Body Temperature and Rising Gets An Honourable Mention

I’m ecstatic to have my novel, Body Temperature and Rising listed as honourable mention on Violet Blue’s coveted 12 Best Sex Books of 2011 list. Here’s what she had to say:

Body Temperature and Rising by K. D. Grace
I am a huge fan of K.D. Grace’s explicit, well-crafted writing (I’ve selected and published her work in multi-author “Best” collections), and this novel did not disappoint me. It’s the first of a hardcore paranormal trilogy, and many readers think it is her best work to date. “A voyeuristic encounter on the fells ends in sex with a charming ghost for American Marie Warren who realises she has the ability to unleash demons. Her powers bring her to a coven of witches who practise rare sex magic that allows ghosts access to pleasures of the flesh.” After this, things take a turn for the worse….

Full article here.

Thank you, Violet!

The Crowded Room

I feel really privileged to put the cherry on the top of the First Annual RomFan Reviews Holiday Blog Hop, especially when the last few days of the year have a very special place in my heart. It’s been great to share this fabulous time of year with so many wonderful writers and bloggers, and to make some new friends in the process. You all rock! Annette Stone, a special thanks to you for making it all happen. And now, I’d like to tell everyone just why the last few days of the year, the last week, to be exact.

It’s that time of year again. It’s time to wax slightly nostalgic and do a little navel gazing and reflecting. The last week of the year has always fascinated me. It’s not like the rest of the year. It’s almost like there are really only fifty-one weeks in the year, then there’s the crowded room of a space tacked on to the end, a place not unlike my grandmother’s living room was, all crowded full of the bits and pieces and memorabilia of eighty-three years of living.

The last week of the year is a mini version of that living room that happens anew every year, a mental version, a room that everyone has in their head. It doesn’t matter how expansive or how crazy the previous fifty-one weeks have been, this final week is the tiny space into which we crowd everything that has happened, and for those last seven days of the year, we reflect and remember.

At the front of that crowded room is a big picture window looking back onto all of the past years of experiences. During this last week of 2011, we’ll go inside that room, shut the door behind us, knowing we’ll never go back through that door again. There we’ll settle in to the one comfy chair, the only space that isn’t avalanching with memories and emotions and experiences, and we’ll reflect. Occasionally we’ll stop for a long stare out the window into the years past to try and make out how it all fits together. I often write a massive journal entry at the year’s end. I settle in with wine and chocolate and good coffee and all my favourite things and write. The entry is always full of reflections and memories and plans for the future, all done during the time spent in that crowded room that’s the last week of the year. I wager I’m in good company in that endeavor.

I used to ask my grandmother who was in this old photo or that, or where she got this porcelain doll or that china figurine. Every item in her living room had a story. It was a gift from someone, or a souvenir from some marked event in her life, or something someone had made for her or she had made for herself. My grandmother’s living room was a book full of stories I only ever experienced through her eyes, stories that were lost in the mist to anyone but her and the few of her older friends who still remained, all with story book living rooms of their own.

This time of year, in this last week, we all sit in our mental story book living rooms and tell ourselves one last time the stories that have been our life for the past fifty-one weeks. We laugh at our joys, we mourn our losses, thankful that they’re now passed and we nod our heads in satisfaction at our successes, promising they’ll be even bigger next year.

My grandmother lived to be eighty-three. There was a finality about her over-crowded living room. That last-week-of-the-year room we all occupy right now has its own finality. After midnight tomorrow, we can crowd no more into that room. We leave it as it is, papers strewn, boxes open, bed unmade, cup of tea half finished. Mind you, some of us spend our last hours in that room frantically trying to crowd just a little more into it. That’s me, sitting in the recliner madly tapping away at the laptop trying to get another chapter written, another short story out before I have to leave this room and lock the door behind me.

And it’s been a good year, a wild rambunctious year crowded with laughter and tears and the celebration of two new novels, a challenging Coast to Coast walk across England, conferences, readings, vegetables planted and eaten. I have lots of pictures in my year’s mental photo album, I have lots of triumphs and losses, and lots of time spent with wonderful friends and loved ones. Hold it! I’ll stop right now because once I get going, I’ll give you the whole inventory, and you, no doubt have your own crowded room to inventory.

