Doris Day - Que Sera Sera

Yep, Doris was right...Whatever Will Be, Will Be...the future's not ours to see.

So, why sweat it?

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

New beginnings...

Speaking as someone who buggered up a lot of things in 2010, I look forward to 2011 with hope and positivity and yes, probably the fact I’ll mess something else up. But that’s okay. It shows a life well lived.

My wish for you in 2011 is you find the love of your life or get that job or house or baby or car or money or whatever it is you need and don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s just life. You’re not supposed to be good at it. You’re just supposed to take a crack at it.

Happy 2011

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Another great cover...

Another fantastic cover from Secret Cravings Publishing.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Stuff…

* If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.
(Hardly seems worth it.)
*The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out of the body to squirt blood 30 feet.
(Wow!)
*A pig's orgasm lasts 30 minutes
(In my next life, I want to be a pig..)
*A cockroach will live nine days without its head before it starves to death. (Creepy...)
(I'm still not over the pig.)
*Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour
(Don't try this at home, maybe at work)
*The male preying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its body.The female initiates sex by ripping the male's head off.
(Honey, I'm home. What the...?)
*The flea can jump 350 times its body length. It's like a human jumping the length of a football field.
(30 minutes!! Lucky pig! Can you imagine?!!)
*Some lions mate over 50 times a day.
(I still want to be a pig in my next life...quality over quantity)
*The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
(Hmmmmmm......)
*Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people.
(If you're ambidextrous, do you split the difference?)
*Elephants are the only animals that cannot jump.
(Okay, so that would be a good thing)
*A cat's urine glows under a black light.
(I wonder who was paid to figure that out . )
*Polar bears are left-handed.
(If they switch, they'll live a lot longer)
*Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.
(What about that pig??)

**thanks Sparky for the info….

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Have it the way you want...

I was doing some writing and banging out all these terrible, filthy, sexy words on screen. And the things the characters were doing to each other? Most interesting. As I wrote I thought back to when I started this writing gig. Then, I was subbing only to one publisher. Why? I was dumb and new. I’m still dumb but older. Anyway that publisher had strict rules about what words could be used to describe sex and other stuff. ‘Dick’ was never to be used to describe a penis. And ‘baby’? That wasn’t a term of endearment to them. They considered it somehow pedophilia to have the characters say something like -“Baby, I love you.”

That publisher was very limited in their views. I believe it was because they were the big fish in a small pond and they had power over the e-book erotica market. A lot of writers feared their wrath and were too scared to do anything but follow rules. Of course now the e-book pond has grown and multiple new publishers have arisen changing the market even more and for the better. How so? Competition. It’s a great thing. There are new genres, more open minds about the everyday reality of language and the use of words and bodies. It also means writers don’t have to agree to blindly follow the management of one mob. They can pick and choose who they send their work to and – more importantly – 99% of the time they can write the way they want without their ‘voice’ being changed to fit some publisher diva’s personal belief. Creativity should never be packaged in a box because someone says so.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

I love it when a publisher - Secret Cravings Publishing - actually listen to what you want when it comes to a cover. Perfect!

A-muse-me not…

"Ms. Jones can definitely write erotica! WHEW!!!"

http://bookinitalong.blogspot.com/2010/12/review-bad-girl-by-amarinda-jones.html

Erotica. How hard it is to write? Despite what some authors will say - you know the whole thing where they tell you writing is like a ‘muse’ ridden mystical journey into the core of ones being to bring out the inner yearnings of their soul– yawn - it’s not hard to write erotica. It is however mechanical and boring because it’s all about making it real and no one in real life when they’re having sex, to my knowledge, worries about hand placement, errant cocks, hair in mouth and or where tongues should be. So I tend to think, while that compliment and review was very nice – thank you very much – it’s all imagination and as I have said before many times everyone has it and anyone can write. It’s a matter of bum to chair and fingers to the keyboard. Wanna write? Do it. There’s nothing mystical about it. And you inner soul? Keep it in your shoe.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Because some things just are...

...beyond trying to work out...

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Boxing Day...

The picture above is from my temporary digs in Cairns. This is the box room come office. The computer is squashed in to the side. The box room leads off into a small bathroom that would be an ensuite if I was using the room for it’s intended purpose of being a bedroom but it’s become what I call the pool room. Only my togs (swimsuit) hang out in there.

