ROW80 check-in #35 – Trial and error

Finding a schedule that works for you mind, body, and soul is time consuming. Trial and error is a long process. Of course, once you find the right combination it’s also a battle to keep it going. With each round of 80-days I’ve tried different things and paid attention to the progress, the stress, and how each affected me. I like to think I’ve figured out a few things. So, did I stick with a plan that works or did I fall down in  this second week of 80-days? Yes and no, unfortunately.

My evil day job, which has been working me FOUR TIMES my normal hours the last three weeks, is supposed to be getting back to normal this week, my fingers are crossed. So what will I do with all my newly freed time? Why write, edit, and plot of course. Here is my concern, when you suddenly find yourself with some free time what do you do with it? It will be really easy for the hours to disappear into no man’s land, I can NOT let that happen. I need to dig into the discipline bucket and lean on what I’ve learned over my  three previous rounds of 80-days.

The Goals – week-2 results

  • Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters- done
  • Weekly progress in word count, editing, and/or plotting- I started out strong, three days of plotting or filling of holes and the rest of the week fell apart. WEEK-3 PRIORITY
  • Finish reading current craft book- I spent not time with Margie this week. WEEK-3 PRIORITY
  • Workout a minimum of three times a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit- done and I wish I could say that I’d kept this going between rounds, but I did not. I completely fell off the healthy journey wagon and was a big part of why I felt like doggy poopy.
  • Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week- Shimmy: vibrate and shake your shoulders, standing upright or moving front and back, as if you’re shaking water off. Relaxing your lower jaw, so that the neck and shoulder girdle muscles naturally relax, will allow your arms to hang loosely. Make your movements continuous, instead of jerky.
  • Finish the Nia Sanjana-routine bars and start the Nia Opal-routine bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)- no progress WEEK-3 PRIORITY
  • Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities- done, I had a bunch of bills to pay this week and many more reports
  • Organize something in the house each week-  done, I pulled all the clothes out of my boy’s closets that no longer fit. My oldest clothes I stored away for my youngest and my youngest’s clothes I’ve pilled together. Today I will finish folding and boxing for donation or resale.

What you might have missed here this week: 

Wicked and Wild Halloween Scavenger Hunt

Flash Fiction #27 – Always waiting

Flash Fiction #27 – Always waiting

Thanks for stopping. Another picture…another 100 words.

Free image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Her plan unraveled into a terrible mess. She played all she had and she couldn’t delay Mark anymore. His musk and charm confused her, he wasn’t the one she desired. His strong arms braced around her, trapping her in a puzzle she didn’t want to solve.

“I didn’t think you’d ever see through James, I’m glad I was wrong.” Mark kissed her neck.

She did see through James, but she didn’t want to give him up. Make him jealous, yes. Mark kissed her again. Pleasure spiked through her body and begged for her attention.

She looked back, waiting for James.

Hope you enjoyed my flash today!! Don’t forget to follow the link to get to the other FFF posts. Flasher Fiction Friday. Or click away on the links below.

Naomi Shaw: www.authornaomishaw.com
AuroraRose Andromeda: http://rollingmuseintheroses.blogspot.com/
Angelica Dawson: http://angelicadawson.blogspot.com
Benjamin Russell: http://incubuschronicles.blogspot.com/
Gemma Parkes: http://gemmaparkes.blogspot.com/

Wicked and Wild Halloween Scavenger Hunt

BTS Tours and Wild Child Publishing are proud to present the Wicked and Wild Halloween Scavenger Hunt. 37 blogs have linked together to allow you to hunt for 37 different words that will be hidden in each post, so at the end of the hunt you will have 37 answers to plug into the rafflecopter. Please DO NOT leave your answers in the comment section. We want this to be fun for everyone, and not take the challenge out of the game. So this is how it works.

All the blogs listed below will post their game piece on their allotted date. You are looking for one word (related to Halloween) to plug into the rafflecopter as your answer.

For Example: If you are on Close Encounters with the Night Kind, and find your word (clues will be provided for you in the banner) you log into the rafflecopter form and place your answer in the box marked Close Encounters of the Night Kind. Follow along the entire Scavenger Hunt and collect all 37 clues. We will be drawing for 4 $25 dollar Gift Certificates to Wild Child Publishing. Happy Hunting!!!

