Wierd Day?

Everyone has days like this, right?

9am

Bounced into a woman I have not seen in twenty-six years...and she's screaming my name from across the dining room of a McDonalds...my maiden name. And I'm thinking WTF?
There are disadvantages to moving "back home" after twenty-odd years: like everyone who stayed remembers you.
I didn't have a clue.
I start racking my brain, seriously going through the names in my head of girls I used to know and she's naming "mutual friends" asking have you seen__, have you heard__, have you, have you, have you????? OMG.
She even knew my first husband was in a horrific accident and wanted to know if I'd ever remarried...
Okay, so I'm not stupid.
Me: "Oh my goodness! We have to get together, catch up, do you have a business card?" (Yeah, I can think quick on my feet when needed.) The conversation went down hill from there when I got invited to her house for a "Revolution Meeting."
Me: "A what?"
Her: "It's like a party. We are going to discuss what has to be done to take our country back."
Me: "Holy fuck. You're joking right?"
Her: "No! We have to get rid of Obama before the world as we no it comes to an end..." I zoned for a minute so I lost some of the conversation but it had veered into patriarchal fundamentalism and I started backing away. I announced I voted for Obama, am still supporting Obama, and proceeded to start listing all the amazing things he's already done in a short amount of time. I also mentioned that I'm pagan and have no intention of ever going to her church.

11a.m.
Chat with a friend who wanted advice about becoming a Pro-Domme...I ran out of advice right after asking if she knew if there were prostitution laws in Ohio...which yeah, I know, a Pro-Domme is not a prostitute but does the average city cop know that?

12-ish
Chat with my critique partner to ask her what I should write today.
She advised going back to the paranormal maybe horror VooDoo book...
I'm taking her advice irst thing a.m. tomorrow.

1pm
Advice to a friend who keeps getting women mad at her because when they ask her out to lunch, they get mad when she denies being a dyke...and accuse her of just not wanting to have sex with them, demanding to know what is wrong with them that she isn't interested. Trust me, I've seen some of these women and I wish I had my friend's problem.
Advice for too many hot women wanting to buy her lunch=have them call me.
She says, "You're not a lesbian either."
My answer to that? The same one its been since I was sixteen. "Hello? Bisexual. Pay attention."

3pm
Conversation with another friend who says to me, "You will not believe what my father-in-law wants us to do! He wants us to go in with him buying some guns."
Remembering my earlier weird conversation from this morning I said, "OMG tell me he is not going to a revolution meeting?" (I was JOKING!)
Her: "I don't know about that but he says we need to learn how to be survivalists. Maybe move to Mexico so we can avoid taxation without representation and avoid the draft into the militia."

Question...Can you be drafted by a militia? Seriously?

4pm
I google "revolution." Did anyone think that anyone was going to take Rep-Michele Buchmann
serious when she called for an orderly revolution? I'm still hoping not.

6pm
I get an email from a guy who has emailed me once before asking me if I want to see LA. This time he is trying to put together a party where he gets to be the Dom and I would get to be one of three or four other slaves pampering him for his birthday. (the short answer was No Fucking Way...but then I thought of my friend who wants to be a ProDomme and I really thought about giving her his email. I've never seen the guy but I think she could take him.)

7pm
Started laying out VooDoo chapter heading by chapter heading to get a head start

8:30pm
Finally got around to reading my email tarot for the day:
Taurus: Just take it step-by-step at work

Hmmm...step by step...chapter by chapter...I think I finally did something right today;)

Excerpt From Reaper

Many of you have already heard the news: My first paranormal is being released soon by Liquid Silver Books. I am very excited. I don't have art work yet but I've decided to share an excerpt...this scene follows the interrogation of Kendrah by Detective Jonathon Taylor in relation to her being at the scene of a homicide.

Excerpt begins here:

“I can leave?” Kendrah asks, pushing away from the table and standing.

“Yes.” Detective Taylor holds open the door for her. “That accent of yours? You’re from England?”

“Once,” she admits. “But that was a long time ago. A different life.”

“I’ve always been a sucker for a foreign accent, he admits, following her into the large room filled with the desks of lower ranking detectives. “You intrigue me Ms. Lake.”

She starts to walk away but he grabs her elbow and she faces him, her expression demanding an explanation. He stretches out her arm, looking down its length, rather looking at the tattooed sleeve covering her arm from shoulder to wrist. “This is unusual. When I first sat down with you, I thought, beautiful, vibrant, but once I took the time to take a closer look at the individual pieces that make the whole, it’s very disturbing.”

