Pole Dancin, so Misunderstood, Yeah!

The other day I was talking to a friend about pole dancing because I took a class a few years back. It was fun. I joined to get in shape and feel sensual. After the experience…well, I’ll leave it to you to assume what happened to my pole dancin’ calling.

For about the first half of the pole dancing class, we stretched and then the teacher put on music for us to walk around the room to get our sexay on. This was the tough part. Getting in your zone…feeling the music…letting it move your body. I laughed and looked at the others…then I’d get mad because they got in the zone while I was laughing. So my right leg would take a lazy, drunk step forward while I swung my hips to the right, and then my left leg would stagger forward for a left hip swing. I let the lids of my eyes sink halfway down so I couldn’t see anyone else and try to keep the zone going. I walked and walked, swinging from side to side, my body feeling the groove.

After we brought sexy back, there were two cushioned stages with a pole in the middle of them. We each took turns going up there. The first pole dancing step was to walk around the pole with our right hand on the top of it, lean out with our legs angled toward the pole, and swing around it. Good! I swung around the pole feeling strong and sexy.  I wanted to shout, “Bring it on!” We did this a few times until everyone felt comfortable with it.

Then the instructor was about to show us the next step. My body was screaming ‘sexy’ inside and I couldn’t wait to feel the pole again. With the instructor’s right arm at the top of the pole, her left hand underneath overlapping the right, she lifted and bent her legs behind her, turning, drifting beautifully down the pole until she so eloquently made it to the mat with her legs flared behind. The strength…the beauty…the “I so can do that” feeling made me want to be one of the first people in line. I hopped up on the mat, grabbed the pole, walked around it a few times, getting in the mood, placed my hands as shown by the instructor, lifted my legs—damp palms screeched down the pole and boom, straight to the mat. I thought, “Seriously?! Get your fat butt up there and spin. Prove you brought sexy back!” This time, I grabbed the pole with a vice grip, lifted my legs up and nothing. I wasn’t spinning, nor did I fall straight to the mat. I just hung on the bar, like a drunken starlet has-been. I couldn’t nor wouldn’t do it again. Too many sets of eyes watched me as I threw away my sexiness.

So now, the only pole dancing I’ll be doing is this one.

Pole Dancing and Giving Sexy Back,

Bea

My Bottle Tree

http://indulgy.com/post/qfgNHaJqI1/copper-tubing-bottle-tree

My Bottle Tree

razzle, dazzle me, bottle tree

captivate me, like the humming bee

your colors reflect off the mornin’ dew

one vying to be noticed, a deep, steel blue

suffer in silence, if a bottle breaks

the stillness, my heart, my body aches

those copper stems, stretch far and wide

large and small bottles held side by side

may they capture the evil spirits that roam

keep them away from my blissful home

Bottle trees and gardens,

Bea

I’ve Got the Style Like Chuckie

Summer is here, I’m working on my new WIP and as I was going through my bookmarked creative websites, I came across this one called “I Write Like”. If you copy and paste a writing sample of your work, it analyzes the style and compares it to a famous writer. Of course it’s just for fun. The one thing I noticed is I needed to use more than one paragraph to get a good comparison, so I put in an entire page of my books. What’s interesting is that I write like a few authors, and on top of that, there’s a connection between the two of them.

I plugged in the first chapter of my dark, psychological suspense Net Switch, and it seems my writing is comparable to

I write like
Bram Stoker

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

When I plugged in the first page of my new novel, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sarcasm (working title), it states that I write like

I write like
Chuck Palahniuk

I Write Like by Mémoires, journal software. Analyze your writing!

For those who don’t know, Bram Stoker is known for his 1897 novel Dracula, and Chuck Palahniuk is known for his 1996 novel Fight Club. I don’t know much about either one of these authors. Horror isn’t my genre, so I never read Dracula. I’ve also never read a story by Chuck Palahniuk. I find it intriguing that my writing style (yes it’s just for fun) is comparable to two authors I haven't read and a genre I don’t write in.

I went online to see if there are any similarities between Stoker and Palahniuk. It seems there is a Bram Stoker Award given for excellent achievement in horror writing. Chuck Palahniuk was nominated twice for this award—the first for Lullaby in 2002 and then Haunted in 2005.

Even though I did this only for entertainment value, I learned a little about the writers I Write Like.

Who do you write like?

Style and Fame,

Bea

Chronicles of a Displaced Writer

http://pinterest.com/pin/137852438564110167/

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve literally moved from one place to the next as things were sorted out. From time to time, I would promote my book by asking for reviews, did a radio station interview and two book giveaways on Goodreads. For those readers and writers out there unfamiliar with Goodreads, I would suggest you check it out. It’s a great place to get to know other people who enjoy books, get free books, and if you’re a writer, a great place to build an audience and promote. These are some of the ways I’ve promoted my book, Net Switch.

