On Women and Sex

This month I'm working on an article about married women and sex.

Men often complain their wives don't have the same sex drive as they'd had before they got married or during the first year after the ring was placed on the woman's finger.

Many women complain about not wanting to have sex with their spouse at all, because of a lack of emotional intimacy. I've spoken to many of my friends and each of them have a similar story to tell.

For this article though, I want to touch on the feelings, concerns, and actions of people I don't actually know. I want to see if everyone is like this, or if it's just a few select people.

I need as many women as possible (either married or formerly married) to truthfully fill out a questionnaire. I don't need or want names or locations, just truthful responses to the sometimes touchy questions. I'm hoping for at least 100 women to fill out the questionnaire before I begin writing the article.

I could really use all you wonderful blog readers' help. Even if you're not married or have never been married, maybe you know someone who is. Pass along my email to them and I'll send them the questionnaire.


If you're interested send an email to rsemeline (at) gmail (dot) com, with the word "questionnaire" in the subject line.

Please have the questions completed no later than December 15, 2011.

Remember, the answers are completely confidential, and your names will not be shared. Ever.

Thank you in advance for your participation., and please share this post with your friends on twitter, Facebook, and other social media networks.



R.S.

On Fight Scenes and Death

The first things I ever wrote were of darkness and death. Fights filled with smoke, sweat and blood. Terror and torture so detailed the reader was sucked in and had to fight beside the hero to get back out.

The hero always overcomes the circumstances, no matter how brutal and mentally damaging it could be.

After all, it's fiction. If it were real life I wouldn't want any part of it.

Some days the words of violence and battle flow like a river after the Spring Thaw.

Today is not one of those days.

The last week my stream has been more like a wash in the desert. Dry and cracking.

I'm two chapters from the end of the first book in my YA series. The same one I thought I'd finished a month ago, only to decide it had ended too abruptly. I guess that's why it's best to put it away for a while and come back to it later.

At the rate I'm going, I'll still be two chapters from the end when the Munchkin turns four..and I turn... well, I'll get older too.

This is unacceptable to me.

I live for the violence--interspersed with happiness, love, and sexual tension--but over all, I look forward to writing the battles.

Power amazes me.

Strength enthralls me.

I blame it on being married to a Marine--my very own Super Hero.

I've never been to a war zone, but I can write a scene like I'd been next to a Marine on the front lines.

Smoke burns my eyes as it blows on the wind, the copper scent of spilled blood clogs my sinuses, and the gritty  taste of desert sand fills my mouth. Gunfire rings in my ears, and the weight of my gear drags at my exhausted body.

Adrenaline is the only thing keeping me awake.

So, why then, can I not write the final battle of the book? It's not even a huge battle just the conclusion to the minor problems of the first part of the story.

It should be a cake walk.

It isn't.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm open to them.

What do you most enjoy writing? What do you do when the words don't come?

R.S.