Annual Christmas letter from Little CJ & giveaway

Little CJ is not bitter toward Mr. Crane due to his
forbidding her to be displayed on the living room wall. 

Oh, wow! Little CJ, my childhood portrait painted by an elderly aunt, has written an annual Christmas letter.

And, she's giving away an international gift certificate prize to one commenter!

Come say hi and enter to win over at Wicked Little Pixie's place.

Little CJ and I are at The Book Smugglers + a challenge

Hey everybody! I hope you had a great week...er, 10 days. I'm back from my Christmas vacation just in time to join The Book Smugglers for Smugglivus (my post will be up later today, but there are great book recommendations, recaps and contests there right now).

*[Update: post now up!]

For my post, Little CJ* and I shall discuss:

• Some of my fave reads of the year (or at least the ones that struck my fancy as I was writing the post).
• The books I'm most looking forward to for 2010 (see above).
• Predictions for the coming year about fashion, social media, author behavior, Anita Blake, Phury, and more!

The big new challenge I'm joining

I've never done a challenge before - I always think, why would I want a voluntary, deadline-oriented obligation to take over my free time? This blog already fulfills that role. But this challenge is so free and easy I couldn't pass it up!

It's Orannia's Big Book Challenge, where you read a doorstopper of a book you've been meaning to read, but haven't, at some point in the new year. Here are the rules, as set forth by Orannia (of Walkabout):

1) Read a big book, and by a big book I mean a book with more than 500 pages, before the end of 2010.

2) A review is not required (although I'm going to attempt a post detailing my thoughts on the book, or the reasons why I didn't finish it *grin*).

3) The big book can be from any fiction genre (e.g. fantasy, romance, science fiction). It can even be non-fiction.4) No penalties if the book isn't read by the end of 2010 (because this is meant to be fun).

5) The book can be changed at any time! (Flexibility is important IMO :)

I'm going to read Dune finally, a book I've always wanted to read. I may go for the whole 5 or 6 that Frank Herbert wrote. Orannia will be reading one of my old faves, Kushiel's Dart! I also see other Kushiel books, as well as In the Name of the Wind by Rothfuss, Hobb's Ship of Destiny, and Harry Potter. Go see what the others are reading and sign up.

*Little CJ is my childhood portrait painted by an elderly aunt. She hangs on my office wall instead of in her rightful place--centered over the fireplace mantel in the living room--because Mr. Crane thinks she's creepy and that her eyes follow him around.

Little CJ's blogger award

Carolyn Crane: Hey Crazy Little CJ! We haven't seen you in a while. Where've you been?

Crazy Little CJ: Cut the small talk Carolyn Jean. Oh, excuse me, I forgot - Carolyn Crane. So, you know what I hate?

Carolyn: My goodness, somebody is in a surly mood.

Little CJ: Well I've only been stuck hanging on your wall for four decades.

Carolyn: Okay, what do you hate?

Little CJ: Blogger awards.

Carolyn: What?!?! How can you say that? It's really sweet when people give out Blogger awards. It's like a recognition of something that can so often go unrecognized.

Little CJ: Take your head out of your ass, Carolyn. If it was a real award, it would have a little something called a PRIZE that goes with it. Instead, it has a chore. Like, hey here's a digital picture made by some freak I don't know who probably lives in their parent's basement and has nothing better to do than make awards. Woo-hoo! Now go ahead and copy it off my blog do a post about it and bug some people with it. And if they don't happen to read your blog every day - there's a shocker - then you have to email them.

Carolyn: Little CJ, I am so disappointed in you. Yes, it carries an obligation, but it's more in the spirit of paying it forward.

Little CJ: Uh, actually, Carolyn Crane, I believe that's known as spirit of a chain letter. You'll have bad luck if you don't pass it on, or like, the person who gave you this will think you are a jackass who thinks they're too good for awards.

Carolyn: Not at all! Blog awards create an occasion to formally admire other people's blogs. Blogs are an unpaid labor of love and it feels good to get blog awards. They say, Hey, I like your blog, now you go and share the love.

When I do those awards, I like to look at the blogs I'm visiting a lot lately and really think about why I enjoy them, and then I say so.

Little CJ: What about the two Dardos conspiracy posts? What? Was that a fugue state?

