B.K. Ethridge of Black & Orange (Guest Post)

Happy Hump Day everyone! I have an awesome guest post from author B.K. Ethridge today, stopping by on his blog tour for Black & Orange. Enjoy!

What a Man Needs, Other Than That

It dawned on me in the grocery store, standing near the women’s magazines, listening to a couple argue about where they put the coupons, that we still have a long way to go understanding the different sexes.  These two are nipping and snapping at each other over coupons, while I’m reading the cover of Cosmopolitan. HOW TO UNDERSTAND YOUR MAN: 35 STEPS.

Okay, I made that title up, but it sounds familiar, right? Well, everybody knows men are not complicated enough to justify 35 steps, or even 5 most times. In fact, it astounds me this still needs to be discussed, because the matter is not difficult at all. Seeing these articles, for me at least, is like listening to someone pitch ice cubes as a new exciting way to cool off your fruit punch.

Men want your body constantly. Understanding (and accepting) that takes you a long way, but though we’re simple, we’re not that simple.

I hear this advice about women often: let her vent, listen to her, she doesn’t want you to solve her problem, only to understand it. That’s usually where the conversation ends. Men are fixers, and this is essentially telling them to suppress that because, I guess, women are venters.

Alrighty then-- but this isn’t a complete answer to the problem at hand. This isn’t a compromise; this is acquiescence to only one side of the sexual war. See, men want to protect their loved ones. It means a lot to us, consciously and subconsciously. How do we get positive feedback that we’re doing a good job? A pat on the back is different for both sexes. In the case of the male, being allowed to fix your problem shows us you value our input.

Let us fix something already!

I’m not saying to give us decree of everything in your life, just allow us to solve a problem now and again.  Make us a valued cabinet member. Hey and you know what? You can even chose the times when our advice is exactly what you intended anyway. We’ll be none the wiser and feel triumphant, and meanwhile you’ll carry on with your plans. Come now, you’ve already vented and we’ve heard it all at length, so give us this golden opportunity.

Please?

***

Benjamin Kane Ethridge is the Bram Stoker Award winning author of the novel Black & Orange. He also wrote a master's thesis entitled, "Causes of Unease: The Rhetoric of Horror Fiction and Film." Available in an ivory tower near you. Benjamin lives in Southern California with his wife and daughter, both lovely and both worthy of better. When he isn't writing, reading, guitaring, he's defending California's waterways and sewers from pollution. His official web presence is www.bkethridge.com and you can Facebook him here, www.facebook.com/benjamin.kane.ethridge and Tweet him here, www.twitter.com/#!/bkethridge. He’s on Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/benjaminkaneethridge

Forget everything you know about Halloween. The stories are distortions. They were created to keep the Church of Midnight hidden from the world. Every October 31st a gateway opens to a hostile land of sacrificial magic and chaos. Since the beginning of civilization the Church of Midnight has attempted to open the gateway and unite with its other half, the Church of Morning. Each year they’ve come closer, waiting for the ideal sacrifice to open the gateway permanently. 
This year that sacrifice has come. And only two can protect it. Martin and Teresa are the nomads, battle-hardened people who lack identity and are forever road-bound on an endless mission to guard the sacrifice. Their only direction is from notes left from a mysterious person called the Messenger. Endowed with a strange telekinetic power, the nomads will use everything at their disposal to make it through the night alive. But matters have become even more complicated this year. Teresa has quickly lost ground battling cancer, while Martin has spiraled into a panic over being left alone. His mind may no longer be on the fight when it matters most... because ever on their heels is the insidious physical representation of a united church: Chaplain Cloth.

Purchase at: