The LOVE, DIFFERENTLY BLOG HOP Coming this November!

It's my great pleasure to announce the LOVE, DIFFERENTLY Blog Hop coming this November! With the help of writing and real-life friend Morgan Bauman, we're putting on a four-week long (that's right, the whole month!) blog hop centered around ROMANCE, ROMANCE, AND LOTS OF ROMANCE!

...With a twist, of course! (And prizes!)

The purpose of the blog hop is to get writers out of their "romance comfort zones", so to speak. Most authors of romance (and this includes those who have novels where romance is a background characteristic, not necessarily the main genre) tend to stay with what they know or like best:  men and women, two men, or even two women, if your name is Hildred. This blog hop challenges you to write romance between all three possibilities!

The Basics of the Blog Hop

• Each week will present a type of pairing, alongside a couple other small requirements (example: a certain word that must be used, to help prevent people from writing way ahead of time.) The characters must be shown in a "romance" scene. These can range from dramatic, to comedic, to sexy (but if you get on the erotic side of things, please label so ahead of time!) to even adventurous! Your choice!
• No more than 500 word scenes / flash fiction, originally written for the blog hop.
• Must follow ALL the prompts listed for the week of participation.
• Participants may, well, participate on any week they choose, including all four. 

Here's the planned structure for the blog hop, including the judge/prize for the winner:

Week 1:  M/W pairing. Judged by Hildred. Prize is a three chapter/20 page (winner's choice) critique of any WIP by the winning author.

Week 2: M/M pairing. Judged by Morgan. Prize is twenty pages of intense, detailed line-editing, or general feedback and overall reactions to a whole manuscript (if it's under three hundred pages).

Week 3: W/W pairing. Judged by Hildred. Prize is a copy of the erotic lesbian romance "DAISUKI." in any formats available of the winner's choosing.

Week 4: WRITER'S CHOICE! Pick any of the previous three pairings! Judged by Morgan. Prize is a copy of the YA fantasy "REWRITTEN 1: FALLACY" in a variety of formats (minus audiobook).


RULES for Joining the Blog Hop

• You MUST sign up for the link list below. This way not only can the judges find your entries easily, but everyone else can see, too!
• You don't have to participate every week, but at least once would be great! :P
• If you intend / end up writing a scene that's more of the 18+ variety, you are expected to put a note at the top of your entry as a courtesy.
• On that note, we will leave it to the participant's judgment when it comes to showing "sexier" romance and underage characters. When it doubt, it's probably best to err on the side of caution, whatever your caution may be.
•  Please post your entries on the designated dates (to be announced in the coming weeks.) If you foresee any reason you will not be able to schedule a post for that day (such as an emergency), please contact me/us so we can work something out. (Entries will be judged as soon as possible following each week, so it's important to get them up in time.)
• (Optional) Help us spread the word about the blog hop by:
• Putting the Blog Hop badge somewhere on your site!
• Tweeting!
• Blogging about it!
• Facebook!
• Tumblr!
• All those other social media doohickes beyond our radars! The more participants, the merrier!

We're VERY excited about this blog hop we just had to announce it a little earlier than usual! So start planning your scenes and get ready to expand your romance writing horizons! Can't wait to read everyone's entries! (Including my own. This will seriously be my first time writing M/M that's not off-camera, so to speak!)

**PLEASE NOTE: The terms "male", "female", "man", and "woman" are used very loosely. Males can identify as women and vice versa. Essentially, as long as your characters' identities fit the pairings, it should be just fine. This obviously includes trans* characters. For those who do not identify as either, that's one of the reasons we have "Writer's Choice" in week 4. If you have any questions about this (or anything re: the blog hop) PLEASE ask! You're probably not the only one!

POSTPONED UNTIL 2013

There is STUFF happening.

No blog post today because I am preparing STUFF for you, yes YOU! Check back tomorrow for a huge post announcing something to knock your socks off! And back on again! That's how monumental it is! Sheesh!

Okay fine have a gif.

REN'AI RENSAI Character Profile 2: Aiko Takeuchi

After the joy and fun of last week's character profile, I decided to, you know, follow it up with another one, right on schedule! Only two more to go after this one! And then, launch day!

Today's feature is the other main character of the REN'AI RENSAI series, Aiko Takeuchi..She's practically the polar opposite of Reina, so expect! A lot! Of exclamations!

(Note: As the series jumps around a span of 20 or so years, profiles tend to cover everything in that time period.)

