages. Producing a book every ten years
was unlikely to keep me in gum drops, let alone tropical island, beachfront
houses. Let’s face it. I just wasn’t cut out to be a writer…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Or was I? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">When I start down and began
writing <i>Henry and Isolde</i>, I wasn’t
writing it to sell. I was a lonely woman in a marriage that wasn’t working. It
was an escape for me. I could lock myself in my office and just pour out my
fantasies and day dreams. I didn’t have to plot out the book, where the story
was going. What the characters were doing, or who they were. I didn’t have to
have anything organized. I was just writing scenes down that popped into my
head. Bits of dialogue I’d dreamed up that appealed to me. Fun scenarios. Sexy
scenarios. Romantic scenarios. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I wrote in my own accent and
then switched to an American Southern accent for the male character. I quite
fancied being swept off my feet by a black Southern Gentleman with that lovely <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New Orleans</st1:place></st1:city> cadence and
slowness. I could see him in my minds eye. He looked remarkably like that
incredibly sexy, older black actor with the freckles. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqvDcOsdeirQSLlvQXyX7kKXVaD64KxhClfU8ANERHwFm1zahyOzxO52y1Ra2CAgHPObVAPGbU3In6mZNnS2OZV4PWAk3d9rO74RI9o9bXK5nHqIkhAoVGr5ai4woreeUqfuBEElRw2IM/s1600/Lush+and+Blush+Club+332.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqvDcOsdeirQSLlvQXyX7kKXVaD64KxhClfU8ANERHwFm1zahyOzxO52y1Ra2CAgHPObVAPGbU3In6mZNnS2OZV4PWAk3d9rO74RI9o9bXK5nHqIkhAoVGr5ai4woreeUqfuBEElRw2IM/s1600/Lush+and+Blush+Club+332.jpg" height="400" width="258" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">It was all fantasy, what did
it matter? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I found a picture I liked of
him and put it up on my computer. It was all “a bit of
fun.” What did it matter? It wasn’t like I was going to publish this book or
anything? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I wanted to write a “nice wee
romance.” It didn’t have to be deep or have a complete plot. I was really just
letting off steam, writing because I felt compelled to do it. I’d wake up and
feel—alive. Something that hadn’t been there for a while. What the hell! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Instead of being bored and/or
immersed in a book I was reading when my husband went to work, I couldn’t wait
to get him out the door, so I could closet myself away on my keyboard. What
would Henry and Izzy get up to today? Who knew? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I’d either have had a scene
running through my head that was perfect, what I call a ‘hot’ scene or the
bubble of a new one would be forming. I was really just writing down what had
already been playing in my head for a day or two. Taking dictation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I wrote about my dream house
in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New Orleans</st1:place></st1:city>.
And my old <st1:place w:st="on">Hollywood</st1:place> swimming pool, I’d always
rather fancied. I’d gone to a friends once in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New Zealand</st1:place></st1:country-region> who had a secret garden
and it had captured me. I love walled gardens and courtyard gardens. I wrote
about that. I’d become a shadow of my former exuberant self. Izzy was the me I
wanted to be again. Henry seemed like he’d have an interesting mother, I based
Miss Isadora on my own eccentric interesting mother. And on it went. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJz_6uVrwwkBABo1BMZjIeBEXVlXot2iEVomSCQyFlnyHlm7VFGkeDyIUhNVpmsQb3rdPlOBIm65_tW5ArO6oYgoXzTylb7fuBGfbkLfV_Mn9hdSEvn_2IeEN62fsqNJSgfwdTRSddpVA/s1600/c66324b16dbcc0e1bb6428ea1c341c77.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJz_6uVrwwkBABo1BMZjIeBEXVlXot2iEVomSCQyFlnyHlm7VFGkeDyIUhNVpmsQb3rdPlOBIm65_tW5ArO6oYgoXzTylb7fuBGfbkLfV_Mn9hdSEvn_2IeEN62fsqNJSgfwdTRSddpVA/s1600/c66324b16dbcc0e1bb6428ea1c341c77.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVpZql5yXMecgkDvln8aVoOjunwJCw1VBJqYMyzNfj3DMK7YseQ6W6p4UL2ZqXmTN_nR5fwAa6dEyYg9E_ozpC2Q1h0ykq8c7TNB_11-N1A26oUUFSbSwxe08CmTa9YMaEJ95uV6xpt1M/s1600/images+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVpZql5yXMecgkDvln8aVoOjunwJCw1VBJqYMyzNfj3DMK7YseQ6W6p4UL2ZqXmTN_nR5fwAa6dEyYg9E_ozpC2Q1h0ykq8c7TNB_11-N1A26oUUFSbSwxe08CmTa9YMaEJ95uV6xpt1M/s1600/images+(1).jpg" height="267" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I didn’t have set times I
wrote. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I wrote when I’d poured
myself my daily “tipple.” My half shot of Bacardi in a 700ml glass, a quarter
filled with ice and overflowing with diet cola. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I wrote at three in the
morning or five at night. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I wrote in dribs and drabs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I wrote some days and not
others. Sometimes I’d just have something percolating in my head. A wee fantasy
that I’d play over and over until it was at its most perfect. Then I wrote it
down while it was running “hot.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I never walked away from a
hot scene. I wrote it down because I knew it would be gone the next day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I didn’t care about spelling,
my dreadful syntax or my <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New
Zealand</st1:place></st1:country-region> education, grammatical errors etc. I
just wrote it all down. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I didn’t care that I’m
slightly dyslexic. Sometimes odd words turn up in my manuscripts (MS.) I fixed
them later. I wrote the whole of <i>Henry
and Isolde</i>, reading it (no kidding) at least two hundred times and it was
only on the read through out loud that I’d realized I’d put in clique instead
of cliché. It was funny. I changed it to cliché. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">If I had a scene that was <i>delicious</i>. I didn’t wait to get to the
juicy part. I started in the middle of it. Then ‘back filled’ it later. Adding
in the texture or cream of the story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-MaPRTGD8ocuoV-e8dfhEB6iBMvXdhkp34_mVeTXvE98qNTictCn0_LRnvSMtPXLpCjjb2YpPwotbFyMoHXId1h5710kEY2iZ2sDFnbpwO-ufyiUhzC2_IMT1VlBpeL0sJM0lpgInass/s1600/9887869-chocolate-eclair-filled-with-fresh-cream-close-up-view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-MaPRTGD8ocuoV-e8dfhEB6iBMvXdhkp34_mVeTXvE98qNTictCn0_LRnvSMtPXLpCjjb2YpPwotbFyMoHXId1h5710kEY2iZ2sDFnbpwO-ufyiUhzC2_IMT1VlBpeL0sJM0lpgInass/s1600/9887869-chocolate-eclair-filled-with-fresh-cream-close-up-view.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I wrote the end sometimes
before I had the beginning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I wrote random scenes,
dialogue. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I made random notes to myself
on yellow legal pads, where are all over the house. God help me if I ever had
to ACTUALLY find a piece of info. But that’s okay. The notes said things like:
Henry, Southern Gentleman, uses the phrase ‘It’s a wonder.’ Charlie, pocket
watch? Very sexy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I researched randomly,
Southern words, a phrase here, a fact there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I edited when I felt like it.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">One day…I realized I had a
story coming together…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I panicked then.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Oh my God, what if nothing
else turns up, now that I’m actually WRITING a REAL story. I learned to let go
on the days nothing was there. I didn’t force myself. I didn’t make myself
write drivel. I sat on the couch and had a drink, gazing off into space. Then
out of nowhere, a bubble of a scene would form. I’d play it through in my head,
letting it unfold and show itself to me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">When nothing more seemed to
come, I’d type like billy-o getting it all down. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Then Charlie turned up, a
rogue character. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBfgGKGNiMxS6xNOlLx00CSVSculQUgEtrybnuBEMkWUEpKSsr4w-TlRxyDJ9GacQP8ZZputKLLFqP6hpF9SQ857cZx1c19fwliZMkoOaQ2sQPH2qcm8fjDw1fsVN6MSIatOft_5-vzWo/s1600/Lush+and+Blush+Club+102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBfgGKGNiMxS6xNOlLx00CSVSculQUgEtrybnuBEMkWUEpKSsr4w-TlRxyDJ9GacQP8ZZputKLLFqP6hpF9SQ857cZx1c19fwliZMkoOaQ2sQPH2qcm8fjDw1fsVN6MSIatOft_5-vzWo/s1600/Lush+and+Blush+Club+102.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I came unstuck as I tried to
corral him. He was stampeding through my “nice wee love story.” He wanted all
sorts of things that I didn’t think the readers would like in a million years.
Little did I know he’d become the driving force behind all my stories. The most
loved of all my characters and the most intriguing for people. I had no control
over him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I felt slightly uncomfortable
at some of the things he wanted. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I talked to my mentor about
it. He said, “Just go with it, give him one scene and see how it plays out.
It’ll probably keep him quiet.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">It didn’t. He just wanted
more and more… I nicknamed him “bloody Charlie” because he was so persistent.
He was supposed to be the side-kick secondary character, best friend to Henry.
But he wanted much, much more than that. I gave it to him in the end. The story
was no longer being written by me. I was just taking dictation and it was
fabulous!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I didn’t worry about writer’s
block because I wasn’t trying to control the story. It was being told to me by
what all us writers end up calling ‘The Muses’ in one form or another. I always
joke that mine are off in The Bahamas on a snorkeling holiday when they seem to
not be around. I had a death in my life and couldn’t write much. I joked that
they’d gotten a six month snorkeling trip organized for themselves. I thought,
surely to God, their visas will be up soon and they’ll come back, which they
did when I started to recover and heal. The wee buggers! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt6QgHpr8AQKNjzRzvAGskxCuiDM5KAktFT5V5oCn6EDTZtiId3Lv-jmtKKGMAxIZtRcaVDQdz1WBA4qnD_cNGrkMc3-0S__g61KAUntKon9WEyAp0ZX0rgmNhRu_80ApulNN5mZJHpM8/s1600/3760319689_62ffc3e4e2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt6QgHpr8AQKNjzRzvAGskxCuiDM5KAktFT5V5oCn6EDTZtiId3Lv-jmtKKGMAxIZtRcaVDQdz1WBA4qnD_cNGrkMc3-0S__g61KAUntKon9WEyAp0ZX0rgmNhRu_80ApulNN5mZJHpM8/s1600/3760319689_62ffc3e4e2.jpg" height="267" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Muses snorkeling in the Bahamas.. the wee buggers!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUMJEk9Wtn57xN0dRRTbcfNBbl_seuzbx4Y41n49I6Vuy7CdWFzjabeVTkh4NUAEWyo9m2PWAFguKFnpSwVHNTAHC8vuqh5e7qW7VkTgimDuqomfGbhRIufbik7bTMiPs9oV3NaFhBzY/s1600/Highlight-Bahamas-Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUMJEk9Wtn57xN0dRRTbcfNBbl_seuzbx4Y41n49I6Vuy7CdWFzjabeVTkh4NUAEWyo9m2PWAFguKFnpSwVHNTAHC8vuqh5e7qW7VkTgimDuqomfGbhRIufbik7bTMiPs9oV3NaFhBzY/s1600/Highlight-Bahamas-Image.jpg" height="216" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">When I can’t get a scene to
work, I leave it. I just walk away in the middle of it. When the rest of it is
ready to come, it’ll turn up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I write in no particular
order. I cut and paste things around in the story. Despite my brain looking
like a jumble sale, it seems to have the pieces organized for itself anyway. I
don’t seem to have continuity problems in general. And there’s always a save
somewhere. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I read about someone who inadvertently
changed a characters name and hadn’t realized. Published and everything.
Whoops. She saved that by remarking in the next story that sometimes the
character went by a nickname. I was snorting with appreciative laughter. Nice
save!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I don’t write perfectly or
correctly. I just write. Later, I go back and edit like a fiend. I enjoy it. I
liken editing to having this gorgeous “chunk” or “nugget” of a story you’ve
found, or ‘dug up.’ Then you get to cut and polish it, bringing out all its
brilliant facets, making it shine. I fire up the chainsaw at the edit stage. I
took out 66,000 words from Henry and Isolde to get it to the 110,000 word
ceiling I needed for my publisher Muse It Up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I didn’t organize a bunch of
beta readers. Good luck trying to read the story from end to end, when I still
had bits missing in the middle. Or no end. Or the beginning was a bit murky. It
didn’t matter. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I didn’t need a character
file on each character. They were such a part of me and so real to me, that I
knew them, inside out and upside down. If you asked me any question about
Henry, Izzy or Charlie, I could give you an answer almost instantly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The names just popped in. The
title just turned up. The characters wafted through my brain like people coming
in from a particularly robust game of tennis. They’d bustle in noisily, hot and
sweaty, chuck their tennis rackets in the corner and say, “Phew, hot bloody
work. Let me just get myself a drink, then I’ll sit down and tell you a story.”
And they would. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I wrote from my own life. If
someone challenged me on something, I wanted to be able to say, “I’ve had that
happen.” Delicious phrases and words over the years came out to greet me and
get used in a story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I write in the first person
POV—point of view. Apparently you’re not “supposed” to. It’s one of the “writers
rules.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlyrZ2kGNWVtdZPauPPo2wcylDy8DIjj0hEWvJk6Acd5SuHXrqd-3TyQr7C2JiN4iR-ZaBE-itJ7T6Kwo9MY10dgn1WWJrxm-iBu2SruFH2nOrTTzXqxRKwVjRW3WHoK8qYDhcaD1Ec40/s1600/Breaking-rules.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlyrZ2kGNWVtdZPauPPo2wcylDy8DIjj0hEWvJk6Acd5SuHXrqd-3TyQr7C2JiN4iR-ZaBE-itJ7T6Kwo9MY10dgn1WWJrxm-iBu2SruFH2nOrTTzXqxRKwVjRW3WHoK8qYDhcaD1Ec40/s1600/Breaking-rules.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">But I love it and so do my
readers. I get to immerse myself in my characters, so do the readers. When I
write, I feel like Henry writing down his thoughts. Or I feel like I’m in
Charlie’s body. They become so real to me that I’ve had some funny moments with
them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">One day, I woke up, thinking
of nothing in particular. Then something came up and I thought, <i>God, I must tell Henry about that</i>. I sat
stock still. My God, I’m either going quite, quite mad or I’ve just had a
character come so fully to life, I’m leaving myself reminder notes to tell him
something later. It was a gorgeous moment. All writers have them if they’re
lucky. I thought, <i>Henry’s not real.</i>
It’s terribly disappointing when this happens. Sometimes I miss them terribly
if I’m not writing about them. I pine for Charlie and Henry sometimes. I want
to meet them in real life. That’s how alive they feel and if they feel like
that to you. They will feel like that to the reader. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">My best writing buddy Michele
‘Mikey’ Rakes has arguments with her characters. Mine just dig their toes in
until I write things the way they want them written. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I’ve learned that anything I
think, “Oh no, the readers won’t go for that,” is usually out and out wrong.
They will and they do. The characters know themselves better than I do. They
know what they can and can’t do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">If you have a character go
‘rogue’ on you—order in champagne. There’s a chance you’ve just struck a vein
of gold. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2on7o-Uoo3nIaQyOyfjNuB6fYiq4j_Q_uJOXQkqu_Ww89Phah1TzasKTJ0BnzTuc07_2zoAvXtIPbGI_fxzqSa1ksitjPFvMBYmBtxxK05kdsEjCQsw1tUYOgOlkph4yPO9uCMK_uS94/s1600/champagne-crate-vintage-style-1606-p.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2on7o-Uoo3nIaQyOyfjNuB6fYiq4j_Q_uJOXQkqu_Ww89Phah1TzasKTJ0BnzTuc07_2zoAvXtIPbGI_fxzqSa1ksitjPFvMBYmBtxxK05kdsEjCQsw1tUYOgOlkph4yPO9uCMK_uS94/s1600/champagne-crate-vintage-style-1606-p.jpg" height="288" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Once your ego and mind is out
of the way, the really creative forces can flow on through you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">It’s not that you don’t have
some say, but you’re really the producer rather than the director. The director
(the characters) know how they want to ‘shoot’ the scene. Your job as the
producer is to make sure there are always enough coffee and donuts/Bacardi,
cola, ice etc, available. The computer’s turned on and other ‘behind the
scenes’ things that are needed for a production. Perhaps reminding them,
“Remember we have to have a blow up scene around this point. And a final one
before the HEA part.” Or that the Russian samovar needs to be mentioned again
or tied in with the scene here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I often see ‘rules’ that say,
just TRY being a plotter. It’ll make you a better writer. Why? Why would you
change something that works like a dream for you, into something that’s awkward
and unnatural? Our bodies and selves all have their own rhythm. Different
things work for different people. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">A hundred years ago in a ‘day
job from hell,’ I ran a deli in a supermarket. I had to start work at seven in
the morning. I was like a walking zombie. I didn’t wake up until four in the
afternoon when I was knocking off. People kept saying to me, you’ll get used to
it. I never did. My body’s rhythms were just not set up for those kinds of
hours. Once day in a fit of lunacy by the store manager on storing cheese in
unrefrigerated places, I had a meltdown and walked out. This is what happens
when you’re not in your own cycle or circuit. Things are just wrong. You snap! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYpZNd7pzs8Z_qS8k5rrE6SuWrSJQw8_J9XLFK_tiWgEcs4f2HRyo1aEFbcY6aD_oJQPZo1phPL1W9KvtOYxfWktLZR3LJDHb5joGfGezuLXG6aUHA-1R-6GnNrG4A8gB78nZAzWm4u5I/s1600/snap-pea-pod.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYpZNd7pzs8Z_qS8k5rrE6SuWrSJQw8_J9XLFK_tiWgEcs4f2HRyo1aEFbcY6aD_oJQPZo1phPL1W9KvtOYxfWktLZR3LJDHb5joGfGezuLXG6aUHA-1R-6GnNrG4A8gB78nZAzWm4u5I/s1600/snap-pea-pod.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">And so it is being a writer
that’s a pantser, trying to squish yourself into a plotter way of writing.
You’ll eventually snap! You’ll stretch the rubber band too far one day and KA-PING!
You’ll end up with a nasty backlash mark on your forehead if you’re lucky and
an eye missing if you’re not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I know people who have
written out the whole synopsis before they’ve even written a word down. Then
feel bound and obligated to stick to that story, hell or high water. You’re
setting yourself up for ‘writers block’ when you do that. If you get stuck on a
piece (because it’s probably not right for the book in some way,) you can be
stuck there for a very long time. Like at one of those traffic lights where the
damn things on a loop and won’t cycle into the green. In the end, you go
through a red light and feel guilty all day for it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Writing as a pantser means,
you simply move on. You treat the light like a four way stop. Instead of going
straight ahead, you make a right hand turn and go onto something else or go
around it slightly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">When I’m “stuck,” I don’t
agonize over it for hours, days, weeks. I stop working on that part and write a
different scene. Either the scene I’m trying to write doesn’t work for some
reason and it <i>will</i> come to light why.
Or it hasn’t percolated enough yet and just needs some ‘standing’ time to come
to a nice full roast and brew. Either way is fine. You’re still writing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoBtUcJkw9KsjrZJQNfM1F15h5DT1d0QJGPjW5_Sl1-w_yRJgD6a1hsPD5FYCKj_Rtfvztdid0QLHmywMwzRU6iGrycfUJjSQjVNSTer9M21M09MqqshNz4K2b6JaY1MkOE1fxVYrWmDI/s1600/coffee-600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoBtUcJkw9KsjrZJQNfM1F15h5DT1d0QJGPjW5_Sl1-w_yRJgD6a1hsPD5FYCKj_Rtfvztdid0QLHmywMwzRU6iGrycfUJjSQjVNSTer9M21M09MqqshNz4K2b6JaY1MkOE1fxVYrWmDI/s1600/coffee-600.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkJcKxE9xbyLYKgP2zJbQNHXKCgy0Rzl-DMZPpz8VIQRnz7KCp3ZkXRRLiDYAwicH1e6iv_XirLGuoN7fw7eh8mk9TNxfLJE8POun8opDxjcYD8PmNaC4zT9NetG3wlLA3adopfdqKAC4/s1600/keep_calm_and_focus_on_percolating_mug-r60a58d9db9f441edb45beda133639187_x7j1x_8byvr_324.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkJcKxE9xbyLYKgP2zJbQNHXKCgy0Rzl-DMZPpz8VIQRnz7KCp3ZkXRRLiDYAwicH1e6iv_XirLGuoN7fw7eh8mk9TNxfLJE8POun8opDxjcYD8PmNaC4zT9NetG3wlLA3adopfdqKAC4/s1600/keep_calm_and_focus_on_percolating_mug-r60a58d9db9f441edb45beda133639187_x7j1x_8byvr_324.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The story goes that Isaac
Asimov used to have a room that he had several typewriters set up around the
room with a piece of paper in them. When one story got stuck, he simply got up,
walked to another typewriter and sat down to work on what was in that carriage.
He wrote prolifically and I’ll bet he never had a days “writers block” in his
life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I follow Isaac’s way of doing
things. I’m always writing several books at once. I currently have two full
novels on my computer. Another seven-eighths finished. The other half finished.
Neither of which stress me. The rest will turn up when it’s ready. In the
meantime, I edit. I also have half a Christmas story. Again, more will turn up,
I’m not worried about it. I have half a novella. And a nearly finished new
novel, about to be fired off to a publisher next month. I have two lines of a
story, two pages, that might never get finished and that’s okay. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I never look at my work and
think, my God, I never bloody finish anything. That’s not true. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I have two, ten-thousand word
stories published through a ‘real live’ publisher. Two novels coming out, one
next month and one in spring. Plus, I know this one being submitted next month
will get picked up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">When I’ve just submitted a
book and got it “off my plate,” (for now,) I feel around in my energy to see
what needs work next? Do I need to edit or have I got a new idea. I go with
whatever pops into the flow, because that’s where the best work will come from.
Making myself do something is a sure way to slow everything up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">A brief word too on having a
publisher and self-publishing. In these days of the internet and e-books,
neither is better or worse than the other. Both have valid pluses and minuses.
I know a few writers who do both. With modern software programs and things like
Amazon’s kdp program and Smashwords, you can self-publish a book and it will look
just as professional as a house book. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The only ways I see people
let themselves down a wee bit is that the editing you get with a house, is
usually superb. And the process is systematic which I like. At this stage, the
methodical step by step has huge merit, whether for a pantser or plotter
writer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Here’s how most good
publishers do it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The content editor goes
through my manuscript (MS) and edits for flow, word changes that might work
better, repetition, continuity etc. When it comes back, I accept or reject
anything they’ve done in the “track changes” program. Then send it back. We go
back and forth until we’re both happy we’re got it as tight as it can be. If
you’re stuck for dough, swap with another writer who also needs an editor. It’s
another pair of eyes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Editors have bad reputations,
but in my experience, they’re wonderful. Their job is to give you the best MS possible.
They’re not there to change your style, but to polish it up a bit, smooth out
the rough bits. Like that rough gemstone that just needs to be cut and polished
into brilliance, they do that with a story. And every single writer from the
top sellers to the newbies need a good editor. We’re too close to our own work
to see it clearly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYLq0U5LXwLPRwJlBVOG_ZRY7qeLtF2WwDeq4kDKJLlVre8d8ZwJPuh6PCLYn1ZWSqIlBPtOBX33aC5Vr_oiJyJvuiQcbG_YVJ6ucqjr2n4pqaFU-vdsE6s00jUYZEOqO5KoyaOYj9Nc/s1600/rough-diamond-w724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYLq0U5LXwLPRwJlBVOG_ZRY7qeLtF2WwDeq4kDKJLlVre8d8ZwJPuh6PCLYn1ZWSqIlBPtOBX33aC5Vr_oiJyJvuiQcbG_YVJ6ucqjr2n4pqaFU-vdsE6s00jUYZEOqO5KoyaOYj9Nc/s1600/rough-diamond-w724.jpg" height="252" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">A good editor will fix a
sentence you spent twenty minutes mucking with and gave up in disgust on. Take
it. It’s part of the process. They want your story to look as fabulous as
possible. You don’t have to accept everything they suggest. And if you get an
editor who doesn’t seem to ‘get’ what you’re writing about, request another one
or stand your ground. You need to be on the same page. Don’t let anyone put
words into your story that you or the characters wouldn’t use. You know your
characters well. You know how they speak and think. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">To be honest, few editors do
this. The good ones pick up the cadence and rhythm of the book early and work
with the style. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Once we’ve done the content
edit, we go to the Line Editor. They’re the grammar, punctuation and general
house style people. Again, back and forth until everyone’s happy. Then I wait
for my cover art. Finally galley’s or proofreading. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Here’s one of my rules: And
it’s only one I never break for a good reason. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Always read through your MS
out loud on galley’s or the proofreading stage. I published my first book
myself and oh my God, the amount of stupid typo’s in there is downright
embarrassing. If I’d either gotten it professionally proofed or read it out
loud myself, I wouldn’t have had that issue. Now, I’m embarrassed to know that
people have the print version of the jolly thing. I re-edited it recently and
re-released it on Amazon as an e-book. On the up side, it showed me how far I’d
come as a writer. On the down side, it was truly cringe worthy material as to
how bad the editing was. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">When we read a book in our
head, we naturally fill in missing words, or skip over words that are there.
Sometimes we change a thought mid-sentence and part of the wording gets left
in. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">“I was saying to John... (I
decide to change this to said.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I was said to John… (I’ve
left the ‘was’ in there.) It’s very easy to do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Read it out loud on final
edit. You’ll catch all this stuff. I often put in ‘a apple,’ even though I know
the rule for ‘an’ before a vowel word. It’s the way I speak and what I hear in
my head. When I speak it out loud though, I can hear the missing ‘n.’ Despite
the best intentions of our word processing programs, after a while that green
squiggly line becomes like ‘white noise’ in the background in your MS. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Even when your content and
line editor have gone over the MS a dozen or more times, everyone will still
miss those funny wee words. Read it out loud on your final stage. I see more
and more books published with stupid typos, missing words etc in them. A read
out loud would have caught them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN2hUIaXZID7M3Mobmeoht5wiPCVSSepTcA6FCSaWAc3uSumr0YsMZFkWfcXbBr3IBsaOH0OyD_YgQEiXYoO0ibgXeInWai2ptmNjaGzJaU_t4cQHh5CJ8piwGLCZ5cglgHylU_fFQtLE/s1600/f7ce277bddf22abc7f28209a3187cba8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN2hUIaXZID7M3Mobmeoht5wiPCVSSepTcA6FCSaWAc3uSumr0YsMZFkWfcXbBr3IBsaOH0OyD_YgQEiXYoO0ibgXeInWai2ptmNjaGzJaU_t4cQHh5CJ8piwGLCZ5cglgHylU_fFQtLE/s1600/f7ce277bddf22abc7f28209a3187cba8.jpg" height="301" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">SOME OF MY RULES for ME </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> (and feel free to absolutely ignore these… please)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Never walk away from a “hot”
scene. Start in the middle of the sentence if you have to. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Work at night or whenever it’s
most bewitching for YOUR brain. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Never research too much at
the start. Do that afterward and you’ll be surprised how much you already
intuitively knew. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Have at least one alcoholic
beverage to start you off on your writing day. It frees up the brain. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEx2XCJX_z4bnQFDOrSt2ZOqt5OSgjLOFlDMPIkil1rFiE_qu4YJUJO-EeqYRWVT2WeQMU9B7br2tMnUtaCkkIJokHJtOMSGMMH3XbHmt19GyjAY1W3Tu9w6pAgwugCO4eyKXkNz-TTwY/s1600/bacardi-diet-cole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEx2XCJX_z4bnQFDOrSt2ZOqt5OSgjLOFlDMPIkil1rFiE_qu4YJUJO-EeqYRWVT2WeQMU9B7br2tMnUtaCkkIJokHJtOMSGMMH3XbHmt19GyjAY1W3Tu9w6pAgwugCO4eyKXkNz-TTwY/s1600/bacardi-diet-cole.jpg" height="400" width="314" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Always take precise dictation
from any rogue character that turns up. They’ll be your best characters, you
most loved, your deepest loves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Get the bloody thing down.
Don’t worry about the textures of it so much. Get the story on paper, go back
and ‘fill’ it with the cream later and ice (frost) it later. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Don’t write everyday. You
don’t get a chance for the really good stuff to build and percolate. Always run
wee plays in your head of all your scenes. Speak the dialogue out loud, move
about. Do it in the car, pretend you’re on a hands free cell phone. LOL. By the
time, it’s running “hot”—you can just dictate the whole thing down, line by
line. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Always send your work to your
email at the end of the day and read it on your tablet, cell phone etc. It
always reads differently to on the computer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">In the final edit stage.
ALWAYS read your work out loud to yourself. You’ll catch most of the funny wee
extra words either put in or left out when you changed sentences mid way, or
your hands typed slower than your brain. You’ll also catch weird words</span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"> which </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">you’ve
read over a hundred times. I had clique in Henry and Isolde, which I reckon I
read at least two hundred times! When I read it out loud, I heard it. The word
was supposed to cliché. LOL. Your brain will read over skipped or wrong words
after a wee bit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">But the best rule for writing
is there are NO rules. Every single writer has to write in a way that’s best
for THEM. Make your own rules for YOU. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-19349334721268338372015-02-06T05:54:00.002-08:002016-03-19T02:14:49.536-07:00THE HAWAIIANS - A new gay romance m/m series coming soon. Meet my gorgeous men! <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmP88COMVnkL23UAXrx21tf4JIN3ysm89dluCNkP3cA7X3rVtX8mjNCjt3pbqzRHS0rljbhA3UjED1DWmjsgrb8hevvEBzVZMhw-t7leM4JWM2aotF3Y2d1T2Mxso_8tmtMD2DeG3J5-I/s1600/Aloha-Friday-events-near-your-Long-Beach-home-267x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmP88COMVnkL23UAXrx21tf4JIN3ysm89dluCNkP3cA7X3rVtX8mjNCjt3pbqzRHS0rljbhA3UjED1DWmjsgrb8hevvEBzVZMhw-t7leM4JWM2aotF3Y2d1T2Mxso_8tmtMD2DeG3J5-I/s1600/Aloha-Friday-events-near-your-Long-Beach-home-267x300.jpg" width="356" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: orange;">Aloha!!! </span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #783f04;"><b>E komo mai</b></span> ~</span> <span style="font-size: large;">which in Hawaiian
means, welcome to my world. (There's a couple of NSFW shots :-)) And formatting throwing a berky, so apologies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I fell in love with the mystique and
magic of the Hawaiian Islands when I was nine years old. And it’s never
changed. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Mum went on a world tour with her
dad in 1972. Back then, landing in the Hawaiian Islands meant you still were met by
Hawaiian hula girls and ukulele players, offering music and fresh flower leis.
Imagine walking down the aircraft steps into that sultry, tropical heat and being presented with the
magic of the islands after flying from cold, miserable,
New Zealand. It must have seemed the height of exotic! Mum used to rave about
tasting fresh pineapple for the first time in her life—not out of a can. “The
juice dripped down my arm, I’d never had anything like it in my life! It was
out of this world,” she said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white;">I have a deep, abiding love for Hawai’i and
specifically the Big Island. Mum brought me back dollies from a few countries.
But my most prized was an el cheapo plastic hula dollie, wearing a fake grass
hula shirt, and a wee lei. She had no shoes on and long thick black hair with
beautiful brown skin. I thought she was the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen. </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I come from a family of Irish Seanachie
(pronounced Shawn-ah-key) or Irish story tellers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I think these two pieces have shaped
my life every day since—my love of storytelling and the Hawaiian Islands. I’m a
New Zealander born and bred. But I’m a US citizen as well. I received my citizenship
in the courthouse in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawai’i, making Hawai’i my
American home state. For me, it’s home. When I’m there, I live in sunny,
tropical Kona on the west coast of the Big Island. Known to locals (you were
born and bred in the islands) and <i>kama’aina</i>
(you’ve been there for a while and you’re part of the island) as ‘the B.I.’ </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">It's’s
confusingly shown on maps as Hawai’i too. Think of us like, New York, New York,
except we’re the island of Hawai’i in the state of Hawai’i. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We proudly wear shirts that say
F.B.I. (From the Big Island.) <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-hYROTKDDC3vTBlP4-aA9JRbTWmZ85klrlfBLTw36RlCdszUPKOmyoxLzXJljDmFGTGzc0QPKkHRmtpRY52jYJvvgbt_dzcTsdFG4wrVF0CXa0V0oKvCZujK1hX9OCpoYLtP76jicetM/s1600/mZyMkiilMlNC8GnLNRl3NCA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-hYROTKDDC3vTBlP4-aA9JRbTWmZ85klrlfBLTw36RlCdszUPKOmyoxLzXJljDmFGTGzc0QPKkHRmtpRY52jYJvvgbt_dzcTsdFG4wrVF0CXa0V0oKvCZujK1hX9OCpoYLtP76jicetM/s1600/mZyMkiilMlNC8GnLNRl3NCA.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I’ve always wanted to write a story
set at home in the islands, but have lots of half finished/started ones on my
computers and past saved discs. One day my writing buddy and fellow Muse and
Loose Id author, Michele Michael ‘Mikey’ Rakes said, “You know you talk about
Hawai’i a lot. Why don’t you write a story there? It really seems to be calling
to you at the moment.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And so The Hawaiians series was born,
just when I needed my connection home the most. Without Mikey’s suggestion, I
wouldn’t have either the series or the name for it. I started writing a new gay
romance story set in my beloved Kona. I wanted to incorporate all the wonderful
things we have on the B.I. We’re often overlooked for the more American
islands. To be honest, that suits us. :-) But the people that make it past Maui to us—love it. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbOdvgAORWLvqDr5YAW4cFNV10_tGmojc3yOO2LuiUoy2wmLHbzZ8XMfIfw9p5wtWeuGtKVuRZSaJ29UEPZJEZYJj_a6T5yjo_YMkz-X24795-lqzXzZgPoem-7kTygfYlBYBloAfNxHo/s1600/9e7387e5bd4601c09f5958f83fdaabef.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbOdvgAORWLvqDr5YAW4cFNV10_tGmojc3yOO2LuiUoy2wmLHbzZ8XMfIfw9p5wtWeuGtKVuRZSaJ29UEPZJEZYJj_a6T5yjo_YMkz-X24795-lqzXzZgPoem-7kTygfYlBYBloAfNxHo/s1600/9e7387e5bd4601c09f5958f83fdaabef.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ni'ihau, Kauai, O'ahu,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Moloka'i, Lanai'i and Koho'olawe surround Maui</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The Big Island at the bottom</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">We’re the largest of the islands in the
Hawaiian Island chain. You can fit most of the other main islands into ours.
