tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-299956542024-03-07T14:37:31.568-05:00Survival RomanceSurvival Romance is a by-invitation group blog for authors of futuristic, sci-fi, or action adventure romances which contain strong survival elements to discuss Research, Verisimilitude, Creative Challenges.Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-17912354151091945022010-06-27T10:13:00.000-04:002010-06-27T10:13:12.680-04:00If Microsoft and Cisco can take down pirate sites, why can't RWANot just RWA. If RWA, SFWA, Authors' Guild and others would work together, we would make better progress.<br />
<br />
<br />
"Dear Scott Turow, Allison Kelley, John Scalzi,<br />
<br />
Thank you very much for everything your organizations do to defend authors' copyrights against copyright infringement. We very much appreciate having an address to which to send our complaints, and the comfort of knowing that you compile a database of the most egregious "pirates" and pirate sites.<br />
<br />
Despite small triumphs, ignorance persists among honest readers; lies about the legality of "sharing" go unchallenged, and the problem is getting much worse.<br />
<br />
Please Scott Turow, Allison Kelley, John Scalzi will you talk to one another, set up one powerhouse task force, meet regularly, share resources, engage your members, give authors one central "Go To" address where we can submit complaints, report piracy sites, blogs and yahoogroups, cc our individual take-down notices.<br />
<br />
One forceful industry voice could shut down an entire account and insist on a hosting site complying with their own TOS where their TOS has been repeatedly violated, instead of individual authors taking down one file at a time.<br />
<br />
Thank you.<br />
<br />
Rowena Cherry"Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-74436031164579041592009-06-10T22:04:00.000-04:002009-06-10T22:04:36.806-04:00Friday Night Reflections: Great summer read - Insufficient Mating Material by Rowena Cherry<a href="http://joynash.blogspot.com/2009/06/great-summer-read-insufficient-mating.html">Friday Night Reflections: Great summer read - Insufficient Mating Material by Rowena Cherry</a>Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-64480206202808798962009-03-28T08:19:00.000-04:002009-03-28T08:19:54.396-04:00A dead man fell from the sky...: Anal Impalement<a href="http://blog.garycorby.com/2008/12/anal-impalement.html">A dead man fell from the sky...: Anal Impalement</a>Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-43747671201401240222009-03-01T15:00:00.001-05:002009-03-01T15:01:47.927-05:00My "blue scrotum" excerptThere isn't a "bright" blue scrotum in my book. There's a "glorious blue scrotum". Can you find it?<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">In this scene, the villain --who is known as The Saurian Dragon-- has decided to convince an alien king Viz-Igerd that his queen is committing spectacular adultery. To that end, he has doctored a radio transmission from the man, Grievous, much as it is alleged Mr John Gibson's remarks were doctored </span><br /><br /><br />The Dragon considered. Grievous was a memorable character, and it was dangerous to underestimate an enemy. “The same, I think. But I cannot be positive. Dirty-pink Earthlings all look alike to me.”<br /><br />“They look like Djinn!” Viz-Igerd agreed, blind drunk. The King seemed struck with the physical similarity. This was not the first time His Majesty had commented. Presumably, the splendid idea of breaking intergalactic law with one of a billion human women had taken root.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">“I hope you can still hear me, Your Imperial Highness. I have to say that I would not have thought it of Princess Electra....”</span> Tarrant-Arragon’s man appeared to continue his report without a pause. The editing had been smoothly done. “<span style="font-style:italic;">…There’s no way to put this delicately. I’ve seen it with my own two eyes. Bunking… both of them.”</span><br /><br />The Dragon narrowed his eyes, watching Viz-Igerd carefully. The re-use of “bunking” had been a calculated risk. It sounded sufficiently like ‘bonking’ for his seditious purposes.<br /><br />By now, at least three official transmissions were curving their way around the space-time continuum at different speeds, and in different directions, all making reference to Electra-Djerroldina enjoying unlawful carnal knowledge of someone. Or not. The flow could not be staunched. The only sensible course was to goad Viz-Igerd into such a blind fury that he’d never take a rational moment to consider that ’Rhett would be the more plausible lover.<br /><br />Other auditors would hear accurate versions, of course. And Viz-Igerd’s mind could always be wiped with Djinncraft, if exploratory mischief-making turned out not to be advantageous.<br /><br />“Dragon! What is a Fust-er-Cluck?”<br /><br />That one had obviously been festering in Viz-Igerd’s imagination for some moments.<br /><br />“Where that human comes from, it means an orgy,” the Dragon mistranslated. “That is, various clumsy sex acts performed in rapid succession, with the greatest excesses condensed into a relatively brief time.”<br /><br />He glanced at his victim. He refrained from discussing how many participants were required for an authentic orgy, as opposed to a Volnoth “Orgy of State,” where only the King copulated with the Queen, although they both watched multiple goings-on. Amusing as it would be to torment His Majesty, he did have to protect his only son. ’Rhett had to survive. He was the succession plan. ’Rhett would be the next Saurian Dragon, and all the sooner—perhaps— if he wanted to avenge Electra.<br /><br />Yes, the Queen might have to be sacrificed. However, a show trial without a named co-conspirator might be difficult to orchestrate. Fortunately, he’d identified a satisfactory scapegoat in Prince Thor-quentin. No one cared about Thor-quentin.<br /><br />“I imagine that your Queen and the vigorous young Great Djinn Prince are thoroughly enjoying the rut-rage.” He turned the screw, while gesturing blandly to the hologram, where the messenger was still speaking, and trying to scrape invisible dirt off his footwear. “It would be Electra-Djerroldina’s first rut-rage, would it not?”<br /><br />Poor Viz-Igerd, unable to control his embarrassment, was displaying his… displeasure to hear that his queen was creatively fornicating her way to Earth. There was some species of primate on Earth—the name of it would come— that had a boiled-red face that turned redder the angrier it got. It seldom had to fight. The facial reddening was threat enough. Ah, yes! The red uakari. That was it.<br /><br />Then, there was the ridiculous vervet monkey from somewhere on the African continent, which came with a violent red tallywhacker, shown off to great advantage—to those easily impressed or demoralized by that sort of thing— against a glorious blue scrotum. The Volnoth threat-to-mount had nothing on the vervet for sheer outrageous… cojones.<br /><br />The Dragon discovered that his urbane finger steepling had turned to pantomime- villain hand rubbing, and stopped himself.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">“Anyway, Sir,” </span>Grievous continued, <span style="font-style:italic;">“it seems your sister can’t get it off… without… bunking… Prince Thor-quentin…”</span><br /><br />“Bun-King?”<br /><br />“Need you ask?” The Dragon sighed expressively. He’d never thought of phrasing it quite as Viz-Igerd did, and his unruly mind filled with a crinkly bed of lettuce, three kinds of runny cheese, man-handled meat, and all the trimmings.<br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />“…And, Prince Thor-quentin is proving a right bugger.”</span><br /><br />“What is a bugger, Dragon?” Viz-Igerd’s voice sounded choked, which was not altogether surprising, given the way His Majesty was twisting the chain of office around his neck, like a panicked Earthling bureaucrat “social” worker trying to loosen a knotted necktie.<br /><br /><br />This excerpt is from <a href="http://www.tinyurl.com/Buy-KnightsFork">KNIGHT'S FORK</a> by Rowena Cherry<br /><br /><br />This is the news video mentioning the monkey with the bright blue scrotum. It seems to be a different species from the vervet. <br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pXtcqIcDj7o&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pXtcqIcDj7o&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-23465214331447426592009-01-11T09:56:00.001-05:002009-01-11T09:58:32.451-05:00Rowena Cherry's Knight's Fork wins Amazon Clicks Award<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGuCbcg9OPVOEcbh-fKDr7_ZcOhQ1AlQVWouuIa0uXYPYkalXQUxt_uKwOuWnRK92eE2ovmbcc7S5a5cEnukQ4665nWh1N2kFGqJd5KDw8sb73BHlnIdgSQflrFmBL05l7I7bDNQ/s1600-h/DecemberAuthors-1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGuCbcg9OPVOEcbh-fKDr7_ZcOhQ1AlQVWouuIa0uXYPYkalXQUxt_uKwOuWnRK92eE2ovmbcc7S5a5cEnukQ4665nWh1N2kFGqJd5KDw8sb73BHlnIdgSQflrFmBL05l7I7bDNQ/s400/DecemberAuthors-1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290047656787828914" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazonclicks.com/Allwinners.html">http://www.amazonclicks.com/Allwinners.html</a> <br /><br />I am absolutely thrilled that Knight's Fork received enough votes to win the award, and I'd like to thank all the authors who voted. <br /><br />Thank you!<br />Rowena CherryRowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-22263012181538810462008-11-16T15:39:00.001-05:002008-11-16T15:41:04.513-05:00Survival and the American auto industryI'm a Science-fiction Romance writer. I look at History (which repeats itself) also current events, and I wonder What If...?<br /><br />Not that I write it, yet, but Steampunk is where the writer changes one invention from the time of the industrial revolution, such as H.G. Wells's "The Time Machine". That was the "age of steam", hence steam punk.<br /><br />More recently, there is "cyber punk" which I suppose relates to choices made in Silicon Valley in the 1980s. One of the hallmarks of punk writing is that it explores the road not traveled and the consequences of a different decision whether made by a scientist, a businessman, or a politician (I assume).<br /><br />I'm using "gunk" punk because if steam is what the Nineteenth Century machines are remembered for, then gunk might be what petroleum-driven cars leave behind. Or maybe I've been watching too many STP commercials.<br /><br />Gratuitous decoration<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizpChwMCndKbrjbwUFddaBmxprHDz4b_6LWXatwrrYRRLbN2DkocytMahSrzlxp94Ht-mVI3cDfOk1u8H0z2soRsWYIthP26hsSf0E_5ZAwnV4_cNSmav8nH1Lg9_hD_CFubV/s1600-h/03_hel_cad_vrs.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizpChwMCndKbrjbwUFddaBmxprHDz4b_6LWXatwrrYRRLbN2DkocytMahSrzlxp94Ht-mVI3cDfOk1u8H0z2soRsWYIthP26hsSf0E_5ZAwnV4_cNSmav8nH1Lg9_hD_CFubV/s400/03_hel_cad_vrs.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269271096365148418" /></a><br /><br />This is a car made by my husband, with his own hands and the help of a few people he contracted with privately. He burned his hands on hot clay, he came home with his eyebrows covered in dust from sanding... he lost 10lbs from all the exercise. This photo was taken at SEMA by Jonathon Ramsey for Autoblog.com <a href="http://tinyurl.com/5kv9jf">http://tinyurl.com/5kv9jf</a><br /><br /><br />So, what if... in the 1940s American didn't have a manufacturing industry and depended on Germany and Japan? I'd probably be blogging in German, right?<br /><br />History is being made right now, that's why I'm laying claim to "gunk punk" (unless someone has already thought of it, or someone has a better name). Peter M DeLorenzo of autoextremist.com <br /><a href="http://www.autoextremist.com/current/">http://www.autoextremist.com/current/</a> may have done so, but he doesn't write fiction as far as I know. He has a jaw dropping rant going on.