It doesn’t matter though, if we’re sitting reflecting on all that fills this room, or if we’re frantically trying to fill it fuller before the clock strikes. At midnight tomorrow night, we’ll all take a deep breath, open the door and walk out into the empty room waiting for us, the empty room that’s 2012. All we’ll take with us is our memories of the room we left and our hopes and plans for how we’ll fill this bright new room that stretches promisingly before us. Some of us make New Years resolutions, some of us just plow in without a plan of action, but one thing is for certain, this time next year, if we live that long, we’ll be sitting in the full room again reflecting on how the experiences of 2012 have shaped us, anticipating how we’ll take the experiences into the next empty room. And that’s all we’ll be allowed to take with us, our experiences, our memories,

My wish for you all is that your reflections in your crowded room will be good ones, satisfying ones. And at the stroke of midnight, that you’ll enter that bright new empty room of 2012 with hope and joy and anticipation of how wonderfully you’ll fill it up.

I’d like to help you heat up your empty room by offering a choice of either of a PDF version of either of my novels, The Initiation of Ms Holly or The Pet Shop. Winner’s choice. Leave a comment to be included in the drawing for the giveaway. All the best in the New Year!

 

Kay Dee Royal tells the Story Behind Her Exciting New Release, ‘One Plus One’

I’d like to welcome the fabulous Kay Dee Royal to share with us the story behind her story, One Plus One. Welcome Kay Dee!

Thank you KD for having me today. I appreciate you allowing me to stop in and hang out for the day *smile*

Victim of Circumstance or Godsend, Divine Intervention at Work

…and what does that even mean?

I’m a firm believer of Divine Intervention. You know, those times when something steps into your life-journey and sends you spinning off in a new direction.

A quick example: I’m sitting in a long line of traffic and remind myself it’s all for a reason, keeping me delayed only long enough for the next life-journey experience. OR, when my computer stalls out and refuses to show me the page I’ve been desperately working on for the past three hours. OR my cellphone battery goes dead miles from nowhere, and I’m late to a meeting with no way of telling anyone.

But, once I got up and running again from any of these delays, it ended up being just enough to set me up for the greater experience after…like because of the traffic delay I missed running into someone I wasn’t ready to meet (didn’t have my reports prepared), or the computer stall-out gave me the break I needed to recharge and come back to realize what I’d been writing was way off course, and the cellphone incident…well, the meeting had been postponed, so I ended up making it.

Yeah, once in a while I might burn the ears off the Divine with my expletives if I can’t reel in my impatience (LOL), but deep down I know it’s all good. Take my story, One Plus One, for instance…

One Plus One, a singles three-week cruise, is the absolute last think in the world Lacinda would do. Her heart and love life turned to cinder when her husband-to-be never made it to their wedding due to a fatal accident.

Two years later, Lacinda owns and operates an animal rescue. She’s dedicated her life to the four-legged kind, until her best friend, Avery, brings a contest entry to Lacinda. With the consumption of a bottle of wine the ‘pen’ loosens and out comes the fun of it. Between the two women, those explicit/graphic responses win Lacinda the prize cruise.

She’s way out of her comfort zone, in over her head…so, is she a Victim or Godsend?  Is this Divine Intervention at work?

Blade built his way up in the corporate world, becoming a well-known hotel mogul and cruise line owner. All of his relationships seem attached to his worth, so he shuts off to any female possibilities.

Mazie, Blade’s business partner and friend, arranges the One Plus One Cruise…to the point where she makes Blade select the one woman most appropriate. She leaves nothing unturned in this woman’s background checks.

Mazie gives Blade all of Lacinda’s information…he’s smitten with her. But, the whole union set-up is built on deceit…how can good come from a lie? Victim of circumstance or Godsend…Divine Intervention at play?

Does anyone have a little Divine Intervention moment of their own they’d care to share? Love to hear all about it.

One Plus One Blurb: Releasing from Muse It Hot on December 23, 2011

Coerced by her friend, Lacinda, a woman crushed by love, winds up on a three-week singles cruise.

Blade, a man of means, discovers Miss Right under the guise of a singles cruise set up by his business partner.

Once Blade focuses his efforts he always gets what he’s after, until Lacinda throws his arrogant reputation back in his face.

Can Blade break through Lacinda’s angry barriers? Will she ever see him as anything more than a player?

One Plus One Excerpt:

“Lacinda Gainesly,” a steward called her name. She saw the sign he held with her name printed in bright purple. She slipped on the first step leading down onto the ship and stumbled past the steward. The sign dropped from his fingers and his arms latched around her body from behind. His quick reflexes saved her face from biting the deck, but his hands cupped both of her breasts and squeezed. Lacinda threw her elbow back into his side.

“Hey, a little respect for the guy who saved your life.”

