Weekly Inspiration - Daniel Henney

This week, I present model and actor, Daniel Henney, for inspiration.  If you've seen the movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, you probably recognize him.  He played the role of Agent Zero opposite one of our previous Weekly Inspiration guys, Hugh Jackman.  And yeah, you know with them having been in the same movie, I just had to find shots of them together so there's a little bonus with this week's inspiration in getting some Hugh Jackman, too ;-)  Daniel's had a very successful modeling and acting career in South Korea, and here's hoping he does more here in the U.S.  To learn more about him, you can check out his FACEBOOK, TWITTER, and website: http://www.daniel-henney.com/  Enjoy!

Song of the Week - "Say Hey (I Love You)" by Michael Franti & Spearhead

I just have to give the Song of the Week spot to Michael Franti with "Say Hey."  This is one of my happy songs :-)  If I've had a rough day and need a pick-me-up, this song always helps to give my mood a boost.  And it's not the only Michael Franti song I go to for that.  "The Sound of Sunshine" is another great one where it's hard to listen to and not feel good.  I'll have to remember to give that one a Song of the Week spot, also.

One of the cool things about Michael Franti is he does a lot for charities and to raise awareness for humanitarian efforts, like Soles 4 Souls and CARE.  It's really nice to see an artist using their talent and popularity to help make the world a better place.  To learn more about him, check out his official website: http://michaelfranti.com/ 

And nope, I don't own this song, video, imagery, music, or anything connected to it, all belong to the rightful copyright holder(s).  Enjoy!

Weekly Inspiration - Andrew Stetson

Canadian model, Andrew Stetson is this week's inspiration.  So many models have worked hard to pursue modeling, but for him, modeling pursued him.  From what I read, he was discovered in a bar, just hanging out with friends, and a modeling scout happened to spot him.  The scout approached him, and Andrew soon became one of the most sought after models, working for top designers like Armani and Chanel.  Despite his success, he left modeling to pursue his true passion, carpentry.  After a few years off, he returned and landed an exclusive three-year deal with Calvin Klein for their Euphoria fragrance. 

I believe that deal expired in 2009/2010-ish, and actually, it was tricky finding any recent info on him.  Could be he's taking another break, maybe he's retired from modeling once and for all, or I might not have been looking in the right places, which is probably most likely.  I also couldn't track down anything that seemed like an official website, Facebook, or Twitter for him.  Sorry, I tried!  But I hope you guys still find these shots of him inspiring :-)

Song of the Week - "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith

Sorry, everyone, I'm a little late in getting a song up this week.  Been busy, busy, busy!  But hey, here's some good news.  I might have a new FREE short story for you guys soon!

For now, though, onto some music.  Last week, all through Adam Lambert's Song of the Week spot I kept talking about Steven Tyler, and after that I decided I had to put up an Aerosmith song this week.  The only problem was, what song?  I love so many they've done.  Should I go with "Angel", "Sweet Emotion", "Living on the Edge"...   The more I thought on it, the more songs that I've enjoyed by them came to mind.  Then, over on author Ethan Day's Yahoo group, a friend posted a video for me of Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" (thank you again, Cinders!), and that's when I knew what song I had to put up.  This is one of my all-time favorites by Aerosmith, and I hope you guys enjoy it, too! 

For more on Aerosmith, check out their official website: http://www.aerosmith.com/  And as usual, I don't own this video, song, images, or anything therein :-)

NO FEAR named one of Joyfully Reviewed's Best of 2010

I'm absolutely thrilled to share this piece of fantastic news!  CONQUEST's sequel, NO FEAR, has been named one of the Best of 2010 at the review site Joyfully Reviewed!  Saying I'm flattered doesn't even begin to cover how I feel what an honor this is, and I can't express gratitude enough to the reviewer, Lisa, and the members of the Joyfully Reviewed team. 

And I'm in with some amazing company.  Their Best of 2010 is definitely a list worth checking out with all the incredible authors and titles.  Here's the link to see it: http://www.joyfullyreviewed.com/recommended-reviews/best-of-2010

Thank you, so very much, Lisa and Joyfully Reviewed!

           

Happy Valentine's Day!

I know for some this isn't their most favorite of holidays.  But hey, I'm a romance author.  It's not only my job to love this day, it's my job to spread the love :-)  Here's the thing, though.  I have a little bit of a different interpretation of Valentine's Day.  So often this day is looked at as being one reserved for those in intimate relationships, but I like to think the meaning of Valentine's Day is much broader than that. 

