Monday Musings: I have returned! Bwahahaha!

Hey guys! I'm back. Sorry I was away for so long! Hey, I even have a cover for y'all to gaze at!

I got pretty focused on Her Master's Gift, but beyond that, as you saw from my last post, my depression and anxiety got the best of me. It happens sometimes!
Rather than castigate myself for that to the point where I don't write any blogs ever (that won't work for me!), I'm moving on. Can't go back in time just yet. Unless The Doctor comes for me in the TARDIS, in which case, see you then!

Current news: I just finished the second round of edits for Her Master's Gift. My editor, Valerie, is amazing. Seriously, all of

Monday Musings: Fibromyalgia Awareness Day

Who you are, deep inside, doesn't stop just because you're sick. But sometimes you have to put away the play until you feel well enough to do it again. Not such a big deal when all you have is a cold, and you know you'll get better at some point. But what happens when you're chronically ill? You're not getting better. You feel weird/pained/fatigued/etc. all the time. Your body isn't your own anymore.

I have two conditions that are my primary diagnoses, and Fibromyalgia is one of them. I got diagnosed when I was 15, and it changed my life.

https://www.facebook.com/fibromyalgiastories13

Monday Musings: Playing with Rope

We played with rope! MDR and I have some lovely red rope that we like to use, and he decided to practice some things on my feet.  Foot rope bondage can be really useful. Spread the legs, hoist them up, hold them in place...very versatile!

I definitely recommend playing with rope. I don't mean going to classes that teach kinbaku, or even western rope, though those are awesome if you can find any groups in your area that teach. But there's something nice about just getting out rope and doing stuff. Throwing it around, playing with knots you don't know the names of, and just getting the feel of it.

Monday Musings: 3 Years Collared

The 3rd of April was the anniversary of my collaring in 2011. It's amazing to me that it's been 3 years. It feels like it can't have been that long, while at the same time it feels as if we've been together forever.

My collar is simple: a silver heart-shaped necklace which has my husband's initials on it to proclaim me his girl. It has only been removed for cleaning, and then placed back around my neck, but for the first full year of wearing it, it never left contact with my skin.

It's an important symbol, my collar. It gives me peace and security. A sense of my Owner, always with me, even when we're apart. When life is chaos around me, it's a physical reminder of my place. He also gave it to me at an important time in our lives. You see, he was going to collar me at a kink event, a national one that we'd planned on attending for months. Now, I knew about the event. I had no clue about the collar.

Monday Musings: Weekend editing snippet

Well, it was a mostly quiet weekend. Yesterday I got to dedicate myself to edits on Her Master's Gift, and I am very excited about how it's coming along! With over 1000 words in new material, but the charm of the familiar characters, the expansion is doing well. I'm hoping to complete these edits over the next few weeks, barring catastrophe.


Of course, you guys know Murphy's Law, right? *grins*

In honor of the editing, and because you guys are awesome, I'm posting a little snippet of Her Master's Gift! Enjoy!

Monday Musings: Paracord Floggers and Knives

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Kiss me, I'm...well, part Irish somewhere.

It's been an interesting few weeks! Once again, the day job has had me swamped, but that's okay! I persevere. And get perverse, but that's another topic altogether.

This weekend hubby and I went shopping at Wal-Mart. We went there for fabric softener, mints, and Listerine. We wound up getting that, plus a few extras. You know how it goes, plus, I again fail at browsing. Actually, this time we both did, so it's not completely my fault.

Monday Musings: I fail at browsing

So, my previous computer, a lovely little HP laptop, has been retired. It refused to consistently register the internet via either wi-fi or ethernet, and at 4 years old, wasn't running the way it needed to. The way I needed it to, for my work-work and my writing work.

Yesterday, hubby and I went out to "browse" for my new computer. You know, price check, compare, etc. We found the perfect computer, for a really fantastic price (compared to the prices of lesser machines I found online), and bought it immediately.

We don't browse well. We had similar experiences when shopping for our respective wedding rings (at 2 different stores!). We said, "Oh, we'll go browse. No pressure to buy now." Of course, this led us to find our perfect rings. Yeah. We can't browse.