Title: Red Tail Heart

Author:  Kenneth W. Williams

Publisher: Wild Child Publishing    .

Length:   Novel

Sub-Genres:  Romance

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BLURB:

RED TAIL HEARTis a sweeping romance for a new generation, telling a story of faith, family, hope, hardship, and most importantly, love, all through one man’s immense struggle to reunite with his soul mate. The book will take the reader on an emotional roller coaster, but will ultimately leave him with the same faith in and hope for love that Chris regains by the end of the novel.

 EXCERPT:

“Game 3 series of the World: Yankees of New York 6, Cardinals of St. Louis, 2, no one ran home. Game 4 of the Series of the World: Yankees of New York 2, Cardinals of St. Louis 1, no one ran home,” Marie read.

I awoke from my long dream to a woman’s soft, gentle hand stroking my face. The warmth emanating from her hand against my anguished face brought more pleasure to me than I’d ever experienced. I felt wanted, watched over, cared for and loved for the first time in a very long time in my brief passage from the world of dreams back to consequential reality. I opened my eyes and stared into the tear-filled blue eyes of my French caretaker, Marie. Her long, flowing, black hair fell across her shoulders and hung just above me. Again I inhaled the scent of wild Oklahoma honeysuckle about her, one of my pleasant memories of home.

I looked at her with everything that made me who I was. My natural eyes saw a woman underdressed due to the harshness of war, barely fed, and tired from a long struggle against her nation’s invaders and against men who would invade her. The eyes of my heart, however, saw a soul mate, the other half of my unfinished self and every reason in the world to cling to life.

“I thought… I was losing…you,” Marie said in halting English.

“I have lost myself. Please help me find my way back,” I responded in a barely audible whisper. “Who won the series?” I asked.

She fumbled through some handwritten notes. “Game 5 of the Series of the World: Yankees of New York 2 and Cardinals of St. Louis 0. Dickey ran home for Yankee New Yorkers. Yankee New Yorkers are declared champions of the Series of the World!”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kenneth W. Williams was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma and raised there by his illiterate and twice widowed grandmother. While nothing was guaranteed to them, at the urging of his grandmother, he managed to go on to earn two degrees at Cornell University. Williams now resides in Connecticut with his wife and three children and works as an attorney and insurance executive. RED TAIL HEART is his first book.

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Schedule:

October 1 – Awesomesauce Book Club , Guilty Indulgence

October 2 – Reading Between the Lines , Beauty In Ruins

October 3 – Riverina Romantics

October 4 – Book Swagger

October 5- Reading and Writing Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance

October 6 – Book Devotee Reviews

October 7 – BookSpark

October 8 – Love is a Many Flavored Thing

October 9 – House Millar , Read 2 Review

October 10 – Literal Addiction

October 11 – S.J. Maylee

October 12 – Fictional Candy

October 13 – Sweet Southern Home

October 14 – Laurie’s Non-Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews

October 15 – Salacious Reads

October 16 – For the Love of Reading Reviews , Novelly Nice

October 17 – Pink Skulls Book Reviews

October 18 – Full Moon Bites

October 19 – The Bunny’s Review

October 20 – Romance Book Club . Com

October 21- The Jeep Diva

October 22 – Nette’s Bookshelf Reviews

October 23 – Beagle Book Space , Pippa Jay

October 24 – All She Wants and More

October 25 – Ex Libris

October 26 – Close Encounters with the Night Kind

October 27 – Herding Cats and Burning Soup

October 28 – Noracast

October 29 – TBR

October 30 – Reader’s Confession , Naughty Editions

October 31 – Speculative Friction

Six Sentence Sunday #37 – Answer me

Happy Six Sunday. Thanks for visiting this week and I’d love to know what you think. I have another 6 from my latest Novella BDSM WIP. It’s a sequel to the WIP I have been sharing these past many weeks. Last Week: while in Chicago for a conference, Janna gets a chance to enter a BDSM club for the first time. She’s found her escort in Master Simon. Over the last couple of 6s she took on her first order and received yummy after care. This Week: I’ve skipped a bit more, including Janna’s moment of honesty. In today’s 6 we get Simon’s reaction.

“Why, why would you do this?” He pushed her away, in part to get some distance and to keep her safe from him. “Answer me.” When she still didn’t answer, “Now.”

“I wasn’t certain…”

“You lied to me.”

