5/31 is a bad day for me - so my pain is your gain. For 24 hours only, my novel Natural Exposure is free on Smashwords - and only on Smashwords. Grab it now before the sale ends tomorrow at 11:59 p.m.
See below for the link to Smashwords as well as a description of the book - if you don't know by now. :)
If you grab it and read it, please leave me a review on Smashwords, Amazon, and/or Goodreads. It'd really help me out.
Natural Exposure on Smashwords
Natural Exposure on Goodreads
The Blurb:
It’s business as usual for Kenzie in her boudoir studio. Every day, fascinating people of all genders stroll through and Kenzie has the privilege of making them shine. She’s photographed the gamut: sultry brides-to-be seeking a naughty gift for their spouse, the confidant trans person showing the world their true self, and triads locked in passion, each moment of their tender lovemaking on display.
Kenzie’s been a part of it all, but never has a client captivated her so completely, until she steps through the door.
Ripley never recuperated from the relationship that irrevocably changed her. Desperate to forget the past, she moves to the progressive town of Bijou Basin, pursuing a fresh start. While acquainting herself with her new life, she notices an advertisement for an erotic nude photographer. On a whim, she books a session, hoping the experience will help her reclaim her identity.
Sparks fly for both women, but Ripley discovers there’s more to Kenzie than meets the eye. Can Ripley accept Kenzie as she is and does she want to date someone so complicated? Can Kenzie prove she’s worth it?
Authors Note: This slow burn erotic romance features adult themes and language. Themes include: graphic sex, BDSM, Polyamory & LGBTQ+ Characters.
Sale ends 5/31. Authors who participate have discounted their books 30%, 60% and 100% off! Natural Exposure is 60% off - just $2.40. Click below, or the banner to the right. Check out other authors giving back during this time, and if you're so inclined, add your book to Authors Give Back at Smashwords too!
Natural Exposure on Amazon
Natural Exposure on Smashwords
Natural Exposure on Goodreads
The Blurb:
It’s business as usual for Kenzie in her boudoir studio. Every day, fascinating people of all genders stroll through and Kenzie has the privilege of making them shine. She’s photographed the gamut: sultry brides-to-be seeking a naughty gift for their spouse, the confidant trans person showing the world their true self, and triads locked in passion, each moment of their tender lovemaking on display.
Kenzie’s been a part of it all, but never has a client captivated her so completely, until she steps through the door.
Ripley never recuperated from the relationship that irrevocably changed her. Desperate to forget the past, she moves to the progressive town of Bijou Basin, pursuing a fresh start. While acquainting herself with her new life, she notices an advertisement for an erotic nude photographer. On a whim, she books a session, hoping the experience will help her reclaim her identity.
Sparks fly for both women, but Ripley discovers there’s more to Kenzie than meets the eye. Can Ripley accept Kenzie as she is and does she want to date someone so complicated? Can Kenzie prove she’s worth it?
Authors Note: This slow burn erotic romance features adult themes and language. Themes include: graphic sex, BDSM, Polyamory & LGBTQ+ Characters.
Who else has a filler issue when writing? If you don't, what do you find are your difficult spots when writing?
When I first started writing a little over a year ago - I wrote in passive - not knowing better. As I wrote, I was learning so my first re-writes of book 1 was getting rid of my passive voice. After I got rid of that, I discovered that I was using starting -ing sentences, so another re-write, getting rid of those. As I learned I did more edits until I was finally satisfied with Book 1.
For me, I'm still bad with fillers - and now that I'm better at writing overall, fillers still are the last thing I'm using. I can't seem to write without them, though I do have much less (thankfully). My big filler words I use too much are -
- Just
- A Bit / A Little
- Though
What are your big fillers?
Since I'm talking to myself, I'm probably going to stop doing these daily blog posts at the end of the month. I thought they'd help with exposure but so far, that hasn't happened. So since I'm just taking to myself (and two or three of you - thank you, I do appreciate you coming by) I'll probably go back to once a week for a while. We'll see.
My Books
Natural Exposure on Amazon
Natural Exposure on Smashwords - on $$SALE$$ for $2.40
Natural Exposure on Goodreads
A Bijou Beginning on Wattpad - FREE short story
A Bijou Beginning on Goodreads
A Discovery of BDSM on Amazon
A Discovery of BDSM on Goodreads
Disney!
What is Disney Tips, Trivia & Tidbits? Whatever I, and you, want it to be. What have YOU always wanted to know about Disney? I'm most familiar with WDW, but I have been to Disneyland and California Adventures, although it's been many years. We visited 4 or 5 times.
