Sunday, February 22, 2015

I'm In Love








I’m in love. No, not with my honey, though I do love her. I’m
in love with Ed Sheeran’s video Thinking Out Loud. I love the song too. I know what you’re thinking. Uhm, Mila, that video has been out for at least four months, what took you so long? Well to be
honest, I’m kinda old and can’t keep up with what’s going on in music. Most of the time I’m like ‘who the heck is singing now?’. I kid you not, I thought Hozier was Elton John. Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran has been on my periphery for a couple of years. I mean I knew he was besties with Taylor Swift, I knew he was a singer and I knew he looked like a Muppet. He was famous, but I just didn’t
know why.

Turns out I love his music. I didn’t know until a month ago the guy who sang the painful A Team
was the same surprisingly soulful dude who sang Don’t (and it took me forever to figure out the title of that song, thanks YouTube). Then it blew me away yet again that Ed sang and wrote Thinking Out Loud. It is my new favorite song.

Being kinda old, I don’t watch music videos like I used to, but I wanted to hear Thinking Out Loud
yesterday so I went to my beloved You Tube. That’s when I fell in love. Did I say Ed Sheeran looked like a Muppet? Well the man dances like a sexy mf. I mean, I knew he could sound sexy as hell because of Don’t, but when you marry his voice, lyrics and moves you have to stop and fan yourself a bit. Or at least I do every time I watch the video, and I do, a lot. It helps that the girl he’s dancing with is also sexy as hell and together they have great chemistry and make this perfect, romantic sensuous couple. Seriously, it is probably the most erotic thing I’ve seen in a long long time
(and yes, I did just see Fifty Shades of Grey last week).

So, if you’re in the mood for romance or want to feel that tingle of lust, but you only have five minutes, go check out Thinking Out Loud, you won’t regret it. I promise!

Monday, February 16, 2015

Aint She Sweet?


My honey has been sick for over a week, some type of sinus cold/ear infection thingy. Gross, I know. And despite feeling like hell, not only did she still celebrate Valentine’s Weekend with me; she made it all about me. First, she took me to see Fifty Shades of Grey (which I really enjoyed, though there was a lot of nudity, I mean a lot). Honey had no desire to see the movie, didn’t even know what it was about, but she knew I had been waiting with baited breath for it to open. She was a little scarred (did I mention there was a lot of nudity?) but she survived. She wasn’t thrilled to find out there are two more movies to come. I told her she didn’t have to go with me next time.

Next, she took me on an outing to the casino and gave me some spending cash. She knows mama likes to gamble, even though I’m really bad at it. I lost all her money pretty fast and she kindly fronted me some more. I lost most of that too, though I did recoup a little in the end. In my defense, she lost way more than me. The problem was we had reservations at the casino restaurant and well waiting for our table around all of those blinging machines was way too much temptation. Thankfully, dinner was delicious, though long—a six course meal that lasted beyond my honey’s stamina. She was whipped by the end, so I gladly took her back to the hotel room. We had a Jacuzzi room, which was fun, though apparently we were in the party central hotel. You know you’re old when you’re in bed before nine and you’re wondering why the hell everyone is making so much noise.

The piece de resistance, she went with me to see Barry Manilow on Sunday. She doesn’t particularly like Barry, but she knew I really wanted to see him, so she swallowed most of her sarcasm and watched the old guy do it one last time. I must say, Barry’s voice is in fine form and if you get a chance to see him in concert, go. This is of course his retirement tour, so you’ll have to go soon. Confession, I totally teared up when he performed Mandy. He essentially did a duet with himself from forty years ago. You had to be there. And my honey was, with me, even though she’d rather be at a Neil Diamond concert.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Oh Fifty

I cannot tell a lie, I can’t wait to see Fifty Shades of Grey. I’ve been waiting for it since the moment I knew they were turning one of my favorite books of 2011 into a movie. I’m proud to admit I was on to the Hot Mr. Grey before everyone and their mama decided they had to read the books because, well everyone and their mama was reading them. I’ve had all kinds of discussions about them ranging from whether they are true fan fiction to why the hell they are so popular.

I contend there are three reasons why the trilogy took off like hot cakes. Some folks read them just so they could see what the brouhaha was all about. I don’t understand that since for me books are so personal and I have no desire to read something just because someone else is reading it. Others read the books because of the supposed “taboo” sex. I’ve got to say America is really deprived if the sex in the FSOG books is considered taboo. I’m just saying. But really I think the books became popular because the trilogy resonated with women. They are romances, plain and simple. Women love love and if you wrap it in a rich hot guy who falls for an average girl, you’ve hit just about every girl/woman’s fantasy.

That isn’t a bad thing. Romance isn’t a bad thing, though a lot of people want us to feel ashamed about writing, reading and watching movies about it. I’m thrilled that a romance has taken America by storm, even if many originally indulged because they thought they were going to read about something racy or because they didn’t want to be left out of the national conversation. I know there are a lot of romance writers, particularly fetish writers who bitch about FSOG being a bogus BDSM book but I think they should be getting on their knees every night thanking E. L James (and Stephenie Meyer). I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone on reader forums or read reviews and folks have said they started reading the genre because of FSOG. The more folks who read BDSM romance, the better the chance that some of those people will also read regular romance. Hey, maybe someday they’ll even read my books.

And for that I am grateful. So thank you E. L James for bringing romance to the forefront of everyone’s mind and creating more romance readers, by any means necessary. I just hope I like the movie half as much.

 

Monday, February 2, 2015

Make It or Break It


As a reader it has occurred to me that the hero of the romance novel makes it and the heroine breaks it. Let me explain myself. Think of your favorite romance. It could be a historical, a suspense or even a paranormal. I bet it has a kick ass hero. Kick ass is of course subjective, but I’m sure he’s the type of guy you could fall in love with. In fact, I bet you did fall in love with him. Whether it is because of his great looks, amazing physique, his sense of humor or how he treats the heroine, he is somebody you’d love to be trapped in an elevator with. He takes the book to a whole other level, from really good, to love it love it great. I contend Christian Grey is the reason thousands of women love Fifty Shades of Grey and not that contract, or the Red Room of Pain, the toys, or even Ana. They fell in love with Christian. When a book is awesome we fall in love with the hero and want to go with him anywhere (and everywhere).

Ever read a book and all you want to do is throw it at the wall, delete it from your e-reader, hell delete it from your brain? I bet it’s because the heroine broke the book. She’s either too bitchy, too sweet or the most hated of all, too stupid to live. And she’s ruined the book for you. You can figure out why such a great guy like the hero wants to spend time with such a skank/ass/idiot. Even though you like him, you can’t bear spending one more minute with her, so you have to kick them both out of your life. Yup, she just broke that book.  I once stopped reading a paranormal because the hero and heroine were soul mates and the heroine was in search of the hero in the beginning (she finally finds him). In the course of reading the book I find out that she isn’t a virgin. This is typically not a problem, except she’s only 21 AND SHE KNOWS SHE HAS A SOULMATE. That bitch broke my book.

As a writer I have to keep these two facts in mind. I need to create heroes you want to spend hours upon hours with (even when they are girls :) and heroines who you don’t want to leave on the side of the expressway. It is a hard balance, particularly when I find myself falling in love with my heroes and my heroines are just random chicks I put in place so I can play with Mr./Ms. Perfect. It can be a problem. I have to remember to not let her break the book. Because if she does, you’ll probably break your Kindle throwing it across the room. And I don’t want to be responsible for that J.