Tarot Through the Storm: Daily Reflections During Relationship Drama #TarotJournal

Tarot Through the Storm
Daily Reflections During Relationship Drama
by Giselle Renarde
Word Count: 11,600
ISBN: 9798224157624

Discover the Power of Tarot in the Midst of Heartache and Transformation

When life throws you into the depths of uncertainty, where do you turn for guidance and solace? For Giselle, the wisdom of tarot illuminated the path through a tumultuous period of life.

In Tarot Through the Storm, journey through daily tarot reflections that provided clarity, comfort, and courage during a separated partner's divorce. As assets were divided, a house was sold, and emotions ran high, the daily practice of drawing a tarot card offered profound insights.

This compelling journal isn't just a narrative of personal experience; it's a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the transformative power of tarot practice. For Giselle, daily draws offered an opportunity for insightful interpretations and personal reflection. Giselle's honest and heartfelt entries are sure to resonate with anyone navigating similar life challenges.

Whether you're a seasoned tarot reader or new to the cards, this book will inspire you to find your own path of healing and transformation. Dive into a world where every card tells a story and every story brings you closer to your own truth.

Join the author on this intimate and enlightening journey, and let the cards guide you through your own life's storms.

Buy Now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D92LX4YD?tag=dondes-20
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=GO0SEQAAQBAJ

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/tarot-through-the-storm-daily-reflections-during/id6523414172
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tarot-through-the-storm-giselle-renarde/1145971306
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/tarot-through-the-storm-daily-reflections-during-relationship-drama

Everand: https://www.everand.com/book/748662797/Tarot-Through-the-Storm-Daily-Reflections-During-Relationship-Drama
Fable: https://fable.co/book/x-9798224157624

Find even more retailers with the Universal Book Link: https://books2read.com/TarotThroughTheStorm

There's also a paperback version: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tarot-through-the-storm-giselle-renarde/1145971306?ean=9798227789679

Plus, there's a digitally-narrated audiobook: https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAEAyVFAUcM

Valentine's Day Ideas for Fun, Food and Romance During Covid

 Here in Toronto, we're locked down and under stay-at-home orders. How will we be romantic without leaving the house?

Just a few ideas:

1. Try New and Different Sex Stuff

I don't know about you, but I've got plenty of ideas I keep meaning to put into practise. When it comes right down to it, though, my partner and I usually resort to the same-old-same-old. Not that it's bad! It's good stuff, I swear, it's just that it's easy to fall into a pattern. Valentine's Day at home presents us with a great opportunity to shake things up.

2. Massage Your Person

If you're celebrating V-Day with a partner, try giving each other massages.  This could be sexual or not sexual or a bit of both.  The only time my partner has ever fallen asleep during sex is the time I poured oil all over him and gave him a cock massage. He found it so relaxing he was out like a light. 

3. On-Demand Sexy Skills Webinars

Whether you're going solo this Valentine's Day or you're spending it with someone special, check out these on-demand webinars from sex and pleasure educator Luna Matatas. I've attended Luna's webinars and they are fun, informative, and welcoming to all genders. There are plenty to choose from, including Dirty Talk Skills, Hotter Handjobs, Delicious Dominance Skills, and Seducing the Butt.

4. Ruby Waters Digital Concert (and Dinner, if you're in Toronto!)

Thanks to Crow's Theatre in Toronto, you can purchase digital tickets to listen to the sultry tones of Ruby Waters this Valentine's Day. If you're in the city, you can also opt to purchase a fancy-ass dinner that will be delivered to you. Find out more here: https://www.crowstheatre.com/whats-on/view-all/dinner-and-a-show-ruby-waters

5. Write an Erotic Letter

Writing your fantasies down on paper is an especially useful communication tool for those who have trouble expressing their wants and needs verbally. If you've got someone special to write to, great! If you don't, no problem--you can still write to that dream lover. This is an especially great idea for anyone who can't be in the same room with a partner due to pandemic restrictions.

6. Make Homemade Cards

I loved crafty stuff when I was a kid, and I still love crafty stuff as an adult. Wasn't it fun as heck to make homemade cards for your classmates? Break out the doilies and the scented markers, because it's time to draw some hearts.

7. Exercise Together

Release those endorphins by exercising together! I can tell you from experience that it really builds a bond. Take a hike if you like, or find an exercise routine online you can try together. And if you're just you, do it to it! It's icy outside, so I do a lot of walking videos online. You don't even need a lot of space, and I always work up a sweat.

8. Breakfast in Bed

The early bird bakes the bread. Or cooks the bacon. Or butters the toast. No matter the makeup of your household, if you get up first, treat your people to a special brekkie. If you don't live with anyone else, you can always bring breakfast back to bed. Who's gonna stop you?

9. Bake Something Sweet

I love baking. I find it to be such an indulgent activity, and I thoroughly enjoy sharing my baked goods with the people I love. Bake with your household, or bake on your own and drop off your sweet stuff at the homes of family and friends who haven't seen in a while in a contact-free way.

10. Get Cooking, Good-Looking!

If your household usually takes turns cooking dinner, do it together this Valentine's Day. All hands on deck! And if you live alone, you could cook virtually with friends or family. Technology is our friend.

11. Play Games

My partner and I play cards and board games all the time, and it always makes me feel like I'm on vacation. It's nerdy good fun. Being a word person, I happen to love Scrabble and Boggle and crossword puzzles, but I can also recommend cribbage--a game I learned as an adult--and poker, which I played as a child, odd as it seems. My grandmother used to play Scrabble online against her internet friends, so there are lots of virtual options, too!

12. Read a Book

I'm not just saying this because I'm a writer and I want you to buy my books--I also think it's a great and unusual recommendation for Valentine's Day. This idea came to mind because my partner was telling me that, when he was a kid, he wasn't allowed to read at the table. BUT there were some days he would come home for lunch and his mother would ask him, "Would you like to read today?" and he would eagerly nod yes.  He has fond memories of the two of them sitting at the table together, reading their books in silence, and enjoying every minute of it. Kind of cute, right?

Just because restaurants aren't open doesn't mean we can't enjoy a romantic Valentine's Day during a pandemic. Remember, you can still support local restaurants by buying take-out or delivery. 

