Keeping It Up!

Have you read Keeping It Up, the sequel to Vamping It Up? And did you know I have Pinterest boards dedicated to all things Holly and Celeste?

https://www.pinterest.com/babsdallen/live-like-celeste/
and
https://www.pinterest.com/lindamercury/keeping-it-up/

And buy the book here: Amazon.com 

 Revisit Holly and Celeste Barros and their erotic adventures in this new book! Here's a section of Chapter One.

Keeping It Up by Linda Mercury 

“It has been said that politics is the art of the possible. In reality, it is the art of service to many and the survival of that service.”

The Letters of Henry de Seville y Barros, 1850-1916.

Chapter One

Valentine’s Day

Holly Barros loved Valentine’s Day. The hearts. The flowers.

The emphasis on oral sex.

“Get on my face.” Lincoln S. Jones, her head of security, clasped her thighs and rolled the two of them over, settling her pussy right on his face. The sturdy oak table in the Vilnius University Library in Lithuania creaked underneath them, but held firm.

Holly giggled, actually giggled, until his smart mouth latched onto her clitoris. She gasped. Linc dug his fingers into her butt cheeks, guiding her where he wanted her to be.

“Delicious,” he moaned around her hood.

The vibrations sizzled her overwhelmed nerve endings. “Harder.” She pushed down on him, forcing his mouth deeper into her wet folds.

Like a good former Marine, he obeyed her order with enthusiasm and determination. His tongue flicked over her flesh faster than a vibrator. She had no idea how he could move so fast, but she loved it. Holly rode the crest, nearing her orgasm. He snaked a hand between them and shoved two fingers into her sheath. She needed it. She needed it so bad she could barely breathe. She just couldn’t. Quite. Get there.

Her brain wouldn’t let go of the rapid-fire questions the Paranormal Council had thrown at her all week.

“Ms. Barros, in North America, paranormals and humans have a much more contentious relationship than in the rest of the world. What are you going to do to increase peaceable relations between the supernatural minority and the mortal majority?”

Holly bit her lip. Perhaps she should have put more emphasis on the already- increasing numbers of co-operative ventures in primary and secondary schools, the rise of mixed species pre-schools, and how she opened talks between the paranormal and the human sports leagues. Truly integrated professional sports were a ways in the future, but….

Sensing her distraction, Linc slapped her ass with his big hand. The crack of skin on skin shoved her back into her body. She gasped. The erotic smell of paper and ink brought her over.

She came hard, her vagina wrenching on his fingers as if she wanted to rip them off and keep them inside of her. The scream poured out of her throat and echoed off the domed blue ceiling.

Panting, she bent over, resting her weight on her hands and knees. Linc kissed the sides of her thighs, tickling and teasing her through the aftershocks. His six-foot, five inches long body rested on the table beneath her.

“Oh, sweetie,” Holly sighed. “Thank you so much.”

“Trust me. My pleasure.” He wiggled his way between her legs until he could grind his half-hard cock on her. He’d already removed the used condom. “Feel better?”

Tremors zinged through her shoulders, making her arms wobble. “Yeah. I can do this now.”

“Cool.” Linc kissed her with moist lips. She sucked on his lower lip, catching a taste of her own musk. “Recess is over. Back to the meat grinder, babe.”

 

The most important books for writing romance.

My favorite titles.

I wanted to talk about my favorite books on writing. Every author has her go-to's for inspiration and help, and here are mine.

How can one live without Joanna Russ's How to Suppress Women's Writing?

People love to denigrate our genre. This book gives an insightful and quirky look at how much and how little attitudes towards women's words have changed. It taught me just what kinds of horrible internalized sexism colored what I wrote, how I viewed other women, and worst of all, what I did to myself.

Find it here: https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/rushow



Making a Literary Life by Elizabeth See.
A far greater writer than I'll ever be says this:

If everyone who wants to be a writer would read this book there would be many more good writers, many more happy writers, and editors would be so overwhelmed by sweetness they would accept many more good books. So what are you waiting for? Read it! Ursula K. Le Guin

Find it here: http://www.carolynsee.com/Books/literarylife.html



Write Away by Elizabeth George.
From Publisher's Weekly:

Here's a useful book for the novice writer battling the fears and insecurities that attend when she contemplates her first novel....George illustrates her points with passages from both her ownworks and those of numerous writers she admires (Martin Cruz Smith,Barbara Kingsolver, Louise Erdrich, Michael Dorris), this remains more of a how-I-do-it book than a how-to-do-it book. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Unlike PW, I'll say that this book is good even for experienced writers. I love her examples - they illustrate her points brilliantly.

