Writers don't edit...

"Writers don't edit. They try to re-write." ~ Anny Cook - http://www.annycook.com

Right, I don’t give a crap who disagrees with this….but every time I get an editor who is also I writer I know its going to be a pukeable experience. Why? See Anny’s quote. They try to re-write your story. It’s my story. Not yours – bugger off. I don’t even know how another writer can be objective. And what experience do these writer-editors have other than they read a book on editing once? Do I need an editor? Hell yes – but I want a professional who actually knows what the hell they are doing. I want a professional who understands grammar and the need to keep a writer’s voice intact. I want someone I can have faith in. I don’t want to sit and continuously click ‘reject deletion’ to get my words and thoughts back. Writer-editors…publishing gone mad or more a sign of the times when companies cut costs and settle for less in their staff?

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

Caution…hot – handle with care.

A sneak peak at Take Me, Make Me - © Amarinda Jones 2010 – under contract
***Totally unedited – to be released in June 2010 with Noble Publishing…pure erotica…

Millicent Bradley would have cried out loud as the cock slammed into her ass but for the fact she was sucking on another dick. She held on tight to the muscular thighs in front of her as she swirled her tongue around the head of the cock as she sucked. Millicent loved sucking dicks. Size was not an issue. Any cock was a good cock to her. It was the most liberating feeling in the world having a man totally at her mercy knowing that her mouth, for that moment, controlled him. She groaned against the dick between her lips. The grinding pain in her ass was wicked. It was hot and brutally hard in an exquisite kind of way that made her ram her butt back against the man who was fucking her with no regard for anything but his own pleasure. Her knees shook and her body trembled. It would take so little for her to fall in a heap and allow the two men to plough their dicks into her any way they wanted. She was after all totally at the command of another.
“Don’t you dare fall,” ordered a harsh, monotone voice.
Millicent shook her head. Her eyes cut to a third man who watched them. He was in charge. She knew the dark haired man only as Captain. He was the one she had sold herself to. Only he knew why she was there. Only he could give her what she needed.
“She has pretty breasts,” murmured a feminine voice.
“Yes, she does and you can taste them later.”
The other woman giggled. “And her pussy?”
“Will be yours when I say so.”
Millicent gagged slightly. She had forgotten the woman was there watching them. The Captain chuckled. He knew Millicent had specifically requested no women and that she ‘wasn’t that way inclined.’ But clearly her wishes meant nothing. This was his game. Millicent had to go along with it. She was his until midnight.

Who is the Captain? His story is coming soon….

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

I was so going to do him...

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Say NO to female genital mutilation

Doctors consider 'less severe' female circumcision - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Wrong, wrong, wrong - cutting into someone for some half arsed reason - religion or otherwise - is wrong and I don't care what other countries are 'thinking' of doing this. We need and must say NO to it in Australia. It's against all principles of human rights and equality. It makes me so so angry...say NO to female genital mutilation

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

Rubber choices...

A man has been arrested in Australia for knowingly passing on the HIV virus to multiple sexual partners - and so he should have been arrested. In my view he has deliberately ruined women's lives for his own sexual gratification. I believe long handled, sharp bladed shears should be applied liberally to a certain part of his anatomy as a lesson. But that's me. I have my own idea of justice in things like this. They have been asking women who may have had sex with this man to come forward to be tested. Hmmm...while I absolutely agree condoms should be used for unprotected casual sex, clearly people still don't despite all the advertising. Look at these women - and, regardless what any of us believe, it’s their choice. You can’t make people do things unless you have a gun trained on them at the crucial moment…

This news story does interests me in the fact that some publishers lose the freaking plot if you write a romance/erotic romance book without condoms the minute there's an erection - unless a writer goes into a deep, usually convoluted reason why it is physiologically impossible for bodily fluids to pass from one character to another. Fair enough. That’s their call. But I ask this - if there are people having random non protected sex, and they read books, do you think they're going to take on board a long involved description on non possible body fluids swapping or give a crap that a writer has tried to write a condom putting on scene as hot and romantically as possible bearing in mind they’re dealing with a rubber tube? I think not. They’re still going to do what they’re gonna do. Do publishers have a moral obligation? Hmmmm…not sure on that. I do know none of us can pass judgment on another and just because you or I decree condoms must be in a book it doesn’t make it so in real life.