She licks her lips, self-consciously. She hasn’t stood so close to man she has no intent of crossing over for centuries. His scent surrounds her, cologne and coffee, but beneath that his scent, and she realizes she likes that scent entirely too much. It brings to mind other centuries, other men, love and lust and sex, want, desire, need, and pain.

She doesn’t want to remember the love lost and tries to jerk away but he only smiles, holding her wrist tight but not hurting her. “I can’t inquire about a tat? This one is truly a work of art. Can you explain the symbolism?”

She remains silent.

“I know a little bit about symbolism,” he admits. His finger traces the narrow band of trumpets circling above her bicep, each trumpet containing another figure, impressing him with its sheer level of artistic detail. He recites a verse from Revelations. “And the seven angels, which had the seven trumpets, prepared themselves to sound.” He touches the first trumpet depiction which within its shape holds a representation of earth. “See? This trumpet perfectly represents what happened when that trumpet sounded. The earth was assaulted by hail and fire.”

He touches the second trumpet, depicting the sea within, tarnished with red crests, reciting, “…and the sea became blood.”

Kendrah tries again to pull free her arm but he strokes the third and fourth trumpets sensually with his thumb, continuing to quote, not direct quotes, but understanding the verses enough that he paraphrases. “…and there fell a great star from heaven…the sun falling…and the moon and stars were darkened.” Lifting his gaze to hers, he asks, “I wonder what kind of a life a girl would have had to inspire the Biblical rendition of Armageddon on her arm. Some kind of messed up life, I’m guessing. ”

Where'd It Go?

Curious minds want to know:
What happened to the Chronicles of Surrenders links at Liquid Silver Books??

The Chronicles of Surrender were originally released by Liquid Silver Books...

They are being rereleased 2009-2010 by Lyrical Press. I am very excited about being represented by this small NY Press and will soon be able to hold a print copy in my hand.
**Author's edit:
I received an email inquiring about the fourth book in the series Echo of Redemption, asking when it would become available for those of you who are intently following the series. I believe I originally announced it would be this summer; however, since Lyrical Press is taking over publication of the series, the books will be released in order. Sacred Secrets should be released this summer followed approximately every four months by each that follows. The soonest Echo of Redemption will release will be Summer 2010.

I will continue to write for Liquid Silver Books and I have a paranoral coming soon titled REAPER.

In other news...I am in the process of updating my webpage.So, let me know what you think.

WIP Submitted

Whew! The latest WIP has been submitted...

Now, I can focus on my back burner which is bubbling over with WIPs. Deciding which to focus on is the problem. I have the paranormal monster, magic WIP Daughter of Darkness that could go horror...I have the yet unnamed paranormal werewolf romance...I have WIP Lovers, the BIG BOOK that I have been working on for eight months that is at 120K and nowhere near ending and falls somewhere between contemporary fiction, chick-lit, and erotica...I dare not call it literary fiction yet, but may have to face that truth when it hits 150K and I definitely see it doing that.

Actually, I think I'll take the weekend to mull it over since Sir Hotness will actually be in town AND we're celebrating his birthday before he goes out on the road for a week. Between trips he'll only be home for 36 hours (long enough for the Welcome Spring Party) before going out again, so I will have plenty of solitary time to focus and write which is making me feel like bringing the BIG BOOK forward to the main burner is a good idea.

Then there are a few short stories I'm playing with...

What is staying on the back burner for now:
WIP Frank's Garage (lesbian erotic romance)
WIP Perilous Rendezvous
WIP Prime
WIP Vow of Silence (George's stand alone story inspired by the Chronicles)
WIP Echo of Redemption (Book 4 of the Chronicles of Surrender)

Wow...looking at this list...I really don't think I have time to take a weekend off...geesh!

Having A Spring Party Research...

So Sir Hotness came in and announced we're having a Welcome Spring Party...

I'm going to digress from the Spring Party announcement to note that just in time for my Spring Party Drinkability Research (always a big to-do) is Rachel Maddow's appearance on Jimmy Fallon's show. I absolutely laughed until I cried watching this...


I'm not sure we will be making Bijou's although I've printed the recipe and added the indgredients we don't have to our shopping list.
However, we will be mixing...

You may remember last years Welcome Spring Party and this year we'll host the same crew, all big ale lovers ... not American swill but lagers and ales and foriegn named macro and micro brews...

I admit I have my favorites, and I'm as into beer tastings as anyone...
But...

