The Sense Of Sight

She appeared to wilt before his eyes. Expecting her to buckle beneath the weight of her backpack at any moment, he instinctively reached out to offer support. But before he could make contact, she stiffened and literally jerked herself backward, out of his reach. In the process, J.T. caught a brief glimpse of discoloration high on one cheek bone which had been concealed by the wide lenses of her dark glasses.

He clenched his jaw and choked back the words to keep from asking a perfect stranger the question uppermost in his mind . . . and none of his business.

“Can you suggest any place in the area where I might find lodging for a couple of days? It doesn’t have to be on the lake.”

“Sorry,” he answered reluctantly, truly meaning it. It didn’t take a brilliant mind to put two and two together. With his FBI background, he’d picked up on the clues quicker than most: a lone woman hitchhiking; one clearly old enough and intelligent enough to know the risks; the way she constantly glanced over her shoulder; and her skittish, ready-to-bolt demeanor. The most conclusive evidence of all were the dark glasses to conceal bruising, and the long sleeved turtle-necked shirt, on a blistering hot July afternoon. She was mostly like a woman on the run, someone in need of a safe place to hole up for a while.

This one is fairly easy. As a writer you paint a picture of what you see only using words instead of paint. Yet two artists painting the same scene will end up with totally different paintings. One artist picks up all the various shades of color, shadows, highlights, and textures, giving his painting a three dimensional, lifelike effect. While the other artist’s painting is flat. One dimensional. It’s all a matter of perspective and interpretation. The question is, what do we really see? One person might see a tree, while another sees all the various color shades, shadows and textures, the individual leaves, maybe even insects crawling on the bark. It’s the detail that brings depth and dimension to a story, bringing it to life.

Exercise 1: From where you are at this moment, look around the room. What do you see? I see that I really need to get off this computer and do some cleaning. There is a cobweb in the corner, but if I was writing a paranormal it would only add ambiance. There is a bit of a shadow on the ceiling above the TV where I always have a candle burning, most likely created by the smoke from the flame. Look for the shadows and detail.

Grab a pen and paper. Write a description of a room in your house without going into that room first. Don’t cheat. Describe that room as if you were describing it to a reader. Now go into the room you described. Carefully analyze what you are seeing and compare it to your written description. Are there details you missed? Simple things like a pair of earrings on a bedside table, items on the top of a dresser, a curling iron laying on a vanity that was still plugged in, tooth paste spatters on a mirror, unwashed dishes in the kitchen sink, or expired items in a refrigerator. It’s the small, often missed details that add realism.

Exercise 2: Go outside and take a walk or a drive into the country. Make a conscious effort to look for details, colors, the shadows and textures. Pay attention to the individual branches on a tree, the individual leaves with their intricate pattern of veins. Check out houses, especially the old ones. Are they well cared for or neglected with faded, pealing paint, broken windows, sagging, age worn steps? What kind of story does the house tell?

Exercise 3: One of my favorite pastimes – People watching. Go to the mall, the park, or go to someplace like Starbucks. Sit and watch the people. One invaluable writing resource book that I constantly use is an old book on body language. How a person walks, how they carry themselves, their posture, whether or not they make direct eye contact. Are their arms crossed, loose at their sides? Body language will often tell you a lot about a person. Sometimes, actions do speak louder than words.

The sense of sight and sex: It’s common knowledge that sexually, men are more visual, while women tend to be more mental. Nevertheless, there are few women who don’t enjoy looking at a sexy man, clothed or nude. The sense of sight is truly one of our strongest sexual senses.

While some women find sexually explicit photos offensive, there is no denying that they have a physical effect on the body, as do erotic movies, and the written word. Sexually visual images triggers sexual impulses in our brain and our body responds accordingly.

Exercise 4: We all know that sexually explicit photos are easily accessible on the internet. Do a bit of site surfing. Pay close attention to how your body responds to specific photos. Do some images turn you on more than others? Do some turn you off?

Exercise 5: Need an outlet for exercise four. How long has it been since you really looked at your partner’s nude body in a sensual way, made mental note of how various parts react when you caress or kiss? Not only are you aroused by the sight of a nude body but your partner appreciates being appreciated and will respond in kind. Enjoy!

Working to develop your 5 senses and focusing on them while making love will not only enhance your own pleasure, but in the pleasure you give you lover as well.
If you try any of the Seduction Of The Senses exercises and are surprised by the results, please feel free to post a comment.

Until next time, when we explore The Sense Of Taste.

The Sense Of Touch

His hands gripped her and slid them down to his chest. “Touch me, Jane,” he instructed softly.


She needed no further encouragement. Her eyes snapped open, fascinated as she watched the play of her pearl tipped nails as they sifted through the dark hair on his chest. The tickling sensation, created by his slightly course chest hair against her palms, and the feel of his firm muscles which flexed beneath her exploring hands, intensified the heavy feeling growing between her legs.

