Memories of Down Under from Guest Blogger Jim Provenzano

Reading Down Under: Scattered Thoughts’ Aussie Special!

from author Jim Provenzano

Longtime followers know that I got some great reviews for my last two books from independent reviewers. Their prolific blogs continue to amaze me by the sheer number of books they promote, and the reviews are often thorough and heartfelt. You can click on the “Reviews” links on this blog on the right column to read them all.

But one of the most outstanding sites is Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words. Not only did I enjoy expansive praise-filled reviews for both Every Time I Think of You and its sequel Message of Love; I was also honored with a guest author spotlight, where I rambled on about why I decided to write the sequel. Every Time I Think of You was also among those chosen as one of the Best Books of 2014!

So it was without hesitation that I decided to help promote Melanie M.’s latest endeavor, a January special all about Australian and New Zealand authors!

Anne Barwell, one of the featured authors
Here’s the deal. More than two dozen Aussie and Kiwi authors will get a special post about their latest works. Look for the clues in the text, (it’s a web-based scavenger hunt) and you could win books and other Aussie and Kiwi-themed prizes. Look for posts about (and guest-written by) these Australian authors, each day in January. There are even a few New Zealand authors as well:

Christian Baines, N.R. Walker, Anne Barwell, Nic Starr, Meredith Shayne, Renae Kaye, John Wiltshire, John Terry Moore, Lily Veldon, Barry Rowe, L. J. LaBarthe, Beany Sparks, Nicki J. Markus, Michelle Rae, A. B. Gayle, Lisa Harris and Isabelle Rowan.

British divers
American readers owe it to themselves to read Australian and kikiw authors. their slight differences in language and syntax are fascinating, and their perspectives on life are just a little bit different, but yet familiar.
My love for the Land Down Under extends beyond this fun promotion. Back in 2002, I had the thrill of attending the sixth quadrennial Gay Games. Since I didn’t compete that time, I had the freedom to travel to nearly every sporting event, from the rugby fields near downtown, to the Olympic stadiums for track and field, and across the campus to the volleyball and aquatics centers, or centres, as they spell it.

With more than 100 interviews conducted (including a few funny stilted ones in my limited French and Italian) on old-fashioned cassette tapes, and about 40 rolls of film – yes, film, my last pre-digital project- I put together dozens of articles about every sport, and the ceremonies and spectacles as well. You can enjoy the archived articles on my Sports Complex website. But please forgive the dated HTML formatting. I haven’t been there in a while.

Figure skating rocked!
My host was a generous fellow with a fabulous downtown apartment, who also was on one of Sydneys toughest basketball teams (they made it to the finals, as I recall). He welcomed my “frequent overnight guest” and even hosted a dinner party where (yes!) we enjoyed shrimp on the barbie!
But I also participated in a reading at an art gallery, and Graeme at Bookshop Darlinghurst bought some copies of my first novel, PINS. That later led to a nice consignment deal with an Australian wholesaler. It all gave me a fun thrill to know that more than 100 folks got print copies of that novel, without the middleman of Amazon.com (or Amazon.au).

Aussie and Samoan ruggers

This was at the the peak of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and while I longed to spend more time on the other side of the planet, I did not get a chance to see the New Zealand hobbit houses or the beautiful expanse of either country. I did get a few Lord of the Rings souvenirs, however!

But the pleasures of Australia were often more subtle than a blockbuster movie. The wildlife was just different enough to beguile. Odd geese with long bills puttered about in downtown public parks, and by night, across from my scenic guest room balcony, the brightly lit spires of a skyscraper were surrounded by a massive flock of bats. My host told me the bats scooped up thousands of moths attracted to the lights.
Montreal ice hockey
But what really charmed me were the people. Their musical accents, their way of turning a phrase with an upward lilt, and their enthusiasm in welcoming guests from around the world was amazing. I met Samoan rugby players, French cyclists, Croatian volleyball players, and got to soak in the shared joy of being in that wonderful land.

Some highlights:

Los Angeles water polo team
– singing “Happy Birthday” to performer k.d. lang along with thousands of others at Opening Ceremonies,

– frolicking in the kids’ rec pool with two water polo teams at the official Olympic aquatics centre,

– hoisting beers in a large gay bar with three softball teams while singing along to an ABBA medley,

– getting directions to the ice hockey arena from a friendly shopkeeper in the far off suburbs, who asked, as easy as “Bob’s your uncle,” “Oh, you here for the Gay Games?”
Sydney volleyball team
Anyway, certainly you can read more diverse perspectives from the array of LGBT authors in Scattered Thoughts’ January author showcase. So check out the website and get reading!

You can find/follow Jim at his website: http://www.myrmidude.org and his Goodreads page. Don’t forget to check out Jim’s marvelous books, Every Time I Think of You and Message of Love.

Down Under Author Showcase: Ellen Cross

Meet Ellen Cross!

Ellen Cross is the author of Delta Blues and other books listed below.

To get to know Ellen Cross a little better, the author agreed to an interview. Look for the interview below and the Down Under Scavenger Hunt word found somewhere within.

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I love the underdog in a fight. Always have, always will. My books reflect that love, and you will always find someone who thinks they are either unworthy, or undeserving of love in my stories. I soon prove them wrong.

I live in a little beachside slice of paradise on the north-eastern coast of NSW, Australia, and along with my passion of writing is my passion for my family. I have five boys, a hubby, and a completely loopy dog. With all these males under one roof—apart from our dog who is the only other female in the house—writing gives me a chance to channel all that daily frustration into something I love doing. Instead of shaking my head for the hundredth time when someone forgets to pick up their dirty socks or neglects to replace the empty toilet roll (a long lasting argument in my household hehe) I pour it all out into my books.

Contacts/Follow at :

Twitter https://twitter.com/Ellen__Cross
Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/ellencrossbooks/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/Ellen_Cross
Website http://ellen-cross.webs.com/
Blog http://ellencross.blogspot.com.au/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/EllenCrossAuthor
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Books:

Last Chances – MF contemporary romance
Holly’s Healing – MFM contemporary romance
Cupid’s Revenge – MM paranormal romance
Wolf Sanctuary – MM paranormal romance
Paws, Claws, and their Triple-F – MMM paranormal romance

Preternatural Rescue Center series:
Delta Blues(Preternatural Rescue Centre #1) – MM paranormal romance at eXtasy Press

In a World where the Alpha are the law, Beta the order, and Omega the knowledge…the Delta have become the oppressed.

The night of Samhain is fast approaching, and for that one night a year, Gray and the last remaining Dire Wolves—amongst others—are entrusted with the protection of the veil between worlds, while it’s at its thinnest. Add in the threat of a new drug on the market, and they’ll have to work twice as hard to keep everyone safe. The last thing he needs is a sexy little Delta to save.

As a lowly Delta, Red Wolf shifter Ryan has never known peace. Cast away and unwanted, he is quickly taken captive and trained as a dancer at The Howling, a strip club in the worst part of Praeter. Hungry, abused, and kept in a drug-induced fog, his life is nothing. He is nothing but the orders and twisted demands of his captor. All that changes when he catches the scent of a wolf in the crowd.

Long ebony hair, eyes that can’t decide if they’re green or blue as they follow him on stage. Unable to stop himself, Ryan does the one thing guaranteed to earn him punishment. He touches the other wolf. Peace. For those few brief moments, the hunger, the pain, the torment…all gone. The price to feel that respite again, though, could very well be his life.

Cole in his Stocking (Preternatural Rescue Centre, #2) – MM paranormal romance at eXtasy Press

It doesn’t matter if he’s been naughty or nice all year. Adam’s stocking is still getting stuffed full of Cole, this Christmas.

The coming of age for any vampire is cause for celebration, a time when they first taste blood. For Cole, however, his twenty-fifth birthday brings a terrible choice from his father—either he takes the life of another to prove his worth, or he forfeits his own life. Cole chooses the only way his heart will allow, and pays the price with both his fangs and the rapidly mounting blood starvation that will slowly end his life, now that his body needs to feed, but cannot. He escapes, bleeding, barefoot, and wearing nothing more than a simple cotton sleep-shirt. With his father’s sentinels in pursuit, Cole soon finds himself half-frozen and unable to run anymore. The last thing he expects when he crawls into a dumpster to hide away for the last few hours of his life is to be rescued by a temperamental black cat and…aww hell…his cherished one, Adam. How is Cole meant to blood-bond to the wolf hybrid when his time is fast running out, and he has no fangs to even try? He quickly learns his cherished is far more than he appears, though, and Adam’s friends at the Delta Rehabilitation Centre have even higher friends, with a score to settle with his father, of their own. It’s just a shame he won’t be around long enough to witness their payback.