My first love is mixed drinks...
Honestly, the main reason is a small stomach.
If I drink three beers I get a full gut and no "merriment"
But if I drink three shots--

More to come...since the party is not this weekend but next...and evidentally, I'm the last to know. Have I mentioned how much I love the way Sir Hotness and I communicate when he's away on business? Sigh.

Getting Closer...

It seems like I've been working on the WIP Prodigal Slave forever but really it's just because I keep taking breaks to do work on other WIPs.

My fault entirely...but still frustrating. So, I still have two chapters to write to call this one done. And really, I am sooo excited about Prodigal Slave. It's one of my favorites. A little history: I wrote the first chapter as a short story about six years ago, tried to turn it into a novella for an anthology in January of this year but realized it was really meant to be full length...and so here we are, three months later still writing.

As the name implies Prodigal Slave is heavy on the D/s relationship with bondage, international travel and two French men to round out the tale. Oo-la-la.

Oh BTW forced rest is a good concept...I've been writing like crazy for two days.

EDGE Cover Art Is Here!

Big, exciting day! The cover art for EDGE is finally here and I have Croco Designs to thank for another amazing job! Wow! It exceeds my expectations and gives me goosebumps every time I look at it.
And here's a close-up of the blade inside the camera...

So fitting...
I think that as much as I love Voyeur, the sequel is better...so if you want to meet this wonderful menage, why not go ahead and grab Voyeur now?
I can't wait until the release date!

Down...for now.

Today I woke up at eleven am and thought it was barely dawn. Removing my sleepmask proved it was day...looking at the clock was jarring. I rarely sleep. A nine hour sleep night is not a good sign...

Sir Hotness was home to witness the crash...

Luckily, he's a big boy and can entertain himself. I made it to the table by noon to slam two Pepsis. Took some vitamins and headed to the shower, ended up in the tub instead and woke up to the phone wringing at two in barely warm water. Torn between adding more hot water or trying to start the day over for a second time.

I opted for the latter and tried to read a book, but after reading the same page three times decided it was time to take another nap.

It's eight pm now and I am beginning to feel human but am making myself sleep tonight and giving my brain another day off tomorrow. Hopefully, Tuesday I will be back to normal.

My New Home Page...

My internet browser used to open to AOL...but I was spending too much time reading the articles...so I switched to MSNBC...but as an out of work real-estate agent and mood-dependent erotica writer I got rid of it as fast as I loaded it because it was too damn depressing. For the last month I have been opening to Google Mail. No distraction. No depression.

Life has been good.
I'm writing a lot.

Today I ran across a new site and I was so entertained, I've made it my new home page. Now, going in, I know this is a big mistake. I am probably going to lose an hour of productive writing time every morning. I don't care. (Sure, I say that now...my biggest mistakes in life have followed the "I don't care" response.)

It's a home page.
How much trouble can it cause?

I know...I've stroked your curiosity right?
The site is CarnalNation.com

I loved this post...because...you know it happens...

"Hey, where'd the condom go?"

Massachusettes Has It All

So, Sir Hotness is in Cambridge...
The Pogues are playing in Boston...
What in the fuck am I doing in Ohio?

While I try to figure out the answer to that question, I'll leave you with some eye candy...

Understand Copy Right Law? How About Fair Use?

Copyright law...
Hmmm...
Fair use?
Hmmmmm....
You don't understand it either?
This cute 10 minute movie was created to help us all get the gist of it...so sit back, relax, and enjoy A Fair(y) Use Tale, using Disney animation...



I have no idea who to give credit for this movie because some are crediting Stanford University while others are claiming Bucknell University.

I'll Get Back To BDSM Soon...I Promise

I was talking to Xandra Gregory today about a whole lot of stuff, mainly writing, sick kids, and trying to guess the whims and trends of publishing houses...

I think she still has concerns that I am turning my back on what I know...BDSM.
But what I really know is erotica...
And what I have been studying for the last twelve years is how to craft a story...
So, I'm not really turning my back on anything.

I actually have three...yes THREE...WIP's with heavy BDSM in the works...
It just so happens I also have three paranormals spinning around my head, my heart, and simmering on my backburner...

Then there's the lesbian erotica which is and always has been a major writing focus...it just isn't published anywhere. Why? Don't get me started on the LGBT soapbox...in case you missed that rant.

This week I'm working on Frankie and Holly's story...F/F...next week...who knows.

And a small PS...
Is anyone in my reading audience a serious Rachel Maddox fan? You may want to read this.

Writing Lesbian Erotica

My current paranormal WIP has been put on hold...
My current BDSM WIP has been put on hold...

