Sunday, February 27, 2011

Guest Author - Amy Romine Is Here Today

Fantastic author Amy Romine is visiting us today. Please welcome her. 



  

















Chatting with Amy:

What was one of the most surprising things you learned while writing your books?
The most startling was how much I didn’t know. Even after writing for years I have so much growing to do. That is so exciting for me and I am thoroughly enjoying the journey.

Plotter or Pantser? Why?
Both. When I start a new project I am usually starting with an image in my head. The characters and loose plot are built around that. I will then start a very rough outline of the story, beginning to end. Then I start writing.
There are those who work for ages on their outline, documenting each piece before they begin writing. When they d begin they do not stray from the outline.
This doesn’t work for me, because I am such a perfectionist. I would be so focused on the outline I would never actually write and that is where I find my story. Many times I will be writing and find myself in a completely different space than I anticipated. I go with it and see where it takes me. Then I will go back and see how it fits into my initial idea or if the entire idea is going to change because where I have ventured is too juicy to leave behind.

Do you listen to music while writing? If so what?
Yes, music is the strongest muse I have. I have a very eclectic musical catalog. Rock, country, old, new, show tunes, alternative, everything under the sun. They all have one thing in common the emotion of the lyrics, melody, or the voice singing, is fraught with deep intense emotion. I feed off of it and am constantly inspired by it.

What are your favorite TV shows?
Wow, there are so many, I am a TV freak. I write a weekly column for BellaOnline as their Prime Time TV editor (little plug for myself there, sorry habit) Okay we will go with shows that are currently running. Big Bang Theory, Community, Modern Family and Cougar Town are the ones that make me laugh aloud. Law & Order SVU, Grey’s Anatomy and Burn Notice are my must-see’s.

What songs are most played on your iPod?
Right now,
So Close – Enchanted soundtrack
I got Lost - Annie Get your Gun soundtrack

I need you now – Lady Antebellum

So Far- Nickleback
It’s been a While – Staind
How to Save a Life – The Fray
Ever the Same – Matchbox Twenty
The Reason - Hoobastank

What is your favorite meal?
Dinner, my hubby is the chef of the family and he is always making something wonderful for me and the kids. My favorite of his dishes is Chicken and Dumplings, yummy!

Beatles or Monkees? Why?
OMG, first I love that this question is on here, Monkees! Always Monkees, because I can put in the greatest hits, know all of the words and automatically be in a good mood. It is sugary, pop-candy fun!

Getting Down With Amy!

Lesbian Hot…Gay Not?

I was out the other night with a friend, and we came across a lesbian couple being affectionate a few feet away. My male friend, Matt, commented on how much of a turn on that is for him to see two women making out. I agreed it was very hot. Then he said he was curious about something. He knew that as a man watching two women is an erotic fantasy come true but to see two men making out was a little hard to stomach. Mind you, Matt is not homophobic in any way we have several gay friends. It is the physical side of that coupling bothers him.

