I feel he does an absolutely incredible job each time of capturing the feeling I want for each cover. He really is very talented! My favorite one of his is this one for A Man for Michael (even though the cover for Manwich is fabulous!).

The other covers I’m enamored of are my White Tiger covers. (But you probably would have already guessed that, lol), the MOST incredible one being the most recent, , not only because the men on the cover are really good fits for the characters, but because Lyn Taylor, who did this one, worked her tush off getting the tattoos just right! Anne Cain did the other two.

Ann set the stage for the theme of the White Tiger covers. She too, did an awesome job with the tattoos for Ryu, who, by the way, is a young blond Russian man in real life!

Here, on the Sudden Bliss cover, Naoto in the background, is two men spliced together because although his face fit the character well enough, his body was skinny whereas Naoto is brawny. Who knew how much cutting and pasting goes into these covers to get them just right? Well, the results are worth it. Covers we love to look at and which give us a feeling for the story inside.

Hopefully in the midst of all this, I’ll get a chance to work on Men of Tokyo: Sudden Heat. At this point in life, writing is like a vacation from life, lol, and I get to create a world where things work out the way I want them to. Well, that and the fact that Hiru and Quan Chan are both incredibly hot, wonderful heroes and it’s a great pleasure to tell their story.

Thank you to everyone who comes to this blog and visits. I really appreciate the interest and support! Hugs, Sedonia

However, as you know, we just have control over so very little! I have a girlfriend from college I want to see. She’s only a few hours away right now in Orlando visiting family. We haven’t seen each other in 15 years and were best friends. We did everything together, roomed, took all our classes together, meals, spent almost 100 percent of our time together. But between her getting a cold, my getting a cold, our purchasing a house near Savannah, GA, (which ALSO looks like it’s going to be in the path of a storm!), and my stepdaughter leaving for India today amongst all the chaos that goes with that, I’m not sure I’m going to see her. I sure hope I do, but of course, circumstances look like they’re working against me.

I guess all I can hope for is that the Year of the Rat gives me one of my favorable months right this week! lol.

On the positive note, our Secrets anthology coming out December 08 (yay! Will be on shelves everywhere!!) is already racking up favorable reviews!

This from Wild on Books: It is no secret that Red Sage Publishing consistently nabs some very talented romance authors for their popular series of SECRETS anthologies. SECRETS VOLUME 25 continues that trend admirably, with four wonderful novellas by some great writers.

Last night on the news we saw footage of a family who is determined to sit it out and they are in an area this is expected to be the hardest hit in the entire New Orleans area. I can’t believe it! I just hope every one there will be all right!

Genre: contemporary
Page Count: 197
Price: $6.58
Reviewer: Keely Skillman
Sensuality Rating: Sizzling
Star Rating: 5 Stars

A deranged villain, a determined and gentle hero, and a uke in distress make for one whopper of a deliciously yummy man love story that will bring tears to your eyes.

Yuzo Kitano has been Taro Suzuki’s plaything for far too long. Despite all the hard living he has done, Yuzo has remained sweet and even innocent to a degree. Desperate to break free and leave the abusive Suzuki, Yuzo makes a daring escape and goes to the one place where he knows no one will give him back to Suzuki: the White Tiger and its owner, Kikuchiya Fujimara. Yuzo has admired, perhaps even loved, and longed for Kiku for quite some time. He knows that he cannot stay at the White Tiger because of the danger into which his presence puts all the kind souls living there. A few precious days spent with Kiku will have to be enough for a lifetime.

Kikuchiya Fujimara was once a yakuza with the Suzuki-gumi. He left that life to lead the men at the White Tiger by example in the White Tiger path. His psychic abilities make getting close enough for a real relationship and finding a true White Tiger path partner more than a bit difficult. Touching Yuzo does not fill his head with the types of gut wrenching visions touching others gives Kiku. Can he find a way to protect Yuzo AND keep him near or is Kiku destined to lose yet another that he could love?

Sedonia Guillone delivers yet another masterpiece with Men of Tokyo: Sudden Surrender. Prepare to cry, laugh and get furious right along with all the characters; I know that I did. Though, you might want to get a VERY large pitcher of something very icy to keep your core temperature somewhere around normal enough to avoid spontaneous combustion. Yeah, the love scenes really are THAT hot. I did not even notice the passage of time while immersed in Sudden Surrender because it flows so effortlessly from page to page and completely grabs my attention.

