Spikes

It is either you guys or the NSA. HUGE fucking spikes.
Thank you!

This is a carefully copied Chinese rip off of a beautiful painting showing me and my best friends wreaking havoc. This took a very long time cuz I already took my sleep meds.

Nice Review

Virginia,

First of all, thank you for allowing me to read your book. I must admit that while I am still relatively new to book reviews, yours was a hard one to sum-up. I did my best though, and I hope you like it.

Before I send you a copy of the review though, since you had asked for an evaluation of the wording. I hint to this a little bit in the review, but as you specifically asked for feedback, I shall give you my opinion directly. First of all, I was at first hesitant to read your book when I got to it with the question you asked... and yet I was dying to read it as I have a guilty-pleasure for stuff that I probably shouldn't read.
However, in reading your book I think the wording is very well done during the sex scenes. It's evocative, and intensely intimate, which I didn't know was possible in third person. This is particularly true toward the beginning of the book. Beyond that, I thought the wording was enough to convey what was going on, without being pornographic or anything like that. Perhaps your brother was referring to the the "strength" of the intimacy which I found so wonderfully done. *shrugs* that's my oppinion. I know that family can be pretty critical of sex scenes and the like- they are perhaps the most scrutinized part of a relatives writing. But I personally thought it added to the story and helped the reader get sucked into the story emotionally.

So... I hope that helps you some as far as what you wanted to know about the language. Below is my review, if for any reason you don't want me to post it, please let me know before Wednesday when I will post it on my site- barring any objections from you. Also, please reply with a brief about the Author that I can tag on at the end of the review.

One final note, if you are fine with the review and want the review posted anywhere in addition to on my site (goodreads, amazon, barnesandnoble, ect) please let me know that as well.


Sacred Sin by Virginia Llorca

Summary Provided by Amazon.com

After her first marriage fails, Jenny wants to concentrate on her education and her career, but "that guy" walks into her life when and where she least expects it and this guy means business. Will her new relationship survive when Jenny proves unable or unwilling to give up a life long relationship that is more than friendly?

What I Loved

The language of this book is so evocative. I'll say it here, before I go into much else that the reader of this book must be a mature adult. The wording itself isn't so graphic, as is the way the words work together. I usually have a hard time connecting with third-person narratives, and at first this was true in Sacred Sin as well, but there are different reasons that the third person viewpoint exists, and the intimacy conveyed in this particular instance is intensified by the third-person outlook.

What I Didn't Like

At some point or another, any reader reading a fictional book must be able to enter a suspension of belief- and that is very true with Sacred Sin. If you are hung up on morals and what is "right", this book may be hard to get into- it was for me at first and I usually do well with suspension of belief. At times the book seems to push the boundaries of a relationship- to where I just have to yell at the character's stupidity.

My Overall Review

(3 of 5 Stars) A Steamy and Evocative story of life.
I can't even think of a good 3-of-5 summary for this book. In fact, I would have to rate it objectively as a 3.75 if I did half-stars, which I don't. For me, this story was very evocative and intriguing... yet I'd still label it a 3. I can easily see someone else really enjoying it though. While steamy, sexy, intimate, evocative... I think you get the picture to an extremely high-degree, it does provide a story of a woman who truly loves two guys at once. Though life is not always glamorously wonderful for Jenny- it is a bit of fantasy for the reader. Who hasn't had to choose between two loves in their lives? Again, not for a younger audience, but for a steamy book that has an intricate story as well- very well done.



Thank you again for allowing me to read your book. I look forward to hearing back from you.
Sincerely,

Shayna Gier
Author of Stuck in Estrogen's Funhouse
Book Reviewer for Shaynagier.com

Sample or purchase Stuck in Estrogen's Funhouse:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/69040

Visit my Website:
http://www.shaynagier.com

The Maze

If you are looking for another "Mary Poppins" series, these would not be the books for you. If you occasionally enjoy an infuriating female protagonist, you will devour these stories.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0061SB3TC

Success

This seemed the most difficult of all. But THE MAZE is live on Kindle Select now. It looks great, but, once again, they left out my indents. What else can you do but follow their directions completely and thoroughly? Yeah, now I can go into the HTML, and maybe I will cuz I am a little more confident about it now. But, seriously? Don't they know these things are our pride and our joy?