Our population though is smaller than Ohau’s, where Honolulu and Waikiki are;
they sit close to a million. We sit at about 190,000 people. We’re the most
southern of the Hawaiian Islands with the most diversity. You can drive around
the island in about six hours flat if you don’t stop. But you’ll want to stop
often. There are so many gorgeous spots and things to see and do.</span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We
have eight main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago chain which extends for
about 1500 miles in a northwesterly direction. The Big Island (Hawai’i), Maui,
Kaho’olawe, Lana’i, Mokoka’i, O’ahu, Kauai and Ni’ihau. Most people know the
B.I., Maui, Oahu and Kauai. The Big Island and Kauai I think of as Hawaiian-American.
Oahu and Maui have American-Hawaiian energy. We still largely retain
the kick back aloha spirit on the B.I.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Janie
and I once went to ‘the big smoke’ ~ aka O’ahu for the weekend. We stopped to
let some surfers cross the road at pipeline on the North Shore where all the
big surfing takes place. These guys looked at us like, “What the hell are you
doing?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We
said, “Oh, we’re from the B.I. ~ we stop for people to cross the road.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">They
looked at us like we were mad, but it really is like that on the Big Island. It
still has that cruisy islander energy. People don’t lock their doors or panic
if someone knocks on their door at 10.30 at night a wee bit lost. They help them out. </span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "comic sans ms";"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We take our ‘slippahs’ off
at the door and leave them in great piles in the entryway of our houses.
These are the national island footwear of flip-flops to the Americans. If we
want to dress up at home, we wear expensive leather sandals or slippers for men
and women. We also might wear ‘dress’ shorts and a nice Hawaiian shirt untucked
for the men. A Hawaiian dress or pretty tropical sundress for the ladies.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcWGa-lW3BSj3QB8iAgyLOFYOy-KzBYgMn9ngzv6tjSvIUCMGb3tM7LmAT1bE6eqBQ1TNQnVsUib-O742I4qFHzOujbwlCIaaAk0j0m8b8NsbIzeaChKY7AzGTXWOFSp_OU6pcPXivk_Y/s1600/Aloha+Friday+slippahs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcWGa-lW3BSj3QB8iAgyLOFYOy-KzBYgMn9ngzv6tjSvIUCMGb3tM7LmAT1bE6eqBQ1TNQnVsUib-O742I4qFHzOujbwlCIaaAk0j0m8b8NsbIzeaChKY7AzGTXWOFSp_OU6pcPXivk_Y/s1600/Aloha+Friday+slippahs.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZiL-63PEz1u_Pb7bUbx7xc1h7IRi1i6NhuF-DXl7ROD0q7ySPzyV5sesyPWVdDtXdYB95VfxHe9DTLH7L4X379S7sYpCDBKk7ClV27LzyvVJqptX_aHsssAu46Vt5j1-OmMrwFtPaCHE/s1600/flip-flop-refashion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZiL-63PEz1u_Pb7bUbx7xc1h7IRi1i6NhuF-DXl7ROD0q7ySPzyV5sesyPWVdDtXdYB95VfxHe9DTLH7L4X379S7sYpCDBKk7ClV27LzyvVJqptX_aHsssAu46Vt5j1-OmMrwFtPaCHE/s1600/flip-flop-refashion.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "comic sans ms";">We
really do say aloha every day. The lei's aren't just for </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; text-indent: 0in;">tourists. Locals are given them too when there's a wedding, christening, birthday, a game's won, leaving the island or coming home. Actually, just about any celebration
calls for a sweet smelling lei of plumeria, orchids or gardenia. I wear a
plumeria bloom behind my ear every day I’m home. Every time I turn my head, I
get a gorgeous whiff of the islands. Heaven. The secret for getting it to
stay behind your ear is a toothpick through the stem end. :-)</span></span></div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNox5T7ddw5eARe7c_TT-LZw1gOuI0eNZlROdKF35M5JCmUfn2imLTAPtqRSt6iaKT2OXAknq77zUBsXA2yNpBDKH4ZIPfAxuz7yqMAWOy_2PMYOe8aV6UxctzZU1stKCbF-6yR4TnSmM/s1600/Hawaiian+Lei+pink+plumerias.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNox5T7ddw5eARe7c_TT-LZw1gOuI0eNZlROdKF35M5JCmUfn2imLTAPtqRSt6iaKT2OXAknq77zUBsXA2yNpBDKH4ZIPfAxuz7yqMAWOy_2PMYOe8aV6UxctzZU1stKCbF-6yR4TnSmM/s1600/Hawaiian+Lei+pink+plumerias.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">These are a quintessential part of island life for me.
The flora and fauna of Hawai’i immediately invokes images of the tropical
paradise we call home. Lei’s of flowers, leaves, nuts and tribal ink. Sometimes
I’ll grab a large hibiscus or an intensely velvety scented gardenia or pikake
in Hawaiian. Tiare is the Tahitian version of gardenia. And the first book in the series was born...</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjswqQuYc1AG93wi7k5ZPLwQVzO2UyovaLLcm2kx1W9vVM2YT2Zd0BqxWg5qWcmxAjRVpVr-aqIy9VNMWtGKR6MSTNEIpbw7m0vcELr8A6Xbpq8ny-_jf_uxiB62rTpyZhVGVfbLo5uiJA/s1600/Stearman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjswqQuYc1AG93wi7k5ZPLwQVzO2UyovaLLcm2kx1W9vVM2YT2Zd0BqxWg5qWcmxAjRVpVr-aqIy9VNMWtGKR6MSTNEIpbw7m0vcELr8A6Xbpq8ny-_jf_uxiB62rTpyZhVGVfbLo5uiJA/s1600/Stearman.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Beau's Stearman biplane. These are lovely to fly in!!! :)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBrV_smc3Up13yZaak_ectl5g-cG0-hKP5ufaLFDBWHYSPXUyRQX-3QMhyphenhyphenchyo-pAyQMk2_K1555NHTkMAa8ezF6a9Tgn9IQztmWry1oqN3FXoKjX1jEXHQjasDvQwnIB4rqKIgtDl-ZQ/s1600/Tiare+lei.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBrV_smc3Up13yZaak_ectl5g-cG0-hKP5ufaLFDBWHYSPXUyRQX-3QMhyphenhyphenchyo-pAyQMk2_K1555NHTkMAa8ezF6a9Tgn9IQztmWry1oqN3FXoKjX1jEXHQjasDvQwnIB4rqKIgtDl-ZQ/s1600/Tiare+lei.jpg" width="318" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tiare Lei or Gardenia</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFTxrDXAnBvFPxYPsu-dGOlrdjMWkTwIu2t5Hi3dpy5U1gwcExLWgp-asKypegFugBPH_BahaEXRHZPVWNXhlJA4cfGjBf8mbKT0pfjME7fq8_QSJx3_8RV_BMZD-iWhi0RMSuCvhPbDE/s1600/Hawaiian+Lei+Lush+and+Blush+Club+773.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-indent: 0in;"><img border="0" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFTxrDXAnBvFPxYPsu-dGOlrdjMWkTwIu2t5Hi3dpy5U1gwcExLWgp-asKypegFugBPH_BahaEXRHZPVWNXhlJA4cfGjBf8mbKT0pfjME7fq8_QSJx3_8RV_BMZD-iWhi0RMSuCvhPbDE/s1600/Hawaiian+Lei+Lush+and+Blush+Club+773.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">These Tahitian and Samoan ink leis are often done with a comb and black ink in a traditional way. Ouch. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeqfdCp2c3l7CzvndpGekk1aI0wkepl1bEGkXydYLjkHv3Lt2Yxgf-US3M-R-e2B0qoLB_ih7lskMxzhlsGdK8dhFoCREQFgURhV_U_6M1iiQYlea2eguIFOQpFbiSqTkwQGKu2mUJhVw/s1600/Bora+Bora+plane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeqfdCp2c3l7CzvndpGekk1aI0wkepl1bEGkXydYLjkHv3Lt2Yxgf-US3M-R-e2B0qoLB_ih7lskMxzhlsGdK8dhFoCREQFgURhV_U_6M1iiQYlea2eguIFOQpFbiSqTkwQGKu2mUJhVw/s1600/Bora+Bora+plane.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is flying into Bora Bora on Tahiti</span><br />
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">HAWAIIAN
LEI</span></b></div>
</div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "comic sans ms"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My two main characters are Beau Toyama, a gorgeous
looking “mixed plate” local. “Mixed plate” is the name of local lunch dishes.
They come with meat, 2 scoop rice, one scoop something else, like mac salad or
coleslaw. There are some pure Hawaiians left, but nearly everyone is mixed
plate. Beau is Hawaiian, Japanese and Tahitian. </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: large;">He meets and falls in love with
New Zealander Matt Quintal who comes to find himself on the Big Island and stay
with his sister Rach. Mattie’s also Polynesian. He’s olive skinned with a
dusting of freckles. His blue eyes are a throwback to his Norfolk Island
heritage, from the Bounty mutineers and his Cornish ancestor and namesake,
Matthew Quintal. He’s also New Zealand Maori from two tribes, the tough warrior
Ngati Raukawa and Tukorehe in the North Island.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: large;">Beau’s a shy, gentle, biplane pilot and flight
instructor. Mattie’s an accomplished painter. Their souls connect when Matt is
out paddling one day and hears the sound of the radial engine overhead. Little
does he know, his soul is being guided to Beau Toyama by his mom Tehani who’s
passed over and wants to see her son with his soulmate. </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">This book comes out next month on 17<sup>th</sup> March
with Loose Id!! Yay. </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVXHEfmDLciZ_wQg8gprwAqQTHYExD1sYBgCdt5dODbeqdzb2esp75_6SZxwhL3beI2BCrWdcUjGgR5VMIKi3wzxd1eFqgI3cqgh3n3UDxc3BkC4BarhYiNodUdShxYq8GtObtZ-B9-F8/s1600/Lush+and+Blush+Club+742.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVXHEfmDLciZ_wQg8gprwAqQTHYExD1sYBgCdt5dODbeqdzb2esp75_6SZxwhL3beI2BCrWdcUjGgR5VMIKi3wzxd1eFqgI3cqgh3n3UDxc3BkC4BarhYiNodUdShxYq8GtObtZ-B9-F8/s1600/Lush+and+Blush+Club+742.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Beau's long hair on the next guy down... gorgeous </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Meet my gorgeous guys.</span> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI0AmUlZzdJZp7ov1nB6Cx6nHSKJfKoV_MevDZJYBzGkZC3bDrQEC_t3myoz8gGIUiXcuvIBB8ihbzjtmqWh8U5DvXsrbPsCrxNgXCq_ZkwwRu3a5fs-0wjbG6J3Z_TYHc_ZNHR8JKC-g/s1600/Ted+hawaiian_muscle_boy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI0AmUlZzdJZp7ov1nB6Cx6nHSKJfKoV_MevDZJYBzGkZC3bDrQEC_t3myoz8gGIUiXcuvIBB8ihbzjtmqWh8U5DvXsrbPsCrxNgXCq_ZkwwRu3a5fs-0wjbG6J3Z_TYHc_ZNHR8JKC-g/s1600/Ted+hawaiian_muscle_boy.jpg" width="310" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is very much Beau Toyama, but he's older, with long hair. Very sexy Hawaiian/Japanese man</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt3boNXTuGy6wTt49ZnU0b47Mj7vvCSh087vJigjLri_5hUSv8KrLgf1FaERicL1CftXDA3C13-Sm0ZCpHWxotCkOEe6sCLDqgKQBJQ9fLZs_A8R3aUT88VpEU3ZC76PhrAT7KNeewHx0/s1600/Mattie+by+himself.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt3boNXTuGy6wTt49ZnU0b47Mj7vvCSh087vJigjLri_5hUSv8KrLgf1FaERicL1CftXDA3C13-Sm0ZCpHWxotCkOEe6sCLDqgKQBJQ9fLZs_A8R3aUT88VpEU3ZC76PhrAT7KNeewHx0/s1600/Mattie+by+himself.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is my best muse I can find for Mattie. He's this build, but his skin is more olive, tanned and his hair slightly longer, with freckles across his nose and blue eyes. But that's his smile and eyes. :-)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">The B.I. is a very healing place. It’s also a worldwide
leader in harvesting macadamia nuts and orchids. Orchid literally means ‘testicle’
and they have that unique male and female exoticness to them. I like the
sensitive but male nature of them. </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Book Two was born in the now named series: <i>The Hawaiians</i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitBx_utLIKqgb0aKyJh-FZ3XUlXXGDZ-7onmPfPPEsxPTAQHTDAESm5ZXjk_rnRNxM1l7DcmI8L8JB2QS2ARidVrLDQ_IeVdZzVqcSWHO4tfr79pEiGej1ne7laphgbwH4hT9vb-d00-8/s1600/history-meaning-orchid31+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitBx_utLIKqgb0aKyJh-FZ3XUlXXGDZ-7onmPfPPEsxPTAQHTDAESm5ZXjk_rnRNxM1l7DcmI8L8JB2QS2ARidVrLDQ_IeVdZzVqcSWHO4tfr79pEiGej1ne7laphgbwH4hT9vb-d00-8/s1600/history-meaning-orchid31+(1).jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRtMcqx2g8XwijqLHt9PClZmmRZgu_DQdA1UHw3d5xxWWy9ywVuPGnUhFsMSNMZHOAD1qXkSEh9yd6XuGcLr11347avXMzbNHTWxZHS3knyz0v7Z3UQI7y0J-OOxY8nIPBUvta02XZNhQ/s1600/nature-orchid-tattoo-ideas-design-and-meaning-for-girl-on-back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRtMcqx2g8XwijqLHt9PClZmmRZgu_DQdA1UHw3d5xxWWy9ywVuPGnUhFsMSNMZHOAD1qXkSEh9yd6XuGcLr11347avXMzbNHTWxZHS3knyz0v7Z3UQI7y0J-OOxY8nIPBUvta02XZNhQ/s1600/nature-orchid-tattoo-ideas-design-and-meaning-for-girl-on-back.jpg" width="301" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Kulani has a large orchid tattoo on his back and one on his left foot</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtHmt9pmNWcur9nl1I4m_yHzYS-AgV9KX20KEB6U-wgz70bc_clbbdwe07-yPyPf6d3pvwISB5OFnFt2qFriUsOjQA-R4GZ_tw3tkabG2ys3gmb84NzpQet1uiHe7iapJuNUJ0RvUukII/s1600/purple-orchid+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtHmt9pmNWcur9nl1I4m_yHzYS-AgV9KX20KEB6U-wgz70bc_clbbdwe07-yPyPf6d3pvwISB5OFnFt2qFriUsOjQA-R4GZ_tw3tkabG2ys3gmb84NzpQet1uiHe7iapJuNUJ0RvUukII/s1600/purple-orchid+(1).jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIgpcaplrnEy4Bi9rzN86-M9USKIuzU2pRKXE7X9oKR8vghr540P7BewmwzYGlZGwrmhXXrUWATB41qHcfc4gS3dDq91tTNYSzpKvAzQ9DFLHf-ByIVQJvjH92N1RZTY7TBqeuQnJwAns/s1600/purple-orchid-flowers-meaning-purple-orchid-flowers-800x533.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIgpcaplrnEy4Bi9rzN86-M9USKIuzU2pRKXE7X9oKR8vghr540P7BewmwzYGlZGwrmhXXrUWATB41qHcfc4gS3dDq91tTNYSzpKvAzQ9DFLHf-ByIVQJvjH92N1RZTY7TBqeuQnJwAns/s1600/purple-orchid-flowers-meaning-purple-orchid-flowers-800x533.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "comic sans ms"; font-size: 20.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "comic sans ms"; font-size: 20.0pt;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">HAWAIIAN
ORCHID</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I was having trouble with a wee bit of a bolshie person
one day on fb. I then put up a picture of Dayvid Thomas, the Hawaiian/Samoan
musician. Writer, Lily Lamb said, “He needs a story.” I agreed. He’s stunning. He
became my muse for Kulani Mahikoa who is ‘The Orchid,’ a Hawaiian pro-surfer
who’s had a rough upbringing. </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He meets the lone and lonely New Zealand widower,
Rob Masterson when he drops anchor in Kona Harbor and the sparks fly. Two
wounded men have to learn to trust and heal with each other. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgshHNlJ8XqBVDq1lHFyfoVSyqXmAitI7Q0vMQKov3PGlDSU5FD7itfA26oSQ_0cX1MmoS1brorFfxG0kZj_G1ywrLqw4LEQdkHNvYQo88R9uwykoGgAS1ayBNHVZH3KOaM501a4h3wsc/s1600/Hawaiiana+-+surfboards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgshHNlJ8XqBVDq1lHFyfoVSyqXmAitI7Q0vMQKov3PGlDSU5FD7itfA26oSQ_0cX1MmoS1brorFfxG0kZj_G1ywrLqw4LEQdkHNvYQo88R9uwykoGgAS1ayBNHVZH3KOaM501a4h3wsc/s1600/Hawaiiana+-+surfboards.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kulani’s has more
layers than Rob ever bargained for. And Rob has his past life with his dead husband Tony to cut ties with. They travel to New Zealand to tie up loose
ends, but the majority of this book is still set in the Hawaiian Islands. </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0bn6dsmXWQulLkHogvN4ode_Lo0tBSJgG2WFotQZ9xY6SlLuLQwq616eDTv25jhiYCOonLvERvwSf2fqccsRczA9UQqdnMujY_mTS6OFirVk_4ObI85_7tfY84SX2upq78x3FlbMZ8_Q/s1600/9e461014169297444f6d564a7a3e700f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0bn6dsmXWQulLkHogvN4ode_Lo0tBSJgG2WFotQZ9xY6SlLuLQwq616eDTv25jhiYCOonLvERvwSf2fqccsRczA9UQqdnMujY_mTS6OFirVk_4ObI85_7tfY84SX2upq78x3FlbMZ8_Q/s1600/9e461014169297444f6d564a7a3e700f.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">My muse for Kulani Mahikoa... gorgeous man</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8qf8WkZgsvABaWK6m5SsLGrM6S9GoDqOV2oh5-UYa_3Ww2N4TE4Pq9c4_ecP4js-lqOpkYuWja3Y36l2vazKSGXXSaLwNHGemWzxki_j0BD2Yuzp7SI1mTP5kmlBBhYj2HEukYnd1J5w/s1600/ColinFarrell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8qf8WkZgsvABaWK6m5SsLGrM6S9GoDqOV2oh5-UYa_3Ww2N4TE4Pq9c4_ecP4js-lqOpkYuWja3Y36l2vazKSGXXSaLwNHGemWzxki_j0BD2Yuzp7SI1mTP5kmlBBhYj2HEukYnd1J5w/s1600/ColinFarrell.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Colin Farrell looks remarkably like Rob. :-)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUvYq6NwUiEoLGIx-DWVH0MTmvfunH44-c6UMfyfmCKBJYcSmry72eOXNp1cOf2lVSb35RGiKbspmhU4t2TNySzxFNdXidMRl1w67hrUJoqmmJ-DMA59D95sjJFz76FCpKHM0uhrm6CcY/s1600/dayvid-thomas-19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUvYq6NwUiEoLGIx-DWVH0MTmvfunH44-c6UMfyfmCKBJYcSmry72eOXNp1cOf2lVSb35RGiKbspmhU4t2TNySzxFNdXidMRl1w67hrUJoqmmJ-DMA59D95sjJFz76FCpKHM0uhrm6CcY/s1600/dayvid-thomas-19.jpg" width="266" /></a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Two NSFW's coming up... :-)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge_8OwrZqza7zxqiLm2sHhNifEhsXg3G5rqmNgVz_DAUuWrNbxWmzbTwX31j11UlZBkRjV_4UkWiZWQpgmFPjB6bpj1GAmbttddx0jCzpT-wbj0b_vhuD3YQQXcxI0q9r5DbIGXZ5miqY/s1600/Lush+and+Blush+Club+743.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge_8OwrZqza7zxqiLm2sHhNifEhsXg3G5rqmNgVz_DAUuWrNbxWmzbTwX31j11UlZBkRjV_4UkWiZWQpgmFPjB6bpj1GAmbttddx0jCzpT-wbj0b_vhuD3YQQXcxI0q9r5DbIGXZ5miqY/s1600/Lush+and+Blush+Club+743.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I think Kulani's body is very like these two shots... Yummmm</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVcijxo9CZp7dvEN915Bihu8B6qNOPpgAtvsFWBNtvA8GER5vhgkOZ2N66ayKeWpGP5_e7Dsy2K2vN-a0kM_Q-OgvnyuvSRdqUR8eYyTC6zyRf7wEFrB-U0CwX689wkVPDEpttLYmaZuo/s1600/Lush+and+Blush+Club+744.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVcijxo9CZp7dvEN915Bihu8B6qNOPpgAtvsFWBNtvA8GER5vhgkOZ2N66ayKeWpGP5_e7Dsy2K2vN-a0kM_Q-OgvnyuvSRdqUR8eYyTC6zyRf7wEFrB-U0CwX689wkVPDEpttLYmaZuo/s1600/Lush+and+Blush+Club+744.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">Some of the most beautiful tropical flowers in the
world are grown on the Big Island, including the wild gingers. The delicate
heavenly scented whites or butterfly ginger, the thick phallic, red, torch
ginger, the shell ginger or the spiky ornamental red and pink ginger flowers.
I love them all. </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">I also love to dance and have a great love of the dance couple
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Book Three was born in the series. As yet,
somewhat unformed, but the ideas are percolating away and my Muses gave their
promise or <i>promos </i>as Zane would say
to fill me in on the story: </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "comic sans ms"; font-size: 20.0pt;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">HAWAIIAN
GINGER</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">When Rob and Kulani get together, he doesn’t realize Kulani is a mentor for the ‘lost boys.’ </span><br />
<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Young gay men who are now
homeless, abandoned, and abused because they’re gay. Zane Andrews, is partially
deaf, and a dancer. He comes from an extremely religious family who didn’t
react well when they found him cuddled up with his boyfriend, Kaleho MacAdams
one day. They weren’t doing anything, but the ultimatum was given. Give up each
other or else. They took the or else and ran away from home together, rather
than be apart. They stole things from Kulani and he takes them under his
wing.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Zane, despite his hearing impairment is a superb graceful dancer and has
an auburn tinge in his hair. This is his story. </span> </span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9k_p4PKoTpgiTNJMNUiCpU0S8nqiJkwh2kVXs1pd2mcw5Az8TGYpdYYiBZtuJ9i46JK7VUYmVmYXv-6oPfHXmHs9Bb_K1t5yi6YXBLmQFnMKZ9RAIXquXOdltDFvLFYCRlbBmJEa4hKE/s1600/Zane+with+short+hair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9k_p4PKoTpgiTNJMNUiCpU0S8nqiJkwh2kVXs1pd2mcw5Az8TGYpdYYiBZtuJ9i46JK7VUYmVmYXv-6oPfHXmHs9Bb_K1t5yi6YXBLmQFnMKZ9RAIXquXOdltDFvLFYCRlbBmJEa4hKE/s1600/Zane+with+short+hair.jpg" width="321" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Zane's hair is longer to his shoulders, but otherwise, this is pure Zane :-) He's very feminine.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">The lei’s are one of my deepest loves about the islands. I love all the
colors. We mostly get them in white, yellow, light and hot pink. But now new colors are turning up, burgundies, apricots, some lilacs. Just gorgeous. If
I’m living there, I wear a fresh plumeria bloom behind my ear every day. The
plumerias are the most loved of the fragrant Hawaiian flowers for me. I wear
Jessica McClintock perfume because it reminds me of the scent. They are the
fragrance of the Hawaiian Islands and represent a rich, exotic nature. </span><br />
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWDZK06fcWgE1EbjLtr4BnsiRhzH6A_a-6LiLjVtIdmcYacJBz_IR2aZ3P5DhYBZRkvUliw1xONmxU9yE6lPPijxoFpNthPQSL5gRaAgGCx8fGbo96LArd8tkhnpUhpZqK78r72f8Rxfk/s1600/Hawaiiana+-+orange+leis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWDZK06fcWgE1EbjLtr4BnsiRhzH6A_a-6LiLjVtIdmcYacJBz_IR2aZ3P5DhYBZRkvUliw1xONmxU9yE6lPPijxoFpNthPQSL5gRaAgGCx8fGbo96LArd8tkhnpUhpZqK78r72f8Rxfk/s1600/Hawaiiana+-+orange+leis.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpXkAGf5h20Ccm15N9aC5XEhwx_GDKuEBK8kDOSHjk1jEWunFefkpVtE6S8clk1gBn_troGZ10bslRhUEKclJp_EgAgdTiDddwASEE-912ej9mP3CZ80_Bs0WeaxgnXF97RNPKZp98A5A/s1600/Lush+and+Blush+Club+625.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpXkAGf5h20Ccm15N9aC5XEhwx_GDKuEBK8kDOSHjk1jEWunFefkpVtE6S8clk1gBn_troGZ10bslRhUEKclJp_EgAgdTiDddwASEE-912ej9mP3CZ80_Bs0WeaxgnXF97RNPKZp98A5A/s1600/Lush+and+Blush+Club+625.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8fN0A2DDOe3DGno8SUhRewbHRyOYKmr-IhaNBAI4jKDOjTH9j6Q6PdRa8EAZDubF1SrZiu7ipquU0TNg_RE4MRN5Dc3YrLDh2IaL0sfGwRcMS4j-bDbiOE7ZxszvNJcXCkrsCr6Dyfs0/s1600/Aloha+Friday+Happy-Aloha-Friday-March-2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8fN0A2DDOe3DGno8SUhRewbHRyOYKmr-IhaNBAI4jKDOjTH9j6Q6PdRa8EAZDubF1SrZiu7ipquU0TNg_RE4MRN5Dc3YrLDh2IaL0sfGwRcMS4j-bDbiOE7ZxszvNJcXCkrsCr6Dyfs0/s1600/Aloha+Friday+Happy-Aloha-Friday-March-2012.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">The other ‘exotic’
thing which you don’t expect to get on the B.I. is horse country. The Parker
ranch, is one of the biggest contiguous ranch in the USA in the north of the
Big Island, up Waimea way. Cooler, wetter, lush, with grass and horse fences
like Kentucky. The Hawaiian cowboys are called Paniolos.</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Book Four was born in the series:</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8Mm6wibVV1tgQXws3RhJRg6ziQbKQ5IFTaSHsur45H7kKMLOEjR64n2-QBq12PTYDdvGWAH81110tVkOdkNTtGV1SjHE8latjwPhG36YCucgnRX76ixWKhrYuuni134j6xGtS6rRmUw/s1600/NaPanioloInducties2008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN8Mm6wibVV1tgQXws3RhJRg6ziQbKQ5IFTaSHsur45H7kKMLOEjR64n2-QBq12PTYDdvGWAH81110tVkOdkNTtGV1SjHE8latjwPhG36YCucgnRX76ixWKhrYuuni134j6xGtS6rRmUw/s1600/NaPanioloInducties2008.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "comic sans ms"; font-size: 20.0pt;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>HAWAIIAN
FRAGRANCE</b></span><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Danny Lucerno is mixed plate, part Portuguese from a wealthy,
plumeria farm family. He’s a fourth
generation Big Islander coming from the powerful and influential Lucerno
family. His folks also own substantial ranch land and are horse people up in wet
lush Waimea where the mighty Parker Ranch is. Not that the scent of his moneyed
background supports him much. When he came out to his family at seventeen, they
disowned him. Kulani found him living on the beach. </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now he’s got a bad boy
attitude, smokes cigarettes and is the most hurt and angry of the boys. He was
raised on a horse, but he’s also an expert waterman like Kulani. Another
departure from his families graces. He and Zane often go head to head. </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdo5iku8fb128GjKb_zn13BRj1Dc_C_2t3CGFVX-RkpjlbIz9dOxCugD6Qls_GP1D1SkSdGQkX67N4xNGCr9lBt4oD4C5__KmDSv6H9doAiXlo6F85FAdqYBsWiQROCFzFmGg04W-KTW4/s1600/Danny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdo5iku8fb128GjKb_zn13BRj1Dc_C_2t3CGFVX-RkpjlbIz9dOxCugD6Qls_GP1D1SkSdGQkX67N4xNGCr9lBt4oD4C5__KmDSv6H9doAiXlo6F85FAdqYBsWiQROCFzFmGg04W-KTW4/s1600/Danny.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: large;">The diversity and richness of the B.I. makes it one of
the most interesting of the Hawaiian Islands. We’re the only US state to grow
coffee. Kauai grows it too, but theirs is machine harvested. Kona Coast’s is
all hand harvested because the terrain is too steep to get vehicles onto. When
you see signs on the side of the road saying, ‘We buy cherry.’ It means they’re
buying the ripened red beans of the coffee plant. They’re soft pulpy berries at
that point that contain two coffee beans in them. When they only contain one,
they’re known as peaberry coffee. The beans are dried by raking them out on
concrete to dry. They are then roasted. </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because most of the ‘cherry’ is evenly red by hand picking, they roast evenly. You don’t get the sharp bitter taste of
South American coffees. It’s why Kona is one of the smoothest coffees in the
world. If you like the super smooth taste, make sure to buy Pure 100 % percent
Kona. I love it. And I’m not a coffee drinker. The island has a rich Japanese
heritage too and every year the Cherry blossom festival is held on the B.I.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Book Five was born: </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinorkbGZ0LoA0JS561jB9sNM-nSaOmoHWtmhtbCRHet-YPaFM6eExF0LAAS5GnJsmFaF12fiHVpXIXkREguygmrgeBE0XnxbS-f-Sw3gN0CletSqlMPSTJqtfga4_5v3Jp5Bk-2uSIiko/s1600/Hawaiiana+-+Kona+coffee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinorkbGZ0LoA0JS561jB9sNM-nSaOmoHWtmhtbCRHet-YPaFM6eExF0LAAS5GnJsmFaF12fiHVpXIXkREguygmrgeBE0XnxbS-f-Sw3gN0CletSqlMPSTJqtfga4_5v3Jp5Bk-2uSIiko/s1600/Hawaiiana+-+Kona+coffee.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuai9XqTY0FQeCHrYJrW6l_44sYShQTxJUvwalfcNe2wwCNdYEbIwlDqnF3lW8KOFvkTmmmTdaH7l8m9H0F6nYi-KfidxULWd-D3zZ_0whe3dKJ3G_hsyyOixPtErGfkDK98pjVB5Y05I/s1600/Kona+coffee+lots+of+cherry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuai9XqTY0FQeCHrYJrW6l_44sYShQTxJUvwalfcNe2wwCNdYEbIwlDqnF3lW8KOFvkTmmmTdaH7l8m9H0F6nYi-KfidxULWd-D3zZ_0whe3dKJ3G_hsyyOixPtErGfkDK98pjVB5Y05I/s1600/Kona+coffee+lots+of+cherry.jpg" width="318" /></a></div>
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "comic sans ms"; font-size: 20.0pt;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">HAWAIIAN
CHERRY</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Japanese twins Haru and Kisho come down from old coffee
farmers in South Kona. Some of the family haven’t done as well as others. Their
mother is a drug addict, the ICE on the island, capturing another willing slave
to it. When she gets a new boyfriend, he sees the twins at fourteen as fresh
meat and the twins are another statistic in the crimes and cruelness against
young GLBT kids.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6X1kUxdw_c3ymcNjkw223PJ76OA-fey845yzuD03xL0fmSpUpcpvlLBGQxDZJJKHY9LCpQ6CsCSKhL42T4p7S6ZTLN4RPVOH0P59YhGeuYtsTBMjK405JFTih7uRRUNB-YrmW27c1zeA/s1600/tumblr_mckumiOPjk1r2lchgo3_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6X1kUxdw_c3ymcNjkw223PJ76OA-fey845yzuD03xL0fmSpUpcpvlLBGQxDZJJKHY9LCpQ6CsCSKhL42T4p7S6ZTLN4RPVOH0P59YhGeuYtsTBMjK405JFTih7uRRUNB-YrmW27c1zeA/s1600/tumblr_mckumiOPjk1r2lchgo3_1280.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">These are the closet I can get to the twins Kisho and Haru</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Most of the world’s macadamia nuts are grown on the Big
Island. They came from Australia in 1879 by a sugar plantation manager and now
even outstrip Queensland, Australia in production. The sweet, rich nuts are
part of my daily diet when I’m home on the island. I love Mauna Loa brand. The
plain, salted nuts are the sweetest and best, but some people swear by Hawaiian
Host. I love the varieties in Mauna Loa, their coffee glazed are my all-time
favs after the plain ones. Yum. :)</span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Mac nuts have an extremely hard outer
shell and are cracked under great pressure, but inside they are sweet, rich,
fatty and the most prized of the nut species. Pure exoticness. </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Book Six was born: </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyX9VYD_FtoItZszARirD35xvFyEdGUyhm6fEQWrBeH6cW2GYzrc3Duun8vSoD90Er-gURM3uSyriPTmcekduqvqcyn3FHsS3JmgUBAjZJs0IeOKJbXbt3swVPUOiwfcwxLujBBZU2s0k/s1600/the_glorious_dangerous_macadam_p2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyX9VYD_FtoItZszARirD35xvFyEdGUyhm6fEQWrBeH6cW2GYzrc3Duun8vSoD90Er-gURM3uSyriPTmcekduqvqcyn3FHsS3JmgUBAjZJs0IeOKJbXbt3swVPUOiwfcwxLujBBZU2s0k/s1600/the_glorious_dangerous_macadam_p2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9n2gVi_kI-dDuojaGkvL13PS127QIl7F3bnJRot8PeWX7Ht6ORIsaw090uiMBCrLbGBurUOzZ4uu0iX7FXD1zlp5hQXUnNfKJsGozt1z1OkumLQLVvXjI8cvxSMGPwX2KELxz7rPtNzM/s1600/macadamia-nut-oil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9n2gVi_kI-dDuojaGkvL13PS127QIl7F3bnJRot8PeWX7Ht6ORIsaw090uiMBCrLbGBurUOzZ4uu0iX7FXD1zlp5hQXUnNfKJsGozt1z1OkumLQLVvXjI8cvxSMGPwX2KELxz7rPtNzM/s1600/macadamia-nut-oil.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "comic sans ms"; font-size: 20.0pt;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">HAWAIIAN
MAC</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kaleho MacAdams is the last character in the series as
it stands at the moment. He’s a mixed plate Hawaiian with a touch of Chinese
blood and Haole as well. His family is poor and his fathers a shocking bigot. "My
son’s been corrupted by that fairy faggot retard…" You know that ugly story.
