Back Matter

If Front Matter is the blurb that goes at the front of the book, I suppose the Author's Bio and so forth that goes at the end must be Back Matter, but that expression reminds me of a cow's not-too-tidy rear end.

Front Matter wasn't something I ever thought about one way or another, until I was published, and discovered that I am permitted to help out with suggestions.

Take the Acknowledgements page.
Does anyone read that?

I believe there is at least one How To Get Published manual that advises pre-published authors to look at their favorite authors' Acknowledgements pages (or Dedication pages) to see which editors and agents are thanked.

I like to thank the experts and other interesting people who have gone out of their way to help me with some aspect of my research. Verisimilitude is important. So is name-dropping!

INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL

Acknowledgements:

I would like to acknowledge the winner of the Bioluminescent Penis tattoo contest ~ Brenda Clark
who correctly guessed what secret symbol Djetth kept hidden.

I would like to thank the following for their help:

Survival consulting -- Les Stroud aka SURVIVORMAN
Rock music consulting -- Geoff Nicholls of Black Sabbath
Gym scene advice -- C J Hollenbach
Atmosphere/plantlife research -- Jen Lasseter
Tarot reading -- Christine D'Allaird (and others who prefer to remain anonymous)
Psychic research -- Debbora Wiles (and others who prefer to remain anonymous)
Dynamics of a plane crash  on water -- pilot and author Susan Grant

Finally, I would like to thank my editor, Alicia Condon for believing in me -- twice!

There is a story behind how SURVIVORMAN Les Stroud came to read INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL.

In the Autumn (or Fall) of 2005 I had finished a reasonably polished version of INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL.

My editor had asked me to think about having more sexual content in the book, so I went to The Discovery Channel (I think... SURVIVORMAN is now on The Science Channel) hoping to find a documentary about some exotic animals having usual sex. For inspiration.

Instead, I came upon SURVIVORMAN half way through being washed up on an isolated beach. As I recall, he was naked apart from some Vaseline over the camera lens. Well, that got my attention, though it wasn't exactly what I'd wanted to see.

My fascination grew as he discussed the dangers of drinking water from a stream, and gave a very realistic demonstration of how to light a fire without matches, and what to use for tinder and kindling.

SURVIVORMAN did not suggest fluffy matter out of his tummy button (as my hero does), but he did suggest pulling lint from his cotton socks.

I was delighted. Here was proof for my inner censor that I had not misunderstood my research. . . which was gleaned from a variety of library books.

I googled SURVIVORMAN. I love Google! I found his websites, which led me to his contact information, and I sent him an email, very diffidently asking for his help.

To my delight, SURVIVORMAN Les Stroud agreed to read my manuscript --and did. He gave me a fantastic cover quote, and also pointed out half a dozen errors or inaccuracies or inadequately explained survival facts. (Happily, I had not made many mistakes!)

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The alien Royal equivalent of a shotgun wedding had begun. Heads of state watched as the groom was frog marched up the aisle. Then, the bride knocked the groom to the ground and refused to marry him.

Now, Prince Djetth and Princess Martia-Djulia have been shot down in the sea off on a deserted island on an alien planet.

The Princess dresses as if she expects to be at the most formal of court balls, even when she is supposed to be going sight-seeing. Squeamish and far from gung-ho about a forced survival situation, she is not an idea Girl Friday....

Now, her hooped ball gown is wet, but she won't take it off to save her life.

.