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

The age of love…

A friend rang and told me she was in love. I was happy for her. It’s nice to hear good news for a change. She told me she never thought it would happen to her due to her age. She’s in her mid 50’s. Hmmm…interesting. I wasn’t aware that only a certain age demographic could fall in love. Is that a well known theory?

Then I thought about it some more and I realized romance writers always – 98.6% of the time I reckon – based on furphy Amarinda stats - write about only ‘younger’ people falling in love. Why do we do that? Is it because we write to a market that believes only 20 - 35 year olds can find romance? Are we perpetuating the whole what age someone can fall in love thing? When did we all start being surprised an older person could fall in love? Maybe we need to get out more and look at life and the people around us. Maybe TV shows and movies need to be based more in real life age and not Hollywood age. Me? I’m not surprised what anyone does anymore.

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

Angels among us...

I went to the doctor’s today to have some skin cancers burnt off – not an unusual occurrence if you live in Australia. The sun can tear the hide right off you. Anyway, Fairy Floss – my doctor – so called because she is very new age and existential – did said burning. To stop me swearing as she was doing it – I really wanted to swear when the one on my temple was done – she started talking about angels. No, my life is not normal neither are the people in it but I like that. She said to me ‘are you aware you are one of the angels greatest achievements?' My response? “Jeez I’d hate to see a mediocre attempt by them.”

Despite being a heathen atheist, which I enjoy as it allows me to do a lot of stuff guilt free, I do believe in angels and I agreed with her that those beings do push people into our paths when we need them the most, no matter how much we push them away. Just a shame the angels insist on painful Dr’s appointments to remind us of stuff like this…little buggers...

Amarinda Jones
Penn Halligan
www.amarindajones.com
www.amarindajones.blogspot.com

Marry, tarry, cash and carry…

So I was talking to an acquaintance of mine today about romance books. She reads ‘em by the boatload. She’s read mine. Her main criticism of my books and others on the market today? Everyone is having sex but no one seems to get married much in them. Huh. That never occurred to me as a problem. It is to her. Why? Because her theory is romance means a happy ending and that’s supposed to be marriage and not just sex…sex is good apparently…well it is…but in books specifically as long as the couple get married. Huh again. I wonder if this is a common perception of romance readers or a select few who believe marriage is some goal to be obtained. While I am not about to change who I am or my style of writing, it is food for thought.

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

Here's to the future then...

“Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.”
~Oscar Wilde quotes (Irish Poet, Novelist, Dramatist and Critic, 1854-1900)

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

Exactly...

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

Ma’am?

My new whiz bang mobile (cell) phone decided not to work…or should I say it works but the screen doesn’t light up. In the absence of x-ray vision I rang up the phone people and went through the warranty thing to get it fixed and I was ‘ma’am’d’ to death. The lady was very nice but clearly from a call centre in outer Uzbekistan or somewhere. She talked with an American accent. Do you think they have to learn to speak Yankee to get the job? Anyway she had a bloody hard time understanding me. It seems Australian in not a dialect learnt in schools across the world. How odd. So I spoke slowly and spelled out everything – ‘e’ for egg, ‘m’ for madness, ‘g’ for goat and ‘r’ for…er…I went for Reginald…hey - I was put on the spot and Reginald is a good solid name. Once we got past the spelling thing I had to read off numbers on the inside of the phone. I put my specs on – I only use ‘em for reading – and I squinted at the teeny weeny numbers. Well crap…I needed a teeny weeny person to decipher them. I rattled off several versions of what I thought they might have been and each time it was ‘no, that’s not it ma’am.’ Bugger. Eventually I worked it out. Then there was more ma’aming as I confirmed everything she said back to me. The call ended with another 27 ‘ma’ams’ – maybe an exaggeration – maybe only 25 and I hung up thinking why is there no alcohol in this house? Technology – it’ll kill you in a polite ‘ma’am’ way.

