Adrianne Brennan - romantic dark fantasy and science fiction writer

Support your indie publishers! Or in short, why I prefer people go straight to my publishing companies to purchase my books.

It's simple: some third-party distributors like Amazon.com take an unfair chunk out of the profits of e-publishers and indie presses, leaving struggling publishing businesses with only pennies for every book that they sell--and the authors with even less.

I'll dispel a common myth off the bat: most of us are not rich. My day job isn't writing for a very good reason; my royalty checks wouldn't even cover utilities let alone my mortgage. I write because it's my passion, not to make money. I figure if I make enough to have me eat out at restaurants from time to time, it's not a bad deal. :)

There are a lot of authors for whom this isn't the case. What little they make is helping them to put food on the table for their kids and often to supplement what is already a fairly small income. And contrary to popular belief, publishers aren't rich, either--especially not the indie presses. Most of them are in it for same reason I am, love of the craft and a desire to put high quality works out there.

There are costs that come into play for publishing and sales of books help offset those costs. There have been epubs in the past which have gone bankrupt, leaving the rights to authors' works tied up in court as the debts are being settled. I would love for such things to never, ever have to be a worry for the publishers whom I am with and who I would love to submit a manuscript for. Why? Selfishly speaking, I'd like my works to stay out there for everyone. I've had one of my books go out of print and one not even make its release day due to a publisher going out of business and it's not a fun business.

Also, my publishers put out some pretty awesome works, often times of the sort you won't see out in the traditional press world. They take chances on works which mainstream places wouldn't, and as a result deliver very quickly high quality, unique fiction to people.

Hence if there's anything I'd love to ask of my readers, it's this: support your indie publishers by buying direct, or find the third-party distributors who are honest and don't employ practices I would consider to be bordering on unethical. Ethical, good third-party distributors I recommend are All Romance eBooks (ARe), Bookstrand, and 1Romance eBooks and all of them have my works on their sites. ARe in particular has supported charity work in the past, including one LGBT related one I took part in and will be submitting a portion of my royalties for once I receive them.


Love & Magic,
Adrianne
www.adriannebrennan.com



Please Note: I am blogging on behalf of the Boston Rape Crisis Center, and if you wish to sponsor me in any dollar amount--none is too small, every bit counts!--please go here: http://tinyurl.com/AdrianneBlogsforBARCC then email me your receipt at adrianne@adriannebrennan.com so I can keep a running total. If you don't know what to put down for the donation, just put "Adrianne Brennan - Blogathon".

By now people are reading these posts about my being a bisexual pagan female geek and are probably wondering, "Is Adrianne normal or mainstream about anything?" The answer to that is probably "No," but at least it makes for more interesting writing. *grin*

And now I will compound that by telling you all that I don't eat what most of you eat, because blogging about unusual topics is FUN! :D Like all of my topics, I present this as a "this is how I am, and I'm a live and let live sort of gal." At no point will I be turning this entry into a "meat-eaters suck" rant because that's no better than telling me that everyone who lives like I do are a bunch of pale, dying anorexics.

I am vegan! This means that I do not eat or consume animal products. I will not eat meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy, or honey. I will avoid animal derived ingredients such as gelatin, lactose, whey, beeswax, and what-have-you. I neither wear wool, leather, or silk.

I am also a foodie. This means that I've learned the fine arts of preparing meals that satisfy all of my food habits and desires. I've made everything from vegan nachos that you can't tell are vegan to chocolate mousse. I'm known on chats for sharing recipes for stir frys, desserts, drink mixes, casseroles--you name it. I can't eat your standard American diet but I do enjoy a lot of ethnic food which doesn't rely on meat and dairy so much such as Indian, Ethiopian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and Middle Eastern food.

My dietary sources of protein include tofu and other soy products, whole grains, wheat gluten (seitan), beans and lentils, nuts, hemp, brown rice, and pea protein. Chickpeas are awesome, and I am quite fond of falafel. I mostly drink either soy or almond milk, and the faux cheeses out these days are absolutely amazing. If you're lactose intolerant, vegan, or just curious you must check out Daiya. It makes pizza loving vegans HAPPY!

