Ah, the beauty of a long weekend....

When you cannot get a compliment in any other way pay yourself one--Mark Twain

It’s the Queen’s Birthday weekend. I am a staunch republican but for a day off on Monday I’ll celebrate any bloody thing you want. Actually Liz’s birthday is in April but it works better for us to have it in June because there are a lot of public holidays around April. Yes, we care deeply for an English queen who has done nothing in her life but have people call her ‘your majesty’ and be waited on hand and foot. It’s ridiculous in this day and age. But good luck to her. I wish her no ill. I just don’t understand why we need to be tied to a monarchy that has stuff all to do with who we are as Aussies. I think my maternal, pure Scot grandfather Bill, husband of Elsie - the would be silent movie star, summed it up best when he said. “When she (the queen) sings god save Bill then I’ll think about returning the favour.” I think that’s fair. By the way, to the best of my knowledge she never sang god save Bill.

*Eureka flag – symbol of independence since 1854 in Australia. Based on the Southern Cross in the night sky in the Southern Hemisphere.
* Republican – against the monarchy

Last day for the Unbreakable contest. I have been overwhelmed with entries. Thank you. I will email just the names only to best friend Ethel who will pick a name out of the proverbial hat. I have told her no rabbits but you cannot guarantee what that woman will do. The answers can be found somewhere in the book or they are 43 and Ethics in the workplace. How easy a contest is that? Now the questions. Correct, I refuse to do anything the right way around.

Question 1: What subject does lecturer Dash Lomard teach?

Question 2: How old is India Blake?

Email the answers to amarinda_jones@yahoo.com.au. Please put ‘Contest’ in the subject field of the email. The first correct answer, drawn at random, to those two specific questions wins the Aussie gift set in the picture. The contest closes at midnight (USA EST) on June 6th. The winner will be announced on the blog after they have been contacted by email. Good luck.

Now, to give you a break from reading my waffle, I have asked, actually I demanded, two fantastic authors for excerpts of their hottest selling books. And yes, of course you can click on the cover to buy…shopping is easy at the Amarinda blog…no, I get no commission…hmm…I must look into that. I am will be back tomorrow to regale you on my renovations and associated injuries from them. Blood will flow...because I am clumsy…


“Djinni and the Geek” By Cindy Spencer Pape - Available NOW at Ellora’s Cave – it’s a red hot adult excerpt.

Excerpt:

“Oh hell.” He groaned and crushed her to his chest. “We are never going to get anything done if we’re in the same room together are we?”
Her tears were forgotten as she burrowed into his chest. The strong bands of his arms encircled her, and she felt wetness pool between her legs. Why did it seem she could never get enough of this man? She was no novice at sexual relations, had enjoyed them with some of her masters, but with David she was experiencing a continual state of craving for his touch. And that was like nothing she had ever felt before. Still, she saw no reason to deny them both the pleasure and relief that they could find together. There was a small glass pane in the office door but it had been covered over with papers and cartoons. “Did you lock your door?”
“Uh-huh.” His hands were already sliding up under her sweater. “I usually do when I’m breaking federal law on my computer.”
She shifted her hands to allow him to tug the soft pink wool over her head, taking her ivory satin bra with it. Then he pulled her out of her chair and into his lap, filling his hands with her breasts. His mouth crushed down on hers, fierce and hungry.
Her breasts swelled and ached as he shaped them with his hands while his tongue plundered her mouth. She shifted in his lap until her knees straddled his legs and her pussy—another word he had taught her that morning—rubbed against his cock. It wasn’t enough, she wanted him stuffed up inside her but his hands were doing such wonderful things to her taut and swollen nipples that she could not bring herself to move.

Marriage Plot, by Kelly Kirch – regency romance out June 17th from ResplendencePublishing.

Caroline chewed her lip and flipped the next page and the next—ten pages in all.
A hand dropped on her shoulder, startling a gasp from her.
“Are you finished here?” Nicolas smiled down on her.
She looked up into his handsome face. His twinkling eyes mocked the deepening shadows.
Her second challenge—to convince Nicolas they were made for each other -- seemed even more daunting than the first. Her attempt to create his awareness had fallen ill with her kiss. A normal courtship took time, but not knowing how long Nicolas would remain at Braeton put a decided crimp on her plans. Well, that and the fact that he still thought of her as a girl, which the yearning in her breast asserted she was not. She must change his mind, yet propriety and pride kept her from bolder action.
“I’ve got you at a bad place, haven’t I?” he mused.
Indeed he had. Badly in love, badly wanting, craving his affection as she had for the past nine years. Only, nine years ago, she had a different interpretation of what type of affection she needed. No longer content with the youthful idea of a quiet word of praise meant for only her, she wanted more from him. Something which began with a kiss and ended—where? To have him look at her with longing, as he had looked at the governess at the Winter Ball years ago.
Penelope had read his frequent correspondences to his family. She had participated in recounting the tales of his youth that all the girls knew, having grown up in the close proximity of Worthington township. Nicolas was a man of character, strength, humor, and loyalty.
He was precisely the man she knew he’d become those years ago when first she’d discovered her affection for him. The man her father could not have been for his gambling prior his death. Nicolas was a man of her brother’s ilk, whom she respected above all others. That he and her brother had remained close friends at university solidified her assessment of his character, because her brother was discerning in the extreme.
“A bad place,” she said now, stumbling over the words, wondering if he could imagine what she had been thinking.
Nicolas removed his hand, motioned to the journal. “In the midst of something?”
“Oh.” She clapped the book shut. It was too dark to write and would soon be too dark for a proper lady to be found in the sole company of a gentleman. “Yes, I’m ready to leave.” She stood, collecting the materials together.
Marie’s light-hearted laugh tinkled merrily from the yard. Nicolas’ gaze traveled beyond the door, smiling fondly at the scene of Marie covering her face for a game of hide-and-go-seek. His eyes danced.
For once Caroline wished Marie was not so very beautiful. That she did not have China blue eyes, golden locks, or an exuberance for life which made one wish to see the world through her. And that she was not the only person Caroline had ever met who carried around a ray of sunlight which singled her out for the stunner she was. It made the transition to Caroline, standing in the dim room with hair the same shade as the mud in the yard, singularly depressing.

www.freewebs.com/amarindajones/
Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?

