So, I had to take care of it—I had to soothe myself somehow. And I did—with Poppy’s realization of her #1 dream coming true! For all of those of us who still have that one “never kissed him” regret—Poppy and Swaggart’s making out in the restaurant for the first time is as much closure as I can offer us! Maybe that’s why it’s one of my favorite scenes in any book I’ve ever written! Maybe that’s why so many of us choose it as a favorite scene—it’s a little smidgen of closer for our scarred little hearts. What do you think?
2. Shake the hand of the President of the United States. Moving on (I’m all super sensitive now)…I’ve never really had a desire to do this—not in my lifetime anyway—but I figure someone has this on their list. Right?
3. Memorize “The Lady of Shalott” by Tennyson. Yipee ky-yay! Done! Yep, the summer of 2009 I checked this one off my list! Hmm…I better practice it a couple of times this week—I think I’m a little rusty.
4. Ride the rollercoaster at the top of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas. No, thank you! Not that I don’t like rollercoasters—I do! But a rollercoaster up on the top of a building—no way!
5. Visit The Goonies house in Oregon. (See previous.)
6. Read all of Dickens’s and Austen’s works. (Also see previous.)
7. Ride a horse along the beach in Monterrey, California. In truth, I would rather ride a horse out across the beautiful deserts of New Mexico—but the beach sounded more winsome, so I went there with it.
8. Receive a stamped postcard from Scotland. As you know, I am a deltiologist (that is, a collector of postcards), and though I do have postcards from Scotland, I do not have one that has actually been mailed from there. So I’m still waiting to check this one off.
9. Eat crawfish in New Orleans. Done! And delicious! I cannot even tell you how delicious boiled crawfish are when they’re prepared correctly! Mmmmm!
10. Sing the National Anthem at a college football game. Just a random one…
11. Visit Arlington National Cemetery. Totally on my Dreams to Do list! Totally! I hope I can check this one off in just a few years.
12. Own a pair of Levi’s 501 button-fly jeans. Done! Every pair of jeans I owned in 1984 was a pair of Levi’s 501 button-fly jeans! I love that they’re back now—and although my physique has changed too much to wear them, I love that Kevin and my boys can wear them!
13. Learn the five Latin ballroom dances. Again—just something I like to watch now.
14. Plant a rose garden. I had a friend who did this in Washington, and I always thought it was an admirable accomplishment—not to mention beautiful!
15. Walk the ridgepole of an old Victorian home. Would love to do this! Seriously!
16. Have a chalk-artist do your portrait. Just an idea I had from something I saw when we were in New Orleans once.
17. Spend eight hours in a Civil War cemetery. Eight hours would be the short end of the dream for me! I love cemeteries! Still, since no one loves them as much as I do, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to check this one off unless I go by myself (heavy sigh).
18. Go fishing in Idaho. I was just thinking of my Idaho-born friend, Barbara, while writing, and this one popped into my mind.
19. Serve on a jury. Done! Grand jury, however—not trial jury. I found grand jury duty wildly interesting. I’d do it again in a heartbeat! However, trial jury—not so sure about that one.
20. Photograph the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Done! Over and over again! Love it!
I think you might be getting bored now—therefore, maybe I should wind this all down and just leave you with a few trivia snippets. (Are you breathing a huge “whew!” right about now? Sorry.)
After reading Kissing Cousins and reflecting on where certain inspirations for the story came from, I can honestly say that it is one of my personal favorites now too. If I took the time to bore you enough with everything in this book that links to something in real life, it would take forever! So, let’s just say this—“Swaggart has finally taken off his shirt!”—and call it good, sleeping better in knowing my personal OCD in that writing regard is at rest at last. What do you say?
Now off you go to jot down your own Dreams to Do list. I hope it includes at least one kiss wish!
