Coming Soon - In Deep Kimchi

COMING JANUARY 9, 2011

TO

SUGAR AND SPICE PRESS

http://www.sugarnspicepress.com/

Deep in Kimchi

By

IMARI JADE

Blurb

Erotic romance author Shaundra Morrison thought there was nothing in the world her handsome white boss Harper Kehoe could offer her to get her on a plane bound for Tokyo, including free use of his body for the duration of the trip. Becoming a member of the mile high club intrigued her but not enough to conquer her fear of flying.

Harper Kehoe had money, power and everything his heart desired except for the affections of his best selling author’s Shaundra Morrison. He jumped at the idea of forming a partnership with Japanese mogul Goro Niigata because to Harper business came before pleasure. And what a perfect way to have both than by inviting Shaundra and three of his other successful authors to accompany him to Tokyo to promote the opening of NIKII Publishing. So what if it meant having one of his doctor friends prescribe Shaundra a sedative to knock her sexy ass out for twenty five hours.

Shaundra wasn’t too keen on the idea of being drugged just to fly halfway around the world to help Harper promote his new business, until her senior editor showed Shaundra a picture of Aomori, a group of four J-Pop singers who Mr. Niigata managed and planned to use to help promote his new business. All it took was one look at those beautiful faces, sexy young bodies and all that long black hair to get her to reconsider. The worst thing that could happen to her would be she’d be turned into a junkie before she returned to New York, she mused looking down at the photograph again. The dampening of the panties between her legs assured her that it would be well worth it.

http://www.imarijade.com/

M Butterfly - A Movie Review

M Butterfly – A Movie Review
By
Imari Jade
M. Butterfly is a 1993 film written by David Henry Hwang about a relationship between a French diplomat Bernard Boursicot (played by Jeremy Irons) and opera singer Shi Pei Pu (played by John Love). It is based on a true story.
Premise – I can’t say too much without giving away the surprise ending of the hour and forty minute film. It’s a case of love at first sight for Bernard Boursicot when he attends an opera accompanied by his wife. Bernard furiously peruses the coy and mysterious opera singer, to whom he calls “my butterfly,” until Shi Pei Pu finally gives in and agrees to become his lover. And in the end Bernard Boursicot learns that his precious Shi Pei Pu, who he left his wife for and lost his job over, has kept lots of secrets from him.
Review – This is a case where both characters got what they deserved in the end. I expected to watch a beautiful multicultural romance grow. But from the beginning it appeared to be only one-sided (Boursicot), who steps out on his wife and forcefully gains entrance into Shi Pei Pu’s home in Peking.
I really never felt the love between these two characters. Boursicot looked for an Oriental woman who could love a Western man, even though he was poor and who would serve him unconditionally. Shi Pei Pu just wanted to survive the harsh conditions of that time. She also desired to be famous. I felt she only agreed to be with him because he kept bothering her and showing up at her home at outrages hours of the night and for what he could do for her.
Warning – This film does have two or three nude scenes. (And not even good ones).
Like the Sixth Sense, it is one of those films that once you know the ending you might not want to see again. I recommend this film only if you are a Jeremy Irons fan, or if you just have a love for Asian movies.

