A Is For Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Hello and welcome to my inaugural post for the big 2012 A to Z Challenge. When I thought about what my theme would be, I decided that being an ardent feminist I would bring to light strong women, women who changed history, women who are making their mark on this planet. I'm also including some Fun Factoids about the accomplishments of women.

My entry for A is a whole bundle of courage and controversy. Feminist, activist, politician and writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born in Somalia to a prominent political family. She is the creator of the AHA Foundation, a non profit organization for the defense of Muslim women's rights. The goal of the organization is to fight crimes against women such as forced marriages, honor killings and female genital mutilation. Ayaan was herself, a victim of this horrific tradition at age five. Her grandmother had the procedure performed on her in defiance of Ali's father, who had been jailed at the time for his activism. Ali's AHA Foundation also focuses on education and fighting Sharia Law.

 In 2002, while living in the Netherlands, she became an avowed atheist and began to write articles criticizing Islam. She also started appearing on television and as a regular speaker at public debate forums. Her first book, The Son Factory, was published in November of that year. Soon after she started receiving death threats. She did not let the threats stop her work and continued her activism and writing. Ali wrote the script and did the voice-over for Theo Van Gogh's film Submission, the project for which the director was murdered.

Despite the almost constant threats to her life, Ayaan continues her fight. In 2005 Time Magazine named her one of their 100 Most Influential People. Her sheer determination to carry on her work is quite simply astounding.

Fun Female Factoid

Appreciate those windshield wipers on your car in a downpour? Thank Mary Anderson who invented a single arm rubber blade design in 1903.

Thanks for visiting, I appreciate it very much. To see more exciting entries on this wonderful fest, please click here.

She's So Sexy...Author Vonda Norwood

Happy Friday!! I am very excited to kick off the weekend with fun and sexy wild new author, Vonda Norwood.  

Your current book is Indie Authors Make Better Lovers. That is such a catchy title, tell us a little bit about it and what was the inspiration behind it:

The title was easy. What makes a person a good lover depends on a person's own sexual needs. In my case, in this story, the need was to realize a fantasy to completion. Trying on my own wasn't working out for me and that gave me a feeling of hopelessness. In the end, another author offers hope and I realize that by working together, my need could be fulfilled. All in all, it's a story about helping each other and working together to give each other a reason to hope. The idea came to me little by little while tweeting with a group of wonderful people. My main thoughts were about how a lot of people think of me as someone who gets a lot of flirtations and is someone who's online having affairs. A lot of people ask me about that because I promote myself as obnoxiously provocative. I knew it would happen, so I promote in a way that makes the men shy away (they're afraid of me)and I can get away with a lot of obnoxiousness. Yea, I'm proud. :-D We all want to call attention to our projects and I see a lot of people grouping together to help each other out, but the end result is that we authors are all becoming very familiar with each other, but we don't really have a purchasing audience. I could never pretend to know a complete solution, but I do see it as a big brick wall for us all. Putting those thoughts together, I came up with Indie Authors Make Better Lovers.

How did you start down this path of writing for publication?

I think that most people write stories with hopes that someone will read and enjoy it as much as they do writing it. I laughed to think of someone reading any of my stories and hope that they'll identify with the characters and plot. My eldest daughter told me to self publish on Amazon and so I did. Then she told me that I should try to advertise on Twitter.com, so I am.

If we looked at your bookshelves or your Kindle/Nook, what are some titles we would find?

I have over 20 books in that one library and about 10 in my smashwords library and many new paper backs at home. I couldn't name 1 with out naming the others. All of the books are of a wide range of genres written my great writers, all of whom I've met on twitter. I would hate to give anyone a feeling of being left out of a mention.

What is next for you?

