Friday, August 29, 2008

Who Knew?

Currently Reading: Am up to page 93 in Wind Song. Very enjoyable!


Yes, I have a wild streak in me.

Okay, I'll give you a few moments to recover...anyone need CPR?

I'm also the responsible mom, and this wild streak has been contained for several years. But it still pops out every once in a while...

Yes, the food coloring worked. And unfortunately, the pictures of my red bangs (didn't do my entire head; only the bangs) is buried in storage and not in digital format. And it washed out the next day.

What did I learn from the Happy Hooker? Some interesting positions I didn't know existed, along with some terms I HAD heard, but wasn't exactly sure what they meant...until I read the book. Yeah, I had a sheltered childhood...

It surprises me when I look back, because up until age 14, some of my actions were pretty risque' at the time. We went swimming at a local pool, and when we returned to the house, my boyfriend and his brother wanted to watch me get dressed. So I agreed, pulled on my shorts OVER my one-piece suit, and announced I was dressed. And my shorts had a decorative tie...the brother asked what would happen if he pulled on it. I smiled sweetly and said, "Pull it and find out!" So he did....and nothing happened. He was disappointed, I was smug.

And when we went camping when I was 12, my sis and I snuck into the larger tent with our sleeping bags, and I 'slept with' my boyfriend. Actually, we were side by side, in our respective bags. But when my back itched, and he offered to scratch it, he just couldn't get the job done through the fabric of my PJ's. So I unzipped my one-piece pj's, pulled my arms out of the sleeves, and zipped it back up over my just-budding chest. He scratched my itchy back for 15 minutes. It never occurred to either of us to play show-and-tell.

But I think I scared myself. When I entered the 8th grade, I was full of confidence, teasing the boys, and knew I looked good. My hair was golden blonde and fell to my shoulders in soft waves, naturally. Velour V-neck tops with matching color pants were in style, as were skinny gold belts. My ski jacket was white, with no hood. But somewhere, I began to panic. Good Christian girls didn't act like this! They were modest, and certainly didn't flirt! And I began to withdraw.

A year later, I started to peek out from the shell I'd burrowed into, and realized I didn't have to sacrifice EVERYTHING. But my confidence in my abilities with the opposite sex was gone. I'd pushed away my boyfriend, developed a friendship with two senior boys, and discovered I was good at creative writing.

And when I started high school, things were a little better. I was a respected member of our marching band, and as a Senior, I was invited to perform with the elite Percussion Ensamble for one performance, as the practices didn't fit into my schedule. I practiced on my own, joined them for one run-through, and then took the stage and did well. Somewhere, my mother has an audio tape of our 'Sabre Dance'. And if you've not heard the song, it's rather complicated and FAST. My part was on the xylephone.

Oh, and also on that Church Choir trip? I got the 'scoper' award. I guess because I had 3 different 'dates' in one night...went swimming with one, attended Bible Study with a second, and went for a walk on the beach later that evening with a third...oh, and depantsed another on the waterslide...

Also, my best male friend called me when he'd gotten his Senior Yearbook before I did. One of his friends was on the yearbook staff and had given him a head's up.

"Hey Molly...we came in second for Cutest Couple."

"But...we were never a couple!"

"Apparently half the Senior class thought so..."

I gained more confidence in college, and have valuable memories. I got fed up with a pompous ass of a busboy at the country club where I worked, and psychoanalyzed him one afternoon, embarassing him in front of the younger kids he was trying to impress. Another busboy tossed me over his shoulder; I bit him on the hip to get him to put me down. One day, my boss had to pull another waitress from the dining room to help cover my section, because I was stuck in the kitchen making 10 milkshakes for the tennis kids. They didn't want anyone else to make them!

And now that wild streak has been contained in the material I'm writing. As stated before, I've written seven books in my series that shows premarital sex, colorful language (according to my mother! Others laugh and call me racy!), and some highly questionable romances. Why would a 30-year-old man want to date a 19-year-old girl? It happened, and the girl was told she didn't act young. Why would anyone put up with being emotionally abused for a year? It happened; I wanted to show how someone could actually get sucked into that issue, and lose her confidence. Why would someone cheat on their long-distance boyfriend? If she was questioning everything she thought she believed in, it might happen! In fact, it did. Why would someone suddenly decide to give up on men? Read #6 and find out.

And my other books I've written this past year? All geared toward another genre. Maybe they will be published; maybe they need more work. But the fact is, I'm trying. I decided to quit trying to fit into a mold and just be myself.

I was shocked when a friend told me he still considers me risque'. I was like, "Who? Conservative Me?? Are you insane?"

But if he means someone who bends the rules, doesn't kowtow to everything others say, and keeps an open mind about certain issues, then I guess it does apply.

I'm a rebel at heart.

So who knew? I think my mom summed it up very nicely:

"If you wanted something, you went after it, full steam ahead. No one could sway you. It was 'damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead!' I fully expected you to drop out of Marching Band once the temps got too hot. But you hung in there. That showed me if you put your mind to it, you could accomplish anything."

Happy Anniversary:)
One year ago today, I 'met' Bronwyn Green during my first LRC chat. That day, I shocked the hell out of my kids by showing them that Mommy Works...she promotes her work online and offers support to others in the online community. I did not eat with them at the table; I ate at my desk. And I did not do 'mommy duties'...I was meeting other authors who were (gasp!) interested in what I was writing! Imagine that...and because of it, I now network on a regular basis with these talented ladies, and own almost all of their books:)

3 comments:

barbara huffert said...

"I decided to quit trying to fit into a mold and just be myself." Best choice you could ever make. Good for you, Molly. I'm proud of you!

Unknown said...

I'm still trying to convince my kids and spousal unit that writing is my "work". They don't think chats and blogging could be anything but play.

Molly Daniels said...

I had a hilarious post I wrote last year on my website, but it's gone. Apparently after a year, citymax deletes things from pages if they are too long.