Dahlia DeWinters - Author

Quirky Heroines, Happy Endings

Five Characters I'd Love to be for Halloween

Here we are again for the Five Fandom Friday link up!  I must say I am enjoying these little trips every week.

Let’s get right to the chase, shall we?  Here they are in no particular order.

Captain Jack Sparrow – Pirates of the Caribbean movies

 

Jack Sparrow 1

How much fun would it be to be a pirate (in the movie world, of course, forget the killing and the shooting and the scurvy and terrible food).  I loved the Pirate movies and remember the ride as a child at Disney World.  The long coat, the beads and shoot, there’s even a purse!  What’s not to like about this? Jack Sparrow 2

 

 

Akasha, Queen of the Damned

Queen of the Damned

 

Just because… Aaliyah.  What an awesome costume.  Nuff said.

 

Queen of the Damned 2

 

Steampunk-ish Victorian

 

Black Victorian 2
Image from http://www.vintag.es/2013/03/victorian-era-portraits-of-african.html

 

Fannie Hendricks, Wisconsin Historical Society
Fannie Hendricks, Wisconsin Historical Society

All I would need is to add a pair of goggles and an umbrella!

Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy

 

 

Yeah, so maybe she’s a little too gung-ho about plants and the environment, but a grrl’s gotta have a hobby right?  And you can never have too many plants or loads of gorgeous red hair.

Poison-ivy movie

 

 

 

GoGo Yubari

gogoJubari 2

She was the best thing about the Kill Bill movies….all of them.

gogoJubari 1

You can beg better than that!

 

Thanks for reading!  I had a great time picking out my virtual costumes.

Dahlia

5 Fandom Friday – My Five Gateway Fandoms

  • fandom.5.fridayColor me super excited!  I am so pleased to throw my blog in the link-up with The Nerdy Girlie and Super Space Chick for this Friday’s topic – Five Gateway Fandoms.

Now, if you’ve read my blog, you know that I like a looooot of stuff.  But, even little Dahlia had her  predilections (I love that word) and exquisite tastes.  Which of course, were the gateway to even more predilections and super exquisite tastes.  So sit back, dear reader, and find out what made me what I am today!

1.  Girl Rockers – Joan Jett and Pat Benatar

Back when I was a wee impressionable one, they didn’t have a lot of ladies to identify with.  Sure there was Babs and a folk singer or two, but the roof was really raised when Joan Jett and the Blackhearts hit the scene with “I Love Rock and Roll”  and “I Hate Myself for Loving  You.”. The heavy, recognizable guitar riff (wielded by a girl!) along with the tough look of black jeans, eyeliner and cool-ass hair…well, you can’t get any better than Joan Jett!

While Pat had a sweeter, smoother voice and her husband and band did most of the heavy musical lifting, “Hell is for Children”, “Promises in the Dark”, and her “breakout hit”, “Love is a Battlefield” had me singing in front of my mirror with a hairbrush and cutting my hair short!

2.  The Police

I don’t even know where to start when these fellas.  Suffice to say that I’ve seen nearly every movie Sting was in, even if he was simply there like…Dune (all I can say is….whaaaa? about that movie.)  I even tracked down a 1983 Playgirl magazine to read his interview and I’m sure there’s a stack of magazine cut outs, Tiger Beats and Rolling Stones with them on the cover.  That’s not counting the magazines my friends and I would BEG to order from England because just had to have the latest Police news.  Also, purchased Carl Jung’s Synchronicity.

3.  Star Wars

1977 in a movie theater that has since long closed.  Feet sticking to the floor (of course) I watched the spectacle unfold.  I had a remote control R2D2 robot.  I was Darth Vader for Halloween.  I was a Han Solo girl to the max and even have an autographed picture of Harrison Ford somewhere at my mom’s house.  Before les Internets, we sat down and wrote our fave stars letters….and sometimes got and answer.  I remember standing in the RAIN to line up to see Return of the Jedi.  Wow.  When they came along with those….other films…I kinda ignored the whole thing.  However, I will sit down and watch Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and to a lesser degree The Return of the Jedi when they are on.

