Sunday, December 21, 2014

Sunday Story

Well, it's almost Christmas and I'm going to have a little blogging break...but I'll be back in 2015!!!

Thanks for visiting with me this past year. I've enjoyed your company :)

I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas, and I hope 2015 is filled with wonderful things.


Friday, December 19, 2014

Phallic Friday - the next housewife is out!

The next Housewife is out and she's Sienna.

I haven't read Sienna, so I'm looking forward to it.

Here's the blurb:

Sienna knows that she’s got a good thing going with her boyfriend, Charlie. He’s attentive, loyal, and seriously hot. When he sets Sienna up with a very unusual gift, she’s both shocked and intrigued. But she’s worried as well – accepting Charlie and his gift will test all of their limits and the strength of their relationship

Don't forget to try the quiz and find out which sexy housewife you are: http://escapepublishing.com.au/housewivesquiz

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Wildlife Wednesday - Swamphen

Swamphens are waterbirds. They're rather distinctive with their purpley-black coloured feathers and their bright red beak.

They live in and around freshwater swamps, streams and marshes. This one was at the Dubbo Zoo.

You can find out more here at Birds in Backyards.

But their breeding I'll paste here, taken from the Birds in Backyards website, because it's interesting:

Purple Swamphens are generally found in small groups and studies have shown that these consist of more males than females.

More than one male will mate with a single female.

All family members, and occasionally the young from a previous brood, share in incubation and care of the young.

The nest consists of a platform of trampled reeds with the surrounding vegetation sometimes being used to form a shelter. Often two broods will be raised in a year.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Sunday Story - alcohol & sex

NB This is not about books set in the wine industry, like Lily Malone's great stories.

I've been on a reading binge again - different romance genres, some a few years old, some recent - and I read four books in a row which at different stages made me go, "What? As if?" The first time I thought I was being odd, the second time I thought I was getting weirder, the third time I had to consult with Mr E, the fourth time I sat down to write this post!

One book had the hero and heroine have a huge day. It made a point of saying how early she had got up and how busy her day was, and how tired she was. Then she meets up with the hero. He needs a waitress, so she works the night with him until the bar closes. Okay, so I'm thinking it's after midnight, she's probably been up 18 or more hours, she's pretty stuffed. Then, they had a relax drink after work. And I'm fine with this, but they knocked back 2 bottles of wine and a bottle of vodka...then proceeded to have sex multiple times before dawn, got a few hours sleep, then he drove her home.

Right?

Well, I can knock back a bottle of wine and half a bottle of vodka, but I'd not be feeling well, especially when I was tired to start with. And then multiples times of sex? Hell, I'd be asleep before we got horizontal...and if we did it standing, it sure wouldn't be the best sex of my life, like this girl's. Wow!

And...thinking about drinking, I reckon I could consume that alcohol over a few hours while I'm chatting. Although they did do quick shots, but still, I'd be saying it's at least 3 am before they're screwing. Given recovery time and a few hours sleep, that's a lot of sex in the 3 hours before dawn, and since they'd managed a couple of hours sleep... that wouldn't be mind blowing sex for me. We're talking a couple of sex acts, in less than an hour!? I'd be liking my mind-blowing sex a little more drawn out, thanks. I know there's a time for fast and furious, but I call that fast and furious - not mind blowing.

And then we drive...after that much alcohol and that little sleep. Not a great message.

Another book had the heroine knock back a bottle of wine most nights, sometimes two, while she was alone. Am I the only one who thinks, 'on the way to being an alcoholic'?

So why does this annoy me? Because I think it's sending out the wrong message to readers.

Drunk sex in my experience has never been mind-blowing, it's drunk sex - sloppy, messy and forgettable usually. It can be mind-blowing if you're drunk and you finally get the guy of your dreams...but it's the getting not the sex that's blown my mind then.

Drinking is so very easy to write, so easy to do in real life, and yet so much trouble can happen from excess drinking. Should we be encouraging excessive drinking by not thinking as we write?

Am I being a total prude about this? Am I over-thinking what I read? Do you think this is an excessive amount of drinking?

Friday, December 12, 2014

Phallic Friday - the humbler

Cathleen Ross in her story, Secret Confessions: Sydney Housewives Nella, introduces the humbler. Nella is a Domme to Michael's sub - and this play allows Michael, a gazillionaire and property developer, to relax after a busy week at work, giving his complete trust to his wife.