Back to the new computer. I love new gadgets, but I always feel so bad for the old ones! I loved my old computer, and I feel this sense of guilt. It's been through so much with me. Through school and the writing of many stories, through the long distance portion of mine and hubby's relationship...so much!

As for this new shiny toy, I have nifty new programs on it to play with, and will try to only take a day or two of getting easily distracted by things like the games. I also have the new version of Microsoft Office, and have been playing with Word and Excel for a couple hours now. I like them!

Hopefully one day I'll learn how to browse, but until then...at least I got the computer I needed rather quickly.

What about you guys? Any new gadgets, or any who also fail at browsing?

Monday Musings: Editing and a Smashing Success

It's been pretty wicked with my day job lately, so my updates have been few, and my ability to edit the way I really, really need to has been limited. I fixed it though! With printer paper.

I am revising Her Master's Gift, one page at a time, and it's going beautifully. I have a clipboard, my trusty pencil, and the story, and that's really all I need. I can't seem to edit well on the screen, but I like being able to scribble and cross things out, and see how things fit...it's like a puzzle of words!

While you guys await HMG (with bated breath, I'm sure), I have taken this opportunity to post my FREE stories Astral Lovers and Servant of the Sun on Smashwords! And it's been fantastic. With over 300 downloads combined in just three days, I have been jumping up and down with glee!

Here are the links to both stories, and I sincerely hope you guys enjoy them:

So that's about it for now. Bogged down by day-job woes, but you won't see me giving up!

How's everyone doing this fine Monday? Anything new and interesting? I'd love to hear about it!

Monday Musings: Pervertible objects

Valentine's Day has passed, and we have loot! Well, a little loot. In the form of a very long canvas belt from a store at the mall, which we shall soon use for perverse purposes. It's perfect!

What purposes can a belt like this be used for? Well, it could be an at-home chastity belt. It could be a tie-point (or twelve, with all those holes) for rope. It could also be a form of bondage all on its own.

It's important to see the sexy in everyday objects. Not all of us can afford some of the more expensive toys, and sometimes it's nice to view that bamboo cutting board, a set of keys, a ruler, or even a belt, in a creative light.

How's everyone this Monday? Got any pervertible tips of your own? 

Monday Musings: Yay rope bondage!

Today marks a year and a half of marriage for me and hubby. Yay! We're really happy, and have had some exciting, awesome times during our marriage! Here's to hoping for many more!

This past week, my hubby and I were able to attend a rope event in our area. I must say, it was good to get back into a location with kinky folks. As interesting as the swinging event the other week was (and yes, we'll probably be going back), kink is our comfort zone. We understand the protocols, what's allowed and what's not, whether we know everyone there or not.

Rope is very versatile, and to be honest, we don't do the fancy kinbaku (shibari) style rope at this point. While beautiful, we haven't the time, nor the space, to do that. What we do have is the ability to use simple ties and the force of the rope against itself to create incredible bondage that doesn't remain static unless we want it to. It's inspiring, to play with rope together, and to have it act as a conduit for our energy, back and forth, his and mine running along to each other.

Any anniversaries happening for you guys? What about forays into rope bondage, either in real life or fiction? I'd love to hear about it!

Monday Musings: Exploring new genres

It's been a pretty quiet week, all things considered. I've been enjoying my foray into the yWriter software for putting together my new story Where Angels Dare to Tread. It's in a whole new world, which is interesting for me to play with. I mean, I've written contemporary and paranormal, but everything has happened on good ol' planet Earth! Now my characters are all in a strange world where things work a little differently.

Now, not only have I been exploring in my writing, but also in my reading! I love many genres, but I tend toward those that include some elements of romance. This last week, I veered away from my usual genres (romance, erotica, paranormal, contemporary), to a different book. And I loved it! A Soldier's Duty by Jean Johnson is a military science fiction novel, and the lead character Ia is completely engaging! The details are amazing, and Jean Johnson's skills at world-building are still some of the best I've seen. I was so enthralled with this book that it traveled everywhere with me so that if I came to a spare moment, I could find out what happened next!

