Giveaway Goodness

Head over to Sinfully Sexy Books for a fabulous Rafflecopter draw, one eBook, four great books in the mix – by authors Lily Velden, A.M. Sexton, A.J. Jarrett and myself (yikes!), with Objects Of His Obsession.

This is not amongst the four but looks fun... It also prompts the question, exactly what 'strange love in society' is this woman finding on her illicit honeymoon?

Hmm, a question to ponder before you hit that giveaway link...


















photo credit: Illicit Honeymoon. No. 32 (August 1949) / Illicit Honeymoon, no 32 (août 1949) via photopin (license)

Dark Reads, Fierce Subject Matter

Facebook cross-post:

Rereading Jane Eyre & A Rice Cry To Heaven. What a combo. The psychology of Jane Eyre has always fascinated me. What an even darker romance that would be if written now, and I’m not talking about Rochester. (Although he has some interesting issues, what with the wife in the attic and the attempted bigamy). Jane herself has a darkness and fixity that is quite terrifying in its own way (apologies to any that find it pure romance).

Quick choice: who would you rather have dinner with? Charlotte Bronte or Emily? Close, but personally I’d vote for Emily. Anyone that could create Cathy, let alone Heathcliff, I need to meet.

As for Cry To Heaven: subject matter. Nuff said. Fearless.

This is my current soundtrack, the magnificent Kate Bush (note the smooth segueway from the Bronte’s to music – Wuthering Heights, geddit ;)

Since I’m currently dealing with the stage:

Teenage Genius

I’m a lousy poster, but here you go, three individuals that crossed my radar and truly intrigued me, followed by the question: what the hell is it to hit brilliance in your teens? Blessing or curse?

Rowland S. Howard. I didn’t realize that he’d written one of my all time favorite Nick Cave numbers, the astonishing and achingly lush Shivers when he was only 16. Yep, sixteen. Check the link at the bottom for a baby-faced Nick Cave’s rendition of it in his Boys Next Door incarnation.

But bookery and not music… I’d have to nominate Raymond Radiguet and The Devil In The Flesh. He finished writing this book at 18, I read it at 18. Um. Just um. Radiguet was an amazing character and I first came across him in a biography of Jean Cocteau, one of his lovers. Cocteau said of him, "He was hard; it took a diamond to scratch his heart." Bloody hell. Who wouldn’t want that said about them? Talk about evil glamor. Radiguet must also have had, in between the alcohol and other distractions, one hell of a work ethic. By the time he died at 20 in 1923, he had another novel under his belt together with other works.

It’s a 180 in style and intent, but I also have to mention the incredible Georgette Heyer. She was a teenage wonder, although unlike the unfortunate Radiguet, she kept on trucking to bigger and greater things. Her first book, The Black Moth, was published at 19. My favorite of her many books, These Old Shades, was, according to my in-depth research (that is, Wikipedia) published when she was around 24. Yowzer.

There are more, most certainly, that could be on that list but that trio should do it for now.

I should also post a link sometime to Boys Next Door's cover of These Boots Are Made For Walking. It’s a hoot.

And now I want to reread The Devil In The Flesh. Right now. Not to mention Shades…