Elisa Lorello’s lifelong love affair with Duran Duran began like that of many other fans: staying up late watching MTV, plastering her bedroom walls with glossy posters and magazine pinups, and writing secret stories about someday becoming Mrs. John Taylor. But waiting in the darkness was a life that held more than she bargained for.

Battling a negative self-image, self-imposed isolation, and troubled relationships, Elisa eventually unlocked the strength to free her and become the teacher and bestselling novelist she was meant to be. And she discovered that her Duran Duran fandom—and the power of music—was the key.

Using her signature blend of humor and heartstring tugging, Elisa transports readers back to a time of synthesizers and shoulder pads, fedoras and Ferris Bueller, leather pants and Live Aid. Much more than a fan letter, Friends of Mine: Thirty Years in the Life of a Duran Duran Fan is a collection of stories about growing up in 1980s suburbia. It’s about first loves, first losses, divorce, Generation X, family, and friendship—all set to the soundtrack of the original Fab Five.

RJ Keller, author of Waiting for Spring: “Friends Of Mine is about so much more than Duran Duran. It’s about a woman finding and losing love, and then finding herself.”

Steffan Piper, author of Greyhound: “Lorello walks us through the hallways of her childhood like a sun-cast shadow clinging lovingly to every forgotten surface.”

Karen Booth, author of Bring Me Back: “Eighties music fans, especially Duranies, will find plenty of relatable moments in Friends Of Mine. Elisa writes with heart, generously sharing the depth of her love for music and all things Duran Duran.”

Rob Kroese, author of Mercury Falls: “Elisa Lorello’s Friends of Mine is the literary equivalent of a Duran Duran song: short, fun, and surprisingly moving. . . .a book for every Gen-Xer who only made it through the 80s by the grace of pop music.”