Author: Mary Anne

I write historical and contemporary romance. Like many romance authors, most of my historicals to date have focused on Regency England. The period catches the fancy and populating books with handsome British Dukes and Earls is nigh irresistible. So, it surprises me not a'tall to discover that romance readers adore all things British. I was surprised at a recent NY Times story pointing out that as a nation, we've all gone barmy over "Britishisms."

Alex Williams wrote the piece and I'll bet he's not even a romance fan.  He pointed to a recent article in the "Daily Beast" written by an American who called the iPad "a lovely piece of kit." He also referenced an earlier piece from "The Daily Herald" saying that the Chicago Bulls were mired in uncertainty "less than a fortnight" after a player went down with a knee injury.

Williams says that bits of Brit-speak have crept into the American vernacular. People are now saying "cheers" instead of  "thank you," and "brilliant" instead of "yes,"  or "I will," or "I agree."  More and more Americans aren't going to the bathroom or the restroom - they're going to the "loo."  Williams suggests:

The next time an American “mate” asks you to “ring” her on her “mobile” about renting your “flat” during your “holiday,” it’s fair to ask, have we all become Madonna?

Williams refers the readers to a site maintained by Ben Yagoda an English Professor from the University of Delaware, who last year started the blog "Not One-Off Britishisms" or NOOB. Yagoda says,   “The 21st-century ‘chattering classes’ — which is itself a Britishism — are the most significant perpetrators of this trend.”

Williams wonders if perhaps TV and the Internet may be responsible for the trend.  He points to British Blockbuster shows like 'Dr. Who"  and British stars who've virtually seized American television - like Gordon Ramsay.  I'd add Simon Cowell to that list - Cowell's X-Factor,  American Idol, and So You Think You Can Dance are practically their own genre and they've inspired so many others like Dancing With The Stars and The Voice.

...continue reading "Blimey – Is America Going to The Brits?"

Sometimes I pass along stories because they caught my attention and made me think.  Other times - like this one - I pass along stories because they made me howl.  Yes, dear readers, I just had one of those moments.  You know, the ones that make Mr. Duck shelter our littlest duck under his wing  to huddle at the computer in the bedroom area of the pond - hoping that Mama Duck won't find them until she's calmed down.  The story that inspired such dark duck rage this time is entitled:  "50 Shades of Pornography Addiction."

It starts off by hypothesizing that porn purveyors have vanquished the male population and turned their greedy, beady eyes towards the female half of the planet.  To lure in the women, the purveyors had to modify their product and their pitch because the porn that lures men objectifies women and that doesn't lure the ladies.  To woo women, the story says, purveyors have honed in on "intimacy and relationships" because "women tend to objectify these feelings."

And here's the part of the story that enraged my ducks:

Today, many women read soft core pornography as an escape and as an extension to their interest in romance novels. One such recently popular title Fifty Shades of Grey has made great inroads into this niche. And because of that trend, some women are moving to online pornography from soft core and romance novels.

It’s no secret that soft core pornography is mainstream. The three books in the 50 Shades trilogy currently occupy three of five tops spots on the New York Times bestseller list and recently held the top three. Other erotic novels frequently make it into the top fifteen.

In reality, these books, now displayed front and center in bookstores, tend to glamorize unhealthy relationships depicted in them, and by extension, pornography in general.  It seems soft core porn is viewed by most as a harmless distraction, but too often, it’s a gateway to more hardcore pornography and addiction.

Seriously?  The MAN who wrote this article actually believes that romance novels and erotica are gateway addictions that will push women down to the level of trolling the internet for hardcore porn?  No, SIR, reading about love and passion will never cause women to descend to the depths where you reside.

Romance novels are gateways drugs, all right.  They addict women to hope and love and happy endings. Also, I'll say it one more time-  Fifty Shades of Grey is, at its core, a good, old-fashioned love story.  And reading about men strong enough to surrender to love and passion - and the women who taught them love's lessons - is apt to make women want more of something.  That something is not naked men wandering around, constantly ready to screw one, two or twelve other people at any given time.

No, women who read about those strong, smart romance novel heroes won't settle for sex.  The dangerous lesson of romance novels is that all women deserve men who make them feel like the heroine of their own love story.  So romance novels are a gateway -- they lead readers to seek their very own happily ever afters, each as different and individual and varied as all the world and all the dreamers who ever made their dreams come true.

You know what?  We need a lot more of the "drugs"  that create romance novel addicts and a lot fewer people who can't see past their own limitations to appreciate that reading is power and romance is hope.

I ran across an interesting story recently that I had to share. Titled "Turn It Up:  What Do You Listen To While Having Sex" is from the "Detroit Free Press" by Korina Lopez.  It gives the low down - pun intended - on one of the more useful scientific studies ever conducted.  Music psychologist Daniel Mullensiefen of the UK studied 2000 people to rate the "Science Behind The Song." Participants ranged from ages 19-91 with the genders represented almost equally.

The study resulted in lists of the top 20 songs for many activities and it studied people's attitude and feelings about music.  As the title of this piece indicated, 1 in 3 people identified Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" as a song that is better than sex.  Would Freddie Mercury have agreed, I wonder?  Perhaps.....  or, perhaps not.

Mostly, I wonder who these people are having sex with, because 40% of them said that music playing in the background was more likely to turn them on than the touch of their partner.  (Seriously?)

The study determined that the most arousing music to play while having sex is the soundtrack from the movie "Dirty Dancing."  That soundtrack was No 1 with both men and women.  Mullensiefen, the psychologist conducting the study, felt that result showed "that men are more willing to adjust their tastes in music in order to ensure "greater success in the bedroom."  It sounds like Mullensienefen is a pretty smart guy, right?  He should be - he's the co-director of the Master Program in Music, Mind and Brain and is also a senior lecturer in the psych department at Goldsmiths, University of London.

And what are the TOP 20 SONGS THAT PEOPLE LISTEN TO DURING SEX?  ......drumroll, please:

1. "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack

2. Marvin Gaye, "Sexual Healing"

3. Ravel, "Bolero"

4. Berlin, "Take My Breath Away"

5. Barry White (anything from his collection)

6. Marvin Gaye, "Let's Get It On"

7. Righteous Brothers, "Unchained Melody"

8. Celine Dion, "Titanic" soundtrack / "My Heart Will Go On"

9. Serge Gainsbourg, "Je T`aime"

10. Whitney Houston, "I Will Always Love You"

11. Aerosmith, "I Don`t Want to Miss A Thing"

12. Kings of Leon, "Sex On Fire"

13. Rodgers & Hammerstein, "Sound of Music"

14. Tchaikovsky, "1812 Overture"

15. "Grease" soundtrack

16. Donna Summer, "I Feel Love"

17. Boyz II Men, "I'll Make Love to You"

18. Abba, "Mama Mia"

19. Tom Jones, "Sex Bomb"

20. "Star Wars" soundtrack

Well, I've got to say that it's a list I just can't take seriously.   Any real list of mood music would have to be topped by Bob Segar's "Night Moves,"  right? Obviously, I'm right -- just ask Mr. Duck.  Of course, he'd also tell you that I don't think any great music has been recorded since the 80's.  That's also right, isn't it?

Or maybe,  I'm just quackers.

 

 

 

I've been very, very bad.  I haven't been keeping up with the blog.  I'm sorry about that but I've been bad for a mighty good reason - I've been working hard on Peter's story -  "A Magical Forever."  It should be out before Christmas so y'all be sure to add it to your wish list.

This will be a quick blog and mostly b/c I saw another blog that caught my twisted fancies.  It was by Ellen Arnison and titled:  "Why Fifty Shades of Grey Hero Christian Grey Has To Be A Scotsman." It's no mystery why that caught my fancy and drug Muse away from Peter's Regency England.

Anyone who has read my book - "A Faerie Fated Forever" - knows that I love me some Scots.  I especially love that rugged, no nonsense breed that inhabits the Highlands.  Don't we all?  And notice I said - inhabits, present tense.  I've not yet had the privilege of seeing Scotland personally.  In my imagination the Highlands of that land are still full of warring clans led by lairds who hate the English and still manage to fall madly mad for a lovely English Rose.

