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BEGUILING HOLLYWOOD

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“I feel very adventurous. There are so many doors to be opened, and I’m not afraid to look behind them.” Elizabeth Taylor

October 8, 2017 by Vickie Lester

“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. Billie knew that success, no matter how it came, was the one thing everyone remembered…” That’s a tiny excerpt from my new novel. What do you need to succeed in Hollywood? My answer might surprise you. Click here to read the latest in my conversation with William Kuhn. Let us know what you think!

Categories: Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Story, Theater, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: #amwriting another novel about Hollywood, #dishinginHollywood, Adonis, dream factory, Elizabeth Taylor, Hollywood, interview, Robert Taylor, star quality, success story

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“…but there’s no one who represents romance to me like Cary Grant.” Aaron Eckhart

August 15, 2014 by Vickie Lester

Categories: Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, History, Hollywood, Life, Los Angeles, Movies, Photography, Romance, Theater, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized • Tags: Aaron Eckhart, Cary Grant, leading man, quote about Cary Grant, romantic hero, Star, star quality, there's no one who represents romance to me like Cary Grant

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YOUNG AT HEART – FRANK SINATRA

June 7, 2013 by Vickie Lester

I was trying to figure out the Rat Pack’s enduring appeal, for men, let’s face it, predominantly men — at first I thought it had to do with nostalgia, and then I remembered an incident from my youth. My dad (truly a father of another era) took a friend and me on trip to Vegas. Dad had business to conduct and custody of his high school daughter for the weekend. He placed us at a table center front for Frank […]

Categories: Architecture, Art, Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, History, Hollywood, Humor, Life, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Parenting, Photography, Relationships, Story, Theater, Travel, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Vegas, Writing • Tags: actor, architecture, behind the scenes, Classic Movies, design, fashion, film, Frank Sinatra, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, history, Hollywood, humor, Los Angeles, mob, Movie Star, Movie stars, movies, Ocean's 11, Old Hollywood, on set, Oscar, photography, Rat Pack, Sammy Davis Jr., star quality, Vegas

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When Sunday morning brings a book that captures your pulse... . . . . . #literature @penguinrandomhouse #bibliophile #bookstagram #goodmorning #goodreads #theimmortalists @chloekbenjamin #author #booklover #autumn #bookworm #bookcover #bookish #fall #story #theartofslowliving #cherishandrelish #morningslikethese #beautifulbooks #goodbooks #greatreads #flashesofdelight #livethelittlethings

Spotted some Los Angeles Gothic on my early morning walk. . . . . . #villa #dramatic #oldhouse #streetview #cityscape #blackandwhitephotography #signs #silhouette #love #historichomes #saturday #city #losangeles #theresnoplacelikehome #neighborhood #dreams #gooutside #explore #artofvisuals #amwriting #hollywood #novel #LAStory #architecture #MyDayInLA #elegance #style #flashesofdelight

I just finished the second draft of a novel. Aldous Huxley gave me his gut reaction to it in my dreams. He said, “I enjoyed the manuscript immensely, dear. But, I do think you would be taken more seriously if you employed less humor.” Anita Loos was bobbing her head silently in agreement. Even in my dream I was aware that was odd, because Ms. Loos was rarely silent about anything... . #amwriting another #hollywood #novel, link in the profile. . #california #dream #bookstagram #book #bluesky #garden #design #landscape #read #LAStory #architecture #MyDayInLA #elegance #style #september #flashesofdelight #amazing #losangeles #artofvisuals #author #literature #lovebooks #goodreads #socal #story

In the 17th century you would have smacked somebody who called you a flapper, hard. By the 20th century the #flapper became the sensation seeking, impulsive, and thoroughly #modern offspring of the Jazz Age. Now it evokes the olden times — much like the term “groovy” — which came into being during the same era — and now is a creaky relic of the 1960s. . I wonder what superlatives will exist in 300 years? . This book by Booth Tarkington? Also kinda creaky. A #bestselling #author in his time he is now largely forgotten. His #books are possibly best remembered in their film adaptations (#aliceadams #starring #katharinehepburn or #themagnificentambersons directed by #orsonwelles) — but I love the cover! . #words #wordsmith #etymology #talesofthejazzage #fscottfitzgerald #bookstagram #design #language #literature #reading #bookworm #20thcentury #hollywood #bookcover #history #theroaring20s #style #nostalgia

Ever been so intrigued by a book you read the notes (all of them, introductory and explanatory) with relish? @realvenetianblonde knocks it out of the park — editing-wise — presenting #fscottfitzgerald’s lost #stories with insight, verve, and wit. ‘“The Women in the House,” later cut severely and revised into “Temperature,” is a medical story centered on a patient with heart trouble—which Fitzgerald was himself at the time he wrote it. But it is also about famous stars, dope, drinking, dazzle, and the Hollywood he knew...”’Loved this book! The rest of the #paperbacks in the picture are recommendations from friends, I’ll let you know, but I have a feeling it’s going to be a summer of fabulous reads. . . . . . #iddieforyouandotherloststories #bookstagram #book #bookworm #writersofinstagram #read #reading #lovethisbook #author #authorsofinstagram #literature #flickers #tinseltown #lastory #hollywood #history #masterpiece #20thcentury #writer #thegreatgatsby #zeldasayre #oldhollywood #creative #imagination #bookcover

This was the first female photojournalist to cover war from the front lines — Gerda Taro. She fled Nazi Germany, and died covering the Spanish Civil War. She was fearless, and all of 26. . My dad was reconnaissance photographer in WWII, he never talked about the war, something indicative of his generation, yet I found out more about what he did, and what people thought of him as a young man very recently... . More on the blog, link in the profile. . . . #memorialday #blackandwhitephotography #photographer #photojournalist #history #composition #perspective #lookingback #learn #past #bio #courage #thankyou #memorialdayweekend #love #peace

An #arabesque of bright pink #petals, contrasting the #rose against a gray #May #morning. Some things stop me in my tracks, and I pause and point the phone... Today I met a neighbor as I was #walking, her name is Amelia, her husband is Angelo, she told me she was Italian and had lived in her #stylish #home for forty years. She kept calling me #darling, I suspect because she hadn’t caught my name, and I promised (happily!) to come by and see her again. . . . . . #goodmorning #ilovela #garden #blossom #petalperfection #floral #californiadreaming #theresnoplacelikehome #elegant #bungalow #architecture #oldhouselove #gooutside #explore #openyoureyes #beautifulday #greenery

Left the #nest to see family and friends, far to the north, and along the way stopped on the eastern side of the Sierras to catch a glimpse (perhaps, the exact location is unknown to the public) of the second oldest tree in the world — it’s around 5,000. The oldest, in Norway, is 9,500. #Imagine that. The oldest #tree existed before the invention of #writing, and the second oldest tree sprouted just about the time we started to record our #history. . . . #goodnight #californiadreaming #blue #shell #exploretocreate #gooutside #liveagreatstory #amwriting #artofvisuals #writersofinstagram #design #nature #inspiration #lastory #botanical #birdsnest #stilllifephotography #beautifulnature #darlingweekend #creative #livethelittlethings #writersofinstagram

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