Another Monday down...

Does anyone know what I have done with my patterned, winter tights? Please advise as I have no idea where they are. Of course there is the school of thought I should have packed them away neatly somewhere last year but how boring is that? Anyone can be neat. The one thing I like about Winter? I do not shave my legs as much– yes I know, TMI but to me it’s a time to go feral, Beryl.

The world’s most boring woman – the one that is straighter than a ruler and makes the Ten Commandments look half-arsed – is away from work for a week. Hallelujah! A whole week of someone not droning on about how by me forgetting to pick up a print out from the printer means the whole company will go into liquidation, worlds will collide and locusts will descend in plague proportions. She loves to point out mistakes. Luckily for her I make a lot of them, as you do when you are a human being. I just smile and nod and say things to her like “Well as no one lost an eye there is not problem is there?” It drives her crazy that I will not bite because I simply don’t care. She is no challenge to me. She is a lonely, pathetic woman whose life is ending when she finishes work for good soon. Not worth arcing up over those people as they just don’t understand real life and would not get it anyway.

Absolutely had stuff all to do at work today which suited me as I had writing I could do. Yes, of course I feel terrible about doing this in work time but I feel they would not want me to be bored as then I would not be a productive worker then…you know if there was work I felt inclined to do. It's always a juggling act writing at work. While it makes you look incredibly busy you have to have the quick fingers to flick in and out of programs without anyone realizing what you are doing. Added to that you have to be able to send all writing home undetected by the email Nazis. But that's easy. Some people get sprung (caught) though as they save it onto desktop or documents. Duh, of course you'll get pinged(caught) doing that. The secret of my stealing work time success? I type everything into the body of an email on corporate mail,(makes me look I’m doing work stuff) no address of course, then I have one of my outside email addresses open - then I cut and paste it into an email already addressed to me and send that sucker. Foolproof. I am sure you are all too good to steal time from you employer but hypothetically, if you did, how would you do it?

I was listening to this bloke on TV this morning and he was talking about language. When I was at University one of the core subjects I had to take was Linguistic Analysis. Yes very exciting -not. I spent most of my time sounding words out for diphthongs and glides and glottal stops…these have of course been incredibly not useful in my life. You never know when someone with ask you about a diphthong - and I'm not talking about the foot in flip flop method to check if pool water is warm enough to swim in. So, there was this bloke and he was talking about language and the perception of how some people try to correct your words because they believe it's whom and not who and how these people should get a grip. I agree. Surely we have more important things to worry about other than how someone speaks and if they are grammatically correct. Isn't it more important what is said? Sometimes I find the most eloquent speaking people are the most full of crap…what do you think?

Barbara Huffert – great author and friend of the Amarinda blog has a brand new release out from Total-E-Bound today. It’s called Beyond Meddling – love the title – and I know you will want to snap it up as its wild, hot, sweet romance as only Barbara can write. Luckily for you, all you have to do is just click on the cover to buy – you know how to click doncha ya?

Beyond Meddling – the blurb

Evan Wilton is lost and confused. So much so he’s about to let Belynda Himmel, the woman of his dreams, slip away. He has every intention of doing just that, for Be’s own good of course, when his grandfather shows up to knock some sense into him.

Now if only he can get past the fact that the man died months ago and actually manage to listen to him, he might end up where he’s always wanted to be - in spite of himself.

Beyond Meddling – the excerpt – yes, its adults only – you have been warned.

In fact, that’s how he got her shirt off the first time.
They’d been relaxing together on a Saturday afternoon before Be had to head to the home for an event she’d arranged and somehow they’d landed on the subject of masturbation. One thing led to another and the next thing he knew she’d dared him to show her his technique. He tried to get out of it, claiming lamely not to have enough time before she needed to go which was when she’d whipped off her top, baring her breasts as inspiration. As he watched she’d pushed them up and together almost as if offering them to him.
Be nodded towards his groin. “Well? Aren’t you going to?”
“Oh. Yeah,” Evan stuttered. “Sorry.”
“For what?” she laughed, rolling her nipples between her fingers.
“You distracted me. I forgot what I was doing.”
“Need me to remind you?”
“Uh, okay.” He let her guide him in front of her and unzip his pants.
“You need to get out your cock now. I want to see you wrap those sexy long fingers of yours around it.”
“Like this? You like my hands?”
“You know I do. You’ve seen me watching them.”
“Yeah I noticed,” Evan admitted.
“Stroke it for me,” Be urged.
He did. While his hand worked, Be was busy fondling herself.
“Look what watching you does to me,” she said, raising her breasts to display her pointed nubs. “God, Evan that’s so hot.”
He couldn’t help it. He laughed. “Me? I’m hot?”
“Oh hell yes. Don’t stop.”
“Yeah like there’s a chance that’ll happen,” he chuckled again. “Damn Be, talk about hot. Mm,” he moaned.
“Getting close?”
“Fuck. Oh yeah. Ah. Where do you want it?”
“All over me. Coat my nipples.”
Evan couldn’t hold back. He did as she asked and let his hot fluid dowse her chest. When he squeezed out the last drop he couldn’t believe what he saw. Be lifted her breast and angled her head in order to lick her own nipple.
“Mm, tasty,” she declared.

Anny and Kelly are doing their thing on their blogs – what is it? It’s very complex, possibly illegal and no doubt quirky bordering on odd. Go see….

www.freewebs.com/amarindajones/
Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?

What? Sunday again...oh crap Monday tomorrow...

A friend sent me these Maxines this morning – I love Maxine. I want to grow up to be exactly like her. I believe I am on the way
It is cold here…yes, sure, it’s nearly winter but that doesn’t make it right. It’s also windy enough to blow a dog off a leash.

Update on Mervina the possum. I left the lights on under the house last night and will again tonight, as per my wise Editor’s suggestion. See? Editors have to deal with all manner of problems – anyway there was no sign of Mervina today. I suspect she is pissed off about not being able to wander around in the dark knocking things over – nor has she been able to sleep today as I kept the lights on. Jump out and scare me will you? I think not. You’re going bush whether you like it or not fatso.

