Wine and chocolate
I wanted a sensual experience for Tori.
This is a slow awakening (hah!) of her senses and her appetites. You don’t just throw someone in the deep water to swim, and you don’t start with whips and chains the first time someone calls you Master.
The Chocolate
I did a little research (not a lot) about pairing chocolate with wine. As I grew into adulthood, I became a dark chocolate lover. Milk chocolate is great, of course, but there’s something special about the bitter-sweet depths ...
Why did Tori refuse to take Nate’s money?
“That’ll be $1.93.”
He digs in his wallet and slaps three bills on the counter.
Three one hundred dollar bills.
What the fuck?
He’s got this smug look on his face like he’s so damned smart, and he confirms my worst suspicion when he gives me a shit-eating grin and says, “Keep the change.”
Oh. Hell. No.
I calmly take his money, walk over to the cash register, and count out the change for three hundred dollars minus a dollar ninety-three. And then slap it all back ...
Tori’s Cherry Pie
I am not a bigger baker, but my lovely friend Tira was kind enough to give me her fantastic cherry pie recipe!
The measurements for the filling are not in absolutes, more of "Do what tastes best to you".
(That's how I cook, too.)
Her crust recipe has been handed down in her family for generations. Isn't that fantastic?
Pie Crust
One cup of flour to one stick 1/4lb unsalted butter, softened but not super soft.
Pinch of salt
Ice water
Directions:
Combine the butter, salt, ...
How did the picnic on the pier get set up? Answer: Meet Jack.
The picnic on the pier…
How did it get set up and taken down?
In my head canon, Nate has a minion. That minion’s name is Jack and in polite company, Jack is called Nate’s personal assistant.
Jack is a (no pun intended) jack-of-all-trades who grew up in the California foster system and got into UCLA's film school on talent and scholarship. Once he graduated, he needed a job, and applied to an anonymous ad on a Hollywood job search website for a personal assistant. Come to find ...
Drunk Brunch
I got an editor note back for Chapter 16 suggesting that I change “drunk brunch” to “hangover brunch”. And even though I’ve been friends with my editor for nearly 10 years, I guess I never mentioned drunk brunch to her. . . Oopsie.
I don’t know if it’s a Louisiana thing or a my-friends-from-college-in-Louisiana thing, but every Sunday (and some Saturdays) during college when we all lived in dorms, we would meet around 11 AM in the LSU Student Union for drunk brunch.
Somet...
Sir: The Awakening Advanced Copy of Chapter One
Hello, darling readers.
When you purchased Sir, I promised you a chapter from Sir: The Awakening if you visited my website. I've been having some problems setting up a downloadable copy (unless you join my mailing list, but that doesn't help if you're already on it; however I'll get it to y'all somehow, promise), so I figured that I would just post it here. . .
Which I did. . .
For a day. Maybe two.
Then I went onto my Goodreads page only to discover that my ARC copy of Chapter 1 ...
The Dress (Chapter 9)
In my head, Tori is wearing the perfect red dress...
It’s Kiyonna from 2015 and no longer on the market <sad panda>. Kiyonna has some similar styles, but, to me, this dress is nigh on perfect. An amazing shade of red, the stark contrast of the black belt that shows off your waistline, the sweetheart neckline, and the flirty tulip skirt. How can a woman not feel gorgeous in that dress?
That’s the kind of dress you save for a special occasion and/or a special man.
Isn’t ...
What does Tori look like?
Tori, Tori, Tori…
I actually have a friend who’s named Tori… she actually gets mentioned a few times in these posts. She’s an impressive lady and has achieved a lot in a pretty short time in her life, which is awesome. She’s beautiful, talented, charismatic and successful? How is that fair??
Anyway, finding a model to live up to the real-life Tori AND who looks like the Tori-in-my-head was…challenging…a struggle… a real bitch-and-a-half.
Tori-in-my-head is ...
You can’t really lose your scholarship over a $30 fee bill… can you?
The Thirty Dollar Fee Bill
This actually happened to one of my best friends in college when we were at LSU. She was in a similar situation to Tori – full scholarship plus living and housing stipends. That semester, she went to the doctor at the LSU Health Center, which led to a fee of a fairly small amount. It may have been more than $30, but it wasn’t more than, let’s say $300. In the grand scheme of things, it was a tiny amount of money. Her parents agreed to pay it.
I remember ...
Tori wears Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm
This is what I used to wear when I waited tables. It made your lips soft all night, but, better yet, it would stain your lips so even if you talked your lipstick off over the course of your shift, your lips would still have color that wasn’t blotchy or feather-y.
I would absolutely recommend it for easy lip color.
(Now in my personal life, I wear lip liner and lipstick, usually in red.)
Burt's Bees Website - Red Dahlia Tinted Lip Balm