UPDATE: The winner is…Shiduna Townsend!
*~*~*

Puzzlers! I chose this photo because I was looking at pictures from my favorite place to buzz into for a long weekend. I was feeling a little nostalgic. Have fun with the challenge!

Puzzle-Contest

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle then tell me a little story about what you think is about to happen in this dark place…

UPDATE: The winners are…Katherine Horvath and Peggy Fowler!
*~*~*

I like dancers. Those beautiful movements, the expressions, the costumes, the emotion, and yes, the bodies, too. Like any art form, dance is a way of communicating. A story is told, and I love stories. I wrote three fantasy novels about three dancing half-sisters and how they lived in a city full of scoundrels, wizards, and monsters.

There was a time, about fifteen years back, when I went to dance performances, mainly belly dancing. That habit bled to death for various reasons (time, a relationship, et cetera). Usually, I went to a festival in which various acts performed. I learned that there are also male belly dancers. And apparently, I have the belly for it!

Once there was a single female performance in the Regentes Theatre in the Dutch city of Den Haag (I’m a Dutchie for those who didn’t know). The theatre is located in an old swimming pool, and it still has a lot of the original 1920s Art Deco elements.

Most people think that belly dancing is a bit of shaking with the belly, pelvis, breasts, and butt, and yes, those elements are there for sure, but of course, it is much more. Belly dancing consists of all kinds of movements and traditions, from various cultures. There is also room for modern dance types from jazz ballet to house. I once saw a Russian dancer do her belly dance to house music, and it was totally worth it.

But back to the performance I witnessed… I sat in the front row, partly for room for my legs, partly to get a good look. There was no partition; the dance floor started immediately. For those of us in the front row, our feet rested on the dance floor.

Dark room, a single spot. A beautiful, tall dark-haired lady entered. Lebanese? Something like that. Melancholic music began, the dance began. Her performance stood for her life story, or the story of her family. After all these years, the details are getting a bit vague. Anyways, that night she combined belly dancing with modern experimental dance.

She was good. Love, marriage, children, quarrels, loneliness, hope, the threat of war and flight, passion…  She brought everything to life, caught in the spotlight that followed her. The audience was carried away, without words, without explanation, just by the enchantment of the music and her dance.

The light was now red in color, the music more challenging, her movements voluptuous. A scene in a nightclub from a strip show? Yes, something like that. Lust. Sex. She wiggled her butt, looked over her shoulders at her audience.

Swallow. Yes. Good art plays with your emotions. Art or pleasure, and she used both to play with us.

Big me, short hair, broad shoulders, a head like a rock. Knife scars running from my right ear to my chin. There I was, sitting in the front row, massive between the frail ladies and wiry gentlemen. Who go to dance performances? Mainly dancers, professional, hobby, former and whatever dancers. A dancing public. I was the very clear exception. I’m not a dancer. I’m a writer.

She looked at me. I looked back, appreciative.

She came over to me with swaying her hips.

Something snorted inside me. It came out like a grin. Nostrils open, muscles tense. Control is nice, but feeling the inner beast is fun, too.

At the last moment, less than half a step away, she turned and sat down.

Her butt on my lap, her legs over mine.

There, trapped together in the spot. Beauty and the Beast. Agility exposed on that massive hump of meat and bones.

She turned, squirmed, she danced while sitting.

I kept my hands at my sides. If it had been just the two of us, I would have grabbed and played with her. But there was an audience, so I didn’t, and she knew I would not. Damn, women aren’t crazy. She knew and enjoyed the power she had.

Me, too. Standing on the edge, just not letting go of the beast… That’s nice, too.

She jumped up again; the lap dance was over. She threw me a kiss, and I returned it with a grin. Like a twisting flame, she turned farther up the floor, on her way to the next part of her life story.

Jump after it! Stamp exaggerated, big gestures, big strides. A troll and a fairy. Do it! She would whirl around me, and I would chase her like a golem.

No, I didn’t. It was her performance. Not mine, I told myself. Besides, I wasn’t that brave. No. I didn’t dare, although deep in my heart I wished I had.

In the end, the performance was over.

I went home happy, melancholy, full of creative energy.

…

Once I went to dance performances.

One day, we’ll go again.

We? Yes. She and I. No, not her, not the dancing lady. Another special lady, but that’s another story.

