I got nuthin'. How about some music?

So I've been reading Christmas stories like mad and posting on Brief Encounters. I've read maybe one other longer book but I don't really have much to say here. I've also been piddling around on-line, I blame Kris and Kaasa for distracting me and not getting much constructive done. My house? Ack! Thank god I'm off next week. It needs some serious maintenance. I'm looking forward to having a whole week off work and staying home. I've never done that I don't think. We usually go somewhere the minute I get more than a day off. I have lots of last minute Christmas things to take care of though so I'm sure the days will fly by. 11 days in a row off work will be nice though.

My daughter is finished school at 10:00 tomorrow. Why they even bother going for 2 hours is beyond me. LOL Oh well. Just so you don't think I've dropped off the face of the earth here are a couple of my favourite Christmas songs. Years ago, like 20, I got this cassette set of Christmas songs from Reader's Digest and they were all really old and I've been hooked on the old classics ever since. I'm no so much a fan of Mariah, Jessica Simpson and the other pop stars warbling out their songs, but Bing Crosby, Perry Como and Kate Smith. Sigh.

I can't believe I found this one. Woohoo. What an amazing voice. KATE SMITH sings CHRISTMAS EVE IN MY HOME TOWN



Perry Como - Silver Bells



This is a short version but I love when we can see the original performers doing it live. The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole



Maye next week I'll post a couple of more faves. Have a great Thursday everyone and hope all your holiday plans are going smoothly.

Christmas is Near

So we spent the cold rainy icy day yesterday indoors and finally got some Christmas decorating done. I have to admit that as I get older I get less interested in decorating for Christmas. Sigh. It's not Scrooginess, it just seems like more effort than it's worth. I do it for the kidlet. I didn't put up any outdoor lights this year and probably decorated less than usual but she's content so I'm good.

No tinsel on the tree (cats eat it) but it looks pretty good. Those blue lights really light up. I think my mantle looks pretty good. The Santa right above the little tiny stocking (my daughter has a bigger stocking than that LOL) was one that my grandparents had when I was a little girl. He used to have an electric light inside him but now he just sits there. But he must be over 40 years old.

If you have a pic of your tree or menorah or festivus pole or whatever or a link to your blog with pics put it in the comments so we can all share the beauty of the season.

Nasty Weather Sunday

We are having some nasty weather here today, although I know now as bad as some places in the Midwest. But we have freezing rain and I think I'll be canceling my daughter's riding lesson which is out in the country. We need to get our tree decorated anyway. Every year I swear I have to buy an extension cord to plug in the lights. What the heck do I do with that thing every year?

Well, my update got interrupted by a power outage of nearly an hour. Ooops. Let's hope that's not the first of many. We started decorating in the dark (very dark outside) and once the power came back on we stopped for breakfast and internet. LOL We'll get back to it soon and I've been told no green balls on the tree this year. Okay, she's the boss. Hope everyone stays warm and safe if you're somewhere getting hit by the storm.

Just One Bite by various authors (54 pages)
All Romance E-books

This is a free book at ARe which has six m/m paranormal shorts in it. Hey, it's free, you can't go wrong. I'll just give a quickie about each story.

The Unlikely Vamp by Scarlet Blackwell - Zacariah is a shy vamp who has his servant bring him home a willing dinner. Unexpectedly, Andrew shows up for dinner, Zacariah is NOT gay, he's sure. I liked how this tipped things with the human pursuing him, having seen him in a vamp club. Sort of a GFY in reverse.

Sacrifice by J.L. Merrow - Hearing tales of virgin sacrifice at the stone circles from his mother, Damien is determined to sacrifice his own virginity to gain back what he lacks after his rich father's rejection of him when he came out. He picks up Rafe in a bar and has it all figured out. But maybe the riches he'll gain aren't monetary after all, but something deeper with Rafe. A cute story.

One Last Wish by Josephine Myles - A retelling of the genie in the lamp, when surfer dude Scott finds Xavier and his lamp. Rather than wish for things for himself, he eventually frees Xavier who grants Scott a few extra wishes. *eyebrow waggle*

Mayan Time by Erik Orrantia - Shane has always been compelled to travel to Mexico and visit the temples despite the misgivings on his family and boyfriend's parts. In a temple finds Hanab, his lover he left centuries ago to travel through time. To be honest I was a bit confused here as I wasn't sure he stayed, left, what really happened or was happening. I don't deal well with that kind of paranormal brain twisting. :-)

Fire Can Make Rain by Nix Winter - This is a fantasy story set in a kingdom experiencing a severe drought. To make it rain a prince must marry a virgin bard. Jewls is chosen and he's nervous but it turns out his husband has been watching him and wanting him for some time and must soothe his fears of their wedding night (which comes complete with an audience).

