To celebrate The Hazards of Sex on the Beach release, I have fourteen amazing romance writers stopping by over the next few weeks to share their awkward or "hazardous" dating stories.
To continue the fun, today I have Gennifer Albin, Melody Anne, and L.P. Dover!
Gennifer Albin
I met him at a debate tournament. He went
to the posh all boys prep school and he had a name that sounded like a
character out of an 80s romcom. You know what mean. The kind of name that
belongs to boys who belong to yacht clubs. In comparison, I felt like I was
from the wrong side of the tracks. Mostly because I went to a public high
school and didn't have the third as part of my legal name.
We arranged to go on a date and all
was going well, if a little awkward, when he ran into the theater to get movie
tickets. All I asked was that he not get tickets to the terrible looking new
Meg Ryan movie.
He came back with tickets for the
terrible-looking Meg Ryan movie.
Fortunately, or unfortunately
depending on how you see it, we had time to kill before the movie, so we wound
up at the local mall. Half an hour into the date and I was beginning to realize
that yacht club boy was more than a little boring. My survival mechanism
activated and I decided to salvage the date by having a little fun. Yacht boy
seemed incapable of having fun.
Twenty minutes later we were standing
in a music store and I was piling a collection of N'Sync dolls into his arms.
Why? I'm not sure. It was more than a little ridiculous, but it was making me
laugh. Yacht boy offered me a bemused smile.
As I led him through the store, N'Sync
dolls in hand, we ran into a friend of his from the debate team. His friend had
a pocket watch and dared me to run up to random strangers repeating "I'm
late. I'm late for a very important date." This seemed like an excellent
idea to me.
It was definitely the most fun I had
that evening.
The movie was atrocious. The
conversation was forced. Looking back at that date, I can't help but roll my
eyes.
But you know what? Pocket watch guy?
He was awesome, and we saw each other again. It wasn't a romantic thing. We
just had a lot of fun together. He was a groomsman at my wedding and I was his
date to prom. So I guess maybe Yacht guy and I's awkward date turned out to be
pretty awesome after all.
So when in doubt, always, always drag
boring dates around, holding N'Sync dolls.
About Gennifer Albin:
Gennifer Albin holds a Masters degree
in English Literature from the University of Missouri. A recovering academic,
she turned to writing her own books. In her free time she sits on the National
Novel Writing Month Advisory Board, laughs (and cries) with her mom writers
group, and watches too much Doctor Who (if that’s possible). Gennifer lives in
Poulsbo, Washington with her family.
Links:
Melody Anne
I went on a date with a guy and though I may write romance,
I am actually pretty vanilla when it comes to sex, much to my husband's
disappointment. So, years and years and years ago I went out with this guy and
some friends, and I had a bit too much to drink (there's a shocker) and then we
ended up at my friend’s house. Well, he was kissing me, and then his hands
began to wander and I was more than done with this date. So, I had a stroke of
genius, said I had to use the restroom, since he didn't seem to understand the
word "no" and I ran from the living room, and then ended up sleeping
on the floor in my friend's daughter's room. When I was sober, I hopped in my
car and drove home, never to see the man again, thankfully :)
About Melody Anne:
NYT and USA Today Best Selling Author Melody Anne has
written the popular series, Billionaire Bachelors, Surrender, Baby for the
Billionaire, and she also has a young adult series: Midnight Fire, Midnight
Moon and Midnight Storm – Rise of the Dark Angel.
Originally from the picturesque coastal town of Florence,
Oregon, Melody often takes her readers to small town locations, not too unlike
the small town she grew up in. As an aspiring author she wrote for years, until
publishing in 2011 her first three books, which would later become the wildly
successful Billionaire Bachelors series.
Holding a Bachelor’s Degree in business, and having left
behind the airline industry with all of its business travelers, she loves to
write about strong, powerful, businessmen and the corporate world.
When Melody isn’t writing, she cultivates strong bonds with
her family and relatives and enjoys time spent with them as well as her
friends, and beloved pets. Living in the heart of Oregon’s wine country, the
Willamette Valley, Melody continues to be a country girl at heart. She loves
the small town and strong community she lives in and is involved in many
community projects.
Links:
L.P. Dover
As
most of you probably know a blind date can be one of the most awkward and
miserable times in your life. Especially when you’re eighteen years old and
you’re looking for the type of guy who has perfectly gelled hair, nice clothes,
a bad ass car, and of course … hot as hell. I’ll admit, those qualities aren’t
always important, but I was young. My date’s name was Chris and he was a good
friend of one of my girlfriends. She thought he would be a good match for me so
I figured … why not, right? I talked to him on the phone the day before and he
seemed pretty cool. We talked about random things, even about how I wanted a
dog so I could name her Muffin.
Okay,
so he comes to pick me up in his white Ford Mustang which was pretty cool. I
looked out my bedroom window and saw it before leaving my bedroom. I was
nervous and I could hear him down the hall talking to my Mom who answered the
door and let him in. My best friend knew the kind of guys I liked to date so I
figured he’d be all I ever wanted. Boy was I completely wrong! I’m a very tall
girl and I NEVER dated anyone shorter than me. I refused to do that. Well, it
just so happens that he was shorter than me and he had the worst posture ever.
I wanted to tell him so many times to stand up straight but I kept it to myself.
Love his heart he had some of the worst acne ever too; there were craters in
his cheeks. He reminded me of Crater Face in Saved by the Bell. To top it all
off, he brought me a stuffed dog with the name Muffin on the collar. Yeah, it
was sweet, but it was so freaking dorky. The poor boy tried, but after dinner I
was ready to call it an evening. Basically, I pulled the sick card and said I
needed to go home. What’s worse is that I called my best friend up and told her
all of this … well, she goes off and tells him everything I said. Needless to
say, he wasn’t happy and called to let me know.
(What’s
funny is that now I’m happily married and he’s a lot shorter than me.)
About L.P. Dover:
USA Today Bestselling author, L.P. Dover, is a southern belle residing
in North Carolina along with her husband and two beautiful girls. Before she
even began her literary journey she worked in Periodontics enjoying the
wonderment of dental surgeries.
Not only does she love to write, but she loves to play tennis, go
on mountain hikes, white water rafting, and you can’t forget the passion for
singing. Her two number one fans expect a concert each and every night before
bedtime and those songs usually consist of Christmas carols.
Aside from being a wife and mother, L.P. Dover has written over
nine novels including her Forever Fae series, the Second Chances series, and
her standalone novel, Love, Lies, and Deception. Her favorite genre to read is
romantic suspense and she also loves writing it. However, if she had to choose
a setting to live in it would have to be with her faeries in the Land of the
Fae.
L.P. Dover is represented by Marisa Corvisiero of Corvisiero
Literary Agency.