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Contests and Giveaways:

1. Today’s Giveaway (thank you, Ellen Cross) is an eBook copy of Copy of Delta Blues. Enter using this Rafflecopter link here. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

2. Down Under Scavenger Hunt – find the Hunt “word or phrase” in bold green . Collect all the words from each author and submit the list in writing no later than midnight on February 1st. Make sure you include an email address where you can be reached. Prizes will be given to 5 people selected, from 1st place to 5th! Happy Hunting.

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When did you start writing?

I have always been writing it seems, ever since I could. Having much older brothers, there wasn’t much to do to occupy my spare time while growing up on our family’s farm, so I wrote, or read.

• Were you a reader as a child?

Very much so. I would save all my birthday and pocket money to buy books, instead of sweets. By the age of seven there was very little I could not read by myself.

• What books as a child has the most impact on you?

I adored Enyd Blyton’s books. The tales of the Faraway Tree and My Pennywhistle were among my fictional childhood companions.

• Did that impression carry over into adulthood when you started writing?

In a way. I have always loved the fantastic, finding anything realistic too boring to hold my interest. Even as an adult, I cannot sit through a true story. I would much rather live my life with my head in the clouds 🙂

• Where do you draw inspiration from?

Anything. It could be a song lyric, a picture, or even just a feeling that sparks a rush of inspiration, and I have learned to quickly write everything about that rush down, before time and real life demands make the details fade away. My phone has so many notes for scene ideas it has become my invaluable writing companion.

• Favorite genres to write in and why?

I simply adore paranormal gay romance. It is what I read, so it is only natural that it is what I also write. Why write about stuffy businessmen and their boring days, when vampires, wolves, warlocks and elementals are begging to have their stories heard?

• Title or characters or plot? Which comes first?

Plot, or more specifically, a scene will come to me first. The characters work themselves into that scene, and gradually the whole book will unfold. The title is the last thing I come up with.

• Do you have a favorite character that you have written?

I have no favourites. I adore them all. They are all as individual as their race/breed, and for that, I cannot favour one over another, as they all have their quirks, their habits, and personalities.

• Favorite quote (doesn’t matter the source)?

“If it doesn’t kill you, it only makes you stronger”.

• Favorite book/story you have read as an adult:

The New Species series by Laurann Dohner. I absolutely love her series.

• Do you have a certain regimen that you follow as a writer?

No. I try to write at least an hour a day, but with five boys and a husband I am a carer for, that is not always possible. In fact, I usually find myself getting very little sleep in the week leading up to a deadline hehe.

• What inspired you to write your first book?

I had read one too many books from Amazon that were filled with so many editing mistakes it was obvious they hadn’t even had a basic spell check performed on them, and as with many other authors, I thought that if they could publish a book this poorly, I could do better.

• Do you have a specific writing style?

I tend to fly by the seat of my pants when I write. I might know a basic structure of the plot, but even I don’t know the details until they are on the page.

• What’s the hardest part of writing your books?

Arguing with my muse when I need to write for a deadline, and he is nowhere in sight hehe

• If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your first book?

I would. I think most authors who have written a few would look back, knowing what they do now, and know of a few changes they would make.

• If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor or has the biggest influence on you?

I have a few MM writers who have influenced me, as they were my starting points in reading gay romance, and gave me the courage to take the step into writing it myself. RJ.Scott’s Christmas Throwaway was the very first MM book I read, and after her, I found Amber Kell, Stephani Hecht, Jackie Nacht, and Lynn Hagen.

• What book are you reading now?

Actually, I haven’t had time to read for a little while now, with deadlines, but the book I am reading between writing is the print galley of the first half of my own Preternatural Rescue Centre series.

• How do you think books written from authors in Australia or New Zealand differ in style, language, and culture?

We seem to get straight to the point over English or American writers. Our more laid back language shines through. There are times when I am reminded by my editor that a saying or word I have used won’t be recognised the way it was written to be, and I need to make changes. When I find myself reading a book by an Australian author, I can usually tell without being told what their nationality is.

• What is your favorite AUS/NZ stories and favourite Australian/New Zealand movies?

I still have memories of snuggling into the front bench seat of my cousin’s car while watching The Man from Snowy River, at the drive-in movies theatre. I think for that memory, as it was my only experience with the drive-in’s before they closed, it will always be my favourite.

• If you were a tour guide, what would you like a visitor to see and what impression would you want them to take away with them when they leave?

I would like them to see the extremes Australia has to offer, from the snow-topped mountains, crystal blue waters of the barrier reef, to the blistering red heart, and tropical paradise of the north-eastern top end. Australia has it all.

• What are your current projects?

I am currently working on the final instalment of the Preternatural Rescue Centre. It has been an eleven book long series, taken over a year, and is now ending. It has been a wonderful year bringing all the guardians and their stories to life.

• What’s your favorite spot to visit in your own country?And what makes it so special to you?

The most special place is home. I haven’t travelled much, but home is where my family is, and that makes it the most special place in the world to me.

• What’s next up for you?

After I finish this book, I have a Valentine’s Day book to finish, before I take a few weeks to relax and enjoy a break, before bringing out my folder of ideas and lightening it a little.

• Are you going to any events that we can see you at?

I will be attending the ARRA2015 conference in Canberra in March.

Down Under Showcase Day 29: Meet Ellen Cross, AUZ and NZ Facts of the Day

Down Under Author Showcase Day 29

Welcome, Ellen Cross

Only a few days left and a couple more authors to welcome! Today our featured writer is author Ellen Cross from north eastern Australia. I don’t know where she finds the time to write…why? Check out her bio along with her books and lovely giveaway! Ellen Cross’ contest ends February 6 instead of the 31st to give more people time to enter.

Now on to our facts of the day.

Australia Fact of the Day – The Wave Rock of Hyden!

‘Wave Rock of Hyden’ is a natural rock formation resembles a tall breaking Ocean wave which is 46 ft in height and around 360 ft long. It lies about 3 kilometers east of the small town of Hyden and 296 km (184 mi) east-southeast of Perth, Western Australia. It is a part of 395 acre natural reserve of Hyden Wildlife Park.

About Wave Rock of Hyden…

It consists of 2.63 billion year old Biotite K feldspar.

Wave Rock of Hyden is a perfect example of ‘Flared Slope’,
Wave rock of Hyden has become a tourist spot with over 140,000 visitors per year.

What is Flared slope?

Flared slopes like Wave Rock are particularly well developed in granitic landforms of south-western and southern Australia.

Do you know where our own US rock formation called The Wave is located?

New Zealand Facts of the Day!

Split Apple Rock of The Tasman Bay!

Split Apple Rock is a geological rock formation in The Tasman Bay off the northern coast of the South Island of New Zealand.

Made of granite, it is in the shape of an apple which has been cut in half. It is a popular tourist attraction in the waters of the Tasman Sea approximately 50 metres off the coast between Kaiteriteri and Marahau.

The rock sits in shallow water at low tide and is accessible by wading. It is also a point of interest for the many tourist boats and pleasure craft which operate along the shores of the Abel Tasman National Park.

The cleft to produce two sides of the ‘apple’ was a natural occurrence. It is unknown when this happened and therefore the cleaving of the rock has attracted mythological explanations

Down Under Showcase Author: Cecil Wilde

Meet Cecil Wilde!

Cecil Wilde is the author of No Straight Boys, The Wish Auger and other listed below.

To get to know Cecil Wilde a little better, the author agreed to an interview. Look for the interview below and the Down Under Scavenger Hunt word found somewhere within.

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Cecil Wilde resides in Australia, accompanied by a cat who takes up most of the bed, a family of possums in the roof space, and more spiders than they’re entirely comfortable with. They write altogether cuter queer romance than their image as a grumpy cynic might suggest.

Website: http://www.cecilwilde.com
Blog: http://www.cecilwilde.com
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/queerlyobscure
Tumblr: http://www.queerlyobscure.tumblr.com/
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/CecilWildeAuthor
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/Cecil_Wilde

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Out now:

No Straight Boys (Liquid Silver Books):

Blurb: Not dating straight boys is a pretty good strategy for long-term relationships if you’re a gay man, but what happens when one particular straight boy turns out to be the man of your dreams?