Contest

Comment for a chance to win a copy of First Response! I’ll choose two winners!

About the Author

Inside First Response, read “Save Me Twice” by Jaap Boekestein – Playing with handcuffs leads to unexpected and sexy consequences for a timid office worker when she loses the key.

Jaap Boekestein is an award-winning Dutch writer of science fiction, fantasy, horror, thrillers, and whatever takes his fancy. He usually writes his stories in the coffeehouses of his native The Hague, the Netherlands. Over the years he has made his living as a bouncer, working for a detective agency, and the Justice Department.

January Wrap Up

January was a pretty cool month. I ticked off several things on my 2021 plan. So far, I’m keeping to The Plan. I do have one every year, but then life happens and things slip or disappear. But so far (I still have today to get through 🙂 ), I’m right on the mark.

I finished writing and published a book — Preacher. I really enjoyed writing it, and it looks like readers are loving it, so whew! Check

I set up the pre-order and began work on the next Montana Bounty Hunter, Hardman, and have three chapters under my belt! Check

 

I completed two full sets of edits for author-clients, and have two more to carry over into February. Check

My daughter restarted my Delilah Devlin Instagram and took it over, making and posting book memes for me. Something I’ve been completely haphazard about doing. Now, my Insta looks like an author lives there. 🙂 Check

With her help and pushing, I started a new FB group as a place to hang out with fans. We’ve set it up but haven’t done any big events yet, like author takeover days, but that’s coming. In the meantime, we’ve had fun with giveaways and sharing exercises. It’s been a pretty fun thing, and thank you, Kelly, for pushing me over the ledge. So, FB group, Delilah’s Corner. Check

I’ve read through roughly 1/3 of the short stories submitted for the upcoming edition of the Cowboys: Boys Behaving Badly Anthology. Check

Also, during the month, I posted plenty of fun commentary, ran numerous contests, and had many wonderful guests. Maintaining this site is work, too! Check

Already, that’s a lot, but I have one more thing to do today…

If you’ve been following me for very long, you’ll remember that I did this art challenge last year, and I posted a boatload of pics of things I completed. Well, it starts again today, so hopefully, I have room to add one more thing to my daily To Do List without capsizing that boat.

Coming in February

February will be cram-jammed. I want to complete Hardman and start on the last in the Beau Reve Coven series, Dark Moon. If Hardman takes me longer to wrap up than I’ve planned for, then I have to push out Dark Moon and start on Hot SEAL, In His Memory first, because that one has a hard due date (April 27th).

Hardman has a release date on Amazon of March 23rd, but if I finish it early, I may move the release to the end of February or early March, so be watching for that announcement!

I have a ton of short stories to still read through and make decisions regarding which stories will be in Cowboys: Boys Behaving Badly Anthology.

I have two sets of author-client edits to finish up and three more to work on in February.

I have 28 days, therefore 28 art projects, to complete in February.

Plus, I’m going to put together a box set of previously published books and run some special deals. So, be watching for that, too!

I think that’s enough, right? Okay, laid out like that, I’m a little nervous. Will you give me an attagirl? And I don’t mind a little nagging throughout the month… 

UPDATE: The winner is…Lisa!
*~*~*

I’m in the unusual (for me) position of being ahead of schedule with work—for both editing and writing—and I thought that today I’d take a break and do some straightening and organizing. Not my favorite thing to do, but #The100DayProject begins tomorrow, so I really should at least be able to find the top of my art table!

Anyway, I need the motivation to get started and stay on task, and I thought some music might get my heart pumping. So, I’m looking to create a playlist of music guaranteed to make me move. Give me some suggestions for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

First up, for me, is this song from the Killers—“Mr. Brightside.” Eric Roberts is in the music video looking hot and sinister!

UPDATE: The winners are…Eniko, Misty, Colleen, bn100, Debra, and Fedora!
*~*~*

I’m a Sci-fi Romance Writer. Or, at least, I was.

But then an Earth-bound dragon-shifter story idea knocked at my brain, and I had to write it. Because, you know… dragon-shifters!

The idea was a Viking shifter and a Chinese shifter come together to battle a prophesized World Destroyer. An East-meets-West story with a strong emphasis on the concept of yin and yang (and fortune cookies) and rich with references to the two cultures.

