My Last Nerve

I have to get this off my chest, because it's getting on my last nerve.

Why is it that when I put certain search terms into the Google image omnibox, I get hits that have absolutely nothing to do with said terms?

For instance, I typed in "black female hairstyles" and images of white women came up.  I typed in "black woman black man love" and white people came up.  I typed in "black female actresses" and white women came up.  Anytime I try to do an image search on anything black female-related (and I try to be as specific as possible in my search terms), white women always comes up.  Can anybody explain to me why that is???  Because it's starting to piss me off.

Search terms:  "black female hairstyles"

Some results:

Try it for yourself if you think I'm bullshitting.  These women aren't black and so they can't possibly rock a black hairstyle.  They're blondes, so the terms "black" and "hairstyle" don't apply.   I mean, can we have something all to ourselves????

/rant over.

Musings...

I haven’t been blogging much lately for a number of reasons.  First of all, I’m in a transitory state and I’m taking time to cogitate where I am in life versus where I want to be.  This next step I take will be extremely significant and relatively permanent (as far as I can see), so I want to make sure I step wisely.  I desperately long for the day when my passion becomes my full-time job.  Make no mistake; that day will come.

I’ve been writing, thank the Lord.  My muse shows up when she shows up and you guys already know that when she does, I stop doing everything to answer the call.  There’s the two Bane-centered fanfics on pinkelegance, “What You Need” & “Bad Habits.”  There’s another one still in the thought stages; I need TDKR on DVD so that I can study the film in order to write the fic, tentatively titled “His Girl Friday.”  Bane is so powerfully sexy to me; there’s so much to like about a brilliant masked villain of his stature who is completely out of fucks to give.

I’ve just finished the final edits of Tainted and I’m very pleased to report that I’m super excited about this book, the idea for which came out of freaking nowhere, because it’s different from anything else I’ve written.  It has the potential to generate two separate spin-offs (a la Sheila & K’avir from “Sexy Beast”) if audiences find the characters likeable enough to want more of them.  I’ll be turning my attention back to Nightingales and Blade Dancer after Tainted is published, which will be in the very near future.  And thanks to artist Julie Nguyen, I will probably be able to finish Chapter 5 of “The Hunt” before the apocalypse.  I try to milk the muse for all she’s worth when she’s available because I never know when she’ll decide to disappear and leave me stranded.

I’ve also been working with author Aislynn Sanchar (you might remember her as the Dark Baroness) to produce her first novel and MCP’s next publication, Devil’s Siren.  MCP is all about branching out into genres with underrepresented WoC, which of course means all genres.  Baroness Sanchar’s novel, a sequel to her short story “Sacrament” (featured in The Sultry Court) is classified as supernatural erotica and is for very, very mature audiences.  Stay tuned for updates on the status of Lady Sanchar’s debut novel.

Creative spurts keep me going, and considering the holding pattern I’m currently in, I am so happy to have my muse keeping me company.

Fan Art Invitation

On my Shorties blog, artist Julie Nguyen has created some original sanctioned fan art of one of my characters, Sheila Stephens.  Sheila is one of the protagonists in the Dark Beauty Trilogy and the first of the Velimir novels, Blade Dancer.  

If you are an artist and a fan of Sheila & K'avir, you are welcome to submit your own fan art.  You can find the art and the guidelines here.

If you want to read the Dark Beauty Trilogy, you can find it below.  Note: "The Hunt" is currently in progress.

Combat
Feenin'
The Hunt

Fic Alert: Bad Habits

Sequel to "What You Need."  I know, I know...

"Actually, I paid him to set up a meeting with you.  I knew that I couldn’t see you any other way.  Bear in mind, Max, that if I were engaging my more…blunt…tendencies, I would have just shown up at your house and stayed.” 

She closed her eyes as she started walking down the hall.  “And I would have killed you.  Do not, for one second, think that I’m incapable of murder.  I will do anything to protect my child.”

He nodded curtly, well aware of the bodies Max left behind.

Read the rest here...