Category: Literature
January 16, 2021 /

Episode 35. You made it! The last chapter of Hollywood & Mine

January 15, 2021 /

Hello! Is that you?

Honey, you’re looking great. What an ordeal this has been. Four years culminating in… Hold on. We’ve made it this far. Let’s step into the light. In a few short days things will start to change. My aim in podcasting my novel has been to entertain until that change comes.…

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December 27, 2020 /

Episode 32. It’s said in Hollywood that you should always forgive your enemies — because you never know when you’ll have to work with them.

December 6, 2020 /

Old gal reads own novel online!

Hi everybody, Some of my friends and readers have been asking me, “What gives?” Especially in regard to the blog, which is a direct result of the pandemic. I explain all in the video here and I would like to add by recording this book I had a blast. I…

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November 28, 2020 /

Episode 23. Hollywood is apt to make one lose perspective on life. It takes a steady hand to keep your sense of balance… Luise Ranier

November 15, 2020 /

Episode 20. Jane was steaming out a gown that was draping, gathered, a form fitting sheath with a train and veil that looked like it had been stored pristinely, waiting for this day, since the 1930s. “Madeleine Vionnet,” Jane explained, “she did this for my grandmother.”

Chapter 18 begins with a quote from Bette Davis: I’d marry again if I found a man who had fifteen million dollars, would sign over half to me, and guarantee that he’d be dead within a year. On a Saturday following the first week of shooting, I woke, and for…

Read the postEpisode 20. Jane was steaming out a gown that was draping, gathered, a form fitting sheath with a train and veil that looked like it had been stored pristinely, waiting for this day, since the 1930s. “Madeleine Vionnet,” Jane explained, “she did this for my grandmother.”
November 14, 2020 /

Episode 19. The dog walker had a reputation in town for being deft and diplomatic, the kid who once lived in his car had his fingers to the pulse of current events — how would a former nanny be perceived? It depended entirely on how much money my movie made.

  There’s nothing a man can do, that I can’t do better and in heels. So said Ginger Rogers, and thus begins chapter 17. There are so many myths on which the reality of Hollywood is based. Some are funny and fun, some are sad, and some are desperate. I…

Read the postEpisode 19. The dog walker had a reputation in town for being deft and diplomatic, the kid who once lived in his car had his fingers to the pulse of current events — how would a former nanny be perceived? It depended entirely on how much money my movie made.
July 13, 2019 /

Oh, my! I feel—yes, definitely—it’s irritable vowel syndrome.

Don’t worry. It’s not contagious. I am increasingly persnickety; about the state of the world, modern discourse, and, hell’s bells, my favorite bakery is closed for renovation. Translation, I’m in a mood. To combat my discomposure I walk, write, read—generally in that order—and in between all have many cups of…

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July 2, 2019 /

I’m a hopeless romantic…

  And it’s not only people that make my heart flutter…so can a beautiful building, or the angle of light on a linen pillow case… That said, I have been taking a long break from blogging, working on the new novel and refining my 1924 Spanish Revival home. Household maintenance…

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September 18, 2018 /

Cecil Beaton and Greta Garbo after she retreated from fame

She arrived somewhat out of breath, dressed entirely in darkest blue, looking pale but even more incandescent than before. A crowd of bobbysox autograph-hunters had run after her on her way to my hotel, and they were cruel and ruthless and upset her very much. But now she would enjoy…

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