----------------------------------------------------

BASICS:

Name: Aiko Takeuchi (竹内愛子)

I really need to learn to take solo screens of my Sims.

Birthday: September 12th, 1973
Zodiac (Western): Virgo
Zodiac (Eastern): Ox
Nationality: Japanese
Height: 5'1
Weight: 95 lbs. 
Voice: Low
Speech Patterns: Feminine

LIKES/DISLIKES: 

Fave Color: Pink
Fave Food: Grilled salmon
Fave Drink: Gin
Fave Music: Popular music from the late 80s//early 90s
Clothing Style (Teens): Skirts and dresses
Clothing Style (Adult):  Jeans with Blouses, Occasional skirt/dress in hotter months.
Hobbies: Cooking/Baking, Shopping, Reading, Watching and critiquing movies with lesbian couples.

Camera's over here, sweetie.

CHARACTER:

Natal Family:  Mother, Father, Two older brothers, Two older sisters
Sexuality: Lesbian
Partner: Reina Yamada
Best Friend: Yuri Furusawa
Occupation(s): Student, Housewife
Comes Off As: Naive, Friendly
Sub/Dom: Sub, with inclination to switch.
 
PARAGRAPHS OF BIOGRAPHY STUFF:

Aiko grew up the youngest child in a sheltering family. Growing up it was impressed upon her that, while it was important for her to study and get a good degree, ultimately getting married to a man and having his children was her expectation.  Thus Aiko harbored multiple dreams as a child of lavish weddings and idealized the symbol of the housewife in Japanese society. Each time she got a new boyfriend her dreams were renewed, but Aiko was quick to find that none of her boyfriends were an adequate match for her.

Always, always a proper lady~

Her studies revolved around the English language and Western culture, leading her to enroll in an all-women's university focusing on international studies after graduating high school. One day she visited her cousin's place of work and met Reina, who flirted with her and made Aiko consider her sexuality for the very first time.

As she began a relationship with Reina, Aiko realized she had to choose between her/society's ideals, and what would make her happiest. In the end she sacrificed her dreams of marriage and children to become a housewife for Reina, aware that nobody would ever take their relationship seriously, assuming they even knew. In the process, Aiko lost a majority of her friends and lost the respect of her family. Even in later years Aiko retains some of her naivete and has a habit of outing herself to the wrong people at the wrong time. Although she's in a controversial kind of relationship, Aiko remains sheltered in how people will truly react to her way of life.

Somebody really should make that bed.

She is an empathetic person, always trying to help those around her. This often leads her to overextending herself and falling deeper when she realizes her unemotional girlfriend won't support her. Over time Aiko begins to become more and more jaded, and although she continues to strive to be optimistic, reality often contradicts her. She goes in and out of lesbian oriented organizations with the intent to help, but is often rejected because of her girlfriend's philandering past. This has lead to Aiko having an isolated life, with the exception of one friend, her neighbor Yuri. She is also one of the only people outside of Aiko's family to know of her sexuality, let alone support her. Although Yuri is married and has a child, she later comes out as gay to Aiko and becomes one of her only lovers outside of her relationship with Reina. Even so, Aiko often wishes she had more friends and family that didn't force themselves to be polite to her.

On one hand Aiko tries to convince herself all her sacrifices in the social world were worth it so she could be with Reina, but on the other, her moments of despair and frustration have increased. Her desire to express her emotions (especially love) often clash with Reina's listlessness and boredom. Sometimes Aiko considers breaking off  their twenty-year-long relationship, but in the end, her love for somebody she's not sure even loves her back is too strong. Aiko convinces herself it doesn't matter, but lives for the day when Reina will reciprocate her feelings, willingly and openly.

Naughty secrets on a slide? Well, I never.

Cover Reveal for Carrie Butler's STRENGTH!

Taking time out today from talking about Me Me Me to participate in the cover reveal for Carrie Butler's new New Adult novel, "STRENGTH", coming out March 7th, 2013 via Sapphire Star Publishing. Check it out!

"When college student Rena Collins finds herself nose-to-chest with the campus outcast, her rumor-laced notions are shattered. Handsome, considerate, and seemingly sane, Wallace Blake doesn’t look like he spends his nights alone, screaming and banging on the walls of his dorm room. Hell, he doesn’t look like he spends his nights alone, period.

Too curious for her own good, Rena vows to uncover the truth behind Wallace’s madman reputation—and how two seconds of contact had left her with bruises. Of course, there are a few minor setbacks along the way: guilt, admiration, feelings of the warm and fuzzy variety…

Not to mention the unwanted attention of Wallace's powerful, supernaturally-gifted family.

