Mel's Procrastination Palace

Tuesday, May 24, 2005 Is it hot?

The breakfast brigade's topic o' conversation this morning was lesbian sex. The kind of lesbian sex that MEN want to see. I've known very few men who wouldn't LOVE to see their wife/girlfriend getting it on with another woman--as long as he could watch and possibly join in.

We discussed some hot women that even the rather "vanilla" gals of the group were admitting they had some sexual attraction to. It's natural, it's a normal reaction. But...do readers think it's hot?

A long time ago, in a writers group far away, I learned that you have to fall in love with your hero if you want to write him so that others [readers] also fall in love with him. But Jaci said something the other day that kind of triggered when we were all talking about a certain female celebrities hotness. She said writing was going well and then she described her heroine--don't remember what exactly what she said--but the "and I am so in love with her."

I actually did tease her then, but am now thinking, hell yeah she's in love with her, isn't that part of it? We don't want the oh-so-yummy heros that WE love, falling in love with a heroine who isn't worthy of well, being in love with. (Okay, I'm dizzy, but you got the point, right?)

Okay, so now that we've established we're all getting in touch with our inner lesbian over coffee, and falling in love with our heroines, is it okay for our heroines to do the same?

Menages are hot as hell. Yeah. They sell well--probably because they cross a certain line (taboo=sexy, right?) and fulfills a fantasy that well, no statistics on it, but probably alot of people don't get a chance to experience. But I'll be honest. I haven't read many, so I'm not qualified to really say WHAT one thing sticks out as making them an exciting read.

Do readers want to read F/F action? Even without the hero? And for what purpose? I'm not pushing lesbian romance, but rather the use of another person to spice up a hetersexual relationship in a story.

How far is too far? What doyou want that you're not seeing [reading] enough of?

Posted by Melani Blazer :: 9:48 AM :: 2 comments

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Friday, May 20, 2005 If that ain't motivation...

I dunno what is!---------------> Jaci's got an agent!

I actually started a post yesterday about needing about 8 more hours in the day, but oh, pish, who wants to hear me pseudo-complain when I can celebrate instead!

Not too long ago, Jaci vented some frustration about the appointment procedure for RWA and the fact she'd have to resort to stalking agents in the bathrooms and elevators. I think she found an alternative---cyber stalking... She's currently teaching me the techniques. (Watch out, agents... I know the tricks...bwahaha)

Okay, so that's just for laughs, but it clearly looks as tho' fate knew she wouldn't need that little ole appointment anyway, b/c it was in the cards that she'd HAVE an agent when she went to RWA. (I'm sure J's reading this still going, omg...omg...luv ya hon!)

I met Jaci when she was posting--yeaaaaaaaars ago--on the eharlequin boards and she took place in a round robin. Honestly, I was in awe of her writing then. She had "it" all the way. Somehow it turned out we were entering the same contest and made contact to exchange entries for final crits. We've been picking on each other every since. (tempted to get sappy here, but I'll spare you the details.)

Ain't it double cool that while I've turned into one of her biggest cheerleaders here, my muse has also decided to get motivated and is chomping at the bit to get edits done and the next story written. And then more edits, then more books and then... you get the picture.

It's grand when you can do what you love, love what you do and have these wonderful things happen to make it all worth celebrating? *beam*

Posted by Melani Blazer :: 12:18 PM :: 2 comments

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Monday, May 16, 2005 Dirty hands

No, I didn't kill anyone and the title of this blog has no deeper meaning. I just opened the blog page, determined to write SOMETHING and I looked down at my hands.
They're dirty.
Likely. I got home from work, tossed off the khaki's and donned yesterday's jeans (hush up) and took over mowing lawn from the DH. (While DH would cringe that I said that, making him look whoosy-fied, he has rheumatoid arthritis and the vibration of the lawn mower does really bad things to his surgically repaired elbows.. thus I do lawn mowing duty unless he gets home from work and gets wild hair up ass.... why on Monday?)
Anyhoo, I digress. After lawn finished, he decides he's gonna take transmission out of the car--the car being his 1971 Chevelle SS. 454 (insert Tim Allen grunt on his behalf). Shan called it sex on wheels and he reminds me of that every time he opens the garage.
(Thanks alot Shan)
So I helped him jack 'er up and set the jackstands, and then did the amazing run around the garage looking for the 7/16th wrench. (And it was in his pocket--anyone but me think that was a coincidence?)