Whether you're spending Valentine's Day with yourself, a partner, or an entire household--and whether you're looking to spend a little money, a lot of money, or none at all--I hope a few of my ideas will appeal to you and make it a little easier to plan a romantic occasion without too much planning in advance.

Love you!

Giselle

Positive Changes in the Personal Sphere #MondayBlogs #Mindfulness #Meditation

 It's four in the morning and I can't sleep, so I'm reflecting on some of the positive things I've accomplished over the past year.  I'm weaning myself off my habit of ruminating on everything I'm not satisfied with, in my life.  There's a positive, right there.

I wrote some books.  That's something.  It's something I don't customarily acknowledge as an accomplishment, now that I've been writing books for 15 years. I need to work at celebrating each new book I write.  I'm a work in progress, in that regard.

For well over a year now, I've been posting daily to my music blog. That's something I'm proud of.  Doing anything daily is hard work, and there have been many times I've considered throwing in the towel. I kept at it, though, and I'm pleased to share music and memories with the reading public every day of the year.

The things I'm most proud of are personal.

But not too personal that I won't share them with you.

Since the start of this pandemic, I've enrolled in three free online courses that focused on personal growth. I completed the ones on happiness and relationships, and I'm currently working on a course in mindfulness.

One thing that came out of the happiness course was a commitment to meditation practice. I try to do this daily, but it doesn't always happen. Every time I meditate, I feel like I've done it wrong. I don't think I'm getting results or seeing effects.  But I keep hearing about all these studies showing the positives that come out of meditation, so I keep at it, and I see those positives manifest in my life. 

Even if I don't feel like I'm doing meditation right, I'm still seeing benefits.

The most significant course I took this year was a course of therapy.  This is something I've needed for decades, but I've never had the resources. The pandemic changed that, for me, because the province I live in made free therapy available to everyone.  

I went through an extremely intensive twelve weeks of CBT combined with the support of an excellent therapist, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that it changed my life.

Honestly, the reason I sought out therapy was that I looked at my behaviour, my mood swings, my midlife crisis, my perimenopausal rage, and I saw that I was being very unfair to my partner. Unpredictable. Irrational.  Out of control.  I was so afraid of losing him. Our time together has been the best time of my life.

I wish I could have sought out therapy for ME instead of doing it for my partner, but I guess I never valued myself highly enough. I never thought I was worth it. 

Looking back, I realize therapy would have been worth any money--even money I didn't have. But I can't change the past, so I won't bother saying I wish I'd done this decades ago. Because I did give therapy a shot decades ago, the last time I had access to free therapy sessions. Unfortunately, there therapist I was paired with wasn't a good fit for me.  The three sessions I had were not terrible helpful.  Certainly not life changing. 

These ones were.  

The work we did led me to insights about my personality that were truly mind-blowing. And they were the kinds of things where you're like... how did I never notice that about myself? Why did I never connect those dots? They're the sorts of things you see in someone else and go, "Oh, well, she behaves this way because of that thing that happened to her." 

Easy to see in someone else, much more difficult to see in oneself.

When I did that happiness course, I found out that my overriding positive personality trait is gratitude. 

But I could have told you that.  

I am deeply grateful for this career I get to keep because of readers like you. I'm grateful that book sales provide a roof over my head and put food on the table. I am grateful to have a loving and supportive partner who welcomes personal growth rather than being intimidated by it. And I'm grateful for all the resources I've been able to access that cost only my time and effort.

The other day, I said to my partner, "This time last year, I thought I was going to lose you. With all my hormonal changes and mood swings, I didn't think you'd stay with me--and I couldn't have blamed you, if you'd left. But with all the therapy and meditation, I feel so much calmer. Is it just me, or have I changed?"

He assured me that the change has been tremendous. I guess I didn't need him to tell me that, but it's always nice to get positive feedback from someone you hold in high esteem.

Now I just need to work on being one of those people I hold in high esteem.

The work is never done. 

Capture the Bride #KU #DarkRomance #NewRelease

Tessa is two days away from marrying the wrong guy. What will it take to save her from a life of misery?

When Alec, Tessa’s ex, shows up out of the blue and begs her not to marry Sean, she brushes him off. Sean is the most romantic guy she’s ever met. So what if her friends aren’t so hot on him? It’s her future. It’s her decision.

Not as far as Alec is concerned. When Tessa won’t listen to reason, he takes matters into his own hands. He won’t stand idly by while Tessa makes the biggest mistake of her life.

Will Tessa change her mind before it’s too late? Or will Alec make the choice for her?

Find out in Capture the Bride, a new dark romance novelette from Giselle Renarde.

At present, Capture the Bride is available for Kindle Unlimited subscribers to read for free.

Capture the Bride is available for purchase through:

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085PXT9X1?tag=dondes-20
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B085PXT9X1
Amazon CA https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B085PXT9X1
Amazon AU https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B085PXT9X1
Amazon DE https://www.amazon.de/dp/B085PXT9X1

Apocalypse of the Self: #Queer #Identity and #Aging

When I was a teenager, older adults warned me that no matter how old you get, you always look into the mirror expecting to see your eighteen-year-old self.

My eighteen-year-old self isn't all I expect to see.

There are so many layers to the person I think of as ME.

Most salient is my queer identity.

I don't think I'd heard the word QUEER used in an empowering way to describe one's own sexuality until my final year of university. I'd been kicked out of a psycholinguistics course because I didn't have the prerequisites. The university notified me by post, except they sent the letter to my mother's address--and I didn't live there.

By the time I discovered I'd been kicked out of my class, it was too late to pick up another course.

I wouldn't be graduating with my cohort. I needed to take a summer course if I wanted to convocate in the fall.

To complicate matters, I'd already secured a full-time job. I would be working for the same company where I'd worked part-time throughout most of my university years.

So I needed an evening summer class to accommodate my new job.

I'd shied away from taking LGBT courses in university. I felt like taking those courses meant committing to an aspect of myself I wasn't fully ready to embrace at that stage. But when one of the only appealing evening courses during the summer happened to be an LGBT course, it sort of felt like the universe guiding me gently toward my identity.

Gently, but firmly.

During the course of that course (which changed names three times that summer--I have no idea what it ended up being called), I felt like I'd found my people, and found myself. Hearing the lecturers talk about queer identities was both enlightening and empowering.

