It’s Sunday and it’s time for a snog, whoop! Today’s comes from Restoration, here’s the blurb.

Museum Restorer Theresa is thrilled when an ancient, dirt covered Roman Statue of Priapus comes into her care. She finds him fascinating and he becomes her erotic obsession. Night and day she is consumed by her lust for Priapus. Unknown to Theresa another person has been overtaken by the same obsession. It is only when her project is completed and Priapus is out on display that she discovers she is not the only one willing to take great risks just to worship the ancient god’s giant penis.

I hope you liked today’s unconventional kiss!

Please welcome Jaime Samms, our Friends Friday blogger for today! I’m looking forward to your post, Jaime!

I was sitting tonight, my computer humming, the evening darkening outside my picture window, dinner settling in my belly, trying to decide if I should write or paint my nails and contemplate what to put in this blog post.

As I chose a nail colour, (you’re not surprised, are you? I mean…one must look good at work, even if the commute is only a short, bunny-slippered shuffle away), I noticed that the box of nail enamel has morphed over the past year from a refined and sophisticated pallet of pinks and creams (government job. What can I say) to bright blues and purples, and even a jar of banana yellow. Odd.

I rifled through and landed on my favourite: a dark blue-gray that isn’t quite serious enough to be black, but definitely, unmistakably not conventional. I was about to blame this strange shift of colour pallet on my eleven-yr-old daughter when I realized: I bought every single one of those colours. (except the yellow. That was definitely her)

So…why? What changed? I still have the government job. Granted, it is a contract job and I’m not currently working it, but I can say, without doubt, that I wouldn’t hesitate to wear this same nail colour there. After all, last contract, I had pink and purple streaks in my hair.

It isn’t the kids. I mean, I’ve had them an awful long time. Same goes for the husband. Same one I’ve had almost fifteen years. So why the purple hair and near-black nails? Why the fourteen hole Doc Martins and the swing in my step?

Then it hit me. This year, I came out. I stopped pretending my writing career was something to keep under wraps, to not mention. I decided, if people don’t like what I write, if they have an issue with it, too damn bad. If the family who love me are going to freak out because I write about men falling in love and having sex, well, let them. They’re allowed. I’m tired of feeling like I have to apologize for it.

So now most of my family has asked for my website address, to see what I write, and I’ve handed it out. Haven’t heard word one back from any of them, and you know what? It doesn’t matter. I have found the thing that makes my heart sing and my soul hum. I know I’m good at it. It makes me happy.

And that’s just the thing. It makes me happy. I’m not really in it for any other reason. I’m not in my life to make other people happy. That isn’t my job. They can be as unhappy as all get out that their little sister/friend/daughter/fellow-dance-mom writes gay erotica, and guess what? Don’t care! Let it be their cross to bear, if they feel they need one.

I’ve got my steel gray nail polish and my blue hair (yes, it’s blue this year) and my Docs, my royalty check, and I’m all right :D

Oh, and also? It’s my birthday today, and if this is what a mid-life crisis looks like? Bring it the heck on! I’m all in. I think a tattoo is in order, yes?

Lots of people wake up and realize their life isn’t at a place they expected. What about you? Ever have that epiphany telling you things had changed while you were distracted? For the Better? Not so much for the better?

For more from Jaime check out her website.

Inspiration at Home

When I’m asked about what inspires me as I write, I give my answer without hesitation: my husband.

There are so many ways he gives me motivation, focus and verve. I’ll list a few, and perhaps you will see your spouse in this description also.

He inspires me in his industriousness. Although he writes non-fiction exclusively, he is constantly working at it, trying to perfect his skills and find better and more comprehensive resources. The heroes I create are also industrious. One example is Mikhail Andropov of Daughter of the Moon, books 1 and 2. He is the president of a small survivalist organization and works long and hard trying to keep his group safe during a world-wide disaster.

A fellow’s look can be inspirational, whether in-person or in the media. Think of how many writers are inspired by George Clooney, for example. I did a poll not long ago, asking my readers which actor they were most attracted to, and he won hands-down. Sean Connery came in a close second. Since I’m attracted to men with dark hair—which is what my husband has—I write my heroes with dark good looks, broad shoulders and strong physiques. One such hero is Michael O’Malley of Laricon’s Ways.

My husband also inspires me with his intelligence. If there was ever a person who could explain a complex issue in layman’s terms, it is my husband. It’s his specialty, in fact. My intellect, dubious as it might be, pales in comparison. I wrote a particularly intelligent male character for Under Wraps. Esteban says he’s Alejandro, but he has to convince our heroine of this fact or get hanged. When your life is in the balance, you have to be smart—or else!

Courage is also an important component of inspiration. Who doesn’t feel inspired by firemen, policemen, and military men? They are super-courageous! My husband has courage in his convictions, just like Doc, from my book, Snowy and the Seven Wharves. Doc is a US Marshal assigned to protect Snowy from her evil stepmother.

I’ve used a lot of examples from my books in this article, but the reality is they all are inspired by my best friend, confidante, and mentor: my husband. Many writers are inspired by the people around them, people they know, and, in my case, love. That’s why we marry them. They make us feel the joy of discovery that comes with creating a new character that’s believable and who breathes like a real person—just like they do.

Who inspires you?

Patricia’s Biography

Author bio:
Having begun her writing career at the tender age of seven by publishing a poem in a children’s magazine, Ms. Green has spent many years at typewriter and keyboard.

She’s the author of 11 published projects (10 ebooks; and one out-of-print traditional book).

She is a member of EPIC, the Erotic Authors Association, and the Erotica Readers and Writers Association.
Ms. Green resides in the Washington DC area, is married to her best friend, and is the mother of twin daughters.