Playtime with Melany

Bondage lovers less anxious? Happier?

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:00:00 +0000

So some research states.

Maybe that's why they look so serene on book covers.

Lany

A call to arms?

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:50:00 +0000

Apparently Wikipedia used to list a novel by Ernest Hemingway as being about Spanish whores. *blinks*.

Read and see the screen shot here.

Lany

Japan has world's largest orgy

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:16:00 +0000

250 men. 250 women. All having sex at the same time. They tried to coordinate them so they were...in the same position. And filmed the whole event.

Wonder what the previous record was and who held it?

Orgy.

Lany

Penis puppets?

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 01:17:00 +0000

Man arrested after being caught naked from the waist down with a string tied to his penis, which he used to manipulate it like a puppet.

Link.

Sad to say but I'll never look at Pinocchio the same way.

Lany

Talk about a cowardly breakup

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:25:00 +0000

Woman learns of impending divorce when husband posts about it on Facebook.

I'm just shaking my head. And I thought phone calls and emails were impersonal.

Lany

Did you know

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Thu, 28 May 2009 12:14:00 +0000

That Pompeii, when it was excavated was found to hold a lot of erotic art? These collections so embarrassed King Francis 1 of Naples when he came to visit it that he had it locked away in a secret room. This room finally opened in the year 2000 to the general public but minors aren't allowed in without a parent or guardian's permission.

Lany

Everytime I try to blog...

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Fri, 15 May 2009 02:32:00 +0000

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Brief Interview with Craig E. Chaffin about His New Book

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Sun, 03 May 2009 11:00:00 +0000

How did you come to write “Unexpected Light?”

I've been publishing poetry for 40 years, and this is my second book. My first was published in 1997. This is my second book, 12 years in the making. It deals with many themes, including the usual four in poetry: God, Death, Nature and Love. The last section of the book, in fact, is devoted to love poems. And that was a main impetus for the book. I had compiled a manuscript entirely of love poems but no publisher showed interest, so I limited the love poems to my very best 20 or so and added poems on other themes, and voila! I had a publisher go all the way for me, including royalties—for poetry, imagine!

Why did you call your book “Unexpected Light?”

First, it is mentioned in the last line of the poem, “Prayer to la Virgen,” detailing how Christ was lucky enough to receive a donated grave.. But more so, when I fell in love at 45 for the first time (and it has continued ever since), I was shocked out of my mind. It was truly unexpected light.

Trained as a medical doctor, I had always been rational about love, thinking (in C. S. Lewis's words) that love should be the result of, not the reason for marriage. All that changed when I met Kathleen. And right after I met her my second wife e-mailed me that she was leaving—such synchronicity!--leaving me a perfect opportunity to experience romantic love for the first time, a gift I wish for everyone. And true love is not just infatuation but an abiding love, a love that puts on overalls and boots in the service of the beloved.

Where can we get a copy of “Unexpected Light?”

It's available through Amazon.com and all the usual suspects and any bookstore will order it for you. Best to order it directly from the publisher. There's a page on my website where you can do that: http://cechaffin.com/light.html

It comes in hardback for just $20 and paperback for $12. I wish I could give it away but I can't afford it. Seven reviews have already been published, and I can say without embarrassment that they have all been glowing.

Here's a short excerpt from one of the love poems, “Valentine 2008,” where the speaker imagines his love as a waterfall:

Inside the moss-lipped haven of your granite
I hide behind your thundering skirt of water.

Your clarity dissolves all self-deception.
I would not recognize myself without you.

The shelter of trees is never so generous
As your pouring and thinning of yourself

Into the forest air. I kneel and drink
And like the alder rise up satisfied.

RT updates

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:45:00 +0000

I'm going RT updates all week on Mechele's blog if you want to catch my exploits.

Mechele's Blog

Lany

The Whole Amazon thing

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:38:00 +0000

I won't repeat it all here but you can go here and read about it.

They are saying "It's a glitch." Hope they get it fixed if it is in fact a glitch.

Lany

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:56:00 +0000

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Happy St. Patrick's Day and Happy birthday Mari!

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:05:00 +0000

May you find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

Mel & Lany

Liz Jasper on "Are Vampires Green?"

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:25:00 +0000

Are Vampires Green?

In addition to being a fiction writer I am, according to a yellowing diploma on my wall, a biologist. So when I see that it's that eco-awareness time of year again (Be Green, Read an E-Book Week is March 7-13), I can't help but pop out of my writer's fog to worry about things like global warming and my own carbon footprint.

One doesn't necessarily associate paranormal mystery writers with environmental consciousness. Or so my hairdresser tells me. Even though she's been cutting my not-black hair in a wash and wear style for the year I've known her, it turns out she always assumed I'm a Goth. Why else would I write about vampires? (That's a rhetorical question. In other words, I have no good answer for it. I can, however, tell you why I don't do things like sport vampire teeth. Long fangs are fun in books but in real life would surely get in the way of important things like eating chocolate.)

Which brings me to my original question: are vampires bad for the environment? I mean think about it. Unless they have the bad fortune to collide chest first with a sharp stake or (depending on a vampire's death possibilities) step out into the bright sunshine, they live forever. Longer than Styrofoam in a landfill. Or Twinkies. Which means they probably take up more than their fair share of resources, don't you think?

