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Thirsty
I made more promos for The Saint of BOYStown, a New Adult IR (Interracial romance).
Here’s a scene from the novel:
There’s a lot going on in this book. There’s race, romance, economic disparity (and not just on the black folk side) That’s all I’ll reveal for now.
Excerpt:
Go away Tanner. Go far, far, away. He doesn’t. Instead of pulling out a chair like a normal person would, he leapfrogs over the top of the backrest and plops down next to me, with a tray full of food I’d never eat. I’m allergic to vegetables. I won’t eat rice with gravy, but I will snack on rice with butter. Tanner quizzes me on the lack of eats on my tray, to which I repeat that I’m veggie intolerant.
His eyelashes flutter downward and his fingers steeple as he says grace. There are teachers and other students watching, just as shocked as I am at Tanner’s transformation. When he stops giving thanks he starts in with questioning me. “No, really? You really can’t eat vegetables?” he asks, mixing everything on his plate together before shoveling the stuff in his mouth. It’s such a Cody-like move. I give him a nod of assurance that my lie is the truth. I also can’t stop gawking at all the different foods he’s mixed together.
One side of his face balloons as he tries to eat and talk. “Yeah, Cody convinced me and Justin to eat this way.”
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Enter the Dragon . . . Drogon
HBO’s Game of Thrones is killing it this season! Look at the FX for Drogon:
I cannot wait to see episode 4 of Season 7 tomorrow! It’s worth noting that GOT (the TV series) wouldn’t be possible without the acclaimed novels of author George R. R. Martin.
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A blast from the past:
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Game.Set. LOVE
Roger Federer and Venus Williams have been dubbed the “ageless” ones because of the great tennis they’re playing in their thirties. Roger won a record 8th Wimbledon men’s tennis title, while Venus made it to the women’s final at the age of 37 (tying tennis great Martina Navratilova). Venus fell to Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco in straight sets.
Garbiñe is the future of women’s tennis, but Venus has now made it to 2 finals this year (Australian Open and Wimbledon). Here’s a good article on just what Venus has accomplished:
Relentless and Tough, Venus Graces a Spotlight All Her Own After Wimbledon Run
My fictional tennis player, Sinead Landon, is trying to reach the heights of the Williams sisters. Once she’s paired with Didi Botha, a charismatic tennis pro, they become more than just doubles partners.
Excerpt:
“I had the fastest serve in the game for a while. One hundred and thirty-five.” Didi’s muscles appeared to expand in pride as he spoke. “Blew my shoulder out, had surgery, and I’ve been slowly working my way back.”
Pity for his plight moved Sinead to say, “I’m so sorry.”
“For what? A serve is just one of the weapons a tennis player has. Sure, I could hit ‘em with the best but my unforced errors were shameful.” He leaned back, draping an arm over the empty chairs at his side. “Now that I’ve got my errors at a manageable number I’m holding my own. I run down all the balls hit my way, and I’ve got the title of best terrier in the game. I’m Michael Chang 2.0.”
Mesmerized by the sudden flash of his smile, Sinead just nodded.
Now that he had her full attention, Didi continued with, “You’ve got the fire-power, and you’re versatile. I’ve seen your interviews and you’re knowledgeable about the history of the game. I like how you’re showing the proper amount of respect and humility to the superstars who came before you. Sinead, you’re the future of tennis.”
She couldn’t help blushing. And noticing how well he filled out his tee shirt. God, he was a beautifully built man. And his smile! Sinead’s heart just melted when he’d grin. She had a mad crush on her doubles partner and he didn’t even know it.
~~~~~End of Excerpt~~~~~
COPYRIGHT 2014, 2017
Read the first chapter of Game.Set. LOVE here
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Gentlemen prefer Bronze
I enjoy during research, and so I thought I’d share more vintage ads and photos portraying the beauty of black women that were produced by us and for us. Black folks reclaimed our image (see the ad below for an example) even during segregation.
There’s still a misconception out there regarding how black folks used to live. Far too many times Hollywood and even books portray us as downtrodden and usually in the position of a domestic.
