The path to saying good-bye to Natasha and Sebastian – maybe…
The path to saying good-bye to Natasha and Sebastian – maybe…
I started with writing some short erotic love scenes which my husband found quite good. Then I began to flesh out more of a story. Before I knew it, I had more than one novel. At this point, Natasha was Ashleigh. It didn’t seem to work or fit the character that was developing. Seb was always Sebastian; brooding and darkly handsome. Still, waters run deep.
By the end of 2013, I had a loosely, poorly written; in the first person, Trilogy called ‘Sins and The Choices We Make’. I kept working away at it.
In mid-2014, I had my first editor look at the now called The Goldilocks Principle. Mostly to gauge if it was just a vanity exercise or if I had something. He said I did have something and suggested a few changes. I went to writing weekends and workshops. I rewrote and rewrote: aiming to write a rough, tough romantic suspense whose characters had flaws, but you wanted to overcome.
I found a proper editor in 2015 and sent in the first book now still written in the first person and only slightly better than it had been. Tom Flood of Flood Manuscripts told me to write in the third person and to stop over-writing. The third person thing was more natural, exciting and freed me to really develop the characters and the story. Making it more crime/suspense in the driver seat with erotic romance riding shotgun.
I’m a genre masher, and that’s a problem when it comes to finding a main-stream publisher, but it means the journey has a few more twists. Persistence is not only my middle name but my first, second and third.
SO, I wrote and rewrote again and again. By 2016 I had it in much better shape, so I had Tom edit again. Then I tried publishers…to no avail.
In 2017 I decided to self-publish and keep writing because I loved it and I was most happy when I was writing even though it wasn’t making me much money and that elusive publisher deal still looked miles away. By September 2017, I had an A. M. Jaxon website and my first book now titled, MADLY: Too Much Too Soon, was available on platforms Amazon, Google Play Books and Apple Books. I had a weekly blog and while Tom was editing book two. I polished book three. Then to keep fresh, I wrote some short stories. It was great to have a break from Seb and Nat. To write about a whole new set of characters with different personalities and adventures.
September 2018 Book Two, DEEPLY: Too Much Too Late was e-published. Meanwhile, the reviews for book one on Goodreads were on the whole positive.
In August 2019, I went to my first Romance Writers of Australia Conference. Everyone was so giving, considerate and supportive. I got a nibble from Penguin, and it saw me coming home to polish and polish and polish Book ONE. No publisher deal eventuated, but a great experience in submitting to someone I knew was going to read it; a foot in the door. My name is out there a bit more. I will persist. That’s what it’s all about.
Book three was scheduled to come out late 2019, but editing with Tom took longer than expected. While my work on book one MADLY to submit it to the publisher took my time away from TRULY. Then my Mum passed away. It was hard for me to find the time for work there for a little bit. I couldn’t seem to finish making the changes needed and needed time.
Now I can celebrate a little.... as book three has hit the platforms, including Kobo. For your reading pleasure TRULY: Too Much is Never Enough is HERE!!! Dare you to...
Reflections on 2019
Observations of a Middle-Aged Dragon with a Tattoo:
Observations and Reflections of 2019:
How many times did this happen?
And we so hoped…
At the end of the day when energy was defeated and Uber eats was
a whole lot of appealing we did use …
MIND: Alas the agony,
BODY: Oh ! The ageing
SOUL: Being able to laugh at ourselves:
The results of 2019 goal-setting:
Life was meant to be interesting and it is enriched by the more challenging the journey;
not the destination.
In the end when reflecting on the year; true friends are our riches and a REAL indication of our self-worth.
Go out and celebrate with the people who make you feel the most valuable. Dare you to….
Christmas time is here once more!
So this is Christmas…
Never fear I have a recipe to help you make it through. Read On…
There are a number of ways you can go.
You can do this:
OR you can do this:
Both have merit and there is no judgement either way. Because Christmas is individual, and I must admit I like the creativity of the latter.
