tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-699018776604825182024-03-05T12:46:02.858-08:00Barbra WritesBarbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.comBlogger144125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-68421117990450827002019-04-10T20:00:00.001-07:002019-04-10T20:00:46.000-07:00Sale of Wah Wah Funk Publishing.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Greetings interested folk.<br />
Barbra Novac as a brand has parted ways with Wah Wah Funk publishing. This has included a division of assets along the lines of the sexploitation erotica.<br />
Moving forward, this will be an Erotca, Romantica brand only.<br />
I am not sure at this stage what will become of the sexpoitation books, but I understand that Wah Wah Funk Publishing will retain its name and will continue to sell existing books, with some changes.<br />
When I have a contact for these books, I will post it all on this site.<br />
All the best<br />
Barbra Novac</div>
Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-49960470440053611222014-08-17T01:00:00.000-07:002014-08-17T01:00:02.563-07:00Spellbound excerpt Five<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0ajuPe-ukNuG9-vdeav1mLp77ZFr8yKzLlE0pqa17W4sGQypaDIk5ncPuo-Q5DpTWadr1S7acYRdlz1emVp5hyphenhyphenub5LqwIT_CrgMbuEILKPT89fHVsOK7X6WM9YrqUHVTJ0I4KtvXJQ/s1600/Spellboundcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0ajuPe-ukNuG9-vdeav1mLp77ZFr8yKzLlE0pqa17W4sGQypaDIk5ncPuo-Q5DpTWadr1S7acYRdlz1emVp5hyphenhyphenub5LqwIT_CrgMbuEILKPT89fHVsOK7X6WM9YrqUHVTJ0I4KtvXJQ/s1600/Spellboundcover.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
As promised, here is the final installment of Chapter One of <i>Spellbound</i>:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Spellbound-Barbra-Novac-ebook/dp/B00M6E8G5O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407827544&sr=8-1&keywords=spellbound+barbra+novac" target="_blank">You can purchase a copy of<i> Spellbound </i>here.</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I glance over at him and he is now on the phone, deep in
conversation, his attention focused completely on his screen. I look back at
Joe and he looks a little like he’s just asked me if I can help him keep one of
his limbs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Of course you can have some honey,” I say, putting him out of his
misery. “I can’t drink a whole bottle of anything on my own, let alone liquid
gold.” I smile, hoping I miraculously show more confidence than I feel.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Joe leans forward and expertly pours the wine into the two long
stemmed crystal glasses.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Beautiful glasses Joe,” I murmur.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Waterford. I picked them up while I was out as well. Greta is organizing
us a cheese plate.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">The bowls are a third filled and I inwardly giggle at the glass half
empty metaphor. Joe carefully lifts my glass and hands it to me. “Don’t touch
the bowl. Your hand will overheat the wine. Sniff it first.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I sink my nose into the glass just as Joe is doing and my sinuses
flood with the rich scent of spicy wine. Joe looks like he’s in heaven, but
it’s all a little lost on me. I smile at him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Wow,” I say.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Greta arrives with a large block of wood that has three cheeses and
a selection of plain biscuits on it. She stares at Joe’s wine and he tells her
to grab a glass form behind the bar because it is good for her job that she
have a taste. Joe turns to me and with a one, two, three we take our first sip
of Grange Hermitage.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I’m stunned.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Even I can tell it is an incredible wine. It’s smooth, and the taste
of spices, berries and what seems to almost be vanilla explode in my mouth. It
goes down very easily, almost as if it evaporated on my tongue, and I
immediately want another sip.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Take is slow,” says Joe. “Savor it. It’s your wine. It’s so
precious.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I take another sip, wondering when he will go so I can just get back
to reading and drinking.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I look up at Mr. Briefcase and he has paused. He’s sitting back in
his chair again, watching me with that boyish smile, that intense unwavering
gaze. He looks like he’s enjoying the private joke and I can see he loves the
surprise he’s pulled on me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I raise my glass with a smile. He arches his brow and raises his
whiskey back. Then, in an act of inspired cheek, I down the entire contents of
my glass in a swift swallow that nearly kills me, but I hope looks incredibly
cool.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Oh my god - don’t disrespect the wine,” Joe squeals shaking his
free hand. “You have to savor it. This wine will never ever be back in the
world again.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I glance over at my host and he’s smiling - thank god. He tilts his
head to the side and I watch the smile fade as I feel the heat of his gaze
travel the length of my body again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I put my glass down and Joe pours with a stern lecture about taking
it slow, and something about not being allowed to get drunk on wine like this.
I’m starting to wonder if I can re-cork it and trade it for some cash. The wine
I’ve had is mixing pleasantly into my blood and I grow fearless. With a gift
like this, maybe I have made a really solid first impression. Maybe I can be
bold enough to go and chat to the man. After all, he thinks I’m pretty.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-US">No! Beautiful. He said
beautiful</span></i><span lang="EN-US">.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">With two wines under my belt, I can ask him over to share a glass
surely? That’s the least I can do.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I resolve to approach him and ask him to join us.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">But when I look up again, his chair is empty and Jack Sinclair has
gone.</span></div>
</div>
Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-90413243488207002472014-08-16T01:00:00.000-07:002014-08-16T01:00:01.624-07:00Spellbound excerpt Four <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0ajuPe-ukNuG9-vdeav1mLp77ZFr8yKzLlE0pqa17W4sGQypaDIk5ncPuo-Q5DpTWadr1S7acYRdlz1emVp5hyphenhyphenub5LqwIT_CrgMbuEILKPT89fHVsOK7X6WM9YrqUHVTJ0I4KtvXJQ/s1600/Spellboundcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0ajuPe-ukNuG9-vdeav1mLp77ZFr8yKzLlE0pqa17W4sGQypaDIk5ncPuo-Q5DpTWadr1S7acYRdlz1emVp5hyphenhyphenub5LqwIT_CrgMbuEILKPT89fHVsOK7X6WM9YrqUHVTJ0I4KtvXJQ/s1600/Spellboundcover.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
As promised, the fourth installment of <i>Spellbound</i> chapter one:</h3>
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Spellbound-Barbra-Novac-ebook/dp/B00M6E8G5O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407827544&sr=8-1&keywords=spellbound+barbra+novac" target="_blank">You can buy a copy of Spellbound here. </a><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I walk toward my chair and sit heavily into it as if I’ve been
struck. I’m still in a daze, staring right ahead. I’m not sure what to make of
that. My beauty inspired him? My beauty? One of the very early lessons I learnt
in my love of film was beautiful girls act and intelligent girls… well they
direct.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Feeling flustered and shell shocked I open my book in the hope I can
hide behind it. Part of me wants to accept the compliment, but I have way too
level a head for that sort of nonsense. Pretty doesn’t cut it. Beauty doesn’t
cut it. I don’t want to be thought of as beautiful. My mother is the most
beautiful woman in the world and my roguish father dumped her at fifty for a twenty-something-year-old.
My mother is still beautiful, but she pines for my father and lives in
loneliness. All because she traded too much off her looks.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I swore I’d never go down the same path.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-US">But where is the harm in a
compliment?</span></i><span lang="EN-US"> The man wants to buy you a five dollar
glass of wine because he won fifty dollars on some online gambling game or
something. Who cares? You haven’t sold your soul.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">This thought gives me a little confidence and I realize I’ve let my
imagination get the better of me. <i>Save it
for work Connie. Don’t get all carried away cause a guy in a bar tells you
you’re beautiful.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I toss him a swift glance. He’s sitting at the same table, legs
elegantly crossed, folded newspaper in his right hand and his whiskey neat
poised in the left. Part of me sighs as I succumb to my reality and let the
fantasy of flattery go.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I turn my attention to reading. Alfred Hitchcock would understand.
After all, he is the great love of my life.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">It’s not till I get to settle in and let the book take me, that it
occurs to me Joe hasn’t brought me my wine. I assume there’s been some sort of
screw up and Joe’s forgotten or something.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I’m a bit miffed now. I look over at Mr. Briefcase and he is deep in
conversation on the phone, running his fingers rapidly over that electronic
device. He’s so gorgeous and for a moment I’m thinking about my beauty again
and then I have to re-warn myself off that stupidity. I’m hardly going to
approach him and remind him about my glass of wine - that moment, as cute as it
was, is definitely past.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I look toward the bar just in time to see a very flustered Joe come
through the doors at the back with his jacket on. He’s camping it up, fussing
and flicking his hair in a way I know he does when he feels he’s all important.
Now is not the time to bug him either. I look at the clock. It’s almost five.