Lacinda shrugged out of his grasp. She met his gaze and realized this was the same man who picked her up from her hotel in a long black limo, only then he was dressed in black instead of the white uniform he now wore.

“You’re the driver.”

“I’m a lot of things, like possibly a hero.” His eyes looked as happy as his lips.

She noticed his smile, the same he shared earlier when he asked her questions about why she took the cruise quiz. Lacinda thought he was simply a driver for the cruise company so she shared some of her story. He knew about Alex dying in a car crash on the way to their wedding. She searched her memory for anything else she might have shared which could embarrass her later.

“Alas fair maiden, your chambers await your timely arrival,” he said, faking a British accent. He held his gloved hand out. Lacinda refused it.

“I’m ready for my quarters.” She needed relaxation, maybe take a nice hot scented bath and get prepared for the swing of things, anything to distract her from the past that never left her alone.

“As you wish, my lady,” he said, again with a British accent. The steward turned, led her across the deck, and down a stairway. She saw men and women following other stewards or each other. Once on board everyone began mingling, even flirting, judging by the tinkling female laughter and deep manly chuckles.

“There will be an announcement left under your door regarding tonight’s dinner seating arrangements. May you enjoy your day and make sure you take time for a relaxing massage. There’s always a masseuse available. Their extension is listed beside your phone. You’ll find your room key there as well.”

Lacinda followed him down a narrow hallway until he stopped in front of a door with an elegantly scrolled number 216.

“This is you. May I answer any questions before I go?”

Lacinda dug in her purse for a tip. Clueless on how much was appropriate and not wanting to give him anything. He got his gratuity when he copped a feel of her breasts.

Kay Dee Royal writes paranormal and fantasy romance—maybe because it’s also her favorite genre to read! She pens tales with wild, rugged heroes and strong, intelligent heroines. She’ll give them both a few shadowy secrets, making her stories intriguing and fun. She resides in Southern Michigan with her family (her dogs, her cats, her caged husband… you get the idea). You can reach her at her blog and find the latest on her titles from her publisher, MuseItHot.

Blogs: http://www.kaydeeroyal.blogspot.com

http://ravencraftrealm.blogspot.com

FB: http://www.facebook.com/kaydee.royal

Muse Info/Buy Page: http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=291&category_id=69&keyword=Kay+Dee+Royal&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1


 

 

 

The Intrepid Sarah Berry Talks Writing and Other Outrageous Stuff

KD: My first introduction to you, Sarah, was back when you wrote for the now defunct Scarlet Magazine. I always looked forward to your ‘Berry Outrageous’ pieces because you were the reporter who personally explored the kink we all wanted to know more about, then told us the yummy details in a style that was both entertaining and informative. Since then I’ve known you as the editor of Forum Magazine and the founder of the wonderful women’s group, Fannying Around, and just all around cool chick. Having recently been thoroughly entertained by hearing you read an original work of Sarah Berry erotic fiction, A (getting) Biblical Tale, I was amazed by your versatility as a writer. Could I be so bold to ask for a brief history of Sarah Berry, the writer?

Sarah: Dear KD, the phone is off the hook, the Cava is bubbling and I’ve slipped into something uncomfortable. Fire away…

KD: Oooh! Sounds like the ideal set-up for a fab interview! Let me start by asking what do you like to write most?

Sarah: I delight in writing features that are informative, entertaining and saucy and have carved a name for myself writing reportage features for Scarlet as Berry Outrageous – a joy. There have been thousands of articles written on the likes of pony play, spanking and adult babies, but if you write openly about your own experiences it will always be unique.

KD: Tell us a little bit about your latest offering, Pete and Sarah’s Guide to Seasonal Sex, written with Peter Birch.

Sarah: I met Peter while editing Forum and a collaboration between us seemed like a no brainer. I am relatively young lady who delights in gentler sex play while Pete is a veteran of the sex scene whose deliciously pervy antics frequently lead cheeks (both upper and lower sets) to blush furiously. Our Seasonal Guide captures both our perspectives in a range of features, fiction and interviews, written around a seasonal theme. The Winter issue includes Burlesque queen Ditz Von Teese; Trans porn star Buck Angel; great ideas to raunch up 2012 with our new year’s revel-ations; kinksters who love sneezing, woolly tights and big knickers, sexy ways to keep warm and more. We’re just working on the spring issue – watch out for the bunnies!