The month of April is taken up for a blog tour called "30 days of...some sort of misery" I like to tease Christopher Starr about that. He's (the crazy head pal of mine who came up with the idea) It's blogging for 30 days and I know it's gonna drive me nuts and be a ton of fun!!! By April 2nd, I will re-release "Facebook breaks up marriages.lol" I am in he middle of writing book 2, titled "Facebook can also make ya go to jail". I have a novel titled "Romancing Charlie" that I need to edit and post. That one is more of a drama/adventure with a little romance. Then there's my idea for a comedy series. I'll begin the series after "Facebook can also make ya go to jail". In between those, I'll probably pop up with some sort of a little too sexy and yet NOT erotica kind of stories. I get inspired easily and enjoy sharing.

Links

Indie Authors Make Better Lovers

amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007OON1W4

Smashwords
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/140487

My YouTube Channel: I call myself The Sexy Video Comic:
http://www.youtube.com/user/sexyvideocomic?feature=mhee

I'm Doomed!

The Big A to Z Challenge starts this Sunday and I can't get my Schedule Post to work. I follow all the little steps and nothing. I have to get this problem fixed because I am moving on the 14th, right smack in the middle of the Challenge. And you will also have to forgive me as I won't be commenting during that week too much with packing stuff and other coordinating efforts. I hate when I am stressed and I am getting there. This schedule post problem is yet another step toward utter madness. By Move Day, I am going to be a raving lunatic, sitting in a corner, pulling my hair and rocking back and forth. Either that, or I'll be yelling as I run through the streets with the cops in hot pursuit. That sound you hear now is my head smacking against my desk. I'm Doomed.

The Obsession and the Sting by Xavier Axelson

First of all thank you to Melissa for having me…again! I love this blog and am super grateful to be part of it. I love the opportunity to guest blog after one of my works has been released and the reviews have started coming in as it gives me the chance to look at my work through the eyes of the readers. Earthly Concerns is my 7th novella; 7 being my lucky number I was super excited to see this story come to fruition. It is paranormal, it is M/M and it is sexual; actually it has one of my favorite sex scenes to date within its virtual pages. I loved writing that sex scene! And honestly, sex scenes are not my favorite things to write. Earthly Concerns is the story of two men brought back together by an unexplainable and horrific event, a disappearance.

As Earthly Concerns became known and people began reading it, I soon found myself exploring the themes behind the story. It has been called odd, dark, creepy and mysterious (all words I love) and I agree it is all those things. Another reviewer touched on Anson (the protagonist) as being obsessed with Barrett (the antagonist) and I LOVED that this reader picked up on this as he certainly was/is obsessed with Barrett; it was a subtlety I didn’t even want to admit to myself as I was writing the story but as is the way, someone figured me out. Obsession is a dangerous thing, especially when you are obsessed with someone who is vague and confusing. It plays tricks with your mind and can lead further down the rabbit hole; it was after all obsession that led Alice to follow after the white critter only to fall smack dab in the middle of Wonderland.

 If Anson is obsessed with Barrett then how can he be the antagonist? Is Barrett the hero? Could I have gotten it all wrong? It’s an interesting dilemma and it wasn’t until I read this review that I considered how this story would play out if in fact it were the other way around. It’s these reflections that reviews allow me the opportunity, or second chance to rejoin the story and reunite with my characters and look at things from a fresh perspective. I find reviews and criticisms invaluable in this way; granted do they sometimes sting? Absolutely, but it’s the lesson learned after you step on the bees nest that makes the whole experience worth it. It also teaches you who has the hose and soothing words to drive the bees and the sting of pain away.

Earthly Concerns is an erotic nightmare, with a fable element.  It really is a story about the power of generosity, generosity of spirit and the price of selfishness.  While there is an erotic romance involved, there are forces at work in the story that scare me and hopefully will frighten readers too.

Buylink:

http://www.seventhwindow.com/index.php?main_page=product_music_info&cPath=&products_id=42

Book Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUiS_C1ifNs

Blurb:

Between love and loss, there is obligation…

It was a peaceful night when Barrett and his daughter were driving home… then something happened.  Something sinister.

