by K. Osorio-Teamer

Blogger’s Note: Today I put a reminder on my calendar to write my post for the blog. When the reminder came up, I sighed in despair because I knew I didn’t know what to write or work on. The block has a hold on me. Then I read the description.

The Terrans were a small community that traveled throughout Mesoamerica. They were lovers of Earth and nature, and believed that each person was connected to all living things. The essence that lived in every person was bound to nature. In life, this essence is bound in the physical sense. The spirit experiences life through the body. In death, the spirit can experience life through nature. Through the trees, animals, water, and even fire. From the dirt beneath their feet to a light breeze or heavy wind, the Terrans believed their loved ones spoke to them from the next stage of spiritual life. Some families even devoted themselves to particular elements to ensure communication would be possible once the body was gone. These devotions were: 

Water – rain, bodies of water

Air – breath, wind, fans

Fire – flames, embers, lava, candles

Earth – soil, plants, fruits, vegetables, mushrooms

Animals – all animals, big and small, give messages

By: Tony W.

Many alien species be they mammalian, reptilian, insectoid, or some combination purr.

Aliens have large to huge penis’ on average that I’m not sure would actually fit the average human female – or maybe it just written that way.

No matter the physical size difference between a human and her alien they are always able to kiss during missionary.

The vocabulary and phrasing used over different books and authors suggest they read on another.

I wish all authors would stop using the word relish to describe how much they delight in, take pleasure in, etcetera. . . of their partner.

When species of distant worlds use American vocabulary to describe things that “can’t” be translated.

The books where humans have successfully navigated the universe successfully interacting with different species conform to many of the usual romance tropes.

The stories that use the fish out of water trope, where the heroine must learn the language and culture are some of the more interesting stories, especially when you throw in cultural misunderstandings.

Alien romances use many if not all the usual romance tropes they just happen on a different world or spaceship and with a male who is not human.

I don’t think I can state the creative worldbuilding of some authors enough. 

I’m partial to the series based on the mail-order bride trope. A human woman for all the usual reasons and some complicated ones depending on the authors creativity goes to a different planet, space station, ship, whatever to marry a non-human. In these stories we have the fish out of water, different worlds along with the possibilities for opposites attract, enemies to lovers, alpha heroes, fated mates, sunny vs grumpy and the tropes go on and on.

Normally I’m not one for series however I’ve discovered a few authors whose alien romance series are worth the time and expense. My new favorites vary from short humorous novellas to long complicated multi-configuration trope novels that rival any serious space-opera dramas and a few that fall somewhere in between. The one thing they all have in common is great world building.

By: IO

This is an open letter to the father who never learned how to be a dad. 

I don’t forgive you. And I haven’t forgotten. And most importantly, I am not sorry.

It’s just that I’m done counting the years of silence out of pride. I stopped hating you years ago, but I wasn’t ready to hear your voice. Now that I am ready, and tired of punishing myself to punish you, here’s some things you need to know. I write them for me, to guide me when I speak to you, to prevent me from regressing to the child who had silent meals with a stranger who was supposed to love me but could only show it “in his own way.” 

There was no space to love myself beside the worthlessness I took on from you. I was a burden, an unwelcome obligation, minimally met. You could not expend energy or money on me because you had a(nother) family to support. Yet the first time I offered you liberty from your bond, you rejected the opportunity. 

The second time, the time that took, I made the cut acute, if not clean. The wound is healed and scarred over, but there’s more feeling in the nerves left than I had thought. 

I needed you out of my life so I could put down the baggage that wasn’t mine. So I could stretch and rest. Those years without you I spent learning how to mend myself. I needed that time and I do not regret taking it. I’m strong enough now to hold my boundaries. 

You sounded the same, talked the same. Somehow managed to fit three attempted guilt trips into a twenty-minute conversation. I didn’t expect any different. You are the man you have always been. But I am not a child anymore. I know that I do not have to take the weight of your failure as my own. I am here for me. I am reaching out to you because I want to see if there is some benefit to having you in my life. You will never be the father I wanted, but I’m giving you another chance to do better. And if you don’t, I can walk away again. I’m stronger than I was the first time, more confident than I was the second. And I will always save myself.  

By K. Osorio-Teamer

I’m in the middle of reading Finding Me, the autobiography by Viola Davis. It’s taken me longer than anticipated to finish the book, but I shouldn’t be surprised. The friend who recommended it and even let me borrow her copy said it was uplifting to her, but that other readers disagreed. It was too heartbreaking for them.

I knew there would be trauma, but I kept thinking, “It’s Viola Davis! It’ll have a happy ending!” Well, of course there’s going to be a happy ending but I have to go through the trenches with her before we get there.

So I’m taking it a chapter at a time because I’m a crier and there’s only so many tears I can cry. This is also not the kind of book I want to read in the morning, which is when I usually read. I can’t start my day with heartbreak and abuse because I take this time to fill my cup and prepare for the day.

All in all, it’s a good but heart wrenching read that is taking me some time to finish, but will not cost me my 2022 reading goal. 10/10 Tears 😭