Kaleho and Zane have been best friends, since they were little <i>keiki</i> and nothing will keep them apart.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWYU5cjQQoFg0g7sYAaOfGsntTsvM_lO-JU5bUsNPVVjBzNfqSXmtofPOIuJj3LF_rZUsL8M-xDGpi38cdxW-6wlnKeXOjmY6FIGa8fI9tAHgwDyPHQpot1EBzjw1M4g30qe91gKQJYOA/s1600/Kaleho+with+blond+hair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWYU5cjQQoFg0g7sYAaOfGsntTsvM_lO-JU5bUsNPVVjBzNfqSXmtofPOIuJj3LF_rZUsL8M-xDGpi38cdxW-6wlnKeXOjmY6FIGa8fI9tAHgwDyPHQpot1EBzjw1M4g30qe91gKQJYOA/s1600/Kaleho+with+blond+hair.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Kaleho MacAdams, this is a very Hawaiian look with the black hair dyed blond :-)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">All these beautiful men have deep, soulful stories to
tell. And they’re graciously letting me do the honors. I write about
relationships and love of all kinds. And I get to tell their stories in my
beloved island Aloha State—the 50<sup>th</sup> and last state to enter the
union in 1959. </span><span style="text-indent: 0in;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: large;">We have everything there that I love. Volcanoes, beaches, mountains and aqua blue ocean. Our beaches are beautiful.
Our snorkeling is some of the best in the Hawaiian Islands. We have whales,
dolphins, honu (Hawaiian green sea turtles), mantas, fish… Our tropical fruit
and flowers are</span> </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0in;">abundant. Our island lifestyle is cruisy and laid back. It’s a
paradise.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim2T5A6_IKKKasryvLlvOKXKoOkkj-b3uapaRiQvWBM-QFHTdR-1BjURHv61FazY7TEC_ifbPGeVGO3rmvkr0FA7KUFI_XFCR8I4pHAzGR6ftlwr6EfQ7mPW0r6SY17YNKJr4Be-zeb-0/s1600/Hawaiian+honu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim2T5A6_IKKKasryvLlvOKXKoOkkj-b3uapaRiQvWBM-QFHTdR-1BjURHv61FazY7TEC_ifbPGeVGO3rmvkr0FA7KUFI_XFCR8I4pHAzGR6ftlwr6EfQ7mPW0r6SY17YNKJr4Be-zeb-0/s1600/Hawaiian+honu.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is taken down at Honaunau, Place of Refuge. There are honu there every day :-)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hawaii is the most isolated population center
on the face of the earth. Hawaii is 2,390 miles from California; 3,850 miles
from Japan; 4,900 miles from China; and 5,280 miles from the Philippines.</span><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This gives us beautiful clear energy all around us on
the island. Other than when Madame Pele is having a bad day and puffing out
‘vog—’ a <span style="color: #222222;">smog or haze that contains volcanic dust
and gases. </span>If the wind is going the wrong way, it drifts up the Kona
coast and we’re all annoyed with Pele when she does this. We take her moods
quite personally on the island. We see her energy and life force as very real.
She’s the fire goddess who lives in the Kilauea pit on the Eastern side of the
island. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: large;">She’s one of the slowest moving volcanoes in the world
and has been actively degorging flowing lava since about 1983. Most of the time
you can walk out and see her letting her hair down. I have seen the lava flows
at different times and it’s never the same thing twice. You’ll always get
something completely different each time. When Pele does something naughty like
take out a house in Pahoa, we islanders all wonder what’s pissed her off.
Because she’s slow moving though, she’s mostly not dangerous to live on the
same island with. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">When she lets her hair down, we either get the very
sharp a’a lava that looks like crunchy honeycomb in black/grey/red. Or the
smooth, slower ropey lava called pahoehoe. Thanks to Pele, our island grows
every year as the new lava cools and hardens, forming new land. </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiubkVUDHiZLJWWDVWO91q0D_6VnYaD_2h2HlsPG21jrJXaKHNUWnR8xkNl92GLfucILGGgVow6iMJRBIqfmSW4exbDRZNK-inulDJMtMOWWEfuZ4mbMyJyOOdy1abK_7wV-z-O7z4FBjs/s1600/Building+Big+Island.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiubkVUDHiZLJWWDVWO91q0D_6VnYaD_2h2HlsPG21jrJXaKHNUWnR8xkNl92GLfucILGGgVow6iMJRBIqfmSW4exbDRZNK-inulDJMtMOWWEfuZ4mbMyJyOOdy1abK_7wV-z-O7z4FBjs/s1600/Building+Big+Island.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimg4YZO7b_QmGiv0T7jzda-QuDNdnRYELZPykga-YYk0E4qSCa1D5ELxDUwevX0bSC6t9oLBsG_LlfYTt9TcjqUYL1lOjSWMYya-z_DLI8N0K3aKRgkGzXqdUnXzjrE5VCa4fXhZ8H4sE/s1600/Lavahike2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimg4YZO7b_QmGiv0T7jzda-QuDNdnRYELZPykga-YYk0E4qSCa1D5ELxDUwevX0bSC6t9oLBsG_LlfYTt9TcjqUYL1lOjSWMYya-z_DLI8N0K3aKRgkGzXqdUnXzjrE5VCa4fXhZ8H4sE/s1600/Lavahike2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is the Pahoehoe lava, slow moving, ropey when set. Just up on the top right side, you can see some a'a lava. Crunchy sharp, much hotter and moving faster generally. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5sUXZMmk-7p0wrUiPUzF_EmIx8xFeARsm2exSLAgYtUbo6yoR6Hc7kDJs0H61kobc7NWHaSn-BAznbq3qF0sDn0g6h1IINGBsqkQrBkO8VKaN8F1EqumN8qsUifaRFqxG1c7BhocqqZY/s1600/Mauna+Loa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5sUXZMmk-7p0wrUiPUzF_EmIx8xFeARsm2exSLAgYtUbo6yoR6Hc7kDJs0H61kobc7NWHaSn-BAznbq3qF0sDn0g6h1IINGBsqkQrBkO8VKaN8F1EqumN8qsUifaRFqxG1c7BhocqqZY/s1600/Mauna+Loa.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mauna Kea with snow on, seen from a West Coast beach</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">The Hawaiian Islands are the exposed peaks of a great
undersea mountain range known as the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian-Emperor_seamount_chain" title="Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; text-decoration: none;">Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">, formed by<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcano" title="Volcano"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; text-decoration: none;">volcanic</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">activity
over a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotspot_(geology)" title="Hotspot (geology)"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; text-decoration: none;">hotspot</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">in the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_mantle" title="Earth's mantle"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; text-decoration: none;">Earth's mantle</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">.</span><span style="color: #0070c0;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: large;">The highest mountain in the world from its base is Mauna
Kea. It aptly named, it gets snow in the winter. Mauna means mountain. Kea means white. It’s not what you expect from
a tropical island and we all see snow as a bit of an event, worth a drive when
it happens. On top of Mauna Kea is one of the biggest telescopes in the world
and the most observatories in one place. You have to acclimate part way up at
the visitor’s center or you’ll get altitude sickness.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: large;">Don’t try to learn the Hawaiian words after a bout of
this, not fun! And if you’ve just had the oxygen tank (been there, done that…
LOL) then skip the next bit and go for a relaxing cocktail on the beach and
watch the sunset go down… </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: large;">Some of the Hawaiian words look unpronounceable. But
they’re simpler than they look. There are only 17 letters, so that cuts it down
a wee bit.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: rgb(249 , 249 , 249); border: 1pt solid rgb(221 , 221 , 221); font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 10pt; padding: 1pt;">A, B, D, E, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, R, T, U, V, W</span><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and seven <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diphthongs" title="Diphthongs"><span style="color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none;">diphthongs</span></a>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: rgb(249 , 249 , 249); border: 1pt solid rgb(221 , 221 , 221); font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 10pt; padding: 1pt;">AE, AI, AO, AU, EI, EU, OU</span><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">In 1826, the developers voted to eliminate
some of the letters which represented functionally redundant interchangeable
letters, enabling the Hawaiian alphabet to approach the ideal state of
one-symbol-one-sound, and thereby optimizing the ease with which people could
teach and learn the reading and writing of Hawaiian.</span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Interchangeable B/P. B
was dropped, P was kept<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Interchangeable L/R/D.
L was kept, R and D were dropped<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Interchangeable K/T. K
was kept, T was dropped<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Interchangeable V/W. V
was dropped, W was kept<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When I translate back and forth between New Zealand Maori and
Hawaiian, I have to pick up and drop letters, but Maori, Hawaiian and Tahitian
are very similar and came from the same language. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Hawaiians say Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. White Mountain and
Long Mountain. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In New Zealand Maori it’s Maunga Tea (the added g, the K/T
exchange.) And Mauna Loa (the added g, the K/L exchange.)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Aloha and aroha are the same word. The L/R exchanging. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #252525; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Well nice you might say, but how the hell do you pronounce these
words? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #252525; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here’s the quick and dirty on this: Split each word up into
syllables that end in a vowel. <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: red;">Ukulele </span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">– a small guitar like musical instrument popular in the
islands. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;">Oo-ku-lay-lay<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: red;">Aloha</span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> – Hello, goodbye<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;">Ah-lo-ha<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: red;">Mahalo</span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> – Thank you<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;">Ma-ha-lo<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: red;">Pau Hana </span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">– To finish work<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;">Pau (Pow – this is a diphthong with the double vowels
forming one sound) Ha-na<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: red;">Kuleana</span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> – To take responsibility for something. Have authority
over it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;">Ku-lay-ah-na<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: red;">Kealakekua Bay </span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">– One of the most beautiful snorkeling bays in the
Hawaiian Islands. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;">Kay-a-la-ka-ku-ah Bay<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;">Even the big words are easy when you split them. Say
them piece by piece, then speed it up a bit and you’ll sound like a local in no
time. Although seriously, we don’t say our state fish in full much. We say
Humu. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: red;">Humuhumunukunukuapua'a</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span>– Our state fish. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;">Hu-mu- hu-mu (the word repeats) nu-ku-nu ku (the word repeats)
ah-pu-a’a. The ‘ represents an <i>okina</i>
or “ot oh” sound. A-lee-ee for Ali’i. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: red;">Makalawena</span> – One of the most beautiful sweeps of
crescent beach on the Big Island, but I like the beach next door Kekaha Kai
with some shade and just as beautiful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;">Ma-ka-la-vay-na. The w often has a v sound. Like Hawai’i.
Ha-vai’i<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;">After all that, you’ll be up for a nice relaxing
cocktail that we in the islands are known for: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-size: xx-small;">How about a <span style="color: red;">Lava</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> Flow</span>? Or the famous<span style="color: #f1c232;"> Mai </span><span style="color: #783f04;">Tai?</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #373b40; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; padding: 0in;">Mai Tai:</span></b><span style="color: #373b40; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #00be87; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: xx-small; text-transform: uppercase;">INGREDIENTS<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #191919; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #191919; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">1 oz. Dark Rum<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EFFFFA; line-height: 18.75pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #191919; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #191919; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">1 oz Light Rum<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EFFFFA; line-height: 18.75pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #191919; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #191919; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">1 oz Orange Curacao<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EFFFFA; line-height: 18.75pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #191919; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #191919; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">2 oz Orange Juice<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #191919; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #191919; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">1/2 oz Lime Juice<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: #EFFFFA; line-height: 18.75pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #191919; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #191919; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Dash Orgeat (almond
syrup)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #191919; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #191919; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Dash Simple syrup (bar
syrup)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #191919; font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: large; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #00be87; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; text-transform: uppercase;">PREPARATION<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #00be87; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; text-transform: uppercase;"><br /></span></b></div>
</div>
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<span style="color: #191919; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">Combine all of the ingredients in the order listed in an <i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Old Fashioned</span></i> style glass over shaved ice. Stir
with a swizzle stick. Garnish with a slice of pineapple and a cherry.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; color: #191919; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif";">This is the authentic traditional Mai Tai
recipe from the "Mai Tai" Bar at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki.
The original Mai Tai was created by Victor J. Bergeron in 1944 and brought to
Hawaii in 1953 at the </span><a href="http://gohawaii.about.com/od/oahulodging/ss/royal_hawaiian_2.htm"><span style="background: white; color: #0099cc; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif";">Royal
Hawaiian</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #191919; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif";">, Moana and Surfrider Hotels.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="background: white; color: #191919; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif";"><br /></span>
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<span style="background: white; color: #191919; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: large;">I like to think the LAVA FLOW was created on
our island for us personally. :-)</span><span style="background: white; color: #191919; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"> One
of my all time favorites.</span> </span><br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #191919; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; font-size: large;">Aloha!!! </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #191919; font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">A hui hou (until we meet again)</span> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-55702910918101252132015-01-29T06:04:00.003-08:002015-01-29T07:03:42.770-08:00Do CURVES make us sexy or fat? ~ 80% of men CRAVE curves! ~ Conversations with Spencer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj05yfsewZJ1n9-dxcXV2I7_8qBDlVH4Rp4NgC0m3vruuTJRhD7ybj6NRSWddRAhbjqpaYiHSH-xbQc-zYPB-j6yA7Dpv6i7ZCir8k0bhjHWBwj9-sT2k7FeI7EHvyAQeJH4FjWkxVZEZk/s1600/9780760791998_p0_v1_s260x420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj05yfsewZJ1n9-dxcXV2I7_8qBDlVH4Rp4NgC0m3vruuTJRhD7ybj6NRSWddRAhbjqpaYiHSH-xbQc-zYPB-j6yA7Dpv6i7ZCir8k0bhjHWBwj9-sT2k7FeI7EHvyAQeJH4FjWkxVZEZk/s1600/9780760791998_p0_v1_s260x420.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Do CURVES
make us sexy or fat? ~ 80% of men CRAVE curves!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-size: 16.0pt;">Real
men crave real women<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Researchers
at Georgia Gwinnett College and the University of Texas at Austin say that: </span><b><span style="background: white; color: #ffc000; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt;">Curvy women hit men's
brains like a drug.</span></b><b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“Scans
of the observers’ brains when looking at curvy women showed activity in the
same reward centers activated by pleasurable drugs. The men experienced a kind
of high.”</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 15.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #ffc000; font-family: "Arial Black","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni;">VOLUPTUOUS ~ Va-va-voom!!!<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0in;">Aloha everyone,</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni;">Thanks as always
for reading our Conversations with Spencer. We love you!! </span><br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni;">Today we’re going
to talk about curvy women. When I ran the Lush and Blush Club on FB, we
celebrated curvy women. What was interesting was how many men commented on the
pictures. They LOVED them! And I’m not talking about the busty babes. Just
voluptuous, sexy, curvy women of all shapes and sizes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni;">Spencer and I have
talked about it a few times. He—like a lot of men—80 percent of them—love curvy
women. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni;">But women often
don’t celebrate that same level of enthusiasm for curves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni;">We see ourselves
as fat. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni;">Slowly over the
years, I have moved my own perceptions toward what makes a women sexy, and how
curvy I like being. I celebrate when women of all shapes and sizes acknowledge
their bodies and show them off with pride. I love being home in Hawai’i. Going
to the beach there is a treat. The Hawaiian women are often bigger and curvier
than the ‘norm.’ But god, they’re sexy and luscious. They wear every type of
swimsuit. They look fabulous!! I admire how much women now wear things that
show their curves and are comfortable with that. I didn’t grow up like that. I
had to learn that it’s okay to be a woman and have curves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Aharoni;">So here’s some
interesting bits and bobs on curves, sexiness and what our resident male Spencer
in this conversation thinks of curvy women…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">“Men love curves. Countless cross-cultural studies have shown
that men prefer a low hip-to-waist ratio, no matter the body weight. In other
words, small waists in relation to </span><a href="http://www.askmen.com/top_10/dating/top-10-ways-to-attract-sexy-women.html"><b><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">larger hips and
breasts</span></b></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">seem to be the ideal worldwide. Yes, 36-24-36 is a brick
house in any language.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Who’s language? And
what culture? I’d love to know. To me ‘brick house’ is not particularly
complimentary. “She’s built like a brick shit house.” FAIL. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Or maybe it's the definition of the old Commodores song "Brick House." "Mighty, mighty, letting it all hang out..." And it describes a 'strong, sexy, woman.' </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Back in the day, I
was a 34-24-34. Not far off the ‘brick house’ quote, either way. In New Zealand, I was
considered very slim. Now, I'd feel overly slim, at that size. When I was a
22 inch waist, I looked like a stick insect. I weighed in at 127 pounds and
looked gaunt. Cheek bones so sharp you could slice bread with them. I’m
comfortable at about 160 pounds. Not that I’m ACTUALLY that weight at the
moment… bugger it. At 5 foot 5, I’m average height, but at 160 pounds, not
average weight…in America. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">When I first came
here, I was floored by the size 2 and 0 thing. I wondered who on earth fitted
such things. In New Zealand, adult women’s sizes only go down to size 8 (the 22
inch waist.) Under that, you’re in the kiddies section, deemed too small to be
an adult! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Twenty years ago, most
fashion models were a size 8. Today, that's been replaced by an emaciated size
0. Meanwhile, during those same two decades, the average American woman, who
stands 5' 4", ballooned from a size 10 to a size 14. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Ls0d-we0LM4_GW7kkhR8Gpbvm3RBuJoAQHkYyVcDUWT0v435eiWQWYYDGMitG340EEYYodpqwLnbu5EEUtnhVHMQGnEeHLvvX13hRUSOl5tcFrGVcBMYPG-1VuPM34CpNG1PnRgy6jk/s1600/1abe51fcd874d792eb4025a8ff71c55d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Ls0d-we0LM4_GW7kkhR8Gpbvm3RBuJoAQHkYyVcDUWT0v435eiWQWYYDGMitG340EEYYodpqwLnbu5EEUtnhVHMQGnEeHLvvX13hRUSOl5tcFrGVcBMYPG-1VuPM34CpNG1PnRgy6jk/s1600/1abe51fcd874d792eb4025a8ff71c55d.jpg" height="290" width="400" /></a></div>
<b><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Fun fact: A 14, which is now considered a "plus
size," was approximately sex bomb Marilyn Monroe's dress size.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">~ Nancy Hayssen</span></i></b><i><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtJ26qD-B1QkexVN4Tp0C6yztnWH_xyOu3voKuKsdqcmYMKCRGgWocOjBBZwb1RkQQnzUR0sQllg-nC9oJ8HEgu9VFtiVNQuEWAc-0rvHmGV92GkLqtAY5yuJHtH8wj85u_aTh9xtzeQE/s1600/767e6bbe458e03a3070e920e4a12b263.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtJ26qD-B1QkexVN4Tp0C6yztnWH_xyOu3voKuKsdqcmYMKCRGgWocOjBBZwb1RkQQnzUR0sQllg-nC9oJ8HEgu9VFtiVNQuEWAc-0rvHmGV92GkLqtAY5yuJHtH8wj85u_aTh9xtzeQE/s1600/767e6bbe458e03a3070e920e4a12b263.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">So, how cultural is
weight? How fashionable is weight? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Through the ages,
it’s gone in and out of fashion. Even in the last hundred years we have seen it
going up and down. Various factors affected this, but one thing that seems
somewhat consistent, men have always liked curves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: #7030a0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; padding: 0in;">In the renaissance era from the 1400s to
the early 16<sup>th</sup> century, women were more voluptuous. Paintings by
Rubens show full-figured women and were the epitome of sexy. “Rubenesque” came
from this time period. His painted his second wife, 16-year-old H</span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">élène Fourment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQshAmqRBL3GpZ_qzRqGIahZ6wxNcc5yvWxRpFcH3hBmemAGBwwSMpbdicX56750GJ5ISzWUQFhuqho6drubiijUJO68TKWAMaULZAuG7FeimUtfG7QhlUEss1Hpy45PlnUV-gupP2ro/s1600/Venus+and+Adonis+Rubens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQshAmqRBL3GpZ_qzRqGIahZ6wxNcc5yvWxRpFcH3hBmemAGBwwSMpbdicX56750GJ5ISzWUQFhuqho6drubiijUJO68TKWAMaULZAuG7FeimUtfG7QhlUEss1Hpy45PlnUV-gupP2ro/s1600/Venus+and+Adonis+Rubens.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">In 1751, Frenchman, Francois Boucher, painted The Resting
Maiden which depicted a woman with a curvy body. Manet had curvy nudes in his
paintings, so it stayed in style for centuries.<span class="apple-converted-space"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnFgPt05S1hnQwORZrMrRcR-1ejLeR5DPhMLLiBWcqAnb_mGn3ujYgX7W0KBJKqYXZItn7Nmw5aWSr9f-NEdsXOuNn_tKwuv2yzuf6SdJ9kF70XB2EHha0rnKBBnWOX5Q2RYkM80WiGU/s1600/bv-06-624x504+FRancois+Boucher+The+REsting+Maiden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnFgPt05S1hnQwORZrMrRcR-1ejLeR5DPhMLLiBWcqAnb_mGn3ujYgX7W0KBJKqYXZItn7Nmw5aWSr9f-NEdsXOuNn_tKwuv2yzuf6SdJ9kF70XB2EHha0rnKBBnWOX5Q2RYkM80WiGU/s1600/bv-06-624x504+FRancois+Boucher+The+REsting+Maiden.jpg" height="322" width="400" /></a></div>
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">In the Victorian Era from the 1830s to 1900’s –
sexy meant having the smallest waist possible and women often had ribs removed
(without anesthetic) to achieve this. Eek.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtY3Q6ppz9vmreyOQgjFahL2TnP9mxyG2lgR5Lyo1805hpz_w4yk_RIUPk8oi0B-jYRCOK4jpF8Zaxsqw880K6P9AsnLkG6bT9Fvx8hDKPQcViHLgkAkLBznFpSAvd30WUS8h-z1kivkM/s1600/slide_336073_3389801_free+the+Gibson+Girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtY3Q6ppz9vmreyOQgjFahL2TnP9mxyG2lgR5Lyo1805hpz_w4yk_RIUPk8oi0B-jYRCOK4jpF8Zaxsqw880K6P9AsnLkG6bT9Fvx8hDKPQcViHLgkAkLBznFpSAvd30WUS8h-z1kivkM/s1600/slide_336073_3389801_free+the+Gibson+Girl.jpg" height="400" width="315" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The classic Gibson Girl</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 12pt;">The “Gibson Girl” in the late 1800s was tall,
large busted and had wide hips, with a narrow waist. Ankles started to become
sexualized and were arousing… Women like actress, Lillian Russell were sex
symbols of the day. Curvaceous, luscious, sirens admired by everyone.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSMy5oFM53Cvln_CDAJsBgVyocN9XhNbWmNJMTs05GJqKXIOVJ1HK3NAqnQreYQkDz-PBHdBXaLOlCGty-8jlK1Yxuwo5BN-PvmjdJWgDuJjqJqPiYq3IkUThdfynMZuN4v5pi7EE1Mrc/s1600/picmonkey-collage2-624x624+from+plump+to+waif.+500+years+of+the+'perfect'%2Bbody%2Bshape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSMy5oFM53Cvln_CDAJsBgVyocN9XhNbWmNJMTs05GJqKXIOVJ1HK3NAqnQreYQkDz-PBHdBXaLOlCGty-8jlK1Yxuwo5BN-PvmjdJWgDuJjqJqPiYq3IkUThdfynMZuN4v5pi7EE1Mrc/s1600/picmonkey-collage2-624x624+from+plump+to+waif.+500+years+of+the+'perfect'%2Bbody%2Bshape.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The English fashion
designer Gok Wan is fabulous about making women love their curves. Got breasts,
flaunt them! Got a lovely tiny waist and decent hips—sex it up! Got a booty to
beat Britain, wiggle those buns off! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Okay, some of us can
go with what we think are the ‘sexier’ bits. Fair enough. But what about the
‘muffin top’ and other wobbly bits? What do men think?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgkdJzfooBgDwmDzPJ6-lm-EvSXHV1e4KnomrBkuQP9yoiTO7sTSS0Jo4o5VxQ2SYgbp_NEhlvfEFsgqMoU90JsmjNhopdRd0TiUNNtrLCEHE04UAA-TEuhitv7L6w9-6jSSelWh0OGRQ/s1600/0292a4c7b7044d81268f6b4a599791d4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgkdJzfooBgDwmDzPJ6-lm-EvSXHV1e4KnomrBkuQP9yoiTO7sTSS0Jo4o5VxQ2SYgbp_NEhlvfEFsgqMoU90JsmjNhopdRd0TiUNNtrLCEHE04UAA-TEuhitv7L6w9-6jSSelWh0OGRQ/s1600/0292a4c7b7044d81268f6b4a599791d4.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Surprisingly, men
often don’t see what we see. They see ‘cuddly’ bits and no, that’s not a
euphemistic term for ‘cute but not sexy.’ It means I’d like to cuddle, touch and
HAVE sex with you. I asked one of my toyboys, “What does our fat feel like to
you?” He replied, “Soft, sexy, something to grab hold of.” “More cushin’ for
the pushin…’ Another man told fellow writer Lucee Lovett that the more body fat
a women has, the (literally) hotter she is to have sex with. The vaginal space
is hotter around the penis. Who knew? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<b><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">One study found men prefer a woman
that is 10-15 pounds heavier than what the women believed to be the ideal
weight men want.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHxmCm1hWEfisucKkFDHby6vmu4dxVsmUVa-UCAjxShHb5jO7LZWG7WXwDm3Fg6KMsFwT2R67ZF6qI35cUyY2weC5j8Amqlb8flza9AAyinT_1yT_PvL5m_pUN29gxCgMUsDm2YpN0coQ/s1600/tumblr_m7kkg8jdyq1rz6234o1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHxmCm1hWEfisucKkFDHby6vmu4dxVsmUVa-UCAjxShHb5jO7LZWG7WXwDm3Fg6KMsFwT2R67ZF6qI35cUyY2weC5j8Amqlb8flza9AAyinT_1yT_PvL5m_pUN29gxCgMUsDm2YpN0coQ/s1600/tumblr_m7kkg8jdyq1rz6234o1_500.jpg" height="400" width="371" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<b><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">And we’re going to
take the ‘muffin top’ question, directly to Spencer, because he’s a tummy man.
What kind of tummies do you like best Spencer? Is the muffin top a turn off? Do
you like hips, small, bigger waists? What’s sexy, what’s not? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">SPENCER: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I'm not a fan of a 'six pack' on a woman-not
that it doesn't look good-but for what it represents. To get that look I think
a woman has to have less than 10% body fat, which for most women would be
extremely stressful. I think women stop ovulating if they get down to 5% body
fat. Nature wants fat on a woman's body. To have that chiseled look requires
such self obsession, there wouldn't be much space for anyone else. Give me that
gentle curve as the tummy disappears behind the underwear line. It seems to say
'follow me'. I'm not a big fan of piercing especially in sensitive areas but a
curved tummy with a piercing is another layer of hot. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">A woman's hips should be wider than mine. These
days the models have hips like a ten year old boy. I want something I can grab.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The Roaring 20s swept in Coco Chanel, shorter
hemlines and the flapper era. Suddenly women wanted to hide their curves.
Psychologically it seems to go with the change in women at that time. They
drunk, smoked and drove cars. They downplayed their breasts and waists, and
showed more leg. Some bound their chests with cloth to achieve the boyish look.
Elastic webbed girdles replaced the corset, and gave the look of a flat tummy.
“Women danced and played sports, no longer infatuated with the Victorian ideal
of being frail, sickly or matronly.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwlJ8Cie2Wb-KMz0uaJWTf-PxPTTlUoCv2Uenfv3LaPxxg7_nhRJoaQZfgfVLrJpdFxbfWE198G5uPVcOSGhxOOjDWpiyW9kmRKjgajriX4sCjI7oeZPiw6mGzi-tB7dYNxz-PJ1ISJc/s1600/slide_336073_3389802_free+flapper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCwlJ8Cie2Wb-KMz0uaJWTf-PxPTTlUoCv2Uenfv3LaPxxg7_nhRJoaQZfgfVLrJpdFxbfWE198G5uPVcOSGhxOOjDWpiyW9kmRKjgajriX4sCjI7oeZPiw6mGzi-tB7dYNxz-PJ1ISJc/s1600/slide_336073_3389802_free+flapper.jpg" height="400" width="313" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7fN5Y2e5EsapYf9FVhV6P-XXDgH32vmB9q558tlyRH7cR2EWp9kqf6UFJuQ86bTDsBKWHuZu7Pr-He9YIb14wLpJaXb3JPiQ06UdN0YgBVzQ0xX_ZVObnP9SAfhZAJ-yico2DhXetx-g/s1600/storymaker-history-beauty-1204123-515x388+flappers+1929.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7fN5Y2e5EsapYf9FVhV6P-XXDgH32vmB9q558tlyRH7cR2EWp9kqf6UFJuQ86bTDsBKWHuZu7Pr-He9YIb14wLpJaXb3JPiQ06UdN0YgBVzQ0xX_ZVObnP9SAfhZAJ-yico2DhXetx-g/s1600/storymaker-history-beauty-1204123-515x388+flappers+1929.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #00b050; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">By the thirties curves were making a comeback.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Hollywood star Mae West could not have been more different from the
flappers. She emphasized her waist and hips, flaunting her figure through
close-fitting dresses.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br />
</span><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br />
</span></b><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">West allegedly
once said: “Cultivate<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/20361-cultivate-your-curves---they-may-be-dangerous-but-they" target="_blank"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #7030a0; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; padding: 0in;">your curves</span></b></a><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"> </span></b></span><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">-- they may be dangerous but they won't be avoided.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEildx1phgAlGwanHn6z3MNxLFY6dWHVyM6K_4uHN0mBSR2fImSBdhzdOLbVEUltikJcMBHYoY5nuZcpITfh1XPHii3ltKwSxDE89uKwe6W_ttNIOgsbt09PYexK2YYAkBzIfExmVKsbl-Q/s1600/slide_336073_3407634_free+Mae+West+1930s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEildx1phgAlGwanHn6z3MNxLFY6dWHVyM6K_4uHN0mBSR2fImSBdhzdOLbVEUltikJcMBHYoY5nuZcpITfh1XPHii3ltKwSxDE89uKwe6W_ttNIOgsbt09PYexK2YYAkBzIfExmVKsbl-Q/s1600/slide_336073_3407634_free+Mae+West+1930s.jpg" height="400" width="335" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">MEG:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The other thing I’ve
noticed is that these days, younger women don’t seem to mind showing off their
‘fat’ or ‘curves.’ Back in the day, we would NEVER have worn something that
showed an inch of fat. Nor would we have worn a bra strap that didn’t match or
discreetly blend in with our clothing. So, I like to see the freedom of these
things in the younger women now. We wouldn’t have been caught dead wearing a
bikini with a ‘tummy.’ I love being at home in Hawai’i, because the Hawaiian
women are generally bigger and they wear all types of swimsuits. It’s so
freeing. I love it! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-kbGilsig4yS5VIBNmt9CM4EiEdouR10C5s36tygPVDUp76R_fCkzJ4GZVNNslXa5jJOCX2VRAO3oJAD_5s1Ku7JfmvsvAiM40-TDMkrsRwUlmA9vtWx-u1rAzmX9np0lvk2kx0J1vao/s1600/tumblr_n4epm4Rfyz1qcl5svo3_r1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-kbGilsig4yS5VIBNmt9CM4EiEdouR10C5s36tygPVDUp76R_fCkzJ4GZVNNslXa5jJOCX2VRAO3oJAD_5s1Ku7JfmvsvAiM40-TDMkrsRwUlmA9vtWx-u1rAzmX9np0lvk2kx0J1vao/s1600/tumblr_n4epm4Rfyz1qcl5svo3_r1_500.jpg" height="400" width="280" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWR1JE1kt9GkYCE42aI4xYaPdfbd9EuWUfmE7XI8k_h-jsZ6TKd2Zrnliu9tokkgVTJ_2NtsJ7S9YyccR-lE43e5j5b1oiGsr-wVXQSgq9JD6Ki-ud3rJiyevaiFTPr52mZQi0mK8wAJE/s1600/Full-figure-woman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWR1JE1kt9GkYCE42aI4xYaPdfbd9EuWUfmE7XI8k_h-jsZ6TKd2Zrnliu9tokkgVTJ_2NtsJ7S9YyccR-lE43e5j5b1oiGsr-wVXQSgq9JD6Ki-ud3rJiyevaiFTPr52mZQi0mK8wAJE/s1600/Full-figure-woman.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">From the 60s onward, we went through a rollercoaster of the
Twiggy era to the 2000’s with Brazilian model Adriana Lima.</span><span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 128;">“Bras and underwear changed. The body becomes something for
you to control from the inside, through diet and exercise, instead of exterior
control through the corset. Different body parts get attention in different
ways.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHzRUrglH8TsDrs8eiAzQ6__8Ay1eGQ5MVVqVc6h6n5MjaYiTJCG3CtfCCMvrQf8XUbKQ2uwcduJScHiMX2dIfVg9lgDt5I1NrUi9AjOZRyzwmrUOXL3xcPBytRoaXyD9U2TP-RbV84s0/s1600/storymaker-history-beauty-1204126-515x388+Twiggy+1966.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHzRUrglH8TsDrs8eiAzQ6__8Ay1eGQ5MVVqVc6h6n5MjaYiTJCG3CtfCCMvrQf8XUbKQ2uwcduJScHiMX2dIfVg9lgDt5I1NrUi9AjOZRyzwmrUOXL3xcPBytRoaXyD9U2TP-RbV84s0/s1600/storymaker-history-beauty-1204126-515x388+Twiggy+1966.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Twiggy in her heyday in the 60s</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Rz3C4iNH_VBUeKfrvuSGeuUSPnq6NCivUffMI-MJmz-YsfMZepBp4EDV1ae05Ecap3IU_XLel4HE7f3xh_ypBW7Gwr8x6BvBdcHeltA1YE0ZQFfsZg81xGTZc0Z7lwd14xaH73bXK68/s1600/slide_336073_3397845_free+Adriana+Lima.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Rz3C4iNH_VBUeKfrvuSGeuUSPnq6NCivUffMI-MJmz-YsfMZepBp4EDV1ae05Ecap3IU_XLel4HE7f3xh_ypBW7Gwr8x6BvBdcHeltA1YE0ZQFfsZg81xGTZc0Z7lwd14xaH73bXK68/s1600/slide_336073_3397845_free+Adriana+Lima.jpg" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Brazilian model, Adriana Lima with CURVES. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">As our ‘corsetry’
became less cumbersome, less weight was sexier.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">A boyfriend
recommended La Perla underwear to me. I looked up the website and was aghast.
I’d have to be 5 foot 10 and weigh in at 86 pounds to wear it—lovely as it is.
I’d be a) probably dead and b) a lethal weapon—my bones so finely honed and
defined, I could take someone’s eye out with a stray elbow bone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I wear Simone Perele,
a French company, made for sensuous women and have the most comfortable, best
fitting, sexiest, bras out. Okay, true enough, their panties don’t fit me. I’m
classically ‘Australasian’ in my shape. Very hour glass with a short waist, and
I have a good size bum on me (which I like). After much trial and error, have
discovered that men’s trunk underwear are the most flattering to me. But they
don’t come in lace much… and I must have lace.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhUVrmCZQQkqDembhyphenhyphenbXXDA-Tpq2OtH0sQeEmMLeRaGVE-yj6UEJZ1WJKBNq3Qz4RXcrVZ4mOtcdcZtIlEYjOSpSYJ3SEwc33TvA03HwWREMsMeplkhzmLXZ6OoSl57SRdT4BvookG-U/s1600/$_57.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhUVrmCZQQkqDembhyphenhyphenbXXDA-Tpq2OtH0sQeEmMLeRaGVE-yj6UEJZ1WJKBNq3Qz4RXcrVZ4mOtcdcZtIlEYjOSpSYJ3SEwc33TvA03HwWREMsMeplkhzmLXZ6OoSl57SRdT4BvookG-U/s1600/$_57.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZu6mE7QnSMZk0VMKDgh3sQxeDIgdKaeCd6RA4T8M99oKOQFzRsroihPWSK-iPxbOOMB6A7_2Qv1Zk3CYQVIuu5pwrrGpflYf0CGmDmH3K0i4eXyDQ9zx2zKn0WEH0XiP7_E_Nma8our4/s1600/Riodemibluefinal+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZu6mE7QnSMZk0VMKDgh3sQxeDIgdKaeCd6RA4T8M99oKOQFzRsroihPWSK-iPxbOOMB6A7_2Qv1Zk3CYQVIuu5pwrrGpflYf0CGmDmH3K0i4eXyDQ9zx2zKn0WEH0XiP7_E_Nma8our4/s1600/Riodemibluefinal+(1).JPG" height="400" width="288" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxj5LFmqhHwt0dpW441VixAoIVBsz6rzUnsSftnGIeaXOfk3HwxgZ7RH8QuSyHThnQDK5ScxFvIgnIHi3_nDFUtOnD9Naf4M6kY300_Rfy-apmh7atR7wnuRIGo2ryjUpbKnNTCfvLDvY/s1600/72327ee27da1f3f3d99cbb22517a43fe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxj5LFmqhHwt0dpW441VixAoIVBsz6rzUnsSftnGIeaXOfk3HwxgZ7RH8QuSyHThnQDK5ScxFvIgnIHi3_nDFUtOnD9Naf4M6kY300_Rfy-apmh7atR7wnuRIGo2ryjUpbKnNTCfvLDvY/s1600/72327ee27da1f3f3d99cbb22517a43fe.jpg" height="400" width="207" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0dAFdD4qtcdE9iy0yqOJp0sDJ2CJ2En0VZmgNWREQ62_iwXz44IXDxjmovK613MVenytbPRsbsDblVctZpmKKcxoG9ncqg1Gy2jCdUQ6hUxX6QEsqOEOM3dwvNlaeQN6V15oKhpsa0N8/s1600/translucent-lace-sexy-fashion-men-039-s-boxer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0dAFdD4qtcdE9iy0yqOJp0sDJ2CJ2En0VZmgNWREQ62_iwXz44IXDxjmovK613MVenytbPRsbsDblVctZpmKKcxoG9ncqg1Gy2jCdUQ6hUxX6QEsqOEOM3dwvNlaeQN6V15oKhpsa0N8/s1600/translucent-lace-sexy-fashion-men-039-s-boxer.jpg" height="306" width="400" /></a></div>
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(just been looking for pics. You can get mens trunks in lace. I shall be investing in some!!)<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">So, what do men like
again? Spencer? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">SPENCER: </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Here in the frozen tundra we don't see
much skin six months out of the year and even in the warm weather women show
less skin here than in my adopted home of Summer Haven, Florida. Very few women
look really good in bikini's to me. It requires perfect proportions. One piece
suits with deep scallops over the hips and a plunging breast line are very hot
for curvy women.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53SWPpx8dHwV3-jw-pNHfswQfX08gYpF104nLPRHL66s4kKZOUR2Y8jMUva2wb-_w-aI-6riTptOX04FjN7JlkHs-zNqBBfXkPDUmQOCvKJXeX3TUuxNVczOi1z1bKs_SIKkS-KX4Yrg/s1600/plus-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53SWPpx8dHwV3-jw-pNHfswQfX08gYpF104nLPRHL66s4kKZOUR2Y8jMUva2wb-_w-aI-6riTptOX04FjN7JlkHs-zNqBBfXkPDUmQOCvKJXeX3TUuxNVczOi1z1bKs_SIKkS-KX4Yrg/s1600/plus-6.jpg" height="400" width="258" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0in;">MEG:</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I was at a
conference once and the keynote speaker was a woman in her late forties who was
very attractive and confident. She wore a floor length knit fabric skirt and
close fitting top of the same material. What
struck me most about her was that she had a ‘tummy.’ And she wasn’t embarrassed
to show it to us. She looked fabulous!! And I realized in that moment… that
yes… actually, we’re women, we’re supposed to have tummies and curves. After
that, I stopped hiding so many of my ‘wobbly’ bits and started acting and
looking like a ‘woman.’ Whatever that is in truth, but you get my meaning! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Despite women becoming more body conscious in the 30s and 40s
in the golden age of Hollywood, curves were still in. Clothes were fitting and
shapely again. Chanel designed the ‘little black dress.’ Dior and Schiaparelli
were gods. Skinny still got bad press in the forties. One ad even boasted how a
woman had put on 10 pounds and how much sexier that made her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTaiHEZHrqy0VDJ4X59r0sHzEQTHW3LeEhGgTqbpMSZT98gCn6ZwTFP22ebqI1VaQA6JF-lb5gVrL6WrFWmFGoTfTJzKfJZMdCY6bkdbZLzuQQpidIzg9IS1MYFn1tUDBFdw7_n6pBgoM/s1600/d3b85fa8441e04eb492a952337d593c9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTaiHEZHrqy0VDJ4X59r0sHzEQTHW3LeEhGgTqbpMSZT98gCn6ZwTFP22ebqI1VaQA6JF-lb5gVrL6WrFWmFGoTfTJzKfJZMdCY6bkdbZLzuQQpidIzg9IS1MYFn1tUDBFdw7_n6pBgoM/s1600/d3b85fa8441e04eb492a952337d593c9.jpg" height="400" width="356" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">In 1955, Betty Page won the title of “Miss Pinup Girl of the World.”
She was known as the “Queen of Curves.” The sexiest woman in the world, Marilyn
Monroe, in her early career in the 1950's was big-boned, buxom, soft and simply
gorgeous.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTaWEkSGPVCN8B1AmKQfkTsy9lIGu98ghXrGgy30hGRr4AnZwxP0gTYxq8pauUHd2Z8d54W2jZQfWbhk6ajIbxsbVZrBSeWtA8n1sNkGH87aK2YurNNQ0at1RWWpeBRWJO822VbtJ0opw/s1600/storymaker-history-beauty-1204125-515x388+Betty+Page+1955.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTaWEkSGPVCN8B1AmKQfkTsy9lIGu98ghXrGgy30hGRr4AnZwxP0gTYxq8pauUHd2Z8d54W2jZQfWbhk6ajIbxsbVZrBSeWtA8n1sNkGH87aK2YurNNQ0at1RWWpeBRWJO822VbtJ0opw/s1600/storymaker-history-beauty-1204125-515x388+Betty+Page+1955.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" style="background: white; line-height: 12.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Sex symbols of the 1950s include Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and
Betty Page, known for their long legs and busty hourglass figures. Pin-up girls
like Sophia Loren and Brigitte Bardot exuded glamour.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: red; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br />
</span><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">"The body is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/47737-the-body-is-meant-to-be-seen-not-all-covered" target="_blank"><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1pt none windowtext; color: #7030a0; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt; padding: 0in;">meant to be
seen</span></b></a><b><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #7030a0; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">, not all covered up," Monroe once said.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Spencer, do men
notice the ‘wobbly’ bits. What do they think of them? Arms, thighs, backsides,
calves, tummies, boobs, backs… the list goes on if you’re a woman… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">One research shows men
prefer women with “softer” figures. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">SPENCER: </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The trend these days is for women to
have "guns," muscular arms. Madonna went way overboard with the look.
I think Michelle Obama has it about right, nice curves, not too cut. Now when
was the last time we had a hot first lady? She's late forties, I think. If it’s
okay for the first lady to show arms, and not hide her hips and tummy under
loose fitting tops, then it should be okay for anyone. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">MEG:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">And do men think we
are ‘fat’ or do they think we’re ‘curvy and sexy.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">SPENCER:</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">A lot of it is how
the woman projects herself. Bad posture, a dour expression, poor make-up,
stringy hair and ill fitting clothes make a plus sized woman look fat. To me
sexy is a state of mind. A woman has to feel sexy to be sexy. A big smile, bright
eyes, clothes that say “how 'bout some of this?” make a man turn his head and
bump into things. What can I say, we're visual but we can pick up the vibe of
how a woman feels about herself. No one wants a psychic waste dump.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Fully 80 percent of men ages 18 to 50 say they want a
voluptuous woman, according to former plus size model Nancy Hayssen (and
several studies have backed this percentage up.) <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">78 percent of men said a
woman's most attractive feature is her smile.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">So,
overall, it’s confidence and curves that give a woman her sex appeal. That
Va-va-voom magic. I’d like to see us celebrating being women more—being curvaceous,
confident, soft, feminine, strong, independent, loving, intelligent—confident
of our opinions, voices, minds and bodies.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Thanks
as always for reading Conversations with Spencer on love, relationships and
sex. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Aloha
Meg and Spencer. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> You can contact Spencer or Meg at: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Spencer Dryden</span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: arial; line-height: 22.5px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Some men are born great, others strive for greatness; still others have greatness thrust upon them. Spencer Dryden is none of these men. In fact, he's so unimpressive he leaves no footprints on newly fallen snow. He was trained in fiction writing on the job with the many sales reports he produced for his managers, winning the coveted 'Keep Your Job Contest' three years running. His expense reports are still considered masterpieces of forgery by the bankruptcy trustee of his former employer. He lives an unremarkable life in a suburb of a northern city. His friends and family would drop dead in horror if they knew of his secret life as a writer of erotica. He hates the family cat, but still loves to pet his wife.</span><span style="font-family: arial; line-height: 22.5px;">.</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px; text-align: center;"> http://www.fictionbyspencer.com</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Coming soon!!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Meg Amor</span></div>
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<em style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Amor Vincet Omnit~</em></h1>
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<em style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Love Conquers All.</em></div>
<span style="font-size: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />It’s no surprise that multi-published contemporary author Meg<br />Amor has always believed in love and romance. She writes deep sensual romance stories about heartfelt connections and deep soul relationships, published with Muse It Up Publishing and upcoming with Loose Id Publishing.</span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Meg Amor ~ is the author of the steamy sultry erotic romance story ~ Dark War, published by Muse it Up Publishing. Plus the heartfelt soul connection romance, Saint Nicholas and the upcoming first of the Troika Love Series trilogy ~ Henry and Isolde in Spring. Also being released with Loose Id Publishing ~ Hawaiian Lei ~ the first of The Hawaiians series, a gay m/m romance.<br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Author and publisher of the self-help motivational book, The Mystic Manifestor ~ living with spirit. Trust in the Universe to turn up whatever you need in life. Know you’re guided every step of the way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Meg spent a lifetime as a therapist collecting fascinating unusual love stories. She loves to write about committed poly relationships and other romance mixes across the sexes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Interviewed for The Good Men Project with Brian O’Shea on whether women would read an erotic romance novel written by a man. She also runs the successful www.troikaromance.blogspot.com where she and romance erotica author Spencer Dryden tackle a different subject regarding sex, love and relationships from the male and female point of view. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Meg hand-wrote and ”published” her first book when she<br />was eleven years old about her parents’ separation and marriage. Constantly told as a child she had a vivid and over-active imagination—the dawn of the computer era meant she could now take dictation at speed from the interesting characters galloping around her head.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 20px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">She grew up in New Zealand, and temporarily lives in California with her Ginger Ninjas cats, the American fur children, Leo Ray Jr. and Mr. Beaumont. Her heart and soul are split between her American home state of Hawai’i in Kona on the Big Island. Or the sultry steamy Southern city of New Orleans where many of her books are set. You’ll find her in one of these places, soaking up the atmosphere.<br /><br />Either eating at fabulous fine dining and fusion restaurants with friends or wafting overhead in the air flying an open cockpit biplane. Meg loves to travel and believes the Expedia ad, ‘Would you go if you could go anywhere in the world, but it had it be today?’ was specifically made with her in mind. Aloha!<br /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">NEW BOOKS!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></span>The Troika Love Series trilogy:<span style="font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> Muse It Up Publishing</span></h3>
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<span style="font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">~ HENRY AND ISOLDE ~ Releasing Spring 2015</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A polyfaithful committed m/m/f love story. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">~ The Chi Circle </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">~ The Flame Still Burns</span></div>
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The Hawaiians Love Series: Loose Id Publishing<span style="font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"> </span></h3>
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<span style="font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">~ HAWAIIAN LEI ~ Releasing Spring 2015 </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A heartfelt soul connection gay male/male romance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">~ Hawaiian Orchid</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">~ Hawaiian Ginger</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">~ Hawaiian Fragrance</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">~ Hawaiian Coffee</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">~ Hawaiian Mac </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">RUSSIAN SOUL SONGS ~ Troika Christmas 2015 Novella </span></div>
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Feb 14th 2015 - naughty books and play things giveaways. :-) Come and join us. </div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-73901061781195463082015-01-21T01:22:00.001-08:002015-01-21T21:33:19.154-08:00SCENT-U-OUS YOU!! ~ Why I write sensuous romances<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">SCENT-U-OUS YOU<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Aloha everyone, I was thinking about the question
of why I write sensual or erotic romances. It’s because I love to be enveloped
in sense-sations and scent-sations and emotions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I want to be carried away by
the entanglement of desires and feelings sweeping through me as I write and
hopefully through the reader too. Rolled up in the velvety feel good of
sensations in their many forms. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I was asked a question a
while back, “When was the last time you were really happy?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">It was a good question and
one I couldn’t really answer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Again today, I was asked what
gives me pleasure. Um… Can I get back to you I wanted to say, but thankfully
our session was over. Saved by the bell! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Because the truth is…I don’t
know anymore. A death in my life has left me with some gaps in my sense of self
and my senses. Sometimes I feel like I’m tick-tocking back and forth through
the day, just waiting for the end of it and the oblivion of sleep. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">But it got me thinking about
various things regarding pleasure. What do I love? I love to travel. LOVE it! But
as my current teleporting skills are on the rusty to non-existent scale right
now, that’s out. I love my American home State of Hawai’i. I miss it. The
ocean, the trade winds, the color of the water, the easy going atmosphere on
the island, the cruisy people. I wondered what I could do to connect with a
piece of home? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I could dig around for my
hammock, unroll it, find the hooks… um…somewhere, get the hammer out and bang
in other hooks to hang it… And then perhaps also see if there’s an umbrella
large enough to cover the balcony in the rain… Hmmm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxxhFWr6gAnaU-PyMJAlcMHycGddwUQyHJjgxvOa-rs146v_8j7iAc0iBF9hzqLCNjUGrJ_Jp4ps8eu1Wwy-YpR97EUd34-O8TUonUDNNhGGMQB7chU8wxFSxlgu0yau3qcqssMiuVAKI/s1600/images+(3).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxxhFWr6gAnaU-PyMJAlcMHycGddwUQyHJjgxvOa-rs146v_8j7iAc0iBF9hzqLCNjUGrJ_Jp4ps8eu1Wwy-YpR97EUd34-O8TUonUDNNhGGMQB7chU8wxFSxlgu0yau3qcqssMiuVAKI/s1600/images+(3).jpg" height="320" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Or I could try an easier way
and access a piece of home through smell or taste.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I went to the supermarket and
tried to find a papaya that wasn’ t the size and shape of a football.
(American) No such luck. Right, so scrub that idea. I had visions of a gorgeous
sensuous bright orangy pinky papaya with its black gooey seeds cut open, scooped out,
fresh lime juice squeezed over to bring out the flavor. Yum. It’s a favorite at
breakfast for me at home, or when we go down to the beach. Slices of sticky, sweet,
local papaya with lime on the beach. Gorgeous. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I trundled down an aisle and
noticed the guava juice—hmmm, that might work. Guava is one of my Hawai’ian
things. I always have it at home. Sometimes by itself, but often in POG—a local
drink made from Passion Fruit, Orange and Guava juice. The instant smell of the
guava transports me back to the island in under a second. Heaven. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">I used to go to our local
post office here and they have gardenias growing outside. I’d pick a bloom and
slide a toothpick into the stem to put behind my ear. A whiff of the rich
velvety smell would hit me every time I moved. I always wear a bloom behind my
ear at home in Hawai’i, but often it’s plumeria. The fragrance gives me an
instant hit of home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">And while the guava drink didn’t
give me more than five minutes of pleasure, it was a start in a life that’s
doing its own version of Fifty Shades of Grey. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">It got me thinking about each country I’ve
been too. What gives me an instant hit? Tiny pleasures, but things that give me
even a few minutes of feel good. I have to start somewhere in my quest to feel
alive again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">When I’m in England, I always
order the full English for brekky. Lovely full rasher bacon, poached eggs,
fried bread, cooked tomatoes, black pudding. Toast with marmalade. But the best
bit for me is the pot of Earl Grey Tea with real cream. That hit of bergamot
from the steamy hot tea (made with real boiling water, as compared to “artificial”
as hot as it came out of the tap warm.) It’s glorious. A cup and saucer, nice
thick cream then the pour of golden Earl Grey, the king of teas for me. Lovely.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">In Ireland it’s the smell and
taste of potato and bacon soup, so thick you can stand a spoon in it. A smoky
bacon smell with the base of onion and possibly leek, and served with the thick
grainy Irish Soda Bread, buttered with half an inch of pure Irish butter. I can
feel my teeth sinking into it now. </span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">I do like a lot of butter, we need fat in
our diet. My mum always had toast with her butter. We used to joke about the
teeth marks in it. LOL.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">In France, it’s the crispy
croissant, shards of buttery flaky pastry that explodes in your mouth. My test
for any croissant is that they must still be crispy at four in the afternoon. I
eat them without anything on them…heaven. And the crunch of a French baguette.
No one in the world makes bread and pastries like the French. Even the fairly
plain ham baguettes at the service stations are FABULOUS!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Singapore is not ONE taste
but hundreds. But it’s ONE smell. “Once smelt, never forgotten.” It’s a conglomeration
of steamy heat, scents, spices, lifestyles, clove cigarettes, perfume. There’s
a particular smell to Singapore and it’s exotic, sensuous, luxurious. Rich and
still the aura of the ‘Mysterious Orient’ to it. The hawker stands have some of the best food in the world. That combination of aromas can
jet me back to Singapore in a heartbeat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">Nearly everything has a smell
or sensation to it. BMW’s have a particular smell to them. Bourbon always used
to remind me of my ex-boyfriend Neil. Then the RV trip to Kentucky with my late
husband Aaron. Eating green spearmint leaf lollies always reminds me of mum. She
always got herself a wee white paper bag of them every week at the dairy. It
was her treat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">I write what I do because I
want to feel…alive and have hope. I want to be reminded that there’s a vibrant
urgency out there in life and once I was part of it… and hope to be again. And
that gorgeous relationships are part of life and will be part of mine again. And one day I'll be back to being a fully sensory being, breathing in life, reveling in a new taste for life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="color: magenta;"> www.troikaromance.com</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-36314946040908481912015-01-16T03:11:00.001-08:002015-01-16T05:18:31.277-08:00Celebrating with author H K Carlton ~ her new paranormal erotica romance series!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Aloha,
Meg, thank you so much for having me as a guest today!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Aloha <b>H K Carlton!!</b> So good to have you here and congrats on your new release!! Hands H K a champagne to celebrate and a couple of tasty wee whore derves as my dad calls them. Always exciting. :-) </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><b><span style="color: red;">CONGRATULATIONS!!!</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Today H K is going to talk us through how she came up with her new series about to be born. It's a question we get asked a lot as writers. Where do you get your ideas from?</b></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">An invite, an
idea, a series is born.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The story I’m here
to talk about today started with an invite from my lovely editor, Susan, at
MuseItUp Publishing. MuseItHot was about to launch a whole new imprint and
since I like to write sexy stories along with a whole lot of other stuff, she
sent me the submission guidelines. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Up until that
point, I’d only penned historical romance for MIU. The specs were simple
enough. Paranormal Erotic Romance, short stories, with ‘Dark’ in the title.
Erotic romance I can do. Short story? Bites fingernails. I’m awfully wordy.
Hmmm. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">And then there was
the paranormal aspect? I wasn’t sure. The closest I’d come to anything like
that was a time-travel story which I really enjoyed creating. I wasn’t sure if
I could do it, but I didn’t want to let her down and really wanted to work with
Susan again. And for some reason, when it comes to writing, I love a challenge
(challenges in real life, not-so-much).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">A couple of my
stories began from testing myself. I just wanted to see if I could do it. My
first test a male/male story. And my second was ménage. I decided that if I
could get them accepted, then my venture was successful. They have both been
published. And I even wrote a sequel to the first ménage story, which has also
been published. But could I do paranormal. What did I have to lose?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Where to begin?
First of all, I had to decide what paranormal entailed for me? Scary, creepy,
spine-tingling or downright horror? And when does it stop being paranormal and
cross into horror? Oh the questions of being a novice again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">[By this time,
churning in my head was something my dad used to say to me when I was afraid of
the dark: <i>There’s nothing there in the dark that isn’t there in the daytime</i>.
(This was actually the original tag line for the first book) Luckily back then,
I didn’t realize how completely untrue and misleading this saying really is but
it helped at the time.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">What do readers of
paranormal prefer to read—ghosts, vamps, shifters? Or some other kind of being?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Then came setting?
Where, what, who…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Different eras?
Alternate dimensions? So many options.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">And I also had to
cover the sexy romance part as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">So I start with a
couple. A couple doing what? I closed my eyes and my female character was
walking through a darkened hallway. The back of my neck actually started to
tingle. I thought that was a good sign. She’s on edge, not quite scared but
anxious. Tense. What’s up ahead? Door creaks. She jumps, a man appears but only
for a split second. I could work with that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Right around that
time, those ghost hunter adventure type shows were everywhere, so I put my
characters in a house purported to have supernatural activity and I that’s
where the actual writing began. I wrote <i>Meet Me in the Dark </i>rather
quickly. I was quite pleased with myself. But once I got to the end, and this
happens to me a lot, I realized I could go on into a second book. There was
more to the story. But the imprint was looking for stand alones. Right?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I messaged my
editor and said good news bad news. Good news I wrote a story for the Wild
Darkness Calls themed stories. Bad news it’s not a short story, it’s over the
word count. She replied, how much? We can do a prequel/sequel or a trilogy of
short stories. Send me what you have. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Excitement! I sent
the first story while working on the second. She loved it. <i>Send what you
have when you finish</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Cue the runaway
massive snowball careening down the ski hill!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Book three turned
into four and…oh, sheee, damn it, Susan, I don’t write short stories! Nor do I
stick to genre. This series of seven, yes, I said, seven (hangs head) also
incorporates some of the genres that I love to read and write. So much for a
one op short story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I don’t want to
give too much away with the first book just coming out but this series is truly
an ongoing saga involving several generations of characters. The tale begins
with Meet Me in the Dark and a haunted house in the U.S. and eventually sweeps
us to one of the most haunted castles in Ireland, in an unsettling and at times
horrific saga with many twists and turns that I hope will keep readers not only
guessing but intrigued to the very end. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Needless to say,
my beloved editor unleashed the beast and I thank her for it. ;)</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">BLURB: </span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<strong><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red;"><i>Possession
is nine tenths lust</i></span></span></strong></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Crishtin
Davenport thought she was attending a simple Halloween event<strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">–</span></strong>A
good scare to get the blood pumping. But instead she finds her pulse racing
over one of the event’s organizers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Josh
Hewes loves nothing more than investigating paranormal activity, but after
meeting Crishtin the only thing he wants to explore is her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">However,
getting to know one another takes an unexpected turn when some randy spirits
get in on the act.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Crish
and Josh are inexplicably drawn into a heady web of desire and want nothing
more than to possess each other. But they’re not the only ones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Be careful what you invite in to play</b></span></span></i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: red;"><b>…</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ5wReoa-GtLPtGa5T1HD9pk8gNIM7irBHdBbDHCNLRwz_WkiqMJNscNkPUjSRE6XrAU4RLonpt5r8y_fgf9bKgYWxl6gEdvrGLMx45-g2_5udKbPpNQKQ0yNYQWB6ZlQcKXGC9vKjOO4/s1600/10671457_921057421252220_615649293655457772_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ5wReoa-GtLPtGa5T1HD9pk8gNIM7irBHdBbDHCNLRwz_WkiqMJNscNkPUjSRE6XrAU4RLonpt5r8y_fgf9bKgYWxl6gEdvrGLMx45-g2_5udKbPpNQKQ0yNYQWB6ZlQcKXGC9vKjOO4/s1600/10671457_921057421252220_615649293655457772_n.jpg" height="308" width="400" /></a></div>
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<h1 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-CA"> </span>Meet Me in the Dark</h1>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">is on sale now at a
pre-order price of .99¢<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h1 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-CA"><span style="color: red;">(Lustful Possession
Series Book One) </span><o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><a href="https://museithotpublishing.com/index.php/museitup/romance/paranormal-romance-erotica/meet-me-in-the-dark-detail">MuseItHOT</a>
</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">1-Click
@ <a href="http://mybook.to/Indark">Amazon</a></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/meet-me-in-the-dark-h-k-carlton/1120978549?ean=2940151666992&itm=1&usri=2940151666992">Barnes
and Noble</a></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id954562292">Apple</a> </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;"><a href="http://bit.ly/1HiwESa">Kobo</a></span><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><i>Expected release dates in the series: </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">March 2015 - Book Two in the <span style="color: red;">Lustful Possession Series </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;">–<span style="color: red;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><b style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px;">Dark Foursome</b></span><br />
<b style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18.6666660308838px;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">April 2015 - Book Three - </span>The Dark Son: The Fall of Cairnnon Castle<span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">May/June - Book Four – </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14pt;">Rising from the Darkness</span></span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></h2>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">July/August - Book Five – <b>Dark
Seed</b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Sept./October - Book Six – <b>Bending
Darkness</b> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Nov/Dec. - Book Seven – <span style="color: red;">Conclusion of the Lustful Possession Series</span> – <b>Dark Defeat </b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I
hope you'll join me on this sexy creepy journey as I tackle paranormal for the
first time as a writer.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Be Careful What You Invite in to
Play...</span></i></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;"><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj98wQUenXOYc1EeVyYDHpQNsyIyjjC1Va69DwHC4DUAbQLmCwI_7B6UbGCqbwKGNOi6Cu9mkyP0YkW4Hc2Bf2OXUmqHKgL9CkeJF4X6a48o4wghkMW4KQOf46YdQiExBQiVbLsF2nmY-o/s1600/H+K+author+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj98wQUenXOYc1EeVyYDHpQNsyIyjjC1Va69DwHC4DUAbQLmCwI_7B6UbGCqbwKGNOi6Cu9mkyP0YkW4Hc2Bf2OXUmqHKgL9CkeJF4X6a48o4wghkMW4KQOf46YdQiExBQiVbLsF2nmY-o/s1600/H+K+author+logo.jpg" height="400" width="387" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>About the Author: </b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">H
K Carlton is a multi-published Canadian author of romance and its varied
sub-genres including contemporary, paranormal, historical, saga and erotica.</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I
enjoy writing in many different genres. I write where the muse takes me and
make no apologies for it. By now, it’s quite safe to say I will never pick just
one genre and stick to it. There are just too many possibilities and stories
left to tell. Today time-travel, tomorrow sweet historical romance—the next
release might be, down and dirty erotica or ménage. I hope you’ll join me for
the ride. </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Variety
is creativity’s playground—it’s where you’ll find me.<b> </b></span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Author Links: </span></b><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/HK-Carlton/e/B009KVR7EW/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1419904634&sr=8-1"><b>Amazon
Author Page</b></a></span><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><a href="https://twitter.com/AuthorHKCarlton"><b>Twitter</b></a></span><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/authorhk.carlton"><b>Facebook</b></a></span><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/HKCarlton"><b>Facebook Author Page</b></a></span><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/109800466302993027959/posts">Google +</a></span></b><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/AuthorHKCarlton">Goodreads</a> </span></b><span lang="EN-CA"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-53169312253628530242014-12-31T04:42:00.001-08:002014-12-31T05:40:16.074-08:00ATTRACTION ~ What's sexy? What's not? What sex's us up? <div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ATTRACTION ~ Deck the halls with
balls of…</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 24.533332824707px;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfqaSP7GPDIdvhdDSWzuayg1hqGYyeNiT39PqNvrNvt9NMMpannJat3p13I77Df9zZmdCTrFox7yriVbKL83XymmRhW5_9HrgC5MwxDjpI0vOCLeeVjHuJNVdr2piE3bNembu-77L-dm8/s1600/UC44DAt.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfqaSP7GPDIdvhdDSWzuayg1hqGYyeNiT39PqNvrNvt9NMMpannJat3p13I77Df9zZmdCTrFox7yriVbKL83XymmRhW5_9HrgC5MwxDjpI0vOCLeeVjHuJNVdr2piE3bNembu-77L-dm8/s1600/UC44DAt.jpeg" height="400" width="340" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> What’s sexy? What’s not? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Do lingerie, food, smells, genitalia
or ‘enhancements’ </span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">sex us up?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Aloha
everyone! Thanks to all you readers on our blogs. I hope everyone had a Chirpy Christmas /Hanukah/Kwanzaa/Solstice and any other holiday thing you might have
had.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Today on Conversations with Spencer, we’re talking about attraction. What is that thing
that instantly grabs our attention in a person? Is it their crotch, lips, hair,
abs, breasts, smile, personality, attributes, bank account…? Do things like
sexy lingerie turn us on? Do bee stung, Botox lips do anything for us? What do
men think of breast enhancements? And is any kind of food really an
aphrodisiac? What smells arouse you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtA-0ueiQdPMDsSAjs40wa4CBcddPRDe4sRcqSFEyGOmkzt_rpHMlZS5rRQAfjzmlhp4q2D5kIsPrJ4m0ozTFuQ6kDASOzPLycYSOYfti8ogJbzoqeREgyzP6ocBM2t1HEdRSBP4G57Ns/s1600/images+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtA-0ueiQdPMDsSAjs40wa4CBcddPRDe4sRcqSFEyGOmkzt_rpHMlZS5rRQAfjzmlhp4q2D5kIsPrJ4m0ozTFuQ6kDASOzPLycYSOYfti8ogJbzoqeREgyzP6ocBM2t1HEdRSBP4G57Ns/s1600/images+(2).jpg" height="299" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: red; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">What makes a
person sexy?</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5nn6q-ws-7zP2uV_HyfYpHeYP4TW6oPxFLC9qQ6-uiSVwB6mAaT5FHoja9QIVuEVVF_nf46_Z40d-KO87zwXmZtk9yYMCDUP0HzKuLZnY_ONmg5zkrlGtyYd7pxNHuqBljle_s-YOCWk/s1600/CGL-Blue-Lace-Chemise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5nn6q-ws-7zP2uV_HyfYpHeYP4TW6oPxFLC9qQ6-uiSVwB6mAaT5FHoja9QIVuEVVF_nf46_Z40d-KO87zwXmZtk9yYMCDUP0HzKuLZnY_ONmg5zkrlGtyYd7pxNHuqBljle_s-YOCWk/s1600/CGL-Blue-Lace-Chemise.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">MEG: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve been
pondering this question after having a late night discussion with one of my
toyboys. He likes my ass and breasts. He thinks my bum is ample and lovely to
grab—apparently. I like my backside, I’ve always liked its roundness and that
it’s not small. Yes, I know…I’m weird. I’ll never say, “Does my bum look too
big?” My boobs aren’t anything to write home about, but apparently they do the
job. My late husband was a breast man. My ex-boyfriend Kahiko was a leg man.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Is this the
primary attraction ‘code’ for men? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I once asked
this dopey guy why he married his wife. He said, “Because she was pretty.” I
thought, <i>you’re an idiot.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I was at a
dance club once with my friend Lu and she had a sexy smoochie dance with a guy
who rushed off the dance floor. We later wondered if he’d gone to relieve
himself… But anyway, she thought she spotted him the next day as we were
walking the streets of Maui. But she wasn’t sure. Why? She couldn’t remember
his face, only his body? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I was a wee
bit nonplussed by this. I’d never struck that in a woman before. So, is this
cultural? Or gender differences. Sometimes I couldn’t tell you what someone’s
body looked like, but I’ll remember their face. I might get that they were
tall, the color of their hair. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m
attracted firstly to someone’s eyes. If the eyes don’t do it for me, nothing
else will. Then I like hair. The ‘number one’ stubble thing turns me off. I
love a warm, twinkly smile, an open friendly, intelligent, funny personality as
well. Someone can be gorgeous, but if their personality is a dud, it’s a no go.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve often
attracted to people for personality and intelligence, alone. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAS3lNFL27UG2mWCyCc52jn1sSFEL5T30HY1GftaBO8-fhx2xdx7kTkY0xSwByM1BQmETzdolsBmBP8lD8X9SREqIR1RNlDRGyn-hbRu3Z3UnN0ZroUkJ4WrNCe4_QreDnRNO1c1XfV1o/s1600/Aphrodisiac.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAS3lNFL27UG2mWCyCc52jn1sSFEL5T30HY1GftaBO8-fhx2xdx7kTkY0xSwByM1BQmETzdolsBmBP8lD8X9SREqIR1RNlDRGyn-hbRu3Z3UnN0ZroUkJ4WrNCe4_QreDnRNO1c1XfV1o/s1600/Aphrodisiac.png" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gentleness of
spirit, fun, quirky traits, a caring attitude, a sharp brain…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So Spencer,
what first grabs you about someone? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And what
second grabs you about someone?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">SPENCER:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am a
guy and like most guys I tend toward the visual. I have noticed a change in
what draws me now. As a young man it was the full body scan. I've always liked
the curvy gals. </span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3eiiTGbBxrXopm1Dp_y4AG97UEz7aoihmlh-JAxxcMev1c0G90vP3bic5ASQdb7Kt20WEbXnzq0w-xUgUhnus4DxP2Jq5Af7BpxscZY0Ko7bQ6SduTy1eB5X98NBXOiD7gloR7XfDpG8/s1600/ls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3eiiTGbBxrXopm1Dp_y4AG97UEz7aoihmlh-JAxxcMev1c0G90vP3bic5ASQdb7Kt20WEbXnzq0w-xUgUhnus4DxP2Jq5Af7BpxscZY0Ko7bQ6SduTy1eB5X98NBXOiD7gloR7XfDpG8/s1600/ls.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now I am at the age where I see an attractive woman then have
to slap myself with the realization that she may be thirty years younger than
me and still be a 'mature' woman. Unless you’re Morgan Freeman or Sean Connery,
women stop 'seeing' you. It's rare now for a woman to visually engage me. I'm
rarely in public places like bars where I used to go to find women or at least
engage in some fantasy. It's just chance encounters in the main stream of life.