Carolyn: That was just silly fun. I have nothing against awards.

Little CJ: Good, because I have a blog award for you.

Carolyn: You do?
Little CJ: Yeah, I put it on your sidebar. What do you think? Who are you going to award it to? You have to award it to one person.

Carolyn: Oh! Little CJ! That's an awful award! I don't think I like that award at all! And I'm not going to give it away.

Little CJ: Okay, well, I have to go.

Carolyn: Where are you going?
Little CJ: I have some crafting to do.

Carolyn: Hold on! Okay, what are the rules?

Little CJ: Are you dense? You have to award it to two people or I will make a voodoo doll of you and stick pins in it. Was that not clear? And if those two people do not award it to two other people, I will make voodoo dolls of them, and stick pins in them.

Carolyn: Okay, I award it to Lisabea of Nose In a Book and Ana at Book Smugglers.

Little CJ: Now, was that so hard? Lisabea of Nose in a Book and Ana at Book Smugglers. They sound like a nice people. I will have to visit their blogs soon.

Carolyn: *silently contemplates redecorating her office*

Little CJ interviews Jill Sorenson & Contest

Jill Sorenson’s romantic thriller, Crash Into Me, was released this past Tuesday, January 27th. Crash Into Me features “one too-tough female agent, one too-hot male suspect, and a head-on erotic collision.” (!!!)

First, the blurb:

One streetwise undercover agent will do whatever it takes to catch her man....

Ben Fortune may have gone into virtual seclusion after his wife's murder, but he was still the world's most famous surfer, known as much for his good looks as for his skill on the board.

He's also a suspect in a series of brutal murders. FBI Special Agent Sonora "Sonny" Vasquez has been sent undercover to the elite beach community of La Jolla to make friends with Fortune.

With her fierce beauty and take-no-prisoners attitude, she's more than equipped for the job. But all too soon she and Ben have collided in an affair that is both intense and irresistible. Could this sensual, wounded man really be a killer? And could falling in love blind Sonny to the greatest danger of all?

Little CJ: Okay congrats on your release, and the great reviews you’re getting. I was especially interested in this bit from Publishers Weekly:

"(A) high tension romantic thriller...culminating in a page-turning climax. Despite the mystery, the real tension comes from the emotional relationships, full of explosive sex and terrible secrets."

First off, I want to know more about this explosive sex. Because it sounds like something I’d definitely enjoy reading about. Can you elaborate please?

Jill Sorenson: Thanks for the congrats, Little CJ! And thanks for inviting me to chat with you. I’m a big fan of Carolyn Jean’s blog. It’s pretty weird to be talking about sex with…whatever you are…but here goes.

By “explosive sex,” I think the reviewer meant the sex scenes are super hot and exciting! Which is a great compliment. In romantic suspense, the relationship between the hero and heroine often takes a back seat to the suspense plot. Not so in CRASH. It’s heavy on romance and loaded with sex. But all of the rockets going off are metaphorical. Hope I haven’t disappointed you. : )

Little CJ: First off, Jill! I’ve been hanging on Carolyn Jean’s wall for nearly FOUR decades! I may look young, but I’m betting I’m older than you. So feel free to spill ALL the JUICIEST details. Now, how about the page turning climax? Is that what I think it is?

Jill Sorenson: If you think it’s the high point of action near the end of the book, then yes. It is exactly that.

Little CJ: Hmm. No, that’s not what I thought it was. Okay, anyways, I loved your excerpt where your heroine, Vasquez, kicks the ass of her jerk-off trainer Mitchell - POW! - and then he like, cheatingly gets on top of her ‘cause he’s MAD a chick kicked his ass - BOO HOO! -And then this:

He was aware of her breasts crushed against his chest and the soft apex of her thighs, an inviting warmth beneath him. She might not fight like a woman, but she felt like one, and although he willed his body not to, it began to respond to hers. He was enjoying dominating her a little too much.

[…yada yada yada, an exchange where she jokes that he has a three inch wang and then…]

Mitchell grunted. "Keep wiggling, Vasquez. Those three inches will turn into six." For a moment, she looked startled, as if she'd only just realized he'd been flirting with her. Before she could shield the reaction, her unusual eyes betrayed her panic, and Mitchell experienced an intense surge of satisfaction. Vasquez couldn't dislodge him, because she sucked at wrestling, and now he'd found her secret vulnerability: she was afraid of men.