Sometimes little Christmas treats like this happen,
While we all wait on the big guy to show up
We all need to remember this recipe.
I understand it also works well with champagne,
wine (both red and white), rum, vodka, gin, scotch and brandy
(any alcohol) although not mixed altogether. You
need to drink responsibly after all.
Enjoy Christmas, anyway that's the best for YOU! Dare you to…
Some things women know that men don't
Observations of a Middle-Aged Dragon with a Tattoo...
Some things women know that men don’t
Ladies go out and find Mr Forget the 99..
Great Women Part One: Eleanor Roosevelt
Observations of a Middle-Aged Dragon with a Tattoo:
Great Women Part One: Eleanor Roosevelt
In her words....
'No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.'
'The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.'
Read more about this fabulous woman here:
'It's better to light a candle than curse the darkness'
'Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living the other helps you make a life.'
'Do one thing everyday that scares you.'
'A woman is like a teabag; you never know how strong it is until it is in hot water.'
'Do what you feel is in your heart - you'll get criticized anyway.'
Dare you to…
Great, not so well, remembered movie lines
Observations of a Middle-aged Dragon with a tattoo:
Great lines capture the essence of a scene, a movie, a life and in some cases a generation.
We all remember lines like Gone with the Wind’s: ‘Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn’. Then there’s the one that was never said in the movie Casablanca: ‘Play it again Sam’ what Bogie actually said was ‘You played it for her, you can play it for me! Play it Sam. Play as Time Goes By.’
Everyone remembers: Forrest from Forrest Gump saying, ‘My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.’
But may have forgotten: ‘Me and Jenny goes together like peas and carrots.’
1933: DUCK SOUP: Groucho Marx: ‘You know, you haven't stopped talking since I came here? You must have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle.’
1954: SABRINA: Thomas her father: ‘He’s still David Larrabee and you’re still the chauffeur’s daughter. And you’re still reaching for the moon.’
Sabrina: ‘No father. The moon is reaching for me.’
1957: THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS: J.J. Hunsecker ‘I'd hate to take a bite outta you. You're a cookie full of arsenic.’
1958: VERTIGO:
Scottie: ‘Don’t you think it’s sort of a waste for the two of us to…’
Madeleine: ‘Wander separately? Ah, but only one is a wanderer. Two together are always going somewhere.’
1965: DARLING ROBERT: Robert: ‘Your idea of fidelity is not having more than one man in bed at the same time.’
1970: BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS: Ashley: ‘You’re a groovy boy. I’d like to strap you on sometime.’
1978: CALIFORNIA SUITE: Hannah: ‘You’re worse than a hopeless romantic. You’re a hopeful one.’
1981: BODY HEAT:
Ned: ‘Maybe you shouldn’t dress like that.’
Matty: ‘This is a blouse and a skirt. I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
Ned: ‘You shouldn’t wear that body.’
1983: WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? Jessica Rabbit: ‘I’m not bad. I’m just drawn that way.’
1988: BULL DURHAM: Annie: ‘A guy’ll listen to anything if he thinks it’s foreplay.’
1988: BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY: Jamie Conway: ‘She’s got a heart like a twelve-minute egg.’
1991: NEW JACK CITY: Nino Brown: ‘Sit your five-dollar ass down before I make change.’
1996: TRAINSPOTTING: Renton (a junkie): ‘I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin’ else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you’ve got heroin?’
1996: THE LAST KISS GOODNIGHT: Charly Baltimore: ‘Were you always this stupid, or did you take lessons?’
1999: THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY: Ripley: ‘I always thought it would be better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody.’
<<<2000: ERIN BROCKOVICH:
George: ‘How many numbers you got?’
Erin Brockovich: ‘Oh, I got numbers comin' outta my ears. For instance: ten’.
George: ‘Ten?’
Erin Brockovich: ‘Yeah. That's how many months old my baby girl is.’
