itsjoysworld.net

I was having a conversation with a client the other day (yes…I realize most of my posts start this way.) She was telling me about Alabama refusing to sign marriage certificates because they didn’t want to support gay marriage.
The argument one judge was using is that if we allow same sex marriage we will take a ride on a slippery slope, and soon enough, people will be marrying their pets. Yes he went from two human beings to bestiality.
Honestly if a person wants to marry their dog I think we should have them fill out some sort license. Then we would know that they do in fact want to marry their dog. Wouldn’t that be something you would want to know about a person. As a woman I would want to know if the person I’m dating is only doing so because he can’t date Fluffy. To be second best to a persons pet would be a huge blow to someone’s self esteem. Or if you weren’t dating them you would still want to know for other reasons. (If the person runs a kennel I would think twice about sending. Delilah Jane there.)

You would be able to make a informed decision on if you want to communicate with them and their bitch. (Couldn’t resist)
Just because something is illegal doesn’t mean people automatically follow the rule. I guarantee the thoughts were already there. I don’t see someone that has never had romantic feelings for their pet one day decide to take the marital plunge because it is now legal.
If people showed their true colors more misunderstandings and heartbreak would be reduced incredibly. I go back to the dating contact idea in my last post. Let your freak flag fly don’t hide it just to have it revealed at the worst possible time.
I have a feeling this has nothing to do with this judges feelings for two human beings who want to partake in marriage, but maybe its his confusing feelings he has toward his dog.

Ok, the title was super lame.

If you know me, you know I hate stepping on people’s toes. I keep my opinions to myself. They are my opinions, and who wants to hear them? I live in a dream world where everyone gets along. I am one of those people that has lost sleep thinking someone doesn’t like me. So my opinion is reserved for the rants in my head where nobody can get upset with me.

When I heard that domestic abuse groups were picketing the movie I freaked. I was afraid I was doing something wrong by watching FSOG. It kept me up at night tossing and turning trying to figure out what I should do.

I thought about it, and decided I am not doing anything wrong. From everything that has been publicized E.L. James is in fact a woman. She did something almost every author dreams about. She wrote a book millions of people gravitated toward. Her words were devoured by the masses. Even if you aren’t a fan of her writing she did something people only dream of, and because of that I applaud her. Her book may not be for everyone, but from the sales it was for a lot of people.

I have never hid that at one point in my life I was in an abusive relationship. I do not in anyway advocate abuse to someone you love, or someone you don’t love. I didn’t want to walk to the theater where a group of people were yelling, and toting signs telling me what I am doing is wrong. The idea of having to walk by them while they judged me made me sick to my stomach. I thought about my past. How my ex would yell at me, look at me with disapproval in his eyes, and other things to get me to do what he wanted me to do. In a twisted way that is exactly what the picketers were doing. I decided that I wouldn’t let anyone dictate what I can and cannot do. They don’t know my situation, my past, and I am a grown adult that can make decisions for herself. (There were no picketers. Thank goodness. I can write a big game, but I don’t do confrontation, and I’m not sure I could have handled that situation.)

One of the arguments the picketers had was the movie advocated abuse. These are my thoughts on that….

Even though I was 19 and naive I would like to think I was smart enough that if my ex would have sent me a contract stating what our relationship would entail my ass would have stayed in school and never moved to Texas. In the movie Anna is given a detailed contract on what would happen if she accepted Christian’s Uhmm…asking her to go steady. These were two consenting adults agreeing on the terms and conditions of their relationship. Who are we to judge others? As long as both agree and are happy, even if we don’t understand it, it isn’t really our business. In all honesty, I think instating contracts before a relationship is started is genius. Everything would be laid out in black and white no surprise tempers flaring no walking in with your significant other wearing your underwear (unless it was stated in the contract.) So much heartache would be alleviated. If a woman has the right to say no…she also has the right to say yes.

Another argument was that the movie was degrading to women….

This might sound silly to say against this argument, but she had a safeword. A magic word that made everything stop. Anything that made her uncomfortable, or took her past her limits all she had to do is utter one word. That to me is power. I will be the first to admit that during my relationship I did not go through every word in the dictionary when his temper got the best of him. I assumed that “no” and “stop” would suffice. At anytime she could walk out on the relationship no questions asked. This was something agreed upon by both of them. He only had control that she gave him, and event that wasn’t permanent she could take whatever she gave him back. No cops would have to be summoned. Neighbors wouldn’t have to listen to screaming, and things breaking hovering over their phones trying to decide if they should get involved.