The Hunter & the Hunted by Stevie Woods - Damian is a vamp who's been pursued by hunter Aaron for some time. He tends to toy with him, often ending up in bed which makes Aaron nuts. Finally when Aaron knows that Damian could kill him anytime he wants, he tries to understand why and is surprised that vamps have feelings and fall in love too.

These were all pretty good little reads all by some m/m authors I've enjoyed or heard good things about. They are very short but on the whole I enjoyed them and they are like a nice light snack when you need a break and hey, as I said FREE!!!!

Hope and Fears by Rowan Speedwell (60 pages)
Dreamspinner Press

This is a follow-up to Finding Zach which I haven't read but you don't need to. Brian is the author who wrote Zach's book, he's now teaching in Chicago and wrenched his injured knee and goes to a physio clinic. He meets Jerry and he's instantly attracted but Jerry is clear, he doesn't do hook-ups and Brian doesn't do relationships. He also hates Christmas and is more or less estranged from his family since he came out. He runs into a drunk Jerry and ends up taking him home and Jerry starts to dig as to why he hates Christmas and his relationship with his family, acting as the catalyst to bring them together. What I loved what that I was just in Chicago and it described the physio clinic as right where I'd been, at the skating rink at Millennium Park, so I was all "squeee". :-) This one made me cry, although I thought maybe Jerry was a bit pushy about the whole thing and I likely would have walked out, but it's a sweet story about reconnecting and getting past old hurts and starting over. I'm sure fans of Finding Zach will enjoy this little peek as there is much reference made to Zach.

Yay, it's Paranormal Friday

It's been a crazy week. Hard to believe I was freezing my ass off in Chicago Tuesday and now I'm freezing it off back home. Sigh. It's supposed to get warmer, relatively speaking. We'll see. Busy weekend, time to put up the tree, we're going to some Charlie and the Chocolate Factory play on Saturday and Sunday is riding lessons again way out in the country. They do have the cutest kittens who like to walk on my netbook and type. Maybe I'll get a hit book out of them like the monkeys.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Stud by Brigit Zahara (73 pages)
eXtasy Books

Sasha is a high priced prostitute (who still works the street?) who gets picked up by mysterious Kyan who offers him $5000 for the night. He has the night of his life, but little does he realize that Kyan is a vamp and that he has chosen Sasha (fate has chosen?) to be his mate and does a little drinking, but not enough to turn Sasha. Meanwhile, one of Sasha's regulars, whom he doesn't really care for, is sure they are soul mates and is furious that Sasha turned him down for hottie Kyan and sets out to wreak his revenge, including attacking another prostitute. This was an okay read, but it mentions that all these guys coming to pick up men are rich, drive nice cars and are hot. Umm. If they are that great wouldn't they be able to get it for free, or if they want to pay I think they'd be using a reputable agency, not some possibly diseased stranger off the street. There was also a case of everyone being the most, Sasha the most beautiful, most talented prostitute on the block, Kyan the most handsome, most rich, most amazing lover (and vampire), the client the most evil, most demented jerk. And while Sasha's starting to weary of the life on the street, he's quick to grab Kyan's offer of forever more, after about 5 min. Oh and I think he had something like six or nine orgasms the night before. Wow. I will say it was an okay read but nothing that really stuck in my head for very long and is good for a quick read when you are in the mood for a vamp.

