BEACH BLANKET BINGO

Remember that movie, Beach Blanket Bingo? I decided to title this article after the movie because it’s a cool title. The July theme is ruby, larkspur and beaches. I live in a beach state, with one of the best beaches in the country, Rehoboth. Growing up, my family always took vacations down the Jersey Shore. My family preferred the New Jersey beaches to the ones in our state. It’s easier to get to the Jersey Shore from where I live than to our own beaches because of the traffic. There are many ways to get to the Jersey Shore from my house, and only one way to get to the Delaware beaches from here. We say we’re going “down the Shore,” meaning New Jersey, and “to the beach,” meaning Delaware. I met my husband at the Jersey Shore in a bar in Margate.  

Thinking about beaches got me musing about all those silly but fun movies with Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon. No beach I ever went to was anything like the ones where these movie characters frolicked. The movies and the times were so innocent then, unlike the wild, “Animal House” atmosphere at the Jersey Shore in the early 1970’s where I spent many a weekend partying. Snooki and the gang from the TV show Jersey Shore were amateurs compared to my friends and me.

Back on point, here’s Rolling Stones’ list of eight classic beach movies. Agree? Disagree?

Gidget, release date April 10, 1959, starring Sandra Dee, Cliff Robertson, and James Darren. It’s a story about a teenager’s initiation into the California surf culture and her romance with a young surfer. 

Beach Party, August 7, 1963, starring Robert Cummings (I love him, so handsome), Dorothy Malone, Frankie Avalon, and Annette Funicello, in her first feature outside of Disney films. Bob Cummings plays a professor who rents a place at the beach to study the sexual habits of teens. Frankie and Annette are just looking for fun.

Muscle Beach Party, March 25, 1964, also starring Frankie and Annette. This movie marks the screen debut of “Little Stevie Wonder.”

Ride the Wild Surf, August 5, 1964, starring, among others, Barbara Eden, Tab Hunter, and Fabian. Men’s Journal lists this as one of the 15 best surfing movies of all time.

Beach Blanket Bingo, April 14, 1965, starring Annette and Frankie, with, among others, Paul Lynde and Don Rickles. Can you say hilarious?

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, July 14, 1965, starring Annette again, and Dwayne Hickman. Frankie’s character is supposedly in Tahiti for the Navy in this one. I think the title says it all.

Back to the Beach, August 7, 1987, starring a young Lori Loughlin. They lured Annette and Frankie back for this one, but I think their time was long over.

Psycho Beach Party, August 4, 2000, with a young Amy Adams. Early 60’s values collide with a slasher film in this adaptation of the Broadway hit of the same name.

There you have it. I’ve never been a big fan of the beach party movies, but they are fun.

I’ve set several of my short stories and novellas at the Jersey Shore and the Delaware beaches. Storm of Desire, a sizzling, multi-award-winning novella, is set during a January nor’easter on Fenwick Island, Delaware. Loving or Nothing, a multi-award-winning sensuous novella, is set at a Jersey Shore town I named Loving, which is really a stand-in for Margate.

Storm of Desire:

"The storm outside is nothing compared to the storm of desire and guilt raging between former lovers trapped together." 

Corporate attorney Samantha Greco needs some peace and quiet to come to a decision about her career. Instead, while an icy nor’easter rages outside, she finds herself trapped in a cottage on Fenwick Island with Aiden Rourke, a man she used five years ago when she ran from the heartbreak of her fiancé’s betrayal. 

Aiden Rourke has loved Sam for years. For one glorious night she was his. But then she fled, wounding his ego and his heart. Thrown together again, they soon discover time hasn’t diminished their fiery passion for each other. Only Aiden has ever been able to melt Sam with just a look or a touch. But the fear that she’s like her mother, who used men mercilessly, scares Sam to death. 

The storm outside is nothing compared to the storm of desire, fear, and guilt raging inside Sam. But during their wild weekend together, Sam and Aiden draw closer and realize their all-consuming passion for each other masks deeper needs and desires. 

When the storm ends, will they go their separate ways? Or will they find the courage to face the future together as one? 

2013 Winner, Second Place Novella Category, Gulf Coast Silken Sands Star Contest! 

2013 Winner, Fourth Place Short Contemporary Romance, OKRWA International Digital Awards Contest! 

http://www.amazon.com/Storm-of-Desire-ebook/dp/B007TQKKYO/?tag=carmaraut-20

Loving Or Nothing:

A secret crush. Two wounded hearts. A sizzling tale of love, hope and redemption. 

No stranger to loss, Tami Morrelle is holding on with one satiny thread to the only thing she has left that ties her to her loved ones – the family bridal shop. 

Local bad boy Daniel Ramsey is back in town and on a mission – to turn Tami’s world upside down any way he can. 