Soon Greta will be starting and I can just sidle over and ask her for a glass
and all this awkwardness will be forgotten.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I go back to my book.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">A few minutes later, Joe appears. He bends toward the small table in
front of me as I look up. The first thing I notice is he’s used the fancy tray,
the one we joke never comes out of the cabinet for the locals. Then I notice a
simple bottle of red wine, the cork sitting by its side, and a stunning long
stemmed piece of glassware I’ve never seen in this bar nor the likes of
anywhere, in my life before.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“What’s this?” I say to Joe.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Your wine babe. WOW - did you make an impression.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I look over at Mr. Briefcase and he’s watching me. He lifts his
whiskey as if to say cheers or thank you or something I should know, and can’t
work out.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“A whole bottle? Geez. And the fancy tray? And a nice glass. He must
have impressed you too,” I joke.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Connie. Do you know what you have here?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Joe looks all serious and I know I am missing something crucial
again. It seems a day for it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Er. A bottle of wine?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Joe sits in the chair next to me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“No. You have THE bottle of wine. I had to go out for this Connie,
after it was arranged. It’s a bottle of Grange. One of the nineteen-fifty-eight
bottles made in secret by Shubert behind the Penfolds’ back. Normally you would
pay about fifteen thousand dollars for this bottle, but your admirer seems to
have an incredible private cellar.” He pauses and looks at the bottle as if in
a trance. “I’ve never even tasted the older Granges. And you have one of the
most prized right here.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I stare at him. “Are you sure? Isn’t there some mistake?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Joe shuffles and pulls a second immaculate glass out of his jacket
pocket. “Would it be ok if I had a taste? I mean please?”</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I stare at Joe. My mind is a confused whirl of thoughts. I can’t
accept a fifteen thousand dollar bottle of wine. Can I? Is this man mad? How
much did he win on that horse?</span></div>
</div>
Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-12494409788947358362014-08-15T01:00:00.000-07:002014-08-15T01:00:00.286-07:00Spellbound Excerpt Three<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0ajuPe-ukNuG9-vdeav1mLp77ZFr8yKzLlE0pqa17W4sGQypaDIk5ncPuo-Q5DpTWadr1S7acYRdlz1emVp5hyphenhyphenub5LqwIT_CrgMbuEILKPT89fHVsOK7X6WM9YrqUHVTJ0I4KtvXJQ/s1600/Spellboundcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0ajuPe-ukNuG9-vdeav1mLp77ZFr8yKzLlE0pqa17W4sGQypaDIk5ncPuo-Q5DpTWadr1S7acYRdlz1emVp5hyphenhyphenub5LqwIT_CrgMbuEILKPT89fHVsOK7X6WM9YrqUHVTJ0I4KtvXJQ/s1600/Spellboundcover.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
As promised, the third excerpt from Chapter One. </h3>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Spellbound-Barbra-Novac-ebook/dp/B00M6E8G5O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407827544&sr=8-1&keywords=spellbound+barbra+novac" target="_blank">You can purchase a copy of <i>Spellbound</i> here. </a><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“I’m going to buy you a drink,” he says to me in a voice that sounds
like it’s wrapped in velvet. It’s deep, strong and commanding, but at the same
time arrogant while oddly reassuring. I realize it’s a statement, not a
question and I get the message there must be very few women who refuse his
drinks.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I make what turns out to be a futile decision to turn him down.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Turning to look at him, I notice immediately, behind the arrogance,
his dark blue eyes have the same boyish sparkle that appealed to me across the
room. That spark must be some kind of permanent fixture designed to lure
unsuspecting women into his ego ocean, only to be dashed against the horrible
jagged rocks at the shore of his heart. Something inside tells me he is in control
of this situation and I am at the mercy of it. I feel like a child approaching
a chess set with interest and across the board is a grand master gently
inviting me to sit.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Inwardly, I shake my head. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Holy crap, get a grip girl!
How much are you looking for a fantasy to escape your reality?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Oh, that’s ok,” I stammer helplessly. I give him my sexiest
“there-is-so-much-sexual-tension-you’d-better-not-be-gay” smile and pull my
shoulders back instinctively hoping the outline of my breasts look seductive.
“I’m not buying rounds or shouts. I’m a little skint today. Thanks for the
offer though.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Any minute some other
gorgeous woman will walk in and he will be all over her. Stay awake, Connie.
Don’t let some guy in a bar hurt your heart just because you’re feeling
vulnerable</span></i><span lang="EN-US">, I remind myself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">The intensity of his look is so disarming. Direct eye contact. Gone
is the boyish glint and for a brief flash he looks surprised and almost hurt.
His dark blue dream pools travel from one of my eyes to the other as if he’s
searching. I get the feeling I am supposed to know something that I have been
too stupid to pick up on. I wish I was better at flirting. I wish I was more
sophisticated.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">No! I wish this guy would leave me alone so I don’t have to feel
stupid as well as poor.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“No. You've misunderstood. I don’t want you to buy me a drink. I'm
buying you a drink.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">He turns toward the bar, and I have the distinct feeling I'm getting
a drink no matter what.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">What the hey! If he wants to give me a drink, why don’t I let him?
He’ll sit with me for half an hour, get to know me, discover he’s wasted five
dollars and move on. He certainly doesn’t look like five dollars will set him
back.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I sigh.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Ok. That’s fine.” I turn toward the bar, joining him in a search
for Joe.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Then, I sense him move a little closer, and a wave of the most
beautiful masculine aroma rolls over me. It's a woody scent that makes me think
of a forest right away, and then citrus. I can't help myself, I inhale deeply,
and notice my body is set to fresh flames. Awash in arousal, I’m again lost in
a mystery I can’t seem to grasp. I scan the bar looking for Joe, wishing this
guy didn’t make me so nervous. Wishing I wasn’t blushing from head to toe.
Wishing my body wasn’t betraying me so viciously.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Then his lips are close to my ear, and he whispers, his breath
teasing my lobe,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Does this make you uncomfortable? I'm sorry about that.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I don’t know much right now, but I know that’s not an apology. It is
a sick twisted trick to make me fall at his feet and passionately kiss the
shiny black off his shoes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I’m now officially scared I’m going to fall in love and will have to
drink twice the foolishness away at the end of the night. I turn to look up at
him slowly and that stunning boyish glint is back, with the arrogance of a man
who knows precisely which parts of my body have just pledged him eternal
allegiance.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">My brain screams <i>NO! Run for
your life! </i>While that other part of me heats up and weeps, <i>who cares about your feelings! Let’s get
laid!</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“It’s fine,” I stammer. “It’s your drink.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">He smirks and then the boyishness is back like a siren on the rocks.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“I noticed you when you walked into the bar. I think you’re
beautiful. As I indulged in my appreciation of you” he pauses and looked down
at my body, then back into my eyes, “I took a chance on something and it paid
off instantly. Because your beauty inspired my successful move, I feel I owe
you a drink at the very least.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">It takes a few seconds that feels like twenty-five years before I realize
my mouth is open. I have no answer for this. I don’t know what to say. All I'm
conscious of is the smell of a forest and an ache between my legs. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Thank god he keeps talking.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“I have no intention of imposing on your evening. I’m sure you will
soon be surrounded by friends. I merely want to thank you for inspiring me.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">His tone is suddenly business-like and I notice for the first time
he has a British accent.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">He holds out his hand and I drop my gaze and thankfully close my
mouth, and look at his hand. For some reason, I feel disappointed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“My name is Jack Sinclair.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I reach out for his hand and a zap of electricity passes between our
fingers. I yank my hand back with a total lack of elegance, and he half smiles
with what looks like patience, but I can’t be sure. I reach out again, and that
stupid zap springs between us, but I ignore it this time and shake his hand.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Constance Berringer,” I stammer wishing I was a famous director so
we could follow that up with Oh! THE Constance Berringer?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">But instead I say “My friends call me Connie.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I pull my hand away but I can’t help notice the lingering touch of
his long fingers caressing my skin as I do so. My body is on fire, that stupid
little electricity thingy that must have come from the loop carpet (though I’ve
never known it to travel through rubber sneakers) combined with the causal
stare of his eyes and that mouth I don’t dare look at, have set my body to a
jelly that translates as putty in his hands. My cautionary brain warnings
appear to have burst into flames and disintegrated.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Well Ms. Berringer, I don’t mean to keep you from your book. I’ll
order your wine. Thank you for bringing me so much luck this afternoon. I hope
you enjoy your small gift of thanks.” And with that he turns away and strides
toward the end of the bar where he and the elusive Joe start to talk.</span></div>
</div>
Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-10757843803973579622014-08-14T01:00:00.000-07:002014-08-14T01:00:03.149-07:00Spellbound Excerpt Two<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
As promised, another excerpt from Chapter One. </h3>
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Spellbound-Barbra-Novac-ebook/dp/B00M6E8G5O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407827544&sr=8-1&keywords=spellbound+barbra+novac" target="_blank">You can buy a copy of Spellbound here</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I settle into my book, mind my own business, and then something
happens that I’ve never experienced before.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I have the weirdest sensation eyes are on me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Yet, it’s more than that. It’s a feeling I recognize, as if I’ve
always known it, or have always been waiting for it without knowing I miss it.
I have a tingling in the lower spine that spreads erotically, around my pelvis.
My heart begins to race and a flush spreads slow and hot over my skin.
