Super Duper Teaser Tuesday!

What the heck is Super Duper Teaser Tuesday?

Usually, I do a short teaser of one of my books on social media. You know all the stuff about limited attention span? Like, say it quick or don’t say it at all? Well, since I have all the room in the world here, I’m going to give teasers for the three current books in my Girls of Glam Rock Series.

The first book in the series, Girls Gone Groupie, begins in 1983.

The story is told in four different perspectives: Dandelion Dagger, daughter of a rock star; Highway Child, dumped in Hollywood by her parents; Carolina Clampett, a teenage runaway; and Tulip Dagger, Dandelion’s mother, and the rock and roll groupie gold standard of the 60s and 70s. Dandelion, seeing her mother in action, knows what she wants to be:

The 1980s were just dawning, and an unprecedented event was taking place in L.A.: my daddy, The Derek Dagger of Derek Dagger and the Blues Blasters and a hometown hero, was invited to do a year-long residency at Holly Woods, the indoor-outdoor music arena where rock and roll shows became urban legend, not only because of what happened onstage, but what happened backstage.  Because we just happened to be at the right place at the right time, Mama and I jumped on board for the ride while Daddy attempted to make L.A. rock history.  Don’t think for one minute that Mama wasn’t going to make some history of her own.  I guess you could say that I just got swept away by the wave of self-indulgence and excess that tore through our lives that mad year.  Meanwhile, the musical guard was changing on Sunset Boulevard and a new kind of music with a new kind of look was emerging. The apple was ripe for the picking and I reached for it with both hands.

Add a dash of Highway Child, and a sprinkle of Carolina, and you have a recipe for bad girl decadence!

Girls Gone Groupie is available for free on Instafreebie. Please consider signing up for my free newsletter when you claim your book:

https://claims.instafreebie.com/free/IVzvx

Next in the series is Gunning for Groupie Gold, told in Dandelion’s point of view:

Fast forward to 1988. Dandelion’s rocker daddy is six feet under, but not before he makes a request of her that turns out to be his final words. She’s ready to change her ways to fulfill his wish for her:

“Look!” My sidekicks are pointing to the television, where a smooth-faced blond rock god in hair metal garb is being interviewed.

“It’s him!  It’s the guy you cut out of the magazine!” H.C. gushes.

I don’t often see H.C this excited, but we are talking about a rock star, so it’s justified.

I stare at the screen, my mind reeling back to the notebook I just rejected.  Somewhere, buried in that teenage tome of wonderment and discovery, is a grainy black and white picture of the splendid face on the television.  Grainy or not, that beautiful face appeared before me and spoke to me not long after Daddy died, and I believed that “Sammy Gunn,” whomever he was, would someday play a significant role in my life.

I’m silent until the interview ends. Then, I abruptly turn on my heel and lock myself in my room again.

“Dandelion, you okay?” H.C. calls after me.

Out comes the notebook again and I rifle through it, desperate to see the old picture.

There it is, about halfway through the book, a blood red arrow I drew pointing to the angelic face of the golden-haired singer.  “Someday, I’ll meet Sammy,” I gushed in a silly heart around his head, “when I’m ready to fall in love.”

I’m stunned that such a clear message has been sent to me on a day when Daddy seems too far away, almost as far as the answer to his last request of me.

The solution to my problem just took a giant leap forward.

I can do things differently starting now.

I can do something right.

***BUT…landing a rock god is not quite that easy, especially with a mama like Tulip Dagger to trip you up on the way to the gold medal!

The third book in the series veers away from the groupie girls, and focuses on my personal favorite characters, Nikk and Em’rald, glam rock stars introduced in book one.

Follow the ultimate heavy metal couple, as told by Em’rald, on their rise from living in a car traveling the mean streets of the Bronx, to the cherry on top of the rock and roll cake. If not for a chance meeting in a homeless shelter, their lives would have turned out much differently:

I tried not to look at anyone while we were eating breakfast.  As my feet swung off the picnic table bench that was rough and would sometimes warrant slivers, I knew people were staring at me.  Most of the looks could be called “glares.”  But clear on the other side of the room I caught the fascinated gaze of a boy close to my age.  Even in the dim light of the windowless room I could see piercing blue eyes peeking out through a fringe of dark bangs that needed trimming.  He didn’t turn his eyes away when I noticed him, but instead looked surprised that I would suddenly be looking back.  It was me that turned away when he offered a friendly wave.

“Mumsy, there’s a boy over there looking at me.  Maybe he knows me from school.”  He didn’t look like anyone I knew, but the school I had attended for first grade was so large it was impossible to remember everyone.

“Better not to make friends here, darling.  It’ll be too hard to tell if someone really likes us or if they just want something we have,” Mumsy said.  “And anyway, we have each other, right?”  She kissed the side of my head and put a protective arm around me as she ate with the other hand.  Our bag was pressed between her feet under the table.  That was the way things would be for too long.

I tried not to look at the boy again, but already he was like forbidden fruit.

Currently, I’m working on book four, Shine On, You Crazy Saffire, Highway Child’s story.

The first three books are available here, in both digital and print format:

https://brendakstone.com/welcome/books/

Whew! What a Teaser Tuesday!