George: ‘You got a little girl?’
Erin Brockovich: ‘Yeah. Yeah, sexy, huh? How 'bout this for a number? Six. That's how old my other daughter is, eight is the age of my son, two is how many times I've been married - and divorced; sixteen is the number of dollars I have in my bank account. 850-3943. That's my phone number, and with all the numbers I gave you, I'm guessing zero is the number of times you're gonna call it.’
2001: Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN:
Luisa: ‘You have to make the clitoris your best friend’
Tenouch: ‘What kind of friend is always hiding?'
2002: ONE HOUR PHOTO: Sy: ‘No one ever takes a photograph of something they want to forget.’
2006: THE DEPARTED: Frank Costello (Boston mobster): ‘I don’t want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me.’
<<<2011: CRAZY STUPID LOVE: Jacob – ‘I'm going to help you rediscover your manhood. Do you have any idea where you could have lost it?’
2014: BIRDMAN: Mike Shiner: ‘Popularity is the slutty little cousin of prestige, my friend.’
<<<2017: THE GREATEST SHOWMAN: P.T. Barnum: 'No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else.'
These movies are worth a look... be inspired, intrigued, entertained...
Dare you to..
Songs that need to be spun around again
Observations of a Middle-Aged Dragon with a Tattoo:
Songs that deserve to be listened to more often.
Set them free.
I started thinking about old songs this week; songs from my childhood and adolescence: my becoming far too distant younger days. It was all because I read a Facebook post regarding songs that no-one would know if they were under 40.
I began to think how it sold music and avid devotees a little short. It didn't take into account the eclectic tastes of those that enjoy not only a specific taste of contemporary music but others the enjoy the FULL smorgasbord of refined delicacies of the unusual and not-so-general kind; the rare old, older and oldest. No Eagles, Abba, or U2 to be found here.
Now the following may not be so unknown to some of you. Some may recognise them instantly, some may not. Either way, they aren't played a lot these days. They are eclectic, and they range from downright silly to the thoughtful to exceedingly reflective on society and of a time when music could be popular even if it spoke about one side's social agenda. Now the majority of music is driven by music executives who are as stiff as accountants and pump out manufactured assembly-line populist drivel, worked out from focus group data.
No uniqueness or real talent rewarded. Except maybe....
I'm constantly amazed how everyone fawns over Ed Sheeran, yes the guy is seriously good and unbelievably talented. But he's doing what James Taylor and his peers did a while ago; before the music industry lost its way and its heart. You've got to reward Ed's success in a time like this. And yes he's a guy who looks normal, quirky, and a 'ranga' to top it off. What he isn't is some plastic, cut-out copy or an airbrushed all-American version of beautiful or handsome (a very unrealistic ideal btw). Welcome to the sanitised and auto-tuned music world of today.
So Ed's different by today's standards. He's playing original music with a guitar and dares tour as a said solo act. Stop the press!! Guess what.... those of us who are a little older know he's not so original, although his music is. Many have gone before him. Whatever happened to Shawn Mullins???? Remember such gems like Shimmer and Lullaby.
That was FUN So.. Let's reminisce some more lets go WAY WAY BACK:
Too good to be one hit wonders:
Without Google, can you name the acts who sang these?
My Sharona
Echo Beach
The Stroke
Baby it’s You: The band is a trio
NOT TO be confused with John Waite's, The Baby's. Now here's a blast from the past but, isn't it time.
Now that's a shirt, suit and a great shade of eye-shadow! Hint: In this film clip from the shoulders up John looks a lot like the female singer of Baby It's You... And the answer is Promises... have a listen. The boobs give her away. Watch after a very short time you can't take your eyes off them. But what a set of lungs great vocals and all before auto-tune.
Too good to be forgotten:
Give me one reason: Tracy Chapman
Fade into you: Mazzy Star
Funky Cold Medina: Tone Loc. I love the drum beat sampling of Can't get no Satisfaction... you picked it right.
