Giving Good....

Email.

I know exactly what you perverts were thinking. And I am so proud! Your dirty minds are going to have to take a brief hiatus for now. I need to get this out. We can get dirty next post, if you ask nicely of course.

Email. Besides text messaging, it is for some, a preferred form of communication. I email every day. All day. It's a necessary part of my job function. It serves as a track-able way to communicate (I love Cover Your Own Ass syndrome) but it also allows psychos like me to color code, flag things urgent and generally control inbox chaos in the misguided attempt to control everything else in life.

As an email aficionado, I appreciate those who give good email. I like thoughtful, well articulated responses. I don't mind length (tee hee) as long as what you are saying is relevant. I also don't mind brief...cause who doesn't love a quickie.

Giving good email is a talent. If it's meant to be an electronic conversation and you can make it seamless...you rock. If it's supposed to be a lengthy missive set to inform and entertain...awesome. But before you click send realize something..there are no take-backs. Once you send that terrible joke or horribly misspelled paragraph out into the web universe that damn thing is gonzo. So allow me to give you some advice:

-Double check the email address. You do not want to be sexy emailing your husband, telling him you would like to be hogtied with your silk stockings and accidentally send it to some random dude whose email address is a digit/letter/period different from Hubby's. While I think it would be HILARIOUS...you having to explain to random dude why that wasn't an invitation could be a pain in the ass.

-Spell check. It exists. Use it. Love it. Submit to it.

-Don't overdo it. If your point can be made in three sentences, use three sentences. Don't use four...and don't skimp by using two.

-Consider your audience. If you are having a "conversation" email I personally don't care about syntax and punctuation.If you are emailing your CEO...punctuate properly and god forbid use a damn comma.

That's all I have. I love good email. I like them long, short, with bodacious vocabulary or a few short words. (You are awesome. Three words...great email.)

And always remember to thank someone if required. People can detect bitch through email, so if that's not your intent, watch your tone. (This is a HUGE issue for me. I always have tone....It's my aggressive/aggressive nature.)

Do you have tips for giving it good? Send them to me. And if I peaked your interest...and you wanna give me a round of good email, I promise to reciprocate. And I give great email.  ;)

Have a good holiday weekend everyone. Fall is coming soon. That means pie season! Mmm pie. I am having a real attention span issue today...ohh shiny! Night night!

Writing..Just Not Here

My name is Jessie and I am a lazy blogger. But, I am not a lazy writer. I have been neglecting my blog for a very good reason (at least for me anyway).

The writing bug bit me in the ass and this time the sucker wasn't letting go. I have written two stories, about 30,000 words total, in two weeks. That is a lot for me. I haven't written for pleasure in awhile.

Once I started, I couldn't stop until I finished. Then I had to edit and re-write. More edits and re-writes. I back off for a little while, usually a day, then return with fresher eyes. At this point, the person who reads my WIP screams at me for my excessive comma use...makes me remove about a thousand of them and then blesses it.

You ask yourself...what does she do with all of that creativity? Nothing. I mean it. Not. A. Thing. I sometimes submit to a super-secret erotic stories website. But most of the time, it sits on my hard drive.

Now you are asking yourself...what's the fucking point of doing all that work if no one reads it? Simple. I do it for me. It's cathartic. It's like my love of baking as stress relief. Methodical, creative but it won't cause a sugar coma or a mess in my kitchen.

I sincerely apologize for slacking on my reviews. I was selected for jury duty this week. Apparently our justice system is desperate having chosen me. So I will be writing numerous book reviews in my head so I can come home and pick up my slack. Plus I will be bringing my brand new shiny Nook that hubby bought me because I am cute (and a good lay according to him). So that means reading time!

I am hanging my head in shame but damn if the stuff I wrote didn't make me very happy. So, please forgive me my adoring public and I will return to my regularly scheduled program very soon.

Stay safe folks...people are a little crazy out there!

Why Am I Reading This?

It's Friday. I love Friday. Coffee tastes better on Friday. My feet hurt less after being in heels all day because they know for the next two days I am heelless.. Bliss.

I have a bunch of reviews prepared and will be blitz posting them this weekend. But Little Guy is asleep, so I thought I would take some time to have a "what's on my mind" post.

I have been finding myself checking out a lot of blogs lately. It's a cyber version of people watching...a hobby of mine. As an observer, I find that people are sometimes more honest in writing as they are in conversation. It's almost like they don't second guess themselves as they are typing, but their mind will censor their mouth when they are talking. Plus, when you are posting you aren't looking in the face of the person who is reading. It allows for more creative freedom in my opinion.

There is an enormous upside to this. Communication increases between people who wouldn't normally communicate. You find you have things in common with people who are states away. It's a lovely thing. I also think it's a double edged sword.

