More Nostalgia…..the Roaring Twenties

I was sorting through my library of over 500 books and came across, of all things, my ‘baby book’.  Inside I found more photos of my mother, Violet, (Wild Violets, a novel) during her flapper days in San Francisco.  Most exciting was to find this newspaper clipping featuring her on the team of a semi-pro, female basketballthe roaring twenties team.  Sadly, I did not find the article. She saved enough of her earnings with the winning team to buy a bar and grill on Fulton Street in SF.

Geisha girl costume during Violet's roaring twenties yearsThis photo is from a costume party she held at her bar.

 

 

 

And this in her camping/hunting garb. No surprise, it resembles what the heroines of the day in Hollywood wore.th114DCWAM

Violet at a hunting cabin  Here she is sitting on the porch of the cabin.  She used to laugh and quip: ‘I had to sit all prim and proper because the zipper in my pants Violet at the hunt cabin circa: 1920'shad broken’.  Check out her boots.

Last but not least, here is a studio photo of Violet (on the right) with her sister, Gladys. She was a stunner and never wanted for men…always buzzing around and not always a good thing.Wild Violets, a novel
If you want to read more please check out my novel based on her life as a flapper during the hot jazz, cold gin, dance all night road houses, speakeasy days in San Francisco.  Available in e-books and audio.

 

Wild Violets, a novelSynopsis:

After documenting my mother’s colorful childhood in the primordial forests of Washington State, I wrote a story of Violet as a grown woman with children of her own. She has left her small home town in the Pacific Northwest to pursue a successful basketball career and with her earnings, she buys a bar and grill. She is a ‘flapper’ in every sense of the word; working all day and playing all night. While her teenage daughter raises her seven year old son, Violet is out on the town with her latest man de’jour. Dressed in her signature red dress, she is the toast of the town and owner of a speakeasy where she hosts the cream of San Francisco’s society, city politicians, bishops, and Hollywood celebrities.

But there is an underbelly of corruption, grifters, the mob, excess, and neglect in Violet’s life. Her two children are an afterthought and she chooses her men over their well being time and time again. Their childhood needs are always trumped by her self-indulgent desires. The two children are possessions that she can put down or pick up again on a whim, showing them off to her current beau or friends and then forgotten. And when they get in her way, she gets rid of them.
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Celebrate Black History Month with Billie Holiday!!

Billie Holiday, black history month, African-American, people of colorPlaywright, author, Trisha Sugarek celebrated Black History Month with a musical, staged reading of her one woman show, “Scent of Magnolia”, A Tribute to the Life and Music of Billie Holiday.  Playing to a sold out house, the reading featured Krystle Pitts (as jazz singer, Billie Holiday) and Ben Rafuse (as Billie’s ‘piano man) on keyboard’. ‘God Bless the Child’ video from the show, click here:  https://www.facebook.com/writeratplay

black history month, billie Holiday, people of color,
Ben Rafuse, Billie’s ‘piano man’

Synopsis:
“Scent of Magnolia” tells the story of a young woman who rose above poverty, rape, bigotry, prostitution and imprisonment to become one of the most memorable and celebrated artists of the twentieth century. This one woman show portrays the life of a black jazz singer in America during the 30’s. The script does not dwell on the sensationalism of her addiction to alcohol and drugs but chooses, rather, to celebrate the whole woman and her music.

Billie Holiday, stage plays, scripts, monologues, jazz singer, segregrationBillie tells us not only her story, but the nation’s story. She interjects her tale with her most famous music as well as some of her more obscure songs. In her own words, she talks about her struggle to succeed in spite of the segregation of that time and the difficulties she experienced singing with the great bands, most of which were white men. Without self pity , she talks about the daily slings and arrows that are a part of bigotry. Billie takes complete responsibility for her life, her choices, and her actions. Her triumph was her music and her songs that will live on forever.

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A Review…..”Darling Beast” by Elizabeth Hoyt

reviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingFive out of five quills   A REVIEW   Darling Beast by Elizabeth HoytHoyt_DarlingBeast_MM

There is nothing quite like reading a good, ole ‘bodice ripper’.  1741, London, a gorgeous hero who can’t speak (oh, were they all like that) and a noble, single mother who is reawakened by this handsome man.  And this is another exceptional story from storyteller, Hoyt.

A MAN CONDEMNED . . .

