I’m having a very good day after a very enjoyable evening out to dinner with dear friends. My week was so rushed, jammed packed, and seemingly unending, that as a result of kicking back, I sat down with a fairly clear head to work today. I said fairly. lol

First off I’m tweeting, posting, composing, and musing my head off for the Summer Love-In. Guests don’t have to wait until Thursday next week to take advantage of signing up and seeing all the goodies in the files. We have free reads, 1st chapters, downloadables, and every detail imaginable about the participating authors. Can’t beat the free reads. Those things stowed away in the files are ready for any guest stopping by beforehand. Thursday we go LIVE. Games, contests, LOTS of giveaways — everything from free ebooks, t-shirts, tote bags, recipes, great conversation, a gift certificate drawing, and I don’t know what else, but I do know all of us are planning BIG.

Reminder: You’ll have to temporarily sign up on yahoo groups here: http://groups.yahoo.com then search for SummerLove-In in the search box and remember too that this is a temporary thing. The group closes its doors late Thursday night.  Here’s the direct link once you’re signed up:  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SummerLove-In

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After scouring the internet for safe pictures, getting permission for others, creating a 28 slide PowerPoint program, finding music to sync just right to those slides (harder than you think), I converted the melange into a video for youtube. And guess how many times? 12!! Yes, the slides were choppy to the point of sad. I uploaded, deleted, tweaked, uploaded, deleted, tweaked for hours until voila —

Nice huh? In case you’re wondering, the music is The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saens. That’s the Aquarium piece. Yes, there is a slide transition glitch that I’ll consider fixing when the book goes to paperback. But for now after 12 tweaks, 6 launched, 6 deletes, I say nope. I’m walking away today. As I’ve said before my next book comes out July 19th. This is a jump start promotion. I’ve learned quite a bit since March. No wasted time for this book like I did for Hermes Online.

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Ahh my first novel. Admittedly, I’m a cerebral writer. Everything I write comes from places within me that I don’t even understand sometimes. Sometimes my stories write themselves, if that makes sense. I have an author interview coming up soon at The Steam Room and once it’s launched I’ll post details here. I can write my opinions, I can write a commentary, write an informational whatnot or an explanation as deep as my knowledge on any given topic goes. I can write fiction that would sail across several genres. I can write all of those like no body’s business.  What I find next to impossible to write is about me. The truth of me is shy, uncomfortable in crowds, hyper aware of too many details at once to the point of mental and emotional discomfort. And I feel. Good god do I feel.

There was a personality test designed around the idea of women entering the workforce sometime during or after World War II. What would be comfortable work environments for people who hadn’t really left the hearth and home for hundreds if not thousands of years. According to the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator test, I am an INFP = introversion (I), intuition (N), feeling (F), perception (P)

Introverted Feeling personality types are usually gentle and kind, they are intense and passionate about their values and deeply held beliefs, which they share with trusted friends. Because of their discreet manner, their enthusiasm may not be apparent. They are sensitive to others’ pain, restlessness or general discomfort and strive to find happiness, balance and wholeness for themselves in order to help others find joy, satisfaction and plenitude. They are deeply empathetic.

They live life in an intently personal fashion, acting on the belief that each person is unique and that social norms are to be respected only if they do not hinder personal development or expression. They strive to adhere to their own high personal moral standards and are particularly sensitive to inconsistencies in their environment between what is being said and what is being done. Empty promises of adhering to something they value – such as environmental causes or human rights – set off an inner alarm and they may transform themselves into modern day Joan of Arcs.

They are quietly persistent in raising awareness of cherished causes and often fight for the underdog in quiet or not-so-quiet ways. In a team, they will raise issues of integrity, authenticity, and good or bad, and may to opt out if the team refuses to address the questions raised.

They are usually tolerant and open-minded, insightful, flexible and understanding. They live for the understanding of others and feel deeply grateful when someone takes the time to get to know them personally. They have good listening skills, are genuinely concerned, insightful, and usually avid readers. At their best, they inspire others to be themselves.

Yeah, given the right conditions, I do transform into Joan of Arc over environmental, animal, and human right causes. It’s all the proverbial hammer on the nail’s head —  me to a T. That’s why I went on a news blackout. Oil, war, earthquakes, polar bears. I just couldn’t take any more. I recommend a self imposed news blackout. Pick and choose what the media feeds you. Check my previous posts for the GoodNewsNetwork. You’ll be glad you did.