So – Boxing Day in Australia – no it’s not about boxes that are waiting to be unpacked when I have a permanent home. It’s about this…

Boxing Day got its name from an old tradition when employers boxed gifts for their workers on the day after Christmas.

http://goaustralia.about.com/cs/eventsfestivals/a/boxingday.htm

Or, in reality, it’s about the after xmas sales where people max out their credit cards and then whine for months afterwards about their bills. Humans…fascinating…

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Book winners....

Winners of the Penn and Amarinda books. Thanks for the amazing response.

Penn book…

Christine
Gabrielle
Afshan
Amy

Amarinda book…

John
Tewania
Yadira
Sarah

Emailing the winners now…

Peace...

A friend sent me this Tibetan Prayer…

May all beings be peaceful.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings awaken to the light of their true nature.
May all beings be free.

Have a peaceful day.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Random 24 hr contest…

I have three PDF copies of Knock Three Times (an Amarinda book) and three of Who Dares Sins (A Penn Halligan book) to give away. All you need to do is email me at Amarinda_jones@yahoo.com.au with either Penn or Amarinda or both in the subject line. 6 winners will be picked at random 24 hours from now….

The five cent piece quandry....

I share a foyer/staircase with the next door apartment. I don’t see ‘em much but they seem nice people – more importantly they’re quiet. That’s a huge bonus. For the last three weeks, as I come and go, I have been watching a 5 cent piece outside their door. Why? Because it fascinates me that they haven’t picked it up. Yes, I know it’s only 5 cents and you need a gazillion 5 cents pieces to buy anything worthwhile – sort of like those useless bloody French centimes or when I was living in London, those dumb arsed half pennies. Do they still have them? As chambermaids in London we used to collect the left over ones from people’s rooms after they left ‘cause tourists had no idea what to do with them. We’d put them in a large jar and when we thought we have enough to buy several bottles of plonk (wine) we used to go into the local bottlo (liquor store) and dump the lot on the counter much to the vexation of the proprietor who had to count them.

Anyway…back to the 5 cent piece – see exhibit A – also look at the crapacious cream tiles that are so hard to clean. I understand that they use them as a generic, all purpose colour to fit in with everyone but I truly believe you are either born to be a cream person or you get cream thrust upon you and it drives you mad. I'm the latter. I need colour. So – the 5 cents piece - why it interests me is it started up at their front door. They would have had to step over it constantly when they left. Why wouldn’t you pick it up? The 5 cent piece then proceeded to go back and forward in front of the door for weeks. It’s almost like it wants people to notice it. Now the five cent piece is sitting slightly away from the door but directly in the path the neighbors have to take. They have to see it. Part of me thinks ‘pick the bloody thing up’. Do they pick stuff up on the floor at home? Another part of me would miss the adventurous 5 cent piece. And no, there’s no point me picking it up. It’s a study in human nature and humans fascinate me so.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

I often wonder…

…what it will take for us to wake up and realize the more animals that disappear the less likelihood we have of surviving. My Christmas wish? Let’s stop screwing up the planet.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Head banging...

Brick wall. Head banging. So good when it stops.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Cracking the code…

I’ve been in Cairns just over a month. I love it. The lifestyle is very casual and the people are unbelievably friendly. That threw me somewhat after coming from a big city where no one speaks to you unless there’s a specific reason. But – and there is one – I cannot work out Cairns’ secret handshake.

Being an ex-army brat and used to never actually belonging anywhere, I know that every place has a code you get to understand and absorb as you try to fit in. You may never become ‘one of them’ because you’re a ‘blow in’ but you can understand enough to work out what’s what. Once you crack it and can give the secret handshake you’re in. But stuffed if I can work out what the code is in Cairns. It’s a town where everyone knows everyone…except me. I know some people but not enough or maybe they’re the wrong people to know…I dunno. The inability to crack the code of Cairns is driving me mad.

If someone is selling a magic decoder ring on Ebay please advise.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

How equal are you when your arse is hanging out?