<br /><br />Peter is also selling an alarming book (non-fiction) titled <a href="http://www.unitedstatesoftoyota.com">"The United States of Toyota."</a><br /><br />Alarming cover art.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjECgEXR0YwZog7uEMOG_HjAeOl5Ok-pjrhoRlYsRIwCJ3XZqQ2nrZS8T7qPmMtHybk9frxJn-tamTaqePSPP3INB4buwMOOq4-nejuqtyjxZsDBHtUjtnLP6zhwX-Ydh8EpWL/s1600-h/51-8VSo0ujL._SL500_AA240_.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjECgEXR0YwZog7uEMOG_HjAeOl5Ok-pjrhoRlYsRIwCJ3XZqQ2nrZS8T7qPmMtHybk9frxJn-tamTaqePSPP3INB4buwMOOq4-nejuqtyjxZsDBHtUjtnLP6zhwX-Ydh8EpWL/s400/51-8VSo0ujL._SL500_AA240_.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269275532309743538" /></a><br /><br />I am now imagining myself as a writer in, say 2020 (hindsight pun!) looking back on the third week of November 2008 when Congress made a catastrophic vote NOT to make a loan to the last American car companies.<br /><br />It's a "Mad Max" world now. Or perhaps it's Mary Doria Russell's "The Sparrow" world with a touch of "1984". The Jesuits and the Japanese rule. We have an Emperor. And a Pope. And a third Minister of some sort, because good things come in threes.<br /><br />Onstar speaks to us in Japanese in our cars. We cannot turn it off. They got Murdoch, too. And Comcast. All our Direct TV has Japanese subtitles. We cannot turn it off. Big Brother looks a lot like Vladimir Putin with Botox to get rid of the ugly Western crease in his eyelids. He tells us what to think.<br /><br />America is bankrupt. When the world bank foreclosed, one of the creditors took Hawaii, another took the island of Manhattan, another took the Great Lakes for the water. No one wanted Detroit... I could go on. In a grim way, this is rather fun.<br /><br />Maybe my imagination is overactive. I hope so! I was having trouble fitting any kind of Romance into my budding novel of milieu.<br /><br />My point is, pay attention to the information that is available, and store it up for future reference. (Thank goodness for flashdrive!). There's a massive dissonance right now between the truth and what people are saying in the media. <br /><br />If interested in GM's version of car myth vs fact visit <a href="http://gmfactsandfiction.com/">http://gmfactsandfiction.com/</a><br /><br />Best wishes,<br />Rowena CherryRowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-56036521120518281702008-10-15T00:48:00.001-04:002008-10-15T02:07:39.627-04:00Poverty Inteview for Oct 15th Blog Action DayInterview on Poverty for October 15th (Global Blog Action Day)<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rowena</span><br />I'm embarrassed, but I'm not familiar with the correct way to address a member of the Capuchin order (or any other monk). Are you Father, Frater, Brother….? And is it polite to call you a monk?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jerry</span><br />The vision of our founder, St. Francis of Assisi, was that we would be brothers to the world—first of all, to other human beings, of course, but also to all of creation—the birds, the animals, the fish of the sea. He spoke of “Brother Sun” and “Sister Moon”, and taught us that we must deal respectfully with all of creation. This was eight hundred years ago—he was “into” ecology way back then! I say all this to arrive at the point that since we strive to be brothers to the world, it is never incorrect to address any Capuchin as “brother”, even if he happens to be a priest. (Some of us are priests and some are not, but the bottom line is that we are all brothers.) And technically we are not monks, as monks are “attached” to a certain monastery for a lifetime whereas we are much more mobile. So it is more correct to call Capuchins “friars” (which comes from the Latin word for “brother”, though we are similar to monks and even call some of our residences monasteries. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rowena</span><br />I've seen The Sound of Music, and I've read some of Ellis Peters's Brother Cadfael mysteries, and I saw Richard Chamberlain in The Thorn Birds.<br /><br />What is the difference between a monk and a Catholic priest, in terms of job description, career expectations, pecking order, contact with members of the public?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jerry</span><br />As I stated above, a monk is attached to a particular monastery for a life time; that does not mean that he can never leave the premises, but that he is “connected” to that monastery for his entire life. Most priests in this country are diocesan priests, meaning that they are “attached” to a particular diocese for a lifetime. A diocese is a geographic area of the country, of which a bishop is the leader or shepherd. He is the leader of all the Catholics in that area, and the diocese is organized into local parishes or churches. Those churches are served by priests who in most cases have been ordained to serve within that diocese.<br /><br />However, within the Catholic Church there are also religious orders, such as the Capuchins, who are groups of men or women who feel called to live the vowed life (poverty, chastity and obedience) in the spirit of their founder. In our case, that was St. Francis of Assisi; in the case of the Dominicans, it was St. Dominic; in the case of the Jesuits, it was St. Ignatius of Loyola. The bottom line for us in religious life is that we feel called to live that vowed life within a community of like-minded individuals. Thus, living that life faithfully and authentically is our bottom line. Now, within those religious orders of men, some members are priests and some are not priests. Our common life; our charism and spirituality are the same; it is just that the way we live it out is different: the priests do so as administrators of the sacraments and by celebrating the mass, those who are not priests work as teachers or social workers or nurses, etc. Those who are priests “report” to the leaders of their order, whereas priests of the diocese are under the leadership of the bishop.<br /><br />This is getting to be a very long answer, but in response to another part of the question, within the Capuchin Order we try to live without a “pecking order.” We proclaim ourselves a fraternity of equals, with no special privileges for anyone, whether ordained or not ordained. Members of some monastic orders live quite contemplatively without much contact with the world beyond the monastery walls., we Capuchins are very involved in the world. However, although we Capuchins try to be contemplative as well, (spending a significant portion of each day in prayer and contemplation), we are very involved in the world. In fact, our mission is no less than to “transform the world through reverence!” <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Rowena</span><br />Is it true that nuns, monks, and Catholic priests all take vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience? If not, who takes what vow? <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jerry</span><br />Men and women members of religious orders (ordained and non-ordained) take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Some take a vow of stability as well, meaning that they are attached to a particular monastery for life. Diocesan priests take vows of chastity and obedience.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rowena</span><br />I'm sure that there's a very good reason why there are three vows, and they are "Poverty". "Chastity" and "Obedience"? Would you liken those three vows to the three legs on a stool?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jerry</span><br />My understanding of the vows is that all people are called to live poverty, chastity and obedience, but that vowed religious are called to live them more intently. To me the vow of poverty means to use respectfully the goods of the earth, to share those goods with others, and to use no more than we need. Chastity means that I view others as magnificent creations of God, who are to always be treated respectfully. And obedience means “careful listening”—to God, to life, to others, to those in authority. And it seems to me that living poorly, respectfully and with a “listening spirit” is fundamental for anyone--vowed religious or not--to living life fully and harmoniously with others and with all creation.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rowena</span><br />What is it like to take a vow of poverty, and to live a life of poverty within a monastic order?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jerry</span><br />Once again, I do not technically belong to a “monastic order”—but I did take a vow of poverty. Throughout the centuries (and the vowed religious life goes back for centuries and centuries) there has been great discussion and debate about what the vow of poverty “means.” My understanding is that the vow calls us to a respectful use of all things material, to hold in common what we have, and to share what we have. On a practical level that means that the car I drive belongs to the community, not to me personally. It means that I have no bank or checking account in my name, and that the salary I earn is turned over to the community and placed in the general fund to cover the needs of all. It means that I must respond to those in need and share what I have with a wider world. And it means that I live simply, without accumulating a lot of “things,” or chasing after a lot of money. <br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rowena</span><br />Could you compare and contrast monastic poverty with the poverty you see in Detroit? (Or any other inner city)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jerry</span><br />The most obvious difference is the fact that those of us who have taken a vow of poverty almost always have what we need in order to live with dignity and comfort, whereas many others who live in Detroit do not. Again, my understanding of the vow of poverty does not mean that I am to live in destitution—there is nothing blessed about that. Rather, it means that I live simply, using only what I need, and sharing what I have with others. The difference is that while most of us who have taken a vow of poverty do not have a great deal of “things”, drive modest cars, dress and eat simply, we do it out of choice and conviction. Many others, however, are forced to do so—there is no choice about it. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rowena</span><br />Is it true that in Brother Cadfael's time, impoverished and unwanted young people were sent to a convent or monastery? If so, why wouldn't that work in modern times?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jerry</span><br />I am not certain about the social conditions specifically during Brother Cadfael’s time, but I do know that throughout the centuries entrance into a convent or monastery was sometimes a viable option to a life of poverty when there were few other escape routes. I guess the key thing here is choice—a choice to enter the vowed life must be made freely, without coercion. The life style must fit one’s temperament and “spirit”; otherwise, I suspect the person involved would not enjoy much happiness in trying to live a lifestyle that does not “fit.” <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rowena</span><br />How is a Capuchin Soup Kitchen different from a Salvation Army soup kitchen?