Saturday, July 12, 2008

Getting’ Naughty – Watch Some Porn



As taboos go porn is still way up there on the list even though attitudes toward erotic visual arts are changing. Many women think of porn as something dirty for guys to keep hidden and watch by themselves. For just a moment set aside any objections, moral or otherwise, and look at it from a different perspective.

If you are here reading this blog then most likely you read erotic romance stories. Most female readers will tell you that they want the romance and happily ever after. Some may admit to enjoying the hot and explicit sex scenes. A few may even tell you that the books turn them on. As both a reader and writer, I can tell you that you are likely to learn a few new techniques and develop some new fantasies from the visuals created by the authors’ words.

Now think about those porn videos again. Are they that much different than the images running through your mind while reading? Some of the videos do have plot and even a bit of romance, regardless of the primary focus being on the sex. And oh my, the things you can learn by watching the pros at work!

Go ahead, find one of those videos your guy has stashed around the house and see what I’m talking about. If the over dramatic moaning turn you off then hit the mute button. Ah, that’s better, but it’s also one of the first lessons porn will teach you—enthusiasm.

A common theme you will see is that porn starlets abandon themselves to pleasure. They are uninhibited and willing to try anything once, twice if it’s good. And they let their partner know how good it is through both verbalization and movements. They take the initiative and let him know when he’s discovered one of those oh so sensitive spots. They also share what they desire in the heat of the moment without embarrassment.


Let’s face it, if you show no enthusiasm he’s going to get bored. He may even think you’re not enjoying yourself. Sex is natural and pleasurable. Enjoying it doesn’t make you a slut. Express yourself!

Now, turn the volume up and listen to the dirty talk. Something very important you can learn from watching porn is offering praise. Verbally stroking his ego is guaranteed to heat him up. If in the moment you can’t think of compliments just say what’s running through your mind. For example, if the way he’s stroking you feels good then say so. Ask him if he likes what you’re doing to him.

Another lesson you’ll learn is that porn starlets are not afraid to touch their bodies and they know how much men like to watch. There are many benefits to sharing a bit of self-stimulation with your partner. It can be a major turn on to watch as your partner masturbates. You will also be learning exactly how he likes to be touched while teaching him the same about you.

Men are visual creatures. We know this, now its time to do something about it. Look at what that porn babe is wearing before the clothes start getting peeled off. Yes, her 6” high acrylic heels look uncomfortable and impractical. So what! They are sexy as all get out and if you are wearing them to bed nobody is going to expect you to walk in them. While you are shopping consider picking up a few toys to enhance the fun, and buy some sexy lingerie that flatters your figure.


Finally, porn starlets don’t wait for a special occasion to focus on their guy’s pleasure. They don’t just take, they also give. He doesn’t get a blowjob as reward for having done the dishes either. And from the way the porn star worships her guy you’ll see she gets turned on by giving him something he likes. Whether it’s your favorite activity or not you can make it even better for him by giving it your all. Make eye contact. Use those new verbal skills. Let him know how important his pleasure is to you and how much it excites you.

If you feel self-conscious about watching a video with him then take the time to view a few by yourself first. You’ll quickly pick up on the common way the scenes progress. Then when you’re comfortable watch one with him. Tell him what actions turn you on, but also what turns you off. By discussing likes and dislikes you’ll discover a new level of intimacy, openness and trust in your relationship, as well as a whole lot more mutual pleasure.

Friday, July 11, 2008

The R-O-M-A-N-C-E of ETERNAL LOVE



In the famous words of Freddie Mercury, "Who Wants to Live Forever? Who dares to love forever?"

And his song was immortalized (sorry for the pun) by the movie The Highlander followed by the TV series.

One thing about the paranormal, immortality is a big plus when it comes to creating the mood for paranormal fiction.

The idea of remaining young forever appeals to us in oh so many ways. Lifetimes to do all the things we will never have time to do in just one human lifespan. Tall dark and sexy who can never die is beyond appealing. Such a character captures our imagination. Especially when he is completely undone by the heroine.