I had to fix something I had buggered up and it was going to take a while so I turned on the TV to zone out as I sorted out the problem. The old series of Star Trek came on. I hadn’t seen that for yonks (a long time). As I watched it occurred to me that although Star Trek was such an innovative and ground breaking program when it first came to air in the 60’s with it having all nationalities, races and genders portrayed co-existing on this mission of seeking out new life etc, it was also pretty sexist. Why were the women dressed as go-go dancers? As a kid this wouldn’t have registered to me that the men were fully dressed and the women had these tiny uniforms that didn’t cover their thighs and barely covered their arses. Why weren’t the women dressed like the men? Weren’t they on this mission together? And no, I’m not talking about the spin off spawn of Star Trek. I’m talking about the real Star Trek. How equal are you when your arse is hanging out? All childhood illusions are crushed.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Out now ~ Blue Paradise by Anny Cook

Out now ~ Blue Paradise by Anny Cook

Buy the book here ~ http://www.jasminejade.com/ps-8934-50-blue-paradise.aspx

The blurb...

When ex-soldier Poussé receives an unexpected job offer from the mysterious Waterloo Group, she doesn’t question the providential timing. Twelve hours later she wishes she had when she’s captured by two sexy blue-skinned warriors—Jonson and Mali of Mystic Valley.

Mali and Jonson make her an offer she can’t refuse—become their bond mate. Positive she can use the new relationship to escape, Poussé accepts, but she doesn’t count on the physical changes the bonding creates or her constant desire for Jonson and Mali. Their tender touches, hot kisses and even hotter sex get under her skin—which is turning blue! As they pursue other escaped team members, she learns real love and desire have no color barriers and carnal games are best indulged in with two hot bond mates.

The excerpt...

“Place your hands on the ground above your head,” a deep voice murmured in her ear. A rash of goose bumps pebbled her neck when his warm breath washed over her cold skin.
Poussé mentally shuffled through several options as she muttered, “Yeah, yeah. Give me a minute here. You’re squashing me.” The man was too heavy for her to dislodge and his position, sitting squarely on the center of her spine, left her with no leverage to work with.
He knocked her snug cap to the side. With one hand twisted in her shocking blue Mohawk and the other one still pressing the knife tip to her neck, he scooted down until he was seated on her butt.
“Move. Toss the weapon away too.”
Just for a second she considered trying to turn beneath him, but decided the risk of a slit throat was more than she was willing to bargain. Pissed off at the way he had captured her, she shoved her rifle away and stretched out her arms above her head.
With swift, blurred movements, he yanked her hands down and cuffed her wrists, winding some furry material around them and knotting it. When she lifted her head up, trying to look over her shoulder at her captor, he shoved her head back down, shifting so his body was stretched over hers from head to toe.
Her cheek was ground into the dead leaves and dirt and the scent of decaying plants tickled her nose. She clenched her teeth, desperately fighting the urge to sneeze. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“Protecting you, woman.”
“Protecting me? Are you crazy? Get off me and give me back my rifle! Achoo!” The sneeze exploded with such violence her face slammed into the ground, with her nose taking the brunt.
“Quiet.”
Her eyes watered as searing pain spread across her cheeks but before she had time to complain, she was distracted by the unmistakable pressure of his hard cock pressing against her ass. “Listen, buddy. I’m not interested in that kind of action,” she protested, suddenly wriggling fiercely as she tried to throw him off.
A spicy unfamiliar scent drifted past her nose when he nipped her ear with his teeth. “Then be still or I might get the idea that you are interested. I find your ass very attractive.”
She froze, barely breathing, snuffling softly through the trickle of blood that dribbled from her nose.
He leaned forward, his cock pressing harder in the crevice between her legs as his heavy muscled chest flattened her on the ground. With a low grunt, he reached for the rifle.
Her heart stopped and stuttered before racing into a pounding gallop. The hand that touched the rifle was blue. Not tattooed. Not blue-tinged, but blue. Slowly her gaze moved up the muscular arm attached to the strange hand. Blue. Unmistakably blue. What kind of alien had captured her?
“What is this place?” She whimpered breathlessly.
A shrill whistle came from the right and he leaped to his feet, easily hauling her up by one arm to face him. “Welcome to Mystic Valley.”

