King of the Nerds

Or, as I like to call him, the hubs.

One of the things I'm working on, one of my WIPs, requires some knowledge of martial arts. The hubs is huge into MMA -- mixed martial arts, for those of you not in the know. I've gotten attached to it a bit myself -- hunky guys wearing next to nothing while they pummel each other into oblivion. It has a certain charm. Did I mention they were hunky and wearing next to nothing?

So, I want to ensure that my WIP has veracity. I don't want to use the incorrect style name -- don't call it Karate when it's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, don't call someone Sensei when it should be Sifu, and so on. I have Mr. MMA sitting at the dinner table with me. I figure, why not ask the expert?

Oh. Right. I remember why not now. Because the expert is going to give you all the information you need, and more. Much, much more.

"Honey, I need to have a monk running this thing. So I can have his wife --"
"A real Shaolin monk isn't married. That's in the movies."
"Okay, then what is a real Shaolin monk?"
"Well, you see, thousands of years ago --"
"Um, hon? I don't care this much. I need my hero to excel in several styles, so he's Mr. Skills."
"Well, there's infinite variety. He could go for years and become great, without having to leave Kung Fu."
"Fab. You realize I'm writing this book for real people, not martial arts nerds, right? I need styles, with names, that someone belts in, so the hero can be a black belt."
"Why does he have to have a black belt? There's plenty of forms that don't belt."
"Because regular people understand that someone who's a black belt is an expert. I don't have to explain. And what the heck do you mean by forms?"
"Well, like, he could be a master of Iron Fist."
"What's that?"
"Where your hands get so strong you pretty much have --"
"The G.I. Joe Kung Fu Grip?"
"Yeah."
"Why would I want my hero to have this skill?"
"Because it's cool."
"Not to non-martial arts nerds."
"Then have him be Iron Body. It starts with people beating you constantly with sticks. So you end up immune to pain."
"He's not immune to pain. He needs to be in pain at some point so my heroine can help him. He's a cop, not a superhero. Besides, do you belt in Iron Whatever?"
"No. But it's cool."
"Again, to martial arts nerds, only. What part of my questions and description of my targeted readers aren't coming through?"

And so it went. I finally got what I needed from him, but it was painful, even without someone hitting me with sticks, and a lot more work than it needed to be.

Oh, and just so you know, there is an additional aspect of the Iron Body stuff that some martial artists do. It's a strengthening technique that is, frankly, horrific in an almost hilarious way -- and I've seen the pictures to prove it. The end result, however, is supposed to ensure that the man can pretty much take a cannonball to the groin and keep on going. And yes, it's called exactly what you think it's called.

I put up with the hubs because, in his own way, he's mastered this technique, at least so far as it applies in the romance department. He may be a nerd, but he's a hunky one, and when it comes to Iron Unmentionables, he truly is the king.

Iron Love,
Gini

What's Need Got To Do With It?

As some of you may have guessed, I like the color pink. Oh, not for everything. And I'm not exclusive to pink. I adore black, too. And various greens. And blues. But I like pink a whole lot. (Blame that on Aerosmith, I'm sure, like so many other quirks of mine.) I especially like things that are pink that, say, shouldn't be pink.

For example, I got a cute little Acer laptop for Christmas. I didn't desperately need it (anyone sensing a trend?) but they're very cool, and small and lightweight, and inexpensive (well, for a laptop) and the kicker was -- mine is pink. And, I found a pink mouse to go with it. I'm stylin', baby!

And now, now I have the coup de grace...I have a pink phone. A pink smartphone. A pink Blackberry, to be exact. A pink Blackberry Pearl to be even more exact.

Oh, yes, to be sure, I didn't need a new phone, smart or not. (Yes. It's officially a trend. Though I think the hubs feels it's more like a lifestyle choice.) And, I spent a fortune on a lime green smartphone only last year. (And the less the hubs thinks about that, the better.) But it wasn't doing all that it was supposed to be able to do, for a variety of reasons, and this one was on a mega sale and, well...the deal closer, the final push over the edge? "Before you decide," the salesman said, "let me mention that we also have this in pink." And I said, "Where do I sign?"

It's a nice phone, and it seems at least reasonably intelligent and it could truly turn out to be smart, and so far I'm pleased. It's smaller than my lime green smartphone (which was, for me, more like an average-student-phone that dressed snappy), but so far seems to be doing all that it's supposed to, and I'm not having too much trouble learning its ins and outs. And, I'm willing to cut it a little more slack than my nifty lime green smartphone because, well...it's pink.

Pink...it's my new obsession.

Love,
Gini

As If I Wasn't In Enough Places...

Now you can reach me on Twitter.

Yeah, I now "tweet". (Does this make us all "twits"? LOL Don't answer that...)

Currently, you can follow the Exploits of "Mr. Fluffikins" (in quotes because that's not his real name...I had to promise to use an alias, lest he smother me in my sleep for telling cat-tales out of school), aka my beloved cat who's a bad, bad dude.