I was talking to a reader who said that she wished she had the ‘gift of imagination’ so she could write. No one lacks imagination. It’s just a matter of belief in yourself and your abilities. As for writing? I have said this before but I believe anyone can write. I am sure there are probably
some authors that would disagree with this sentiment. But I think anyone that has a voice and spirit of their own can bang out a book. The only thing it takes is time and patience. If you can find both then have a go and write. No writers I know are any smarter than anyone else and you may just surprise yourself. Do it.

So, I would like to say I did something exciting today but I didn’t. The highlight was putting a colour through my hair – I have no idea what my natural colour is any more. I’m sure it’s not toxic red. And I schlepped around in my purple chenille dressing gown and rainbow fuzzy slippers for a large percentage of the day while I wrote the continuing story on from Tantalizing Tilly (coming soon from Ellora’s Cave) – though I have left out huge chunks of sex…in the book that is. I personally don’t do sex any more. I prefer chocolate and schlepping around in purple chenille. Same feeling anyway – instant gratification

and warmth. Anyway I typed in the usual notes on the WIP to myself – ‘insert sex here’. It’s hard to write sex sometimes. I also think that cold doesn’t help as things shrivel and it’s too cold for any of my characters to be naked so I am giving us all a break. What else did I do? Well, I de-trashy-fied a manuscript that a publisher wanted to see. What is de-trashy-fy? Yes, it is a made up word. Thanks for noticing.

With writing erotic romance - and I am sure I’ll get myself in trouble saying this but what the hell, that’s who I am – there are different types of erotica which I am sure you know. And no, I’m not saying any particular author writes porn so get a grip if you feel otherwise. Anyway, I write differently for different publishers. Well, it makes sense doesn’t it? Different publishers have

different markets. Anyway, I wrote this one piece of work that was probably – okay not probably, - was a lot hotter and also trashier than a lot of my usual work. I planned to give it to a particular publisher, different to my normal one, but in the end chose not to because I wasn’t happy with how trashy it was. Sure, it probably would have sold quite well but I think there are times in your life when money is not the most important thing. Yes – gasp – shock – horror. Who knew I would ever say that? I feel dizzy now. But there it is - I had a moment of integrity and I decided to de-trashy-fy the book. It’s still hot and it’s still ménage but I don’t wince as I read it.

And yes, there is always a debate over what is erotic romance and what is soft porn. I have my own thoughts as I know anyone reading this does. That’s good. Wouldn’t it be boring if we all thought the same? I respect anyone’s right to read and write what they like. I personally will draw the line. I wonder what Maxine would say? Hmmm…

So that’s Sunday…other then ignoring the doorbell, answering the odd phone call and as writing requires, eating junk food, that was the sum total of my existence. Oh yes, and I bought an Armitage Army t-shirt –for charity – because every Armitage Army soliderette has to support RA. So yes, quel non- excitement. What do thou doest today?

I suspect Anny could talk about sex on her blog – not sure. I know Kama Sutra Lovers will be out very soon through Ellora’s Cave - it will singe your eyelashes together. I have read snippets. Maybe she will be kind enough to add an eye singeing snippet on her blog. As for Kelly she is too much of a good girl for any singeing of bodily parts.

www.freewebs.com/amarindajones/
Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?

It's me or the possum...

So, I just finished talking online to author Barbara Huffert this morning and I headed down stairs to the laundry to start washing clothes. I opened the door and Mervina, urban possum and all round pain-in-the-bum, springs off a shelf and scares the life out of me. Holy crap! I screamed then swore at her but all she did was grin at me and I am sure I heard a giggle. I then explained to Mervina, probably much to the interest of my neighbors at 6am, that this relationship is just not working and she needs to move on. She ignored me and went back to sitting on the shelf with the laundry liquids. I know two things – I must trap her and give her to the wildlife people and she is getting awfully fat. What the hell is she eating down there? I think I am going to have to check the phone numbers on my phone bill and my credit card statement as I have a feeling she may have been ordering pizza in. Damn, I wish I had a digital camera so I could send a picture of her to the blog. The one above is of a normal possum living outside in a tree. Mervina isn’t normal. She doesn’t do the great outdoors. The thing I don’t get is that my house is surrounded by huge trees and she wants to hang out with soap power and fabric softener. I suspect it has a lot to do with the drought…and she is a perverse possum.

Speaking of the drought…the Queensland Government has a very good program going at the moment. Because of the drought and the need for people to save water you can get a plumber to come to your home for $20 only and he will change 3 washers, put in flow adjusters and you get a new low flow shower head. It’s a good deal from the Government as people use less water and the washers, I did not want to stuff around changing, get fixed for very little. Yeah, I can change washers but why would I when a man can do them in less time? I truly believe men are good at many things and tap washers are one of them. And who knew there were so many choices when it came to free shower heads? I mean seriously, is it something you think about that often? In the end I went with the one he suggested – ‘the massager’ – hmmm, looking forward to that shower later….well as much as any one with 4 minute shower restrictions can.

Anyway the guy that came out was very nice and we chatted about plumbing and stuff and somehow we got onto the topic of men dyeing their hair and how grey hair is not perceived as sexy. How did we get on this topic? I am as I write on the blog. Conversations with me can jump from anywhere to anything. Yes, I can be exhausting, Anyway, I cannot agree about the grey hair not being sexy. I mean look at George Clooney and Richard Gere. What’s not sexy there?
But I think men can get away with grey hair easier than women. He thought men looked dumb when they coloured their hair. Yeah, I have seen a few men try to go jet black and it looks about as natural as a Vegemite moustache. But then women do that as well…the hair colouring not the moustache…jeeze (eye roll) we spend a great portion of out time ridding ourselves of the possibility on a mo. What do you think? To colour or not to colour? Is grey sexy or not? I personally think do what you want as long as no one loses an eye.