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jerry</span><br />Although I have had little experience with a Salvation Army soup kitchen, I suspect that we would have much in common. I believe that our motivators are basically the same—the idea that we are all sons and daughters of a common God, and that we must care for each other. I am certain that we share a belief in the goodness and dignity of all human beings. One possible difference is that –and I’m not sure about this—is that the Salvation Army perhaps uses their facilities as places to proselytize—preach—whereas we do not. Our founder, St. Francis of Assisi, said, “Preach the gospel. If necessary, use words.” In other words, we try to preach by the way we live our lives. We feed hungry people because it is the right thing to do, not because we want to preach to and convert them.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rowena</span><br />Why is there so much poverty in Detroit? Would there be less poverty if there was more chastity and obedience in our society?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jerry</span><br /><br />Another Capuchin brother once said to me that what we have in Detroit is ”economic apartheid”, that when most of the white people moved out beyond Eight Mile Road, they took with them most of the jobs and the financial resources of the city. While I believe that that analysis is somewhat simplistic, I do believe that there is a great correlation between racism and poverty. But the decline of manufacturing in these cities is also a huge factor, as well as limited educational opportunities and poor transportation systems for the people left in the city. And while I have not thought a whole lot about this, I suppose a case could be made that if everyone treated everyone else respectfully (chastity), and everyone really listened to their inner voice and the voice of God speaking to us (obedience), there would be less poverty in the world because we would conclude that it is unconscionable that some of us enjoy such excess, while millions have not the basic necessities of life. And we would do something about it. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rowena</span><br />I was very impressed with your organic vegetable gardens on the abandoned lots of Detroit. I've also heard that lots in Detroit are unsold (owing to the debts and back taxes) for $1 each.<br /><br />I also hear the saying "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish…" What would happen if the Capuchin monks taught Detroiters to grow their own vegetables?<br /><br />What would happen if the Capuchins organized allotments (tiny communal market gardens) ? Like Habitat for Humanity, only for vegetable gardens instead of dwellings?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jerry</span><br /><br />There is a strong movement underway in the city right now to encourage people to grow a portion of their own food. The Greening of Detroit is very active in this endeavor, and the Capuchin Soup Kitchen works in collaboration with that organization. In fact, the Soup Kitchen has a greenhouse where each year approximately 100,000 vegetable seedlings are grown for distribution to individual gardeners and community gardens throughout the city. Each year the program grows in number of participants and levels of enthusiasm, and some of the gardeners are now selling some of their produce. Here at the Soup Kitchen some of our guests have tiny plots where they grow vegetables of their choice, and it is gratifying to observe the care with which the gardens are tended. Working with the earth is also very calming and healing, and I really believe that gardening can help heal the wounds so prevalent among the people of our city. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rowena </span><br /><br />I see you do "Teach a Man to bake…" Tell me why the Capuchins chose baking as a new career for men who have been incarcerated. Can a man "bake" his way out of poverty and destitution? <br /><br />Or, is the baking a way of providing the bread to accompany the vegetable soups?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Jerry</span><br />Our ROPE program (Reaching Our Potential Every day) teaches baking techniques and life skills to formerly homeless or incarcerated men. The idea is not simply to learn a skill or trade, but to simultaneously address the issues that brought the men to homelessness or incarceration in the first place. Thus, participants do receive training in baking, but at the same time deal with their addiction problems, or work on obtaining their GED or other educational pursuits, or receive professional counseling to come to peace with issues that have caused them turmoil in their lives up until now. The hope is that after they have been in the program a year they will have saved enough money and resolved enough of their personal issues that they can successfully “re-enter” society and become assets to their community. Some might choose to continue working in the field of baking; others may pursue truck driving or whatever other career might interest them. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rowena</span><br />How does donating clothing, furniture, and appliances to the Capuchins for distribution differ (if at all) from donating to the Red Cross or Salvation Army, or Purple Heart? <br /><br />I've never received a postcard or a phone call from the Capuchins telling me that their truck will be in my neighborhood, and asking if I have anything to donate. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jerry</span><br /><br />I’m not sure about all the other organizations named, but one possible difference is that items that are donated to us are distributed free of charge to people in need—we do not sell them. And while in the past we were able to send trucks out into the neighborhoods to pick up donations, the costs of fuel and labor now make that prohibitive. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rowena</span><br />What have I not asked about Poverty that I ought to have asked?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jerry</span><br />Entire books have been written about poverty. I could go on and on—but I think we have a good overview here at least.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rowena</span><br />Are the Capuchins only in Detroit? If not, where else are your Soup Kitchens, Gardens, Art Therapy Programs, Food package donation outlets, and shower facilities?<br /><br />What have I not asked about The Capuchin Order and the Capuchin Soup Kitchen service sites that you'd like to mention?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jerry</span><br /><br />The Capuchins are an international order of brothers, found all over the world. In the United States (and internationally as well) we are divided into geographic provinces. There are six provinces in this country, and this Province of St. Joseph is headquartered here in Detroit. We are about two hundred members, and are separate from the other provinces in terms of finances and personnel. The Province of St. Joseph sponsors a similar food program in Milwaukee, though not of this magnitude. I am not familiar with much of the work of other provinces, although I do know that the friars in Denver operate a homeless shelter, as do friars of the Pittsburg province stationed in Washington, DC. Traditionally throughout the world we have been known to minister among the very poor. <br /><br />I would like to close this by acknowledging that the work we do is made possible only through the generosity of the people of this community. Our annual budget is seven million dollars, and most of that money comes from fundraising activities and donations from generous benefactors. It is very humbling to me that people trust us so. I also extend to anyone interested, an invitation to come and visit us. We are very proud of what we do, and love to show it off! <br /><br /><br />Useful Contact Information for the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in Detroit<br />Website<br /><a href="http://www.cskdetroit.org">www.cskdetroit.org</a><br /><br />To volunteer<br /><a href="http://volunteer@cskdetroit.org">volunteer@cskdetroit.org</a><br />313-822-8606 ext 10<br /><br />To donate<br />313-579-2100 ext 173<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJP1YOzvmg1NLqDX26ElclUvsnyALVjCp0RBhPfwiDqVsSNi2kYdS19BACBSJqdeedDVgyfqLBcDkwZvzh1Hjm8dMuJG6j9yWU-LrZFNTlCiOQbjFhSA056HtopjMIbZIxG6UYsg/s1600-h/blog_publish.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJP1YOzvmg1NLqDX26ElclUvsnyALVjCp0RBhPfwiDqVsSNi2kYdS19BACBSJqdeedDVgyfqLBcDkwZvzh1Hjm8dMuJG6j9yWU-LrZFNTlCiOQbjFhSA056HtopjMIbZIxG6UYsg/s400/blog_publish.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255547296558185474" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhty2_8CNMW3mFbYPtN4jTmzgB4rI-VYFvR3G_m13UXXRNa4CJSJSZjmRRE4qGs-_jbdlEzyZTWQalZPEkUNsQaky-EJL0bmBsSq3MesM_K50C9JKC5Vm6ZNqetfu-lWrPHoQQseQ/s1600-h/blog_promote.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhty2_8CNMW3mFbYPtN4jTmzgB4rI-VYFvR3G_m13UXXRNa4CJSJSZjmRRE4qGs-_jbdlEzyZTWQalZPEkUNsQaky-EJL0bmBsSq3MesM_K50C9JKC5Vm6ZNqetfu-lWrPHoQQseQ/s400/blog_promote.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255547150650890610" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpjVq5aAxD6vrd-23CSMir-GSRSv-bzntHc4N_hEoJWduXoeRNifT9o8-H9za4vId2Ed7KkkEjUb9F0P-CPPe1Qfdceyrc_3qE-wuE80Zx_c8ariTTx3YglENfB3iMN0l808cu1A/s1600-h/blog_donate.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpjVq5aAxD6vrd-23CSMir-GSRSv-bzntHc4N_hEoJWduXoeRNifT9o8-H9za4vId2Ed7KkkEjUb9F0P-CPPe1Qfdceyrc_3qE-wuE80Zx_c8ariTTx3YglENfB3iMN0l808cu1A/s400/blog_donate.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255547050890844498" /></a><br /><br /><br />Thank you very much!<br />Rowena Cherry<br /><br /><a href="http://blogactionday.org/js/d36c82f64f9d18ccbaf02723a96e02a7b5276306">http://blogactionday.org/js/d36c82f64f9d18ccbaf02723a96e02a7b5276306</a>Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-59573595424139462662008-10-10T11:20:00.002-04:002008-10-10T11:20:49.608-04:00Prism Winners include Insufficient Mating MaterialLight Paranormal<br />1. Dead Girls are Easy by Terri Garey<br />2. More Than Fiends by Maureen Child<br />3. Highland Guardian by Melissa Mayhue<br /><br />Time Travel<br />1. Wired by Liz Maverick<br />2. Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband by Melissa Mayhue<br />3. Forgiveness by JL Wilson.<br /><br />Erotica<br />1. Mona Lisa Blossoming by Sunny<br />2. Pleasures of the Night by Sylvia Day<br />3. Double Dating with the Dead by Karen Kelly<br /><br />Futuristic<br />1. My Favorite Earthling by Susan Grant<br />2. How to Lose an Extraterrestrial in 10 days by Susan Grant<br />3. Insufficient Mating Material by Rowena Cherry<br /><br />Novella<br />1. Over the Moon by Sunny<br />2. Street Corners and Halos by Catherine Spangler<br />3. Wild Hearts in Atlantis by Alyssa Day<br /><br />Dark Paranormal<br />1. Immortals: The Awakening by Joy Nash<br />2. Betrayed: A House of Night Novel by PC Cast<br />3. Touched by Darkness by catherine Spangler<br /><br />Fantasy<br />1. The Eternal Rose by Gail Dayton<br />2. Lucinda, Darkly by Sunny<br />3. Voice of Crow by Jeri Smith-Ready<br /><br />Best of the Best<br />Wired by Liz Maverick<br /><br />Best First Book<br />1. Grave Illusions by Lina Gardiner<br />2. She Wolf by Teresa D'Amario<br />3. Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband by Melissa MayhueRowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-55547369125915670712008-09-21T15:28:00.002-04:002008-09-21T15:30:43.802-04:00When survival is a matter of PromoOff topic, but hardly interrupting a vibrant discussion!<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">KNIGHT'S FORK is a page-turner from the very first one to the very last. I enjoyed it so much, after I reached the last page I started right from the beginning again. KNIGHT’S FORK has it all! If you only have time to read one book this season, I highly recommend you run out and grab a copy today.