Little CJ: This guy sounds hot, too. I know he’s not the hero, but will she have sex with him as well as the surfer?

Jill Sorenson: Sorry, Little CJ. No.

Little CJ: Okay, your heroine Vasquez has a secret vulnerability - she’s afraid of men! - and then she hooks up with a hot surfer who might be a killer. SHEEEIT! Details, sister!

Jill Sorenson: Ben Fortune, the surfer hero, is a tortured widower, very much in love with his late wife. At the same time, he’s drawn to the Sonny (Vasquez). With her, he feels a spark of interest he hasn’t experienced in years. There’s something dangerous about her, and he likes it. Ben is a thrill-seeker and a bit of a masochist.

Sonny prefers to stay in control. She’s had bad experiences with men, causing her to be guarded, physically and emotionally. As a suspect, Ben is supposed to be off-limits, but Sonny can’t resist him. He’s charming, persistent, and determined to have her. Plus, he’s got a smoking hot surfer bod. His devotion to his teenaged daughter, and his guilt over being an imperfect husband to his late wife, make him all the more attractive.

Little CJ: Mmmm, tortured widower, very much in love with his late wife. That sounds good. And I’d guess he has some skills on the board, too. Do you catch my meaning? Can you tell more about that?

Jill Sorenson: I guess I’ll say he’s good with his stick? (That’s slang for surfboard) Without getting into specifics, I try to be creative and realistic when I write sex scenes. I don’t plan a set number of encounters, pages, or positions. Like, oral on page 152, or from behind on 310. I’d rather just let it happen. There’s one scene in CRASH, for example, in which a heated argument leads to sex against the wall. Soft and sweet isn’t my style, but I don’t shy away from revealing tender feelings. I think love scenes work best when they progress in a natural way and reflect the characters’ (often turbulent) emotional states.

Little CJ: Jill, now, you and I have something in common: I understand you skim around in books and read just the sex scenes sometimes. So do I! Carolyn Jean is always like, You have to read the buildup or else you don’t get the full effect, blah blah blah. But sometimes a girl just wants to get right to it, you know what I’m saying? Am I right?

Jill Sorenson: (blushing) I wish I didn’t do this, because skimming ahead ruins the book for me. I think it’s my passive-aggressive way of tackling the TBR pile. When a book sits on the shelf too long, I’m more likely to skim it for sex. Carolyn Jean is 100% right—the buildup makes a sex scene more satisfying. But I can enjoy the straight-into-it, too. : )

Little CJ: Well, I bet that sex against the wall scene is more satisfying if you read the heated argument first.

Contest!
Now, I understand we’re giving away a copy to one random commenter, as long as they promise to write something about it within ONE MONTH from when they get the book (on a blog, or if not a blog, then Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or even comments on a blog.) Jill, Is this open to anyone in the world, or just U.S.?

Jill Sorenson: It's open to anyone! Thanks Carolyn Jean. And Little CJ, of course! It was great fun.

Little CJ & Carolyn Jean: Thank YOU, Jill!

***
Crash Into Me is available NOW at pretty much any decent bookstore. Visit Jill and learn more about Crash at her website. Her next book, a stand-alone romantic suspense with Bantam Dell, is called Set the Dark on Fire.

CONTEST DETAILS: Just leave a comment to enter the contest (closes Monday 2/2 at 11:59 pm). Winner will be announced Tuesday, and you'll have until Thursday night to get your contact info to me if it's not obvious from your comment. If you don't want to be entered, but still want to comment, just say that in your comment!  

What Do Women Want? Carolyn Jean & Little CJ discuss the NYT article

So did anybody see the New York Times Sunday Magazine article, What Do Women Want? I would suggest checking it out--very fascinating, all about women and desire, and figuring out what turns women on and why.

Little CJ: Oh yeah? Did they figure out why cartoon porn movies where hentai elfs are tied up by robbers and ravished are so hot?

Carolyn Jean: What are you talking about?

Little CJ: Oh. Uh, never mind.

Carolyn Jean: Well, actually the article is sort of about that. It seems that women are aroused physiologically by a wider range of stimuli than men.

