The Soundtrack of my Soul by Jenna Byrnes

I listen to music when I write. Always have, probably always will. Once I get deep into writing mode, I can't say that I hear the music anymore, but it's always there.

Song lyrics have provided great inspiration for my stories, too. I have two different series which have song titles as the book titles. 

My Darkness on the Edge of Town series is based on songs by Bruce Springsteen. Dancing in the Dark, Born to Run and Hungry Heart are three of my favorite stories, and some of the first where the book has been written to fit the title. They're also about gay cops, which are hands down some of my favorite subjects. LOL

Jude Mason and I each wrote two books in our Slippery When Wet series, based on Bon Jovi songs. I wrote Wanted Dead or Alive and Never Say Goodbye, and Jude penned Livin' on a Prayer and I'd Die for You. They are also particular favorites, these are about ex-cons which was new for me but great fun to write. For the BWL boxed set we added another set of novellas Jude and I wrote, Willing and Able, about (you guessed it) gay cops. 

The advent of USB drives in cars has opened my music playlist to include all kinds of songs. With the availability of music on the internet, if I hear a song that I'd forgotten about, I'm able to get a copy and stick it in my playlist for posterity. This makes for some very random and unusual playlists. 

I'm basically into oldies from the 70's forward and recent country music. My current likes also include Train, Jason Mraz, and anything Billy Joel or Keith Urban. The guilty pleasure songs on my current playlist include 'Something Stupid' by Frank and Nancy Sinatra, "Silhouettes' by the Herman's Hermits, 'I Say a Little Prayer' by Dionne Warwick and 'Conquistador' by Procol Harum. I mentioned random, right?

My husband prefers solid gold oldies and hard rock like CCR and Janis Joplin. Today when I drove his car and punched on his media drive, 'The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia' started playing. Not the classic Vicki Lawrence version, either, the Reba version. *sigh* I guess we all have our musical guilty pleasures!

What's the most unusual song on your current playlist? 

~ Jenna Byrnes

Page Scorching Erotic Romance

http://bookswelove.net/jennabyrnes.php

 

Diane Scott Lewis: Undergarments Revealed-what did people wear under their clothes in the 18th century?

In my research for my eighteenth-century novels, the most difficult but interesting task was to find out what people wore under their layers of finery.

Starting in the seventeenth-century, people were desperate to throw off the plain, ugly garments of the Puritans, and now produced underclothes with a sexual allure.

A man’s shirt became ruffled and more visible, with puffed sleeves tied in ribbons, to show him off as a fine gentleman.

Women’s dresses became less rigid, and cut away in front to flaunt pretty petticoats. The petticoat, often several of them, was worn to give the outer gown a better shape. It was often of embroidered or ruffled material in bright, attractive colors.

Beneath their dresses, next to their skin, women wore chemises or smocks made of Holland, and heavily perfumed to diffuse body odors.

Sleeves were long and sometimes trimmed in lace. In the 1660’s dress sleeves were shortened to reveal the evocative chemise. Silk and linen were also popular materials because they harbored less vermin than wool.

With the extreme décolletage of the gowns, corsets or "stays" had no shoulder straps. The corset was heavily boned with a long busk in front and was laced tightly at the back.

Drawers, what we know today as underwear or knickers, were worn by French women, but there’s no evidence that Englishwomen wore such an item in this era. Although a country race where women ran to win a new smock said the girls wore half-shirts and drawers. So it is still a mystery.

In the eighteenth century the hoop came into fashion again, reminiscent of the farthingale of the sixteenth century. These pushed out dress skirts and the women walked holding them to one side like a bell to reveal their fancy under-petticoats, and the shape of their legs. This must have been dangerous considering the women wore no knickers. The hoop or pannier, especially in Court dress, pushed the sides of gowns out to ridiculous proportions where women had to walk sideways to fit through doors. Later in the century, panniers became narrower and the corset lighter, lacing in the front as well as back.

Men still revealed their fancy shirts by leaving their waistcoats unbuttoned to attract the ladies.

Men’s drawers are another mystery. Some reports have them wearing such items—a loose fitting garment that tied at the waist and on each leg—but other sources say that men wore long shirts that covered their privates in their breeches. Breeches had linings of detachable washable material, which no doubt served the purpose of drawers.

During the French Revolution after 1789 the classic style pervaded, and women discarded their corsets and confining gowns for simple, high-waisted Greek style chemises. Many women dampened these dresses to show off the fact they were naked beneath. It would take the stringent Victorian age to turn fashion to a more modest level and bring back restrictive undergarments.