I still shied away from calling myself queer, because I didn't feel "qualified." Which is stupid, but it's easy to feel that way--and it was even easier to feel that way back when I was in university. There's a ridiculous amount of gatekeeping that goes on in queer culture.

In time, I adopted my queer identities. Not only is my sexual identity QUEER, but my gender is, as well. Even before I'd embraced my genderqueer identity, I pushed back against the gender binary by dressing androgynously. Androgynous attire felt like a safety net, for me. That's how I showed the world I wasn't the person they wanted me to be.

Another aspect of identity I've clung to throughout my adult life has to do with living under the poverty line and setting myself apart from "rich people." I grew up in a "bad neighbourhood," and that's stayed with me even after 15 years of living in a "good neighbourhood."

A couple weeks ago, I was on my way to a volunteer shift. My work takes place in an office space where people dress well, and so I started dressing well when I went in. My co-workers don't need to know that my business attire came to me in a garbage bag from a clothes horse friend of the family, who generously unloads her old clothes on myself and my sisters. Every garbage bag is like Christmas, particularly because this girl's clothes fit us so perfectly.

Anyway, I was on my way to my volunteer shift this one day when I caught a glimpse of myself in a shop window.

My reflection truly shocked me.

Not only was I no longer 18, but I didn't look poor, I didn't look queer (whatever that means), I didn't look androgynous--I didn't look the way I felt.

I looked like a yuppy.

I looked like the kind of person who goes to their office job and comes home to a husband and kids.

How do I know who I am if I look like someone I'm not?

The image I'm used to seeing in the mirror is a greasy-haired androgynous kid in dirty, ripped clothes. I'm used to being mistaken for homeless. Not anymore. I dress better than I used to when I leave the house. And, because my "nice" clothes are femme, that means I'm presenting femme more often than before.

Not just that, but I'm no longer in a relationship with a woman--a relationship that outwardly validated that, yes, I am queer.  Just look at who I'm dating!  She PROVES my queerness!

The partner I have now is a man, so anyone observing us as a couple would make the assumption that I'm straight.

My sexual identity isn't reliant upon the gender of my partner. I can be queer with a partner of any gender, or without any partner at all. Queer is who I am. However, when you look like you're cis and you look like you're straight and you look like you're financially secure, the world treats you a hell of a lot better than it does when you look homeless and queer.

So, if the world is suddenly a more hospitable place, why am I complaining?

I don't know. It just doesn't feel like me. It isn't me. I look like something I'm not. And I'm rattled by that.

The mirror doesn't reflect the me I see inside. But the truly troubling thing is that, aesthetically, what I see in the mirror... I actually kind of like it.

Based on a Former Life: #Writing #AgeGap #DaddyFetish #Erotica

I don't tend to keep on top of things.

That's especially true when it comes to the daily drama of the romance world.

But I happened to notice everybody freaking out about a chart-topper on Amazon. Apparently this book featured father/daughter incest and underage sex. It's since been removed from sale because both of those things go against Amazon's terms of service. This book's also been banned by Smashwords, and Smashwords will sell you books about getting fucked by your mom, a bull, and the family dog. It takes some effort to get your book bounced from their system.

Bottom line is you can't publish books featuring sex with minors. Ever. Anywhere. This is what we've all agreed to as authors.

So that whole thing happened.

But it didn't stop there.

Because after that incident, I started seeing authors hating on other books... books wherein the main characters were not related or underage.  Books about legal adults engaged in consensual sex.

Hoo boy.  Here we go.

Remember 10+ years ago, when authors supported each other?  Helped each other?  I do.  I was blown away by the kindness and generosity other writers showed me when I was started out in this business.

Now what do we get?  Authors tearing each other down.  Authors scratching each other's eyes out.  Petty jealousies that turn into witch hunts.  That's what I've been seeing lately.

After the rapey child molester book was taken off the market, I saw authors calling for other books to be taken down too--pretty much any book featuring an older man and younger woman. Consenting adults with an age gap.  Everything must go.

Look, I'm kind of glad nobody in that romance world really knows or cares I exist (or they've hated me for so long that it's not even fun anymore), because I've written a ridiculous amount of age gap fiction and I'm not going to stop because a bunch of angry authors think it's "disgusting." 

Why do I so often write about older men and younger women?  Because I lived it.  You know this about me. You know I was involved with one of my high school teachers, a much older man, a very married man.  I've told this story so many times you're bored just thinking about it. So am I.

Through fiction writing, I'm able to process my experiences as a teen and young adult.  I'm able to think about that time in my life from every angle.  I'm sure that, in reading my fiction, readers who've shared similar experiences are able to process their shit too. I recently heard someone say there's no "junk food" when it comes to media consumption. Even if you think of some stupid TV show you watch as a guilty pleasure, it changes you.  Everything we consume (books, movies, TV, music) works inside our brains in ways we're not even aware of.

Okay, so one thing that attracted me to the older man I was involved with was that... this might sound a little strange... but he was just so sad.  Like, really really sad. Existential ennui, depression, suicidal thoughts. I was so drawn to that.  I just wanted to make him happy.  I wanted to use my body to make him happy.

I was drawn to other qualities, too.  He seemed so knowledgeable and wise. Nobody in my family had gone past high school, and he had a MASTER'S degree. Like, wow, so educated! *swoon* Smart and sad. Shut up and take my virginity!

Did I think our relationship was fucked up while it was happening? Of course not!  I'd have gone to the ends of the earth to defend the choices we made.  Looking back, do I think it was fucked up?  Hell yes. But does that mean I regret my life choices? No, not at all. And does that mean I shouldn't fictionalize my personal experiences? No. It's my life. I'm gonna use it in my books.

"Fine, write your life--but depressing litfic only. It shouldn't be presented in a positive light."

Haha. That was the hottest sex of my life. You think I'm not going to present it that way? My libido's waning by the minute and I very often wish there was some way to recapture those delicious years.  I can't recapture them in life.  I can in fiction.

Pretty much everything I write is massively fucked up.  I'd be bored if it wasn't.  If a bunch of other authors hate me because I write taboo erotica or student/teacher sex or adultery or age play, let them hate. I stopped caring a long time ago.

Except I guess I do still get riled up, or why would I be writing these words?