Falsely accused of murder and mute from a near-fatal beating, Apollo Greaves, Viscount Kilbourne has escaped from Bedlam. With the Crown’s soldiers at his heels, he finds refuge in the ruins of a pleasure garden, toiling as a simple gardener. But when a vivacious young woman moves in, he’s quickly driven to distraction . . .

A DESPERATE WOMAN . . .

London’s premier actress, Lily Stump, is down on her luck when she’s forced to move into a scorched theatre with her maid and small son. But she and her tiny family aren’t the only inhabitants-a silent, hulking beast of a man also calls the charred ruins home. Yet when she catches him reading her plays, Lily realizes there’s more to this man than meets the eye.

I couldn’t find where Vauxhall Gardens ever burned down Continue reading “A Review…..”Darling Beast” by Elizabeth Hoyt”

Interview with best selling author, Loretta Chase (part 1)

LOretta.IMG_0823 Seems like I’ve been chasing Loretta around forever for an interview, but it turns out that she’s just been busy writing and traveling.  I am delighted that we re-connected and she has shared this wonderful look into her writing process and experiences.

 Q.  Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? 

A. I have a room set aside.  It’s about ¼ the size I need.  I dream of a barn, to be converted into a studio, with miles of bookshelves and a vast wall space for my historical maps.

Q.  Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? 

A.  A cup of tea or coffee.  Then I panic.  Then I run out of the room & find something else to do.  Then I return, maybe write something, panic, and so on.  My work area is always in chaos, and putting things away provides a superior method of procrastinating.

Q.  What is your mode of writing? 

A.  Years ago it was longhand.  Now I work mainly at the computer, occasionally reverting to longhand when writing in bed, imagining I’m Marcel Proust or Edith Sitwell .  This tends to happen when my brain needs to get unstuck. Continue reading “Interview with best selling author, Loretta Chase (part 1)”

Guest Blog Today on Fresh Fiction!

family stories, family secrets, story telling, writers I am so pleased when FreshFiction.com invites me to blog on their site.  Here is the latest and I hope you will enjoy it.

Excerpt:  ‘It was only while I was researching for my novel, Wild Violets that I learned that my mother “farmed out” my sister and brother to strangers. The term usually referred to children who were sent to a relative back in the day. In my siblings’ case it was a true indenture. My brother and sister had to work for their keep, ages six and 11….’

Click here

Also available in AUDIO books

 

roaring 20's, flappers, new fiction, Wild Violetswomen's fiction, roaring twenties, flappers, prohibition

Writing and then ‘Hearing’ Wild Violets

NOW AVAILABLE in AUDIO BOOKS!!!    “Wild Violets”

fiction, women, flappers, prohibition, San Francisco, roaring twentiesFrom the author:  It was great fun writing this book about a young woman so ahead of her time.  Basketball star, speakeasy owner, flapper who literally worked all day and danced all night.  The story about her red evening gown is true and her friends would make her change into it before going out on the town.  The story about playing poker with a Catholic Bishop is true.  She ultimately had five husbands, but always said the first one didn’t count as they never consummated the marriage.  She went on to be the champion women’s bowler in California.  She had three kids which she didn’t take very good care of.  She was human with many flaws, she was selfish and generous in turns, she was wild and ladylike……she was my mother. Sometimes I ask myself:  ‘did the apple fall very far from the tree?’

Writing it was fun but hearing her ‘voice’ and that of the other characters was amazing.  When you hire an audio professional the author remains in control (quality) and can ‘proof’ ever word.  It’s crucial that you hire the right narrator as your book sounds different from the written page. It’s important that the narrator is willing to work with you on edits, add on’s, and you can ask this upfront before you choose from the audition pieces that you receive.

Continue reading “Writing and then ‘Hearing’ Wild Violets”

The Grande Dame of Historic Fiction was so much More!

romance, historic, fiction, Barbara CartlandYes, the snobs of the literary world might have scoffed at her pink signature Chanel suits, her poofy hats, her Pekinese dogs, and her silly romantic stories.   But, they can’t quite get around her fifty plus years of writing, resulting in over 1,000 million books sold, or the fact that she spent her life  making the world a better place.

