LOOKING FOR A SEXY XMAS GIFT FOR YOUR LOVER?

LOOKING FOR A SEXY XMAS GIFT FOR YOUR LOVER OR FRIEND? 'Hard Money-Naked Truth' is available on this very naughty Aussie adult toy website. Check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/ButterflyB.com.au/app_599788450050788

www.VerityMarshallAuthor.com

Check out my beautiful new web site...

VerityMarshallAuthor.com

A big thank you to Ashley Amber Bottoms for a great interview. Link to Ashley Amber Bottoms US radio interview: http://hu.lk/pf8pjr5o2hog  

I will be a regular listener from now on, and encourage any author to send their details to Ashley to request a guest spot on her fantastic show.

• 

  Ashley Amber Bottoms Thanks again Verity! I loved our interview, and you are my first Aussie interview! I am honored!
  
  I encourage everyone to purchase her book "Hard Money: The Naked Truth", and if you mention that you are a fan of my show, "Bottoms Up: Appetite for Discussion", you will receive a discount right from Verity herself...!!!

  

  
  

Diary of an Indie Author: Cover Reveal: "Two Evils"

 Check-out my new friend Christina Moore's work...

Diary of an Indie Author: Cover Reveal: "Two Evils": It's here! Today is the day all my faithful friends and followers get a look at the cover for my fourth novel, Two Evils ! I started ou...

erotic musings of Mark Davis: Lace Blindfold

 For lovers of erotic poetry, check-out the latest work of my friend Mark Davis...

erotic musings of Mark Davis: Lace Blindfold: Silk ropes held her tightly Blindfold on her face Her lips waited expectantly Below the mask of lace She felt his breath get close...

My hero... Ruby Wax's Blog: Opening in L.A.

Ruby Wax's Blog: Opening in L.A.: I have not been to L.A. since I had a big big nervous breakdown here many moons ago. So I'm here doing my show"Out of Her Mind&quot...

DAZED by Nikki Palomino

erotic musings of Mark Davis: Purple Haze

erotic musings of Mark Davis: Purple Haze: The purple haze enshrouded him Seeped into his mind Purple lips devoured him Took all they could find Purple nails stroked him Ac...

Gemini Rising Series: She was the one dangling by her hair at his mercy....

Gemini Rising Series: She was the one dangling by her hair at his mercy....: “Violette, I’m so sorry, this is not me, please forgive me.” His voice reached through the fog in her head; she was suddenly afraid. ...

erotic musings of Mark Davis: coming up on June 30th..two great releases

erotic musings of Mark Davis: coming up on June 30th..two great releases:     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uNZ9Gg2S50&feature=youtu.be

Check out my new book trailer, it was created by my friend Suzz...and it's brilliant!

http://youtu.be/dqot8ZT3Rao

The Daffodil Principle

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come and see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. Going and coming took most of a day--and I honestly did not have a free day until the following week.

"I will come next Tuesday, " I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove the length of Route 91, continued on I-215, and finally turned onto Route 18 and began to drive up the mountain highway. The tops of the mountains were sheathed in clouds, and I had gone only a few miles when the road was completely covered with a wet, gray blanket of fog. I slowed to a crawl, my heart pounding. The road becomes narrow and winding toward the top of the mountain.

As I executed the hazardous turns at a snail's pace, I was praying to reach the turnoff at Blue Jay that would signify I had arrived. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren I said, "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these darling children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!"

My daughter smiled calmly," We drive in this all the time, Mother."

"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears--and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her.

"I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car. The mechanic just called, and they've finished repairing the engine," she answered.

"How far will we have to drive?" I asked cautiously.

"Just a few blocks," Carolyn said cheerfully.

So we buckled up the children and went out to my car. "I'll drive," Carolyn offered. "I'm used to this." We got into the car, and she began driving.

In a few minutes I was aware that we were back on the Rim-of-the-World Road heading over the top of the mountain. "Where are we going?" I exclaimed, distressed to be back on the mountain road in the fog. "This isn't the way to the garage!"

"We're going to my garage the long way," Carolyn smiled, "by way of the daffodils."

"Carolyn," I said sternly, trying to sound as if I was still the mother and in charge of the situation, "please turn around. There is nothing in the world that I want to see enough to drive on this road in this weather."