</span><br /><br />~Kimberly Leslie<br /><a href="http://romancejunkiesreviews.com/artman/publish/paranormal/Knight_s_Fork.shtml"><br />http://romancejunkiesreviews.com/artman/publish/paranormal/Knight_s_Fork.shtml</a><br /><br />Three other reviews have been posted on <a href="http://tinyurl.com/KnightsFork">Amazon</a>, and the book is in stock, as are <a href="http://tinyurl.com/Backlist-reviews">Forced Mate</a> and <a href="http://tinyurl.com/Backlist-reviews">Insufficient Mating Material </a><br /> <br /><br />Blurb:<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">What is a queen to do when the sperm donor of her dreams says no?</span><br /><br /> <span style="font-style:italic;">Carpe Scrotum. Seize Life by the Testicles! </span>The Queen Consort of the Volnoth needs a sperm donor and only one green-eyed god has the right stuff. Little does she know that she has pinned all her hopes on the crown jewels of the fabled Royal Saurian Djinn. Not only is he the son of her greatest enemy, but he has taken a vow of chastity.<br /><br />Knight's Fork continues the alien romance series of the god-Princes of Tigron, begun with Forced Mate. It takes up right after the grand downfall of my most heinous villain in Insufficient Mating Material, and this time the hero is 'Rhett. <br /><br />'Rhett has incurred the resentment of his elder brothers/cousins for his more-virtuous-than-thou attitude, his spoilsport interference when they want irresponsible sex with unsuitable partners, and simply because he is his father's only son. They decide that he must be hiding a sordid secret, and they set out to find out who she is.<br /> <br /><br /><br />Rowena Cherry <br />http://www.rowenacherry.com <br />http://tinyurl.com/Buy-KnightsForkRowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-52959826592857199442008-05-11T13:58:00.001-04:002008-05-11T14:00:42.596-04:00Hang on!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgloM5SqzaY5F9-FPNdFKljHvGmNmLY_H10e-5ZxhjcP-_SahLVCQKRCxwzBNYt88FhYQ_4Z-b1yMLo_hYo6DxrZTyBqMY3UFF0SZfB2344gqAck-oSbGHxpBb-UqBnew_KkQFk/s1600-h/Rock.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgloM5SqzaY5F9-FPNdFKljHvGmNmLY_H10e-5ZxhjcP-_SahLVCQKRCxwzBNYt88FhYQ_4Z-b1yMLo_hYo6DxrZTyBqMY3UFF0SZfB2344gqAck-oSbGHxpBb-UqBnew_KkQFk/s320/Rock.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5199106637464298210" /></a><br /><br /><br />I can't resist a totally --well, not <span style="font-style:italic;">totally</span>-- gratuitous hunk to start the day. Look out for further news from me about how this manly pose was transformed into a poster representing 'Rhett (Prince Djarrhett) the hero of the sequel to <a href="http://www.rowenacherry.com/excerpts/">Forced Mate</a> and <a href="http://www.rowenacherry.com/excerpts/">Insufficient Mating Material</a>. Or maybe you've seen the ad with the temporary cover?<br /><br />My favorite photographer, Mitchel Gray is a genuis, and he has excellent artistic taste. What a fabulous pose!<br /><br />He could give me a Bear Hug any day!<br /><br />Anyway... Not only is today (Sunday) Mother's Day, but it is also the start of<br />Bear Awareness Week.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.angiefox.com">Angie Fox</a>, <a href="http://www.masek.net">Carrie Masek</a>, <a href="http://todaythedragonwins.blogspot.com">Sandy Lender</a>, <a href="http://www.cynthiaeden.com">Cynthia Eden</a> and <a href="http://windlegends.org">Charlee Boyett-Compo</a> are joining me on internet voices radio tonight between 9pm<br />Eastern and eleven pm to give a whole new depth of meaning to Bear men and Romance.<br /><br />We'd love some listeners, even for a little while.<br /><br />FOR CRAZY TUESDAY: In the last program, <a href="http://www.jadeleeauthor.com">Jade Lee </a>and <a href="http://www.emilybryan.com">Emily Bryan</a> (aka<br />Diana Groe) talked about everything below the belt in honor of Earth<br />Day... from Brazilian waxes for courtesans, to castration, to foot<br />binding.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.internetvoicesradio.com/CrazyTuesday.htm">http://www.internetvoicesradio.com/CrazyTuesday.htm</a><br /><br /><br />FOR CHERRY PICKING SPECIALS, which is the irreverent and irregular<br />Sunday night-time show about Romance heroes and the animals they shift<br />into being when the right female comes along.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.internetvoicesradio.com/rowena.htm">http://www.internetvoicesradio.com/rowena.htm</a><br /><br /><br />Best wishes,<br />Rowena Cherry<br /><a href="http://www.rowenacherry.com">http://www.rowenacherry.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.internetvoicesradio.com">http://www.internetvoicesradio.com</a>Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-62055752350125705882008-04-14T13:51:00.001-04:002008-04-14T13:52:51.363-04:00Law of the jungleCopyright is being infringed every day, and there is not a lot we (midlist and lower) authors can do about it. <br /><br />As fast as we discover another site where our books have been illegally scanned, turned into e-books, and are being "shared", then spent half a day writing to the site's moderators, and perhaps getting the links removed... the thieves go elsewhere.<br /><br />I saw a journalist blog the other day that because J K Rowling won't miss the royalties, it is acceptable for readers to steal from every other author, too.<br /><br />It's not OK. Not all copies that are read illegally would have been paperbacks sold, but some will, and for some authors, those lost sales will make the difference between whether or not they are ever offered another contract.<br /><br />When I see that JK Rowling's books are also on the pirate site, I'm glad, because I know that eventually, that site will be shut down, because she is good at defending herself, and the big guns sink pirates faster than lots of little pop guns can.<br /><br />Today I'm cheering, because I keep the rights to my characters. Don't you? I don't know how someone can publish an Encyclopaedia of Harry Potter without mentioning any of the characters!<br /><br />I hope the New York judge sides with Ms Rowling!<br /><br />Anyway....If you think it is only fair that the government defends the book industry's copyrights with the same vigor that they protect the music and movie industries, please consider signing this petition.<br /><br />Or, pass on the url. Let's make a stir!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ebooksandpirates/">http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ebooksandpirates/</a><br />_________________<br />Rowena CherryRowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-58007157441063315982008-03-28T08:10:00.000-04:002008-03-28T08:12:06.206-04:00Not really survival.... just overjoyed<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8qhgn6jzvrAoLqpmoMBuNnt4CEEmp7SIuK9yTan_HZwGq_sgVLr2_NkLwfG6PvovVHLYk6MfegUXI9M8vK5LJSHzL-foGpG2vjBNJ3wReYX3x3b8OaH-0REoBjO8fmHH2CULYA/s1600-h/preditors.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8qhgn6jzvrAoLqpmoMBuNnt4CEEmp7SIuK9yTan_HZwGq_sgVLr2_NkLwfG6PvovVHLYk6MfegUXI9M8vK5LJSHzL-foGpG2vjBNJ3wReYX3x3b8OaH-0REoBjO8fmHH2CULYA/s400/preditors.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182747873582520242" /></a><br /><br /> <a href="http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/pubaw.htm">Preditors and Editors</a> has awarded <a href="http://www.rowenacherry.com">my site</a> the Author's Site Of Excellence Award.<br /><br />Needless to say, I am thrilled!Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-49643649775941282052008-02-15T17:32:00.002-05:002008-02-15T17:33:15.171-05:00Insufficient Mating Material wins CAPA award<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqyWnZbeALrJ2qekBuveTKHzVIs2ILQHo0IhkQQ2D0q6LyYGJcjRjZeQncageUTp8jIGO1l6y2ZrNecjgrMm2t35oI7wit_JjGLNAZXTAJaPY4ec_7tsECT_U11LVVpBvPOAJ3/s1600-h/fantasy2007capa.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqyWnZbeALrJ2qekBuveTKHzVIs2ILQHo0IhkQQ2D0q6LyYGJcjRjZeQncageUTp8jIGO1l6y2ZrNecjgrMm2t35oI7wit_JjGLNAZXTAJaPY4ec_7tsECT_U11LVVpBvPOAJ3/s400/fantasy2007capa.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5167338587124406418" /></a>Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-3330214237831242062007-07-25T12:45:00.000-04:002007-07-28T07:31:21.932-04:00Survival isn't always romantic in the conventional senseMales do some pretty disgusting and unromantic things from time to time. No doubt females do, too.... such as eating the head of the male while, or just before, he impregnates her. <br /><br />Infant cockroaches, and infant koalas eat their mother's waste. And one type of infant spiders eat their mothers.<br /><br />When it is a matter of survival, one does what is necessary, no matter how gross.<br /><br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6vlEavUH9ng"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6vlEavUH9ng" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />That was gross!<br />Moreover, it's not something that inspires me to write a scene for a romance. I just cannot imagine any heroine wanting to kiss him for any reason under the sun any time soon after that.<br /><br />I would have loved to have been a fly on the nearest object of great attraction to flies, in order to have heard the camera crew's remarks during filming. Unlike SURVIVORMAN, who was filming his own, original series, in Africa during February/March --and who carries 50lbs of his own, self-operated filming equipment--, "Bear" Grylls has a cameraman with him.<br /><br />Judging by the quality of the video, I'd guess that the cameraman was shaking with laughter.<br /><br /><br />Males are better equipped to carry out this survival trick. There is a long tradition of unspeakable things that thirsty men will drink. Warm beer. "The stale of horses" to quote from one of Shakespeare's plays with Roman heroes. "Goat's" in a recent film about a Beerfest (involving competitive drinking).<br /><br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kotNQOYFxkw"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kotNQOYFxkw" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br />I wonder what kind of toast would be appropriate?<br />Here's looking at you?<br />Bottoms up?<br />Your very good health!<br /><br />All the best,<br />RowenaRowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-81884645203748303462007-07-21T08:36:00.000-04:002007-07-21T08:36:17.494-04:00Alternative-Read.com: REVIEW: Insufficient Mating Material ~ Rowena Cherry ~ Dorchester Publishing<a href="http://tjbook-list.blogspot.com/2007/07/review-insufficient-mating-material.html">Alternative-Read.com: REVIEW: Insufficient Mating Material ~ Rowena Cherry ~ Dorchester Publishing</a>Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-6317472545768518052007-07-01T15:21:00.001-04:002007-07-01T15:21:54.700-04:00Inspiration everywhereBut some things are simply not conducive to writing "heated science fiction romance."<br /><br />Take men in trees.<br /><br />Now, in Insufficient Mating Material, I do place my hunky hero up a tree when the heroine, thinking herself alone, says something that prompts the hero to ask the "How about it?" question.<br /><br />I've got six or seven "important" ash trees in my back yard. They are not equally important. The one that grows through the deck is much more important that the others, though their canopies all dropshadow my roofline.<br /><br />We've got the alien Emerald Ash Borer in Michigan, and it is a continual and expensive struggle to treat the trees. I am doing a good job of making the wood taste unpleasant, but not all my neighbors are.<br /><br />Last Thursday, reluctantly, I tore myself away from the romantic and riveting pleasure of writing about the first heroic lip lock between my hero and heroine in order to keep an eye on three tree surgeons who were giving my trees a first class pruning.