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

http://www.nightowlromance.com/nightowlromance/reviews/Review.aspx?daoid=6481

ok...a day of non-sucking...could change tomorrow of course...

http://www.nightowlromance.com/nightowlromance/reviews/Review.aspx?daoid=6481

To the bank, Frank…

I went and discussed money with the bank today. A plan has been percolating in my mind since I hauled my arse up to tropical north Queensland in January. I call it my ‘get out of Dodge plan.’

Anyway, I had with me various bits of paper, the bank requested I bring, to prove I’m not a fly-by-night, flibberty-gibbert ne’re-do-well. Of course I would love to be all those things as in indicates no responsibility or ties – I suspect fly-by-night, flibberty-gibbert ne’re-do-wells have a bloody good time. However with papers in hand – hell, I’ve been banking at this bank conglomerate since I was 6 years old – even then I was a saver – I went and discussed money. I’m good with it. I understand it. As Grandma Elsie used to say ‘I can skin a flea and tan’s its hide.’ That’s not to say I’m mean with it but I think before I spend. Maybe it’s my Scottish heritage, maybe it’s the years of having very little or maybe it has something to do with Scarlett O’Hara speech about never being hungry again but I still retain the ability to skin a flea.

It was a good talk. I have the potential to enact a plan I’ve been thinking of and it’s not unrealistic. I always say it’s good to know that sometimes you don’t always completely suck.

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

Just when…

…work is piling up to my eyeballs, I cannot find my favourite ruler to use – long story – I’m eating a mandarin instead of something sinful and people are asking me hard, boring questions…I get one phone call from a sweet, silly, delicious man talking about apple crumble and I laugh and smile for quite a while. Some people are just the right people at the right time. Thanks Maverick. Now, if I can just find my ruler….

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

Bark and bits…

Have you ever noticed that people who hang out in organic health food stores look either strung out and in need of a good steak or trendy and exceptionally rich and indulging in the latest expensive fad. There are no in-between run-off-the-mill people like myself. But, regardless of this, I wandered into this organic food store that I had been passing by for years without thinking about. Until today, I had no reason to go in as I enjoy chemicals, food colourings and basically anything that can kill you but leave a smile on your face.

Anyway, I had to go in for a reason. The store was quite fascinating. They sell all sorts of things that appear to be bark and twigs and what looks like mud bricks but is apparently carob…come on – carob is not chocolate I don’t care what anyone says. So, I picked up lots of things and read how healthy they are for you. That it itself had to give me some cleansing brownie points. I even scooped up some bits of bark and twigs, stuff made out of sea weed and something else that is probably an illegal substance, but looked fascinating, into environmentally recycled bags and wandered up to the counter, refraining from buying the organic purple hair dye. I then lined up behind some stringy looking dude who was probably very earthy and had his chi all aligned with his chakra. He had dairy products made from Himalayan yaks, the cheese of meditative goats from the Himalayan highlands and broccoli that was $5 over the price it would have been in a supermarket. Organic health food…it’s an expensive business lining up your chakra.

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

Sex as a weapon…

I posed this question on my facebook page and I got some good replies via it and my personal email. Thank you. One thing I don’t understand, if sex is a weapon and if you know it has the power to deeply wound you then like a shotgun wouldn’t you move away from it before the trigger is pulled? Is sex that important that you would allow yourself to be wounded in the pursuit of it? Where are the self preservation instincts? Are they overridden in the need to scratch an itch? And what sort of person uses sex against someone like that? Sure, I can understand teasing someone to drive them crazy and heighten sexual pleasure but not as a weapon. Who would want a lover like that ‘cause clearly they don’t understand the other person.

If you are using sex as a weapon – stop it. What are you getting out of it? Is one moment of being in power and wounding someone when they are at their most vulnerable and trusting worth it? I think not.

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

One chance at life…

I went for a walk in the Lutwyche (Lut-witch) cemetery today. I had been wanting to go for ages but never got around to it. Why? I like cemeteries. I like the history, the emotion and the peaceful solitude of them. I like walking around the headstones reading about people’s lives, who they were related to, who they loved and what was important to them. There is the utter tragedy of those ‘killed by accident’ or in the stupidity of war. And then there are others, like the one simple stone plague I stopped before that was placed in the late 1800’s. The parents had emigrated out from Ireland and had lost three young children one after the other with none of them reaching 4 years of age. Think about it. You come to a new country for a fresh start and you’re eager for opportunities but blow after blow strikes you down as it testing who you are and what you want out of life. As terribly sad as that is, it was once more reinforced to me that you get only one shot at life and that accepting less or being beaten down by circumstances or others is wrong. I needed that lesson banged into me once. I’ve got one chance at this life and damn it I refuse to accept less.