Find it here:http://www.elizabethgeorgeonline.com/books/write_away.htm

The most important romance specific book on my shelf is Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women by Jayne Ann Krentz.

"In Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women, Jayne Ann Krentz and the contributors to this volume—all best-selling romance writers—explode myths and biases that haunt both the writers and readers of romances.

In this seamless, ultimately fascinating, and controversial book, the authors dispute some of the notions that plague their profession, including the time-worn theory that the romance genre contains only one single, monolithic story, which is cranked out over and over again. The authors discuss positive life-affirming values inherent in all romances: the celebration of female power, courage, intelligence, and gentleness; the inversion of the power structure of a patriarchal society; and the integration of male and female. Several of the essays also discuss the issue of reader identification with the characters, a relationship that is far more complex than most critics realize."

Find it here: http://jayneannkrentz.com/dangerous-men-and-adventurous-women/

I feel that the most important book on my shelf remains Against Our Will by Susan Brownmiller. I'm not going to kid you - this is a painful and devastating book, whether you have been a victim of sexual assault or not. But it endlessly reminds me of what I feel is the great gift that romance gives every reader: That her pleasure is central to life, that her consent should never dismissed or belittled, and that each of us deserves to be heard.

Find it here: http://www.susanbrownmiller.com/susanbrownmiller/html/against_our_will.html

Curious: Auguste Rodin Exhibit

Curiosity is a huge part of caring for your emotional well-being. Cultivating an interest in the world keeps depression and anxiety at bay and gives you tools for dealing with stress.

Obviously, I need to walk my walk as well as talk my talk! So I went to the Auguste Rodin exhibit at the Portland Art Museum.

Detail of one of the Burghers of Calais

 Looking at the visual arts doesn't usually translate well into words, especially for an artist as physical as Rodin. Much of his work revolves around motion, turbulence, and character. 

The exhibit demonstrated his fascination with hands, balance,  pressure, and the human body. I'll step back and let the images speak for themselves!

Hand of God

Fallen Caryatid Carrying an Urn

Aphrodite

Angels

The Auntie Vamp series has a new release!

Celeste and her naughty historian

I have released the sequel to Vamping It Up: Everyone, please welcome back Celeste and Holly in Keeping It Up!

Back in Vamping It Up, Holly Barros gained confidence, lovers, and her life's work. Her aunt, Celeste Barros, taught the young woman the ways to self-power.

Five years later, Holly is on the edge of being confirmed as the North American representative of the Supernatural Council.
She's has grown in confidence and influence since her ex-fiancé dumped her five years ago. She is ready to take over her great-aunt’s position on the International Paranormal Council. She’s got influence, she’s got the ideas, and her lover/bodyguard, former Marine Lincoln Jones, has the moves to keep her safe.

Is Lincoln capable of keeping up the good work guarding Holly’s body?

Glamorous vampire Celeste Barros has never been afraid of risks, but she has played it safe in love for centuries. Now she is ready to retire from high-stakes international politics. Perhaps a new, more leisurely lifestyle could bring a new, fresh perspective on love. Young historian Grayson Brown is interested in more than a frolic with the much older woman.

Could Grayson be capable of Keeping It Up for Celeste?

Free Range Books.

Hi there! 

I’m not Emma Watson, but I’m hiding books just like she does! Ms. Watson has been sneaking books onto public transportation for a while now and I wanted to join in.

I’m Linda Mercury, and this is one of my very favorite books. Please take good care of it. When you are done, leave it again for someone else to find.

If you have thoughts, come join me at See Jane Publish  (seejanepublish.wordpress.com) or my blog (www.lindamercury.com).  Let’s get all Portland out there and have free range books.

Spread the words,

Linda

Last month, with the above note, I snuck two copies of both The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir and Women’s History for Beginner’s by Bonnie J. Morris into various locations around the Portland Greater Metropolitan Area.

I’m a fervent feminist. Lately, though, I had fallen into despair over current events. I had lost hope. When Jessie from See Jane Publish first approached me with the idea to salute Emma Watson’s brilliant campaign to increase literacy, I leaped at the opportunity. But what books would I choose?