Buy the book here ~ http://www.jasminejade.com/ps-8934-50-blue-paradise.aspx

Anny Cook -- Simmering Romance with a Smile
Love Never-Ending now from EC
Alpheli Solution now from Resplendence
http://www.annycook.com
http://www.annycook.blogspot.com
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22

Mayo head…

So I emailed a friend and said yes, by all means come over and pick up what I have here but let me know before you do. Why? Am I running around half naked due to the heat? Yes I am and if anyone peeks in my windows and sees me then they deserve having their retinas burnt out. But it’s not a naked issue. It’s about mayonnaise and having it slathered on me. No, it’s not a new sexual practice as far as I know. And no, it’s not something I do because I’m bored and I paint myself with condiments. It’s a hair thing.

I went on the internet and looked up old fashioned remedies for dry hair. Mayo is one of them. I would never eat the stuff. It’s pukeable but the high fat content and the fact that it has eggs in it means it’s good for hair. So I tried it and it works. However having a mayo head is neither a team sport nor something for people to sit around Chez Amarinda and discuss over coffee as I drip mayo on the floor. Call me crazy but some things need to be done in private.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

The 2am frighteners...

I lay awake at 2am thinking about stuff like men, sex, power, the pursuit of possible happiness or maybe just fake it to make other people happy, what the hell is that sound outside my window? Are there wildebeest in Cairns? Why do ginormous bills all arrive at the worst possible time? Can I sell my chunky body to pay for them or maybe just hide them under the fruit bowl and ignore them? Can sex with one particular man be so amazing that it indeed ruins you for all men? Should I experience that to check if it’s true? Why on earth would you put cream coloured tiles throughout an apartment? Why am I reading so many horror/crime books at the moment? Why is experience a bad thing? Is it worth pretending to be dumb to get somewhere? Hmmm, I should have been a detective. Or a ballerina. Nah, too top heavy. Note to self - look for possible detective/crime boss jobs. No really, what is the noise outside my window? Can an elephant climb stairs? How needy is too needy? Is there a neediness level? Why is wine fattening if it’s made out of grapes? I really think I should try the sex and ruination thing. Seriously, if that is an elephant outside my window and if he does climb up the stairs and breaks in, I cannot fathom how I’m going to clean the pukeable cream tiles. I should walk when it’s light. Maybe the elephant can walk with me. I must buy mangoes. I wonder what the parcel is I have to pick up at the post office? Buy milk. Avoid chocolate. Don’t buy any more raffle tickets for useless crap you don’t need. Oh fuck it, I’m buying chocolate. I need it after the elephant and sex/ruination thing. How is it that hearing one person’s voice makes your day? No, I’m not good at faking. I have a terrible need to be direct. Suppose I should walk the elephant. How many squashed cane toads will I see on the road? Yep, I’m buying chocolate for sure. Come on Dumbo…

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Sex Odyssey…

Recently as I was driving 2000 odd kilometers from Brisbane to Cairns, I was thinking about road trips and sex and what would a woman do if she met the ‘one’ or several ‘ones’ on her travels and what if meeting him/them was so powerful that you had to decide whether to stay or go even though staying would cause all sorts of dramas. Do you go back to your normal life? Yet how can you when it means leaving a part of yourself behind? Yeah, heavy man. I think a lot of us have met someone we’ve really felt a deep attachment to and you then have to work out the whole could I - should I stuff. As for sex…well, sometimes it just overwhelms you to the point of not being with the person is not an option.

So I emailed Berengaria Brown and chatted about the possibilities of a series. I came up with the title Sex Odyssey in a sort of weird, half arsed Homeric way. I’m sure Homer is rolling over in his grave as we speak. Sorry mate…anyhow – this is my first cover in the series. The stories are short vignettes into the lives of average men and women and how lust and romance change everything in their lives. We have 6 altogether unless I can talk the stoic Berengaria into one more…

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Sex Odyssey - coming January 2011

Whipped Cream Erotic Romance Reviews: Shackle Me Not by Amarinda Jones

Whipped Cream Erotic Romance Reviews: Shackle Me Not by Amarinda Jones

I think there's a little bt of Katharine in all of us. And Wil...may you all find a Wil

All Fired Up....

Now I believe there comes a time when everything just falls in line…

Jeez…I wanna’ believe so…

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Give over Amazon...