Ms. Guillone does such a beautiful job of bringing all her characters to life that I find myself wanting to go kick some villain posterior every time Suzuki appears in the book and then cuddle and sooth Yuzo and Kiku. Kiku is so gentle and kind while being tough and protective that I cannot help but love him within just a couple of pages. Yuzo is such a sweet, resilient darling that I just want to gobble him up! Ms. Guillone has such a fantastic way of bringing Tokyo’s streets and the White Tiger alive that I feel like I am actually there. Let me not forget the myriad supporting characters; they bring a wonderful depth and realism to the story that just makes me want to move into the White Tiger despite all the yakuza buzzing about it. I could gush for pages and pages; but, really, you should just go get it yourself. Then we can gush together!

Just a word to the wise: If you are offended by men kissing men and more detailed man on man action, please do us all the favor of leaving this book on the virtual shelf. The rest of us promise not to point and laugh as we will be too busy devouring this offering.

I’ve had good rest these last couple of days and got so much writing done I feel basically caught up. Of course, I’m working on Men of Tokyo: Sudden Heat and I reached that point in the story when I fall in love with the characters and I am beginning to feel the deeper connection between them. I know I’m there when I find myself wanting to re-read the scenes I’ve already written simply for enjoyment and to get that…what do you call it…that kind of sigh when the characters are falling in love along with the sizzle of the attraction between them.

Of course while doing that I’ve listened to plenty of Gackt and watched a couple of videos. His music seems to be good for my writing. Even the harder songs are heflpful when I’m writing passion scenes. I’ve been reading translations of his lyrics that a very intelligent woman in Japan did as a labor of love and it really helps to know what he’s saying although I’d listen anyway without the translation. It’s really the quality and sound to his voice that I like to hear beyond the lyrics.

Oh, and of course, I watched a samurai film. Well, I’m not sure Zatoichi is exactly a samurai. He was a master swordsman who was blind and made a living beating yakuza out of their money in their gambling parlours (his hearing was so sharp he could hear how the dice lay and he could hear when a die was loaded) as well as giving massages. Being a masseur was a traditional line of work for many blind people in Japan in the feudal period. In any case, Zatoichi is a fascinating character and I have a small collection of those films. But the one I like to watch from time to time is Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (The literal title of the film is Zatoichi to Yojimbo) because, you guessed it, Toshiro Mifune is in it. Ostensibly, Mifune is the bodyguard of the son of a corrupt silk merchant who’s taken over a small town that was once a dear place to Zatoichi. But things are not what they seem and the interactions between Toshiro Mifune and Zatoichi are at once hilarious and deep. I only recommend the film however if you like sword play with blood, like these characters and don’t mind Shakespearian/Greek style tragedy between family members.

The thing that was bothering me is he’s on his way to purchase this beautiful house in the romantic marsh-filled, live oaks dripping with moss-filled area on the outskirts of Savannah (one of the most beautiful cities in the world) and the timing is so bad to get viral! However, he knows I am totally with him in my heart and will of course, be on the next trip and, God-willing, living in the house too when we go there. Oh well. I guess it’s a good thing that I have a White Tigers book to work on. Hopefully I’ll get some of that written. And then ther’es Netflix. I’ve been wanting to watch Akira and Rashomon. Perhaps now is the time to do that.

However, I’ll leave you with a bit of the artist’s progress on our White Tigers yaoi manga project. She’s been working her tush off with the stippling and all to create Koji’s image. I think she’s doing an incredible job and I’m really excited about this collaboration.

komorebi - I found this translation on a site that translates lyrics of Gackt’s songs. This one is the first word of my favorite song of his, Leeca. The translation is as such: Komorebi is another one of my favorite words that fits in the “cannot be translated into English” category. This is the Japanese word for rays of sunlight falling through dense leaves to touch the ground. This one word paints such a precise and beautiful picture, I almost wish we did have something comparable in English.

The other beautiful word is shosoku. This word I read in a talk given by Zen master Suzuki Roshi, called “Letters from Emptiness.” He explains shosoku as “the feeling you have when you receive a letter from home. Even without an actual picture, you know something about your home, what people are doing there, what flowers are blooming.” It’s a beautiful description and one every human being can relate to. Of course, Suzuki Roshi used it to describe to his listeners a way in which their minds can perceive hints of enlightenment even though such a big concept cannot be directly understood by the intellect.

That said, this video is a live performance of Leeca, which to me, is an incredibly pretty song. This live version is not as delicate and graceful as the studio version, in my humble opinion, but is still beautiful and heartfelt.