RueAllyn

Today is ‘so nice’ because of the quiet.  My DH is away on business, and I have the house to myself (just me and the cats).  I get to enjoy the quiet.  You have to understand that my DH doesn’t make a lot of noise, so perhaps quiet isn’t quite the correct word.  Maybe solitude is what I’m really after.  The energy of my home is different when I share that space with my DH than when I’m home alone, so to speak.  The tie with my sweetheart is strong enough that if he is within reach–downstairs, out in the barn, working in the kitchen, anywhere in the house or on the property–I feel his presence.  I don’t understand why this is so, but it is.  I love him dearly and miss him when he’s away.  He is the best stress in my life.  However, I do enjoy a day or so on my own, without that beloved stressor.  In a  way it’s a rest, a pause.  Not a condition I want to live in permanently, but like a beautiful flower or dramatic sunset, solitude feeds my soul for a brief time before I move on.  Do you like solitude?  Is loving a pleasant stress?  How do you feel when your loved one is at home or away temporarily?  Please share your thougts and comments.  Thank you.

Please welcome Chris Redding as she shares her knowledge of body language and the teaser about her very cool thriller, Blonde Demolition.  Please comment and share your opinions and experiences.Because of its spontaneity, body language is hard to fake. If the clues don’t match, we are suspicious. Also, because it is spontaneous, it is more likely to reflect underlying feelings. The reaction is more likely to be off the cuff and true to a person’s thoughts or emotions.Verbal communication is open to manipulation. Non-verbal communication is not. “Body language is your primary mode of communication, primary in the evolutionary history of the human species, and primary in your life” (The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Body Language). Body language is more basic than the spoken work.Animals are great at reading body language. I’m not exactly a calm person and when I pick up one of our rabbits, I need to chill before I do it. Our female responds well to my husband because he’s naturally a steadier person.A few weeks after my father died, I was still kind of bumping into walls. I thought I was fine, but my dog was glued to my side. He knew I wasn’t right when I refused to admit it.The  human body is able to function well on autopilot. Think back to this morning. Do you really remember brushing your teeth? You know you did, but do you REALLY know you did? Body language is part of that autopilot, other wise it would be stilted.Non-verbal communication encompasses all parts of your body. Your eyes are the primary way you receive body language cues and usually the primary way you send it. You invite someone to communicate by making eye contact. I know this because EVERYONE talks to me at the grocery store. I make eye contact without really meaning to. If the eye contact is longer than a second, the two people begin to make a connection. Immediacy behaviors, like prolonged eye contact,  signal availability. Eye contact is powerful that way.Besides the obvious body language there are also  more subtle versions.  Your pupils dilate because of lack of light, but also for things you find attractive. The reverse is also true. Our pupils constrict when we see something we don’t like. We react to that on an unconscious level. Eye contact controls interaction. If you don’t make eye contact, you don’t send out an invite for someone to interact with you. One symptom of Asperger’s is not making eye contact. It isn’t because they don’t want to interact, they just don’t think about it. They don’t need you to make eye contact for them to interact with you (Excerpt from: Layering: Not Just for Cakes).Chris Redding lives in New Jersey with her husband, two kids, one dog and three rabbits. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. When she isn’t writing, she works part time for her local hospital. Her latest thriller, Blonde Demolition is available in all formats. You can find her on the web: www.chrisreddingauthor.com, www.facebook.com/chrisreddingauthor, www.myspace.com/chrisreddingauthor.Here’s a teaser for Chris’ thriller, Blonde Demolition.You just can’t hide from the past…Mallory Sage lives in a small, idyllic town where nothing ever happens. Just the kind of life she has always wanted. No one, not even her fellow volunteer firefighters, knows about her past life as an agent for Homeland Security.Former partner and lover, Trey McCrane, comes back into Mallory’s life. He believes they made a great team once, and that they can do so again. Besides, they don’t have much choice. Paul Stanley, a twisted killer and their old nemesis, is back.Framed for a bombing and drawn together by necessity, Mallory and Trey go on the run and must learn to trust each other again―if they hope to survive. But Mallory has been hiding another secret, one that could destroy their relationship. And time is running out.

I spent Mother’s Day standing in lines at the airport and crowded into a middle seat on the airplane.  Then hit the ground running (despite jet lag).  Wish I had Day Five SF pics for you all, but some idiot forgot to put the film card into her camera, so all the photos I took on Hyde Street Pier don’t exist.  Let that be a lesson to me to always double check.

I know, what happened to Day Three.  I was working, making use of some of the research I did walking the Barbary Coast Trail on Day Two.  I covered a lot of ground today (day four) from Knob Hill to the Cable Car Barn and Museum to China Town and on to Market Street.  Took a tone of pictures.  The three below are respectively 1)the Flood Mansion–the only Knob Hill Mansion to survive the fires set of during the earthquake of 1906, 2) an old style cable car on display at the museum, and 3) the Chinatown gate. Flood Mansion on Nob Hill[caption id="attachment_316" align="alignleft" width="500"] Old Style Cable Car[/caption]

Beginning at Ghiardelli Square I managed to walk two of the 3.8 miles included in the Barbary Coast Trail walking tour.  I think 3.8 doesn’t include the vertical distances, especially climbing Telegraph Hill.  I did make it to the top where Coit Tower is perched but was too tired to ride the elevator inside the Tower.  Here are a few of the sights I saw along the way. A tall ship with Alcatraz Island in the background[caption id="attachment_303" align="alignleft" width="500"] I paused to rest and admire the flowers on my way up Telegraph Hill[/caption] The Bay Bridge (not the Golden Gate) from the top of Telegraph Hill[caption id="attachment_305" align="alignleft" width="500"] Coit Tower[/caption]

