Another Science Fiction Story on WattPad — Love in the World of Make-believe

So here is another free Short Story. Love in the World of Make Believe
 Sarae has grown up with wearable hologram technology. She feels that not seeing reality is the barrier to her happiness–specifically why she has never been in love.

After reading, feel free to comment upon any part of the story. (Including the R Rating. While there is no descriptive sex or casual swearing, I gave it an R rating for adult themes. If you feel I rated it too harshly let me know.)

Still deciding if you want to read it? Here’s a teaser:

Mornings had become a perverse game of looking at her true self in the mirror, before she turned on her hologram. No wrinkles yet, but Sarae felt them just under her skin. She felt old at forty—not even a quarter through her expected life span as a non-smoking, social drinking American who exercised and tried to stay away from sugars.

Sarae caught a wiff of the automatic coffee maker as she slipped into the shower and scrubbed off the sweat from her mind-numbing hour on the treadmill. By the time she got out; she heard the message that her breakfast was ready…

 

Read the rest here!

 

If you have a “Book Boyfriend” just admit you’re reading porn.

This might be an unpopular message, but I hate the words “Book Boyfriend.”  I’ve been seeing it a lot on Faceboook recently. I don’t mind that people revel in the characters they love, what drives me crazy is my Facebook feed lately has just been loaded with crap like this along with half-naked men.

The fact that I am seeing a bunch of idealized cheesecake shots of men is proof of porn. (No I am not going to put images on my blog.)

Now I admit, I tend to find romance books disappointing. I have read more than a few. Contemporary romance authors are very good at pacing and keeping the tension in the narrative so I have learned from them. I have lots of author friends on Facebook and Twitter. I don’t want to name names, because I’d never want to hurt another author–especially an independent author– but I’ve been reading a lot of teasers for summer and fall releases and many of the teasers have red flags for me.

I keep seeing “alpha men” intimidate women or make decisions for them. They steal kisses or “play” threaten. They push for commitment early. They tell a woman she is beautiful and they are going to seduce her. They get what they want. Why can they do this? First of all they are all so handsome–and in a spicy books, they are also well-endowed. Secondly, many of them are rich or famous or leaders of industry. Basically, they have a special snowflake status that allows them to go around acting like jerks.

They can do it because the woman is head over heels in love/lust for them. The female protagonist acting spunky doesn’t change the fact, I want to tell the guy to step the f*** off.  I don’t even give them a second glance after they showed me their “alpha” side.  I don’t care if they can give the female money, fame, security or whatever else it is they want.

Basically it annoys me when a character is broken down to what they can give the protagonist. (Money and hot sex are the most common desirable traits for men.) That’s just sad.

The man I love and the ones I find sexy are men who respect women. They are strong in their own right, they have no need to rule over anyone. I married a sweet, caring, sensitive boy who now is a sweet, caring, sensitive, and extremely intelligent man. He appreciates my independent nature. He doesn’t try to change me or expects that I change for him. Nor do I expect him to change for me. Maybe that’s why our life is boring. We simply treat each other well. I realize that doesn’t make for a good story.

However even as an author, I write about men who are people. I want them to be more than flights of female fantasy.

At least from the reviews, I have seen, Harden has been nearly everyone’s favorite character in Other Systems. He was raised to believe there is no difference between men and women so he treats everyone with respect as human beings. Reproductive organs are irrelevant to the work they do. He doesn’t sexualize women. In his romantic relationships, he expects equals.He is neither submissive or dominant.  He is simply a person. Obviously he makes mistakes, he is a bit gruff especially with younger people, but I tried to make it clear in the narrative, Harden treats Abby EXACTLY the same way as he treated his little brother Mark when Mark was in his late teens.

Now I’m finishing up The Light Side of the Moon. I wrote about a sweet, intelligent boy who grows into an idealistic man trying to build a utopia. Now unlike Harden who is used to living in close quarters with women, Ian Whitlatch did not grow up with women (except good old Mum) so he tends to idealize them. However he was raised to respect all people.

He is the only child of a small-town doctor and the manager of a charity soup kitchen. Don’t expect him to have lots of money. Dad works in a factory town and will help everyone whether they can pay or not. Mum doesn’t take a salary for her work instead donates her time to feed the impoverished. For the Other System’s Universe they are wealthy, but for the average family in the United States, they would definitly be lower middle class.

Oh and Ian will have to grow into his looks:

At age nineteen, this is how he describes himself:

Ian looked in the mirror, another pimple formed between his nostril and cheek during his excursion in the city. Mum always said he had Dad’s looks. That was unfortunate for both of them, because even when his skin was clear, Ian’s forehead was too high and his nose too big. 