A man who has lived hundreds of years, had countless lovers and yet, all it takes is the heroine to look at him and he is just as vulnerable as a mortal. Perhaps moreso. And how is he going to make sure his beloved lives forever with him? If he's vampire, we know how he's going to do that. Same thing for a werewolf. Both beings have been well-defined in movies and literature so we have a cultural understanding on their worlds.

Back to Freddie and his song and The Highlander. What tugged at my heart the most with Duncan besides his incredible sexy good looks was the fact his love could not transform his beloved into an immortal. He was doomed to fall hard and then suffer the eventuality that he would indeed live forever (if he could keep his head on his shoulders) but his love would age and die.




So when Who Wants to Live Forever was selected for the movie and TV series, it was a perfect blending of that angst the immortal Highlander was constantly fighting. A battle he would always lose.

Fortunately in ROMANCE fiction, our heroes always find a way to take their heroine into that world of immortality and never have to suffer that loss. If they do, it's merely temporary because we all know there will be HEA (Happily Ever After) ending for our immortal pair.


Thursday, July 10, 2008

Sex - it does the body good

Forget the milk. Well, save it for the cookies afterwards but today the focus is on sex. And why not? It's good for you. Think I'm kidding? Would I kid about news this excellent?

Researchers at the University of Texas published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, the findings from a study they conducted last year that proves making love isn't just something to make you feel good. It's good for you!

And just HOW good?

1. It improves your mood: (no duh!)
veryone probably already knows that in a great bout of sex, the body releases endorphins, those great little "happy chemicals" that improve mood.

2. It aids sleep.
During orgasm the body produces oxytocin (a hormone that's linked to a lot of positive psychological and physical affects, including its beneficial impact on sleep. So next time insomnia hits, either reach for the man or the vibrator. You'll snooze a lot better.

3. It fights stress
Aside from the obvious pleasure derived from sex which is a stress fighter, it's thought that sex has a biochemical effect and reduces the levels of cortisol which is the hormone that secreted when you're under stress. Sex and de-stress:) Works for me!

4. It boosts your immunity.
No kidding! Having sex once or twice a week has been linked with higher levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin A, or IgA, which can protect you from colds and other sorts of infections. Hey now, I want a strong immune system. Oh honey man .....

5. It reduces the risk of cancer.
Say what? I'm serious. According to the British Journal of Urology, frequent ejaculations may reduce the risk of prostate cancer for men in later life. Researchers found that men who had at least five or more ejaculations weekly during their twenties reduced their risk of getting prostate cancer by a third.

Research also suggests that regular sexual activity could help women to avoid breast cancer. A study conducted in 1989 examined 146 French women and found a higher risk of breast cancer in those women without sexual partner or who had sex less than once a month.


6. It helps alleviate pain
Yes, sex has been linked with a pain reduction for a wide range of conditions, including lower back pain, migraines, arthritis and premenstrual syndrome symptoms. It's all down to those hormones again. It increases endorphin es, the body's natural painkillers.

In 2001 there were two studies on orgasms and migraine headaches in women and men. Researchers discovered that for both orgasm resulted in pain relief. And an earlier study of 83 women who suffered from migraines reported that orgasm resulted in pain relief for more than half of the group. Although this form of pain relief is less reliable and effective than the use of drug therapies, the effects of orgasm as an analgesic are more rapid.

Oh honey, I feel a headache coming on. Quick, to bed!!

7. It burns calories.
Okay, I'll confess, this one made me grin in glee. I'm always on the lookout for fun ways to burn calories. Of course, it needs to be fairly energetic to burn more than 100 calories in half an hour. But generally you can burn 85 calories or more in half an hour. Works for me!

