Monday, March 5, 2012

Teenage Heartthrob Blogfest


First things first, today I finally begin querying WARRIOR-MONKS. Yes, the manuscript that has been four years in the making is actually (hopefully) ready for submission. I'm only sending out 3 letters. I had hoped to send 5, but 2 of the agents I had planned on submitting to are currently closed to queries. No worries, I'd rather wait and make sure everything is working, rather than just shotgun as many agents as possible, as I have done in the past.

Anyway, today is, as you can see from the loveliness above, The Teenage Hearthrob Blogfest, hosted by Sarah Ahiers (Falen), Vic Caswell, and Emily White. Josh, Alex, and I are the only dudes taking part, so please applaud us for our courage.

(One of) my main crushes when I was younger (who am I kidding, I still love her), was Gwen Stefani of No Doubt fame. The 2 Tone, ska, and punk-rocker is one of the most beautiful women to ever record an album, and her taste in music isn't half bad, either. Rather than go into a long history of why she rocks (a couple of quick examples: working with Sly and Robbie, and Bounty Killer), I'll just give your eyes some gifts:





And here are two of my favorite songs of hers:



Wait for Bounty Killer. He kills his verse. Get it?



Listening to this one makes my throat tight every time.

That's it. You're welcome for all the hotness. No go check the other posts.

63 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Gwen is rather hot.
Maybe some other brave dudes will join us before the day is done.

Sarah said...

*applauds you* <--this is for participating in this blogfest AND for jumping into querying! I saw No Doubt in concert waaaaay back when--they were opening for 311. That was a really fun concert!

Unknown said...

Yay for getting into the querying! And for being a brave guy to participate in this blogfest.;) Gwen is iconic music woman I admire for her creativity and smarts.

Natalie Aguirre said...

Awesome that you're querying. I'm hoping to sometime this year too.

S.A. Larsenッ said...

YAY for entering the querying round. Good for you. Here's to much success, Matt!!

Bish Denham said...

Congratulations of finished your book and getting those queries out! May you get something positive back SOON.

Suzie F. said...

Matt! You're querying? That's awesome! I'm crossing my fingers for you...good luck!

Gwen is made of awesome. My favorite of hers is "I'm Just A Girl." I had no idea that today's blogfest was about teen heartthrobs. I happened to blog about one of mine today. What a weird coincidence!

Josin L. McQuein said...

YAY for querying! Here's hoping you snag an agent with those first three.

:-D

Jeremy [Retro] said...

dang... respectively.
good luck too...

Theresa said...

Gwen is gorgeous! I swear she doesn't age either.

Good luck with the queries, sending positive vibes your way :)

~Sia McKye~ said...

Ah, Matt. I can understand totally why you think she's hot. She has the way of being the sweet girl next door and vamp right into wanting to take you on a wild ride. I do like her music. I have to say, Running tops my list. :-)

I had no idea that this blog fest was happening. sigh. Too much going on to keep up.

Thanks for the music, pics, and your article.

Sia McKye OVER COFFEE

Emily R. King said...

The Tragic Kingdom album was the first CD I ever purchased. I still have it and listen to it. Gwen is a great choice!

Frankie Diane Mallis said...

I can't not comment on a post loving Gwen Stefani--I LOVE her too! Total girl-crush! I got to see No Doubt in concert twice--once when at my college so I was literally thisclose to her and I'm telling you--in real life...pictures don't do her any justice--she's pretty much the most gorgeous woman on the planet. So cool crush.

And eeeh--best of luck with queries! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you!!!

vic caswell said...

YAY for the QUERYING!!! i'm so excited for you!!!!

and!
Gwen Stefani is just such an amazing person. what i loved about her was she was just unabashedly herself- instead of some stylized fake face put up there by the industry. genuine. that's what she always seemed like. and so pretty!

tragic kingdom was one of like maybe four cd's i owned and i listened to it over and over. so don't speak and spiderwebs and just a girl will always be my nodoubt faves!

great pick and thanks for participating! (you brave soul!)

Sarah Ahiers said...

Gwen is straight up hot. I might switch teams for her.
I can't watch the vids on this pc, but i'll check them out on my laptop on my lunch break

writing and living by Richard P Hughes said...

Best of luck on your querying efforts.

Cassie Mae said...

I was excited to see a guy post! Hehe, that sounds so weird, but oh well.

Gwen was one of the hubs major sex idols too, but that conversation didn't last longer than her song coming on, him saying, that girl is hot, and me smacking the off button on the radio.

Haha :)

Catherine Stine said...

Love Gwen Stephani's music! Hi, I'm Catherine, over from Idea City.

Austin Gorton said...

Don't worry, some other guys joined up too. :)

Good luck on the querying!

Hannah said...

I love her voice. And the first No Doubt album is still my favorite.

A Beer for the Shower said...

You are indeed very courageous for taking part in this. Also, anyone who would turn down Gwen Stefani is gay or mentally insane.

LTM said...

Ahh, GOOD LUCK with the queries!!!! Everything's crossed over here for you. And LOL at Gwen. U R craaazy~ ;p

Old Kitty said...

I have all my bendy bits crossed for your Warrior Monks querying! Oh wow! So exciting! Yay!!

Gwen Stefani! Gawd bless Gwen! Take care
x

Colene Murphy said...

Yep. She's way hot. I totally looked up to her growing up for a while.

Good luck with your querying! I have no doubt that you'll get some good news fast with this one, as much work as you've put in it!

Juliana said...

Good luck with querying!

I think part of Gwen's charm is her attitude ;) And I do like her a lot for that. Good choice ;)

Carolyn Abiad said...

Best of luck with querying!

Johanna Garth said...

I've always had such a girl crush on Gwen Stefani!

Tonja said...

Good luck on your queries. I was a teen in the 80's, so my favorite would be Jon Bon Jovi (yes, when he had the big hair).

Hope Roberson said...

Gwen Stefani is hot :) She's classically beautiful and so bad ass, love her!

Barbara Watson said...

The best to you as you query! As for the rest of this, it made me smile (and laugh out loud too). So thanks for that.

Anonymous said...

Excellent choice, sir. Excellent. And thanks.

Marta Szemik said...

I believe she's one of my hubby's faves as well. Good Luck with the queries!

Michael G-G said...

I was a teen in the 1500s, so Queen Anne Boleyn was my hot crush, but Henry got to her first, and I didn't want my head cut off. So I became a Warrior Monk instead.

Good luck on the querying. I can't wait to hear good news for you!

Avery Marsh said...

Oh my gosh, I wanted to BE Gwen Stefani when I was a teen. Tragic Kingdom was one of the first CDs I ever bought. And I still listen to it. ;) Simple Life was my favorite song, though. Ah, memories.

Good luck querying!

Dani said...

Total GIRL CRUSH! Great pick! Love her! No - really - I love her. hehe

Anonymous said...

Sexy sexy Gwen. I'll admit I loved her. I was jealous of her look and her music was amazing. *runs off to listen to my cds now*

farawayeyes said...

I applaud your courage. You are such a Dude. Hopefully that still means the same thing, I'm with Michael G-G, not literally, but apparently we're from the same decade or century or whatever.

Oh and luck has nothing to do with it. I'm convinced you'll do just fine,if for nothing but karmic retribution.

Unknown said...

Excellent choice in Miss Stefani. I'm not that much a fan of her 'hollerback girl' stuff, but the no doubt era was good :)

dolorah said...

That does say it all :)

*applauding your courage* although I don't know why guys are afraid to disclose their heartthrobs. I was shocked Alex didn't post with Kate Beckensdale - except we all knew that already :)

......dhole

dolorah said...

Oh, good luck with the queries.

.....dhole

Lisa Gail Green said...

I'm really excited for you querying!!! Good luck, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Nancy Thompson said...

She was & is still hot. She was your teenage heartthrob? Wow, you are so young! I'm feeling ancient now.

Emily White said...

I have no problem say this: Gwen is pretty hot. :) Also, I wish I had her body.

Kimberlee Turley said...

I love that photo with her necktie and the belt buckle. She's so hip and fun!

Kimberlee Turley said...

I love that photo with her necktie and the belt buckle. She's so hip and fun!

Adrianne Russell said...

Yes, total girl crush on Gwen! "Trapped in a Box" was my theme song as I was pondering leaving a soul-sucking job. :)

Carrie Butler said...

Good luck querying! (I sent out my first wave last week. Eek!) :)

Unknown said...

Congrats on querying. That is awesome news. Yay for No Doubt.

Kelly Polark said...

I love Gwen. Not only is she gorgeous, but a great role model for girls. No Doubt is finishing up recording a record, so excited to hear some new tunes by them sometime this year. I was just listening to No Doubt on my iPod today!
GOOD LUCK on your querying, Matt!!!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I want her nice, even tan but I don't want to go out in the sun to get it.

M Pax said...

My husband loves Gwen. It was really hard tracking down her cd for x-mas.

Best of luck on your submissions.

DL Hammons said...

*Sigh*

That is all! :)

Stina said...

Congrats on entering the query pool, Matt!

Maybe it's just me, but Gwen sure looks like Madonna in the early days.

Kristen Pelfrey said...

I smile, because don't we all still love our teen heart throbs if the throbbing was true and real?
Gary Oldman and Derek Jacobi were two of mine.
They still are.
And as far as querying goes...I am quite sure you will rock this with the happiest possible results.

Lydia Kang said...

Gwen is so ridiculously awesome. Good choice.

Susan Kaye Quinn said...

Congrats on starting your query adventure! Best of luck!!

Amber said...

Good luck with the querying. That's got to be both exciting and terrifying. Four years in the making- talk about determination!

Now on to your crushes. I'm impressed. Those were both stellar babes back in the day- way cool chicks. Gwen is still both, but I'm a little nervous Christina has entered DIVA mode- still beautiful though. I loved her in that movie with Cher- I am drawing a total blank to the name though.

Anyways...thanks for sharing :)

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Oh glorious Gwen Stefani.

Arlee Bird said...

There were several girls at my school that I was hot for when I was a teenager, but I can't think of any celebrities that were heartthrobs.


Lee
An A to Z Co-Host
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mindthagap said...

Good luck querying Matt! If anyone deserves a successful round it's you for all the hard work you put into helping others. :)

Sarah Tokeley said...

I love those first couple of pictures. So young!

And huge best wishes on your querying journey :-)

Donna K. Weaver said...

That's awesome about the querying!

Creepy Query Girl said...

CONGRATS on joining the query trenches! And Gwen is still a hottie:)