Heading to RWA National Conference

I have been missing in action for a whole week fighting a cold with all my might. After too many sinusitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, and other nasty sickies, I am not taking chances. I ran to my doctor who prescribed antibiotics, the tenth antibiotics for this year. Meanwhile I was also babysitting my two adorable granddaughters, age 4 and 2. Their mommy has a severe back problem and can’t carry toddlers when needed. So, they came to grandma for special care and an extra dose of TLC. I was left with two days to prepare for the RWA National Conference in San Francisco.

What to pack? Certainly not my usual Floridian summer clothes when the weather forecast talks about a range of 50 -70. Twins, pants a good heavy jacket, comfortable shoes to run from one conference room to another, and of course a formal dress for the Golden Heart and Rita award. That proved to be a problem in my case since I unconsciously, yes unconsciously, put ten pounds in the last two months and couldn’t fit in my two formal dresses. So, I worked very hard yesterday to add beads and sequins to a short dinner dress and convert it into formal. I took it for a second opinion to my mother, a former fashion designer. She declared it lovely and I was able to relax.

I am almost packed. My husband checked that I had the most important items according to him: my boarding pass, money, and business cards. I added my list of cell phone numbers to reach friends. I am not taking a laptop. It’s too heavy to carry in addition to my purse and carryon. I am not checking luggage since I have a very short time in Atlanta to catch up my connection and will have to run. Any checked luggage would miss the connection.

Leaving at 6:00 am tomorrow morning, I need to sleep relatively early. Soon, I will go on Special Notice on all my loops.

I hope I will have a lot of stories and pictures and will post a full report on my blog when I come back. Until then, be good my friends.

Hurricane Season

Here is the Erotica Museum website as promised: http://www.weam.com/
Address: 1205 Washington Ave, Miami Beach, FL. 33139
Phone: 305-532-9336 Fax: 305-695-1209

Now you can plan your next visit to Florida and include a fun visit to the only Erotica Museum in USA.

Meanwhile here in Florida we are facing our yearly hurricane season. For the last month, we had typical summer weather.

It is hot, sunny or hazy in the morning. Sometimes we are lucky to enjoy a slight breeze. Around noon the wind picks up, the clouds threaten, the surf heightens. Before you know it, you are drenched with pouring rain while lightning and thunder compete in the darkened sky.

When I am home at my desk, typing on my computer, I can immediately see the change as the rain pellets against the window and my office turns dark. It is time to switch on the light and switch off the computer.

After facing this warning on a daily base, one can’t help worrying about hurricanes, especially when we are still recovering from the mess caused by Hurricane Wilma.

Writers from FRW are exchanging advice on how to protect their precious files. Some use an online 'storage' like Yahoo briefcase. Others send an out-of-state family member a disk/flash drive with their current work in process. Many email themselves with their own files as attachment.

In my household, my husband has networked my computer, his laptop and an external back-up hard disc, a small box that is easy to carry if we have to evacuate. Still, I prefer to save my own files on a flash drive every night.

While we hope that Mother Nature will spare us this year and Wilma will remain a memory, how do you protect your work during hurricane season in the South, tornadoes in the Midwest (I faced a memorable tornado ten years ago in Cincinnati) or blizzard and disaster time if you live in the North?

Erotica Museum

Today, my local chapter of Fort Lauderdale, Florida Romance Writers (FRW) organized an outing to visit the World Erotica Art Museum in South Beach, Miami. About twenty-five romance writers carpooled to spend a few hours at the museum where the owner and curator Noami Witzig received us. She gave us a very entertaining tour and explained that the four-thousand art pieces are part of a private collection by a single owner: herself. She bought them from all around the world and opened her museum almost three years ago, the only erotica museum in United States.

In addition to Mythological, Biblical and Oriental, one could find Ethnographic, Neo-Classical reproductions or originals, and European 17th to 20th century, American 20th century, very descriptive Alternative lifestyles and many more treasures.

A whole section dedicated to Japanese and Chinese erotica art counts numerous ivory figurines in different sexual positions, a huge black lacquered folding screen with ivory erotica decorations, innumerable drawings depicting sex, and paintings of geishas entertaining Japanese clients.

Another section presents English and French erotica art, French Can-Can dancers, Lady Godiva on her horse, famous nude paintings or funny sexual caricatures.

The Greek and Roman hall exhibits a huge golden phallus. The manager offered to take pictures of us standing next to the ceiling-high phallus, the only place where pictures are allowed. Most of us laughed and declined. The hall contains tapestries, sculptures, and miniatures of centaurs, satyrs and other mythological creatures. A whole room presents painting and sculptures of Leah and the swan. The legend has it that Zeus (Jupiter) the god of gods fell in love with the nymph Leah and transformed himself into a swan to seduce her.