"There are a lot of things we could do without for one night." Dinner came to mind. Sex... Djetth grunted and rose to his feet. The most natural thing in the world would have been to hook an arm around Martia-Djulia's tightly cinched waist, and point to the campsite he'd chosen. Instead, he put his left hand on his hip and pointed with his right hand. "You see that little stand of trees -- the ones with twisted trunks, which fork into three or four branches at about the height of my hip? Those two, there, will make good supports for the entrance to a shelter. I'll thrust a long, straight branch between their crotches as a ridgepole." She looked doubtful, but Djetth was on good ground with his woodmanship. "A 'crotch' is where a tree bifurcates," he explained, simply so she would think about crotches, and long, straight objects being thrust into them."They're a good choice because their canopies lean inland, away from what becomes the obvious spot to clear for a fire pit. Do you agree?" He took her silence for consent. "Right. I'll start by digging the fire pit. Do you think you could find something we can burn? There are three types of fuel needed for a fire. Tinder is the most important." Chivalrously, he assigned the greatest importance to the easiest, lightest, most enjoyable, most feminine task. "I can't start a fire without tinder," he added with strategic disregard for the fact that he was a Great Djinn in possession of three Rings of Imperial Authority, one of which was the laser-like Fire Stone. "What is tinder?" she asked, sounding suspicious. "Ahhhh," he drawled, overcome by a mischievous instinct. "Look here." With his left hand he lifted his T-shirt, with his right forefinger and thumb he reached into his navel, confident that after eight weeks of hard exercise he had well defined abs and a very deep and attractive "inny" of a tummy button. He withdrew lint. "Oh, slurrid!" his squeamish Princess exclaimed, predictably, but she stared at his lower abdomen and perhaps at the bulge in his trunk briefs with flattering interest. "This fluff--" He placed it in the palm of his left hand as reverently as a scientist explaining an important specimen, "is created from the action of hard work. Friction attracts filaments of fabric from my cotton T-shirt, and works them into a flat, fluffy mat." He moved his cupped hand closer to her. "Good tinder needs to have irregular edges, plenty of airspaces." He teased his tummy button fluff into a looser wad. "It must be dry. Would you like to touch it?"

 

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Among the most powerful of my memories of the ROMANTIC TIMES BOOK Club Convention is that of cover model MARK JOHNSON manfully playing the maypole. Keeping a straight face, and a straight pole aloft, Mark was the cynosure of feminine eyes as large, jewel-bright, and sometimes heavily-winged "faeries" danced--or stumbled--around him.

I understand that Mark will be doing something more glamorous than being a maypole at the 2007 convention in Houston... But one never knows what Connie Perry and Jo Carol will ask him to do next.

Mark graciously consented to this wide ranging interview.

RC: What, or who inspired you to try your luck as a male model?

MJ: It all began with a photograph of me on a horse which good friend of mine, Michelle, took and sent to Romantic Times without telling me.

Well, shortly after that, I received a letter from ROMANTIC TIMES informing me that I had been chosen as a finalist.

"A finalist in what?" I wondered, and thinking it was some kind of practical joke,

I tossed the letter into the junk. Then, I picked it out and called Michelle

"What did you do with that photo of me on the horse?" I asked.

And that was the beginning. . . I followed the rules, went to Baton Rouge (where the convention was taking place), won, and have been coming to Romantic Times conventions ever since.

 

RC: You mentioned that, over the years, the RT management has asked you to do all sorts of things. What is the wildest costume you've ever put on?

MC: I once impersonated a female character from M.A.S.H. That was a blast! I loved doing it.
However, my favorite costume might be a Medieval Knight's. Did you know that I'm a Knight in Armor? I'm also a carpenter. I do custom cabinet making, and bigger projects.

I expect you've heard of Medieval Times? I built that castle in Toronto. I did the weapons, and I built the arena.

RC: Are you good with a sword?

MC: I am VERY good with a sword! Any kind of sword.

RC: That must be exciting?

MC: You should have been around when I choreographed sword fights between men in kilts.

(At this point, the author must have looked as if she wanted to ask more.)

Of course we wore no underwear.

RC: That sounds dangerous!

MC: I am very careful. In my career as a stunt man, I've been injured many, many times, but all my injuries have been slight. As I say, I'm careful.

 

With thanks to Denise A. Agnew, author of TREACHEROUS WISHES for supplying this photograph.

Bone-deep desires he can't ignore. . .
Lightning-hot fantasies she can't deny. . .
Available August 16 at Ellora's Cave www.ellorascave.com
www.deniseagnew.com

RC: What kind of stunts do you do?  Do you specialize in sword fighting stunts?

MC: Swords, yes. And horses. I joust on horseback, in fact I was in Don Quixote -- I think that was in a time-traveling-dog show called WISHBONE on PBS. Also, I've done a lot of stunts involving motorcycles. I ride a motorcycle better than I can walk. For some strange reason, when I do stunts I'm always the bad guy. I've never figured out why.

(Mark says with a tongue in cheek grin)

I always seemed to be fighting Chuck Norris in Walker, Texas Ranger....

 

RC: You are quite the Renaissance Man! And you are very musical? (At the New Concepts Publisher's Pajama Party, there is karaoke, and Mark sang like a consummate professional)

MJ: Piano, drums, guitars... yes, I sing.

RC: Any genre in particular?

MJ: Christian. It's uplifting. It makes me feel good. I've done some albums with the band "Cornerstone". The title is "Jesus" and the cover art is of a handprint with a hole in it. It's pretty cool.