"It's all right, Mother," She replied with a knowing grin. "I know what I'm doing. I promise, you will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

And so my sweet, darling daughter who had never given me a minute of difficulty in her whole life was suddenly in charge -- and she was kidnapping me! I couldn't believe it. Like it or not, I was on the way to see some ridiculous daffodils -- driving through the thick, gray silence of the mist-wrapped mountaintop at what I thought was risk to life and limb.

I muttered all the way. After about twenty minutes we turned onto a small gravel road that branched down into an oak-filled hollow on the side of the mountain. The Fog had lifted a little, but the sky was lowering, gray and heavy with clouds.

We parked in a small parking lot adjoining a little stone church. From our vantage point at the top of the mountain we could see beyond us, in the mist, the crests of the San Bernardino range like the dark, humped backs of a herd of elephants. Far below us the fog-shrouded valleys, hills, and flatlands stretched away to the desert.

On the far side of the church I saw a pine-needle-covered path, with towering evergreens and manzanita bushes and an inconspicuous, lettered sign "Daffodil Garden."

We each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path as it wound through the trees. The mountain sloped away from the side of the path in irregular dips, folds, and valleys, like a deeply creased skirt.

Live oaks, mountain laurel, shrubs, and bushes clustered in the folds, and in the gray, drizzling air, the green foliage looked dark and monochromatic. I shivered. Then we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight, unexpectedly and completely splendid. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes where it had run into every crevice and over every rise. Even in the mist-filled air, the mountainside was radiant, clothed in massive drifts and waterfalls of daffodils. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow.

Each different-colored variety (I learned later that there were more than thirty-five varieties of daffodils in the vast display) was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue.

In the center of this incredible and dazzling display of gold, a great cascade of purple grape hyacinth flowed down like a waterfall of blossoms framed in its own rock-lined basin, weaving through the brilliant daffodils. A charming path wound throughout the garden. There were several resting stations, paved with stone and furnished with Victorian wooden benches and great tubs of coral and carmine tulips. As though this were not magnificence enough, Mother Nature had to add her own grace note -- above the daffodils, a bevy of western bluebirds flitted and darted, flashing their brilliance. These charming little birds are the color of sapphires with breasts of magenta red. As they dance in the air, their colors are truly like jewels above the blowing, glowing daffodils. The effect was spectacular.

It did not matter that the sun was not shining. The brilliance of the daffodils was like the glow of the brightest sunlit day. Words, wonderful as they are, simply cannot describe the incredible beauty of that flower-bedecked mountain-top.

Five acres of flowers! (This too I discovered later when some of my questions were answered.) "But who has done this?" I asked Carolyn. I was overflowing with gratitude that she brought me -- even against my will. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"Who?" I asked again, almost speechless with wonder, "And how, and why, and when?"

"It's just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory.

We walked up to the house, my mind buzzing with questions. On the patio we saw a poster. " Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking" was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman, two hands, two feet, and very little brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."

There it was. The Daffodil Principle.

For me that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than thirty-five years before, had begun -- one bulb at a time -- to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain-top. One bulb at a time.

There was no other way to do it. One bulb at a time. No shortcuts -- simply loving the slow process of planting. Loving the work as it unfolded.

Loving an achievement that grew so slowly and that bloomed for only three weeks of each year. Still, just planting one bulb at a time, year after year, had changed the world.

This unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of ineffable magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.

The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principle of celebration: learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time -- often just one baby-step at a time -- learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time.

When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.

"Carolyn," I said that morning on the top of the mountain as we left the haven of daffodils, our minds and hearts still bathed and bemused by the splendors we had seen, "it's as though that remarkable woman has needle-pointed the earth! Decorated it. Just think of it, she planted every single bulb for more than thirty years. One bulb at a time! And that's the only way this garden could be created. Every individual bulb had to be planted. There was no way of short-circuiting that process. Five acres of blooms. That magnificent cascade of hyacinth!

All, all, just one bulb at a time."

The thought of it filled my mind. I was suddenly overwhelmed with the implications of what I had seen. "It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years.

Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"

My wise daughter put the car into gear and summed up the message of the day in her direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said with the same knowing smile she had worn for most of the morning. Oh, profound wisdom!

It is pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson a celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use tomorrow?"

Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards
Author
Shared by Michael Jackson Smith — reading This wonderfully inspiring story!

Mia Natasha-erotica: No...Nope

Mia Natasha-erotica: No...Nope: I  seriously contemplated writing something new today but I just didn't even start.  The idea of becoming totally immersed in something...