Information garnered from my own research and The History of Underclothes, by C. Willett and Phillis Cunnington, 1992 edition.
To learn more about Diane Scott Lewis' novels: http://www.dianescottlewis.org

Confessions of a Groupie

   

By Victoria Chatham

OK, I admit it. I am a life-long groupie. Perhaps I should qualify that statement in that I believe we are all 'groupies' to one degree or another, as Webster's New World Dictionary classifies the word as 'a number of persons or things gathered closely together and forming a recognizable unit'.

This being so, the first group I was totally connected with was my family. Next, being an army brat, came my father's regiment.  As a teenager, unable to resist the lure of being paid to learn to drive rather than paying someone to teach me, I joined the army reserves as a trainee driver and for two years thoroughly enjoyed being part of that group. During those years I joined groups within the group; namely the rifle club, self- defense club and saddle club. On any given Sunday I could be involved in target practice, learning a judo hold or throw, or horseback riding.

Apart from the reserves, my spare teen time was spent with a youth club, an archery club, various jazz clubs, a swimming club and a badminton club. After I was married I belonged to the Young Wives Club. When that faltered, what was left of our group was amalgamated into the Mothers Union under the aegis of a terrifyingly efficient lady named Mabel.

When my firstborn began school I joined the Parent Teacher Association and was a member of that group until my last born left school. In between times my neighbours and I formed a playgroup for our children. As the children grew they joined groups, which meant that ultimately so did I as I joined the committees that helped run Brownies, Cub Scouts, Junior Red Cross, then Scouts and a roller skating club.

Once my children's interests and activities were accounted for, I took care of my own with the badminton club and Women's League of Health and Beauty, now known as The Fitness League. Started in 1930 by Mollie (Mary) Bagot Stack, a young widow in poor health with a child to raise, this part dance, part exercise routine performed to live music, grew enormously in popularity and became an international organization within twelve months of its inception.

To indulge my life-long love of horses and improve my riding, particularly dressage, I joined my local family horse-riding club. Along with that came more committee work, more organizing and ultimately less horse riding until I learnt to say 'NO'! However, a group with the same interests as mine has a powerful pull and I remained on the committee for several years.

After moving to Canada I found groups galore in Calgary. I volunteered my time with an art gallery group by putting my records management skills to good use in their archives. With two dogs to walk on a daily basis, I joined the society who made it their mission to keep the park clean and educate users. I belonged to two direct sales organizations and then found a writers group and indulged another life-long love, writing. An entry in a short story competition garnered a $100 prize. With encouragement from the judges I developed my entry into a full length romantic suspense novel which may yet see the light of day.

I'm a great believer in fate, that things happen for a reason. Someone told me the Calgary Association of Romance Writers of America (CaRWA) was holding an information evening at a local library. I pounced on that news like manna from heaven. A group focusing on writing romance? How could I resist? Entry to CaRWA required membership of Romance Writers of America, so I joined another group.

Each of these writing groups and their members helped me along my writing path, through conferences, workshops and regular monthly meetings. I’ve received answers to questions, however trivial I may have thought them, when I’ve needed them. There has been a collective shoulder to cry on when rejections arrived. They sympathized when members lost loved ones, struggled with health issues, looked forward to weddings or welcomed newborns with open arms.

They made suggestions for getting back on track if the daytime job took precedence for awhile. It is a joy to be part of these dynamic, professional, friendly groups. As time has gone on I have joined another group, Books We Love, as my writing and publishing career has expanded. Some writers can and do make it on their own, but I’m not one of them.

Will I continue to be a groupie? Oh, yes. Where else, other than within a writing group can one find companionship and the understanding of the quirks and quarks of a writer's life? For me, nothing quite compares to the experience and fun in learning and growing with a number of persons who gather closely together to form a recognizable unit.

Books We Love ~ Canadian Publisher on a Bold Mission ~ by Jude Pittman

I’m really excited to share the new press release that we’ve just had done for Books We Love.  It really tells the story of what BWL is all about and the place of our authors in the publishing world.

 

Calgary, Alberta – In this day and age, most self and vanity publishing services will take a cheque from anyone willing to hand one over. This leaves critics and readers with the disheartening task of having to sort the literary wheat from the chaff. However, one Canadian publisher is on a bold mission to not only re-connect readers with fiction written by master wordsmiths with decades of experience, but to re-ignite the careers of acclaimed and much-loved authors that readers thought had dropped off the radar for good.