It is about twice as long as the original, so if you bought the original, I don't know what you have to do to swap them, but Amazon customer service has been good to me so far. I AM SO EXCITED to try this new program.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0061SB3TC

Discovery

I rewrote The Maze and put it up on Kindle Select today. I was a nervous wreck. Then I was "speaking" to my spouse and I said I wondered why I got so nervous because what difference did it make if I did something wrong. I could go back and fix it. And he replied, "Now you're catching on." So I guess that means I am never going to get nervous about anything ever again. Sometimes I just wonder why he is not the ruler of the whole fucking world.

No. I know exactly why he is not. And so do you.

I wish we had a special font for sarcasm in case any of you aren't getting my point.

P.S. I don't want the Maze to be over. I want to write and write and write about these people.

Now Do You Understand?

Carrots

I received four carrots. It brought to mind a memory. When I was a sophomore at college, A Catholic University in Chicago, everyone was sitting around the union one day talking about their summer jobs. I actually worked at the telephone company as an operator (Something that comes back to haunt me) and I babysat. (More haunting in the truest sense) but I told them I went out to Las Vegas and worked as an exotic dancer. I said the difference between an exotic dancer and a stripper was that an exotic dancer already had her clothes off and I wore a ruby in my navel. Mind you, most of these people were graduates of Trinity or Fenwick or Loyola Academy, and many of them stood there agape. Most of them knew I was just joshing. Anyway, I almost forgot the best part. I told them my stage name was Carrots LaRue and I had an album coming out in December.

So as a reward for my early and more recent attempts at story telling, I was awarded four carrots from the Bunnies and I will copy the review here for all of you, and for me, that feels really good about it.

Lawman by Virginia Llorca

I honestly do not know how or where I got this book but I read it. If the author sent this to me to review sorry I must of lost your email. This review is my personal opinion of the book. This is not a paid review. To form you own opinion about this book please support the author and invest in your own copy.

There are two main characters in this book Lily and Tim. All of the others characters are very minor and do not influence the book much.

Lilly is a prosecuting attorney and a young widow. Tim is the go-to-guy for anything the FBI (or the government) needs while also being a special agent.

Lily and Tim's paths cross while on a case. They each know there could be something more than just co-workers but do not allow anything to happen while on the same case. After the case is finished Tim takes leave from work and drives down to see Lily.

Lily and Tim have lot's of sex in this book. So if you do not like reading about sex scenes then this book is probably not for you. No this is not an erotic book. Just the average book with sex scenes.

Although Lily and Tim want things to work out and be a family it is a question of if they can overcome the problems in the relationship. While Tim does not think the problems are enough to stop the relationship from going forward, Lily thinks they should stop and talk, about the problems.

Can Lily and Tim overcome the problems and be a couple?

While I enjoyed this book I did not feel connected to the characters through out the whole book. Sometimes the connection was there and sometimes it was missing. To me this book is what a lot of couples go through when they have a high-profile job and are trying to find the one person that will make them whole. Yes, there are sex scenes and lots of arguing between the characters. That is what makes this book seem so real to life. Whether this book was 100% of the authors creativity or she used some parts of either her past or someone's past it is a good read.

The bunnies and I give this book 4 Carrots. (Buunysreview.blogspot.com through google search.

Historical love

I wanted to repost this and I think this is the only place that has room. I got it from futility closet.

A Letter Home



Excerpt from a letter from U.S. Army major Sullivan Ballou to his wife, July 14, 1861:

The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days — perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel impelled to write lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more. …

Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have often been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears every little spot upon your happiness, and struggle with all the misfortune of this world, to shield you and my children from harm. But I cannot. I must watch you from the spirit land and hover near you, while you buffet the storms with your precious little freight, and wait with sad patience till we meet to part no more.

