Anie Drury - One Step

I heard this on a "Flower Shop Mystery" starring Brooke Shields.

The Scottish Men's Chorus - I Gave My Life For Thee

Heard this on the season 3 finale of "Preacher".

Hannah Grace - Praise You (Piano Version)

Heard this on the "Suits" episode "Good Mudding" when Louis is trying to get Sheila preggers.

Marcus Schulz feat. Sebu (Capital Cities) - Upon My Shoulders (Official Video)

This song is on this page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1qMgZJI61M

Kyau & Albert vs. Genix - Mantis (Extended Mix)

Shorter version:

Black'N'Jack - Headturner

Ori Uplift Music - Uplifting Only 268 (incl. transLift Guestmix)

Heard this on Epic Trance. All instrumental Included some Shostakovich and lovely New Agey woman singing. Forever In My Heart and Afternova feat. Andrea Becker are also especially nice.

https://soundcloud.com/oriuplift/uponly-268

Guilty Pleasure - Lara Croft and Tomb Raider

I recently saw the new Tomb Raider movie with my husband, Bill. Tomb Raider is one of my favorite game series. In fact, it was the second video game I ever played. Although heroine Lara Croft started out as not much more than a series of pixels with big boobs designed for male players, she outgrew her limitations and became in my mind something more. She was much more than a sex symbol to me. Lara was popular with men and women, boys and girls. The guys wanted to possess her. Women and girls wanted to be her.  When I worked lighting for stage, TV, concerts, and movies I was as buff as Lara Croft. I even had the ponytail. She was everything I wanted to be – confident, strong, cheeky, gorgeous, energetic, rich.

I didn't see the character fleshed out until I read some of the comic books. Those comics gave her a backstory. She was very close to her father and relished the idea of traveling the world in search of puzzles to solve that helped her find answers to the biggest puzzle of all – herself. The first two movies starring Angelina Jolie brought more of these ideas forward. When I first heard the first movie was being shot, I told Bill the only one who could play her was Angelina Jolie. Jolie had all the make-up to play Lara. She was bigger-than-life. A little weird. Cheeky sense of humor. Beautiful. Full of energy. A bit of a loner (according to the types of roles she played). Had daddy issues. She certainly looked the part.

When the game first appeared, Bill was working as a producer at Hasbro. Due to his contacts, he managed to pick up a CD of the original soundtrack that included songs that weren't on the final soundtrack that was released to the public. I grabbed that soundtrack which consisted mostly of my favorite music genre, techno, and played it day and night. This was before the movie came out. On the way to the movie theater to see it, we played the CD in the car. I loved the movie despite it faults mainly because Jolie did such a good job depicting Lara.

Lara has evolved over the years. She's now less a pair of gigantic boobs and more a person in her own right. I've always seen Lara as a blank slate upon which I and I'm sure other female fans projected their own desires and aspirations. Through the character, those of us on the shy side could experiment with expressing ourselves. We became stronger both mentally and physically if that's what we wanted.

This is all very ironic since Lara was originally envisioned by British game company Eidos (now Square Enix) as a male Indiana Jones-type character complete with fedora and bullwhip. The character was changed to a Hispanic female named Laura Cruz, and then evolved into the English heiress Lara Croft as a hat tip to the developers. The latest movie, which sadly has garnered horrible reviews, depicts Lara more realistically, with a muscular and athletic build that doesn't focus on her breast size. The cheekiness of the character reminiscent of the earlier games and the Angelina Jolie movies has evolved to a more serious even dark manner. Judging from the end of the movie, I see a sequel in the works. I'll likely see it no matter how badly it is reviewed assuming it's made. I simply adore Lara Croft.

So I'll dig up and enjoy my Lara Croft dioramas, my pewter Lara Croft, my Tomb Raider socks and beach towels, my Lara Croft iPhone case, and the rest of my extensive Tomb Raider collection. It's a good thing to have such a fun template to aspire to. I can be anyone I want. And I'll enjoy the hell out of it.

New Column - Naughty Words

I have a new column at Novelspot I've called Naughty Words. I'll talk about romance, erotica, writing, and whatever floats my boat. Next up here - my first blog post at Naughty Words!

The Cactus Blossoms - Mississippi

I heard this song on "Twin Peaks: The Return", episode 3.

Women Who Refuse To Take Their Husband's Surnames

I found this article about women who did not take their husband's surnames upon marriage interesting and I do agree with it to some extent. I took my first husband's surname. That marriage ended in an ugly divorce. I kept my maiden name when I married my second husband, and we're going strong over 20 years later. Take all that as you like.