Cute, funny, and sometimes borderline philosophical, No Straight Boys is about what happens when perfection isn’t what you think it is, and love is best found via late-night text message.

The Wish Augur (Less Than Three Press)

[this is not actually out RIGHT now but it will be by January]:

Blurb: Gabriel Juarez has only one wish for Christmas, uttered moments before midnight on Christmas Eve: a hug. He wakes up the next morning to find his wish being haphazardly granted in the form of an insecure elf called Felix, who works as a wish augur and couldn’t bring himself to let Gabe’s wish go unfulfilled.

First Guy Kiss from Missed Connections Anthology from Less Than Three Press

Blurb: A fleeting glance across a crowded space. Trains passing by in the night. Paths that once split unexpectedly cross again. Old friends reunited. Sometimes rediscovering a person and having new feelings can be just as intense as an initial spark. Less Than Three Press presents an anthology of stories about people who get a second chance to connect…

Genre(s):

No Straight Boys, First Guy Kiss and Defying Convention are contemporary

The Wish Augur is fantasy with a contemporary setting (and an elf!)

Perfect Match is contemporary BDSM

Tea and Werewolves (Torquere Books):

Blurb: As soon as Connor walks into Sev’s tea shop, Sev knows there’s something different about him. It could be his charming smile, his obvious intelligence, or the way he howls at the moon when it’s full. Either way, sparks start flying straight away.

Sev and Connor both know there’s more to their relationship than simple mutual attraction, and the question of taking the next step is foremost in their minds even as they tumble into bed together for the first time. Will they work things out, or will the suddenness of it all get the better of them?

Coming Soon:

Defying Convention (Less Than Three Press) [28th January]:

Blurb: Danny and AJ have been online friends for years, and secretly in love with each other. When the opportunity to attend a comics convention comes up, they decide to go and share a room. But friendship online does not always translate to friendship offline, and both are anxious about how the meeting will go, and the friendship change, when faced with challenges easily avoided behind the safety of computer screens…

Perfect Match – Playmates #1 (Liquid Silver Books) [23rd February]

Genre(s):

No Straight Boys and Defying Convention are contemporary
The Wish Augur is fantasy with a contemporary setting (and an elf!)
Perfect Match is contemporary BDSM

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Contests and Giveaways:

1. Today’s Giveaway (thank you, Cecil Wilde) is an eBook copy the reader’s choice of Cecil Wilde’s backlist. Enter using this Rafflecopter link here. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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2. Down Under Scavenger Hunt – find the Hunt “word or phrase” in bold green . Collect all the words from each author and submit the list in writing no later than midnight on February 1st. Make sure you include an email address where you can be reached. Prizes will be given to 5 people selected, from 1st place to 5th! Happy Hunting.

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Q When did you start writing?

Other than the usual writing for school–which I enjoyed, but never really did more of than I had to–I started writing for something other than grades when I discovered fandom, in my last few years of high school. After that it was sort of a slippery slope which I did describe recently to a friend as my accidental descent into a writing career.

Q. Were you a reader as a child?

Yep! To the point where school librarians would encourage me to go outside for once. As a kid, I never met a book I didn’t want to read. I’ve always been enchanted by stories of all kinds.

Q. Title or characters or plot? Which comes first?

Characters. Almost without fail, characters come first. The ones who are most compelling or whose circumstances as they occur to me have the best potential for a decent plot tend to be the ones who get written into books. Titles are lucky to come at all. I’m terrible at titles.

Q. Do you have a favorite character that you have written?

Don’t get me wrong, I genuinely love all my characters (even the seemingly unpleasant ones), but right now I have to say that AJ, of Defying Convention, is my favourite. They’re a quiet kind of person, but warm and full of sunshine and giggles and pink hair. Danny, the other MC in that book, is about as in love with them as I am.

Q. My first impression of AUS/NZ was from stories and novels like Colleen McCullough’s The Thorn Birds or Nevil Shute’s A Town Like Alice as well as from movies like The Man from Snowy River, The Dish, Rabbit Proof Fence, Strictly Ballroom, and yes, Crocodile Dundee! There are so many out there. What is your favorite AUS/NZ stories and favorite Australian/New Zealand movies?

I love Crocodile Dundee! It was a favourite of mine as a kid (call that a knife? This is a knife!) I don’t think I could talk about great Australian tales without mentioning Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Muriel’s Wedding, or The Castle. Films like The Wog Boy are great for illustrating stuff about Australian culture that doesn’t really get talked about outside of Oz, and indie stuff like Better Than Sex can actually be really great (if you can lay hands on a copy of that I highly recommend it as an alternative romance).

In terms of books, I don’t think you can go past Paul Jennings’s entire body of work, which is bizarre and wonderful and what Australian literature looks like to me. Also worth a read (though feel free to skip the film) is The Monkey’s Mask, which is a mystery novel in verse that takes place in the Blue Mountains and surrounds, and has lesbians (which, obviously, is a huge draw). Speaking of verse, Judith Wright is a wonderful poet, and her narrative poems about Australia truly capture the spirit of the land as I know it. The rest of her work is also powerful stuff (I will never get Double Image out of my head).

If you want something more lighthearted that really captures the spirit of small town Australia, Seachange is a great soap opera-style drama. As an added bonus, you might even get to see David Wenham in his budgie smugglers!

I could talk about Australian literature and film all day, but I’ll stop there.

Q. What’s your favorite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?

I’ll never get tired of going into Melbourne. I don’t live far away–about an hour by train–but it really is a phenomenal city. As they say in the song, I’ve been to cities that never close down, and they’re lovely, but nothing’s ever compared to Melbourne for me. Not London, not Singapore, not Los Angeles, not even Belfast, which I think of as my other home. Melbourne’s beautiful. I discover something new every time I make the trip in. I could write an entire book on everything I love about Melbourne. (And if anyone wants to experience that, I fully recommend Long Macchiatos and Monsters, by Alison Evans, as a beautiful love song to Melbourne with a gorgeous romance to boot).

Down Under Day 28: Welcome, Cecil Wilde, and AUS/NZ Facts of the Day!

Down Under Author Showcase Day 28

Welcome, Cecil Wilde!

Our Down Under Author Showcase is almost over, but not our discoveries of wonderful new authors (at least to this review group). Cecil Wilde is our featured author today and our review of Defying Convention follows Cecil’s author page. It’s one of our highly recommended reads so be sure to make its acquaintance today, along with Cecil’s other stories and novels. As always, don’t forget to enter Cecil’s giveaway and locate the Scavenger Hunt word of the day!

Australia Fact of the Day!

Since Cecil makes a mention of spiders (hmm, where does that happen?), let’s take a closer look at one common spider in Australia!

There are 1500 species of Australian spiders and the average person swallows three spiders a year. The most infamous spiders mentioned in Australian literature, including a few of the stories by our Down Under Authors (can you name which ones?) are: Redback Spider, and Sydney Funnel-web Spider.

Redback Spiders (Latrodectus hasselti) are very common in Australia. They are even kind of popular: one Australian beer is named after them.

Redbacks can be found everywhere in Australia, especially in the densely populated urban areas. They thrive in the warmer regions. Look for them on verandas, in sheds, in storage yards, on industrial sites and inside houses. They also hide in hollow logs, wood or junk piles etc.

Small insects make up the bulk diet of Redback Spiders, but they sometimes kill and eat much bigger prey, even small lizards if they get tangled up in the sticky web. They also steal wrapped up food items from each other’s webs if they can.

How dangerous is the Redback Spider?

Redbacks are responsible for the vast majority of serious spider bites in Australia. However, they are not considered dangerous. Only the bite of a female Redback Spider is toxic (the males are too small to bite anyway).

To get bitten you have to actually stick your hand into the web of a spider, they rarely leave their nest. The fangs of the Redback Spider are tiny. Even if you do manage to get bitten the bite is likely ineffective. In addition the Redback Spider venom is a very slow acting toxin, and most people don’t show any reaction to it (except it itches like crazy).

Possible symptoms in those who do react are pain (can become severe), localised sweating at the bite site, and later on more sweating, muscle weakness, nausea and vomiting. A simple ice pack is the best first aid. In most cases it’s all that’s required as very few people actually develop these symptoms (about 6% of those bitten, to be precise).

