Have You Seen My Book Trailer Video

Well, Have you? Just wondering. If not, here's a link. Yes, I know the video is rather old, and it was my first attempt ever at making a book trailer but I still like it. I hope you do too.

Phooey on Revision

To offer a revised addition or not, that is the question.

For the last few months I've been working on revising some of my older stories. Oddly though, the work I was revising (or, attempting to revise) was a work I offer free titled "The Fifth Beauty." Problem is this story has suffered an average three-star rating, and some of the comments for this story are just downright disrespectful.

Yes, I understand that, especially when a work is offered free, many people will download the story and read it without realizing just what kind of story they are reading.  It kind of puts me into a fix because I take these reviews seriously. I want everything I offer, whether it is for sale or free, to be the best I can create.

Well, after struggling with the thought of changing the aforementioned story, I finally gave up and said, poo on revising this, or any story.

I believe my efforts could be better directed working on new material  and making this the best I can. I believe all writers grow and change, and it shows in the stories they write. My writing style has changed but I'm afraid of putting out something new and having it seen as too different or not as good and other material.

This fear causes a kind of paralysis or stagnation in my writing. Of course, I do not want that to happen so this is my mantra from now on. When in doubt, I will just begin writing something new and exciting. I will hope that others will find my stories new and exciting but will write what I want to write without allowing myself to become mired in the sticky goo of trying to achieve mass acceptance.

What do think, readers? If an author you read offers a revised addition to a story, do you give it a read or pass because you've already read the original story? 

Genre Dilemma

Dear Reader

I need your help. You see, I've written something that I unable to classify into a specific genre. Is it Romance? Erotica? Maybe you can help me by read this short excerpt and posting your opinion. This is a story I've had on the back burner for quite some time. It is a kind of historical fantasy of sorts. The main character (Lucia) is swept into an underwater cave and knocked unconscious while diving off the coast of Crete. When she awakens, she discovers that she is 'somewhere else.' She is in a land filled with strange characters. One of these characters in particular (Evenor) helps her recover from her injuries (with a troop of servants) and insists she is a future queen preordained by some vision he's had.

Anyway, read the excerpt and tell me your thoughts. Should this be Young Adult? Or, could some of these words be changed to a more "purple" hue and still get the point across?

Smells of warm aromatic oils filled my senses. Jasmine, lilac, even menthol tickled my brain as I lay in a dark semi-conscious world. Soft hands gently caressed my body, gliding smoothly along all contours on a thin liquid ribbon of warmth. Not just a single pair of hands but several, all in different places and ever so gentle on my bruised and sensitive skin. One pair of hands glided over my face and rubbed little circles around my temples. Other sets of hands caressed and kneaded each arm and leg moving upwards and meeting along my torso. My body lay flat on a soft surface and the hands continued moving, caressing, and circling around my breasts in decreasing concentric circles until reaching the outer regions of my areoles and finally converging on my stiffening nipples.

I jerked into complete consciousness at the sensation and looked wildly up at the blurry figures surrounding me. There were five women standing topless around me, all dark-skinned and dark-haired. Ornate jewelry around their necks and in their hair flashed and twinkled as it reflective the light of endless candles within the tented room. They were rubbing my body with some kind of oils and taking liberties I wasn’t sure I welcomed. I tried to rise but found my pain forbid it and I fell flat again. I was on some kind of bed about waist high to the women and it was covered with a thick blanket of leather or animal skins. I squirmed about in a pool of the warm oil trying to bring myself to an upright position again but the women gently guided me back down. Two of the women parted and a man appeared between them. I recognized the man. He had been the one on the horse last thing I remembered seeing. He looked down at me with jet black eyes and matching shoulder-length hair that formed a curtain around the outline of his thin chiseled face. He said something to me but I could not understand the language. He spoke with a dialect I had never heard before. He frowned and looked around at the women surrounding me, saying something quietly to them. They backed away and he looked back down and stared directly into my eyes.

“I am Evenor. You were injured but are now safe. Trust my servants. Rest and they will heal you.”

I was so fixed on his dark piercing eyes that I did not even see his lips move when he spoke. In fact, I wasn’t sure that his lips did move. He quickly disappeared and was replaced by the five women who continued their massaging. The woman standing over my head presented a large gold goblet and raised it to her mouth making drinking gestures. Without waiting for a reply, she gently lifted my head and tipped the metal cup to my mouth. I drank the liquid. It had the sweet tang of red wine and it was cold as it glided smooth across my lips and down my throat. I emptied the goblet and relaxed into the slick warm surface. The women surrounding me moved in and continued massaging my body as the wine warmed in my stomach. I could feel my body relaxing as I responded to the drink. It seemed to relax my body more than normal and I felt like I was falling slowly. I was barely able to move my arms and legs but still felt every hand gliding along my skin.

Warm soft hands again glided over my oiled body with slick precision. Caring hands caressed the curve of my neck up to the lobes of my ears. Sensuous hands traced the curve of my breasts and gently pinched at my nipples making them rise and harden in response and sending small pulses of pleasure through me. Wonderful brave hands glided up my legs and ever-so-gently along my inner thighs. Gentle waves of pleasure accompanied every touch, and my mind drifted in warmth. I no longer concerned myself with the proprieties of catholic hetero-sexuality and gave in to the pleasure, trying to hold onto lucid thought as warmth and pleasant delirium invaded my soul. I thought about what had happened in the water and where I might be now. I wondered about the bronze-skinned man who rescued me. I opened my eyes only briefly as the women wrapped my body in some large leaves that had a slightly pungent smell and placed small white and blue crystals on my body over the leaves. I felt tingling energy and warmth in my chest from the crystals through the leaves. Through the veil of my closed eyelids I painted a palette of soft pinks and purples as sleep overtook me.

What are your thoughts?