Originally posted 06/04/2005 9:14pm
When I was in my early teens, I was really into reading teen romance novels and in love with Rick Springfield. Those were my two obsessions. It didn't matter that the girls and boys in the books were nothing like me and my friends. I still loved reading those books. The sweet innocence of first love. The happy ever after which usually meant that someone got to go to prom. Then, when I was 13, my best friend Karen snuck me one of her mother's romance novels. It was a Harlequin Romance called JOURNEY TO QUIET WATERS. (Yeah, I still remember the name and even recently bought a used copy on the 'net to add to my collection for sentimental purposes.) I remember feeling oh-so-naughty when I read about his hands grasping at her heaving bosom and how his manhood jutted proudly. WOW! Heaving bosom. Jutting manhood. Where do I sign up? Talk about a nice introduction into adulthood. I was hooked. The "innocent" part of me kept right on reading about shy girls who loved the handsome jock and wanted to go to prom. The "naughty" side of me waited for my regular dose of Karen's Mom's books.
Fast forward several years. It's 1994. I just bought my first home computer which came with a free 30-day trial to the on line service Prodigy. I don't even know if it still exists. These were the days before advanced things like these forums. We had "bulletin boards." So, I found a "bulletin board" for fledging romance writers and avid romance readers. I met the author Cathie Linz on that bulletin board. (This might mean something to anyone who has ever read a Harlequin romance.) Anyhoo-- I posted a note that I was writing a romance novel and was looking for "young men" to provide insight, advice and real-life stories of their own romance practices. OK, now those of you who just snickered and thought, "Gee, that sounds like a pick up line", you'd be right. I wasn't *really* writing a book at that time but I was looking for some inspiration. My muse. Heaving bosom and jutting manhood, too. (MY heaving bosom, of course.) This guy "V" responded immediately. We began a nice little pen-pal relationship. He told me he was a newspaper man from Vermont in his early 40s. (I was a child care worker in my early 20s.) It all seemed very Richard-Gere-Pretty-Woman to me. Older man. Experienced man. Plus, he was in the newspaper biz. Hello! Possibly career path! "V" started almost immediately with his flirting and double entendres. I'd throw out these hypothetical situations for the purpose of "my romance novel" (wink, wink) and he'd come back with "this is what I would do" type stuff. We started to get pretty involved nevermind he was married and had kids my age. (Yeah, I kinda forgot to tell ya that, huh?) "V" was becoming way more than lil ole Bevy could handle so I created an alter-ego named Ursula. (I was watching MAD ABOUT YOU at the time.) I introduced Ursula to "V" as my older, more experienced sister who was fresh from a bad marriage and looking for some no-strings lovin'. It was quite strange being two people at the same time. Innocent, sweet Beverly pretending not to understand the come-ons of "V" and brash, bold Ursula who had "V" wrapped around her siren-red perfectly manicured finger. Alas, as most stories go, things didn't last very long. "V"'s wife found out about his little on-line habit and he sent me/us a good-bye e-mail... and his address in case I/we were ever in Vermont and wanted a good time.
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