You gotta be: Des'ree
Sex and Candy: Marcy's Playground
Golden Oldies:
Melt with You: Modern English. Recently it had a resurrection as a cover in the movie Table 19. It first came to prominence in the teenage cult movie of 1983, Valley Girl, which broke a young Nicholas Cage and also spawned the Psychedelic Furs Love My Way. See the original movie before the new 2018 version.
Twist in my Sobriety: Tanita Tikaram, no she's not a Kiwi. But she taught Australia a new word (and yes it wasn’t twist)
Devil went down to Georgia: The Charlie Daniels Band. Did Johnny really win?
Out of Mind Out of Sight: Models. Alas James Freud gone too soon.
Sweet Jane: Lou Reed/Velvet Underground
Mouldy Oldies:
Driver’s Seat: Sniff 'n' the Tears, go figure it's a great driving song.
Yesterday's Hero: John Paul Young, he's in the Aria Hall of Fame, that's even with the fact he released an album on K-tel (now if you're really good you'll know all about what K-tel represents).
Mamma Told Me (not to come): Who'd a thought it was written by Randy Newman for Eric Burdon but covered by Three-day Night and then among others the Howling Diablo's. Their version was featured in the sound track to a fantastic coming of 'old-age' movie; Bonneville: with Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates and Joan Allen
Horror Movie: From Skyhooks' brilliant album Living in the 70's. A ground-breaking album indeed. Forget the failed attempt to reclaim said former-glory when they desperately released, Living in the 80's... It's a Horror: not even in the same stratosphere as a B-grade Horror Movie. Please let's remember the guys for songs like Ego's Not a Dirty Word and Women in Uniform not Jukebox in Siberia.... WHAT and importantly WHY????
You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet: Bachman-Turner Overdrive: Which band member's son wrote the song that won World Idol for Norway's singing Hobbit, Kurt Nilsen?
Your Mama Won’t Like Me: Suzi Quatro was ahead of her time, even if in a later incarnation she appeared on an episode of Midsomer Murders. You guessed it as an ageing rocker. She was killed off pretty early in the episode. This song resonates with me... you guessed it my Mamma (-in-law) don't like me... Go figure probably not a surprise to you.
Fox on the Run: The Sweet. One of the band members was rumoured to be related to Mark McManus who starred as the main character,in Scottish BBC detective show - Taggart... You remember.. there's been a murrrderrr.
Rock on: Before David Essex went too commercial: David Essex's still looking good by the way.
Hollywood Seven: Jon English, a very talented man, try not too judge him too harshly for All Together Now: Rebecca Gibney and Steve Jacobs are there as well. Oh wait! Steve Jacobs may not be a good example right now.
Every night: Phoebe Snow: Which Beatles member wrote and recorded this before Ms Snow made it more popular?
Gold: John Stewart. Can you name back-up vocalist?
Hot Child in the City: Nick Gilder and the Time Machine
From the Crypt, seriously they are that old:
Can you name the original singers of the first two... Try not to despair at recent artists and their cover-versions.
Rockin’ Good Way:
King of the Road: Unfortunately these guys sang a cover-version. But the orginal is worth very much a listen...
A Boy Named Sue: Johnny Cash
Sky High: British Jigsaw
Sentimental Silliness:
Blame it on the Bosonova: Eydie Gorme
Downtown: Petula Clark
The Streak: Ray Stevens
Disco Duck: Rick Dees. This guy performed the film clip with a puppet.
Magic: Pilot. Still can't work out if these guys were serious or not. Then there was January. How could we forget it? The song was so long at number one on the Countdown top 10 we got sick of it. They must have been serious with a lead guitarist with a double guitar ala Jimmy Page.... Still the song has you reminiscing. Love it.
Go on... Go back and find your music with a heart... the songs that remind you of younger you. Dare you to..