These were in my email this morning…

From: Moham Bello -
$7.6MILLION FOR TRANSFER INTO YOUR ACCOUNT URGENTLY/CALL ME +226 XX XXX XXX
From: UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.
FILE FOR CLAIMS!!! CALL +44-XX-XXX-XXX

Yeah…I’ll be doing that….I am just that stupid…

Update on the Mervina situation….I read the wildlife page of the State government. It says ‘live with the possum – share your surroundings with this delightful creature, encourage it to find a home in the trees.’ Right. Delightful? Huh. Apparently if I trap the little bugger and have her relocated it’s just as likely another possum will take her place…perfect. So what to do? Do I find a ‘nesting box’ and put it into a tree and encourage Mervina out into the trees where normal possums live? I just don’t know if I can fit all her Scandinavian furniture in one small box or I trap her and have her sent away to the country? Lordy…why me? I am as one with nature as I am with quantum physics.

Best line on a blurb I have read all day?

“Having lived for close to three millennia, he has seen and done everything there is to do in the universe, including bedding thousands of women over the years.” Perhaps Love by Madison Blake – out now at Ellora’s Cave. Doesn’t it conjure up a picture? Click here to buy. And Madison is running a contest…check out this note from Madison below…

Go to my website: http://madison.thelovechronicle.com . You'll notice I have two other books upcoming with Ellora's Cave. Pick one of them and tell me the names of the three characters. So, here's the information I want:
- Title
- 3 names
Send the email to madison@thelovechronicle.com with the subject line "Perhaps Love Contest". At midnight of May 25, 2008, I'm picking TWO winners from the pool of submissions. Each winner will get a download of Perhaps Love.
Winners will be announced on the EC Chat loop on May 26, 2008.
Good luck!

Well? Can you get an easier contest than that? I will have my own contest up and running for the release of Unbreakable on May 30th. Wanna’ win some Aussie stuff? Stay tuned.

Blogs to check? Anny, Sandra, Kelly and Katie – just to name a few… and when finished with those may I suggest you check out the fine blogging talent to the left.

Have a possum free Saturday...may nothing make your scream at 6am unless it’s in passion.

www.freewebs.com/amarindajones/
Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?

And if you love him
Oh, be proud of him
Cause after all he's just a man
Stand by your man
Give him two arms to cling to
And something warm to come to
when nights are cold and lonely

Stand by Your Man

I drove to work singing Tammy Wynette songs - primarily - Stand By Your Man - at the top of my lungs. I am an appalling singer but that does not stop me. All week I have been singing along to Pink’s 'get-out-of-my-face-attitude-songs' because it has been a week like that. But today is Friday and it requires more dramatic loud to hell-with-everything-primarily-work songs. I think you'll agree Tammy had some dramatic songs. Dusty Springfield was good at that too. They're farewell, I'll-get-by-without-you-and-the-dog-just-leave-me-the-gin songs. Okay maybe not appropriate for some people but I like my Fridays dramatic because it's the start of the weekend and everything is possible.

I walked into work this morning and people were selling fund raising chocolates. Now I have never been able to walk past a chocolate in my life. It’s a genetic disorder which I have no intention of getting counseling for. I believe the eating of fund raising chockies to be a noble thing to do because the money is going to a good cause and therefore there is no fat transference to the eater of said charity chockie.

“When women are depressed, they eat or go shopping. Men invade another country. It's a whole different way of thinking.”--Elayne Boosler quotes

So, as per the usual work day, best friend Ethel emailed me from her work place across town. Basically she said “Lucy”- only she calls me that and its started as a code when we were in trouble and it stuck. “Lucy, all men suck and are guided purely by their penises and how can you possibly write about romance when all men are stupid?” Okay then...sounds like her husband…er…Fred…is going to have a tense evening. I personally do not believe all men suck - yes, some do, others blow, while the rest are okay. They're just a different species to women and sometimes it's hard to remember that isn’t it? As for writing romance - well, the very essence of romance is that the male is not sucky. I tend to avoid the hero coming across like that. Oh sure, he'll make mistakes and come across as an all knowing pain in the bum but he's loveable in that charming, incorrigible way. I believe that's what people want to read - real but flawed characters who eventually get their acts together and admit they love each other. As for these sucky men at Ethel’s workplace with their penises that seem to be annoying her...what can I say? Don’t look. Don’t touch and try to avoid said suckiness. If men suck = annoy - what do they do that annoys you the most? You can tell me – no men read this blog.

Quirky is sexy, like scars or chipped teeth. I also like tattoos - they're rebellious.”
Jennifer Aniston

I have this fascination with tattoos at the moment. I saw this guy today with the most amazing tatt. He let me have a closer look at it. He was very proud of it and it was a beauty. I won’t say where it was or what it looked like as I plan to write it into a book. Anyway, I was never a big fan of tattoos until recently when I wrote Last Man Standing. And, to be honest I really only think they look good on men. There is something that seems so masculine about them. I used to have this neighbor who was a Maori. He had a tattoo that covered his face as per his tradition. His wife told me it frightened a lot of people. I found it quite fascinating. Anyway I expect I'll snap out of that whole tatt phase soon or maybe not…I quite like men with an earring too…

Sexy as socks on a rooster” -- unknown

Want to get people’s attention? Wear bright yellow socks. I had them on today with my Doc Marten Mary Janes and people seem to be riveted by the black and yellow striped socks. I like striped socks. I have quite a collection. But I have found people often stare at them as you cross you legs and your pants leg rises up. To be honest I don’t stare at people’s socks. What's the fascination? Can someone tell me please...or alternatively what do you find yourself staring at and you can’t help yourself?

There's a new medical crisis. Doctors are reporting that many men are having allergic reactions to latex condoms. They say they cause severe swelling. So what's the problem?” -- Phyllis Diller

I always go for a walk in my lunch hour just to get out of the office environment. I can’t stand walking from my desk to the lunchroom and then back to my desk. My arse in big enough without adding the extra sitting into the equation. Anyway I was walking along and I came across an unopened pack of condoms – obviously fallen out of a pocket. Boy, someone is probably missing those. It always amuses me the brand name on condoms. Mt Olympus, Apollo, Humongous - ok, I may have made that last one up. But they are always big, beefy, powerful names. These were 'Trojans'. Yes, to be a Trojan is in theory to be strong and enduring -a nice image for any man. However I always think of Trojans allowing the Greeks into Troy in the wooden horse and what a mistake that was. Hmmm…not sure I could take a man with Trojan condoms seriously but when in Rome…or Troy....

