The first week of touring blogs has been a whirlwind, to say the least. I wanted to settle down at my home blog, put my feet up and tell you a little of my inspiration for this story. The story grew out of an idea for a fairy tale that was a little off of the beaten path. It was summer, or approaching summer when I was writing this, and I often find myself writing stories in the present climate, the better to more fully capture the “feel” of the weather.

Then I caught some program on the National Geographic Channel or History, I don’t remember which, that was talking about the Taj Mahal and the great love that king had for his queen. Great love is wonderful, but a conflict it does not make. But the, bang! The old brain kicked in and there was One Thousand and One Arabian Nights…and the story began to unfold.

The world is a fantasy desert world, a mélange of many different cultures, with kings and hand maidens and palace mistresses and the like.

When I wrote this particular story, I immersed, or tried to, immerse myself in the world. Let’s just say I got a LOT of coconut oil massages and burned a lot of incense. Thanks to the awesome DH for that.

One thing that I noticed was that my regular, contemporary, grunge, 80s and rock n roll music wasn’t going to do it for me. I went to You Tube and found hours of lovely music that made me want to lounge about and have a shirtless Chris Evans peeling grapes.

Sultry Music

It’s called Wonderful Chill Out Music (Arabic and India Balance Mix) by Tekiu……the title is way appropriate.

Light up a little incense, lie back and close your eyes. It’s totally wonderful. Even the pictures in the video were inspiring. Check it out, you won’t be sorry. I’ll be back later with Week Two Tour Stops.

D

Come in, sit down, have a drink. Never too early or too late for a drink. Get comfortable. I have something to tell you. A confession.

I love a hot male body, but after a while, they all look the same. I love steak, but I couldn’t eat it every day of the week. Mind you, this is not to say that I don’t enjoy a lovely specimen, and I will continue to look, believe me.

This confession, which I made to some other writer friends of mine some time ago, led me to thinking: What is sexy?

Lean close, now because I’m not going to raise my voice, and I’m only going to say this once.

Being a woman of a certain age, I’ve had my share of male candy. Most types. Most colors. A tiny share, but my share all the same.

Looking back, not a lot of them were what you would call model-handsome, but they all had a certain je ne sais quoi that attracted me, at least for a brief time. So, as I sip my drink, let me tell you what I consider sexy. (Gotta get the hubs in the room so I can make my list.)

Seven

1. Good teeth. Yes, I look a gift horse in the mouth. Every. Single. Time. I once chatted with a man on the phone first, then we met for a coffee date at the Barnes and Noble. He smiled and the date was over. Nice guy, but he needed to get a veneer on that front tooth.
2. Glasses. Love ’em. I wear ’em, sometimes. There’s something about a guy in glasses. He’s capable, he can to the job. And if he can’t do it personally, those glasses will help him find someone who can. A problem solver.
3. A sense of humor, preferably quirky. If you give the dog a voice, i.e. “You know, Dahlia, I don’t care for Purina One I’m an Iams kinda dog.” You got me. Yes, it’s effing weird but funny as hell.

    

4. Knows when to say no. “You want to watch XXXXX girly show with me?” “No. That’s for women.” Thank you. Don’t sit there and suffer in silence, then resent me later. Just say no.

    

5. Well-placed compassion. Adopt a dog from the pound. Volunteer with children. Have compassion, a scope for the world outside of yourself. If you saw School of Rock, the way the Jack Black character talks to the plump black girl who’s shy about going onstage? If you haven’t seen it, watch it. “Everybody wants to party with Aretha…” Awesome scene. Digression: If more teachers had that same attitude toward their students…wow. I’d totally go out on a date with Jack Black just because of that one scene.

    

6. Intelligence to try new things. Don’t be a dumbass. Don’t tell me you just like XXXX type of music or XXXX type of whatever. That’s boring.

    

7. Confidence. Fat, short, tall, whatever, have the confidence to be YOU. Because as Patti LaBelle says, “Be yourself, you can’t be no one else.”

    

    

Now I could go on and on, but let’s save that for another day. That’s my seven sexy for my Sultry Saturday. What do YOU find sexy? Talk to me in the comments.

Dahlia

The Sultry Scribe