Daniel needs Tami’s beachfront home and business to complete his crowning achievement as a successful developer. His latest proposal hinges on buying former high school classmate Tami’s land to make it happen. More importantly, it will show those in Loving who were convinced he’d amount to less than nothing they were dead wrong about him. 

For Daniel, it’s Loving or nothing. For Tami, selling out to Daniel will leave her with nothing. But when the ruthless developer and sentimental bridal shop owner clash, sparks fly. 

A secret crush. Two wounded hearts. Will Daniel and Tami be willing to give up what they think they need and open their hearts to what really matters in Loving? 

2012 Gulf States Silken Sands Star Contest Third Place Winner 

2012 Best Indie Book Award Semi-Finalist

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005LQ99U0/?tag=carmaraut-20

To sign up for my newsletter, with a movie/TV review and recipe in every issue, please visit my website: www.caramarsi.com 

LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF

Let Me Introduce Myself

by

Cara Marsi

I’m a new member author and this is my first post. I want to thank Marianne for inviting me to be a member author, and I look forward to getting to know everyone. Marianne suggested I introduce myself, so here’s a little about me. My name is Carolyn Matkowsky, but I write under Cara Marsi.

It took ten long years of writing and rejections before I sold my first book. That book, “A Catered Affair,” a sweet, traditional romance, was published by Avalon Books under my real name. Avalon publishes in hardback, and they sell directly to libraries. I didn’t want a pen name because I always wanted to write under my real name. I figured I’d worked hard enough to sell a book and I wanted people to know I’d made it. However, I soon found out readers had a hard time spelling and pronouncing Matkowsky. When I was nominated in 2003 as an up and coming author in a romance magazine’s readers’ poll, my name was horribly misspelled. That decided me to take a pen name that was easy to say and spell. I’ve been Cara Marsi ever since.

I thought once I sold a book I was well on my way to being multi-published. Was I wrong. It took me four more years to sell another one. In 2007 I contracted with The Wild Rose Press for my romantic suspense, “Logan’s Redemption.” Despite glowing reviews, my sales were disappointing. In 2010 I got my rights back and published “Logan’s Redemption” myself on Kindle. The sales have been great, and I couldn’t be happier. I gave new life to a book I love, and thousands of people have now read it.

I’m a slow writer. While I struggled to complete a paranormal romance, my first attempt at that genre, I became discouraged and considered giving up writing altogether. Then I discovered short story writing. I sold my first short story to New Love Stories Magazine (now defunct) in early 2009. Since then, I’ve sold ten short romance stories to the Trues (True Love, True Romance, True Story, True Experience). Sadly, of all those, only True Story remains. The magazines are owned by Dorchester, and we all know about their troubles. I hope and pray that Dorchester continues to publish True Story and its sister magazine, True Confessions. I love writing for the Trues, and I’ve sold every story I submitted to them. Writing short stories kept me in the game when I had doubts about my ability to publish again.

In late 2009, I put aside the paranormal and began writing a novella for the romantic suspense series, Jewels of the Night, from The Wild Rose Press. I finished that novella in four months, a record for me. The Wild Rose Press offered a contract, and “Murder, Mi Amore,” set almost entirely in Rome, Italy, was released December 15, 2010. I completed my paranormal romance, “Cursed Mates,” and Noble Romance Publishing offered a contract. “Cursed Mates” was released December 13, 2010. After a dry spell of no books, I had two releases within two days of each other.

I’ve just sold another short story to True Story magazine, for their August issue, and I’ve completed a sweet romance novella, “Wedding Dreams,” which I plan to publish myself. I’ve had it professionally edited by a wonderful and talented editor. I wouldn’t put a book up without it being edited.

On a personal note, I live on the East Coast with my husband and a fat black cat named Killer. She’s a sweetheart. My husband can be a sweetheart too, sometimes. We have one son who lives in Las Vegas. I miss him and wish I lived closer to him. If I could convince my husband to move to the Phoenix area of Arizona, I’d be in heaven.

When I’m not writing, I’m hitting the gym (five days a week), reading, watching TV (I’m a TV junkie), and planning our next vacation. I love to travel. I set my stories either in places we’ve visited or places close to home. As I mentioned, “Murder, Mi Amore” is set almost entirely in Rome, Italy. The last chapter is set in Las Vegas. We visited Italy in 2006, and we’ve been to Vegas many times. “Cursed Mates” is set in Maine, a place we’ve also visited and loved. My book with Avalon is set in Wilmington, Delaware; “Logan’s Redemption” takes place in Philadelphia, a city close to us. All my short stories are set in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

I grew up in the corporate world. I like to say I’m a former corporate drone and cubicle dweller. I worked for the local phone company, now called Verizon, for over two decades, then worked for an insurance company. I was downsized from my job in 2008, and am now realizing my dream of writing all day if I want.

So there you have it – my life, such as it is.