WOS e-book 1

Thank you for reading the special preview of Wheels of Steel the e-book. It will be on sale shortly. Thank you!

New Years Eve Special-1 Day Only

2011 is coming to a close. Some don't go out (like me), and if you plan on a nice quiet time indoors then you might want to check out a little surprise that I will post December 31st for 1 day only. 

My next e-book is Wheels of Steel. I've listened to all of your feedback and decided to keep it an adult book with all the sexual content. I did some editing to the content--mostly to remove lyrics (which wasn't easy considering how music oriented the story is). 


Wheels of Steel is so long that I've had to split it into 3 parts. In the spirit of the season I'm going to gift book 1 to you...well at least for 1 day. After this there will be no more free versions of WOS until I post their continuing story--yes, I still want to do that on this blog only! Again, thanks for your support and have a Happy New Year!

In Memoriam; Musicians we Lost in 2011

I didn't even realize that some of these musicians had died--specifically Phoebe Snow.

NPR MUSIC

A question for you...

If Wheels of Steel is e-published what do you think of it being a young adult story? Think Twilight, The Hunger Games and not Harry Potter.

If WOS was to be geared towards young adults it would have to lose all graphic sexual descriptions. So...I guess the real question is, would removing the sexual descriptions compromise the story?

Urban Vampire II; Creature of the Night-Now Available!

Now Available
Urban Vampire II; Creature of the Night

In Part 1 of the popular Urban Vampire series, Kim Russell, an African American woman was illegally turned into the lowest form of the undead and then sentenced to death because of it. Using nothing more than street smarts and survival skills, Kim finds herself as a powerful Council Member with three sexy suitors.  

Now in Urban Vampire part 2, Kim is the girlfriend of Tony and mated to the dangerous Elder Council Member, Alexis--who turned his back on her when she needed him most. No one is currently trying to kill her and though her very first blood donor, Paul, has left town, she’s rich, and has one of the most successful territories in the entire Vampire Nation…so shouldn’t she be happy? 

But Alexis’ betrayal haunts her and then she learns the truth; Alexis had never left her. He had been imprisoned and everyone knew except her--including her lover Tony. Enraged she learns that she has a special new ability; the ability to turn into a monstrous creature that is unknown to even the oldest Vampire. 

Kim’s journey takes her through Europe and in touch with dangerous new supernaturals—could one of them be Paul?!

Available: Amazon/Kindle and Barnes and Noble

What is Pep listening to December 12, 2011

POGO

This isn't the first time that I talked about Nick Bertke aka POGO. Fans of his wait for him like people wait for the next Twilight movie. And when he does return you play his songs over and over all night long until your puppy falls asleep (clears throat). Anyways...

I heard this one about 6 months ago on his website where he was showing his unfinished work. He did a preview of AI and it was so beautiful that within hours of the preview it was uploaded by fans who had used that brief few seconds to create POGO tribute remixes in an attempt to complete the piece for him! I heard some really good ones, but not nearly as good as the real thing.

One important fact about this song is it's the first time POGO uses 'adult language'. This song puts together sound bytes from the Steven Spielberg movie AI; Artificial Intelligence. It's about this robot child that goes on a quest to find a mother to love him. Along the way he meets many different friends--among them an outdated gigolo robot. Mmmm, sexbot (interesting story idea). Anyways the sex-bot is telling Davyd (the robot kid) about pleasuring humans and says, "Oh yes I'm cumming," which then becomes the backdrop for the latter portion of the song. There is worse things in the world then listening to sexy-ass Jude Law repeating those words over and over! 

Beyond that the music the vibe and the video is pure perfection. 

DAVYD by POGO

Enjoy!

I've turned into one of THOSE people...

Those people are the ones that come to work with pictures of their dogs and stories about their cute exploits--well cute to them and no one else. Those people dress their pets in cutesy clothes and gives them insulin shots and prozac...

I've had pets for years but I've never felt the need to humanize the animals. You take care of them and they take care of you--end of story. But last year my dog Bear died an untimely death and the void he left in my heart was very deep. I really missed him. Several months ago--not quite a year after my dog's death a stray showed up on my porch. 

My son had come home in the middle of the night and came running into my room, waking me up. "Mom, did you see that big black dog on the porch?" I got up and looked out and there was a formidable dog pacing on my porch--black as night...well it was night and I'm blind at night so he seemed black as night. Anyways I asked him how he got into the house with the dog on the front porch and he said that he dashed through the gate and into the back yard and the dog barked at him all the while. I told him I'd deal with the dog in the morning.

The next morning, incidentally we were in the midst of a heatwave, I looked out onto the porch and saw a big puppy sleeping soundly on the porch. His rib bones were showing through his chocolate fur and I went and got a bowl of water and put it out for him. He woke up and tried to run away and I called him back. Then I dug into the freezer for a pound of ground chuck that had gotten freezer burn and I was going to throw out. I nuked it and then put it on a bowl and set it out on the porch for him. He tried to come into the house but I told him no no and he went to the food, looked at me, sniffed it and carried it down to the yard where he left it and came back up on the porch and cleaned up all the crumb.