I kept my maiden name because it's my name. I am already known well by that name. I  used it for my past political and feminist writing. I am aware of the irony of my maiden name coming from my father – another man – but I didn't sign over my identity by changing my name upon marriage. That's how I see name changing for me personally. I already have an identity and I didn't want the hassle of changing a multitude of legal forms. I could have taken my maiden name as my middle name and my husband's name as my married name but I rejected that, too. I did that for my first marriage. Switching back and forth before and after that marriage was a pain in the ass.

The problem is that the description of men whose wives do not take their surnames as being perceived as being "less masculine"  in the article from the Independent seems to be seen as a negative thing. Far from it. How do we define what is masculine? The traditional definition seems to me to be somewhat harmful to men. Some positive attributes considered masculine include being assertive and ambitious. However, "Real" men are also strong who keep their emotions in check. Big boys don't cry. Brute force is a positive thing. And what's wrong with a man being seen as more feminine? A balance between stereotypes would go a long way towards showing more humanity.

Those who decried the research (the term "hostile sexism" was thrown about) thought of men whose wives did not take their surnames were "disempowered as a result of their wife’s decision." That's a load of crap.

This statement also intrigued me: "A woman's marital surname choice therefore has implications for perceptions of her husband's instrumentality, expressivity, and the distribution of power in the relationship," explains lead author Rachael Robnett. My marriage is not traditional. The power is evenly distributed throughout our relationship. There is no God-ordained leader in my household. I'm not submissive and when I'm upset or angry I feel free to express myself without repercussions, unlike my first marriage. That's not related to whether or not I took my husband's name but due to the nature of each marriage.

I also kept my maiden name upon my second marriage because I had taken his surname for my first marriage. I had done it once and didn't see a need to do it again. I also didn't have a traditional white wedding for my second wedding. We had a nondenominational ceremony in our backyard with me in a green lace dress. The town clerk officiated. Our sons and my son's best friend attended. Then we went inside, had my chocolate sachertorte wedding cake I had baked and watched Hellraiser. Hey, there are newlyweds in that movie! It's appropriate!

I am probably viewed as non-traditional in my marriage, my actions, and beliefs. According to previous studies, "women who violate the marital surname tradition are viewed differently from others. They are described in terms of instrumental traits that in a gendered society are typically assigned to men. These include having a higher status, wielding more power, being more self-focused, ambitious and assertive. These traits contrast with the expressive characteristics that are typically assigned to women, such as being more nurturing, kind and having less influence and power." My husband freely expresses his emotions like sadness and insecurity as well as anger. Why is anger seen as a masculine emotion? I see why nurturing is seen as feminine since women traditionally have raised children, but that is not an exclusively feminine characteristic.

My point in this rambling post is that keeping my maiden name was a personal choice between my husband and I with my feelings being paramount. Maybe it reflects the dynamics of my second marriage, maybe not. I just know that traditional definitions of masculinity and femininity can be harmful to both men and women. It's time we viewed ourselves as individual human beings with our own wants and needs and not be held hostage by stereotypes.

Anske pres. Aqsua - Aquatic (Original Mix)

Heard this on Sleep Relaxation Music on Radiotunes.

Stargliders - The Red Nebula

Welcome, 2018!

This is my first post of the new year. January brings forth new goals and dreams. It also brought on a lot of snow. We got a foot and a half and I have cabin fever. I'm tired of snow. Bring on spring!

I used to see ponds ice over when I lived in Maryland. Here, the ocean ices over. Yesterday the whitecaps at one of the beaches looked like a slushie. I wondered what flavor it was? I've never seen anything like that before. A pond near home has completely iced over like it does every winter. I saw some kids playing ice hockey on it. That looked like fun.

Writing when you're hunkered down surrounded by piles of the white stuff can be a bit daunting. I need to write two short stories for some interesting submission calls but I can't figure out what to write about. Both are horror, which should be easy to write in this miserable weather. I know what to do when I can't figure out what to write – I read. I'm going to read Teeming Terrors to kickstart my ideas for one of those horror stories.

2018 is turning out to be a good year so far. Granted, we're only 8 days into it, but it's still good. My story Invisible was cited in The Solstice List 2017 The Best In Horror. It appears in Zippered Flesh 3: Yet More Tales of Body Enhancements Gone Bad which was also cited. I won one award before – my Night Owl Romance Top Pick award for my erotic romance novel Don't Call Me Baby. That book is currently out of print.

