Here’s a photo of the lake near my house where I do about half of my workouts. One circuit is conveniently 5km. The terrain is flat around the lake, so the other half the time I walk up and down the hills in my neighborhood. I love that on one side of the lake it’s more suburban, and on the other side it’s downtown/urban.  A nice combination that keeps the view interesting.

The other day I walked about halfway round the lake to the public library in the morning and walked home late afternoon. In different areas of the lake I saw a variety of people playing instruments (didgeridoo, guitar, accordion/bongo duo!) and one guy doing tai chi to the didgeridoo player’s tunes!

Days ran: 6
Miles ran: 22.64 (40.4 miles so far in August!)
Calories burned: 3658 (6527 for August)

Cumulative weight lost: 12 pounds & down one pants size!

If anyone else uses Nike+ my profile is public, so add me as a friend: http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/plus/profile?page=public&id=922779957

Word Counts - Today: 0 | August: 0 | 2010: 45,474

I’m curious what methods are most useful to readers in choosing which e-books to buy? You can’t just flip through the pages as you wander around your favorite bookstore, right?

Please answer the polls and comment if you have something specific to add. Thanks very much!

All commenters are entered to win one of my e-books. I’ll give away one book for every 3 comments left here…

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Word Counts - Today: 0 | August: 0 | 2010: 45,474

Emerald: Rewriting History

by EM Lynley
Contemporary gay erotic romance

89 pages / 20200 words
ISBN: 978-1-61040-022-0
Ebook formats- html, lit, Adobe and Sony optimized pdf, prc, epub
http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2743

Tobin Wyler is about to open the most significant exhibit in his career as a curator, and everything is going perfectly until he spots his former boyfriend chatting with his most important contributor at the black-tie reception. It goes from bad to worse because not only did Pierce Worthington once break Tobin’s heart, but he’s suspected of being the elusive art thief known as Jaguar, and Tobin knows his target is the highlight of the exhibit: an enormous emerald known as the Green Sorrow.

Pierce is torn about seeing Tobin again. He is expected to obtain the emerald, but he knows it may damage Tobin’s reputation. What Pierce doesn’t expect is how quickly old feelings about Tobin rise to the surface. Hoping to ease Tobin’s fears and spend time with him, Pierce offers to let Tobin keep a constant eye on him for the thirty six hours leading up to the exhibit. Thrown together again out of necessity laced with attraction, Tobin must figure out how to protect the emerald, his reputation, and his heart.

Read an excerpt!

Word Counts - Today: 0 | August: 0 | 2010: 45,474

I’m thrilled to report I managed to meet my July mileage goal of 75 miles!

It’s a bit less than I did during June, but I also cut my average time per mile down by about 30 seconds, and lost about 5 pounds, so I’m really pleased with my progress.

I feel a lot fitter and have much more energy. And I recently wore some jeans that felt nice and loose compared to how they fit just a few weeks ago!

For August, I’m again shooting for 75 miles. I’m starting to run as well, about one-quarter to one-third of the time, so with the extra intensity, I may end up not hitting 75 during the month, but I will definitely be cutting more time off my average pace, making each workout more efficient.

Anyone want to be my workout buddy and pledge to match my mileage?

Word Counts - Today: 0 | August: 0 | 2010: 45,474

Which would you consider the sexiest holiday?

How about 4th of July (for Americans) where you are likely to see acres of skin as people play at picnics or the beach?

Actually, no. I did a very rough study to find out which holiday leads to the most sex, using birthrates as a proxy (sorry, that’s  my economist training talking there!). And the result is that Christmas (and probably New Year’s) are the sexiest holidays.  The highest birthrates are in August and September, indicating conception in December/January, and I guess that’s not such a surprise.

Who wouldn’t be feeling like cuddling beside a warm fire, or staying in rather than braving the cold and snow? At least for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. It certainly doesn’t hurt if your sweetie has just given you jewelry or something else on your wish list, to get you in an amorous mood.

Contrast that to the hot summer days, when maybe it’s just too hot to think about sweating up the sheets even more. July is smack in the middle of the pack for conception. The least sexy month appears to be May, so the fewest births occur during January. Also, not a stretch for the family planners, since who really wants to give birth and deal with a newborn in the dead of winter?

When it comes to writing, Christmas is definitely a sexy time of year! As I mentioned before, gifting and receiving lead to lots of sexy thank yous.

But how did I end up writing not just one but two Christmas stories when I’m Jewish? For me, Hanukkah is very much associated with family and with wonderful childhood memories. I have a hard time separating all of that from sex, and I just can’t feel sexy about a Hanukkah story! As much as I’d love to write one, something  doesn’t feel right pairing up  horny hotties with those beloved traditions for me. But since I have no such connection to Christmas, it’s easy to get my boys up to all sorts of hijinks.  And that’s just what happens!