I don't write about vegetarians or vegans often in my stories but when I do, I write about them accurately. Vegetarians are less strict than vegans, but they don't eat meat, poultry, or seafood. My biggest pet peeve are people who eat vegetarian meals sometimes but call themselves vegetarian when in fact they eat animal flesh. Shrimp doesn't grow on trees. Neither does ham. Why the most often asked question of me is whether or not I eat seafood is utterly, utterly beyond me, and I blame it on the fact that seafood is still considered by Jewish standards to be kosher pareve even though it is technically meat.

My favorite place to eat in my area is the Pulse Cafe in Somerville, MA. Their nachos are to die for! I've taken omnivores there and they loved it. It's just an excellent food place which happens to serve vegan meals. It's pretty sweet:

http://www.thepulsecafe.com

I've had a lot of people ask me why I went vegan. Once upon a time, I was your bacon-wrapped scallop eating, medium rare streak chewing, die hard omnivore voted least likely to go vegetarian let alone vegan. The initial impetus for the switch was my body's increasing inability to digest animal proteins without screaming, agonizing gut issues. The more research I did on the subject, the more I decided that for philosophical and environmental reasons it would be a good idea to do--hence why I am not just a dietary vegan but also shun animal products and animal testing in bath and body products, clothing, and medications if I can help it.




Love & Magic,
Adrianne
www.adriannebrennan.com



Please Note: I am blogging on behalf of the Boston Rape Crisis Center, and if you wish to sponsor me in any dollar amount--none is too small, every bit counts!--please go here: http://tinyurl.com/AdrianneBlogsforBARCC then email me your receipt at adrianne@adriannebrennan.com so I can keep a running total. If you don't know what to put down for the donation, just put "Adrianne Brennan - Blogathon".

Those who have read my fiction are pretty familiar with how many of its characters worship other deities besides the Jewish and Christian God. I've done my best to portray modern paganism in such a realistic way that in comparison with the surroundings, it appears normal...because it is.

This is due primarily to one thing I sometimes mention but do not comment on often, which is my own faith. I am a Greek polytheist. This means I'm an actual, modern-day, real-life devotee of the Greek gods and I practice Greek religion, which is often referred to interchangeably as either Hellenism or Hellenismos. Amanda in my book Blood of the Dark Moon is also a Greek polytheist and has the same deity I do, which is Apollo. Given writing falls under Apollo's sphere of influence, this should surprise no one. ;) It just worked out that way, honest!

The problem with not being mainstream is that we often get thrown in with the kooks and the crazies, the people who are more than a "little out there." It's that way all over; loud-mouthed crazy people often negatively color an entire group, and fundies exist in all religions without exception. For that reason I'm often quiet about my beliefs because I don't believe in proselytizing and think people should simply live and let live.

Without getting too much into the technicalities of my faith, I will suggest to others who wish to read up on it to learn more about what Hellenists believe go to the following urls:

http://old.ecauldron.net/dc-faq.php
http://kyrene.4t.com/intro.html

Since Wicca is the most well-known of all of the pagan faiths out there, it's confused people into believing that all pagans are Wiccan and follow Wiccan beliefs on things--which simply isn't true. While some of us engage in mystical practices others are more conservative in their approach to their spirituality. It's therefore in accurate to assume that all pagans believe in and/or practice magick or witchcraft.

Like with my efforts to defuse LGBT stereotypes in my writing, I aim to do the same for pagans. I portray them as being the same way anyone else would be with the same goals, wishes, and dreams--dealing with every day life as anyone else would.

It's often thought--and perhaps this is a human thing and not just culture--that just because someone is different, it means that they are not actually the same as you. As a writer, I enjoy the chance to meet all sorts of different people, find out more about how they think, and allow it to influence my writing. I'd like to think that in the process of writing, I can introduce people to a better place and help to broaden their world too.

And then there's the hot sex. ;) :D


Love & Magic,
Adrianne
www.adriannebrennan.com



Please Note: I am blogging on behalf of the Boston Rape Crisis Center, and if you wish to sponsor me in any dollar amount--none is too small, every bit counts!--please go here: http://tinyurl.com/AdrianneBlogsforBARCC then email me your receipt at adrianne@adriannebrennan.com so I can keep a running total. If you don't know what to put down for the donation, just put "Adrianne Brennan - Blogathon".