8. It increases longevity
One of the most extensive studies into the relationship between sex and mortality was carried out in Caerphilly, South Wales, from 1979 to 1983, with a 10-year follow-up. In the study, 918 men were given a physical examination and asked about their frequency of orgasm. After 10 years it was found that the mortality risk was 50 per cent lower among men who had frequent orgasms – which was defined as two or more per week. The study also found that, even when adjusting for age and other risk factors, frequent intercourse was associated with lower incidence of cardiovascular disease and stroke.

So there you have it. Sex DOES do the body good. And with that, I'll wish you all a great evening, night, morning or afternoon as the case may be.

Big hugs!
Ciana

Oh honey man...let me tell you what I just found out :)

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Magical Sex (and now that I have your attention...)



Hi there! I’m Stephanie Julian and I’m thrilled to be visiting with The Hussies today. Thanks for allowing me to play, ladies.

Ideas are funny creatures.
Sometimes, they come out of nowhere like a bolt of lightning. You catch sight of a guy pushing a stroller with twins and carrying a baby in a chest pack and wham! You’ve got the plot to a book. Sometimes it takes a little more time rolling around in your head for an idea to form into a coherent plan.

A few years ago, I had an idea for a story about witches and fairies and magic. I bought a few research books, all of which dealt with Celtic themes. I started writing my story but it wasn’t coming together and I couldn’t put my finger on why. Until the day I realized that every single book I’d read with fairies were a variation on the same theme—the Celtic theme.

I didn’t want to be one of the pack. I wanted to write with a new twist. Now, I’m Italian on my dad’s side and Pennsylvania Dutch on my mom’s. Don’t piss me off because I can hold a grudge for months but you’ll never know about it because I’ll keep it bottled up until I’m damn good and ready to tell you. And when I do finally blow, it’ll be like Mount Vesuvius.

I’ve always identified more with my dad’s family, probably because I have about a hundred family members on that side and literally none on my mom’s side. I’m Italian first.
So that’s where I looked for my inspiration. And found it in the Etruscans.

We don’t know a lot about the Etruscans but what I found was a perfect fit for my purposes. They worshipped gods and goddesses. The Romans actually assimilated many of their deities when they created their own. They practiced magic, divined future events by the flights of birds or by sacrifice and were a fiercely liberal people whose women enjoyed the same rights as men. (Not so for the Greeks and Romans who, for all their talk of democracy couldn’t even be bothered to give their daughters names that weren’t variations of their father’s.)

The Etruscans were tailor-made for me to write sexy, magical stories featuring linchetti (night elves), salbinelli (satyrs) and folletti (fairies).

All it took was a little research out of the box.

The Etruscans aren’t the only mysterious civilization out there. Europe and Asia were filled with them. Somewhere in your background is the kernel of a story waiting to be found.

This Friday, the second book in my Magical Seduction series from Ellora’s Cave, SEDUCED IN SHADOW, will be released. The first, SEDUCED BY MAGIC, introduced this secret Etruscan society still thriving in contemporary times.

SEDUCED IN SHADOW takes you further into the world, with sizzling hot linchetto Antonin de Feo falling for the beautiful daughter of the Etruscan God of the Forests. Only problem is Fiorella Johannson doesn’t have a clue about who her father really is.

Of course, there’s a bad guy on their tails, lots of really hot sex, magic and a salbinelli named Salvatorus who…well, you just have to meet Sal to appreciate him.

For an excerpt, come to my website at http://www.stephaniejulian.com/ and check out my world.

Friday, July 04, 2008

EKK!!! It's NUMBERS!


Numbers play such an unconscious role in our lives yet many people do not place much value on numerology. For me, it’s like acknowledging the seasons and interconnection of our world, the moon and its phases, but then saying humans are unaffected. We have every element that is found in this world within our bodies. So scientifically, we are definitely connected in a very intimate way to everything and to each other.

So how do numbers figure into this? While I was meditating, it hit me that the world is a big group of numbers. It was such an eye opener that I had to share.
For example: We are governed by numbers. Don't believe it? Do you keep tabs on how much you weigh? How many pounds you’ve lost? The balance of your bank account. How much an item costs? Percentages such as tax, profit margins and fat content in milk. I mean, we count calories, carbs, protein grams. We’re concerned about the number in our cholesterol, our blood pressure, our temperature. We are given meds that we take three times a day for so many days.