Uh-oh, not good. Is this the end for Janna and Simon? Well, were’re only on page-10 of the WIP, so I don’t think so. Gosh, I hope it’s not.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!! I’d like to know what you really think of my 6. I need the advice, I’m a newbie and have much to learn. Don’t forget to check out the other Six Sunday authors. Lots of good stuff at Six Sunday and its days are now sadly numbered. I’m not crying. Try to find a new favorite today. happy hunting!

ROW80 -Round 4 2012- The Happy Goals

The last quarter of the year has begun. Oh, boy. In preparing for my forth round of eighty days I asked a lot of questions. Like many things we love in life, writing is a labor of love. To some it comes easy, to others, like me, we have to work for it. As each round starts I find myself re-committing to my goals, it’s an honest exercise. This marathon will test you, will try to push you down, pick you up and then slam you down. It’s up to you to wipe off the dust, dry the tears, and get back to work.

These last few weeks I have not been the happiest<– there’s honesty for you. I could give you the whys, but I won’t bore you. Let’s talk solution. What makes me happy? Being creative makes me happy. Writing makes me happy. Even editing, as hard as it is, makes me happy. Anything that keeps me close to my characters, molding their lives, makes me happy.

In my third round of eighty days I pushed hard. I made a lot of progress in that round and I see that know. At the time I saw only the things I didn’t get done. Trying and failing allows us to learn, right? We could fail and sit down and give up. OR. We can see a new way and try again.

This forth round I’m going for the positive, I’m going for the happy. The end of the year is always crazy, but I don’t want to lose ground on my progress. I don’t want to lose my connection to my characters. I have three WIPs in various stages of life. WIP-1 is in beta testing, WIP-2 is at the end of first draft, and WIP-3 really wants to get going. I’m not going to commit to a word-count this round. Although I have an idea of the word count I want to see in weeks I’m full on writing. But here is the reality, some weeks are going to be spent in editsville and others in plotting.

The goal list is shorter this time and that makes me happy. 😀 But there will be no slacking, only necessary breaks to smell the roses. I got these roses from my in-laws this week. I married a prince and he learned his tricks from two of the sweetest people around. They know how hard I’ve been working. They reminded me: You have to stop and smell the roses.

What do I want this round? Regardless of the activity, I want to see progress every day. Everyday I will make time for the things I love. Everyday I will enjoy life, I will write…or edit, or plot.

The Goals

  • Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters
  • Weekly progress in word count, editing, and/or plotting
  • Finish reading current craft book
  • Workout a minimum of three times a week and round it out with plenty of water, sleep and my calorie limit
  • Study one of the Nia 52-moves each week
  • Finish the Nia Sanjana-routine bars and start the Nia Opal-routine bars (i.e. studying the song/movement structure)
  • Stay on top of my co-op preschool Treasurer responsibilities
  • Organize something in the house each week

 What you might have missed here this week: 

LOOK! A Writing Challenge with Taking Chances

Review: Liv’s Journey by Patricia Green

Flash Fiction #26 – The beauty or the beast

Flash Fiction #26 – The beauty or the beast

Thanks for stopping. Another picture…another 100 words.

Free image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

No tears threatened to spill down her cheeks, the only sign of her restrained fury was the tiny twitch in her eye. The day would have been perfect, everything had been in place. She had it all, the perfect dress, the perfect setting, all their family and friends. Now it was spoiled, now there was no prince charming waiting for her at the end of the aisle.

Anger and revenge pushed through her veins, but she continued to sit and stare at the forest beyond. Her mind wouldn’t let go of all she’d lost when he walked away.

He’d pay.

Hope you enjoyed my flash today!! Oh, boy! I’d say he’s the beast, but the next 100 is yet to be written. Don’t forget to follow the link to get to the other FFF posts. Flasher Fiction Friday. Or click away on the links below.

