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March 1, 2006
Falling In Love Is So Hard On The Knees
Let's Talk Love and Murder, Shall We?
Okay, so I’m stealing that line about falling in love from an Aerosmith song, but it's pretty dead-on. I’ve been there, done that as far as the whole dating scene, and what’s out there can be downright painful. As Alesia mentioned, I was selected as one of the top twenty singles in the city last fall by St. Louis Magazine, which ran a feature with photos in the November issue. Up until then, I’d pretty much figured my romantic life was hopeless. I hadn’t felt anything close to love in a long time, even ducked out of the dating whirl entirely for awhile to concentrate on my books. I mean, much easier to write about relationships than to actually go through the emotional wringer of being in them, right?
Only I realized at the start of 2005 that my life was missing something. Not that I needed anyone to “complete me,” as I felt pretty fulfilled all on my lonesome. I've always had a great family and lots of amazing friends, and the publishing biz kept me busy, busy, busy. Then I found myself back on the romance roller-coaster, though it wasn’t of my choosing. Maybe it was the fact that I’d slimmed down after going on a low-fat diet to get healthy--my cholesterol had been through the roof--or my new hairdo and funkier clothes that accompanied my post-birthday "go for it!" attitude.
Whatever it was, I seemed to be attracting guys like flies…um, the wrong guys. Several married dudes decided I was hot stuff, as did a fellow I thought was faboo until I learned he was a total commitment phobe ("I don't like to expend the energy it takes to develop an intimate relationship with a woman"--that's verbatim, no kidding). Who lets these men out? They need to be caged under lock and key and kept away from the general population, or at least from unsuspecting females.
Then the “top singles” thing came along, and my luck turned solid gold. At the very first party sponsored by the magazine at the Contemporary Art Museum, I was introduced to Ed, the friend of another top single. The next week, he invited me to my first-ever hockey game. We had a blast, and it just snowballed from there. Strangely enough, hockey's become my favorite sport, and I had a heckuva time finishing the fourth Deb Dropout book because it's awfully hard to keep your butt in the chair when you're floating on Cloud 9. Sigh. (Y'all are rolling your eyes, aren't you? Feeling vaguely nauseous? Don’t the Literary Chicks provide chic little barf bags for sappy moments?)
When I look back on all the creeps, I can't consider it wasted time. I just chalk it up to research, baby. Every heartbreaking dating disaster was fodder for THE LONE STAR LONELY HEARTS CLUB, which came out in February and deals with dating, love and murder…that crazy trifecta that makes the Bermuda Triangle look like a walk in the park. Well, I honestly consider writing to be therapy, and what better way to get back at all the losers than to kill them off in a novel?
See you next Wednesday!
Cheers,
Susan
Posted by at 4:46 PM | Comments (14)
Comments
Hey, we're all about Happy Ever After here at the Lit Chicks!! And may I just add that Ed is a hottie!! :)
Alesia
Posted by: Alesia Holliday ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.literarychicks.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at March 1, 2006 8:28 AM
I like that Happily Ever After stuff! And, Alesia, did I mention that you've got a good eye? Because you do.
Posted by: Susan McB at March 1, 2006 8:50 AM
St. Louis Blues hockey? Cool! The only hockey game I ever attended was a Blues game. I have fond memories. The people bouncing up and down and clapping their hands to beer commercial jingles. The guy in the suit who stood up and screamed, "Have some pride! Hit somebody!"
Congrats on finding the great guy, too. Sadly, I don't need a barf bag. I love that gooey lovey dovey stuff.
Eileen
Posted by: Eileen at March 1, 2006 12:24 PM
Yes, Eileen, St. Louis Blues hockey! It's so much fun, even though we've sucked this year and the Savvis Center is half empty. I've learned to ride the MetroLink (which I'd never done before) and to bundle up like I'm going to the Arctic so I don't freeze. And, phew, I'm glad I didn't make you nauseous, at least. I am a fan of lovey-dovey stuff, too, obviously. ;-)
Posted by: Susan McB at March 1, 2006 3:07 PM
So, I gotta chase you down on another blog to get the Ed Scoop. ;-)
The fact you wrote about lovey dovey stuff here, and killing a man in a washing machine on TLC today, is one reason you’re on my list of favorite people. Great blogs today Susan!