So, my Disney days will just be any bit of information that pops into my head, and if any of you want to hit me up on Twitter, email, or leave a comment here, I'll be glad to answer questions.
Previous Disney Tips, Tidbits & Trivia:
Disney Tidbits #1 - Haunted Mansion
Disney Tidbits #2 - Harnessing the Lightning
Disney Tidbits #3 - Fantasmic
Disney Tidbits #4 - Changes to the Attractions
Disney Trivia #5
Visiting the parks is CRAZY (well, when they are open of course). Here's a few basic tips to best utilize your time when visiting.
1 - Plan your trip during slow times. Yes, this would mean missed school or whatever, but that's preferable when you're looking at 20 minute lines, or less, versus 2+ hour lines. The slow times are - 2 weeks after New Years until about Mid-March, right before Spring Breaks start and 2 weeks after Labor Day until mid-October when Halloween events really start ramping up.
2 - If you're staying on-property (a Disney hotel), take advantage of your early openings BUT then leave that park when it's opened up to the rest of the guests, and go to a park that didn't have early opening. Early Opening parks are always the busiest, so you wanna take advantage of it, then move on.
3 - If you're staying off-property, watch where you are staying - look it up on a map. Many Kissimmee hotels will claim to be right outside the gates - and it's definitely not true. Depending on where you end up, and time of year, it could take you nearly an hour to get to the parks. If you're looking at 192 (Irlo Bronson Memorial) you want to stay WEST of I-4. If you're out east - you're way too far and it could take ages to get there. If you are looking at Hwy 27, you've got some good options going so back ways, so you are good at about a 3-5 mile radius north and south of 192.
Are these tips helpful? What else would you like to know about Disney?
My Books
Natural Exposure on Amazon
Natural Exposure on Smashwords - on $$SALE$$ for $2.40
Natural Exposure on Goodreads
A Bijou Beginning on Wattpad - FREE short story
A Bijou Beginning on Goodreads
A Discovery of BDSM on Amazon
A Discovery of BDSM on Goodreads
Welcome to the Bijou Bugle, your one stop shop of all things relating to the town and characters of Bijou Basin.
If you're new here, explanations are necessary. You can find those here:
How Natural Exposure came to be
An intro to Bijou Basin (the fictional town in Natural Exposure)
Location of Bijou Basin in regards to WDW
Location of the town within the Basin's borders
The Studio's Rooms - Log Cabin
Now that you're caught up. Today's Bijou Bugle subject:
The Studio's Rooms - Eatery (The Bistro)
In my book, Natural Exposure, the Main Character - Kenzie - owns a HUGE photography studio. In her teens she worked briefly at mall portrait studios and hated it, thought they were stiff, boring, and impersonal. She had dreams to build her own.
When those dreams were made reality, she went nuts. You'll have to read Natural Exposure to get the full scope of just how big it is, but for now, I thought I'd share the first room you discover within the book.
Her studio is called - Natural Exposure - and I can see it as plain as can be in my head - so much so that I have a floorplan for the whole studio. While I didn't include those plans in the books, it's something I've thought about having with a deluxe edition down the road, once all the rooms are revealed, because in Natural Exposure, you don't get to see all of them - as neither does Ripley, Kenzie's romantic interest.
First, Ripley sees the Log Cabin. Next, she enters the "Eatery" which is like stepping into 4 different and unique restaurants all at once. First up, is the Bistro, which can appear as a quaint sandwich shop, or as a cute bakery, or even as a delightful ice cream shop.
My Books
Natural Exposure on Amazon
Natural Exposure on Smashwords - on $$SALE$$ for $2.40
Natural Exposure on Goodreads
A Bijou Beginning on Wattpad - FREE short story
A Bijou Beginning on Goodreads
A Discovery of BDSM on Amazon
A Discovery of BDSM on Goodreads
I assume most writers are huge readers. But are you still making time to read while writing?
What's the best book you've read recently? How many books do you read a year? Has that number raised or lowered since you've started writing?
My reading has slowed a little since I started writing, but I think I'm just reading a little less in general as I'm enjoying gaming too. Still, I always listen to at least a little of my audiobook every night. I hoped to hit 250 books this year, up over the last year or two, but I'm not sure I'll make it. I'm still on a pace for over 200 books. I haven't read less than 200 since 2012 I think it was, when I started tracking on Goodreads.
I LOVE Goodreads - who else? Are you in groups there? What ones do you like best? What ones are most active for you?
