Sylvain Reynard

NY Times Best-Selling Author

2012 – The Year of Charity

Dear Everyone,


I hope that you’re enjoying what proves to be a happy and prosperous 2012.

As the new year begins, I’ve committed myself to raising awareness about various charities and causes. I’ve done so mostly on Twitter, so I’d like to to take this opportunity to share a few of these organizations with you.
Organizations that help the Homeless:
Salvation Army USA (A faith-based organization that helps the homeless, the hungry and others in need)
Yonge Street Mission (A Toronto faith-based organization that helps the homeless and young people in crisis)
Covenant House (Providing havens in North and Latin America for homeless youth)
Organizations that combat Human Trafficking and Slavery:

ACT (An Australian organization)
Organizations that help Children with Cancer:
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (A paediatric cancer research hospital that doesn’t turn families away)
Alex’s Lemonade Stand (Funding research into paediatric cancer/providing financial support to families)
Organizations that fund Cancer Research and provide support to Cancer patients:
Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (Funding research/providing support and resources)
Jen’s Thank You Alliance (Providing financial and inspirational support to young adult cancer patients)
An Organization that comforts grieving families through photography:
Organizations that promote Literacy:
World Literacy Canada (Supporting women and children’s literacy in Canada, India and Nepal)
ProLiteracy (Supporting adult literacy in the USA and around the world)
As we look forward to a year filled with possibility, I ask you to join me in supporting charities and in raising awareness. We can make a difference.

All the best for 2012,

SR

Happy Holidays

In addition to wishing you the best for Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s, I want to invite you and your friends and family to enter one of the current giveaways. There are copies of “Gabriel’s Inferno” to be won, along with coffee mugs and book marks.


The first giveway is hosted by the Bakin’ Goddesses and you can find it here.
The second giveaway is hosted by JJiReads and you can find it here.
Other contests will be forthcoming.
With thanks for your continued support,

SR
PS. Many thanks to Miss Mingo for designing the lovely holiday card above.

The Power of an Idea

Dear Everyone,



In July, I penned a post about the virtue of Liberality or generosity. I mentioned the work of Heather Huffman, who donates her royalties to WorldVision in an effort to aid women and children who have been bought and sold through human trafficking.


Even the smallest amount of research into human trafficking produced statistics that shocked me. Children barely school-aged are bought and sold like animals. Young women are taken from their families and sold into brothels. They need help and they need a voice. Heather has dedicated her writing to both. Her idea has power.
At the moment, I’m reading Claire Diaz-Ortiz’s book “Twitter for Good: Change the World One Tweet at a Time. In this work, the author presents concrete examples of how Twitter has been used to effect social change, to raise awareness of various crises and issues, and to focus the world’s attention on particular needs. She also provides helpful tips for non-profit organizations. In harnessing the power of social media for good, her idea has power.
Like many people, I’ve listened to recent news reports about individuals who, when faced with human suffering or a crime, walked away. My idea is that we should do something to help those in need, to protect the weak and the abused, and to stop crime. I’m hoping this idea has power.
As the holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year approach, I ask you to join me in supporting ideas that have power for good. I ask you to do something, not nothing, when you witness human suffering.

I welcome your reflections below.
All the best and thanks for reading,

SR

The Professor Speaks – “Museum Sex”

Dear Everyone,



The following is a meditation on Museum Sex that was penned by Professor Gabriel O. Emerson, Associate Professor of Italian Studies, University of Toronto. It first appeared here on the Manic Readers website, at the invitation of Miss Ivy:


“I find museums enlightening, provocative … and sexy.


As a Dante specialist, I find myself invited to give lectures around the world. Over the course of my travels, I’ve had the good fortune of visiting many famous museums.


The best museums are quiet and spacious. They allow guests to appreciate the art and artifacts in silence. They’re tastefully decorated so as not to detract from the objects on display. They provide places for visitors to sit down or to stand and contemplate the exhibits.


My favourite museum, without question, is the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.


Cosimo de Medici commissioned the Uffizi in the 16th century. Giorgio Vasari, a famous painter and sculptor, designed the gallery. My favourite room in the museum is the Sandro Botticelli room, which contains several of his masterpieces.


One of my favourite paintings by Botticelli is “The Birth of Venus.”


Venus is a voluptuous but modest figure, with a serene countenance and long, flowing hair. I could gaze at her for hours. This brings me to another reason why I like museums – they are incredibly erotic.


Beauty, in particular, the beauty of the female form, has been celebrated throughout history through art. Sometimes the beauty one sees in a museum is so tantalizing, so seductive, it begs for release.


Never is this release more potent and necessary than when one is enjoying a museum with one’s lover. Art, like sex, is supposed to be a shared experience. One is supposed to stand in front of a painting and feel what the artist is trying to communicate. The presence of another, who one knows intimately, only heightens the excitement.


Which leads me to speak, quite naturally, about another favourite topic of mine, museum sex.


Imagine finding a quiet and slightly darkened corner of a gallery, pushing your lover up against a wall to steal a kiss, your bodies aligning perfectly. The low hum of the distant crowd echoes in your ears along with her whimpers and whispered pleas.


Almost breathless, you touch her, allowing your fingers to stroke the hidden nakedness of her skin. Unable to contain your ardour, you pay homage to her mouth and neck, causing her to repeat your name over and over. You push aside clothing, only to feel the blissful connection of flesh against soft, soft flesh.


