Saturday Souvenirs - What IS it? An unusual #Giveaway

Good morning. It's been awhile since I've posted a Saturday Souvenir, but this is the first Saturday of the year and it would be fun to play "Guess the Gift". I think if you can correctly guess what it is in your comment on this post, I'll give the winner a swag bag full of conference swag and books. Sound good? Okay.

I received this item for Christmas this year from my 94 year old grandmother and I believe it's in its original box...from the 1970's. Here's the picture on the box.

I stared at it a long time, trying to figure out if she sent me this thing that looked like a hairy vagina because I'm an erotic romance author. In fact, it didn't look much better OUT of the box.

But then I remembered she'd once asked me if I still "wrote those stories with those nasty bedroom scenes" in them, and I figured she wouldn't be so crass. There were more pictures on the box, so I tried to guess from those what it was.

Still no clue, I read the product name in hopes it would shed some light.

Yeah, not exactly synonymous with anything I know. But then, I didn't live in Germany. In the 1970's. Or now, for that matter.

So, do you know what it is? Can you guess before you do an internet search? Comment on this post with your guess and a valid email address or Twitter handle, and I'll randomly choose a winner from the correct answers. The giveaway goes from Saturday Jan 4 2014 to 11:59 pm Pacific Friday Jan 10 2014, and is open internationally. You must be 18+ years to win and please void where prohibited.

So, have you used your Fluppi today? ;)

Saturday Souvenirs - To Ink or Not To Ink

Good morning. I'm starting a little late today, but I have a good excuse.

Instead of working on nitpicky edits (which need to be done but are a pain in the butt), I got distracted by designing a tattoo. For one of my characters. In my upcoming release, The Navy's Ghost. Yeah, sometimes I'll do anything to get away from edits. :D

So here's a little excerpt about the tattoo I was working on from The Navy's Ghost.

“I needed you, Magic, and you weren’t there. I needed you and Retro. I still need you.”

Her abject misery tore at his heart and he kicked himself for not paying closer attention. This is the woman you love? What the hell’s wrong with you?

“I’m here, darlin’. I’m sorry I missed it. Retro is, too, I’ll bet. How ’bout we make it up to you?” He reached around her to the end table where he’d dropped his phone and tapped the text feature to answer Jim’s earlier message. “How ’bout I make sure you’re back’s fine then we shoot the shit for a while? Sound good?”

He tapped out a text let Jim know he’d found Chris and right now she needed them. While most of the guys scattered to the four winds in search of hot pussy to take care of the adrenaline build-up after an op, Jim had tried to visit Ghost. And couldn’t find her.

God knows Retro could probably find pussy right here with Chris. Her offer still stood as far as Todd knew and he didn’t mind putting it to the test. The only problem lay in Chris’s inebriation. He’d never fucked a drunk girl and he wasn’t about to start the trend now. Todd hit send on the text and squeezed Chris. “You still awake over there, darlin’?”

“Yeah. I’m thirsty.”

“Let me make you some coffee and I’ll check your back.”

“I don’ want any coffee. Don’t you have something stronger?” She sat up a little, bracing her elbows on her knees.

“Not in this house.” That wasn’t strictly true, but her breath could light a gas fire and he wouldn’t encourage increasing her blood toxicity. “You still on pain meds for your leg?”

“Not if I can help it.” Chris shook her head. “They make me groggy and most of the time it doesn’t hurt that bad. God, my back hurts now.”

“Let me get the coffee started and I’ll take a look.” Magic filled the coffee maker with enough coffee grounds to make a thick sludge. He could almost hear his father’s voice say, Strong enough to put hair on your chest. His phone pinged with an incoming text and he snatched it on the way back to the couch.

On my way.

Todd nodded at Retro’s response. Good. He scanned the living room for his med kit, but he’d taken it back to the guest bathroom. Chris still sat with her elbows on her knees and didn’t look like she’d move any time soon. Magic retreated to the bathroom for the med kit and returned to the couch, setting the bag on the floor.

 “All right now. Let’s take a look at your back.”