Amazon went along and banned a bunch of erotica e-books that they deemed inappropriate. Some authors are jumping up and down and asking why. That’s understandable. Amazon’s response is the standard ‘because we can’ and it’s in ‘our guidelines’ to do so. What are those guidelines? What is deemed as appropriate when it come to erotica? Is Amazon targeting all publishers or just the Indie publishers? The answer is we don’t know an answer. Amazon is chanting their guideline speech.


Whatever your feelings are concerning incest, or its portrayal in fiction, every book in the entire “erotica” genre probably contains something that will be offensive to someone. And yet it is also one of the best-selling genres in electronic literature.

http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/amazon-removes-incest-related-erotica-titles-from-store-kindle-archive/

Exactly…

As we all know what is deemed erotic covers a wide range of situations. To me, incest, rape and pedophilia are never going to be acceptable in any form. That’s not erotica. Anyone who thinks so or writes or practices such ought to be banned/shot/imprisoned and not necessarily in that order. Just my opinion of course…

But true Erotica? That’s different. Erotica to me is consenting adults – that means 18 and over – who get all naked, rub body parts, get sexually excited and have intercourse/oral sex be in standing up, lying down, underwater, chained up etc. The number of people who do the rubbing, the genders and are they naked but for a mask or a feather stuck in their arse is irrelevant. Consenting sex is erotic. And taboo subjects like BDSM, ménage, fisting, anal sex, multiple, random sexual partners or stranger sex etc? All these books have a warning. You have the choice to read or not. Give people that choice. Don’t allow the likes of Amazon to tell you that you can only read missionary sex that happens on a Sunday after a roast dinner and apple pie and ice-cream. That’s censorship, discrimination and it’s very Orwellian.

We all know that by banning books you’re actually doing the author a favour as people instantly want to know what’s so forbidden. So really – unless the act is illegal, non-consensual sex none of us can tell another what they can read when it comes to erotica. Give over Amazon. Trust people to read the warning labels and make their own decisions.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Piss midgets...

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Our girl Muriel….

The woman on this cover I've nicknamed Muriel. She’s been around a bit. I reckon I’ve seen her on a dozen covers already – mine/Penn’s included. Muriel’s picture makes me ask these questions –

1. Are cover artists basically busy/lazy and grab the first image that fits?
2. Are there too many novice e-book cover makers out there with limited to no imagination?
3. Are publishers paying the right people enough to do cover art or are they relying on paying people/authors, who think they have talent, dirt cheap?
4. Is Muriel on special – by that I mean is she cheap – like 0.75 cents a download?
5. Do women want to be tied up?
6. Are we all writing the same story and should we be tied up?
7. Do readers give a crap about the cover?
8. Do publishers give a crap about their readers?
9.Has publishing lost touch with reality or does reality no longer matter with so many small presses out there all trying to make a buck so screw quality?

Yes, yes, I know there are some very good covers artists out there who know what they’re doing and they strive to look beyond the obviousness of Muriel. They are indeed Artists by trade. The other patch-and-paste-four men-and-one-woman-in-a row-to-let-everyone-know-one-heroine-is-going-to-be-lucky-with-multiple-lovers cover people? I can’t stand disjointed covers that look like someone has cut out figures from a magazine for a school project. My opinion? They’re not artists. They’re making money with scissors and glue pots and good luck to them. But that’s not artistic. And yes, e-book romances are not real but can we at least have covers where the characters look like they may actually know each other?

Oh, and don’t get me started on cover hacks who read 'buxom' and 'overweight' on a cover request and see it as thin and emaciated….

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Knock Three Times by Amarinda Jones - out now

Excessica : Knock Three Times by Amarinda Jones [9781609824204] - $3.99

Who Dares Sins by Penn Halligan - Out now

Excessica : Who Dares Sins by Penn Halligan [9781609824228] - $2.99

Reflections…

I went to the Cairns Pioneer Cemetery today. The graves there are from 1850 to 1914, when the huge casualties from WW1 would have required another cemetery. I like graveyards. They’re a slice of history and a look into the lives of ordinary people who did the best they could with what they were given. This particular cemetery is located ten minutes from the heart of Cairns City. It’s in an area that is prime real estate. Of course in 1850-something when they decided to plonk the cemetery there, it would have been just a field and the inhabitants of the town of Cairns wouldn’t have envisaged the tourist mecca and international city it would become. I’m glad they never tired to relocate it. It’s a peaceful place to walk around and read up on the trials and tribulations of people passed.

