First and Ten Scores a Perfect "10"!

“First and Ten” scores a perfect 10!

byline: Katalina Leon

My sister Scribe Fran Lee has a terrific new book coming November 10, 2009 from Resplendence Publishing, titled “First and Ten”, part of the Carnal Reunions Anthology Series.

Fran has made it her specialty to pair characters together who think they are unlikely opposites and “First and Ten” takes that theme even further. The anthology, “Carnal Reunions”, is about seven college roommates who reconnect at a ten-year reunion and the emotional complications that result. Each of these friends has her own story.

Fran Lee’s heroine is named Fran Jamison! (You betcha I’m going ask about that in a minute!) Fran J is a smart, successful CEO and owner of a think tank. She is also still single and still hung up on college crush- Jack Gerrard. Back in college Jack’s mixed signals aggravated her and his apparent preference for beauty queens left her discouraged.

The story captures all Fran’s anxiety as she bravely faces a college reunion where she knows that the ugly memories of her past will come back to haunt her. And then she runs into her old crush…and it literally floors her! Saving her from falling on her butt, Jack gallantly takes her to her destination, but a few 12-year-old itches have to be scratched before she gets there.

Fortunately a few of life’s hard knocks have left Jack a much wiser man. He’s had a successful pro football career, married a beauty queen, and then lost it all. Now divorced, he owns a successful chain of restaurants called “Jack Gerrard’s First and Ten,” and he’s more than ready to admit that he’s always been deeply attracted to Fran’s big, soft and curvy frame…but will she trust him after all these years?

Katalina Leon: First things first, why do you and your heroine share the same first name?

FL: Because it’s rather unique nowadays, and because I have used most other names half a dozen times in books. So I thought about it, and decided she would be MY namesake…BBW and all!

KL: I love that Fran J is your spiritual twin in body and spirit. Both Fran and Jack are smart and successful. In the material sense they are un-needy but emotionally they both require a lot of reassurance. What is Fran’s greatest hurdle to accepting love and what is Jack’s greatest challenge in convincing her, she’s the right woman for him?

FL: Well, they are both very successful in business, but not in life. Fran spent seven long years in therapy because her body image back in college was way off kilter. It took her a long time to feel confident in herself. At 5’ 11”, she SHOULD weigh about 160, but to her, it was “fat”. But she learned a lot since high school, and lot more since college, and when she see Jack again she realizes she isn’t going to give him up again.

Jack has always wanted Fran, but when she innocently let a friend know she had a crush on him back in high school, his buddies gave him so much shit, he couldn’t take it. His ego back then was too fragile to handle the derision his buddies heaped upon him when they found out. And by the time he pulled his head out and tried to apologize for his stupidity, she had closed him out of her heart. All he knows is that he isn’t going to let her get away again.

KL: I have to admit class reunions scare me and I’ve never attended any of mine. Do you go to your class reunions?

FL: Absolutely…not. School was not my favorite pastime, and I would rather have been writing stories than walking down the halls. I didn’t socialize much, and kept a terribly low profile, so I would be the least likely to be remembered when the invites went out. I was the one with her nose buried in books, getting all those “A”s.

But I am drawing on real life experiences here with my characters. Fran always thought she was big and fat and ugly because she was tall and wore four sizes bigger clothes her whole life. I outweighed all my classmates (including some of the guys) but when I look back at photos when I was in school, I am totally shocked to see that I was not half as big and fat and ugly as I thought I was. Just because I had a full figure (not a fat one), and couldn’t fit into a size 6, I was devastated. In fact, the photo I use as my avatar was one I shuddered over when it was taken because I thought it looked awful. Now I just wish I still looked that great.

KL: I love your avatar! I see a beautiful woman in that picture. As women, it amazes me how far off track our self-image can get. Most of us could use some healing in that arena. I also think that’s why “First and Ten” will be such a refreshing read. We could all learn from Fran J! Tell me what you love about your hero Jack Gerrard.

FL: Jack is based on male reality. That completely unreasoning, shallow fear of being ridiculed. Letting a wonderful relationship that could have been exactly what he desperately needed walk away because he feared what his buddies would say. It is his coming of age here. He realizes that he doesn’t give a royal damn what they think now, and he isn’t about to blow off the real thing this time.

KL: OMG. You’re so right about men fearing ridicule. If I could go to a “Jack Gerrard’s First and Ten” restaurant, what should I order? What would blow me away?

FL: Well, since Jack always loved to cook (don’t let his pals know, or they’d never let him live it down) he makes up his own gourmet menus. His restaurants offer everything from gourmet burgers (and a “Yours Truly Burger” that you design yourself with various toppings and sauces) to Scampi Polonaise and Chateaubriand with pinot noir sauce. The finest of wines are in his cellar, everything from a fine Campredon blend to a lush red Chambolle Musigny Pinot noir and specialty bottles of Cristal. (And of course, the most expensive screw tops as well, specially ordered for his classy pals. LOL!) Fresh wild caught seafood, and only the finest hand-blended, make as we go sauces.

KL: Sounds yummy. Jack is officially forgiven for all past shallowness. On with the love affair! I can’t wait to buy “First and Ten.”