I have to mention the Kuma Sutra wooden bed with four poles, each pole is a tall phallus; the bronze sculpture of a horse in erection; the paintings of a Pasha with his harem of seven naked women, all veiled; the Maharaja entertained by two concubines; a wall dedicated to Adam and Eve and their apple.

One room exhibits pictures of Marilyn Monroe from movies and Playboy magazines, while another harbors a collection of paintings and pictures of Josephine Baker.

If you come to Miami, take a few hours and visit this incredible museum. I guarantee you will have fun and learn a lot. And if you write erotica, this place will provide you with a well of inspiration. If you are interested in knowing more about this museum I can give you the website

Guest blogger: Elyssa Edwards

I am pleased to welcome Ellora's Cave author, Elyssa Edwards. Her book LOVER'S STONE will be released on July 9, 2008. Elyssa is posting an excerpt from her book.

LOVERS’ STONE by Elyssa Edwards

Excerpts:
Luke rose and walked slowly to the archway and stopped. Each of the other twelve corridors led to rooms that held stones. A male picked the path whose stones corresponded to the birth stone of the female he hoped to mate with. Only one stone in the tens of thousands that filled this mountain would support the mating of a particular couple. Supposedly if the mating was not meant to be, he would not find the stone. Wade had searched through hundreds of gems to find the right one. He’d told Luke it had sung to him the minute he touched it. Wade said it had glowed and the face of his future mate had appeared in its depths. More, it had vibrated in such a way that he’d become instantly aroused and his need to join with his mate had burned like a fire in his body.

But this center corridor, this thirteenth passage was one that was never used. It could not be entered except by those who were called. And to Luke’s knowledge no one had been called down this path in so long what lay at its end had become legend. An oasis of lovers’ stones the lore said. A collection of stones from each of the caves but they were more than just simple mating stones. These stones were for those Weres who were tied to another by destiny. The two bound by a lovers’ stone were destined for more than mating bliss. Theirs was to be a great life-long love. To Luke it sounded like more than legend. It sounded like bullshit.

The mist swirled around him and Luke’s legs carried him of their own volition through the arch and down the narrow tunnel. There were no torches here, only the glow of the golden fog lit his way. He heard the voice call again. “Where are you? I can’t see you.” It was a woman’s voice.

He heard nothing but the voice. Not even his inexplicably bare feet made a sound on the stone floor. He took turn after turn following the light that pulled him along. Abruptly the fog rose to the ceiling just in front of him taking the shape of a doorway through which he could not see. He heard her calling again. She was looking for someone. She was looking for him. The realization lifted something inside him. He stepped through a large bank of the golden mist and found himself in a vaulted chamber. In the center of the room was a shimmering pool surrounded by large low pallets filled with cushions and pillows. Directly across from him an identical doorway had formed. Before it, watching him with large frightened eyes was a woman. Her long black hair was loose and flowed down her back. The blue eyes glowed so brightly for a moment he considered that she might be a succubus but dismissed the thought. No creature could have gained entrance here except those who were like him. Only another Were could have entered the cave, let alone this most sacred place. Or that was what they’d always been told.

The woman was dressed in a long, red satin nightgown with thin straps that barely contained the full breasts that threatened to overflow the bodice. Her hips curved in a way that made a man long to run his hands over them, to hold tightly to them as he thrust inside her. The pull she seemed to be exerting over him was stronger than any desire he’d ever felt. Screw mating stones, just looking at this woman was making him hard.

A week later

It has been a week and my bookcover and review are still on Barbara Vey's Publishers Weekly. I couldn't ask for more in marketing.

I spent the day watching the Wimbledon men finals (in England) between Roger Federer (from Switzerland) and Raphael Nada (from Spain)l. An amazing game that lasted 4:45 hours, a record in the history of tennis. To the last minute we couldn't tell who would win. Both champions were superb, giving their best performance. Talk about yummy hunks and a display of muscles in action.

During the last few days, I was busy editing Babies in the Bargain according to my editor's request at the Wild Rose Press. She called it "a wonderful book very well plotted and written." The story is sweet and sensual. The art department wants the cover to be suggestive. The book will be released as ebook and as a printed book but I don't have a release date yet. Here is Babies in the Bargain for the first time on the Internet. I haven't uploaded it on my website or on my blog. I am a little bit worried about her thigh showing so much flesh. Let me know what you think please.

On Wednesday, I went to my doctor to check my throat and ears as I have been fighting a virus or flue, or... My doctor is a pretty blonde, always wearing lovely little suits. She just got married a month ago. When she sat down I couldn't help notice that her skirt hiked to mid-thigh. I exhaled with relief while thinking about my heroine on my book cover. Seriously what do you think of my book cover? Would it entice you to buy the book or...