OK - here's a tip you shouldn't pass on to any of my friends. I sneak ideas from conversations, sometimes when they're not even meant for me.
My favorite question I love to hit people with is this one:
How did you first meet your significant other?
The answers are amazing. And even more surprising is how willing everyone is to talk about attraction (OK, so most of those who are eager to spill their guts are of the female persuasion). However, I have managed to get some of my guy buddies to spill the beans too.
My personal favorite is the couple who were our neighbors for many years. He was a ski patroller, she, a property manager. The winters are long up here, sometimes beginning in September and not letting up until well into April, or even May. When a few sunny, spring days hit, we all get a little crazy - Hawaiian shirts, flip-flops even though the streets may be snow covered.
Some folks keep convertibles hidden in ramshackle garages over the winter and cruise around with the top down when the temps are still in the 40s and 50s (oh, yeah).
Soooo, his thing was a beautiful motorcycle. Getting it out of storage and readying the beast for cruising around town was his personal rite of spring.
It was one of those spring nights when she first saw him - at a mountain town bar - over a cold longneck.
She was intrigued and came back the next night only to engage in great banter and then see him roar off on his trusty steed at the end of the evening.
Pressing her luck, she came back the third night. When he stood and zipped his leather coat to leave, she followed him out and asked, "Aren't you going to give me your number?"
He said, "If you come with me now, you won't need my number." And the rest, as they say, is history. She admitted (out of his hearing, of course) that she was so stunned, she climbed aboard behind him and forgot both her jacket and purse in the bar.
They don't know this, but I'm stealing their story for my latest work in progress. If I ever manage to sell it, I'll ship them an anonymous 12-pack of PBR.
And, BTW, over at Harlequin, there's a contest in progress for their Blaze (high level of steam) line. Check it out, that is if you want to be a hopeful romantic and fling yourself against the palace gates of publishing. Learn more here.