So that's about it for my week. I'll be working on more writing this week, in Angels as well as Lady of the Pack, which I will be moving over to yWriter in order to be better organized. Also, I'm revising Her Master's Gift a bit, and I'm very excited to revisit these awesome characters.

Hope you guys are having a great Monday! Have any of you explored new genres, in reading, writing, or even movies? I'd love to hear about it!

Monday Musings: Different Definitions of The Lifestyle

I took the week off last week, as work was pretty crazy and I needed some decompression time. Sorry I was gone, but I definitely feel recharged! Now I can talk about the things that happened.

When I use the term "The Lifestyle," I am talking about BDSM and kink. It's what that term means to me, and living in a BDSM dynamic is very important to my everyday life.

When some people use the term "The Lifestyle," they might be talking about swinging. It's what that term means to them, so when I say I live "The Lifestyle," while I mean kink, they might mean swinging.

How confusing is that? Very! But now I'm more aware, and my vocabulary has expanded. There are other swinger terms too, but that one could definitely cause some confusion between lifestyles.

Then again, there are kinksters who swing, swingers who like kink, and some who only choose one of those, or even none of them. Sexuality and our sexual practices can be so fluid and blend into a variety of labels, you can't really stick people into one cubbyhole or another.

This thought came about because I attended an event in my area with Hubby that is mostly promoted towards swingers, but definitely had its share of kinksters, or combinations thereof. There was singing, dancing, some nudity, and tons of fun! But the language was bandied about, on literature (magazines and placards) and in the conversations happening around us.

It was an incredible learning experience, not just for the new definitions in my mental dictionary, but the energy of the people, the space, and all of the different kinds of interactions.

Have you guys ever had experiences that have broadened, or even challenged, previously held ideas? I'd love to hear about them!

Happy Monday!

Monday Musings: Owned by a Dachshund

As you see by the title of this blog, I am currently owned by a dachshund. Actually, my entire family is owned by the dachshund. He has decided to write today's post, so...here we go!

My humans are are many things to me. Cuddle partners. Bringers of food. Holders of the leash as I walk them. Horrible pullers of the leash when I am interested in a sniff across the street and they're going, "CAR!" Whatever that is.

Their schedule revolves around me, which is as it should be. I am older distinguished, and will be turning 14 next month. I insist on a proper brushing to keep my coat nice and shiny. I look like a dog half my age! Seriously, people comment on how young I look in such an admiring fashion that I may, MAY, allow them to pet me.

I likes to sit next to my humans whenever possible. They prop me up and provide cuddling services. Also, I do not sleep, I rest my eyes. I do NOT snore, despite what my owners may claim, I just have loud breathing.

I expects my meals on time, and I shall greet each one by leaping from the chair I graciously share and racing to the bowl. My server may then leave me to eat in peace.

I enjoy long walks through the neighborhood, and do my part to keep my humans in better shape, leading them on non-linear, wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey walks. I really do take good care of them.

Finally, at night, they vacate my bed for good and give me a nicely folded cover to burrow into. My humans are good, and I give them the pleasure of my presence, the structure of my schedule, every day. I must be the best owner ever to exist!

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*ahem* So, there you have it. A day in the life of a dachshund who owns humans.

Are any of you guys owned by your pets? What sorts of things do they have you do? We must band together!

Monday Musings: Romancing the Brrrr!

I live in Florida. I always have, and I foresee staying here for a long time to come. But recently, I moved from South Florida to Central Florida. You wouldn't think it would be that big of a difference, but you'd be wrong. The mercurial temperatures (yesterday it was 72°F, and tomorrow it'll be 34°F) has been a bit jarring, definitely enough to make me wish I had a better cold-weather wardrobe! 

Still, there are some benefits to beautiful chilly weather. One of my favorites is cuddling. Lots of closeness and grabbing onto my hubby to curl up in his arms. To share our warmth with each other, and to spend some good quality time together.

Human touch is very important, and the more good energy we put behind each touch, the better! Hugging has been shown to improve mood in the same way that laughter does. I know that I get more relaxed with some nice cuddling.

Of course, cuddling can lead to other fun things. *winks*

Any of you taking advantage of the cooler weather for fun times? How do you turn the cold into something warm and romantic?