Guest Post #Double Book Tour

Hello Everyone!

Today, I have the pleasure of hosting Synful Desire and Adonis on my blog as part of their blog tour. Their new releases Simmer: Smoothe & Sweet and H.E.R. (Handy: Extended Release) will be out soon and if you’re a fan of romance I suggest you check out their books.

For their guest post, Desire and Adonis will be talking about trends in the erotic genre. There is adult material in their posts and it’s not suited for all audiences, so please be advised.

Without further ado, I give you Synful Desire and Adonis Mann.

Desire:Hi Miss Carol! Thanks for having us on your blog. Your color scheme is interesting … to say the least. What do you think Donny dear?

Adonis:Hello Carol. Thank you for having me here. It’s wonderful to take a spin around your blog, as I believe it is my first visit.

Desire:From what I hear, you are one who writes romance with a bit of drama. Both Simmer: Smoothe& Sweet and H.E.R. (Handy: Extended Release) definitely deliver plenty of that. Now, Donny and I could have easily just dropped off the videos (which I think we will do anyway because they are the #Hotness), put in an excerpt and have been on our way.

However, we want to do something different.

Since he and I both write LGBT type works, focusing on erotica, we would like to share some current trends that quite frankly, make my hairs frizz and Donny cringe.

I. Limited Vocabulary for Luscious Locations

Desire:One of my top peeves is how … should we say … limited the vocabulary is for the male and female genitalia. I mean, if I see one more “cunt”, “lovebox”, and “snatch” I’m going to throw a stiletto! There is nothing box like about my v-jay jay, if you get what I mean. Why can’t people come up with words that make my body automatically want to prepare for seduction instead of make me want to just run for the heels? Yet, no sexual preference is immune to this mediocrity and it is a travesty!

Adonis:Personally, if I see the words “cock” or “dick” one more time, I’m going to throw my Kindle out the window … or perhaps not, it cost me a lot of money. There is nothing more repugnant about reprehensible and vulgar language in a written work of art. Perhaps it is my sapiosexual nature, but what turns me on is a sensual stream of verbiage that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand. There’s nothing sexy about a “cock”, for it makes me think of a rooster. And the word “dick” derives from a nickname as well as a whale. How is that attractive at all?

II. Attractiveness is NOT a Dictatorship

Desire:Speaking of attractiveness, I am a believer that “attractive” is in the eye of the beholder. When I put myself in the role of a reader, I don’t want the author to dictate to me that a certain body type, skin tone, hair style, etc. is sexy. Simply put, although I know the trend is to put one’s definition of hot bodies on the cover of works, I do not like it because it takes away my ability to imagine what the person looks like. What if I don’t like a man who has a lot of tattoos or piercings, yet a cover of a pierced tattooed man is all in my face? What if a woman with long weave is a turn off, yet a cover has weave, glorious weave? It just douses out the fantasy before it even begins, for the author’s fantasy of sexy may not necessarily be the reader’s fantasy of sexy.

Adonis:For me, there is nothing sexier than the sensual and whimsical nature of the imagination. To give something a brand is to take away the freedom of the mind’s eye. Words create images, and in everyone’s mind, the image differs. What may be sexy to me may not be to my neighbor. Therefore, using the magnificence of diction is like using paint on a canvas.

III. Embellishment in “Now Play” instead of Foreplay

Desire:Donny, it is funny that you should speak of painting a canvas. Art can be depicted in many ways, yet more often than not, sex is written about in the same style, particularly in the LGBT community. Allow me a bit of digression, if you will.

• One person is at (pick a location)
• A person in the background catches said person’s eye.
• Unspoken glances and/or little if any meaningful dialogue.
• Location shifts to where one-on-one action can be facilitated
• Action begins, going directly for oral, anal or vaginal stimulation or penetration
• The End

Yawn … yawn … yawn. 

Where is the foreplay? Where is the buildup? Where is the opportunity to create something different from just “meet, greet, and fuck” type situations?

It’s like writers, even those in the LGBT community, are playing to the stereotypes associated with us—that we are horny and sex crazed most of the time, and we don’t have moments where there is behavior like normal, everyday couples. The biggest argument I hear is that no reader wants to read about “everyday activities”, yet it takes away the possibility that there is more than one type of reader out there. Also, why can’t everyday activities be something worth reading about? They can be, if the right diction is used to supercharge the imagination.

Adonis:Desire, I believe that the problem is that people are in a rush to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop. It seems as though foreplay has been lost and replaced with “now play”. The word “foreplay” implies that there is interaction before satisfaction. Yet society is too fixated on satisfaction first and interaction later. This provides absolutely NO realism to a story and in turn, does not give the reader the sensation that said things could be possible.

If I were in a rush to get to the action, I would just watch a cheap porn flick. There’s nothing more exhilarating than the thrill of the hunt.

Desire: This has been enjoyable but we must be going. A bit of food at our favorite café, and then to do some much needed shopping!

Adonis: Desire, it’s your turn to choose the nail polish color. Farewell, dear Carol.

Spaded Truths Guest Post

It Ain’t All Roses
Hello Carol, and thanks for inviting me to talk about my latest poetry collection, Spaded Truths 2: Life-O-Suction.

A few months ago, I was listening to this song called “Roses” by Mary J. Blige. Although the bulk of the song was talking about the ups and downs of love, one particular line can double as talking about life in general: This love stuff is demanding.

Spaded Truths 2: Life-O-Suction talks about the demands that can suck the life out of us—the internal and the external.