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

Baby its cold outside...

The last couple of mornings I have noticed something. Its cold outside and it’s surprised me. Yes, it’s almost winter in Australia. Yes, it does get cold. Yes, you would think I would factor that in when the chill hits me but that thing is I live in Brisbane. We’re a little odd here. Brizzie dwellers refuse to believe winter will come. Why? Because we want to believe it’s always sunny in Queensland - the sunshine state - and that winter is for everyone else. So as the first blasts of cold air hit us in the face we’re always surprised, bordering on refusing to believe or accept winter. We’ll moan and whine and generally crap on about how wrong it is to be cold and when spring warms us up we’ll forget all about the cold until next year when we’ll act surprised once more. As I said, we’re a little odd, a tad quirky but fantastic, occasionally delusional, people.

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

I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER - by Jim Diamond 1984

I should have known better…

…this is such a great song. I heard it on the way home from work. I hadn’t heard it in ages. To me it evokes so many things – love, pain, regret and hope. ‘Ain’t that just life for ya?

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

Beware of the bouncing people....

I made an appointment to get my hair done after work. Like a lot of women, I hadn’t had time to stop for a couple of hours to get it done. So, I rang and got a quote and as Maverick would say - to the point of driving me freaking insane, I might add - ‘it’s all good.’ I rocked up and sat down and suddenly found out the quote I got was a load of crap. The hairdresser bounced over to me – I say ‘bounced’ as she looked high. The whole illegal substance thing didn’t bother me as much as the fact that her own hair look crap. That bothered me. She then explained that the price I was given didn’t cover all the other extras. Uh huh…what extras? She then proceeded to rattle off an amazing amount of bullshit that made no sense what so ever. I told her that. She stopped bouncing. I also pointed out that you cannot bullshit a bullshitter – an old Jones family saying – no, not original but we would all declare it was. Anyway the now non-bouncing hairdresser hesitated for a second and then said ‘so are we going ahead with it?’ I said I wasn’t, as I pulled the covering cape off, but if she wanted to shaft herself at that price ‘please go ahead.’

I then wandered around to S & S Hair & Beauty, Stafford City, and spoke to Anthea. Now she is a hairdresser. ‘Told me what I wanted to know without all the fluffy bits designed to make me buy. Thank you Anthea. I’ll be back. What worries me is how many people get sucked into or intimidated into paying more than they planned to because some bouncy chick with ugly hair speaks crap and explains nothing. Exercise your right as a consumer and pay for what you want and if someone bounces – it’s a sign to move on.

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

It's life Jim but not as we know it...

I do not and will never understand people who pay money to go on a Hollywood star tour in order to gawk at the house where a ‘star’ lived or used to live in. What is that about? I was at the gym – where I tend to do all my TV viewing as I sweat – and this bunch of people were outside the house that I think Sandra Bullock was living in or lived in or glanced at once as she drove by in her car. They were all staring at the house. Why? What for? Have you no lives? Is it the slightest bit likely Sandra is going to come out and say ‘come on inside’? To a bunch of strangers? Gawking at her house? And why would you take photos of the house? I don’t get that. Please explain…

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

I will get through...

...today without quitting. Oh, but sometimes it's the easiest option....

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

Sex - stick - on - it....

Bad author...just found out this was released today...bad, bad author...well, I can't remember everything. It's hard enough trying to match up my socks...

Sex on a stick...

Romany Belle and Macnair Palmer work for the same company, but they've been enemies ever since they lost important funding for a new project. The last thing they want to do is go away together on a business trip. However, what starts out as office warfare soon becomes hot, driving need and out of control passion to touch and taste, and very soon, enemies become lovers.

Romany goes from hating Mac to needing him, but now she has a new problem. How to keep their little affair out of the hands of office gossips? How can she pretend indifference when she really wants to fuck the stuffing out of Mac?