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now it's
eyes and face. I look for the magic, the zest for life that might appear for
only a moment that I find attractive. Often it's a woman's tender gaze on her
child rather than the distant detached look of a fashion model.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkRtlFUBmolt5ew-6F8ZOiWzOqMNvhDZtSmqfuzSPxC8mnAu5e34xA-oF97sTvvxk9uwHVWtKl0dEy4plJthnPVI9rWOFXw5bycMOQPYSX4wPcnOP4NmyojueGABdP9Zlnhq9U0dZGGm4/s1600/1085dcf1f54451343182e79d76a06b4a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkRtlFUBmolt5ew-6F8ZOiWzOqMNvhDZtSmqfuzSPxC8mnAu5e34xA-oF97sTvvxk9uwHVWtKl0dEy4plJthnPVI9rWOFXw5bycMOQPYSX4wPcnOP4NmyojueGABdP9Zlnhq9U0dZGGm4/s1600/1085dcf1f54451343182e79d76a06b4a.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Second of
course is the figure. I'm a tummy guy </span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">(Meg: this is cool, I didn’t know men could
be tummy guys. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> ) </span><b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">but
here in the frozen tundra we don't see much of that six months out of the year.
In fact at this time of year we are so bundled it's hard to make out shape. The
fish hooks and piercings anywhere but ears are a major turn off. I guess that's
generational. "Bee stung lips", LOL, they are ugly, ugly, ugly.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtgFlyZ1LmaL0do2qtUyFi5x_XcWYFtDtcxLCzSc_MzLFDs11YoGstS7MPeN-7XRZndP95tF48P-j2CmYPQbAiSpR_JiHsU1RhY8Z5q0i1mezKfOOrccq2Pad6wzSw6ovxsvWInKbHPuw/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtgFlyZ1LmaL0do2qtUyFi5x_XcWYFtDtcxLCzSc_MzLFDs11YoGstS7MPeN-7XRZndP95tF48P-j2CmYPQbAiSpR_JiHsU1RhY8Z5q0i1mezKfOOrccq2Pad6wzSw6ovxsvWInKbHPuw/s1600/images.jpg" height="185" width="400" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO28Z6XQKDwlzND69lFLZ4y2rW7QUyHRNYYPdCkwny3CKGU-zECejMyfWZrN7KBh8DXd7cH46wxLfTzkHDwc279sY9mVi3eGst_tohklixI_fLa6c0WHlx_cgekdjWLsvDXkWeqcDpbZo/s1600/tumblr_lwtytw2jgm1qhqkr0o1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO28Z6XQKDwlzND69lFLZ4y2rW7QUyHRNYYPdCkwny3CKGU-zECejMyfWZrN7KBh8DXd7cH46wxLfTzkHDwc279sY9mVi3eGst_tohklixI_fLa6c0WHlx_cgekdjWLsvDXkWeqcDpbZo/s1600/tumblr_lwtytw2jgm1qhqkr0o1_500.jpg" height="280" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Was Mick Jagger our original prototype for the bee stung lip trend. :-)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">MEG:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Okay, I
suspect I’m slightly odd in the world of women and also culturally Kiwis aren’t
brought up with ‘the body beautiful.’ So I don’t go for muscles on a man. I’m
looking for sexiness and sensuality, but eyes, smile, hair, nice face will do
that for me. I agree we have to have an initial attraction to someone, but what
keeps us there? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What do I
notice physically? Though this in no way makes me go out with someone. It’s
just a nice thing to have. I like long hands and fingers. I like nice feet. I
love a nice bum on a man, broad shoulders and men’s backs. Little body hair, no
facial hair—except on my man Morgan Freeman. He and Tom Sellack are the
exceptions. But give me hair with waves or curls, long or/and thick. Hmmm hmmm.
Earrings</span><span style="font-family: "Estrangelo Edessa"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">—l</span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ove earrings. Can take or leave ink. That’s
my list. Notice – penis and balls aren’t there. I love them, but they’re not an
attraction thing for me.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUNsq1fioaxmvea_xLuWLZtMtU5EI-NJlub5Bpk5zQvQuHgJtN3-gpBsTrlMfBT4hVhYrxtdlgf5TVE6mSZol4XgMBYn5QfN7FjIE1aev6z4XLN0-E-RU92FFG8uaSsp0l_By20_pPOvQ/s1600/dayvid-thomas-18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUNsq1fioaxmvea_xLuWLZtMtU5EI-NJlub5Bpk5zQvQuHgJtN3-gpBsTrlMfBT4hVhYrxtdlgf5TVE6mSZol4XgMBYn5QfN7FjIE1aev6z4XLN0-E-RU92FFG8uaSsp0l_By20_pPOvQ/s1600/dayvid-thomas-18.jpg" height="640" width="465" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">The very beautiful Dayvid Thomas who is my muse for my new character Kulani Mahikoa in HAWAIIAN ORCHID, <br />part of The Hawaiian series. Gay romance, coming out next year :-) </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<o:p></o:p>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Turn offs:
Number one haircuts. Ugh. No pubes. Ugh. Horrible shoes. Yes, I know, strange
and weird prejudice, but I’ve spoken to other women and this is not as uncommon
as you’d think. Head beanies! Baggy jeans. Baggy underwear. Those nasty
American ‘shorts’ and boxers like shorts. Also New Zealand Y-front underwear
and singlets. Ugh. Mismatched socks and men who leave them on having sex??! NO!
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPecmYkyxANJlfFzip6Y7P9WI3ZCLv3M-oW8xqKFdpRRfnMeC1Ga_zen6TTrRpO6e0HBYF5ivO1n5ST02uUHE7uTx5qOyz-QZQG5pCwu2xFDMvdVu6g9McCStcy_rHiYhOgq1KO9AqALs/s1600/underwear_m1748703.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPecmYkyxANJlfFzip6Y7P9WI3ZCLv3M-oW8xqKFdpRRfnMeC1Ga_zen6TTrRpO6e0HBYF5ivO1n5ST02uUHE7uTx5qOyz-QZQG5pCwu2xFDMvdVu6g9McCStcy_rHiYhOgq1KO9AqALs/s1600/underwear_m1748703.jpg" height="200" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Personally,
once we get down to it, I love men in form fitting underwear, with a nice
outline of their penis and balls. Very sexy. So speaking of underwear Spencer?
Do men generally like lingerie? I love wearing gorgeous lingerie. Corsets,
stockings, lacey panties, sexy bras, baby dolls, plunging necklines, all do it
for me. Do men really like this stuff? Or it is just extra clothing that
hampers the main objective?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiompoHZRG7aHZMxeT45vqje53NLRZKbTL7APkha4DStC3u3OdrK5shRqZW9uwVZdFrq_eQk_Jjsy38F1geExR33W2yICpwhkXvt5-Y5DQe8w4FCGl7T-YKqL3I4o7zXna_CaAp4OOkp_4/s1600/IMAGEBodyawareLettheSunShineInShaperBrief.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiompoHZRG7aHZMxeT45vqje53NLRZKbTL7APkha4DStC3u3OdrK5shRqZW9uwVZdFrq_eQk_Jjsy38F1geExR33W2yICpwhkXvt5-Y5DQe8w4FCGl7T-YKqL3I4o7zXna_CaAp4OOkp_4/s1600/IMAGEBodyawareLettheSunShineInShaperBrief.jpg" height="257" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I know someone
whose partner just liked them in plain cotton thongs and bra. He thought that
was sexy. I've never gone out with a man that wears lacy panties. I'm trying to decide if I'd like that or not. I think I might, but I suspect he might not like women... oh well. :-)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">SPENCER:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Interesting
how your tastes reflect that you are from a warm sunny climate. </span></b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">(Meg: He has to be talking about my American
home state of Hawai’i. LOL. NZ is bloody cold, like Washington State, but not
like the frozen north! I did two long…….winters in Michigan. Ugh.) </span><b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Don't come here, you'll die of visual
starvation. I'm sure you're not a big fan of American football but look at the
difference in the dress of the fans and cheerleaders between sunbelt and frost
belt.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I love
the fancy lingerie. It's too bad they hang it on such young skinny girls at
Victoria's Secret. Back in the 80's I loved the combination of the woman's
power suit-the tight fitting skirt and matching jacket over the lacy blouse
with the hints of the fancy lingerie underneath. Business on the outside, fun
underneath. Meg Ryan and her big hair. Oh my.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-qAUYybiZCemJXPdPW7d2w-EaPy2IThEdxrDT61WmPFurOlpBkwSW-AUnMV0zwT4SsVgP5MzfTYAOiVLSuWjIC7eL86w328q-SdbBePoJc_5baiGhWAXFw9MuTgfX0fG-oP7nwBdfKA/s1600/+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-qAUYybiZCemJXPdPW7d2w-EaPy2IThEdxrDT61WmPFurOlpBkwSW-AUnMV0zwT4SsVgP5MzfTYAOiVLSuWjIC7eL86w328q-SdbBePoJc_5baiGhWAXFw9MuTgfX0fG-oP7nwBdfKA/s1600/+.jpg" height="400" width="355" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">MEG: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now I want
to know where people are at with the ‘enhancement’ stuff. Or as Aaron and I
used to call it – when someone’s had ‘dental work.’ In New Zealand, plastic
surgery is still not an everyday thing. I know when I first came here to the
States I couldn’t get over the bill boards advertising breast enhancements. It
was so weird!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I had a
friend who had her chin and nose reshaped and breasts enlarged. I honestly
couldn’t tell with her nose and chin. But her breasts were odd. She had a nice
bust size, a respectable 34C and she went to a 36D or something. She looked
peculiar. I always worried she’d topple over. She looked top-heavy for her
frame. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQp8tHVxDYRrE30wcpSIeDsVmt_8YQeiPOhztSv1WH4-cxwRICOi2evVUo_1GR_B_UULpd3qP2DAmQuCxDhTwdd_55wiG2V9x8Dn_gykpisN8lLauQvFTtxvMylcL25iGGPm3HuK5sFgE/s1600/fake_breasts11_xlarge.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQp8tHVxDYRrE30wcpSIeDsVmt_8YQeiPOhztSv1WH4-cxwRICOi2evVUo_1GR_B_UULpd3qP2DAmQuCxDhTwdd_55wiG2V9x8Dn_gykpisN8lLauQvFTtxvMylcL25iGGPm3HuK5sFgE/s1600/fake_breasts11_xlarge.jpeg" height="400" width="308" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Too much? </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now Spencer
jump in here, because you have opinions on breast size and it might surprise
the women out there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The classic
LA Story, when Steve Martin is feeling Sarah Jessica Parkers breasts and he
says, “SanDeE, your breasts feel weird.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She says
perkily, “Oh, that’s cos they’re real.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzKAJqDncTuu02KL7m6M6emuNoMyBOXiP2D8NZERweyb80NzpC4ezh_g9vNY4UyYW5Tw_unDUQN6HvVWCIrONTD3_0Zey69S1lQbkcW3YStVS1HYcB8bCHlaAkhgrF4QioJs2N5bH27w/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLzKAJqDncTuu02KL7m6M6emuNoMyBOXiP2D8NZERweyb80NzpC4ezh_g9vNY4UyYW5Tw_unDUQN6HvVWCIrONTD3_0Zey69S1lQbkcW3YStVS1HYcB8bCHlaAkhgrF4QioJs2N5bH27w/s1600/download.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What do men
think of breast enhancement? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Or any
‘enhancement?’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I think
plastic surgery is self-mutilation… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I also don’t
like intersex children having their sexual identity imposed on them at a young
age through surgery. This is a brilliant blogsite on intersex. Increase awareness please. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 24.533332824707px;">http://www.intersexroadshow.blogspot.com/</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 24.533332824707px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 24.533332824707px;">The one on intersex-genitalia-illustrated is very interesting.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And I think
male circumcision is also mutilation… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I can’t
fathom the Botox thing. I ran across a woman in Florida once who seemed to have
had every ‘enhancement’ known to man/womankind. She looked like a caricature of
herself. Like the overblown Jessica whatsie in Roger Rabbit. I didn’t think it
was remotely sexy, but what do men think? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Spencer, I
happen to know you love curvy women as most men do, but I’m assuming you want
the natural curves and soft pillows on a woman.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga0GLkQZnGB_qAi7wI3Ks-tR_qbYsELn8wPjSZZ_k6bLuX0qInjYi9uX1RaJ2rr3dOf10OBkgIBg0IPV4E56jo34777bSFiMlbtGSxXJ1u_9bkoTPPjKmOrvl1XxQw3rpElFcypfUsCCc/s1600/donatella-versace-bad-plastic-surgery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga0GLkQZnGB_qAi7wI3Ks-tR_qbYsELn8wPjSZZ_k6bLuX0qInjYi9uX1RaJ2rr3dOf10OBkgIBg0IPV4E56jo34777bSFiMlbtGSxXJ1u_9bkoTPPjKmOrvl1XxQw3rpElFcypfUsCCc/s1600/donatella-versace-bad-plastic-surgery.jpg" height="400" width="355" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvTZYGFC7oxqUAWyeirC6Vvd-ZaV8TC7uCWzkUYriOHAYkG33xhY6zBi50A04jMJeMdSngqT7642bOQSkaaFrDjdm0acHpp4n3v3p7xxcI4DyH_FHoLFhDkc6ZeJZq6fg8XThIi5Lt6SY/s1600/jessica_rabbit1.preview.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvTZYGFC7oxqUAWyeirC6Vvd-ZaV8TC7uCWzkUYriOHAYkG33xhY6zBi50A04jMJeMdSngqT7642bOQSkaaFrDjdm0acHpp4n3v3p7xxcI4DyH_FHoLFhDkc6ZeJZq6fg8XThIi5Lt6SY/s1600/jessica_rabbit1.preview.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">SPENCER: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Men love
breasts of all sizes, the only ones we don't like are the ones that aren't
shared willingly. Small breasts can be very sexy-back to Meg Ryan in 80's. Or
my other Hollywood fantasy woman, Sigourney Weaver-also small breasted-and
tall. However I could look at Eva Mendez all day, especially if she was just in
some lingerie. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have
never felt enhanced breasts. I find them a little scary to look at. I think,
what kind of woman is so insecure about her figure that she'll inject sand from
some beach and risk all kinds of heath problems-for what? I don't think I could
get comfortable with that kind of woman-she's too uncomfortable with herself.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieITC3-OhlctreMw1EuxzZJ9MGF5Sn10kSKvVzlBgsAriR26T9ooMSZe9kjJtU960Cn-TjT91a3kyyw3vMSk4dY9PEz6-x3V6Vp_n1anjqVgYc-Nm2tD4Km9-e6iKqVIFUKWX5Qh35mXA/s1600/Beyonce-breast-implants-before-after.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieITC3-OhlctreMw1EuxzZJ9MGF5Sn10kSKvVzlBgsAriR26T9ooMSZe9kjJtU960Cn-TjT91a3kyyw3vMSk4dY9PEz6-x3V6Vp_n1anjqVgYc-Nm2tD4Km9-e6iKqVIFUKWX5Qh35mXA/s1600/Beyonce-breast-implants-before-after.jpg" height="207" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Before and after piccies - improvement or not? </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">MEG: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And this is
my issue with it too. That people feel so bad about themselves, that they feel
they must have plastic surgery to look good?! I find that frightening. What
frightens me too is when young girls get a boob job at say 18. Are you serious?
And the casual way it seems to be handled. Oh, are you going to get pink or red
cherry nail polish today? It’s seen often as a normal sort of thing. We’re
bringing people up, especially women, to hate themselves unless they really do
look like the plastic Barbie version. Not good. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">SPENCER: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Botox
thing is terrible. It looks so unnatural. Joan Rivers. I don't think she could
even blink at the time of her death.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif0DcdLBlrUsL_aOh33SUHJJhUWGtWFHJgn0GxgUaiPXnRW5dQaAyTelM0LU9eLN9lAG04ikoJiiDyY3f29m918clO9wtKcCTRuR5wpJXvxzWD8aF3AluFeTgjr1hNLP5OiUcM78csABU/s1600/joan-rivers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif0DcdLBlrUsL_aOh33SUHJJhUWGtWFHJgn0GxgUaiPXnRW5dQaAyTelM0LU9eLN9lAG04ikoJiiDyY3f29m918clO9wtKcCTRuR5wpJXvxzWD8aF3AluFeTgjr1hNLP5OiUcM78csABU/s1600/joan-rivers.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Too much 'dental work'?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">MEG:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Given it’s
that time of the year and a recent discussion elsewhere. Is slathering
ourselves with chocolate sauce sexy? Would some whipped cream and a cherry in a
strategic place add to things, or would you die laughing? Have you ever found
oysters or anything to add to sexual libido? I personally never have. Alcohol
might loosen up my inhibitions a wee bit, but that’s probably the extent of it.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0PPePYAE-z41pyUCha3MlDp43lCQ6s6X_G7KGcEkHoEn209wgoeUU29AQuSQZoVMLx49zssOiV_f8CmfMIQ5a3yOLXgZiYkLEKC0HJE137PXS7HGKYiD2IXoRWXgU-Xo6Ex7IewJaQu4/s1600/oyster.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0PPePYAE-z41pyUCha3MlDp43lCQ6s6X_G7KGcEkHoEn209wgoeUU29AQuSQZoVMLx49zssOiV_f8CmfMIQ5a3yOLXgZiYkLEKC0HJE137PXS7HGKYiD2IXoRWXgU-Xo6Ex7IewJaQu4/s1600/oyster.png" height="337" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Once in Sex
in the City, Samantha, lies on the dining room table naked, decorated with
Sushi for her man’s homecoming dinner. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXEJUGZvcqBVynHvi4odbb_Mr88p4kk-uJhUpb21diwpA-U-VBs_jZ7iYfuwvq0646PtkvtNTWv8mCOdCsfTfzRYQL85FJdIPn9anpiUdzcshyuEwQZ3hD0fVUG4RbpVr_ny0V02FBOSw/s1600/oh-dear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXEJUGZvcqBVynHvi4odbb_Mr88p4kk-uJhUpb21diwpA-U-VBs_jZ7iYfuwvq0646PtkvtNTWv8mCOdCsfTfzRYQL85FJdIPn9anpiUdzcshyuEwQZ3hD0fVUG4RbpVr_ny0V02FBOSw/s1600/oh-dear.jpg" height="203" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Do flavored
condoms, edible underwear or anything else do it for you? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I like that
tantric Kama Sutra powder and I LOVE good men’s perfumes. Smells arouse me. I
love Bulgari Extreme. A lot of Bulgari products actually. Yummmmm. That’s
arousing. I always wear Jessica McClintock original. Delicious. Can’t say balls
dipped in choccie would do it for me. But to a tactile person, they might…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">SPENCER: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
erotic thing to me about gourmet sex is the surrender involved. The woman is
saying, 'here I am, giving myself completely to you'-it's like human sacrifice
of a sort-literally consuming her body. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Was this what you meant? :-) NO! :-) </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh957zmMf-eFHAzUsVYmcxaXiaufvTunLSBG-haI4uDafYJM5TY516Tr-G1dhlaYe8TVbMo4eSh1Iis5Aw_C-Mk3Ww0UI65HOMHxoPMPQmdyOZ9MgrDb0WfoMjIdpfCFffcw20Kz_ZMkWI/s1600/chocolatebath-694290.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh957zmMf-eFHAzUsVYmcxaXiaufvTunLSBG-haI4uDafYJM5TY516Tr-G1dhlaYe8TVbMo4eSh1Iis5Aw_C-Mk3Ww0UI65HOMHxoPMPQmdyOZ9MgrDb0WfoMjIdpfCFffcw20Kz_ZMkWI/s1600/chocolatebath-694290.jpeg" height="250" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Better? :-)</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I've
never done it though. As I have said before, children kill intimacy. Sex after
children is stolen moments, in the dark, under the covers, quietly. There isn't
the time and space to make sex the celebration it should be. We never had the
money to have get-away weekends.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Funny how
that has been a struggle in my writing-not rushing sex scenes, learning to stay
in the moment and linger over the details and the building desire-stuff you do
so well. </span></b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">(Meg:
Thanks Spencer. And that’s an interesting observation on how we write as
individuals. Another male romance erotica writer I know also said, he tends to
want to rush to the actual sex act parts of a story. It’s possibly the way
we’re structured as male and female, but also interesting in that I don’t have
human children and haven’t had to ever ‘make it quick.’) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I'm from
the 60's. I still like the aroma of patchouli oil. It reminds me of the
mythical hippie chick that poured out free love with Cream playing in the
background. It's a memory that never came close to reality. <o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeF89Q39-iBiPBfWHrsnsd57Vs1KMrj7QC6W73A03FR96VN0Dv7rFsK2wsrZp78EnT5Trlswn9crp4xkXg3cMVKKpzIuF6fNBwl9d-JutO9Alx8YNpd3ySIMEyYPe511IOBxgDGsHVyN8/s1600/images+(5).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeF89Q39-iBiPBfWHrsnsd57Vs1KMrj7QC6W73A03FR96VN0Dv7rFsK2wsrZp78EnT5Trlswn9crp4xkXg3cMVKKpzIuF6fNBwl9d-JutO9Alx8YNpd3ySIMEyYPe511IOBxgDGsHVyN8/s1600/images+(5).jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I've
never used condoms. My sexually active years were in the 80's before AIDS. The
women were all on the pill then. Someone should tell modern erotic writers that
condoms are a highly unreliable means of birth control. </span></b><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">(Meg: Me either Spencer on the
condoms, but with my younger lovers, I’ve had to and it was a learning
experience that I’m still not as comfortable with because I didn’t grow up with
it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I think my generation was the last of the really ‘free’ generation. We
drunk drove (Yes, horrendous now when you think about it,) did drugs freely
(also not sure that’s a great thing) and had free uninhibited condom free and
lots of it sex (Now, here I do think it was a good thing. In some ways we had
less inhibitions and in others, we knew a lot less about sex than the younger
sets do. But we were less moralistic too I think, especially in New Zealand. All
the outrageous clothes and bands… We LIVED. My best friend Gail and I talk
about some of the things we did and think, Crikey dick!!! But we had a LOT of
fun!!! LOL. We’re the original Ab Fabbers. We always argued about who was going
to be Pats, I haven’t eaten since 1972, darling…) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEoqTCvApUdi_qTxkmc5LTzMb8nZjMx47rBXDPwZY47jwjoEoi-CYvUKFIEepgA4bTL8Hi3BIxBIJvTuke3DgcueSB0dzp4Pkoxr2tlgGfDyeVLW3aytJ0KHHDhJ_4PmQFajHLnCpgB14/s1600/Ab-Fab-crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEoqTCvApUdi_qTxkmc5LTzMb8nZjMx47rBXDPwZY47jwjoEoi-CYvUKFIEepgA4bTL8Hi3BIxBIJvTuke3DgcueSB0dzp4Pkoxr2tlgGfDyeVLW3aytJ0KHHDhJ_4PmQFajHLnCpgB14/s1600/Ab-Fab-crop.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ab Fab Darlings</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">New Zealand eighties band - SPLIT ENZ </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So in conclusion, we're sexy in lots of different ways. Don't assume everyone likes the same thing or that something you have is a turn off. It's probably not. I once researched about the amount of people who find underarm pit hair sexy and love the smell. See—something for everyone! :-)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Although in one survey, </span><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">the number one passion killer for men is huge GRANNY</span><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"> panties, so you might want to reconsider those. And the number one passion killer for </span><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">women is men who have undressed but still have their socks on. Then awkwardly take them off... See... I'm not the only one would hates socks and sex!! LOL. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">And a final s</span><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">nippet on why gay men often wear</span><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"> socks or shoes in porn and piccies. I asked the photographer Dan Skinner, also a great author and he said it's so dirty feet don't show in the shot. Aha! I guess if you are naked and moving around a lot, you might get grubby feet. I hadn't thought of that. LOL. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 24.533332824707px;">Thanks again for coming to visit us and reading our ramblings. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 24.533332824707px;">Happy New Year to everyone who celebrates Western New Year!!! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 24.533332824707px;">Aloha from Meg Amor and Spencer Dryden</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 24.533332824707px;">~ we both have new releases</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 24.533332824707px;">~ <span style="color: red;">SAINT NICHOLAS</span> ~ <span style="color: #38761d;">Meg Amor</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 24.533332824707px;">~ <span style="color: #6fa8dc;">LOVE ABOVE SEE LEVEL</span> ~ <span style="color: magenta;">Spencer Dryden</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 24.533332824707px;">~<span style="color: red;">THEN, ONE FROZEN CHRISTMAS EVE</span> ~ <span style="color: #38761d;">Spencer Dryden</span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 24.533332824707px;">All on special for .99 cents. Grab them for a New Years read. Amazon links below</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 24.533332824707px;">www.troikaromance.com</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><span style="line-height: 24.533332824707px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Saint-Nicholas-Meg-Amor-ebook/dp/B00PE2XJIE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420016915&sr=8-1&keywords=meg+amor" target="_blank">AMAZON</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: large; line-height: 24.533332824707px;">.99 cent special</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: start;">A beautiful heartfelt, sensual erotic romance story—New Zealander, Daisy struggles with the death of her husband, her days become blurs of unreality. There doesn’t seem to be any light at the end and if there is one—it’s probably a train. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-align: justify;">Life has become slightly surreal. Nobody told her death would be like this. That she’d feel so exhausted some days, even brushing her teeth would seem like the ascent on Everest without oxygen. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: start;">Her one bright spot is picking up a lotto ticket at the local store where the gorgeous Greek owner Nicky Constantine works. His dancing Aegean-blue eyes and jet black wavy hair are as attractive as his long fingers. She notices them every time. He’s flirty and fun—he’s probably nice to everyone. Good Greek Boy, she thinks in her sarkier moments. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: start;">But one day, Nicky touches her hand and she’s transported into another time and era—she sees a flash of a heavy sheepskin flight jacket and peaked service cap. In her confusion, she leaves her cash card at the store. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: start;">Unbeknown to Daisy, Nicky’s only flirty with her. He’s been watching her for months, concerned for this lovely, fragile woman. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: start;">Finding her card, he takes up her challenge that men aren’t romantic anymore. He arrives at her door with an invitation to drive down to the river. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: start;">He’s packed champagne and candles… </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: start;">Christmas is right around the corner...has Saint Nicholas come early this year?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 24.533332824707px;">and </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-size: 21.3333339691162px; line-height: 24.533332824707px;">http://www.fictionbyspencer.com/home.html</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: start;">AMAZON reviewer: I loved this book! So very different</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: start;"> and also loads of fun while dealing with some very hard issues. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: start;">I especially liked the non traditional heroine. .99 cents special</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: start;">On a freezing cold Christmas Eve, a broken furnace unites a lonely heating technician and his client who is forced out of her home. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On a snowy, frigid Christmas Eve in Minnesota, a heating technician makes an emergency call to a townhome without heat. Don is unable to repair the unit and tells Becky, the occupant, she must vacate the premises and stay in a hotel for her own safety. Becky breaks down and tells Don she has no money and no place to go. She has no friends or family locally and has maxed out her credit cards relocating from San Diego. Don invites her to stay with him until the furnace can be replaced. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: start;">Don is smitten by her good looks and warm, inviting manner. He begins to fantasize about a romantic connection, but is restrained by a crippling fear of his sexual inadequacy. Safe at his apartment, Becky turns up the heat on the shy divorcee. Can she melt his fears of intimacy and give him an unforgettable Christmas? </span></div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-1087242621957429372014-12-22T22:57:00.000-08:002014-12-22T22:59:09.783-08:00SEX OVER FIFTY ~ Are we going downhill or picking up speed? Conversations with Spencer. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">DO YOU THINK I’M SEXY? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sex over fifty. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Are we
going downhill or picking up speed?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fabulous Fifty</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sexy Sixty</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sensuous Seventy</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Aloha
everyone! Sorry it’s been a while. Today in conversations with Spencer, we’re
talking about having sex over fifty. Or ‘old guys’ sex’ as Spencer calls it. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Are we ‘old’
these days when we hit the half century and upward? Or is 50, the new 35 as
writer John Rosenman says? Is 70 the new 50? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We’re not
aging the way our parents or Grandparents did. We’re living more and deeper.
When I hit 50 last year, part of me simply rebelled. I thought, I’m not ready
to hang up my sensuality slippers yet! The thought of never having sex again in
my life depressed the guts out of me. That’s when I started my career as a
sensuous or erotic romance writer. While Miss Clairol and I are on more
intimate terms than I’d like, on a good day, I do only feel in my thirties. On
a bad day—94! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I always
remember the Irish comedian Dave Allen joking about getting older. He said he
went past a shop window and thought, God, who’s that old codger. Then he
realized it was him. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In my
country of birth, New Zealand there were certain expectations of aging. At 30,
I was expected to ‘grow up.’ Get my hair cut in a nice pudding bowl, no
nonsense, sensible shape, let it go progressively grey and throw out all my
sexy clothes. I call this aging disgracefully. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Spencer: Ugh. What a terrible image.
Yes, aging disgracefully. That's something that's changed for the better. I
think the make-up and fashion people have recognized there's still plenty of
opportunity to sell to women over forty. My wife spends a small fortune on hair
care, skin and make -up products, regular mani's and pedi's. I'm all for it.
She's still a very beautiful woman at 59.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px; line-height: 21.466667175293px;">MEG</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thankfully
that’s changed. But my stepmother often asked me quite seriously when I was
going to get my hair cut. Ah, like, never! I’ll die with long red curly hair,
thanks very much. Why would I trade in a sexy part of me? Why would I want to?