<br /><br />I can't say that it was a romantically profitable morning. One chap could have modeled for Pieter Brueghel. Another for Jabba the Hutt. Oh dear, that is cruel. I suppose he would not have made such an unfortunate impression if he hadn't been wearing only low-slung trousers and a short T-shirt which he used as a face towel when the ambient heat became too much, and sent his pores into overproduction.<br /><br />It took from 8am to 12.15 pm including chipping, road sweeping, and so forth. <br /><br />After that, the man who cleans my deck came.<br /><br />I did not have to worry about him falling out of a tree and the insurance ramifications of that (you thought I watched those guys out of lust?) but men with power sprayers just cannot help squirting things they are not supposed to squirt.<br /><br />This guy's method of preparing the soil for planting pacysandra was to squirt it. He squirted a hornets' nest, too!Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-53080416688971826102007-06-10T09:40:00.000-04:002007-06-14T03:48:16.506-04:00Plant hybrids inspire alien-romance world buildingHybrids aren't just cars that run on more than one fuel source.<br /><br />There are hybrid animals, and hybrid plants which occur either naturally or with the assistance of mankind, also hybrids in Greek and Roman mythology. Some hybrids are sterile, and some are not. Some hybrids are called after a combination of the father's name and the mother's (father's name first). <br /><br />The mythological creatures do not appear to follow this convention... and in fact, now I understand the convention, my mind boggles over the Manticore (man-lion-scorpion). <br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid/" target=blank>wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid</a><br><br /><br />The etymology is delightful. According to wikipedia, hybrid comes from the ancient Greek for "son of outrageous conduct."<br /><br />I could have called my Tigron world's black sabre-toothed tigers ... pangers, or tigthers, but I think that would have complicated matters.<br /><br />This week, I'm more interested in plant hybrids. For world-building in a hurry --not that I recommend taking a short cut, but sometimes one has to-- a few hours in the grocery aisles can be quite inspiring. After all, if you are unexpectedly space-shipwrecked and marooned on an alien world, you're going to be obsessed with what you can and cannot eat.<br /><br />There are some astonishing hybrids available in the produce section, as well as exotic fruits and vegetables that might or might not have been hybridized. I look at the Ugly Fruit, and I wonder whether it evolved to be visually appealing to anything (assuming that its fruit is "designed" to be dispersed with the assistance of creatures that eat the fleshy parts and eject the pits).<br /><br />There's something spiny and orange that looks like a cross between a sea urchin and a sea slug, and I'm fascinated by those waxy green globes that come inside a pale green papery looking flower. If you were to change their colors, rename them, and describe them carefully as if you'd never seen them before, you'd hardly need to dream up your own fruits and vegetables for your alien romance's world. And, then there are the roots. You have to be careful what you do with your root vegetables, in my opinion.<br /><br />How did we ever start to eat root veg? Did we observe a primate and copy them? Did our earliest ancestors' curious gaze fall upon something intriguingly orange, or pleasantly white, pushing up through loose soil? I suppose we do have an instinct (as children) to pull things out of the ground and bite them as an experiment. I'm told that I ate a worm once when I was a toddler! Would your aliens have similar instincts?<br /><br />Your human heroine has to eat in outer space --or on whatever unfamiliar territory she is trapped-- so not all her food can be unrecognizable (or she'd have to have major allergy testing) or her gut would not be adapted to handle it. We're accustomed to stories about our domestic pets eating human delicacies which are not natural for them... which their guts are not adapted to handle. I've been thinking about what natural carnivores can and cannot eat, because I want my tigers to play a larger role in my next story.<br /><br />In fact, having spent several hours reading the ingredients on dry pet food for research purposes, I do have to wonder under what circumstances a dog in the wild would eat corn on the cob. Or rice! <br /><br />There are some schools of alternative healing thought that claim some of our painful ailments (such as arthritis) are a consequence of us eating fruits or vegetables that we are not adapted for, or to which some of us are allergic. My mother cured very painful arthritic swelling in her hands by giving up all produce in the tomato families. Other people have a problem with potatoes. (Some have a problem but don't know it.)<br /><br />In Insufficient Mating Material, the hero and heroine are marooned on an island on an alien world, and they have to test food and deal with the possibility that the heroine might not have a tolerance for some of the fruits and vegetables growing there.<br /><br />Why do I think roots are a problem? Carrots are easy, and you can eat them raw if you want to. Parsnips look like big carrots only white... but you really do have to cook them. Watch out for onions and shallots, because they look like tulip bulbs. There are different roots that look alike. Take ginger root and Jerusalem artichoke. They are both about the shape and size of a small, pudgy hand, with gnarly, stub-tipped fingers, root filaments like fleshy hairs, and are beige-gray. <br /><br />On our world, some plants do not want to be eaten, especially by the roots (!) so they evolve to be poisonous. What happens in your alien world?<br /><br />For those interested in research, or obsessed with plausible alien anatomy --and possibly inspired by the fact that a carrot fresh from the ground does not necessarily look "carrot shaped"-- M.I.T. (an eminently respectable place of scholarship) sells --or used to sell-- a to-scale, and anatomically correct poster called "Penises of the Animal Kingdom".<br /><br />I thought the plural was Penes, but I suppose a few people wouldn't get the point.<br /><br />And having Googled that, because none of the three of my dictionaries within easy reach gives any guidance on what a proper person should call multiple schlongs, I'm off to pursue other lines of romantic alien research.<br /><br />Best wishes,<br /><br />Rowena Cherry<br />Insufficient Mating Material<br />"racy, wildly entertaining futuristic romance" ~Writers WriteRowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-41886678447264295152007-05-27T11:00:00.001-04:002007-05-27T11:01:49.409-04:00Insufficient Mating Material's heroine<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOo4aJ-TXNTp3OuULI3AYZmYB3ZpV5fCJv1ow28cB6AuclGnbgl-x0ql1quUe4oSsSw3LYagoEaseOau0bJYCuxlnit_hi0HxTThWT-LiFj7e9en3q0e89ZTvuV2PWc_i9LBvt/s1600-h/Insufficient_cvr1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOo4aJ-TXNTp3OuULI3AYZmYB3ZpV5fCJv1ow28cB6AuclGnbgl-x0ql1quUe4oSsSw3LYagoEaseOau0bJYCuxlnit_hi0HxTThWT-LiFj7e9en3q0e89ZTvuV2PWc_i9LBvt/s400/Insufficient_cvr1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5069207955508912306" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.rowenacherry.com/buythebook.php">Insufficient Mating Material</a></span> <span style="font-style:italic;">has just been launched in the UK as of May 25th 2007. I'm told that it can be found in Tesco, <a href="http://www.whsmith.co.uk/whs/go.asp?ISBN=0505527111&DB=220&Menu=Books">WHSmith</a>, Waterstone's, and <a href="http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/adv_search.jsp?Search.x=29&Search.y=7&Search=Perform+Search&title=Insufficient+Mating+Material&titleStem=&titleOp=AND$author=Rowena+Cherry&authorStem=&authorOp=AND&keywords=">Blackwell</a> <br /></span><br /><br /><br />"Be good..." they say. "And if you can't be good, be careful!" <br /><br />It must be almost impossible to be careful when all the worlds are watching all the time, and not always sympathetically.<br /><br />Princesses and celebrities have everywoman's problems, but their problems are magnified a hundredfold by the telephoto lens of public scrutiny. Everyone wants to know who they are seeing, what they are drinking, what they did in bed and with whom, whether or not they are pregnant...<br /><br />A single alien princess might precipitate a constitutional crisis if an unflattering camera caught her just as a breeze was bellying out her bathing costume... especially if it was common knowledge that she'd slept with a foreign terrorist for kicks.<br /><br />Princess Martia-Djulia has all the problems of a youngest child (the third child) but more so. It seems pointless to compete with her brilliant older brother and sister. Until senility overtakes them, they will always be older, wiser, better-read, more experienced, more athletic, more powerful.<br /><br />In a world of feudal primogeniture, the older she gets, the lower her status. She is only interesting if she is scandalous.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.rowenacherry.com/buythebook.php">Insufficient Mating Material's</a> heroine was introduced in FORCED MATE, where she got a great deal more than she bargained for when she flirted with a handsome --and most unsuitable-- commoner.<br /><br />She also went through her brother's private "stuff" and got caught, did the gustatory equivalent of spiking the drinks at her brother's wedding banquet, made a compromising video of herself in bed with a tattooed stranger, and fell hopelessly in love with a hunk who was honor-bound to marry someone else.<br /><br /><br />She makes her dramatic appearance in <a href="http://www.rowenacherry.com/buythebook.php">Insufficient Mating Material</a> as the Royal bride at an Imperial shotgun wedding. As she surveys the throngs who have come to see her married to the mate of her dreams (who has miraculously been relieved of the fiancee he intended to marry and brought back to her) her happiness seems complete...<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">CHAPTER ONE</span><br /><br />Never in all Great Djinn history has any Imperial Princess had such a Mating Ceremony on such short notice, and to a mate freely chosen by the Princess!<br /> <br />Princess Martia-Djulia savored her unique happiness. The second best part was that she was going to get away with it. By taking an alien and a commoner like Commander Jason to mate, she poked a defiant finger in the eye of Imperial tradition.<br /><br />“You’re glowing,” her tall, grimly magnificent brother commented as he joined her on the raised throne-stage and offered her the support of his bent arm for the slow, gyring descent of the stage into the Throne Room below the Imperial suite.<br /> <br />“I’ve a lot to glow about,” Martia-Djulia retorted. She could have made a barbed remark about how Tarrant-Arragon had tricked his own cold, pale bride into saying the irrevocable Imperial Mating Vows, but she didn’t.<br /><br />After all, Tarrant-Arragon had hunted down Commander Jason, and brought him back to her.<br /><br />Her thoughts returned to her Jason who shared her taste for subversion and mischief-making. He was the Mate who would change her sad, lonely life; her boring, bottled-up life. He was her rescuer, her lover, her private hero, the warrior who made her feel young and beautiful, and who awed the Fewmet out of her insolent, uncontrollable sons.<br /><br />He was the only male in all the forty-two gestates of her life who had ever given her an orgasm.