This whole thing has left me very uneasy. I was worried that I would hurt someone’s feeling by going to see a movie. I know that I need to get over my need to please everyone, but some people don’t realize that their opinions that they so freely spew out affect others actions.

I just got home from the movie. Most of this post was written before I left. I am not going to give my opinion of it because really it doesn’t matter. The unease I have been feeling the past three weeks in making a decision to watch a movie, seriously a movie, a fucking movie, has not left me. My past has been on my mind more than it has in years. Be aware your words have power. Think about your opinions, and what you want to accomplish with them. Try to take in account people have pasts that mold them into the person they are, and just maybe they can decide what is best for them.

synopsis….Two people from completely different worlds are about to be thrown together…

In more ways than one.

She wants to keep her scholarship. He wants to stay on the team. An awkward alliance doesn’t even begin to cover Rimmel and Romeo’s relationship.

But that’s about to change.

It starts with a dare. An initiation. A challenge.

Quickly, it turns into more. But when you’re a victim of your status, there is no room for anything real. The rules are clear and simple.

Stick to your circle.

And never fall in love with anyone on the outside.

synopsis….Book two in the Hashtag Series!
It started with unspoken animosity. The bitter bite of jealousy. And now its full blown hate.

It was during my first football game that I first felt the first chill of hate. I looked it right in the eyes and felt its sticky tentacles reach out for me. I’d never experienced something so cold and empty before.

The effect of that look lingered, like an unspoken promise, long after it was gone.

Becoming a couple – becoming the other half of a campus celebrity wasn’t easy. I let down walls guarding my heart and he looked past my glasses and accident prone tendencies. Romeo and I are an unlikely match, a #nerd and a jock. But we made it.

And we’re happy.

Zach doesn’t want us to be happy. He wants Romeo to pay for getting him kicked out of Omega and for the night he spent in jail. He’s going to use anything and everything he can to get his revenge. Including me.

As the weather on campus grows cold and the days become dark, revenge becomes the center of someone’s life and the happiness Romeo and I worked so hard for is threatened.

I can’t help but worry that our love is going to be overshadowed by hate.

My review….

I can’t do my review for these books individually, because as soon as I finished #Nerd I was diving into #Hater. I adored this series. The chemistry between the two main characters Romeo and Rimmel is nuclear. The first story gives you the beginning of Romeo and Rimmel’s love story. It unfolds at a pace that has your finger swiping quickly in order to devour the next page. I became invested in the characters immediately. I found myself breaking out into spontaneous smiling when the two were together. The next installment in the #Hashtag series is coming out soon (Yay!) You still have time to catch up with Romeo and Rimmel just in time for #Player.

The synopsis…..

Laura Dantonville is shocked to learn her strange genetic mutation,
is linked to a dark family secret—a centuries-old curse that turned her Roman ancestor into a vampire. Now that she has come of age, she is the key to breaking that curse. But she’s also the prey of rogue vampires who inhabit the city’s frightening and violent underworld, as her blood gives them the ability to daywalk. For her protection she’s assigned a guardian—the handsome, sexy and dangerous Alec Munro.

Former military doctor and current leader of the Brethren, Alec Munro has no intention of being responsible for Laura. After all, it was her damned family who was responsible for his untimely death and subsequent transformation. He owes them nothing, yet he also knows his own fated role in breaking the curse, and the unthinkable consequences should he not accept.

To the Brethren, the ending of the curse spells disaster. Among a powerful few malice grows…

My Review…

This book was extremely well written. Tima deftly wove the history of the characters throughout the book. As a reader, I was immersed in the background. I found myself on the edge of my seat when reading how the main characters became inducted into the vampire world. The history brought a edge of intimacy between the reader and the characters. In knowing how they manifested into their now, it made me as a reader more invested into their current story.
This story gave readers a new facet to the vampire story. Tima created her own rules and regulations for the characters. I will admit some did not like the restraint put upon them and flexed their super natural powers to get out of Tima’s grasp. Tima did a fantastic job keeping her characters in check, but allowing them to grow into someone the readers connected with. I am very excited to read the next installment of this series.