I think I fell in love with that dog at that moment. He was obviously starved but instead of scarfing the food down he savored every morsel. Once he'd eaten and drank he went to sleep on the porch again. My daughter was at her Dad's at the time and I wanted to make sure that I gave her fair warning about the dog unless it scared her, but instead I dozed and when I woke up my daughter was ambling around the house. 

"Did you see that dog out there?" 

"Yep."

"He didn't scare you? Did he bark at you?"

"Nope, I played with him for a while. Later I'll take him for a walk around the neighborhood and see if he belongs to anyone." Well that went on for about two days. Everyone knew the dog because they had chased him away from their house. My daughter began calling him Doug within an hour and despite searching for his owners we knew that he was ours. 

You see Doug looks like he might have been my dog Bear's son. He's just a pup, you can tell by his paws even though he's big; shepherd, lab, chow mix. But he's been trained. He knew how to sit and to give paw. So in actuality, from day 1 I knew that Doug was here to stay--despite the fact that he ate my cellphone, clawed up my gazebo, and destroyed the back yard. He also did this:

Doug's sweater. He wore it for approx 3 hours.

Doug's halloween costume (incidentally he broke out of his fence and ran up and down the street terrorizing the neighborhood, until he got tired and came home)

I must really be crazy or crazy about that dog. And the answer is that I'm crazy about this dog that is so smart he can play tag with me, shake hands, lay with his head in my lap and get some loving and bark like a maniac at 4 am...

Well then suddenly my mom's dog had puppies and she wanted each of her daughters to take one--I told her hell no because I don't believe in PETS...it's just that having Doug is like having a piece of Bear back. But then this happened...

Peeta with his tongue peeking out

Peeta and my daughter

the tongue that won't stay in the mouth...

Peeta rocking a mohawk

And now I have a dog named Doug, a puppy with a mohawk named Peeta, a black cat with hideous flatulence named Icarus and I don't care if people look at me weird when I carry my pup into Petsmart or ooh and ahh at the cute sweaters and spend a shitload of money on animal presents...I am one of those people.

My new love; let me introduce you!

I love you salted caramel mocha. Lets just stop playing games and get married because I literally can't go a day without you...

Espresso and steamed milk, blended with mocha sauce and toffee nut flavored syrup. Topped with sweetened whipped cream, caramel sauce and a mixture of turbinado sugar and sea salt.

Starbucks says:

Fall is full of drizzles. Drizzles of rain as the air cools, students reluctantly drizzling back to school, emails drizzling into your inbox … but not all drizzles dampen our spirits.

Take for instance the drizzle of buttery caramel layered over sweetened whipped cream on our Salted Caramel Mocha. No rainy day could dampen sitting down with a good book and one of those. So why add the salt? Well, there’s no better way to excite your taste buds than with a little sprinkle of salt just before something sweet.

A tiny bit of our premium sea salt and sugar topping deepens the rich flavors in this luxurious combination specially made to warm up the rainy days of fall.

Did you know

Salty and sweet flavors are called "appetitive" where bitter and sour flavors are called "aversive.”

Well I love the bit of sea salt because it makes the sweet even more dimensional. If you haven't had this yet, I'd highly recommend it!

What is Pep listening to December 2012

Where have I been that I'd never heard of this singer until a few days ago? A friend sent me a link to this song and I immediately perked up. He sounded like Maxwell, Jon B and Prince all rolled up into one. I'm tingling even writing this! LOL. 


Remy Shand released one album back in March 2002 that became a huge success in Canada where he was born. He sold about 500,000 copies in the states and developed a very loyal following. Back in 2002, this 24 year old was a 'blue-eyed' soul singer signed to Motown. 


Unfortunately his story doesn't end well. Remy Shand recorded that one album and then was never officially heard from again. He fell in love with a girl that appeared in one of his videos, they married and then went through a bad divorce and Remy just disappeared. That is incredibly sad because I'm loving his sound the same way that I love me some Maxwell!



Remy wasn't promoted in the right way. Shame on you Motown for letting this young man slip through your fingers!

Pepper Pace on Tumblr

Okay, I just might be the blog queen of the Universe! Here's another blog; this one discusses the books that I have for sale and how they came to be. It gives a bit of insight into why and how I came up with the stories. The blog is also interactive and allows you to ask me questions and it gives book details and links.

 Pepper Pace Books on Tumblr

(I may be the Queen of the blogs but I have absolutely no knack for naming them! Haha)

Question for Pep; How I got started on Literotica

Have you ever told the story of how you actually started posting on Lit? I'd like to hear that, what prompted you to make that move. I assume that you had been writing long before your first story on Lit, as your voice was already in full force.
Peace,
ebonywahine

Ebony, my mother would say that I was a creative force right out of the womb. She showed me the first drawing that I'd ever done at the age of three and I was shocked; the eyes, nose and mouth were all in the right spot within a circular head haloed by hair. 

Before I was a writer I was an artist. I used to draw people and create stories behind them and then it seemed that the stories were more important than the drawings so I started making short comics. I really liked that. After a while, writing began satisfying me much more than drawing and I began to do it seriously. 