Kissing Cousins Trivia Snippets
Snippet #1—Verb+plural noun. I almost didn’t title this book Kissing Cousins because I knew that everyone would assume it meant a thing—plural noun, kissing cousins. In truth (as you now know), it’s mean to be read as verb+plural noun—meaning Poppy and Whitney want to kiss each other’s cousins, not their own. Still, in the end I thought it might be a funny pun and play on words. Not sure if it was a good decision or a bad one, but it’s too late now, right?
Snippet #2—To begin this snippet, here’s a quote from Kissing Cousins, “You will go out with me again,” Mark said. “And that wasn’t a question.” When I was in college, there was a boy in one of my pop/rock dance bands (an awesome bass guitarist!) who walked up to me one day and made this statement: “Marcia…you will be my girlfriend! I’ll pick you up Saturday, and you will go to the Valentine’s Day dance with me, and you will be my girlfriend.” I thought, “Hmmm…what the heck!” All my friends had been telling me I should date this guy—he was ultra, ultra uber cool, played the bass, totally handsome. So, I went to the dance with him and became his girlfriend. Guess what—it was the only time I ever got cheated on and/or dumped! So, the moral to the story is that although it may seem romantic at the moment to have a guy step up and be all aggressive and take-the-bull-by-the-horns-ish, sometimes, if your heart’s not in it, it might end badly.
Snippet #3—My darling friend Sandy is the fairy angel who introduced me to Jell-O Instant Cheesecake! Again, I was in college, and Sandy and I were roommates and bosom friends, and one day she pulls out a box of Jell-O Instant Cheesecake. Mind you, up to this point I hadn’t even liked cheesecake (astonishing, I know)! However, one bit later, I was hooked! And I do mean hooked! Very often after that (more often than I’d like to admit), Sandy and I would whip up a Jell-O Instant Cheesecake at three or four in the morning, pop it in the fridge, and then get up at eight or nine a.m., cut it in half, and snarf the entire thing for breakfast! Yep—there you have the real-life inspiration for Poppy’s and Whitney’s breakfast cheesecake!
Snippet #4—Remember when Mark and Poppy stop at the little bistro during their Saturday all-day date? Well, here’s my chicken salad recipe (served in pita bread)—the very one the bistro served them!
2 cups cooked chicken (diced)
2–3 Golden Delicious apples (peeled and finely chopped)
½ cup onion (finely chopped)
2–3 teaspoons celery seed
3 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½–¾ cup mayonnaise
6 pocket pita bread (cut in halves)
Mix chicken, apples, onion, celery seed, sugar, salt, and mayonnaise. Chill for two hours before serving in pita bread halves. Mmmm!
Snippet #4—“Italian cream spice cake,” you ask? Back in the olden days—like, you know, 1999, 2000, 2001, etc.—each year when my friends “The Groovy Chicks” and I used to get together for our annual get-together, my friend Sheri would stop by a bakery she haunted in Salem, Oregon, pick up an Italian cream spice cake, and bring it to our reunion. There we would sit down around the table one night and eat giagantor pieces of the cake. It was seriously indiscernibly delicious! The sweet cream frosting was nothing less than ambrosial! Groovy Chick Karen’s quote concerning the sweet cream frosting still echoes today: “Butter! Butter! Total butter!” The cake itself?—three layers of heavenly spice (I’m salivating at the mere memory)! Anyway, that’s where the Italian cream spice cake Mark brings along on his and Poppy’s picnic came from. (Type in http://www.gerryfrankskonditorei.com/ and search for Italian Crème Spice Cake—read the description, darling! You’ll never be the same!)
Snippet #5—You may be asking, “John Williams? John Williams? Why in the world would
you choose John Williams compositions as the amphitheater concert?” Simple—because I love John Williams movie soundtracks! To choose just a very, very few: Sabrina (the one with Harrison Ford), the first two Harry Potter movie soundtracks, the 1973 Tom Sawyer soundtrack, Star Wars, Home Alone, Far and Away, Indiana Jones…and do I really need to go on? Love John Williams!