It's Sir Hotness's fault...
He took me to The Pub for lunch. I love going to The Pub, they serve the best bar food anywhere and they serve Leffe. The eyecandy is purely incidental... guys in kilts and girls in very, very short plaid skirts. The gal behind the bar could have been the love of my life if...
she was a decade older
or
I was a decade younger...
or
if we somehow met in the middle.

I used to be really pissed off when I saw older guys (middle-aged, 40 plus) with younger girls (20-something)

And then I turned forty.
Hypocrisy is hell.

I digress.

The girl behind the bar is made of the stuff that makes my knees go weak. Dark hair, dark eyes, too much dark kohl around her eyes... petite, thin, small breasts... and the tats...

Now the tats can only be described as beautiful and sexy as hell. Left arm sleeve and up the back of her legs thin lines, mimicking the hosiery of women long ago, and at the tops of those thin lines, barely peeking from beneath that very narrow plaid skirt her family crests.

I crane my neck to watch her move from pull to pull, she looks over her shoulder while she's pouring to maintain eye-contact and conversation...

She. Is. Too. Young.

So I come home and write lesbian erotica.
Because in my novels I can be any age I want to be and twenty-four or five isn't too young.

And BTW ... Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Writing...writing...writing...

Dear Readers,

The push is on!

I've submitted two manuscripts so far this month, one digital, one for print, fingers crossed...but I still have another short I'm wanting to get out this week for an anthology submission to Samhain and a 55K novel I'm targeting toward Loose-Id that I need to get submitted by the end of the month...

So if You've wondered why the personal shares...
Orchids...
Mixed Medias...

It's because it is an easy post that lets you know a little more about me...but leaves me a big part of my day to write and not feel guilty about posting something:)
I have such guilt complexes...you would not believe...

So I hope you've enjoyed peeks into my life while I write super HOT sex scenes:)

Hugs
Roxy

Did Anyone Notice?

Yesterday was Friday the Thirteenth, the second Friday the thirteenth in as many months...back to back...and it was a full moon...

Seems like the perfect time to talk about my split-writer-personality...

I love, love, love to write about sex, BDSM, and unusual romances...thus, Roxy Harte, erotica writer...

But I've also been writing paranormal both romantic and straight fiction since 1996...without submitting...because I've seen them as stories just for me. A vacation from my norm...

Recently, I've been looking them over with a critical eye and feel that they are just as well written, just as entertaining as my erotica, and I've been thinking, why not try to get them published?

Intent I have put in motion this month with my submission to Liquid Silver Books of REAPER...and had accepted...so it is coming soon. I am very excited!

I have several more I plan to spruce up, finish (they're kind of in an unfinished limbo on the back burner), and get submitted...

And I know I am not the first writer to worry about such things, but my pen name, Roxy Harte, has become associated with BDSM emotionally-psychologically charged erotica...and I don't want someone to pick up one of my paranormals and think that is what they are getting. Likewise, I do not want someone whose first impression of my writing as paranormal to pick up a BDSM charged erotic and hurl obsenities at me because they didn't realize what they were getting...

So what to do? What to do?

I'm leaving the question open over the weekend, anyone with any ideas or comments, anyone who has previously dealt with a similar issue or was disappointed or pleasantly surprised by an author who pulled a genre-changaroo...comment. I need input...

I'm kind of toying with using my maiden name...instead of Roxy Harte.
Or I could used my married name (which would be strange because I never changed my name to the last name of my latest husband)...

My Orchids Are in Bloom

I've been waiting to share my orchids with you until they were all in bloom...

So here they are...

Aren't they lovely?
I only have six...so not a big show...but as my collection grows I'll share them with you:) I love orchids and everyone knows it, so if anyone ever wants to ship me something for birthdays, holidays, etc...it makes shopping for me easy!

Mixed Media Vintage Nudes

Okay, I've been good...I've been writing...but I promised a reveal of what I was doing when I wasn't writing. So here are two of the mixed medias I did this week. Both are 16"x20" and will hang in the small bathroom downstairs... ohhh, and the purple walls there are to die for...

"Gypsy"

Mixed medias are fun for me because it is all in the layering and the details. Like the poems. This one Bronte:

But it is also the little things...the details in the torn velvet scarf and the hand knotted on silver janglies...

"Invincible Summer"

Poem and fabric close-up details:

Reaper

The contract for Reaper is signed, sealed and delivered.
I'm excited about this one because it shows a different side of Roxy Harte...
Hopefully a side of me you will be seeing a lot more of in the future.
I'll let you know a release date as soon as I have one...