Chris didn’t move as he slowly peeled the tape from her taut skin. The odd smell hit his nose again and he held back a grimace as he pulled back the bandage. Thick black lines etched a swath from hip to hip across her lower back in a Celtic trinity knot. The top pointed up her spine and the side tips dipped into the dimples above her buttocks. The central lines of the knot wrapped in an intricate heart pattern before straightening into the larger loops.

The artist had talent and the tattoo looked lovely against her skin. Magic tried not to imagine holding her hips while he fucked her from behind while staring at the crisp, black design. She’s drunk, remember? The coffee would help with her inebriation.

Damn, Retro better get here soon.

Sounds like Todd and Jim have their hands full and better make it up to Chris. But that was the tattoo I spent all day drawing. Here's what I came up with.

This is the first tattoo I've drawn from scratch and I'm considering putting on my own body after all the work I did trying to figure out where the friggin' loops went. Celtic knots are hard to draw and it made my brain hurt by the time I was done. But I think it will go great with the other tattoo I have.

I love permanent art, but it took me several years to find anything I wanted to leave on my body forever (because once it's there, it ain't comin' off). Mr. SM says tattoos are addictive, but for me it comes down to art that means something to me. See the heart at the end of the dragon's tail? It says paranormal romance all the way.

So do you like ink? Would you get a tattoo? And if you already have one, would you get another?

Thanks for stopping by. :)

Saturday Souvenirs: Halloween and Samhain Celebrations

It has been a long time since I've done a Saturday Souvenirs post, but I've missed sharing something fun and relaxing with my readers and thought I'd wish you a very happy Halloween and Samhain.

Halloween occurred on Thursday this year, so I stared the celebration with a new badge for #ThursThreads, my #flashfiction writing challenge. Several folks came out to write a little tale and won badges that looked like the cover badge.

Then my kids and I got dressed up for an office party hosted by Mr. SM's employer. I wore my Sabrina Foxglove outfit from The Beltane Witch, and Batgirl and Clawdeen Wolf attended me as we marched through the cubicle lined rooms. :)

Mr. SM saw something on Facebook and decided to use his DeWalt drill to carve the pumpkin this year. I raised my eyebrows at it because I wasn't sure it how it would turn out, but lo and behold, it was kinda cool.

I hope your Halloween/Samhain were delightful celebrations, no matter how you chose to celebrate and I wanted to offer blessings to any little ghosties and ghoulies for a very happy harvest season. How did your Halloween go and what costumes did you choose?

Thanks for stopping by. :)

Saturday Souvenirs: Sunshine Blogger Award - 2013

Happy Saturday Souvenirs! I received the Sunshine Award this week from a fellow flashfiction author Sheilagh Lee. It's an honor to be included in her list and I'm happy to share it with all of you.

As per the rules listed below, here are my answers for the Q & A questions…

Favorite Color: Burgundy - the color of sunsets, dragonfyre, and dried blood ;)

Favorite Animal: Coyote

Favorite Number: "5" - its lucky in that it matches my fingers and toes. :D

Favorite Non-alcoholic Drink: Coffee - hands down. No question.

Facebook or Twitter: Facebook for me. I like the ease of interaction and photo sharing.

Your Passion: Hmm, other than writing? That would have to be paleontology. I dig up dead things and identify them down to species by studying teeth left in the fossil record.

Giving or getting presents: Giving, unless it’s books, chocolate…or coffee.

Favorite Day: Autumn Equinox - when the days are still warm, but the nights are cool and the world smells like "October" even though it's still September. BTW "October" smells like leaves baking in the sun, pumpkin spices, and crisp mornings. ;)

Favorite Flowers: Geraniums for color, gardenias for scent.

Now to spread the wealth. All of the bloggers I've chosen are supportive, talented, and friendly bloggers, writers, and authors who are worth following/friending and getting to know.

Hennessee Andrews - @hennesseeandrew
Sandra Bunino - @SandraBunino
Randi Alexander - @Randi_Alexander
Gem Sivad - @Gemsivad
Sage Marlowe - @SageMarlowe
Theresa Breaux - @theresabreaux
Cara Michaels - @caramichaels
SJ Maylee - @SJMaylee
Sarah Ballance - @SarahBallance
J. Whitworth Hazzard - @Zombiemechanics
Daniel Swensen - @surlymuse
Teresa Cypher - @Teresa_Willow

If you want to join in the fun, and continue the process, the rules are to:

(1) Thank the person who gave you the award in your blog post.