Yay!!! It is official I just booked my hotel for The Novel Experience in April.

This is a list of all of the authors that will be in attendance.

http://novelexperienceevent.org/pages/authors.html

I have started looking at all of their profiles so I can get a feel of what I am getting into. This will be Rebecca Fisher’s first big signing, and I am so proud of her.

I am nervous to meet people who have done the very thing I want to do. Anxiety will surface.

When I get anxious, nervous, or overwhelmed I go into what I refer to as the squid defense. What is the squid defense you ask? Basically I start spouting off curse words in the hopes the people around me will walk away. Living in SoCal I have added gluten to my list of bad words. Women in their tiny work out clothes flee faster when that word comes out of my mouth than when the Fuck’s start flying. Awkward, yes, that is me in a nut shell. After releasing my tirade the people who are still near me become my friends. They get it. Thankfully alcohol will be readily available, because that list of authors is pretty big.

I am also excited because I will get at least one blog out of this sucker. Last time I was in Vegas…well, here you can read about it.

https://itsjoysworld.net/2014/06/23/just-say-no/

Side note: I have been absent in the social media universe lately. I promised myself I would publish Breaking Faith this year. I have been editing it, and trying to get it to a decent word count (that isn’t going to happen.) Lilo Abernathy steered me toward an editing program that has saved my life. (Thank you Lilo 🙂

I am terrified, and excited that the world will be introduced to Faith and Kill some time this year. A mysterious voice told me this day would come, and I couldn’t hold onto it forever. Seems he was right. Damn.

The synopsis….

In Books I and II of The Sanctum Trilogy, Madhuri Blaylock took readers on a treacherous journey full of intrigue and corruption, horror and despair, as she wove the tale of Dev and Wyatt, the hybrid demon created to destroy The Sanctum and her lover, once a warrior for The Sanctum, now a member of the mysterious sect of Magicals known as the Ramyan.

Their tale continues in Book Three: THE PROPHECY as battles wage, loved ones are lost, and the world seems on the brink of madness.

Culminating in explosive horror, one is forced to ask: after all of the blood and torture and pain and death, can there be any room for hope and wonder and life and love?

MY REVIEW.

I can only imagine that Madhuri’s keyboard was molded out of some top secret material. This is the only way it could withstand the words pouring from her fingers, and luckily for us, landing on her computer screen. Madhuri wrote a blog post (I will hopefully find the link one day) where her mom asked about the author of the poetry in the beginning of the book. Madhuri explained to her mom she wrote it, but never realized it was poetry as she isn’t the biggest connoisseur (my words not Madhuri’s.)

It surprised me that she wouldn’t think of it as poetry. In my humble opinion all of her books are poetic. The connection between one sentence to another is more than just the makings of a paragraph.

Madhuri is a story architect. She strings words together to make sentences that make the foundation of an epic story. I feel wrong just calling it a book, because it was so much more. The flow of the paragraphs was flawless the story she built is exactly like the house Wyatt builds for Dev. (Sorry teeny tiny spoiler.)

I normally read on my elliptical. Everyday I hop on my trusty NordicTrack, and for an hour I immerse myself into somebody else’s world. I was unable to do that with The Prophecy. I found myself slowing down just so I could concentrate on the flow of the words. It felt like the book was one long sentence, the current like a river that ran together creating a beautiful story. I actually put notes in my Kindle on pages that blew my mind marking them as perfect.

I am sad and happy that this trilogy is over. It makes sense that it would end with The Prophecy. The Prophecy is what brought The Girl, and The Boy together. The beginning of their bond. I’m not saying that once this perfect union was together The Prophecy didn’t get a little jealous and tried to pull them apart (hey, no one is perfect. We have set friends up, and then lost them to the new relationship. It sucks.) This book had me laughing, and crying in certain places I did both at the same time. The bond between the characters gave me hope that the world will get it right one of these days. As long as good keep edging above evil, and love can conquer all we all have a chance. This story is a story of hope, love, and some freaking hot sex scenes. I can not recommend it enough.

I had every intention of writing a new blog every Friday. Yes, I know it’s Monday. I was in the clutches of an epic cold. The only way I can describe this sucker is it was the Rock Star of all colds.