4.  Mystery Science Theater 3000

This was what Saturday mornings were all about! Terrible movies with people actually cracking jokes about how terrible they really were.  My favorite of ALL TIME?  The Pod People.  Awfulness at its finest.  You can’t beat MST3K.

 

5.  The Chronicles of Narnia

Who hasn’t, after reading these books, gone and knocked on the back of a closet or two?  I firmly believe in the “you never know” and that magic can always around the corner.  I’ve gone through so many sets of these books…I order a new set every two years, so they’re always a complete set around.  My son had picked up an appreciate for Narnia also, and I certainly hope it brings magic into his life.

 

Some Honorable Mentions

Frank Sinatra – That’s cool music, baby!
Duran Duran
The Sims
The Little House Books

 

Most of these in this post, I still read and listen to today.

 

 

 

Music Monday – Inspiration for Loving Among the Dead

Picture-of-Music-Notes-300x300As most authors do, I have a playlist of songs I work with when I’m writing. It’s the playlist I think embodies the story, the characters and the mood of a certain scene.  I have all that set out before me, at my fingertips so I can access it at the press of a button.

However, there are those songs that occurs to you after the story’s done, edited and published.  That song which pops up out of almost nowhere and declares itself an official sponsor of your story.

It continues to amaze me how much music can not only soothe the savage beast but also bare one’s soul.

Judith Graham holds her own in her zombie-proofed fortress that was once her childhood home.  Through the foresight of her survivalist parents, she’s set for at least a year, but overwhelming loneliness and crushing boredom drives her out into the deserted, yet still dangerous streets of her neighborhood.  She crosses paths with another traveler, Sky Beckett, who has decided to take the dangerous journey South to find out if his family is still alive in Tennessee.

A reluctant Jude allows him to stay at her home.  Determined to remain a “Lonely Stranger”  …..

When I walk, stay behind
Don’t get close to me
‘Cause it’s sure to end in tears
So just let me be
— Eric Clapton

she doesn’t want to get close to anyone because anything could happen, at anytime.  Sky takes more of a moderate, if not almost optomistic  view of post-apocalyptic life, wherein you keep trying until you can’t try anyone.  He struggles to get her to see the facts as they stand and staying in her house is only going to get more dangerous, no matter what fortification she thinks she has.

He also sees that Jude is perhaps not as strong as she thinks she is.

Who’s gonna tell you when
It’s too late?
Who’s gonna tell you things
Aren’t so great?

You can’t go on
Thinkin’ nothing’s wrong,
Who’s gonna drive you home
Tonight?

****

Just by chance, those songs rolled up on my playlist (while I was cleaning no less)   and I was struck at how apt they are and I had to share.

Thanks for reading!

1Love

Dahlia

Haven’t read Jude and Sky’s story?  Check out “Loving Among the Dead” at the following outlets

All Romance E Books

Loose Id

Cover Songs More Famous than the Original

Psychedelic rock guitarist with long brown hair and beard. Dressed in black. Stage smoke.What is it about a song that captures your attention?  Is it the melody?  The bass line? Or is it the way the vocalist takes the lyrics and melody and makes it their own?

Here are some songs where someone other than the original vocalist/band took the song and made it their own.  You might be surprised at some of them.  I know I was.

 

“Blinded by the Light”  – Manford Mann’s Earth Band

Original Artist – Bruce Springsteen

I’d heard Manford’s version many times before Springsteen’s and well, while Springteen’s has that certain “Bruce something”, eh, I prefer Mann’s version.