They’re a bloodline divided by opposing ideals, two soon-to-be warring factions that live in secret among us. When Rena ends up caught in their crossfire, Wallace has no choice but to save her by using his powers. Now they’re really in trouble. With war on the horizon and Rena’s life in the balance, he needs to put some distance between them. But Rena won’t let go. If fighting is what it takes to prove her own strength and keep Wallace in her life, then that’s what she’ll do—even if it means risking a whole lot more than her heart."

You can follow Carrie on any of the  following sites. We've been blogging friends for a while now and she's always got something interesting to say.

WEBSITE  |  BLOG  |  SSP  |  TWITTER  |  FACEBOOK  |  GOODREADS  |  GOOGLE+ 

*Also, I know, I'm shocked too. This is like the last blog you expect a half naked man to show up on. 

Weekly Writing Check-In: Work work work.

Man, what a roller coaster of a week. Last week I drew up an outline for the last few scenes in my current WIP, and hoped to get through most of them by today. Well, I got through five out of ten scenes, with the sixth one started. Why not more? Because my final edits came in so I started editing instead! And as of last night, editing is finished! Woohoo! Well, I'm going to start a final read through tomorrow before tackling formatting later this week. I also hope to get through the outline this week and be done with another rough draft! (A really, really rough draft.)

Sadly, this week hasn't be all good news. A couple weeks ago I mentioned my cat Cassie was diagnosed with cancer, but seemed to be doing well on her medicine. Well, last week she stopped eating again, and Friday we had to put her down. Understandably (or it better be), I was really upset for a couple days, also leading to me not writing much. Cats are my favorite animals, and I bond closer to them than any other. She was a very good and affectionate cat who was always there for me when others weren't. Actually, this is the second cat we've lost this year. Third, if you count my other cat that has declared herself feral. 2012 has been awful for animals. I'm also not reading much right now, because I always enjoyed reading outside in the sunshine with the cats bothering me and making beds out of my blankets. Not anymore, I suppose. Life sucks. Then you publish.

Onward~

"DAISUKI." Theme Song: "I Love You" by Miwako Okuda

Changing up the promotions a little bit. Originally I intended to post the first preview of "DAISUKI." today, but it's not quite ready yet. So, instead, have the song I consider to be the "theme song" of the story, a lovely mid-tempo ballad called "I Love You" (get it?) by Miwako Okuda. I don't even have to post a translation, because it's in the video! So ha!

Remember you can still sign up for the DAISUKI blog tour happening in October!

 

REN'AI RENSAI Character Profile 1: Reina Yamada

There comes a time in every marketing ploy UH I MEAN campaign I do that I feel compelled to expose everyone to my ~super secret~ character profile stash, complete with illustrations from the Sims 3! Congrats, readers, you're about the fall in that hole again.

I plan on doing four of these this month, even though the REN'AI RENSAI series only technically has two characters. Which means I'll post both main characters in a row than a couple random minor characters that appear in "DAISUKI." (and also come straight from the main CROSS// universe, and originally appeared there as well. Ha. Publishing order is weird.)

Today's poor victim put up for public viewing is the not-so-private but also not-so-outgoing (so you know, like most people) Reina Yamada. I decided to launch with her because she's the one I came up with first.

(Note: As the series jumps around a span of 20 or so years, profiles tend to cover everything in that time period.)

HERE WE GO DESU YO~

----------------------------------------------------

BASICS:

Is this seriously the best solo pic I have of her at 40? Srsly.

Name: Reina Yamada (山田麗奈)
Birthday: December 3rd, 1972
Zodiac (Western): Sagittarius
Zodiac (Eastern): Rat  
Nationality: Japanese
Height: 5'6
Weight: 115 lbs. 
Voice: Low
Speech Patterns: Masculine

LIKES/DISLIKES: 

Fave Color: Blue
Fave Food: Okonomiyaki
Fave Drink: Beer (Sapporo Draft)
Fave Music: Female songwriters from the 1980s
Clothing Style (Teens):  Baggy sweaters, jeans or short-shorts/mini-skirts.
Clothing Style (Adult):  Jeans with T-shirt or pullover. (Casual) Women's tailored suits. (Work)
Hobbies: Sex, Going to bars, Watching TV

Just chillin' like a 20yo badass.

