I’m in a Paul Newman/Stevie Wonder mood.  Look out.

Paul is always on my list of best men.  I do have a list.  Yes, I know Paul is no longer with us, but he is on the island (See Well Dressed).  He’s still very much alive and writing seriously romantic love letters to his wonderful wife, Joanne, until she can join him with her toes in the sand.

What is it about Paul, you ask?

Where to start?  The eyes, obvious, I know, but damn they are brilliant.

Closely connected to the eyes, the soul.  Grounded, rooted in life.  Paul, fine the Paul in my mind, is a hands in the dirt kind of guy.  I like my men solid, but with their minds thinking, creating.  All denim shirt rolled up, ruffled hair, callus, solid, with a twinkle that knows Thoreau, appreciates Aretha.  Paul has an ease, a comfort with himself, a look that says he knows things, has had a life.

Next, he’s a giver.  I like that.  Men that don’t take themselves too seriously, recognize good fortune, and push good energy back out there.  Givers don’t have to have money. They just have to know that they have excess, of whatever, and not take that for granted.  They pass it on.

Finally, heart. He’s a lover.  A one woman guy.

Sure, I know Hollywood is a fishbowl.  I know I’m basing all of this on my little fairytale mind, but you just can’t fake that. He has that straw chewing, hopping off a wooden fence, swagger.  His wife is no pushover, she’s bright, and equal and feisty.  You can tell a lot about a man by the woman he loves.

Theirs is a great romance.  I like loving men.

If someone out there knows different, can tell me that Paul and Joanne aren’t what I think they are, please don’t share. Leave me in my mind.

On to the second half of my mood, Stevie Wonder.

He’s my sexy music lately.  When I’m writing a flirty scene or something that’s charged, tension filled undercurrent, maybe a first time crossing the line scene, I put on Stevie.

He’s smooth, soft kisses, warm, windows down.

Stevie is so much cooler than anyone I know, so when I need a cool man, when I need my hero to be…clever, better, sexier, I let Stevie sing to me and my men are a step up.

Fiction is just puzzle pieces of reality and imagination.  It’s a tale woven of “what is,” people and events with which we can feel a connection, and “what can be,” snapshots of men and women at their very best or working their way back from their very worst.  It all comes together and hopefully leaves the reader with an “Oh my!”

I really love the “Oh my!”  It keeps me up at night, pushes me to be better.  The “Oh my!” for myself and my readers, is why I write.

Today and this weekend are all about men, my man of the moment, and making him the very best he can be.

Thank you, Paul and Stevie for the inspiration.

My thoughts from the laundry room.  Sweet Dreams.

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