“I Love Rock and Roll” – Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Original Artist – The Arrows

“Me and Bobby McGee” – Janis Joplin

Original Artist – Kris Kristofferson

“Blue Suede Shoes” – Elvis Presley

Original Artist – Carl Perkins

“I Heard it through the Grapevine” – Marvin Gaye

Original Artist – Smokey Robinson and the Miracles

 

There are more, of course, Whitney Houston’s version of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” and Sinead O’Connor’s version of Prince’s “Nothing Compares to You”, plus numerous others.  These are some that stood out to me.

 

Hope you enjoyed!  Leave your favorite cover song in the comments and maybe I’ll feature it in a future post!

 

Dahlia

Football Fridays and a Tiny Rant

Hello, my name is Dahlia and I’m an erotic romance writer.  For those who don’t know what that means, “erotic romance” is an indicator that if you pick up one of my books (and please do) you will most likely stumble upon to an open door sex scene.  You will most likely see the words “p*ssy”, “c*ck”, “d*ck”, “breasts”, “balls”, read about the exchange of bodily fluids and climaxes and orgasms (always a good thing).  You will also read about people becoming aroused, thinking about having sex and invading others’ personal space, with sexy results.

I’m sure you’re wondering what’s up with the picture.  Stick with me.   You’ll see.

As a curious (nosy) person, I used (note the word ‘used‘) to peruse my Amazon book reviews as well as the reviews of other erotic romance authors.  It is interesting to read how others view the erotic romance novel. Some of the reviews I’ve read have literally caused my jaw to drop.

I’ve read that some books are “pure p*rn”, nothing but “smut” or have “too much sex”.  I’ve also read reviews in which reviewers commented that the heroine doesn’t “have respect for herself” because she f*cked a hot dude on page two.  Furthermore, I’ve also read reviews that said “I don’t like books where the woman seeks sexual satisfaction”.  I guess this last means the woman has to wait for the man to bring it.

These types of comments truly puzzle me and bring me to a couple of questions:

1.  Why are you reading erotic romance novels if you don’t want to read about sex? That’s like watching the NFL channel and getting angry that it has too much football.

Sidenote:  To the reviewer who didn’t like the woman who pursued sexual satisfaction, aren’t you doing the same thing by reading a sexy novel? What the f*ck?

2.  If you thought an author’s book was pure p*rn, then why did you buy the rest of the books in the series?  Who’s the dummy? I’m allergic to peanut butter.  So, I go out and buy a Snickers bar, eat it, get sick,  then complain?

3.  If you don’t like the depiction of blow jobs/p*ssy worship….yeah, why are you even reading an erotic romance?  There’s a high chance you’ll run into some c*ck-sucking or **gasp** p*ssy-licking if you read enough of them.

Point is, writers write because they love what they write.  Readers read because they love what writers write.  I am so glad that there is a place where writers can express the sexuality of their characters and appeal to the readers that like the hot stuff.  There is no shame in that game.  I have a ton of writer colleagues who write stuff that make me blush, but like I always way, chacun son goût…. les yeux sans visage…. voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir …that’s my French for the day.

I’m not even going to call these people haters, because why bother?  My advice?  Stick to the sweet romances.  Avoid any romance that mentions the word “heat” in the blurb.  And, if the cover has a couple enjoying a sweet, sexy embrace, stay far, far, FAR away.  You don’t want to get bumped in the face with a stray erection.

As I typed this, I found a brilliant way to tie this all in with Football Friday.  My fantasy football stud quarterback, Peyton Manning will wrap this up nicely.  Let me give you a little history.  Peyton has played in a dome – Lucas Oil Stadium (aka the house that Peyton built) for most of his career.  When he went to Denver, there was all sorts of talk that he couldn’t play in the cold.  For while, that’s been true until this past game with the Titans.  With a kickoff temperature of 18 degrees F, Peyton threw for 397 yards with four touchdowns with no interceptions.,  The Broncos won, 51-28. Furthermore, the  39 completions established a new franchise record.

Now, does the graphic make more sense?

D