There are so many stories in that cemetery from the young man who drowned trying to cross the Mulgrave River, to another who fell from a horse, to the tiny plain grave from the 1800’s – ‘couldn’t see that date clearly – that announced a child had been born one day and died the next. But there were two graves that particularly stood out to me. One, I couldn’t get a good picture of but it made such a strong impression on me as it was such a basic memorial to a loved one. It was a simple stone slab, weathered by time and someone in the 1880’s had painstakingly hammered in what appeared to be tin studs to spell out a child’s name and the age of 3. The other is shown in the second photo. It tells of the death of young children in the one family year after year after year.

Cemeteries – they’re about human endurance and simple love.

http://s4space.com.au/Cairns_Pioneer_Cemetery.html

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Meh...sex...

So…read any good sex lately? No? Not surprised. It’s bloody hard to write new and different and interesting sex and have a plot. It can be done of course but it’s hard work. And, have you noticed how bizarre erotica is becoming? How many men, women, robots or as this picture suggests birds have to be involved for an orgasm? What does that say about us as women? We need more or bizarre who-gives-a-fuck-about-tomorrow-sex? Filthy sex seems to sell but then Cotillions – with sweet, innocent, promises of sex after marriage sell just as well. Have we lost the plot? What do women want? I dunno…probably why I choose to read crime and thrillers.

Sex? Meh…

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

You may say I'm a dreamer....

And we still can't get it right...

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

‘Went walkabout…

…to Crystal Cascades. It’s about 10-15 mins from where I live. I went on a long walk and then headed back down some rickety stairs to sit on a large mossy rock and dangle my feet in the cool water for a while and ponder life.

http://www.cairnsattractions.com.au/a_crystal-cascades.php

I don't know...

“I was gratified to be able to answer promptly. I said, "I don't know.”

~ Mark Twain


Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

No cheeseburger but…

I was invited out last night to a basketball game. Hmmm, basketball? I know nothing about it despite being part of the mighty, never-won-a-game Snowflakes under 10’s netball team as I kid. Yes, yes, different game but a ball is still involved. Anyway – I had a lot of fun at the game. It was the Cairns Taipans (lethal snake) versus the Wollongong (the Gong) Hawks.

What fascinated me was the tribal atmosphere of the event. These people take basketball seriously. The chant, clap, boo, hiss and do things like hold their hands up in the air when a Taipan player goes to throw the ball for a penalty shoot-out thingy. I don’t know what that’s about. I think it’s when someone bumps into someone else and just a ‘please excuse me’ is not acceptable. Yes, I suspect it’s the norm for basketball, but as a non sporting type I found it all quite fascinating. As for Joe Blake – rhyming slang for snake - mascot of the Taipans? What a crack up. I couldn’t stop laughing when I saw him. I especially liked his bright red eyes.

Did the Taipans win? But of course – however not enough for everyone to get a free cheeseburger at McDonalds. The Taipans have to get 85 points for that. They got 80. Bummer. Yes, I did think my hosts were taking the piss (pulling my leg) when they told me that until the announcer started urging the team on for the glory of all things cheeseburger. Would I go again? Oh hell yeah. I have no idea about sport but I love people with passion at their primal, authentic best. Go Taipans.

http://www.nbl.com.au/taipans-home/

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Naked men…

I was at the apartment pool drying off from my swim when a little boy – maybe 2 years old or so - shot past me. He was naked. The mother was in hot pursuit holding onto a pair of swim shorts. The boy stopped, grabbed his penis and tugged on it and I thought yep – there is the beginning of a man. The mother blushed and I said “Men, you can’t take ‘em anywhere without them wanting to get naked and grab things.”

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Random contest....

Random contest - closes tomorrow - in 24 hours from now - giving away three pdf copies of "Twas A Dark and Delcious Christmas" - just released from Evernight Publishing. The rules? Just email me at amarinda_jones@yahoo.com.au and say "I want that book damn it!" Three names will be picked at random by me.