Strangely, despite the intensity, this sensation is positive, as if my body
understands better than my mind, that something I need has arrived.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I glance up from my book, and he's there.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I look directly into the eyes of the most handsome man I have ever
seen. He’s sitting at a table just a couple of meters away. He has what looks
like a whiskey neat in front of him, and he’s lounging back from the table,
legs stretched out and elbows resting on the arms of the chair, with an
unselfconscious elegance that takes my breath away. His hands hold an
electronic device, but right now, he's staring at me with what looks like
surprise in his dark blue eyes. His mouth partially opens as if he's going to
speak, and then he pauses, irritation taking over the surprise and glances down
into his device again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">But now, the faintest of smiles rests on his perfectly formed lips.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">He looks relaxed and in control again, and I begin to wonder if I
imagined that silent drama playing across his face just a second ago. The smile
tickling at his lips fascinates me into staring, and he glances up, staring
fiercely into me, that smile sparkling in his boyish eyes. The tingling
sensation in my spine goes crazy and I blush, worried he can read my thoughts
that are shocking to me. I look down quickly as I feel the fever of the flush
flood my face. When I take a risk and look up again, he’s smiling at his
device, looking like his own racehorse just won the Melbourne Cup.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I’m nervous. My body responded violently to his glance, and even as
the heat subsides, I can't calm my heart rate down or bring my nipples back
from high-beam.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">We seem to be the only two people in the bar. <i>That would explain how I could gain the attention of a man that
beautiful</i>, I grumpily confess to myself. As I continue to read my book,
trying desperately to concentrate, every now and then the electric feeling in
my spine radiates through me like sunshine focused on my lower back and I look
up to see his dark eyes on me. That ghost of a smile makes his unashamed
checking me out somehow appropriate.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">But he can’t be checking me out.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Not a guy like this.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Just because he’s in my local watering hole doesn’t mean I can lay
claim to that kind of man. He’s wearing a dark blue shirt that is open at the
collar, and a dark gray suit that looks like it was handmade by local artisans
in Florence. Even his black shoes are polished. Noticing them makes me shuffle
and hide my Chucks, inwardly cursing myself for not throwing on a dress before
I headed out the door.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Always dress like you’re going to meet the love of your life sweetheart,”
my mother says, “Because some day you will.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Until this moment I always thought that was such a load of crap.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“If he loves me, he can love my Chucks,” I always say back. Right
now I hate my Chucks and wish to holy heaven I’d worn the D&G heels I found
in the second hand store a month ago that were the steal of the decade for
fifty dollars of my hard earned cash. It doesn't matter if Mr. Briefcase-stare-across-an-empty-room-at-me
likes the Chucks or not, I hate them while he looks at me like that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I need drink number two.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I stand and immediately regret my decision as the intensity of his
gaze intoxicates me as if I’d had four wines, not one. I stumble toward the bar
feeling his eyes on me with every step. I try desperately to act cool, totally
aware I must look like a complete fool because I do not possess the grace or
elegance to pull off this casual act. He will know I’m made a mess under his gaze
simply because I’m trying too hard to not be a mess under his gaze. I suck my
slightly rounded belly in (too many beers this winter) as I walk to the bar,
trying to accentuate my tiny waist in my cute jeans. Thank goodness I wore the
good jeans and not the cargo pants that could almost be tracky-dacs they’re so
ugly. I only have a white tee on and my leather jacket, but that isn’t too
uncool a look.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-US">What I am I thinking. Suits
don’t go for arty chicks anyway</span></i><span lang="EN-US">.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I make it to the bar, relieved to have something unmoving to grip. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I’m still trying to act cool, pretending I don’t notice he’s only
moved his eyes as he’s watched me cross the room, pretending I don’t notice
when he stands and walks in full command of himself toward me, pretending I
don’t notice my flushing skin set on fire from his approach.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">God, I wish I know how to be cool!</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">And then he’s standing right next to me, an elbow on the bar, turned
in my direction. I’m still facing the bar, too scared to look at him,
pretending I care where Joe the bartender is.</span></div>
</div>
Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-81025349427187319032014-08-13T01:00:00.000-07:002014-08-13T01:00:03.901-07:00Spellbound Excerpt <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0ajuPe-ukNuG9-vdeav1mLp77ZFr8yKzLlE0pqa17W4sGQypaDIk5ncPuo-Q5DpTWadr1S7acYRdlz1emVp5hyphenhyphenub5LqwIT_CrgMbuEILKPT89fHVsOK7X6WM9YrqUHVTJ0I4KtvXJQ/s1600/Spellboundcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0ajuPe-ukNuG9-vdeav1mLp77ZFr8yKzLlE0pqa17W4sGQypaDIk5ncPuo-Q5DpTWadr1S7acYRdlz1emVp5hyphenhyphenub5LqwIT_CrgMbuEILKPT89fHVsOK7X6WM9YrqUHVTJ0I4KtvXJQ/s1600/Spellboundcover.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<i>Spellbound</i> is now available on Amazon.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
When struggling film maker Connie Berringer goes to her
local to drown her financial sorrows in cheap wine, mysterious stranger Jack
Sinclair offers to buy her a drink claiming she’s beautiful. She begrudgingly
accepts to ease her wallet, but is too smart to be fooled by the line. When the
drink arrives, it’s not a beer, but a fifteen thousand dollar bottle of Grange
Hermitage. Connie’s interest in Jack Sinclair dramatically changes, only to
find he’s vanished. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Over the next few days Jack will turn up at the most
unexpected moments rapidly becoming a crucial part of Connie’s world, and soon,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a> an exciting adventure in the bedroom. Connie discovers a
self in Jack’s arms she never knew, including the depths of passion she is
capable of and the lengths Jack will go to stimulate that passion. Jack sees
something in Connie he wants, but his search for it in the past will come back
to haunt him, resurfacing as a threat to the new relationship he’s found. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sophisticated, erotic, witty and tantalizing, <i>Spellbound</i> reaches into the broad sweep
of the soul from the suspenseful drama of a homage to Hitchcock to the slow
ticklish thrill of a completely romantic romance.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
Excerpt:</h4>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
From Chapter One</h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Bills!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Hundreds of them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">At least it seems like there are hundreds of them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">They’re ugly too.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">And have barred teeth that snarl at me and taunt “You can't afford
your lifestyle. You’re a bad person!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">It’s true. Not the bit about being bad (bills can be pretty nasty
when they find their voice) but the living beyond my means bit. My problem is I
want a place to live and food to eat and sometimes that’s too much to expect. I
was spoiled by my mother, of course who led me to believe things like heaters
in winter, three daily squares and a telephone are life’s necessities. I was
obviously raised with a silver spoon.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">At least that’s how this mountain of bills is making me feel, and
for once sarcasm isn't helping. If I can't afford to eat and pay rent,
something is horribly wrong.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">The jury is out deliberating on the cause of my current woes, but
there are two primary points of view:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">1. This culture won’t pay artists a decent living while they are
working and honing their craft.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">2. A bright young law student, all her prospects ahead of her,
throws everything down the toilet when she decides to leave her studies and
take up a career in filmmaking despite her brilliant father’s excellent advice
to play the game by the rules and not make life any harder than it has to be.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">It will come as no surprise to find the first point is mine and the
second is my Dad’s. However, I always had the idea I was a talented director,
and winning first prize in the Independent Short Film Awards only fanned that
flame, rather than quench it as Dad had hoped.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Yet, here I am. No funding, unable to find the cash to support
myself as I work on my brilliant projects and no film job – not even as coffee
girl on a set.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">It is no mystery to my merchant banker father why great directors
don’t want young, up-and-coming film makers anywhere near their sets.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">To me it is a puzzle I will never solve.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">However, the cold hard fact remains; I live in my dismally small
apartment in Kings Cross in one of the most expensive cities in the world. I’m
getting nothing like a job in film, let alone that great advance to build my
brilliant film project that I just know deep inside will launch my career. I work
in a cafe and I am now, officially at the end of the money I have “borrowed”
from my Dad.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">(He said never pay it back. I said it was a loan. He said if I would
only ask I would never need money. I said I wanted to choose my own path in
life. He said naturally if I accepted his financial assistance he would be
compelled to offer me direction in other areas also. I told him it is a loan
etc – you get the picture.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I smile with sympathy at myself in the mirror. My large eyes, always
a bit too big for my face appear more doeish than usual. I feel sorry for
myself and embarrassed at the same time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I haven’t been idle in the last few months since I took the loan
from Dad. I wrote one full and proper script and three first drafts, all of
which have something going for them. I made and submitted a short film for a
local film festival. I even lowered my standards and directed one commercial,
which took three days and for which I was paid a pathetic but gratefully welcome
seven-hundred dollars. In short, I have been incredibly busy. I just haven’t
made enough money. The most lucrative aspect of the past six months is working
as a waitress, and that is nothing short of depressing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Still, I don’t want to give up.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">It’s an ugly thing to confess, but I’ll say it now. The look in my
father’s eye when I tell him this lifelong “pipe dream” is over is all the
impetus I need to get myself motivated again. I need my big break, that’s all.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">No, not a break, I need to get real about the cash and then go back
to the directing when I get more financial.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Gee! Even that admission is tough on the dream-ego. And I have a
fairly healthy dream-ego.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">With bills this high, and self-esteem this low, only one thing can
provide the answer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">A drink.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I leave the bills splayed out on the kitchen table as a kind of
future punishment for spending the twenty dollars in my wallet on red wine,
knowing when I come home they will be there to ask where the money went. I
reach for my coat, grab my bag and race out the door.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">As soon as I walk into my usual hang-out, the roaring fire cheers
me. I love this old pub with its red velveteen lounge chairs, the fireplace and
the cheap red wine. I’m a little early, but soon the bar will be filled with
all us “undiscovered” artistic geniuses - hell for some people, heaven for me.