"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun."-- Katharine Hepburn

Oh dear…I caused an 'incident' today. I was trying to look at someone’s blog at work and a big red warning sign came up telling me I was naughty and the incident was recorded and something about death and destruction would descend upon me. Excellent…I have always said you cannot have too much death and destruction on a Friday arvo. Anyway, soon someone came out and pointed out the error of my ways. I nodded and tried to look appropriately sorry even thought I was contemplating what to eat for dinner at the same time they were warning me. So, apparently it is now on record that I am bad to the bone. Naturally I am terribly worried - not about the record thing - but I can't decide what to have for dinner...

Please take a squiz at Anny’s blog - she is always most enlightening. Then have a look at Kelly’s to get your perkiness quota filled.

www.freewebs.com/amarindajones/
Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?

Gnats to you...

You know you don't have to act with me, Steve. You don't have to say anything, and you don't have to do anything. Not a thing. Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and... blow.

To Have and To Have Not --1944

I was watching this interview at 4:30am this morning – don’t ask – and Lauren Bacall was talking about her life. What a fascinating woman. Strong, tough-minded and yet feminine. She makes no apologies for who she is and what she thinks. What happened to women like that?

Now before you go – “Hey, I’m like that” – yes, I’m sure you are but to me these women epitomized a style that I don’t see much any more. They were sexual but not overtly in your face – they had a class and an elegance that I feel we have lost or is hidden. As a kid, I used to think my maternal grandmother Elsie was a silent movie star like Gloria Swanson – actually I thought she was Gloria Swanson for a long time. Grandma Elsie was terribly dramatic and she had what I call presence. You know what I mean, she would walk into a room, pause, give a theatrical look and then continue on like it was normal for everyone’s attention to be riveted on her. Mary Pickford would have killed to be half as glamorous as Elsie. And you know what I think it was with women of that era? I think they didn’t need to have their cleavage on display, their skirts hiked up and behaving like sluts for the media because they held attention by a look, a glance. The sexuality was there, barely contained but you knew when the hero walked into the room and he looked in her eyes he could feel it. I think we have lost the art of subtlety.

What I think it comes down to is confidence. Think about it - today there is so much pressure to conform. Sure, there was years ago but women could actually look like women with curves and be admired for them as opposed to trying to be a certain size. They were allowed to be real women. I believe it's not the case today. I am confident in who I am and how I look. I'm not going for perfection – perfection to me is common. I don’t want to look like some stick thin model with no curves. I don’t want to look like everyone else. I have curves and I'm used to them and I'm not about to starve myself to fit in - or make myself try and look invisible so someone won’t say negative things about me. But that's me. Love me, hate me...whatever - my life goes on regardless. But that's not the same for everyone. Some women always remember the person who told them they were fat or less then desirable. They take that on board and it smacks at their confidence until they begin to think they are less than they are then they try and make themselves look like someone else and the effect is not subtle. I reckon it’s a caricature of who they are as a person. Let’s bring back subtlety even if it involves big hips and bums and boobs. Let’s look at the Lauren Bacalls in our lives – the women who are who they are and to hell with what anyone thinks.

I think men are different though – well, yes, duh. They have a different belief system. Maybe it's all the testosterone but they seem generally more confident then women. They harness power in a different way. I think as women we need to believe we have power to be, look and act as we are meant to regardless of what shape we are and how it affects out confidence. I’m not abdicating be like a man but I reckon take a leaf out of their books. Look at the men in your life. What makes them confident. Ask them. Learn. Apply. What is the ramble all about? Maybe it’s about looking at people like Lauren Bacall who was not chocolate box beautiful but she had style, class and the subtle power that made you look and wonder - let's be ourselves and not what's popular.

On another track…as I do…Envelopes…they have been thwarting me today. How? Well, no surprise I am a half arsed office worker and I have the attention span of a gnat at work. Okay - that may be unfair on gnats - they may have incredible patience and I am maligning them. I will check gnats out on the internet and get back to you on that. Anyway, I had to print off and send all sorts of boring crap today - you know mail merging and that sort of non exciting stuff. For the life of me every time I set the envelopes up to print I printed them upside down or managed to print the letter I was sending on top of them. Yes, I wasted a lot of stationary and I expect sometime I may feel guilt about that - but honesty how many times do you have to do something the wrong way before you think - well bugger - I should maybe concentrate on what I am doing and not swapping gossip via email and phone. Not that I gossip much - only every second half hour.

Okay - so no surprise I am Janet and Amarinda at the same time - you’re never alone when you have a pen name. When my mother named her three kids she had specific reasoning in mind. She named us all with Scottish names - as per out Scottish heritage and so we could have a title put in front of our name - ie. Lady Janet, Dame Janet, Princess Janet etc. Yes, my mother aimed big and believed even at birth her kids would be amazing. Kind of funny as even if Australia still had imperial honours and if on the off chance I would have been offered one I would have declined as I don’t believe in titles like this. No one in my opinion is a Highness or a Majesty. Like my Scottish grandfather, I have the inability to say Sir. Have never said it and will never say it – sticks in my throat. I believe no one is any better than any one else - sure you may have more jewelry and a big house but you're still just a person. So you are now asking what is the point of this second ramble…hmmm…oh yes, it all comes back to the name Janet…in fact Dammit Janet. At work today someone took much delight in saying Dammit Janet to me. They thought they were being very clever and novel. They then said – “get it?" I do. I love the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Having Dammit Janet said to me in no novelty. However, being the person I am I always like to act vague and ask with a straight face “what do you mean when they say 'Dammit Janet?'" People, like the one today, then feel the need to explain it and even sing part of the song until they realize I am take the piss(leg pulling in Aussie speak). Well, one must get enjoyment out of life mustn’t one? I used to work with a lady called Lydia and it used to drive her insane when people used to sing - "oh Lydia oh Lydia have you seen Lydia, Lydia the tattooed lady.” So, does anyone feel compelled to comment or sing about your name?