It's no secret that in addition to "traditional" romance and erotica, I write about women falling in love and/or having sex in addition to men doing the same. One thing I have always stressed and advised others on is that beyond researching the physical mechanics for realism (especially if you're writing about the opposite sex!) the thing to do is to remember you are writing about people. It's really that people. Two people falling in love. Two people who are attracted to each other. Two people who are finding each other in a crazy, crazy world.

I believe in this strongly. I myself am a self-described "peoplesexual", and while I fit into the so-called "B" spectrum on the LBGT scale as a bisexual I don't feel that the term itself describes my sexuality accurately. I'm not attracted to gender, I don't "crave" one gender if I'm with someone else, and I also don't feel that the binary scale when it comes to gender is all that reflective of reality when it comes to what the culture perceives as gender versus what is.

Then there are the stereotypes about bisexuals, which anger me because they not only come from heterosexuals but our own LGBT community. We all cheat, "need" the other gender if we're with someone else, or we're declared to be nonexistent all together, just a bunch of gays in denial or straight people who are "experimenting." Even in fiction bisexuality is frequently done with someone in both a gay and a straight relationship or they're "not really bi." As a monogamous bisexual, this irks me, and this is why I'll often make references to past experiences with lovers of either gender regardless of who they are devoted to at present. It spells it out: if we're bisexual, we can be in a gay relationship or a straight one. It doesn't make us no longer bisexual; we're still capable of being attracted to someone regardless of gender. While there are indeed bisexuals who are polyamorous, they do not make up all of bisexuals.

Because of my own sexuality and friends of mine who are all over the LGBT spectrum, I am a strong supporter of marriage rights and label said rights as they should be labeled: civil rights. People have the right to fall in love. Consenting adults have the right to be together with their chosen and preferred. And nobody has the right to say otherwise. It sickens me to think of how prejudiced people are with such little basis or understanding.

As a writer, I do my best to contribute to causes I feel strongly about--such as this Blogathon, for instance. :) But also when I write, I do my best to portray what I feel to be important and what I want to leave people with. People in my books are very fluid sexually, are often of minority faiths and backgrounds, and have often have reasons to be labeled as "alt".

I contributed to an anthology called To Love and To Cherish, which is a collection of stories about women marrying women. Note that I don't use the term "lesbian" as I feel it excludes the segment of women who are bisexual but wind up in a monogamous gay relationship. My own story, "My Big Fat Greek Pagan Lesbian Wedding" is about two women who are Greek polytheists, one who is a devotee of Hera and the other Aphrodite, and the trials and tribulations that unfold for them as they plan their wedding. Between friends and family who try to mean well but sometimes miss the mark and miscommunications between them, I take snapshots of it all. LGBT couples go through the same sorts of issue we all do regardless of our backgrounds, and that was more or less the point of my story.

Proceeds from To Love and To Cherish are donated towards Marriage Equality in order to fight for civil rights.

You can find my story in the anthology in ebook, Kindle, or print format on Amazon.com and other retailers online.

Once again, another one of lovely Savannah Chase's excerpts. Anyone want to bid for love?

Just a reminder...TWO CONTEST GOING ON! There are one of two ways to win a copy of one of my books in PDF format:

1) Comment on my posts
2) Donate to BARCC on behalf of my Blogathon (details on how below in BOLD)

Good luck!!


Love & Magic,
Adrianne
www.adriannebrennan.com



Please Note: I am blogging on behalf of the Boston Rape Crisis Center, and if you wish to sponsor me in any dollar amount--none is too small, every bit counts!--please go here: http://tinyurl.com/AdrianneBlogsforBARCC then email me your receipt at adrianne@adriannebrennan.com so I can keep a running total. If you don't know what to put down for the donation, just put "Adrianne Brennan - Blogathon".

Bid For Love by Savannah Chase

Genre:Erotic Romance/ Contemporary

Length: Short

Price: $2.50

Publication Date: August 18, 2008

Her fantasy man is up for auction. Will Nico dare to bid?

Nico's history of romantic disasters has taught her when she gambles on men, she fated to lose. That doesn't stop her from secretly lusting after Jeff, the handsome construction worker she sees everyday on her way to work..

