Inspiration for First Date Scene from Rue Allyn's Hazard Duty

 Thank you Mary for inviting me to share some lifestyle memories and a little about my newest release, Hazard Duty ~ Sexy Sailors # 2. I’ll begin by saying that parking—that fine old American courtship ritual—was a significant inspiration for the first date scene between the hero and heroine of Hazard Duty. 

When I was growing up, the only real chance teens had to explore sexuality in a relatively safe environment (free from peer pressure and adult censorship) was parking in whatever vehicle they could obtain. Making out in a car or truck cab or van was a rite of passage. A point of pride for a guy who managed to make it to home plate or the gal who managed to keep him attracted to her without letting him get that far. Less popular now than in my youth, parking is still a major activity in small towns where other forms of adolescent entertainment are few. Thus, Roslyn’s memory of seeing Joe parking with another girl during their teen years is a direct result of a piece of my own lifestyle that is fading from our culture.

The memory is pivotal in changing Roslyn’s attitude about dating Joe years later. In high school each had a crush on the other, but for a variety of reasons they never dated or shared their feelings. Years later Joe returns to town as the local USN Recruiter. He’s still attracted to Ros and determined not to lose this opportunity to fulfill his fantasies and—he hopes—hers.

Please leave a comment. I’d love to know what you think about parking. Did you park in high school? Do you park now? Or is parking only a story that you hear about from your parents or grandparents? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Everyone who comments will have their e-mail address entered into a drawing for a free download of Hazard Duty. You may also enter by leaving a review of one of my other books at Amazon. Just check my author page for book details http://www.amazon.com/Rue-Allyn/e/B00AUBF3NI/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1. I’ll be collecting entries throughout the entire Hazard Duty blog tour (June 24 – July 1—find the schedule of appearances at http://rueallyn.com/4News.html). The winner will be announced July 4^th on my blog http://rueallynauthorblog.com/.

Opening of the first date scene in Hazard Duty
  They weren't on the road for two minutes when Ros realized their destination. "You're taking me to The Point." 

  He cast her a grin before taking a hairpin turn. "This is a date." 

  She swallowed, her throat dry at the memories assaulting her, and tried to calm her racing nerves. "I prefer to think of it as having dinner together, which we could have done in a restaurant. Couples go to The Point to…to…" She couldn't say the words. Memories swamped her, clogging her throat into silence.

If you’d like to read the entire scene you may find it at http://rueallyn.com/2b21HDexcerpt.html, or just read the blurb given below.

Hazard Duty blurb

Joe Hazard filled all of Ros Duncan’s teenaged fantasies, but now she’s an adult with a mission, and no handsome sailor will get in her way.  The first in her family to earn a college education, she escaped Birds Gap, the deadly dull, stifling town of her childhood and the scene of her most embarrassing memories.  However as principal of Bird’s Gap High School she wants to see every child in town go to college not be forced to chose between working in the mines or risking life and limb in the military. 

Sadly Hazard Duty won’t be available until July 01, 2013. You may find out more about pricing and purchasing at http://eredsage.com/store/Hazard_Duty.html.

Hazard Duty is book 2 in my Sexy Sailor series. Book one, Off Limits, is currently available at Amazon. To whet your appetite for this series here’s the blurb for Off Limits.

For Senior Chief Hank O’Mara no woman could compare with the sea until he met Lieutenant Bethany Morton.  Only the sea could draw two passionate people of such opposite backgrounds together, and only US Navy regulations could keep them apart.  Because fraternization between Officer and enlisted is forbidden, both Beth and Hank do their utmost to resist the passion and love growing between them.  However, love proves stronger than either the sea or the USN. If they are to be together, Hank must sacrifice his career and Beth will risk the destruction of her professional dreams.

Click here for an excerpt from Off Limits, or here to purchase.