Anyway, try the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator test for yourself here:
http://www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html

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So today, riding high and the youtube’s video’s launch, I went to post to my author group that I posted it. The group is just wonderful that way. You want feedback, they’ll give it. They find mistakes, help with those pesky blurbs and share so much knowledge. While I was in my yahoo email, I noticed a review had come back for Hermes Online From Dr. Judith from Dr J’s Book Place, The Book Binge, and Desert Island Keepers. She had a lot to say about Hermes Online and all of it great. I’m smiling from ear to ear!

Here it is, but here’s the link too. There are many great books featured on that informative site: http://thebookbinge.com

Does it feel too far fetched to think of today’s connections through the internet as messages from the gods?  Certainly it is now possible to get email from the farthest reaches of the planet in a matter of seconds.  Perhaps it is our contemporary connection to the long-forgotten gods and their messenger Hermes.  No more far fetched than some of the sci-fi fantasies that have become reality in just the past three or four decades.  That being said, it certainly felt like a message from some benevolent god when Vivienne began experiencing the positive responses to an erotic short story that she posted on the net.  She had been a different person when she wrote it, and even though she posted it with no expectation that anyone would pay much attention, she was especially drawn to comments by the illusive “S” whose response seemed to be more personal and self-affirming than the others.  Even the words he used to address her as “V” began to call to a person within her that she had begun to believe had been crushed to death by the disregard and cruelty of her ex who had walked out on her, dumped her even as he blamed her dullness for his infidelity.

Now don’t get the wrong idea that Vivienne was a gullible gussy and a woman who was so hungry for affirmation that she put herself carelessly in the clutches of an internet scumbag.  As carefully as possible, Vivienne began to respond to S, limiting her comments so that he would have to reveal himself as much as he was asking her to do so.  Little by little they expanded their comments to become erotic encounters, all of them slowly but surely peeling away the layers of self-doubt, hurt, unhealed wounds and the persona of a frightened and apologetic woman she had assumed.  As their encounters became more and more personal, Vivienne experienced a kind of self-expression that even amazed her, and as she and S became more and more comfortable with one another, she agreed to opportunities for reveal herself, even to the point of meeting S halfway between their locations.

This is a story that is not necessarily intended to laud the romance possibilities of meeting someone online.  I don’t think any considerate person would be unaware that such opportunities should be carefully explored with an eye to the many cases of fraud and crime against women and teens that have become all too commonplace.  Rather, I think this story is more about the way that the kindness and warm expressions of appreciation for Vivienne’s writing and verbal skills began to unfreeze her from a self-imposed tomb of pain and self-doubt.  That it slowly began to morph into a series of was almost more than she could have expected, but that it brought out the best in her, helped her to re-connect with the sensual woman she was, turned out to be a result she could never have expected.

Vivienne is like so many who have become the walking wounded and this story brings that to life in this character.  Told in a poetic and creative way, this series of encounters seemed to tap into not only my love for a great romance and happy endings, but I was enthralled with the writing itself.  Ms Anderson brings such a spirit of inventive thinking to this story and it reminded me that I had truly enjoyed her first book which I read some months ago.  Once again she has envisioned a story that might not have been real, but may indeed be the kind of “romance” many would view as a fulfillment of a long-charished fantasy.

I have to admit that I would never have thought of internet email and chat as metaphors for messages from the gods.   But for this character and for millions of others, email can bring a serious connection to people who feel disconnected from people around them.  In Vivienne’s case, it was a life-changing experience.  And it is a testimony to the power of words that can arouse the true self as it did with her.  Even those of us who are incredibly invested in the print media forget the power of words to hurt and destroy as they can do just the opposite.  It was words that slowly tore Vivienne away from connection with her true self just as it was S’s kind, loving, complimentary, and erotic words that gave Vivienne a new lease on herself, on love in general, and ultimately on S in particular.

This is unlike any story I have ever read and I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this book.  I admit to being just a little concerned for Vivienne when she began this exchange with S, worrying that she was getting herself into a situation with this man that would further hurt her.  I suppose that is the cynacism that has become the norm for many of us relative to the internet.  But I was most pleasantly surprised and found the story one of those “feel good” kinds of reading experiences.  I think romance fans will find this a creatively different and most enjoyable read.  I highly recommend it.I give this novel a 4.5 out 5 rating.