As an artist I was a perfectionist, but I couldn't always control my abilities the way I wanted. It became very frustrating. I couldn't draw well unless all the elements lined up correctly, it seemed (or at least I thought I couldn't). I had a difficult time completing projects although others saw very good work--I saw mistakes. My two loves; writing and art was soon transferred to ONE love; writing. 


I was so painfully shy that I could get ill just meeting new people. I didn't WANT to have more than one or two friends or to open up to strangers. I was satisfied with writing. I could spend hours in one spot lost in creativity, lost in my characters. But this is the case with a lot of us, isn't it? We find ourselves lost in the characters that we read about or write about.

While I was a teenager I began writing short erotic stories.The problem is that I had very little life experience (being painfully shy) and I didn't want to really share those stories. Also, I was being a very good girl in those stories.


While I can say that I wrote a lot, it was just basically perfecting the same work for years and years and never being satisfied. My stories were good--but they didn't read like REAL books. I began to analyze what I liked about my favorite author's writing styles and adopting it. What I mean is that there is a cadence...a rhythm to a story. There is also a formula. No I don't keep to a formula, but YES I respect the formula. LOL. It is very simple and a lot of people miss it;


Create characters that people care about. 

Don't just write a story saying Jane Doe was going to miss the bus again. Jane Doe didn't want to run for the bus because she was fat and didn't want people to see her running. Jane Doe saw a handsome guy on the bus and began to fantasize about him. Who in the hell cares about Jane Doe???


As time went on I became interested in MMORPG where it requires you to create a fictional history for your Avatar. And that is when I broke out of my shell; both in my writing as well as my shyness. It's hard to be shy when you're not really you, right?


I became fairly popular at a site called IMVU and was asked to join many different role playing groups due to my detailed writing. I began meeting (through my avatars) many people like myself; people who loved to write--many of them so talented that it put my writing to shame! This is where I discovered a love for writing in a group. Hence; Vampiric Charms and several others role-plays.


I stopped 'holding back' in my writing due to my shyness. I became very open in my stories. But it began with an experiment. Four notebooks that pretty much changed my life.


I liked interracial stories because I had found myself in interracial relationships and wanted to explore it in the stories that I read, maybe even compare myself with others. But many of the IR stories of that time sucked. They had weak characters that were afraid to commit due to some outlandish self preservation bullshit. Or they cared what the outside world thought. Why does the conflict always have to do with racism? What about exploring cultural differences? Or admitting to an interest in dating outside of your race just for the sheer fact that the difference is interesting? 


I decided to write a new kind of IR story--ones that didn't irritate me because their conflict was something I couldn't/wouldn't identify with. I can't identify with people who care what others think because they are walking around with someone of a different race. Or who reject the one they love for something as inconsequential as their color. Religion, understandable. Cultural differences, understandable. The world won't accept our love, not understandable.


I bought a notebook and decided that I would write a new type of IR story that showed differences more profound than just color. It was easy because these topics intrigued me and I wanted to explore it through writing. It wasn't that I sat around thinking of unlikely characters. No. My imagination would kick in with; what would happen if...


If a crazy black lady that hates white people finds herself depending on a white man that she looks down her nose at.


If a girl is scarred on the outside and meets a guy that is scarred on the inside.


If a woman's car breaks down in the center of a redneck town and she spies people walking around in Klan attire.


If a pretty divorced woman realizes that her husband left her for a ghetto-fabulous woman because she was boring.


If an insecure black woman meets a very self-assured man that happens to be blind.

Or if a drug addicted ex-prostitute falls in love with her pusher.


All of these topics intrigued me--and many many more. Before long my experimental notebook was 4 notebooks, crammed with stories. My idea was to shop it around as a collection but at the time the criteria was more confining and not all of my stories fit what publishers were willing to take a chance with. Genesis Press was the closest fit. But could they be interested in what I just described?


Before that could happen I lost interest in writing (for various reasons that I can go into at another time). For two years I didn't write outside of my role play groups. In my own group I started a thread where people could submit their short stories for feedback from the other members. A woman invited me to read a story that she had written and posted on a site called Literotica. I had told her how difficult it was for me to find IR stories and she said that there are hundreds upon hundred of IR stories there and they are all free if I didn't mind the lack of editing for many of them. 


Free??? That's all I heard.


So I checked out her story as well as other stories in the IR category, but only with the intentions of reading them--not with the intent of posting any of my stories. I found that I really liked it. She told me to read a story called Damn Dress but I was like a kid in a candy store and I forgot about Damn Dress for many weeks. I began telling other people interested in IR stories about Literotica but many already knew about it and several of them asked me if I had read Damn Dress. Intrigued about why people kept talking about that story I read it. I really liked it and began reading other stories by SOULAR.


And then one day I found a writer by the name Nerd4Music. Her stories felt very personal to me and her use of music opened my mind to even greater possibilities about exploring the emotional depth of my characters instead of just their conflict. I'm not sure if I'm making myself clear here but it is the subtle difference between reading a good story that keeps you enthralled and a good story that makes you weep. Then I found that she had a blog and I enjoyed reading it as much as her stories. I decided then that I would try with my stories. Her stories had their own distinct voice that also did not follow a true formula. I felt as if there really would be people that would 'get' where I was coming from.


