I’ve been a fan of NCIS forever and was happy to see the Los Angeles spinoff, especially with two hotties like Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J.

But the guy who caught my eye with his surfer dude kind of charm was Eric Christian Olsen who plays Detective Marty Deeks. There’s just something fun and interesting about Eric and his character!

I hope you’ve liked today’s Man Candy Monday.

Photo Credit: Frantogian @en.wikipedia.com

These videos run the gamut to fun to scary and if you’ve got the sound on, turn it down! LOL!

I love cats and some of the kittens in this video are really cute.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

If you can’t see the video below, you can click here!

Not with a big bloody coup. It happens with the erosion of our rights in small little pieces, like water dripping on a stone. It happens because we don’t speak out and settle for that erosion for a variety of reasons.

I haven’t posted a Thoughtful Thursday in a while, but recent events have had me really wondering what’s going on in America today. How we have gotten to where various government agencies can infringe on the rights of American citizens with what I consider so little hue and cry from the citizenry.

Or maybe I’m just hyper-sensitive to Big Government because of my background so maybe today’s Thoughtful Thursday should explain why I am that way. Why this immigrant embraces American values so much and why she is bothered by what she sees.

Funny, but our neighbors in Levittown used to say that my mom was more American than they were and I guess this apple didn’t fall far from that tree. My friends say the same of me. I bleed red, white and blue and this is the reason why . . .

Tyranny and my family

Those who visit regularly know I was born in Cuba and left during the Cuban diaspora of the 1960s.

My family’s exodus from Cuba came in little bits, resulting in various separations, but before I get to that, it’s important to know more about how that exodus began.

My mother was a rebel in every sense of the word. A woman who wanted a career before it was the thing to do. A woman who knew what she wanted in life, and from her country, and was willing to give her all for what she wanted.

She was an amazing woman and one day I’ll write her story. Kind of. My first novel was loosely based on her exploits and I hope to one day finish that book and release it.

Life in Cuba during the Batista dictatorship wasn’t easy for some. While those in Havana generally had nice lives, it wasn’t so easy for others out in the fields and smaller villages.

My mother was relatively young when “the Revolution” began. She even supposedly dated Castro once while she was at the University. But when the troubles started, Batista shut down the University to silence the opposition.

There were secret police who would haul away people suspected of assisting the rebels. People would be beaten and killed, their bodies dumped on the streets as a warning to others.

That didn’t stop my mom from raising her voice against it and helping with the local Civic Resistance Movement. She dragged my father into it from what I gather, but together they did all kinds of things to try to make their country better.

Until they realized they had helped make it worse as Castro showed his true colors. That’s when my mom and other people involved in the Resistance started working for change again. Like many in the Resistance, my mom was offered a position with the government, but time and time again she made excuses, not wanting to get more involved with a government that she knew was wrong.

Mind you, she did all that while being pregnant with me and my sis, her “miracle children” but that’s a story for another day.

When the government started forming militias with the young, my parents sent my brother to live with friends in the United States, fearing he’d be brainwashed. That’s part of how it starts: indoctrinate the young. Turn them against their parents’ values and toward those of the government.

My parents were working with others to try and change things when they got a call from a friend: Castro’s police were coming for them shortly. They had to leave Cuba or risk prison and/or execution.

In a matter of days they put their affairs in order and left my sister and me with my grandparents, certain they would send for us in a short time.

But Castro didn’t want that.

When my parents arrived in the U.S., they noticed one of Castro’s people walk by. He smiled and tipped his hat to them as if to say, “Don’t think you’ll get away.”

At Immigration they were detained. Someone had warned the U.S. Government they were communist sympathizers. It took a lot of convincing and hours of interrogation, but my parents were finally granted political asylum.

My sister was six months old at the time. I was a little past two. Imagine as a mother leaving such young children. I don’t know if I would have had the courage my mother had at that moment, but I am thankful that she did have such strength. I would not have the life I have today if not for that selflessness.

That only began my family’s odyssey to the United States.

In Cuba, the government seized our passports to prevent us from leaving the country. Soldiers would regularly come by the house and toss it, telling my grandparents to have my parents return if they ever wanted peace and freedom. My grandmother would stuff us under the bed to keep us safe. I vaguely remember hiding under that bed.