KD: Sounds fab! And I’ll be looking forward to the bunnies in the next issue! You’ve written a lot about sex, Sarah, you’ve written investigative pieces, you’ve written blog pieces, you’ve edited magazines on the subject, and you write some pretty steamy erotica as well. Why sex? Why not food or politics or any number of other topics? And why such an enthusiastic ‘hands-on,’ so to speak, approach?

Sarah: Actually over my career I have written on a range of subjects from the latest developments in railways to living with Tourettes (I have it mildly and no I don’t swear – at least not without meaning it). I am currently contributing editor of a marine magazine!

However, the reason my sex writing is so prominent is maybe because people enjoy my unique perspective – indeed Pete says I could sell butt plus to Mary Whitehouse. I am open about the fact that I’ve suffered from a sexual dysfunction (more on that below) and, whether I am writing about amputee devotees or men who like to be kicked in the balls, I try not to sensationalise them. I strive to portray their point of view and offer helpful advice to any readers with similar passions. I encourage people to experiment if they want to but don’t try and shock those who don’t. As long as we’re safe sane, consensual and legal, I say each to their own.

KD: I’d buy butt plugs from you, Hon!  If you had to choose a topic other than sex to write about, what would it be?

Sarah: In the future I hope to write more women’s lifestyle pieces.

KD: What do you think was your finest moment, as a writer (so far, of course)?

There’s been lots of proud moments but I think the most important one was the first time I wrote about vaginismus. This is a sexual dysfunction where my brain told my pelvic muscles to clamp up. In my teens sex was impossible, in my 20s it was traumatic, then in my early 30s, unpredictable. It’s only with my current fella that I know I can have sex whenever we both feel like it.

By the time I was 28 I’d had a couple of sex features published and I decided that, if I was going to be a sex journalist, I wanted to tell it how it was, warts n all (I mean this metaphorically, luckily I’ve never had genital warts).

But I felt like I was taking a huge risk. Most of my friends had no idea about the condition, and I was so worried the media world would think I wasn’t qualified to write about sex. So I downed two bottles of wine and wrote a Voice of Experience feature for Scarlet, explaining my struggle with this condition. I read the feature to two ex boyfriends. They both asked me if I was sure then commended my braveness. The next morning, hungover, I edited it for drunken typos then sent it in.

I needn’t have worried: Sarah Hedley the Scarlet editor, loved the article and awarded me with the accolade of “Contributor of the month.” A year later she gave me a column in the magazine!

Countering the shame around sex problems is the basis of my groups. The Open Forum is a support group for women with stubborn nethers, in Fannying Around we discuss the good, bad and interesting about our special places and in Private Pictures we draw them. Find out more at www.fanniesrule.com.

KD: Wow! You’ve had an amazing journey, and one that I’m sure is a real encouragement to a lot of people. What would you love to write about that you haven’t?

Sarah: I am hoping to do a lot more campaigning about how the medical profession views sexual problems. Like me, many of the women have been told to, “Just relax,” while many men are palmed off with Viagra. GPs should be more open to referring patients to therapists. Also, I went to a vulvodynia conference the other day. This is an umbrella term for women who suffer from an unexplained chronic pain in their nethers. I will be pitching features about this in the new year. My dream, once I’ve qualified as a sex therapist, is to get a gig as an agony aunt!

KD: What advice would you give to young writers or people aspiring to a writing career?

Sarah: Be honest, be original and, if you’re writing about sex, seriously consider using a pseudonym.

KD: What was the most fun piece you’ve ever written?

Sarah: Gosh… there’s been so many. I think the London Naked Bike Ride was special. I had to swallow all my worries about being chunky and just get on with it. It was so bloody liberating. And when I threw a flier explaining the cause of the ride to a load of builders, they fell on it like I was Angelina Jolie. I highly recommend you give it a go!

KD:  Wow! I might consider riding a bike naked if it got me treated like Angelina Jolie. What was the most unusual piece you’ve ever written?

Sarah: Definitely the big toy challenge where I put the world’s biggest sex toys up a very mild tempered chap called PUMA (which stands for Put It Up My Arse). The finale ended up with me drildoing him with a bumpy toy that that was over two feet long, stuck on the end of Woolworths’ drill. When he prolapsed I almost puked!

KD: What do you think is the most exciting thing happening in sex writing right now?

Sarah: The fact that it’s so easy to blog means that anyone can be a writer – of course that means there’s a lot of crap and offensive diatribes to wade through. Also the nature of social networking means we can bring our messages to a wider audience. I’ve had some very touching emails for kinksters and vaginismus sufferers thanking me for helping them to not feel so alone.