Two years later: Ellie (age 13) describes him thus:

…She hit the decking. Her legs burned as she skidded down the last four meters of the ramp, but the luggage stopped moving. She  pressed her lips together tightly and tried to blink back her tears. 

“Êtes-vous bien, mademoiselle?

She looked up. The light created a halo from his straight sandy-brown hair, but when her eyes cleared, she saw his prominent nose. Then she looked past his nose and into his deep green eyes that were filled with concern.

Not thinking she answered back in English. “Yes thank you, sir.”

He wore an officer’s uniform, but she almost cringed away from his soft delicate hand that reached down for her.  “You’re an Englishwoman?” he asked helping her to her feet. 

So I doubt Ian (or any character I write) will be anyone’s “book boyfriend”, but I’m okay with that.

I know there are plenty of authors and readers who follow my blog, what kinds of characters drive you crazy?

16th Anniversary

Here is the another blog that has nothing to do with writing. Don’t worry on Saturday, I’m interviewing Candace Knoebel the author of Born in Flames. Then I will be doing a week of book reviews so I’ll be back to writing soon enough…However that is the future:

In the now time, I am talking about my relationship with my husband, because tomorrow is our 16th anniversary. We are going out for a steak dinner, the real celebration is we are going to the Puyallup Fair next week. Dennis likes the exhibit hall and I like looking at the cute animals.

Here is us many years ago at my best friend Maria’s wedding. We were so young!

For those who don’t know me well (or weren’t reading this blog a year ago.) Dennis and I met right before my senior year in high school at End Fest 1994. He was working full-time at a local computer store. I was with my friend Jeff and he was with his friends Kevin and Bryan. Jeff, Kevin and Bryan are friends and so we hung out. Then we danced. Dennis was smitten that day. It took me a few months to come around. After all I was 18, he was 21. I admit there was some second guessing my part, but once I came to the conclusion he was the one for me I stuck by that decision. I was very lucky in love.

Sometimes people ask me how we stayed married when so many marriages fail…especially when we got married at 20 and 23 respectively. Well I have some news. Passion does wax and wane, but mutual respect can last forever. Much of our success is just by deciding to stay married through the thick, thin, crappiest and awesome years.
First of all, we have tattoo rings. Not only is a tattoo permanent, but it hurt like hell to get. (Dennis says his didn’t hurt btw. I am telling you it does.) I was sitting there trembling like a leaf but trying not to move because I don’t want to mess the guy up since its on my hand and always visible.

So as far as I am concerned at this point, he is stuck with me!

Like every marriage, we’ve had our ups and downs. However, we meant it when we said for better or worse, richer or poorer and since Dennis and I have the same basic moral code, moral issues have not been a problem. We promised and have both chosen to stay monogamous. We promised and both chosen not to use physical or emotional violence to get our way. There has never been tit for tat. We don’t keep points. When one of us is hurt or angry, we just say so. If one of us wants something, we just tell the other person. While we both like legos, we do try to be grown ups. Part of learning to be a grown-up was prior to getting married we went to pre-marital counseling. It really was the best thing we did for our marriage.

However, if I can point to any one attribute of 16 years of happiness: I would say the key component is gratitude. Nearly every night I make dinner, Dennis will make sure I know he appreciates it.  Even when he doesn’t like it, he acknowledges the work. Heck, when I clean the bathroom, he often will say something nice.

I try not to take him for granted either. I thank him when he takes out the garbage or swaps the laundry for me– I let him know how much I appreciate it and as often as I can that his work has provided us with a comfortable middle-class life. Yes, I am a dog walker, but I can choose my clients and spend most of my working hours as an author and artist , because what he does everyday.

You want to be happy? Thank your spouse. Acknowledge the little things. They matter. If your spouse is the primary breadwinner and you have health insurance, acknowledge that too. If you both work full time and split every thing 50/50 then thank him or her for their part of that. If you are the primary breadwinner, then thank your spouse for what they do to lighten your load.

And here is a more current photo. We were heading out to a Christmas party.

If you want to know love, admit to yourself they will not change. You must love them for them. They will get older. They will get fat. They will have bad days and get sick. They will sometimes not laugh at every joke you tell. Dinner might be late or the carpet doesn’t get vacuumed during a push at work. They will spend too much money or be so tight laced that they can’t enjoy a splurge Or blah blah blah.

Stop looking at what they don’t do, and focus on what is good. Gratitude and thankfulness can go a long way to soothing out problems. Also gratitude is one of those emotions which can grow exponentially and shrink just as fast. Bitterness leads to estrangement, but nurturing gratitude brings happiness.