And why would I have decided to post my new adult novella CHERRY for free at Wattpad?

CHERRY is one super-smutty book.

It's about an 18-year-old girl who falls for her father's best friend on vacation. It's pretty much exactly the kind of book a lot of authors seem to want to burn these days. What I keep thinking is: if a book doesn't appeal to you, DON'T READ IT.  It's obviously not for you. It's probably for the person who's been through this--who's going through it now or who went through it when they were younger.  Or maybe it's just for the reader who wants to peep some hot sex between an older man and a young woman. Why so much judgement? Sheesh.

Anyway, today I posted the first chapter from CHERRY at Wattpad so people can read it for free. I'm going to post a new chapter every day until I'm out of chapters. More info here.

People who find this kind of book offensive can skip it. Or hate-read it. I really don't care.  I'm making CHERRY available FOR FREE for the people who want to read it--to process their experiences... or just to get off.

https://www.wattpad.com/456958988-cherry-chapter-one

Congratulations! You've Discovered the Mother's Day Depression Post!

The more I write about grief and depression, the more followers I lose. So why do I do it? Why do something that seems, on the surface, pretty bad for my writing career? Because I'm finally realizing there's truth to that old saying I never used to believe: if your work helps just one person, it's worth doing. Even if fair-weather fans bail, I'm here for YOU, you dear, darling ONE person who needs this post.

Yes, it might be a bummer! Read it if you want, don't if you don't. I'm not forcing anyone. Do what's right for you.

I want to talk about Mother's Day, because it's tomorrow, and it's on my mind.

As you probably know, my grandmother died six months ago. My cousin died just a couple months before her. I think that's all the background you need.

This'll be the first Mother's Day since my grandma's death, and it's hitting me hard. Not just my grandmother's absence (and I do miss her hugely), but the feeling that my family is disintegrating without her. She was the glue. She was the matriarch. Without her, how do we hold together?

For the past ten or twenty years, the whole family's been assembling at my grandmother's house on Mother's Day. It was never a planned event, like Christmas and Grandma's birthday, which were the other two occasions on which you could be sure to see all the aunts, uncles, cousins, babies. Everybody just sort of showed up at Grandma's house because she was the mother of the family. Where else would we spend Mother's Day?

My grandmother never wanted a "final resting place." She didn't believe in that sort of thing. So she doesn't have one. I really wish she did, because I want to visit her, especially on a day like Mother's Day. Although, that's the whole reason she didn't want a gravesite: she wouldn't be there, so why would we waste our time going there to see her?

Why? Because there's nowhere else to go...

I watched this TV show called Seatbelt Psychic, where a ride share driver who is also a medium does readings while he's driving people places. One thing he said was that our dead loved ones are always around us. It really upset me to hear that, because all I could think was: if they're around me, why can't I feel them?

I can never feel them. All I feel is alone.

Perhaps I shouldn't feel alone. I do have family. I have my mother and my siblings. That's who I'll be spending Mother's Day with. And I do feel fortunate, especially as a queer person, to have a solid relationship with my family. I know I'm lucky to have more siblings than a lot of people do, these days. A big family is nice. That's why I want to spend special occasions with my many, many aunts and uncles and cousins and their children.

After the death of my cousin this summer, I found out that he looked forward to our family gatherings as much as I did. They were a high point on his calendar. You make so many assumptions about other people's lives, you know? You assume they've got all this cool stuff going on. I'm sure people think that about me, too, that I've got this cool queer life doing cool queer stuff. The truth is that I look forward to returning library materials. I look forward to chatting with friendly cashiers. I don't have much going on, and depression steals your will to seek out new things to do.

My cousin was depressed. That's something else I didn't know about him. I didn't know that until after he died.

Sweet asked why I don't organize a big family event for Mother's Day, if I want one so badly. It's a nice idea, but it would have required more energy than I currently have available. Took me two weeks just to pin down my siblings. Maybe next year I'll be more emotionally stable. Maybe then I'll be able to take initiative. Then again, part of me just wants to be a kid (a 40-year-old kid...) who shows up at the party and doesn't have to do any of the organizing.

I love my family. I don't want us to fall apart. But, my mental health being what it is, I don't know how to keep us together.

A Threesome for Christmas: #Holiday #MMF #Menage #Erotic #Romance #Audiobook

We're getting a threesome for Christmas this year!

A Threesome for Christmas
Holiday Menage Erotic Romance Audiobook
by Giselle Renarde

Cathy takes care of everyone else’s needs. This Christmas, who will take care of hers?

Enter Jeremy, the young tenant who lives in her basement, and Vance, the rugged handyman who makes Cathy weak in the knees.

If anyone knows how to look after Cathy, it’s these two guys!

Cozy up and listen in!



Get your copy from:
Audible US
Audible UK
...and many other retailers and streaming systems!

If you can't get enough audio erotica, become my patron for erotic stories every Friday, written and narrated by me!

Mothers and Daughters and Love Again: A Second Chance #Romance Short

With Mother's Day coming up next weekend, my mom is on my mind more than ever. My grandmother, who always said she'd die in her house, has just moved into a retirement home. It's a big surprise and my mom is having a hard time with it.

My mom is just... sad. Really sad.

I haven't been visiting my mom enough lately, or even calling her as often as I should, so I'm making a concerted effort to spend more time with my mother. And to listen better. Funny, I was trained in Active Listening when I worked in a shelter for women and children escaping domestic violence, but I haven't often put those skills to use in my personal life.

So I'm making an effort to listen with more compassion during this tough time for my mother. The family is in transition. There's a lot going on, a lot of messy stuff, siblings divided into factions, arguments about money, the kind of things I never thought would happen in my family. It's hard on everyone, but my mother is a particularly sensitive person. She takes these things to heart.

When I came across my sweet romance story Love Again, there was a mother/daughter aspect to it that touched me deeply. The main character is an older woman who lives with her youngest daughter, a teen who encourages her mom to start dating again.

Because of the mother/daughter angle, I thought now would be the perfect time to publish Love Again.

Not just that, but I want to give everyone who needs a good dose of sweet romance an opportunity to warm their heart this week. That's why I've made Love Again available for free at certain retailers, like Smashwords and Kobo. The price will go up after Mother's Day, so consider it my gift to you.

