FRIDAY FIRSTS...with SS Hampton, Sr

The first five lines of... THE LADY OF THE EVERGREENS

The below is from a Work In Progress titled, “The Lady of The Evergreens.” Because it is a WIP I have not had the pleasure of an editor helping to make me sound like the next Shakespeare or Hemingway, or Faulkner. You get the idea:

Late fall on the southern shore of Lake Ontario seemed like an odd time to hold a ren faire.

But then, Julie Douglas had been told that the Evergreen Renaissance and Fairy Faire was special, and excitingly different. Upon passing through the entrance of two large wooden gates set within low stone built walls she found herself in another time. Excited crowds wandered the torch-lit dirt pathways that wound among evergreen trees short and broad, and tall Norway Spruce from Europe. Scattered along the paths and partly hidden among the trees were Medieval bell tents, broad trade tents, and wooden performance stages…

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Fun First Facts About SS

Who was your first love?

I do not mean to make a mountain out of a molehill, but, first love? I think I’ll ignore my kindergarten teacher and a waitress who worked at the family restaurant. So, when I was in a juvenile detention facility due to dropping out of junior high school, I met this petite black haired woman who worked in administration. In spite of my circumstances, it wasn’t long before I “fell in love” with her. Ruthann was never more than a friend though. And, there was this fleshy girl with long brunette hair who I met at the facility. Barbara was about my age going-on-30 and much more experienced in life than I was. She was a habitual runaway who loved hitch hiking across the country. Not long after we were both out of the facility she found me, and, you might say, taught me a lot about many things. I fell in love with her; but her home was in a nearby city when she wasn't off hitch hiking. I went to work for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, wore a suit and tie, and prepared to forge a middle class life for myself. And then Barbara showed up. She always returned from her latest journey for a visit when I least expected it; she would stay for a few days and then leave again. We finally lost touch when I left for the Army several years later. (No, I am not plagiarizing “Forrest Gump,” but when I saw the movie I immediately thought of Barbara.) The subject of love makes me a little uncomfortable as I have never had a successful relationship. So, from an historical point of view, I doubt if I ever will.

If you had a free afternoon, what’s the first thing you’d do?

If I had money and a car on top of a free afternoon, I’d go to the nearest bookstore (there aren’t that many in Las Vegas), get a large cappuccino, and spend some time browsing books and magazines. My favorite subject is military history, of course, but also photography and art. And I would buy a few.

If you could live your life over again, what’s the first thing you’d do differently or change?

Go to college and get a degree. Go on to a university and get a higher degree. With a good education perhaps I would not have led such a financially-challenged life (I am almost 60 years old now and am registered in a 2-year VA program for homeless veterans). As we all know, there are a lot of sayings about how money is not everything, but guess what—money is 99% of everything. Money pays the bills, money buys medical care, money can keep you from being evicted from your home or being homeless. If you have enough money, you can even afford to go on a real vacation once in awhile. Everything, especially money, flows from an education—or it did until the Great Recession hit. So, if I could live my life over again, I would be sure to get a good education at an earlier age rather than starting at 53 years old.

More about SS: SS Hampton, Sr. is a Choctaw from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, a divorced grandfather to 13 grandchildren, a published photographer, photojournalist, and fiction writer. He is a serving member of the Army National Guard with the rank of staff sergeant, and is a veteran of Operations Noble Eagle, and Iraqi Freedom. His writings have appeared in Ruthie’s Club, Lucrezia Magazine, Megaera, The Harrow, River Walk Journal, and Dark Fire, among others. Second career goals include becoming a painter and studying for a degree in photography and anthropology—hopefully to someday work in and photograph underwater archaeology. After 12 years of brown desert in the Southwest and overseas, he misses the Rocky Mountains, yellow aspens in the fall, running rivers, and a warm fireplace during snowy winters. As of December 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Hampton officially became a homeless Iraq War veteran.

SS's published books are available here:

Melange Books

http://www.melange-books.com/authors/sshampton/index.html

Musa Publishing

http://www.musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=50

MuseItUp Publishing

http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=514&category_id=60&manufacturer_id=249&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Things overheard from a dating "guru"...