I’ll get sympathy for my theories on why no one will read my great scripts and
forget the chiding reality of my bills for a blissful couple of hours. In the
meantime, I intend to down a red wine and get on with reading a random book on
Hitchcock I borrowed from the library two nights ago.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Joe!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">The cute bartender, complete with patented Aussie navy blue singlet
and dusted blue jeans over a sculpted gay body turns and smiles when he sees
me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Ahhh - I’m home.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Connie. You’re early lovey.” His face falls. “Tough day?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Let’s just say I had another domestic with my wallet.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“Well, a bar is the best place for anyone who’s low on cash.” He
grins and I’m understood and safe. “What’ll it be? A beer or a wine?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“I’m gonna need red wine for this dilemma.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">“House special coming up, babe. How about I give you the happy hour
price before happy hour? That’ll put a smile on your wallet.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">I give him my cutest “I-love-that-there’s-no-sexual-tension-cause-you’re-gay”
smile and slam my fiver on the counter. For my pain I receive a hefty glass
that’s probably over full and a buck fifty change.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Gotta love your local.</span></div>
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Second Excerpt of Chapter One, due tomorrow. </div>
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Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-45676347180236637102014-08-12T01:23:00.002-07:002014-08-12T01:24:17.944-07:00Spellbound Published at Amazon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-FiVKpMmOmIyj5tSAQzpRC01Ji5m-v-fsJwpTp2T5QEeKgd-Q0ckXMqfKBSBEkyxOM17dsnlIAUZW5HVHa7V5emL9z-NoEVMNKcIwEwz58rksxshOi3DU7KZi6PYjuYPr7nNGyw_ew/s1600/Spellboundcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-FiVKpMmOmIyj5tSAQzpRC01Ji5m-v-fsJwpTp2T5QEeKgd-Q0ckXMqfKBSBEkyxOM17dsnlIAUZW5HVHa7V5emL9z-NoEVMNKcIwEwz58rksxshOi3DU7KZi6PYjuYPr7nNGyw_ew/s1600/Spellboundcover.jpg" height="400" width="250" /></a></div>
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<i>Spellbound</i> went through its first publishing rounds a week ago, and I must say, its wonderful to get this book out there.<br />
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I am so proud of <i>Spellbound.</i> It has been on quite a journey, first being optioned by an agent in New York (not saying any names - lets just say I was VERY excited for a couple of weeks) only to lose its place due to Hurricane Sandy imposing itself too personally.<br />
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This was followed up with <i>Spellbound </i>becoming a finalist in the <a href="http://steamereads.com.au/" target="_blank">Steam E Reads</a> erotic romance competition, only to lose in the final round (I later found out I had sent them a pre-edited version for the competition - What a silly mistake!).<br />
Then I was offered a publishing contract with Steam E Reads, only to end up opting out of that to go with WahWahFunk, seeing as I had so much work published with them in the past.<br />
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<i>Spellbound</i> was initially written at the end of 2012, in response to<i> Fifty Shades of Grey</i> and the negative connotations around BDSM in that book. Like so many other erotic romance readers, I loved Fifty Shades of Grey, but I felt it was a shame Christian Grey had to be portrayed as disturbed. My own experience of BDSM and the Dominants I had relationships with over the years were so positive, I felt that someone needed to speak up with a book that, while remaining with the contemporary romance theme, explored the ideas of BDSM with more understanding. Everyone who reads this blog knows that I am a feminist and a very passionate heterosexual (I LOVE men) and both of these things are very compatible within a BDSM relationship.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Spellbound-Barbra-Novac-ebook/dp/B00M6E8G5O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407827544&sr=8-1&keywords=spellbound+barbra+novac" target="_blank">You'll just have to grab your copy of <i>Spellbound</i> to find out how that can be</a>.<br />
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In the meantime, we are working to get <i>Spellbound</i> up on other platforms, such as Kobo, Nook, Apple, Smashwords, Draft2Digital and Lulu.<br />
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I will post little excerpts of <i>Spellbound</i> here each week, to see if I can tease you into purchasing your own copy. Be sure to drop by and send me a note about how <i>Spellbound</i> was for you.<br />
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Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-61884839882708966242014-07-27T02:01:00.000-07:002014-07-27T02:01:52.107-07:0050 Shades of Grey Trailer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Well, what do you think?<br />
Personally, I love it.<br />
I can't wait for this film, and I confess I wasn't quite this excited before I saw the trailer - which is a good sign in my book.<br />
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As for the haters, bring it on! I haven't seen men this upset that women were getting something specifically and unapologetically tailored to them since<i> Sex And The City</i>. We've had to sit through so much god awful football matches, shitty car races, bull shit Batman Movies, and sanitized rom-coms that barely include an open mouthed kiss, its about time we ladies get some shameless lust-candy. Men can't tell the difference between porn and real sex/real women, but we never accused you of being out of touch with your integrity, or incapable of recognizing fact from fiction. Women can handle pop-cultural-porn just as well as men can (if not better) so take a big giant chill pill and suck it up.<br />
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For the rest of us, we can't wait to see Mr. Grey.</div>
Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-70224807250499538312014-06-27T20:42:00.000-07:002014-06-27T20:42:39.892-07:00Why Intelligent Women Read Romance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/damsels-distress-why-do-so-many-contemporary-women-read-old-fashioned-romance-novels-1512548" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_4P1hAsDqnQRMMfclJiVXUo-aVyf-4t-DYfuYZDHFHr_n8GhLHeP0LFk_E27LAV4KnYMT6qc0AL5IEnw0tUccsWTgDnvJ2w7VHJJKUX1Ud7XcdGm0-5IbsPzieggKRs-M8ish-gqDsQ/s1600/fabio.jpg" height="264" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/damsels-distress-why-do-so-many-contemporary-women-read-old-fashioned-romance-novels-1512548" target="_blank">This awesome Fabio image comes from IBT. Click on the image to check out their post on why women read romance. </a></td></tr>
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A most valued reader contacted me recently to ask about my old blog, <i><a href="http://intelligentwomenreadromance.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Why Intelligent Women Read Romance Novels,</a></i> which I have not updated for a long time now - four years, which is like ten normal years in publishing. It still gets several comments a week, though in the last few months more of these have been spam than anything else.<div>
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Like so many things we all do in life, my memories of it were that it was rather crappy, strident and more angry than funny, which might still be true, but having been encouraged to return to it and check it out, I found it more entertaining than I remember. </div>
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A lot of it has dated. I talk at great length about <i>Sex and The City</i> and <i>The Twilight Series</i> and <i>Paris Hilton</i>, topics which have been replaced by <i>Girls</i>, <i>Fifty Shades of Gray</i> and<i> Kim Kardashian,</i> in those crucial four years, and even the names cited there are on their way "out". Still, a lot of it is relevant and funny, and a piece of me can't help feeling there is a bit of pop-cultural fun in it's age as well. </div>
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<a href="http://intelligentwomenreadromance.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">If you feel like it, pop over and check it out</a>. Some of its fun, some of its frustration, some of its feminist, and some of its futurist. All of it is food for thought.</div>
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Barbra</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.santabanta.com/sms/trivia-restricted/men-and-women/251/?page=2" target="_blank">Check out Santabanta by clicking the image.</a></td></tr>
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Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-77727598047108344522014-04-23T05:28:00.000-07:002014-04-23T05:28:41.809-07:00Blogging from A - z Challenge - April 23 T<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1SIEaW3KylFeGEK_QaM7LFVZ3SUD6XL5gMJAUAMYs6Ta68Ts27_CS1AIB-BDfXrJLstC7CgJpjzDBR51xb9a_FzlZEIt2kff0U58NT__pT5Q19sBfNk62QdCBsbKZfzxlOMjzVQ3IZQ/s1600/sticks-and-stones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1SIEaW3KylFeGEK_QaM7LFVZ3SUD6XL5gMJAUAMYs6Ta68Ts27_CS1AIB-BDfXrJLstC7CgJpjzDBR51xb9a_FzlZEIt2kff0U58NT__pT5Q19sBfNk62QdCBsbKZfzxlOMjzVQ3IZQ/s1600/sticks-and-stones.jpg" height="320" width="292" /></a></div>
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T is for Tattoo.<br />
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I happen to think Tattoos are really erotic - if they're the right ones of course. I mean, I'm not into tribal, or Chinese script you think says "love" but really says "shit" because the guy in the shop was having a go at you, but there are some truly beautiful tattoos. I have always wanted one for myself - maybe I will get up the courage one of these days. Usually when I tell friends I would like to get a tattoo they say, "sure, but think about how ugly it will look when you're 70!"<br />
My answer to that is, pretty much all of me will look ugly when I'm 70, so who cares if the Tat has drooped a little?<br />
I like the idea of writing, but then when I look at the tats below, I think I'd prefer an image.<br />
What I will probably do - what I think would be REALLY amazing - is to let the artist decide what to put on my body, so that I made myself a canvass for their artwork.<br />
Perhaps that's why I haven't done it yet, because I really need to get up the courage for that.<br />