He was curious if it is the same for women. Are we turned on by seeing two males making out, and then in turn turned off by two females? I responded that I could only speak for myself as a woman but that both pairings for me are a turn on. The gay portion of that equation just came to be recently, and I had personally wondered what had changed.
He wondered what the difference was as well, and we talked about it a little. Basically, after hours of discussion we came up with the following.
We have found the difference as far as arousal the same as the differences between men and women in regard to sexuality. Using this as a base line, most men regard sexuality as a physical act, unless they make the conscious decision to ‘make love to a woman’, there is no emotion involved in the coupling.
For women, it is the opposite. Sexuality is all about emotion and expression of that emotion. Again, this is not to say that a woman can’t just fuck and be done with it. They can. It is, however, a conscious decision to do so and turn off the emotion.  
When it comes to the coupling of same sex relations the hetero-sexual male and female view the couplings in much the same way.
We have in theory established that a man’s view on sexuality is mainly physical, so it stands to reason that men would be excited by a lesbian encounter. The active expression of that union is very feminine, and a male is turned on by females, the more the better, right?
For women, the lesbian encounter is also viewed as physical. What woman doesn’t enjoy a showing of sensual erogenous zone play? So there is a physical response but there is rarely emotion involved in the reaction. Females are not turned on by the expression of emotion shown between the couple, but rather the physical interaction.
Now here is where it gets interesting, and again, I can only speak for myself and my discoveries as a woman. The coupling of two men can be a turn on for a woman because of the emotional reactions. In a gay relationship many times there is not a Male or Female archetype. The interaction of two Males is predominately equal, but more emotional. As a woman, it is a turn on to see that emotion coming from a male. It is a turn on to see a man in a submissive role or being dominated by the passions of another man. Just as a female can be dominated by the passions of a male, for a woman many times the encounter of a gay couple is a turn on because of the dominance factor.
It is for those same reasons that men are usually uncomfortable with gay sexuality. It is the showing of the male belly, or vulnerability, that men are not accustomed. The archetypical Male is not equipped to handle uncontrolled emotions like vulnerability, especially during a sexual encounter, unless they are emotionally attached to the partner. So a gay coupling would hit the wrong nerve. The physicality of it is lost, although logically it should be a catalyst to arousal. Sex between two men and two women are very similar, but the showing of weakness between a gay pairing overrides any physical response a typical male may have.
This is all theory of course and my own humble observations, but I think it makes sense.
Turn-on’s can be a funny thing, as I said earlier in this post, gay couplings used not to entice me in the least. Now it is among my favorites. My view of it changed when I broadened the horizons of my own sexuality. At my day job, we always say the only constant is change. Things change. People change, and opinions change. Thank god I am flexible!

© Amy Romine
All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or have been used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental. No portion of this work may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the author.


Amy writes for one of the hottest blogs on the Net, Red Lipstick Journals. If you aren't following RLJ, you should be:

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW
 RED LIPSTICK JOURNALS

9 comments:

An Open Book said...

I'm with you Amy- Monkees and I can sing those songs myself... great interview and excerpt and thanks for being our guest here

Jacqueline said...

Interesting article, Amy. Why shouldn't we be interested in many varieties of sex? I think that is the normal reaction - for me at least. If there's some sex going on, I want to watch and then I would probably feel like joining in.

Anyway, I think I have got to the bottom of why Amy finds M/M sex so interesting - it is because there are twice as many penises to watch.

Sassy Brit @ Alternative-Read.com said...

I loved your article, Amy, and the interview was fun! I'd find choosing between Beatles and Monkees very difficult - I love 'em both!

You rock!

What a fun blog :)

High Five Bakeshop said...

Great post Amy!
I like boys who like boys, too! ;-)
Gonna have to disagree a tiny bit...I'm a Beatles girl... but I do enjoy some "Monkeying" around from time to time, too!!

Blak Rayne Books Blog said...

Great article, Amy! My husband said once- 'It's easier for a woman than a man to find m/m and f/f sexually appealing, or to be bi-sexual.' I asked him how he figured that. He said, 'You're just built that way. Women give birth to both sexes don't they, so it's easy for a woman to find beauty in both and be able to love both.'
Strange concept, but that's how he views it. We're the nurturers therefore we can feel an attraction to either of the sexes. Mother Nature's way.

Savanna Kougar said...

Hi Amy, yeah, I wouldn't want to choose between the Beatles and Monkees... love both groups in different ways. That's the beauty of variety.

Always interesting what's a turn-on for one individual, and not another. I took a whole sex seminar around it once.

If there's true emotion, love, caring, passion going on, then it can be a lovely experience watching whoever is having sex. If not, doesn't do anything for me.

Amy J Romine said...

Thanks everyone for stopping by and posting such great comments! Thanks for having me, Dawn, this has been wonderful! I so appreciate all of your support!

Amy

Keta Diablo said...

Hi Amy, great interview and loved the article.

Rock on!

Hugs, Keta
http://www.ketadiablo.com

Amy J Romine said...

Thanks, Keta!

That means so much!

**HUGS**

Amy