Turkish rugs.

The Charming Man and I experienced the ultimate in shopping delight on our last day in Istanbul.

We hung up  the larger carpet.

We ended up (through a goofy sequence of events) at Onur Carpet and Kilim Story. The website is currently down, but here is a description:

 A selection of authentic handmade, all natural vegetable-dyed carpets, saddle bags, grain sacks, cradles, salt bags, pillows, runners and kilims. Mimar Mehmet Aga Caddesi, #13/15,Istanbul - Sultanahmet 34400 TURKEY.

There, we drank rose tea, chatted endlessly about being a writer of sexy novels, and the possibilities of making love on a silk Turkish carpet.
 We got to walk on dozens of silk rugs. Let me tell you, there is nothing like silk under your feet. So sensual, cool, and peaceful.

We weren't really in the market for a rug, so we started with just looking at the endless beauty and creativity that handmade rugs offer. Hand made rugs are a dying art form - they are extremely labor intensive and therefore expensive.

Onur Carpet gave us a great deal.

Detail from the larger carpet.

They added this smaller rug for us. We have it in front of our TV.

So yeah, that writing thing.

I'm at the first draft stage of Book Two, the sequel to Dracula's Secret. I thought I might give you all a peek into what I've been doing for research and prep work.

 Here is Daniel Craig, the model for my hero Lance Soliel. I have several pictures of him (yes, in various states of undress) to show me what Lance's moods and body language is like.

 Here are some pictures of Georgia May Jagger (daughter of Jerry Hall and Mick Jagger). She is the model for my antagonist for Book Two. I've got that character's backstory and Goal, Motivation, and Conflict finished. She's going to be very cool, and I think very different from anyone I've written before.

 I like to start off with hand-writing a lot of my first draft ideas and scenes. Keeps me from getting too self-critical about the quality of the work and lets me just roll with my brain.

I also have my plot turning points figured out for my main three characters and their relationships with each other and themselves. This gives me a road map of where I'm going, instead of flailing around blindly for ideas. I just have to look over my notes and something will trip my creative triggers.

And there we go!

I'm off to work now.