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Below are some I found on the net that I really like. I have credited the blog where I found the image under each image and in the link.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHewxZL5laKf-S_qoRmofr-1BAYGMYc8l8B4H8RTX4mlzJqgSu8hgxL7Cd5t4FyUx0_rXDS1yJHlYxFGN8AuOva9ftbdr8LjzaC11Y9cuP3ozkWo46rR7RHxFGftlUGBtLewK2_AXNoQ/s1600/large_the_broken_circle_breakdown_pubs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHewxZL5laKf-S_qoRmofr-1BAYGMYc8l8B4H8RTX4mlzJqgSu8hgxL7Cd5t4FyUx0_rXDS1yJHlYxFGN8AuOva9ftbdr8LjzaC11Y9cuP3ozkWo46rR7RHxFGftlUGBtLewK2_AXNoQ/s1600/large_the_broken_circle_breakdown_pubs.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love the way Elise (Veerle Baetens) wears her tats in The Broken Circle Breakdown - she looks especially amazing in the bikini scene.<br /><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz0PX0gnijQw69UY5EtfT9ud4tbXMRBBNDzEILpZfgjOH8x97EzrCtlVWCgg9lsjopfQtXNTumaXY2zOJGKtFmtW2qtx23IyBHIBp-m0_rcm0s-AoBU4kL3heuVV6bBXS1PfIKKmrEmg/s1600/arm-tattoos-designs-for-women.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz0PX0gnijQw69UY5EtfT9ud4tbXMRBBNDzEILpZfgjOH8x97EzrCtlVWCgg9lsjopfQtXNTumaXY2zOJGKtFmtW2qtx23IyBHIBp-m0_rcm0s-AoBU4kL3heuVV6bBXS1PfIKKmrEmg/s1600/arm-tattoos-designs-for-women.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://pakaew.com/sexy-tattoos-designs/arm-tattoos-designs-for-women/#page" target="_blank">Best Sleeves eva!</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFlhlzXxrIw6lnrSbwBScBskXOrQQ_bkwdr4J-sO6KK1_L13ESrgzNg0pvqGC0K-fMeR21WS0f5dUHqv5VAGXXnUZyGYAxT_e21wQpAgdXpmD5PJ88zRbOhGMS0I6S91C8L74-uijRfA/s1600/sexy-women-koi-fish-tattoos-37610844.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFlhlzXxrIw6lnrSbwBScBskXOrQQ_bkwdr4J-sO6KK1_L13ESrgzNg0pvqGC0K-fMeR21WS0f5dUHqv5VAGXXnUZyGYAxT_e21wQpAgdXpmD5PJ88zRbOhGMS0I6S91C8L74-uijRfA/s1600/sexy-women-koi-fish-tattoos-37610844.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fansshare.com/topic/tattoos/1163432/sexy-women-koi-fish-tattoos/?displaying" target="_blank">What's not to love here?</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_8pbNFmdZVdZreDM9hVHMA0bV6K7l_Y3l0aIGcMysehePnfwI9jmUPrHk3-3xwDOQ9UIt8k5ARiWmOok7HyL8pn8GSSO9Y7KJXvj8n-VqaJDOGlrRMAuwhv7W7D7sDLCNk3hpd5-bPA/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_8pbNFmdZVdZreDM9hVHMA0bV6K7l_Y3l0aIGcMysehePnfwI9jmUPrHk3-3xwDOQ9UIt8k5ARiWmOok7HyL8pn8GSSO9Y7KJXvj8n-VqaJDOGlrRMAuwhv7W7D7sDLCNk3hpd5-bPA/s1600/images.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://designyoutrust.com/2014/03/55-tattoos-for-women/" target="_blank">One of my favorite Tat designs ever!</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://followpics.co/sexy-tattoos-men-glasses-guys-withglasses-scruff-tattoo-inspiring-picture-on/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOStoSnQHYuBV486331ibUTRzZ45fmuasZNN3oRamJRbT4In7zp2OmcKovH0GVt7PM_WUOrtd6sHAbXbT2_iaQ7c4qcchyphenhyphenxAsrr3HMmsDyTt36B86CgWkrDe90otdzclUQdCdy6nAcbg/s1600/d57fdf7dd195f6bf209e576d6f09b967.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://followpics.co/sexy-tattoos-men-glasses-guys-withglasses-scruff-tattoo-inspiring-picture-on/" target="_blank">SO sexy!</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nG9PoG5tp0gy8Py8VHG4qzChH0GLCtC0ISntUJEH1uI9ecQ6_MzPVhfRqSageHBGFBgg5zzpstBk-TVt99xju3yi9MuZ8ll6kJ0EZhHZ9_lJyVToQmbAR5KGR9aRxzkEzHul01gJ1g/s1600/sexy-tattoos-for-men.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nG9PoG5tp0gy8Py8VHG4qzChH0GLCtC0ISntUJEH1uI9ecQ6_MzPVhfRqSageHBGFBgg5zzpstBk-TVt99xju3yi9MuZ8ll6kJ0EZhHZ9_lJyVToQmbAR5KGR9aRxzkEzHul01gJ1g/s1600/sexy-tattoos-for-men.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.baolailin.com/tattoo-samples-for-men/sexy-tattoos-for-men/" target="_blank">ok! I'll come home with you! geez!</a></td></tr>
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Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-67060127945717750362014-04-19T01:00:00.000-07:002014-04-19T01:00:05.011-07:00Blogging from A - Z Challenge - April 19 Q<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Q is for Quills<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/h5KVPE6LzII?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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This is a small post dedicated to one of my favorite films, Quills.<br />
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Despite all my feminist leanings, left wing ideologies and passion for sexual freedoms, I happen to be a mad keen reader of the works of The Marquis de Sade.<br />
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Why do I love him? I don't know - well I do, but it's tricky to defend, because he does represent something terrible in many ways. But I think his writing is courageous, even if mad, and I think his madness is an artists madness borne of intense frustration more than anything else.<br />
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Of course, I never knew him personally, nor did i get locked in one of his cages. (worst luck)<br />
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When I first saw Quills, it revealed that other people saw in him what I saw, and it speaks to that mysterious passion (some) women have for (some) men who insist on dominating them.<br />
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I do love this film. </div>
Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-85677024603672808212014-04-17T01:00:00.000-07:002014-04-17T01:00:07.269-07:00Blogging from A - Z Challenge April 17 O<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
O is for Orgasm.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz6II2SVfqX5HmGnXVGe-f-6yZmmulYGyrSZ37MTKIauDBf8U5cagTHgiaSQdWfs9ynKZnZXD7YdC0ZfUamKmE0ANcMHmXiYetqkaJB3AXcVEoaIbTvjmvzj-2hjc8J_eDXVFdBkQgFw/s1600/when-harry-met-sally-meg-ryan-faking-orgasm-1989-movie-still-03.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz6II2SVfqX5HmGnXVGe-f-6yZmmulYGyrSZ37MTKIauDBf8U5cagTHgiaSQdWfs9ynKZnZXD7YdC0ZfUamKmE0ANcMHmXiYetqkaJB3AXcVEoaIbTvjmvzj-2hjc8J_eDXVFdBkQgFw/s1600/when-harry-met-sally-meg-ryan-faking-orgasm-1989-movie-still-03.png" height="222" width="400" /></a></div>
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Of course.<br />
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According to Foucault, it is not the restrictions we have placed on discussing sexuality that have caused problems in our sexual lives, but rather the way we approach the conversation. Sex is one of those things that is talked about almost constantly, and yet everyone has an experience of it being unexpressed. This is Foucault dilemma, citing problems such as labels as part of the misscommunication about sex, so that people need to "understand" what something like "homosexuality" is, rather than dealing with these connections in different ways.<br />
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No where is this more accurate than in the area of orgasms.<br />
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Even though orgasms have been studied and talked about in the most exhaustive fashion, they are still a giant mystery. I am old enough to have lived at a time when many women didn't have orgasms. I haven't done the research, but I would hope that even if a partner can't provide, that women are able to get an orgasm from their own bodies these days, and are far more willing to try than they were decades ago.<br />
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Female orgasms are still filled with a radical mystery, however, especially when we try to use pop-scientific explanations for their existence. Male orgasm is easy to explain, because it is accompanied by ejaculate, but why do women orgasm? I have been told it is because it opens up the womb to be more receptive to sperm etc, but what remains confounding is the niggling problem of the clitoral orgasm, that happens without penetration. Why is there a part of the body that provides the height of sexual pleasure that has absolutely nothing to do with getting pregnant?<br />
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It is for this reason, the clitoris remains such a problem, and why for years it was ignored, and even in some cultures removed. It is a subversive little organ whose existence stubbornly insists that we look at sexuality differently from our safe definitions around reproduction. No matter how you explain it away, it is still there, and it still defies rationality. Even Freud, one of the first to openly say women experience orgasms, considered the clitoral orgasm to be juvenile, and the height of sexually mature fulfillment for a woman was to experience orgasm with a penis inside her.<br />
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This seems like a joke now, and yet the female orgasm remains a problem because of its refusal to be easily categorized.<br />
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Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-31363310802545245672014-04-16T01:00:00.000-07:002014-04-16T01:00:02.154-07:00Blogging from A - Z Challenge April 16 N<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
N is for Nancy Friday<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22xrf0Ffu28" target="_blank">(for some reason Blogger won't let me add this video, so click on this link to watch it)</a><br />
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I have to thank Nancy Friday for her books over and over and over again. Not only are they open and honest, but they end up being very sexually thrilling. They include their own passions.<br />
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I've added this video of her in an old interview. It's not great, but its so lovely to see her talking about her important and interesting books, and also to see how far ahead of her time she was. Here she is talking about women taking the initiative. It is still something women have trouble with, and she is right when she says men need to understand how to turn women down with grace and gentleness.<br />
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If you are unfamiliar with Nancy Friday, check out<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nancy-Friday/e/B000APBBJ4/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1397340646&sr=8-1" target="_blank"> her books</a> which, even though old now, are still fantastically relevant and thrilling to read. </div>
Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-29588543508041812332014-04-15T01:00:00.000-07:002014-04-15T01:00:03.189-07:00Blogging from A - Z Challenge April 15 M<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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M is for Monogamy<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>A couple is a conspiracy in search of a crime. Sex is often the closest they can get. - Adam Phillips</i></span><br />
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Through all my sexual travels, experimentation, playfulness, in the end I've come to the conclusion (and I'm willing for life, experience or a really good argument to talk me out of this) that monogamy is the most most intensely erotic, most subversive, dangerous exhilarating and exciting form of sexual relationship.<br />
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I have been married before, but my first marriage was very ... traditional. I met my husband through the church in the course of our years together, we both left and once we put religion behind us, our differences became much bigger than our sames. Lust, while sexually consistent was not exciting in that marriage, and I really didn't experience sexual thrills consistently until I left that situation.<br />
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Given my experience, I was quite anti marriage, and particularly anti monogamy. I followed all the contemporary ideologies on the subject: not natural, against human instinct, impossible, the death of lust and desire etc. It was a few years later, that I fell in love with a man who was the first true monogamist I had ever met.<br />
He would say to me:<br />
<b>You are every woman I have ever had and you are every woman I will never have. </b><br />