In being allowed to read some people's innermost thoughts and feelings, you may start to find out some things about people that you don't understand. You may read something and go "What the fuck?" Or "Wow..that was TMI." Or you could possibly have a moment like I did the other day and say...

"What Am I Reading This?"

I read for entertainment. I read for knowledge. Sometimes I read stuff just because it's funny. But most of the time, I look to gain something from what I am reading. I seek to understand at least something when I am done. And most often (99 percent of the time) I accomplish my goal. Unfortunately, in this case I did not. I didn't agree, understand or learn anything from what I read. But I am also aware that this person is not looking to educate me when they sit down at their computer and write. And they don't have to.

Writing is cathartic. I write all the time. I just finished writing an 11,000 word mildly erotic romance. Will you read it? Probably not. I write to release the words in my head. I have posted to a website steadily for years but don't throw that info out there (until now lol).

I guess all this rambling adds up to this: I am going to be more stingy with my blog reading time. I will stick to the blogs I currently enjoy and possibly branch off if those writers recommend someone. (I say possibly, because the Why Am I Reading This blog was a recommendation). As much as I like learning new things and cyber observing...if I can't wrap my head around your blog, I won't continue.

Now, you may feel the same way about mine. If you are having a Why Am I Reading This moment of your own...feel free to tell me why. And I would give you the few minutes back it took to read this...but I don't have that kind of power. Will you take a cookie instead?

Everyone enjoy your weekend!

A Moment with My Coffee

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable start to their weekend. I have several books I will be reviewing soon, but I really wanted to share this experience first.

It was rather humbling and I think every so often...we all need a humbling moment.

I have both friends and family in the military. I also "adopted" two soldiers last year through an incredible organization called "Adopt a US Soldier". We wrote letters,  sent them packages from home. Now that they are stateside, we have continued our friendship. We have discussed some of their experiences "over there" and what it was like to return home. This brings me to my experience the other morning.

I was in the gas station getting coffee (don't gasp, they have really good coffee) and a gentleman was standing in front of me. He was taller than me (everyone is lol) and was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Pretty average looking. As I was standing there, I noticed the scars. He had thick, angry looking shrapnel scars running up the outside of his left leg, arm, neck and face. The heavier scarring being on his leg and arm, but I was standing right behind him so my proximity made it easier to see the remainder of them. I observed quickly, because I didn't want to be rude and went back to my phone.

He was next in line. He put his coffee down and asked for a pack of cigarettes. He went to go swipe his credit card and it didn't work. The clerk was telling him it wasn't declined, but she was unable to tell him the exact reason why it wouldn't work. He started to flush a little and when he went to put his card back in his wallet, I noticed that the activation sticker was still on the back. I made a split second decision and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to look at me and I motioned him out of line.

I told him I noticed the sticker and that it looked like the reason why his card may not be working was that it wasn't activated. He looked embarrassed and I told him it seriously happened all the time. I told him he could activate it on his cell phone and it should work almost immediately. He reached for his pockets and if possible, looked even more embarrassed. He had forgotten his cell phone.

"I seem to be forgetting a lot of things lately."

I asked if I could assist. He handed me his card, I called the number on my cell and activated it. I handed it back to him and he thanked me. He said that a lot of people aren't so nice. He paid for his purchases, thanked me again and left. I paid for my coffee and I also left.

I called my friend, the soldier and told him what happened. He said that he probably had a TBI (traumatic brain injury) caused by a close range explosion. TBI's cause memory loss along with other physical and psychological reactions. My friend also has symptoms of a TBI due to an IED explosion that rocked a tank he was in. He showed me the pictures and I almost got sick. You can't even imagine, truly.

After I hung up with my friend, I realized exactly what my humbling moment was. The guy at the gas station was my age. And suffering from such acute memory loss with absolutely to way to fix it. I forget stuff all the time, but most of the time I can remedy that. There is no fix for what this gentleman is going through. And without treatment, it may actually get worse.

So, with my coffee that morning, I had a moment that I am sure will remain in my mind for a long time. And I hope our brief exchange made it feel a little better about people.

If you would like more information about Adopt a US Soldier please visit adoptaussoldier.org

Have a good weekend!

Bondage Through the Mail

Hello everyone! I hope you are well. I am sunburned, but got my fair share of people watching done at the amusement park...so I am a happy girl.

So, the title of my post. Intrigued, aren't you? Am I going to be talking about kinky toy catalogs? Possibly wrapping someone in layers of bubble wrap? Flogging with a book of postage stamps?

I will satisfy your curiosity right now. I am not a huge fan of delayed gratification...though sometimes it's fun.