But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the brightest day and in the darkest night — amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours — always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.

Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for me, for we shall meet again.

He never sent it. It was found in his trunk after he was killed in the First Battle of Bull Run.

The Fledgling

I was going to write in the comments section of another blog about interlopers, but I erased it because I though it might hurt someone's feelings. If it hurts someone's feelings here, they can just leave.

Many years ago I sent a story to Redbook magazine. It was about my usual tagline topic, infidelity. (Gee! I wonder why!!) I received a real letter back from a female who said she liked it but didn't have a place for it in her magazine, but please send more. I never did. So this stuff festers under the surface and comes boiling out later.

I believe, and I have said, to my kids, grandkids, and even to other people's kids, that growing up is the hardest job you will ever have. I also told my daughter that there is really no such thing as a grown up. There is not a definable demarcation between 'grown-up' and 'not grown-up'. I told her that at a certain point in her life, of her own choosing, she will start to pretend to be a grown up and after a while she will convince herself she is grown up, and then every one around her will believe it.

I think it is like the baby birds. Maybe like other animals too. But I guess I relate more to the birds. Whatever. When they are hatched they look to the biggest one for all their food and lessons and safety. Then when they start to get bigger, they fight for the worm or the bug or the seed and it makes them stronger. Then they practice flying and go off and be their own personal care giver, a grown up bird. But some birds are pushed out of the nest by the bigger ones before they know how to fly, or they fall out of the nest too soon by accident, and they try to fly before they are ready. Some can do it and they are fine. Some flutter on the ground and a little girl picks them up and sets them on a branch and they practice and pretty soon they can fly on their own. Some fall out and flutter on the ground and draw the attention of the cat or the fox who eats them. Some, while they are still tiny and bald, get squashed down into the bottom of the nest and become a sort of nest mulch. No life for a bird. But each one of them, from the moment they came out of that egg, sat there fluttering those wings and pretending to be a big grown up bird.

When I started to put my work out in the public eye, I was asking everyone else that was doing it, how do they do it, what happens, what is the best way. Then, usually after a sales spike, or a wonderful review, I start to think what I do works for me and what works for them is their own business. Then after a while, I don't bother to read them. I am too busy and it really can't help me at this point. I am pretending to be a grown up.

Maybe I am fluttering on the ground and that little girl will pick me up and put me on a branch and I will be able to fly on my own some day. Maybe, I'll flutter desperately and the fox will destroy me. I've seen him sniffing around already. Maybe I will go flying off into that sunrise thinking the whole world is mine.

The thing is about the learning and the pretending, I think I am doing such a great job of flying, and I just have to explore places and learn better ways to do things, but I am convinced I can do it on my own now. That might be good. And I read (reed not red)something that is from someone else that is trying to soar and I think, "nest mulch." This is cocky and buys bad karma, but if that nest mulch flies, I am going to go looking for the fox.

The Blog Whore

I go all sad and feel all hopeless for full minutes at a time when I look at my blog stats and see the graph is level. Then I get all proactive and go post on a couple of blogs that I know will provide hits. These are blogs that have little or nothing to do with my personal life or my writerly ambitions. They are largely political, a minefield I like to lob large rocks into, but will not enter. But then a huge spike shows up in the graph before my second string even hits the traffic source list. Then, my sales take a leap. Because of what I did perhaps which would be good marketing if I knew what it was that caused the spike. The traffic sources show little of the true picture, nobody subscribing shows up there, but my political pals show up on time and I feel I have chosen the right career. Blog whore. Hopefully that will be considered a secondary career by me, who is the only person who gives a nickel about any of my careers. In the meanwhile, since you deigned to stop by, let me share with you one of my favorite most inspiring things. Creativity inspiring and awe inspiring. Enjoy.

so

I just go back now and delete blogs because I decide they are stupid. I am just stalling.

