Because I Don't Punk Out on Promises...the NKOTB Fan Fic

Okay, so you know how you make those promises that you will do something IF because you know the IF is a longshot and you don't actually think you'll have to pay up? Well, yeah, so here I am. Sometime last year I made the promise that if I ever hit the New York Times Bestseller list, I would post some of the novel that I wrote at age 14--which is really just 55,000 words of NKOTB (and Jonathan Brandis--R.I.P.) fan fic. 

Well, this week, it happened! I didn't expect it, but when the NYT list came out, the RIDING DESIRE boxed set I'm in with thriteen other fantastic authors hit #24 on the Ebook list. So first, yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It's a dream come true to be both a NYT and USA Today bestselling author now. HUGE dream. So thank you so much, readers, for buying it. *hugs*

Me realizing we made the NYT Bestseller list

Me realizing I promised my NKOTB fan fic

But that also means it's time for me to pay the piper on this promise. Two pages of a kissing scene are posted today on the Smutketeers blog, where you can also see a few of the other authors airing their shames, including Eden Bradley's 80s hair, RG Alexander singing with a band, and a recording of Lauren Hawekeye when she was in a girl group. :) So click over there to check it out.

But I also know that it's not fair for me to only post two pages. So I'm posting a longer scene here. In it there is probably my first attempt at a makeout scene and Jordan gets a little too handsy. Bad Jordan. But Joe comes to the rescue! >.<  Yeah, this is going to be embarrassing.

Some things to note in these pages: 

• I was 14 and was writing about kissing and such when I had no experience at all. I wouldn't be kissed for another 2 years. Also, this is when French kissing was still very scandalous a thought to my innocent Catholic school girl mind. ;)
• The heroine is named Love because, yes, I was into subtlety with symbolism. *cough*
• These are scanned documents that include handwritten edits I did back then.
• Yes, I dotted my i's with stars because I was rad like that.
• I actually bought the Writer's Market book that year because I totally planned on querying this. I eventually chickened out--thank God, though I'm sure a few agents would've enjoyed the giggle.
• The Jonathan in this was actually Jonathan Brandis, not Jon of NKOTB.
• It was in proper manuscript format because I was serious about this, yo. ; )
• No, I didn't have a boyfriend at the time. Why do you ask? o.0

 All right, enough stalling, here we go. But first, here's the character sheet of who each character really was (you can see I REALLY deviated from the names on some of them *snort*). And here are the magazine pages I found in the binder for my character inspiration. (Click to enlarge)

 

And here is the lurve scene gone wrong (click to enlarge)...

Page 1Page 2Page 3Page 4

Page 5Page 6Page 7Page 8

Page 9

If you made it through all nine pages I'm not sure if you're a sadist who enjoys my shame or a masochist for putting yourself through it, lol.

But you know what? I'm okay with it all because I made the NYT, baby!!!

Also, if you'd like to see how far I've (hopefully) come in my writing in 20 years, NEED YOU TONIGHT is out this week! And RIDING DESIRE is only on sale for 99 cents for another day, so if you haven't gotten it, grab it now. And FIFTY FIRST TIMES is still on sale for 1.99!

So what dirty/embarrassing laundry would you air in exchange for a dream coming true? Come on, don't leave me up here all alone. Tell me what's in your attic. ;)

Skeletons (and Mancandy) in the Attic

For the past week and a half, kidlet and I have been staying with my parents in New Orleans. I'm happy to be home and back to my routine (and hubs) today, but I did have a lot of fun hanging out back home. And one of the things I had the chance to do while I was there was dig through my parents' attic (I use the term "dig" loosely because its actually perfectly organized up there. My mom's organization skills are like a page out of Real Simple magazine.) And what I discovered was that a) My mom doesn't get rid of anything, b) I'm thankful for that, and c) you can tell a lot about a life going through a few childhood boxes.