Naomi Shaw: www.authornaomishaw.com
Angelica Dawson: http://angelicadawson.blogspot.com
AuroraRose Andromeda: http://rollingmuseintheroses.blogspot.com/
Christian Jensen: http://horrorwritingdaddy.blogspot.com
Dianne Hartsock: http://diannehartsock.wordpress.com/flash-fiction-friday-5/
Gemma Parkes: http://gemmaparkes.blogspot.com/

Review: Liv’s Journey by Patricia Green

Liv’s Journey:  Book 1 in the Journey Family Series
by Patricia Green
Publisher: Blushing Books Publications    .
Length:  115 pages
Sub-Genres:  Erotic, Spanking, Romance

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~  Google+ ~ Goodreads ~ Amazon

@PatriciaIGreen

 Liv’s Journey  at Blushing Books and Amazon

I have a spanking good treat for you today. I’m bringing you all kinds of information on Patricia Green, author of several books including the Journey Family Series. Below you’ll find my review on the first in the series, the blurb, a trailer, an except and some details about Patricia.

PLUS there’s a tour wide GIVEAWAY!!! Patricia is giving away 3 gift cards to Blushing books.  One for $30 and 2 for $10. It’s simply a comment to win.

My Review

This book caught by attention recently and I grabbed at the chance to review it. It captured my interest from the first sentence. Patricia doesn’t make you wait before she brings in some heat. It’s a quick read, but there is a story here. Liv has been a model for some time, but has recently given up the weight restrictions for the normalcy of plus sized modeling. Liv can eat like a normal person now, but the issues of weight linger everywhere. I could sympathize with Liz, she has a hard time feeling confident with her body. Trey doesn’t understand of course, her body’s beautiful, but he helps her with a delicious spanking. Trey is a wonderful leading man. He’s strong in his convictions and he doesn’t back down when Liv pushes his buttons.

There all kinds of spanking scenes, plenty of heat between Liv and Trey and a couple of side stories to fill out this book with intrigue. Trey and his brothers run a BDSM boot camp, but here you’ll find some good D/s and spankings. I mentioned that, right? Yes, some fabulous spankings. I frowned to see alcohol was allowed at the boot camp and it didn’t seem restrictive. But Liv is smart and puts the one-drink limit on herself, thank goodness.

I enjoyed this story and it was hard to put down. The majority of the scenes read very quickly. In looking at my rating system definitions I couldn’t decide between a 4 or 5, so this is a very solid 4.5. I recommend you read this book. I will most definitely be reading the next book in this series.

BLURB

Trey likes to spank and he makes that pretty clear early in their acquaintance by spanking Liv during a walk among the pecan trees. It turns out that Liv likes it, but he holds some back as a reward to be given at a more appropriate time. Not long after they meet, Liv finds out that spanking isn’t always fun—she gets mouthy and disrespectful in front of some of Trey’s friends, and he takes her out to his truck to teach her some manners. Unfortunately, while he’s spanking her, a paparazzo snaps a photo of her bare-bottomed and face turned toward the camera as she’s being spanked.

Liv is mortified and sure that her career will be over if that photo gets published. Trey feels guilty for putting her in that position, not to mention that his commanding officer is displeased with his behavior. They simply must get the rights to the picture so that it can’t be published.

BOOK TRAILER

EXCERPT

At first, there was a cool breeze on her bare bottom, as the pecan trees shielded her from the harsh sun. Birds chirped incessantly; it seemed like all the birds in the world came to Texas in the spring. Trey’s thighs under her belly were warm and hard and there was a growing lump against her left hip where his excited cock lay tucked into his jeans. As his hand passed over her bottom, Trey hummed softly. It was a sound of pleasure, a calm sound, a controlled sound. Liv’s heart beat faster, knowing what that sound presaged. The humiliation of being bare-assed and over his lap was nothing compared to what was to come.

The sharp retort of the strap on her butt cheeks silenced the birds entirely. Some flew away in fright. And it hurt, but Liv gasped not out of pain but surprise at the sudden smack. Even knowing that it was to come, the exact moment it fell was always one second before it was expected. The first blow was still echoing through her mind when there was a second, third, and fourth. Heat blossomed over her rear and a sharp sting became a bright bloom. She moaned as the count rose above ten, and she couldn’t help but squirm.

“Still, angel.” His free hand pressed down on her back to keep her steady. She couldn’t do it herself. Her body wanted to wriggle away from the pain. Or, parts of it did. Some parts, the parts that sometimes wouldn’t heed her better judgment, got wet and slick and very ready for the reward Trey would share with her.

As the count reached twenty-two, tears began to stream from Liv’s eyes and her moans became sobs. She wanted this spanking, she knew she both needed and deserved it. Tears would cleanse any lingering feelings of guilt over poor behavior and her reward for taking her punishment would be hot, hotter than her flaming ass.