Reality Check

First of all: I HATE f-ing HATE typing on this new laptop and I have yet to figure out why I am torturing myself by trying to do it.

Secondly: I took down book three because I decided to make something else happen. I need a special kind of psychotherapist who specializes in the "God Syndrome".

Someone commented in a review that they wanted stuff to work out for several of my characters whose/who's lives were sort of being lived at cross purposes to one another's. (I have a real problem with the possessive pronoun here. You would too.) Even one of my more severe critics mentioned having this dilemma. I felt this way too. That is kind of why I wrote it basically. It is an extension of certain parts of my personal experience. ("It happened like this, but wouldn't it be interesting if it happened like this?")

So I made this hunky dory type story in the third book that made everything sweetness and light, peaches and cream. The HEA that I HATE in Romance books. No such thing. Anyway. I decided these people were too complex and it couldn't be that simple so I have made the book like twice as long as it was and the development was fun, and I like it. But the thing is, I was kind of idealizing this one male character, did it in book one, mentioned it in book two, and I am crazy about him. But, this new section makes him do a really ass hole thing. And I just kind of think that no matter how great a guy is, this stuff happens because of the "Y" chromosome. Fortunately my audience is predominantly female or I would probably have my house burned to the ground by now and my body dismembered in the town square. (Please put my head on a rust proof pike.) And I make him all man up-ish and come clean-ish and acceptable to the amazing female protagonist who would never fall in love with an asshole. Yeah.

And, once again, I feel like a complete whore for doing it. It is so manipulative. Okay. Here is the deal. These are fictional people, Ditty. What the fuck difference could it possibly make?

No answer. Go the fuck to sleep.

Amazing Day

An amazing review for SACRED SIN. I am so grateful, and it is wonderful when it seems like someone "gets" me.

Thank you, Katherine.

"4.0 out of 5 stars A great read!, January 9, 2012
By Katherine C. Owen (Kirkland, WA United States) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Sacred Sin (Kindle Edition)
"Sacred Sin" by Virginia Llorca is evocative, intimate, and sexy. The intriguing adult story contains flashes of brilliance about an amazing woman named Jenny who is mysterious, magical, and somewhat mad. A state she openly acknowledges as she seduces not only the men that she has magnetized to her in life, but the readers who get drawn into this story. Llorca weaves an intricate tale with her writing style that feels both autobiographical and intimate, even though "Sacred Sin" is told in third person.

This reader was somewhat bewitched by Jenny and had to throw out the semblance of a moral code, at times, in order to better understand this deeply drawn character that is Jenny Agnoli. Can you be in love with two men at the same time? And, be with them both? Apparently, you can. Llorca's novel takes us on a thirty-year journey from the time Jenny is a baby where readers get a glimpse of young Jenny and attempt to understand this amazing girl through the eyes of her first love, Barney. And then, the writer propels readers forward with the introduction of the magnetic Danny who becomes the love of Jenny's life and possibly her soul mate. But, alas, there are questions there that Llorca impels readers to consider. Can you love more than one person at the same time? Can you need them for different reasons?

I loved all the characters in this novel. Somehow, I wanted things to work out for all of them even though a certain amount of madness or a spell of some kind seem to come over all of them, at different times, in terms of the way they dealt with Jenny and her manic-depressive state(s).

"Sacred Sin" was a thought-provoking story by a very talented writer and one I will think about long after the last page I read. I look forward to reading more of Virginia Llorca's work."



Then I found out how to disable caps lock. From my perspective, yesterday was like I just heard my power ball numbers on the TV and then the doorbell rang and it was Publisher's Clearing House.

Versatile Blogger Award

I feel like I am piloting a ship into uncharted waters here.  I am supposed to list seven formerly unknown things about me.
1. I wear my pjs inside out so the seams don't irritate me.
2.  My husband really was on a Seal Support team in the Navy so I do know a little about it.
3.  I never dyed my hair.
4.  I would drink two milk shakes at lunch in high school to try and gain weight.  Ha Ha on me.
5.  I still get terrible crushes on people.  Inappropriate at my age.
6.  I smoked tons of dope when I was thirty-ish
7.  The last few pages of LAWMAN is the best thing I ever wrote and maybe that anyone wrote.  And too bad if you don't know that.  You should.