I remember being afraid of people in uniform when I first got to America until my mother explained that the policemen were not soldiers and were there to help us.

This went on for nearly another year, until my parents were able to get us out of the country with the help of some friends in Mexico. But that started another year of flight as we bounced from country to country in Central America and Mexico until we were able to enter the United States as political refugees.

Maybe it’s because of that family history that I fear Big Government. I fear what happens when a small group of people get too much control and try to silence others with differing opinions.

It’s what Orwell wrote about in 1984 and it doesn’t surprise me that there’s been a run on the book in recent days.

Take a moment to think about. Read about it, but even more so, read beyond what’s on the pages. As a writer I know how easy it is to steer you in one direction or another with the right choice of words. A nasty “flip-flop” becomes reasoned “reconsideration” quite easily.

Think about the world you want to leave to children and ask yourself, Is this what I really want?

When I think of my mom and all she risked and sacrificed and struggled to achieve, I know what my answer will be. What’s yours?

Cruising the ‘Net for you to find some fun for this yucky Friday and I came across these Fabio Old Spice Ads. There are twenty-seven (yes 27!) of them.

Kind of tongue-in-cheek, especially this one. Now Fabio is a nice guy. I’ve met him at several RTs and he’s surprisingly self-effacing. Anyway, hope you enjoy and get a little chuckle of them.

If you can’t see the video below, you can click here!

NOW AND ALWAYS and FAITH IN YOU, my two very first books, will be coming out in late June and July respectively. These books will be available both digitally and in print. I’ve both updated and expanded these books from their earlier versions and I hope you will like them. Both had earned 4 stars from Romantic Times Magazine when they came out. NOW AND ALWAYS was even on the cover! A very exciting moment.

TO CATCH A PRINCESS, the sequel to THE PRINCE’S GAMBLE which features Princess Tatiana and sexy detective Peter Roman, will be out on August 12, 2013. I am very excited to say this will be a digital first release, but print copies will be available in the future! YEAH!! I so love print books for my keeper shelf and I adore Tatiana’s and Peter’s story. It’s glamorous, emotional, and action-packed!

Now even more news. . .Yeah, I have a lot to share with you today!!!

I FINALLY HAVE DATES FOR THE REBORN/THE CALLING BOOKS! They, too, will be digital first with print copies in the future.

VENGEANCE CALLS is now titled BORN TO VENGEANCE and it will be out on 09/09/13.
BORN TO SERVE will be out on 10/14/13
BORN TO LOVE will be out on 11/11/13
BORN TO DIE will be out on 12/09/13

OMG! SOOOO EXCITED ABOUT ALL THIS and I hope you are as well. In the meantime, I’ve started work on the next SIN HUNTER book, THE SHATTERED, which is Sammie and Ryan’s story. Due to contractual obligations, I won’t be able to release this book until at least January 2014 and I am so sorry to keep you waiting for it. I am so in love with Sammie and Ryan and can’t wait for you to read their story!

Thank you all for your support and friendship. It means the world to me!

I am so pleased to have my dear friend and fellow author K.M. Fawcett here today to celebrate the release of her debut novel, CAPTIVE, a science fiction romance that is available from the Forever romance line.

Yeah, K.M.! So excited and proud! So without further ado, here’s K.M.

Fun Facts about Captive (book 1 in the Survival Race series) and K.M. Fawcett

While watching the rescue of mistreated horses on an episode of Animal Cops, K.M. wondered how people would feel if they were penned up and abused. What if humans were the pets, and someone–aliens perhaps–bred us and gambled on us for entertainment like we do with horse racing, dog racing, and cockfights? The idea for Captive (the Survival Race) was born.

The Survival Race is a blood sport in which the last gladiator alive wins. Since the hero must be an athlete possessing speed, endurance, agility, and strength, K.M. decided to make him a decathlete.

While both are difficult, K.M. finds writing fight scenes easier than writing love scenes.

According to her husband, “Not only does K.M. write kick-butt heroines, as a third degree black belt in Isshinryu karate, she is a kick-butt heroine.” 