"Mr. Fluffikins" has had an exciting week...follow it on Twitter!

Love,
Gini

New Short Up at Random Musings

And the hits just keep on coming!

I have a new humor short up on my Random Musings page in Expanded Universes. Just click on the Expanded Universes icon on the nav bar (the universe globe on the book), click on Random Musings, and enjoy "Incompetability". A story which I wish was made up, but like all the rest of my humor shorts, actually isn't.

Love,
Gini

If Aerosmith Needs Me...

...I'm ready.

Went to a surprise party for one of my BFFs last night. Great time, lots of food, drinks, fun folks, and games.

Okay, at first I wasn't excited about the games. I mean, we're all great big grown up boys and girls. I wasn't looking forward to a pinata, you know?

But then...they announced that the main game event would be a Rock Band competition.

Actually, I've never played. But I know a lot of people who do (and, since I know some of them very well, I had to figure if they could do it, then I could do it). And I do know there's a strategy to getting your band together.

I shoved the hubs into his own band. He's great, but he's not a rock star. He also doesn't have the competitive edge that I knew would be necessary. No, I joined up with the birthday girl's husband, and a young mom whose kids play this game constantly, both of whom clearly had the winner's killer instinct so necessary to a friendly game among pals (well, it's necessary if you want to win). He played guitar, she drummed, and I was the lead singer.

The competition was fierce. My husband's band started off slow. Then he quit the band before they became big. The two bands we all feared petered out. Others did better than expected. And on it went. Until it was just The Retarded Dogs (my husband's former band, but the name he picked for it lives on) and Mudslide (my band, named by our required groupie who insisted that our success was all due to the name she gave us, which could possibly be true).

The Retarded Dogs went with "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden for their final number. And they were good. Very good. We knew we'd have to go with something intricate in order to have a chance. As the lead singer, I got to choose our songs, and I went with "Dani California" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Well.

I don't think it's bragging to say we were AWESOME. We blew away the competition, definitively. And for the coup de grace -- I scored 100% on vocals.

There was pandemonium. Oh, sure, some of it was because everyone was drinking (everyone but me, since I was driving home and had been on Coca-Cola for the past few hours), but more was because I was being told no one had ever seen a 100% on vocals before. (Probably true for this group -- I wasn't the only person playing who had never played before.)

So, the guy who's game it was asked me to join his band for a few numbers, and I got 100% again, this time on "Don't Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult. More pandemonium ensued. We also got the high score of the evening on that one. I'm just sayin'.

I would probably still be there, hitting the high notes and all, but the hubs demanded that we go home so he could get to bed. Hater. He's just jealous because Mudslide won and I'm now a lead singer in demand.

So, you know, should any of 'my bands' need vocal assistance -- Aerosmith in particular, but I'll be kind and offer myself up to anyone who needs me -- I'm here and currently my price is reasonable. (Steven Tyler and Joe Perry -- call me. Extra reasonable pricing for you.)

Love,
Gini

P.S. The hubs is under orders to never bring this game into our house, because I'd stop writing until I could get 100% on every song. And that could take me, what, at least a month...

New Kiki Short is Live

For those of you who've been following The Misadventures of Kiki -- short pieces about my good friend, Kiki, who's life experiences are a little off-kilter from the rest of ours -- and as those on Hook Me Up! already know, I have good news.

Yes, finally, there's a new Kiki story live on the site. (This is my delay, not Kiki's. Believe me, she's had plenty going on, I just haven't had time to keep up with her output.) Just head over to Expanded Universes, click on the Misadventures icon, and enjoy "Kiki's Winter Wonderland"!

Love,
Gini

Bling, Bling!

I had lunch with one of my BFFs today.

You know how you can tell when one of your friends is a BFF, not merely a GF?

Well, among the ways --

She tells you that she misses you and manages to drag your butt out of the house where it lives most days. And then marvels with you at what that sun and air stuff is while you both laugh at the idea that neither one of you have been out in the middle of the day for, like, AGES.

She listens to your tales of both woe and excitement and has the right things to say every time. Including, "I can't wait to hold your book in my hands!" (We authors are really easy that way.)

She remembers your birthday and brings you a gift. *sniff*

Yeah, you got that right. I GOT ME SOME NEW BLING!!! Courtesy of one of my BFFs. She ALSO bought my lunch. And when another one of our BFFs showed up -- in that totally Kismet way when none of you actually knew you were in the area but all congregated at the same place -- she bought her lunch, too.

So, I got a fun little late semi-impromptu birthday party with fun friends. And BLING!

I'm a simple creature, really. With awesome BFFs.

Love,
Gini

The Creation Agent, Installment 3 is Live

As those on Hook Me Up! already know, the next installment of my online serialized novel, 'The Creation Agent', is up and live.

Check it out via my Expanded Universes page, and then let me know what you think on the blog.

Enjoy!

Love,
Gini