Posted by: Nancie at March 1, 2006 4:54 PM
Well, Susan, as a Canadian LC fan, I welcome you to the site as guest blogger and to the fabulous sport of hockey. Which, by the way, is the reason I scored (pun intended) such a great husband. Congratulations on your own sporting success, . And publishing success, of course!
Posted by: Cynthia at March 1, 2006 10:56 PM
Hmm. Too bad Rangers are so in these days. I've got an ex I'd love to do something evil to in print.
Congrats on finding a good guy. I remember, somewhere, where you mentioned that singles thing when it was still in the works. IIRC, you were not too sure about participating. Aren't you glad you did?
Posted by: ZaZa at March 2, 2006 2:01 AM
Yeah, Nancie, I wanted to save some good beans to spill while I'm guest-blogging! Just means you'll have to come to the Literary Chicks' blog on Wednesdays in March to see what I'm not sharing on Lipstick! Cynthia, there must be something in the air at those icy arenas, doncha think??? I really enjoy watching hockey, though I'm still learning all the rules, as it's so fast-paced...way better than baseball (so far as I'm concerned!). ZaZa, yes, definitely. Looking back, I'm so glad the mag picked me for their "top singles" issue, though I was kind of nervous about it. But all's well that ends well, and I do have a really great guy as a result. Phew. As for your ex who's a Ranger (so I'm guessing), why don't you get it off your chest? We're all friends here. ;-)
Posted by: Susan McB at March 2, 2006 11:07 AM
Welcome, Susan!
So give us all the dish on your new guy . . .
Posted by: Whitney at March 2, 2006 12:46 PM
Hi, Whitney, and thanks for the welcome. I'm having a great time already. As for Ed, well, he's tall, cute, brilliant, and funny (of course!)...so I just hope he can keep putting up with my insanity, as life is awfully good with him in it! I'm curious as to how many writers have significant others who are engineers or CPAs, that kind of thing? Seems like a lot of mystery authors I know are married to engineers of some sort. Maybe it's 'cuz they're rational, which balances out our nutty creativity. Hmmm.
Posted by: Susan McB at March 2, 2006 2:29 PM
Susan! First - so great to have you here and second, congrats on your new guy! Sounds like all is right with the universe. I love it when that happens!
Posted by: Lani at March 3, 2006 6:37 AM
Lani, it's really wonderful to get to hang out with y'all here for a whole month. I'm glad I had my "connection" (aka, Alesia the Faboo!) to get me in. ;-) And I'm with ya on the universe being in order, for once. That so rarely seems to happen...very rarely. Maybe that's why I've got a leaky pipe under my sink (which drenched everything in the cabinet before my cat figured out there was a puddle against the back wall in the bathroom and alerted me). I'd rather have a bunch of little things going wrong and the big ones going right anyday!
Posted by: Susan McB at March 3, 2006 9:51 AM
Welcome, Susan!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your new hairstyle and new look!
And Ed sounds lovely - what a great story :-)
Posted by: Michelle C at March 4, 2006 7:36 AM
Oh, thanks, Michelle! I'm so glad now that I decided to (finally) get a professional author photo done last year, as the photographer and the makeup artist are the ones who stumbled onto my new hairdo (Suzy Gorman kept saying, "Make it messy! It looks too neat!") and I was sent shopping with a stylist for hipper fashions as I was dressing too conservatively, according to Suzy ("what're you doing wearing f**king cardigan sets?"). Anyway, that photo shoot did wonders for my appearance--as I think I'd just gotten too deeply into a groove, for too many years--and for my mind-set as well. I feel like a new woman. Amazing that hair and clothes can do that, huh? And having an adorable guy around doesn't hurt either. :-)
Posted by: Susan McB at March 4, 2006 3:33 PM