Out of the entire thing, I got dirty.
Dirty is good.
I feel like I accomplished something. I got dirty.
And this was a meaningless post. Eh?

Okay, you haven't gotten any more man of the mist story cuz well, it spawned an idea that was just too tempting for my fickle muse and we're not very far into it and no slowing down yet. :)

I'll be back soon.. hopefully with something better than a story of that smudgeon of grease to talk about... :P

Posted by Melani Blazer :: 6:25 PM :: 3 comments

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Monday, May 09, 2005 The Man in the Mist- ch2

I guess I have to consult my own muse for this... but can someone help me give HER a name?
_____________________________

Isak touched the charm around his neck. His magic. His life. The one thing he could not be separated from, no matter what. A cold chill that had little to do with the minight temperatures raced down his spine at the thought of losing it.

Warmth touched his cheek again, breaking the apprehension and making him smile. She knew. She understood and stood by him anyway. Another reason he loved her with more power than he could begin to fathom. So maybe losing her would be more tragic than losing his talisman. His heart ached from imagining the emptiness that would surround him if she were gone.

Foolish thoughts. Of course he wasn't going to lose the charm, or her. Both had been with him since he'd been separated from his family nearly ten years earlier. There'd never been a threat, never a moment when doubt sprouted with such intensity as now.

But never had he felt as vulnerable as when he set foot on the hard packed sand of this world and felt his magic drain from his body. At least his body remained--that of a man with strength and reflex he'd learned to control with deadly accurancy. Many questions remained. Why here? What mission could possibly require him to approach at night, from the beach, shrouded in the mist?

Posted by Melani Blazer :: 9:54 AM :: 5 comments

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Saturday, May 07, 2005 If I could be...

Thanks, Anna, for tagging me. (It's been awhile since I played that game)

Pick five, and finish them. Tag three others!If I could be a scientist...If I could be a farmer...If I could be a musician...If I could be a doctor...If I could be a painter...If I could be a gardener...If I could be a missionary...If I could be a chef...If I could be an architect...If I could be a linguist...If I could be a psychologist...If I could be a librarian...If I could be an athlete...If I could be a lawyer...If I could be an innkeeper...If I could be a professor...If I could be a writer...If I could be a backup dancer...If I could be a llama-rider...If I could be a bonnie pirate...If I could be a midget stripper...If I could be a proctologist...If I could be a TV-Chat Show host...If I could be an actor...If I could be a judge...If I could be a Jedi...If I could be a mob boss...If I could be a backup singer...If I could be a CEO...If I could be a movie reviewer....

Okay, let's start with... If I could be a bonnie pirate, I'd most certainly be down in the caribbean for the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3. (am I predictable or what?)

If I could be an architect, I'd create an amazing home in the middle of a wild animal sanctuary, one that harmonized with nature and did nothing to threaten the beasts who roamed nearby. (okay, there are flaws with that, but no one asked for perfection--I'm NOT an architect, thank you...)

If I could be a doctor, I would set an example for the local doctors and focus on the art of healing and not the art of making money. I would put compassion in my practice, because I believe that it is a stronger medicine than any prescription I could write. And I would cry when a patient died, regardless of the reason, because I would share my heart with everyone I touched.

If I could be a backup dancer, I'd bring back Solid Gold so I could gyrate sexily in skimpy costumes and get paid for it. *okay, am I actually admitting a childhood dream here?*

If I could be a scientist, I would never participate in the stupid studies we all say "And they got paid to spend 2 yrs in *exotic locale* to study the mating habits of an ant?" But I would ask questions and get answers. I would definitely look into all the alternative forms of treating disease and try to integrate that into modern technology. I would shun any politics that tried to stand in my way. (Because if I were a scientist, I would also create myself no-fear potion and be the bravest person in the world!)

There... too serious? Well, then, Anna's fault. She made me think!
~Mel, who's gonna tag.... Breezy....Jaci anddddddddd Jaynie.

Posted by Melani Blazer :: 9:04 AM :: 0 comments

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Wednesday, May 04, 2005 Man of the Mist--more ramblings

He felt her, the sensation whirling around him, mixing with the cold air off the lake. The mist was heavy, almost fairytale like in the way it hung just above the water and created a mysterious tone to this already incredible night.