Her name was Barbara Cartland.  I know I must have started buying her books somewhere around 1972 because one of her letters to me was dated 1975.  So I have been reading her historic, romantic fiction up until about ten years ago.  Collecting hard covers when I could find them!  I would send them to her and she would autograph them and always, always send a nice note and a little gift back to me.  Most treasured gift was a gold-gilded oak leaf from an oak tree on Barbara’s property.   The “Deer Oak”, which is said to have been planted by Queen Elizabeth the First in 1550, at the spot where she killed her first deer, is on the estate.

Continue reading “The Grande Dame of Historic Fiction was so much More!”

Do YOU Learn Anything from History or Make the same Mistakes…Again?

famous quotes, famous writers, history, poetry, Bukowski, Churchill          I looked up this quote to be certain I quoted it with accuracy and low and behold!  Today is the day that Winston Churchill  (you all know how much I love him)   and Charles Bukowski (you know I am obsessed with him) meet. Considering it’s my blog I guess it was inevitable.  

Winston Churchill was one of the greatest ‘coiner of phrases’ that the world has ever seen.  He said, those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it’ back in the early 1900’s.  Not much has changed and it seems that we are, indeed, doomed to repeat and repeat.

Ironically, Bukowski wrote this prose back in the early 1950’s.  It could have been written yesterday;  we’re still at war, the politicians still suffer from the malady of greed and power. Government still disregards the weak, the old, the impoverished, the helpless……..famous quotes, famous writers, Bukowski, Churchill, famous men

putrefaction ©  (Bukowski)

of late
I’ve had this thought
that this country
has gone backwards
4 or 5 decades
and that all the
social advancement
the good feeling of
person toward
person
has been washed
away
and replaced by the same
old
bigotries.

we have
more than ever
the selfish wants of power
the disregard for the
weak
the old
the impoverished
the
helpless.

we are replacing want with
war
salvation with
slavery.

we have wasted the
gains

we have become
rapidly
less.

we have our Bomb
it is our fear
our damnation
and our
shame.

now
something so sad
has hold of us
that
the breath
leaves
and we can’t even
cry.

‘Oh no!’ you cry, ‘Trish is going all political on us’.  Not at all.  It’s still about the writing and the wordsmiths of our time.
I just found it so poignant that these two great men,  so very different in their calling and their craft would come to the same philosophical place decades apart.  One man was a great statesman, a world leader and a wordmaster at the highest level. The other man, a dissolute, drunken, promiscuous, wild genius of a writer.  One pronounced wisdom in a pedantic, clear statement, leaving nothing to interpretation or misunderstanding. The other’s rantings makes you see it, breath it, taste it, feel it.

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Start your month off right!! DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS. INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS!    “The Writer’s Corner”

In addition to my twice weekly blog I will also feature an interview with another author once a month. These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal,  Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, and many others.

So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!   Jeffrey Deaver was October’s author and Patrick Taylor will join us in November.  Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author.

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Don’t Miss my Interview with author, Patrick Taylor! Begins this Tuesday!

Irish stories, best sellers, Patrick Taylor        This blogger was in her home place of Ireland for a month….and each time I read  another ‘Country Doctor’ book by this author, I revisit the home of my heart.  Patrick has given me this opportunity to interview one of my top favorite authors!

AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR, PATRICK TAYLOR  begins this Tuesday, Nov. 5th in a two part Nov. 7th.


To Read My Review  Click here

You needn’t Suffer Waiting for the New Season of Downton Abbey — a Review

book reviews, best sellers, best selling authors    REVIEW  reviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writing (5 out of 5 quills)

HEIRS and GRACES    Newest book in the Royal Spyness series
by Rhys Bowen

Impoverished, royal Georgiana Rannoch is set another task by HRM, the Queen.  ‘Get thee gone….’to a grand country house and help an uncooperative Heir adjust to his new station in life and  a mammoth fortune.   Said heir, Jack, has been snatched from a sheep station in Australia, brought to England, and is the most reluctant of future Dukes.

‘Jack jumped to his feet. “How can you talk calmly of eating when your son is dead and everyone thinks I stabbed him?” he shouted.
 “Such an outburst, the dowager Duchess said. “Hardly seemly for a duke, John.  Really you will have to learn to control your emotions. Of course I’m upset at the loss of my son.  I am outraged that somebody chose to murder him. But I am also aware that it is up to us to set a good example, chin up, best foot forward and all that.  This household will continue as usual, except for the fact that we be in mourning for the requisite amount of time….’  Continue reading “You needn’t Suffer Waiting for the New Season of Downton Abbey — a Review”