My main goals for 2018 are to finish and publish Secrets and Lies (my cozy mystery/thriller) and Happily Ever After: A Collection Of Erotic Fairy Tales. I also want to submit more short stories and see them published. I probably will no longer host Into The Abyss With Elizabeth Black because podcasts are a lot of work and I don’t enjoy them anymore. My goals are about my writing now. I don't want to get off track.

Here's hoping 2018 is a good year for me personally and professionally. I'm off to a good start. Let's keep the good mojo going.

Para X - Sensations of Summer (Uplifting Radio Edit)

Heard this on DI-Epic Trance

Arctic Moon - We Love Trance Club Edition 024 (Chic Club - Poznan)

Excellent show. Play the whole thing.

Goals Not Resolutions

I read an interesting post on Facebook in which the writer asked everyone for their 2018 goals. Not resolutions. Goals. He said most people broke resolutions or never even bothered to attempt to meet them. Goals? More realistic and more likely to be attempted and fulfilled. So I asked myself, what are my goals for 2018?

Here are a few:

Finish my erotic fairy tales collection and self-publish it.

Publish my two erotic fairy tale novellas in print. These two books are Trouble In Thigh High Boots (erotic Puss In Boots) and Climbing Her Tower (erotic Rapunzel).

Finish my horror novel Hell Time.

Find an agent for my thriller novel Secrets and Lies.

Send out my newsletter more regularly.

Submit to a minimum of 5 submission calls in 2018. Bonus points if I publish at least 5 stories.

Join the YMCA and make an effort to swim and work out this winter and spring. My husband and I are joining the Y next week.

Head to the beach every day in late spring and summer to swim, walk, and otherwise get some fresh air and exercise especially after being cooped up in at home all winter.

Save enough money each paycheck to fund a trip to Europe most likely taken in 2019 or 2020.

Sell more books!

Make an effort to attend more book events like readings and conventions but only when money permits. Those events tend to cost more than I can afford.

Bake more. I didn't bake enough in 2017 which is a shame since I enjoy baking very much. I didn't bake as many cookies this year as I usually do so I shall remedy that in 2018. Here are the last two recipes I made – pumpkin bread and pizzelles. Pizzelles are anise-flavored Italian waffle cookies.

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup olive oil ( can sub with canola or vegetable)

2 eggs, Beaten

1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Sift together flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda.

3. In a separate bowl combined pumpkin, oil, eggs, water, and spices.

4. Then, combined with dry ingredients but, do not mix too thoroughly. Stir in walnuts.

5. Pour into a well-buttered 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes until a thin skewer poked in the very center of the loaf comes out clean. Turn out of the pan and let cool on a rack.

6. Makes one loaf. Can easily double the recipe.

7. If desired, you can use them in a muffin tin as well. They come out just as moist. If you use muffin tin bake for 20-25 minute.

Pizzelles

You need a pizzelle iron to make these cookies. I'm sure you can find one on eBay or at Amazon. I have an electric one that makes four pizzelle cookies at once. It's over 30 years old. My mother gave it to me when she saw how much I loved those cookies. An Italian neighbor made them all the time.

Ingredients

3 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

3/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon anise extract

1 tablespoon anisette liqueur or Sambucca (optional)

1/4 cups anise seed

1 3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) melted butter

Instructions

Beat the eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla until well combined.

Stir in the flour and baking powder, mixing until smooth.

Add the melted butter, again mixing until smooth; the batter will be thick and soft.

Heat your pizzelle iron. Grease it as directed in the manufacturer's instructions. As the iron heats, the batter will stiffen.

Cook the pizzelle according to the instructions that came with your iron. In general, they'll take between 45 seconds and 2 1/2 minutes to brown.

Remove the pizzelle from the iron, and cool on a rack. If desired, use a pair of scissors to trim any ragged edges.

Dust cooled pizzelle with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Now that 2017 has drawn to a close, I'm read for next year. 2017 was a bit of a slow and rather uneventful year for me writing-wise. I need to be more proactive. I plan on that starting today, Jan. 1 with my skin at Night Owl Reviews. I'm in an author chat tonight (Jan. 1) at 8 PM EST. I'll talk about my erotic romance novel No Restraint. Here's the link to join me:

https://www.nightowlreviews.com/v5/Chats

See you there, and have a fantastic 2018!