If I’m stuck in bed this is my idea of a Rock Star…Matt DiRito

He  looked at me, threw me into bed, and didn’t let me emerge for the rest of the day sweaty and weak. Was he done with me? Oh, hell no not this Rock Star. He pulled me back into bed days afterwards for a quickie (most people call them naps.) He discarded me just as quickly as he took me. Being the stellar guy  he was he left me with a lingering cough (the colds equivalent of an STD.) I am hopeful  a couple shots of NyQuil will fix me from my indiscretions.

The other day I received two gifts from my fabulous clients. It wasn’t even my birthday, but you won’t hear this girl complain. (Just hacking in the background. Fucking Rock Star.)

I should explain that I no longer watch the news. Making my perspective of people skewed, or maybe not. I live in a naive bubble where unicorns fart rainbows out of their glittered asses, and people want others to be happy. Don’t burst my bubble. I have my jaded moments, I have lived with a monster, but I refuse to let that ruin my rose tented glasses. The news is not conducive to my lens making the rose tent look warped.

I’ve had people tell me I am ignorant and blind by not acknowledging the world’s problems. They are right.

Watching the news didn’t make me feel empowered to change the world for the better it made me feel overwhelmed and helpless. Since that wasn’t helping the world, or me I stopped. My news now comes in the form of the nakeds. I also receive my movie reviews, and weather reports. How much I take their information to heart obviously depends on the naked on my bed.

Last Saturday I had two clients bring me gifts for no reason except they wanted to. It made my heart happy. The first  a paper bag containing a bottle of Boone’s Farm.

Yes, I totally just threw you back into your teenage rebel years. You’re welcome.

My client and I were talking about Boone’s Farm before Christmas. I was laughing remembering my first and only experience with the stuff. I was a sophomore in High School.  My friend Michelle and I went to her house, and her boyfriend and his older hotter brother (not sure if he was cute, or it was the Boone’s talking) procured a bottle of Boone’s and a bottle of Old English (OE) I really didn’t like to bend the rules when I was younger. I was more of a rule polisher. Not wanting to look like a complete fool (we all know the only way to get rid of peer pressure is to give in. KIDDiNG) I took a couple sips of OE (yuck. I think my insides are still boiling from those couple of sips)  and some of the Boone’s. My lightweight status was put to the test, and after a while I was telling a certain older brother (who may or may not have the same name as the infamous unabomber) that he was adorable. (SMH. Even drunk my awkwardness penetrated my flirting.) When my client came in and handed me the bottle of awkward memories I couldn’t stop laughing.

My next client came in telling me she had a present for me. I don’t know what was with that day. Maybe the moon was in retrograde or Jupiter got a hold of a bottle of Boone’s. I wasn’t going to question it. My client had bought us tickets to go see Fifty Shades of Gray next Friday .

I have to admit I am curious to see how they made that book into a movie. I read all three of them. Clients were raving about them, and they wanted to discus them with me. I took longer than normal to get through them. In my head I was constantly urging them to go out and eat. I mean honestly that was a lot of sex crammed  in that book. (see what I did there?)

I’m not a fan of pain with my pleasure. Some spanking, and hair tugging is all you are going to get away with before I kick the crap out of you. The book wasn’t really my style. Being how many people have read it, and the numerous books that cover the same subject I’m in the minority. This wouldn’t be the first time. I am not mocking E.L. James. Really good for her. She found a niche and blew that sucker like a candy flavored uhmmm…yeah. She wrote something and people bought it. I have recommended it to many clients who I knew would enjoy it. I am a firm believer that everyone’s art has an admirer, and even if I am not into it doesn’t mean I have any right to criticize it.

I actually wrote a post about this subject.

https://itsjoysworld.net/2014/09/28/cant-we-all-just-get-along/

For me the pleasure pain thing brings up memories that don’t put a smile on my face. Maybe that is why I can’t enjoy the books. I don’t want to assume people that enjoy these books have never been in a violent relationship maybe they are trying to take the power back by allowing people to hurt them on their terms, I’m not sure. For me I cringed every time flesh collided with flesh. We will see how I feel about the movie.

Enough of my weird thoughts on Fifty Shades. The convoluted message of this post is that there are good people. People who don’t have an agenda, but actually want you to succeed. These are my favorite people, and my favorite stories to listen to. I am very lucky to have clients, and friends who have endless stories that put a smile on my face.

keep your rose tinted glasses firmly in place. It makes it easier to spot the glitter.