I have done a few guest author spots on blogs. It gives my book exposure to people who have never heard about it. Here are links to a few places I’ve been a blog guest: JLB Creatives, CMash Loves to Read (also a book giveaway), and 10 Day Book Club. The comments I have received for being a new author are wonderful, and I do treasure each one.

It’s very important as a new author to get reviews, whether it’s on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, a blog, Goodreads, etc. People do read reviews and make a decision as to whether or not they’ll like the book. As a reader, I sometimes look over the reviews and it’s what is said about the book that helps me decide. Anywhere and any way you can get reviews as a writer, you get out there and get them. Many people like to read and review sci-fi, fantasy, YA or paranormal, so I’ve had to dig a little deeper to find reviewers willing to read suspense. I reached out to a blog that does reviews, Indie Book Blog, and someone in one of my LinkedIn groups, Kaptica Book Reviews and News…and my quest for more reviews continues.

A few ways I also promoted my book was creating my book trailer, on the side bar, and a bookmark.

Free advertisement is always a great way to get the word out. I did a few Press Releases on PRLog and Press Release Point. I also did a radio interview on The Author Show, but it was only for one day. From that interview I received some wonderful responses that you can read here on my Facebook Event Page. Along with the free press releases and Facebook exposure, I also joined Pinterest and have my novel listed on the Pinterest Board of Book Junkies.

I still have the Goodreads Giveaway going until July 2. You’ll also find a link to that on the top right side bar. My Goodreads profile, Net Switch has a 4.5 star rating out of 5 with 9 ratings and 4 reviews, and 125 people have added it to one of their book shelves. 

So like I’ve asked the Goodreads community, Could you find true love in an online chat room?

My book promotions have moved from one place to another, much like I have from one location to the next…but I will always have an online imprint.

While I am still promoting, I’ve started another book and I’m in the process of finding somewhere I can settle down and catch my breath.

Displaced and Unforgettable,

Bea

Movie a Go-Go

We went to see a movie yesterday because I was craving popcorn. I can’t believe how expensive it is to go to the theaters. You’d think during today’s economic times, the movie industry would reduce costs. Luckily we had coupons to get in for free. I only had to pay for a large unsweetened ice tea (free refills) and a bucket of popcorn (no butter-free refills) for $12.00. I could buy three books at the Printers Row Lit Fest for $12.00…although I wasn’t disappointed in the bucket of popcorn, consuming majority of it.

It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed a movie let alone one at a hefty cost at the theaters. We saw Snow White and the Huntsman...and I couldn’t keep my eyes off the huntsman. Even though I never heard of Chris Hemsworth, who plays the huntsman, I thought he did a great job…and I’m a sucker for accents. The big names in the movie are Charlize Theron, who plays Ravena, the Evil Queen, and Kristen Stewart, who plays Snow White.

Snow White and the Huntsman begins with Snow White’s father marrying Ravena, and on their wedding night, she kills him and locks young Snow White in the castle. Years later, Snow White escapes. When the mirror tells the evil queen that Snow White is the fairest of them all, the one who can take away her powers, the queen sends a huntsman to find and bring Snow White back to her. Once he catches her and finds out what the queen has in store for Snow White, he decides to take care of her instead and show her how to fight. During Snow White’s quest to return to the castle and defeat the evil queen, she comes across the seven dwarfs, and then convinces the people who fled the castle after her father’s death, to rise up and join her in battle.

The movie has spectacular special effects, humor and breathtaking scenery. Filming was shot in the U.S. as well as the U.K.; Buckinghamshire, Surrey and Wales. Three more places I’ll have to add to my bucket list. I've only seen Kristen Stewart in a few movies and she seems to act the same way, so I can’t applaud her for her performance. But Charlize Theron kicked ass as usual—she was wickedly wonderful.

This movie received mixed reviews. I enjoyed it for what it’s worth, a fairytale full of special effects, stunning visuals, and splashes of humor. 

Good and Evil,

Bea

For The Love of Words...

imgfave.com

Chicago is all about festivals, and one of my favorites is the Printers Row Lit Fest. It’s called Printers Row because this area used to be the printing center in the Midwest—two blocks between Congress Parkway and Polk Street. Now the print buildings are loft apartments, whose streets host the Lit Fest, formerly known as Printers Row Book Fair. Since I’ve been going to the fest, it has grown in size and changed to accommodate families with young children.

The Printers Row Lit Fest is this Saturday and Sunday, June 9-10, beginning at 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. There are booths setup along the streets for large and small bookstores, authors’ tents, workshops, entertainment and food. I remember the first time I went, I couldn’t get enough of the resale books, postage stamps, old posters, and the smell of books. Old pages from books smelling up the booths at second-hand stores—rare bookstores—and some wine tasting along the way. It’s just a sample of what I experienced and why I return each year.

If you happen to be in the Chicago area this weekend, I suggest you go to the Lit Fest. You will either fall in love all over again with books or start reading again. Maybe I’ll see you there!

Saturday’s Schedule

Sunday’s Schedule

Literature and Wine,

Bea