We live in houses comprised of a number of square feet. Our address is comprised of numbers. A loan for a house is based on how many numbers we have in our credit rating, debt to income ratio. Our vehicles get so many miles to a gallon. We travel a number of miles per hour. We live our lives based on where the hands point to the numbers on the clock or our digital clock flashes. Radio stations are found at certain numbers as TV channels. We call each other on the phone by using a series of numbers. We have a social security number. We count words, number of pages and number of books we've read or written. The binary system of computers is typically just two numbers - 0 and 1. And the list goes on and on.

So whenever we consider a name equaling a number value, it really isn’t so strange. And, your name and your birthdate play an important part in helping us understand why we do the things we do. Even just the consonants and vowels of your name have specific meanings.

Vowels are your soul numbers which can reveal where your soul has been before and where you are on the wheel of development. In ancient times it was widely believed that vowels were sacred and forbidden to even be written. Vowels give us a glimpse into the Soul and its “Heart’s Desire”. (Similarly in astrology this would be the sun sign you were born into.)

The consonants depict the outer persona, your “Personality”. (In astrology this is your rising sign.) Know someone who is arrogant and childish? Well, that person has probably not had many lives and is considered a reincarnated baby of sorts. So we need to have more patience with them and forgive them when they throw their tantrums. After all, they are just starting out. (G) Just as someone who appears too old for their years may have been here many times before.

“Expression Number" or “Soul’s Desire” -So who we are inside and out can often be in conflict. So what happens when we combine the number of the vowels and consonants? The number reveals the individual and how you express yourself throughout life. It’s your full name given to you at birth.

Your “Life Lessons” or “Life Path” is assigned to the numbers representing your birthdate. This will reveal what you are here to do. Your purpose and goal in life.
When the bithdate and name numbers are combined we then get a complete picture of self and its relationship to the world and where and how self will move through life.

So the next time you are in traffic and see a license plate or a street number or a speed limit, just remember, we are all numbers. (VBG)

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Just for Fun

You know all those catch phrases from television we've heard for years? Well, what would happen if you took some of them and made kind of a little story out of them?

I thought it might be fun to find out. So, here's a list below. The person who comes up with the best story out of these catch phrases will win a reader's cboice download of ANY Ellora's Cave or Cerridwen Press book - on me.

So put on your thinking caps. The contest ends on Monday:)

Your list:

"Nip it!"
"Yeah, that's the ticket"
"I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl ...
"God'll get you for that"
"I love it when a plan comes together"
"This is the city ..."
"The truth is out there"
"Welcome to the O.C., bitch"
"You eeeediot!"
"The tribe has spoken"
"Bam!"
"Denny Crane"
"I know nothing!"
"Good night, John Boy"
"Who loves you, baby?"
"Gee, Mrs. Cleaver ..."
"I can't believe I ate the whole thing"
"Say good night, Gracie"
"What you see is what you get!"
"You rang?"
"Danger, Will Robinson"
"How YOU doin'?"
"Is that your final answer?"
"Read my lips: No new taxes!"
"Two thumbs up"
"You look mahvelous!"
"Well, isn't that special?"
"Oh, my God! They killed Kenny!"
"It keeps going and going and going ..."
"It takes a licking ..."
"Norm!"
"De plane! De plane!"
"Live long and prosper"
"And that's the way it is"
"Come on down!"
"Let's get ready to rumble!"
"Good grief"
"Book 'em, Danno"
"Space, the final frontier ..."
"Dyn-o-mite"
"D'oh!"

Email your entries to CianaStone@aol.com. Good Luck!!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Hugs-
Ciana

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Inspiration, aka, "So where do you get ideas for all those dirty stories?"



Hello all! We're Fae Sutherland and Marguerite Labbe, fellow EC authors with the Hussies and ever so glad to be here. Today we're gonna talk about inspiration. So, without further ado, take it, Margie!