So in case you didn't catch my live #tweetsFromTheAttic session on Twitter, I'll share some of what I found up there.

See, I've always been into mancandy. My mom has folders and folders filled with all the Big Bopper and Teen Beat pages I used to have on my wall.

Signs of my New Kids on the Block obsession. The bottom pic is trading cards. And no, I didn't really have backstage passes (above). I'm sure I ordered those from some magazine at some point.

The book that made me want to be a writer

Some of my favorite middle grade books

The first sex scene I ever read. It left quite an impression. I remember being shocked they could actually write that stuff in books. (I was 13.)

Where I first learned I loved a good horror story.

Yes, they made books. Of course I had them. (And can you believe in the first one, Baby was Francis Kellerman not Houseman. They actually set it up that her dad owned the resort. *shocked face* What were they thinking?)

Proof that vampires existed before Twilight ;)

Found a notebook where me and my stepsister filled out answers to questions. This is "What would you like to do for a living?" My answer is #1 - "writer/editor" and hers is "pharmasist". (She may have needed a bit of an editor there on spelling, but she was 10 so we'll give her a pass.) So at 14, I had a plan. I probably didn't realize it'd take another 18 years to reach that goal. :)  (And for those wondering, my stepsister is an accountant, not a pharmacist.)

And look, I told y'all I was really serious at 15 about querying that first novel (the New Kids fan fiction.) Luckily, I never got further than buying the 1995 Writer's Market book. :)

Look, my natural haircolor. Haven't seen that in a while...

Alright, so that's what I found in the attic. It's kind of scary how much you can distill about a person from a few boxes. But it's also kind of cool to see that my journey to becoming a writer started all the way back then. I was always preparing for this career, even when I didn't realize it.

So what would you find in your childhood boxes? What do you wish you would've kept? Would people be able to figure out who you are now based on what was in those old boxes?

Shameless Saturday: The Boys of my Pre-Teen Dreams

 Welcome back to Shameless Saturday where I come clean and air my guilty pleasures...

So you all know I have an appreciation for a good-looking celebrity--hence the boyfriend of the week posts and that whole romance writing gig I do. :) However, this is by no means a new obsession. Oh, no. When I was 13, my room was literally wall-papered (including the ceiling) with pages ripped out from the likes of Big Bopper and Teen Beat. (Much to my parents' chagrin. I think they're still trying to cover up the stains that sticky putty left on the walls.)

And it didn't end there. Me and my best friend, Tammi, also created this whole fictional world where we were each dating our respective crushes. Pretty normal, right? Um, well, is it also normal that we would write each other letters as if we were truly dating said crushes? Yeah, didn't think so. I'd like to think those elaborate letters detailing the scandalous (i.e. kissing and holding hands) exploits of me and my boyfriend Joe McIntyre (of New Kids on the Block) were the start of my romance writing career.

So I thought today I would honor those baby-faced boys who started me down this path. 

Welcome to the walls of my pre-teen bedroom...

So this was the exact poster I had on my wall and it was my FAVORITE. *sigh* How I loved him...

(He's still hot for the record--even if I grew up to be taller than him, lol.)

Jonathan Brandis was second only to Joe. I fell in lurve with him in that movie Ladybugs and then SeaQuest. However, looking at this picture makes me sad. Jonathan, unfortunately, struggled in his career once he became an adult and in 2003 took his own life. His friends said he'd been suffering from depression over his career. : (  R.I.P. Jonathan

Eddie Furlong in his Terminator 2 days. My first glimpse of how good a bad boy could be. :)

Elijah Wood pre-Lord of the Rings, though frankly, he doesn't look all that different now, lol.

And another New Kid because frankly, I was obsessed. (I still heart them.) And lemme tell you, Jordan has gone from cute to mega hot with age. I think he may make an appearance on Boyfriend of the Week one of these days.

Alright, so there they are--the boys who stole my little pre-teen heart. So, fess up, who was on your walls?