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Monogamy for him was a work of art. Sex didn't die with its declaration, it was born with it. For him, sexual expression was a dangerous, exciting thing, that had to include deep intimacy. We included sex in all our moods, we did it when we hated each other as well as when we loved each other, and talked about it a great deal. We used it as a form of expression of the relationship, and tried, within the bounds of love and decency, to never refuse the other. Part of our relationship was a promise to each other to be completely responsible for our own sexuality, to bring it to the other, and be as open and vulnerable as we could. Sex with this man was by far some of the best I ever had, and it taught me a great deal about the beauty, passion and terror of properly expressed monogamy.<br />
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The relationship was only a couple of years long, but I have used the model we created as a template for all my future relationships. It has not always been successful, because it is a huge, radical thing for a person to commit to themselves at that level, and then to bring that to a relationship is even more shocking, but I do know every one of my encounters has been greatly enriched by the efforts to realize it. I don't like to talk too much about my current relationship, but it goes without saying, this is something we are both very deeply committed to.<br />
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Radical monogamy, does not necessarily have to last forever, but it is the most exciting connection I've ever experienced with any human creature.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Each of our relationships is different, and we are different in each of them. this is what makes monogamy so perversely interesting. - Adam Phillips. </i></span><br />
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Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-50109082035810254132014-04-15T00:00:00.000-07:002014-04-15T00:00:04.683-07:00Book Review The XXX Files Episode 1 <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<i>The XXX Files Episode 1</i></h2>
Lexi Maxxwell<br />
ASIN: B007QM9NW6<div>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Files-Episode-paranormal-erotic-serial-ebook/dp/B007QM9NW6/ref=la_B006U5S6GO_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397427089&sr=1-9" target="_blank">You can get a copy of this book for free here.</a> </div>
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<i>"They stayed for a few more minutes asking questions that led nowhere. Brad couldn't shake the feeling that Willow was hot for him - like scorching. He woudn't say anything to Grayson since she would've thought it was his ego yelling like it always did, but there was something more and he could feel it. Sure, Brad thought most girls were hot for him because they usually were , but he could practically smell it on Willow Monroe"</i></div>
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I'd be interested in some other other opinions of this first book of this series. Lexi Maxxwell is a competent writer, though I am guessing (this is the first of her books I have read) that she is a man, so the book has a flavour of trying to cynically dupe the reader right from the start. It's not that I have a problem reading erotica written by a man, nor do I have a problem with alternate identities when writing erotica, It's just that Lexi herself (in the blurbs about her and in the forward) reads like a male fantasy, and while that has its place, its a stereotype that has been done to death, and can be a little dull in its transparency, particularly when it lacks irony. The XXX files was capably written (typo in the first line of the book not withstanding) but it seemed like a young male saying "erotica will make me rich because I'm smarter than everyone else" right from the start. </div>
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The tone is very brash and much more suited to a 1950's gangster parody than a piece of X Files fan fiction, and I would have preferred, Lexi choose one or the other, rather than combine the two, as I think the separate genres could comfortably be different series. There is no X Files tone here at all. Having said all that, if you can get past those problems, it is an engaging piece of writing, with a strong plot line, and interesting side characters. </div>
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The main character. Brad Hammer is a bit dull, and again a total stereotype (just how many references to enormous penis' do there have to be in erotica, plus his obvious performance anxieties barely masked by his incessant bragging are a bit of a cold shower) and it would have improved the novella greatly if we'd had a chance to hear from his female counterpart, Grayson a little more. Her perspective was missing and more of that right from the start would have lessened the sledge hammer approach of the main character. According the plot line, a persuasive drug that seduces everyone unconditionally into wild (pedestrian) sex scenarios is does not affect her at all, and seeing as random women in bars, or even women not physically present race toward this man tearing their clothes off, it seems odd that his partner doesn't even register and seems to just fade out of the story. </div>
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The XXX Files is free, and I'd be really keen to hear what other people have to say about this novella. It's a fast read and some of the sex scenes are titillating. If you have a read, let me know what you think in the comments below. </div>
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Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-6086385646834554912014-04-14T01:00:00.000-07:002014-04-14T01:00:02.593-07:00Blogging from A - Z Challenge - April 14 L<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
L is for love and lust.<br />
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While I agree that love and lust are completely different things, it is when they are combined that I derive the greatest satisfaction from both. I do not confuse lust with desire - desire is the feeling of wanting someone or wanting something to happen, whereas lust is the focused desire for a specific person or object. Desire is ephemeral, something that bubbles to the surface via our subconscious, planted there from a misunderstood childhood gesture or a now far faded memory of some event whose pattern far outweighs its significance. Lust is a force.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>Lust</i></span></h2>
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Lust can be manufactured. It can be controlled, focused, used as a tool for passion. Lust is something you can find in any person, object or thing. It's real, immediate, happening to you now. Lust is the concentrated drive of a collection of moods - desire, habit, force, demand, insistence, passion, excitement, courage. Lust magnifies itself if you are willing to let it take over.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">Love</span></i></b></h2>
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Love is something else entirely, but when love and lust are combined, the sexual connection becomes so much larger than a perfunctory mechanical action. Sex is a truly remarkable thing, because the mood behind it can turn the same action from an act of deepest love to an act of deepest hatred and violence. Lust is the mechanism to channel that force. You can lust out of anger, hatred and a desire to permanently wound. You can take those types of actions on a person, and find lust in them.<br />
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Sex from desire usually bores me. I have little or no time for the "attraction" to the person on the street, the work colleague or man in the bar. That sort of sex is an escape, like junk food or bad TV, and it is very rare that those sorts of encounters leave us feeling enriched.<br />
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Love and lust combined are a deep exploration of the erotic. They include an ocean of feeling and adrenaline fueled experience. If you love someone, but your lust for them seems to have evaporated, the exciting thing about that is that it is there, laying dormant like a volcano, ready to explode at any time.<br />
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Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-68898749132977920572014-04-13T00:30:00.000-07:002014-04-13T00:30:02.204-07:00Book Review - Hearts Truth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Heart's Truth</i></span><br />
Tasmin Baker<br />
ISBN: 978-0-9875982-3-3<br />
Publisher: <a href="http://steamereads.com.au/product/hearts-truth/" target="_blank">Steam eReads</a><br />
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<i>Heart's Truth</i> is a lovely little novella that strikes at the core of the struggles same sex relationships struggle with in our day and age. Yet, despite this awareness, Tasmin Baker offers the avid romance reader a HEA ending, so <i>Heart's Truth </i>becomes a charming story of one young man's discovery of his homosexuality and the journey he takes to come to terms with it, bundled up with the joy and celebration of love typical of all romance novels.<br />
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The novella starts out from thirty year old Marcus' point of view, a single gay man at a party with mostly straight people. It doesn't take long for his ravenous eye to settle on Danny, his friends younger brother, a twenty-one year old whose loins are set to flame at the sight of Marcus, and yet who hasn't really examined the truth of his feelings for men. We first meet the men on equal terms, the narrative delicately flitting between Marcus' careful seduction of Danny and Danny's growing enthusiasm as he finally finds a connection that gives him pleasure.<br />
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However, soon<i> Heart's Truth</i> becomes Danny's story, as Marcus comes to terms with the changes happening to him by the middle of the novella. It is Danny who has the biggest journey to travel here, and Danny who carries the burden of straight opinion of queer lifestyle. Under Tasmin Bakers deft hand, the careful blossoming of the relationship develops to the point where Danny must make a choice.<br />
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Tasmin Baker has taken a lovely story and woven it carefully around deliciously erotic couplings between the experienced Marcus and the tentative but highly aroused Danny. It's an exciting and titillating thing to be in the same room as these two men as they express such deep intimacy and passion for each other.<br />
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<i>Heart's Truth</i> is a short read, but a very pleasant one. </div>
Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-49270908718914121592014-04-12T18:53:00.001-07:002014-04-12T18:54:28.102-07:00Book review - A Raspberry In The Dark<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>A Raspberry in the Dark</i></span><br />
Zephyr Indigo<br />
ASIN <span style="background-color: black; color: white;">- <span style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">B00E70CI4K</span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Raspberry-Dark-Lesbian-Vampire-Episode-ebook/dp/B00E70CI4K/ref=la_B009Q5PRZ8_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397353154&sr=1-4" target="_blank">Purchase this book on Amazon here</a>,<br />