In this story, the humbler is used as a tool largely for humiliation. It can also be used as a restraint and/or a tool for extra arousal. Really... the possibilities are endless :)

So...what is a humbler? There are some websites with some incredible pictures but they are very graphic so don't go looking at work or with kids. This website, Femdom Resources, has a great collection of images.

It's basically a contraption (metal usually) that is locked around the base of the balls (like if your fingers encircled the flesh close to the body, above the testes). There are 'wings' coming from there that fit around the back of the thighs, under the buttocks. So, you place it at the back of a man's thighs, then lock it tight above his balls. The balls hang down, exposed.


This keep a man on all fours, as he can't extend his back or legs without pulling on his scrotum with the metal pressing down on his balls. It also has the man's butt exposed, and if you're into anal play, your man is trapped and exposed for you. It's also perfect for slapping or whipping butt cheeks as well.

The humbler... makes your man humble...and Nella uses that to her complete advantage, spending up on her husband's corporate credit card! The secret life of the very rich :)

If you need an image, let me know and I can burn your eyes with one :) I just didn't want you to have balls in your face on a Friday!

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Wildlife Wednesday - Risso's dolphin

Photo by Fish_Thinkers
A while back on our local news, they mentioned some Uni post-grad students who had a social media presence of Fish Thinkers, and I started following them on Instagram (fish_thinkers). They have a blog and Twitter (@fish_thinkers) too.

They're fascinating because they have underwater cameras recording sharks and fish behaviour, so I've been quite excited to see some of their footage. They also post about fish and fishing and have mentioned Lord Howe Island and Balls Pyramid (both in Deep Diving) and some of the fish species I've had on Wildlife Wednesday (like Luderick).

Last week, they featured a Risso's dolphin that had been found stranded on a beach north of Wollongong (south of Sydney).

I hadn't heard of a Risso's dolphin nor seen one. So I had to do a bit of digging. I asked them about the scarring on this dolphin but apparently these dolphins often have scarring - although this animal had more than most.

So here's some information about Risso's dolphin, from the Australian Government environment website:

Risso's Dolphins are robust, blunt-headed animals lacking a distinct beak. A distinctive deep crease runs up the forehead. The flippers are recurved, long and pointed. The dorsal fin is tall and falcate (sickle-shaped). The mouthline slopes upward and there are typically no more than seven pairs of peg-like mandibular teeth that are often badly worn in older individuals. No maxillary teeth are present. The colouration and markings of adults are conspicuous, the body being very light grey to white with a narrow cape sometimes being visible. Extensive scarring appears to be primarily from aggressive encounters with conspecifics. There is a large anchor-shaped light grey patch on a dark ventrum. Newborns are also light grey in colour.

Risso's Dolphin occur mainly on steep sections of the upper continental slope (Baumgartner 1997), usually in waters deeper than 1000 m (Ross 1984), in tropical and warm temperate latitudes.

Risso's Dolphins show a marked preference not only for water greater than 1000m deep, but also for warm temperate to tropical conditions, although they do sometimes extend their range into cooler latitudes in summer (Leatherwood & Reeves 1983). They are therefore generally found in waters with temperatures ranging between 15–30 °C. Although they are primarily found in pelagic oceanic waters, Risso's Dolphin frequently move over the continental slope. 

They're found throughout Australian oceans, but haven't been sighted around Tasmania and the Northern Territory.

Thanks to fish_thinkers for interesting posts!

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Sunday Story - This Is Your Afterlife


This Is Your AfterlifeI've read a few YA and NA novels lately and I read a fabulous one by an Aussie author, This is Your Afterlife by Vanessa Barneveld.

It reminded me of The Lovely Bones, although it's a completely different premise, but it had that beautiful tone to it.

The characters are at school. The heroine, Keira, has recently lost her grandmother who was a psychic and Keira has some ability (mainly tarot readings). When the most popular boy at school goes missing, everyone is worried for him, but Keira is talking to him - well, his ghost!

It's a bit mystery, a lot romance, a lot young adult, and a lot of good reading. I thoroughly enjoyed it.


Friday, December 5, 2014

Phallic Friday - sexting

Are you into sexting? Maybe I need to explain what sexting is - it's sending someone explicit photos or messages via mobile phone. So, what are your thoughts?