In the States, people have different expectations. The ‘blue rinse’ and having
your hair ‘set’ in curlers once a week is not as prevalent as New Zealand. Here
women in their eighties still dye their hair red. They still get mani’s and
pedi’s as a matter of course. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I was saying
to my best friend the other day, “My God, how can we be 51?! That’s
ridiculous.” In the movie ‘Still Crazy’—Bill Nighy’s character slams a birthday
cake against the wall saying, “I’m not fucking fifty!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I hear you
Bill! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, at
fifty, sixty, seventy and up these days—where’s our sexuality at? Have we slowed
down, lost interest or have we moved into another level of sexuality and slowed
down in a good way? Deeper, slower, more intense? This is what I wonder about. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For me, it’s
slower, I’m looking after me more. When I was younger, the guy got most of the
attention. The aim was for him to get off. As a woman, I was mostly along for
the ride (no pun intended.) These days I know my body, I know what I like. I
want to have an orgasm too!! Not something the men of my youth thought very
important. And given the couple of toy boys I’ve had lately…it still seems to
be not that important?! Grrr. Does Spencer answer why that happens with younger
men?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">SPENCER<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My first
breakthrough in 'old guy sex' was the realization that the most erotic thing in
the world to me was seeing, hearing and feeling my wife's sexual arousal. As a
young man, it was all about penetration and getting off before the woman came
to her senses. Of course I wanted her to be gaga over the experience but I had
no idea of the things I needed to do to please a woman. Part of my
apprenticeship as an erotic writer has been learning those secrets. It's in my
stories, where the woman teaches the man how to please her. That's how I
learned. I think men could learn a lot by reading erotic romance-not the stuff
of the Penthouse Forum but erotic romance.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So I'm
going downhill, losing speed but finding an enjoyment I wish I could have
discovered many years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">MEG<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Do we then undervalue
getting older in that we know more what we like, need and desire in sex? For
me, would an older man give me more in bed? What’s still sexy to us? The
younger Ken dollies don’t do a thing for me. Bland on bland. The 12 pack
muscles I find off putting and also bland, boring. I like men with character in
their faces and sensuality in their bodies. I look at someone like Morgan
Freeman and think, Good lord, you’re a sexy, sensuous, vital looking man. He’s
77…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Spencer and
I are both concerned that older romances are not portrayed as much in writing
and the big screen. What I’ve realized as I’ve gotten older, is that while I
feel a bit more crocky on it, my desires and attitude haven’t aged as much as
my birth certificate. I don’t FEEL fifty one or look it. When I read a story
about a ‘middle-aged woman’ in her forties or fifties, I am offended. It makes
me sound old and grey, lacking in vitality and oomph. Way past my sexual prime
with boobs down to my knees or at least my belly button. Okay, I can hold a
pencil under them now, but still!! Not at my naval yet! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And I
immediately envision someone much older than me as ‘middle-aged.’ More like
well…my parents age, but even that doesn’t really cut it these days. My parents
are in their sixties and seventies and would out hike me on even given day.
They sea kayak and mountain bike for gods sake! About 94 seems ‘old’ these days
to me. Age and our perspective on it shifts all the time with our age, and
society. We are aging differently than past generations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, I like
to write about older romances. Henry is 68 and has his life awakened when Izzy
steps into his life, taking him from 50 shades of beige into a rainbow
smorgasbord of aliveness and love. She opens up his sexuality for the first
time in his life. In my gay romances, Rob is 50 and falls in love with Kulani
who is 25. I think our sexuality is evolving as human beings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">SPENCER: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Meg: My
latest incarnation with writing erotica started at age 62. In the wake of my
mother's passing I got to spend a long time alone at her ocean-side cottage and
think about my life. There is nothing as healthy and healing as being able so
sit by the ocean for long periods of time letting you mind wander. That was a
foreign experience to me. My life has always been lived in regretting the past
or fearing the future. Caring for my mother required, for the first time in my
life, that I live in the present moment.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In the
time after her death I noticed a profound change- the sexual urges that had
dominated my life and thinking were fading away and I wasn't ready to let them
go. I made a decision that I wanted to remain a sexual being until the day I
died. So on my daily beach walks I tried to explore every facet of my sex life
beginning with my life long enchantment with female allure. It was allure long
before it was sexual in nature, but it started with the urges beneath my pants
at the sight of a naked woman over a half century ago. According to religion it
was evil but the desire was so strong. It was the beginning of a life of
hopelessly mixed messages. The great thing about your sixties is you start
casting off old taboos like so much dead skin.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">MEG<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I was lucky
enough to grow up in a non-religious country, but even so, I don’t think I hit
my sexual stride until my late thirties. And also had mixed messages of a
different kind. We simply weren’t encouraged to really look after ourselves in
bed, by ourselves or with our men. If we stumbled across an orgasm, we were
lucky. The message was be available, be sexual, but don’t ask for much for
yourself in the sex department. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now, moving
into my fifties, I not want, but DEMAND an orgasm. My needs have shifted away
from just giving pleasure. I want to receive it equally as well. Sex is more of
a need in a different way to when I was younger. I want the connection and I
want the intense release of an orgasm. I’m in menopause, but have picked up
speed. My body feels different. I have a sensuality now I didn’t have when I
was younger. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">The average man takes between one and ten minutes to reach an orgasm, </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">but women can take up to twenty minutes. Male </span><a href="http://allwomenstalk.com/tag/orgasms" style="background: 0px 50% rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="orgasms">orgasms</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"> only last for around four seconds, though, whereas a woman's can last up to fifteen! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The hard and
fast sex bores me to tears. The toy boys annoy me, because they know sex but
not sensuality or sexiness. They’re still at the “I have a penis, what else do
you need” stage of sex. And they don’t know women’s bodies. They’re very
‘grabby’ and they often hurt. They grab too hard, pinch, squeeze, they’re too
rough. Where do they learn this from? It’s not sexy, it’s painful. One recent
toy boy (yes, nearly weaned myself off them) told me that the younger women are
rough, not sensuous. They bite and scratch. Ugh… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5qi_7WVkUdQS9J6cO1LmmpPYDkyU0Lq5nnhx3XiqQi6L2eiXWgLBqVe4f4MQsVbv3_8P3UfNkei1WujytdPtxw3FCSZp5F7vCl535ODlgU_UqphnLeLzNLm_XQGw5OzAa5SXgHw00Fig/s1600/photodune-568627-sex-cloud-xs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5qi_7WVkUdQS9J6cO1LmmpPYDkyU0Lq5nnhx3XiqQi6L2eiXWgLBqVe4f4MQsVbv3_8P3UfNkei1WujytdPtxw3FCSZp5F7vCl535ODlgU_UqphnLeLzNLm_XQGw5OzAa5SXgHw00Fig/s1600/photodune-568627-sex-cloud-xs.jpg" height="326" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Do we have
the advantage of being older? Are we just coming into our prime? I think so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">SPENCER<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Men and
women have such different sexual needs, triggers and clocks, it amazing we ever
get together. I've gotten my self in trouble for saying lesbians have all the
fun- no fear of unwanted pregnancy, little risk of STD'S and a partner who
understands your sexual rhythms. I have joked to my wife about Viagra
commercials, "Now that we can't get it up anymore you finally want
it." (incoming!)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There is
a lot of complicated stuff here that is presented too simplistically by the
bullet point articles of men's and women's magazines. Good sex is a ballet on
ice and not a game of hockey It requires lots of trust. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">MEG<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I agree that
it does. I think it also requires experience and a different approach to sex.
The slower pace gives me more as a woman. I orgasm more easily and it’s deeper.
The fact that I now know my body about a hundred million times better also
helps. I know what I like, what turns me on and what doesn’t. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUmDCrUMucu8QkMa8oQmHQ4gn8TorufFaQFdVgGNejvbrRjTz59KjLR6h4hPr9F4qHciat6CE_AwFfT1YMtUheEJ61qDF0DNRIi5es19DNeYlumUEI6VjYwEO6A-FTTA90LoMrHBOdUDM/s1600/orgasmOMXhandgrabbingsheet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUmDCrUMucu8QkMa8oQmHQ4gn8TorufFaQFdVgGNejvbrRjTz59KjLR6h4hPr9F4qHciat6CE_AwFfT1YMtUheEJ61qDF0DNRIi5es19DNeYlumUEI6VjYwEO6A-FTTA90LoMrHBOdUDM/s1600/orgasmOMXhandgrabbingsheet.jpg" height="263" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I don’t
think I’m aroused slower, but I want the experience to be slower, deeper. I
want the sensuality, the kisses, my back rubbed, hair stroked, my skin
caressed. I know if I’m not lubricated enough. I want to get rolled in the
velvety molten experience of good sex. I don’t want to feel like I’ve been body
slammed. Even with slow sensuous sex, I end up with bruises on me. LOL. I
always used to end up with one under my chin with my older lover. LOL. I still
want to give my men everything, but I expect it back in return. That’s my main
difference. I want the sex for ME now.</span></div>
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<div id="slide_title" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Proxima Nova'; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-align: center;">
<span class="title_bg" style="background-color: #eb0042; box-shadow: rgb(235, 0, 66) 10px 0px 0px 0px, rgb(235, 0, 66) -10px 0px 0px 0px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1px;"><span style="color: magenta;">Making Noise Makes Your Orgasm Better</span></span></div>
<div id="slide_body" style="background-color: white; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1px;">
<span class="content" style="float: left; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: magenta;">Turns out, controlling the volume on your sex sounds could be the key to an awesome O. In tantric sex, making high-pitched noises brings sexual energy to your chest, throat, and head, while low-pitched noises bring them down to… well, down there. Switch up your sounds for a <a href="http://www.womenshealthmag.com/sex-and-relationships/full-body-orgasm" style="border: none; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">full-body orgasm</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Spencer,
what’s changed for you as an older male? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">SPENCER<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Most
notably, getting and staying aroused. My recovery period now is measured in
days rather than minutes. Despite the decline, I enjoy sex more now. As I said
before, children kill intimacy unless you're fortunate enough to be able to
have frequent get-away weekends. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now we can take more time. I love doing the
massages. I bought a wand vibrator and use it first for full body massage
before moving to the arousal zones. We've gone to the adult toy store together
to buy lubes, sniggering like teenagers over the assortment of devices. (I
recommend going on Sunday so you won't run into your pastor.)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I'm not
ready for the blue pill. Those things scare me to death with all the side
effects and possible interactions. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">MEG <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, in conclusion, let's hear it for testosterone and progesterone cream and good anti-aging medicine. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We’re still sexy and sexual these days past fifty. We still feel sexy,
sensuous, our bodies still response. We’re possibly more sultry, slower, more
seductive. It might only happen once a night or every few days, but the desire
is still there. The need, the want, he hell yes. We get bolder, we write
erotica, we visit sex shops, we wonder if online porn is really that awful. We
become more open, we care less about what other people think. We like the
Canadian soccer moms who run Coffee and Porn in the morning with their
beautiful images they find. <a href="http://cupoporn.blogspot.com/">http://cupoporn.blogspot.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div id="slide_title" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Proxima Nova'; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-align: center;">
<span class="title_bg" style="background-color: #eb0042; box-shadow: rgb(235, 0, 66) 10px 0px 0px 0px, rgb(235, 0, 66) -10px 0px 0px 0px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1px;"><span style="color: orange;">Orgasms Get Better with Age</span></span></div>
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<span class="content" style="float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1px;"><div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: orange;">Women ages 80 to 99 are more sexually satisfied than younger women, </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: orange;">according to a study in <em>The American Journal of Medicine</em>. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikGKefC9yUyf2CVhlTAHXZXmsxpvnWJ0BGT-U-hVHsgedGdutCkpg7UwbwWaJAdnwnNMe_IGK4aEoj64C7OxI0mkw8f8XverI80SPtGtCe9t9R2N64wtcww4gMWio0gB_TOr51xRlEux4/s1600/dame460_1202560c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikGKefC9yUyf2CVhlTAHXZXmsxpvnWJ0BGT-U-hVHsgedGdutCkpg7UwbwWaJAdnwnNMe_IGK4aEoj64C7OxI0mkw8f8XverI80SPtGtCe9t9R2N64wtcww4gMWio0gB_TOr51xRlEux4/s1600/dame460_1202560c.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red;">Spencer Dryden and Meg Amor are both erotic romance writers, </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red;">with books available on Amazon and new releases in the New Year. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red;">They have also been </span><span style="color: red;">featured in the Good Men Project. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red;">You can find them on their websites at: </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOaThGdkkH72hagkT55GOjRNyMw-qB5juWXH0a9Ly6MrCrygr1pd_wkegPS1Ey9aYcUk1dExCQ8S_9hBG-v4pqS_I8nKQ4BbjRNglTgNoL6joddRx9xpgWHNM1gzLhOWqdf3lfb8rz9io/s1600/10626712_1478312982450364_3662201865528664853_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOaThGdkkH72hagkT55GOjRNyMw-qB5juWXH0a9Ly6MrCrygr1pd_wkegPS1Ey9aYcUk1dExCQ8S_9hBG-v4pqS_I8nKQ4BbjRNglTgNoL6joddRx9xpgWHNM1gzLhOWqdf3lfb8rz9io/s1600/10626712_1478312982450364_3662201865528664853_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<b style="color: blue;"><br /></b></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue;">Spencer Dryden</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px;">www.fictionbyspencer.com</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px;">or</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_grTn_QV_503Z2ww_uEBbTI_dmNhyphenhyphenRCj56BV0htEwHH9wCvWnIHk1kbKQbfnkmEBARPwiFMu0PR-lzHITdyCHfMZy2HJ0mPKNKfz2W1nZRFmT4LPdVof8H6HPJ0H3G7NwYKMQ14QfqgY/s1600/Lush+and+Blush+Club+308.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_grTn_QV_503Z2ww_uEBbTI_dmNhyphenhyphenRCj56BV0htEwHH9wCvWnIHk1kbKQbfnkmEBARPwiFMu0PR-lzHITdyCHfMZy2HJ0mPKNKfz2W1nZRFmT4LPdVof8H6HPJ0H3G7NwYKMQ14QfqgY/s1600/Lush+and+Blush+Club+308.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: magenta; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px;"><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-align: center;">
<b style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px;"><span style="color: lime;">Meg Amor</span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px 0px 1px; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: lime; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px;">www.troikaromance.com</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-57918572775155048012014-11-25T06:23:00.001-08:002014-11-26T03:17:49.030-08:00Bundle up with the Red Hot Wild Women Writers this holidays. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 16pt;">Aloha everyone! On Black Friday we six <span style="color: red;"><b>hot</b></span> women writers are releasing our bundle of erotica romance stories. Over 60, 000 words, 6 <span style="color: red;"><b>hot</b></span> stories to bundle up with this <span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>chilly</b></span> winter and in the <b><span style="color: #38761d;">holidays</span>. <span style="color: red;">One wee NSFW piccie :-)</span> </b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 16pt;">The <span style="color: red;">hotties</span> answered a few more </span><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 16pt;">questions about writing, love, s</span><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 16pt;">ex and favorite things. Thanks for reading! Aloha </span><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 16pt;">Meg, Mikey, Kay Dee, Alix, Ruby </span><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 16pt;">and</span><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 16pt;"> Iona</span><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 16pt;">!!! </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: red;">Name
three places it's easy for you to relax.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MIKEY: </span></b><span class="CharAttribute1"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Liberation Serif";">I generally don't relax. In the bath. In a hot tub. Even on
vacation, I don't necessarily relax. About the only time I relax is on my
Harley rolling down the open road with goddamn time frame.</span></span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Café, hiking in
the woods, hanging out near water (sitting in a chair next to it or floating on
it in a boat).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><b style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">ALIX: </b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Beaches, pretty much ALL beaches. Grew up around the Great
Lakes, beaches were a staple of life. Mountains, I truly enjoy the views from
up at the top, or even halfway. If there’s a place where mountains and beaches
converge, that’s where I want to be. :-) </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;">In the woodlands of the Upper
Peninsula. I miss those long walks to reach the perfect beaches. (Meg: Here’s a
tip. If you want to become a writer, come from Michigan. We have so many writers
from there, it’s almost uncanny! :-)</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"> I lived there when I first came to the
States. It must be something in their water supply, or long, longggggggggg
winters. :-)</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"> )<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">RUBY: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I sit on the
cliff tops listening to the lull of waves, gently crashing down on the sea wall
under moonlight. Another is, lying alone on my bed, deep in thought, sucking
chocolate, listening to classical music. Lastly, a hot soak enriched with oils
and rose petals, flickering candles, a
gentle fragrance from a burner and a glass of Bucks Fizz.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Kona, on the
Big Island of Hawai’i. Sitting in the back of a luxury car, being driven. The
West Coast of New Zealand, along the Punakaiki stretch of the coast. Wild,
rugged and windswept. It’s gorgeous. </span><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: red;">Night
owl or Early bird?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I love getting
up early…before anyone else and getting right to writing: ) Although – I can do
the same thing at night – everyone’s in bed and I’m still up writing: )<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-weight: bold;">ALIX: </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Night owl all the way. Daylight is annoying at times. LOL</span><span style="color: red; font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">RUBY: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I’m a vampire
girl I only ‘come out’ at night… sweet dreams readers.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Pure night owl.
I’m dysfunctional in the daylight. </span><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: red;">What
genre do you like to read?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MIKEY: </span></b><span class="CharAttribute1"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Liberation Serif";">gay romance, some fantasy, Star Wars, and I have a secret
addiction to spy novels. Micah goddamn Dalton is hot. I've saved a bullet for
him.</span></span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It’s a mood
thing for me – mostly erotic romance in sub-genres paranormal, fantasy,
contemporary, historical, sci-fi, steam-punk – then I want to stop and read
something mainstream – detective-type stuff – like Patricia Cornwell or Kathy
Reichs.<b> <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-weight: bold;">ALIX: </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Pretty much all of them. I truly enjoy a good written
(accurate) historical, as well as the fantastical that takes me to another
world. The paranormals to suspend belief and yes, even erotic/a. Have to keep
up with what I write. :-)</span></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"> I’m a sucker for a romance that has me believing in
“happily-ever-afters” even if only for that second.</span></span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">RUBY: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Predominantly,
I am a supernatural kinda girl. I love baddies and wish they’d win more…
hehehe. I don’t often read romance,
murder mystery, thrillers or whodunits. The dark and macabre worlds of
paranormal stories and the hint of truth contained within them are of fine
substance for me. I love stories that contain any type of sexual gender, fetish
or practice, non-fiction or fiction. These make interesting reads for me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I read a
selection, but I love the male/male romances. I read a lot of mainstream as
well, mostly murder mysteries and romances. I love a good British cosy and
occasionally read thrillers… skipping over the icky stuff. I read for the
characters in any book, sometimes the plot is the background story for me. Anything with psychology thrown in is usually a draw card too for me. </span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: red;">Lace,
Leather, or Denim?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MIKEY: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Leather and
denim<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;">Totally denim :-)</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt;"><b>ALIX: </b>Combination of the three. I’m a sucker for leather and am
extremely comfortable in denim. Lace is for bras and panties.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">RUBY: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I own clothes
with all three and it depends what mood I’m in. Delicate and feminine? Basques
and lace. A naughty girl? It’s gotta be leather or denim.</span><b style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I like lace and
leather combined, but if I had to pick one, it would be lace. I like wearing
Victoriana clothing in the winter. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: red;">What brings about an idea that you form into a story, how do you
know it’s a viable idea?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The simplest
thing…like I mentioned, my fascination in the elusive cougar. That thought
planted the seed, and then the pot simmers for hours, days, or months…until the
characters become recognizable and the story forms, ready to be written.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><b style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">ALIX: </b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">More often than not, mine come to me out of nowhere. Those
are usually the ones that last. There are others that pop in while I’m working
another storyline. And those eventually are interwoven into a series of books.
Those that are viable are the ones that I just cannot <i>not</i> stop working on. It’s as if nothing exists besides getting the
story finished. I’ll keep going until I literally fall asleep on the keyboard.
I’ve also had other ideas that took off, stopped, was certain they were
finished then all of a sudden with the completion of a completely different
story, that one comes back on. It’s funny like that. LOL<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">RUBY: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">A character
‘pops’ into my brain, his/her fetish, how that can affect people, could it be
turned in to a story etc. </span><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt;">Ideas
are jotted down in pencil, and then at a later date I think ‘ooh, there could
be something there.’ I check with colleagues to see if they like the idea, I
always get mixed answers. Some turn up their noses and some are gagging to hear
more of the …saucy details.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The ideas often
come out of the blue. I don’t have much say over them. I usually sit with it a
day or so to see whether it’ll start to ‘run.’ When it has legs and won’t leave
me alone, I start taking dictation. I often only get tiny pieces of a story.
Sometimes it’s a sentence that starts it off and then I’m at the mercy of The
Muses and what they have to say. Thank God!! I’ve gotten used to them leading
the story now. I just to type fast and try not to let my own ego or ideas get
in the way. </span><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: red;">Do you like muscled men? </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">ALIX</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">: I most
definitely do! Who doesn’t want a sculptured male to gaze at? Okay, okay, so I
would also be drooling, but that wasn’t the question. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MIKEY:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I just like
men. Muscles or no.</span><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> Not too muscly
– just enough to know he’s strong: )<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">No. LOL. I
really don’t like muscle bound, hairy men. Partly too, on the muscles, I
suspect it’s because I’m a New Zealander. Culturally we don’t do the ‘body
beautiful’ thing that’s prevalent here in the States. I like my men ‘normal.’ I
don’t like the hard planes that muscles produce. I suppose though I do like a
firm back and shoulders. I do find that sexy. But I have a thing for shoulders.
</span><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">IONA: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Muscular but
not musclebound if that makes sense.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">RUBY:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Er, sorry
guys, natural muscle only for me. Although I think the WWF kinda guys are cute,
I prefer skinny, with a little cuddly tummy I can stroke.</span><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4oKmmGbRVqX_y8wWGWOi9q04dFQsjzDUocf6jd4i37SotYqC0xc1eFpBeBv9zcmSZX4NQjhUIIWHyRQpLUnPshEsVOVoLzy0EsEx2kQMJUi1A_nTr0BUqbV715eph7eVeIqZssed0p9g/s1600/slim-gay-teen-boy-santa-bed-naked-abs-shirtless-bulge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4oKmmGbRVqX_y8wWGWOi9q04dFQsjzDUocf6jd4i37SotYqC0xc1eFpBeBv9zcmSZX4NQjhUIIWHyRQpLUnPshEsVOVoLzy0EsEx2kQMJUi1A_nTr0BUqbV715eph7eVeIqZssed0p9g/s1600/slim-gay-teen-boy-santa-bed-naked-abs-shirtless-bulge.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: red;">What’s
the biggest turn off in a lover? </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">ALIX:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> Someone who
doesn’t take proper care of themselves. By that I mean, those who don’t have
good hygiene.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A bad kisser,
too much slobber, closed mouth, too fast. Ugh. Or the jabbing tongue. Eek. Men who don't have a clue how to bring a woman to orgasm and aren't willing to learn. Men who think a penis is the only thing they need to know how to use in bed. </span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MIKEY:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> Food in their
facial hair.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY
DEE:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">
</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">When he doesn’t share his emotions verbally with me – it ends up being a
one-sided communication that feels more like a rejection.</span><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">IONA:
</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Someone
who isn't working on the same mental plane as you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">RUBY:
</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Pubes.
Smoking.</span><b style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqVIRuoTu4dllxcp4dr44K9WK6Mdruc4JaVOsaiS3vW50Tn27cwMQYwOy1AN1VI7oD_SQVNp2HOa_68JlW7EBIb5R_RE7aaIHAqQNfV9ObJjZXVEHgIjhJS6MB6yO8oYw20OFdikQCCpw/s1600/actor_jack_nicholson_smoking_a_huge_cigar-1280x800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqVIRuoTu4dllxcp4dr44K9WK6Mdruc4JaVOsaiS3vW50Tn27cwMQYwOy1AN1VI7oD_SQVNp2HOa_68JlW7EBIb5R_RE7aaIHAqQNfV9ObJjZXVEHgIjhJS6MB6yO8oYw20OFdikQCCpw/s1600/actor_jack_nicholson_smoking_a_huge_cigar-1280x800.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: red;">What’s
the biggest turn on in a lover? </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">ALIX:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> One who shares
my soul. :-)</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MIKEY:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">An erection
and no food in their facial. (Meg: LOL. Jesus Mike)</span><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> A good kisser,
someone who is very sensuous, but passionate. A man with a gentle touch and knows how to not rub a clitoris raw. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY
DEE:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">
</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Words of love…simple touching, shows of affection.</span><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">IONA:
</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Somebody
who is in the same mental place as you. It all starts in the head.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">RUBY:
</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Age
and maturity.</span><b style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCspT5UvJgUWZxxetsfiR7mMeKB9DEpMbG-zC4WnZcmUpEHnyppFMtG_rejwZIOIojUxUk9RIOAA6iYfABFVOaawdLo5b0nyDswpQ01lyvPkqnWnuQTyWJUsqktDsi59KKrQcrJZmvS6Q/s1600/6a0105364a8fba970c017616317e32970c-800wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCspT5UvJgUWZxxetsfiR7mMeKB9DEpMbG-zC4WnZcmUpEHnyppFMtG_rejwZIOIojUxUk9RIOAA6iYfABFVOaawdLo5b0nyDswpQ01lyvPkqnWnuQTyWJUsqktDsi59KKrQcrJZmvS6Q/s1600/6a0105364a8fba970c017616317e32970c-800wi.jpg" height="400" width="272" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: red;">Do you experiment with those sex scenes you create, or strictly
use your imagination?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MIKEY: </span></b><span class="CharAttribute1"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Anything
is viable, just got to Rubic it around until it makes sense.</span></span><b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Comic Sans MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I’d like to say
I’ve experience a good portion of what I write *LOL* But it’s pretty much my
wild imagination and I use it to full capacity when writing those love scenes.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><b style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">ALIX: </b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Most times. There are certain scenes I can’t enact myself,
due to past experiences, that doesn’t stop me from asking friends and others
about theirs. Trust me, I’ve heard people whisper behind their hands about
being placed in my books. Other times I have to use my imagination, because,
well, fantasy just does not exist in our world. LOL</span><b style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">RUBY: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Simply
both! It could go ‘Darling, I have an
idea, could we try…’ and I either get
‘do I have to?’ or ‘is that idea for real’ and the answers are, “yes, you have to, it’s a tough job I know’
and ‘ yes in supernatural land, anything is real, does it sound horny though?’<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It depends. I
don’t have anyone to experiment on at the moment. So it’s either stuff from
past partners, or I imagine it in my mind. If I had someone here though, I
WOULD experiment on them. LOL. </span><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;">How do you like your steak?</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: "Comic Sans MS";"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">IONA: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Medium. I've no
issues with a wee bit of blood!</span><b style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Medium-well and
smothered in mushrooms :-) </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><b style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">ALIX: </b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Medium to well done. I’m not a fan of raw meat. Just not
appealing and with my imagination it’s not hard to take that final leap into
“OMG” and it’s all over. Don’t want it screaming at me. Just sayin’... LOL <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">RUBY: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Is steak
another word for cock Or real steak? (Meg: LOL. Jesus Ruby! LOL)<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Medium to well
done. No pink showing. Apparently people find this tough, but I’ve always eaten
it this way, so it tastes fine to me. LOL. Although I do apologize to chef in a
restaurant. And I like it with a sauce of some kind. A wine reduction, parmesan
crust, French cream, mushroom, anything really… gravy and sauce… yum… </span><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: red;">How do you weave reality into the fiction you create? Do you take
from real-life events/happenings? Real people and interactions?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MIKEY: </span></b><span class="CharAttribute1"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Real
life. Mine and others. Specific events may be made up, or taken from headlines
and then modified to fit my world, but emotionally I put in a lot of my own
experiences. Especially pertaining to some of the darker aspects of my
characters world. </span></span><b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Comic Sans MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It’s a little
of many circumstances - my personal experiences, things I’ve seen at the movies
or on TV, stuff I’ve read, or what I’ve picked up from people I know.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><b style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">ALIX: </b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I do all of it. I enjoy the weave of fantasy into reality.
Making it possible for the reader to <i>actually</i>
believe it happened, or could have. I use real-life events and happenings. Both
on the personal and public stage. It makes the pieces seem more realistic to
me. Real people and their interactions are also a must. It really brings the
realistic twist into what I’m trying to create. I truly enjoy seeing if my
outcome is different from what happened in reality. :-) </span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">RUBY: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I use
past/present/future life and my own experiences. Work colleagues and friends
experiences. More interesting than that are perhaps the incidentals, a wave, a
smile, a touch, a comment, even snippets from conversations; or even inanimate
objects. Those from my dreams, are recalled and transferred into notes,
although the majority of these divine/spirit interactions are for stories not
yet written.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;">Yes, I write
from a large data base of my own life’s experiences. Anything could end up in
there, from a look, gesture, entire event, a particular person, a dialogue. I
describe a scene with a Greek flatmate in Saint Nicholas and the cookies his mum
used to send him. That was word for word how it used to go every week. LOL. You
can’t make some of this stuff up! :-)</span></span></div>
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<strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;">What did you eat for breakfast?</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: "Comic Sans MS";"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">IONA: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Porridge. It
might be a cliché for us Scots but it has loads of fibre and low GI which keeps
me going all morning</span><b style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Egg scramble –
with asparagus and sharp cheddar.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS; font-weight: bold;">ALIX: </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Haven’t ever been a breakfast person as I’m not usually
awake. But when I am (like on vacation visiting family) I’ll do the eggs,
bacon, sausage, hash browns, French toast, juice, pancakes, coffee...you know,
all the usual food. :-) </span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">RUBY: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Mikey, you’ll
like this, always start my day with a good cocksucking… followed by breakfast
and a milky day; can’t start it without a good feed.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I’m not
generally up for breakfast. And rarely eat when I first get up. I can’t cope
with food first thing. On holiday though when I’m up early and traveling, I’ll
eat a full English breakfast. Bacon, poached eggs, baked beans, black or white
sausage, proper English sausages, fried bread with a large pot of Earl Grey Tea
and pure cream. Yummm. </span><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></i><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><strong><span style="color: red;">What
is your favorite cuisine?</span></strong></span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: red;"> </span><span style="color: #181818;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">IONA: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Thai food.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MIKEY: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Southern.
British comfort food like bangers and mash. Liver and onions, cooked right. </span><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Man, I really
lead a sheltered life…it’s nothing fancy…my husband’s smoked chicken, it melts
in my mouth: )<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><b style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">ALIX: </b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Italian and Mexican. I’m a sucker for good pasta and spices
that make my eyes water and nose run. Bet that’s a pretty picture you have now.
LOL :-)</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">RUBY: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Nouvelle
cuisine. You don’t get much and pay a fortune for the privilege.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">French, then
the ethnic ones like Afghani, Indian, Burmese, Hawaiian Fusion. </span><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: red;">How do you get into your writer’s mindset? </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MIKEY: </span></b><span class="CharAttribute1"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Liberation Serif";">Close the door, shut out the world, grab a drink and just
fucking write. I'm generally naked, a drink next to me, and now a hot pink
vapor cig clenched between my teeth (since I quit smoking). I used to smoke
pink cigarettes. On occasion, I'll have a cigar.</span></span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">First, I have
to know I’m going to have some hours of uninterrupted time…when my mind has
plenty of time to sink into writing mode. I can’t have any distractions…it’s
too easy for me to go “empty.” I set an area up with a drink, soft music, a
scented candle…maybe do a short meditation of intention and roll from there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><b style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">ALIX:</b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> I breathe, light candles and find the right playlist. Sometimes
I’ll even go for a walk or annoying my kids a moment before I settle down to
write. Annoying the kids is to keep them from getting at me once I start
writing. LOL Sometimes I’ll even veg out for a few hours with them to empty my
head of all the junk I’ve collected. Clear my mind. :-)</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">RUBY: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Wow, that’s a
hard one. I’m so hyper that sitting down to type a word doc, is more difficult
than getting ideas or into mindset. I suppose I read a couple chapters from any
book I randomly select, that includes dictionaries, thesaurus, and fiction;
close the book, sit in the lounge and sup a hot blackcurrant, munch on a box of
choc and just type. I may ask to have an ankle brace fitted and tied to the
table, so I can’t move and Daddy (age related fetish please note) may have to
pamper his little girl whilst she works hehe<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I do a
visualization every day that’s not related to writing and the story often keeps
popping in pieces of what’s coming next while I visualize. I also pour a
Bacardi and diet coke, so that my brain is switched off from its straight and
linear course and on the creative track. I’ll start a sentence wherever I am in
the scene that I can see in my mind. It might be half way through or at the
end. I write what is running ‘hot’ at the time, otherwise I miss stuff. I go
back and fill around the main scene later. </span><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt;">Are you in the closet as an erotica writer, or balls to the wall
open?</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MIKEY: </span></b><span class="CharAttribute1"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Everyone
knows what I do. No closet here in terms of what I write.</span></span><b><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Comic Sans MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I use a pseudonym,
although most of my family and friends know, I keep it away from them. I love
what I do, but I don’t wish to offend anyone…most especially my family :-)</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> And some do find it offensive.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><b>ALIX:</b> </span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Not really closet. I don’t throw it about, but I also don’t
hide it either. When people ask what I do, I tell them honestly. Either the
conversations end there (a lot of times it does, lol) or I find a new friend.
I’m not ashamed of writing erotic/a, if anything I’m free, happy and at peace.
Which is a huge plus in my book. :-) </span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">RUBY: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I was advised
to be a closet girl – am I a girl?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Everyone
in UK is backward when it comes to sex, come on folks everyone knows that.