Writers are asked this question all the time – where do you get your ideas? Which is kind of amusing and befuddling at once. What do you mean? There are ideas everywhere, surely you must be hit with them as often as we are, you can barely walk outside without tripping over one. I have a notecard box full of ideas that will never see the light of day because we have so many. My co-author Fae is known as the ‘idea queen.’ Her favorite starting line in a conversation is ‘so I’ve had this idea,’ and all I can do is grab a pen and paper and hope to get it all down before she finishes.

*Fae pokes her head in* I’m still waiting on my crown, by the way. I’m with Margie. How do you *not* get a bazillion ideas? They’re everywhere, from an abandoned cart full of groceries outside a store (twice in the last month, I’m beginning to ponder the existence of a grocery store kidnapper who snatches people before they can unload their carts) to a young man studying French on the Metro. Everyone and everything has a story. So we tell them.

We recently went on a day road trip and discussed this very question and pointed out all the various stories lurking along the way. There was a man sitting near the road on a little hill, far back enough that he wasn’t looking for a ride but still noticeable. We weren’t near a town at the time and there was no road construction nearby. So we started asking each other questions. What was he doing there? Was he on his way somewhere? Had his car broken down? What brought him to sit on that hill at that particular time?

*Fae peeks in again* Tell ‘em how we got so distracted brainstorming a book on the way back that we ended up in Pennsylvania instead of DC! Seriously folks, we went about 40 miles or so in the wrong direction, glanced up and went, “Oh, look at that. PA state line…wait, what?!” Oh, the perils of being a writer.

To my defense, since I was the one driving, we had just eaten at a restaurant that was my normal stopping off point whenever I go up to Pittsburgh. Of course I didn’t notice we were going in the wrong direction, besides hammering out a plot takes a lot of concentration. It’s not like we were lost. The whole 40 miles back we were shaking our heads and asking ourselves how we could not have noticed for so long, though.

*Fae rolls her eyes* Believe me, this is not the first, nor will it be the last, time we got so distracted by plotting or talking about characters/stories that we lost track of time/where we were. When inspiration hits, you grab it by both hands and don’t let go until you’ve milked it for all it’s worth. Ideas may be frequent in appearing, but they’re also quick about disappearing into the brain fog if they’re not jotted down immediately.

And to be honest not all ideas pan out into a story. Other ones start as stories but never get finished because they fizzle out, like Fae’s French guy on the Metro or our deserted island story. Others grab us and we run with it until we’re finished writing, like our idea for “Exceptions to the Rule.” (Fae, do you remember how that one came about? I cannot remember for the life of me)

*Fae grins* Exceptions came about because of a pair of guys I saw at a Denny’s in Massachusetts. I and my best friend had gone to Denny’s for munchies at 2 in the morning and while we were there all the bars in the area were emptying out and, of course, lots of drunken folks ended up at Denny’s to try and soak up the alcohol with some food. A pair of very cute guys sat at the booth behind ours and I spent the rest of our time there not-so-subtly observing them and making up a story for them as I did. The next morning I came to Margie with my “So I had this idea…” starter and the rest is history!

See what I mean? She never stops. So that’s where this pair of authors get their ideas. They’re all over the place. We love exploring the sparks, love it even more when they flame into a full story. We never worry about running out of ideas. I worry more about completing all my favorites before I die.

*Fae grabs the mic* And that does it for our time here, we’d like to thank the Academy, the little people who let us step all over them on our meteoric rise to the….what? Oh, fine, so there are no little people, there’s no Acadamy for the gay smutty goodness we write and we’re not quite at meteoric level yet. So instead we’ll just thank the Hussies for having us and everybody who has taken the time to read our book and this blog. We love you and good night! *blows kisses*

PS. I couldn't figure out how to put the cover for our book here, so instead, here's a link to our website, our blog and to buy our book, Exceptions To The Rule! Thanks again!