Poetry by Aubrey Leatherwood

Today my guest is Ms. Aubrey Leatherwood, author of creative, sensual prose whose book The People You Know, The Sex They Have is up for a CAPA award (YAY, Aubrey!). Pick up a copy of her book today. You'll be glad you did...just for Ingo alone. Aubrey knows what I'm talking about, lol. Learn more about Aubrey at her website. And the great lady has seen fit to grace us with an exquisite poem about love. Enjoy!

______________________________________________________________________________________________In flashes of lily light

and honeysuckle breath

I find you.

No violet

or red, red rose

or indigo even

bring you to mind.

Only shades

cool as water cold as ice.

You don't come with scent strong like lavender

or jasmine.

Only in smells that touch me sometimes

in crowds

but never find their place.

Smells that remind me of something

that I realize late is you.

In syrup movement

not quick like lightning

You slow come to me as

Fans blowing in summer

Flies prying at screen

Hot stick-to-me day

Lazy on the porch

Hummingbird wings beat slow...

And there you are

long legs in short shorts

laying across mine become

truncated body as I grasp for your face.

In flashes of lily light

and honeysuckle breath

and grey soft memory down

you are hidden as I forget.

You are faded from bathing too long

in the bright sunlight.

A day without night

is where I've kept you.

I suppose I was wrong in that--

keeping you there,

suspended in happy times

because to animate you

would have meant

remembering everything.

You couldn't come to me

with scarlet sucking in your body,

with the scent of men's cologne

nestled in your hair or

with a burgundy slash of mouth

with sandalwood and musk

nestled in your hair or

with your mica colored hair soft

like mica, too

with those men's scents

nestled in your hair.

Those memories brought you to me,

brought you to me crystal.

Those sights I knew, those smells I knew

and yet those I would lose to

find you rose-colored hazy and bright

never in the sharp clarity of anger, regrets,

and obsession that even in dimness

painted clear your likeness.

And now, now because of my kind

distortion of you,

I cannot find you at all it seems.

I reach for you constantly and yet

am still forgetting.

I have given your sun to someone else.

Someone who easy comes to me.

I see her:

She lay bronze naked in a field

of ever-changing pansies

with green apple eyes lined in kohl

Sun catching cinnamon and nutmeg in her hair.

She smells of vanilla and (vainly I notice this)

she smells of me.

And importantly, days with her make the

nights easier to bear; never something to deny.

And still, still I grasp for your love as the light

has made it as much tantalizing as elusive.

And yet, I can no longer see your face.

Love's Many Guises by Faith Bicknell-Brown

Our guest today is Faith Bicknell-Brown. Faith’s work has appeared in a wide range of genres such as: Would That It Were, Touch Magazine, GC Magazine, Ohio Writer Magazine (non-fiction), Waxing and Waning (Canada), and The Istanbul Literature Review (Turkey) just to name a few. She was a regular contributor to Gent under her pseudonym, Molly Diamond. She has also had fiction published in Hustler’s Busty Beauties, Penthouse Variations, Twenty 1 Lashes, and has become a regular contributor to Ruthie’s Club. In addition, Faith has several e-books and some print titles published under Zinnia Hope and J. Emberglass.

For two years, Faith served as the co-editor of The Tenacity Times. In October 2001, she took the position of romance and horror editor for Wild Child Publishing and served as the managing editor for Wild Child as well as its sister division, Freya’s Bower. She is represented by TriadaUS Literary Agency.

Check out Faith's latest release at Freya's Bower. Conspiracy of Angels is a tale of forbidden love and scandalous secrets. Grab one of the few print copies left and get the discounted price too!

http://www.freyasbower.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=69

Welcome Faith! Now, let's see what the wise Ms. Bicknell-Brown has to say about love....

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Love comes in many guises. We’ve all experienced puppy love, and most of us know what it’s like to love a person but have personalities so different we want to throttle one another.

There’s the love for a parent, the love for a child. We have love for our dearest friends, and we even have love for those cyber pals whom we’ve known for several years and have never met face to face.

There’s the love for the god we worship, and there’s the love of life too.

However, that one love we all covet is the rarest of all. That all-consuming love for a significant other, that one special someone who we’ll spend the rest of our life with.

And what’s odd about love is that it often seems like the real thing, but then heartache rears its ugly head.

So how do we recognize that special love? How does a person tell the difference between true love and a temporary love?

My parents possess and enjoy the rare love, but they were lucky. They married when Mom was 17 and Dad was 19. Two weeks after they were married, Dad was shipped off to Viet Nam. Forty-five years later, they’re still together. They’ve weathered the worst and love each other all the more for those times.

My aunt, Elma, and my uncle, Don (God rest his soul), married when she was 14 and he was 19. They were together nearly 60 years when Don was called home. They had many children, and as a result, Elma now has 19 great-grandchildren.

So what’s they’re secret?

I haven’t the foggiest. I’ve been married four times, but my current husband is the love of my life. I don’t know why I married the other three besides the fact that I ‘loved’ them. Well, two of them. The first was a case of young and stupid, lol.

Did I learn anything from those past ‘loves’? Sure, and that’s why I’m writing this blog. Like I said, love comes in many guises.