History is a subject near and dear to my heart. As a young woman studying history in college, I fought against professors that stated, “There are no good women historians,” and “A class on the history of Sub-Saharan Africa is like a class on the history of Lichtenstein.”

So, yeah. That was a thing. Obviously, Women’s History for Beginners was the perfect book for this project. What an incredible book to fight these still-present attitudes!

I chose Beauvoir’s breakthrough book since it began the Second Wave of feminism. Published in France in 1949, it forced the world to think of women’s equality in ways beyond getting the vote. Beauvoir’s assertion that one’s sex/gender is created and influenced by society broke open the essentialist thoughts that women are inherently chaotic, animalist, and lesser than men.



I hope the people who read these books write in the margins, laugh, cry, and discuss their thoughts with other people. This was my first time doing free-range books, but it won’t be my last.

Creating a Writing Life

Owner Maggie and her daughter, Jordan

The coffee shop/tea shop is a cliche for a reason. Writers go there not just for their caffeine fix, but for the warmth and the chance to be around other people working.

Like the also-popular library, a comfortable coffee shop is an essential place for your literary life. The synergy all those laptops and people reading is a shot in the arm for your own work.

So let's explore some wonderful places to write and refresh yourself. Especially The ClockWork Rose Tea Emporium. 

If this doesn't make you want to write a story of derring-do, nothing will.

C. Morgan Kennedy and I

My friend C. Morgan Kennedy, a steampunk fan, discovered this gorgeous place. The owners, Maggie and Harold, have lavished love, attention, and thoughtfulness all over their gorgeous space. All the little details in the tea shop inspire and encourage a writer (ok, *this* writer) to take care with all the small details that make a scene sing.

Look at those gears!

How can your writing not soar under pretty balloons?

Something about warm beverages and delicious, carefully made treats (seriously, try the scones) keeps people (ok, *this* person), alert and refreshed even during the most difficult writing tasks.

Seriously. Everything is delicious.

Harold, Maggie's Husband made nearly all their steampunk decor.

The awesome, tempting shop.

If you have to write, scout out a local coffee house or tea shop. Find a place with comfortable chairs, delicious baked goods, and excellent beverages. I promise, it will always lift you up and renew your enthusiasm for your projects.

Sex-positive: What is it and why is it good for you?

Search Results

Like many terms within feminism, sex positivity means different things to different people. As a broad ideology and world view, sex positivity is simply the idea that all sex, as long as it is healthy and explicitly consensual, is a positive thing.

 http://www.wgac.colostate.edu/sex-positivity

It's pretty obvious that I believe in the sex-positive movement. I write novels with consensual sex. My female characters own their desires and ask for what they want. My male characters not bullies who threaten or coerce their partners. And everyone in between those two poles has a chance to experience pleasure.

So I put my text where my beliefs are and wrote The Little Sexy Workbook. 

 Cleverly (I think) adorned with full color photos of statues from Italy and filled with fun, relaxed games to promote conversation, The Little Sexy Workbook is here to bring sex-positive energy to your life.

Curiosity: Rice Museum of Rocks and Minerals

Exploring is very important for writers, dreamers, lovers, and well, everyone, really. I like discovering cool things about my local area. So I visited the Rice Museum of Rocks and Minerals.

The museum building was originally constructed by Richard and Helen Rice as their family home in 1952. Richard Rice, a logger by profession, incorporated many rare Oregon woods, such as myrtle wood and quilted maple, in the fabrication of their house. The Rices built a gallery in their basement to display their amazing personal mineral collection. In 1997, the entire building was converted to a public museum, and an additional gallery building was constructed in 2005.

I love learning how the world works. Learning just a little bit of this geology was enough to get my imagination firing.

Enough talk! Let's look at their amazing, mind-opening stuff.

I don't even remember what this is, but wow!

The Charming Mother in Law with an enormous opal.

Imagine the forces it took to create such beauty.

The perfect place for a wizard to meditate.

These agates make these "landscapes" all on their own!

I could see a sort of fantastical entity hiding in here.

Ancient Tiger skull. Yowza!

I love Lapis Lazuli.

What story do you see in this piece?

The Rice's amazing house.

This makes me think of the wings on my angels in the Blood Wings series.

I think Lance's wings float like the chalcedony...

Can't you just see the feathers?