HARD MONEY-NAKED TRUTH News

• Learn more
• Newsstand
• sign up / log in

HARD MONEY – THE NAKED TRUTH

Adults Only Exposé Novella

• 
  
• Topics
• Photos
• Videos

• Share 186
• Subscribe

• Monday, May. 13, 2013
• Next update in about 5 hours
• Archives

Guest Blog: W. Lynn Chantale

Shared by
Erotica For All

eroticaforall.co.uk - The salon was quiet for early afternoon. It was a nice little place, had an upscale feel with wood laminate floors throughout, cool pastels at least I think they were pastels. The walls weren’t whi...

Guest Blog: Lori Toland

Shared by
Erotica For All

eroticaforall.co.uk - I love watching Hustle, the UK TV series. The show centers around a group of con artists. Albert Stroller has to be one of the greatest characters ever, played by the incomparable Robert Vaughn. Wh...

Author Profile: Neve Black

Shared by
Erotica For All

eroticaforall.co.uk - Neve Black’s words, often described as foreplay for your mind, puts you front and center at a private sex show where the performers don’t realize they’re being watched.  Neve enjoys this voyeuristi...

Author Profile: JoAnne Kenrick

Shared by
Erotica For All

eroticaforall.co.uk - JoAnne Kenrick, an ex-Ghost Tour Guide and Holistic Therapist, is a Welsh lass who has lived in various countries around the world. She now calls North Carolina her home, where she lives with her h...

Author Profile: Mina Kelly

Shared by
Erotica For All

eroticaforall.co.uk - Mina Kelly lives in one of England’s most historic cities. During the day she cooks from Roman recipes and swings medieval swords, trying to convince the tourists that history is more than just a p...

From the Editor

Verity Marshall - Author

Hard Money is a collection of short stories, facts, observations, and anecdotes about the daily activities in a Sydney massage parlour. The exploits of a cast of interesting characters has been documented and examined. The author has woven fiction with fact resulting in illicit and graphic stories.

Editor's note

Hard Money is a collection of short stories, facts, observations, and anecdotes about the daily activities in a Sydney massage parlour. The exploits of a cast of interesting characters has been documented and examined. The author has woven fiction with fact resulting in stories that include graphic detail, humorous undertones, and range from titillating to the weird and comical. Names have been changed to protect the not so innocent.

Videos

• 

  Space Oddity

  Shared by
  E L James

• 

  Wallace & Gromit's Great UK Adventure

  Shared by
  E L James

More Videos →

Stories

Author Profile: Madeline Elayne

Shared by
Erotica For All

eroticaforall.co.uk - Madeline Elayne has a fetish for stories that celebrate sexuality and delight in consensual exploration. Late in 2009, when out and about looking for some to read, she stumbled on a paired set of c...

Author Profile: Sarah Madison

Shared by
Erotica For All

eroticaforall.co.uk - Sarah Madison is a veterinarian with a busy practice, a great boyfriend, a large dog, and an even bigger horse. She enjoys hiking along the Appalachian Trail with her German Shepherd and competing ...

Free Read: Excerpt from The Collector by Elizabeth Morgan

Shared by
Erotica For All

Erotica Blogs | A Freak Club guide to using crops in a BDSM scene

Shared by
Erotica

Ow.ly - image uploaded by @eroticauk

Shared by
Erotica

Ow.ly - image uploaded by @eroticauk

Shared by
Erotica

More Stories →

Leisure

Happy Mother's Day to Julia the Pig (and Her Eight Adorable Piglets)

Shared by
Jezebel

jezebel.com - Pigs celebrate Mother's Day by rolling around in mud and being hella smart and cute. Meet Julia, she was rescued from a shitty, crappy, no good factory farm by the upstanding folks at Farm Sanctuar...

Japanese Cafe Awesomely Tops Dessert With Larger Dessert

Shared by
Jezebel

jezebel.com - Fuck a cherry, topping parfaits with slices of cake is where it's AT. Since we're on a food kick here tonight at Jezebel (LAY OFF ME I'M STARVING), MIOR Cafe in Osaka is the place to get dessert on...

FunGallerys - The best and most fun collection of photo galleries online.

Shared by
Erotic Sex Facts™

FunGallerys - The best and most fun collection of photo galleries online.

Shared by
Erotic Sex Facts™

FunGallerys - The best and most fun collection of photo galleries online.

Shared by
Erotic Sex Facts™

FunGallerys - The best and most fun collection of photo galleries online.