Mark and Everly (see Opposites Attract and the follow-up) are back from their anniversary trip and have sent the prerequisite email bugging me to write their story. I sent the standard "No" reply and asked them about their trip. They said it was fantastic and they met some interesting people when they left their hut to socialize. Interesting eh? I should probably tell you that Mark and Ev went to a "lifestyle friendly" resort. As in "Hey, you give us money, you can do whatever you want as long as it's consensual" kinda place. You may have read about them in a kinky book. Well they aren't fiction and I got to hear what Everly looked liked bound and suspended over crystal blue water. I was slightly envious over the crystal blue water part. So, I know the first question in your head is...

How do they get their "tools of the trade" through airport security and customs? Okay, that probably wasn't your first, second or third question. But it was mine. Frankly, you can't get more than two ounces of shampoo through airport security, never mind feet of rope, six pairs of handcuffs, two pairs of bondage cuffs and other assorted kinky hardware. So I asked. And they answered.

They ship it ahead.

Now you are probably thinking "Duh" but apparently, Mark learned this lesson the hard way. When Mark was traveling extensively, honing his skills in Shibari, he often picked up different items along the way. Ropes, toys, cuffs etc. Now, this was prior to the current security measures, so most of the time he just threw it in his suitcase and went on his way. The metal detectors would pick up on some stuff, but no one really paid it any mind. Until, one day he was picked for a random baggage check. And boy was that cute little lady in for a surprise when she opened his luggage! Mark said he had no less than ten feet of a special kind of rope he had picked up in Japan, some ankle and wrist cuffs, lubricant, a flogger and some weird Japanese sex toy- thing he tried to explain to me but I still don't get. So, after rifling through his luggage, the girl blushed when she got to the lubricant and flogger. She proceeded to stare at him like he had six heads.

So at this point, I am laughing hysterically. And I am laughing because Mark can't lie. He is crappy at it. Everly catches him all the time. I tell him he lies like a man. He said if I keep saying that, he is going to tie me to a chair. So I am wondering how he is going to fib his way out of a visit to security and what I am sure will be a brief cavity search.

"I am a bounty hunter."

Then he proceeds to explain what he uses each of these "tools" for on his bounty hunting jobs. The rope for tying up suspects, the cuffs for restraining them and the flogger for roughing them up if he needs to. Apparently this was all she needed to hear. The bounty hunter thing made TSA girl totally swoon. She didn't even ask what the other "tools" were used for. She had him pack his luggage back up and sent him on through, nearly drooling because she met a real, live bounty hunter.

I must point out that I am practically choking with laughter and disbelief. That is the WORST lie ever. Everly confirms this did indeed happen, because he called her in a panic (yes Mark actually panicked) not because he was afraid of what they would think about him. He panicked because he didn't want them to confiscate his shit! (The rope was specialized and quite pricey, as is the Japanese sex toy doo-dad).

The moral of this story is, when in doubt, ship your kink. Or else TSA agents will be tying each other up with your very expensive rope. :)

Review: Game Misconduct- Bianca Sommerland

Hello everyone. I hope you are having a fine Saturday. I had a slutty encounter with some sangria last night so needless to say, my Friday night conversation with my friends wasn't about babies and housework ;)

So onto my review.

Game Misconduct is the first in the Dartmouth Cobras series by Bianca Sommerland. What attracted me to this book is the fact that it's a sports erotic romance. The Dartmouth Cobras are a professional hockey team and the heroine is Oriana Delgado, the team owner's daughter.

I had a few issues with this book. Oriana is dating Paul, the team's coach, but has feelings for Max Perron one of the players. Until she catches him in an "interesting" situation in an alley with a call girl and one of his teammates.

I need to stop here for moment. This book has a lot of sexual situations. Rape play, different degrees of BDSM, voyeurism and multiple partner sex to name a few. And while I have no issue reading about them, the way they were portrayed in this book can be summed up in one word. Confusing.

I don't know if it was me, but Oriana's trysts with all of the men on the team were hard to follow. I had to go over and re-read certain parts because I couldn't keep track of who was doing what to whom.

Also, the premise of the book was a little over the top for me. Silver, Oriana's sister, is left to do what she wants because she is the wild child so Oriana's father leaves her alone so she doesn't embarrass him further. Oriana is the good girl, stays will Paul because she is "supposed" to, until she realizes their relationship sucks. Then sweet little Oriana goes from good girl to team equipment in three paragraphs. The transition wasn't the smoothest in my opinion and added to the confusion of the story.

In the end, I enjoyed the different personalities of the guys. Sloan was the dominating sadist, Max the voyeur and Mason was the lead Dom. But in the end, Oriana didn't do it for me in the story.

There is a second book in this series, Defensive Zone and it's Silver's story. I am a little more interested in this one, because from the glimpse of Silver I got in Game Misconduct...I think I might like her character better.

As for Game Misconduct,  I sliding this one off the shelf to make room for Defensive Zone. If you think you can keep track of all the players in the book...feel free to go for it.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. As always I would love recommendations and you can follow me on Twitter @jessieobrien25

Also, if you read Game Misconduct...I would love to know what you thought :)