No matter what (segregated) society may have thought or stated erroneously about black culture, we did our own thing. Part of which meant black women were thought of as sex symbols in our community even though mainstream media ignored beautiful sistas as cover girls.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
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Why does the black woman always have to die?
I dunno. But I know one thing, NOT UP IN HERE!
Meet Leonidas Sinclair. Fighter. Lover. World saver. A raider of the land, sea and skies.
The wait is almost over . . .
The Way We Were. I found these really cool old photos that depict the black middle class:
In their Sunday best:
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About that Into the Badlands finale
My condolences and prayers go out to the families affected by the horrible, senseless tragedy in Manchester, England. As a parent, seeing pictures of those beautiful youngsters and adults whose lives have been cut short brings back my own loss of a child.
Whether the loved one is in Syria or England, or the US, the pain never goes away. May God give strength.
About that Into the Badlands finale
This GIF of Veil and Sunny is by Yemme:
The 2nd season finale of Into the Badlands – Total viewers: 1,369 million
18-49 rating : 0.5
Link: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/sunday-cable-ratings-may-21-2017/Season 1 finale -Dec 20, 2015 – Total Viewers: 2159 million
18-49 rating: 0.8Considering the almost two year gap between the first and second season, Into The Badlands had decent ratings for its 10 episode second season. Since the show was must-see TV for my family, just about every television in my household was tuned to the Into The Badlands marathon on Sunday. And after the Cleveland Cavaliers blew a 21 point lead over the Boston Celtics, I was really hoping Into The Badlands would give me a finale I could put on repeat viewings.
Alas, it was not to be. Someone at AMC (the show is owned and bankrolled by AMC) or with the executive production staff of ITB decided to kill off the only person who was able to make the usually morose hero, Sunny, smile. And show some damn emotion. Veil was the woman Sunny loved enough to fight his way back to.
That’s the kind of hard love that romantics live for. That’s the kind of shit that has a woman saying, “You better bring it like Sunny.”
Only . . . Sunny is now a single parent, much like the old westerns of yesteryear, Bonanza (Ben Cartwright had sons Adam, Hoss and Little Joe by three different wives who’d died), The Virginian and The Rifleman. And like several classic Disney movies (The Little Mermaid, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast) the saintly, but dead mama trope card was pulled.
Not only that, but the show walked a tightrope with another trope, where the black character proves how “good” they are with a selfless act. Literature is rife with this trope, as it usually afflicts characters of color (see Gunga Din, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Imitation of Life -book and the films).
It’s also important to note that US shows would use the dearly departed mama trope to garner not only sympathy, but a revolving door of attractive female guest stars to pair with their widowed lead actor.
From fairy tales that added an evil step-mother to the mix, to often told cultural stories highlighting the adventures of a father and child left to navigate the cold cruel world together, killing mama off has a long history in both literature and film.
In the case of ITB, Veil was still nursing her infant son. Which means Sunny will need to find a total stranger (female of course) who is also nursing. Chances are that task will fall upon either Lydia or Jade to find a willing surrogate, but I suspect the show will probably gloss over this or omit it all together since it brings up a host of other “things that make you go hmm.”
In this feudal future, women are either sex slaves (called Dolls) Cogs, Clippers, or Barons. There may be male dolls, however I don’t recall seeing them. Veil was the rare exception. She was a healer/doctor and could read. Her backstory was that Quinn, having found her as an infant, had given her to a couple who were indebted to him to raise.
Veil had her own shop in town where she’d been working on an assortment of artificial limbs and mobility devices for cogs. As a healer, Veil had taken an oath to save lives. However, she wasn’t above giving Tilda, one of the Widow’s clippers, the means to poison the woman. Veil also possibly prolonged her own life by pretending Quinn’s brain tumor was in remission (he murdered Veil’s parents once her father initially diagnosed Quinn’s ailment. In typical Quinn fashion, he couldn’t have anyone know that he was dying, so he got rid of the only two people who could reveal his secret).