You can find Love Again for sale at multiple retailers, and for free at some until Mother's Day (that's May 13th, 2018 in case you need to run out and buy some flowers for a certain someone).

Get Love Again at Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/823770
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/love-again-a-second-chance-romance-short
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=WoNZDwAAQBAJ
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CV3R5BB?tag=dondes-20

Love Again is a second chance romance short previously published by Untreed Reads. It appeared in the first edition of my collection Ugly Naked People. Now you can read it on its own as an ebook. Enjoy!

Erotic Older Women: The Complete Collection is Now Available!

Have I got a treat for you!

Remember my Erotic Older Women series of erotic anthologies? Well, they're now available in one collection. You can buy the paperback, you can buy the ebook--the choice is yours. More than twenty short stories in total: lesbian erotica, menage, BDSM, public sex, toys galore, kinky stuff, sexual fantasies. Lots of literary erotica starring older women. Senior sex with loving partners, age difference erotica with eager young lovers. This book's got it all!

Erotic Older Women
The Complete Collection
by Giselle Renarde

Erotic older women prove it’s never too late for new experiences! In this superbundle of three erotica anthologies, explore older women’s wild, lesbian and kinky desires. From group sex to spanking to sex at the office, we catch older women enjoying forbidden fantasies over the course of more than twenty sexy stories. Whether they’re getting amorous with long-term partners or younger lovers, the women in these stories delight in carnal encounters. Enter a world of enjoying aging bodies in Erotic Older Women: The Complete Collection!

There are oh-so-many places to purchase the Erotic Older Women collection. Here are just a few:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NBWO4M3?tag=dondes-20
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/697728?ref=GiselleRenardeErotica
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=1NzxDQAAQBAJ

BN: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/erotic-older-women-giselle-renarde/1125512833?ean=9781542663045
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/erotic-older-women-the-complete-collection
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1197165732

A1Ebooks: http://www.a1ebooks.com/book.htm?pr=11718
Excitica: http://www.excitica.com/index.php/erotic-older-women-the-complete-collection.html
Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/shop/giselle-renarde/erotic-older-women-the-complete-collection/ebook/product-23035438.html

My First Christmas as a Married Man's Mistress

You know what's a great idea? Writing an erotic romance about an adulterous relationship.

Just kidding! It's a stupid idea, unless you like throwing your time down the toilet. Nobody buys adultery erotica. I'm not counting hotwife/wife watching stuff, because yes I know that sells like hotcakes. That's what I SHOULD have written if I wanted to sell copies and make money.

But I didn't know that when I started writing back in 2006. I didn't know what the market wanted. I barely knew what the market WAS. I just wrote about what was going on in my life, and at that time my decade-long affair with a married man was spiraling to a close.

I spent a good portion of my adult existence as a married man's mistress, so why wouldn't I write about it? That's what I figured. I had no idea adultery was the new taboo (and not in a good way). I wrote an entire short story collection (Audrey and Lawrence) about that relationship. What a waste of time. For the record, I still love those stories... but that's just me.

"My First Christmas as a Married Man's Mistress" is another adultery-themed book I stupidly wrote. It was first published in 2010 by lyd Alterotica and, at that time, was titled "A Mistress' Christmas." The publisher folded last year, as I've mentioned here before, but I didn't rush right out to republish this one because... what's the point when nobody's gonna buy it?

How's that for a defeatist attitude? That's me. I love my work but I have zero confidence in my ability to sell it.

So that's my marketing spiel. (HA!)

"My First Christmas as a Married Man's Mistress" is available again as an ebook. It's nothing like most erotic romance out there, but you can say that about most of my work. You can count on me to be different. But this one.... this one is super-different:

Giselle knows how hard it is to find a good Christmas gift for a married man. She wants to give him everything, but where would he put it? Sometimes the best place to hide a secret is in plain sight…

“This is not just one story, but many stories, many little fictions fastened together by a larger tale of forbidden love. While the little fictions are just that—thrilling narratives I wrote one Christmas as a special gift for my lover—the larger fiction is true. It is the tale of my lover’s gift to me, mine to him, and the gift we shared between us.”

Originally published as A Mistress’ Christmas, My First Christmas as a Married Man’s Mistress is a strange and dreamy holiday trip through one young woman’s illicit love affair.

Now Available from:
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/492105
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PGS5U06
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00PGS5U06
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id940112926
BN: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-first-christmas-as-a-married-mans-mistress-giselle-renarde/1120728872?ean=2940046315882&itm=1&usri=2940046315882
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/book/246247770/My-First-Christmas-as-a-Married-Man-s-Mistress

Also available from other retailers

A #FreeRead for you Voyeurs of my Family Life

Some of you lovely people really love my life. You love hearing about my life, I should say. I enjoy the nitty-gritty of other people's family lives, too, so I totally understand. That's why there's this:

Okay, so remember a couple weeks ago when I was out of town? "In the woods" I kept saying.  Well, I was on vacation with my mom and my siblings. Away from the internet, away from cell service, but also away from my girlfriend. Because nothing's ever complete until I've shared it with Sweet, I wrote letters home to her every day.

And when I got back I realized some of you voyeurs of my family life would probably be interested in reading them.

So I bundled them up, electronically, and published them as an odd little book called "A Week in the Woods with Family: Ramblings of an Author in Cottage Country." If my blog posts are never enough for you and you want to delve even deeper inside me (?) then this is the book for you.

Did I mention it's free?

Yeah, it is. But not for long. Now through Sunday, you can grab it for nothing at Amazon:

Amazon.com
Amazon Canada
Amazon Australia
Amazon UK

Don't delay! Read me today!

Here's the blurb (it's kind of weird trying to blurbify your summer vacation, but there it is):

What happens when five completely mature adults spend a week together at a cottage? No, it’s not the plot of a family comedy, dramedy, or reality show. It’s the situation you’ll see played out before your very eyes in “A Week in the Woods with Family.”

In this intimate portrait of real life events, celebrated author Giselle Renarde pens a fine series of letters home from the woods. Alternating between humorous, heart-wrenching, mundane, mouth-watering, board-gaming, wildlife-spotting and much more, these in-depth communications to her cat-minding sweetheart are part secret confession, part reflection on writing, part letter home from camp.