Okay – back to gnats – fascinating creatures – not – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnat

Gnat (pronounced /næt/, "nat") is a colloquial name for any of various small insects….The males often assemble together in large mating swarms, particularly at dusk. – no big surprise there I guess.

I feel better knowing there is no evidence, that I can find, to suggest my attention span of a gnat is a misleading comment

Anny and Kelly are doing the Anny and Kelly thing so go check ’em out

www.freewebs.com/amarindajones/

Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?

One step closer to the weekend...

Still only Tuesday.....f**k it!!

The power of acute observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it--George Bernard Shaw

Well, I feel just terrible. I got my MasterCard bill and for the third consecutive month they have not charged me for about $400 worth of purchases. Golly…should I tell them or do you think it would embarrass them if I pointed out their mistake? It might make

them feel incompetent and then I would feel bad about hurting them. No, I won’t tell them. It’s for their own good. ‘Can’t have them doubting themselves and their ability to produce accurate bills. Yes, maybe somewhere down the track I’ll get hit with the charges but maybe not…I’ll let fate decide.

Reasons not to exercise…I was doing stomach crunches this morning – yes, how wrong is that? But I aspire to a flat stomach although I know it isn’t going to happen but hope always springs eternal and my delusions are grand. Anyway, I managed to pull a muscle in my shoulder and now I am in agony…I tell you – all exercise is wrong and as part of my campaign platform to run the world one day, see yesterday’s blog, I will abolish all thought or need for exercise and all women will be encouraged to aspire to be shaped like the ancient fertility figures – in fact they will get paid extra to do so….and showered with chocolate – yes that’s it.

I got a new mobile (cell) phone today. As part of the mobile plan I selected I got a new, free phone. It’s very whiz bang with all sorts of bells and whistles which to be honest are completely lost of me. I purely want to make and receives calls, collect messages and sms(text) friends. I don’t need cameras or music being
played or games or the internet and I always think people walking around with the headset thing in their ear look like they’re out of Star Trek. Besides who has time for gadgetry?

‘Agonized over whether to name 3-4 Ellora’s Cave books of mine, due to come out soon, under a series title all day at work. It wasted the day very nicely indeed. My wise, stoic editor – she with the dints in her head from slamming it on her desk as she edits my work - made the suggestion of the series name. Her suggestions are always good and I always take them on board seriously. When I set out to write Anyone But You, Penned Again and Tantalizing Tilly I had no plans to turn them into a series but characters from one book wandered into the next one and well, what can you do with them but write them a story because otherwise they’re just standing there and readers wonder what the hell they’re doing there. So, I asked the legendary Frogspond – a group of amazing writers that I know – what their thoughts were on a series name and should I have one. My very first, gut instinct was no. I always follow

that instinct but I thought I would see what others of the writing sorority thought. They all believed it a good idea – and most likely they are correct. However, after much discussion and thought, I reverted back to first instinct and decided on no series name. Isn’t it amazing how such a small thing can consume your time? If I had of been home doing personal stuff I would have sorted the matter out very quickly. But work time means time to waste so I let it drag on most of the day as any practised half-arsed worker does.

I also got my FLEs – front line edits or final line edits or whatever they are called - for Unbreakable. This is the last check of your book before it goes to be published. As always, I got a slap on the wrist for speaking in Australian in my writing. The thing is being an Aussie for such a long time it’s hard to snap out of that habit and I’d like to point out that English is from England and not America. Okay – hissy fit had – I move on. There were not many things that needed to be changed and those that were questioned were to do with sex. Now, I don’t

know about you but having to deal with sex as soon as you walk in the door after a day at work is not easy. I’m so not in the mood – but I changed what I had to. I pointed out to my editor that ‘we’re really not normal people’ – and by this I mean analysing the specifics of sex….well, we’re probably not normal in other ways but I’ll restrict it to the writing sex thing for the moment. Let’s face it, normally sex just happens without all the specifics of whether he can really do this or that and what about a fresh condom and can she really bend that far over backwards without crippling herself? Imagine someone critiquing sex as you do it and maybe holding up score cards and that is sort of what a FLE does. But they are necessary to the whole process as they are the last line of defence to stopping you looking like a idiot when your book comes out.

As I write this, Mervina, the urban possum, is, I believe, putting together Scandinavia furniture under my house. She is making a hell of a racket and I keep thinking I have to trap her and let her be put out into the wild with the other possums but I also don’t think she would be good at camping out like they do. What to do? I guess I’ll have to keep jumping up and down on the floorboards to shut her up. Imagine having a normal life?

That’s it – Tuesday done and dusted. What fresh hell will Wednesday bring?

As always please check out the words of wisdom for Anny and Kelly on their blogs as well as the intensely smart and attractive people listed on the left.

www.freewebs.com/amarindajones/
Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?

Beauty versus self-belief

I know that I've got big ears and a big forehead and that my hair sticks up. But I'm happy with myself. I'm not necessarily trying to win a beauty pageant here-- Clay Aiken

Beauty can't amuse you, but brainwork - reading, writing, thinking - can -- Helen Gurley Brown

The beauty that addresses itself to the eyes is only the spell of the moment; the eye of the body is not always that of the soul-- George Sand

I was reading an article about what is considered beauty. They were trying to make people believe that if they looked like this or that celebrity then they would be beautiful. In my less than humble opinion - what a load of crap. I subscribe to the corny but very true ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder.’

When I was a kid – and surprisingly I was a child – probably for a couple of years – I asked my mother would I be pretty when I grew up. She said no. Now she wasn’t being harsh or horrible – she was just being realistic and I am thankful for being brought up being realistic. It has saved my arse many a time. I am not beautiful and never have been and that’s okay with me. Now, before you think – My, Amarinda is down on herself today – I’m not. I still believe in myself 110% and I know I am fantastic. No change in the status quo there. But I have never had pretensions to beauty so I am not upset at people’s opinions of how I look. I am who I am – that’s the Popeye theory of life and he loved Olive Oyl even though some may have considered Olive plain. She was beautiful to him and that’s all that mattered. I love me as I am and that’s all that matters.