Delany's Catch by Diana Dericci (74 pages)
Purple Sword

Jake runs a book store and one morning, Delaney, who runs a body guard company, comes in to ask directions and is instantly smitten. It’s soon revealed that Delaney is a wolf shifter, and he realizes immediately that Jake is his mate, however he doesn’t want to freak him out. Jake has been celibate since his ex left him three years ago but is equally drawn to the hotness that is Del who commits to going slowly and not freaking Jake out with the shifter stuff. Things are going well for a couple of months, when he invites Jake to his family/pack BBQ. When one of the kids gets trapped in the forest in his wolf form, the truth comes out and Jake doesn’t take it very well, and Delaney retreated into a bottle unless his secretary kicks his ass. I do find I have a penchant for shifter stories. So sue me. J But I like the whole mate scenario and yes, the characters were pretty stereotypical - book geek, ex-army bodyguard. I liked that Del tried to be patient; he didn’t do the claiming thing because he wanted Jake to like him first, although by hiding it he obviously screwed up. So it’s an enjoyable read without much angst save for the short separation which is handled pretty quickly once Del sobers up. If you're in the mood for a shifter it's worth checking out. This is the second book I've read by this author and she has an easy to read enjoyable style for me.

I'm home and a reading update

Made it home yesterday. I really hate airlines. They make life so difficult. I tried to check-in using the kiosk and it said "your documents must be verified by an agent" so I get in line, wait wait wait, then the attendant goes "oh you have to be in that line". So I go in the other line which is the problem child line. People with every possession they own, tickets for the wrong day, pissed off at the service, expired passports, that kind of thing. I FINALLY get up there and said "Why am I here?" She had no clue. She printed out my boarding pass and I was done. Grrrrr.

Security? What security? I saw no one going through a scanner, saw one older woman patted down. As I was putting my shoes back on and gathering up my stuff I hear the guy who looks at the x-ray luggage going "Water bottle! Water bottle!" Where are the women who check your bag? Standing far away from the conveyor belt yakking about their weekend. Finally the guy walked over and tapped them on the shoulder to get their attention. Good think it wasn't anything urgent. Lame. But at least my flight was on time and I got home with only frozen feet (no heat on the floor of the plane). Due to a late furnace man I ended up staying home today.

I did get a bit of reading done. Well, I've been trying to keep up with my Christmas story commitments for the other blog, but I read these longer ones.

Stirring Up Trouble by ZA Maxfield (147 pages)
MLR Press

Toby is a bit of the wild child of the culinary scene in NY. Brilliant but always getting fired or quitting for some reason. His sister demands he pick up her kid and bring him to work, and it just so happens to be the night that a big food critic is there, when things go belly up, Toby is fired. He is blackballed by the chef but through a contact of his sister goes to a small diner that is on the verge of bankruptcy and more or less bullies chef/owner Evan into taking him on. Before Evan knows what hit him, Toby is making changes that are making them more popular and he's moved from sleeping in the basement to living with Toby, however Toby's impulsive charge-ahead nature doesn't go over very well with more pragmatic Evan. On their opening night, the critic who is out to ruin Toby shows up to make his life hell. I really liked Toby despite the fact that his behaviour manages to fuck things up, however his sister was oblivious. She got him fired once because she put her job above his, she had to work so couldn't pick up her kid and then she does it again on opening night. If she was such an important high powered lawyer she had to fly to Boston, did she not have a freaking nanny? I was starting to think it wasn't Toby who was sabotaging his career but his sister. You saw Toby go from youthful obliviousness of how his behaviour affected others, to realizing that he cared about Evan and wanted to make him happy not just charge ahead with his own agenda. A fun book and I see that Evan's twin's story is coming in 2011. I'll definitely be checking it out.

GI Joe Holiday by Amberly Smith (66 pages)
Dreamspinner Press

Deck is in training to be a Navy Seal. His family has served in the military for centuries and he wants to prove himself worthy. He believes if he can prove himself in the military then he can tell them he's gay and they'll accept him. He's called in and told he will be the model for a sculptor doing a commission, who happens to live near his parents so it's agreed he'll go during breaks. He's immediately attracted to Mason but he has a secret. Although things are rough with a long distance relationship, they grow closer until a mining accident near where Mason lives forces Deck to reveal his secret. I'll just say it's a paranormal secret which naturally freaks Mason out some. I really liked this one. I liked Deck who was very committed to being successful in the military, but he wasn't afraid to go after Mason once he decided it was what he wanted. I also enjoyed that his family was all about family, meaning when he revealed his sexuality, they were surprised but ultimately okay with him. I do think the whole paranormal angle could have been skipped and except for the big reveal it would have still been a lovely story about two very diverse guys getting together, but it didn't detract from the story either.