Snippet #6—The quarter in the garbage disposal scene in Kissing Cousins?—inspired by actual events. I don’t remember exactly how it happened—though I think I may have been cleaning out my purse and dumping cookie crumbs or something into the sink—when, “clink!”—a quarter fell into the garbage disposal and got stuck. Now, although my darling Kevin did not yell at me, I did know he was, shall was say, more than mildly frustrated. However, in the end, after a great struggle, an Allen wrench, and more, I asked, “Are you still mad at me about the garbage disposal?” Kevin just flipped me the quarter and said, “Nope. I guess we just learned that it doesn’t take quarters.” Ah ha ha ha! He’s so witty!
Snippet #7—I love Scooby Doo! Every Saturday morning I would leap up out of bed and run in to turn on the TV to watch Scooby Doo (the original ones with the original theme song, mind you). I even remember watching Scooby Doo the day my sister was born. Why is that significant? Well, because I was seven years old and we had to drive two hours from our home in Downey, Idaho, to the hospital in Logan, Utah, and then wait in the waiting room for eight hours while my mom struggled to deliver her. And with all that going on—my most vivid memory of my sister’s birth is watching Scooby Doo in the hospital waiting room! Groovy!
Snippet #7—You know the whole thing where Poppy feeds Swaggart the pudding? Yep—dream come true for me at age fourteen! I’d had a crush on this guy for two years—he was way older than me, so it was often hard to be in the running for his attention—do you know what I mean? Anyway, we were having a big family picnic at the park in downtown Albuquerque one summer, and one of the relay games was this: One person was blindfolded and given a plastic spoon and a pudding cup (which came in metal pop-lid cans then). A second person was blindfolded as well. Then, a third person would turn the two blindfolded people toward each other and try to instruct the one with the pudding and the plastic spoon how and where to feed the pudding to the other blindfolded one! I was the one feeding the pudding to the guy I liked! It was sooooooooo romantic! And he didn’t even get mad when I ended up smearing it all over his face! Ooo! I think I have a photo of the very event! Hang on…Ah, yes! Here it is! That’s me with the spoon, the pudding cup, and the braces on the left. There’s my friend Amy trying to tell me where to put the spoon. It’s harder than it looks! I looked at the date on the photo (November 1979), and as my son Trent would say, “Everyone back then looked like Luke Skywalker”—because of the haircut on the guy I liked. Oh, and don’t worry—I did eventually turn sixteen and catch this guy’s eye—had some very romantic tête-à-têtes along the way too! Closure—I like it!
Snippet #8—I’d never heard the term “date rut” before—not until a friend of mine mentioned it. I’m not sure if she coined the phrase itself, but she does not like it! I, on the other hand, love it! I love dinner and a movie (or a movie and dinner); it’s my favorite date! Still, my friend refers to it as “date rut.” Probably because she’s so much more adventurous than I am in the restaurant regard, as well as not being as easily entertained as I am by movies. I do aspire to be more like her in tons of ways, but not where “date rut” is concerned. Thus, Poppy and Swaggart’s date rut dates—perfect for me! (P.S. I love double features, and Kevin and I always share a box or two of Goobers during a movie too!)
Snippet #9—One year for Valentine’s Day, Kevin handed me a card sealed in a big red envelope (very appropriate). When I opened the card, I found not only a very romantic printed sentiment but a hand-written one as well. There was also something else included. On the right inside cover of the card, Kevin had drawn a little coupon. It was very detailed—complete with a rectangle made of dotted lines. It was a coupon for “One Ruby Love Ring” of my choice from Kevin! Oh sure, I loved picking out the ring and the ring itself. I lost the ruby out of the ring a few years ago, and yes, I had it replaced. But to be completely honest, it’s the coupon I treasure most! So, I know exactly how Poppy felt when Swaggart gave her the coupon he’d drawn on a napkin.
Snippet #10—I have been witness to Kevin’s changing many tires in my lifetime—several for perfectly competent men. It always made me feel two things: (1) proud as punch that my husband was capable, courteous, and man enough to change tires for other people and (2) dismayed and detested with the men who stood by in their pretty clothes or with their soft little hands and watched him do it. It’s just a hang-up I have, and I see it as one of Mark’s failings in Kissing Cousins.