Searing kisses. Speeding hearts. The rush of blood through the veins. The musky sweet scent of sweat and sex. And always there is the pleasurable excitement of the forbidden, the possibility of being caught …


In a temple that worships the gods and goddesses of beauty, why shouldn’t we indulge our carnal instincts? The sensuous coupling of two desires made one.


Yes, in the sequel to “Gabriel’s Inferno,” there is mention of museum sex. But you’ll have to read the story to see what happens ….”



And now for something completely different –

Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating and thank you for your support.


All the best,


SR


www.sylvainreynard.com

Interview with The Professor

Dear Everyone,



Julie of “A Tale of Many Reviews,” sat down with Professor Gabriel Emerson for this exclusive interview on 4 September 2011:

“(Professor Emerson enters the room, and upon seeing Julie, immediately takes her hand)


Prof. Emerson: Hello, Julie. It’s a pleasure to meet you.


Julie: (trying very hard to maintain eye contact but wanting desperately to visually take in the professor from head to toe) Thank you, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for agreeing to talk with me. Since you are a man that doesn’t beat around the bush, I hope you don’t mind us starting with a bang? (grins teasingly while directing the Professor to a chair across from hers. He sits smiling)


What do you think about having so many female fans?


Prof. Emerson: (scratches his chin) I have fans? I’ve always had my share of female admirers. (he grins slowly) Of course, they admire me for a specific reason. I’ll leave it to you to guess why. (winks)


Julie: (shifts, recrosses legs, laughs lightly, no guesses needed) What is your biggest fear? (thankful her voice sounds normal)


Prof. Emerson: (chuckling) I see you softened me up with the first question. Like most people, I worry about my own mortality. I know I won’t live forever and there are many things I want to do. (He stares at his hands, a troubled look on his face) I worry about losing that which I love most …


Julie: (sensing that may have been too heavy a question so soon decides to lighten the moment) What makes you laugh out loud?


Prof. Emerson: Monty Python. Have you seen “The Dead Parrot Sketch”?


Julie: (slightly surprised) No, I haven’t, but I will look it up on youtube later since you recommend it. I did enjoy The Search for the Holy Grail though. (pausing and looking thoughtful) This may get a bit personal, if so feel free to not answer. (smiling and starting to feel more at ease around the professor)


When and where were you the happiest?


Prof. Emerson: When I met Beatrice, of course. Nothing in my life comes close to the happiness I experienced at that moment. Meeting her changed my life.



Julie: (nods in understanding) What then is your greatest regret?


Prof. Emerson: (He frowns) Their name is Legion, for they are many.


Julie: (not wanting to shift the mood to the dark side again decides to accept that and move on) To appease those female fans I referred to earlier, what is the quality you most like in a woman?


Prof. Emerson: (laughing) Do I have to choose just one? Let me see. (His eyes glint mischievously as he leans forward in his chair) Modesty. It’s far more erotic for a woman to be covered rather than naked, for the hiddenness tantalizes the imagination… and it makes the – ah – unwrapping so much more enjoyable, for both partners. Don’t you agree?



Julie: (stunned into a moment of silence not knowing if the professor is teasing taking note of her black modest dress she purposely wore for this interview. Clearing her throat…) What do you most value in your friends?


Prof. Emerson: Loyalty and truth.


Julie: (gives a crooked grin and a slight nod in his direction) Who is your favorite hero of fiction?


Prof. Emerson: Hector, from Homer’s Iliad. I know that’s cheating, since he was a historical figure. If we were going to be strict about it, I’d say Beowulf. “Beowulf bode in the burg of the Scyldings,
 leader beloved, and long he ruled
in fame with all folk, since his father had gone away from the world, till awoke an heir…”



Julie: (having no intelligent response presses on) What do you consider the most overrated virtue?


Prof. Emerson: Ah, that’s a good question.


Julie: (YES! Feeling intelligent again.)


Prof. Emerson: (He stares into space for a moment, thinking) I used to think it was chastity, but I’ve undergone a change of heart. So I’d choose patience.



Julie: (Damn! but still puffed up from the previous praise) If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?


Prof. Emerson: I’d give up my pride. Pride is the worst of the Seven Deadly Sins, you know. I suppose if I were to rid myself of only one sin that should be it. It’s the sin that fell the angels. Dante buries the prideful in the very pit of Hell.


Julie: (smiling, the words not lost on her, really begins to like the professor besides for his physical attributes) What is your motto?


Prof. Emerson: It’s a line from Dante’s La Vita Nuova: “For what virtue does this heart own so much delight?”


Julie: (setting her pen on top of her notepad, regretting the inevitable end of the interview, looks directly into the professor’s eyes and smiles) Thank you Professor. It has been a pleasure.


Prof. Emerson: And I can say, without question that it’s been a delight to be with you, Julie. Thank you for the invitation.”


–

With thanks to Julie and her associates at her book review website. If you’re looking for book reviews, you should take a look at her site.


All the best and thanks for reading,


SR


www.sylvainreynard.com

Connect with Sylvain

About The Author

fluer-de-lisI am honoured to have had all three of my novels appear on the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller lists. I was a Semifinalist for Best Author in the 2011 and 2012 Goodreads Choice Awards. {More About Sylvain}

Translate »