My oldest brother used to continuously tell me as I was growing up that I was ugly. He was an idiot child. As a teenager that upset me but as an adult I can look at him and think there is much ugliness within him that I cannot and will never find attractive in any person. So what is attraction? To me, I like to hear what people’s thoughts are. I like someone that can look me in the eye as they speak because they make me believe in them as a person. I love a good sense of humour and confidence is wildly appealing. I find that’s attractive and sexy. The outside appearance of a man has never meant anything to me. Oh sure it may be the thing you look at first but it’s just the outside packaging and don’t we always discard that to get to the heart of a thing?

So why should people care about being beautiful? I personally don’t see the need to care. Be yourself. If people like or love you – great – if they don’t – well they don’t and you move on in your life without them. And yes, while some celebrities appear outwardly attractive, who are they really? We don’t know anything about them other than what is written in a magazine etc. How can you base what’s beautiful on someone else’s opinion? So, I say lets all be realistic and have the strength to accept who you are and what you look like and avoid so called beauty tips. You are an original so why try to look like someone else?

Changing subject as I do…I know absolutely nothing about football – Rugby league – other than the players wear short shorts and have very nice, powerful looking thighs. Actually sport in general is a foreign world to me. Apart from playing netball when I was a kid – I was in a team unfortunately called the ‘snowflakes’ and didn’t we pay for that name when we played the ‘highly spirited’ (vicious) Catholic school team called the ‘Cherokees’ – I don’t get the attraction of sport. Anyway, last night they had the Centenary Test on television. It was a football game that was between Australia and New Zealand celebrating 100 years of football. Why do I mention it if I have no idea of what football or sport is about? I always watch the start of any game when a Kiwi team is involved as I love watching them do the Haka before the game. It’s very tribal, masculine and powerful. What is the Haka?

Haka - a cultural ceremony display with a chant performed by many Southern Pacific teams as a challenge before a match at the center of the pitch.http://www.scrum.com/954_957.php.

There are of course many different forms of a Haka. Check one of them out here. I believe it’s the best part of Rugby League. I turn the TV off after that.

Quel controversy. Did they pelvic thrust or not? There has been a lot of hoo-ha over whether a bunch of models doing a scripted dance routine did the pelvic thrust or not to God Bless The USA at the 2008 RT convention or not. Don’t some people get their knickers in a knot over the smallest things? Anyway I saw the video on You Tube morning. I saw nothing offensive about it. In fact it looked about as sexy as a cheese sandwich. But I suppose it gave people something to get ‘outraged’ over and I feel people need to have a hobby and outrage is just as good as any other past time to have. I personally have always found scripted male strippers quite funny. Call me crazy but men gyrating to music and trying to look sexy while remembering to step, step, unbutton shirt, smile and turn, wiggle arse and focus attention on a crowd of tipsy women just does nothing for me but make me laugh and I guess that’s not a bad thing. Now sexy to me is an unscripted, private, consensual strip tease by your man. That is a completely different. Don’t you agree?

De-Promptelized today. Hallelujah. A bit of a wasted day waiting for connection, men clumping around the house etc yet despite that I feel lighter already knowing I deal with no more crap from the other mob. And yes Barbara, you can also use this as part of your creative weight loss routine. I also organized to change my mobile (cell phone) over as well as the landline/internet. I feel kind of bad about this as the mobile I have now is one I have had for 3 years. It has been through a lot with me. I have dropped it that many times and yet it has never stopped working, It is battered and chipped and the silver casing is nicked and scratched yet it still works albeit with a pissed off attitude at times. A bit like myself really…except I’m not silver…though I do wear only silver rings on my left hand and gold on my right. Why? I just do. Anyway back to the mobile. It’s a tough little Motorola. I’ll keep it in case the new whipper snapper version can’t hack the being dropped on its head pace. Hopefully the new mobile phone company can handle the trees that surround my house – it’s a bit like a fortress. The current company can’t. If someone calls me on the mobile I have to go out into the middle of the road and speak. That’s not really conducive to private conversations is it?

www.freewebs.com/amarindajones/
Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?

Friday – how I adore thee…

It has been one of those weeks that if I was given the chance to relive it again as a do-over I would give it a swerve. Don’t you hate weeks like that? It’s been non stop drama. So I plan to slump on the sofa shortly, with a bottle of chateau plonk 2007 and ignore the phone and maybe watch Gone with the Wind for the 37th time because frankly, other than the ridiculous obsession with the mealy mouthed Ashley, Scarlett knew what she was doing in life. As for the whole Rhett thing – even though it ended without the audience knowing what happened – and I refuse to consider the crap ‘Scarlett’ movie as the sequel – I always believed that Rhett would come back to her because kick arse women rule and strong men can’t resist them regardless what they may have said at the time.

There was a report on the news that alcohol will give you cancer. Jeez, eye roll, what doesn’t? My mother ate healthy, lived healthy and died of cancer. Yes, that makes sense doesn’t it? Everything has the potential to kill you. It all, in my less than humble opinion, comes down to fate and fate can be an utter bastard. So I believe in living and will continue to do so regardless of what is the ‘new’ thing destined to kill you.

Work has been dreary. I am working with a woman who is about to retire and has been in the same job for 100 years, okay, maybe I exaggerate – 85 years - and I look at her and think “knock me on the head if I ever get to this stage in my life where there are rules on rules about how rules should be ruled.” Scary. She is also incredibly patronizing and I don’t think she gets that she is. The common complaint is she treats everyone like a 6-year -olds. I am basically ignoring her – doing the nod and smile, blank look thing, because I think she is just a sad, pathetic woman who has no other life and the only life she has ever known in ending. Besides, life is too short to deal with the likes of her. I have to ask – is work life? I respond – no bloody way. Work to me is what you do to have a life or to pay for the life you have. Yet some see it as stimulating and important. Sure, at knock off time I am incredibly stimulated and pay day is exceptionally important to me – other than that, I turn up and generally try and fly under the radar so I can get through the day as quickly as possible. If it wasn’t for personal emails from the likes of Ethel, Nola and Katie I would be asleep at my desk…oh sure there’s work to do but one has to be in the mood doesn’t one?

