Piling up and Catching up with Sylva and Zeke

Greetings, loveliest Kittens, a sparkly day on the tame prairie after gray days and a lightning rainstorm... oh, the sunsets, they have been the good for the soul... yep, stuff for the bloggie is piling up... though, this Big Cat does adore doing blog tours. Thank you to everyone who commented and came by... Prizes will be awarded shortly.
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2:12 am... it doesn’t quit! For several days now, the Kougaress has seen 2:12 am and not because she’s been looking for it... hmmmm... maybe, it’s simply a reminder. On Monday, September 13th, at the HAPPILY EVER AFTER blog, the Kougar is posting Sedona and Volcano’s second anniversary scene. It’s Interracial Romance week and, although, it’s out of the box ~ can a carnal cherub find happiness with a human woman, even if she is an incarnated angel?
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Authoress news and mews ~

This is the Kougar’s official ROARS OF THANK YOU!!! moment to everyone who has purchased BRANDED BY THE TEXANS. She is grateful! ~wahoo good good vibes are coming your way~ this Big Cat luvs ya... yeeeehawww!
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THANK YOU! To urban fantasy author, Stacey Kennedy, for featuring BLACK CAT BEAUTY on her blog ~
staceykennedy.com/fun-stuff/blog ~
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Featured at SHAPESHIFER SEDUCTIONS ~

If Animals Could Speak, What Would They Say Too You?
By Serena Shay

My puppies, Ike on the left and Russet on the right
So, as I sat searching for a topic for today's blog my Darling ~home sick from school~ Diva turned on the TV and proceeded to watch one of her favorite morning cartoons, Martha Speaks. General premise of the show: Martha's a dog and she...ta da, speaks.

AND!

Middle of September already?!
By Solara

Wait, didn't the month just begin? Next Wednesday is the 15th, mid month is upon us. Soon change of seasons and more cold weather is around the corner.
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Featured at Lindsay Townsend’s THE PINK BLOG ~

Kimm Walker: In praise of libraries

Sailor from the U.S. Navy reading to children in a branch of Detroit Public LibrariesLibraries are so much more than dusty old book repositories. When I was housebound with my very young children in a remote village, the mobile library was a lifeline to the outside world.

AND!

Friday, 10 September 2010
Contest
Isn't this a beautiful cover!

FOR MERCY'S SAKE is available for early release at The Wild Rose Press and Amazon.com. To celebrate, I'm having a contest! Send an e-mail to author@carolaspradling.com and you'll be entered to win an autographed copy. At 5:00 on Sept.12, I'll draw the winning name at random. Good Luck!

PLUS!

Madeleine McDonald: from non-fiction to fiction

Journalism is about presenting information in a readable way. Equally important is cutting the piece down to meet the editor’s required word count. When I tried my hand at fiction, I had to learn a different craft.
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Featured at ROMANCE WRITERS BEHAVING BADLY ~

Thursday 13- The Shopping List
by Dawne Prochilo

This isn't a normal shopping list you're about to view. It's a shopping list for a romantic (erotic and passion filled) evening with your lover.
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TO ‘SAID’, OR NOT TO ‘SAID’ ~

Yes, yowls! The Kougar is coming out of the lair closet... she’s launching out and pouncing... here’s a comment she made recently.

Many years ago, one of the reasons I QUIT reading romance novels, and began writing my own, is because I COULD NOT STAND seeing 'said' as the dialogue tag one more effing time!!!

There are some writing styles where the eye does simply skim over 'said'. And that works. No problem here. However, there are other writing styles where when 'said' is used constantly. I want to take 'said' out with an axe in my hand and kill it, dead, dead, dead!
I guess those who like the word as a dialogue tag won't be reading my books.

Certainly, if a publisher required I use 'said' I would be OUTTA there!!!
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DANCE ~ What we romance authors already know... but, hey, science needs to catch up.

Study: Flamboyant male dancing attracts women best

John Travolta Karen Gorney AP – FILE- This is a file photo of John Travolta and Karen Gorney dance in a nightclub scene to disco music …
By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng, Ap Medical Writer – Thu Sep 9, 11:52 am ET

LONDON – John Travolta was onto something. Women are most attracted to male dancers who have big, flamboyant moves similar to the actor's trademark style, British scientists say in a new study.

Kris McCarty and colleagues at Northumbria University and the University of Gottingen in Germany asked 19 men aged 18 to 35 who were not professional dancers to dance in a laboratory for one minute to a basic drum rhythm. They filmed the men's movements with a dozen cameras, and then turned those movements into computer-generated avatars so the study could focus on moves, not appearances.

