Hello! I’m Patty Blount, author of young adult and contemporary romance novels. But I also have a fulltime job in IT in addition to my writing career. IT stands for Information Technology. It used to be the computer department, but as technology advanced, so did the term. My job is to write the instruction guides people need in order to correctly use their computer systems. I’ve been doing this work for about twenty years now, so in a very real sense, I’ve watched the industry grow up.
When I was just starting out, Windows hadn’t been born yet and the internet was still reserved for government or scientific use. It was also a man’s world – still is, to a large extent – but most of these guys were Big Bang Theory characters and not exactly the stuff of romance novels.
Until now.
In A Match Made at Christmas, my first contemporary romance, I thought it would be cool to make geekiness a hot and heroic character trait, so I gave my heroine my day job and made the hero an executive in the same field. Here is a passage from the story based on actual pickup lines once used on me. In this scene, hero Lucas is quite attracted to heroine Elena, but trying to play it cool. Except his friends, Al and Debbie, won’t leave him alone.
“Oh, you’re in IT, too?” Al’s grin got wide and just a little bit wicked. “Luke’s head of development at Burke & Kirk. Lucas, you have to try out some of those software developer pick-up lines on someone who gets them.”
“No.”
Elena’s lips twitched and she groaned just for form. Inside, she was grateful for the change of subject. “Okay. Gimme one. Let’s see what you got.”
“No.”
“Come on, Luke! Don’t be such a dick.” Al elbowed him.
“No. And don’t call me a dick.”
“Please? I want to hear these, too.” Debbie patted the table between them.
“Okay, okay. You asked for it.” Luke rubbed his hands together and gave Elena a smoldering look, dropped his voice down an octave. “I hope you’re broadband, baby, because I really want high-speed access.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
Elena rolled her eyes. “That’s terrible.”
“Yeah, man, that was awful,” Al agreed.
“I warned you.”
“Come on, do another one,” Debbie said.
Elena put out a hand. “Please don’t use the obvious puns on RAM or motherboards.”
Lucas looked at her sideways. “Please. This isn’t my first program.”
She snorted and let him continue. Luke took her hand and leaned in real close. “Baby, you overclock my processor but trust me, there’s no part of my body that’s micro or soft.” He delivered the final words with his eyes locked on hers.
Elena stared into his dark eyes and felt herself melting, weakening, and might have leaned over the table to fuse her mouth to his…
What do you think? Is this a hot geek? I will admit these lines made me giggle but, no – they did not work on me!
The sequel to A Match Made at Christmas was released on June 30th. It’s called His Touch and is about Elena’s sister, Kara, and her second chance at love. I also have a new young adult novel coming out in August called NOTHING LEFT TO BURN. It’s about a boy named Reece who joins the fire department’s junior squad to win his father’s respect. Pre-order today.
Dear Dad,
I promised Matt I’d do this-become a Junior Cadet. That I wouldn’t let you break me down. I know you hate me. Blame me for everything you lost. But that day I lost my brother and my dad. You could never be proud of me, could you? I was too “different.” So, just in case you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m saying goodbye. Maybe someday, you’ll miss me.
Reece
Reece’s words make her ache. Amanda understands wanting to belong. As a foster kid, the firehouse where she volunteers is the only place that feels like home. She wants to help Reece, but his dad is her boss. And she won’t risk her place as a Junior Cadet-it’s all that she has. But when a string of arsons suddenly point to Amanda, her whole world is about to go up in flames. And the only way to save themselves is to risk getting burned.
Patty Blount is the award-winning author of Some Boys, TMI, and SEND, plus contemporary romances from Tule Group. She lives on Long Island with her family and lots of books. Tweet her @pattyblount or visit her website pattyblount.com to read book excerpts.
