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Dahlia DeWinters - Author

Quirky Heroines, Happy Endings

Blogtoberfest – American Gothic Roots Music – Rachel Brooke

RachelBrookeWelcome to today’s Blogtoberfest post!  It’s another dark country/roots song by artist Rachel Brooke.

 

“Take everything you think you know about country music and throw it out the window. That pop rock crap y’all call country is nothing compared to what Rachel Brooke is laying down. She’s an old soul in the way Hank Williams and Memphis Minnie were, culling together both country and country blues into an album that is easily digestible for anyone who gets scared off by real country music. Etta James once said that the blues and country music were kissing cousins. Rachel Brooke is their love child.” -Chip McCabe

 

and

 

“Producing and playing most of the instruments herself, Rachel demonstrates her immense talent and diversity on this album. (Down in the Barnyard 2011) The song writing is top notch, her voice is eerily old-time-authentic, and the whole album has the ability to whisk you away on the country technicolor lullaby head trip that she has painted during it’s near-hour long set. Rachel is just hitting her stride, but with this release is proving that we should all be keeping our eyes on her.” –Shooter Jennings, ”- Moonrunners”

 

 

 


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Uncategorized Tagged: black geek girls, black girl nerds, blogtoberfest, dahlia dewinters, female geek bloggers, geek girl, halloween, Halloween fun, multicultural romance, quirky romance

Music Monday: Favorite Frank Sinatra Song Quotes

Sinatra SongsI’m not sure if I’ve done this before, but I was going through some old playlist and got to remembering.  Yes, I love Fuel, The Police, Imagine Dragons, Hozier and some new/old stuff, but some of the time I switch to the old 1940-1960s song book of The Chairman of the Board, Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, Mr. Francis Sinatra.  I am from New Jersey, so, yeah, natch, right?

As a romance writer, it helps me get in the mood to write love scenes and the interaction  of people becoming lovers when I listen to some of the great lyricists of the American Songbook.  Those writers had a way of turning a phrase and of creating metaphors and similies that evoke the feeling of love, falling in love and being in love.  I wanted to share a few of my faves with you and who better to demonstrate than Sinatra himself?

 

How Little We Know

Quote:

“Who cares with your lips on mine…..How ignorant bliss is…
So long as you kiss me ……and the world around us shatters….”

Video:

All the Things You Are

Quote:

“You are the angel glow that lights the star
The dearest things that I know are what you are…”

Video:

 

Fly Me to the Moon

Quote:

“Fill my heart with song…..
And let me sing for ever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore…”

 

Video

 

Come Fly with Me

Quote:

“Once I get you up there
I’ll be holding you so near
You may hear
Angels cheer, ’cause we’re together…”

Video

 

The Best is Yet to Come

Quote

“Come the day you’re mine
I’m gonna teach you to fly
We’ve only tasted the wine
We’re gonna drain the cup dry…”

Video:

 

So there you go, my blasts from the romantic past for Music Monday. I hope you enjoyed!

 

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: American songbook, author, black geek girls, black girl geeks, blerds, dahlia dewinters, erotic romance, female geek bloggers, frank sinatra, quirky romance, romantic songs, sinatra, songs from the 40s, writer

Gotham Recap – The Mask

Fish, to her Friends
Fish, to her Friends

 

Note:  This is a quick slapdash, done on the fly.  It most definitely contains errors, which will be fixed in the future.  Thanks, though, for reading!

The episode opens with some men in Wall Street clothes, fighting in an office where the lights are flickering. It’s pretty brutal and they are beating the crap out of each other using office supplies. The w

inner hacks the loser with the blade from a paper cutter, the likes of which I haven’t seen in ages.

Body on the docks. Nygma has all the answers and pulls a thumb out of the dead man’s mouth. Eck.

Penguin stops some rich broad on the street and says she has a very nice brooch, and asks for it. Yeah. Next scene he’s giving the brooch to Fish and they seem to be playing nice with each other, but we know that’s a sham.

Fish uses the pin from the brooch to stab Penguin in the hand and licks the blood off the end. Go, FISH! She also tells Penguin that he’d

Penguin blood is sweeeeeet
Penguin blood is sweeeeeet

better hope that Falcone keeps in good health.

Finally, Bruce going to school. He couldn’t stay in that house forever. I can’t see Alfred being a huge advocate of hiding away and homeschooling.