She had followed him. Through the black tunnel that connected this world with his. She belonged to neither, yet passed between them like the air around him. Part of him. Of course, she'd always been part of him, as much as the earth and the sea and the sky were also.

"Walk with me," he invited, looking down to the dark sand at his feet to see if her footprints were visible. No. That would have been disappointing. His shadow flowed, not upon the air or in it, but as the air. For years she had been there, lurking. He'd imagined what features she would take should she chose. A dark haired temptress or an angel with the hair the color of moonlight?

His breath caught as the wind pulled at his loose shirt and whipped the hair off his forehead. So faint, but he felt it, a trace of warmth, like the graze of her fingers over his cheek. When he turned into her, she was gone. No, not gone. Just returned to her place, always out of reach.

One day, he vowed, he would catch her.

What next? C'mon, tell me. Leave a comment on what you think should happen and I'll write more (against my wishes... I'm supposed to be editing (repeats that three times) but it was kind of fun to just... play)
Shan and Angie, you'd better contribute cuz its your fault I even reread that...and started this. *sigh*

Posted by Melani Blazer :: 9:44 PM :: 4 comments

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The ramblings of a lonely mind

Driving home from work last night, my brain started writing without me.
He felt her, the sensation whirling around him, mixing with the cold air off the lake. The mist was heavy, almost fairytale like in the way it hung just above the water and created a mysterious tone to this already incredible night.

*eye roll* what is That? Okay, I'll admit it. I like setting a scene. I'm a background painter. I like those fog machines and setting the lights just right. I want to orchestrate the sound of waves and song of crickets, or perhaps the noise of distant highway that somehow makes a person walking along a shore all the more lonely. Either way, I have way too much fun creating things like that up there, without having any purpose, scope or feeling for who this man is and who he thinks is there. (And I'm not gonna investigate because any man who's that into the fairytale mist is NOT someone I wanna write about!)

However, now that I wrote that, I'm itching to write REAL stuff. Ya know--the non-fluffy but still descriptive stuff that survives the edits and paints the scene in a more realistic way.

Of course, writing that I go. hmmm, what about guy-lit? Would anyone read a story from the guys pov, but still make it a romance/chick lit type? *groan*
I'm gonna go now. Clearly the ramblings of my lonely mind are getting to me. (And I really should be working since I'm actually on the clock!)

Whoops!
Mel

Posted by Melani Blazer :: 9:46 AM :: 3 comments

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Sunday, May 01, 2005 um.....WOW

I really thought a good night's sleep would help me organize my erratic brain cells and help me think of something organized and well, anything but scattered, to say about my RT experience. However, I'm still at the "wow" stage.

I can't say I learned a ton, but I met LOTS of great people--some I'd known on loops or from blogs, some I'd never heard of, but who turned out to be way cool. I was rather in awe that people wanted MY autograph. I just found it inspiring to be in the same room with so many of the authors I've spent so many years reading.

My camera disappointed me, the freshly recharged batteries passing out after only two pictures. I took some with my 35 mm, but I think there will be plenty of pictures out there, including some people would rather not see out there. *g*

My favorite moment: I'd just called Jaci to learn what room the EC bags were being stuffed and was nervously weaving in and out of people, looking for a familiar face. Arianna Hart was at the door and asked me something--my name/what I needed, I guess, but I didn't even get to answer her cuz this dynamo hit me in the chest with the most heartfelt hug I could have imagined. It was Briana St. James, my editor. Even if we didn't have a professional relationship, I think she and I could have become great friends anyway. She's a dear.

Jaci was everything I expected--and more. We've been friends for so long that it was a dream come true (no, really) to finally meet her. I was excited and very nervous, but all for nothing because as soon as we hugged, I knew that the friendship we share is of the truest kind.

To me, RT was a great networking opportunity, a true confidence boost (for me) and a chance to celebrate books. While I'm sure it happened somewhere, I count myself lucky NOT to have witnessed any snarkiness. No one sneared or commented to my face because I write erotic romance for Ellora's Cave. (IMO, we were very welcome at the conference and I was proud to be wearing one of those flashing name tags!)

Okay, I'm heading out to go pick up my pictures from one hour photo. If I can sweet talk my scanner into conversing with my computer, I'll get those uploaded somewhere and post a link.
Hugs!
~Mel

Posted by Melani Blazer :: 9:20 AM :: 1 comments

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