Compared to the magoo we were listening to,
this guy looks as charming as George Clooney. 

The other day, my sister (author Laurie London) and I were in a Seattle coffee shop to write. We’d just gotten settled in when a man nabbed the big table behind us—apparently, he was some sort of dating guru and his class would be meeting there shortly. He was a total magoo—well dressed and well spoken, but somewhat smarmy. Used-car-salesman kind of smarmy.

Laurie and I both had earphones on, but one of my earbuds wasn’t working, so I was hearing snippets from the dating class. I started writing down what I heard and sharing them with Laurie, then she started listening, too. Pretty soon, we weren’t writing but listening and “learning” LOL. Poor Laurie was facing the group, and she was trying really hard not to laugh at times. Luckily, I was turned away, because some of the comments were so cringe-worthy, I had to cover my face.

 

Anyway, I thought you guys might get a kick out of what we overheard. The italic comments are my thoughts.

Women will dance more sexually and provocatively on the dance floor when in the fertile time of their menstrual cycle. Ladies, do any of you have any questions about your menstrual cycle? Yes, Dating Dude, I’d rather ask you than my doctor.

 

Feeling relaxed and secure around your date promotes a positive sexual experience.

Women want to feel like girls. Men want to feel like men.  Did we warp back to the 1950s?

If the guy's a little fake, it's okay to be a little fake, too. And if the guy’s a little fake, you want to keep hanging out with him...why?

If you want a guy, stand right next to him and make eye contact with him. Bump against him. Many times if that’s what it takes to get his attention. Then he demonstrated. If some strange man did that to me, I’d have kicked him in the balls. Or called 911.

Think of the guy you're attracted to as a gorilla. And you want to be his mate. He will sense that. Wait. Aren't gorillas known for their tiny penises?

I've been hard too many times. I think I just threw up a little in my mouth...

I practice on people I have absolutely no attraction to. Oh, that’s nice. You’re telling this to a group of shy, introverted people who are already hesitant to put themselves “out there”? Now, they’ll probably remember these words the next time someone shows interest in them. Way to go, Dating Dude.

I want girls who can make me relax. And girls want a guy who’s not a complete douche bag.

If a guy looks like he’s done it a million times, he probably has. You can really tell that a guy has done it a lot just by looking at him? Gosh. I had no idea.

If a guy asks you for your number, he doesn't necessarily want it. Again, way to make these shy people even more hesitant.

If you want to know if a guy or girl is approachable, you need to study their eyebrows. Okay, let’s look at each other’s eyebrows now. No, I’d rather not, but thanks for asking.

Friday Firsts with REGAN WALKER

The first few lines of... AGAINST THE WIND

She is dead.

Katherine, Lady Egerton, stared at the still form lying on the bed. Beloved sister, friend of the heart…Anne was gone. One minute she was struggling for breath, the next she lay silent and still. The only person in the world Kit loved more than life had left her.

They are all gone now. The sudden solitude tore at her heart. Kit smiled sadly, gazing through eyes filled with tears at the frail body lying before her.”

Available now! | Amazon

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FUN FIRST FACTS ABOUT REGAN

Who was your first love? 
When I was 12 and went away to summer camp, one day I ducked out of the meeting and took off my shoes to walk barefoot in the woods. I met a boy about my age who was running barefoot. We had that in common. He was a handsome lad and my first crush. We spent many afternoons walking in the woods and talking—all quite innocent. Someday I’ll put that story in a novel. 

What was the first romance you ever read? 
On a Highland Shore by Kathleen Givens. It’s a beautiful story of Scotland and a love that permeated generations. I was hooked. I read all six of her novels and they are all on my keeper shelf now. And I went on from there. 

Tell me about the first novel you ever wrote? What ever happened to it? 
It was published! That was Racing With The Wind…the first in the Agents of the Crown trilogy. There’s much of me in the heroine, or so my close friends tell me. She’s a bluestocking hoyden. It was a very fun book to write. I love the hero, the British lord who masquerades as the Nighthawk, a thief of Napoleon’s secrets.