I’m taking my first real vacation in two years . We got in yesterday and the first thing i did was check the view from our 40th floor hotel room. Spectacular came to mind, so i started snapping pictures. I need lessons but even a novice like me can capture the low flying clouds streaming into the bay. For perspective, check out the Golden Gate Bridge towers. I also have a view of this really interesting building shaped like a ship’s sail. Had a terrific dinner at Alioto’s on Fisherman’s Wharf last night–Crab Mornay followed by sauteed prawns. Today I start a walking tour of the Barbary Coast. Hope you all have as much sunshine and fun as i’m having.

Having a home is so nice.  I’ve been away from home for the past 4 days helping friends to prepare for an up comming convention.  We returned to our house today at about 5 PM and have been enjoying the home we live in.  Nothing helps me appreciate my home as much as time away.  Here all is quiet (or noisy if I feel like making noise) and serene.  The only wants and demands I must attend to are my own.  I have privacy, shelter, warmth (or coolness), and comfort.  For these and the many other pleasures of my home I am truly grateful.  It saddens me to know that hundreds of thousands of US citizens are homeless.  That US Veterans are among those numberless thousands makes me want to weep.  The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans website states that ”Although flawless counts are impossible to come by – the transient nature of homeless populations presents a major difficulty – the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) estimate that over 67,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. Over the course of a year, approximately twice that many experience homelessness. Only eight percent of the general population can claim veteran status, but nearly one-fifth of the homeless population are veterans.”  I urge you to get involved by checking the resources given at this URL http://www.nchv.org/howtohelp.cfm.  Leave a comment here.  Let me know how you decide to help.

I love snuggling with my Sweetheart as we fall asleep on a chilly night, but sleeping in the next morning is even better.  He gets up and is off to work before the day is born, and he loves me enough to let me sleep in.  It’s so nice to sleep in, wake up to sunlight and bird song streaming through my window (a nice size tree sits right outside).  I can stretch and yawn and linger enjoying the moment.  Street noises are muted and fresh air scents the room.  I’m delaying the moment when the day changes from a lazy, relaxed flow to a focused  rush of activity.  That moment arrives when I toss aside the covers, embrace the cooler air outside my somnolent cocoon and jump into the activities of the day that make lingering abed so nice.

Duke found Lana standing by the window staring out into the shadowed field. The moon shone bright upon her pale beauty. Her gown fit her hourglass shape and her long flowing hair hung in ringlets around her shoulders. She turned to look at him just as he wrapped his arms around her waist. A content sigh fled her lips as she settled back against his chest. He whispered “I love you…” as he produced the black velvet box he had tucked into his back pocket. He held it up and snapped open the lid to reveal the perfect diamond ring…Stop right there. Above is fantasy. Now take a look at reality.Duke found Lana standing at the sink rinsing dishes. He asked, “What’s for dinner?” Lana turned just as he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. She answered, “Frozen meatloaf. I’ve had a busy day at work. I had to pick up Johnny from school because he was sick. He threw up on my shirt,” she pointed out the obvious wet spot on her white tee, “and Suzie is refusing to do her homework.” Duke swallowed the tightness in his throat and attempted not to breathe so he wouldn’t be waylaid by the pungent smell of his son’s lunch all over his wife’s shirt. She wiped her hands on a towel and he got a glimpse of her red silky bra. He felt a tingle in his loins and as he started to reach for her to pull her close a wretched gurgling sound erupted from down the hall. “There goes Johnny’s snack.” Lana wrinkled her nose and pointed into his chest. “Your turn.” She shot him a wink and a smile.Why do we write romance? Because no matter how much a parent loves their children and a partner loves their significant other, puke, dishes and reality are just no fun to write about. However, if we as writers take a sliver of truth and mingle it in with a whole glop of fantasy, readers will relate to a storyline. About:  Rhonda Lee Carver read her first novel at the age of 13. She was hooked. She writes suspense, paranormal, erotica and contemporary. She especially loves bad-ass heroes and smart, sassy heroines. She keeps readers on the edge of their seat with stories of heat and passion. By day she is a mother of three, balancing the dirty day job, soccer games and a cat and dog. By night she is the mysterious seductress tapping away at the keyboard writing tales of intrigue, seduction, sexual encounters and love. She invites everyone to live out a fantasy in her world. Dare to adventure…Rhonda’s a terrific story teller.   Here’s a blurb for her May 21, 2012 release, Dreaming Ivy, May 21, 2012 from Lyrical Press. The Thorntons’ mansion is full of timeless secrets waiting to be unraveled. When small-town journalist Ivy and ghost hunter Max are stuck in the forgotten, dilapidated house, they find more than just a haunting. Ivy finds herself dreaming of the former owners, Marcus Thornton and his lovely wife, Elizabeth. Their profound love was once the talk of the town, and the cause their mysterious, untimely deaths never found. When Ivy’s dreams begin to become reality, the mystery starts to unravel and sheds truth on more than just the past.  Read an excerpt or purchase Rhonda’s books.  WARNING: Graphic language, naughty ghosts, a non-committal male, and a love that endures beyond time and death.