Scientists then showed the dancing avatars to 37 women, who rated their skills on a scale of 1 to 7. According to the women, the best dancers were those who had a wide range of dance moves and focused on the head, neck and torso.

The research was published this week in the journal, Biology Letters, a publication of Britain's Royal Society. It was paid for by Northumbria University.

"In principle, it is possible to break down the motion patterns that are informative and attractive to women," said Rufus Johnstone, a reader in the evolution of animal behavior at Cambridge University. He was not connected to the research.

Johnstone said there were similarities between animal mating rituals and what happens in modern dance clubs.

"There are lots of cues females use when choosing a mate, like a peacock puffing out its tail," he said. "Dancing for humans could signal whether a male is fit because it requires the expenditure of a lot of energy."

Nick Neave, an evolutionary psychologist at Northumbria University and one of the study's co-authors, said women may subconsciously judge how fit a man is by the fluidity of his dancing. He said their research was likely subjective and different cultures would have different measures for what constitutes good dancing.

Neave advised bad dancers to improve their core body moves.

"The movements around the head, neck and trunk were the most important," he said. "The good dancers had lots of different movements and used them with flair and creativity."

Johnstone said men who are bad dancers shouldn't despair.

"Among animals, courtship rituals are very important when there are very obvious physical displays," he said. "In humans, I suspect it is much more complicated and may come down to more than whether or not a man is a good dancer."

Online:

~ rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org ~
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From Astrology.com ~

Mercury has been retrograde in Virgo since August 20, bringing with it the usual disruptions in communications and confusion that are trademarks of this planet in reverse motion.

Mercury finally turns direct in Virgo on September 13, at 2:00 am UTC (Sunday, September 12 at 7:01 pm EDT or 4:01 pm PDT) ending the third Mercury Retrograde period of 2010. One more to go before the year ends!

Mercury rules the part of our mind that perceives and interprets information that our brain receives, and it also regulates how we relay this back to the world. As a result, all areas of life such as speaking, listening, negotiating, reaching agreements, signing contracts, buying and selling, travel are all affected when Mercury turns sluggish. Mercury retrograde periods give us an excellent opportunity for review and reflection. It is a time for introspection and a time to draw up carefully considered plans and dreams -- but not a good period to start something new.

We hope this time for inner introspection has given you new insight that will help you look at the world through a different set of filters, and that you have come up new revelations that will help you move forward. The time is right to get back in action again -- to talk about your plans openly -- to ask friends and teammates for feedback -- and to start making your voice heard where it matters.
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CATCHING UP WITH SYLVA AND ZEKE ~

Part 620 ~

Sylva burned with a knowing so intense, as they jogged rapidly through the gleaming passageway, she wondered that she didn’t just go up in smoke. When Coon halted abruptly at a split in the corridor, she shouted, “Go left.” Without hesitation, he spun in that direction and took off in a dead run. “Looks familiar,” Snake hollered from behind. “We got thirty seconds before they start frying our hides, Coon. All I can hold ‘em off.” A split second later, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Zeke’s father blasted the walls and the ceiling. “That’ll keep the bastards off us for now,” he yelled.

Zeke gripped his Sylva’s little hand tighter to make certain she could keep up with their pace. He’d know faster, if her steps faltered. “Keep going. This place is mostly empty,” she shouted, encouraging Coon. Snake passed them and sprinted beside Coon. “They know we’re comin’. Our kin,” he explained to them. “Two robo-guards,” Sylva warned. “About to blast their laser eyes out!” Coon aimed, Snake mirroring him. BAM! BAM! The super droids dropped to their jointed knees, then keeled over. A massive panel slid open and Zeke heard excited welcoming shouts. “In here,” a chorus of voices desperately hollered.
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Part 621 ~

Sylva screamed, “Trap!” Ahead of her Coon and Snake leapt against the sides of the corridor, opposite each other. Zeke jerked her against the wall, holding her hard. Silence grabbed them. She didn’t even hear the sound of their breaths “Two doors down,” she loudly whispered. They slid past the open panel. Another whoosh had her starting against Zeke. “Right door,” Snake assured. In moments, they’d entered the sparsely furnished, sterile-looking area. Coon waved his hand in a semi-circle and it was as if a fog lifted. Cells surrounded them, filled with people, who appeared to be groggily waking up.