My Books
Natural Exposure on Amazon
Natural Exposure on Smashwords - on $$SALE$$ for $2.40
Natural Exposure on Goodreads
A Bijou Beginning on Wattpad - FREE short story
A Bijou Beginning on Goodreads
A Discovery of BDSM on Amazon
A Discovery of BDSM on Goodreads
Let's talk covers.
I know, I'm only talking to myself here - so I'll talk about covers, but I'd love for anyone to chime in.
Do you do your own covers? Hire someone? Use Kindle's god-awful ones?
I can't see how anyone can do those ones at KDP. Why do you use them if you do? Just cuz it's free? I don't know that I could read a book with a cover like that. Not supposed to judge a book by its cover and all, but we totally do. and those covers are eyesores.
While I'm not as good as I'd like to be with covers - I've made both of mine and I plan on making all of them. I LOOOOVE Photoshop, and I can tinker on it for hours, even though I'm not an expert by any means.
My covers are / will be unique. While I get the whole "certain genres should look certain ways" I've never been one to follow the crowd. My covers don't look like an erotic romance cover and I'm good with that. What my cover (of my novel) DOES do is reflect the story. I imagine people see the cover - and they're like 'whatever' about it. But then if they read it, there's a point where they go 'huh' and flip back to the cover and see it in a new light. That's what I like about my covers and while I'll continue to buck the trend.
My cover for Book 2 isn't complete yet, but I think I know what I'll be using for photos and like Natural Exposure - the book reflects the cover.
Stay tuned and perhaps I'll give you a sneak peak of my Book 2 cover as I start putting it together. :)
My Books
Natural Exposure on Amazon
Natural Exposure on Smashwords - on $$SALE$$ for $2.40
Natural Exposure on Goodreads
A Bijou Beginning on Wattpad - FREE short story
A Bijou Beginning on Goodreads
A Discovery of BDSM on Amazon
A Discovery of BDSM on Goodreads
This week on "Things I'm Playing"
I'm a big time gamer - PC and console (PS4). This week, I upgraded my Gaming PC. I built him a little over 5 years ago and though he served me well, he's been showing his age lately. So, I was able to upgrade him this week. For any of you who knows what any of this is, his specs are:
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor
MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard
OLOy WarHawk RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
MSI Radeon RX 5600 XT 6 GB MECH OC Video Card
For the rest of you - it just means he's as badass as I could make him on my budget. :) I'm super thrilled with him!
After getting him all ready to go, I played a favorite - Jurassic World Evolution. It's so fun building up my parks, and trying not to let the dinos eat everyone.
But tomorrow, I'm playing some Resident Evil Resistance. I got Resident Evil (and Monster Hunter World) free with my Graphics Card purchase and I can't WAIT to try out some Mastermind in Resistance. It's gonna be great!!
What have you been playing lately?
What have you loved?
Anything you've hated?
My Books
Natural Exposure on Amazon
Natural Exposure on Smashwords - on $$SALE$$ for $2.40
Natural Exposure on Goodreads
A Bijou Beginning on Wattpad - FREE short story
A Bijou Beginning on Goodreads
A Discovery of BDSM on Amazon
A Discovery of BDSM on Goodreads
I joined the "I Heart Lesfic" Mega Sale - both my books are on sale, along with over 200 others. Need a Lesfic fix, then this is the right place with books FREE as well as low price points of $.99, $1.99 & $2.99.
Natural Exposure, my debut novel, is on sale for $2.99 (regular price $5.99).
A Discovery of BDSM, my novelette, is FREE (regular price $2.99) and it's available on KU.
Since the start of the sale, A Discovery of BDSM has risen into the Top 10 of Lesbian Erotica. I'd love to see it pushed all the way to #1! Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your enimies. Just send everyone (18+ of course) to the IHL Mega Sale, or click my links below to go directly to my books.
Here's some links for the sale - a whopping 5 pages!
Page 1 - Romance Free & $.99
Page 2 - Romance $1.99 & $2.99
Page 3 - Rom Com / YA Romance / Erotic Romance / Polyamory/ BDSM/ Drama / Historical Romance / Historical Fiction/ Romantic Adventure / Adventure / Humor / Women’s Fiction
Page 4 - Romantic Suspense / Romantic Mystery / Romantic Thriller / Suspense / Mystery / Cozy Mystery
Page 5 - Paranormal Romance / Paranormal / Fantasy Romance / Fantasy / Epic Fantasy Romance / Urban Fantasy Romance / Historical Fantasy / Science Fantasy / Sci-Fi Romance / Sci-Fi / Space Opera / Superhero / Horror
My Books
Natural Exposure on Amazon - on $$SALE$$ for $2.99
Natural Exposure on Smashwords - on $$SALE$$ for $2.40
Natural Exposure on Goodreads
A Bijou Beginning on Wattpad - FREE short story
A Bijou Beginning on Goodreads
A Discovery of BDSM on Amazon - FREE FREE FREE!