KD: What does the future hold for Sarah Berry, the writer?

Sarah: I’m planning on penning more erotica and a book offering advice on getting laid. Plus there will be the spring issue of Pete & Sarah’s Guide to Seasonal Sex and more exciting fanny projects on www.fanniesrule.com. I hope you’ll all be along for the ride xxx

KD: I wouldn’t miss it, Sarah! Thanks for being my guest. Happy New Year, and I’ll very much be looking forward to lots of great pieces from Sarah Berry in 2012!

Pete and Sarah’s Guide to Seasonal Sex is available to download from Amazon and iTunes.
Amazon UK
Amazon US
All Romance eBooks
iTunes

Best Gifts of the Year and the Yearly Navel Gaze

I would like to celebrate the season by being thankful for all the gifts that didn’t fit under the tree, and all the early gifts, the ones I got way before Christmas, the ones that make anything under the tree seem, well sort of anti-climactic.

The Gift of Writing

Holly at the Piccadilly Waterstones in London. We have arrived!

Like you didn’t see that one coming! I’ve loved it since I could hold a pencil and do more than scribble. Every year I love it more and more. This year I loved it through two novels, two novella’s, a slew of short stories, and blog posts too numerous to count. And all the while I was frantically writing, I was watching how well The Initiation of Ms Hollywas selling with a very broad, very silly smile on my face. The only thing better than loving writing is having

Pets in Soho, next door to Madame JoJo's, where the Kitten Club performes. Where else would they want to be?

other people love my writing!

Oh yes! The writing gift was particularly good this year! And, I’m already rattling and shaking the package of next year’s writing gifts, which promise to be just as exciting, if not more so.

 

The Gift of Outside

I know, I know; you saw that one coming too, didn’t you? But being outside makes me a better writer, and it’s been a great year for being outside. Most of you who are my friends on Facebook have suffered through endless photos of our vegetable garden and the lovely harvest. Some of you were even green with envy when the raspberries and strawberries came on. I didn’t include even one photo of the slugs or snails or the abundant weeds, though that might be a promising photo op for next year. With any luck, an allotment will be in our near future and then you can expect lots more garden porn.

Many of you know that I walk my stories, and I’ve had some fantastically inspirational walks this year. I’ve been

Me on the beach at Lincoln City, Oregon

enthralled by the fabulous fungi in the local woodlands in the autumn walks, I’ve walked the Oregon Coast and the lava flows in the Cascades with my sister. I’ve walked on the Strip in Las Vegas with writing friends.  I’ve walked amid the incredible blossoms in spring and the lovely sunsets in high summer and everything in between, all the while working out plots and characters and settings. Being outside always balances me and centres me again, which is a good thing, since I tend to be a bit obsessive.

The Gift of Adventure

The very stylish 'drowned rat' look walking the Coast to Coast Path

The biggest adventure of all this year was the fourteen days in August when Raymond and I walked the Wainwright Coast to Coast Path across England. Yes, you heard me right, across England. I like to repeat that phrase a lot because it’s still amazing to me. Oh, by the way, did I mention that it was all the way across England!

Not only did we walk it, but I blogged about it, and those of you who followed the posts definitely caught glimpses of me at … well not exactly my best. It was one of the toughest, most amazing experiences I’ve had, and I had to dig deep to finish it. That’s another package I’m rattling for next year. Oh yes! There’ll be another Bad Ass walk! And I’m scheming to get Raymond to blog it with me this time.

Then there was Vegas! Yes, I packed my bags and went to Las Vegas for the first annual Erotic Authors Association

At the Erotic Heritage Museum in Las Vegas during the Erotic Literary Salon reading

Conference. There aren’t enough wows for that fantastic experience. Though Vegas wouldn’t have been my first choice of cities to visit in the States, I couldn’t have chosen a more fabulous group of people to spend a hot and action-packed weekend with. The very best part of the Vegas gift was finally putting faces to names of some of the American erotica writers, who had long been my friends online. And they were every bit as wonderful in person! With amazing people, panels, workshops and two readings, one at the Erotic Heritage Museum standing between a plethora of eight-foot white marble penises, oh yes, it was good!

Justine Elyot, Janine Ashbless, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Kay Jaybee, Me, Jacqueline Applebee at Sh! Hoxton in July

There were numerous readings in London, as well, which are always a gift. One was with my dear friend, Kay Jaybee. One was with one of my heroes in the world of erotica, Rachel Kramer Bussel. Then there was the huge, blow-out launch party for my second novel, The Pet Shop, in October at my favourite place, Sh! Hoxton, with so many of my favourite people. And now Pets are happily misbehaving not only all over London, but all over the UK. In January they’ll be misbehaving in the States too!