I have to admit that mobile phones aren't really my best friend. I pretty much loath them! Why? I think it's the 'on call' thing. I don;t want to be contacted at every moment of the day and night. I like to have my own space. I like to miss calls if I'm busy or don't feel like talking. Is that an awful thing to say?

I own a mobile phone...but it's on silent almost always, and it may not be charged. And it's somewhere in my lounge room, I think, unless I left it some place else! I'm not good, I told you.

If I grew up with mobiles, I would be a sexter. Years ago, I had a friend and we'd send each other Polaroid photos by mail (as in, in a letter by post). We didn't live near each other, so we didn't see each other a lot, but email was our friend (and phone and mail). If we had mobiles then...wow...I'd hate to think!

The Polaroids we'd send each other were never blatant (but they would be if I sexted!). They were suggestive more than explicit - a lacy edge of a bra over a mound of breast, the upraised sheet over an erect cock, a side on shot of an open mouth, a shot along a stomach.

Did I think about him using them for nefarious purposes? No. I trusted him. I never thought of after, or if we broke up nastily, or anything like that.

Would I worry if it had been more explicit? Probably not when I was young. Now, I might think twice.

But I'm pretty trusting of relationships...which is probably silly because most relationships end, but now images, words, thoughts, ramblings, they're all on file, caught on the world wide web, and there forever!

I'm glad I didn't grown up with a mobile in one hand and my life on the net...although, it would have made for some hot sexting!!!

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Sydney Housewives - Nella

Lana's best friend, Nella, is out today!!

Nella is a Domme...and I am so keen to read her secret life. I want to watch her whip her husband into submission...or maybe not whip, maybe she ties him...or humiliates him...or...

And I heard whispers of a humbler...

Oh! I can't wait!!

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Wildlife Wednesday - bearded dragon

It's summer in Australia and it's the time of lizards :)

I'm a big fan of lizards and we have some cool ones in my garden that I've talked about before - Blue tongues (and again) and Eastern Water Skinks - and some down the beach - baby water dragons and adults and another lizard - and some from out west like the bogeye. WOW... I didn't realise I had so many!

Well, to add to my collection, here's another from out West - the Bearded Dragon. This one was at Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo, in September. It was just warming up and he was on the road sunning himself and prime position to be run over. He's not an exhibit, he's native wildlife just living at the zoo.

So, Mr E stopped so I could do some shepherding and move the lizard off the road...I just had to get a photo while doing so!

This guy was not happy about my interference. He was quite indignant that I tried to pick him up, so much so that he reared up and took off like lightning...and then propped, right on the other side of the road. So, I had to shoo him off further, by now with an audience of other cars waiting to get through.

Do you move animals off roadways?

PS If you want some info on the Bearded Dragon, ask fellow Ninja Sarah Belle who owns one, or you can check out the Fact Sheet on the Reptile Park's website here. You might have a chuckle at the male's 'frantic head bobs and arm waving' to attract the female's attention.

Monday, December 1, 2014

Mia Hoddell's 12 Days Of Christmas

I'm honoured to be a part of Mia Hoddell's 12 Days of Christmas. You can find the other guests here.

This invitation came by sheer fluke. I thanked a reviewer for her review of Deep Diving. She's a friend of Mia's and through this chance I was invited as a guest. Mia Hoddell writes YA (young adult) and NA (new adult) stories. I was a bit concerned I didn't fit, but I'm still there.

And then the blurb for her celebration came, and it says, "I have a fantastic line up of NYT Best-sellers, USA Today Best-sellers, Amazon Bests-sellers, and amazing indies who will be posting from Dec 1st to Dec 12th."

NYT Best seller - nope, not me.
USA Today best seller - nope, not me either.
Amazon best seller - ah, nope, not that either.
Amazing Indie - that's not me either.

See, I still don't fit, yet I'm on the list. And I'm going to wear it with pride :)

Cate's childhood Christmas
Mia is in the UK, so to get some promotion in a different country is good. Well, I hope it's good! I hope it will mean some new readers.

For me, it means 30 new authors to go and check out!

So for the next 12 days I'll be plugging this event. My post is up on the 6th December, so there will be extra plugging day.

And hopefully my Christmas post doesn't show how much I really don't fit. Does my Christmas photo look too 80s?? I'm worried it was before all these authors were born!! ;)