Veil’s demise had been foreshadowed ever since she told Sunny she was pregnant (Sunny warned her that the penalty was death, probably because he was a Clipper, and Clippers weren’t free men). Sunny also had a nightmare while he was at death’s door about Veil’s death. In addition, another Clipper (Moon) warned him of his own family’s murder, and that in their line of work, having loved ones was a liability.
Okay, I get that. However what’s puzzling is why the show decided to dumb down the ultimate fighter, Sunny, and turned Quinn into someone harder to kill than the Terminator in order to make Veil’s death happen. Listen, I even have reservations on the show killing Quinn. I’ve been a fan of actor Martin Csokas for a long time. He chewed the scenery with his chilling, over the top delivery, so a new villain will have a hard time besting Martin’s characterization.
Both Sunny and Quinn took so much physical abuse that I wondered if they were robots instead of people. Sunny survived two explosions (one at The Widow’s compound, then when he entered Quinn’s underground lair, fighting off flaming arrows that pierced his shoulder blade and a leg). He’s also stabbed in the lower abdomen by a sai wielding Quinn, after he slices and dices his way deeper into Quinn’s underground hideout with Bajie’s help. To set up Veil’s demise, Sunny’s somehow unable to deliver a death blow throughout the battle with Quinn, even after missing the mark during the season one finale. This mars an otherwise terrific fight to the death sequence, where Martin Csokas (or his stunt double) more than holds his own against the Badland’s best clipper.
I’m happy that Into the Badlands was renewed for a third season, but the heart of the show has just been ripped out and stomped on, imho.
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RIP Chris Cornell and the Into the Badlands finale
I’m both shocked and truly saddened by the news of Chris Cornell’s death.
My thoughts and prayers go out to his family in their time of grief.
In tribute to the power and musical artistry of Chris Cornell, here’s a video of his cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”
The finale of Into The Badlands is this Sunday, May 21st
Will Sonny and Veil finally reunite? Or will Quinn end up raising baby Henry?
At least ITBL will have 16 episodes next year. The Wuxia fighting on this show is fantastic. Love Daniel Wu as the stoic hero, a killer who’s faithful to the woman he loves, Veil. AMBW yeah!!!!!!
THE FLASH
Barry and Iris are still going strong, or are they? This season the show gave us Savitar (Emo Barry) who’s crazy with a capital C. Savitar has vowed to kill Iris, and that’s all I’ll reveal in this post.
SUPERGIRL
I’m just mentioning the very short lived Kara had a crush on Jimmy Olsen. When the show was moved to the CW, that romance was nixed. I mainly watch the show for the Martian Manhunter scenes now.
Gone, but not forgotten:
OUTSIDERS (canceled by WGN America)
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Back Among the Living
I hate getting sick. For the past two years bronchitis has kicked my ass and then some.
I’ve got a lot of catching up to do, so my apologies for the delays. Time to get back to work.
Excerpt:
His eyes darted from hers. “You are a woman who knows about men. Is this not so?”
“Er . . . yes, it is.”
“I want to know, I need to learn about women. How to-how to make them happy. How to pleasure them.”
She sat down on a white leather lounger that was so buttery soft her rear end bobbed in delight. Oh yes, she could get used to this. No more sleeping or walking across a cold floor, not when he’d revealed that all the floors were electronically heated. Her smile radiated warmth at the thought. “Okay, what are you into?”
Takeshi cocked his head. “What into?”
“What do you like, what do you fantasize about, what would you like to do to me right now?”
He seemed to be taken aback at her directness. After an excruciatingly long silence, he blurted, “To have you pose, like in art class. I-I would like to draw you without your clothes on.”
Her face registered a whole lot of Really? Really dude? That’s what you wanna do? Draw me instead of fuck me? Nyesha sighed as she stood up, inwardly vowing that no matter what, his lounger would be leaving with her after all this was over. “Will you unzip me?”
He snapped to attention, quickly coming to her aid as she turned around. The zipper came down slowly, the air cool on her back as more of her skin was exposed. With a flick of her hand one shoulder was freed, then the other until the dress slithered down her waist. Before he could step back, in a husky voice she ordered him to touch her breasts. “Go ahead and feel them. It’s something that turns most women on.”