Chicago - My Kind of Town

Made it to Chicago Sunday. My flight was early. Go figure. Weirdest thing ever. Anyway, my friends picked me up at the airport and we did some touristy stuff. We went up in to the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) skydeck and had a look around.

This is that weird brown building in Chicago with the X's on it. I have no clue what it is. But you see it in pictures all the time. And the lake and other buildings. (Mikey told me it's the John Hancock building.)

Just another view of the lake and the downtown area.

Behind the tall apartment buildings is Soldier Field where they play football.

Just some weird triangle building I thought was very cool.

I loved this apartment building shaped like an S.

My feet, standing on glass 103 stories up. Eeep. It was really freaky to take that first step off the floor onto the glass. Your brain is screaming "No don't do it". Once I was out there it was fine.

The view from my hotel room window of the lake. Nice. I can also pretty much watch the TV's of the apartments to the left. I am that close. I should have brought my binoculars, I might have found something interesting.

Looking down there is this nice park near the hotel.

At night it looks even cooler. Beautiful city with all the lights. I imagine from the skydeck it looks amazing.

Part of the Macy's window display. My friends and I were all hyped to get to Macy's and see the "amazing Christmas displays". Umm. Yeah. It's the story of "Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus" but because we started at the wrong end it made no sense till we figured it out half way though. And beside the doll the background are all made out of paper. Interesting concept but to be honest I think my friend John's work puts this stuff to shame. It was average quality at best, I could probably have done some. So it certainly didn't blow me away and I didn't see very many people ooohing and awwwwing over it. Shame that.

Okay, the skeleton was pretty well done, but it's mostly just boxes and rectangles.

Tonight I discovered the all Hello Kitty all the time store. I did not enter. That much pink in one spot could have led to brain hemorrhage.

However I did go in the all Lego store and they had a lots of life sized (and beyond) sculptures in Lego. This was a full sized R2D2. Very cool.

And what's Star Wars without Darth Vader? He was HUGE. Probably at least 7.5 feet tall and all made out of Lego except his cape.

Apparently this giant sculpture has a name but it's referred to as "the bean". It's very cool, all polished metal and with the snow breaking up and sliding down it looked cool. That's very close to the hotel.

And that's about it. It's VERY cold here. Well, it seems cold. It was 10F this morning when I got up. I went shopping after training today and my legs were frozen. But not too much snow. Tomorrow is more training until lunch then I'm going to hit Macy's for a bit and maybe a couple of other shops and then head out to the airport which I hear might be a bitch of a ride during rush hour. I get home around 10:00 so it will be a long day.

I definitely want to come back though, but in summer. My daughter has been bugging me to come to Chicago so maybe this coming summer we'll see if we can swing it. Lots of fun stuff to do and my one friend is the nutritionist in a zoo so we can get a backstage tour which I would love. Hope everyone's having a great week.

Sexual Positions - What's your pleasure?

So last month I tracked eye and hair colour in the books I read and the consensus seemed to be (or maybe I wanted it to be) was that I should track sexual positions. So, woo hoo, go me. I did.

What was my data collection strategy? I couldn't very well record EVERY sex act, I wanted to have time to read too, so I went with the first incidence of anal sex in which a character bottoms. So in some books I would have two positions to record and in other only one. And of course in some shorts none at all but I didn't count that because I assume the characters have sex at some point, they are just being totally rude and refusing to allow me to watch. Bastards.

I only came across six basic positions, I decided bent over a desk or bent over a couch, was pretty much the same thing. I got:

• face-to-face (lying down)
• guy on top
• standing from behind
• standing-to-face
• sitting (similar to guy on top)
• hands and knees or on stomach

No, I did not run across any using the position to the left. Someones going to end up at the ER when they slip.

Statistically how was it? Out of 34 recorded acts:
16 face-to-face (47%)
7 hands and knees (21%)
4 standing behind (12%)
3 on top (9%)
2 standing face-to-face (6%)
2 sitting (6%)

So the question is, what does this tell us? Well, I'm assuming since we are reading romance, the face-to-face position is most prevalent because it tends to be more intimate, having eye contact and the ability to kiss more easily during sex making it more "romantic". In fact two or three of the books using hands and knees specifically noted that the character used it as a mechanism to maintain a distance with his sexual parter. In the books where there was a switch for the partners, not that many actually - probably because of all the shorts I've been reading, no time - in only one case was the second sex act the same position. So I guess that falls into the need to mix-it-up category, despite the implied intimacy of a face-to-face encounter.

