PETER CRISS' Ex-Wife On Her Book: TOMMY THAYER Told Me I Did A 'Fantastic Job'

Lydia Criss, ex-wife of original KISS drummer Peter Criss, has answered a second round of questions for the TheKissArmy.com web site. The questions deal with her recent book, "Sealed With A Kiss" (which traces her and Peter's history from when they first met in the mid-'60s, through their marriage and the band's rise to superstardom, to their divorce in 1979 and the years since) and where she responds to pissed off fans, talks about KISS conventions, the publishers she has approached about releasing her book, and much more. A couple of excerpts follow:

Q: Lydia, you have appeared at a few conventions to promote your book. What has the response been like from the fans at these conventions?

Lydia: I have attended only two KISS Expos where I promoted my book "Sealed With A Kiss". At the first one in Allentown, Pennsylvania I didn't even have the book for sale. I only had my copy of the book, so I let the fans look through it. Some fans didn't even want to look at it, they wanted to be surprised when they bought it and digest it all by themselves. The other Expo in Chicago, Illinois, was great. All the fans were so nice and everyone loved the book.

Q: Did you approach all the big publishing companies before you went ahead with the book and have any mainstream publishing houses approached you about taking on your book since then and if not, would you be open to the idea if the chance happened to come along somewhere down the line?

Lydia: In 2003 I signed a one-year contract with a literary agent group. I really don't know just how hard they shopped my book, but I do know that I only received three rejections and they were from some of the big publishing houses. They are listed in the front of my book, and one of them actually said the reason they didn't want to do a book on KISS was because Gene Simmons had flooded the market with KISS books. No publishing houses have approached me, because my book is not in the stores and they don't have access to it. I am always open to ideas.

Q: In every publication I've read on KISS it's obvious that you supported Peter in a huge way in the early years and it must have been very tough in those formative years. After your split with Peter he was quoted as saying that you weren't "growing with him and you were holding him back." Just how hurtful was that knowing that you'd been there for him all that time?

Lydia: I know the interview that you are talking about and believe me that is probably the one comment from Peter that hurt me the most. As far as growing, Peter had nothing else to say. He was cheating on me and he had to put the blame on me to make himself look good. Yeah, I wasn't growing, I wasn't growing into a drug addict like he was. It is obvious that I have grown, or I would not have been able to take on such a huge project as this book was. I knew nothing about the book or publishing industry in the summer of 2005 when I started this project. I learned as I went along and I did this book with the help of five guys that live all around the USA. I think that this book says enough to prove that I have grown. What has Peter done in the past five years?

Q: Have you heard any feedback or comment from Gene, Paul, Ace or Peter on your great book?

Lydia: No, I have not heard any comments directly from any of them. I have heard (from a friend) that Ace loves it, Paul had something negative to say about it, but that was before he bought it. Peter saw it briefly (a fan showed it to him) at a Chiller Convention in October, 2006. I heard he said it looked really nice from the little he saw, and I really don't know if Gene has seen it. Tommy Thayer bought it, e-mailed me and said I did a fantastic job. I guess that answers my doubts whether Gene has seen it or not. Ha! Ha!

Read the entire question-and-answer session at www.thekissarmy.com.