How Not to Spend the Holidays

How Not to Spend the Holidays

I have made a promise to myself that next year I will leave this house during the holidays. I think this is the only home in the world where the phone and doorbell constantly rings. Most of the time the calls and visitors are not for me so I just try to look over at the caller ID to see who it is first and then make a decision whether or not to answer it. At the moment the house is very quiet. I am the only one home, but that will be changing in about an half hours because I’m expecting yet another contractor to come over to give me an estimate on how much it is going to cost to raise my house so it won’t flood just in case we have another killer hurricane. The only person I really want to see is the UPS delivery man. I’ve been waiting on a Christmas present to myself that I paid to have delivered in three days. That was twelve days ago. The last time I tracked it, it was sitting somewhere in Texas on December the 21st. You know I’m going to be expecting a refund on the shipping!
So, did I get everything I wanted for Christmas? No. I didn’t get anything on my list, and Santa wonders why adults stopped believing in him. I mean how hard can it be to deliver a six foot Asian singer to me? I gave him a picture to identify him by and everything. He’s lucky I didn’t pay for expedited shipping.
It was rainy and very cold all day here in New Orleans on Christmas Day, so all I did was cook and write. It had to be one of the most peaceful days I have ever spent. I only had one visitor, my daughter-in-law who came to pickup and transfer food since we both were cooking and it was too cold for the grandchildren to come over. But the day before I wanted to strangle everyone because my kids and their friends kept coming in and out of the house, letting the cold in and getting in my way while I was trying to cook and clean. Remember, if you see Mama on a ladder washing walls, you need to either leave, or help. So I gave up on washing the walls and pulled out my tablet and started writing. This didn’t work either since they felt they had to entertain me with conversation.
So far I have had three contractors come over to the house to give me estimates. The first one was about three months ago, and I’m still waiting on his estimate.
The second one was Monday at nine in the morning. People, just because I’m a woman it doesn’t mean that I am stupid. I’m very good at reading people, and even though it may appear that I’m entertaining you with conversation the fact is I’m listening to what you are telling me. The only thing he was supposed to do is take pictures, measure and give me an estimate on how much it was going to cost. He came through the door telling me that he could work a deal for me and expected me to sign a contract right then and there. He also wanted a check for $50,000 in advance so he can buy supplies. So I just let him talk, and flipped through this photo album of houses that he already lifted and then he went outside to do the estimate. He never ever checked the inside of the house which I took my time and cleaned before he came. He came back a couple of hours later with an estimate in this new binder he had purchased from Office Depot with a picture of my house on the cover. You know that got my mind to clicking. How do I know that he actually did any work on the houses that he showed me earlier in the photo album? He could have just taken a picture like he did mine and put it in the album. I’m not a fool; I’m not signing anything or giving $50,000 to anyone in advance without checking some credentials. He was quite disappointed when I refused to sign and told him I had to run the estimate over to my mortgage company.
I can’t wait to hear with this new one has to say. He’s supposed to arrive at ten so I hope he arrives on times, does what he has to do and leave early because I’m trying to juggle some administrative things so I can be ready for 2011.
I had an appointment with the dermatologist yesterday. My scalp has been itching and burning like crazy for the last five years. Not very good news. I’m not dying but my hair is never going to be the same. Someone should have told me that braids, pony-tails and weaves damages the hair. I walked away with three prescriptions and a lot of emotional problems. I know I’m getting older but it’s hard to be a cougar when you’ve been advised not to put chemicals in your hair. Yo, black woman here. I’m all for the natural thing, but I refuse to go around with gray hair. Nature and genetics have been very kind to me in every aspect except for my hair. I’m not opposed to wearing a wig for a year until when and if my hair grows back. I wear them most of the time anyway when I want to change my personality, but ladies, wigs come off when men run their fingers through your hair (smile).
I, for one am glad that Christmas is over. It’s time for me to get back to work on promoting my upcoming book “In Deep Kimchi,” which is scheduled to be released on January 9, 2011 with Sugar and Spice Press. I should have done the promotions earlier but I didn’t want my book to get lost in the Christmas novel buying frenzy. I worked hard on that book and it deserves a time for itself.
I sent another manuscript, “Strange Packaging,” off to Sugar and Spice for consideration yesterday. I wrote this book during the NaNoWriMo challenge and just loved it. It’s very sweet, but not erotic. I’m on this quest to find the true meaning of romance, and even though sex it nice, I feel there’s more to being in a relationship than how many times my characters can get off. That’s not to say I will continue writing sweet stuff, but for the moment I’m giving it a shot to see what my fans think of it.
I also sent a short story, “Swept Away,” off to be considered in a Yaoi Anthology. Yaoi is not for prudes. Either you’re into or you’re not. Fortunately, I’m really into it.
I really didn’t know how far behind I was on my administration work until I went to the database to update my “Submissions Out,” list. Boy was I shocked to find out that I had nothing out there waiting for consideration. What the hell have I been doing the last couple of months? I do have three books scheduled for publication for 2011, but that’s not enough since my goal is ten. So right now I’m working on a paranormal novel about the end of the world. It’s due on the 25th of January. I think I might make it if the phone stops ringing.
The contractor is now sixteen minutes late. If you want to work on my house you should at least show me that you can be on time since you were the one who called me.
Well, I better get back to work. It is not true that novels simply write themselves.
Imari Jade