Not all fruit is created equal…

I went for a wander over to Rusty’s markets which is in the heart of Cairns as I was in dire need of fruit. I know, you didn’t think you could have a fruit emergency but you can. It’s similar to a chocolate emergency but fruit is more virtuous but not nearly as much fun as chocky. Anyhow, I’m verrrry picky when it comes to fruit. Even though every stall had bulging fruit displays (see picture – yes, people did wonder why I was taking a picture. I just smiled and nodded as I do), not all fruit is created equal. But I did manage to leave Rusty’s with several bulging shopping bags of tropical fruit. Yum. Fruit emergency diverted. On to the next Amarinda drama...and there will be one.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Dirty, filthy but I like it....

So Berengaria Brown – or BB as I call her because like all Aussies I’m into casual speech and the name Berengaria alone has 5 syllables – and I have been writing a series. Why? We just got talking over email one day and I mentioned an idea and she added to it and voila a series is born. And oh hell no, there was no way we could co-write a story because she talks funny – she’s one of those foreigner types - and wants to make all the sentences make sense. Boring. She’s not like me with my random thoughts and half arsed sentences. I drive the spell checker on my computer mad due to ‘fragments’ of sentences – which I like and the computer just has to get over. Anyway, so we came up with the idea for 6 distinct stories all revolving around one theme. Three are mine – three are BB’s. It’s been painless other than the agonizing over what sex to write in the book. I reckon if sex to do was as boring as it is to write then the human race would have died out years ago - that or working girls would be the tycoons of the world as they would corner a market others would yawn over…just one of my many hardly thought out theories.

Anyhow, BB and I have picked up some contracts on this series. The first books are due out January. As for the sex in the series? It’s described as dirty. My work is done.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

The wisdom of Peanuts...

I think I've discovered the secret of life - you just hang around until you get used to it ~ Sally Brown ~ Peanuts

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

I'm not much of a writer...

…because I can’t decide if I really want to go to a romance writer/reader convention thingy in Sydney in March next year. I have 8 days to register and get the cheap early bird rate. Meh…I don’t know. I’ll be honest, I find conventions boring. While I like talking to readers, I dislike all the formality of these shindigs and the authors I have never heard of before telling me how wonderful they are. No doubt you are honey but you don’t have to sell me. I will admit the main reason I want to go is to use it as a tax deduction. The thing is with tax deductions you sometimes pay more than you get back so is that really just defeating the purpose? What to do…what to do? I have been thinking what I spend in Sydney for one weekend I could spend half of in pissing off up to Cooktown - maybe 4 hours north of Cairns – or Mission Beach to the south and go walkabout there for the weekend.

I don’t know. If I was any sort of a writer I would be on the convention bandwagon ready to go. I think I have the wrong DNA for this gig.

Why the picture of the pool at the apartments where I am in temp living mode? Mainly ‘cause I was too lazy to find another picture. This was taken in the arvo just before a monsoonal downpour. I still got wet either way. Some things are just meant to be…I’m just not sure conventions are.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Uh oh, Toto…

I decided to start walking in the mornings again today. What with moving and everything I had got out of synch with my normal routine. So I took a wander around the new neighbourhood. It’s located on the verge of the rainforest. It’s hot and humid but the air is disgustingly fresh and clean and I’m not sure my city lungs will be able to cope. Anyway as I meandered along, sticky-beaking at houses, I came across this sign. WTF? I don’t think we’re in the city anymore, Toto. I do carry a heavy stick to whack attacking dogs or dumb arsed bad guys who may view me as a target – but wild animals? What sort? How big? Do they have claws and just how fast can I run?