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This charming little series is just getting better and better. Zephyr Indigo has really settled in by the third book, and if the first two could have dealt with a little more editing, then there isn't the same thing needed in this third.<br />
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The series is Pixie Chix - Tales of a Lesbian Vampire, and if the combination of a lesbian vampire and pixies was a little sexually confronting (for me it was - not in a bad way, just something I wasn't used to thinking about sexually) the third book sees this combination settling in strongly. Sex between the delicious little pink haired pixie and the luscious Felicia is the best Zephyr has written, particularly because it is done without the bodies - a very nice twist that ends up being far more stimulating than expected.<br />
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But more than that, the vivid world Zephyr has created really comes alive more in the third book now, and I find myself wanting more, something I experienced with the first two, but not as strongly. The character development is good, I'm getting more and more attached to Felicia and share her good natured happiness and confusion at the strange rules of the world she is now inhabiting.<br />
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This series gets better and better. Looking forward to book 4!<br />
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Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-70908948390829020602014-04-12T13:46:00.003-07:002014-04-12T13:47:54.855-07:00Blogging From A - Z Challenge April 12 K<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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K is for Kink.<br />
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You've heard that rather tasteless joke by Woody Allen haven't you - that one about eroticism is using a feather and kink is using the whole chicken? I may be taking a bit of poetic licence with that one, but it is something that I find rather amusing.<br />
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Sexual fetishes are complex things, and greatly misunderstood. When I was in the BDSM scene, there were people there who were experimenting (I fell into that category) and there were people there who didn't properly understand themselves and were trying to understand why they were attracted to something extreme (I fell into that category as well) and then there were the fetishists, those who knew as early as two years old that they were sexually different.<br />
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Kink is most interesting when you're dealing with someone with a true fetish.<br />
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Coincidentally, when I was first discovering practicing kink, a straight freight I had all my life came out to me about his foot fetish. It had been a great contributor to the death of his marriage ("it's disgusting, don't even talk to me about it" was what he lived with) and he lived in terrible misery with it. It was a consuming thing, overwhelming. If he sat in the wrong place in a crowd - such as in a cinema, or meeting at work - and a woman was in view allowing her shoe to slip down her foot and dangle off her toe, he would have at best a painful throbbing erection, and at worst, evident spillage.<br />
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My friend described being a small child, and calling his "teddy bear", "tessy bear", and dancing Tessy up and down his body as if she were walking over the top of him. His kink was connected to powerful women, and he adored Madonna for her overt displays of sexual power. He had been caught around the age of five several times, hiding under the display frames in department stores, sliding his hand out in the hope a woman would accidentally tread on it in her heels. Something like that, and the consequential masturbation, could satiate the fetish for a small while, and ease the throbbing need of it.<br />
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We were good friends, I was experimenting with sexuality and was not in any monogamous relationships, so for a while I agreed to walk on him, as he'd never had that before. It only lasted a while, his possessiveness and sexual intensity didn't suit me, and It was accurate to say that I was more interested in the sex (it was fascinating) than in connection romantically with him, so inevitably it imploded in a horrible dark intensity that even our friendship didn't survive. I'll always have a tender place for him, though, He's a very special, deeply intelligent man and I treasure the time I spent with him in my life.<br />
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In many ways, I envied him. Imagine being that clear about what you wanted sexually? All the time. Imagine if a desire controlled you to that extent? This is what fascinates me about kink. Men and women are definitely driven by desire, and they think about sex "all the time" but not to the point where you can orgasm at the sight of a naked foot, and mostly these drives are part of the noise of our mind, part of the day, and you "find yourself "crotch watching" (a truly embarrassing habit I have) or "cleavage glancing" or fantasising over bottoms. I'm not talking about these kinds of things.<br />
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I have felt the ecstasy of teen female transcendent love - and that is probably the closest one can come to a real fetish like my friend had. I think back very fondly on our lovemaking - it always involved me standing on him, hurting him in small ways, demanding he do things, and inevitably punishing him for non-compliance. Probably the best word to describe it was intense. It was a very intense experience, but one I am very grateful for having had.<br />
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Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-72852431610536372232014-04-11T01:00:00.000-07:002014-04-11T01:00:00.136-07:00Blogging from A - Z Challenge: April 11 J<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Jealousy<br />
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According to<a href="http://barbrawrites.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/blogging-from-z-challenge-april-4-d.html" target="_blank"> Anias Nin</a>, Jealousy is part of the pleasures of sex and love - or at least part of the intensity. the jury is still out on the reasons for jealousy, with some thinkers arguing it is a completely natural phenomenon and others stating it is culturally specific. We don't know for sure, but we do know it occurs in many different forms, even in infants as young as five months old who feel possessive toward a parent.<br />
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Sexual jealousy involves desire for another person. it is entirely subjective, that it, it is judged solely on the rules and values of the jealous person. It involves a person you feel passion for acting in a way that implies infidelity, although as I said it is connected to the values the jealous person is placing on their behaviors, not on the behaviors themselves.<br />
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There are many attempts at biological explanations for jealousy, ranging from the male's need for paternity rights to the females role as discriminator (the one who chooses the mate) fighting to have her rights upheld, but there aren't really any explanations for manipulative jealousy, when one member of a couple will use jealousy to solicit a response in their partner. This sort of behavior doesn't wait for a real threat to enter the equation - it creates them, and is therefore difficult to explain in terms of biological patterning.<br />
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Another problem with the biological approach is that women and men with low self esteem experience more jealousy than women with strong self esteem. If jealousy was a protective strategy to preserve the sanctity of the biological placements, this wouldn't be the case.<br />
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I have been a very jealous woman in the past, and I found that it related to two things. One was my low self esteem, and the other was a deep understanding of my partners motivations and the experience of rejection when they felt the need to go somewhere else for the thrill and ego boost of romance. For me it was always centered around betrayal. I could never understand why my partner would indulge in flirtatious sort of behavior, rather than take responsibility for their feelings, communicate with me and deal with it within the relationship.<br />
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What I found, was in almost every case where I expressed jealousy, the person I was in a relationship with would use it against me, taking many opportunities to deliberately evoke my jealously. Obviously these were not great relationships, but I was often shocked to find the more vulnerable I allowed myself to be, the more I confessed to my jealousy, the more these people would work to keep it alive.<br />
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For me, the only thing that rescued me from the jealousy merry-go-round was self esteem. Realizing that I am determining my fate and that I can genuinely choose to not be jealous, and take practical steps that prevented me from obsessing about a partner. I "just don't think about it" anymore, which is, ironically part of what keeps the fidelity strong in my relationship. I can definitely let myself get jealous of my husband, but I won't, and he seems to respond well to the maturity and respect.<br />
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Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-25560323113615992642014-04-10T01:00:00.000-07:002014-04-10T01:00:11.456-07:00Blogging from A - Z Challenge: April 10 I<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Time for some I is for Images.<br />
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The Intensely Erotic world of <a href="http://www.isabelmunoz.es/" target="_blank">Isabel Munoz</a><br />
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and<br />
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The Intensely Erotic world of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasuhiro_Ishimoto" target="_blank">Yasuhiro Ishimoto.</a><br />
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Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-55470131684980696322014-04-09T14:08:00.000-07:002014-04-12T14:09:48.086-07:00Blogging from A - Z Challenge April 9 H<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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H is for Henry Miller<br />
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This is a short spot. Just a few quote from Henry Miller really.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The one thing we can never get enough of is love. And the one thing we can never give enough is love.- Henry Miller</i></span><br />
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I first fell in love with Henry Miller through Anais Nin. I had heard of him of course, but had never had much reason to read him. When I started to read Anais Nin, I fell in love with Henry Miller and it was then I started to read him. One of my favorite books of his, is his letter to Anais Nin, published under the title "A Literate Passion." It was the first time I caught a glimpse of the love and passion I was desperate for in my own life, and the first time i really started to believe it was possible.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>If there is going to be any peace, it will come through being, not having. - Henry Miller</i></span><br />