***warning - the blurb has the 'f' word in it so skip that bit if words with 'f' offend

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

Bette Midler - Beast Of Burden

One of my all time fave songs...for you Maverick - thanks for keeping life interesting



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

Random thought 6,257...

So, it was reinforced to me today that it’s true – men are much more romantic than women and yet women are way more sexually adventurous then men.

I believe a man has to put a lot of thought into being romantic in order to get and keep the woman he wants. Let’s face it, women don’t have to get married nor do we need a man constantly in our faces because we’re independent beings who can look after ourselves. How hard is that attitude for a man? Hence why they work harder at romance.

And women? We want sex. We don’t have to marry to get it and we’re not content to lie back and think of England or Bondi Beach or wherever. There is a huge surge in the popularity of pure erotica. I don’t believe it’s the end of romance but I do believe women want to read about things they could do…may do…shall do. Can you imagine a man reading a how to swing from the chandelier sex manual? Women are willing to admit they don’t know everything and yeah, I’ll try what’s written on page 26…

‘Told you…’just a random throw-it-out there thought…

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

Damn the lies...full speed ahead...

Sandra Cox - http://www.downtownya.blogspot.com nominated me for one of those blog tag things. I loathe them. But she’s a very good mate and one of the few people I would walk over broken glass for so here goes…I have to tell 6 lies and 1 truth about myself.

1. I’m sweet natured
2. I’ve never been arrested in Australia
3. I never swear or kick things or even raise my voice
4. I believe all men are so much smarter than women and women should do as they’re told
5. I want to keep working until I’m 90
6. If I had a choice between chocolate and salad I would choose salad.
7. I am a dead ringer for Paris Hilton

As I only read a couple of blogs now, Sandra’s included, I’m torturing only 2 people with this….

Berengaria Brown - http://berengariasblog.blogspot.com/ - erotic romance writer
Anny Cook - http://annycook.blogspot.com/ - erotic romance writer

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

Bloody hell…

…the head cold from hell is back. How much can a koala bear I ask you? Anyway, I hauled myself to the supermarket to buy cough syrup. Have you ever read the instructions on some of those bottles and packets of cold and flu stuff? “This ‘may’ help.” Or “The ‘possible’ relief of symptoms.” May? Possible? I demand deadly chemicals to surge through my body searching and destroying disease and possibly scarring my insides for life as they ravage even the slightest indication of illness. Is that too much to ask? As I was reading labels, this mother with a trail of kids wandered past and the mother said to one of them “I am not taking you to the toilet no matter how much you beg, Paris.” Well, first up – who the hell seriously names a kid Paris unless they want them to grow up useless – and second – if the kid needs to go to the loo take her. I for one do not need a sprog (child) peeing in the aisles of the supermarket.

And now I am home, several swigs of heavy duty kill-all-germs cough syrup later and the Bold and the Beautiful is on in the background on TV and Katie Logan is saying to whoever her husband is “I can’t live without you.” Has the world gone mad? Kids called Paris? Possible maybes? Of course she can bloody live without whoever he is and let’s hope Paris made it to the loo.

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

Crotch grabbing…

I was at the gym this morning sweating my arse off when Madonna came on the screens – gyms – they have multiple TV screens you can watch and zone out by as you sweat and moan and generally wonder what the hell you are doing on an instrument of torture at 5:30am. Anyway, so there was Madonna singing away and grabbing her crotch and once more I thought ‘why?’ Yes, yes, it’s probably all about sexuality but how is anyone grabbing their crotch attractive? It always makes me think they want to pee…

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

Subtlety is not me…

I’m about as subtle as a sledgehammer. I often forget other people are not the same. Today I was grocery shopping after work and I was buying boring stuff like fruit and milk etc and I wandered into the bread section and I picked up a multi-grain loaf of ploughman’s bread. I’m not sure if that’s a universal bread type but if not it’s a crunchy hi-top loaf. Anyway, as I was selecting that, this man came up beside me and started asking me questions about the bread – ‘what’s a ploughman’s loaf? Is soy & Linseed bread good for you? You have the poppyseed one – is that tasty?’