So there you have it. That is how I began writing for Literotica. When I submitted my first story I had no idea that there was a way to vote, that there was a ranking, that there were contests with the possibility of winning cash. I just wanted to share my stories and to see if anyone thought they were interesting or if I was just wasting my time. My mentality was of a blogger due to my MMORPG days at IMVU and so interacting with my readers became a necessity. I viewed comments as a learning experience because they come from my audience. I need my audience's feedback. I realized that not all authors on Lit feel that way. Not all authors take criticism and learn from it. Not all authors even seem to care about their readers. 

One day when I was stalking Nerd4Music, I saw that I was on her favorites list on Literotica. I almost blacked out! Soon I discovered rankings and I saw Juicy listed at 35 in the IR category and I beamed in pride that I was on the list! One day I was voted most popular story for the month and I hyperventilated. And then I was in the number 1 spot. My desire to be published faded because I knew that I had reached people with my odd stories and that satisfied me.


Will I stay with Literotica? No. Unfortunately I need Literotica so that my readers can find my stories. But Literotica is not for me. Will I continue to blog and host free stories on my site? MOST DEFINITELY.

Urban Vampire now available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble

The saga of Kim, Paul, Tony and Alexis begins...

AVAILABLE NOW

Now available at Amazon/Kindle and Barnes and Noble

Pep's Wicked review

So I just returned from seeing Wicked. It was FANTASTIC! The music, storyline, actors, sets all superb! Would I recommend you go see it? Ah...now that is the question. 

You see, Wicked isn't for all audiences. Some would never be capable of appreciating the storyline and message. We have a girl that has long  been looked down on because of her appearance. Her own family doesn't really accept her. And when she goes to college she meets more of the same. But the thing with Elphaba (the wicked witch) is that she doesn't try to hide within herself. She's outspoken, talented and stands up for the rights of the downtrodden. When Galinda gives her a hideous hat she wears it despite the fact that she is the laughing stock of the dance. And then she gets out on the floor and begins to dance alone, looking very freakish. Sometimes we all have to do that...

That one scene epitomizes what I loved about the book as well as the play. Strip away everyone's outward appearance and then judge them on what is on the inside. Then you will find the true person, whether ugly or beautiful. Not the first time you've heard this coming from me, but it bears repeating.

If people can't FEEL the intent of the story and only see a bastardized rendition of the Wizard of Oz then don't even bother going to see it. But for you that will see the deeper message of acceptance, friendship, betrayal and love then DEFINITELY this is the play for you!

Oh, second thing, you must enjoy musicals. That would help. If you dislike people just jumping  up into song and dance then again, not the right play for you. 

A PROSHOT of Popular (which means it's okay to share!)

Wicked

Daughter and I are on our way to see Wicked!

I'll tell you how I liked it when I get back!

Juicy; NOW AVAILABLE!

Juicy Robinson was the color of sweet black licorice, of a charcoal briquette soaked in lighter fluid and no one was going to make her feel like she wasn’t the sexiest thing around—not the white people that her mother had taught her to distrust and certainly not the homeless white man that watches her from the alley.

This is the story of a woman that spent much of her adolescence being bullied because of her dark skin and weight until circumstances forced her to stand up for herself. Now, as an adult, Juicy has grown into a woman that is filled with anger and a distrust of whites instilled in her by her mother. After an altercation, Juicy finds herself rescued by an unlikely individual; a white, homeless man that she has thoughtlessly nick-named; ‘Mr. Cracker.’ After exploring mutual stereotypes and attempting to understand their differences, Juicy and Mr. Cracker find themselves drawn to each other. Out of a sense of loneliness and true friendship the two outcasts finally find something deeper than friendship and their journey to self discovery begins.  

Excerpt: 

"Don't, Juicy. We can talk without getting mad at each other. I like you...and I just want you to understand me." When she didn't answer he slowly released her hand and took a step away from her. "I guess it doesn't matter." Troy rubbed his hair, ruffling the damp ringlets. Then he shrugged. "There are two worlds. I live in the invisible one and you live in the real one." He raised both palms up in defeat. "Those two worlds don't mix."

Juicy thought before speaking. "I agree with you that there are two worlds, maybe even more. I don't know exactly where I fit in. I'm not really a part of either. Maybe I'm crazy. I guess I am. But I'm trying. I'm trying hard not to judge you. You saved my life-"

"Now you want to save mine?"

She nodded slowly.

Troy secured the fold in his towel then pulled her into his arm. "I don't need to be saved, Juicy, because I'm okay with me."

She closed her eyes and relaxed against Troy's warm body. He squeezed her firmly and carefully nuzzled the side of her head with his chin.

"I can take care of myself..." He paused. "...and if you need me to, I can take care of you, too."

"What does that mean?" She lifted her head quickly to look at him.

He stared at her for a long time before answering. "What do you want it to mean, Juicy?"

