MONDAY MAGIC - Tanith Davenport

Writing as a man

When I write, I tend to stick to one POV, which is generally female for ease of identification. However, the story and themes I was using in The Hand He Dealt meant a second POV was needed - that of Astra's boyfriend Harry, who unsurprisingly is a man.

This was a challenge for me. Not being a man, I have no idea what a cock or a prostate feels like from the other end. Researching this issue is also tricky. I tried asking the fella about it and got "Uh... it feels good?" Although, having read part of the book (I don't think I'll ever get him to finish the thing) he told me that a comment I'd made about how "he couldn't feel it, not really" - in reference to my heroine tonguing her boyfriend through his boxers - was probably unrealistic since, once hard, every nerve ending in the body is directed into the penis, or something to that effect.

My other source of information was slash fiction, which I used to read a lot of online. Depending on the story, it can be very mild or extremely graphic, and since I don't read femmeslash my reading was focussed entirely on men. It was certainly helpful and gave me plenty of ideas for prostate-related moments, but for the most part it does have one potential flaw - the vast majority of what I read was written by women.

Which can result in that character I call the Girly Man.

To quote Minotaur's Sex Tips for Slash Writers:

One thing to be wary of is writing one partner as the "wife". Men, even gay men, are trained to be less emotionally open, less demonstrative. Yes, we do feel, and even occasionally cry, but gay men are every bit as emotionally closeted as their straight counterparts. Think of all the troubles you have in your relationships with men, and then double them. Instead of just one partner being distant, uncommunicative and emotionally stunted, both are.

Obviously in my case I wasn't writing about a gay relationship, but my concern was Harry losing his masculinity. Harry is a fairly emotional man, in comparison with Ash who is much more the "emotionally closeted" type noted by Minotaur, but it was still important that he remain true to character and not become tainted by my own female perspective.

Is this a challenge for other writers? How does everyone else write as a man while keeping an authentic voice?

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Thanks so much for joining us today Tanith!

I have to agree it is a challenge writing from the male POV. I am lucky to have 5 males in my house to draw on. I often will run a thought or dialogue phrase passed them to check if a guy would think or say that. It's quite helpful..I mean, they are so very different to us in the way they think. I also think that sometimes we want to read about how we WANT a man to be rather than how they are...sure it's unrealistic , but it's a nice fantasy LOL

You can buy Tanith's fabulous book by clicking on the cover!

The Magic of Katherine Gorge

Okay...this place stars in numerous travel shorts, ads and photography coffee table books. In short, it's spectacular. We took a cruise to get the best views and even Matt, my 15 yo wasn't bored.

Anyway, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Week 2 - the adventure continues....

Okay, first of all I must apologize for the delay in posting more about my holiday. Don't you just hate it when you get back from a vacation and it's like jumping back into the whirlpool exactly where you jumped off! Funny isn't it! Life does not stop when we take a break...it just keeps on keeping on and changing from lay back and relaxed to busy and stressed unfortunately can happen in a heartbeat. Oh well, I am coping better now than I did when I went away, so that is a plus!

Now for some more holiday talk. That will get me back into holiday mode for sure!

Week 2 we left the red beauty of Broome and continued our journey through the Kimberlys. First stop was a small town called Derby. For those who are interested, it is pronounced the American way...not the British way. We found that out quite quickly as the locals love to remind people! The pier was a highlight, and also the wonderful seafood restaurant we ate dinner. The apartment we stayed in was isolated in town behind a gallery and was opposite the local pub. It was incredibly noisy until all hours due to a few locals having a few disagreements out front until 2 am. Luckily for us we were only there one night...but despite that, the scenery was again spectacular..

Here is a shot of the sunset from the restaurant on the pier..



Just outside of Derby is the Prison Boab Tree...it's a large boab that is hollow and was used by unscrupulous pearlers who would kidnap the local aborigines and keep them chained inside until they promised to dive for them for pearls. It was also where the police locked up locals who were drunk and disorderly. The aborigines believe spirits inhabit the boabs, so it is now a sacred site. Thank goodness times have changed..



From Derby we headed to Fitzroy Crossing. On the way we stopped at Geiki gorge. Notice the whiteness on the bottom half of the rocks? That is where the water level is during the wet season! Amazing to think that where I was walking is flooded at least another 12 metres of water for half the year. From there we journeyed to Hall's Creek. Home of the butcher that boasts "We sell tough, tasteless, fatty meat and iffy seafood at city prices plus freight etc etc". I kid you not..this is their sign!



Just outside of Kununurra is the Hidden Valley...full of magnificent rock formations and nick named the Mini Bungle Bungles (the real Bungle Bungles are about 10 times the size and you have to be flown in or use a 4 WD which we didn't have)




And of course any visit to Kununurra is not complete without a visit to Argyle Lake. the largest inland body of water in Australia. It was dammed to aid in the power sources for the area, for irrigation and for use in the Argyle Diamond mine.



Alrighty next post will be the Katherine Gorge which deserves a whole blog post to itself....

Have a great week everyone!

Maggie X

Week One of the BIG HOLIDAY!

Broome, Western Australia

We flew in after getting up at the ungodly hour of 4.30am and then immediately gained 2 hours, which meant we would be ready for bed at 6pm!

The first thing we noticed was how small this place is. Can you believe there are no traffic lights? And pedestrians have to give way to vehicles?

What did we see? Beautiful sunsets, some amazing pearls and the most colorful dirt I have ever seen...I kid you not...the dirt is orange and bright!

Broome is famous for a few things, but the most spectacular event is the special phenomenom that occurs each full moon. It's called the "Staircase to the Moon". The moon rises over the water and at full moon, the effect of the sun setting at the same time causes a strange light to show that resembles a staircase. My piccies don't do it justice, but you will get the idea.

Here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea of how beautiful this place is:
The mud flats over Town Beach, Broome. Even the sand at the beach is red!

Another beautiful sunset on Cable Beach...*sigh*

The port of Broome...where the fisheries and wildlife department monitor the fishing industry to preserve the fish stock for the future.


The Staircase to the Moon...difficult to see, but there is a light stream under the moon that looks like stairs...you had to be there!

Next post...Derby and Geiki Gorge...

I'm going on Holidays!

Okay folks...I'll be gone for three weeks. My husband,my youngest son and I are travelling to North Western Australa to Broome, and then driving to Darwin. I am so looking forward to it!

I'm taking the trusty laptop so I hope to have some wonderful stories on it when I get back.

Everyone take care while I am gone!

I will be checking here at least once a week if I can.