Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

1. Definition of a smile – to have or take on a facial expression showing usually pleasure, amusement, affection, friendliness, etc., or, sometimes, irony, derision, etc. and characterized by an upward curving of the corners of the mouth and a sparkling of the eyes

2. It takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile. Not true. According to Snopes.com this is an urban legend.

3. According to Wikipedia a smile is a facial expression formed by flexing the muscles most notably near both ends of the mouth. The smile can be also around the eyes. Among humans, it is customarily an expression of pleasure, happiness, or amusement, but can also be an involuntary expression of anxiety, in which case it can be known as a grimace. There is much evidence that smiling is a normal reaction to certain stimuli and occurs regardless of culture. Happiness is most often the cause of a smile.

4. Among animals, the exposure of teeth, which may bear a resemblance to a smile, is often used as a threat or warning display – known as a snarl – or a sign of submission. In chimpanzees, it can be a sign of fear.

5. The BBC have a quiz you can do where you rate smiles. How good are you at telling if a smile is genuine? Me – I learned I’m not very good at judging smiles. Here’s the link.

6. A genuine smile is addictive, especially if accompanied by laughter.

7. To keep a nice smile it’s a good idea to use a toothbrush. It is important to change your tooth brush every 2-3 months or sooner as it becomes ineffective when worn out. Adults should choose a small or medium size toothbrush with soft or medium multi-tilted, round ended nylon bristles. The head should be small enough to get into all parts of the mouth. Children need to use smaller brushes but with the same type of bristles.

8. A smile confuses an approaching frown. ~Author Unknown

9. People seldom notice old clothes if you wear a big smile. ~Lee Mildon

10. Start every day with a smile and get it over with. ~W.C. Fields

11. Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been. ~Mark Twain, Following the Equator

12. Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important. ~Janet Lane

13. Wear a smile – one size fits all. ~Author Unknown

Have you smiled today?

My special guest today is Stacia Kane. Stacia has a new release coming out next month called Personal Demons. Of course, you already know I’m a fan of urban fantasy, so I’m ready to grab a copy! Stacia also writes erotic romance under the name December Quinn.

Did you know that Stacia loves to blog? She tells all below…

CONTEST: See below for details.

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I’m a fan of Grey’s Anatomy and was looking forward to the new season. It’s been going for about four weeks in New Zealand, and I have to say I’m disappointed. Firstly, Izzie and George? What were the writers thinking? It’s just plain wrong trying to have them as lovers and came out of the blue last season. Not enough motivation people. There’s not much motivation this season either. I’m not convinced.

Meredith has turned into a whiner. I’m totally on Lexie’s side. It’s going to be interesting to see what the writers have in store for these characters. I only hope I can make it through more of Meredith’s angsting. Sad but true. I’m not quite as much a fan this season.

I’ve decided to stop with the Sven challenge. I’m doing okay, but my right arm and elbow are telling me it’s time to ease back and take a rest. I know from experience if I ignore the warnings I’ll pay! As a rule I don’t have trouble with motivation and write a steady 2000 words most days. I’d decided to push a bit harder even though I didn’t really need to. A few easy days should do the trick and I’ll be back in business. Meantime I’m going to do some plotting and planning and probably catch up on some reading while my arm takes a rest.

Thoughts of urban fantasy have filled my mind recently since I’m about to start chapter one of my very own story in this genre.

Urban fantasy is defined as a contemporary fantasy set in a real city such as New York, Chicago or Melbourne–one that all of us might recognize. The setting is gritty. The stories are often ones of good versus evil. I’ve found in a lot of the stories the magical inhabitants of the cities are very political with lots of jostling for position going on amongst the different races. The stories are usually told in first person and purists prefer to stay well away from romantic sub-plots. Most urban fantasy authors have series with the same recurring characters and for the reader each subsequent book is like a return to friends. I love this! I’d also say that urban fantasies as a whole straddle lots of genres. There’s the fantasy element, the contemporary one, with sometimes a strong suspense plot. A few stray into horror territory. They’re certainly not boring, and I find the genre very exciting.

According to Wikipedia urban fantasy has been around since the 1920s in children’s books. The term became more readily recognizable during the 1980s where it was applied to adult fiction.

During the past two years I’ve read a lot of urban fantasy. I do tend to prefer the ones where there is a romantic sub-plot, but it’s not a deal breaker for me. The Wikipedia lists quite a few popular authors along with some TV shows and movies which fall into the urban fantasy category.

Some of my favorites are Patricia Briggs, Keri Arthur, Kim Harrison, Jennifer Rardin and Jim Butcher.

I’m currently reading Unquiet Dreams, the second book in Mark del Franco’s Connor Grey druid series. This series is also rapidly becoming a favorite with me.

My guest blogger this week is Stacia Kane who has an urban fantasy release coming in April called Personal Demons. She’ll be here on Wednesday, so I hope you’ll return to visit.

Have you read urban fantasy stories before? Do you like them? Which authors are your favorites?