(2) Complete the Q&A below in your blog post.

(3) Pass on the award to 10-12 deserving and inspiring bloggers, inform them and link to their blogs.

Thanks for stopping by and happy reading! :)

Saturday Souvenirs - Picture Inspiration for Siobhan's Stories

Welcome back to the Weird, the Wild, and the Wicked! Now that I've started a friendable page on Facebook, I thought I'd try to post a little bit about myself so that folks can get to know the person behind the stories I write.

Today I'm starting simple. I'm posting pretty photos of men (and women for my male readers) to show you some of the characters in my books and my upcoming WIPs.

For Her Devoted Vampire, this is my Bridget Shanahan and Fredrick MacGregor.

For Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack, Julianna Morris and Jeff Lightfoot.

For Not a Dragon's Standard Virgin, Isabelle Andersen and Jonarrion Swiftwind.

For Hell Hound's Fire, Sarah Flanagan and Alex MacLaren.

For The Runaway Vampire, Mischief MacGyver, Quintus MacGyver, and Istvan Sarkany.

For The Beltane Witch, Sabrina Foxglove and Darius Winterbourne.

For the Second Chance Succubus, Lady Aislynn, Nik Wolffe, and Chayse Wolffe.

Here's a towel for the drool. :) Thanks for stopping by and happy reading.

Saturday Souvenirs - Blog Hop Winner and Art

Happy Holidays to you all from the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked. I haven't posted a Saturday Souvenirs for a few weeks because I've been desperately trying to edit an MS that has been recalcitrant (stubborn) and the Muse whines a lot about all the other stories I could be writing. lol Some authors say there is no such thing as 'the Muse', which is fine for them, but right now the motivation to edit has been at an all time low for me, so 'the Muse' ain't talking much. :P

But I do have some good news. I have to announce the winner of the Siobhan Muir tote bag full of swag for the Evernight Holiday Blog Hop. Are you ready? Don't hold your breath now...

Donna Newman

Congratulations, Dawna! Everyone else, don't worry. There's more to come. I've sent the list of you to Evernight so they can add you to the drawing for the iPad2, so stay tuned for that one. :D

Okay, on the Saturday Souvenirs. To make me happier (and the Muse as well, lol), I'm posting some of my favorite artwork, whether photos, book covers, or original art pieces by friends and family. Hopefully that will jar my motivation back to editing. :P

I love the Steampunk aspect to this mechanical eye. It would make a great story, don't you think?

Ah yes, the dragon tattoos. I'm a huge fan of ink, but dragon ink is the best. :D

Special kisses always get my attention, but these two really struck me. ;) The artwork here makes me sigh from the sensuality of it.

 

 I love line drawings, but the watercolor above is from my oldest daughter, her choice of colors grabbed my heart from the beginning. Do you see the rattlesnake? :)

I like the two covers above, not only because you can find my name associated with them, but also the images and colors the cover artist used. Plus, you can get Naughty Nibbles for FREE at Evernight Publishing! :D

This image showed up in my feed yesterday and I was struck immediately by the action, intensity, and power of it. Damn, that guy is coming for you! It made my heart flutter and wanted a copy of it, preferably signed by both the author and the artist. It's a frelling awesome image!

So hopefully I'm now inspired to go back through that story and fix it so it's worth reading. :P Thanks for stopping by. One last question: When you have something to do and no motivation to do it, what inspires you?

Saturday Souvenirs - Ghosts of Halloween's Past

Good morning, readers! Welcome back to Saturday Souvenirs. Today I'm debuting my nifty, cool Saturday Souvenirs Badge made by Cara Michaels. Isn't it hot? :D I'm also taking a little trip down memory lane. Do you celebrate Halloween? I have done so since I was a kid and I've carried the tradition with my own daughters. We dress up and go trick-or-treating, and then make sure to drink apple cider and carve pumpkins.