Wow. That was fun.  I wish you had to list ten cuz I was just getting warmed up.

Now, I am supposed to list five blogs for the Versatile Blogger Award. Not easy cuz I am kind of a blog whore.

1.  Roy York at Grandpa York cuz he is too good to be true for a variety of reasons and he is a great cheerleader.  Also very good with the written word.
2.  Lyra at Lyrical Meanderings, because she has cute kids and works very hard.
3. pascal campion at pascal campion cuz I love his work and I am trying to butter him up.
4.  Betsy Lerner at BetsyLerner.com because her blog is almost the same as dope to me. And I am not too sure about the real name of the actual blog.
5. Burton Book Reviews because it is lovely and my oeuvre.

If I am supposed to convert these into links, I am really sorry.  I wept today because I found a tiny program to successfully disable caps lock, so I celebrate my non-techiness. Use Google, guys. That's what it's for.

Spin

Some days I do not want to leave my bed. I love my bed. Very old, wrought iron "campaign" bed. (I do not know why they call it that, but I saw a picture of one like it in Arch. Digest and it had a bunch of weird chains on it and said it folded and was a civil war campaign bed.  Strange, since it is very pretty.) Any way, all cotton blankets, sheets and quilts. Favorite stuff that I indulge myself in.  Little enough of that going on, guys.  But, as usual, I digress.  (I will have to find a phrase to replace that.  It is getting very old, even to me.)

Sometimes I can let the littlest thing get me down so  bad, so far down, definitely inordinately so. Other days, like the second half of yesterday, and so far, all of today, I am kind of high. And the tiniest thing can get me so high, no, not ALWAYS a pill, guys.   I am being a bit figurative here.  I know it is my nature, and sometimes I hate it, but usually I enjoy it.  It is like Chicago.  Chicagoans are rabid in their love for their city, but it is never the same for very long.  They say if you don't like the weather in Chicago, just wait a minute cuz it will change.  Maybe that is why they love it.  So I am at peace with the way I am.  Good thing cuz it is way too late to alter it.

Anyway, one thing I notice is that, more and more, I am able to mentally adjust my take on things to feed a certain mood. I wonder if I have always done this and everyone else knows it, but I am just now noticing it.  The first time someone said something negative about my writing I felt so weird, like a little bit sick with that hot forehead thing. You would not think at my age I would have a fragile ego, and it is a damn shame that I do.  So, it took a while to see that the person was not criticizing my writing or even my choices.  He was criticizing the lifestyle of the characters which means I created characters.  It was the first time I realized that and it was a watershed moment.  Now you couldn't stop me if you wanted to.  I have had enough said at this point that I am totally able to be perfectly at ease with what I say and how I say it. So I poke around looking for reviews, but mostly looking for sales and perusing reviews if they are present.  Barnes and Noble, for some reason, gets me the most readership.  I have a strange feeling it is because of this interesting interaction I had with a gentleman that works at Barnes and Noble, but I may be wrong. It may just be part of the natural order of things and beyond my control.  So I got a pretty nice review from someone on B&N and felt good and was glad someone "got" me.  My only requirement.  Steal the book out of the back of my car as long as you read it and "get" it.

Then, this morning, my daughter was taking a terribly long time in the Sprint store getting a replacement phone.  In unexpected idle moments such as this I like to go up to any device in the store (Best Buy is fun.) that has browser access and look up my books and leave the picture of my cover on display.  Sometimes I even say to whomever is nearby, "This is my book," but Francesca gets put off when I talk to strangers. (Loony mom syndrome.)  I booted up B&N and there was a new review.  One star.  Very long.  He was furious with Jenny.  He offered all kinds of recommendations about how she could improve the moral quality of her life and how the gentlemen involved were nuts to put up with it and it could never happen (which I adamantly counter with "Oh, yes it can") and immediately I noticed that he said nothing about my style and was so invested in my characters it had strongly affected him  He said he read it in six  hours  and wished he had the six hours back.  Um. . . You could have put it down after twenty minutes or so. Why didn't you?

