Poetry Train Monday - 49 - Ave Maria

The Madonna of The Roses
by William Adolphe Bourguereau







On Mother's Day I find myself thinking of the iconic symbol of motherhood, the Virgin Mary. Especially so because when my grandmother passed away five months ago, my mom and I said this prayer over her.


Hail Mary, full of grace
The Lord is with thee
Blessed art thou among women
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners
Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Here's a breathtakingly gorgeous version of Schubert's Ave Maria, sung by Leontyne Price. Enjoy, and Happy Mother's Day.

Tagged - I'm It! - 21

So, first, the rules:

a. Link to the person who tagged you. That's Christine d'Abo over at ...fantasies unleashed.
b. Post the rules on your blog. Et voila - the rules.
c. Write six random things about yourself.
d. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
e. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.
f. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.


1 - I'm trapped in Sherwood Forest - please don't rescue me!


My very favorite thing - a love triangle, between Sir Guy of Gisborne, Marion and Robin Hood.












Robin of Locksley played by Jonas Armstrong







Gisborne played by Richard Armitage







2 - I've been waiting 35 years for Prince Caspian to be released.

I'm nearly out of my mind! When it comes to waiting for movies to come out that I'm dying to see, I'm worse than a kid waiting for Christmas Eve.




This looks awesome.










Prince Caspian played by Ben Barnes


















3 - I love swords. But not just any swords. I love medieval two-handed longswords wielded by hulking warriors.






Shown above is a replica William Wallace claymore sword.



This is a replica Viking sword.








4 - I love sword fights. Yeah, baby.




Gerard Butler as Beowulf in Beowulf and Grendel








Ciaran Hinds as Brian de Bois-Guilbert fights Steven Waddington as Ivanhoe in the 1997 miniseries Ivanhoe. This fight rocks.







Liam Neeson as Rob Roy fights Tim Roth as Archibald Cunningham in Rob Roy
This sword fight is one of the best - if not the best.


5 - I love my large husband.







6 - I adore romantic paintings with knights and beautiful medieval maidens.




Like La Belle Dame Sans Merci by Frank Dicksee






And Chivalry, also by Frank Dicksee

















And God Speed by Edmund Blair Leighton














And now - a-tagging I will go, a-tagging I will go...

Heather
Karina
Marcia
No Nonsense Girl
The Teach
Toni

Thursday Thirteen - 54 - 13 of My Favorite Fictional Couples

I'm taking a one-week break from my book review Thursday Thirteens. I had to get a writing submission ready for a competition which I passed in on Monday, on my lunch hour. That didn't give me enough time to read the book I won from Amanda Ashby - You Had Me at Halo.

I'll be reviewing that next week, however, so make sure to stop by and find out why it's been nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award.

This week I'm featuring 13 of my favorite fictional romantic couples.


1 - King Leonidas and Queen Gorgo from 300

Click here for their YouTube video




2 - Ares and Xena from Xena: Warrior Princess

Click here for their video







3 - King Arthur, Guinevere and Lancelot from King Arthur
This is actually a tragic love triangle - oh, how I love tragic love triangles!

Click here for their video




4 - Aragorn and Arwen from The Lord of the Rings trilogy

Click here for their video




5 - Brian de Bois-Guilbert and Rebecca of York from Ivanhoe

Click here for their video





6 - Captain Frederick Wentworth and Anne Elliot from Persuasion

Click here for their video




7 - Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice

Click here for their video




8 - Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With the Wind

Click here for their video




9 - John Thornton and Margaret Hale from North and South

Click here for their video




10 - The Phantom and Christine Daae from The Phantom of the Opera

Click here for their video




11 - Anton Gorodestky and Svetlana Nazarova from Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor)

Click here for their video





12 - Wolverine and Phoenix from the X-Men trilogy

Click here for their video






13 - Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa from the Star Wars saga

Click here for their video

Wordless Wednesday - 47

Photo by Noel Doucet

Poetry Train Monday - 48 - Mother

I'm working, working, working on a competition submission, so I don't have a new poem for you. Instead I thought I'd post the lyrics to John Lennon's song Mother.