Did you know the palms of your hands can be an incredible erogenous zone? The feel of a lover’s skin beneath your hands, exploring their entire body to discover which areas are most sensitive. Our skin has nerve endings to beg to be touched and massaged. Touch can be one of our most exciting senses, allowing you to give and receive pleasure all at once.

It’s time to bring slow, foreplay back into your lovemaking. Give your lover a sensual massage. Starting at the neck, work your way down, touching and massaging each body part. Tell your partner why you love the way their body feels and ask them which of your touches gives them the most pleasure. Take extra time exploring your lover’s erogenous zones – the obvious and those special spots that drive them wild. Ask where they like to be touched and how to touch, firm, gentle, a bare breath of a caress. Ask them to tell you how it feels. Focus on the different textures, the tactile sensation against your palms.

Now it’s your turn. Switch roles. Your turn to be the guide. Don’t hesitate to tell your lover what you want.

Next, together, explore each other’s bodies like it was the first time you’ve been together.

Exercise 1: TOUCH the snow or the grass outside, the bark of a tree, your lingerie, your sheets, the warmth of a cup containing something hot, the cool dampness of a glass containing something cold. Close your eyes and focus on how they feel against the palm of your hand. Is it hot, cold, warm, smooth, rough? It is pleasing? Uncomfortable?

If you are really adventurous, try giving the massage with a blindfold. Are the sensations you receive different? More acute? It is said that when one sense is lost, the others become stronger to compensate. Try wearing a blindfold around your home and identifying objects by touch alone. You might be surprised to find that the more you exercise your sense of touch, the sharper it will become.


Until next time when we explore the sense of sight, reach out and touch someone.

Seduction Of The Senses

I am currently working on expanding my next story to go up on Kindle, Seduction Of The Senses, which was originally part of the Tempting Fate Holiday Fantasies collection. While going over the files for this story, I stumbled across an old blog series I'd written several years ago, also called Seduction Of The Senses. This blog series features the five senses and how they apply to the written word, as well as how they are can be used to heighten the lovemaking experience.

I thought it might be a good idea to repost the series, while working on the story. Hopefully you'll find it informative, maybe even helpful.

What draws you into a book and makes you feel you are right there with the characters? Or better yet, into the head of maybe the hero or heroine, sharing their experiences?

First and foremost, it’s well developed characters that evoke emotion from the reader whether it is a character you love or relate to and want them to find happiness, or even possibly someone you hate and want to see justice served in the end.

But there is so much more that goes into drawing you into a book than just telling a good story and developing great characters. Description brings a book to life. Description allows you see what the characters see, hear what they hear, feel what they feel, taste what they taste and yes, even smell what they smell. After I’ve completed the first draft of a book, one entire revision is done to add description, finding places where I can apply the uses of the senses to add depth to a scene.

Anyone ever hear of the old book THE SENSUOUS WOMAN written by “J” way back in the 60’s? A paragraph from the back cover blurb reads: Now “J” reveals her secret, step-by-step program that allows every woman to free her body, train her senses and realize her tremendous feminine capacity for giving and receiving pleasure. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, the book was written as an instruction manual of sorts, designed to bring out the sensual woman in you. The book included many exercises the readers can do to develop and heighten their senses and bring them in to play in lovemaking.

It’s amazing what you can come up with when you are racking your brain for a topic for a blog post and just happen to pick up a dusty old book from your resource stack. Anyway, doing a bit of research, the information I came up with was interesting as well as extensive. Far too much information to work into a single blog post. So, I’ve decided to break it up into five different posts, focusing on one of the five senses, each as used to enhance the written word as well as enhancing your lovemaking.

So called experts say that as a society we’ve become desensitized, our senses dulled.

Lets see what we can do to sharpen things up a bit. Just for fun, I’ll give you a few exercises to try out, exercises designed to heighten each of the five senses.

While this is written primarily with women in mind, you men out there might learn a thing or two about pleasing your woman. It’s never too late to go back to the basics and rekindle the passion in any relationship.

First up will be the Sense Of Touch.

The Phantom Lover now live on Kindle

The Phantom Lover is now live on Kindle. This is the first short story from my Tempting Fate, Holiday Fantasies Collection.

I’m happy to say that this conversion to Kindle went much smoother than the first, valuable learning experience. I pretty much knew what I was doing this time – Yea! Except … while the first cover I did for The Phantom Lover looked great on my computer screen, it did not look so good online, as a Kindle book.

So, I quickly made two other cover possibilities and asked my reader group which cover they preferred. I was pleased to receive several responses in a short amount of time, since I needed to get the cover changed as soon as possible. I’m happy to say that it was my favorite as well.

I can’t begin to express how blessed I am to have loyal readers who have hung in there with me, and supported me during my absence. I love you guys!

Next up will be Detour. Except for reformatting and posting to Kindle, it’s pretty much ready to go. I have to admit that Detour is one of my favorite short stories in the entire collection. Probably because I relate so strongly to the plot, and to Kayla, an older heroine. I’m planning to upload it to Kindle next week. The cover is posted as Coming Soon.

Everything is moving along according to schedule. It feels so good to be back and feeling productive.