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Then I was able to track down the wonderful film version of Henry and June, which ended up being one of my favorite films.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts. An immense difference. Henry Miller</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Everything I carry away from Henry is enormous. If I fall asleep, it is because I am overloaded. I sleep because one hour with Henry contains five years of my life, and one phrase, one caress answers the expectations of a hundred nights. When I hear him laugh I say, "I have heard Rabelais." And I swallow his laughter like bread and wine. - Anais Nin</i></span><br />
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Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-54106522451145057542014-04-08T01:00:00.000-07:002014-04-08T01:00:06.886-07:00Blogging from A - Z Challenge: April 8 G<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Garden of Eden by Lucas Cranach</td></tr>
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G is for Garden of Eden.<br />
Well, here we are again, back at Religion. It always amazes me how connected sex and religion are. <br />
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The good ol' Garden of Eden is back in the cultural spotlight with Darren Arenofsky's film Noah, which imbues Noah with the desire to take the world back to the perfection of Eden. For Noah, this means no humans, only animals, and through the course of the film, Noah has to find a way to feel compassion for human creatures. However, the Garden of Eden is firmly established as the image of idealistic perfection.<br />
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And yet, despite the burden of sensuality weighing over the Apple, as we first saw at the start of this A - Z adventure, The Garden is a symbol of eroticism in itself. For starters Adam and Eve are naked. Then you have the name itself: Eden in Aramaic means "Fruitful" or "well watered", or in the Hebrew interpretation, "Pleasure". This is The Garden of Pleasure.<br />
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Adam was originally in the garden alone, however, when he expressed loneliness, he was provided with his help mate, Eve. If you look into the literal translations of "Adam", you will notice the word used to describe the original creature is "human" and it changes when Eve is moulded from the rib. It is much more likely that what the text really said, was the creature was a "human" and god put it into a deep sleep and split it in two, creating a male and a female, two parts of the same whole. Of course it has been convenient for the church to retain the idea that male was first, female second, but this is not consistent with the ancient text.<br />
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Given this information, it is most likely that sex was involved between Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, (probably plenty of it) and it was monogamous sex. In the true, original tale, sex is a RE-joining, back to an original.<br />
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Due to the implied safety and comfort of the Garden of Eden, it is supposed that Eve and Adam together experienced the ideal sexual congress, without knowledge of anything ugly to taint or alter their passion.<br />
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It doesn't matter if you are religious or not, the metaphor, mythology or history of the Garden of Eden is primarily one of the very first humans enjoying their sensuality without any external interference. </div>
Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-31173032690852386272014-04-07T01:00:00.000-07:002014-04-07T01:00:12.625-07:00Blogging from A - Z Challenge: April 7 Food <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Confession First:</h3>
I'm not into smearing a body with food and licking it off.<br />
I love food.<br />
I love bodies.<br />
But combining the two actually turns me off. Banana's out of vagina's, grapes in belly buttons, whipped cream on nipples, chocolate on curves, fraiche on flesh and strawberries slithering their way down panting chests or quivering bellies does nothing for me.<br />
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I'm not sure why, but I have tried, many times to correct this abnormality, but when it comes to food, I prefer the pre-sex sensuality of eating, rather than combining the two.<br />
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Ten Sexy Food Eaten as Food or Food as metaphor moments in Erotica:</h3>
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10. I loved the sexual reference in<i> Blue is the Warmest Color </i>to the freshly shucked oysters having the same consistency as an aroused vagina.<br />
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9. Chocolate covered strawberries. I know its a really obvious choice, but while I don't like licking either of these off my lovers skin, I ADORE watching him (or her in the past) eating them in front of me.<br />
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8. Asparagus, Chili and Oysters. Why? Asparagus because it is high in potassium, fibre, vitamins B6, A and C, thiamine and folic acid. Nutrients in asparagus boost histamine production, necessary for the ability to reach orgasm in both sexes. Chili have capsaicin which stimulates nerve endings to release chemicals, raises the heart rate and triggers the release of endorphins to give you a natural high. Oysters are high in zinc, which increases sperm and testosterone and oysters also contain the hormone dopamine which increases libido.<br />
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7. This lovely scene from Chocolat - remember what those little chocolate beans do to her husband?<br />
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6. Pop cultural food metaphors, such as zucchini, melons, bananas and cucumbers:<br />
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5. Vorarephilia - even though I am not into eating things off my lover, there are two exceptions that I have never tried that I do think look very beautiful. The first is impossible, but I love the erotica around it, and that is vorarephilia which is not the same as cannibalism or vampirism, but a specifically sensual fantasy that is impossible to enact.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sir-differel.com/pio-dragonslayers.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-5FyJci6BhFnOD_jcsRY2ezz7vL9iM9QHpPwzS19IGD_Xj0gb22KU_l9hdcdonrfXESGOP2zETP0JKFn2jLV-NagEwqn7L4CCMnB0WyYtDbUX1TNhqdvhZJly8-nW42xzELdZ_B2jGA/s1600/download.jpg" height="400" width="307" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sir-differel.com/pio-dragonslayers.html" target="_blank">Image taken from The Adventures of Sir Differel Blog, a graphic novel blog. click on the image to go and visit.</a></td></tr>
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4. The second kind of eating off the body I do like, is Nyotaimori, which is more like using the female body like a table.<br />
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3. Jesus and Mary Chain's song Just Like Honey, one of the best songs about "eating out down below" as Madonna calls it. There are too few songs celebrating cunnilingus, but this is definitely one of the better ones.<br />
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2. In one of the best examples of the transition from Porn to Erotica, and it also happens to involve food, Goodnight Nurse take the infamous song Millkshake by Kelis (which could be said to carry its own irony anyway, or be a female pandering to male porn) and turn it into the aggressive, nasty sound the song genuinely evokes.<br />
For me, this is an excellent example of erotica, because of the brains behind the transition.<br />
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1. Babettes Feast. Never, in the history of cinema, is the sensuality of food so perfectly displayed. I highly recommend this film. Watching it changed by attitude to "home cooking" forever, and it is a film that I find myself thinking about regularly. It is truly beautiful.<br />
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Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69901877660482518.post-24203405555732022172014-04-05T01:00:00.000-07:002014-04-06T03:05:44.654-07:00Blogging from A - Z Challenge: April 5 Erotica <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author unknown.</td></tr>
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For me, and possibly for others, Erotica is not yet properly distinguished from porn, which is very interesting given erotica is considered to be very positive and a great contribution to all art forms, and almost the exact opposite is considered of pornography, wish is not only "anti-art" in its commodification, soulless repetition and lack of imagination, but is seen to steal the dignity of its protagonists, and by extension all humans, particularly women.<br />
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The formal definitions of erotica and pornography go along the lines of a high art approach. It is assumed that erotica has high art pretensions while pornography does not, and therefore indulges in our most base desires, that are often an appeal to the worst in a human creature.<br />
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And yet the debate goes on a bit more than just that. Feminists have had a lot to say about erotica, particularly because of the way pornography aggressively uses violence against women, and insists on depicting a female enjoying what is being done to her. But often, the distinction between the two, ends up being subjective. Ellen Willis said it best when she said<br />
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<i> "In practice, attempts to sort out good erotica from bad porn inevitably comes down to 'What turns me on is erotica; what turns you on is pornographic."</i></div>
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I've grappled with this myself, and I'm not completely satisfied with my own answers, although I am encouraged by the changes in my perspective over time. I am one of those women who "likes" pornography, and uses to self-pleasure sometimes, even without my husband present. However, I sense the inauthenticity behind that, as if I am using both my mind and my body against itself - sort of like eating poorly rather than taking the time and effort to prepare myself healthy food.<br />
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I love to write about sex, be it erotica or pornography, but I confess, my "pornography" is rarely that - more its a "re-imaging" of it from a female perspective. While I might use the language of pornography, I never reduce the subject to the level of object.<br />
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I guess its a journey, one I am thrilled to see so many women and more and more men taking. This "problem" is there for us to solve as a community, and it is probably the best time in history for us to be solving it collectively.</div>
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Barbra Novachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02987503590811480290noreply@blogger.com2