When the New York's Sexiest Bachelor auction begins and Jeff comes up on the block, she's seriously tempted to place a bid. The wager can't be taken lightly — it might be for a good cause, but she's making a bid for love……

Excerpt

I've been writing since I was ten and am now thirty-two. That's a lot of years to write and keep writing! One of the biggest helps to me along the way is a wonderful English teacher in high school who not only took my fantasy novel-in-progress home with him to critique during his summer vacation, he drove it to my house so we could talk in person about it. I was sixteen years old. Between his encouragement and him going above and beyond the call of duty to help me to grow as a writer, he inspired me to stick with it and gave me the push I needed to continue writing and believe that someday I could succeed in the world of writing.

My advice to those who want to write professionally is this: write, and keep writing! Never give up. If you are truly passionate about your craft, you will seek to keep writing and improve your skill as you do so. Join critique circles. Don't be afraid to take red ink and look at it as a good thing. I actually look forward to the editing process with my editors; it gives me the chance to polish up a work and figure out how to get better! I've learned an awful lot from my rounds of editing, and if you can take constructive criticism from a good editor who knows how to keep your voice and help you to improve, you're golden.

That's what it's all about--constantly striving to grow and evolve as a writer. Always doing better, never giving up. You will get rejections, you will find people for whom your writing and chosen genre(s) isn't their cup of tea. As a writer, you won't be able to please everyone but if you find an outlet for your work and find ways to make your writing more successful in reaching others, you'll do yourself a world of good.


Love & Magic,
Adrianne
www.adriannebrennan.com



Please Note: I am blogging on behalf of the Boston Rape Crisis Center, and if you wish to sponsor me in any dollar amount--none is too small, every bit counts!--please go here: http://tinyurl.com/AdrianneBlogsforBARCC then email me your receipt at adrianne@adriannebrennan.com so I can keep a running total. If you don't know what to put down for the donation, just put "Adrianne Brennan - Blogathon".

This is a topic which came up in the comments earlier and was something I wished to talk about during the Blogathon.

There is, in my opinion, a difference which needs to be drawn between the desire to be able to let go without shame, guilt, or repercussion that which this culture often forces us to feel guilty about, and trivializing sexual assault and violence upon women. We read fiction to escape because some of us identify too heavily with the idea that being swept away by passion is a "forbidden" thing due to the way we were brought up, religious hangups, cultural hangups, and what-have-you--hence why "forced seduction" fiction can be a popular turn-on for some. It allows people to feel that they can experience feelings they normally feel shameful about and/or need to take responsibility and control for and relinquish that control in a very controlled, safe setting, namely fiction. When writing about such things, this needs to be made VERY clear, in my opinion.

Outright rape-as-titillation in fiction is what trivializes rape and sexual assault and contributes to the culture that blames victims, is convinced they enjoyed (and hence consented) to it and therefore can't "actually be raped", and overall destroys what should be a healthy expression of sexuality in regards to the fantasy world.

I think editors and publishers who understand the differences between these settings and assist authors to be clear in writing such should be applauded. Comprehending the psychology in certain kinks and sexual desires goes a long way towards writing good erotic romance and erotica.

And I would hope it would go without saying that rape in erotic romance is NEVER okay. Rape is an expression of power and enforcing control over someone and has NOTHING do to with desire let alone love.



Love & Magic,
Adrianne
www.adriannebrennan.com



Please Note: I am blogging on behalf of the Boston Rape Crisis Center, and if you wish to sponsor me in any dollar amount--none is too small, every bit counts!--please go here: http://tinyurl.com/AdrianneBlogsforBARCC then email me your receipt at adrianne@adriannebrennan.com so I can keep a running total. If you don't know what to put down for the donation, just put "Adrianne Brennan - Blogathon".

Congrats! You're among the first to preview my upcoming story, "Love Under Will", now contracted for the Mammoth Book of Hot Romance, to be published by Running Press next spring!

More details when I have them! :)

And no, I don't mean "slash" as in slasher horror films, either. ;)

I have a confession to make: I am one of many women who didn't understand the appeal of slash for a very, very long time. Comprehending what was hot about watching two men go at it was beyond me. Slash between two women I’ve always found hot, mostly because I could identify with either woman but can't identify with a man, but never got into erotic romance novels between two men.

It actually was not until my favorite fandom pairing arose that I "got" it: it's really about two men whom you find to be hot and whose chemistry you find to be hot that makes it work. It's also about that lovely, perhaps-only-slightly-subconscious desire to be the filling in that sandwich. It is my belief that this is why m/m erotic romance sells well with women who want to appreciate men’s bodies and sexuality and find it to be a turn on.