“The Sweetest Christmas” by EM Lynley

If you love chocolate and misbehaving while the family is elsewhere, you’ll love “The Sweetest Christmas” in the ‘Tis the Season Taste Test from Torquere. Jared and Erik are having a blast with blindfolds and truffles while everyone is at Christmas Eve Mass, but will Jared’s family spoil the fun?

Read an excerpt

Buy at Torquere

“New Tricks” by EM Lynley

If floggers and paddles are more your thing, check out my novella “New Tricks” in the Bound With a Bow BDSM Christmas Anthology edited by Beth Wylde!

Skeptical and straight-laced Blake isn’t so sure about attending Broad Horizons’ Christmas Eve Party. He’s never gone in for any of that kink, but he wants to humor Jay as they spend their first Christmas together. Despite his initial aversion, he’s powerfully drawn to the scene and eager to experiment. After Jay reveals a hidden secret from his past, he’s willing to play, and in the end Jay receives a gift more precious than he ever expected.

Read an excerpt

Buy from Phaze

EM Lynley’s website

Word Counts - Today: 0 | July: 0 | 2010: 45,474

I happened upon an article about va-tooing, taking decorating yourself to a whole new level. I’m all for expressing yourself and wanting to make yourself attractive to your partner, but I find this particular design a definite turn-off. Seeing this bearded guy on my partner would have me running out the door. The tattoo is temporary, only lasting about five days, but couldn’t they come up with something a bit more alluring? More about vattooing.

Got any interest in trying this? Or one of the other v-spot decorating techniques like vajazzling (putting sparkly designs down there)?

Word Counts - Today: 0 | July: 0 | 2010: 45,474

I just finished the final round of edits for my Torquere Color Box novella and I’ve also got the cover art to share.

Release date is set for July 31, and I’m very excited about it.

This is the jewel thief story… My editor liked it so much I think it will be a series.

The cover is pretty simple but it works great for the story. They are either wearing tuxes or naked for the whole thing….

Word Counts - Today: 0 | July: 0 | 2010: 45,474

Remember I mentioned trying a new fitness regimen? It’s working! During June I walked a little over 80 miles, not counting a couple of days when my iPod wasn’t working and I didn’t get to record my walks. All the miles were done outside, either in the hills around my house or the nearby lake. No treadmill. Just plenty of fresh air and sunshine. Lots of eye candy jogging around the lake, too. So many reasons to get out of the house.

I got one of those nike+ gizmos that attaches to your iPod, with one part in your shoe, and it keeps track of how far and how fast you walk. Then you can upload all the data into iTunes and then the Nike website and see all sorts of cool graphs of your workout. I’ve cut my time per mile by over 10% during the past few weeks alone and by about 20% from a month or so ago. I’m one of those data-oriented people (also called geeks) who like looking at charts and numbers and using that to motivate myself. And for me, this works.

My other secret? Instead of listening to music, the way I used to do, I’ve been listening to audiobooks. If I want to know what happens next, I have to keep walking! It’s a great incentive. I find myself taking two walks a day sometimes, just so I can listen to another chapter or two. My public library is part of Netlibrary and there are tons of great books to download/check out. And it’s all legal!

Here’s hoping I can keep up the good work during July.

I’ve set myself a few goals for the month, both personal and professional, and I’ll probably be writing/checking in here about my progress on those. I also love to get other people’s suggestions for setting and achieving goals, and I’ll post again about that as well.

Word Counts - Today: 0 | June: 0 | 2010: 45,474

This anthology (along with the angels/demons volume) got put on hold for a while mainly due to personal/health issues, but I’m currently working on it very actively. I still have a few slots open, so if you or anyone you know write f/f erotic romance, check out the details of the call and feel free to pass it on. The deadline is now August 15 or when slots fill, so don’t wait too long to send in your stories!

RUMPLEDSILKSHEETS Call for subs:http://www.emlynley.com/cfs.html

If you subbed a story previously and haven’t heard back, please let me know. I might have missed sending a few decisions but I think I am caught up at the moment.

If you subbed for the angels/demons antho, that is still on hold, and I won’t be sending any more decisions for at least two weeks. I’ll make an announcement here at that point.

If you’ve gotten an acceptance and signed a contract for either of these, be sure they will be going forward during the next month or so, and you will be getting edits if you haven’t already received them. Thanks so much for your patience while I worked through everything here.

Word Counts - Today: 0 | June: 0 | 2010: 45,474

First off, anyone know the origins of this event? Is it just because some people just like Christmas so much they can’t wait a full twelve months to be Christmas-y again?

However it started, I’m planning to have a little Christmas-in-July event on my blog this year. I’d like to invite anyone who has a Christmas- (or Hanukkah-) themed story to do a guest blog around the middle of the month. I’m mainly looking to feature GLBT stories, but go ahead and ping me if you’ve written a het holiday piece, in case I don’t fill all the available slots.

You can email me em@emlynley.com or comment here with contact info, and I’ll send you the details of what you’ll need to do to participate.

Word Counts - Today: 0 | June: 0 | 2010: 45,474