No biggie, right? Except for the small detail that, aside from my avid support of a local Chinese restaurant, I know nothing about that culture. And even less about Vikings. Or Minnesota, where the Viking clan now live. Or LA, where my story takes place…

When I write my alien-planets-filled-with-alien-creatures books, I get to just make stuff up for the most part. But not with What a Dragon Wants. Oh, my… I was going to have to research for my story. Not just a quick Google of a few details, either. This was gonna involve intense research. I had to be thorough. I had to be accurate.

And most importantly, I had to be sensitive.

I wasn’t crafting some culture from the weird synapses in my brain; I was trying to convey cultures that actually exist (or have existed) on this Earth. The suspension of disbelief would be narrower and the readers less forgiving if I got it wrong. And there are soooo many ways to screw up!

Critique Partners were important, and Sensitivity Readers were crucial. I inquired around my small network and found several kind souls willing to help in this endeavor. Heck, one day subbing at the local High School, I walked into the Mandarin teacher’s room during passing period and did the whole “you don’t know me, but I have a huge favor to ask” awkwardness. Probably not my finest five-minutes, but I was desperate to get the Chinese culture right.

I’m so grateful for all the comments and suggestions I received from my Critique Partners and Sensitivity Readers. I always am, as they help make my story the best it can be. And in the particular case of What a Dragon Wants, they certainly caught several places where I had proverbially stepped in it.

Did we catch everything? Probably not.

Will someone with a greater or more astute knowledge of these cultures find fault in my story? Possibly.

Did I attempt to craft an interesting, sexy, multi-cultural paranormal story that is entertaining, sprinkled with humor, and not grossly offensive? Absolutely.

The theme of yin and yang—of balance—runs through my story. The same theme also applies to how well I incorporated the aspects of my various cultures with the made-up story of my dragon-shifters and their world-ending-prophesy. And, while only time (and my readers) will tell if I accomplished this balance, it was a fun challenge and an exciting, somewhat nerve-wracking, endeavor.

G I V E A W A Y!

Comment on this blog, and I’ll pick five random winners to receive either a Kindle ebook or a signed paperback (US only) of my What a Dragon Wants novella. Then you can tell me how well I managed to balance it all. 🙂

Ebook available exclusively on Amazon KU and Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TB8C2GZ/
Print available at multiple online retailers.

About Ava Cuvay 

Ava Cuvay writes out of this world romance featuring sassy heroines, gutsy heroes, passion, and adventure… often set in a galaxy far, far away. She resides in central Indiana with her own scruffy-looking nerfherder and kiddos who remind her daily she’s not as cool and hip as she thinks. She believes life is too short to bother with negative people, everything is better with Champagne, and Han Solo shot first. When not writing, Ava is thinking about writing. Or wine. And she’s always thinking about bacon.

Website: https://avacuvay.com/books/
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Ava-Cuvay/e/B01E5OIZ0I/
Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15051407.Ava_Cuvay
Facebook: https://facebook.com/AvaCuvayAuthor/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/ava-cuvay

 

Download your FREE copy of the latest installment of the Love in Lockdown story—SUBLET!

What happens when two exes have to live in an apartment built for one?

Reina Torres has installment #5 of her story, SUBLET, ready for you to read! And she’s not finished yet! There’s going to be at least one more! So, enjoy!

Follow this link!

UPDATE: The winner is Ophelia L!
*~*~*

The other night, the family rewatched The Martian with Matt Damon. Terrific movie by the way, if you haven’t seen it. Man gets stranded on Mars and has to survive until he’s rescued.

Of course, after we watched the movie, we talked about space exploration and colonizing the moon or Mars or some far-flung planet. My daughter is in the “Oh Hell, No” corner. She’d never go. Whereas I wish I could live long enough to experience space travel myself. Maybe it was because of watching Star Trek and Lost in Space on TV as a kid, but I always wanted to be a space explorer. *sigh* I live in the wrong age. I should have been born five hundred years from now. Whereas, my daughter wishes she’d been born in the early 1950s so she could experience the music, the Summer of Love, and the fashion. She inherited my flower child gene.

What about you? If you had a chance to be picked to be on the first team to colonize Mars, would you? Comment for a chance to win the download of your choice from my backlist!