Shared by
Erotic Sex Facts™

More Leisure →

Don't miss an issue Subscribe now →

Photos

• 

  Shared by
  I Like SEX Daily

• 

  Shared by
  I Like SEX Daily

• 

  Shared by
  I Like SEX Daily

• 

  Shared by
  I Like SEX Daily

• 

  Shared by
  I Like SEX Daily

• 

  Shared by
  I Like SEX Daily

More Photos →

Health

Minds traumatised by disaster heal themselves without therapy

Shared by
violet blue ®

guardian.co.uk - One of the largest earthquakes ever recorded hit on Boxing Day 2004. The resulting tsunami devastated huge swaths of the Indian Ocean coastline and left an estimated quarter of a million people dea...

Fascinating Body Facts - Men Have an Undeveloped Uterus

Shared by
Sex Facts Of Life

chacha.com - Yep, there's a big old lady part in there somewhere. Left over from their days in the womb, men have a small, undeveloped uterus hanging next to their prostate gland. 

Raw Milk Debate Has Maybe United Rural Conservatives, Urban Liberals

Shared by
Jezebel

Backless Dresses: How to Show Off Your Back | Women's Health Beauty Blog: Find the Best Beauty Products and Tips

Shared by
Women's Health Mag

How Clean Teeth Keep You Healthy

Shared by
Women's Health Mag

Women's Health Magazine (womenshealthmag) on Pinterest

Shared by
Women's Health Mag

More Health →

Art & Entertainment

Sexiest American Idol Babes

Shared by
Sex Facts Of Life

chacha.com - 'American Idol' has not only given us some incredible new music, but it's also brought us a smorgasboard of sexy female artists! First on the list is Kelly Clarkson, who took home the top prize dur...

New Arrested Development Trailer Has Us Ready to Blue Ourselves

Shared by
Jezebel

jezebel.com - It's the final countdown, and I'm as excited about season 4 as Mrs. Featherbottom is about enjoying a banger in the mouth. Can you believe that in two weeks we'll be sitting down to 15 brand new ep...

NBC Cancels The New Normal After One Measly Season

Shared by
Jezebel

Kate McKinnon Played Kristen Wiig's Implacable Mother on SNL

Shared by
Jezebel

Chris Brown Scares Neighborhood Kids with Goblin Murals, Apparently

Shared by
Jezebel

Likes.com

Shared by
I Like SEX Daily

More Art & Entertainment →

Don't miss an issue Subscribe now →

Technology

FunGallerys - The best and most fun collection of photo galleries online.

Shared by
Erotic Sex Facts™

fungallerys.com - The iPhone 6 release date has had a lot of speculations.. Many believe it wont be released until as late as Fall 2014

Work In Progress - Kim K's instagrams: Hot as ever

Shared by
Love Sex Notes

Best and Worst Sandwich Condiments - Men's Health

Shared by
Men's Health Mag

More Technology →

Society

How not to report on a transgender victim : Columbia Journalism Review

Shared by
violet blue ®

cjr.org - Sometime between the end of March and the end of April, an Ohio transgender woman was brutally murdered—she was stabbed repeatedly and then tied to a concrete block and cast into a pond. She was le...

Justice Ginsburg Criticizes Lack of 'Restraint' in Roe v. Wade Ruling

Shared by
Jezebel

More Society →

#erotica

Author Profile: Madeline Elayne

Shared by
Erotica For All

eroticaforall.co.uk - Madeline Elayne has a fetish for stories that celebrate sexuality and delight in consensual exploration. Late in 2009, when out and about looking for some to read, she stumbled on a paired set of c...

Author Profile: Sarah Madison

Shared by
Erotica For All

Free Read: Excerpt from The Collector by Elizabeth Morgan

Shared by
Erotica For All

Ben Wa I see you again? A True story »

Shared by
Ruby

More #erotica →

#authorprofile

Author Profile: Madeline Elayne

Shared by
Erotica For All

eroticaforall.co.uk - Madeline Elayne has a fetish for stories that celebrate sexuality and delight in consensual exploration. Late in 2009, when out and about looking for some to read, she stumbled on a paired set of c...

Author Profile: Sarah Madison

Shared by
Erotica For All

More #authorprofile →

Multi-share

Made in Switzerland

• About Us
• Jobs
• Community
• Blog
• Help
• Stop mentions
• Terms
• Privacy
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

• EN
• DE
• FR
• ES
• PT
• 日本語

© SmallRivers 2013