Between shadow and light, there is uncertainty…

Now the only person Barrett can turn to for help is Anson, a man gifted with psychic abilities beyond reason. But Anson is also his ex-boyfriend, a man whose heart he’d already broken.

If you can see, you have to help.

As Anson delves deeper into the circumstances surrounding Barrett’s accident, he begins to realize that he’s not only in a race against time, but in a battle against his own broken heart and the terrifying understanding that whatever has taken Barrett’s child is a force of evil beyond anything either man has ever encountered.

And between decision and consequences, there are… Earthly Concerns

Excerpt:

Earthly Concerns

How could I just go over, and if I did, would I just be stumbling back into the pit of snakes I had just narrowly escaped the first time?  I thought this and a hundred other dangerous thoughts until I saw him begin to stand up. I waved him down, then went over and sat down.

Apparently, I thought the best course of action was to dive right in, avoid any further uncomfortable thoughts from belching up from the cesspool that I was creating in my skull.

“Tell me everything,” I blurted, trying to avoid looking into his eyes.

“You look good, all hot and cute,” he said, trying to maintain his smile, but the weight of his sadness was too intense. Instead, he managed a pained grimace.

“Thanks.” I wanted to say more, return the compliment, but found I couldn’t; he was a keen listener and would be able to detect any false sentiment I might throw out. I stared down at the menu and tried to ignore my heart, which had once again taken up its incessant thrumming.

“Thanks for coming,” he said.

I didn’t look up, but could feel him staring at me.

When the waitress came over, we ordered. Without the menu to stare at, I looked up and past him.

“Anson.” He said my name like it was some sort of invocation.

Did he believe he was dreaming?  I could only imagine the nightmare of not knowing where your child is and if she would ever come back.

“Tell me everything,” I repeated, my voice steady. I lowered my eyes and faced him; and seeing his sadness, I swallowed hard.

“It’s unreal,” he said, this time looking away from me, his eyes glistening. “I’m not sure I know what’s happened.”

The waitress arrived with two small cups of clear broth with some vegetables in them and refilled our waters.

“I’m sorry,” I said, my eyes riveted on him. I couldn’t believe I was sitting across from him in the same place I had met him once before; the day he wanted to return a t-shirt I had left at his place after one of our interludes.

Even now, looking beaten and tormented, the man somehow managed to provoke me in ways other men hadn’t. I saw him as beautiful and felt my stomach lurch. I looked at his brown eyes that I remembered looking gold in the sun, and his oddly handsome face. Not a traditionally good looking face, but handsome in a bookish, learned way. I felt my body begin to respond.

Where to find Xavier Axelson:

http://www.facebook.com/xaviersaxel

http://www.twitter.com/xaviersaxel

http://www.examiner.com/la-in-los-angeles/francis-xavier

http://www.xavieraxelson.com

Troll Fest And My Very First Post

My good friend, Siv, over at Been There, Done That is celebrating her first blogoversary this month with a Troll Fest. She was curious about her followers and how and why we started blogging. Isn't that just the coolest? What a great pillar of the community she is. Below is what I posted on my first Imaginarium post way back on June 25, 2010.

Welcome one and all to my little corner of the Net, The Imaginarium, a crossroads where the imagination meets the intellect. Pull up a chair, stay awhile, take a look at my work while you're here. You never know what might happen.

So how did all this come about, you might be wondering? I wanted a place to fully express my creativity and to indulge my passion for all things books and writing. I also wanted a place where I could discuss anything under the sun. So here I am at this wonderful new blog.

I hope you'll stop by whenever you can to see what's going on. One day there could be a hot movie discussion, another, an author interview, maybe an excerpt, perhaps even a free story or three.

That sounds so nice doesn't it? I think I've turned into a blogging monster with all my rants, reviews, and other wide-ranging topics. I was so tentative and now, it is all out there. I've come a very long way since this first post. Words cannot express how happy I am that I stuck my toe into the shallows, then plunged into the deep end. I am so thankful for all my friends, followers, readers and anyone who clicks over here for even a minute. You have given me a tremendous gift.