The genre of m/m erotic romance had gone mainstream recently, and I blame it on the British sci-fi television show known as Torchwood. Its pairing of two of the main characters, Captain Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones, have sold the show for many people who may have never watched it. I personally got into the show because I am a fan of the original show it spun off from, which is Doctor Who. Torchwood broke through a lot of boundaries for the GLBT world with its loose boundaries and definitions of sexuality with its omnisexual main character, Jack.

Often times my writing is inspired by what I read and watch on television, and I write what I consider to be “gender blind” characters for the most part. So far, my books have featured m/f, f/f, f/f/f, f/f/m, m/m, and m/f/m pairings. My scifi/paranormal erotic romance book Dawn of the Seraphs is my entry into the wide, wonderful world of m/m and it definitely won’t be my last! :D

Readers and writers, feel free to sound off! Are you a fan of the m/m genre and if so, why? Do you have any preferences as to associated genres? Do you prefer m/m paranormals, historicals, contemporary?


Love & Magic,
Adrianne
www.adriannebrennan.com



Please Note: I am blogging on behalf of the Boston Rape Crisis Center, and if you wish to sponsor me in any dollar amount--none is too small, every bit counts!--please go here: http://tinyurl.com/AdrianneBlogsforBARCC then email me your receipt at adrianne@adriannebrennan.com so I can keep a running total. If you don't know what to put down for the donation, just put "Adrianne Brennan - Blogathon".

LOST, True Blood, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Buffy, Firefly,Star Trek, and Babylon 5 all rank among my favorite paranormal/scifi/fantasy tv shows.

What ones have you enjoyed/are enjoying lately? I've heard good things about Being Human but have yet to check it out.


Love & Magic,
Adrianne
www.adriannebrennan.com



Please Note: I am blogging on behalf of the Boston Rape Crisis Center, and if you wish to sponsor me in any dollar amount--none is too small, every bit counts!--please go here: http://tinyurl.com/AdrianneBlogsforBARCC then email me your receipt at adrianne@adriannebrennan.com so I can keep a running total. If you don't know what to put down for the donation, just put "Adrianne Brennan - Blogathon".

I think the most underrated movie out right now is The Sorcerer's Apprentice. GO SEE IT!!

What movie(s) have you seen thus far this summer that you recommend? My list is Inception and The Sorcerer's Apprentice. I'm also dying to see Salt.

Suggest away!


Love & Magic,
Adrianne
www.adriannebrennan.com


Please Note: I am blogging on behalf of the Boston Rape Crisis Center, and if you wish to sponsor me in any dollar amount--none is too small, every bit counts!--please go here: http://tinyurl.com/AdrianneBlogsforBARCC then email me your receipt at adrianne@adriannebrennan.com so I can keep a running total. If you don't know what to put down for the donation, just put "Adrianne Brennan - Blogathon".

As an author, I'm often asked where I get my ideas from. Quite honestly. the source of the majority of my works happens to be my dreams. I have been known to dream almost an entire book, sometimes over the course of one or many dreams. I'm careful to write them down when I have them, and they help me to later come up with stories around them. I'm lucky to both remember my dreams and dream vividly, and if you have a talent like that--use it!

But where else can people get story ideas from? I tell you all, read books, watch movies, and think and daydream about them afterwards. Ever get frustrated out how a book or a story ended? Why not think of how you would written a similar circumstance differently in a completely original work geared towards your own writing style, ideas, and experiences?

I have met writers who are afraid to read books; there's the concern that they will affect their writing process so much that they will accidentally copy or plagiarize someone else's material. Unless you have no control over your own work and are being possessed by the spirit of a fictional character from that work or something utterly exotic like that (ooh, plot idea!!), there's no reason to worry about this. You can get inspiration for themes in stories and still be able to write your own work.

Also, here's another thing: personal experience. It's often said you should write about what you know. Why not take an event that inspired you and rework it into a plot with its own characters and theme? And if you enjoy writing speculative fiction as I do, imagine the same set of circumstances only with magic, advanced technology, aliens, supernatural creatures...let your imagination run wild!

And that's really the thing: imagination. You have to embrace it, daydream, run wild with it. Spend time by yourself in order to think. Take long walks and dig into your creative process. You'll be glad you did!