Honest, if you go and see a doctor here and tell them a Redback spider bit you, they’ll probably just tell you to go home and put ice on it. The Redback Spider is related to the venomous Black Widow Spider commonly found here in the US and looks very similar.

The only difference is the red back, or rather the very distinctive red dorsal stripe (instead of the hour glass) that you can see in the picture.

Cultural Impact outside of Arachnophobia? Per Wikipedia (I know, I know) Slim Newton drew popular attention to redbacks with his song “The Redback on the Toilet Seat”, which won the Golden Guitar at the first Country Music Awards of Australia in 1973. A sculpture of an impossibly large redback (I personally like The Big Poo better), one of Australia’s big things, was built in 1996 at Eight Mile Plains, Queensland. The Angels 1991 album Red Back Fever takes its name from the spider. Matilda Bay Brewing Company produces a wheat beer called Redback,with the distinctive red stripe as the logo. The redback appears in the name and emblem of the South Australia cricket team. The Airborne Redback, an Australian ultralight trike, was also named after the spider. Redback Boots is an Australian workboot manufacturing company, which uses the spider in its name and logo

New Zealand Fact of the Day!

Let’s keep going with arachnids and the New Zealand spider Hollywood made famous! That would be the Avondale Spider, ok it’s sort of an immigrant from Australia. The large harmless spider found around the Avondale area of Auckland is an Australian huntsman spider. This spider found its way to New Zealand in the early 1920s, with the first specimen found in 1924. It probably came in imported wood used for railway sleepers. (What the heck is a railway sleeper?) It has not spread very far from Avondale, so it has received the popular name of Avondale Spider. In South Australia this species is quite common, and people encourage them to live in their houses to keep the pest insect population down.

In 1989/90, 374 Avondale spiders were sent to Hollywood to star in the Steven Spielberg movie Arachnophobia. This spider is harmless to humans, but it looks fearsome and therefore suited its movie role as a “killer spider”. The film made use of 374 live Avondale spiders, from New Zealand, which were picked for their large size, unusually social lifestyle, and yes, are essentially harmless to actors, uh humans. They were guided around the set by the use of heat and cold, but the large “general” and “queen” were articulated models. Look it’s Bob (that’s what they called the largest mechanical spider in the movie)!

The first reaction of most people on finding Avondale spiders is usually horror. The spiders move very fast when disturbed (as do people when frightened!). Mature spiders with legs outstretched can measure up to 200 mm across (8”).

The mature males are frequent visitors inside houses in the months January to March when they are looking for a female to mate with. Females are capable of laying up to 200 green eggs in an oval-shaped, white papery-looking egg sac about 25 mm long (1”) by 12 mm wide (1/2”). Females guard their egg sac, and after 4-6 weeks open this up to enable the spiderlings to hatch. They will look after the spiderlings for a few more months until they disperse. Spiderlings will feed communally if the prey is too big for them to manage on their own.

Avondale spiders live in colonies with their extended family and friends; no other spider in New Zealand has this lifestyle.

Focusing In On: Memories of Forgotten Love by Cheryl Headford

Memories of Forgotten Love by Cheryl Headford
Publisher: Featherweight Press

Memories of Forgotten Love…

After waking from a coma, Noah discovers that memories are tricky things and sometimes blissful ignorance isn’t such a bad thing.   Noah wakes from a coma with no memory of who he is. As his memories return they become stranger and more sinister at every turn. He begins to suspect the accident in which he was injured wasn’t an accident at all, and refuses to accept what everyone is saying that he threw himself off his balcony in a suicide attempt. It just doesn’t feel like something he would do. Struggling to come to terms with the shocking story he gradually uncovers, he’s helped by his friends. Yet, his best friend, Luke is acting strangely, leaving Noah to wonder just what exactly he isn’t telling him.

Buy links: Amazon US Amazon UK Featherweight Press

Meet Cheryl Headford

Cheryl was born into a poor mining family in the South Wales Valleys. Until she was 16, the toilet was at the bottom of the garden and the bath hung on the wall. Her refrigerator was a stone slab in the pantry and there was a black lead fireplace in the kitchen. They look lovely in a museum but aren’t so much fun to clean.

Cheryl has always been a storyteller. As a child, she’d make up stories for her nieces, nephews and cousin and they’d explore the imaginary worlds she created, in play.

Later in life, Cheryl became the storyteller for a re-enactment group who travelled widely, giving a taste of life in the Iron Age. As well as having an opportunity to run around hitting people with a sword, she had an opportunity to tell stories of all kinds, sometimes of her own making, to all kinds of people. The criticism was sometimes harsh, especially from the children, but the reward enormous.

It was here she began to appreciate the power of stories and the primal need to hear them. In ancient times, the wandering bard was the only source of news, and the storyteller the heart of the village, keeping the lore and the magic alive. Although much of the magic has been lost, the stories still provide a link to the part of us that still wants to believe that it’s still there, somewhere.

In present times, Cheryl lives in a terraced house in the valleys with her son, dog, hamster and two cats. Her daughter has deserted her for the big city, but they’re still close. She’s never been happier since she was made redundant and is able to devote herself entirely to her twin loves of writing and art

Contact/Follow Chery at:

Blog: http://cherylheadford.blogspot.co.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SevenPointStar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Nephylim.author
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7376318.Cheryl_Headford

More About Memories of Forgotten Love…

Excerpt:

I didn’t go back to my room. I went outside into the garden. I needed space. I needed time to think alone. I headed for my favourite place, a wooden bench under a rose arbour near a stone koi pond. I walked along a shady path between clipped hedges and turned the corner into my special place. There was someone there. My first reaction was extreme annoyance. This was MY place and I needed it. How dare someone be here? However, as I drew closer, I recognised the pale hair, brushing the surface of the pool as its owner leaned over to trail his fingers in the water.

Luke clearly didn’t hear me approach as he didn’t stir, and I was able to get right up close without him noticing. This gave me a chance to examine him closely. He was tall, although not quite as tall as me, and slender, although by no means skinny. His hair was too long, almost reaching his shoulders, and fell in unruly waves. He was wearing black jeans and a black shirt. He always wore black, as if trying to magnify the effect of his hair. I smiled. That was Luke, a man of contrasts.

The first time we’d met—well no, not the first time but the first time in this part of my life—I’d been skinnier than him; weak, wasted away. But since then I’d filled out a lot. I worked so very hard and my muscles were toned again. I was strong. I still walked with a pronounced limp and I still had a degree of weakness in my left hand and arm…and I still had to think carefully about what I wanted to say or I stammered and got things confused, but on the whole I was bigger and stronger than he was and he appeared…frail, slumped, dejected, defeated.

I experienced something almost maternal as I stood and looked down at him. He hadn’t been near me for ages. Why was he hiding out here? I felt an almost irresistible urge to touch him, to stroke his hair, to take him in my arms but that, of course, would have been wholly inappropriate. We had become close again, but not that close. He wouldn’t have appreciated it, I was sure of that.

While I was watching him, he sensed my presence and his head jerked up. He didn’t smile in greeting as he usually did, he just stared at me. He had been crying. His eyes went wide and they shone like pale sapphires set in a fine piece of jewellery. He seemed stunned. Of course, I had no way of knowing then what he saw in that moment. I sat down on the low stone wall over which he was leaning to trail a hand in the water. For a moment, my own shock and anger were forgotten.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He blinked and turned his face away, clearly embarrassed.

“Bollocks.”

We were both silent for a time. I watched Luke and Luke stared fixedly into the water. When had this wall grown up between us? “You haven’t been to see me for ages.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I needed time to think.”

“Think? Think about what?”

“About all the things you want from me—need from me—that I can’t give.”

“That sounds ominous. I don’t want anything from you, only truth and honesty.”

“And those are some of the things I can’t give you.”

“Are you sure?”

“I knew this would happen. That’s why I haven’t come. I couldn’t face you knowing you would be like this. You were always the same. You could never just let things lie.”

“I’m not going to apologise for that.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to. It’s one of the best things about you.”

The awkward silence fell again, and I didn’t know how to break it. I found that I was picking at the stone with a fingernail.

“Luke…what kind of person am I?”

He didn’t look up, just carried on staring at the water, making little circles with his finger.

“What?”