For me, it's not a day to be celebrated only with a significant other, but it's a day to celebrate love in general, and all the varied and beautiful forms it takes.  The love for your friends and family, the love for a pet, the love for yourself, and all the good things in the world.  It's about recognizing all we hold dear, and to be grateful that we have the ability to feel and share such a beautiful emotion.

And so from me to all of you, Happy Valentine's Day.  Much love and big hugs to you!  Oh, and here's candy, too.  Eye candy, that is ;-)

P.S. - If anyone is looking for a Valentine's Day read, last year I wrote a free short story with Jesse and Evan from the Conquest series spending their first Valentine's Day together.  It's up on my website, http://www.sjfrost.com/, in the Freebie Reads section, title is "Valentine's Escape."

Weekly Inspiration - James Ellis

American model, James Ellis, is this week's inspiration.  He's graced the covers of many fitness magazines, and along with modeling, he's also an actor and an avid bodybuilder.  The first five shots of him are by famed photographer, Adam Bouska, who along with his fashion photography is known for his NOH8 campaign for marriage equality.  To see more of Adam Bouska's beautiful work, including more pics of James, check out his website: http://www.bouska.net/.  And to learn more about James Ellis, stop on by his FACEBOOK and his TWITTER.

Song of the Week - "If I Had You" by Adam Lambert

For this week's song, I'm bringing Adam Lambert with "If I Had You," as well as a confession along with it.  What's my confession you ask?  I'll tell you.  Other than the very first episode of the very first season, I've never watched American Idol.  There, I said it!  For as much as I love music, I couldn't bring myself to watch it.  Why?  Because I couldn't take how some of the contestants were treated.  After that one episode, I'd see clips of it on the news and Simon Cowell tearing people down, and it'd do nothing but irritate me.  Was I being over-sensitive?  It's possible.  But I can't stand to see anyone ridiculed, so I stayed away from the show.

Then I heard Simon was leaving and found out who was replacing him, the lead singer from one of my all-time favorite bands, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.  So I thought I'd give Idol another chance, though admittedly, I went into it with trepidation, thinking to myself, "Please, Steven, don't be mean to these people and make me not like you anymore."  I'm happy to say, he's been great so far.  Sure, he's had a harsh moment here and there, but overall, not too bad, and he's actually been really sweet to a lot of the people.  I think Jennifer Lopez has been adorable and also a gentle judge.  Randy...he could stand to be nicer at times.  But I'm handling watching Idol much better than I ever thought I would.

So, that's my confession.  And with that off my chest, on to Adam Lambert.  Unfortunately I never saw him on American Idol, but I think it's wonderful that even though he didn't win on the show, his talent was still recognized.  He really is a fun performer.  For those who'd like to learn more about him, you can check out his website here:  http://www.adamofficial.com/us/intro

And you guys know the routine.  I don't own this video, song, or imagery.  All of it belongs to the rightful copyright owner.  Enjoy!

Weekly Inspiration - Your Winners: Leonardo Corredor, Baptiste Giabiconi, and Gackt

Ladies and gentlemen, for this week's inspiration I'm happy to present your winners of the very first Inspiration Showdown! Venezuelan model, Leonardo Corredor.  French model, Baptiste Giabiconi.  Japanese rock star, Gackt. It was a total surprise to have ended up in a three-way tie.  I debated on running a quick poll between the three to have one winner, then I decided against it.  You guys voted for your favorites, three ended up winning, so it's only right to give you what you wanted.

For most of the poll, Leonardo was the leader, with second place tied between Baptiste, Gackt, and Hugh Jackman.  I remember looking at the poll during that point thinking to myself, "A model, a rock star, and an actor.  There's got to be an m/m/m story in there somewhere."  As the last day of voting came around, Baptiste moved up to join Leonardo in first place, then Gackt followed, with Hugh maintaining a very close second.  It was quite the horse race!   

Thank you, everyone, for humoring my curiosity and voting for your favorites!  I thought this was a lot of fun, and hopefully you did, too.  Maybe we'll do it again with this next round of guys.

And now, without further ado, I present YOUR WINNERS!

Leonardo Corredor: Having won the title of Best Model of Venezula in 2007, he's gone on to have a very successful modeling career that includes being the spokesmodel for Papi, a desinger brand of men's underwear.  He's a man of many talents as he's also a photographer, singer, has hosted a TV show called Ivasion Casera, and if what I heard is true, he wants to become an actor.  One thing I've noticed about Leonardo in the shots I've seen of him is there's such strong charisma about him, it shines through the photos, which could be one of the reasons why he was our leader here for so long.  To learn more about him, here's his official FACEBOOK, here's his TWITTER.