Join Giselle and her family in the woods as they take to the lake, run from friendly foxes and adjust to one another’s very special quirks. In cottage country, the dull moments are the ones to remember.

Get it from Amazon right now!

Bestseller in Adult Children of Alcoholics: My Diary, LIKE IT'S 1999

Diary of a Teenager in Love with a Teacher

Hard to believe, but as I write this blog post, my diary "LIKE IT'S 1999: Diary of a Teenager in Love with a Teacher" is ranked #2 in Kindle > Recovery > Adult Children of Alcoholics at Amazon.

Never thought I'd see the day one of my books became a self-help bestseller. I kinda feel like Brian in that episode of Family Guy--you know the one--where he writes some bullshit piece of crap and then has to shovel his own hype.

I won't be hype-y about LIKE IT'S 1999. Primarily because it's not a self-help book.

OR IS IT?

It isn't.  It's a diary.  It's my diary from 1999, when I was reading all the other books in the Adult Children of Alcoholics category (well, not those books in particular, but books like them) and struggling, alone, to heal my poor damaged inner child.

If you want a textbook Adult Child of an Alcoholic, you're lookin' at me.  In that sense, my diary can easily be read as a case study. Me at 18, in love with a 50-year old man. Me at 18, in love with a MARRIED 50-year-old man.  Who happens to be my teacher.  Let's ask the professionals to weigh in on my life...

If you're an adult child of an alcoholic and you see my book on that bestsellers list and ask, "Hmm... should I buy that?" my answer is yes.  Yes, you should.  When I was a younger person, particularly when I was a child and teen, I would have given anything to know that there was someone out there who shared similar experiences.  I was a walking, talking ball of shame.  For so much of my childhood, I knew I had a secret, but I had no idea other people had that secret, too.

That's why I think you should buy my diary--to share my experience. Or to analyze and judge me.  The choice is yours.

But if you're buying my book because you're an adult child of an alcoholic and you need help, I would advise you to also select at least one of the other books in that category--like, an ACTUAL self-help book--and buy it as well.  Pick one that appeals to you in tone and in scope. I truly hope you'll find peace with some of the same issues I know all too well.

I've selected a few books from Amazon's Adult Children of Alcoholics category to showcase here. I haven't read any of them, so I can't tell you which are useful for whom (although I hope they're all helpful for everyone!): 

After the Tears: Helping Adult Children of Alcoholics Heal Their Childhood Trauma

Jane Middelton-Moz (Author), Lorie Dwinell (Author)

The trauma and grief of growing up in an alcoholic or addicted family create a lifetime of baggage. If you grew up in an addicted family, the dysfunction that permeated every aspect of your childhood may have seemed 'normal,' and you may not even realize the level of affect alcohol still has on your adult life—whether or not you drink.

 If you are one of the millions of Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOAs), the cost of your childhood pain can be unbearable. You may have learned how to 'survive,' but are you 'living' your life? Do you fear normal conflict? Do you blame yourself when something goes wrong—even when it isn't your fault? Are you a chaos junkie? Or do you just fear relationships because they are too difficult or too painful?

 Having devoted much of their careers to working with ACOAs, therapists Jane Middelton-Moz and Lorie Dwinell now take a deeper look into the origin and cost of childhood pain, as well as the grief resolution process that is integral to recovery. This revised and expanded edition of their groundbreaking 1986 hit After the Tears discusses the latest research and offers insights on living a good life despite a dysfunctional childhood by tackling issues such as intimacy, sibling relationships, codependency, breaking the alcoholic pattern, building a relationship with the inner child, forgiveness, and opening a window to spirituality.

http://www.amazon.com/After-Tears-Children-Alcoholics-Childhood-ebook/dp/B004GUSDQS/ref=zg_bs_156549011_12


The Complete ACOA Sourcebook: Adult Children of Alcoholics at Home, at Work and in Love
Janet Woititz (Author), Robert Ackerman (Foreword)

When they were first released in the 1980s, Janet Woititz's groundbreaking works, Adult Children of Alcoholics, Struggle for Intimacy and The Self-Sabotage Syndrome, provided a new message of hope to adult children who had grown up in the shadow of alcoholic parents. Their message today is as profound and timeless as it was two decades ago.

Now, in this complete collection, readers will learn again the insight and healing power of Janet Wotitiz's words. The Complete ACoA Sourcebook is a compilation of three of Dr. Woititz's classic books, addressing head-on the symptoms of The Adult Children of Alcoholics syndrome and providing strategies for living a normal life as an adult. Readers will find help for themselves: at home, in intimate relationships and on the job. They will discover the reasons for the way they think, believe and feel about themselves; ACoAs often feel isolated, have difficulty in relationships, in the workplace and in feeling good about themselves.

Readers who are familiar with Woititz's work will find wisdom once again in this classic collection. Those new to ACoA will gain fresh insight into their behavior patterns and find an avenue for self-love and healing. Noted ACoA expert Dr. Robert Ackerman, author of the best-selling Perfect Daughters and Silent Sons, provides a foreword and explains why Janet Woititz's message will continue to help millions of readers for generations to come.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-ACOA-Sourcebook-Alcoholics-ebook/dp/B004FN1RLY/ref=zg_bs_156549011_10


The ACOA Trauma Syndrome
Tian Dayton (author)

Growing up in a home where there is addiction or relationship trauma puts a child at great risk for long-term, post-traumatic stress effects that adversely compromise adult relationships. Bestselling author, psychologist, and psychodramatist Tian Dayton examines this trauma through an exploration of the way the brain and body process frightening or painful emotions and experiences in childhood, and she shows how these traumas can become catalysts for unhealthy, self-medicating behaviors including drug and alcohol abuse, food issues, and sex, gambling, and shopping addictions.

Through Dr. Dayton's insightful analysis and thoughtful examination, Adult Children of Alcoholics will learn how and why the pain they experienced in childhood plays out in their adult partnering and parenting, and they will learn how to restore health and happiness through their resilience.

http://www.amazon.com/ACOA-Trauma-Syndrome-Tian-Ph-D-ebook/dp/B008TPUJSG/ref=zg_bs_156549011_20

And, of course, buy my book too! 

It's on sale right now, but a price this low can't last.