Love & Magic,
Adrianne
www.adriannebrennan.com

Please Note: I am blogging on behalf of the Boston Rape Crisis Center, and if you wish to sponsor me in any dollar amount--none is too small, every bit counts!--please go here: http://tinyurl.com/AdrianneBlogsforBARCC then email me your receipt at adrianne@adriannebrennan.com so I can keep a running total. If you don't know what to put down for the donation, just put "Adrianne Brennan - Blogathon".

Once again, I bring an excerpt in from Savannah Chase, a wonderful author and friend of mine who donated a few excerpts for today's cause.

In my "requested blog topic arsenal", I am pulling out this one, as it's a topic which has come up in chats, interviews, emailing lists, and general discussions.

I am a woman. I am also a senior level software engineer, a gamer, a Trekkie, a Doctor Who fan, and a scifi/fantasy fan in general. In short, I'm a card-carrying geek. And as anyone who's seen the author pic of me from the back with the red cloth and tattoos, I look like anything but.

In short, I'm a purple unicorn.

I've been told in message boards, movies, tv, and books that I don't exist. If I do, I am obviously a "Mary Sue", which means I'm a projection of some weird male fantasy where chicks like me like the sort of thing guys in my culture (and by my culture, read: American suburban) like. I even got published due to writing "Vader pr0n", ie., Star Wars erotic fanfic.

So what's a gal like me to do when I hang out in the chats with other women who have no idea who David Tennant is, don't know the differences between Star Trek and Star Wars, and prefer watching Desperate Housewives over Torchwood (and no, the episode where John Barrowman guest starred in DOESN'T COUNT)?

Or how about when I show up for a job interview for a lead tech position in an industry filled with men who have publicly stated that they know of no female programmers, they don't exist and when they do, they're awful to mediocre coders? Add the fact that I look significantly younger than my age to the mix, and it's been a recipe for disaster and outright, blatantly-stated gender and age discrimination. In one interview, I was told with a pointed look that they were looking for a "mature" engineer. I very bluntly asked them if thirty-two was mature enough for them, which was met with much shock, recovery, followed by hemming and hawing by someone who clearly didn't read the full resume including the year I graduated college (1999, for the curious).

It's funny. I live in a culture with such very clear gender roles and ideas to the point where even so-called feminists can't think outside of them. I get told on a regular basis what is considered to be "male" versus "female", what is "appropriate" for my age and gender--and not all of this is coming from older generations, either. I hear it from those in mine and younger.

So what's a purple unicorn to do, and how do you get more women to read science fiction, become Computer Science majors, and watch Star Trek with their male boyfriends? The answer is this, my friends: BREED. Raise your daughters to have these sorts of things in their environment and don't point out anything as being "male" or "female". There's nothing "male" about RPGs, science fiction, or computers--and it's honestly bullshit stereotypes like that which cause a science fiction manuscript to be rejected when a female name pens it, but when the same one is submitted with an androgynous name to be accepted.

The cycle feeds itself. We need more women writing hard science fiction, going to conventions, becoming math and science majors, and stop pinning them to roles which we find to be more "appropriate" and give them talking Barbie dolls which inform them that "math is hard".

It's not hard. But dealing with batshit stereotypes about gender is. It makes me feel especially for those who are transitioning into their internal gender; I've been told by some trans women that they were expected to behave in a way they found insulting in order to "pass" and receive the appropriate help they needed to transition. That's seriously insane.

On the whole, I'm proud to be a purple unicorn. We exist!



Love & Magic,
Adrianne
www.adriannebrennan.com

\Please Note: I am blogging on behalf of the Boston Rape Crisis Center, and if you wish to sponsor me in any dollar amount--none is too small, every bit counts!--please go here: http://tinyurl.com/AdrianneBlogsforBARCC then email me your receipt at adrianne@adriannebrennan.com so I can keep a running total. If you don't know what to put down for the donation, just put "Adrianne Brennan - Blogathon".

Often when I tell people I write erotic romance, sweet romance, and erotica I get a very similar sort of response: "Ohhh", said in a certain tone which makes me think they're envisioning me writing the sorts of novels that have the heroines on the covers in the corsets and heaving bosoms, with the male leads dressed in outfits you'd typically see at a Renaissance Festival, featuring overly poetic sentences such as "His pulsing rod of love entered her floral castle". And I sort of laugh because I know fully well the sort of stuff I do write about, and how it manages to sometimes put me out of the mainstream erotic romance genre.

Love it or leave it, sex and romance sells. People enjoy reading about falling in love, being lost in passion, that thrill of being swept off your feet, and finding that special someone with whom you connect on a special level. Ideas on what constitutes as romance in our culture are often flawed: romance will make your life perfect. People should find that special someone to "complete" them, as if being alone is this weird, flawed, freakish thing with people running around with only half a head and partial limbs, deformed and "incomplete". Then there's the idea that everyone should fall in love, marry, and have 1.5 kids in that white house with the picket fence and the SUV in the driveway.

I've often found that being able to deal with life's pitfalls, bad days, and the standard obstacles of being human and still manage to be in love and have a fulfilling sex life to be the most romantic thing there could possibly be. When I write about obstacles to romance in my books, they usually surround people's own uniqueness and lack of ability to share that with others, let alone find people who can both understand and embrace it. Uniqueness is not a flaw, although some in our culture would have you believe that it is.

So what's the deal with being in love with love? Why does romance truly appeal? Is real romance romantic, or are we just kidding ourselves for the sake of getting some hot sex between the sheets into print? For me personally, I love reading and getting into the heads of people whose emotions and lives are intensely complex, as is their interaction with others. Real romance is never smooth sailing; otherwise the moment our characters hooked up on page 15 there'd be nothing more to really write about. The plot wouldn't progress, the characters wouldn't evolve, and by that point you'd just have a lot of really great sex scenes, the sort of thing you dream about reading in fiction.

But emotions are real; we are all emotional creatures who seek fulfillment in our heart of hearts. We want to see our wishes, hopes, and dreams fulfilled--and even be able to share that with others, in particular a partner who can accompany us in our adventures and pursuit of living one's life. It's why most people prefer a "HEA" or "happily ever after" ending in their fiction; they read to feel better and to hear about good things happening to good people. They want to believe in true romance. Perhaps not perfect romance, but true romance.

And above all else, everyone just wants to be happy. :)



Love & Magic,
Adrianne
www.adriannebrennan.com


Please Note: I am blogging on behalf of the Boston Rape Crisis Center, and if you wish to sponsor me in any dollar amount--none is too small, every bit counts!--please go here: http://tinyurl.com/AdrianneBlogsforBARCC then email me your receipt at adrianne@adriannebrennan.com so I can keep a running total. If you don't know what to put down for the donation, just put "Adrianne Brennan - Blogathon".

And here's the post that answers the question which may be on people's minds: why did I choose the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center for my charity of choice for the Blogathon? This is where I have chosen to blog about an uncomfortable topic in the hopes of raising awareness and keeping people informed.

The statistic of women who have been sexually assaulted in some form or another has been quoted to me as one in four. From talking with others, I'm very sad to say that this statistic is alarmingly and inaccurately low; I would place it as more like three out of four women.

Unfortunately I am one of them. I have been date raped in the past, and last summer I was sexually assaulted by someone whom I had considered one of my best friends for a number of years. I have personally gone through the stages of denial, grief, rage, and other feelings I can't even begin to describe. People think it happens to others, anyone but them, and they don't realize how easily it can happen to you and by those whom you thought you could trust. People often envision it as an act of extreme violence where your life is threatened, and picture thugs in dark parking lots and alleyways as the instigators. While such incidences are also a part of the reality behind sexual assault, they are not the entire picture. Significant others, acquaintances, former lovers, spouses, close friends--it can happen to you from anyone. There is no "template", no universal trigger, just the idea that someone can violate you, your body, and your personal boundaries on a large enough scale that there is no doubt that someone tried and succeeded to exert a power over you which you did not give them permission to have.

There are people who often quote the saying, "No one can harm you without your permission." Blame in this culture is frequently placed on the victim: what they were wearing, did they have anything to drink, was there suggestive body language, why didn't they go to the police? They will be accused of lying and if they speak up, they are told that they are making "matters which should be kept private public" and essentially told to shut up.