“Let’s face it…you’ve known me longer than I have. What kind of person am I?”

“I don’t know. I know what kind of person you were.”

“Then, what kind of person was I?”

“You were strong, stubborn, opinionated sometimes. You were gentle, and kind, and wise.

You were patient with a clumsy, impulsive, insensitive friend. You were a good man, a great friend, a…You were… amazing.”

“Was I a coward? Was I a quitter? Was I…was I…?”

He glanced up quickly. “No, no, you were never that. Never a coward. You were…you are the bravest person I know.”

“Then why…?” I found it hard to say because I found it so hard to accept, to believe. “Was I the kind of person who would jump off a balcony to kill myself?”

His eyes went wide, such colour as there was draining from his face. He seemed shocked,
scared. He licked his lips and swallowed hard. “How did you…?”

“New shrink. He didn’t know I didn’t know.”
“Oh.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Yeah, right. How was I going to bring up that subject? Oh by the way, Noah, did you know, did you realise that right after we had the worst row we’d ever had, right after I stormed off vowing never to see you again, you jumped out of your window and tried to kill yourself? Strangely enough, the opening never arose.”

Genre: Young Adult, Gay Romance, Mystery
Length: Novella (135 pages)

Contest: The prizes are 2 5$ Amazon Gift Cards, 1 ecopy of Memories of Forgotten Love, and 1 ecopy of A Face in the Window. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Down Under Author Barry Lowe

Meet Barry Lowe!

Barry Lowe is the author of so many books (with memorable titles) that we couldn’t list them all. For the full list, see Barry Lowe’s Goodreads page. Among his many titles are gems like these: Homo for the Holidays, Guys and Trolls (Guys and Trolls #1), My Dad’s a Vampire, Love with a Side Order of Pelicans, The Bear’s Guide to Depilatory Wax , and so many more that I want to continue listing them all! To get to know Barry Lowe a little better, we have an interview with Barry at the end. Look for that below and the Down Under Scavenger Hunt word found somewhere within.

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Barry Lowe writes about love and sex so he won’t forget how to do it. When he’s not out doing field research, he’s writing about love’s wonderful variations for a series of smut eBooks, novels and anthologies for Lydian Press. He lives in Sydney with Walter, his partner of 42 years.

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Contact/Follow Barry Lowe at:

Website http://www.barrylowe.info
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/barry.lowe.3591
Goodreads Author Page

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I began writing weekly short stories (around 5000 words for loveyoudivine which were collected into anthologies eventually). Now I write longer stories at a slower pace. Amongst the longer works or collections are The Gravy Train; Butt Boys; Your Boyfriend is Hot; How Much is That Doggie in the Window?; Bear Skin; Rough & Ready; Busting Billy’s Butt; Cock-Eyed Optimists; OMG! Not Another Gay Erotica Anthology?

✍Barry Lowe’s Books (just some, mind you):

How Much is That Doggie In The Window – Lydian Press

How can anyone resist those eyes?

Leon has a way with animals as well as a way to use them to help ease the suffering of those with long-term illness or injury. He’s loved by patients and nurses alike until, that is, he’s asked to drop in on reclusive old codger, Ralph Esseltine, who has a reputation of reducing health workers to tears. Instead of tears, Esseltine goads the placid Leon to anger by kicking the frisky puppy Leon has brought along as therapy. Expecting the worst, Leon submits his resignation only to discover that Esseltine has requested he visit again. What sort of revenge does the old recluse have in mind? And what of Esseltine’s estranged grandson and his obnoxious boyfriend who turn up to count the family silver?

Your Boyfriend Is Hot: Gay Cuckold Erotica – Cleis Press

Is it cheating if it excites your boyfriend?

In this collection of gay cuckold erotica you’ll meet men who are complicit in their own ‘betrayal’ and those to whom it is a wake-up call. Whatever your taste you’ll find a story here, from a man at a college reunion who watches as his boyfriend cuckolds him with the bully from his former frat house; a young toy boy whose sexual favors are part of a takeover bid for his lover’s company, a callous actor who will hawk his virginal ass to his boyfriend’s employer for a chance at the big time, a young man who resorts to tarot in order to experience a threesome, a world famous television chef who enjoys watching his lover put out for fans, and a boyfriend who loves to secretly watch the humiliation of his lover at the hands of his friends and enemies alike.

Your Boyfriend is Hot: Gay Cuckold Erotica includes: From Here to Fraternity, Stripping His Assets, Indecent Exposure, Middle Man for Madame Blavatsky, A Cook’s Tour, and Topping the Pizza Delivery Boy (originally titled Christmas on the Rocks) – all previously published as individual eBooks by loveyoudivine Alterotica. Middle Man for Madame Blavatsky was first published in Middle Men: Gay Erotic Threesomes, edited by Shane Allison.

The Death of Peter Pan – Lydian Press

To fall in love, really in love, would be an awfully big adventure. Renowned Scottish playwright, James Matthew Barrie, lies abed, unable to sleep, dreading the anniversary of one of the most tragic moments of his life. Lulled by the persuasive power of the syringe, he falls into a fitful sleep as the events play out in his mind. It’s Armistice Night in London and Michael Llewelyn Davies, one of Barrie’s adopted sons and one of the models for Peter Pan, celebrates with friends when he runs into the mysterious Rupert Buxton. They meet again in Paris, and later at Barrie’s retreat on the Scottish island of Eilean Shona where the relationship between the two men becomes passionate. Will their love survive the censure of 1920s England, and will it destroy James Barrie’s reputation? Love sometimes has tragic consequences. Based on a true story.

The Bi-Word – Lydian Press

Three tales of men who’ve played both sides of the blanket until they fall in love.

THE GROOM CLOSET
Richard Flanagan receives an invitation to his estranged daughter’s wedding while he still pines for his dead lover. He hopes that when he gets back to his old home town, he can reignite a passion with one of his old college jock mates—if they’re still amenable.

SUMMER AT RAINBOW COVE
Ty Cody is one of the hottest straight studs in town, and no one knows that more than his girlfriend, Tina. She also knows he has a wandering eye. When her father decides that she spend the ten-week summer break with the family in Europe—no boyfriends allowed—she hatches a scheme that will stop Ty from playing around while she’s away. She gets him a job at a gay resort.

LOVE WITH A SIDE ORDER OF PELICANS
Single dad, Travis Black, takes his young daughter, Penny, to see the feeding of the pelicans, where they are befriended by town vet, Spike Donovan. While it’s love at first sight between Penny and the pelicans, it’s Travis who feels a strange attraction to the Pelican Whisperer.

Be sure to check out all of Barry Lowe’s stories and books, especially for the titles which will leave you smiling!

Genre(s): M/M Romance; M/M Menage; Historical, detective, horror, sci-fi, shapeshifter. If there’s a genre I’ll probably plunder it somewhere along the line.

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Contests and Giveaways:

1. Today’s Giveaway (thank you, Barry Lowe) is the winner’s choice of two eBooks from Barry Lowe’s list at Lydian Press. Enter using this Rafflecopter link here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

2. Down Under Scavenger Hunt – find the Hunt “word or phrase” in bold green .

Collect all the words from each author and submit the list in writing no later than midnight on February 1st. Make sure you include an email address where you can be reached. Prizes will be given to 5 people selected, from 1st place to 5th! Happy Hunting.

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Welcome, Barry Lowe…

When did you start writing?

In primary school around age 11. I began a serial about a young masked figure called The Count who solved mysteries. I used to read a chapter a day to my classmates with the teacher’s permission. I can’t remember how long it lasted. In high school, a mate and I produced a myriad roneoed magazines usually devoted to horror stories. It’s no wonder I went into advertising, journalism and magazine production as an adult.

Were you a reader as a child?

Voracious, beginning with Enid Blyton. The Noddy books before moving on the the Secret Seven series and the Faraway Tree series. We were given a free school magazine with fictions stories for comprehension and read-aloud skills in primary school (I loved being called on to read to the class). My grandmother introduced me to pulp westerns, and in high school, my English teacher, Mrs. Patterson, demanded an wide interest in reading material. She was also the school librarian and I remember reading a book of Asian short stories she had on the shelves. Unusual for 1963.

What books as a child has the most impact on you?