And anyone who has read this blog knows that I love me some Christian Grey too.  I see him in my twisted mental meanderings - he's standing by the wall of windows, outclassing everything in his posh Escala condo.  His hair is even more rumpled than usual and he's wearing those pants - yes, the grey ones cut just so.

Ms. Arnison's article links to a Guardian article relating that the French are turning up their "snooty Gallic noses" at "Fifty Shades."  Why?  Here are Ms. Arnison's thoughts:

Instead of Mummy Porn they call it Housewife Porn

Well, they would, wouldn’t they? The French think they invented sex – doing it or writing about it. Dangerous Liaisons, the Marquis de Sade (who gave us sadism, in every sense) Anne Desclos (secret author of Story of O), all French. They even invented the phrase “cinq à sept” – five to seven – that couple of hours where every self-respecting Frenchman nips off to his mistress after work before returning to his family.

All they need to deploy is a well-timed shrug and that erotic accent of theirs for knicker elastic to automatically loosen. Or so they think. I can’t speak for French women, but here it doesn’t work. Oh non, pas du tout.

Ms. Arnison's article relates that the women in Scotland adore Fifty and "have been snapping up this publishing phenomenon. Mummy porn, S&M lite, call it what you like, the book explores bondage and various other shenanigans in millionaire Christian’s red room of pain." Having considered all this, Ms. Arnison's decided that a Scotsman has to play Christian in the movie.

Arnison says "Christian is as your typical Scottish male might be; uncommunicative, finds it difficult to have a normal conversation with a woman, thinks nothing of giving his girlfriend a good slap (on the rump)."  And she thinks that all the Hollywood hunks fighting for the role should be out of luck because she believes Christian needs more than "white-toothed, rippling-abs perfection."  Arnison thinks that he needs "that kind of swagger that you only get from carrying a large chip on your shoulder."

You know, Ms. Arnison might just have a point.  Now I've got a picture of a rumpled-haired Christian standing high atop a Scottish mountain as bagpipes play in the background.  He's wearing a kilt that's fifty shades of grey and cut just so ...  Yes, Christian Grey - the Highland laird.

The mind boggles, doesn't it?  Well, mine boogles and boggles but that's just me, I'm sure.  Now, on to imagine Christian as a Rhett Butler-style Southern gentleman.  (Oh, I know.  Rhett would deny it but he was as courteous and Southern and gentlemanly as they come.  Anyone else would've strangled Scarlett long before he didn't give a damn - or so he claimed, anyway.)

Laters, y'all!

Facebook is more addictive than smoking, according to a new study from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business study.

The group found that people are more tempted by Facebook and Twitter than sex.

The study focused on 205 people in Germany, inquiring about their urges to measure their ability to withstand regular, daily temptations. Participants ranged in age all the way from 18 to 85.  Each was given a Blackberry for a week and told to check in every 30 minutes to let researchers know about their "desires" and urges to check their social media sites.

The hardest sites for participants to resist were Facebook and Twitter.  The study's author, Wilhelm Hoffman, says it's becoming harder and harder to escape the urge to look at the social news loops one last time.

The author of the article linked here, Barbara E. Hernandez, says:

We wonder if anyone is surprised that many would choose to read and post on Facebook rather than sleep. Isn't that why we have all those mobile devices, so we can still use them in bed? And maybe many of us are spending more time interfacing with those devices rather than loved ones.

You know what I wonder?  I wonder who these people are would would rather post on Facebook than sleep.  And I really wonder who in the name of all duckness would rather update their Facebook status than have sex.  Maybe we need an intervention for these folks - lets donate some inspirational reading material.  If they trade Facebook and Twitter a few good erotic romances on their e-reader or smartphone, they'll be skipping sleep for the right reason  - and it won't involve Facebook.

You know what else?  If these people prefer Facebook to sex, I think someone's doing it wrong.  Maybe they need some  training along with the inspiration.  Erotic Romances work for that too - take a few pages of A Sixth Sense of Forever or a chapter of Brotherly Love, mix in a little Dangerous Relations:  Griffin's Law and the former Facebook addicts will know what to do, how to do it and they'll stay anxious for their next practice session.

Someone needs to show the Facebook addicts that some of the best gadgets don't have buttons!