Little CJ: Like what?

Carolyn Jean: Well, in tests that measured subjective (reported) and objective (bodily) response, men were predictably aroused by photos of men and women having sex, women and women have sex, and a naked woman exercising.

Little CJ: Well hot diggity damn! There’s a shocker.

Carolyn Jean: But women were physically aroused when shown scenes of men with men, women with women and women with men. They were more aroused by an exercising woman than a chiseled-faced, strolling man, and even aroused by the sight of bonobo apes having sex.

Little CJ: Mmmm, bonobo apes.

Carolyn Jean: But they generally reported only being aroused by the men and women having sex. They would not tell all. Or, they didn’t realize.

Little CJ: Bonobos are hairy all over.

Carolyn Jean: There are a number of interesting perspectives on forced seduction, which of course people argue about a lot here on the blogs as far as storylines in romances. One researcher speculates on how physical arousal (as opposed to mental arousal) during forced seduction relates to evolutionary biology. It was totally fascinating.

Little CJ: I’m into Cornelius, from Planet of the Apes. I think his hands would be super leathery, like really hard gloves, don’t you think so? But really furry, too.

Carolyn Jean: You have been hanging on that wall too long.

Little CJ: Well over three decades, dude!

Carolyn Jean: So you like to say. Meredith Chivers, psychology professor at Queen’s University in Ontario, suggests that, while the actual experience of forced seduction isn’t wanted, such fantasies offer “a pure glimpse into desire” and suggest it comes out of a “wish to be beyond will, beyond thought, to be all in the midbrain.”

Little CJ: Midbrain. Whatever. I like the leather outfits that Cornelius wears. A lot. Do you know what I’m saying?

Carolyn Jean: Marta Meana, a professor of psychology at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, suggests that women’s desire “is not relational, but narcissistic” and that it’s 'dominated by the yearnings of “self-love,” by the wish to be the object of erotic admiration and sexual need.' Quoting from the article:

A symbolic scene ran through Meana’s talk of female lust: a woman pinned against an alley wall, being ravished. Here, in Meana’s vision, was an emblem of female heat. The ravisher is so overcome by a craving focused on this particular woman that he cannot contain himself; he transgresses societal codes in order to seize her, and she, feeling herself to be the unique object of his desire, is electrified by her own reactive charge and surrenders.

Little CJ: But it would be weird to kiss him, because he kind of has that snout. But you never know. It could be advantageous in certain ways.

Carolyn Jean: *shocked look*

Are you a literate wanker? Little CJ wants to know!!!

A guest post by Crazy Little CJ with POLL (see sidebar).

Carolyn Jean is reading two books right now: Marly's Choice by Lora Leigh (won from Barbara! Thanks Barbara!) and Black Ice by Anne Stuart.

She was reading Marly's Choice first, and she got about halfway through, but it was so hot, she just had to put it aside and trade it off with something of a cooler temperature.

Puulllllease.

She found the plot darkly compelling. Compellingly shocking. Poor feeble Carolyn Jean. She'll go back to it. She acts all pure, but enjoys being shocked and titillated. Anybody who reads this blog knows she is a great enjoyer of erotica.

The Marly's Choice plot is awesome if you ask me: It's like these three guys from a crazy family, and they basically raised this girl/foundling as a kind of sister/niece. She is now home from college, and one of them is in love with her and vice versa, but there's some secret she doesn't know. Carolyn Jean is beginning to suspect the three brothers are some sort of a package deal. Flight, hotel and rental car. All inclusive. And that, I believe, is only kink #1.

Nicola recently did a post on Lora Leigh books which both Carolyn Jean and I thought was great. Nicola had some plot and character complaints about Lora Leigh's military man books, but then this:

So why keep reading? Well, the same reason we all go back to that mythical bad boy: the sex.

I don’t just mean the explicit erotic scenes. Leigh also writes erotica and her love scenes are hot, explicit, x-rated. Although I haven’t read all of her books, I believe it’s safe to say that her trademark is writing relationships with a power struggle, physical and emotional.