"I don't want it to mean anything, Troy." She backed away from him…

 Word count: 83, 560 

Available: Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble

Juicy the novel; the next e-book

I've decided that my next e-book will be Juicy. Several months ago I presented Juicy here on the blog for your feedback. I appreciated all the comments because it let me know that the more 'hardcore' version of Juicy is the best. When I had submitted it to a publisher, they would only accept a version that was a bit more sanitized. that's the version that I presented to you guys here. 

But, there is another version and that is the one that is NOT sanitized. All of the sexy scenes are included along with some other edits...

Thinks for your suggestions on which should be the next ebook to publish. It really helped. It should be out in time for Thanksgiving!

New Book coming out

Hey guys, I'm coming out with a new book. Wow, that feels weird to say that. It's a collection of 3 of my favorite stories. If you want to know more than click the link!

E-book information

Hi everyone. It's exciting being a published writer. Now it seems that I'm always thinking about what to publish and ways to market my books. I decided that I would make a dedicated page devoted just to my books. There will be product information and how to get them along with previews.


It will also appear on blogspot and is called Pepper Pace Books. Yeah...not very creative. 


PEPPER PACE BOOKS

I'm published!!!

I have no words...Okay I'm lying. I am so excited! STRANDED! is published and for sale at Amazon. And this time by the rightful author; ME. It should be available on B&N in a few days so it can be viewed on both Kindle, Nook or your PC. Wow, If I knew I could do this in just a weekend...well...

Oh, and there's a bit of a surprise. I made some changes to the ending so it's not exactly the same story that appeared on Literotica. Check it out and leave reviews!

STRANDED!at Amazon.com

Which Pepper Pace book should be published first?

Things have happened lately to prompt me to move forward; namely having my story stolen and sold. There is probably never going to be the 'perfect' time to focus my attention on being published. So it's time to just do it. But I need help in determining the right 'breakout' story for me to publish. 


Help!

RIP Heavy D

TMZ reports:

Law enforcement tell TMZ ... Heavy D had just returned from shopping and walked up some stairs when he began having trouble breathing.  Adam Mills, a designer who was in the building and knew Heavy D, found him leaning against a railing and clearly in distress.  Adam tells us he cradled Heavy D in his lap as others called 911.  Adam says Heavy D was conscious and said to him, "I can't breathe, I can't breathe."  When paramedics took Heavy D to the hospital he had a pulse.  People in the building are saying he died of a heart attack, but we have not been able to confirm that.  Law enforcement sources tell us ... no foul play was involved and so far they only know the cause of death was "medical."

Wow, I had no idea that Heavy D was even younger than me. I recall one of my very first concerts had several rap artists; Kool Moe D, Big Daddy Kane, Heavy D and others. I was just 18 or so and that was when rap was fun. 


I'm saddened to hear of this man's untimely death. This is my favorite Heavy D song. RIP Heavy D.

plagiarism & copyright infringement

I had a harrowing weekend. It began Friday at 3:30 am while I was wide awake trying to determine if I should surf the net or stare at the inside of my eyelids for half an hour THEN surf the net. Once I was on the computer I got a big surprise. A reader had sent me an email (Yay to being accessible to your readers!) stating that she had just purchased a book from Amazon.com and that she had really enjoyed it--especially when she had first read it six months ago when it was entitled Stranded. 


She gave me the name of the book she had purchased as well as the name of the author and said, you have been plagiarized unless that author is you. Shocked I went to Amazon.com and indeed my story was written there word for word with a new title and the names of the characters changed. As I did more research on this individual, I discovered that he had not only ripped off my story but another author at Literotica. Luckily I had just read her story about 2 months before and recognized it. I contacted her and together we SHUT IT DOWN!


But it was nerve wracking. This individual was on Smashwords, Amazon, and facebook as well as Twitter. As of today his accounts have been deleted from both Smashwords and Amazon. I'm just waiting to see what Literotica will do.


So this is what I learned; Once your work posts on Literotica you will notice the small copyright symbol appearing. This means that you have given Literotica a non-exclusive right to publish your story. That's right. This means that you have granted Literotica the right to enforce the publishing rights of your story, which grants them the power to protect your work from unauthorized use. This is where the distinction between plagiarism and copyright infringement becomes very important. You see, plagiarism is very similar to copyright infringement...with one small exception; copyright infringement is a federal offense. 

Your kid will probably not go to prison for plagiarism, however, the possible penalties for copyright infringement are pretty steep. 


As a writer, I'm going to face this again. I'm not the first and I certainly will not be the last. It is not a 'badge of honor' that your work is 'good enough' to be stolen. No one that has their hard work stolen feels proud. That is almost like saying, "Hey your kid sure is cute. You shouldn't care that someone STOLE him." Ha.


My sentiment was very close to my daughters, "Mom, send him a message saying that if he doesn't remove the story you will kill him." To which I responded, NO. Then she said, "Well tell him that if he doesn't take down the story you will see him in court and it won't be for plagiarism but for murder!" Again I said, NO.


What I did was bite back tears when I read a raving review of the story by one of the Amazon.com reviewers. It was given 5 stars. The reviewer said that she re-read her favorite parts over and over and each chapter ended with a surprise. She said that she had not read any other works of the author but HE had not disappointed.