Anyway, I wasn't overly surprised by the results I found. I assumed a majority would be the face-to-face encounter. I personally find reading it does add an element of "romantic love" to a scene, or it can, but I like variety too.

I'm not tracking anything in December with trying to keep up with the new blog and Christmas and my trip and ... Yeah. Busy busy. However I'm thinking January I might keep track of what their first sexual interaction is beyond kissing. Do blow jobs and hand jobs usually precede the buttsecks or is that an m/m romance myth? My life is tough huh? ;-)

Have a great weekend everyone.

Friday Update

To say I haven't gotten much reading done this week is an understatement. Between crazy work and getting the new blog up and running, it's been a bit unusual. I'm even behind on my DSP Daily Dose and it's only Day 3. Ack! I'm off to Chicago for a couple of days on Sunday and have a ton to do to get ready, but obviously I'll have time to read on the plane, but I've never been to Chicago before so a couple of friends are picking me up at the airport and are going to be tourists with me. Then two days of meetings and whisked back home.

I did however read one book and have a couple up over at Brief Encounters which I've linked to below.

Taste of Love by Andrew Grey (200 pages)
Dreamspinner Press

Darryl is a successful restaurant owner, and when business picks up he hires a desperate young man, Billy, to be a waiter. He's instantly attracted, but feels Billy is too young. Despite his determination to stay away, he can't help but be drawn to him. A misunderstanding leads to the knowledge that Billy is struggling to raise his five year old twin brothers following their father's death. Once Darryl gets past the age thing, and there is a good reason for his reticence which I won't divulge, things are going well. When Billy has to find a new place to live, they all move in together and are forming a happy family when it comes to light that maybe something hinky is going on surrounding the birth of the youngsters that could tear their new family apart. I do enjoy Andrew's style of writing and I liked both characters, Billy is very innocent and earnest and upbeat despite raising his brothers since his mother died shortly after their birth. I was pleasantly surprised, that when the crisis arose with the twins' origins, that it didn't get wiped away as a bit of a false drama. Sometimes there's an "oh my god, could it be true?" crisis which is then neatly solved with a "nope, we're fine now" ending that negates the whole drama. This doesn't happen here, and I think the way they had to deal with first the uncertainly, and then the reality of the changes in life, was handled well, but not overly melodramatically. This is a nice read which despite some serious subject matter, doesn't fall into a too heavy or angsty tone.

Click on the book title below to see my reviews at Brief Encounters Reviews.

Kid Christmas Rides Again by Eric Arvin



Picture Window by Dallas Coleman



Dinner and a Movie by Beth Wylde

Secret Santa Time at Kassa's Place

That adorable little elf Kassa is once again organizing her Secret Santa extravaganza. It's pretty straight forward, you put your wish list, e-mail, etc. in a comment and then you'll get someone else's info. You send them a book and someone sends you a book. Win-win.

Anyway, if you want to play, hop on over to Kassa's and sign yourself up. M/f fans are welcome to join as well, so it's not limited to m/m readers. Authors, reviewers, fans, relatives, children (well, maybe not so much children), pets, etc. are all welcome to participate. You have until next Wed. to sign up.

Hope to see you in the comments.

And today ... on the internet, a new blog is born

So we've been tossing some hints around, some small, some significantly less so, but today is the day. Jenre (who many know from her own blog she had, and from her reviews at Reviews by Jessewave and at Three Dollar Bill Reviews and me of ... here, and the occasional post at Wave's as well - must get on that) have started up a new blog devoted to reviewing short stories.

I am a self-admitted short story slut and Jen is also a fan. We find that shorts don't get much coverage on most review sites. Once in a while. but certainly not on a regular basis. I do cover them and Jen used to do her Saturday shorts, but our new blog will be nothing but short reviews, we mean that in all ways. Short stories along with short reviews. So click on our banner up top and stop by and say hi on our first day in our new life.

I'll still be doing my regular thing here, longer stories along with links to any shorts I post reviews for over on the other site and the odd other fun thing I do. We hope to make a few more converts to the short story genre.

If you have your own blog and would like to help get the word out for us, feel free to steal the banner up top as our advertising budget is limited. Like zero. :-)