Scary Modsters
... and Creepy Freaks
Diane Rinella
Paranormal Romance
March 25, 2014
Amazon * B&N
A fantastical romance involving a girl, the music that fuels her, and her Ouija board.
Rosalyn possesses a sunny personality that is laced with quirks. Although she seeks acceptance in a world where she lives out of time, what she gets is ridiculed for her eclectic wardrobe and unconventional music collection.
One fateful night, Rosalyn bewitches Niles, a stylish man whose offbeat character perfectly complements her own. Unfortunately, he possesses a critical flaw that means relationship suicide for him and pretty much anyone.
While under the influence of insomnia-impaired judgment, Rosalyn summons Rock ‘n Roll deity Peter Lane back from the dead. Not only does he spin her hormones into a frenzy, Peter is also the precarious puzzle piece that brings sense into her world. When Niles learns that he can overcome his life-long challenge by helping Peter avenge his death, how far will he go to secure Rosalyn’s heart?
Excerpt
PETER
May 13,
1966 was a day that most wouldn't give a turnip over. Take a look at this
picture. You see that guy? The smarmy, dark-haired young businessman sitting
behind that big wood desk? That's Ben Stoddard, or as he likes to call himself,
Big Ben. I refer to him as Mr. B.S. He's the one who took me. I mean he took
everything—my career, my happiness, the girl I loved, and my life.
Now look to those four young lads
sitting across from him—the ones that seem as if they've never had a penny to
their names. The ones eager to sign on that dotted line. That handsome devil
with the sandy blonde hair and the stupid grin—that's me, Peter Lane; singer,
guitarist, huge chump, and idiot extraordinaire. I was on top of the world at
that moment. We all were. You know that witticism about how you have to be
careful that you don't sign your life away? It's no joke because that's exactly
what I was doing.
We had just been given a new car, a
swanky apartment, and unlimited credit at all the fancy boutiques on Carnaby
Street. You've heard of Carnaby, right? The place where every self-respecting
mod paid too much for clothes he couldn't afford even if they had been offered
at fair prices. We were told to dress like we owned the world because we soon would.
A tour was being planned so we could conquer America just like The Beatles had.
All we had to do was sign on that little piece of paper you see on Mr. B.S.'s
desk. We signed it in blue ink from a fountain pen—but had we known whom we
were dealing with we would have pricked ourselves and used blood.
Two years later I was hovering above
my casket, watching people lower my body into a dark, dirt hole, and cringing
at how the once beautiful man had become broken, burnt to a crisp, and about to
be devoured by worms.
Everyone thought it was an accident.
Then and there I vowed revenge. Plotting it was easy,
but finding my way back was another story.
Interview with Diane Rinella
Diane Rinella Scary Modsters
Interview
In the last few years there have been many
books about rock stars from the 1980’s up to the present. You went all the way
back to the 1960’s. Why did you choose that era?
In the early 1960’s we
had just gotten out of the bobby sox and saddle shoes phase and were looking to
Jackie O for style tips. Fashions weren't exactly risky. When our hero, Peter
Lane, became popular all of that was changing. Mary Quant, a fashion designer
out of London, made revolutionary changes in styles, color combinations, and
hemlines that have never left us. The mod look propelled fashion forward and
signaled that the world was changing. It was sort of the shot heard around the
world.
But why make him a mod? Why not a rocker or
a hippie?
A lot of the reason has
to do with my fascination with mod culture. There’s a misconception that the
scooter-loving mods were rich kids while their rivals, the motorcycle-riding rockers,
didn't have money for fancy clothes. In talking to a lot of 60’s mods I found
that wasn't true at all. The mods were just as working class as the rockers,
but their priorities were different. They didn't believe in wearing something
that they considered undesirable when they could to do better.
I have a few hang-ups
with modern fashion. It seems like everywhere I go people are wearing clothes
that are so short and tight that their skin pops out in an undesirable way. The
alternative is that their clothes are so baggy that they are falling off. I
have a hard time watching award shows. Some people are given great honors and
they show up looking like getting out of bed was an inconvenience. It drives me
crazy.
Have you noticed that you seem to hit on the
cusp of an emerging trend?
A few weeks ago I was
in my corner drugstore and noticed a nail polish display that said, “Go Mod.”
All of the colors were shades that you would expect find in dresses circa 1966.
About a week later I saw a commercial for Target. As they were flashing through
the different spring trends one of them boldly said “60’s mod” and showed a
girl in mod make up. Rimmel has a wickedly fantastic mod campaign going on. I
could not have timed it better.
So I take it the character of Rosalyn is
rather personal?
A lot of her really is.
She's more fangirly than I am, but I totally understand her. While our
situations are completely different our hearts are the same.
Why do you think we are looking to the 1960s
for fashion?
It seems that every
twenty years we revisit an era. The poodle skirts and saddle shoes of the 1950’s
came back in style in the late 1970’s when rockabilly hit. 1960’s fashions
became popular again in the 1980’s, during the new wave revolution. In the 1990’s
stores were flooded with bellbottoms and those big shirts that were all the
rage in the 70’s. In the first decade of the current century we saw an 80’s,
new wave resurgence. Now we are due for a 90’s resurgence, which puts us at
grunge. The problem is that grunge had a very casual look that never went away.
Also the 90’s weren't very interesting fashion wise. So where do we go from
there? It seems only natural that we would look back to the revolution—the
1960’s. Everything old is new again.
So do you think suddenly everybody's going
to wear oversized sunglasses, miniskirts, and well-tailored suits?
A part of me really
hopes so! A part of me also fears it because it means I'll be stylish. I can’t
see us going extreme, but I can certainly see an influence creeping in.
Scary
Modsters is a very interesting title. Where how did
you come up with it?
I don't know how many
people are catching the reference, but it's a parody of the David Bowie album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps). I
wanted a title that gave away the rock 'n roll connection. With Peter Lane
being a mod and the fact that there is mob involvement, having a play on words
was too easy.
Peter Lane goes through some pretty wild
times. Is all that based on anything or anyone?
Peter Lane is both
based on everyone and no one. So many musicians went through hell. Stories like
Peter’s are all over rock history books. It’s no secret that all the events
Peter went though have some type of counterpart in reality; however, the
character and events are completely fabricated.
About the Author
Enjoying
San Francisco as a backdrop, the ghosts in Diane’s 150-year old Victorian home
augment the chorus in her head. With insomnia as their catalyst, these voices
have become multifarious characters that haunt her well into the sun’s
crowning hours, refusing to let go until they have manipulated her into
succumbing to their whims. Her experiences as an actress, business owner,
artisan cake designer, software project manager, Internet radio disc
jockey, vintage rock n’ roll journalist/fangirl, and lover of dark and quirky
personalities influence her idiosyncratic writing.
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