Yay Nicola! Anyway, this is definitely true of Marly's Choice. It's all very hot and power-struggly. Which brings me to:

Exhibit 2: Carolyn Jean read the following in a piece in the Independent by author Rupert Smith (a.k.a. James Lear), who wrote Palace of Varieties, a rollickingly dirty book that she and Sayuri will soon be team reviewing. Smith notes:

Erotic fiction has a purpose, and it's not a very highbrow one. James Lear's novels are designed specifically as aids to masturbation: two good orgasms per chapter for younger readers, one for the over forties. Each encounter gives the reader a variation on the theme, keeping the interest fresh. The plot exists to carry the reader from one orgasm to the next.

and

The reason why dirty books remain in the shadows is very simple: the book trade is not comfortable with masturbation. Books in which children are abused, women murdered and men brutalised crowd the shelves of WH Smith. Books in which consenting adults enjoy each other for the healthy entertainment of literate wankers do not.

Most friends of The Thrillionth Page seem to read across all subgenres, from the tamest historical to some seriously smutty stuff. James Lear suggests we're masturbating every other chapter.

Poll at left!
Late at night, in her trash-addled mind reading her porn, Carolyn Jean frequently wonders about this. Is he right? Are all her little friends masturbating? TWO orgasms a chapter? Or is he more talking about men. I say, what better use of a google poll than this? Please, put her out of her misery! Oh, and "J" - feedburner will be disabled for this. So you can feel free to tell all!

Images (except little CJ) from wikimedia; poll allows more than one answer.

Conflicted on Windflower

Okay, my thinking has been so mixed on this book! I have been really busy to post, but also just so conflicted, I wasn’t sure what to say.
Almost as if I am of two minds…

Carolyn Jean: Let’s talk about the writing. The writing is technically better than most of what I read today in genres. Especially the descriptions. The imagery is just richer, and the authors are always finding fresh ways of saying things instead of resorting to clichés.

Crazy little CJ: Yeah, and toward the end, you were skipping huge chunks of that description. Admit it, you got bored! I know I did. I wanted more hot action.

Carolyn Jean: But whose fault is that? I think I said in a past post, I can’t help but think that if I’d read it as literature rather than romance, I wouldn’t have skipped description. I expected different things from it.

Crazy little CJ: It’s called the worst of both worlds.

Carolyn Jean: Maybe in how the description slowed things, but not at the level of the plot. This plot was way richer and more panoramic than the genre literature I’m used to, and that was an absolute improvement. I liked that there were more balls spinning, more moving parts in terms of cause and effect and hidden motivations, more complexity, and numerous loose ends tied up.

Crazy little CJ: Tied up implausibly.

Carolyn Jean: Maybe a few minor things were tied up implausibly, but to me, that doesn’t ruin the whole book. It was bigger and more ambitious, and I appreciated that. And the canvas was larger, taking us to numerous shores and making a minor aspect of the 1812 War (divisions in English opinion and their various plans and gambits vis a vis the Americans) a central part of the plot. I learned new things about history here, and I love learning new things in books as long as they’re well woven into the drama, which this stuff was.

Crazy little CJ: I happen to know you interrupted the reading of Caressed by Ice for this, and you were sort of eager to finish so you could get back to sexy Judd.

Carolyn Jean: But does that mean this is a worse book? Actually, I think this is the superior book. But yes, I looked forward to getting back to Caressed. Am I just a product of this generation of romance and subgenres? Just because Frank Sinatra doesn’t rock, does it mean Metallica is the better band?

Crazy Little CJ: Yes, excluding their new album, which sucks. Also, you’re forgetting how Ana brought up 19th century writers like Jane Austen and Emily Bronte. Do you think you would skip giant boring passages of description in Pride and Prejudice? No, because there aren't any.

Carolyn Jean: But she was talking more about heroine Merry’s lack of power and wherewithal, and the hero’s brutishness, and the scenes that headed toward forced seduction.

Crazy Little: Uh! I want to chop that Devon up with my little arms.

Carolyn Jean: I don’t have a specific problem with all that; these sorts of books belong to the world of fantasy and fairytales, not to the world of reality, and I’m a reader who can be fine with certain things in books (ultra-violent vigilante vampires, women shooting guys because they’re jerks, guys brutishly seducing conflicted virgins on pirate ships) that I would abhor in reality. So I enjoyed those scenes to an extent, though the power imbalance got old. I think the bottom line is, even though Merry changed and became braver, it seemed like there was little inward transformation of the relationship.