Calgary-based and independent Books We Love Ltd. is highly exclusive about who they sign; opting for previously-published authors who were left stranded after their small to mid-size publishers were swallowed up by the big guys. Many of these genre authors became bestsellers and literary legends in their own rights, only to find their careers pushed under the rug and readers crying out for their return.

 Authors under their wing include Joan Hall Hovey (known to many as Canada’s “Queen of Suspense”), Juliet Waldron, known for such historical favorites as Mozart’s Wife and Hand Me Down Bride, Kat Attalla who has over a dozen available romance titles and Jamie Hill, who is celebrating the print release of her new romantic suspense, ‘Pieces of the Past’ book one in her ‘Witness Security’ series. With over fifty authors to explore, the Books We Love Ltd. bibliography is a true Hall of Fame.

“We’re releasing new and re-printed books only from authors who have a solid reputation for quality and credentials to match. They have won awards, dominated the former mid-lists and are often authority figures in their own professional industry,” explains Judith Pittman, Publisher for Books We Love Ltd.. “However, they were literally left with nowhere to turn after their publishers were incorporated into others and their works delisted. Considering many of these authors spent decades refining their skills and had loyal fan bases – it’s a travesty.”

Continuing, “The good news is that they have now found a home at Books We Love Ltd. and we’re passionate about connecting them with their former readers, as well as garnering a new audience. You’ll often hear people asking what happened to that author they were once addicted to; well, he or she could very well be with us!”

Of course, any great author would be oppressed without an extensive distribution network for their work. To that end, Books We Love Ltd. has just signed a deal to distribute their books in print in the USA, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. Red Tuque will also be handling a portion of the distribution in Canada, with both distributors releasing a combined twenty-five titles this coming fall.

“This print distribution is a big step for our authors, returning their work to its original format. Of course, we’ve not forgotten about eBooks and currently have over four-hundred titles exclusively available through Amazon Kindle. With each book priced at $4.99 or under, getting some of literature’s forgotten heroes into your hands has never been cheaper..”

 

It’s an exciting time for us and we can hardly wait for our authors to once again experience the thrill of walking into their local bookstore or library and finding their own books on the shelves.

-----------------------------

 

Watch for Jude Pittman's latest release

Sisters of Prophecy: Ursula

co-authored with Gail Roughton, coming soon!

Find all Jude's titles here:

http://bookswelove.net/judepittman.php

 

Elvis Remembered By Sandy Semerad

Everytime I hear Elvis' music or watch one of his movies, I remember the first time I saw him. He was my first crush. Maybe that’s why my romantic heroes have features similar to the King of Rock and Roll. 

I can still hear myself swoon. It was a hot, summer night near Sarasota, Florida.

I had not reached puberty yet, but I realized I was close to it when the lean, mean "Memphis flash" walked out on a rickety stage, attacked the microphone, hiked up one side of his mouth and shimmied down into a split. He looked handsome and pure one minute, animalistic and sexy the next, while singing in the voice of an angel.

I didn't know it then, but he personified American rock and roll. How could I know? I was a kid, attending a day camp. Mother drove me and my sister and members of my swim team to see our heartthrob. His songs had inspired us while performing our water ballets.

We were certain Elvis loved women. His told us so in song. He was always wanting to love us and wanting us to forgive him. How could we NOT love him back?

That night, so many moons ago, Elvis surveyed the crowd with an amused look. Our screams made him laugh.

But when the music began, he was transformed into another dimension. He was a wild man, a tiger out of control, stalking his prey with song.

He was the American dream, a sharecropper and truck driver's son who found fame and fortune. He represented the future, the integrated South. He seemed both black and white.

That night, the microphone and a string from his guitar gave way to his wild gyrating performance. I screamed myself hoarse and my knees felt week. Yet, I'm pleased to say I didn't faint as others in the crowd did.

It was a night I will never forget, and I feel fortunate I was able to see him then and a number of times after that, even though I later realized he was in trouble.

When he died, I came to the conclusion he was a bundle of contradictions, sort of like the American South.

He spoke out against drugs but he died from a heart attack brought about by drug abuse.

He loved Jesus and his mother. Yet, he cheated on the women in his life.

He was a law and order man who broke the law when it suited him.

He was a tragic figure who has been idolized the world over in spite of the public's knowledge of his real life.

He was a millionaire many times over but the Southern abject poverty from which he sprang was always present. He was America's first Southern rock hero. Yet he disliked hard-rock music.

He gave the world and its people a part of the South we will never forget, and I couldn't resist resurrecting his image in my books.

sandysemerad