Maybe one day, we will be able to mention the word and the stiff upper Brit lip
will quiver with excitement not stand erect with angst.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I’m open. I
write under my own name and like what I do. I have no problems telling people
what I write. Generally people are intrigued and fascinated by it. If anyone
has had a funny reaction, I’ve never struck it. </span><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<strong><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Mangal;">How many tattoos do you have?</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="background: white; font-family: "Comic Sans MS";"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: #181818; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">IONA: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">One - a
youthful experiment somewhere you won't ever see! <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MIKEY: </span></b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Lots… too many
to </span><span style="font-size: 18.6666660308838px;">catalog</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> :-)</span></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Zippety do da
day – but I’m not against them</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><b style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">ALIX: </b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Two and plan for more...a LOT more. LOL :-)</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">RUBY: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">None, am not
that trendy. I’m a therapist, I wouldn’t dream of desecrating my body, and skin
is a sensual organ.<b> <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">None. I have a
pain threshold of -500 and while I’m used to seeing them more now, they’re not
something I’ve ever hankered for</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 14.0pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16pt;">IONA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-82492011900307603382014-11-16T23:06:00.000-08:002014-12-21T17:06:19.912-08:00LOVE IS LOVE ~ a sex-positive view on insta-love and gay romance writers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Aloha everyone! Thanks so much to Grace </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Duncan for setting up this great idea on a sex-positive blog hop! :-) </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lately there’s
been a fair few scuffles over two things which I see popping up in all sorts of
blogs and comments. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One is the
moans and groans about women writers of gay romances. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The other is
the insta-love thing that seems to stick in some people’s craw. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There’s a
lot of "not realistic" stuff thrown about over "insta-love." And it only seems
to apply to m/m romances. Why? People DO fall in love instantly all the time. If it hasn’t happened to you in your life, I’m not sure whether to say
you’re lucky or not lucky. I’m going with NOT. Even Shakespeare knew about love at first sight. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I think
about descriptions from WWII, or from men I’ve met in this lifetime, or have read about. We often hear, “…the moment I
laid eyes on her, I knew she was the one, I was going to marry that girl. It was love at first sight.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“When I met
her, it was instant kapow, right between the eyes. I just fell in love with
her.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Often people
have a soul connection from another lifetime. So when they meet again, they’re
reconnecting from the past, recognizing each other again. Of course, they would
love instantly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Also
culturally things move differently in different countries. I come from New
Zealand and we don’t "date" for years. We go on a "couple of dates" with
someone and we’re either going out with them or not. We might not fall in
love with them instantly, but we do know whether there’s a connection there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMV5noHJmcvbHvmirpSwTnpYRbzqiwxvY3CRj_F-Gpj62sbc20nnoI3FsiyLjkkatJGo8zF9X0he_QHcXrdHrEg4hmWXdoe4yqRnT6O6Xa-uMXe0fL1EzSb1Rk0f5GDei8W0AmnbwWXbE/s1600/LOVE-IS-LOVE-love-29683854-1004-468.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMV5noHJmcvbHvmirpSwTnpYRbzqiwxvY3CRj_F-Gpj62sbc20nnoI3FsiyLjkkatJGo8zF9X0he_QHcXrdHrEg4hmWXdoe4yqRnT6O6Xa-uMXe0fL1EzSb1Rk0f5GDei8W0AmnbwWXbE/s1600/LOVE-IS-LOVE-love-29683854-1004-468.jpg" height="186" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve fallen
in love with someone kapow the first day I laid eyes on them and also grown
in love with someone. I actually think I’d take the kapow kind. I can’t see
that either produced a better relationship funnily enough and you’d think one
would work better, but that hasn’t been my experience. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPfsIs7x2zqWV3fpigbQKE23OP02DM132MtEpUM84aW_IkIm6sPk5uTZjDSfqec_ntImavmpzQf0wbczX9-Fo-_ko1J1iuO60V2onLb26pb41eiWSJEnLvTJlUzqWESfYjCQ_XJ03LFeU/s1600/love_is_love__no_matter_what__by_missbumblebea-d3s190r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPfsIs7x2zqWV3fpigbQKE23OP02DM132MtEpUM84aW_IkIm6sPk5uTZjDSfqec_ntImavmpzQf0wbczX9-Fo-_ko1J1iuO60V2onLb26pb41eiWSJEnLvTJlUzqWESfYjCQ_XJ03LFeU/s1600/love_is_love__no_matter_what__by_missbumblebea-d3s190r.jpg" height="378" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">We fall in
love instantly with lots of things. Why not a partner?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The moment I
saw that car, I just fell in love with it…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The moment I
laid eyes on that ginger kitten, I knew I had to take him home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The moment I
walked in that house, I knew I had to have it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On my first
bite, I fell in love with the dish, I had to get the recipe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Is it really
so odd? So unusual? I don’t think so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I think we’re
geared to love. On a heart and soul level, love is such a binding force in the
Universe that we naturally gravitate toward it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And when we
recognize that connection to another kindred spirit—we take it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW7poX7gHmpHTcnxXeoFUKqSE_hTcY99OKnRoNi2LB8Kurkp2TEbd1vf7flmOc8bAb_EfXEy7Cw4mXKn-29kG1km5XnnLKPNjirWXFr8lAAbsGyEMovYqMT1mLGl_U_5yxGqBhC8lSh_g/s1600/aldridge_all_you_need_is_love+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW7poX7gHmpHTcnxXeoFUKqSE_hTcY99OKnRoNi2LB8Kurkp2TEbd1vf7flmOc8bAb_EfXEy7Cw4mXKn-29kG1km5XnnLKPNjirWXFr8lAAbsGyEMovYqMT1mLGl_U_5yxGqBhC8lSh_g/s1600/aldridge_all_you_need_is_love+(1).jpg" height="318" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWWoJ-1smL_8loOMwE_u9NVaToIXyF6Foa11rQbYRQrrwl3URkQlqmORV6N2t2S820adg8wgTrFg9cn009GXcTESlNRnxSLFlQ94vetm-Mst5bl534zYB91bnWBS2XG5iv3QxqwewlFbI/s1600/lovelife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWWoJ-1smL_8loOMwE_u9NVaToIXyF6Foa11rQbYRQrrwl3URkQlqmORV6N2t2S820adg8wgTrFg9cn009GXcTESlNRnxSLFlQ94vetm-Mst5bl534zYB91bnWBS2XG5iv3QxqwewlFbI/s1600/lovelife.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Because love
is love and it doesn’t always come along in several varieties to choose from
like say a car, or a dress or a selection of cheeses. Often we only get presented with one love at a time. Sometimes not, of course... :-) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Which leads
me to the women writers on gay romance thing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Like it or
not, writers have always written about things they know nothing or little about, but are
drawn to for some reason. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Q: “Why did you
write about a past life set in WWII?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A: “I’ve always
been interested in that period of history.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Q: “Why did you
write about the Civil Rights Movement?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A: “I’ve always
hated prejudice. I wanted to say something about that particular incident and
highlight what went on for people.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And the list
goes on…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFOkB0bdst6bV1mxibcdop9z5QlSoKlMLxouPwnSgPp6Mu0p91-CEea1jcMzccuSVunseUXpUdkjErGgEiA7b7mtTAqdYW2gz_Qd_xj_H7fOVB-Pn8DetA0sCXUL_MtSAUq5L_oxDlN0A/s1600/o-ROSA-PARKS-QUOTE-570.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFOkB0bdst6bV1mxibcdop9z5QlSoKlMLxouPwnSgPp6Mu0p91-CEea1jcMzccuSVunseUXpUdkjErGgEiA7b7mtTAqdYW2gz_Qd_xj_H7fOVB-Pn8DetA0sCXUL_MtSAUq5L_oxDlN0A/s1600/o-ROSA-PARKS-QUOTE-570.jpg" height="268" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We write
about what interests us often as writers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I write the
characters that pop into my head, often unasked, uninvited. They just turn up,
noisy, fervent, raiding my booze cabinet, clattering around in my kitchen,
until I have no choice, but to sit down and listen to their story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And once
they start and I’m intrigued, I find myself reaching quietly for a pen and
paper to take notes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sometimes a
story is going in one direction and then a rogue character turns up and hijacks
the whole thing. My first full length novel <i>Henry</i>
<i>and Isolde</i> due out in Spring next year was like
that. It started out as a "nice wee romance," until "bloody Charlie" turned up.
He was nicknamed that by me because he wanted to be in the relationship with
Henry and Izzy. I just said no. You can’t. People won’t like that. What will
the readers think? (I had no idea at the time I started writing that, that
people WOULD like that.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVnljtxFE-YhAHTirI9yImCQOwI2DKTRodm1GnkMrEZ9g0J4SWUQhfUo4z5zb9AtvZRoewV7deA8w27IKgQuNTF4dtbWXpTtFj-84xJ8Mijnf_1Vls7Czvwc77XFUjBbGRPWKihAvHW6Q/s1600/Henry+and+Isolde+3-naked-woman-and-two-men-oleksiy-maksymenko.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVnljtxFE-YhAHTirI9yImCQOwI2DKTRodm1GnkMrEZ9g0J4SWUQhfUo4z5zb9AtvZRoewV7deA8w27IKgQuNTF4dtbWXpTtFj-84xJ8Mijnf_1Vls7Czvwc77XFUjBbGRPWKihAvHW6Q/s1600/Henry+and+Isolde+3-naked-woman-and-two-men-oleksiy-maksymenko.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I talked to
my mentor. He said, give him one scene, let him run with it. It’ll probably satisfy
him. It didn’t. Four books down the track…and Charlie’s almost the main
character. LOL. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We women
like male/male romances in the same way we like male/male sex. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Why? Because
we like men too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And
generally I think we’re gravitating more toward whole men. Men who show
emotions, aren’t scared to cry or feel afraid. We want a more "feminized" man.
I don’t mean an effeminate male. I mean an actualized man who shows he’s human.
They’re very attractive to many women. For years too, we’ve often felt left on
the outside on the seeming chasm that are men’s emotional states, thoughts, and feelings. We WANT to know men are human, feel, get hurt, get emotional, all the
things that are often not deeply seen in m/f romances. Although I write my men
that way because I have known real men and I like them enormously. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Men that don’t
cry or show emotions scare the shit out of me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSQs-LIvpKs_9QBX8nfkm1RelNlh9NvvTCG0mlvaf9PZJTba_7Yv8d2c0S0YryyT-oYwOLZq5CMxlVCXhuZ_OCwzlZwvdTDftZmujFJpU6labPVo7PCW6CciqLDfKBVCU3_zuEgcJNow/s1600/Question+-+Men+who+cry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSQs-LIvpKs_9QBX8nfkm1RelNlh9NvvTCG0mlvaf9PZJTba_7Yv8d2c0S0YryyT-oYwOLZq5CMxlVCXhuZ_OCwzlZwvdTDftZmujFJpU6labPVo7PCW6CciqLDfKBVCU3_zuEgcJNow/s1600/Question+-+Men+who+cry.jpg" height="245" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8wedzpBgmUNadpTVS7I3zVpd2DtoFCcollal4-wjrJf4lLcDTDTzUz5cOdinSWkqlEiM0Ce34_lCJsbxvkX5f9leVMS_-HAbMaPibwJOKjnkVnY9erHSd6CMzeh-H0G9KGjSu1_oM5HY/s1600/Question+-+men+who+cry+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8wedzpBgmUNadpTVS7I3zVpd2DtoFCcollal4-wjrJf4lLcDTDTzUz5cOdinSWkqlEiM0Ce34_lCJsbxvkX5f9leVMS_-HAbMaPibwJOKjnkVnY9erHSd6CMzeh-H0G9KGjSu1_oM5HY/s1600/Question+-+men+who+cry+2.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We women I
think too are doing our small part in gay awareness, relationship equality,
slowly fighting homophobia. We ripple out into layers and layers of society. Afterall we do know what it's like to be an oppressed minority. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In my Big
Fat Greek Wedding, there’s a scene where the mother says something like, “The
man, he is the head of the family, but the woman…she is the neck, she turn the
head of the man.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We have that influence across the board. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Su5G6M_1bmj-o9iPXuowXfDRUCUOSDnnBmdQ2NUyXuh6Wjx-K9lDJvyXMmbWoPJkI2i-XN9zF2xWqAquCyBJvayoSXocfM7n8Jxng15xiSW-6gMD5ORUTF2I9pLsTQaeUEsrhv-hP3M/s1600/tumblr_n1s0amCNpd1r3761so1_250.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Su5G6M_1bmj-o9iPXuowXfDRUCUOSDnnBmdQ2NUyXuh6Wjx-K9lDJvyXMmbWoPJkI2i-XN9zF2xWqAquCyBJvayoSXocfM7n8Jxng15xiSW-6gMD5ORUTF2I9pLsTQaeUEsrhv-hP3M/s1600/tumblr_n1s0amCNpd1r3761so1_250.gif" height="400" width="392" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I see women authors and women in general supporting gay rights on fb more than the
men sometimes. And I think we do that in so many ways as women. What we do ripples out
from a single person to a group. The majority of women are still the
larger group or percentage that bring up children. We have a great deal of
influence in the world. We can teach our kids to hate or teach them to love. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Throughout
history, we women have quietly influenced all sorts of things:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/WIC/Historical-Essays/No-Lady/Womens-Rights/">http://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/WIC/Historical-Essays/No-Lady/Womens-Rights/</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Back in
1848, a group of women started their fight for women’s right in Seneca, New
York. <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Stanton, one of the chief organizers drafted a “</span></span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Declaration of Sentiments, Grievances, and
Resolutions,” that echoed the preamble of the Declaration of Independence: “We
hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created
equal.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">In 1941, Eleanor
Roosevelt helped open some doors and endorse the first black airmen to serve in
the US military as pilots—The Tuskegee Airmen. She was immensely interested in their
cause and insisted on flying with their leader. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";"><a href="http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/aboutfdr/tuskegee.html">http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/aboutfdr/tuskegee.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Although
the Secret Service was anxious about the ride, Chief Civilian Flight Instructor
Charles Alfred Anderson, known today as “The Father of Black Aviation,” piloted
Mrs. Roosevelt over the skies of Alabama for over an hour.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #231f20; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Flying
with Anderson demonstrated the depth of Eleanor Roosevelt’s support for black
pilots and the Institute’s training program. Press coverage of her
adventure in flight helped advocate for the competency of these pilots and boosted
the Institute's visibility. Roosevelt was so impressed with the program
that she established and maintained a long-term correspondence with some of the
airmen.</span><span style="font-family: PT Sans, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUQgKdmzVuktzc3pF66Bcjghha8oLo5CV7-Y1hRnYr5IALoAW90Fkjv7DPWsEWvJsuIKxEa6f6-clo0fOt0-6mtlyIb-sbKvHfY7zqhToUoh2_RCgxs2krYeaJwdipxKnxFt3vmpCaZ4/s1600/tuskegee_booklet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUQgKdmzVuktzc3pF66Bcjghha8oLo5CV7-Y1hRnYr5IALoAW90Fkjv7DPWsEWvJsuIKxEa6f6-clo0fOt0-6mtlyIb-sbKvHfY7zqhToUoh2_RCgxs2krYeaJwdipxKnxFt3vmpCaZ4/s1600/tuskegee_booklet.jpg" height="244" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyXkwHlbKmtxu0tR1jHm93C-SiFG8QUZzowSSEJNUlFFkA8Wx35NMDm7cBN2eWu_3cEssp1yBS0Y5fvW8DfEQxTBZ6HMqCIVxXsCLjWT1mY_q9__cCkVz1UWNiq28ITpeSF3I8nkTS0Pg/s1600/tuskegee_flight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyXkwHlbKmtxu0tR1jHm93C-SiFG8QUZzowSSEJNUlFFkA8Wx35NMDm7cBN2eWu_3cEssp1yBS0Y5fvW8DfEQxTBZ6HMqCIVxXsCLjWT1mY_q9__cCkVz1UWNiq28ITpeSF3I8nkTS0Pg/s1600/tuskegee_flight.jpg" height="277" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Back in 1955
on an Alabama bus, one woman </span></span><span style="color: #252525; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">sparked the Montgomery bus
boycott that lasted for 381 days and brought about massive reforms when she said
NO.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 13.45pt;">
<span style="color: #252525; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In her autobiography,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>My Story</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> Rosa Parks </span>said:</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #252525; font-size: 14pt;">People always say that I
didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was not
tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working
day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then.
I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.</span><sup><span style="color: #0b0080; font-size: 14pt; text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks#cite_note-autobiography1-23">[23]</a></span></sup><span style="color: #252525; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><sup><br /></sup></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On
the day she went to trial:</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">— December 5, 1955 — the
WPC distributed the 35,000 leaflets. The handbill read,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: #252525; font-size: 14pt;">"We are...asking every
Negro to stay off the buses Monday in protest of the arrest and trial ... You
can afford to stay out of school for one day. If you work, take a cab, or walk.
But please, children and grown-ups, don't ride the bus at all on Monday. Please
stay off the buses Monday."</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks#cite_note-time100-28"><sup><span style="color: #0b0080; font-size: 14pt;">[28]</span></sup></a><span style="color: #252525; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It rained that day, but the
black community persevered in their boycott. Some rode in carpools, while
others traveled in black-operated cabs that charged the same fare as the bus,
10 cents. Most of the remainder of the 40,000 black commuters walked, some as
far as 20 miles (32 km).</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Can you imagine walking
in the rain and often the oppressive sweltering humidity of Alabama for 381 days—that's over a year? Getting to work exhausted, already foot sore, hot and sweating
like a pig, then doing a full day’s work for awful wages and walking home
again? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggnOo5e2lRxgfVbETqDvL97CV6l0cB4czsnNJWst7kvbW5CxV_1_m09KvKTjNYxy5qPs5VwMq9HDJvU-y9Bn35Srb9Ot4ACrwjwWVLF7flf6e0jcasDlSlVPShg48MBgAm-9SkeO1fZn4/s1600/image_08_03_020_R07-2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggnOo5e2lRxgfVbETqDvL97CV6l0cB4czsnNJWst7kvbW5CxV_1_m09KvKTjNYxy5qPs5VwMq9HDJvU-y9Bn35Srb9Ot4ACrwjwWVLF7flf6e0jcasDlSlVPShg48MBgAm-9SkeO1fZn4/s1600/image_08_03_020_R07-2012.jpg" height="272" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">It changed things though.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 18.6666660308838px;">One woman…started a spark…</span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 18.6666660308838px;">Changes DO happen when people speak out, say what's not right, stand up for what they believe in, write about, blog about, get on social media...</span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 18.6666660308838px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 18.6666660308838px;">We forget that once: </span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 13.45pt;">
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">We women were not allowed to vote and had few rights. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It was legal to have signs in windows of businesses saying "No blacks, negroes, colored allowed." </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It was illegal for gay people to marry like any other human being. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7QgLTY8fo0rjYyDn8sbfos6fdNocv3NWB2xQApX4dCAOBtxAmwXSvB1TkQG6wmqjyabjUqLZ3nG7jN3l7726L9oVoDsazJKlX44id_w6pn-IYz0I9vnjbpQxTQL2GGl-tTkNtQ02i3oY/s1600/10354221_606987026091470_9113576518889871831_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7QgLTY8fo0rjYyDn8sbfos6fdNocv3NWB2xQApX4dCAOBtxAmwXSvB1TkQG6wmqjyabjUqLZ3nG7jN3l7726L9oVoDsazJKlX44id_w6pn-IYz0I9vnjbpQxTQL2GGl-tTkNtQ02i3oY/s1600/10354221_606987026091470_9113576518889871831_n.jpg" height="400" width="348" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #252525; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And despite
being hetero myself and a woman to boot, I’m still happy to be counted as one
woman who cares. I hope that possibly something I write will bring about a
small change somewhere for someone regarding gay relationships, rights and equality. I
hope that I research well and am sensitive to the gay men I write about and
love. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 13.45pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Because love is love, no matter what form it comes in. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 13.45pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And I am tired of people saying otherwise.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Aloha everyone! Meg :-)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">To see other bloggers in this sex-positive wonderful idea: </span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Go to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 21.466667175293px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">http://new.inlinkz.com/luwpview.php?id=463768</span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 21.466667175293px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Just click on anyone's name. :-) Thanks!!</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;">YOU CAN CONTACT MEG ON: </span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: orange; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 21.466667175293px;">www.troikaromance.com</span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: cyan; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 21.466667175293px;">www.twitter.com@amor_meg</span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/meg.amor.5" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1416063153420_170559" rel="nofollow" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: blue; cursor: text !important; font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/meg.amor.5</a></div>
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<div style="background: white; margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: center;">
A sultry sexy m/m/f committed menage romance</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dark-War-Wild-Darkness-Calls-ebook/dp/B00K2M4AIY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1416115062&sr=8-2&keywords=meg+amor" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;"><b>AMAZON</b></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 21.466667175293px;">6 hot romance erotica stories, 60,000 words for just 2.99</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 21.466667175293px;"><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Red-Hot-Wild-Women-Writers-ebook/dp/B00PE2O1KE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416115304&sr=8-1&keywords=meg+amor" target="_blank">AMAZON</a></b></span></span></div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-55712947127893483602014-11-11T00:31:00.000-08:002014-11-11T01:36:11.825-08:00Red Hot Wild Women Writers answer sizzling and sane questions!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Aloha everyone! I'm very happy to announce that 6 of us <span style="color: red;">RED HOT</span> women writers have teamed up with our Publisher MuseItUp. There are 6 hot to trot, romance erotica books in one bundle. Good value for the holidays! And it's fun for all of us to get together and share our stories with you :-) Ruby will be joining us on Part 2 of this blog when we'll have more sizzling and sane Q and A's. :-) </span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We have a selection of paranormal, committed m/m/f menage, vampires, cougar shapeshifters, dark secrets in the waters of the Scottish Highlands, BDSM playhouse, Terentian warriors and Hawaiian hybrids. Something for everyone. All with the theme of dark, searching, lost and found... in the Wild Darkness Calls Series. </span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">On your first published work. How did it feel to pop
your publishing cherry?</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">IONA:</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I
would liken it to losing your virginity! There's lots of build-up, endless
discussion and finally it happens. But then life goes on. You feel like there
is something different about you and that it must be obvious but nobody
notices. You feel like running into the street and shouting, “everything is
different, can't you see the change in me?”</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MIKEY: <o:p></o:p></span></b><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Unreal, yet you realize the need to
keep writing and other stories roaming around in your nugget demand to be let
out, so there's no real rest for the wicked.</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I’m
with Iona on this one – it was like running naked in the streets. Everyone
could now read my flaws and what if no one enjoyed my story? Especially with a
mix of reviews…isn’t everyone supposed to like it? *LOL* Then the dust settles
and naked (so to speak) becomes the norm.</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;">ALIX:</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>I was astounded. Choked up, had to go to the site to see for
myself that it was real. It was like a dream had come true and it was hard to
believe it actually happened. Even to this day, it seems like a dream and I’ll
wake up and it won’t be there. Funny, the one thing I wanted to be I became.
And here it is, real and just an awesome feeling. :-)</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG:</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">
</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;">I
don’t think I really even clicked on the day what was happening. I missed the
sense of reality with it. I’m more excited about my second book Saint Nicholas
coming out on the 28<sup>th</sup> of Nov. The same date as this bundle
actually. I think it has sunk in, in phases. LOL. I was like that with sex
though… LOL. People ask that question. What was your first time like? I haven’t
got a clue. It didn’t impact me in any way that I remember it. I do know I’m
much confident now in telling people I’m a writer. I don’t feel I have to
explain myself. I simply AM an author and that’s an incredibly nice feeling. :-)</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Favourite author: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">IONA: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Diana
Gabaldon</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">MIKEY: <o:p></o:p></span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tough one. There is
a wide variety of authors I read. David Stone, for his Micah Dalton spy novels,
Agatha Christie for her mysteries, but also for her uniqueness as a person. Dan
Skinner gets to make me cry. Amy Lane for the same reasons. Abigail Roux for
giving us Ty and Zane. Shit, there's just to many to name. Josh Lanyon for his
Adrian English series. Elizabeth A.Lynn because she gave me Dancers of
Arun...yeah and she made be cry too...bitches. I'll read anyone.</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Kate
Douglas (love her sexy shifters and their world)</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;">ALIX: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Way too many! LOL Sherrilyn Kenyon and Christine Feehan.
Wonderful pieces woven into each story connected to others.</span><span style="color: red; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">MEG:
</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Noel
Barber, he wrote great sweeping sagas in gorgeous locales.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgkpKWRq3SYeVIPn0FtUy1PQAUGICxgZLNSvY0uHVmkBP8AZEGOZPoQuS6rZLYR0o7b2xCs8loJrFtBqVXtCV3dFPbF_TWRySL4nL-OAbuz9XhmKh5LfcIDb6SCQWPEeg3Fl-SYSAQF_g/s1600/The+Kelpies_image+from+BBC+news.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgkpKWRq3SYeVIPn0FtUy1PQAUGICxgZLNSvY0uHVmkBP8AZEGOZPoQuS6rZLYR0o7b2xCs8loJrFtBqVXtCV3dFPbF_TWRySL4nL-OAbuz9XhmKh5LfcIDb6SCQWPEeg3Fl-SYSAQF_g/s1600/The+Kelpies_image+from+BBC+news.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Where did the inspiration for your sexy, sensual characters
come from?</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>IONA:</b> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">In
2013 Scottish sculptor Andy Scott created two thirty metre high water horse
statues for display in a new park in Falkirk. These huge and controversial
statues were meant to use the transforming image of the water horse as a
metaphor for both the endurance and the transformation of Scotland's water
ways. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">However,
what they got me thinking about was Kelpies (water horses that could appear in
the guise of men) and Scottish mythology in general. From there it was only a
short leap of the imagination to envisage what an ancient predator appearing in
the form of a man might look like. I'll give you a clue – pretty damn hot!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">*See above photograph<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MIKEY: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Most of the characters, especially
the male ones have a lot of me in them, even when it comes to their psychosis.
As far as physical descriptions, I like blonds and redheads, sue me. I like
tats. I like protagonists who are the antihero. My stories are dark and so are
my characters.</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Cougars
have been a fascination of mine for as long as it’s fascinated “Holly” – star
of the story. They’ve been elusive in MI, no one admitting to the fact they
lived here…until finally there was no denying it. “Holly” wanted a picture of
the beast and the story unfolded from there.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;">ALIX: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">From dreams and real people, with a sprinkle of history mixed
in for good measure. Kind of like taking a historical male/female and setting
them in the modern era. The mix that appears is very sensual and a turn-on.
Seeing how the tough warrior from two-thousand years ago is still the same
tough guy today, but not the stereotyped one we’ve been led to believe existed
back then. I like to fashion them to be timeless. I don’t believe the “soft”
males are a modern moment. It’s always been there in the men, that’s what I
want to expose. Share with my readers. <span style="color: red; font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">They
come from men I’d like to meet. People I have met. My dreams and fantasies. I
think all my female characters are based on me. LOL. But the men are all parts
of different people I’ve known, loved, liked, sometimes disliked. I like
vulnerable men and metro men. They’re incredibly sexy and sensuous to me. That
moment when I man can open up and express his emotions and feelings hits some
inner core of sensuousness for me. Men in their softness are very masculine to
me.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Do
you like pubic hair on your heroes or heroines?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">IONA: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Personally,
I don't like to get into this level of detail. No hair grosses me out but by
the same token if there is hair I really don't want a detailed description.</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">MIKEY: </b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mikey forgot to answer this one, but I think from memory she likes either. But also comments - trim that shit! Or that could be beards? LOL Sorry Mikey my man!</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Quick
answer – yes.</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;">ALIX: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I’m not a fan of no pubic hair personally. Reminds me too
much of pre-puberty. *shivers* So, yes, they all have pubic hair. However, on
that note, they are all neatly trimmed (man-scaping anyone? lol). I’m all for
au natural but even I have a limit.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG:
</span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I
can’t STAND no pubic hair. LOL. Recently I’ve allowed a couple of my male/male
romances to have shaved balls. But that’s my limit. LOL. I like the allure of
pubic hair, the sheer sexiness of it. A man without pubic hair reminds me of a
man going out in his dress shirt and tie, shoes and socks on, but no trousers.
It just looks weird!! And not remotely sexy to me. I like my men to look like
men, not little boys.</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_kI039V8mcfHdB6RqIjzZ8F4JXuK2eXEEhpw5-CvVwcIHI8PrtcSD1v0RaeAF3r3hWXsJjMhw78w92nbqqOwpTiX6aSFEaYxDZ7DZao-gwbYSvlHQw79Se3mc2H0kMY8nFnngem5L29M/s1600/stock-photo-a-young-man-wearing-a-jacket-with-no-pants-isolated-on-a-white-background-63481555.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_kI039V8mcfHdB6RqIjzZ8F4JXuK2eXEEhpw5-CvVwcIHI8PrtcSD1v0RaeAF3r3hWXsJjMhw78w92nbqqOwpTiX6aSFEaYxDZ7DZao-gwbYSvlHQw79Se3mc2H0kMY8nFnngem5L29M/s1600/stock-photo-a-young-man-wearing-a-jacket-with-no-pants-isolated-on-a-white-background-63481555.jpg" height="400" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">See what I mean? Just gruesome...</span> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7jPAGN7UF_HCGbFDH7E7-7YwOUKNBQsd7Z4_Sc3r_IkgDIG7FksZMKl5z2I5yGd272peHyFjTdyrzgc04rzKjNPDdhyphenhyphen0xEbeZmwQDCrHhyphenhyphenJSpa99RmbD0dIn2X7NAAmaf1Zx3BKJwO2Q/s1600/600a3a46-1d8f-4a03-9db6-7ef139dd2071.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7jPAGN7UF_HCGbFDH7E7-7YwOUKNBQsd7Z4_Sc3r_IkgDIG7FksZMKl5z2I5yGd272peHyFjTdyrzgc04rzKjNPDdhyphenhyphen0xEbeZmwQDCrHhyphenhyphenJSpa99RmbD0dIn2X7NAAmaf1Zx3BKJwO2Q/s1600/600a3a46-1d8f-4a03-9db6-7ef139dd2071.jpg" height="400" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Le Difference... hmmm hmmm</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">How
do you characters turn up? Do you plan them out? Or do they just arrive one day
shouting out their stories? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">IONA: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Oh,
they definitely arrive! The character has to come first. There's no point in
thinking of a sexy scene then shoehorning in a character. The character has to
come first and they dictate the actions (well, they do in my head!)</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I’ve
done both ways – drawn up detailed character sketches / interviews intuitively
drawing from who they are inside my brain…to the point of in-depth emotions and
the “whys” of them. Some have simply evolved to me as the story gets written. I
like to know a little about them…so I know if we’ll resonate: )</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;">ALIX: </span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">LOL Mine have been roaming about in my head since I was a
child and entertaining my siblings with stories. Okay, okay, so those are my
ancients and immortals. Most recently, they appear and want their tale told and
others wait patiently in the wings for their moment to shine. I also have those
who demand (very loudly, lol) that it’s their turn and they refuse to wait a
second. Guess, mine are a mix of each one. I still have a very patient male who
is just sitting there smiling at me...waiting. Now why couldn’t the others be
that polite? LOL</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 14pt;">LOL.
Oh mine, just stampede into my brain out of the blue. It might come from one
remark, one person, anything could cause them to turn up. But I have no part in
the planning of them. They turn up, do their own thing, tell their own stories,
with me tentatively suggesting things from the side lines. LOL. I have
characters that go ‘rogue’ on me. Back when I first started writing, I thought
I was in control of things. “I” was the storyteller. But apparently I’m
delusional. I’m merely the person they dictate the story too. I’m essentially the
typist.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Favorite food: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16pt; font-weight: bold;">IONA: </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Cheese</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">MIKEY: <o:p></o:p></span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bangers and Mash with Guinness
gravy...also I won't pass on a nice liver steak and onions.</span></span></div>
<span class="CharAttribute1"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></b><br />
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Chocolate
(isn’t that a staple?)</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;">ALIX: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pizza. All food groups in that one. :-)</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">New
Zealand fish and chips</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">What’s
the thing you enjoy the most about writing sex scenes? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">IONA: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I
enjoy writing all sorts of scenes. You know it's going well when your fingers
are flying over the keyboard and you literally cannot stop until it has
finished (the scene and the act, if you know what I mean).</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MIKEY: <o:p></o:p></span></b><span style="font-size: 16pt;">The physical connection between the
characters, the fulfillment of the needs, emotionally and physically. I like to
do things differently. Usually, at least one of my sex scenes per story will be
something out if the norm for those characters. Not a lot of missionary in my
stories, but once or twice I'll throw in a variation on the old theme.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">How
natural writing it comes to me…I’m there, filled with the emotions and passion
in the story – and those scenes are my most fun to write (so my stories tend to
sometimes have a lot of these scenes).</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;">ALIX: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The emotions and feelings generated. The way the words flow.
How it suspends time. That moment when I step back and realize I wrote that and
not that it actually happened. The realness of the scene and characters. I
enjoy blinking and wondering what in the world just happened. :-)</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I
like the feelings it generates. The sensuality and flow through my brain and
body as the scene unfolds. The way I can get lost and turned on writing the
scene, immersed in it. I hope the readers will get the same reaction from it.
If the scene’s not turning me on, it’s probably not going to turn anyone else
on either. I like the intense connection between the characters, the heat and
emotions it generates.</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> </span></span></b><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Favorite place:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">IONA: </b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Bonnie
Scotland of course!</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">MIKEY: <o:p></o:p></span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here...in the woods, in Washington State...up
on my mountain.</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;">Upper
Michigan…rural areas with water :-)</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;">ALIX: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Beaches and mountains. Nature.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Hawai’i,
France,and New Orleans I’m sure if I visited it in person. :-)</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Scotland</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmxaGZixXTcGAY4_DEGyvB567NKa5MdR5aHBn4pJ7tbdFLomuuLOLmHHBhvHHHVdr_w48jXFiZVnecDEWsBjoWb7WqDr6dEYrmD-hRpA5PqtO0i0da2tOE520QVPuWXRWly05KuoTePEY/s1600/mt-rainier-from-the-summit.jpg" height="298" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The view from the gondola on Crystal Mountain to Mt. Rainier</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdAegMHhhJJqUpB3hRGsoUJAb9HRHnIFlgne66z6J5UGDZjQNElGABoHlRI8PljA_hThVl_PpvPnf5X0XU199bAsNzR-b9i4fogEMSUcmYvC6f_w2tnFgds__9-_-78njtR3OFCsyk3H4/s1600/Gloria-Roussillon-600x398.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdAegMHhhJJqUpB3hRGsoUJAb9HRHnIFlgne66z6J5UGDZjQNElGABoHlRI8PljA_hThVl_PpvPnf5X0XU199bAsNzR-b9i4fogEMSUcmYvC6f_w2tnFgds__9-_-78njtR3OFCsyk3H4/s1600/Gloria-Roussillon-600x398.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Roussillon, Luberon, France</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">What do you consider a romantic date?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">IONA: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Something quirky
that is tailored just for you. It is so romantic if somebody considers you as a
person and thinks of your likes and desires and translates that into a date.