At a loss to do with the brooch, Penguin gives it to his mother. She opens her arms and pushes her chest out, saying “Pin in on!” We are saved from another creepy moment when she exclaims over his injury. After hearing the story, she says she, too was bullied by a girl in school and ended up reporting her and her family to the Secret Police. Mama Penguin is gangsta!

Gordon and Bullock at a black market doctor who has apparently treated these Gordon Gekko Fight Club folks. Gordon arrests him because of the link between the doctor and the dead body. Cops don’t like that, but Gordon is playing hardball.

Sigh. Gordon goes home. Drunk Barbara waiting for him with gun drawn. She’s still scared of Zsasz, blah blah. Guess she’s not scared of a little vodka tho. Eh, I have tried with Barbara. I don’t like her character.

At least we have cheese with her whine....
At least we have cheese with her whine….

character. She’s wishy washy and kinda dull. “Go, stay, go, stay….” I know it’s all plot device, but give the character something to do, please.

So Ed Nygma is also the Medical Examiner, like Quincy, and he also likes cranberry muffins. And he tells himself jokes. This is the most ill-lit forensic examining lab that I’ve ever seen. Dr. G would be so put out. Whoops NOPE! He gets chased away by the real medical examiner. Pretty funny.

Back to Bruce at school. Two boys sit down with him. As a teacher, I smell a bullying scene coming up. Yep. And the main bully’s haircut is terrible.

Fish and that girl who is dating Falcone is reporting to Fish in a confessional. This girl, who’s name I can’t even remember, is rather boring. Oh, thanks Fish, it’s Liza. Liza is supposed to copy something from Falcone’s journal. Liza asks what would happen if one of his men catches her, and Fish is like…well, then you’re dead. Ha!

Bullock and Gordon show up at a busy office where the employees are looking kinda beat up. The man who is the head of the firm seems to be familiar to me, I recognize the voice. Gordon and Bullock go into the good cop/bad cop act (with Gordon as the bad cop, lol)

and main dude is acting pretty shady. They talk about mask. “A mask speaks truth.” And he is become weirder and weirder by the second.

Nygma gets a clue
Nygma gets a clue

They leave the office and there is blood on the floor leading to the restroom. Oh, look, it’s a man with a bloody nose. Whoops. But wait! A dude comes out of the restroom with a bloody bandage on a hand. He hits Gordon and leaves. Bullock comes in and tells him “You should have waited for me.”

Back at Bruce’s school. Here it comes, the bullying escalates. Bruce isn’t intimidated, but when it’s three against one, those are tough odds. Bully starts to talk about his mother and Bruce bats him across the face. Good for him.

Back to Penguin. Uh oh, he’s eating an apple and a knife. This isn’t looking good. Timothy, one of Fish Mooney’s men, is brought in and Penguin has him beat up.

Gordon and Bullock interrogate no-thumb guy. Bullock reports out that the three top candidates for some job had to fight it out, but not to the death. Blah Blah. Here comes Nygma, thank god, to offer some color to the scene. Apparently, it wasn’t black in, it was printer toner. Turns out four bodies were found having been killed with office supplies. What? No thumb dude has lawyered up before he could sign a confession.

They briefly discuss how the death of the Waynes sparked the evil that is coming up from the bowels of Gotham.

And Bruce comes out all beat up and Alfred is like what’s going on. Bruce says “Don’t tell the school.” Alfred is like “Not bloody likely.” Which means those bullies better watch out!

Bullock and Gordon have a bit of a falling out and guess who’s on the phone. Barbara, wanting to check it. Gordon is like “I’m busy” and hangs up.

Liza, spills some of the knock out syrup she is supposed to pour in Falcone’s tea.

Gordon, along in the crazy office place from the opening, finds men in cages, but he’s tasered from behind by Crazy Head Office guy.

A peek at Cat-tween, coming out of the basement of some shop that she stole from.

Alfred gives Bruce his father’s watch. Bruce goes to the home of the bully and punches him in the face right on the sidewalk. Ha! Alfred says “Point well made”. Then Alfred does the clean up.

Back to where Gordon is knocked out. Wake up Gordon, it’s time to fight to the death. It’s like Wall Street meets Fight Club with a well-heeled audience.