Zeke kept one arm looped around his wife as he scanned the room, taking in Coon and Snake’s kinfolk. Given the resemble was obvious as the sun rising, he didn’t question who they were. Besides, his bride glowed supernaturally and he trusted her psychic guidance. Standing in the center, Coon and Snake began performing a ritual he’d only heard about. Low and strong, their singsong words soon vibrated the entire area. Zeke knew it as a way to get rid of bad spirits. What astounded him was the sudden vibrant expressions on the faces around him. Their eyes had un-clouded.
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Part 622 ~

Sylva let her amazement rule her. Before her eyes Coon and Snake’s loved ones came alive. Alive in a way she’d never seen... except, of course, for Zeke and those on this Earth. “The box,” Zeke murmured to her, as Coon and Snake’s family members surrounded them in a giant group hug. “Yes, I know where it is,” Sylva whispered back, her gaze remaining on the scene in front of her. Snake embraced a gorgeous Native American woman against his side. Her smile rivaled any Sylva had witnessed. Whipping around to them, Snake pierced them with his supernaturally bright gaze.

Zeke wanted nothing more than to know Coon and Snake, and their kin, were safe. Then, he wanted nothing more than to retrieve Bear Feather’s box and git the righteous hell out of Secret Circle Dodge, his Sylva and his dad safely beside him. First, though, Snake had something in mind. “We’re gonna rip the innards out of this here beast before we leave.” Zeke gave a curt nod of agreement and figured his dad did too. With his hand forced, he growled, “Got another mission to accomplish. Then you can destroy whatever you want.” Coon raised a questioning brow.
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Now ~ FIRST! just for the big cool cats ~ from the Flash Cat...

Happy Courtship on another Earth

X-Serial Flash in Two Hundred ~ Sylva and Zeke’s story continues...

Part 623 ~

Sylva interrupted, “We need to leave now.” Coon directed his internally blazing gaze at her. “You three git goin’. Me and mine will cause a mountain shakin’ disturbance.” Sylva nodded automatically and gripped Zeke’s forearm. “Later, on down the line.” Zeke’s father stepped forward to clasp hands with Snake and Coon. “Nevada, on down the line,” they echoed each other. The next instant, she and Zeke were whirling around. Grabbing her cowboy’s hand, Sylva broke into a trot, the psychic urge inside her sharp as a knife. She couldn’t have said where they were headed, she simply ran toward it.

Zeke focused on not only keeping hold of his woman’s little hand, but on any landmark they ran past. Never knew when a man needed a backdoor out of a place. Downright quick. “Rollin’ sevens,” his dad called out, telling Zeke he was doin’ the same. That had been their code as Zeke grew up. His Sylva didn’t break stride, but by her momentarily cocked ear, he knew she’d heard his dad. “Here!” She stopped like a mare scentin’ water for her herd. Before them a strange archway glowed florescent orange. “Come and get it,” a suave, sweet-as-syrup voice invited.
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TO BE CONTINUED...
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Part 1 - 15 ~ see blog ~ January 15th Cometh, then Part 15... and before...
Part 16 ~ 619 ~ see the Kougar’s prior bloggies... or the Passionate Ink forum, the FREE READS page ~ passionateink.org/forum ~ OR! Now available on The Romance Studio Forum, JANUARY 2009 through JUNE 2010 flashes ~ theromancestudio.com ~ Click on the FORUMS, then Savanna Kougar ~ the Fantasy Lair ~
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IMPORTANT NEWS ~

BTW ~ If you call yourself a farmer, or call what you’re doing ‘farming’.... or if you say you are selling FOOD... STOP!!! This goes for dairy farmers, as well. Immediately change what you are calling yourself and your operation. Go underground if you can, especially if you are growing organic and/or natural. Think of a new description or name. Why? Good people are being RAIDED by the so-called authorities and the consequences are often very nasty. Also, licensing to be a farmer and/or farm is being pushed big time. This WILL NOT make food safer for consumers. IT IS ONLY a way to eliminate the competition against the BIG NASTY FACTORY FARMS, and force folks to eat horrifically bad food that will make them terribly sick.
Protect yourselves. Protect the rest of us. Protect the free-range domestic animals. CHANGE! Your terminology. DO NOT admit to being a farmer or farming. DO NOT admit to growing anything or raising any animals. Not to any person, or on any kind of form. If you do fill out any forms, think of a generic description that means nothing. AND DO NOT CLARIFY. If need be, LIE! Lie as if your life depends on it. Because it does. In these times.
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~ HAPPY LAZY HAZY SUMMER DAYS ~

Wish Upon on a Blue Moon New Year...
May your most romantic dreams come true...

Catching up and pouncing smooches from the Kougar...