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So...have you seen the hilarious Making of...video yet?
Watch it below!


So my new book that came out this week is titled PERFECT CHEMISTRY. It's about a Latino gang member who falls for the rich girl who he's paired with in chemistry class senior year of high school.

If you haven't seen the rap video, I'm going to post it here at the end.

So today we're going to talk about "bad boys." What makes a bad boy bad? Is it the perception of being bad? I dated a boy in high school (let's call him Luke) who everybody labeled as "bad". He was gorgeous, 21 (and I was 18), smoked cigarettes, and was a recovering alcoholic and drug addict who had just come out of rehab.

In front of everyone else, Luke acted like he didn't care about anything or anyone in the world. He was hard-core and looked it. He put on a very cool front to the world. One day he bought black spray paint and we spent an entire day spraypainting his yellow car black. Even his car engine was loud (we even got stopped by the police for his engine being too loud).

But behind closed doors Luke was sensitive and romantic. He cried when he was sad and was goofy and funny when he was happy. He was the most loving person I've ever met to this day. When I went on vacation, he used to tape his voice on a tape recorder about how much I meant to him and he'd talk about the times we shared and the fears he had. He'd give me the tape to play on the plane ride (that was when everyone had a Walkman). I'm married with kids, but I still have those tapes because they meant so much to me and seriously why would I throw away something that says, "Simone, you're a gift from God and the best thing in the world, etc, etc."

With Perfect Chemistry, I wanted to show a rough guy "Alex" who is really something different than he shows to the outside world. And Brittany, the heroine, is totally different than everyone else thinks she is. I show you the stereotype and break them throughout the book.

So in reality things with Luke didn't work out, but he will always have a special place in my heart as the not-so-bad-boy I fell in love with.

Not all bad boys are bad...are they?

So Perfect Chemistry is a total fantasy...it's the "what if" book! I think the attraction to bad boys is that they're mysterious and we want to find out if under the rough exterior they're really sweet and caring and loving guys with a heart of gold. Not all bad boys are like this...stay away from those bad-to-the-bone boys...but there are some that are teddy bears to the core!

Did you ever date a bad boy? Are you dating a bad boy or have a crush on one? Are you married to one?

Perfect Chemistry Rap Video book trailer
Perfect Chemistry rap video teen book trailer


Have you seen the Making Of...Highlight video?
The Making of a Book Video - Perfect Chemsitry by Simone Elkeles



Simone Elkeles

author of:
How to Ruin a Summer Vacation #3 on Top Ten Teen Books
Perfect Chemistry in bookstores now!
2008 Author of the Year by the IL Assoc. of Teachers of English
www.simoneelkeles.com