Karen Booth
If I told you one of my favorite images of the 80s came from the Police, conventional wisdom might suggest it’s Sting taking off his shirt in the video for “Don’t Stand So Close To Me”. But, that would be wrong. Sorry. No, to me, one of the best (ahem, sexiest) bits of imagery from 80s music is beanpole Stuart Copeland in bright-white tennis shorts, magnificent floppy mop of hair, lanky legs, making an ass of himself in the “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic” video. Love it. It was geek rock before we had any idea what that was. Le sigh. While I take a moment to fan myself, fellow Ellora’s Cave author Brenna Zinn is here, talking 80s, naiveté and The Police, which makes me just as happy as Stuart Copeland’s knobby knees.
Brenna Zinn
Class of ’85, Currently: I’m a full-time author and babysitter of three huge English Mastiffs
Band and/or song that reminds you the most of high school: The Police – “Every Breath You Take” was the song known as OUR song between me and then boyfriend. But I was such a radio/music hound, almost any song from the early 80s reminds me of high school. Men At Work, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Men Without Hats… good times, good times.
I also worked at the local university’s arena selling popcorn and drinks at concerts. REO Speedwagon and John Cougar were two concerts I remember working at. I remember several people asking that I not fill their sodas completely to the top and not knowing why they would want that. Now that I’m over 21, I finally understand. I was SOOO naive.
Favorite piece of music memorabilia (poster, t-shirt, etc.) in high school: Mainly the album covers from the multitude of records I bought. They still look great. My husband and I framed several album covers and hang them on the wall in our place in Austin. It’s our rock-n-roll condo. Everything in the place is either associated with music or cycling.
Band that you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: Every hair band ever known to man. I didn’t see what the big attraction was. Still don’t. I didn’t even like AC/DC until I married my husband. He wanted to make sure our unborn baby had good music taste, so he’d put on AC/DC, plug in these huge earphones, then put the earphones on my belly. My daughter, who is now 22, knows every AC/DC song ever recorded. She and my husband go to AC/DC concerts together. I elect to stay home, eat chocolate ice cream, and watch Ghost Hunters on television. It works out best that way.
Best show or concert you saw in high school: I mentioned above that I used to work concerts at the local arena. I didn’t actually attend a concert until I was 18. I saw Prince during his Purple Rain tour. That was a total eye-opener. I felt as though I had just passed some rite of passage after attending that show. Suddenly I was mature and worldly. (Did I mention how naïve I was?)
Best high school make-out song: “Every Breath You Take” by the Police and “Broken Wings” by Mr. Mister. Oh the memories I have making out in the back of a 1964 Mustang.
Brenna Zinn is a multi-published author of erotic romance, including Rise of the Dom. You can find out more about Brenna at brennazinn.com and follow her on Twitter @BrennaZinn.
The fabulous cartwheeling Valerie Haight joins us today for a funny-ass trip down memory lane, all in celebratory anticipation of her novella Happenstance, which will be released December 23rd by Turquoise Morning Press. She tells an awesome story about her senior prom, which sounds like something straight out of a John Hughes film. I can totally see Molly Ringwald out there on the dance floor, thumbing her nose at the lame-ness of her fellow-students, superfloofy as all get-out.
Valerie Haight
Doyle High School, Livingston, LA, Class of ’94, currently: Administrative Assistant aka Proper Gopher and Author
Band and/or song that reminds you the most of high school: “Wonderwall” by Oasis. I drove a white ’89 Ford Festiva…I’ll wait while you snicker. It held 8 people if you count the runt tossed into the hatchback space. Yes, *nervous laugh* of course we obeyed seatbelt laws! Gas was 99 cents a gallon and we drove every inch of the Baton Rouge asphalt in that peppy lil baseball cap.
Band you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: Pink Floyd. “Another Brick In The Wall”. “Hey! Teeeea-cher!” Grrrr! I still hate that song.
Best show or concert you saw in high school: Que the violins! I never attended a concert in high school. I did dance with myownself at senior prom to Spin Doctors “Two Princes”. I was a new senior. I hadn’t grown up with those kids and I was fairly certain I wouldn’t see most of them after graduation. (This was before Facebook, people.) We had this ROCKIN’ awesome live band and they were playing their hearts out to a ginormous, empty dance floor. What was a cartwheeling fool to do? I hopped out there and rocked out to the entire song! My dress was short, superfloofy and did most of the rockin’ for me. Me and that dress! We made memories that night.