Don’t expect the feel good of Reflections of Soul

or the celebration of the fighting spirit of Private Pain: Amidst These Ashes


Don’t even hold your breath for the light at the end of the tunnel in my contribution to Waves to Light.

Life-O-Suction is one of those where “it is what it is”. It is awareness but doesn’t go out of its way to find a cure. It is a query to gauge understanding yet doesn’t take the extra steps to apply logic. In that regard, this is a publication that may only cater to a particular type of reader, feeler, or thinker. However, I don’t see that as a deterrent, just a sampler on the wine tray of exclusivity.

Sip … if you dare.

All Authors Blog Blitz--Queen of Spades

Hello everyone.

Welcome to the 2nd Annual All Authors Blog Blitz. Our guest is Queen of Spades, the author of Taint on Religion. Today, she'll be talking her writing journey and how she made the transition from poetry to short stories.

So without further ado, please welcome Queen of Spades.

The Journey of Transcending

Hello. It’s storytime. Pull up a chair and gather around. Coffee, tea and other refreshments are on the table. So you want to know about my journey? Although it’s best suited for an encyclopedia set (do people even have those in their house anymore?), I will try and sum it up as best I can for this special event.

Contrary to popular assumption, my first love wasn’t writing but drawing.  It started around the age of eight.  First, stick figures.  Then, looking at other drawings and replicating them.  Those were mostly of people.  To this day, I still draw but my sketches are more abstract now than anything.  I don’t get to do them as often for writing is an all consuming beast and doesn’t like playing second fiddle.

Writing made its presence felt three years later.  Quite a few things had started to culminate.  The bullying was rampant and caused me to be less of an extrovert.   I discovered things that disturbed my family dynamic.  My grandparents were going through their own chaos, so I didn’t want to worry them.  I put pen to paper and began to write about everything.  Queen of Spades was born then.  She was a bit darker in those times because she also served as my defense mechanism, yet she did what she was supposed to do.

At first, I mainly wrote poems but by the age of thirteen, I had started writing short stories.  The short story muse was no match for my poetry muse, so rather than try to compete it opted to have a seat. 

The influx of poetry continued throughout my school years, even following me on to college.  It was during that time I became a part of a poetry community that would change my life.  On the positive side, it brought greater exposure to my poetry and I was exposed to many different styles of writing.  The organization allowed me to grow in creativity, and I got a chance to network with many people.  But I discovered that all smiles weren’t genuine, and due to my growing popularity in the organization, a few of the higher ups who didn’t like me went to extreme measures to get me out.

One of the former administrators (who left because she didn’t like the new creative direction of the group) invited me to be a part of her group.  I accepted her invitation, but it just didn’t feel the same.  However, during my time there, I helped to put together a poetry anthology that became Soulful Branches: Simply Words.  There were plans to put together a second anthology but it fell through the cracks.  Since quite a few of them had migrated from the old organization, maybe it all was a bit much.  Who knows?  In the end, both places shut down.

In 2005, I had come out with the first version of Spaded Truths.  This took place a few months after the anthology.  Then about a year later (2006), I came out with the first version of Private Pain.  (Both versions were retired earlier this year.)

Back then, I didn’t know much about marketing.  So many people had clamored for me to do a book of poetry.  I thought if I didn’t do it then that I wasn’t going to do it.  I was mistaken but just didn’t know it at the time.

For seven years, I went ghost.  I didn’t stop writing but was in no hurry to share with the world either.  I had seen the ugliness of cutthroat people disguising themselves as friends.  I wanted no part of the fiasco! 

In early 2013, the publishing fly started buzzing around my ear.  I had written a combination of things—poetry and prose but I wanted to name the collection something that would encompass all.  One of my friends helped me come up with the name: Eclectic.  Around that same time, my short story muse decided to wake up.  That led me to include “Misfortune” is the deluxe version of Eclectic (entitled “Beyond the Skin”).

Unlike the times of before, my short story muse did not want to stay silent.  I don’t too much blame her.  She had been mum since I was fourteen.  When I found all of my short story outlines from years ago, it gave further confirmation that my short story muse should be allowed to talk. 

After publication of Private Pain: Amidst These Ashes (revamp of the original Private Pain), I made the decision to give more focus towards doing stories.  One: to see if I’m one of those writers that can succeed in transcending.  Two: to immerse myself in the process of writing short stories on a more frequent basis.  Unlike poetry, which hits me like an adrenalin rush, short stories are more of an ebb and flow.  I need to celebrate that ebb and flow, especially if I do the ultimate marathon—novel writing.

I haven’t too long completed my first independently released short story, Taint on Religion.

 

Length: Approximately 4,500 words

Extended Blurb: Natasha was taught three things: to love God, to love herself and to always go to church. When a sea of tragedy strikes in her youth, she strays from the path of God. Realizing the error of her ways, she seeks redemption in her adult years. Reverend Jamison and his church looks to be the answer to her prayers. Yet when things in the dark come to the light, Natasha is faced with a tough decision. Does she stay silent with her discovery or does she dare put a taint on religion?

Cost: FREE and available at these following locations

Smashwords

Scribd

Just recently, I found out that two of my short stories, “Mr. Bradley’s Garden” and “When Summer Lingers”, are to be included in an anthology entitled “Summer Shorts II” by Durham Editing and Ebooks.  Anticipated release date is this month.

All I know is no matter what I’m writing I feel incredibly blessed to be able to share with the world.  Carol, thanks so much for having me on your blog.  I have enjoyed my time here!

 

 

To learn more about Queen of Spades visit her sites.

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