We have been doing a lot of cleaning because the holiday season is upon us! While going through some stuff, Kitty came across a pink binder with a hard copy of my high school book "Dancing In A Minefield". Since she found it: I decided to read it again since it has been a few years. And it really took me back...
I wrote this book as an homage to my high school years. Or what I had wished was part of my junior year! It was a fun labor of love because I based the characters on some of my real friends from high school. They know who they are! Of course I changed the names to protect the innocent, and guilty 😏 And yes: I am one of the female leads in the novel.
Anyhoo, in a nutshell, the premise of the book is two "nice" girls have crushes on the school's most popular "bad boy" seniors. When the guys discover this, they make a bet about who can get the farthest with their designated girl. The plot may sound familiar but trust me: the plot takes a few interesting turns. There's also a backstory about one of the guys that will explain why he is the way he is.
I've had many people ask me about the title, and what that could possibly have to do with the storyline. Here's a story about that:
When I lived in Long Island with the was-band, we lived for a while with his brother and sister-in-law. I never felt that comfortable around them, because we were so different. So I spent most of my time in our room. It was summer and I had the window open. It was a big apartment complex, and across the way lived a big group of Latinx folks. They spent a lot of time outside playing music, playing cards and socializing. Having the kind of fun I wished I could have. One day I heard this song, and it just took me someplace else that made me happy (and wasn't that room). From the lyrics, I figured out that the song was called Dancing In A Minefield.
Fast forward a couple of decades, and I tried every way I could to find that song to download, but I couldn't find it. So to commemorate the song, I used it as the book title and figured a way to reference it in the book. Now here's the funny thing: that wasn't the title of the song! It is actually just Minefield, by a group called I Level. Yes, I did finally find it and download it. But I kept the book title as it was. That song had been playing in my head for so many years, and I had remembered the tune and everything. When the book is made into a movie (and I know it will be!) I'm using that song in the opening montage.
Writing that book helped me keep my sanity more than once. When I couldn't sleep, I'd lay in bed and run plot lines in my head. When I was lonely, I would work on it and think about the friends that were represented in it. When Marie would ask, "Why don't you write something worthwhile?" I would ignore her and put more love into my book, especially the mothers in it!
So there you have it: the backstory of Dancing In A Minefield which was my first full-length novel. It's still available on Nook and Kindle, or you can download it onto any e-reader (PC, tablet, etc.). If you want to relive a little high school and visit with my "friends": give it a read! Now that winter is trying to show up by dusting us with snow, you can spend time curled up with a good book, some hot chocolate, and enjoy! Thank you 😊
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