Baptiste Giabiconi: Currently ranked the Top Male Model in the World, he's been one of the main faces for Chanel and does work for many other top designers.  He's also a musician, having released his first single, "Showtime", which is available on iTunes.  Just recently, he bared all in some photos for the February 2011 issue of Interview Magazine.  The pic below where he's holding the camera is one of them, and yeah, they all have that annoying black censorship strip.  He's also featured in the 2011 Pirelli calendar, where he's got a golden.....well, if you Google search his name and Pirelli, you'll see.  To learn more about him, check out his official website at: http://baptiste-giabiconi.eu/, his FACEBOOK, and his TWITTER.

GACKT: A man who needs no introduction, but I'm going to give one anyhow just in case there's anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of running across him.  Rock star, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actor, model, you name it, Gackt's talent knows no bounds.  You can find videos galore of him on YouTube and a lot of his music is available on iTunes.  If you've never heard him sing, I strongly recommend giving him a listen because his voice is phenomenal.  He's one of my favorite artists.  To learn more about him, here's his official website: http://gackt.com/  The intro that's currently up on it is a promo for his new concert DVD from his Yellow Fried Chickenz tour, and it's worth going to the site just to see that.  He also has a blog and you can check that out here: http://gackt.com/gacktblog/.

 



Song of the Week - "21 Guns" by Green Day

This week's song goes to Green Day with "21 Guns."  I'll admit, for whatever reason, I had fallen out of touch with Green Day in recent years, but not long ago I heard this song again and it reminded me of them.  There's just something about it where all it takes is one listen, and it's stuck in your head.  Or that happens to me, anyhow.  I had to go with putting up a live performance of it since the embed code for studio version's official video was disabled on YouTube, but this is a good performance, I think.

And since I'm all about making life easy, if anyone wants to see what the band's up to, click here for their website: http://www.greenday.com/  If you head over there, you'll see they have a new live album coming out March 2011 titled Awesome as F**k. 

On a completely separate note, I just checked our Inspiration poll, and we've got a three-way tie going between Leonardo Corredor, Gackt, and Baptiste Giabiconi!  Unless some last minute votes come in, we're going to have three winners!  If we do end up in a tie, I'll have to decide if next week I want to do one massive Weekly Inspiration post with the winners, or if I want to run a quick poll between them to get one to come out on top.  Decisions, decisions.

But now, back to the Song of the Week.  As usual, I claim no ownership rights to this song, video, or anything attached to Green Day :-)  Enjoy!

S.J. Writing Update

Hey, everyone!  I thought it was about time I gave you all an update on what projects I'm working on and what's up for release, especially since I have a little more of an idea of things and what direction I'm heading with stories this year since my last update.  There are currently three main projects I have in the works at the moment, and they are:

1.) NATURAL INSTINCTS - An m/m vampire erotic romance novel.  This one is finished and we're going to be working on edits with it this month.  Depending on how fast I can work, there's a chance it could be releasing this February, early March at the latest, and it'll be published at MLR Press.

2.) BLACK HEART DOWN - This is another m/m rock star novel.  Those who have read NO FEAR might recognize BHD's name ;-)  I have a rough draft finished on it, and have gone through a couple rounds of polishing, but there's still more work to do before I officially hand it in.  I'm hoping for it to release before summer, but that wicked time thing and not having enough of it always comes into play.  It'll also be published at MLR Press.

3.) HEARTSTRINGS - An m/m contemporary erotic romance about a classical violinist and a rock drummer.  And nope, sorry, the drummer isn't Conquest's Brad.  The drummer is from a new band no one's met yet.  I'm in the process of writing this one at the moment and don't even have a finished draft yet, so I can't even begin to predict a release for it.

While those are the three main projects occupying my time, I do have many more planned for down the road.  Two ideas I have that I'd like to at least start writing this year are a longer work featuring Brandon Alexander and Shunichi Miyamoto from the Conquest series, and an m/m samurai historical.  And I haven't forgotten about Conquest's Brad.  I wouldn't mind fitting in working on a story with him leading, too.  I also have hopes of writing a sequel to NATURAL INSTINCTS, which could get moved up in the list if my vampires are well received by everyone.

I can't thank you all enough for the support you give me and I hope everything sounds good!  I'll continue to try my hardest and put out the best work I'm capable of delivering for all of you!