Crazy Little CJ: Yeah, she got braver, but her bravery would lead to her having to be rescued. It bugged me.

Carolyn Jean: Also, this book was more sophisticated in terms of human psychology and character, especially where the secondary characters are concerned. In fact, the character of Rand Morgan is one of my favorite ever characters I’ve ever encountered, secondary or primary.

Crazy Little: Whatev. He’s named after rum!

Carolyn Jean: How do you know rum isn’t named after him?

Crazy Little CJ: Because I looked it up on Wikipedia, Biyotch. Captain Morgan has been around since 1944.

Carolyn Jean: Is Biyotch even how you spell it?

Crazy Little CJ: Don't put up that photo, you look like a freak.

Carolyn Jean: It's too late to retake. I already sent off the book to Kmont, and you have to put up a photo. I was trying to express conflictedness.

Crazy Little CJ: I need some rum right now.

Carolyn Jean: Don't you dare! I have deadlines. I shouldn't even be blogging. Anyway, there were tons of great moments. I loved the pirate details. All their little rules, and drunken debauchery. And when Devon showed up in his piratey leather vest and coat with no shirt after he took part in whipping that guy for insubordination? And Merry is like, Yum, you are like a badass pirate.

Crazy Little CJ: That was actually me who said that.

Carolyn Jean: Also, being that I came to romance late, I was really enjoying this on a genre history level. This is where books we now love evolved from. Devon is really Judd’s grandfather in many ways. Plus, this is a book a lot of our buddies treasured 20 years ago. I feel like a giant hole in my reading knowledge has been filled in. I am so grateful to have read this book. It will stay with me a long time.

VERDICT: So conflicted.

Other thinking: Ana's now infamous review. MaryKate's meditations on old school. Kmont begins to mercilessly make fun of book here. (anybody else?)
Read about tour here.

Widgets + Q & A + veiled threats

What is with the new widgets in my sidebar?

Q. Has crazy little CJ, whose eyes like to follow anything that moves, taken over the blog and gone widget crazy?

A. No.

Q. Does big CJ want to win prizes? Is that the reason the widgets are there?

A. Partly, but I'm also excited for both books. And hey, if you visit Meljean's site, please vote for the ereader. Go check it out - she is also giving away lots of cool daily prizes!

Q. Will crazy little CJ come during the night and chop me up with her wee little arms if I don't vote for the ereader?

A. Nobody is specifically saying that.

Q. Is this a cheap fast post because big CJ is too busy to do a real one?

A. Maybe.

Q. Where in the heck is that Windflower post?

A. In fragments in a file somewhere.

Q. Is crazy little CJ angry at all the people who called her creepy?

A. Possibly.

Okay, seriously, these widgets are for two books I am totally excited to devour. You can read my past fawning over Meljean Brook's work here. Erin McCarthy is a sort of new-to-me-author who I am officially getting into; I loved Fallen (discussed by me here) and this new book sounds just excellent.

Is this creepy?

I think in some marriages the wife gets to make the decor decisions, but not in the Carolyn Jean household.

Exhibit A: this lovely and charming portrait of me, Carolyn Jean, at age 5, done by an elderly aunt who was a sort of amateur painter. I just love it. I think it's totally retro, and growing up, it was the source great pride for me--this was actually done from a school photo, and I never owned that gold bracelet or held that basket of flowers, but I liked to think of myself as the kind of little girl who maybe would sit with a basket of flowers and a pretty bracelet.

Also, my two younger sisters were bitterly jealous they didn't get portraits, too. One of the privileges of being the oldest. You seem more special because you're the first.

Anyway, cute, you say, right? Who in their right mind wouldn't want such a charming portrait in their living room?

My husband, that's who. He says this is CREEPY! He feels like my childlike eyes follow him around the room. That I have a creepy look on my face. And he won't let it be in the living room. So anyway, it's in my office. Is it creepy? Humorous maybe, okay, but creepy?

Going out of town!

I'm heading out of town this weekend, so Thrillionth will be quiet until Tuesday.

The WINDFLOWER also headed out of town yesterday, to KMONT.

When I get back I will be doing my final post on it! Not that I haven't already posted the hell out of it, but there is a lot to say about it. And I can't wait to see what everybody else says.