A Discovery of BDSM on Goodreads
Disney!
What is Disney Tips, Trivia & Tidbits? Whatever I, and you, want it to be. What have YOU always wanted to know about Disney? I'm most familiar with WDW, but I have been to Disneyland and California Adventures, although it's been many years. We visited 4 or 5 times.
So, my Disney days will just be any bit of information that pops into my head, and if any of you want to hit me up on Twitter, email, or leave a comment here, I'll be glad to answer questions.
Previous Disney Tips, Tidbits & Trivia:
Disney Tidbits #1 - Haunted Mansion
Disney Tidbits #2 - Harnessing the Lightning
Disney Tidbits #3 - Fantasmic
Disney Trivia #4
Disney tends to make last minute changes to attractions that the public don't tend to see, past "soft openings" for cast members. Here are a few notable changes that's come to some attractions that you may not have known about.
Kilimanjaro Safaris - in the original storyline, poachers caught and "killed" Little Red, the animatronic elephant centered around the story. At the end, guests rode past his little bloody body, sans tusks. Guests who saw this during the soft openings started sending in the complaints as the scene scared kids and adults alike and before the park officially opened to the public, the ride ending was changed where Little Red is safe and sound, waggling his ears at you.
Test Track - it was a loooooooong road for Test Track before it was opened up, as it was delayed several times. TT is a car ride going through the paces of what cars go through for testing. At the end, it opens up to an outside track, zooming around at high speeds, before descending a slight hill to go back inside the building. The ride was delayed because the cars went so fast they actually left the track and would crash into the wall above the tunnel going back inside. There was always a new crazy story from TT when it was in testing (I worked in Epcot at the time) and it didn't seem like that ride would ever open.
Dinosaur - Not only did Dinosaur get a new ride sequence, but it got a new name, changing from the original "Countdown to Extinction". The name change happened with the release of the movie by the same name - hoping to boost both, though the movie didn't do well. But long before that, the ride sequence itself was changed as early iterations were too rough that it made people get motion sickness. Before opening to the public, they tamed it down quite a bunch.
Did you know about these changes? Does it surprise you that things are different than how they end up once they open to the public?
My Books
Natural Exposure on Amazon
Natural Exposure on Smashwords - on $$SALE$$ for $2.40
Natural Exposure on Goodreads
A Bijou Beginning on Wattpad - FREE short story
A Bijou Beginning on Goodreads
A Discovery of BDSM on Amazon
A Discovery of BDSM on Goodreads
I joined the "I Heart Lesfic" Mega Sale - both my books are on sale, along with over 200 others. Need a Lesfic fix, then this is the right place with books FREE as well as low price points of $.99, $1.99 & $2.99.
Natural Exposure, my debut novel, is on sale for $2.99 (regular price $5.99).
A Discovery of BDSM, my novelette, is FREE (regular price $2.99) and it's available on KU.
Since the start of the sale, A Discovery of BDSM has risen into the Top 10 of Lesbian Erotica. I'd love to see it pushed all the way to #1! Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your enimies. Just send everyone (18+ of course) to the IHL Mega Sale, or click my links below to go directly to my books.
Here's some links for the sale - a whopping 5 pages!
Page 1 - Romance Free & $.99
Page 2 - Romance $1.99 & $2.99
Page 3 - Rom Com / YA Romance / Erotic Romance / Polyamory/ BDSM/ Drama / Historical Romance / Historical Fiction/ Romantic Adventure / Adventure / Humor / Women’s Fiction
Page 4 - Romantic Suspense / Romantic Mystery / Romantic Thriller / Suspense / Mystery / Cozy Mystery
Page 5 - Paranormal Romance / Paranormal / Fantasy Romance / Fantasy / Epic Fantasy Romance / Urban Fantasy Romance / Historical Fantasy / Science Fantasy / Sci-Fi Romance / Sci-Fi / Space Opera / Superhero / Horror
My Books
Natural Exposure on Amazon - on $$SALE$$ for $2.99
Natural Exposure on Smashwords - on $$SALE$$ for $2.40
Natural Exposure on Goodreads
A Bijou Beginning on Wattpad - FREE short story
A Bijou Beginning on Goodreads
A Discovery of BDSM on Amazon - FREE FREE FREE!
