Okay, maybe it's just me, but I can become more turned on not by pretty words or flowers or even foot rubs (ooh, but that's a close one there), but by simply seeing a man in his element. By purpose or by coincidence, to watch a man, unnoticed, while he goes about his business is sexy as hell. He could be cooking, he could be working on a computer program, he could be mowing the lawn, it doesn't matter, really. There is something about a man who is focused on his task, who knows what he is doing, what he is about, that catches me. In my heart, and yeah, right *there*, too.
Earlier, I espied my man outside, in his flannel shirt, faded jeans, tousled hair, sitting in front of his lathe. His focus is entirely on the piece of wood he's transforming before him. Not me, not the weather, not anything but the whir of his machine and how his hands manipulate the tools to the block of wood, turning it into something amazing. Soon he cuts off the machine, stands up, stretches, *sigh* and brushes off the excess sawdust before sitting in a more relaxed position, now moving onto fine sanding or carving. His intensity is an aphrodisiac to me. When he comes inside the house, he'll smell of walnut or cherry or some other wood, and I can't help but bury my nose to his chest, wanting to strip him down right there, but instead dancing away with a low laugh as he trys to cop a feel with chilly hands. But man, later on, what he can do with those hands....whew.
So I keep it my secret, how I love to watch him work.
What about you? What seemingly innocuous task does a man perform that wets your whistle?
I sit here, writing to you, snuggled in new pajamas, cradling a hot cup of fresh brewed coffee in hand, while visions of white dance outside the windows. Picturesque. Sort of. In reality, my new pj's are cozy, but more for summer than winter. The coffee is hot, but the brew could be better (hey, I can complain as I bought and made it myself :) ), and the weather outside may contain swirling snowflakes, but the ground is wet and muddy and the white stuff may not last too long. I'm too far south to have anything consequential stick. Oh well.
Today, a normally bustling, hustling day, will joyfully be spent inside. The kids are gleefully ensconced within their own happy Santa gifts, the husband is doing his own thing, and I get to curl up in front of the computer. To write? To edit? *shakes head with a smile* No. Neither. Today I'm going to read, read, read. I've collected a sweet little pile of stories from the recent ARE 12 days of Christmas book give-away, or whatever they titled it. Either way, I'm going to pamper myself today and immerse myself into anothers story.
Thank you to the many writers out there, who work hard at your craft to give the gift of storytelling to another.
Have a happy day-after, and a safe one at that!
Oh, and to those who celebrate it, Happy Boxing Day!
I think I love Christmas Eve almost more than Christmas Day. On Christmas morning, everything is over, but on its Eve, the evening is an overabundance of anticipation. Especially if you have or have been around children.
I have a trio of 'em and let me tell you, their excitement is infectious. First, they wrapped the presents they chose for each other. I was thrilled to see their enthusiasm of this simple but important act of giving. Next came all the last minute preparations. One child furiously added tons of stuff to his Amazon wish list, another wrote a thought provoking letter to Santa with questions such as, "how do you deliver all the presents in one night?" while the littlest one plated a cookie spread with determined perfection.
Finally came bed time. This is, surprisingly, one of the easiest nights to get them to even want to go to bed. It may take them a few extra minutes to settle down, but they realize the faster they go to sleep, the faster tomorrow will come.
So now my little ones are all snug in their beds while visions of sugarplums dance in their heads (or visions of dirt bikes, Nintendo and Pillow Pets), and I'm soon off to greet Santa for our own Christmas magic.
No matter which holiday you celebrate this time of year, I hope all your dreams come true and that the lives of you and yours are filled with peace, love and joy.
~Ayla
I put down many thoughts for this blog and realized I sounded quite depressing. Yes, today is my birthday and yes, I am now 40. ~~Happy Birthday to me!~~
This birthday has hit me hard. Logically, I know there is absolutely no reason. I am no different today than I was yesterday, yet I feel...off-kilter, I suppose you say. I believe it's that I have to mentally wrap my head around this new number. In truth, I've not looked forward to this one. Birthday, that is. There were items on my infernal to -do list that I'd planned to have done or not done by this date. Oh well. C'est la vie!
As this day begins, however, I've decided I have to focus on the positives. That's what usually works to beat out the blues, right?
Let's see...I have my good health. I have a loving and supportive husband. I have a few amazing kids! *super proud Mom, here* I still have both my parents who can share in my birthday. I have terrific friends. And yes, I will be PUBLISHED in this amazing "40th" year. Really, who am I to complain?
So instead of moping about - which, with my family, would be an impossibility - I will do my best to liven up my day. I'll eat some cake and won't worry about the sugar. I'll decorate around the house, and most important, I will accept the love from my family and friends.
I hope your day goes as great and wonderful as I predict for mine!
I don't know if it's crossed your mind, but in most romance novels (of any type), the hero - or main hero - is usually an older man. In the past decade, most heroines are also edging upward in age. Late twenties and even into their thirties, if not older. I like this facet of romance. I wish this were truly the way in real life sometimes, too. With age comes wisdom.