Get your copy today: 

http://www.amazon.com/LIKE-ITS-1999-Teenager-Teacher-ebook/dp/B00IZOQLL0

What To Expect When You're Least Expecting it

I made kind of a big announcement yesterday at Oh Get A Grip! and it's time to share the news here at Donuts and Desires:

In 1999, I kept a diary.  It was the only year of my life I kept a diary, and good thing I did because it was tumultuous as hell.  Sure my best friend had cancer and my family was struggling, but when you're in love nothing else matters.

And I was intoxicated. Besotted. Obsessed.

With my teacher...

LIKE IT'S 1999: Diary of a Teenager in love with a Teacher will be available to the reading public March 14, 2014.

This ain't fiction, kids.

It's real life.

It's my life.

Well, Blow Me Down!

I never expected this to happen.  Never in a million years.

Last week, when I clicked the Amazon link to my trans lesbian romance "Friday Night Lipstick," I got quite a shock.  It was charting: #77 in Lesbian Romance.

Wow!

I'm the first to acknowledge that my transgender romance stories are niche products.  I write them because they deserve to be written.  I write them because they reflect my relationship with my girlfriend, who is trans.  I write them because she told me long ago that she found erotica involving transgender characters very frustrating--fetishistic in a way she found toxic and insulting.  I wanted to write fiction with trans characters and include erotic content she could relate to.

Essentially, I write trans fiction for trans people.  The market isn't huge.  I know that.  And that's why I was so blown away to see this little book in the top 100 lesbian romances on Amazon.

The other reason I was so shocked to see Friday Night Lipstick charting is that my leading ladies are both over fifty.  I didn't think a romance involving women in the 50+ age group would have much appeal, but I couldn't make them younger.  My characters tell me their stories.  You can't make this stuff up.  And when they tell you how old they are, you can't say, "No you're not."

I'm blown away and elated that my little trans book has been so successful... and it's all thanks to you!

Much love to everyone who has purchased a copy of Friday Night Lipstick.

If you'd like to read the first chapter, it's available to read for free right now at D. Renee Bagby Presents First Chapters:  http://drb1stchp.com/2013/08/friday-night-lipstick-by-giselle-renarde/

Get it charting again at Amazon, right here:
http://www.amazon.com/Lipstick-Transgender-Lesbian-Romance-ebook/dp/B00EH4BBGW/ref=dondes-20

Help! I'm an Asshole!

I'm about to make myself look like a big selfish jerk. 

But that's because sometimes I am a big selfish jerk.  Be warned: there might be more honesty in this post than you can handle.  A commenter here on the blog once called me "scary honest."

Yup.

Earlier this week, I tweeted that my girlfriend cancelled our plans because she'd slipped down the stairs and hurt her butt.  I faked sympathy, but yeah... I wasn't feeling it.  Why?  Because we've been together five years and in that time she's cancelled plans on more than five occasions because... "I slipped down the stairs and now my butt hurts."

That's in addition to "I walked into a bookshelf and now my foot hurts" (also this week), "The door blew closed on my hand and now my finger hurts," and a whole host of other "I did something dumb and now some random body part hurts" excuses.

I shouldn't say "excuses"... but it's pretty telling that that's the word I chose.  Almost makes it sound like I don't believe her.  I DO believe her, but I'm not sympathetic.

I feel guilty.  I feel like an asshole.  I feel like a selfish jerk.  She's in pain and instead of reacting like, "Oh, my poor sweetheart!  Let me take care of your poor injured ass," all I can think is: "Are you fucking kidding me?  Again?  Seriously? AGAIN?"

A better person would abandon all sense of self and just be compassionate.  One of my aspirations is to constantly evolve into a more compassionate person, and it's going really well... except where Sweet's concerned.  Because every time she cancels plans (and, honestly, it happens a lot), I tell myself to be concerned about her well-being first and foremost, but... I don't know what's wrong with me... all I can think about is myself. 

I'm not getting what I want, and now I'm a petulant child.  We were supposed to go to the art show, the jazz festival--here, there and everywhere--and we've had these plans for MONTHS and now you're cancelling on me?  Again?  AGAIN?

I don't want to act like a jerk, but I do.  Every. Fucking. Time.

And I can feel it coming when she's about to cancel plans.  I've even started having precognitive dreams (for the first time in my life) about Sweet cancelling plans.  So I know it's coming, and I tell myself, "Don't do it, Giselle.  Don't be an asshole.  Not this time."  But knowing in advance doesn't seem to make a difference.  Every time, I feel hurt and rejected and I react unsympathetically.

Every time.

I'm not even going to try to redeem myself, here.  I'm an asshole.  I'm a jerk.  What I need from you is HELP.  Help!  I want to be a supportive, sympathetic, compassionate partner.  How do I stop being such a jerk?

Thanks and hugs,
Giselle

Over 50? Want to Share Your Views on Sex?

 

Joan Price, author of "Naked At Our Age" and "Better Than I Ever Expected," is writing a new book on sex and aging.

And... she needs YOUR help!

If you're over 50 and you'd like to share your comments with Joan, please visit her blog for more information.  You can either leave your comments at her blog (not here at Donuts and Desires, or she won't see them!) OR you can email her via the link in her post: http://betterthanieverexpected.blogspot.ca/2013/07/your-comments-invited-for-my-new-book.html

And if you're under 50, why not pass the word along to older friends?

Here are some of the topics she rolled around in her blog post, just to get your brain jumping:

• What has changed about your sexuality lately? 
• What new attitudes, experiences, techniques, or resources make sex better? 
• What are the myths and stereotypes about older people and sex, and why are they wrong?
• What challenges do you face personally? 
• Which likes and dislikes have changed? 
• How have your relationships grown -- or failed to grow? 
• What do you desire now that would have surprised your younger self?
• If you could change something, what would it be?
• What do you wonder about other people our age?
• What do you wish our society understood about our sexuality?
• What do you wish you understood about your own sexuality?
• What else would you like me to know? 

Joan's past books have been very well-received.  If you want to be part of something great, here's your chance!  Her blog again is: http://betterthanieverexpected.blogspot.ca/2013/07/your-comments-invited-for-my-new-book.html

Hugs,
Giselle

An Excellent, Approachable Guide to Non-Monogamy

I already wrote a great deal about Tristan Taormino's book Opening Up at Oh Get A Grip! (read my post here: http://ohgetagrip.blogspot.ca/2013/03/opening-up.html) but now that I've actually finished the book, I figured I'd share my Amazon-length review with Donuts & Desires readers.  Here it is:

An excellent, approachable guide to non-monogamy, incorporating a variety of models. Includes interviews with diverse individuals in open relationships, so the reader gets to hear about the joys and challenges of non-monogamy straight from those who are living the life.