Best high school make-out song: “Name” by Goo Goo Dolls. Best. Kiss. Ever. Sorry, where was I? Oh, right. Looking him up on Facebook. LOL.
Karen! Thanks so much for letting me participate in your high school questionnaire! This is so much fun and brought back some seriously funny…and devious memories!
Valerie’s debut novella, Happenstance, will be released December 23rd by Turquoise Morning Press. Look to her FB Author Page for info about that, as well as her short story Magnolia Brides in the TMP wedding anthology out June 2013. You can follow Valerie on Twitter @Valeriebrbr.
Fellow contributor to Felt Tips, the world’s first office-supply themed anthology (yes, really!), AmyBeth Inverness is my guest on RNRHS today. She has all sorts of memorable 80s moments to share with us, including the awesomely 80s song “Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats. Ah, to have been a fly on the wall during the band meeting when they thought up their band name. I mean, really. If any band name screams, “Being in a band should get us tons of chicks, but there’s no way it’s happening now,” it’s Men Without Hats. I’m sure someone (probably the drummer, but that’s pure conjecture on my part) quickly chimed in with, “We should put a court jester in our video. Just to seal the deal.”
Today we have the triumphant return of Rock ‘n’ Roll High School. I’d love to say my brief hiatus was due to something really glamorous like a personal request from John Taylor to go on tour with Duran Duran or a super long hangover, but the reality is that I’ve been busy writing. I also recently traveled to OH to hang out with a ton of my fellow Ellora’s Cave authors at RomantiCon, which is where I met today’s RNRHS participant, the lovely and oh-so-cool Cindy Jacks. Cindy has a brand new book, Smuggler’s Blues, out now so be sure to check it out! Now on with the show…
Cindy Jacks
Quantico High School, Quantico, VA, 1991, Currently: Writer of smut! I always wanted to be a writer, I have volumes of journals from high school. Of course when I go back and read my early writing, I just cringe. Then, I have to resist the urge to burn them so when I’m dead they won’t surface…or you know, in case I run for public office. Ha! Yeah, right.
Band and/or song that reminds you the most of high school: Motley Crue, “Girls, Girls, Girls”. OMG, I was obsessed with 1980s pop-metal hair bands. At fourteen, I must’ve practiced my signature as Mrs. Nikki Sixx a thousand times…soooo embarassing.
Favorite piece of music memorabilia (poster, t-shirt, etc.) in high school: I still have my picture discs which are records with photos of the band on the vinyl. Yes, I’m old enough to have owned a record player, lol. I remember sitting through the songs that hadn’t been released on the radio, sometimes just because I was too lazy to get up and pick up the needle. Other times it was because I’d grown to like those songs. Once CDs came out, it was easier to skip though tracks. Now with the whole MP3 format, you don’t even have to buy songs you don’t know or don’t think you’ll like. It’s a totally different listening experience.
Band that you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: Metallica! Sorry Metallica fans, but there are very few songs from them I liked and it all just sounded loud and crunchy, just people shouting into the mic. Of course the guys were always into Metallica, my high school boyfriend among them. I think the band speaks more the tension and anger teenage boys go through than they type of angst girls experience. For me, when I was down or upset, it was always The Cure or The Smiths.
Best show or concert you saw in high school: Nine Inch Nails. I saw them the 9:30 club in DC and it was unlike anything I’d ever seen. Trent Reznor was liquid sex wrapped in leather. I didn’t fully understand arousal until I saw Trent live.
Best high school make-out song: The Cure, “Pictures of You” though when I lost my virginity an oldies station was on the radio so Gladys Knight’s “Midnight Train to Georgia” always makes me tingly. But I have very fond memories of making out in the back of my boyfriend’s car–this old VW station wagon that he was forever fixing up but that never truly got repaired, lol–and Robert Smith crooning away over the sound system.
Thank you, Karen, for having me as your guest today and for letting take this trip down memory lane. It was really fun!
Cindy Jacks is a multi-published author of erotic romance. You can find Cindy at cindyjacks.com, on Twitter, or on the Ellora’s Cave site.