Bullock is asking for help in the police station, no one wants to help. Bullock is like “eff this, Gordon is a cop, you better help him, he might be in trouble.” Cops start to step up.

Back to the fight. Gordon kicks the people’s butts, of course. Mask guy taunts Gordon “Where are your policeman friends? Did they abandon you?” Gordon says “I don’t need them.” Mask guy fights Gordon with his sword, but Gordon gets the better of him. Long pause with Gordon holding the sword over Crazy Office Guy. We all know he’s not gonna stab him. Just then the DA comes in and wraps up.

Fierceness Squared
Fierceness Squared

Fish listening to another singer, an old woman. Liza wants out. She asks Fish Mooney if it’s worth it, what’s she’s doing. Fish gives her a little back story. She grew up in poverty and her mother was a prostitute. She used to sleep behind a curtain when her mother entertained men. One of Falcone’s men killed her mother because he “didin’t like th eservise” and she was there. It’s not about revenge, it’s about power. Fish promises Liza that she won’t let anything happen to her.

Poor Timothy. Hung upside down. He finally gives up that Fish has someone close to Falcone to Oswald.

Bullock and Gordon make up. Gordon gives another rally the troops speech about how he’s not going to give up until the city is clean.

Say what? Fish’s mother isn’t dead? Ha! Gotta love Fish.

Oh, look Barbara has left again. Honestly? Who cares.

Cat-tween asks to see Gordon. I hope this goes somewhere.

Bruce admits he enjoyed punching the crap out of the bully. He also admits that he’s angry all the time. Is this teen Hulk? He asks Alfred to teach him how to fight.

And


Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: black geek girls, black girl geeks, black girl nerd, black girl nerds, blerd, dahlia dewinters, erotic romance, fish mooney, gotham, gotham recaps, multicultural romance, oswald cobblepot, quirky romance

Confessions of a Blogger

Confessions.of.a.BloggerThe Nerdy Girlie posted on her confessions on her blog and encourage others to do the same.  So here I go…

 

1.  I am a terrible scheduler and get sidetracked too often, which wastes time.  This morning is a prime example of this.  I was supposed order groceries online, run updates on the laptop and do three loads of laundry.  As it turned out, I was too late (at 9:30 am!!) to schedule grocery pickup for the day, the updates on the laptop, which were supposed to take fifteen minutes, instead took an HOUR AND  HALF, and therefore, I only got one load of laundry in.  I could have run downstairs during downloading the updates and popped a load of laundry in, but I kept thinking “only five more minutes” over and over.  Not to mention that I discovered a chicken literally frozen to the shelf in the deep freeze like it took a trek through Antarctica and didn’t make it.  I had to save that one until tomorrow.

2.  I feel awkward promoting myself.   As an author, self-promotion is almost as important as writing the book.  Problem is, I stink at self-promotion.  It feels intrusive, annoying and self-serving.  I’ve found it very difficult to promote beyond posting the book cover/link a couple of times on Facebook and writing a few blog posts about inspiration etc.  It’s hard to find a “happy medium”  and one tends to wonder….are people really paying attention?

3.  I love lists.  Five best movies?  Six foods for energy?  I love them all. I waste way too much time reading lists.  Thing is, I learn a lot from these lists….enough to inspire lists of my own.

4.  I have a lot of ideas for blogging…..but I don’t write them down.  So when it comes time to actually write, I’m looking at a blank page with my fingers hovering over the keyboard.  Or, what I WANT to write is so out there that I’m afraid no one will relate and/or care and I’ll get lots of nasty comments.  It’s hard to find a balance. But did order a planner for myself (after having scoured Staples) and I am looking forward to writing down these ideas from now on.

5.  Music is my muse.  When I get ready to write, whether it be a tender/sexy love scene, a zombie-fighting scene (in my work in progress) or a blog post, I pop on the headphones.  Fuel, Train, The Police, the Eighties, Tchaikovsky….whatever is the inspiration at the time, I click that playlist on Google Play.  Then, hopefully, off to the races!!

What are some of your blogger confessions?


Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: blerd, blogger confessions, dahlia dewinters, geek, geek girl, geek romance, nerd, quirky romance, romance, romance writers, sensual romance

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


Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: blerd, dahlia, dahlia dewinters, dahliadewinters, erotic romance, geek girl, interracial romance, quirky romance, romance

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