<br /><br />Martia-Djulia took a deep, happy breath as the last notes of the Fanfare Royal drifted up from the balconies of the Throne Room, and the Crown Prince’s throne stage —its stark, craggy contours pleasingly draped for the occasion in her favorite colors of dusk-sky mauve and midnight-purple— descended silently, like one of her brother’s deliberately placed chess pieces, only fortress-sized. <br /> <br />“I can hardly believe it,” she whispered to herself as she nodded graciously to the crowd below. “I’m about to be Mated to the only male who has the physical strength to pick me up and sweep me off my feet, and the desire to do so.”<br /><br />Tarrant-Arragon lifted an eyebrow at her.<br /> <br /><br />“Oh, when I think of Jason’s passion--” she said, "When I think of how violently he knocked the ceremonial headmask off an interfering Saurian Ambassador, and of the wicked, sexual insults he threw….”<br /><br />“You liked that, didn’t you?” Tarrant-Arragon teased. “But, I hope you don’t expect your new Mate to pick you up, attack Saurian Ambassadors, and hurl sexual insults in front of our distinguished guests.”<br /><br />Martia-Djulia took in the carefully orchestrated tableau where she stood on the stepped stage, waiting for Jason to make an entrance through one of the Throne Room’s soaring central portals.<br /><br />What would he be thinking? Would he remember how they met at a Virgins’ Ball in this very Throne Room? Would he mentally undress her with his strange, dark-nebula eyes and notice that she looked better than he remembered?<br /><br />Surely, even a fashion hawk like Jason would approve of her sense of style. For her second Mating, she could hardly usurp the pallor of a Royal Virgin bride. She had chosen the subtle, shifting colors of a fast-frozen sea, glittering with the palest, most precious gemstones aligned in all the right places for the most flattering effect.<br /><br />“They all came back!” Martia-Djulia breathed, gazing out at the heads of state, ambassadors, military leaders, and subject royalty who had been hastily recalled, some before they had returned home after her brother’s nuptials.<br /><br />“Of course,” Tarrant-Arragon murmured. “On occasions like this, no matter how lofty the ceiling, it is never high enough, is it?”<br /><br />The pentagonal Throne Room shimmered with the warmth rising from the thronged guests. Massed body heat made the vast room a battleground of assorted perfumes and less intentional odors that only Djinn nostrils might identify.<br /><br />Suddenly, Martia-Djulia was conscious of emerging mature notes from her own signature perfume.<br /><br />“Tarrant-Arragon,” she whispered anxiously. “Did I overdo the Queen of the Night?”<br /><br />“You seem to have put it absolutely everywhere,” he drawled, and grinned, confirming that his Djinn-sharp olfactory senses were as embarrassingly acute as those of a sea-predator.<br /><br />“I’ll let Jason lick it off,” Martia-Djulia quipped brazening out her secret embarrassment.<br /><br />“If he’s got any Djinn in him, he might find that joy a little overpowering,” Tarrant-Arragon said.<br /><br />Martia-Djulia felt a vague, fleeting apprehension. Was it a certain enigmatic tone in her brother’s voice? Something wasn’t right. Tarrant-Arragon had once threatened to kill Commander Jason if her lover turned out to be of rogue Djinn lineage. <br /><br />Why was Jason late?<br /><br />Her anxious gaze searched the double avenues of ground-lighted, living trees which flanked the four grand entrances.<br /> <br />“Ah. The so delightful Henquist and Thor-quentin.” Tarrant-Arragon jerked his head to indicate the upper level balcony where her two tall sons leaned negligently on the elaborately carved stone balustrade. “They look pleased.”<br /><br />Martia-Djulia smiled hopefully at her usually sullen, sulky sons, until she realized that Tarrant-Arragon was being ironic.<br /><br />...<br /><br />“Nervous?” Tarrant-Arragon asked mockingly.<br /><br />Before she could retort, a loud fanfare made further conversation impossible. The pentagonal room vibrated with the thunder of massed war-drums. Colored plumes of scented smoke surged up and tumbled from the Imperial throne-space, reminiscent of an ultraviolet tinted, pyroclastic cloud. The Emperor’s throne-stage thrust up through the smoke like a coldly gleaming, ice-volcano rising out of a swirling fog. <br /><br />Her father, The Emperor Djerrold Vulcan V, appeared to stroll on the pinkish-purple vapor trails, high above his guests. Martia-Djulia tried to imprint on her memory every detail of this splendid, dramatic illusion.<br /><br />“Dear friends, welcome back,” the Emperor began with his customary, affable menace. “You are now here to witness the exchange of vows between my younger daughter and her new mate. Since The Princess Martia-Djulia is a widow, and a mother, and since this is her second marriage, there will —obviously— be no display of proofs of virginity.”<br />He pointed his Fire-Stone-Ringed forefinger around the room, his guests shrank in their seats, and he smiled tigrishly.<br /><br />“There will come a point when my dear daughter will ask anyone who objects to her choice of mate to speak out. Anyone who dares to do so will be incinerated.”<br />Star-blue lightning sizzled and flashed from the Emperor’s finger. Regrettably, her father had flatly refused to even try to color-coordinate his laser ring’s fire for this one occasion.<br /><br />“Out of consideration for your fellow guests’ nostrils,” Djerrold Vulcan V continued pleasantly, “I advise against any interference. Proceed!”<br /><br />High above, another fanfare blared from long, deep-noted instruments. The massive central doors at the far end of the Imperial throne room opened.<br /><br /> “I kept my promise,” Tarrant-Arragon said quietly, “…to bring back Jason, if he agreed to come, or to find you a mate like your Commander Jason.”<br /><br />She wasn’t paying attention, though it was an odd thing to say. Unseen, a massed male voice choir roared out the Mating Anthem... usually heard only once in a generation at the Mating of an Emperor or the Emperor's male heir.<br /><br />This, too, was her due. She’d been promised that her Mating would be as splendid as the one she had organized for her big brother. And so it was. Only prettier.<br /><br />“Here he comes!” Martia-Djulia whispered, trembling.<br /><br />A tall, broad-shouldered silhouette limped from the darkness beyond the doorway.<br />His beloved, scarred face was a shadowed, distant blur… but something wasn’t right. Had Tarrant-Arragon tortured and starved Commander Jason into agreeing to Mate with her?<br /><br />“What is wrong with him?” she hissed accusingly. Time stretched out. A sense of creeping horror chilled her vitals. “You promised not to force him.”<br /><br />Her thoughts raced back to three Imperatrix cycles ago.<br /> <br />She vividly remembered what they’d agreed, just before Tarrant-Arragon left to exact terrible revenge on the unknown villains who’d tried to assassinate him on his honeymoon.<br /><br />I want him to be happy, she’d protested when Tarrant-Arragon caught her trying to erase compromising footage of Jason on top of her. Jason’s happiness hadn’t been on her mind when she triggered the surveillance systems. <br /> <br />Do you think he’d be happy with me if I force him to be my mate? she’d asked her brother, who had no scruples when it came to mate appropriation. <br /><br />No, Tarrant-Arragon had bluntly told her, dashing any lingering hope that she could blackmail Jason into returning to her bed permanently.<br /><br />At the Virgins’ Ball, Commander Jason had made it clear that he’d rather be searching the rim worlds for his errant mate-to-be, but he was on duty. Since he had to be at the Ball, he’d been in the mood for a revenge dock in any bay that would accommodate him.<br /><br />Martia-Djulia had only wanted illicit excitement — until Jason gave her so much, she wanted him to do it for the rest of her life.<br /><br />“Did you force him? Did you torture him?” Martia-Djulia demanded urgently.<br /><br />“Not really,” her appalling brother replied.<br /><br />Something was wrong. Martia-Djulia's heart thumped. She clasped nervous hands to her glittering breast, and glared in an effort to get a better look at her promised Mate. At this distance, across the Throne Room, it was hard to tell…. Closer he came. Closer.<br /><br /><br />I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of Martia-Djulia.<br />Read her story in <a href="http://www.rowenacherry.com/buythebook.php">Insufficient Mating Material</a>Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-9794326237640343272007-04-29T09:01:00.000-04:002007-04-29T09:12:10.980-04:00Survivors and RomanticsThe Romantic Times Booklovers' convention in Houston is winding down. The book fair is over, the next Mr Romance has been chosen, my speeches have been given and my handouts have been handed out.<br /><br />In effect, I spoke about research every time, though in some cases it was presented as Swordfighting secrets, and I'd like the romance-writing world to know that my handouts are going up on my website. <br /><br />Best wishes,<br />RowenaRowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-33547627044588825062007-04-08T15:15:00.000-04:002007-04-08T15:18:41.846-04:00If I had to... could I?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZTSV4U_4MJiatDslFSdqD134WxZVz_bvQMn0T78QYvNkhwRyGxe8FYsF0zqvQEnCsT2EyjrmkYTyuVXv-0dkiCjUr7wxqxeKAvAwa4nYd1L2ON93AFfnBv8jZ6EIbru3BsY1M/s1600-h/IMM_Les_Poster.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZTSV4U_4MJiatDslFSdqD134WxZVz_bvQMn0T78QYvNkhwRyGxe8FYsF0zqvQEnCsT2EyjrmkYTyuVXv-0dkiCjUr7wxqxeKAvAwa4nYd1L2ON93AFfnBv8jZ6EIbru3BsY1M/s400/IMM_Les_Poster.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5051120104716364818" /></a><br /><br />Before I write about heroines, I research the situations into which I dump them, and I like to think that if I were their age, in the shape they are in, and in similar circumstances, I could do almost as well.<br /><br />But could I?<br /><br />Could I purify and filter water without a commercial tablet or a store-bought gadget on my plumbing? If global warming reduced my neighborhood to something close to a dust bowl, could I find water? Could I follow my own survival advice that I dish up in my "survival romance" <a href="http://www.rowenacherry.com">Insufficient Mating Material</a>? Could I make pizza from scratch... on a hot rock?<br /><br />Well, could I?<br /><br />I might surprise myself. We women may be tougher than we think.<br /><br />Actually, I used to make pizza when I lived in Dorset. I had a coal fired oven, which meant that I had to shovel coal into the fire box, wait for it to get really hot, and then bake. My paternal grandmother didn't have a refrigerator. She had a slab of marble in a cupboard under the stairs! <br /><br />But as for doing some of the things Survivorman does.... I'm not sure, and I hope I never find out, but I pay attention, and I'm thinking of buying some of the best fire making tools I've seen him use on his show, and keeping them in my handbag. It won't do much for the shape of my bag, but a bit of extra weight-lifting should keep my arms and my bones in shape.<br /><br /><a href="http://tinyurl.com/ftqwy">Insufficient Mating Material</a> contains quite a lot of information from various survival sources and the consultative wisdom of Survivorman, Les Stroud. Like the hero, Djetth (Jeth), I took part in competitive life-saving at school. I still have all the badges that I earned. However, when I think back to all the mushrooms we used to gather in the local cow pastures at dawn, and the berries we picked from hedgerows in Autumn: hips and haws, elderberry, crabapples, blackberries, I wonder whether I'd dare to today, if I weren't desperate.