Of course, I've been naughty, Santa! And THIS Santa just happens to be Peter Birch, who's not exactly angelic either;)

Definitely one of the best gifts of the year was Erotica, 2011 — three days of fabulous, delicious naughtiness at the Olympia Convention Centre in London. And Raymond and I were there for all three! We had the pleasure of working with the terrific folks from Xcite Books, doing readings, panels and selling and signing LOTS of books written by yours

The lovely ladies from the House of Burlesque have fabulous tastes in literature!

truly. In the midst of all the thongs and corsets and whips and nosebleed stilettos, I was the one with the ear-to-ear smile.

Friends

Hazel Cushion, Matt Peterson, Peter Newsom at the Xcite stand

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, at the end of the day, it’s the gift of people that matters more than anything else, and I’ve had so many fabulous people surround me this year that it’s impossible to come close to expressing how they’ve enriched my life. This was the year that I got to know the folks at Xcite Books a little better. Hazel Cushion, Matt Peterson, Peter Newsom, and the lovely Miranda Forbes. You all are totally amazing. Thanks for all you do.

This was the year I got involved with Fannying Around, Sarah Berry’s fantastic brainchild, and the source of a lot more new friends. Through a year of laughing and chatting and learning to appreciate our bodies, I’ve come to love and respect Sarah even more than I already did. Amazing hardly begins to describe this lovely lady.

The lovely Sarah Berry

For two years now, Sh! Women’s Erotic Emporium has played a major role in my life by helping with research, supporting my work, and just being fabulous. It was love at first sight for me when I met these amazing Ladiez. They truly are modern-day heroines. Plus, they have great taste in eroticaJ I admire them more than I can ever say.

Brian and Von Spencer opened up the great outdoors for me, showed me how to use a compass and a map, and turned me lose in the Lake District to fall utterly and totally in love with the place. They have shown Raymond and me breath taking parts of the Lake District we might never have known to look for without them. They have inspired the Lakeland Heatwave Trilogy, and have

Lucy Felthouse, Lexie Bay, Rebecca Bond, Victoria Blisse, me, Kay Jaybee at Erotica

helped all along the way with the research. I admire them deeply, and I hope when I grow up I can be just like them!

There are two lovely women who have inspired me and encouraged me and been there for me through all the writing adventures of the past year. Lucy Felthouse, the fearless EP, is not only a promising young writer, but a PR and marketing person extraordinaire. She designed my fabulous website and has staved off many a panic attack for me as I venture into the

Lucy Felthous and Kay Jaybee at Sh! Hoxton

scary realms of PR and marketing. Lucy has taught me how to promote my brand, and bless her, that couldn’t have been an easy task. Don’t know how I would have managed without her.

The second lovely lady is the fabulous writer and even more fabulous person Kay Jaybee. Again it was love at first sight. Hon, the journey wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun without you. Your encouragement and fabulous sense of humour, and your loving spirit have been one of the best gifts of this year. Thanks for being you.

There are others, lots of others. My life is rich because of the people in it, and they are, as always, the very best gifts. They are what give all the other gifts meaning.

Me and Kay Jaybee with my delicious 'test subject.' Notice the smile he's sporting.

The Gift of Love

And of course, you saw this coming, too, didn’t you? The best gift of all, the best gift for all our years together, is the gift of love. The one closest to my heart, the one who encourages me, stand by me, loves me, and keeps his head down when I’m not very loveable and the sh*t is hitting the fan, my lover and best friend, my husband, Raymond, the man who brings out the best in me and loves me through the worst. He is the man who is proud of me, the man who tells his friends that I use him for research. And he’s the man who is willing to don a pair of walking boots and walk across England with me. I’m a very lucky woman indeed.

The man of my heart!

Happy Navel Gazing!

I promised when Lucy and I began this website almost a year ago that I wouldn’t navel gaze, that I would do my best to make this blog a place worth visiting, and I’ve done my best to do that. But it’s that time of year, and navel gazing is as much a part of the season as mistletoe and cheesy Christmas music, so I figured you might, with the holiday spirit and all, be willing to forgive me just this one.

Having said that, I wish you good navel gazing as the year grows to a close. May 2012 be filled with love and laughter and challenges and adventure and many, many causes for celebration.

Happy Navel Gazing, wherever you are!