I know this not just due to talking with others, but because it has happened to me. No one wants to hear it, people want to sweep it under the rug, pretend it didn't happen, and can we talk about the sports scores instead now? All that I know is this: NONE of this should be as common as it is. I shouldn't have to tell people it's okay to speak up, that I was told to shut up and keep it private, or in one case be told "tl;dr" (Net speak for "Too long; didn't read") and refer to it as "TMI" when I came out to speak of it.

I want to help to change the culture I live in to stop accepting this as normal events to be swept under the rug, to stop victim blaming, to prevent people like me from thinking that they should keep quiet and not "burden" people with this information. This is why I'm blogging today and raising funds towards a local organization that fights against rape and sexual assault, and supports survivors of such. This shouldn't be normal. It shouldn't be accepted. I shouldn't be hearing from so many people that this, too, has happened to them. It's not right.

So to those of you who have endured, struggled, had your good days and bad, and gone through anything like what I have: you are not alone. And I'm blogging for you, me, and all of us today.

I thank you all in advance for your support, for reading my blog posts--especially this one. *hugs*



Love & Magic,
Adrianne
www.adriannebrennan.com


Please Note: I am blogging on behalf of the Boston Rape Crisis Center, and if you wish to sponsor me in any dollar amount--none is too small, every bit counts!--please go here: http://tinyurl.com/AdrianneBlogsforBARCC then email me your receipt at adrianne@adriannebrennan.com so I can keep a running total. If you don't know what to put down for the donation, just put "Adrianne Brennan - Blogathon".

Also, one person has reported that they had to provide an additional small percentage as a "tip" to the Network Good that gives the donation in the link above. I've only seen this reported when Paypal is the payment of choice and not sure if this is universal. Just letting people know in case they need to adjust their donations accordingly.

It's easy to see by my favorite movies, tv, anime, and books that there's a running them in many of them:

The Matrix - the blending of the real world with a computer generated one
The Neverending Story - the blending of the real world with that of fiction
Serial Experiments Lain - the blending of the real world with virtual reality and the Internet

To add to the growing list, I watched Inception last night over at the local IMAX. Another good one, the blending of reality with that of dreams: which is the dream and which is the reality? How it ended could even be in debate, and I had a few theories of my own as the movie went on.

What is it about such stories that is so compelling? Many of us read and watch fiction to be entertained and to escape. Or is it merely an escape? Do some of us feel deep down that the lines drawn around what we perceive to be reality are false in some areas and exaggerated in others?

Or perhaps it's a need not to escape, but to explore reality, to entertain the "what-if" possibilities. What if parallel realities existed as derived from fiction? How many of us have not on occasion daydreamed about what it would be like to tour the starship Enterprise, take a trip to Narnia, or visit Bon Temps in True Blood? What if our technology grew so powerful that something such as the Internet would blend and redraw our map of existence? And just what it is about the idea that computers will somehow dominate and rule over our so-called real world as a dystopian vision of the future that we find so compelling and so...true to life? In an age where we are attached to our Netbooks, iPads, and Blackberries it doesn't seem too far-fetched. And if machines could become sentient, what then?

The world of the machine and the world of the mind. The world of information and the realm of thought. The world of imagination and ideas which generate it. We separate them for the sake of our own sanity and the perception of what we can and cannot change in addition to what we see, feel, and sense in the world around us. If we discover how to develop 3D virtual realities so real that they can affect the world around us, would it ultimately spell out a new, profound way to create and influence life? Or would it ultimately corrupt us and foretell our doom?

What do you think of fiction which portrays reality as being so malleable? Do you find a grain of truth in what they are portraying, are forecasting the developments of new and dangerous technology? Or do you find them to be merely fanciful tales born in wishful thinking and a desire to escape what we perceive as being unalterable?



Love & Magic,
Adrianne

Please Note: I am blogging on behalf of the Boston Rape Crisis Center, and if you wish to sponsor me in any dollar amount--none is too small, every bit counts!--please go here: http://tinyurl.com/AdrianneBlogsforBARCC then email me your receipt at adrianne@adriannebrennan.com so I can keep a running total. If you don't know what to put down for the donation, just put "Adrianne Brennan - Blogathon".

Also, one person has reported that they had to provide an additional small percentage as a "tip" to the Network Good that gives the donation in the link above. I've only seen this to be the case when Paypal is the payment of choice but I'm not sure if this is actually universal. Just letting people know in case they need to adjust their donations accordingly.