Welcome to the Indulgent blog hop! The timing of the hop couldn’t be any more perfect as I have a brand new release, For Keeps, which features seduction by Nutella, one of my favorite indulgences. It’s fabulous with pretzels, spread on a graham cracker and although you didn’t hear it from me, the old spoon in the jar trick is simplicity at it’s indulgent best. In For Keeps, Allie and Cooper live in the same apartment building and have formed a friendship that started mostly as flirtation. Cooper invites himself over for dinner one night and although the sparks are flying, Allie wouldn’t dare make a move–Cooper is 28 and she’s 40. She doubts he’s doing much more than making her feel good with his playful quips and flirtatious touches. It’s only when they make dessert, crepes filled with Nutella, that she learns Cooper is interested in a different kind of sweet treat.
Here’s the scene:
After dinner, they cleared the table and Allie got out flour and eggs. “I thought it’d be fun to make crepes. I should’ve made the batter before you got here, but there wasn’t enough time.” She turned as Cooper placed the dinner plates in the dishwasher. “Thanks for cleaning up.”
“No problem.” He shut the stainless door and wiped his hands on a kitchen towel. “What can I do to help?”
“You can get the butter out of the fridge. I need two tablespoons melted.”
“Got it. Now what?” He wagged the stick back and forth.
She eyed him, loving the playful smile across his face that unfortunately highlighted the boyish quality of his charms. “Look at the lines.” She ran her finger along the parchment wrapping. “Cut off two tablespoons, put it in a bowl and pop it in the microwave for thirty seconds.”
“That much I can manage.”
His bangs flopped down onto his forehead as he worked. His profile was strong and something about that particular view of his mouth left her breathless. It didn’t take much to imagine gently tugging on his lower lip with her teeth, sinking into him, their tongues tangling. Staring at him, thinking naughty thoughts may have been an ill-advised plan, but after a glass and a half of merlot, she could no longer keep her brain from the course it longed to take.
“I need you to drizzle in the butter while I beat this,” she murmured.
He pulled the bowl from the microwave and flashed his eyes at her. “Yes ma’am.”
Her eyes clamped shut for an instant. No you don’t. Please don’t call me ma’am. She whisked the batter and he parked a hand on her lower back, streaming the golden-yellow butter into the bowl.
“Like this?” he asked.
Oh yeah, like that. His hand was scorching through her thin cotton t-shirt. “Yes,” she answered. A rough huff of air escaped her lips as he applied more pressure when the final drops spiraled down into the bowl. He’s driving me crazy. “I was thinking Nutella in the crepes. Does that sound okay?” Please say yes. Chocolate might help at this point.
“It all sounds good to me.” His voice was as rich as the butter in the bowl. “Over here, right?” A pang of disappointment hit her when he lightened his touch and stepped away. He was only gone for an instant, but she missed his touch all that time.
“The batter needs to sit.” Allie turned as Cooper unscrewed the lid from the jar. Her breath caught when he dipped his finger into the chocolaty spread and popped it into his mouth.
“Mmm,” he hummed. “So good.” His tongue swept across his lower lip.
“It is,” she mumbled, the most coherent string of words she could assemble. How long before I melt into a puddle on the floor?
Cooper dipped his finger into the jar a second time.
“You’re cheating,” she said. “No double-dips.”
He shook his head and his eyes softened, drawing her in as her pulse quickened. “It’s not for me.” He eased closer and held out his finger. “You know you want some.”
Her mouth gaped, but more from shock than a craving for chocolate. She drew in a long, slow breath. Is he doing what I think he’s doing? He let his finger rest on her lower lip before sliding it into her mouth. Her tongue quivered with anticipation of the sweet reward. She cursed her impatience, but immediately closed her lips around his finger and sucked. Her eyelids felt impossibly heavy, but closing them was an idiotic idea. The smolder in his eyes told her she’d done exactly what he’d been hoping for. Copyright © Karen Booth, 2012 All rights reserved, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.
Hungry for more??? Read the full excerpt.
For Keeps is available from:
Ellora’s Cave | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | All Romance E-books
Have you ever been seduced by food? Share the details in the comments and I will award one lucky winner their choice of one of my other Ellora’s Cave releases–Long-Distance Lovers (co-authored with Karen Stivali) or Love My Way. NOTE: This contest has ended. Kelsey S. was the winner!
In addition, the Ndulgent Bloggers are giving away a Grand Prize of a $100 gift card from the winner’s choice of Barnes & Noble or Amazon via Rafflecopter. Rafflecopter giveaway
Both giveaways end at 11:59 PM, EST on September 22.
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