Just about anything by Enid Blyton except, surprisingly, the Famous Five books. John Wyndham, especially The Day of the Triffids. Lots of pulp horror and science fiction anthologies. I think TV had a bigger influence back then: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Thriller with Boris Karloff, The Twilight Zone, One Step Beyond. Oh, and anything where a man took his shirt off. My parents could never understand why, on a Sunday evening when I was doing my homework, I’d rush out to watch the opening credits for Cheyenne and then go straight back to my homework. It was because hunky Clint Walker was shone with his shirt off. Plus Gordon Scott’s Tarzan movies.

Did that impression carry over into adulthood when you started writing?

The early influences have had minimal impact on my work. After I left school I was too busy exploring gay life in the late 1960s/early 1970s to write. When I went back to writing as an adult, it was as a playwright. For twenty years I was a moderately successful stage writer, productions throughout Australia as well as Italy, England and the U.S.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

Anything sets me off. An expression, something on television, a piece of music, a photograph, a memory.

Favorite genres to write in and why?

I don’t have a favorite. I’ll try anything once. What I write is not great literature. I’m a yarnspinner, take it or leave it.

Title or characters or plot? Which comes first?

All the above, plus a photograph, a news report, a magazine article. Just about anything sets my mind going. Sometimes I wish I could switch it off, but that will happen soon enough.

Do you have a favorite character that you have written?

My all-time favorite character creation is Tofu who is a tiny dinosaur who travels with my partner and I all over the world. He’s appeared in one short story, The Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Love on Tofu. I’m also very proud of my play, The Death of Peter Pan, which Lydian Press has published.

Favorite quote (doesn’t matter the source)?

One of the banes of Facebook is the constant barrage of self-help quotes of such staggering banality that if I never hear another quote again, I’ll be grateful. Even Shakespeare gets dragged into the circus with gems such as ‘To Thine own self be true.’ It might have been fresh back when he penned the words but I really don’t need to be bombarded with variations on a theme every day. Curmudgeonly rant over.

Favorite book/story you have read as an adult

There are certain authors whose works I will buy rather than favorite books: Arnaldur Indridason from Iceland (one of my favorite countries in the world, along with Malta where my partner and I hope to be Civil Unioned in 2016); Christopher Fowler’s Bryant and May series; quite a few Romance authors.

Do you have a certain regimen that you follow as a writer?

Yep. I get out of bed.

What inspired you to write your first book?

Compulsion. Since I was a young boy I have had the need, the compulsion, to write. I suspect they’ll have to unglue my fingers from my keyboard when I die.

Do you have a specific writing style?

I’m very good at parody so I can imitate just about anyone’s style but I guess I also have a unique voice but that would be up to my readers to describe.

What’s the hardest part of writing your books?

Rewrites and editing.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your first book?

There’s nothing distinctive about my first fiction book. In fact, my first published print book was a biography of 1950s blond bombshell, Mamie Van Doren, called Atomic Blonde. In fiction, I’ve written too many to worry. You can always improve on what you first wrote, nothing is ever perfect, so I prefer just to leave it alone and move on. I would correct grammar and spelling mistakes if I could.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor or has the biggest influence on you?

None really, that I can think of.

What book are you reading now?

I’m re-reading E.M. Forster’s Maurice, and a whole pile of m/m romance fiction. Just completed Tim Federle’s wonderful duet of books Better Nate than Ever, and Five, Six, Seven, Nate.

How do you think books written from authors in Australia or New Zealand differ in style, language, and culture?

You could write a thesis on that question. Briefly, it’s the tyranny of distance from the rest of the world, particularly the Western World which influenced us greatly until comparatively recently. Now we’re more Asian focused. For Australians, too, there’s the vastness of the continent with the major centres of population clinging precariously to the coast line. I find Australians tend to be more relaxed than their European and American counterparts. I think it has to do with the weather. Although a certain conservatism and racism is leaching into the local psyche.

What are your current projects? What’s next up for you?

Rewriting the final chapters of my Australian historical novel, The Major and The Miners because it was too rushed when it was first released about five years ago. I need to make it more truthful psychologically. I’m also extending the first m/m romance novella I wrote, The Min Min Lights, another Aussie historical which could certainly stand quite a few extra chapters. Then there’s a Steampunk novel, The Extraordinary Victorian Clockwork Derriere; a fantasy, Guys & Trolls, and lots of shorter romance and menage erotica for Lydian Press.

Many thanks for the opportunity to introduce myself to a new audience, it’s appreciated.

Down Under Day 27-Welcome, Barry Lowe, AUS and NZ Facts of the Day

Welcome, Barry Lowe!

Our countdown continues and today our featured author on our Down Under Author Showcase is Barry Lowe. Barry Lowe is a prolific Australian writer with a penchant for hilarious titles and thought provoking plot lines. Be sure to search out the wonderful interview he gave us along with his bio, books and giveaway!

For the rest of the week, each author’s contests will continue into February to give everyone ample chance to locate the authors and listen to the stories they have to tell.

Now onto our Australian and New Zealand facts of the day. I’ve learned about cube-shaped wombat poop and wild Australian camels, subterranean glowworms who turn their cavernous ceilings into glowing night skies and red dirt deserts among the driest places on earth. What have been your favorites facts so far? Have you been able to answer the questions I have posed along the way? Hmmmm. Maybe you might want to backtrack and pick them up. Figure them out…..maybe there’s another contest still to come?

How I am enjoying this journey!

Australian Fact of the Day – It’s all About The Trees!

In the US we are proud of our trees, from the oldest in our great Redwood forests to the beauty of our flowering Magnolias in the south. Here are some facts about the trees and forests in Australia!

Australia’s tallest trees can be found in the south-west of Western Australia in the Valley of the Giants. Giant tuart, karri, and rich red jarrah which live for up to 500 years can be found here. The 1000 kilometre (621 mile) Bibbulmun Track traverses a variety of jarrah, marri, wandoo, karri and tingle forests as well as internationally significant wetlands.

The cool temperate rainforest of the World Heritage-listed Tasmanian wilderness contains some of the oldest trees on the planet including the rare Huon Pine.

The majestic Wollemi pine is a remnant from a 200 million year-old landscape, when Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica were joined together as the supercontinent Gondwana. It was thought to have been extinct for millions of years, until rediscovered by a bushwalker in 1994. Fewer than 100 trees exist in the wild, growing in the deep rainforest gorges of the Greater Blue Mountains.

That first photo should resemble one you would take if you visited a certain park in Northern California. Which park would that be and why?

New Zealand Facts of the Day – forests of New Zealand

New Zealand’s high rainfall and many sunshine hours give the country a lush and diverse flora–with 80 percent of the trees, ferns, and flowering plants being native.

From the kauri forests of the far north to the mountain beech forests and alpine tussock of the Southern Alps, you’ll find fascinating plants and trees in every region. You’ll be awed by the majestic evergreen native forests that include rimu, totara, many varieties of beech, and the largest native tree of them all, the giant kauri.

Waipoua is home to Tane Mahuta, king of the forest and the largest remaining kauri tree in the country. The 1,500 year old Tane Mahuta is 51.5 m (168 feet) tall, with a girth of 13.77 m(45 ft).
Tane Mahuta -see picture at right.
The forests of Waipoua are vitally important refuges for threatened wildlife. The endangered North Island kokako and the North Island brown kiwi both live here. More abundant are the kukupa/kereru (New Zealand wood pigeon), fantail, pied tit, tui, grey warbler, shining cuckoo and kingfisher. Another distinctive creature is the large and very handsome kauri snail, a carnivore which feeds mainly on earthworms, slugs and soft-bodied insects.

A lasting reminder of the once-thriving kauri industry are the kauri dams. Kauri driving dams were built by loggers to drive large quantities of kauri logs downstream from remote areas. While they played a major role in the destruction of the forest, they were also impressive engineering feats, built without drawings or detailed calculations, yet able to withstand the pressure of tonnes of water and kauri logs which were swept through with tremendous force when the dam was tripped.

In the Kauaeranga Valley on the Coromandel, kauri was logged extensively for over 50 years with more than 60 dams built. In 1970 remaining areas of surviving forest were deemed protected as part of the Coromandel Forest Park.

The Kaiaraara Dam on Great Barrier Island (40 m wide and 14 m high), is one of the largest of 3,000 kauri dams built in New Zealand in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Our Focus is On: Mia Kerick on Playlists, Writing and Come To My Window (contest included)

Come to My Window by Mia Kerick
Release Date: January 2015
Goodreads Book Page

A Mia Kerick Playlist!

