A candid interview and photo shoot cause problems for Imani and Hui, in the soon to be released ebook HUI
A cover controversy for Imani and Hui
Imani and Hui pose for the cameras, setting off a firestorm
Gotta Dance – The Interview
Monthly Archives: December 2014
Two 惠 Hui 후이
I’ve got two spellings of the name Hui (pronounced Hway) One is Korean 후이 and the other is Chinese 惠
There’s a reason for this in the novel.
As I researched harrowing tales of men, women and children who’ve escaped from North Korea, I was moved not only by their courage, but with each real life story, their hopeful resilience reminded me of those who lived to tell about reaching freedom during the Holocaust and the slaves who were aided by the Underground Railroad. In each case, a network of individuals did what they could to help others escape.*
*While there are religious organizations helping some N. Koreans with their escape and resettlement, there are also individuals who take advantage of the new refugees.
Digital Art Imitates Life
I looked for just the right photo to portray Imani’s dream finally coming true:
Imani’s dream comes true as she performs the lead in The Sleeping Beauty at the Royal Ballet*. Original photo by scillystuff from UK
*Digitally edited photo of Alexandra Ansanelli as Princess Aurora and David Makhateli as Prince Florimund in a Royal Ballet production of Sleeping Beauty, 29 April 2008. Photo taken by – Sleeping Beauty (Edited via limited copyright permission per Wikipedia.com)
Original photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sleeping_Beauty_(ballet)#mediaviewer/File:Sleeping_Beauty_Royal_Ballet_2008.jpg
Here’s another Hui GIF promo:
The interracial romance set among the world of ballet, HUI
I cannot lie. I love a man in tights. and Carlos Acosta has some of the best legs in ballet:
Carlos Acosta photo found at http://www.mif.co.uk/event/carlos-acosta/
I found a few other male danseurs with great gams:
Love me some Hui
Another promo for At Last
Santa, baby
I thought I’d create some Ethan and Torii relationship scenes. A few of these were purposely uploaded at a lower resolution. I need and enjoy creating visual representations of book characters, so that’s why this site is populated with so many GIFS and digitally edited stock photos. In addition, I think the more diverse couples that are shown together, the better.
Material Girls
Since making the switch from YA/NA to Adult romance (including erotic) I’ve worked on creating female protagonists who are in different phases in their lives. Both Hui and At Last will be out this month (December). The Player is also scheduled for release in late December.
For Imani, the chance to show the world that she is truly a Prima ballerina means making a heartbreaking decision:
African american ballerina falls for North Korean ballet dancer in the ebook HUI
Imani takes flight on stage, in a scene from the ebook HUI
For Victoria “Torii” Theas, falling for a paraplegic male ends up blurring the line between being in a romantic relationship and becoming a caregiver, in the May/December, adult erotic contemporary At Last
Ethan and Torii, the lead characters of AT LAST
Love thy Neighbor
Meet Victoria “Torii” Theas, the female lead of At Last
Victoria “Torii” Theas from At Last
And here’s my depiction of Ethan Forché, Torii’s love interest:
Ethan Forché, the male lead from the ebook At Last
I’m putting up the entire first chapter of the ebook today. Here’s a brief excerpt of the beginning:
CHAPTER ONE
“Can you please hold the elevator?”
The female voice sweetly asking Ethan Forché not to let the doors close caught him off guard. Pressing the open button while the thing buzzed in annoyance, Ethan angled his wheelchair sideways so that he didn’t block the entrance. One of the perks of having underground parking meant he could park his car close to the elevator. It was a welcome convenience, since his apartment was on the first floor. After an out of breath “thank you,” the woman walked in, positioning herself in the middle of the back wall.
“Hi, I’m Torii Theas.” An outstretched, manicured hand waited to shake his. Their flesh to flesh contact was brief and business like, but it gave him enough time to notice the golden undertone of her brown skin.
After managing to find his voice, he gave her a smile. “Ethan . . . Forché. It’s nice to see you again.” Oops. That was probably the wrong thing to say. The last time he’d seen her she’d been clothed in just a bed sheet after the police broke down her door. Ethan got up to the second floor just in time to hear her cursing up a storm while demanding the cops release her boyfriend.
Yeah, it was all just a stupid error on his part. Really stupid. Now they awkwardly shared the same elevator. He was still sweaty from a hard fought game of basketball while she was very professional looking with her attaché in one hand and parted on the side, bone straight brunette hair grazing her shoulders.
Full Figured and Damn Proud of it
I’ve got a couple of novellas that I’m finishing up for December. While Make Me Yours has been in the works for a while, it looks like the erotic romance At Last will be first out of the gate:
Upstairs, downstairs. Neighbors fall in love in the interracial erotic romance AT LAST
I’m putting up an expanded excerpt (I’ll link these two new images to it shortly. The ebook cover is already linked to the short excerpt) and I’m working on a GIF promo.
Another delay on the ebook HUI
I’ve made a decision not to release HUI until this month (Dec), so I must apologize for the delay.
African American ballerina falls for North Korean ballet dancer in the ebook HUI
I just think I need to do more, or basically push myself to do better with this important story line. Yes, at it’s core HUI is a romance. But there are other pressing issues that I must balance in addition to telling this tale of a black ballerina. To that end, I don’t know how I missed this article and the beautiful, inspiring cover:
From left to right: Ashley Murphy, Ebony Williams and Misty Copeland
Beyond Role Models Straight talk from Ashley Murphy, Ebony Williams and Misty Copeland
Published in the June/July 2014 Pointe Magazine
Link to the full article: http://www.pointemagazine.com/issues/junejuly-2014/beyond-role-models
Take a good look at their pointe shoes, because hues that are closer to the skin tone of a dancer of color are just one change ushered in by diverse students and performers in the world of ballet. I have a scene on the process of re-coloring a ballet shoe in the book.