I found the whole one star review immensely flattering and gave it a five star rating. Still waiting for that "right" person to read it, though.

Today's CTA: what do you think about this whole cell phone, iPad, computer, TV morphing thing?

Rings in the Water

If you throw a big enough rock into the pond, can you make it become a tsunami?  I guess it would have to depend completely on the size of the pond and the size of the rock.  Even a tiny pebble in a little puddle will make rings.

I'm afraid I am starting a personal trend in my life.  I've got all my psychoactive meds regulated so I don't have to keep running to the shrink.  My GP is fine with maintenance.  So I don't think I can blame this on  a change in medical protocol as it so obviously was last year. But I just dissolved another lifelong relationship.  And this one is a family member.  And I don't think it is repairable.  I don't think I want it to be repairable.  I am just wondering if it is because of my stage in life.  (Y'all know I mean "age".) I am kind of relieved there is one less person in my life whose bullshit I have to put up with.  Wow.  I should personally diagram that sentence. I do know the 'with' hanging on the end there is totally wrong.  But, I digress.

My two daughters are poles apart in age and attitude and life style.  I think you would have to go with the most detailed kind of DNA test to find any similarities.  And they are so lucky. My older daughter had mirror  twin girls, and this is going to be a classic case of a family dynamic run completely amok.  We see signs of it every day.   Someone I worked with once said, "You can choose your friends, but you cannot choose your family.  You are just stuck with them." (I worded that carefully, probably paraphrasing a bit so we wouldn't have to go into the you can pick your friends, you can pick your nose schtick.)

My mom died about six years ago and I still cannot forgive her for leaving my father behind.  It is so painful to deal with, and it causes the most terrible friction in families. Today it boiled over big time.  No, that is not a mixed metaphor if you understood the physics of heating water and the interaction of the molecules that produce the heat.  But let me try to swing back to the rings in the water thing that I wanted to use as the thread to run through this rambling blog.  Everything that has happened to us comes back into our lives in some way.  I am pretty sure someone took this idea and ran with it and came up with the whole "Karma" thing.  I am between two brothers and they have been pulling at my loyalties, perhaps not deliberately.  In one case, perhaps deliberately. But the connection with one of them gave way tonight.  I spoke at length with the other brother and we tried to analyze the cause of this rift.  At one point I brought up the fact that my mother never made any bones about saying that the recently disconnected brother was a "surprise" and that they had only planned on two kids.  I am sure that must have had an effect on so many things in his life. And there is a pretty big age gap.  But through his childhood, and basically until he got married, we were such good friends. We had a hot car and we let him take it on dates and he never wrecked it.  He would come and stay at our house just for a break.  I thought it was very brotherly.  Instead it seems that  he feels he now is unfairly  burdened with all these life changing decisions for everyone.  In fact he has never been asked or designated to bear these burdens or make these decisions, and, geographically, in truth, I am the one that performs most of the actual physical involvement.  And I have a spouse who is unusually kind about dealing with this situation which concerns my aging and alone father.  It is perhaps a burden, and my father recently mentioned that he was sorry for all he put my husband and I through, and I replied that we did these things because we love him.  (Tears.  Irishmen.)  I think maybe there is a distinction in doing something because you are burdened with it or doing something for love. Every family has its weird dynamics and undertows, but it seems that this time, every single pebble that was ever thrown into that pond chose today to send its rings out and deluge me with sadness and mistrust and complete confusion.  What is done can sometimes not be undone.  I do know that the path of action that I have been following is sturdy enough to not be washed out by this flood and I can keep on trucking along.  I have that  tee shirt.  

Today's CTA:  who's gonna push your wheelchair?