More about Regan: As a child Regan Walker loved to write stories, particularly about adventure-loving girls, but by the time she got to college more serious pursuits took priority. One of her professors thought her suited to the profession of law, and Regan realized it would be better to be a hammer than a nail. Years of serving clients in private practice and several stints in high levels of government gave her a love of international travel and a feel for the demands of the “Crown” on its subjects. Hence her romance novels often involve a demanding Prince Regent who thinks of his subjects as his private talent pool.

Author website

Amazon author page

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Goodreads

Regan’s Romance Reviews blog

FRIDAY FIRSTS with SS Hampton Sr.

The first five sentences of... THE LAPIS LAZULI THRONE 

“The desert was alive. Damp foul smelling sand exploded in a white flash. Smoky red and yellow tentacles snaked out of the sand. He tried to scream, but the tentacles choked him. Other screams tore through the boiling smoke that stung his eyes and fouled his mouth…”

Available now!

Musa Publishing | Amazon

FUN FIRST FACTS ABOUT SS

What’s the first thing you do after you wake up in the morning (other than using the restroom LOL)?

Pour a cup of coffee and light a cigarette. Really! Sometimes I can do two things at once. That is the way I have started my day for decades; except for the dreamed-of possibility of giving up cigarettes, I anticipate that this is the way I will always start my day for years to come. To start it any other way seems a little unthinkable. Besides, it seems like a civilized way to start the day.

What’s the first thing you notice on an attractive member of the opposite sex?

It is a toss up between her eyes and her face. A woman’s face is like an open book whereas her eyes are like a chapter. Regarding the face, I notice the way the hair—if it is long—frames the face as if it were a painting. I notice the eyebrows, the angle of the nose, the cheekbones and the chin. And the smile. The smile is a real clue to a woman’s personality. It can be warm, sensual, joyful, critical, or mystifying. I have heard the old saying that the eyes are a window into someone’s soul, but to me a woman’s eyes are mysterious. Other than the obvious anger, happiness, or sadness, I can never discern any meaning to a woman’s eyes. That is part of the charm and challenge of meeting a woman. “Who is she? What is she really thinking?”

If you won the lottery, what’s the first thing you’d buy?

The very first thing? A car. I helped my youngest son buy an SUV from a used car company based in Arizona. Damned big mistake. The SUV has broken down so many times, and I’m getting ready to sink another $600.00 into it! So anyway, a NEW car with a good music system. I love driving down the highway with the music turned up loud, a French Vanilla Cappuccino, and a cigarette close by. A good running car is freedom to me. Having lived in Las Vegas for many years, sometimes without a vehicle, I am very familiar with public transportation, meaning a city bus. I lived on the south side of Vegas and for awhile I worked on the north side of Vegas. So, every day I was up before dawn, caught a bus to the southern transportation terminal, hopped a Strip bus to the northern transportation terminal, then hopped another bus to the north side, and from the final drop-off point walked three miles to work. This was only four years ago when I was 54 years old. Anyway, I spent about 2.5 hours to get to work in the morning and 1.5 hours to get home at night (I caught a ride after work to the morning’s last drop-off point), for a total of 4 hours per day. So, to work a 40 hour week I spent 20 hours on the bus and walking. When I started riding to and from work with a friend I was so amazed that it took only 20 minutes one-way by car. Only 20 minutes! Yeahhh, a brand new car. A brand new car is freedom. Considering I’m almost 60 years old and living in the era of “the recession ended in 2009,” well, no one will hire me. The only way to get my freedom back is by winning the lottery. Or writing a best selling novel!

More About SS

SS Hampton, Sr. is a Choctaw from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, a divorced grandfather to 13 grandchildren, a published photographer, photojournalist, and fiction writer. He is a serving member of the Army National Guard with the rank of staff sergeant, and is a veteran of Operations Noble Eagle, and Iraqi Freedom. His writings have appeared in Ruthie’s Club, Lucrezia Magazine, Megaera, The Harrow, River Walk Journal, and Dark Fire, among others. Second career goals include becoming a painter and studying for a degree in photography and anthropology—hopefully to someday work in and photograph underwater archaeology. After 12 years of brown desert in the Southwest and overseas, he misses the Rocky Mountains, yellow aspens in the fall, running rivers, and a warm fireplace during snowy winters. As of December 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Hampton officially became a homeless Iraq War veteran.