Snippet #11—As you’ve guessed by now, I think it’s important that boys and men are well-rounded where movie viewing is concerned. (It sounds like an oxymoron to use well-rounded and movie viewing in the same sentence, doesn’t it?) When my children were little, I always tried to even out the stuff they watched. For instance, if we watched a western or military-type movie that my daughter didn’t particularly enjoy, then the next time we’d watch a romantic comedy or musical that perhaps the boys didn’t enjoy as much (that’s putting it mildly, of course). Thus, my daughter can appreciate an occasional shoot-’em-ups, and my boys can appreciate an occasional period drama. One year, my oldest son learned that his mother’s forcing him to endure Jane Austen–based movies really did pay off—and in a big way. In 2006, sometime after the most recent movie rendition of Pride and Prejudice was released, a bunch of girls took to calling Mitchel “Mr. Darcy.” In their naiveté, they innocently assumed that Mitch had no idea why they had nicknamed him Mr. Darcy—no idea that is until one day when he remarked, “I know what you guys are talking about, you know.” All the girls giggled—certain as they were that he couldn’t possible know what they were talking about. But when he stated, “You’re talking about Pride and Prejudice…” and then proceeded to tell them the entire plot of the movie, their mouths dropped open like gasping fish. Needless to say, he was all the more their Mr. Darcy after that. These same girls took a turn at wanting to dress Mitch up as a pirate for Halloween that year—complete with eyeliner. He kindly refused.
Snippet #12—In my mind, Mr. Dexter (Swaggart’s grandfather) looks just like the man who plays Mr. Dunkin of Dunkin’s Toy Chest in the movie Home Alone 2: Lost in New York! Furthermore, his first name, Wally, is a tribute to one of the movie star crushes of my youth, Wally Cleaver from the TV series Leave it to Beaver!
And at last, here we are—my poppy seed bread and muffin recipe! Mmmm—enjoy!
Poppy Seed Bread
3 cups flour
1 ¼ cups sugar
3 eggs
1 ½ cups milk
1 1/8 cups oil
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½–2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoons almond extract
Mix ingredients. Bake in two large loaf pans at 350 for 1 hour and 10–15 minutes, in four small loaf pans for 45–55 minutes, or in muffin tins for 15–18 minutes.
Let bread cool for 10 minutes and drizzle with orange glaze.
Orange Glaze
¼ cup orange juice
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract
Let glaze soak into bread before removing from pans.
My everlasting admiration, gratitude and love…
To my husband, Kevin…
My inspiration…
My heart’s desire…
The man of my every dream!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marcia Lynn McClure’s intoxicating succession of novels, novellas, and e-books—including The Visions of Ransom Lake, A Crimson Frost, The Rogue Knight, and most recently The Pirate Ruse—has established her as one of the most favored and engaging authors of
true romance. Her unprecedented forte in weaving captivating stories of western, medieval, regency, and contemporary amour void of brusque intimacy has earned her the title “The Queen of Kissing.”
Marcia, who was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has spent her life intrigued with people, history, love, and romance. A wife, mother, grandmother, family historian, poet, and author, Marcia Lynn McClure spins her tales of splendor for the sake of offering respite through the beauty, mirth, and delight of a worthwhile and wonderful story.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Beneath the Honeysuckle Vine
A Better Reason to Fall in Love
The Bewitching of Amoretta Ipswich
Born for Thorton’s Sake
The Chimney Sweep Charm
A Crimson Frost
Daydreams
Desert Fire
Divine Deception
Dusty Britches
The Fragrance of her Name
The Haunting of Autumn Lake
The Heavenly Surrender
The Highwayman of Tanglewood
Kiss in the Dark
Kissing Cousins
The Light of the Lovers’ Moon
Love Me
The McCall Trilogy
Midnight Masquerade
An Old-Fashioned Romance
One Classic Latin Lover, Please
Kissing Cousins Page 24