Liv lost count after twenty-five blows from the strap. She knew her bottom would be striped and fiery red. She’d seen it in the mirror after times like this. Perversely, she wore those stripes like a badge for the day or two they lingered. She’d earned her pleasure. She’d paid for her transgressions. Conflict was over and only sweet contentment remained.

Crying freely, she sobbed and sniffled as the spanking stopped. Trey’s big, hot hand glided over her stinging behind reverently, and sometimes a finger would trace one of the welts left by the strap.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice thick and watery.

His fingers slipped between her legs and found her pool of excitement. Her hot face got hotter. “You gonna be a good girl now and mind when I’m tellin’ you to do what you know you should?”

“It’s a habit…”

“A habit we need to get you over or you’ll be miserable, Liv.”

His fingers dipped deeper into her pussy and explored a little. A wave of pure desire washed through Liv’s belly.

“Yeah,” she agreed, though her mind was on those fingers. They retreated slightly and slid toward her swollen clit. “Please. Trey. Please.”

She could hear the smile in his voice as he responded. “Please what?”

The last of her tears dripped onto the leaf-strewn ground. “Please, fuck me.”

He rolled her over on his lap and pressed her face against his broad chest. “You’ll have to wait until after.”

“After! But that’s hours from now!”

“Yup.”

She looked up into his face, hoping for a teasing look in his brown eyes. The crinkles at the corners told her that he was smiling, even before she noticed his grin. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am.”

“Trey!”

He slid his hand up her torso and cupped a full breast, his thumb flicking over her nipple as it pressed against her bra and thin cotton blouse.

“You’re being mean.”

“Maybe.”

She growled her frustration and squirmed, her bottom hot and itchy against his denim. One more try. “Please?”

“Nope. After.”

Trey did things in his own time, and in his own way. Liv was usually happy about that; she trusted him after all they’d been through. So she’d wait for her reward. After wasn’t so far away.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Having begun her writing career at the tender age of seven by publishing a poem in a children’s magazine, Ms. Green has spent many years at typewriter and keyboard. She’s the author of 14 published projects (13 ebooks; and one out-of-print traditional book).

Ms. Green resides in the Washington DC area, is married to her best friend, and is the mother of twin daughters.

She is a member of EPIC, the Erotic Author’s Association, and Erotica Readers and Writers Association.

note from S. J. : Liv’s Journey was provided to me for an honest and fair review

LOOK! A Writing Challenge with Taking Chances

The never to back down, martini lovin, Sandra Bunino has handed me a LOOK writing challenge and I’m up for it, I think, lol.

Here’s the details (which I get to share with five fabulous authors): Find the LOOKs in your current WIPs AND post the paragraphs around the word. Choose your favorite THREE, because everyone has to have at least three, in your WIP to post.

Best part is sharing the love with some of my favorite writers, they’re each worth checking out:

Dara Ames ~ Dianne Hartsock ~ Jenny Hickman ~  Naomi Shaw ~ Savannah Chase

I had no trouble finding three in my WIP Taking Chances:

#1 comes from Chapter 1 and is in Jake’s POV

Get control of yourself man, there will be no fucking. It was a pity, because the curve of her beautiful, full behind would look amazing with the red impression of his hand. She had the perfect pale skin to pinkin.

#2 comes from Chapter 2 and is in Lydia’s POV

He turned to look out the window. When he didn’t say anything right away, she took advantage and continued to watch him. His gaze became captivated by the ravine and his expression softened.

#3 comes from Chapter 3, you get two looks this time, JOY :), and is in Jake’s POV, but the line is Lydia’s

“Ha, easy for you to say.” She looked up at him. “What is it? What are you looking at, do I have something on my face?”

Before he could stop himself, he sat beside her and his inquisitive finger reached out and rubbed the corner of her mouth. His finger hovered between them, an inch from her mouth. She licked her lips, seconds ticked by. Nothing in the room captured his attention, but her devilish mouth. Her tongue reached out and licked his finger. It took forever for his hand to return to his side, the air between them had become thick with heat. He couldn’t tear his sight from her beautiful hazel eyes.

Hope you enjoyed my share. Big thanks to Sandra, that was fun. Be sure to check out Sandra (all her books are must reads in my book) and all the authors listed above. Besides being talented writers these ladies are some of the nicest around.