A few weeks ago I got the Lennon Legend CD, and this song really stands out to me. He managed to pour a lifetime of pain into three stanzas and a repeating refrain. And his recording holds such vulnerability, such rawness.

As Mother's Day approaches, I deeply feel this song from someone whose longed-for mother was named Julia.


Mother


Mother, you had me but I never had you,
I wanted you but you didn't want me,
So I got to tell you,
Goodbye, goodbye.

Father, you left me but I never left you,
I needed you but you didn't need me,
So I got to tell you,
Goodbye, goodbye.

Children, don't do what I have done,
I couldn't walk and I tried to run,
So I got to tell you,
Goodbye, goodbye.

Mama don't go,
Daddy come home.
Mama don't go,
Daddy come home.

- by John Lennon

I'm Addicted to Quentin Tarantino Soundtracks

I'm blogging over at missmakeamovie. Quentin Tarantino soundtracks. Can't get enough of them.

Thursday Thirteen - 53 - 13 Reasons to Read Dance of the Plain Jane by Lillian Feisty

I just realized that this 53rd Thursday Thirteen means I've been doing this meme for a full year now. I adore Thursday Thirteen. I really enjoy working on every one of them. For Christmas my cousin gave my husband a Thursday Thirteen hoodie which he loves and wears all the time. And I got a T13 hat and mug. T13 all the way, baby.

Continuing with my e-book review series, today I'm showcasing Lillian Feisty, a fellow blogger. I always enjoy her sassy commentary. And check out her site graphic.













Last year she held an unannounced movie quote contest on her blog, and lucky me! I won a copy of an anthology she appears in, Seasons of Seduction I. Besides her own blog, Ms. Feisty is part of a group blog called Naughty and Spice.



1 - Dance of the Plain Jane is Ms. Feisty's story in a collection of six sizzling tales in the first of the Ellora's Cavemen series.

2 - The other stories in the anthology are:
Her Lance-Alot by Delilah Devlin
Club Vamp by Allyson James
Choosing Madison by Sherrill Quinn
Come Howling by Denise Rossetti
Lyrael's Sacrifice by Jory Strong

3 - Dance of the Plain Jane is a contemporary story taking place in San Diego, California. The hero is Michael Sky, a Navy SEAL who heads out for some chow at the Bombay Cafe with the guys. Between bites of Tandoori chicken he gets an eyeful of the belly dancer performing for the patrons.

4 - We meet Jane Holliday, 9-to-5 engineer by day, seductive belly dancer by night. She's had a crush on the hottie from her neighborhood for awhile now, watching him from across the coffee shop and wishing she could get up the nerve to speak to him. And now here he is in the restaurant where she dances. Tonight, she's dancing just for him, no matter how many other patrons fill the room.

5 - Ms. Feisty plays around with the reality of fantasies in this story. For Jane, Michael has been her object of unrequited desire, and now here he is in the flesh. Ms. Feisty has a knack for starting a scene as longed-for wish fulfilment, only to have it unravel into awkward reality. This puts a sardonic spin on 'careful what you wish for.'

6 - Michael's attraction to Jane makes him all the more desirable to me as a reader. What average woman wouldn't want an Adonis to flip his gourd over her? He's somewhat confused as to why he's so smitten for a woman who's not even his type. That makes his pursuit of her all the more arousing - especially when he just has to have her.

7 - Dance of the Plain Jane is a delightfully hot erotic short novella. What Ms. Feisty does so well is include wry character introspection even during the scorchy encounters. Jane's POV is filled with her impatience at being 'plain'. Her character is almost ready to believe that Plain Janes deserve to have fun, too.