Itazura Na Kiss - Drama Review

Itazura Na Kiss – Drama Review

Itazura Na Kiss is a popular manga by Kaoru Tada that was turned into a live action drama in 1996-98.
Plot – a high school girl named Kotoka Aihara (played by Aiko Sato) tells fellow classmate Naoki Irie (played by Takashi Kashiwabara) that she likes him in a letter. However the super smart, athletic and handsome Naoki simply rejects her in front of their classmates. A fire destroys the home she shares with her father (a chef) and they go to stay with her father’s friend who just happens to be Naoki’s father. The two families must get along but it’s not as easy as you think.
Review – I am so glad that I watched Perfect Kiss (Korean version 2010), It Started with a Kiss (Taiwanese version 2005) and They Kiss Again (Taiwanese version 2007) before watching Itazura Na Kiss, because I never would have watched them if I had seen this version first. I’m not saying that it is horrible; it’s just really, really bad.
The character of Kotoka is not as dumb as Oh Ha Ni (Perfect Kiss) or Xiang Qin (It Started with a Kiss) even though they are all in the “F” class (lowest ranking class in school). Kotoka is so loud that it is distracting. She reminds me of someone who needs her hearing tested. She is a jinx and every time she does something she causes injury either to herself or others. But the first thing I noticed about her was her ears. She is much prettier when they are covered by her hair. She is also taller than Oh Ha Ni and Xiang Qin which is perfect for the tall leading man. She’s not a stalker like Oh Ha Ni (who has it down to a science). I figured I would have liked this version if Kotoka would have stopped yelling and whining at some point but she didn’t.
Naoki is super cute but he pales in comparison to Zhi Shu (It Started with a Kiss) and Baek Seung-Jo (Perfect Kiss).
Baek Seung-Jo is very handsome, smart and popular and all he wants is for his parents to stop interfering in his life. He is responsible, a good cook and a genius. As for his relationship with Oh Ha Ni, he treats her like a plaything. He mocks her affection and insults her until he discovers that he is about to lose her to another man Bong Joon Gu. When it comes to romance, Baek Seung-Jo steals kisses from Oh Ha Ni when she sleeps which is romantic, but when it came down to kissing he is a little stiff.
Zhi Shu is also handsome, smart and popular, and his parents interfere in his life. But unlike Baek Seung-Jo, Zhi Shu just seems to be more focused on what he wants in life and doesn’t care whom he has to emotionally hurt to get it. He treats Xiang Qin cruelly at first, but throughout the drama I could tell that everything he did is in her best interest. In the romance department he scores a definite “A”. The interaction between the two characters seems so real. I sometimes felt that they were an actual couple. Zhi Shu knows how to kiss and probably is pretty good in the sex department if it wasn’t for the censorship.
This brings us back to Naoki. It is eluded that he is the smartest boy in school but he did some pretty dumb things like missing two important tests, refusing to go to school and shop lifting just because he wanted to feel like a normal teen-ager. As for as how he treated Kotoka. I found him very rude and cruel most of the time. The kiss scene is pretty good but not very romantic. No one knows until the very end that he is actually in love with her. In fact his characters get a bit crazy that I actually feared that he would do something to hurt Kotoka.
The secondary characters were pretty hum drum, especially Naoki’s mother. I actually loved the two mothers in Perfect Kiss and It Started with a kiss. These are mother-in-laws to die for. But Naoki’s mother was a bit wacky and old-fashioned. (Now I finally know why the mothers are like they are. I couldn’t figure out if she was a normal housewife or what because she was always planning parties and decorating. I thought she had some kind of home-based business. In actually she is just like the girls, kind of silly and a jinx to her husband. She is just lonely. Apparently the husband is a genius too like the sons. This is why the bond is so good between her and daughter-in-laws to be.)
The character I liked the least is Naoki’s younger brother, Yuuki. Like the other two younger brothers from the other dramas, Yuuki hates Kotoka on first sight. Yuuki is a genius too but he is also spoiled and rotten to the point that he becomes sick from stress. This makes him catatonic and makes him lose his hair. A third grader with the intelligence of a high-school student, and who idolizes his other brother until Naoki says one unkind thing to him. He turns meaner, taking it out on Kotoka. (He is the prime reason why people should never have a second child (smile).) Then he does a 360 degree turn in attitude at the end…so not believable. His is a little serial-killer waiting to happen.
The most redeeming thing in this adaptation is that it did make me laugh a couple of times. Kinnosuke Nahamura (played by Shinsuke Aoki) is the young man who is actually in love with Kotoka throughout the story, but she only feels friendship for him. He is very funny and actually gets 3 very serious kisses. Unfortunately, not from Kotoka. He also is humorous whenever a derogatory poster about Kotoka is posted on the school bulletin board. He immediately comes to her rescue and ends up getting beat up or injured.
The “A” group female teacher is in love with Naoki like every other girl in school, and the only one who knows it is the “F” group male teacher. The two of them are always battling over whose class cause the most disturbance through the school. They are both single virgins who are just perfect for each other. Their story would have probably made a better tale.
If you’re a die hard “KISS” fan you have to watch this just for general purpose. But I give it 2 Fleur De Lis. I really don’t think I’ll watch this again, unless I’m desperate.
So the only two things I haven’t done is read the original manga or watched the anime version (both hard to get). And yes someday in the future I might review them, but I’m moving on to other things now.

Imari Jade