<br /><br />My mother would be a lot better at survival than I. She has a head start because she is a passionate (and almost an organic) gardener, and for fruits and vegetables is pretty much self sufficient. <br /><br />The problem is (for everyday people), practising making shelters by cutting down vegetation is not environmentally responsible, and experimenting with strange berries when I don't have to seems to be asking for trouble.<br /><br />Happy Easter!<br /><br />RowenaRowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-88918332632284524572007-03-18T10:32:00.000-04:002007-03-18T11:05:14.284-04:00Survival of the fittest<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPcut7c3YGyAhT2MU8y2DzjFengY2XRxv5Oe1_9dgqwd9RxhQz02bDL3p40q4YbZonu4TgvWV_5latgbwzMp7hEverqBPk6kjSDEJtDD-nPkitvhSsxjaMrOgssCABK5k3JcBn/s1600-h/IMM_Les_Poster.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPcut7c3YGyAhT2MU8y2DzjFengY2XRxv5Oe1_9dgqwd9RxhQz02bDL3p40q4YbZonu4TgvWV_5latgbwzMp7hEverqBPk6kjSDEJtDD-nPkitvhSsxjaMrOgssCABK5k3JcBn/s400/IMM_Les_Poster.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5043274574763237346" /></a><br /><br /><br />I developed this poster from custom artwork done by Ed Traxler for my Insufficient Mating Material book video, and from photographs given to me by Les Stroud (aka SURVIVORMAN).<br /><br />Now, I use it as a visual aid for when talking with romance experts in bookstores, or potential readers. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words!<br /><br />Survivorman is holding up a conch shell, which is quite useful for heating water on the campfire, if one doesn't happen to be marooned with a saucepan. There are also scenes involving fishing using whittled stakes, and in making a shelter from vegetation, so his pictures were all very relevant to what goes on in my romance!<br /><br />I like to multi-task, so when my husband agreed that we could drive down to Florida (for the Amelia Island concours d'elegance), I arranged to make strategic stops at major bookstores along my route (the I-75) to do "drive-by signings" of INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL, and hopefully to tell booksellers some highpoints about the alien/survival romance.<br /><br />In my drive-by signing bag I packed: autographed stickers, a purple ink gel pen, spare pens, my poster, a hair brush, bookmarks, business cards.<br /><br />We set off from Detroit, not as early as I'd have liked, but on the other hand, the morning rush-hour traffic had cleared. By around 3pm we were in Lexington, Kentucky, which I'd chosen because I thought that --if we had a tiresome drive owing to weather or roadworks-- we might want to stop at the Super 8 near there. <br /><br />There is only one Barnes and Noble in Lexington, so that is where I signed, while my husband and child stretched their legs and enjoyed the store's fine displays of magazines and games.<br /><br />The next day, around eleven a.m., I was in Knoxville, having got off to a record slow start which had not a little to do with a blocked toilet (not blocked by us) which meant that I had to repeatedly flush what you might expect, by bailing water (from the bath) using the room's fortunately-large-and-plastic trash bin. <br /><br />There's only one Barnes and Noble in Knoxville, too, and I had a great time chatting with the CRM.<br /><br />Around three pm, we almost overshot our turn-off. Actually, we did. As one of my favorite secondary heroines is called Tarragonia-Marietta, of course I had to sign in Marietta!<br /><br />I had appointments at two stores, but we'd seen the Atlanta Northbound traffic back-ups, so decided to drop by a third store to while away the time, and keep us off the motorway for a while longer, but still going in the right direction.<br /><br />Finding the Cobb Parkway store took a lot longer than we expected, partly because I hadn't "MapQuested it", however, we received a pleasant welcome, and three extra copies of Insufficient Mating Material were signed as dusk descended.<br /><br />On the third day, we got into Jacksonville in the early afternoon and found the first store, on Atlantic, with relative ease although I'd misidentified an East-West street, and thought we were going North-South! <br /><br />I didn't have an appointment for the Dalton store, because they are closed on Sundays, which is when I was doing my telephoning. However, that was in a mall, and not too hard to locate. We gave up trying to find the Mid-Town store, owing to my misreading of the map, and the fact that we wanted to paddle in the sea before sunset, now we were so close. <br /><br />Armed with a better map, and expert directions, we found the store the next day, and I think the St. John's Town Center was the most impressive store, in the loveliest open air shopping mall that I've ever visited. <br /><br /><br />Signed copies of Insufficient Mating Material can be found at:<br /><br />KY<br /><br />Barnes & Noble Booksellers<br />Man-O-War<br />Hamburg Pavilion<br />1932 Pavilion Way<br />Lexington, KY 40509<br />859-543-8518<br /><br /><br />TN<br /><br />Barnes & Noble Booksellers<br />Suburban Plaza<br />8029 Kingston Pike<br />Knoxville, TN 37919<br />865-670-0773<br /><br /><br />GA<br /><br />Barnes & Noble Booksellers<br />Town Center Prado<br />50 Barrett Pkwy Suite 1100<br />Marietta, GA 30066<br />770-422-2261<br /><br />Barnes & Noble Booksellers<br />The Avenue West Cobb<br />3625 Dallas Hwy SW<br />Marietta, GA 30064<br />770-424-0511<br /><br />Barnes & Noble Booksellers<br />2952 Cobb Pkwy<br />Atlanta, GA 30339<br />770-953-0966<br /><br />FL<br /><br />B.Dalton Booksellers<br />Regency Square mall<br />9501 Arlington Expressway #250<br />Jacksonville, FL 32225<br />904-721-2446<br /><br />Barnes & Noble Booksellers<br />9282 Atlantic Blvd<br />Jacksonville, FL 3225<br />904-721-2446<br /><br />Barnes & Noble Booksellers<br />St Johns Town Center<br />10280 Midtown Parkway<br />Jacksonville, FL 32225<br />904-928-2027<br /><br />(Also, Barnes & Noble Booksellers<br /><br />The Streets of Westchester<br />9455 Civic Centre Blvd<br />West Chester, OH 45069<br />513-755-2258)<br /><br /><br />see the Insufficient Mating Material video: <br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLuEtY7oP7A<br /><br /><br />INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL takes up where FORCED MATE ended, with Djetthro-Jason (Jethro-Jason) severely beaten, about to undergo surgery to change his face and identity before his shotgun wedding to the frivolous Princess Martia-Djulia (Marsha-Julia).<br /><br />No one gives a thought to what Martia-Djulia might do when she realizes that it’s not her unsuitable lover, Commander Jason, but a stranger being frog-marched up the aisle to become her Mate. <br /><br />Her surprising reaction sets off a firestorm of rumor… and rattles a murderer who thought he’d gotten away with an ancient crime.<br /><br />INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL EXCERPT<br /><br />A Tricky Experiment<br /><br /> “Maybe, sweetheart, we should have sex to prove to you that you can and will enjoy it.”<br /> “I enjoyed it once. I am very happy with my memories. I don’t need you or your experiment to prove anything,” she said stiffly.<br /> “Once?” He raised an eyebrow. His lips twitched. Too late, Martia-Djulia realized that she had just contradicted one of her earlier statements.<br /> “The Aim of the Experiment is to discover whether or not we are sexually compatible,” Djetth said loftily. She suspected that he was amusing himself by parodying a formal checklist. “Method: to have mind-blowing recreational sex using positions and techniques that mitigate or avoid unfortunate consequences. Expected result--”<br /> “What unfortunate consequences?”<br /> “Insects in your hair?” he teased. “Sand in your baby box. A baby. Infection. Injury. Legal consummation of a Mating we might not want.”<br /> His gaze flickered. Martia-Djulia had the impression that his list was deliberately ordered.<br /> “Injury to whom?” she asked, ignoring the glossed over “baby.”<br /> “I’ve wondered why you haven’t blasted me backward onto my butt since our Mating Day. I’ve certainly deserved it.”<br /> “Yes you have!” she agreed heatedly.<br /><br />ISBN 0-505-52711-1<br /><br />Bit of Self-promo<br /><br />***** Five Stars!<br />Excellent adventure and highly recommended! <br />~ Detra Fitch, HUNTRESS REVIEWS<br /><br />This book has one of the best ending sequences. … Ms. Cherry has created a seriously evil villain. … Trust me, INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL is a book you don’t want to miss. Be sure to check out the back-story in Rowena Cherry’s FORCED MATE.<br />~bookmaedin, for www.ibookdb.net<br /><br /><br /><br />INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL is an outstanding sequel to FORCED MATE! Cherry skillfully combines mystery, romance, and humor with a fast-paced science fiction adventure. I couldn’t put it down! ~ Jean, Fallen Angel Reviews<br /><br />Rowena Cherry is one of the best sub-genre writers due to her skill at placing the heroic characters in impossible scenarios<br />~ Harriet Klausner, Affaire de Coeur<br /><br />For those of you who read and enjoyed FORCED MATE, the long awaited story about Commander Jason is finally here and what a story it is! It was well worth the wait! I highly recommend running to get this book the minute it hits your local book store!<br /> ~Kathy Boswell, The Best Reviews<br /><br />… a powerful romance laced with devastating family secrets, treachery and a sizzling passion hot enough to singe your fingers as you turn the pages. Ms. Cherry pens a compelling plot with vivid imagery and fascinating characters that will leave you breathless….Ms Cherry has become an auto buy author for me. <br /> ~Billie Jo, Romance Junkies<br /><br />Best wishes,<br />RowenaRowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-73774102021450908602007-03-13T10:17:00.000-04:002007-03-18T10:31:24.896-04:00Mark Your Calenders! New Hunt Coming in May!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrxi9uPPeIyGqN4Zm1JyGNjyPLLexoJgJPAY-GfRdUP8uRNh1WkXLd_49Lx-j0XGq1mavEFHrsPEyLN92JVeybRWTxHhgE85nzefGUilEMLdpdrOPvuxnGu4ixNE84Yzq4XNY-w/s1600-h/RJ07+banner.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivrxi9uPPeIyGqN4Zm1JyGNjyPLLexoJgJPAY-GfRdUP8uRNh1WkXLd_49Lx-j0XGq1mavEFHrsPEyLN92JVeybRWTxHhgE85nzefGUilEMLdpdrOPvuxnGu4ixNE84Yzq4XNY-w/s320/RJ07+banner.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5040408598428328754" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(78, 5, 17);"><span style=";font-family:Book Antiqua;font-size:130%;" >***MARK YOUR CALENDARS***</span></span></div><span style="color: rgb(78, 5, 17);"><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span></span></span> </span> <p class="post-title" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-family:Book Antiqua;"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> <span style="font-size:130%;">COMING IN MAY 2007</span></span></span></p> <p class="post-title" style="text-align: center;" align="center"> <span style=";font-family:Book Antiqua;font-size:130%;" >The New Pillow Scavenger Hunt!</span></p> <p class="post-title" style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;" align="center"> <span style=";font-family:Book Antiqua;font-size:100%;" >Featuring these great authors and a lot of cool prizes, including autographed books!</span></p> <p class="post-title" style="text-align: center;" align="center"> <span style=";font-family:Book Antiqua;font-size:100%;" >Amy Knupp, Barbara White Daille, The History Hoydens, Jaycee Clark, Jenna Black, Jordan Summers, Joey W. Hill, Jory Strong, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Michelle Pillow</span>, Kalen Hughes, Kate Austin, Kelley St. John, Lacey Alexander, Lauren Dane, Mackenzie McKade, Mandy Roth, Maya Banks, N.J. Walters, Nicola Marsh, Patricia Sargeant, Portia Da Costa, Raven Vampire Nightclub (M Pillow and M Roth Joint), <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.rowenacherry.com">Rowena Cherry</a></span>, Samantha Storm, Shelley Munro, Shiloh Walker, & TJ Michaels & MORE!