K.M. combined American and Scottish folklore to create the alien race in Captive. They are a cross between Sasquatch, Am Fear Liath Mor (The Great Grey Man), and her imagination.

Excerpt from CAPTIVE

Addy glanced around the dimly lit room—if you could call it a room. Actually, it looked more like a ten-foot box. There were no doors. No windows. Nothing.

Except for a miniature fireplace and logs centered on one wall, the body pillow bed in one corner and a large terracotta flowerpot in the opposite corner, the room appeared empty.

She crept to a wall and drew her hand up, down and across it, searching for a hidden doorknob or lever.
“If you’re looking for me, I’m over here.”

She jumped and spun to face the stranger but was tripped up by her hangover and stumbled into the wall. Righting herself, she tried for a casual smile but knew it didn’t pass for anything more than a nervous tic.

When the room stopped spinning, she noticed he had propped himself up on one elbow. His dark, shoulder-length hair and sleepy eyes enhanced his wicked attractiveness. He made no attempt to move closer. Of course, he made no attempt to cover himself, either, and his sheet had slid further down.

She forced herself to look at his eyes. Eyes that shone eerily in the dark like a cat’s. Eyes that appeared emerald.

Odd choice for colored contacts.

“Come here.” He lifted the sheet with one hand and patted the pillow bedding with the other.

Her heart rate revved as she stared at the parts of him beneath the sheet. “I…uh…I…umm.”

“Skittish little thing, aren’t you?”

The only way to stop gawking was to squeeze her eyes shut. “Who are you?”

“You don’t know?” His voice oozed disappointment.

Apparently they had gone through this already. So why couldn’t she remember? What else couldn’t she remember? “Did I—? Did you—? Did we—?” There was no polite way to ask if (a) she’d given herself to him under duress or (b) he’d violated her while she was unconscious.

“Mate?”

Okay, that was one way. Odd word choice but it sufficed. She nodded.

“No.”

She relaxed.

“Not yet.” There was no menace or presumption in his words. He spoke them casually, matter-of-factly, as if they’d already discussed sex and concluded they’d sleep together. When had she given him that idea?

Her head ached trying to remember.

“I’m sorry. You seem like a nice guy, but I can’t…you know…do this.”

“Oh. First time, huh?”

“What?”

“Though judging your age, I wouldn’t have pegged you for a virgin.”

“Excuse me?”

“Relax.” The sleep in his voice gave the word a husky sexiness. “I’ll make sure you enjoy it, too.” He got up and strode toward her, eyes hungry and body very ready to make good on his word.

If her pulse was a car, the turbo just kicked in. “Stop right there,” she said, and he did. The surprise was evident on his face. With a body like his, he probably wasn’t used to rejection.

“Woman, this won’t work unless we’re closer. Much closer.” He winked.

She turned back to the wall, frantically feeling for that doorknob. But it was too late. He was behind her, towering over her. Sweeping the hair off her shoulder. Brushing his lips down the side of her neck.

A tingling sensation slid down her spine. “Stop it. I’m warning you.”

“I understand your hesitation,” he said between kisses. “But it’s going to happen sooner or later.”
Like hell it is. She pivoted around and kneed him in the groin.

Captive (The Survival Race) is available now at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

K.M. can be found on:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/km.fawcett‎
Twitter: twitter.com/KMFawcett
Attacking The Page blog: www.attackingthepage.wordpress.com
Her website: www.kmfawcett.com

K.M. Fawcett was a born romantic. At six years old, she would beg her parents to take her to a restaurant with, “Soft music and candles” where she could drink Shirley Temples and twirl on the dance floor. As she grew, her desire to be whisked into a romantic adventure by a knight in shining armor also grew – to the point of annoying her friends and family. When she received A Knight In Shining Armor (a novel by Jude Deveraux) for her eighteenth birthday, she fell in love…with the romance genre. ♥ Now K.M. writes sci-fi/ paranormal romances, and enjoys stories filled with adventure and strong, kick butt heroes and heroines.

K.M. holds the rank Sandan (3rd degree black belt) in both Isshinryu Karate and in Ryukonkai (Okinawan weapons). She and her husband own Tenchi Isshinryu Karate Dojo in NJ where they teach karate, weapons, and self-defense.