The picture below is the view from my balcony.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

The bug squad…

One thing I do notice about living in the tropic is the bugs are – well - dumb. No really. I have found I spend a lot of time lifting bugs off their backs and righting them on their legs. They wander off, without thanks and I suspect go and do the same thing again. What is that about? Clumsy or what? And why more so in the tropics? A dear friend did point out that maybe they wanted to die and my intervention could be pissing them off. Well, fine but how does one know it a bug wants to die or not? It’s not like they can speak. Anyway, this is one I saved earlier. Upside down bugs? Not on my watch.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

90 degree angle interruptus…

I hate it when this happens. I know I’m not the only one on the planet who, every so often, maybe due to fat, clumsy fingers or not paying attention due to bright, shiny objects, somehow manages to turn her screen on the side at a 90 degree angle. No, I don’t know how it happens. If I did I would stop doing it. The pain in the bum about this is that I then have to stand up and crane my head on the side so I can find the google bookmark I have for this entitled “how do I turn my computer screen right side up?” Sounds easy but everything goes backwards and where you think the cursor is it isn’t. And why the hell would you have it so you could inadvertently turn your screen on a 90 degree angle anyway? It’s not like I’m an astronaut in zero gravity. Who thought that dumb arsed idea up? A computer nerd drinking too much red cordial? Yes, it is a terrible drama – how much can a koala bear I ask you? 90 degree angle interruptus? It's out there. Be careful.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

Banana time...

I’m a very casual person. I dress as I choose, speak as suits me and act how I want. But up here in the tropics of far North Queensland, where every second person will tell you they saw Oprah doing some filming, because at some stage she’ll be hanging out here when she brings her TV show down under. And you know I did see her myself. I was at the supermarket and they had flowers marked down in price. I love flowers. I bought the last bunch and I’m almost sorta kinda certain in a vague way that the woman who missed out on the last bunch was Oprah. She stood there and said ‘bugger’ – but in an American accent. Yep – 27% certain it could have been her…anyway, where was I? Oh yes, casual people – my god, they’re casual in Cairns. Compared to them I’m on speed. I used to tease fellow colleagues who worked in the Cairns branch about them always being on ‘banana time’ when it came to doing things and bloody hell it’s true. So, I have to slow down more, drive less like a city driver, wait for long, drawn out discussions about the weather/crocodiles/cricket to be finished at the bank before I can do my business and basically try not to walk so fast. Yes, it will be quite a stretch for me. But for now a picture of pineapples growing au natural at the motel I stayed at. Yes, correct, only a city person would stop and take a picture of that. And yes, they’re real as I felt them and no I don’t think super glue was used.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

The budgie has landed…

Well, moving – what can I say? You can be as organized as all get out and the whole thing goes smoothly until you have to deal with the internet service provider. Cue bungling Keystone cops music. Anyway, that debacle has sort of been sorted out…sorta…kinda…it’s ongoing drama.

But, the temporary Chez Amarinda is set up to a degree. These pictures are from my balcony. Three sliding doors lead onto the balcony from the bedrooms and living room. It’s all to do with keeping cool in the tropics.

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book

So sad...

Shock and grief as New Zealand Pike River Valley miners confirmed dead News.com.au

Just so sad. Rest in peace.

I hate...

...incompetent people who cannot find their own arse with their hands and waiting for them to do so. How do these people grow up so inept and why do they all work at phone/internet companies?

It's one of the inponderables of life. Like missing socks and men...they just happen along. Hopefully, if the planets align and people can find their arses I will have the internet tonight.


yours in extreme frustration,

Amarinda

Bugger...bum...

I have no internet at home. It's driving me nuts...not that it was a far drive. Hopefully I will be back online soon...or maybe in frustration take up competitive drinking on my balcony to soothe the savage beast within...

Amarinda

It's all happening...

Lots of stuff going on at the moment. I will be moving into the new Chateau Amarinda tomorrow. It's a 6 months stopover while I look around to buy a house. So hopefully this time tomorrow I'll be back on my own computer in my new digs and not lurking around internet cafes in Cairns...though I do enjoy the odd lurk...

Amarinda.

I know vampires suck but...

http://hea-reviews.blogspot.com/2010/11/review-vampires-kiss-by-amarinda-jones.html

But hey - thanks for the review. Any publicity is good and all opinion - sucking or not - is admired and respected.

Amarinda

Uh oh...lost again in Cairns....

I'm thinking I should start reading the map before I drive off....

On the home run....

So I’m up and refreshed, sorta, and perky…ok, I’m never perky but I have thrown on clean clothes so that’s a start and I’m heading off to Cairns. It’s my final destination. Another 5 hour drive and I’ll be in my new home city. Watch out Cairns. I’m coming…

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com
Be daring...read an Amarinda book