Huh? What? Do I look like I work here? I was polite but after a long day at work discussing bread is not what I want to do. So, I told him to buy the white loaf – he looked like white bread – and wandered off. This older woman touched my arm as I passed her by – she was holding a family size block of chocolate which indicates great intelligence – and she said ‘he was trying to pick you up dear.’ Huh? What? I turned back and looked at him and he smiled and I thought a couple of things - firstly – you have to give a man kudos for having the guts to try and do that and secondly – I’m very thick when to comes to men and signs so unless a man is very direct with me I don’t pick up on it. Did I go back and discuss bread with him? No but I did go and buy a block of that chocolate though. You always know where you stand with chocolate.

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

Pushing Fate~Amarinda Jones

Pushing Fate - pretty pictures and haunting music and stuff like that

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

Pushing Fate - out now

Pushing Fate - out now at Liquid Silver Books ~ Romance book Pushing Fate

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

I'll have the orgasm thanks...

Of late I’ve been noticing a huge change in the books that are getting contracted by publishers. I believe that’s a lot to do with writing some as Penn Halligan – my bad, bad, enjoyable self - and breaking away from tired publishing houses who are fixed to the point of rigidity in their thinking.

I find that erotica is wildly roaring ahead in popularity. Erotica is a story that has a plot but the reader is more interested in what happens to the heroine by who or what number of ‘who’s’ and how many times –and-OMG-is-that-even-possible-what-he’s- doing-to-her-and-can-we-try-that-tonight-if-I-can-get-enough-rope? It’s not about falling in love or looking for ‘the one’ or happy endings. It’s about sexual titillation, fulfillment and shock factor. I believe women have evolved enough to know that Prince Charming is not always going to rush in and save them and even if he does he may not give her the orgasm a bad boy can – or - she is ready to point out to the Prince that what’s on page 22 is not only legal but doable and he need to get with the program about what she needs.

Sex or romance? Or both? It’s about bloody time we had a choice when it came to books. We’re no longer inclined to lie back and think of England.


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

Anti-panties….

I was editing this arvo and one thing really struck me. Every instance where I had written ‘underwear’ had been crossed out and the word ‘panties’ was inserted. Now, I don’t know about you but no real woman I know actually uses the word ‘panties.’ Its undies or underwear or knickers or pants – not plural. So, I have to wonder why, in the romance writing world, do heroines have to have ‘panties’? When did this become a rule? And why can’t we just write about knickers? Yes, I have written ‘panties’ in the past but since breaking away from one of the more ‘panties’ orientated publishers, I have been enjoying being able to use words like ‘dick’ and ‘baby’ without being told ‘we don’t dick around here’ and ‘baby is not an acceptable form of endearment between lovers’. Hmm…is ‘panties’ more erotic? Maybe to men - but then most men I know consider them an impediment to the real objective. And if ‘baby’ is considered by some nongs to be bordering on pedophilia then isn’t the cuteness of the word ‘panties’ pushing it too?

So, from now on I’m anti-panties and I will not be using it to replace other arse covering fabric. Be free of your panties. Demand real knickers.

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

Drug running…

The Aussie government brought in a law today basically saying that medicine containing codeine could not longer be bought without a prescription. Now, yes, I believe regulation, up to a point is good, but I know, along with anyone with any life experience that the illicit can always be obtained. No, codeine makes me sick. I avoid it like the plague…actually that expression ‘avoid it like that plague’ always makes me wonder – what else would you do when it came to the plague? But I digress….so back to obtaining drugs – be they for medicinal purposes or recreational purposes, people are always going to be able to find them. A friend and I proved that today as we did a drug run trying to find a certain pill with codeine in it. Did we find it? Why yes, because I hate to be thwarted in anything. We found it online as I suspect some companies had maybe ‘forgotten’ to stop selling this drug (insert – wanted to cash in on desperate people making a last ditch attempt to buy it illegally). So much for governments bringing in new rules. People will break ‘em. That’s what we do. We’re bad buggers…and it was fun in a mission impossible kind of way.

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

Belgium bans wearing of Islamic burqa in public | News.com.au

Belgium bans wearing of Islamic burqa in public News.com.au

I disagree with women being forced to cover up in the name of archaic religion but in the same token legislating against those who may choose to follow a certain lifestyle is also wrong. Everyone cannot and never will be the same and heavy handed tactics are just as bad as oppression.