<br /></span></p> <p class="post-title" style="text-align: center;" align="center"> </p> <p class="post-title" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b> <span style=";font-family:Book Antiqua;font-size:100%;" >Check back for details!<br /></span></b></p>Michelle Pillowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10514145520302299388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-19020423362438850622007-02-18T17:20:00.000-05:002007-03-18T11:01:16.542-04:00Insufficient Mating Material--survival excerpt<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVarbUC5KqEVBXR2uXlqY6TCHQqIkMuVFlbNiqgT55TyHDgu2WL6YTpy1iE1yAos8YBgVVWX7eeiRe_tD0qMES-9Q2F3jCaqFLqats-0xr2JAt8trcfO2gjMB2vMQdLXuJttGd/s1600-h/scene_3a.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVarbUC5KqEVBXR2uXlqY6TCHQqIkMuVFlbNiqgT55TyHDgu2WL6YTpy1iE1yAos8YBgVVWX7eeiRe_tD0qMES-9Q2F3jCaqFLqats-0xr2JAt8trcfO2gjMB2vMQdLXuJttGd/s400/scene_3a.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5033002820015325506" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I encourage anyone thinking of buying one of my books to read a free sample chapter from my website or Barnes and Noble.com, or just stand in the romance aisle of your favorite local bookstore and check out a few pages. <br /><br />These might be some good pages to scope out for a fair idea of whether or not this book is your cup of tea.</span><br /><br />Royal wedding: page 33<br />Sexually frustrated swearing: page 199<br />A fish bit my ... : page 244<br />Battle scene: page 253<br />Cover scene : page 264<br />Grievous explains "the trots" to an alien: 273<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Here is a very short excerpt with genuine survival advice.<br /><br />In this scene, the hero, Djetth (pronounced Jeth) and the squeamish fashionista<br />Princess Martia-Djulia (Marsha-Julia) are marooned on a Costa-Rica-like island. They have been shot down, landed in the sea, and Martia's elaborate gown is wet, and she will not remove it.<br /><br />She is embarrassed about the corset she wears underneath her preposterous Court dress. She doesn't know that Djetth has already seen her corset and more, before his plastic surgery, when he had a wild one-night-stand with her.<br /><br />Djetth has decided that their first priority should be to get a fire going.</span><br /><br />-----<br /><br />"There are a lot of things we could do without for one night." Dinner came to<br />mind. Sex… Djetth grunted and rose to his feet.<br /><br />The most natural thing in the world would have been to hook an arm around Martia-Djulia's tightly cinched waist, and point to the campsite he'd chosen. Instead, he put his left hand on his hip and pointed with his right hand.<br /><br />"You see that little stand of trees -- the ones with twisted trunks, which fork into three or four branches at about the height of my hip? Those two, there, will make good supports for the entrance to a shelter. I'll thrust a long, straight branch between their crotches as a ridgepole."<br /><br />She looked doubtful, but Djetth was on good ground with his woodmanship.<br /><br />"A 'crotch' is where a tree bifurcates," he explained, simply so she would think about crotches, and long, straight objects being thrust into them. "They're a good<br />choice because their canopies lean inland, away from what becomes the obvious spot to clear for a fire pit. Do you agree?"<br /><br />He took her silence for consent.<br /><br />"Right. I'll start by digging the fire pit. Do you think you could find something we can burn? There are three types of fuel needed for a fire. Tinder is the most important."<br /><br />Chivalrously, he assigned the greatest importance to the easiest, lightest, most enjoyable, most feminine task.<br /><br />"I can't start a fire without tinder," he added with strategic disregard for the fact that he was a Great Djinn in possession of three Rings of Imperial Authority, one of which was the laser-like Fire Stone.<br /><br />"What is tinder?" she asked, sounding suspicious.<br /><br />"Ahhhh," he drawled, overcome by a mischievous instinct. "Look here."<br /><br />With his left hand he lifted his T-shirt, with his right forefinger and thumb he reached into his navel, confident that after eight weeks of hard exercise he had well defined abs and a very deep and attractive "inny" of a tummy button.<br /><br />He withdrew lint.<br /><br />"Oh, slurrid!" his squeamish Princess exclaimed, predictably, but she stared at his lower abdomen and perhaps at the bulge in his trunk briefs with flattering interest.<br /><br />"This fluff--" He placed it in the palm of his left hand as reverently as a<br />scientist explaining an important specimen, "is created from the action of hard work. Friction attracts filaments of fabric from my cotton T-shirt, and works them into a flat, fluffy mat."<br /><br />He moved his cupped hand closer to her.<br /><br />"Good tinder needs to have irregular edges, plenty of airspaces." He teased his tummy button fluff into a looser wad. "It must be dry. Would you like to touch it?"<br />.....<br /><br />Best wishes,<br /><br />Rowena Cherry<br /><br />PS<br />Some readers might be interested to recall that in one episode of Survivorman, Les Stroud plucked lint from his socks to use as tinder to start a fire. When I saw Les do that, I sensed that he and I shared a sense of humor, and that he would be the perfect "survival details" expert for Insufficient Mating Material.<br /><br />Another tip... besides surprising things that are flammable, is that it is better to be naked and dry rather than clothed and wet.Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-38569927894383545502007-02-17T10:39:00.000-05:002007-02-17T10:40:20.029-05:00Insufficient Mating Material<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RNnX5dyfzmQ"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RNnX5dyfzmQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>Rowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29995654.post-73779756309389808292007-02-04T09:05:00.000-05:002007-02-04T09:14:34.503-05:00Insufficient Mating Material secrets......of making the <a href="http://www.tinyurl.com/ftqwy">Insufficient Mating Material</a> book video.<br /><br />Happy Superbowl Sunday, by the way. Have you seen my 50 second advertisement? Not on TV, naturally, but on MySpace and You-Tube and anywhere else that will put it up (including my home-run website... which isn't run by me!)<br /><br />For the record, Edward Traxler --Myra Nour's brother-- did my video. However, I put in a lot more time and did a lot more work than I expected, so I really hope that it is as effective as a marketing tool as everyone who has them, seems to think.<br /><br />I don't know. Seeing a cover cut up and moved around on a screen has never sent me to a bookstore with the speed and purpose of a heat-seeking missile.<br /><br />When we started, I thought I knew what I wanted. For about $75 (not my end cost!) I wanted a Me-Too product, just to hedge my bets in case Susan Kearney, Linnea Sinclair, Mel Schroeder, Myra Nour, Ruth Kerce, Mandy Roth and Michelle Pillow (I watch Mandy and Michelle, because they must be the most savvy self-promoters I've ever seen, and I mean that in the nicest possible way) are right.<br /><br />Music: I wanted the Pilgrim's Chorus from Wagner's Tannhauser. I'd once seen a feeble --but choral-- version on a Royalty Free site. Failing that, yeah, Billy Idol's White Wedding or Jethro Tull's Locomotive Breath would do nicely, but that idea was quickly squashed. One cannot buy Royalty Free 30 second clips of Rock Star's music. Alas!<br /><br />And, to get anything except the orchestral Overture from Tannhauser, the sites I visited required Membership and a commitment to buy more than 30 seconds of good stuff.<br /><br />Ed gave me links to six sites that sell legal-to-use music, and told me to find what I wanted. Imagine... well, I am picky and I have expensive tastes. If I couldn't have someone famous, I wanted a lot of people, so I hunted for a good, bombastic choir. I'd hoped for massed, warrior-like men in extasy, but settled for kick-butt females going Aaaaaaaahhhhh.<br /> <br />I'd seen Lightboxes in an earlier reconnoitre, but hadn't figured out how to use the site. I learned. I thought I wanted beach and sea and an aurora borealis to play up the cover art, which I assumed we'd be cutting up.<br /><br />Unfortunately, my From-Here-To-Eternity cover models are in an isoceles triangle configuration, so there was no way to make them roll over (and over again) in the surf.<br /><br />Using the index and search functions, I wasted a lot of time looking at seascapes, hoping to find ejaculating clams.... or something that could suggest that.<br /><br />Also, I went through a lot of little campfires (most had unsuitable men in<br />baseball caps silhouetted against the flames). My romantic aliens do not wear baseball caps or Chicago Bears helmets. Eventually, I decided that it was witty, funny, and appropriate to show a really big fire. If you've read Insufficient Mating Material, you'll understand why.<br /> <br />Then Ed sent me to a NASA site, and I spent a day or two looking at<br />starfields and comets and planets.<br /> <br />Next, he sent me to the airforce to check out jetfighters, and then to....look at fonts and colors.<br /> <br />And meanwhile I was trawling MySpace trying to find a cheap, naked man.<br /><br />I found one enjoying a shower (which would have been really good, given one of the archetypically dirty tricks Tarrant-Arragon plays on his sister) but .... it wasn't to be.<br /> <br />Thank Evan I remembered what a good sport Evan Scott is! He said I could use one of his photographs. Oh, but the trouble we had removing Evan's hair, and putting a piratical headsquare on his head. The early efforts looked like a hard, orange hat. No one wears a construction site helmet and nothing else in the sea.<br /><br />There was another shot we considered... Evan was waist deep in the sea, proudly holding up a manly bathing-costume. We turned the swim suit into a big fish, as if he'd just tickled a sea-going trout and caught it.<br /><br />However, the fish was a distraction, and would take too many words to explain, even if there IS a school of thought that says you can use fish skin as a condom. SURVIVORMAN (who was my survival techniques consultant for the book) opines that you can't, but that rabbit guts are an option.<br /><br />Back to Evan's inconvenient hair. You can imagine me googling Pirates of the Caribbean for good-looking headwear. Unfortunately, most of that looked good because of the explosion of dreadlocks and beaded beard underneath the scarf.<br /> <br />And, Djetth should have had a goatee, but Ed draws goatees like a subway grafitti artist putting facial hair on the Mona Lisa (it must be his only weakness), so I googled Men In Goatees. (That was an interesting search!) I also found Max Von Sydow's Ming from Flash Gordon, and Andre Agussi and Brad Pit and chin curtains. Chin Curtains!!<br /><br />In the end, I decided that Djetth did not need a goatee for the purposes of this trailer.<br /> <br />Then, finally, the video is done, and Ed puts up a really good resolution, and I discover that the hero in the sea has what looks like monster love bites around his visible nipple.<br /><br />No one seems to mind, though.<br /><br />Best wishes,<br /><br />Rowena Cherry<br />"<a href="http://www.tinyurl.com/ftqwy">Insufficient Mating Material</a> is a strong, intelligently written book..."<br />~Marcy Arbitman, reviewer for JERRRowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.com1