Each year I try to dress up as something different because what fun is it to wear the same things over and over? In the last few years, it's been a little tricky to find costumes that are demure enough, but I've come up with a few things. Mr. SM is a good sport and often dresses up with me. :)

2008 Scottish Barbarian and his Lass

2009 Lost Boys and Girls Vampires

2010 Neo and the Mime from Hell

2011 Nevada Cowboy and his Starlet

2012 Las Vegas PI and Southern Belle

Thanks so much for stopping by. Do you celebrate Halloween? And if so, do you dress up? :)

Saturday Souvenirs: Electric Blue

Good morning, readers! Sorry I've been missing in my Saturday Souvenirs posts. It got crazy here for a while. But if I hadn't been doing anything, I wouldn't have anything to talk about. :D

Here's a little backstory (I promise, it's short). In 1989, I bought my first CD even though I didn't have a CD player to play it on. But I'd heard this great song that stuck in my head and I was determined to not only have a copy of it, but to see the band play it when they came to the city nearest my home. My best friend and I saved our pennies and bought the tickets to the Paramount Theatre in Seattle. The band? Icehouse, and their debut American album was Man of Colours. My all time favorite song of theirs, of course, was Electric Blue.

Are you hiding somewhere behind those eyes?

In that vein, when it came to buying an electric car, Mr. SM and I really wanted to find something that would suit our needs (we have children), looked relatively normal, and dealt well with summer heat (it gets really hot in Vegas). We didn't really like the Nissan Leaf because we have family in distant places and we needed a vehicle that could take us across the country if we needed to go. My folks have a Toyota Prius, but while it is a nice hybrid, it's got a big butt (I don't like big butts, and I cannot lie) and looks kinda clunky.

We didn't know if the Chevrolet Volt was even worth considering until a salesman who does a ton of travel swore by it and let us take a look at his silver Volt. It was sleek, sexy, four door, and silent. I was sold immediately. Again, we had to save our pennies (a LOT of pennies) and we had to pick a colour ;)

In the desert, you don't want to go dark, but everyone and their brother has a white or silver car. Unfortunately, all the really interesting colours, the silver topaz blue or the viridian joule (silver green) added $800 to the ticket and kinda blended into the sky. The black was, well, black and turned the car into a furnace in the sun. The crystal red was sleek, but you couldn't see the tail lights, and I prefer not to get hit, especially since you can't hear the car when it's on.

That left cyber gray metallic, which had the heat problem and looked a lot like a rolling piece of asphalt (again, the accident problem), and the blue topaz metallic. Guess which one we chose? :D

Woot! Talk a bout a sexy car! That's the official photo of it, but here's a look at it in our driveway (it's really there, you can tell by the chalk drawings on the concrete).

We loved not only the color, but the silence! All you can hear when you're driving it is the wind from the windows and the wheels against the road. That's it. Here's what it looks like in the sun.

The best part? We've driven all over the city and have used about 3 gallons of gas since we bought it. Wow.

Did you see that? 250 mpg!! *jaw drop* Thanks so much for stopping by for your Saturday Souvenirs. I hope your weekend is going well. Me, all I can say is "Road trip, baby!" If you could buy a new car, what would it be?

Saturday Souvenirs - Autumn Appreciation

It's finally autumn here in Las Vegas! What does this mean, exactly? It means the temperatures get down into the 80's F during the day and as low as the 50's at night. Woot! Trust me, that's low for us here. It means the autumn colors come out (in stores) and the pomegranates ripen on the tree so we can make pomegranate jelly.

It also means we decorate the house with bold colors. I love the changing of the colors (at least within the house). The kids love to help me wrap the banister with pumpkin lights, ghosties, and bats, and we hang a big wreath on the door.

It's such a pleasure when we get to visit with family more often (the holidays and all). Here are some of my favorite autumn photos from places I've visited over the years.

My youngest loved to wear that skeleton sweatshirt. I hope your autumn is lovely and full of warm fuzzy thoughts, and maybe some hot chocolate. I'm a huge fan of hot apple cider. What is your favorite autumn drink?