Ever have songs in your head as you read a book? Well, the authors do as well. Here is Mia Kerick’s playlist for Come To My Window:

Here is my Top Ten Songs Playlist for Come To My Window!!

1. “Come to My Window” by Melissa Etheridge:

This is the song after which the book is named. It describes the way that the two girls meet, by gazing through their third story bedroom windows. For months they don’t verbally communicate at all, but instead simply study each other silently through the glass. The song details the strong urge the girls experience to reach out to each other—and the lengths to which they will go to fill their souls with the other. Furthermore, it shows the way that the girls can look away from society’s opinion about their love because their love is more important than social expectations.

Come to my window
Crawl inside, wait by the light
of the moon
Come to my window
I’ll be home soon

I would dial the numbers
Just to listen to your breath
I would stand inside my hell
And hold the hand of death
You don’t know how far I’d go
To ease this precious ache
You don’t know how much I’d give
Or how much I can take

Just to reach you
Just to reach you
Just to reach you…

I don’t care what they think
I don’t care what they say
What do they know about this
love anyway

Come to my window
Crawl inside, wait by the light
of the moon
Come to my window
I’ll be home soon

2. “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morissette:

This song is important because it shows that Justine truly understands the anger that Kemina feels toward the glamorous cage in which she is trapped, and also, toward her own mother, who is controlling and uses her daughter as a tool to get what she wants. “You Oughta Know” is an expression of pure unadulterated anger, and the two girls listen to it together—but separately—each of them sitting on their own beds in their own bedrooms, gazing at each other across the alley.

And I’m here to remind you
Of the mess you left when you went away
It’s not fair to deny me
Of the cross I bear that you gave to me
You, you, you oughta know….

3. F**ckin’ Perfect by Pink

Pink’s song expresses how Justine feels—that Kemina is perfect as she is. Justine watches Kemina through the window, struggling to diet and exercise so that she can fulfill society’s expectations of a physically perfect female body, and she becomes frustrated that Kemina, as a model, is held hostage by these ideals. By the end of the song, Pink is basically pleading that the person to whom she sings realizes that he/she is already perfect, which parallels Justine’s pleading with Kemina for the very same thing.

Pretty, pretty please, don’t you ever, ever feel
Like you’re less than f**king perfect
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel
Like you’re nothing, you’re f**king perfect to me

You’re so mean (so mean) when you talk (when you talk)
About yourself. You were wrong.
Change the voices (change the voices) in your head (in your head)
Make them like you instead…

Done looking for the critics, cause they’re everywhere
They don’t like my jeans, they don’t get my hair
Exchange ourselves and we do it all the time
Why do we do that, why do I do that (why do I do that)?

Pretty, pretty please, don’t you ever, ever feel
Like you’re less than fucking perfect
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel
Like you’re nothing, you’re fucking perfect to me…

4. “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond

I originally chose this song because it’s the song that traditionally plays in the Red Sox’s home stadium, Fenway Park, halfway through the eighth inning. And Justine, despite her New York City roots, is no Yankees fan, but is a Red Sox Fan, through and through. In particular, she is somewhat obsessed by David Ortiz, or Big Papi, the Red Sox’s famous designated hitter. But when I read the lyrics carefully, I realized that the song was about falling in love—about reaching out and touching a special person who makes the good times better than ever, which is what Kemina does for Justine’s life. This blossoming relationship helps Justine to put the hurt in her life behind her.

Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
I’ve been inclined
To believe they never would
But now I…

…look at the night
And it don’t seem so lonely
We fill it up with only two.

And when I hurt,
Hurtin’ runs off my shoulders
How can I hurt when holding you?

Warm, touchin’ warm
Reachin’ out, touchin’ me, touchin’ you

Sweet Caroline
Good times never seemed so good
I’ve been inclined,
To believe they never would
Oh, no, no…

5. “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC

I chose “Thunderstruck” because Justine is crazy about the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team, and this is their theme song. She also gets a powerful, almost thunderstruck, feeling when she plays street ball and scrimmages indoors with the male friends she grew up with.

Thunder, thunder, thunder, thunder
I was caught
In the middle of a railroad track
I looked round
And I knew there was no turning back
My mind raced
And I thought what could I do
And I knew
There was no help, no help from you
Sound of the drums
Beating in my heart
The thunder of guns
Tore me apart
You’ve been
Thunderstruck

6. “One Less Lonely Girl” by Justin Bieber:

I chose this song for the playlist because Justine is constantly compared to Justin Bieber due to their physical similarities. She admittedly wears her hair like Bieber in his “One Less Lonely Girl” days, and nobody lets her forget it, particularly not the guy friends that she grew up with. In addition, the lyrics discuss how many girls have pretty faces but now that he has seen this certain girl’s pretty face it is all he can see, which is similar to how Justine feels about Kemina.

Saw so many pretty faces before I saw you (you)
Now all I see is you
I’m coming for you (I’m coming for you)

(No no) Don’t need these other pretty faces like I need you
And when you’re mine, in the world
There’s gonna be one less lonely girl

I’m coming for you, one less lonely girl [x3]
There’s gonna be one less lonely girl…

I can fix up your broken heart (heart)
I can give you a brand new start (start)
I can make you believe (ya)
I just wanna set one girl free to fall (free to fall)
She’s free to fall (fall in love)
With me

Her heart’s locked and know what I got the key
I’ll take her and leave the world with one less lonely

There’s gonna be one less lonely girl
One less lonely girl
One less lonely girl
One less lonely girl…

7. “Daughters” by John Mayer:

I chose “Daughters” because a major theme of Come To My Window is the relationship between mothers and daughters. Justine and Kemina both have challenging relationships with their mothers, in particular, and, this song asks parents to be good to their daughters, because everything the daughters learn about love they learn from their parents.

I know a girl
She puts the color inside of my world
But she’s just like a maze
Where all of the walls all continually change
And I’ve done all I can
To stand on her steps with my heart in my hands
Now I’m starting to see
Maybe it’s got nothing to do with me

Fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too

8. “Paparazzi” by Lady Gaga:

I chose this song because the paparazzi constantly hounds Kemina, as she is the “Baby Vixen”, or the newest and youngest model of Nightingale Lingerie, which is comparable to Victoria’s Secret’s angels. The constant presence of the paparazzi shape Kemina’s personality and mold the blossoming relationship between Kemina and Justine. The relationship between the girls and the paparazzi seems to be completely out of control, until at the end of the novel, the girls successfully negotiate with them. Negotiation in relationships, and hopes for positive change in these relationships, is yet another theme of the story.

We are the crowd
We’re coming out
Got my flash on it’s true
Need that picture of you
It’s so magical
We’d be so fantastic, oh…

I’m your biggest fan
I’ll follow you until you love me
Papa-Paparazzi
Baby there’s no other superstar
You know that I’ll be your
Papa-Paparazzi

9. “My Girl” by The Temptations:

“My Girl” is the song that comes into Justine’s mind when she realizes that she and Kemina have become girlfriends. It’s the way that she begins to think about Kemina when they’re apart, just because simply knowing that Kemina is hers gives her bright and happy feelings.

I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day.
When it’s cold outside I’ve got the month of May.

I guess you’d say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl (my girl, my girl)
Talkin’ ’bout my girl (my girl).

I’ve got so much honey the bees envy me.
I’ve got a sweeter song than the birds in the trees.

Well, I guess you’d say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl (my girl, my girl)
Talkin’ ’bout my girl (my girl).

10. “She Keeps Me Warm” by Mary Lambert:

I chose this song for the playlist for two reasons. First, it describes Justine’s feelings upon the occasion of their first kiss. The feelings she experiences when they kiss are safe and kind and warm, which combine with her sense of gentle passion for Kemina. She knows beyond a doubt that kissing Kemina is right—that kissing a girl is right for her. The second reason I chose “She Keeps Me Warm” is because I imagine it’s the song they slow dance to at the end of the story at Justine’s high school prom, when Justine finally expresses her deep feelings to Kemina. In effect, it becomes “their song.”

She says I smell like safety and home
I named both of her eyes “Forever” and “Please don’t go”
I could be a morning sunrise all the time, all the time yeah
This could be good, this could be good

And I can’t change, even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can’t change, even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love, my love, my love, my love
She keeps me warm, she keeps me warm…

Copyright for all songs belongs to the artist, songwriter, and record company.