CHARACTER:

Natal Family:  Mother, Father (Deceased)
Sexuality: Lesbian
Partner: Aiko Takeuchi
Best Friend: Michiko Kawazama
Occupation(s): Waitress, Singer/Dancer, Student, Corporate Drone (In order through series.)
Comes Off As: Aloof, Charming, Lazy
Sub/Dom: Dom. Always.
 
PARAGRAPHS OF BIOGRAPHY STUFF:

Reina is a mystery to everyone but herself. She lives life with the idea of "do what I want, to an extent", and this confuses just about everyone around her, who continue to live in the Japanese group mentality. While it estranges her from most of the people she meets, her charisma makes up for it and she usually ends up with a few friends for a few hours, wherever she goes.

Growing up Reina was an only child, the daughter of a housewife and a university professor. Her father was killed in a transportation accident when she was 14, throwing her mother into severe depression and the family unit into dire financial straits. Financial problems were compounded when Reina's mother decided to send her to a "prestigious" all girls private high school in northern Tokyo. It was at this school Reina first realized her attraction to other girls while also meeting her best friend Michiko, an American-born girl with a lot of self-confidence to share.

She only has one thing on her mind.

Reina earned a reputation for philandering that would last her entire life. Her relaxed attitude towards life and relationships leads her to becoming the "experiment" for other women looking to try a different kind of sexual relations. While Reina doesn't mind this and even welcomes it at times, she does get tired of seeing the same women turn around and return to the "easier" heterosexual lifestyle. For Reina her sexuality's never been a choice, even when her mother threatened to throw her out for being a stain on her father's legacy. To ease the tension in her house, she got a job right out of high school as the underaged waitress at the only lesbian stripclub in the country. Although she enjoyed her job (the perfect place to pick up lesbians, after all), after a year she saw an ad for theater rehearsals and thought she could make more money doing it. She ended up just becoming an idolized pony show every weekend.

I had another version with epic polygon fail.

However, one of her groupmates had a habit of bringing her family around the theater, and that was how Reina met Aiko. Although Reina never thought it would lead anywhere (other than Aiko running off with an old boyfriend, like women were wont to do) they started "dating" and eventually became girlfriends. Even though Reina had slept with nearly hundreds of women before, Aiko was her first "official" girlfriend. Yet they were still the oddest couple in the gay district, since with becoming girlfriends Reina stipulated she still wanted the freedom to sleep with other women. Aiko agreed, on the condition they "did it together".

Being in a relationship forced Reina to reevaluate her role in life, especially when she was partnered with the "girliest girl" imaginable. Aiko's only real dream was to become a homemaker, and in order to make that happen for her, Reina quit her job at the theater, cut off her hair, and enrolled in university. After graduating she got a job as a desk drone at a corporation. Soon Aiko's great aunt died, leaving Aiko a paid-off house in the Tokyo suburbs. Reina and Aiko moved in together, and became an odd representation of a typical Japanese married couple.

AWESOME BENDER, BRO.

As years passed, Reina adopted a more masculine appearance to go alongside her already masculine speech and mannerisms. Her life began to revolve around work with odd moments of play, and as the economy in Japan weakened more and more, Reina became paranoid about losing her job because of her gender and sexuality. While at home and in the bars she remained the same aloof and lazy Reina everybody knew, at work her paranoia reached a point where it solidified in her brain and she began to develop Gender Identity Disorder. In Japan, everyone is expected to take up a rigid gender role, and if Reina wasn't a "woman", then she had to be a "man". This lead to her becoming strictly dominant in the bedroom, and incapable of acknowledging her old and abandoned feminine side.

Throughout her life Reina has only had a couple people considered close to her and are subsequently the only women she's acknowledged feelings for:  her best friend Michiko, who returned to America when Reina was twenty and visits every so often, and Aiko, who has stuck by Reina's antics for twenty years. Others either see her as too selfish to deal with, or a fun friend for certain times, so long as they're not seen around her outside the gay districts. Reina takes this in stride and even prefers it, being naturally reclusive until her libido sparks up. Her reputation as a womanizer precedes her, and it's rumored she's slept with 300 women. Of course, only she knows the real number. Maybe. She's not the type to keep track or care. Her lack of caring about most things (aside from hiding herself at her job) has made her almost completely incapable over the years of expressing herself or her emotions. Her attitude is to bottle everything up and pretend "feelings" don't exist. But she is human, and does have feelings. Including those annoying ones like "love". Sometimes.

 Well, maybe "free love".

This is my first time noticing those creepy giraffes.

Same Sim time at the same Sim place next Wednesday!