I met Paul Stanley in San Francisco the day he got the famous rose tattoo on his shoulder. One of my first freelance writing gigs was to interview this flashy new band that was coming to town. But while I would meet all the guys that sunny afternoon, it was Gene with whom I'd have the longest acquaintanceship – one day I even answered the door at a show biz party in NYC to find the arriving guests were Simmons and his date Diana Ross! Still, I was never quite sure if I was Gene's nemesis or court jester. A little of both, I suspect. But Gene went on to bigger things, and I went on to become an editor of Creem and to write a lot about Kiss, which led to a suggestion to do the Kiss book. And though I would do four more books after that, this raggedy manuscript was where I started and the one that actually sold a few copies. So when I was approached about re-publishing, it made me both nostalgic and nauseous. But then youth is always a burden of age.