Men take heed - it's not all about cookie cutter “romance” it's about really
taking your time to consider your partner and doing something just for them.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MIKEY: </span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dunno</span>, never been on one, but for
me...probably a football game, dinner and drinks. Now I have had a romantic
lunch, up on Crystal Mountain, at the summit lodge for my birthday. Unhubby took me there and we rode the gondola up and Mt. Rainier was simply stunning. It was
romantic and the food was excellent.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;">When he
goes out of his way to make it “perfect” – even if it’s simply a picnic, but he
remembered my favorite wine, cheese, or bread. My favorite song on the radio,
my favorite beach, park, or lake :-)</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> We’re connected on a kindred level with
conversation and he’s attentive (affectionately) and “hears” me. That
absolutely rocks my world.</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;">ALIX: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Good food and awesome music. On the beach in the evening/night
with a bonfire ablaze. Just the two of us on a blanket, listening to the waves
as they come ashore. Watching the stars overhead and the flashes of falling
stars. That would be the most romantic date for me. *sigh*<span style="font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">A
five star fine dining restaurant. A bottle of wine on a beach. A bottle of
wine, Glenn Miller on the stereo by the water. A meal cooked at home, wine,
candles, flowers, music.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBwToTaHV03HbV8_vnyapFI4fHJHFG1OQKUgPNCD1jn3O6Sldli1OAyTCzbq9OZ9PHYG0BvNx1N7E4fV0WVIlpI3Hh4e5Hk9cIJlif0SqWp6N9y61Utt2cPyLnmG4OzKHaaK_8uB6g46k/s1600/article-2350551-1A8D34F1000005DC-863_634x437.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBwToTaHV03HbV8_vnyapFI4fHJHFG1OQKUgPNCD1jn3O6Sldli1OAyTCzbq9OZ9PHYG0BvNx1N7E4fV0WVIlpI3Hh4e5Hk9cIJlif0SqWp6N9y61Utt2cPyLnmG4OzKHaaK_8uB6g46k/s1600/article-2350551-1A8D34F1000005DC-863_634x437.jpg" height="275" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Fine Dining for Fur Children</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNjtCXIHJpG-r_d7PbdlbMOi2q9Zv-WVT64-Fwfn1srEDAApQcxN3sXCgQc5DwyA_-EU0lTmxc_yNJgeMlzMdfFG_IVlSN0_yErRIDqDAuAZOD4ddpFHjom1trs6ZiDNkO45MmgSrfP0/s1600/144438844.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFNjtCXIHJpG-r_d7PbdlbMOi2q9Zv-WVT64-Fwfn1srEDAApQcxN3sXCgQc5DwyA_-EU0lTmxc_yNJgeMlzMdfFG_IVlSN0_yErRIDqDAuAZOD4ddpFHjom1trs6ZiDNkO45MmgSrfP0/s1600/144438844.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">What
kind of underpants turn you on in a man?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">IONA: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Tighty
Whities! No flappy numbers please.</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">MIKEY: <o:p></o:p></span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well, besides none...boxer briefs.</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">None
– when he wears none and it’s a big surprise *grins*</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;">ALIX: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Commando. Does that count? *smirk* Oh, all right. *sigh* Nice
form-fitting ones. I enjoy looking. :-)</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;">I
like form fitting briefs or bikinis. Or the new boxers. Don’t give me those
floppy shorts or boxers of old. And no y-fronts!! I want a lovely outline
thanks. :-)</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> Very
sexy.</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Black,
blonde or redheads? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">IONA: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Any.</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">MIKEY: <o:p></o:p></span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I like them all,
but I'm partial to blonds and reds, but pairing them with tall, dark, and
handsome.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Dark
haired – so black or brown</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;">ALIX: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I’m a sucker for them all, just sayin’. But I REALLY love
black haired males. Especially if they have a dark tan with light/pale eyes.
I’m a goner. :-)</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Black
or redhead. But the black haired men always really wow me.</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Long
or short hair on men? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">IONA: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Any.
Really short and really long can both look good depending on the personality of
the wearer.</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">MIKEY: <o:p></o:p></span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Long. My unhubby's hair is now down
below his knees and he's 6'3" and has a long torso.</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I
love longer hair that’s wild, yet groomed – hmmm, is that even possible? That’s
what I picture on most of stars in my stories.</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;">ALIX: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Depends on the man. Some men can rock long hair (Native
Americans), while others look hotter with short hair (British men). Either way,
they’re HOT!</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I
like long hair on men. I don’t mind short hair as long as it’s not a number
one, or the shaved look/stubble look. That turns me off. I like hair on a man’s
head, with a bit of a sweep back to it. Really short men’s haircuts do zero for
me.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">Give some details of your ideal home and its
location. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">IONA: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">A
sprawling country house in the highlands of Scotland.</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MIKEY: <o:p></o:p></span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Cabin in the woods,
or an underground home in the woods. Prefer a nice green wooden area with rich
soil and soft emerald moss. I don't need grass.</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I
love the look of a modernized log cabin with all the conveniences of wi-fi,
water, and electric – it would have the wrap-around porch, a sunroom (for
writing), and be located in a lovely rural area in Michigan surrounded by trees
(but not so dense the sun can’t filter in) with a babbling creek close by and I
can enjoy the seasons: )</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;">ALIX: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the mountains, secluded. Would love to be snowed in during
the whole winter. Nice big windows with a beautiful view of a valley below. A
wrap around deck, overhanging, to give the feeling you’re floating above the
valley floor. Large rooms, lots of space with huge fireplaces for heat. A
combination “A” Frame house and log cabin would be ideal. Oh, have to have a
hot tub or maybe a Jacuzzi, so I won’t freeze when I want to sip wine and soak
outside. :-)</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Tough
one. I have a few places that would work for me. One is a big open airy
Hawaiian house on the Big Island of Hawai’i in Kona. A big lanai, big kitchen,
art festooned walls. A hammock and orchids on every surface of the lanai.
Tropical plants for miles, coffee, papaya, plumeria, ginger, bananas, hibiscus,
Jacaranda, Poinciana. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The
other would be a place in New Orleans right in the CBD of the French Quarter.
Being able to step out the front door, knowing that a decent fine dining
restaurant or ethic food was right around the corner, a short walk away. An
inner courtyard, sheltered and private from the outside world. Rich tropical
plants, art for Africa, lots of glass and light. An oasis in a city. Private
and sensuous. A hammock outside. </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlICU6IW_BY6jKDfRy3Ew04599-x5-7UEJGabe3vOBZCoJjrNaxFIcxC6N05JrsqJfO5QIZT6m1YTjNDM6piEHDIr9Ppyh8dqBmPpWB3yB6bbpkNTxvxHyHAZLHv_uKnG1Gbq4ayaBxe8/s1600/tropical-home-decorating-theme-hawaiian-decor-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlICU6IW_BY6jKDfRy3Ew04599-x5-7UEJGabe3vOBZCoJjrNaxFIcxC6N05JrsqJfO5QIZT6m1YTjNDM6piEHDIr9Ppyh8dqBmPpWB3yB6bbpkNTxvxHyHAZLHv_uKnG1Gbq4ayaBxe8/s1600/tropical-home-decorating-theme-hawaiian-decor-8.jpg" height="400" width="292" /></a></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Earrings
or other jewelry on men? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">IONA:</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> </span></span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">A
watch and a wedding ring is all a man should wear.</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">MIKEY: <o:p></o:p></span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Yes. Earings, bracelets, anklets,
rings. Unfortunately my unhubby has huge hands...to give you an idea...I can
put his full face helmet on my head and spin it all their way around my head.
He's a big Scottish boy.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">KAY DEE: </span></b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">No…not
so much.</span><b style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: bold;">ALIX: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Earrings, necklaces, bracelets, you name it. I think they
look sexy. It’s an eye catcher for me. Draws my gaze every time. I just cannot
help myself. :-)</span></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">MEG: </span></b><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;">I
LOVE earrings on a man. LOVE LOVE LOVE them. LOL. You could probably sweep me
away if you were a man with earrings. LOL. I like them in one or both ears, up
to two in each ear. I also love bracelets, necklaces, rings… I like metro men,
can’t you tell. :-)</span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBPZjYMGO1VEigG_9UH_SHkPKTYeYWR17yl2LQY9zAbiMOUnlg-ZiKMKcVd10zVfvaEUrzPMc7ja0iutRLrhHHNL0mVbbdciABrnOjRjMZxHy1LeAUpg-y-j2UxGnKeNFSbSJk7rWOuXI/s1600/Sexy-speedos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBPZjYMGO1VEigG_9UH_SHkPKTYeYWR17yl2LQY9zAbiMOUnlg-ZiKMKcVd10zVfvaEUrzPMc7ja0iutRLrhHHNL0mVbbdciABrnOjRjMZxHy1LeAUpg-y-j2UxGnKeNFSbSJk7rWOuXI/s1600/Sexy-speedos.jpg" height="400" width="315" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This sexy beastie with his jewelry is just for Iona. LOL. No.. a wee bit too much Iona? :-)</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnwiw2mPGm_dtRWrmqBeGhmA_VLhMIPRzu6JcZPm2SIHLZeYtaDYbzQpDvayOtdRFQ02MhzU4gsyfJvouZ5S_5ppt6ReX9fKIX4kZqYe_med9cX_ZhSEFp2F7yhGMaafa6v15uaFymWeE/s1600/men-jewelry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnwiw2mPGm_dtRWrmqBeGhmA_VLhMIPRzu6JcZPm2SIHLZeYtaDYbzQpDvayOtdRFQ02MhzU4gsyfJvouZ5S_5ppt6ReX9fKIX4kZqYe_med9cX_ZhSEFp2F7yhGMaafa6v15uaFymWeE/s1600/men-jewelry.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPu9zh1gG3RdNEmF2aLahlYelaXpuM_WCo7MNcT0a9TZ42zw70uRvn66NUUiFpyJ81cQeO5DHNkvLznJZzbFFpjq7KbI9kJhS6SR6tt10R0x9y4Op_B5HU08mt_czoG8Se0rwaMWjgKL4/s1600/78614625---morgan_freeman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPu9zh1gG3RdNEmF2aLahlYelaXpuM_WCo7MNcT0a9TZ42zw70uRvn66NUUiFpyJ81cQeO5DHNkvLznJZzbFFpjq7KbI9kJhS6SR6tt10R0x9y4Op_B5HU08mt_czoG8Se0rwaMWjgKL4/s1600/78614625---morgan_freeman.jpg" height="400" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">My man Morgan with his lovely lovely gold hoops. Hmmm hmmm </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CONTACT EACH OF OUR <span style="color: red;">HOTTIES</span> AT:</span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 21.3333339691162px;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt;">IONA<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt;">www.ionabrodie.co.uk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt;">MEG<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.troikaromance.com/"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt;">www.troikaromance.com</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><a href="http://www.trokaramance.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt;">www.trokaramance.blogspot.com</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/meg.amor.5" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/meg.amor.5</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Comic Sans MS"; font-size: 16.0pt;">ALIX<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>PRE-ORDER THIS HOT BUNDLE NOW </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>~ DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>~ 28 NOVEMBER</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">Retails $15.00</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16pt;">Save $12.01</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 16pt;">Amazon<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l/HAQHkKKrz/www.amazon.com/dp/B00PE2O1KE" target="_blank"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #3b5998; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PE2O1KE</span></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="background: white;">MuseItUp<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l/5AQGMjgSk/bit.ly/1EdLVQV" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; color: #3b5998; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">http://bit.ly/1EdLVQV</span></a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="background: white;">Kobo<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: 'Liberation Serif', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://l.facebook.com/l/GAQGf0N2C/store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/red-hot-wild-women-writers-6-hot-romances" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; color: #3b5998; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt;">http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/red-hot-wild-women-writers-6-hot-romances</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt;">and coming soon to other retailers...stay tuned</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6681976468880322747.post-42697015445322088632014-11-04T22:28:00.002-08:002014-11-04T23:19:07.926-08:00WHAT'S YOUR FANTASY MAN OR WOMAN? Are they real? <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpf7g4ZO4deLDbX2ZtiE44PejSKKS_Mkoljq3vZuAG8GE9XMnI3NTLEkM2dzVUF9MMJ9WqvN3A0kkB_KHpivKiSqNC__nENfPMlg-JBBsHgLV-xVREBdrQqkiY0DHiaSdxeRYqT575RHU/s1600/tumblr_mmfhf2gRsQ1r7ezpuo1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpf7g4ZO4deLDbX2ZtiE44PejSKKS_Mkoljq3vZuAG8GE9XMnI3NTLEkM2dzVUF9MMJ9WqvN3A0kkB_KHpivKiSqNC__nENfPMlg-JBBsHgLV-xVREBdrQqkiY0DHiaSdxeRYqT575RHU/s1600/tumblr_mmfhf2gRsQ1r7ezpuo1_1280.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Aloha everyone. Thanks
as always for reading. We love you guys on Conversations with Spencer. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">J</span><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> Today we’re talking about sexual stereotyping in
its various forms and how they tie in with people’s fantasies.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Why is it okay for a tall
man to go out with a short woman, but people take a second look, the vice-versa?
Why can an older man go out with a younger woman, but reversing it gets a lot
more comments? Would we accuse a younger man of ‘gold-digging’ or going for her
wallet?</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Times <i>have</i> changed. Do we find these things
less ‘startling’ now? Are there still some really ingrained sexual stereotypes
we can’t get past? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mmIUK4Dh3sTwZGKWIfE_UZ51CtuuuNJwB6t-9YhqzqvSgzd3uf42ID9V6f-X9B9z-HtA5qrN3w1an_kTGU_ais-UOR2idWAt6QW9tVCytkSZnqMsoaeWddhow6odua5RxF9sAAiqVRE/s1600/UntoldStories_Hands_Price_BurkinaFaso01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mmIUK4Dh3sTwZGKWIfE_UZ51CtuuuNJwB6t-9YhqzqvSgzd3uf42ID9V6f-X9B9z-HtA5qrN3w1an_kTGU_ais-UOR2idWAt6QW9tVCytkSZnqMsoaeWddhow6odua5RxF9sAAiqVRE/s1600/UntoldStories_Hands_Price_BurkinaFaso01.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m seeing a huge role
reversal on SM at the moment and wonder idly whether it’s reverse sexism. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Back in the day, we
women used to hate going to guys houses and they’d have girlie magazines
pictures on their walls. In their bedrooms for God’s sake. The comparison was
never flattering. We hated those guys. And it was very one sided. God forbid
that we should do anything like that. In a strike for feminism, my girlfriend
Zak and I took the centerfold out of a Cleo magazine and taped it to our toilet
door. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It was incredibly
boring in reality. Just the years shots of naked men from the back. You
couldn’t see anything interesting. But boy, did that rark up the guys! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">They’d come out saying, “Huh, I don’t like your poster much in the toilet.” They’d be
really put out. And yes, they were the girlie poster guys. We decided we didn’t
like those guys much. Their sexist attitude could take a hike. On your bike
mike! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">But what I’ve noticed
lately is a flurry of semi-naked or naked men shots on everyone’s SM walls.
From women and gay men alike. I’ve done it myself. Has the pendulum swung and
we’re now doing reverse sexism by having naked and half naked guys plastered
all over OUR walls? <o:p></o:p></span><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And what do the guys
think about this? Gay guys don’t count sorry. We know what you think? </span><span style="background: white; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">J</span><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Where does the fantasy
start and stop? And what makes any of these fantasies attractive? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">When interviewed, gay
men said they actually wouldn’t like to date any of the 12-pack men they ogle
in boyie ‘magazines.’ They’d just like an average guy. Women love big penis
shots, but in real life, that would be uncomfortable and a pain in the arse and
other places after a while. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">So Spencer, tell me why
you like tall women? What’s the attraction?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">SPENCER:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Had to
think about this for a while. By and large for a guy, bigger is better, up to a
point, of course. Society defers to big men. Studies prove this out in many
ways, maybe most telling is that your average CEO is above normal height. The
Napoleon thing aside, size not only matters for guys, it pays.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Women on
the other hand have a different experience. It's rare to find a woman pleased
with her body or stature. Women want to be noticed but aren't supposed to stand
out. A woman taller than six feet will stand out like a stalk of corn in a
soybean field. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjscTcFpCllg8qxlr8uQQ0qisoG1OaJp13UTKnhrK6F-Wh0qCnsoaM6gu-YAVL_-NAdPF0RKHWMq-6V0Cf38V_lrg57RmJKMVYAihaZX7GypTkbWi35-881QFYWXjJd1A2XwbJsg7IvORU/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjscTcFpCllg8qxlr8uQQ0qisoG1OaJp13UTKnhrK6F-Wh0qCnsoaM6gu-YAVL_-NAdPF0RKHWMq-6V0Cf38V_lrg57RmJKMVYAihaZX7GypTkbWi35-881QFYWXjJd1A2XwbJsg7IvORU/s1600/images.jpg" height="400" width="340" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.3333330154419px; line-height: 26px;">Esquire article, Ann Friedman 2013</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4545450210571px; line-height: 26px;">Webb found that it isn’t just men lying about their height online, women do, too—to appear shorter. (With good cause: Women over six feet receive forty percent fewer messages on OkCupid than their 5’4” counterparts.) Ask any super-tall woman about her dateless teenage years and the number of times a well-meaning adult said to her, “The boys are just </span><em style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4545450210571px; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;">intimidated </em><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15.4545450210571px; line-height: 26px;">by you.” Taller is mannish. Taller is… weird. </span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">More
challenging, women typically do their most serious growing before boys, so they’ll
stand out more boldly during those socially awkward tween and teen years. Above
six feet three it gets harder to fit physically into the world, seats, beds,
clothes, living spaces. So when I see a tall woman who projects herself with
confidence, moving through the world with grace, still projecting female
allure, that's amazing and sexy to me. The fantasy is 'what would it be like to
make love to a woman like that?'<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
premise of my latest story, "Love Above See Level" explores this
fantasy. In the story, my male MC is smitten by a woman, six feet-seven inches
tall, who he sees paddle-surfing at his local surfers hangout. He decides he
wants to make a play for her attention and off we go. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrN9b-la0_AKISAuLeWQj00AUYP1wgSrntubaahaICIV7jWwaFAn8szFp6uPd9a2xEM6HmVt7puRvnItZKP-dY5GVby8VTmPvZ53slRHwnPjk4A6d42kgQs8LwNptkm3iJxvCxjMr8oos/s1600/pg-6-short-men-getty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrN9b-la0_AKISAuLeWQj00AUYP1wgSrntubaahaICIV7jWwaFAn8szFp6uPd9a2xEM6HmVt7puRvnItZKP-dY5GVby8VTmPvZ53slRHwnPjk4A6d42kgQs8LwNptkm3iJxvCxjMr8oos/s1600/pg-6-short-men-getty.jpg" height="400" width="288" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">When my
children were young I worked at out local YMCA. One of the many part-time
employees there was a woman who was nearly six feet-five inches tall. One day
when I came in to set up for my program there was a note from her introducing
herself as "Karen, the tall one". She went on to let me know she had
borrowed some of my supplies for the nursery, where she worked, and she would
replace them. The next time I saw her I commented that most of us go through
life wondering what people might notice about us and with her there was no
doubt. That makes for a very different life.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Meg, this
is totally different from your original point of the discomfort women felt when
surrounded by pictures of attractive nude or semi nude women like the ones you
post on your "Red Head" site. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I chuckle
at the way my world has turned. The private Facebook site for the authors of my
publisher is almost entirely women. They publish pictures of guys with
impossibly well developed bodies in various states of undress along with lewd
comments. I'm more entertained than threatened or intimidated. But believe me I
understand how degrading that must feel when encountered in the work place. </span></b><b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I
never have or never will (especially at my age) measure up physically to those
guys.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">We've
talked before about my squickyness with M/M. I admit that the pictures of men
in various states of intimacy with other men is a turn off. There is plenty of
that on my authors site as well. There are many women who are fascinated, if
not attracted to gay men. Someone I know writes extensively about that-and with
Pacific Islanders, no less (ahem). So Meg, what's with that?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQhfgLGHwA3PcEurXrwPYMt5c0hS2QKNnh6LVmnqvLnoQx2DuOM8Tr_BCqIIleti30hrVTWUtbldTuj0pZBZ8pt7GVcSbp47yFraOQuWo9eloJus9RHY1Z3f_xNksXNTAUJjlxbN8vqu4/s1600/2efbeb8265b03f8ba2eac77c4f365453.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQhfgLGHwA3PcEurXrwPYMt5c0hS2QKNnh6LVmnqvLnoQx2DuOM8Tr_BCqIIleti30hrVTWUtbldTuj0pZBZ8pt7GVcSbp47yFraOQuWo9eloJus9RHY1Z3f_xNksXNTAUJjlxbN8vqu4/s1600/2efbeb8265b03f8ba2eac77c4f365453.jpg" height="400" width="291" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dayvid Thomas. He's my new Muse for my new Hawaiian character in HAWAIIAN WARRIOR - the new book I've just started writing. :-) </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">MEG:</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Love is love! </span><span style="background: white; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">J</span><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> I write about who turns up in my head and wants
their story told. But it’s not just that. Yes, there are a large sector of us
women who LOVE gay romances. I think there are a few factors in it. One it’s
damn sexy for we women. Two men being emotionally open and intimate with each
other. We don’t always see that or get that with our hetero men. Well, I do to
a larger degree, because I like metro men and can’t stand non-emotional men.
THEY squick me quite literally. I can’t find anything attractive in them. The
Ken-dollies I call them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFA6VKD9X73M3S2O2B-_2WlJt1Z1WdP9SINcYXN5Bj9Q25Om5es5memz85sImBlMSAjRi5ynH1Us08BUKvyAtL5ILislFtUyuj-P37g_WpkG9v_ubjgF2WAHfgAGvPlFUj2QA819F_D0/s1600/4835949_1_l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFA6VKD9X73M3S2O2B-_2WlJt1Z1WdP9SINcYXN5Bj9Q25Om5es5memz85sImBlMSAjRi5ynH1Us08BUKvyAtL5ILislFtUyuj-P37g_WpkG9v_ubjgF2WAHfgAGvPlFUj2QA819F_D0/s1600/4835949_1_l.jpg" height="151" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And it’s that funny
thing with people, what’s on the outside is only the package, it’s the gift
inside that counts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I was once in a group
and kept hearing about this guy they called ‘Cowboy.’ The women loved him! He
was gorgeous, fun, a great person. He was uber-cool because he drove a Chev Impala
(the –seats 6 across the front comfortably kind and American ‘Yank Tanks’ were
sooooooo cool in New Zealand growing up.) He was also in the air force, throw
in a uniform. And he was sexy… apparently. I hadn’t met him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyQJcldbnLsrM_QTWpAKADY-7q18kTLvbSHuZc6HCCaWCXM3-dxu29Dfnh_ROf0inTV9NEpFk9oBWm6d5GWrpS4udA6ZcNE-4uSZjk_saGiP44q-I0iep1KKd6udXZM9aIYL8ybaUDDOM/s1600/58c275e7960b35745c03d293eb9431dc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyQJcldbnLsrM_QTWpAKADY-7q18kTLvbSHuZc6HCCaWCXM3-dxu29Dfnh_ROf0inTV9NEpFk9oBWm6d5GWrpS4udA6ZcNE-4uSZjk_saGiP44q-I0iep1KKd6udXZM9aIYL8ybaUDDOM/s1600/58c275e7960b35745c03d293eb9431dc.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Anyway, for weeks I’d
heard about this gorgeous guy Cowboy/Nigel was his real name. I got invited
down to the air force bar one day for drinks and Nige was on the bar. I think
my mouth just about dropped to the floor when I saw him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">And not in a good way…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">He had on awful denim
jeans (you know the cheap nasty kind) and he had a howdy doody plaid shirt on
(terribly uncool in NZ.) And he had the ‘scrunchy’ face a lot of Gaelic people
have. He was tall, thin, pale and yeah……… not sexy. At all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I thought, this is THE
Cowboy? Seriously? THE Cowboy everyone’s been raving about, how gorgeous he is,
sexy, fun, funny, great guy. Aha. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Although… he did have
the most beautiful icy blue eyes that when he smiled… bloody hell! They
twinkled and lit up. And when you got talking to him, he was interesting and
fun. He was funny and caring. He was charismatic and enticing… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">By the end of the day,
I was in love with him and I thought he was gorgeous… and we ended up together
for a while. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">J</span><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Another guy I went out
with once… was stunning to look at, but absolutely brainless, humorless, and
downright boring. By the next morning (yes, don’t ask) I thought, just leave. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">My sister was staying
with me and she said, “Wow, that guy was gorgeous. Are you going to see him
again?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I said, “No, he’s
boring, there’s nothing to him.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">She couldn’t understand
it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">So, you see, I
personally want the emotionally available male. And gay men often are that. They’re
‘feminized’ men, not in a flouncy way, but emotionally we get to see who they
are. And that’s incredibly sexy and inviting because they show us their
emotions, their vulnerabilities. They open up and let us in… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Plus, it’s sexy, a wee bit
naughty. You get two men being emotionally open and intimate to varying
degrees. You get incredibly hot male/male sex. You get two penises, two set of
balls and for me…. Two sets of lovely black pubic hair… Hot damn!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">We women have been on
the outside of men’s emotional processes for so long that these books feed us in
many ways. We like our gay male friends. They talk to us about EVERYTHING. They
tell us all their emotions. They talk openly about sex and aren’t shy on
details. They share things with us. In short, they’re the perfect man… only one
teeny weeny tiny thing that’s missing. They also like men. Damn. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Also for me on a
personal level, I write male/male because I hate the prejudice out there and
the gay bashers. I hate racism. I write what I stand for. Nearly all my books
have some mention on racism in them. I hate it. I hate homophobia. I don’t
understand it. So, it’s another way for me to support gay rights. There are a
lot of layers to this for me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">SPENCER:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I think
the important thing is fantasy. It's just fantasy. Fantasy is often derided but
fantasies help us set boundaries. My thing about tall women is a fantasy. It's
not something I act on. However as I've said before, one great thing about
being an erotic romance author is that I can make love to any woman I want and
my wife couldn't care less. (And, more fantasy...the object of my desire likes it
:) ) "Love Above See Level" is about trying to bring my fantasy about
tall women to life.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9x7ofpYAjBiLefZNHpYpn9VnJe4EOsZjoJqB2wK4ZkXUBaAmo5aujSfHUJ6IgWKAaooYEz2FMvz91Pgozmw1Y8XkbIEquWY4QxkOxHY8dpY6pX53IbeyeVnnQ6bE_XPVS0VmelSQfjIY/s1600/salman_pia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9x7ofpYAjBiLefZNHpYpn9VnJe4EOsZjoJqB2wK4ZkXUBaAmo5aujSfHUJ6IgWKAaooYEz2FMvz91Pgozmw1Y8XkbIEquWY4QxkOxHY8dpY6pX53IbeyeVnnQ6bE_XPVS0VmelSQfjIY/s1600/salman_pia.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I see all
this posting stuff as a healthy sign that fantasy is still alive. The premise
of the delightful children's movie, "The Never Ending Story" is, the
force of unspeakable evil, "The Nothing" seeks power by robing the
world of fantasy. "People without hope are easy to control." Chillingly
accurate for the world at large today or for the inner world of someone
suffering from depression.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I see our
job and our great public service as keeping fantasy alive in a way that is
uplifting.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The
question always comes around of who would star in the movie version of your
story? I don't think there are any women actresses six-feet-seven inches tall
but Hollywood is good fooling with our perception. My first choice would be a
young Sigourney Weaver. While she is only six feet tall so many leading men are
short (think Tom Cruse) she towers over them. She's smart, elegant and
wonderfully proportioned for a tall woman. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvjtXpKOsLLCqEK_YCUEcncDPdAUEehyphenhyphenBOsTywOrQ-njMTz34j2pfeJGltWo28WLU0H2-5Ewo8vujvuDlvvdy6SJ_ydAqJhk9l07QAM77Z5CFo17sX8UEpgd-bhUEdn7YpuulJ_FlNTNI/s1600/matthew-mcconaughey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvjtXpKOsLLCqEK_YCUEcncDPdAUEehyphenhyphenBOsTywOrQ-njMTz34j2pfeJGltWo28WLU0H2-5Ewo8vujvuDlvvdy6SJ_ydAqJhk9l07QAM77Z5CFo17sX8UEpgd-bhUEdn7YpuulJ_FlNTNI/s1600/matthew-mcconaughey.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I think
for the guy it is someone laid aback but sensitive like Matthew McConaughey.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I am open
to suggestions. Maybe our readers have some ideas.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Meg you
really have a challenge casting for your stories. "Brokeback
Mountain" did a lot for gay roles and stories in the movies but I think a
lot of actors would be nervous about the roles.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">MEG:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m not sure that’s
true in this day and age. A role is a role for a thespian. If you’re a good
actor and a mature person, you’ll like the challenge of what that role might
bring to you. And Hollywood is one of the most progressive places now for gay
actors and actresses. Gone are the old days of lauding a film star as hetero if
they’re not—thank goodness. It must have been living hell for the old thespians
of old who were gay or lesbian. Imagine having to live a lie every day of your
life. Never being able to do the normal things we take for granted as opposite
sex couples. Something as simple as holding hands or a nice kiss would have
been out of the question. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I saw a movie called A Single Man with Colin Firth. It was absolutely heartbreaking. A gay man’s
partner dies back in the fifties or sixties and no one acknowledges it. He’s
not allowed to go to the funeral. It tore at me. If what I write can open any
doors up in people’s mind, then I’m glad. I want people to know that love is
love. And no matter what your fantasy or preference, it’s all okay. You are
accepted at my house any time.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Thanks as always for
reading. I think we have rambled a bit today. LOL. But at the very least go if
you have a fantasy of a tall woman, go and grab a copy of Spencer’s new book </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Love Above See Level</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">.</span></div>
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<div class="freeShip biggerText" id="productDescription" style="background-color: white; color: #010101; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
A beach bum/surfer is smitten by a woman six feet seven inches tall. But can his infatuation turn to love above see level?<br />
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<div style="padding: 0px;">
Clayton Stoner is a blond, bronzed, hard-bodied, beach bum/surfer living the life of a thirty-one-year-old Peter Pan in a tiny oceanside cottage near St. Augustine, Florida. One calm Sunday, he sees a strikingly beautiful woman who is six feet seven inches tall taking paddle surfing lessons at the local surfer's beach. He is immediately smitten, but unable to get her attention when he encounters her at a nearby convenience store, and again, later that day, as she is running along the beach where he is relaxing.<br />
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They finally connect when he is sent to do plumbing repair work at the beach cottage she is renting. She continues to spurn his friendly advances. It looks hopeless for him until fate intervenes. But can a laid-back surfer and a woman driven by career achievement see eye to eye well enough for a long-term relationship?</div>
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Excerpt</h2>
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A light offshore breeze did little to dry the sweat on our brows as we sat on the front porch of my beach cottage, transfixed by the surf. Our suits were still wet from our frustrating day trying to ride waves that wouldn't form. Nothing dries in North Florida humidity except throats after a day of sun and surf. My buddy Smitty and I were several beers in before I finally broke the ice.<br />
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"So, Smitty, what do you do when you find your eyes are at tit level with a beautiful woman?"<br />
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"My eyes are always at tit level with women."<br />
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"Asshole, I'm not talking about where your eyes are looking. I'm talking about height. What if your eyes were only as high as a woman's breasts?"<br />
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"Are these breasts sagging down to her belly button?"<br />
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I made a cross with my fingers and held it up to him, hoping his flesh would burn. "No, in fact, they were small and pushing straight out. She was very trim."<br />
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"If you had leaned forward, would you have got one nipple in each eye?"<br />
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"Stop it. I'm being serious here."<br />
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"So am I. She could put your eye out."<br />
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"That's my beer you're drinking," I said. "You could at least give me some decent advice."<br />
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He rubbed his chin as if it would make him smarter. Smitty only thought with his cock, and I was glad he didn't whip it out and rub it for insight.<br />
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"Dude, they're all the same height lying down. And a tall one can wrap her legs around you twice. What's your problem?"<br />
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I huffed and shook my head. "Smitty, if they ever cut your head open, nothing but pussy would fall out."<br />
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"Okay, Stoner, I've got a half a beer left, and then I got to go. The mullet are running, and I want to come down tonight to do some fishing. Are you with me?"<br />
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"No. I've got an early job tomorrow."<br />
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"Would you mind if I parked in your driveway then?"<br />
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"No problem."<br />
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"I promise I'll be extra quiet if I see a couple of legs hanging out the window." </div>
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"What are you talking about?"<br />
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"Dude, if you get that woman into your bedroom, there's no way she's gonna fit on your bed without hanging her legs out the window."<br />
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Smitty had a point. My beach cottage was pretty small.<br />
<br /></div>
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"So where did you meet this beauty?" Smitty asked, catching a belch.<br />
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"Well, we haven't really met yet. I was in line in front of her down at the Circle K earlier today. I turned around, and there I was with my nose in her breasts."<br />
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"So what's her name, where does she live, and is she available?"<br />
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I shrugged. </div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><a href="http://www.breathlesspress.com/index.php?main_page=product_free_shipping_info&cPath=9&products_id=686&zenid=78b9c3e6fe4025d1b9e50a8eec12883f" target="_blank">BREATHLESS PRESS Pre-order Buy Link</a></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> Releasing on 7th Nov!!!</o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; line-height: 115%;"><o:p>SPENCERS LINK</o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><b>http://www.fictionbyspencer.com/home.html</b></span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;"><b>www.troikaromance.com</b></span></o:p></span></div>
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Meg Amorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16330778909112029352noreply@blogger.com9