A Discovery of BDSM on Goodreads
Previous Recommendation Posts
Book Recommendations #1: Erotica / Erotic Romance
Book Recommendations #2: Science Fiction
Mystery
I grew up reading mystery - specifically the Trixie Belden series. Anyone else read those? I know, it shows my age, even though most of those are older than I am.
I actually lived a very sheltered life in the hands of my ultra conservative birthmonster, so while a reader, I wasn't exposed to the books most people were who were my age because I wasn't allowed to read anything with even questionable content. Grrr.
But my start (as far as I remember) with Trixie made me love Mysteries and that's all I read through most of my young adult life, with some Star Trek thrown in once I started watching it. It wasn't until 2011 that I really branched out and started reading more than just mystery, romantic suspense and the occasional Science Fiction.
It's only been recently that I've realized my favorite genre is probably Science Fiction, in contrast to when it had been mystery for so long. I still enjoy a good mystery these days, but since too many of them are predictable, I just don't enjoy them a lot. If I can figure out whodunnit, and pretty early on, then it doesn't hold my attention as it once did. Still, there are plenty of good mysteries out there. Here are some I recommend:
- A Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
- Whodunnit duology by Anthony E Zuiker
- In Death series by J.D. Robb
- Blue Smoke / The Witness / The Collection by Nora Roberts
- Robert Hunter series by Chris Carter
- The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchinson
- Smokey Barrett series by Cody McFayden
- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Do you have any Mystery recs?
Come back in two weeks for my Urban Fantasy Recommendations!
My Books
Natural Exposure on Amazon - on $$SALE$$ for $2.99
Natural Exposure on Smashwords - on $$SALE$$ for $2.40
Natural Exposure on Goodreads
A Bijou Beginning on Wattpad - FREE short story
A Bijou Beginning on Goodreads
A Discovery of BDSM on Amazon - FREE FREE FREE
A Discovery of BDSM on Goodreads
This was not a good week for Bout of Books. A friend who's also doing it agrees. Just other stuff popping up, so we've done anything but read for the most part. On Wed, I finished my one book - bringing my total to 3 - and read half of another. SMH. So bad - for me. I stay at home and I read a lot, so I typically do at least 10 books for Bout of Books and that's on the low side.
Bookish Matchmaking - I tend to read all the books others aren't - especially women may age. While many read chick-lit (yuk) and books meant to make you cry (no thanks) I read more "guy books". I'll take guns blazing over sharing feelings any day. And while I read some shorter romantic suspense for the read-a-thons cuz they are quick and easy - I'd really rather not read more romance. Funny, since I'm editing (well I was before BoB week) the 2nd book of my Erotic Romance series. Still, it's different when 1 - I'm writing it and 2 - it's got naughty fun delicious sex in it! :)
So, I dunno that you all can help me but on the off chance you can - I'm always looking for:
- Authors like Matthew Reilly (Jeremy Robinson is the closest I've found)
- Survival of a Deadly Game (a la Hunger Games, 24/7, New Years Island)
- LitRPG (Aleron is the king for me, I love Richter and the Land)
- Books surrounding games/puzzles/clues - 39 Clues, Cragbridge Hall series, York series)
- Stranded on deserted Island (a la Nil, Seed, Vanquished)
- Virtual Reality books (not litRPG) a la Ready Player One & Erebos
- Time Travel in which they TRAVEL more than once! If they only GO back (or forward) in time and stay there, it's not Time Travel, it's historical (or futuristic). Time Travel has to include the back and forth into time, for me, otherwise it's not my cup of tea. A la St Mary's series, 11/22/63, Secret Runners of New York, ect... before you recommend time travel, check out my day 3 re-cap since I listed my favorites there - though I've read plenty more.
Day 1 Re-Cap
Day 2 Re-Cap
Day 3 Re-Cap
Wednesday
Night Time Audio listening time/pages: -----
Day Time Audio listening time/pages: 2 hr 10 min / 172 pgs
Kindle reading time / pages: -----
Number of books I've read today: 1
Total number of books I've read: 3
Current Book: Uncharted
Pages Read Today: 172
Total Pages Read: 786
Time Read Today: 2 hours 10 minutes
Total Time Read: 11 hours 40 minutes
Today's Completed Books:
My Books
Natural Exposure on Amazon
Natural Exposure on Smashwords - on $$SALE$$ for $2.40
Natural Exposure on Goodreads
A Bijou Beginning on Wattpad - FREE short story
A Bijou Beginning on Goodreads
A Discovery of BDSM on Amazon
A Discovery of BDSM on Goodreads