Well…

On the plus side -- and this is a big plus -- they don't eat human food. And if you ever read the statistics about what's trashing our environment, the resources we use to grow food is a big part. There's methane from cattle (a discreet way of saying cow farts) polluting our air, fertilizer polluting our streams, etc. etc. So well done Dracula for getting by on a little blood.

Also on the plus side, they don't commute. Not in cars anyways. Granted any vampire worth his sex symbol status will own a nice set of wheels, but it's not as if he's stuck in rush-hour traffic every day. No vampire with the least bit of brains would spend an hour or two a day battling road rage on the freeway when he could just turn into a bat and fly where he needs to go. (I assume any technology that would allow him to drive a car during daylight hours could also be used to protect his batty little wings.)

This is sounding pretty good for a vampire's carbon footprint, except for that small matter of sucking victims dry. Tsk. Tsk. Really, vampires of the world, haven't you heard of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle? Why suck a victim dry when you can take a little and have them around for another day? Do you have any idea how much it takes to get a pretty young maiden to eighteen in this country? In purely financial terms, estimates range from $38,027 to $104,532. Can you imagine the carbon footprint for just one vampire meal? With the amount of McDonald's Happy Meals the average kid eats? Think of all the cow farts involved in producing one young maiden.

So I say to all the vampires out there, try to be a little more considerate of the environment when you stalk your next victim. And to all readers who like vampire stories, why not do a little to help the planet yourself and make your next vampire book an ebook!

Liz Jasper is an award-winning vampire mystery author and avid eBook reader, blogging this month for All Romance eBooks' Go Green/Read e Campaign. Find out more about the Go Green/Read e Campaign at http://www.gogreenreade.com/. To learn more about Liz Jasper and to read excerpts and reviews of her books, visit her website at http://www.lizjasper.com/.

You can find Liz Jasper's Underdead mysteries and thousands of other eBooks on-line at http://www.allromanceebooks.com/

We're not dead

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 03:33:00 +0000

more animals

Just busy.

Just wanted to say

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 01:07:00 +0000

Mel & Lany

Good news to end the year!

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 13:48:00 +0000

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season.

We recieved some very good news day before yesterday. Law's Deliverance has been nominated for a The Romance Studio CAPA award for Erotic Fantasy Romance!

We are still celebrating!

Lany & Mel

Happy Holidays!

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 12:42:00 +0000

Psssst

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:07:00 +0000

more animals

Thursday Thirteen

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:32:00 +0000

Thirteen things on my tree I love

1. My Snoopys and Peanuts collection! Yes, it's spread to the tree.

2. Our first Christmas together ornament(s). We actually have two because we bought our house right before we got married and the hubby bought me one that year and the next.

3. The ornaments the kids have made. It's like a little treasure trove with pictures of them when were so little.

4. Ornaments commeorating the pets' first Christmas with us. I need to get one for spaz kitten.

5. The star. It's plastic like stained glass but I love it.

6. The jingle bell lights. LOL hubby brought them into the marriage. They play Christmas carols and the lights blink in time to the music.

7. The hubby's shuttle from Star Trek. I don't know why, but I think it's cute. You plut it into a light and Spock talks.

8. My MIL's Glass balls. They aren't on the tree this year because we didn't know how spaz kitten would handle the tree. They look like shimmery bubbles. I've always thought they were beautiful.

9. Some ornaments the hubby and I made when we first got married. We didn't have a lot of money that year, so we bought this kit that had plast you melted into a frame and it looked like stained glass. We still have a few of them.

10. The hubster's little silver angel that he got when he was a boy.

11. The kitty cat ornaments that the youngest got last year. Orange and white kitty cats.

12. A little dog wearing a santa hat.

13. A snowman ornament with all our names on it that was given to us by a close friend.

Thursday Thirteen

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:45:00 +0000

13 things I have to do

1. Bake 6 batches of cookies for two mother/daughter cookie exchanges.

2. Wrap presents. Lots of wrapping to do.

3. Watch holiday specials. I'm way behind on that.

4. Go look at Christmas lights

5. Go to the grocery store

6. Fold the mountain of laundry that's waiting for me *sigh*.

7. Clean the house. The youngest found the sugar last night.

8. Write. A new story is speaking.

9. Drop off our stuff for the Angel Tree person we adopted.

10. Either donate or find time to go to the SPCA and volunteer.

11. Pick up new books from the library and turn in some old ones

12. Figure out my schedule for Marscon, a convention I'm attending in January

13. Have some Christmas fun. I love this season!

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:19:00 +0000

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Exciting news

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:58:00 +0000

Law's Deliverance is an EPPIE finalist in the science fiction/futuristic category!!! We are thrilled.

Lany and Mel

Just wanted to say

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 12:39:00 +0000

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:48:00 +0000

more animals

Thursday Thirteen

mechele@mechelearmstrong.com (Mechele Armstrong) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:44:00 +0000

13 authors I want to read more of

1. Lori G. Armstrong

2. Elizabeth Lowell

3. Marissa Alwin

4. Melissa Lopez

5. Chelsea Cain (and I can...thank you my library!)

6. Laurell K. Hamilton (they've been getting better to me)

7. Sherrilyn Kenyon

8. Kinley Macgregor

9. Robin Schone

10. Karen Marie Moning

11. Elizabeth Jewell

12. Stephen King

13. Jenna Leigh