Author Bio:

Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—all named after saints—and five nonpedigreed cats—all named after the next best thing to saints, Boston Red Sox players. Her husband of twenty-two years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about that, as it is a sensitive subject.

Mia focuses her stories on the emotional growth of troubled young people and their relationships, and she believes that physical intimacy has a place in a love story, but not until it is firmly established as a love story. As a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with romantic tales of tortured heroes (most of whom happened to strongly resemble lead vocalists of 1980s big-hair bands) and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to Dreamspinner Press, Harmony Ink Press, and CreateSpace for providing her with alternate places to stash her stories.

Mia is a social liberal and cheers for each and every victory made in the name of human rights, especially marital equality. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology.

Where to find the author:

Blog: http://www.miakerick.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mia.kerick
Dreamspinner Author Arcade
Goodreads Author Page
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MiaKerick

Publisher: Mia Kerick
Cover Artist: Reese Dante

Sales Links: Barnes & Noble Kindle Link Amazon Paperback All Romance eBooks

Blurb:

Justine Laraby and Kemina Lopez are intimate acquaintances yet they have never exchanged so much as a single word. For months, high school senior Justine, and famed model, “Kemina, the Baby Vixen” of Nightingale Lingerie, have been peering at each other across a narrow alley between brownstones in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. This mutual observation soon turns into the exchange of handwritten messages on signs they hold up whenever they come to their bedroom windows. Via this “sign language,” a friendship grows, and Justine learns that Kemina is, like her, a high school senior, but with a controlling mother and a modeling career that requires her to maintain an unnaturally thin physique. And through the window, she also witnesses her new friend exercising fanatically, hoarding food, and being physically and emotionally abused by her ambitious mother.

Window messages evolve into clandestine meetings and soon a tentative romance blooms. But Justine must come to terms with her own “mommy issues,” as well as accept her gender identity and sexual orientation, before she can provide Kemina with the support she needs to survive a family life that resembles a ruthless business transaction.   Will Justine be strong enough to throw open the window so Kemina can escape society’s suffocating expectations?

Categories: Contemporary, Fiction, Lesbian Romance, Romance, Young Adult

Come To My Window excerpt…

But it’s not until the screen fills with the image of this baby seal,
all white and fluffy with dark vulnerable eyes that we both gasp a
little bit and then turn to look at each other. I can feel her breath on
my lips and my nose is nearly touching hers, and, well, I don’t know
about Kemina, but I’m all kinds of spellbound by this moment. She
reaches up and touches my jaw, just below my ear, with this soft
brush of her fingertips, and I have no choice but to lean down and
kiss her. Not that I was looking too hard for another option. Cuz I
wasn’t.

I kind of thought that my first kiss would be like an electric
shock or the sharp poke of cupid’s dart or fireworks exploding in a
dark night sky, but it’s not like any of those things. The way it feels
when my lips touch Kemina’s is soft and gentle and tender. It’s a
yielding of her mouth to mine, and then mine to hers. It’s an intimate
moment that’s breathy and warm and sweet and just ours.

“Ummmm….” She lets out this sound that makes me think of
how it feels to sink into a hot bath after a long afternoon of ice
skating in frigid temperatures. “That was my first real kiss.”

“Real kiss?” I ask. Our lips are only about an inch apart. I have
a strong feeling that her second real kiss is only a moment away.

—

Pages or Words: 182 pages
Tour Dates/Tour Stops:

26-Jan

The Fuzzy, Fluffy World of Chris T. Kat

Elin Gregory

Kimi-Chan

27-Jan

Molly Lolly

Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words

Inked Rainbow Reads

28-Jan

Full Moon Dreaming

Bayou Book Junkie

29-Jan

Book Reviews and More by Kathy

Prism Book Alliance

30-Jan

Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents

Cate Ashwood

Amanda C. Stone

31-Jan

Love Bytes

Contest: Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: $25 Gift Card. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

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On Tour with B.L. Morticia’s No Denying Sin (book tour and contest)

Book Name: No Denying Sin
Book 3 of the N’awlins Exotica Series (Can be read as standalone)
Goodreads Link
Author Name: BL Morticia/Michael Mandrake

Author Bio:

In one word, crazy. Just crazy enough to have 3 4 different muses running around in her head, driving her to sheer exhaustion with new plot bunnies and complex characters.

In addition to being a computer geek and a metalhead, Sharita loves live music, reading, and perusing the net for sexy men to be her muses. She’s also a founding member and contributor to the heavy metal ezine Fourteeng.net.

So You Think You Know Morticia! Fact No. 15!

15 – Do you prefer tea or coffee?

SL: Tea

Where to find the author:

Website http://www.thelitriad.com
Mail: mailto:msrlmort71@gmail.com
Michael’s Blog: http://michaelmandrake.wordpress.com
BL’s Blog: http://blmorticia.wordpress.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/rawiyamikembl
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheLiteraryTriad
Authorgraph: http://www.authorgraph.com/authors/rawiyamikembl

Publisher: Triad Literary
Cover Artist: Sara York

Sales Links: Amazon All Romance (ARe ) Smashwords

Blurb:

Living in the Big Easy is downright deadly especially if you’re a stripper. When another exotic dancer is found dead in her apartment, the heat mounts on Frankie and his fellow detectives to find the killer. Due to the magnitude of this unsolved mystery along with the LaBoy murders, tension runs high at nineteen making it hard for all to breathe around the police station and sending everyone into a frenzy.   There’s no denying Frankie’s love for Kajika but in the back of his mind, hot thoughts of the mutual jerk off with Orrin Daugherty loom over his head. Though the feelings are mutual, Orrin wants nothing to do with this and pushes Frankie away. Add in to the mix his fascination with partner Vance Morain along with his severe case of blue balls and you got one hell of a predicament for these for complex and volatile men.   The men at nineteen are burning with desire for one another and pleasure is beginning to be almost as important as business.   Will the sinful disruptions stop them from finding the killer roaming the streets of the Big Easy?   This is book 3 of N’awlins Exotica Series. Doesn’t necessarily need to be read in order.

WARNING: Lots of lewd dialogue and smoldering sex between males.

Categories: Contemporary, Crime Fiction, Erotica, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Menage/Poly, Romance, Thriller

Excerpt:

“Good morning, Officer Daugherty.” A young male clerk behind the desk in the fitness center called out to him.

“Mornin.” Orrin nodded and kept going. He wondered if the glow from getting some was still on his face from the night prior or if he’d really caught the man’s eye as he hoped.

Either way, he had to admit he hadn’t felt this good in days—no, make that weeks. He’d slept, had sex, and a good breakfast when he finally rolled out of bed at two p.m. With all that going on, he felt he could get through just about anything, including work. Despite this, he was grateful to have the full day off until his next shift at four a.m. tomorrow.

Pages or Words: 47,377 words

Tour Dates: January 26, 2015

Tour Stops:

Parker Williams, BFD Book Blog, Inked Rainbow Reads, Bayou Book Junkie, Amanda C. Stone, Molly Lolly, Cate Ashwood, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Wake Up Your Wild Side, MM Good Book Reviews, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, Rainbow Gold Reviews, My Fiction Nook, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Love Bytes, It’s Raining Men, Decadent Delights, Tara Lain, Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, Nephylim, Andrew Q. Gordon, Queer Town Abbey, Because Two Men Are Better Than One

Contest: Enter to win a Rafflecopter Prize: An Orrin prize pack: A copy of the book, N’awlins Exotica inspired jewelry, a coffee mug, a GC from Starbucks, and a special prize. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

Rafflecopter Code:
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from author Jim Provenzano

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Meet Ellen Cross!

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Down Under Author Showcase Day 29

Welcome, Ellen Cross

Australia Fact of the Day – The Wave Rock of Hyden!

New Zealand Facts of the Day!

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Meet Cecil Wilde!

Contests and Giveaways:

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Down Under Author Showcase Day 28

Australia Fact of the Day!

New Zealand Fact of the Day!

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Meet Cheryl Headford

More About Memories of Forgotten Love…

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Meet Barry Lowe!

✍Barry Lowe’s Books (just some, mind you):

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Welcome, Barry Lowe…

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Welcome, Barry Lowe!

Australian Fact of the Day – It’s all About The Trees!

New Zealand Facts of the Day – forests of New Zealand

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