Tag: Susannah Corwin

Shh! I’m reading.

October 13, 2017 by Vickie Lester

For ten days author William Kuhn and I have been talking about writing, reading, screenplays, books, black and white photography, Los Angeles, the dream factory, and what and who we love. A tall order and today we wrap it all up. But I wanted you, dear readers, to know some of the most astute things I’ve read about reading and writing come from the pen of my friend, and they are in the book above. I’m going to quote now. […]

Categories: Advertising, Art, Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Literature, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Publishing, Story, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: another reason I love L.A., author William Kuhn, book editor, interview, Jaqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Reading Jackie, Susannah Corwin, why I write

Self-publishing long form narratives, yeah, baby!

October 12, 2017 by Vickie Lester

Another advantage of writing in the comfort of your own home… Need I say more? Today William Kuhn and I discuss the long form narrative, click here to join the conversation. Oh, and Mr. Kuhn mentioned something about publishing in a bathrobe, that’s an advantage too, so you’ll hear no more grousing from me (until I change my mind) about the digital era. . And please do drop us a line there or here! We’d love to hear from you.

Categories: Architecture, Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Humor, Life, Literature, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Publishing, Story, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: #hollywoodnovel, Carole Lombard, from publishing deal to self publishing, Gypsy Rose Lee, interview, lost art of conversation, publishing in bathrobe, Susannah Corwin, writing in pajamas

“There comes a time in every woman’s life when the only thing that helps is a glass of champagne.” Bette Davis, as Kit Marlowe in Old Acquaintance

October 11, 2017 by Vickie Lester

“Director Michael Curtiz was a complete madman – mad and adorable. For twelve weeks he yelled at me and I yelled back at him. We’re exactly alike.” You’ve got to have spirit to make it in Hollywood, and the lady pictured above had it in spades. This is Miriam Hopkins, she was great in screwball comedies, and starred with Bette Davis in a few films, one of them was called Old Acquaintance — something of a potboiler about two writers […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: #amwriting, Bette Davis, interview, listen to your characters, Michael Curtiz, Miriam Hopkins, old aquaintance, spirit, Susannah Corwin, writers

She lived to be 104 and devoted her life to film…

October 10, 2017 by Vickie Lester

No, not Garbo. Although the woman I’m talking about did edit Camille, and was a pioneer in her field… Today William Kuhn asks me what the biggest misconception is about Hollywood. Find out what I said, and read a behind the scenes story about Margaret Booth. Link at the bottom of the page. Born in Los Angeles on Jan. 16, 1898, Booth started in films in 1915 as a “patcher” — a film joiner — for Griffith. He gave […]

Categories: Advertising, Art, Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Story, Theater, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: behind the scenes in Hollywood, camille was edited by Margaret Booth, film editor, glamour, Greta Garbo, interview, Irving Thalberg, Margaret Booth, mutiny on the bounty, Susannah Corwin

…we have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language… Oscar Wilde

October 9, 2017 by Vickie Lester

Author William Kuhn and I both spent some formative years in London. We comprised part of the tide of children in dowdy woolen uniforms that crossed the city every day by tube or bus (or a combination of both) to school. We scratched out essays in fountain pen with consistently ink stained fingers, and probably, if pressed, could remember our Latin declensions. And I won’t get into the Latin version of Jingle Bells, well, I’ll just say it had something […]

Categories: Advertising, Art, Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, London, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Publishing, Story, Theater, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: author William Kuhn, Frances Marion, interview, Latin, literary, Oscar Wilde, over sharing, social media, Susannah Corwin

“Have you ever heard of anyone who drank while he worked? You’re thinking of Faulkner. He does sometimes — and I can tell right in the middle of a page when he’s had his first one.” Ernest Hemingway

October 7, 2017 by Vickie Lester

Writers can be quick with the barbed quip. Sometimes they’re cruel to each other. Sometimes they are vicious about who employs them (like a movie studio), or where they live (like Los Angeles). This city has caught a lot of flack from the literary world. William Faulkner, a prolific and talented screenwriter — and by most accounts a sweet gentleman — had some famously rude things to say about the industry, and the place that, for many years, financed his […]

Categories: Advertising, Art, Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Literature, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Story, Theater, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: dream factory, Ernest Hemingway, I used to write screenplays, interview, screenwriter, Susannah Corwin, Vickie Lester, William Faulkner, writer

“Hollywood is a strange place if you’re in trouble. Everybody thinks it’s contagious.” Judy Garland

October 6, 2017 by Vickie Lester

Author William Kuhn asked me in an interview (you can read it by clicking here) why I adopted the name Vickie Lester for my digital presence and first novel. Thinking about it today I realized I wanted to add another answer to his question — it was because I admired Judy Garland. The comeback role of Vicki Lester (which I spelled incorrectly all these years) in A Star is Born closely resembled the real Judy. She was a trooper. She had […]

Categories: Advertising, Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Literature, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Story, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: #amwriting another novel about Hollywood, A Star is Born starring Judy Garland, interview, Judy Garland, nom de plume, persona, personality, Susannah Corwin, Vickie Lester

”Careful grooming may take twenty years off a woman’s age, but you can’t fool a flight of stairs.” Marlene Dietrich

October 4, 2017 by Vickie Lester

The heroine of my new Hollywood novel is a daring young soul, and this morning one of my favorite authors asks moi, someone who is 7 years older than Gloria Swanson was when she made Sunset Blvd. if bravado is possible past 50. To continue along with our conversation click here, s’il vous plait.

Categories: Advertising, Art, Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Life, Literature, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Story, Theater, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: #amwriting another novel about Hollywood, aging in Hollywood, bravado, daring, femme fatale, Gloria Swanson, interview, Marlene Dietrich, Susannah Corwin, Vickie Lester

There are all kinds of soul mates and muses in the world…

October 3, 2017 by Vickie Lester

And this is what happens when you CLICK in Boston: We discovered that we’re both writers. We also discovered shared enthusiasms: England, Oscar Wilde, manners, glamor, noir atmosphere, architecture and art photography… William Kuhn, author and historian, has interviewed yours truly! It was fascinating, fun, and if I may say so, inspiring. He got me out of my slump and set me back on the writing road. Today the introduction is up on his site. There will be 9 questions […]

Categories: Advertising, Art, Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Literature, London, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Story, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: #amwriting, author William Kuhn, interview, Leslie Howard photographed by Edward Steichen, Pygmalion, roman à clef, Susannah Corwin, Vickie Lester

BEGUILING HOLLYWOOD

If you want a little historical perspective you're home.