04.30.09
Posted in Promo at 8:50 am by chrissymunder
May 2009
April showers bring May flowers. Well, what do May flowers bring then?
(Are you ready for the answer?)
Pilgrims, silly!
So much for my adventures with Mrs. Wolf’s second grade class. Yes, it’s true – May is upon us and so is the wonderful spread of pollen in the air. My gardens are looking quite lovely this year, and I’m pleased that they don’t seem to need my attention to do their thing. I’m working to finally getting myself back on track and the organizational whiz I was in 2008. (you can stop laughing now) Until that happens – here’s what’s what so far:
May 1st – To Have and To Hold is available at a Pre-release discount only at Dreamspinner Press
– May contest begins
May 4th – New Release! – Drive Me Home is available in print and eBook at Dreamspinner Press
May 23rd – GLBT day on the Love Romances Cafe Yahoo Group. This always a fantastic time that leaves my pocket book much worse for wear.
May 30th – Join the festive Dreamspinner authors over at Love Romances Cafe Yahoo Group. There will be excerpts, there will be chatting – much fun will be had by all. You wouldn’t want to miss that now, would you?
– May Contest ends
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04.24.09
Posted in Real Live Blog at 7:56 am by chrissymunder
A matter of perception: Early morning, pre-caffeine sort of rambling.
If necessity is the mother of invention (Thorstein Veblen), and assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups (Movie Quote: Under Siege 2:Dark Territory), then what do I consider perception?
Is perception solely the sum of our life experiences and knowledge through which we filter our daily input? Or is it something more? Ignoring the obvious answer, can we choose to deliberately alter our perceptions? Perhaps more finely tune our filters?
Consider a segment I’ve worked on recently. An assortment of input received on it included the following descriptive terms: dark, aggressive, graphic, violent, and angry. Please note that yes, I am without a doubt taking these comments out of context for this ramble, and that I also consider all of the above comments compliments of a high order in regard to the piece.
In each instance the perception of the segment was filtered through the reader’s perceptions. What I find interesting is how the varying perceptions of what was written differed from my own. Of course, the beauty here is that there is no right or wrong answer. It’s simply a matter of perception. Obviously my perceptual filters are set to a much different level when it comes to anger, aggression and sexual violence. (We’ll ponder that another day).
Different people. Dissimilar filters. Differing perceptions.
If I may momentarily channel a film character in honor of the upcoming North American Release of the new Star Trek movie – Fascinating.
So now I contemplate with bleary-eyed and uncaffeinated wonder, is this something I should consider when I am writing? Or could it be more of an editing tool? At what point do I attempt to view my writing through a more en masse filtration rather than an individual one? Or even should I? Is it possible for me to re-sensitize myself and alter my perceptions at will? Do I want to?
My life experiences and perceptual filter insist that undoubtedly I will not. But then, I know better than to contemplate such things before coffee.
Sometimes, I even succeed.
***
As a side note here are some interesting words I came across while undertaking caffeination:
Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them. -Epictetus.
Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world. -George Bernard Shaw.
Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world. -Hans Margolius.
We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are. – Anais Nin.
The mice think they are right, but my cat eats them anyways. This is the point, reality is nothing, perception is everything. – Terry Goodkind
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04.19.09
Posted in Dreamspinner Press, New Release Info, Promo at 1:47 pm by Administrator
Presales at a discounted price start May 1st only at Dreamspinner Press
Available June 1st in eBook
To Have and To Hold
A Love Story a Day for the Month of June
A wedding day is full of magic! Whether you’re the groom, the best man, a friend, or a bystander, the love in the air is impossible to resist. These stories give you a glimpse of the many forms of love: love at first sight or a love for the ages, wedding bells or engagements, or that inexplicable something that makes you think “I do,” the men in these stories are all touched by its spell. Feel your heart melt with a daily dose of romance from To Have and To Hold.
I’ll have two stories in this collection:
Promise of the Heart
Jacob agrees to fill in as a wedding photographer for a friend, never expecting to come face to face with a ghost form the past: Alan, the man he loved and lost through his unchecked ambition. Will Jacob get a second chance to keep the promise he made in his heart?
A Simple Life
Frank wasn’t sure what to think when Clark gave him a present in a little white box. It wasn’t his birthday; it wasn’t their anniversary. But what he finds will become a precious piece of his life.
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04.04.09
Posted in New Release Info, Promo at 4:26 pm by Administrator
Available in Print and eBook May 4th from Dreamspinner Press.
Summary:Las Vegas isn’t just a glamorous, glitzy playground for high rollers, Elvis impersonators, and blushing newlyweds. It’s also a seedy, worn-out dumping ground for the lonely, the broken, and the lost. Eric Moss is one of those drifters, just marking time, until he meets two very different men, both of whom could change his life.
Marc Evans is a rich casino owner. He offers Eric safety, security, and a chance to regain some of his ravaged past. Brad Torres is a garage mechanic. He offers Eric nothing at all.
The choice might have been easy, if Eric weren’t intensely attracted to both men. He has to choose between Sin City’s sparkling lights and a life in the shadows—will he be able to live with his heart’s decision?
Read an excerpt.
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04.03.09
Posted in Real Live Blog at 8:02 am by chrissymunder
Having come to the momentous decision that 6:30 AM is way too early to be at work when I’m not expecting to leave until 7:00 PM my mind turned to other important questions.
Such as – did you ever notice how in books and movies the heating and cooling systems have huge-ass air ducts and large ceiling vents so that our heroes/heroines can hoist themselves up and crawl around? Usually with quick access in the restroom?
I’m in the restroom this morning here at work, and I look up and okay, there IS a vent over the actual toilet proper but it’s so small that there’s not a chance in hell anyone can get through that.
Also – How about the elevator at your workplace? Ever look up and check out the possible escape hatch – often used in movies to clamber out onto the top to do something involving the cables? In a bad SCIFI movie ookie creatures with large tentacles would be breaking through said hatch. In an action movie Bruce Willis could save the world with access to that hatch.
I took a look at our elevator and nope, Bruce would be shit out of luck there.
Note to self: Let’s hope the ookie creatures with tentacles give my building a pass.
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04.01.09
Posted in Contests at 2:49 pm by Administrator
Happy April everyone! Just a quick congratulations to Robin for winning my March contest – her copy of Brush with Desire is already on its way.
April’s contest is posted – stop by www.chrissymunder.com and check it out.
I’m still too behind to spare much time to think great thoughts, but do you know where or why April Fool’s Day orginated? And more importantly – just WHY is it on the US Calendar anyway?
I wasn’t able to answer any of those questions, but I did have fun clicking around Snopes and Wiki in my efforts to procrastinate learn more.
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