My advice to the lovers out there? Take it slow, keep your eyes and ears open, and don’t take everything at face value. Be honest. Ask your potential mate questions, and never be the object of any sort of abuse. Never.

Love is both giving and taking. Without both, you need to ask yourself: is it love?

What Is Love? by Jambrea Jo Jones

Let's give a warm welcome to today's guest Jambrea Jo Jones. She's not only a friend, but an imaginative author! Her many writing credits include:

From Freya's Bower: OTOG Anthology & Runaway Man

From eXtasy: Heart Song ;Unseen Path:Unwinding Path

From Total-e-Bound: Over the Moon

From Liquid Silver: Semper Fi: Magnus

Take it away, Jambrea....

The dictionary has many definitions of love. I’ll list a few.
*A profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person
*Sexual passion or desire
*A love affair; an intensely amorous incident; amour
*Sexual intercourse; copulation

If you look, you’ll see there is nothing in there about gender. Hmmm…I wonder why that is? My guess would be because love doesn’t know gender. Love comes in many forms and you should count yourself lucky if you mange to find it in your life time.

That moment when you know it’s love is different for everyone. I’ll share my moment when I knew I could be on the way to love.

I was back home, just discharged from the Air Force. I had settled into a job and got my own apartment. I was online a lot, talking to different people. I met a couple guys and we went out, but it was usually a one time deal and I would never get back to them. It started to be a trend. I think I was scared.

At that point in my life, I’d only been in two other semi serious relationships. One was in High School—my first true boyfriend. He ended up killing himself the summer after our senior year over some other girl. So, that was one reason to be nervous about love. The second one was a Marine I met over the phone while stationed in Nebraska. I don’t know if it would really be considered a relationship because we only got together when he was home on leave. It was a great week, but then he left and things kind of fell apart. There was reason number two to be afraid.

Along came Anthony. I met him online and found out that we went to High School together and were even in the same math class. He was a year behind me in school. (Yes, he is younger, but only by ten months. He still likes to call me the older woman. lol) I had no clue who he was or even how he remembered me. We decided to meet up after a few weeks of chatting on line and over the phone. Now, this is usually the kiss of death for me. lol This time I took my sister, her friend and my friend. Anthony is a musician and we went to see his show.

When we got there, Anthony was playing. I was already starting to get nervous. They had a set break and he came down to flirt with me. Not talk, Anthony flirts. And…he was drunk. Really drunk. I am usually a shy and reserved person in public. He is not. There is not a shy bone in that man’s body. He is very friendly and full of life. Totally opposite from me. Right then I thought, he isn’t my type. I’m not even going to try.

So the trend continued. Or did it?

After Anthony got out from under the table (He got under there and made some joke about drinking someone under the table. He had a beer sitting on the table he was under. I just shook my head.) and back onstage, I talked to my friend and sister. The night went on and we stayed for the whole show. For some reason, Anthony didn’t have a ride. I have no idea why. He was sweet and charming, even drunk, and somehow he convinced me to give him a ride home. I debated for a bit and drove him home, thinking I would never see him again.

We talked for a bit on the way home and I pulled up in front of his house. And what did that man do? He said goodnight and kissed me on the forehead as he left. That moment, right there, that brief kiss, is what did it. I started to fall. Then he called me. We talked and that clinched the deal. We’ve been together ever since. That was nine, almost ten, years ago.

You never know when love will come to you and you should always be open to it. No matter the race or gender. No matter the preconceived notions you might have. Open yourself to it and you’ll find it.

Welcome to the Month of Love Celebration!

Happy February, everyone. Since February and its most famous holiday, St. Valentine Day, is all about the love, I've decided to celebrate all month long with recipes, guest bloggers, and much more fun, all centered around the theme--you guessed it--LOVE!


As an author of romance and erotica, I deal with the relationship kind of love all the time, so I thought I'd share with you today, and all month long, something else I'm passionate about: COOKING. I love to cook and what better way to show your special someone you care than to whip up a yummy dish, just for the two of you (or three or four, we don't judge here at the Writer's Block!) Not to mention each of these recipes works great for family dinner night, too. I hope you enjoy these dishes as much as I enjoyed perfecting them!

And now for today's tasty treat.....

Chocolate Meringue Pie

1 9"-deep dish Oreo crust (you can substitute with graham or shortbread crusts, too)

Filling:

1 cup semi-sweet choc chips

2 cups granulated sugar

6 tablespoons flour

1 cup hot water

1 can evaporated milk

6 eggs, separated (reserve egg whites for meringue)

1 tablespoon butter

Meringue:

1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons sugar

Melt chocolate and granulated sugar in bowl over boiling water. Beat until smooth, set aside to cool.

In a glass or metal bowl, whisk together flour, hot water, evaporated milk, and egg yolks. Heat over boiling water until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and beat in chocolate until well blended. Pour into pie crust. Cover top with plastic wrap or parchment paper to prevent 'pudding skin.'

Time to make meringue! Combine sugar, cornstarch and water in glass or metal bowl. Heat over boiling water, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat.

In mixer bowl, beat egg whites, and 2 tablespoons sugar until soft peaks form. Gradually add hot syrup and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.

Remove protective cover from pie. Spread meringue over warm pie filling, seal edges to crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until browned to your liking.

Chill at least six hours prior to serving.

Enjoy!