Whenever I mention Opening Up to friends, they assume it's sleazy.  It's not.  This book is written in an entertaining and straightforward fashion, but it's not a "how to get a bunch of people into bed" book.  It's about creating a sustainable style of open relationship through negotiation, transparency, and understanding. 

Opening Up speaks across a broad spectrum. Whether you're into BDSM or you're an asexual romantic (or both), your needs are addressed in this book.

I recommend Opening Up highly to anyone. Even if you never have any intention of living non-monogamously, do read Opening Up.  There's something in this book for everyone.

On the Overwhelming Task of Being Single, "Serving Him" and The Golden Ruler

There's only one thing that gets me down about being single* (*single, in the sense of partnered but unmarried and living alone) and it might seem like a minor point.  It certainly isn't something I ever anticipated, but every time it comes up, it hits me--and it hits me fucking hard.

It's the bills.  Visa bills, phone bills, internet, cable, on and on...  So many goddamn bills.

And, actually, it's not the bills themselves.  It's not the act of paying bills.  I'm good at that.  It's the anomalies that overwhelm me. 

Last night, I lost it when I opened my Visa bill and found charges on there that were waaaaay out of whack.  This happens maybe three times a year--the phone bill jumps for no reason, the cable bill gently slides up out of my budgetary region, and I know I need to make a call.  I need to set things straight.

I need to set things straight.  On my own.  Because there's no one here to help me.  There's no one to do it for me.  Accounts are all mine, all in my name.  When something goes wrong, I have to fix it.  On my own.  Always on my own.

Don't cry for me, Argentina.  The truth is, there are worse things in the world.  But, growing up, it always pissed me off that my aunts (on my father's side, not my mother's) made this bleak assumption that I would marry some dude who would work a job so I could stand naked in a kitchen, or however that goes.  It pissed me off because I knew from a young age that a) I was queer, and b) I was feminist.

I didn't need some man to pay the bills.  I could take care of my own damn self, thank you very much.

And I have.  I've taken care of myself for... crikey, a lot of years.  Put myself through school, got an okay job, quit it to be a full-time writer... worked, cooked, clean, brought home the bacon, paid the bills... I've done it all.  I've proven to myself (and all those aunts who don't associate with me anymore anyway) that I'm perfectly capably of supporting my own little household.  I'm independent.  That's all I ever wanted to be.

Until that bill comes in the mail, and I need to call Bell for the fourth time, and I start feeling like I'm going to hyperventilate because no god not another verbal boxing match with customer service...

That's the state I was in when I wrote my story The Golden Ruler, which appears in Rachel Kramer Bussel's D/s anthology Serving Him.  It's pretty obvious, when you read the story.  In that headspace, I would have gladly given over all my personal power to anyone who would advocate on my behalf.

Maybe that's what's at the heart of this matter: I want someone to advocate for me--someone who will stand beside me always and take over when I'm too exhausted to go on.  Maybe, in my heart's mind, that's what marriage represents.  That's what I'm sad to lack: a personal advocate, an ally in all matters.  Someone who will call the utilities when I've had enough.  A true partner.

*sigh*

The Golden Ruler appears in Serving Him: Sexy Stories of Submission.  You can read @raquelita's take on it here: http://www.lustylady.blogspot.ca/2013/02/begging-to-be-spanked-in-golden-ruler.html

Love in the Time of Instant Messenger

Over the past five years, my Sweet and I have spent a lot of time communicating by instant messenger.  At first, I wasn't so hot on the idea.  Thing is, we've got a long distance situation going on here, and we both spend a lot of time at our computers.  IM meant we could multitask (not my forte) and get some work done while chatting.  It's like being in the same space without being in the same room.

A few years ago, I wrote a short story called "Love in the Time of Instant Messenger."  It appears exclusively in my anthology My Mistress' Thighs, and incorporates a lot of chat-speak  But it leaves out something crucial: all the misunderstandings that come out of (mis)communicating textually. 

On IM, Sweet and I can't "hear" each other properly and it leads to a lot of arguments we would never have in person or by phone.  Tone is missing.  We mishear each other all the time.  We drive ourselves crazy.

Last week, I'd had enough. 

I don't remember what our petty argument was about, and it doesn't even matter.  When we IM-argue, it's water off my back, but the negative emotions impact Sweet really deeply.  She can't sleep until we've resolved our differences.  And the resolution usually involves a phone call where she's like "this is what I meant" and I'm like "yeah, me too" and we realize we agreed all along.  We were arguing for no reason.  If we could hear each other's intonation from the get-go, we'd never have argued.  We both hear the opposite of what the other person's saying. It's nuts.  And it happens all the time.

So on Friday, I said (typed), "No more IM. From now on, we communicate by phone or in person."

Sweet wasn't thrilled.  It's only Monday as I write this, but I feel really itchy and... what's the word?  Oh right--withdrawal.  I'm so used to sharing HOURS of my day with her.  I'm used to feeling like she's right there beside me.  This alone-ness is unsettling and I don't like it.  Sweet and I spent two hours together today, and I still feel like something's missing because I'm writing this blog post without her little messages popping up on my screen.

I don't know, kids.  Was cold turkey the best solution?  Should we find a way to repair the instant messenger rift, or just accept that we don't have the skills to communicate effectively that way?  I'm torn.

But I'll tell you what I did tonight, which I haven't done in ages: I wrote my sweetheart a love letter.  On paper.  With a pen.  Earlier today, when we talked face to face like real human beings, she told me that when she first learned to write in school, she had an ink well in her desk and had to use a scratchy nibbed pen.  (Is my girlfriend old, or what!?)

Anyway, I wrote my love letter with a ballpoint pen, and so enjoyed taking my time, finding the right words, expressing myself effectively.  It felt much less nebulous than IM.  Writing on paper was a really grounding, emotional experience.

Does anyone else find technology impedes their ability to communicate effectively?

Hugs,
Giselle