Sigh...That was hard; reading a raving review of my story and having it credit someone else. Oh yeah, and the fact that he was selling it and making money off something that I gifted to the readers! Well, it has definitely been an eye opener. 


I need to publish my work before someone else does!

10 FACTS ABOUT YOU

Revised-Untitled chapter 9

As promised, I had some tricks on the blog and now is time for a treat. Here is the revised chapter 9 of Untitled. It definitely was not up to par--but I think this version is a little better.

UNTITLED (revised) Chapter 9

Paranormal Activity

Once upon a time I was a teenager that loved all things horror. I loved spooky stories, books, and movies. I practically jumped out of my skin when I saw the last scene of Friday the 13th and a dead Jason leaped out of the lake. I screamed like a raving maniac at the end of the movie Carrie when her hand reached from her grave. And Poltergeist was just filled with too many scares to list.

But the one thing that scared me above anything else was the Exorcist. The idea of it scared me so much that I couldn't read the book or ever see the movie. It was going to be televised and I swore that I'd finally watch it...but first I was going to read the book. It was really scary but I got through it. Then it was time for the movie. I remember the sun was out and my heart was in my throat. I was so terrified while watching it that I shook.

When it ended I thought it was scary...but somehow it wasn't as scary as my imagination had made it out to be. It didn't give me nightmares, it was just unpleasant. 

That's how I feel about the movie Paranormal Activity...but magnified by 10! I've been too scared to watch this movie for years! I thought it would have images that would creep me out and I thought it would plague my dreams. I finally decided to watch it on Netflex. I coerced my daughter to watch it with me but in the end she sold me out for a Taylor Swift concert. 

I climbed under the covers, begged my daughter one last time to climb into bed with me, to which she explained patiently that I would be okay and suggested I call Ben but he was even too busy. So there I lay, all alone. 

As the movie played I kept saying, 'I'm so scared. I'm so scared' in anticipation for the coming terror...which never happened. The movie ended and I said to myself...you got to be shitting me. THAT'S IT???

Now I'm not trying to suggest that P.A. is a bad movie. It just wasn't nearly as scary as my imagination had made it out to be. There were some moments where I jumped but it was weak at best. 

So I decided to watch Paranormal Activity 2. It was a little more scarier. But the problem for me is that both guys that starred in the movies were assholes and I kept yelling at the computer, "I hope the demon gets your ass, dummy!" Especially that first guy; taunting the evil demon, trying to be a stand-up comic and a macho man..."No demons going to come into my house and scare my girlfriend!" Haha. Yeah...

So maybe I should write my vision of a horror story. It would have to have kids and pets--both are scary as shit when they turn evil. Yeah, maybe I'll do that...

TIC TAC TOE WITH SOUND

Check out the link below. Sort of cool to play this and have a cool sound every time you make a move.

 CLICK HERE

Peps Halloween playlist

On Halloween I will be playing a series of creepy music for the entire day. I'll pipe it outside so that the little kiddies will be scared and the parents will say...Hey, that's the theme to Carrie, or I recognize that song from Poltergeist. 

I'm such a big kid!

TOP HALLOWEEN MOVIES

I'm only going to name one. This isn't my favorite movie of all times-it's not even the best scary movie ever made. But this movie is the epitome of what I absolutely love to watch in terms of spookiness, and this story is very well told. Now I'm positive that I will be met with disagreement because this happens to be a remake and the original is iconic--yet this one effects me much deeper than the original. The movie is Halloween. But Rob Zombie's Halloween.

*Dodges the eggs being thrown at me* So let me explain. In the original, it opens with a young Michael Myers killing his entire family. He gets thrown into a mental hospital for the criminally insane and then upon escaping he has developed these super human abilities--like being shot and bludgeoned and burned--with absolutely no explanation as to why he can continue to live! Oh yeah, in subsequent Halloweens they talk about Samhain and provide a vague explanation but lets be honest here, if a kid really is going to kill everyone in his family, shouldn't we get a little bit of the back story? Was he molested? Was he disowned and his inheritance taken? Did his parents catch him in a 'compromising' position?

No back story. Then he just walks very slowly and catches people who are running. Really? How does that work? Has anyone ever seen Michael Myers run? How does he always catch people? Well anyways, its not about believability--it's just that Rob Zombie satisfied my curious nature. Pure and simple.

If you haven't watched the remake, you'll note that Michael starts out as a very normal kid. He's really sweet and cute but he's picked on at school and has a severely dysfunctional family. When the kids in school discover that his mom works in a strip joint it seems to finally push him over the edge and he snaps. There are two opposing sides to this kid and they don't seem to be aware of each other. When his Mom comes to visit him in the mental hospital he begins to ask her if everyone at home is okay--like maybe he has an inkling that they aren't. And when he's told that he's done bad things he cries and denies it. Then he begins to beg to go home. 

I think the explanation for how disassociated he becomes is understandable. It's not quite believable how he tracks his sister down--however, it lacks the odd paranormal twists which makes it scary in a more believable way. Scary like...hey that kid next door might be the next Michael Myers. Maybe you don't want to push that shy kid that everyone enjoys picking on...

So that is my vote for my top Halloween story. Tell me yours and why. Oh, and on a quick note...I said I'd only do one but Shaun of the Dead is equally as important to Halloween just for it's sheer tongue-in-cheek at the horror-zombie genre.

The Scariest Halloween Card Ever!!!

CLICK HERE...IF YOU DARE

12th Annual Literotica Awards

Well the votes have been tallied and I was the winner in the category of best novel/novella for Wheels of Steel and best interracial story for Stranded! 

Thank you guys for the votes and nominations. There are so many great writers on Literotica that won this year. I am so proud to be among them. When I think about these FREE stories and how they are often times better than the ones that I've paid for, I am even more proud!

Happy Birthday to me

Why am I frowning? Because I know that tomorrow I'll be 46!

Sunday, Oct. 9 is my birthday. I'm cool with being 46 because I don't look it! (smile). Also I've achieved a lot of the goals that I'd set for myself in youth. My goal to be published is one that I'd thought would have already occurred but since I haven't been very proactive in that area--eh.

One of my biggest accomplishments is having blog followers that support not only my writing, but me the person. I've enjoyed sharing my triumphs and you certainly have helped me with my downs. You guys are awesome and much appreciated!

So if you want to make my birthday PERFECT, then send me a birthday message. That would make my day!

Mini Kim

Afro Kim

Me in my gazebo (my favorite place)

why are my sisters so short?!

Me on the last day of being 45...

The Kid by Sapphire

How many of you watched the movie Precious? How many read the book Push by Sapphire? It was such a powerful story that there were certainly times that I burst into tears while reading. But in that story there was...dare I say; HOPE. 

Not so with Sapphire's latest story, The Kid. This story is painful. It's definitely not fair of me to say this when I'm far from the end. But I'm struggling to finish it and I often times find myself grimacing while I read. This is the story of Precious' son, Abdul and it takes place at her funeral when Abdul is 9. This doesn't give away any details of the story as this is what is written on the cover. 

When I picked up this book, it was with the hope that although Precious had lived a life of abuse that she was able to give her son something more. I was disappointed to see that this was another tale of childhood abuse...and abuse that is described with incredible detail--details that I don't want.

I closed the book at the 2nd chapter, sickened by what I was reading. Though I may sound as if I am bashing The Kid, I'm not. Sapphire's writing is beautiful, like poetic prose. And Abdul is a boy/young man that is intelligent, hardened, and so pitiful. But when you can bring vivid life to a character, when you take the time to develop your hero and to cause the reader to hope for them, to fall in love with them and then you heap abuse on them, then yes, you have succeeded in 'moving' your reader. But at what price? So that they can close the book before finishing it??

I read several of the reviews; each stating that this is not a book for the sensitive. I took 2 days away from the story before picking it up again, this time with the knowledge of what I would be reading.  I'm happy I did. I'm still reading it, and it's still painful, but there is a beauty in this story, and a message. It's such a simple message--and yet people still don't get it. 

Treat the children with respect and love--if not for the people that they are now, but then for the men and women that you want them to become.

Robcub's newest story posted on Literotica

I am a huge Robcub fan. I once asked a straight male friend if he thought it was weird that I'm into 'gay male romance'. His response was that every woman he knows is into that. Wow. Well all I know is that if I had to select 5 of my favorite writers on Literotica Robcub would definitely be in that. 


I talked to him on email some time back and I'll admit that I was giddy like a kid speaking to her idol. He has a new story posted entitled Timber Pack Chronicles and I'm off to read and enjoy.

Oh, btw...not that it should matter, but there is a black female in this particular story that is the hero's best friend. I thought I'd mention it because I read several comments requesting he add a black female BFF to one of his stories.  Ok, off to continue reading...

Share your spooky stories

Last Halloween we got some really good, scary stories. And last year I told a story that was really scary to me--and true, but it wasn't a ghost story. It was a story about waking up to find that some strange woman had broken into my home and was in my son's bedroom talking to him. A scary story doesn't have to be supernatural (but those are awesome), it can be anything that straight up scares you! 

With that thought I'm going to tell you one that terrified me. It's absolutely true and you'll have to decide if it's supernatural or not. I believe that it was...out of the ordinary. 

When I was a young mother I had to move back home with my parents and our house was very crowded. In my bedroom was my full sized bed which I'd moved up against the wall. My infant daughter's crib, and my son's Little Tykes car bed. Two sisters also lived in the house and so there were 5 toddlers ages 2 and under living there.

I'd had to move my bed against the wall beneath my window in order to get everything crowded in that I needed. Call me stupid, but I had the window half opened and I never left it open because of how the bed was positioned. But on this day I just wasn't thinking and my 18 month old son and 2 1/2 year old nephew were playing on the bed. I remember thinking that I needed to go over and close the window and when I turned to do it, it was to see my son going through the window. I saw him press against the screen and then his diapered bottom as he went through and out. 

The house was two stories high and my window was beneath the driveway. No bushes, no cushiony lawn, just the hard cement driveway. I screamed. I screamed call 911. I screamed for my sister to grab my nephew so that he wouldn't fall too and I screamed all the way out the house. And I was the only sound there was. There was no crying baby sounds coming from outside. 

The world goes inside out when you have a moment like that. You think about a million things in the span of a second. I couldn't stop thinking that one thoughtless action had just changed everything in my life as I dashed out of my house.

Weird thing is that other than knocking the wind out of himself and knocking off his diaper, he was perfectly okay. The ambulance came so fast that I couldn't believe it. The doctor's kept feeling his head but he didn't have a hickey and the one bruise he had was on his hip where the diaper had popped loose.

I asked the doctor how it was possible that he was not even bruised and he told me something that I'd heard but hadn't taken quite so literally. The doctor said that a toddler's bones are like rubber and when my son fell out of the window he literally bounced. I asked why he didn't bump his head. 

The doctor said he didn't know.

And that is the thing that terrified me more than anything else ever had.

I'll tell you another one later and this next one will be a bit more paranormal.

Hear My Call by Jill Scott

Anybody else feel like this?

It's almost Halloween

I have always loved the fall. After the heat of summer, it's so nice to have a comfortable drop in temperature. I live in the midwest so I have the joy of seeing the change of seasons. The autumn leaves transforms everything! I even like the way autumn smells. 

Today I lit my fireplace for the first time. It's awesome. Now all I need is a glass of wine (or hot tea) and my sweetie to snuggle up with. 

But the best part is Halloween. Each year we go all out in decorating our house. I admit that I don't do it for the kids, I do it because I absolutely love it! So in the spirit of Halloween I've decided to 'spookify' the blog. I hope you will all join me in making Halloween 2011 fun. 

I'd like to create a thread devoted to creepy stories. Last year we got some really good ones that gave me goosebumps. 

So in the spirit of the season I'm going to share a story that I wrote. I actually lost a bet with CreepyRJ and was given the task of writing a story about a man that was like him. I decided to multi-task and to also write a horror story. Had he lost he'd be posting a love story between to gay males...Oh well, maybe next time. 

Creepy's Halloween story.

Nicholas Schneider RIP

 

Nicholas Schneider passed away at 7:32 pm on Wednesday September 27, 2011. He's going to donate his organs to other little kids that need help. Thank you for your prayers for my friend's family.

A prayer request from Michael Schneider

I'm not much of a praying woman. 


I have conversations with god in which I share my appreciation or ask questions. Seldom do I ask god for anything except for his will to be done and for it to be easy for all involved. I don't prescribe to any specific religious belief other than the belief in god. I don't ask for acceptance of my lack of a religious practice nor do I judge others for theirs (unless you drink the kool-aid).


I have recently found myself doing a lot of praying and making a specific request of god. I decided to post this for a friend in hopes that you will join me.


Years ago I met a six year old boy named Michael Schneider. He was the son of a woman that would soon become my best friend. I have 3 best friends (one day I'll explain this in detail). The first time I'd ever met him I wanted to strangle him. He was a rambunctious child with ADHD--and obviously the medicine wasn't working because for 10 long minutes as I waited for my friend to get ready to go out, Michael ran a non stop circuit around me, repeatedly screaming; Hey lady look at me! Hey lady look what I'm doing! Hey lady!


As time went on I began to learn and understand some of the hardships that Michael faced. Sometimes he just needed someone to talk to and I invited him to call me when he felt that his head was filling up with too many ideas. Unfortunately it was always in the wee hours of the night that he'd call. smile. I'd chastise myself for getting sucked into debates about which super hero was stronger. If I said yes, he'd say no; oppositional to the core!


But as much as I had initially wanted to strangle him, I grew to love that kid very much. As time went on he really pulled his life together. Little Michael got married! He became a daddy twice over and at times became the sole caretaker of his son.


That's why it pained me so badly when he contacted me yesterday and asked me to come to the hospital. He had found his son Nicholas dead in his crib. Fortunately the emergency workers were able to get his heart beating. He said that Nicholas was in critical condition though,  but he would feel the love that I have and it could do nothing but help. Michael posted this message on facebook and I'm posting it here.

Most of you know me and my situation but for those of you who don't my name is Mike and the situation that I speak of is about my son Nicholas W. Schneider who will be 15 months old on the 29th is in the I.C.U at children's hospital in critical condition. on Monday at 10:30 I awoke to find him in his bed not breathing and with no pulse I tried to get him to awake by lightly pinching him and there w...as no response so I then tried putting him in some fairly cold water then i realized this was very bad and right away started CPR for three minutes i tried this and then I rushed down stairs and called 911 still using CPR the fire dept. came and took over then we went to the hospital fortunately they got his heart beating again but he still can't breath on his own and he is unresponsive they are saying that if his shows no sign of response in the next 48 hours they will take him off life-support so what i am asking of all of you that do and do not know me is to just pray for him even if you do not believe in god to just pray please re-post this because they say one pray is strong but the more people that pray about the same thing the stronger it becomes and the more likely it will come to pass PLEASE PRAY FOR MY SON TO GET BETTER

Please join me in sending out vibes of love to Michael and Nicholas and to the entire Schneider family.