On Music And Writing... Author Jeffrey Beesler

I am very excited to be hosting author Jeffrey Beesler today. The Imaginarium is the latest stop on his great and powerful blog tour for his debut fantasy novel, Spell of Enchantment. Take it away, Jeffrey...

If you’ve known me for a while, you’re probably aware that I often speak about music on my blog. Heck, I’ve gotten to the point of punctuating my posts with a music video. For example, during a recent discussion on pronouns, I showcased Cyndi Lauper’s “She Bop”. In measuring the distance I’ve gone through my writing journey, I shared Matchbox Twenty’s “How Far We’ve Come”.

Tying my posts to music isn’t the only thing I do with the stuff, however. I always listen to music while I write. I suspect many writers do the same thing, too, especially since I’ve read about them doing so. There’s just something about music that helps bind the writer to the creative act. I’m not quite sure why it works, but it does.

Here’s where I stray from other writers, though. I hear of them requiring their music to not have words in it whatsoever. This may work for them, but I actually thrive on songs. I need the words. They are our tools after all, right? You’d be surprised how often I change the words too and create new lyrics a la Weird Al Yankovic. While part of me might do so out of being a goofball, I also think doing this helps me to take something apart and rearrange the pieces into something new.

Almost like playing with Legos, I think.

Lastly, I’m also getting to the point where I’m thinking about what songs mesh with my characters. The Kinks’ “Don’t Forget to Dance” is a prime example of this. I have a character in one of my stories whose plight fits almost perfectly in tandem with their song. Such synergy makes my heart sing. Is yours singing?

Bio: Jeffrey Beesler was born on May 2nd, 1978. In addition to self-publishing his debut novel, Spell of Entrapment, he has had a short fantasy story published in Abandoned Towers #4, The Broken Pipes of Drei City. He is a graduate of the Long Ridge Writers Group correspondence course, Breaking into Print. His book can be purchased here:
Amazon:

Barnes & Noble:

Smashwords:


Blurb:
When a knight, Sir Patrew of Trava, infiltrates sorceress Embekah Mare’s home, a magical backlash renders her unconscious. She awakens to discover a spell of entrapment binding them both inside the manor’s walls. Now forced to live with him after twenty years of solitude and exile, she must navigate her way through alternating feelings of distrust and attraction.

As the weeks pass with no end in sight of the hex, a shape-shifting spirit arrives inside the magical barrier’s walls to target Embekah specifically. When she seeks out Patrew’s help against this new threat, she uncovers a secret in his past that could very well destroy her future. With the help of her trusty toad Halscrad, Embekah must see through the deceit and find something long lost to her.
But not everything is as it seems. With lies all around her, Embekah finds the truth to be more elusive than the freedom right outside her manor. Can she survive long enough to figure out what’s real and what isn’t?

The Week Is Over!!

Just think, my last post I was thankful for Monday, LOL. Well, I have had a hideously busy week and not much time to stop and smell the roses or in this case, visit my buddies out in the blogosphere. I'm hoping to make the rounds over the weekend.

Some awesome news, fantastic author and friend to the Imaginarium, Jeffrey Beesler will be here tomorrow. Yay! He's currently on a blog tour to promote his magnificent new novel, Spell of Entrapment, which you should pick up, immediately.

In some film news... Let The Hunger Games begin. I am excited to see this movie as I have just finished the first novel. Talk about a breath of fresh air for girls. Katniss Everdeen is the polar opposite of dopey Bella Swan and should be held up as a heroine girls can look up to. She's smart, athletic, and best of all, can take of herself. No sparkly vamps and puppies need to make her decisions for her.

Anyway, I am off to the grind. I'll be later and get back to visiting you all. Have fun this weekend, my friends, you are all amazing to me. :)

*The awesome kitty graphic comes Graphics Hunt.