When discussing nudity in art a professor once said that one of the more common reasons for nudity is to make the painting universal and timeless. Clothing depicts clearly what culture a character comes from, what class they come from, what era they come from, and even what time of day it might be. Paint your character in a dusky Middle Eastern skin tone and the character could come from any era from any culture from any class that is known to have existed. (There are a few extreme exceptions but the point holds.) Thus "The Creation of Adam" was painted. 
Likewise the setting a character is in can be era, culture, and class defining, or it can be as close to universal. Take a man and a woman in a cafe in a bustling city with horse dung on the streets and electric lights. You could guess with a fair amount of success who will be there, what they are wearing, and where they are in the world. However if a man and woman stand in a small clearing in a scrub forest what do you know about their era? their culture? their class?  It is a universal setting. 
This type of setting has benefits and problems. On the one hand the author is less constrained and if there is no reason to the writer need not expand on these details of class, culture, and era. On the other hand if these details are pertinent the writer must put in quite a bit more world building to bring them to light in these universal settings.

What is your favorite setting?  Is it something specific or more universal?  

This is a beautiful picture of a sunset. Isn't it pretty?
Please ignore the lack of content. 

I have a question for my readers. Is there a social stigma around buying Valentines Day gifts at Walgreens or Rite Aid? 
For those who are not fortunate enough to live in the Pacific Northwest these are basically chain pharmacies that sell a little bit of everything. At the moment they are selling impossibly soft teddy bears, loads of semi-fancy chocolate, and cards with more glitter than a second grade craft fair. It all appears to be fairly good quality merchandise, not too kitschy, but they are a mass produced item that can be bought quickly. So do they carry the stigma of being "cheap" and "uncaring"?  
​

There is a very specific disappointed face that one's little brother gets when he realizes that, yes, you have seen the internet, and that you probably knew all about tween culture before he was born. Been there, seen that, have all the bad jokes. 

Somewhat to this author's surprise the follower count on the Betty Adams Google + page has passed 100 subscribers. Meanwhile the Tumblr account for Betty Adams is approaching 100. In honor of those followers I will be having a series of book giveaways starting on Monday, January 30th. 
There will be three giveaways.
One for the 100+ followers on the Google + page. January 30th.
              -Winner will be drawn from a random number generator based on follower number. 
One for when my Tumblr page reaches 100+. 2nd Monday after the goal is reached. 
              -Winner will be drawn from a random number generator based on follower number.
And finally one for the "Dying Embers" Amazon page. Two weeks after the Tumblr drawing.
              -Winner will be selected at random from those who have left a review. 

​Thank you so much for all of your interest in my works. :) The attention keeps me writing. 

The high pitched scream that came from the next room led one to believe that a small but vocal cat was being electrocuted. Or possibly a tween had just gotten tickets to a Taylor Swift concert. I jumped to my feet and sprinted to the door.
"Is anybody hurt?" I demanded as there were neither cats nor tween girls in the house.
"Bat!" a voice yelled as a tangle of arms and legs swept down the stairs. "Where is the broom?"
"Are you bleeding?" I demanded.
"No. I'm fine. Bat! Broom!" the boy shouted out. 
"Why do you need the broom?" I asked. 
"For protection from the bat that is upstairs!" the boy insisted. 
"You found Batty?" I cried out eagerly. "He didn't die of hunger?"
The room fell silent as all eyes suddenly focused on my suspiciously. I grabbed the broom and gave my most innocent grin. 
"Batty?" Mom demanded dryly.
"I'll just go shoo him outside," I said quickly. "I got this."
​Hi jinks ensued. 

Winter is on the wane in the Northern Hemisphere. Yes, today was two minutes and four seconds longer than the one before. Sunset in Portland, Oregon for example was at exactly five in the afternoon. Seize the day and enjoy the moments of light. 

This is a cat post. A cat post is a sneaky way of keeping blog readers placated when life events conspire to prevent a nice deep analytical post. 
Nice Kitty. His name is Fluffy by the way. 

Weather you are looking to write a compelling fight scene or simply making sure that the money maker that is your mind has a healthy body to live in martial arts is a great way to do that. 
Kung Fu is one way to go about getting into the martial arts. Results may vary and you don't get semi-levitation powers on the first day. 

Next time it is clear go out and look at the sky. Really. Do it. It is a beautiful universe out there.