As I grew up, my mother constantly told me not to hurry to the alter. Live life, she'd tell me. Enjoy being single. Date. Be free to do what you want to do. And I did. I didn't tie the knot until I was thirty, and I have her encouragement to thank. I'm glad I had those years to have heart-loves and heartaches, and at times, just a hell of a good time. Now my life is settled and most of my *ahem* "single" enjoyment comes from the words I read or write, but that's okay with me. Been there, done that, ya know.
I'm not saying that people who choose to marry young are wrong. I know several couples, even some of my relatives, who chose to marry right out of high school and seem to have happy marriages. Inwardly though, I shed a silent tear for them. It's a personal hang-up, I know. Everyone is different. Still, I cannot help but believe a person has to have time by themselves, to find themselves, if you will, before committing to another.
I take this so much to heart that I've even begun to instill this credo in my own children. I've told them all they are not to wed before they are thirty, at least. They're like, "okay, Mom." But last night, the four of us sat in one of their bedrooms laughing uproariously (me especially), because I suppose some of what I instill is hitting home. Each one of them shared with me why they weren't getting married: because their wives wouldn't let them play video games all the time or buy a certain "toy" they wanted or wouldn't let them do this or that. Through chuckles (they did get animated and were quite the exaggerators), I did amend that one day they would want to be married, but that yes, they would definitely want to do X and Y first, because with marriage comes change. In a marriage, you do have to think of others first. There's nothing wrong with that, but I believe if you haven't had the opportunity to think of yourself first, as a relative carefree single individual, then it makes life extremely hard to share with someone else all the time.
So am I against marriage as a whole, of course not. I'm just saying that it's okay to wait. Like the words we pen and we read, the right commitment is out there. If it's meant to be, it will be. Even if it takes time.
I love nights like tonight...where, right after an early supper, I pack up my notebooks (paper and electronic), kiss everyone good-bye, and head out to my escape place to spend all night writing. I don't have to think about the dirty dishes, I don't have the dog nosing my hand off the keyboard, I don't have the cats climbing into my lap, and I don't have the well-meaning family member sticking their head around the corner with a, "sorry, don't mean to interrupt, but..."
*sigh* I'm in a happy place right now. We have a small cottage, if you will, where I dash off to, one or two nights a week. It's simple, small, has electricity, and most important, I am completely undisturbed. I mean completely. If I'm needed desperately, I can be contacted via phone, but it'd have to be life or death to bring me back to the house.
When I head out on nights like this, it takes me a little while to get into the writing frame of mind, almost as if I have to convince my muse that it can let go without worry of interruption (because doesn't it suck beyond belief to get into the "zone" of your scene/story and have someone or something barge in. You can never get back exactly to where you were). But once my muse is settled, it flies so far sometimes I have a hard time keeping up. I am able to write/edit/develop so much in just a small amount of hours it amazes even me.
Tonight I just about wrapped up the edits to a paranormal/futuristic (I'm not really sure what to call it yet), and man, is it hot! Raw, tense, a little scary, but with an ending of pure love. I cannot wait to tell you more.
Until later, hope you have good musings and your own undisturbed writing time~
Hi World. Just wanted to drop a note to say that although I haven't been popping around too many places lately on the web, I am working. To date, I am attempting to put together a web site, I'm finishing up edits on a very exciting, very raw short story I hope to put out for submission within a couple of week, I'm trying to keep my inner reader appeased by picking up a book, or two, or three, to read. I'm also mentally reworking and planning through a blistering hot MMF story I'm going to pick back up on and finish once my short story is complete. On one hand, I know, it doesn't seem like much, but it keeps me running into overtime.
By the way, check out Romance Junkies. I'm so excited. On the main page (if you scroll down and look left), you'll see my cover! Excited am I! One more month 'till it's release. Forever it seems, but I know it's just around the corner.
Hope your holiday to-do's aren't strangling you too much. Ha, I haven't even begun our holiday to-do's. I need an assistant. Or a nanny.
Have a great Tuesday!
Do you, sometimes like me, wish for the simpler times? Yes, computers and technology and the web are great and necessary, but do you ever feel inundated with too much information?
For example, if I want a picture of, say, a bare-chested man, there are no less than thousands of pictures to flip through. Okay, this is not a complaint because, let's face it, it really isn't a hardship to sigh over thousands of bare chested men. Still, what started out as a five minute project turns into "damn, it can't be 5 a.m. already!"
All this to say that no, I have no bare-chested men on this blog, but I am busy working on my web site (when I should be writing, shame on me). I only pray that what should be a sweet and simple (ha!) endeavor doesn't derail my main purpose too much. That purpose being to bring to you highly erotic and fantasy-driven stories of love.
Hope you have a great day/evening~
So now I, too, have joined the millions in this Facebook era. And guess what? I don't have a clue! lol. Bear with me as I pick my way around and try to figure out how to use this apparently "friendly" application. Do they have a "Facebook for Dummies" book?