8 - The short novella length keeps the plot moving, yet Ms. Feisty's world is so solid, I couldn't help wishing it was a full-length novel. Jane's relationship with her friend Abby is so well-drawn, I wish we could have spent more time with the two of them. Plain Janes usually have a beauty or two lurking about in their social networks. For Jane this is Abby, but there's no rivalry in Jane's heart for her friend. Abby is supportive and loving, and their scenes together keep the dream-come-true story grounded.

9 - The erotic aspects of this short novella propel the character development for both Jane and Michael. Jane goes to places that have been only fantasy to her as Michael pushes her boundaries, forcing the Plain Jane to be the woman he saw inside her when she danced. Jane acts as an opposite force for Michael. She makes him rethink his globetrotting job, his nomadic existence. For Michael, her siren song is home.

10 - Ms. Feisty really knows how to end each chapter with a hook. Like this, for example:

" 'You were working me out there. You had me so hard I almost lost control in front of a roomful of strangers, not to mention my team.'

Jane smiled to herself. 'I'm sorry.'

'No you're not.' He stopped pacing and placed himself directly in front of her. 'But you're gonna be.'

With a hand on each knee he opened her up and stepped between her legs. 'What's your name, anyway?'

'Jane.'

Slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers. She waited for a forceful kiss, but instead he brushed his warm lips against hers, and when she leaned forward, frustrated and needing something more, he pulled back.

'Well, Jane,' he said with just a hint of a smile. 'It's time you got a dose of your own medicine.' "

11 - Ms. Feisty has strong POV voices for her hero and heroine. Jane's Everywoman persona is very accessible. When the story switches to Michael, his masculine voice is pronounced. I feel closer to Jane, however, whose doubts and insecurities are balanced by a newfound boldness she's developed along with her belly dancing.

12 - Jane's sexual fantasies - like anyone's fantasies - are comfortable because the fictional partner fulfills every need. When Michael volunteers to bring her fantasies to life, the tension level shoots way up. He's shown us what sort of man he is, commanding and accustomed to success. Is this the person with whom she should place herself in so vulnerable a position?

13 - I leave you with an excerpt. Enjoy!

" 'Oh, sweetie, what happened?'

Jane's eyes began to burn.

'Another obnoxious jerk at the restaurant?'

She sniffed. 'Yes.'

Abby put an arm around her shoulder. 'Come upstairs, tell me what happened and I'll fix you a drink. Have you eaten?'

Jane smiled. For all Abby's bombshell looks she was really an Italian mama at heart, and twenty minutes later Jane was seated at Abby's pink kitchen table, drinking Cosmopolitans and eating leftover lasagna.

'Can you please tell me what's wrong with me?' Jane whined after she had relayed the story to Abby. Well, most of it, anyway.

She refilled Jane's glass. 'Nothing is wrong with you.'

'We were just about to have sex and then he takes a phone call!'

'That is slightly strange.'

'Oh my God!' Jane slammed her glass onto the table. 'I know!'

'You know what?'

'I know why he took off.'

'You do?'

'It was my ass!'

'Your ass.'

'Yes. He had me bent over the table, with my butt in the air and when he saw how fat it is he booked it right out of there.'

Abby held up her hand. 'Whoa, sister. You had your ass in the air?'

Jane traced a line on the table. 'Mmm.'

'You naughty thing! Was he going to spank you?'

She took another healthy gulp of her cocktail. 'I'll never know, will I?'

Abby sighed. 'Jane. I'm sure he had an important reason for leaving.'

'It certainly was an immense reason.'

'It was?'

'Yes. My ass.' "

- Lillian Feisty, 2007

I've had fun with my book review series of Thursday Thirteens, featuring Gabriella Hewitt, Renee Field, Stella MacLean, Christine d'Abo, Red Garnier and Lillian Feisty. I'll be posting a review for You Had Me at Halo by Amanda Ashby in two weeks, on May 15th.

Next week I've got an application deadline to make, so I'll have a romantic couples Thursday Thirteen for next week. Happy reading!