I have a few questions for you:

What do you like to see on an author’s website?
What makes you return to a particular website?
Which author websites are your favorites and why?
Do you like behind-the-scenes information for books? i.e. character profiles, where the story came from etc.

I’d love to hear what you think…

My guest today is Cerridwen Press author, Jenyfer Matthews. This week Jenyfer has a brand new contemporary release out called All the Way Home.

Here’s the blurb:

Maggie Dean and Sam Callahan grew up in the same town, knew each other in school, admired each other from afar, but never dated. She was just a little too straight and narrow for this bad boy. Now they’re all grown up and back in their hometown, she to deal with a family crisis, he to prove that he’s changed his ways.

After enduring her parents’ loveless marriage and coming home to help her sister pick up the pieces of her broken one, Maggie isn’t interested in relationships. Sam Callahan is not only still gorgeous, but he’s still available. Neither Maggie nor Sam can deny their attraction but they’re still at odds. Can Sam be the one to convince Maggie marriage can work?

CONTEST:

Jenyfer is giving away a download of All the Way Home to one lucky person. All you need to do is post a comment and you’re in the draw. Don’t forget to drop back on Sunday to see if you’re the winner!

~*~

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There’s a really good documentary playing on our TV at the moment about the life of James Cook. It’s fascinating and these are some of the things I’ve learned during the last two weeks of viewing.

1. 1728: Born at Marton (near modern Middlesbrough), Yorkshire, Britain. He was the son of a farmer.

2. 1736: Family moves a few miles to Great Ayton, Yorkshire. He attends the village school and shows great promise.

3. 1744: He moves several miles to the coastal village of Staithes and is apprenticed to a shop keeper.

4. 1746: He moves south to Whitby, where he works for Captain John Walker on his ships. They’re not allowed to drink, gamble or associate with loose women!

5. 1755: Joins the Royal Navy as an ordinary seaman.

6. 1759: Takes part in surveying the St. Lawrence River in Canada. He’s fascinated by a new method of surveying and is excited by the possibilities.

7. 1760-67: Surveys the islands of Newfoundland, St. Pierre and Miquelon off the east coast of Canada. His map was so accurate it was still being used over 200 years later.

8. In 1762, James Cook married Elizabeth Batts at Barking, just to the east of London. They were married for sixteen years and had six children. They spent only four years of their marriage together. Elizabeth Cook died in 1835 while in her nineties, living longer than all her children. Elizabeth burned all James’ papers and letters shortly before she died.

9. 1768-71: First Voyage round the world in the ship Endeavour. 1772-75: Second Voyage round the world in the ships Resolution and Adventure. 1776-80: Third Voyage round the world in the ships Resolution and Discovery, completed without him.

10. As a result of his experiences of astronomical observation and obvious skill in navigation and cartography, Cook was appointed leader of an expedition to observe the transit of Venus from Tahiti organised by the Royal Society, in association with the Navy Board and funded by King George III. The Admiralty were less interested in astronomical observation than in the opportunity such a voyage offered for the secret exploration of the south-west of the South Sea (Pacific) for the Great South Land—Terra Australis Incognita. When the expedition returned in July 1771, the transit of Venus had been observed, an unprecedented number of botanical and zoological specimens collected, and though no Great South Land had been found, New Zealand and the east coast of New Holland (Australia) had been charted and claimed for King George III.

11. On 7 March 1776 Cook was admitted to the Royal Society for his success in defeating scurvy amongst his crew during his voyages and his paper on nutrition aboard the Resolution was awarded the prestigious Copley Medal, judged to be the best experimental research of the year. Elizabeth accepted the award however, as Cook had left on a third voyage in 1776 to search for a Pacific entrance to the legendary Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific, believed to lie north of Canada.

12. Following Cook’s death in 1779, the Endeavour journal of James Cook is thought to have been held by his wife Elizabeth. There is no record of the journal’s movements following Elizabeth Cook’s death in 1835 until its appearance in 1923 when it was offered at auction by its owners the Bolckow family of Yorkshire. The family were unable to explain how they came to hold the journal. It had apparently been in the family’s library ‘for upward of fifty years, having been purchased by the late Bolckow’s uncle, but from whom and in what circumstances is unknown’.

On 21 March 1923 the Australian government purchased the Endeavour journal for £5000 for the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library.

13. James Cook died in 1779. His last voyage was characterised by violence. Cook meted out increasingly severe punishments to indigenous peoples following the theft of various articles whilst at the Friendly Islands (Tonga), St George’s Island (Tahiti) and the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). And on 14 February 1779 Cook and four marines were killed on the beach at Kealakekua Bay while seeking the return of the Discovery’s large cutter.

James Cook was a great leader of men and his skills in navigation led him to rise from ordinary seaman to a position of rank. Many of his charts were in use until recent times and were very close to satellite images of the land masses.

Although edits have taken a couple of my writing days, I’ve still managed to write just over 20,000 words on my latest Middlemarch project since the 70 Days of Sweat challenge started. Happily, I’ve also had a brainwave about what to do with vet Gavin and Leticia, characters who readers met in Stray Cat Strut. I love it when things come together!! I’m very happy with my progress so far.