 

The next album I'm doing for RESURRECTION LIGHT RECORDS --that's my label -- is a solo."A song from my heart -- the only muscle I can't control."

RC: Is there anything you haven't done that you'd like to try your hand at?

MJ: I'm thinking of entering the new TV Reality show for Inventors. . .

RC: Inventor. I've seen that.

(Mark shared a glimpse of the very cool things he invents. )

At the time of this interview, Mark did not have a website or an email account, and no contact information is available.

RC: Why?

MJ: I'm dyslexic. When I was in second grade dyslexia wasn't understood at all. My teachers thought I was either slow or naughty. Or both.

Rowena's note: To learn about dyslexia, check out http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/dyslexia/dyslexia.htm

Great teachers' reference
http://www.dyslexia-teacher.com/t7.html

RC: I know several very successful and versatile people who are dyslexic. Have you found your word blindness to be a hurdle, or has it been a more of a catalyst which has forced you to focus?

MJ: It's really helped. It's fine-tuned me. I've had to concentrate more. When you have to concentrate on every letter of every word in a sentence, you think more deeply about the words you're reading and what they mean. You notice things that other people might miss.

(Mark illustrated his point with a fascinating account of the first time he read the Bible, and how his reading of the Bible has impacted his life. As Mark spoke eloquently, I thought he ought to be on The Hour Of Power!)

RC: Thank you for a great interview, Mark!

 

---

Highland Honor
Cover Art: Stacey L. King
With thanks to author Lori Pepio for permission to show this great cover.

Readers can see another rather gorgeous cover of Mark's by clicking this link
http://members.aol.com/laurelodon/falcmain.htm

Readers who would like to read more about Mark Johnson might be interested in
following this link to Lorio Pepio's chat with him: http://www.loripepio.com/articles.php?a=1 

 

 

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Think the grocery store is a great place to meet men?

Hunky interstellar fugitive, aisle 5.

With outrageously false accusations piling up against her famous political family and an ex-fiancé in hot water determined to take her down with him, the last thing Jana Jasper needs is more trouble--especially man trouble. But when she heads to the grocery store for an ice cream fix, not only does the muscled hunk in the frozen foods section ranting about spaceships and invasions look crazy, he looks... familiar.

Cavin of Far Star has never forgotten the girl he met during his weeks spent on that quaint little world, planet Earth, the girl who didn't believe he was real. And now he'll risk his future to save her. All she has to do is take him to her leader. Simple enough plan -- although Jana isn't so easily convinced. Hell-bent on charming his way past her defenses, he's determined to stay one step ahead of the galaxy's most feared assassin -- and may just capture his favorite Earthling's heart in the process.

Your Planet or Mine?
July 25, 2006

ISBN 0373771061

This silver "Alien Royal Wedding Dress" was created for me by Connie Perry of Connie's Costumes based on Connie's reading of an excerpt from the relevant scene in FORCED MATE.

The winner will receive a Faery medallion attached to an RT Faery Ball "scroll" of all the Faery Ball faeries' poems, an autographed, printed ARC of the short story MATING NET (from a very limited number made up for a Romance Writers Contest entry) promo items.

The winner chosen at random from more than 50 correct answers is: Caroline from Kentucky.

 

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Rowena Cherry is delighted to announce that a new cover model has kindly donated a jpg of his bare chest for site-visitors to virtually play with.

Which one is it?

Contest entrants do not have to name the gentleman.
His puzzle number is sufficient.
( Hint, there are 10 puzzles at www.rowenacherry.com/puzzle )

This contest is to promote author Rowena Cherry, her newsletter, website, and her alien djinn romances.

This contest runs until the 15th of October 2006.   Void where prohibited.

There will one winner, determined by a random drawing from
correct answers sent to rowena@rowenacherry.com  with the subject line "Who is New"

No purchase necessary.  

Entrants need not visit Rowena Cherry's website, her bare-chested-hunk jigsaw puzzle page, or
her blogs ( at http://survival-romance.blogspot.com and http:aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com ) to win (you can guess.)

Entrants may also snail mail answers to
Rowena Beaumont Cherry; PO Box 554  Bloomfield Hills MI 48303-0554

A complete list of rules can be obtained by emailing rowena@rowenacherry.com with the words "Who is New" in the subject line.
 
Oh, and I expect you'd like to know what you could win!

One autographed, not-for-sale Advance Review Copy of
INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL