It's no secret that we're rather obsessed with the 80s around here, so this week we're chatting with author Debby Meltzer Quick. Debby's first novel (the first of several!) is May I Have Your Attention Please, a mid-80s high school romance set in Eastboro, Massachusetts. Kevin and Debby discuss the novel itself, how much pop culture nostalgia to include in a story, how to draw from one's own life without getting too autobiographical, and much more. Including: 80s movies both well-remembered (The Breakfast Club) and largely forgotten (Give My Regards to Broad Street); going to the Worcester Centrum to see Van Halen, Ratt, and U2 (but alas, not Journey); getting up early for Underdog cartoons; working at the cookie shop at the mall; the weirdness of Orange Julius; early video game systems; bad coffee; new Coke; and the dining room carpet Debby has not been allowed to walk on for forty years and counting. We really enjoyed this conversation, and you will too. And if you can find Eastboro, Massachusetts on a map, please let us know.

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