I’m also working on a super secret project I’m not going to talk about. It’s one that I’m very excited about. I’ve written a blurb so far. This is not the normal way I do things – blurbs are the last thing I write and even then it’s like pulling out teeth. Everything came to me while I was walking so I wrote it down as soon as I arrived home.

I have an author spotlight over at Dark Ice Goddess’ Musings and also one at Selena Illyria’s blog.

Angela James, Nice Mommy Evil Editor has a post about submissions to Samhain that some of you will find interesting.

Christina Phillips has links to a Q & A with Spice editor, Susan Pezzack, which is very informative.

And finally, have you discovered the Edittorrent blog yet? It’s full of excellent advice and not to be missed.

Technorati Profile

Introducing the Passionate Ink Cyber Circuit: We’re a group of writers who belong to the Passionate Ink chapter of Romance Writers of America and write erotic romance. Once or twice a month our members will tour a recent release in the hope of tempting you to add it to your to-buy list.

It’s my pleasure to introduce our first author out on tour – Nina Pierce.

What would happen if a devastating plague wiped out nearly all the male and two thirds of the female population on earth? That is the premise of Nina Pierce’s futuristic erotic suspense novel The Healer’s Garden available now from Liquid Silver Books.

In the female dominated society of 2172, mating with a male, even to save the human race, is a distasteful task and one Healer Jahara Hriznek, has successfully avoided—until now. Brenimyn is a gifted breeding instructor at the Garden. Forced to copulate with all females who request his services, he is tired of the government enslaving men. He lives to find the one woman who will fulfill his destiny and help him bring about social equality for all people.

The Healer’s Garden chronicles the sexually explicit love story of these two people and their changing attitudes toward the social mores of their time. There are many at the Garden who oppose the burgeoning relationship between Brenimyn and Jahara and will fight to keep them apart, but just as many who think now is the time for the vision of equality for all genders to be realized. Can Jahara believe in her love of a man and follow Brenimyn into a battle to overthrow the sexist government? Will Brenimyn trust his heart and allow a woman to lead the fight to bring about the new world order?

It sounds like a great book, Nina, and I love the cover! Now a few nosy questions:

Where do you get the inspiration for your stories?

My background is teaching… and science at that. I’ve always analyzed and catalogued the world around me. After I retired from teaching I had to train myself to stop thinking like a scientist and think like a writer. It took me a couple of years to start doing this. Now, everything around me is inspiration. A line from a TV show or a song can start a whole “what if” scenario. A snippet of conversation overheard in the grocery store can start a landslide of ideas. From these little nuggets… whole stories emerge.

Plotter or Pantzer?

Total Pantzer. From the “what if” question I begin writing. Then I branch out and answer the questions that arise as I write. Eventually the characters flesh themselves out and I figure out who they are and what motivates them. And I keep writing. branch out from there. I have certain scenes I “see” as I’m writing and I can write toward those scenes, answering questions all along the way. The twists and turns just happen organically as the story unfolds.

What does your writing space look like?

I work at a desk in the family room with the television at my back. In the morning I listen to the morning news, but then it’s off for the rest of the day. There are stacks of papers on either side of the monitor. Mostly they contain information about submissions publishers are looking for or particularly good promo info I’ve gotten.

A stack of CDs with my backup books and emails is in the mix. A small notepad with daily word count productivity. At my feet is a yellow notepad and pencil filled with notes to myself about questions I may come up with or questions that require more information. And my coaster, usually with a mug. Coffee in the morning, hot water in the afternoon… glass of wine at night. Printer paper and scrap paper are on the top shelf above my monitor next to the aging printer.

What does your family think about you writing erotic romance?

I’m very fortunate in that my husband can talk about my books now without blushing. My children (all young adults) would like to read my books if I could just… umm… close the bedroom door!

If you could be any animal for just day, which one would you choose and why?

Without question… a cat. I’d lay in the sun all day and meow for attention and food and sleep some more. And be comfortable all curled up in the squished up blanket on the couch… heaven.

Thanks, Nina, and all the best with your book. You can visit Nina at her website or at her MySpace to learn more about her writing and books.

My upcoming release from Cerridwen Press, Wanderlust is set in India. You might wonder why I mention this since my title is about diaries. For me there’s a definite connection, since the only time I write a diary or journal is while I’m traveling.

I recently hunted out all my travel diaries, especially the ones relating to our overland trip from London to Kathmandu and India. When I flicked through them all the small details came back to me, the good and bad. I was reminded of the wonderful temples and natural scenery, the people and the not so good things such as being hellishly sick while in Turkey and Iran. I started to come right about halfway through Iran, having existed on rice for quite a few days, and still remember the cheese omelette I had that tasted absolutely amazing. I remember the markets, the vivid color and friendly people, even though we spoke different languages. Hmm, I’m suffering from a definite case of itchy feet after reading my diary entries.

Do you write a diary?