Edits are done on Edge (maybe one more round after test readers have at it but all in all...I'm thinking about done). Release date is looking like May. I know, I wish it was sooner too...but like fine wine...it all takes time.

Today I am writing.
And for those of you who emailed, thank you for your concern, daughter is doing better after going to two different doctors in as many days and finally getting the correct treatment from the second one.

Hoping to add photos later today (maybe early tomorrow) of the mixed medias I did.
Very exciting...

Blame Suzi Blu...

I love Suzi Blu...
Never heard of her? Google her, or you tube search her...
I'm just saying the chick is really hot when she has on her Hot Pink wig...

and she's an artist...
be still my heart.

Aside from all that...she inspired me to dust off the paint brushes, pull the Gesso and canvases out of storage...and create.

I know, I'm not writing. Haven't written since Saturday...
I did edits on Sunday and Monday though...
And my daughter was horribly ill yesterday and today...
So I don't feel too bad about throwing some paint around yesterday and today...

I'll write tonight...later...maybe after everyone else is in bed.
That will give me another hour to layer some mixed media components.
Maybe I'll include pictures of the finished product.

And thank you Rosemary for the wonderful letter. I am so glad you are around to boost my spirits...and I promise I will not leave you hanging over the ending of Garrett, Kitten, and Thomas's menage. They're decorating the nursery in my head even as I type this...

A Commune With Purpose...

The year was 2002 and I was recently divorced from husband number two...and embracing a life of yogic celibacy and veganism. I travelled out west seeking to "find myself" and dragging my then nine year old with me. I meditated and did yoga in the desert, she pointed and laughed... after a month she was doing yoga too if not quite getting the whole meditation concept. What was I looking for? Answers to all the basic questions...
Who I am?
What's my life purpose?
Why can't I fucking orgasm?
I was considering communal living if I could just find the right place...

Oh, boy, if I'd only known then...

The place is One Taste on Folsom Street. Yes, the Folsom Street.
It's been touted a cult...
It's drawn lots of voyeurs...
Their meditation is based around the Female Orgasm.
Seriously.
A New York Times article begins, "EVEN in a culture in which sex toys are a booming business and Oprah Winfrey discusses living your best life in the bedroom, a coed live-in commune dedicated to the female orgasm hovers at the extremes."

I'm over the whole communal living dream...
But I'm having visions of meditation hour taking on a whole new meaning at our house.

Rita Seagrave, Lochai, Hogtied...

I am posting a link to a Hogtied video that does have some nudity, moaning, bondage, flogging etc...so if you find this type of video disturbing, please do not open the link and it IS NOT work safe.

That said, I think that everyone who has an interest in BDSM should watch this video. Rita Seagrave is an amazing (and beautiful) woman. She is a sexual educator who also happens to be hearing impaired; so this is an amazing video that although it is specifically geared toward, playing with the hearing impaired, it explains basic BDSM with simple instructions. So I hope you will watch the video. (A scene is on the front quarter and then the introduction to Rita and instruction starts)

DEAFNESS AND POWER EXCHANGE: ALTERNATIVE INTERCOURSE

Exciting Day!

I'm putting the finishing touches to REAPER and hope to have it submitted to Liquid Silver Books by midnight...

I received my edits on EDGE and hope to have them back to my Loose-Id editor in the morning:) which means up all night for me...but I'm very excited to have EDGE coming out following the success of Voyeur. So if you haven't read Voyeur yet...get it! EDGE is its sequel and you will not be disappointed.

And...
I have received an editor introduction and welcome package at the new home of my Chronicles of Surrender: Lyrical Press, a small press based in New York City that has absolutely lovely covers and some amazing authors. I am proud to be joining their ranks!

And...
I have a strong start on my werewolf trilogy...
Whew!
It's been a busy week!

Today's Focus...

I'm trying to wrap up a new paranormal I'm writing for Liquid Silver Books this week...since I asked for a release from my contract I have nothing there for sale and that makes me feel horrible!

So I'm writing day and night...
With the exception of Friday night when hubby said "Go to bed or I'm medicating you."
Hmmm...
I know a serious threat when I hear one...I bitched and moaned all the way to bed though.

So the paranormal I'm working on is about a three millenia old grim reaper who hasn't had a sex life in a couple of centuries...give or take a few decades...because she's sworn off love.

The title is REAPER and yes, when she meets the right guy there is sparks, and fireworks, a few angels singing...oh no...sorry...that was her screaming in orgasm.