Dreams – lordy I have had some long, difficult dreams this week. You know the ones – everything is a problem, you get lost, you’re late, you’re running, you’re fighting someone off – and yet I believe for all this exertion I should have lost more weight. It just doesn’t seem right to me.

What the hell is wrong with the government of Burma? Have your politics, your principles and your beliefs but for god sake save your people. Don’t be fuckwits. Haven’t those people suffered enough without the posturing of fools?

Are you looking for a hot, new book to read? Tempting Tess by Regina Carlysle has been released from Ellora’s Cave. It’s part of the Oh Yum series. Check out the blurb and excerpt below and then I know you’ll want to click on the cover to buy. This book is guaranteed to singe your eyelashes it’s so hot.


Tempting Tess

The blurb...

When forty-five year old widow, Tess Garrity decides it’s time to re-evaluate her very stale life, she rents a charming cabin in the mountains of Ruidoso, New Mexico to think things through, little expecting her entire life is about to take a drastic turn. Oh yeah, she’s very drawn and more than a little sexually turned on by the sinfully handsome man who lives next door.

Daniel Rios is captivated by the stunning older woman who is renting his cabin just next door. She is sweet, funny, and sexy enough to make him yearn to fuck her. He wants her more than his next breath but his first order of business is getting rid of an unwanted houseguest. For Daniel, it is mission accomplished as he moves in on Tess, tempting her to take another chance on love-with him. It’s a naughty, edgy, seductive challenge he is fully prepared to take.

The excerpt – be warned this is an adult excerpt

He was the hottest man she’d even seen. Jeff had been a handsome but rather ordinary man. Their life had been one of friendship and comfort. This moment with Daniel in the middle of the night was altogether different from anything she’d ever experienced before. Intimacy was ripe in the air and Tess wanted to shy away from it. She was afraid of what this man did to her. She’d been married to the same sweet, gentle man for years but she’d never felt the sheer magnetic pull that she felt with this stranger.
It scared her to death!
The cabin was shadowy, the lighting soft and it looked like Daniel would be here for the night. What on earth was she going to do with him?
Well, actually she could think of ten or twenty things she could do with him but, uh-uh, not going there. She wasn’t one of those aggressive women who could just walk up to a guy and say, oh, um, by the way, you’re the hottest, sexiest man I’ve ever met and I want your cock plunging into my pussy. Right fucking now! I want you to bang me into the mattress until my head threatens to explode. I want you to lick my cunt until I drown you in my cream.
Shit!

Terror zipped through her veins at all these crazy thoughts. She was a mother, for Christ’s sake. She was at least a dozen years older than this hot stud. He’d laugh his ass off if he only knew what she was thinking.
Drawing her control around her, Tess struggled to regulate her breathing and went to Daniel who stood looking down into the fireplace. Tiny sparks were catching the dry wood, burning it into a delicate, cool blue mingled with hot yellow. Shadows from the growing flames seemed to dance along his torso like a sensual touch. Flicking, teasing flesh that was bronze and hard and so very tempting.
Suddenly he looked over at her as she stood there holding a wine glass in each hand. His eyes were hotter than the fire he’d built. Tess stood motionless, unable to speak.
“I want you to know something,” he said. “I met Hillary a year ago. She was vacationing here with friends and I took her to bed. For some reason, she got it in her head that I wanted more. Wanted a relationship.”
“You didn’t.”
Daniel shook his head and made a sound of disgust. “Hardly. She’s not my type. Good for a one night stand but that’s about it with a woman like that. She’s a party girl and I’ve had my fill with it. Outgrown it. That’s not what my life is about anymore.”
Tess pressed a glass into his hand, sensing his need to talk. She was a good listener. Always had been. “You told me this evening that you’re a man, not a kid. You’re right about that.”
He speared her with a glance then took a sip of the chilled wine. “Got that right. I’m into women not girls.”
“I see.” Tess looked down into the fire, watched it catch and grow. Burning, fragrant and clean.
“I doubt you do. She showed up here unexpectedly, making demands, talking about a future.”
“What happened?”
Daniel shrugged. “I told her I wasn’t interested in something serious with her and that I wanted her to leave tomorrow morning. I mentioned I’d met someone else and she got pissed off and left. It’s a good thing. Right after I told her to leave, she grabbed my cock through my jeans. She started stroking me, tried to get me hot for her and I pushed her hand away. Everything can’t be solved through sex.”
“Some things can,” Tess whispered, almost to herself. Her gaze shot up when she realized she’d spoken the thought aloud.
His eyes narrowed then focused on her lips for a split second. “Tess.”
She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “God! Dumb. I don’t know where that came from. “

Daniel took her glass and set it, along with his on the mantle. He turned to face her squarely. His hands, those marvelous hard hands, settled on her shoulders. A calloused thumb traced the exposed line of her collarbone and a shiver of awareness sank deep into her bones. “You can say anything to me. Anything at all. Ask me about the woman, Tess. Ask me about the woman I met. “
She drew in a shaky breath as expectation hummed in the air. She shouldn’t ask because she already knew the answer and this answer could land her in a world of heartache. She knew what he was going to say and a whip of fear mingled with anticipation lashed wildly through her body. It couldn’t be. Things like this didn’t happen to her. The flesh between her legs throbbed like mad, moisture pooled, thick and heavy in the crotch of her panties. Muscles, little used over the past few years, pulsed to life.
“Okay. Who is she, Daniel?”
“I told her I’d met you, Tess. I told her I’d met you.”

May I recommend, before I sashay over to the sofa with my wine, that may kill me, that you check out Anny and Kelly and the good folks blogs to the left. They are all amazingly talented.

www.freewebs.com/amarindajones/
Go ahead: Live with abandon. Be outrageous at any age. What are you saving your best self for?