The Mother-in Law in a gang of Comics

My son, David Mulholland, is a stand-up comic and runs the Soho Comedy Club in London. When I set off for his wedding to the brilliant comedian and blogger Kate Smurthwaite, my friend Carl Gottlieb, a great screenwriter and wit, emailed me that I was very brave going into a group of comics as "the Mother-in-Law."

The wedding was held in the oldest Unitarian church in London--built in 1709. It's where Mary Wollstonecraft worshiped and had her school for girls. If you don't know who Mary Wollstonecraft is look her up. She's the mother of feminism.

Anyway, the reception was held in a pub and was filled with comics. They were attractive and very smart. (You don't have to be smart to be an actor. You may be or not. After all you're saying someone else's lines.) But you have to be very smart to be a comic. I expected the evening to be very funny. It was fun, but the comics were not trying out material. They were professionals. Instead I heard lots of intense conversations on the craft of comedy. It reminded me of a time a few years ago when I was in Paris. An old school pal had become one of France's leading artists. He invited me for drinks with another artist. I expected to hear a high minded conversation on art. But no, the two of them talked about a hardware store in the suburbs where they could find the tools they needed for their sculptures.

Amateurs and fans talk about art. Professionals talk about the tools of their trade.

Snake Poison

Saw the Golden Globes last night. 50 years after the Woman's Movement and all those actresses are injecting snake venom into their faces to freeze their expression. It's sad they/we feel we have to. Foot-binding anyone? Oh, we don't need to do that, we have those beautiful high rise shoes with tiny heels to trip us up.

Fame, Fortune, Fun, FAST

With the holidays pressing upon me and trying to wrap up my next book, I didn't get a chance to blog. But this is my wish for the new year. May 2010 bring us all: FAME, FORTUNE, and FUN FAST. Don't we deserve it? What do you want most? Fame? Fortune? or Fun?

MINDY WRITES; THE VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB

I want to give a call out to Mindy Long and her excellent blog MINDY WRITES: http://mindylong.com/blog/ She writes about books and writing.

I did a call in to her book club tonight and she posted the following. I've embedded it here to make it easy for you to read, but check out her blog for lots of good stuff on what it's like to be a free lance writer, she has a virtual book club too.

December 1st, 2009

Book Club with Belle

I love my virtual book club, but every once in a while even I miss talking in real time about the books I love. So tonight I hosted an in-person book club, pulled out some serving platters and dusted off the carafe.

The holidays and the dreary weather here resulted in a small turnout, but we delved into The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell by Loraine Despres and had a great conversation. In addition to writing Belle, Despres wrote The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc in which Belle appears as Sissy’s grandmother. Despres was generous enough to call in and take part in the discussion and we peppered her with our questions.

Belle is full of details from the 1920s—details that could only be captured by meticulous research. Despres said she spent a year researching the time period. “Thank God for the Web,” she laughed. She read books, visited the library and studied magazines from the period.

To capture the details of one particular scene, Despres reached out to the Stutz Barecat Club and found someone who shared the particulars of how to shift.

Despres even committed to only reading literature written before 1920 during the three years it took her to write Belle.

I fell in love with Sissy, and the entire time I was reading Belle I couldn’t help but think about how Despres weaved the two stories together even though they were very different stories. I was also left wondering how much the author knew about Belle when writing Sissy.

“I knew I wanted a lady like some of the ladies I knew in New Orleans—very imperious, very sure of themselves. Belle really came to me,” she said.

Of course we asked Despres her favorite rule. Without hesitating she said, "It’s okay for a woman to know her place. She just shouldn’t stay there."She also told us she doesn’t usually come up with a rule cold. “If something tickles me, I write it down,” she said.

Several parts of the book were inspired by Despres’s own experiences. She told us she grew up in a house like the Rubinstein’s—a house complete with bullet holes in her bedroom wall. “A vigilante group tried to drive my family out of town. It probably happened in the 1890s, but I knew I wanted to tell that story,” she said.

She also shared that she some of her favorite traits of Belle’s were her courage and her cynicism. “She was pretty much based on my mother,” she said.

SPOILER ALERTS—IF YOU HAVEN’T READ BELLE, STOP READING NOW. COME BACK AFTER YOU FINISH THE BOOK.

Based on the letter Belle found in Claude’s jacked, I assumed he was having an affair, but since I’m ever the optimist, I held out hope that Belle just misunderstood parts of the letter. I asked Despres flat out if Claude was having an affair. She confirmed my fear—he was unfaithful. Oh Claude—how could you? I will cut him a little slack since he was at war.

Throughout the novel I went back and forth on whether Belle was ignorant of the dangers she faced or if she was brave. I felt that she became more aware of her danger she faced as the novel went on and clearly was courageous when defending the Rubinsteins against the Ku Klux Klan.

Despres said she envisioned Belle as being brave when writing her. She added, “As a middle-class southern lady, she thought [the KKK] wouldn’t hurt her. Her family was important in the town and she thought they wouldn’t go after her.”

There were so many great story lines in the book. After we hung up the phone with Despres, we kept chatting about the book. I definitely recommend it as a book club pick and, you never know, Despres might call into your group, too. You can visit her blog athttp://www.lorainedespres.blogspot.com/ and her Web site atwww.lorainedespres.com. Also, check out my earlier Q&A with Loraine here, my post about Sissy here and my virtual book club post about Belle here.

By the way–my local library system had a a good number of copies of Belle available, but there was a wait list! So, you may want to check your local library or order from Amazon.

GIVEAWAY!!! What could be better than adding an autographed book plate courtesy of Loraine Despres to your copy of Belle or Sissy? Leave a comment by midnight Dec. 4 and I will pick a lucky winner on Dec. 5.

Thanksgiving

Wising you all a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots to be thankful for.

Mindy Writes

"A Southern Belle never ignores a compliment. She knows she's worth it."

So I want to give a call out to Mindy Long, a talented free-lance writer, and reader of great perspicacity. She has a terrific blog on writing and writers. A few days ago she was kind enough to review my novel, The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc. Here's a taste:

"On a recent trip to the bookstore, I just happened to reach up on the shelf and pull down The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc: A Novel by Loraine Despres. I was hooked before I even finished reading the back cover, which starts, “It’s a steamy June afternoon in Louisiana, circa 1956, and Sissy LeBlanc is sitting on her front porch, wondering—half seriously—if she could kill herself with aspirins and Coca-Cola.”

Within 30 seconds I knew I would be taking the home with me and I’m so glad I did. It is a page-turner packed with small-town scandal and choices–not to mention a cute high school football star. The author’s Web site says, "More than a rip-roaring good read about a feisty Southern girl tearing up her hometown, The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc is a poignant story about innocence lost and hope regained, about the dangers of taking a risk—and playing it safe, about wresting control of your life before someone does it for you. Shifting back and forth in time, Loraine Despres limns an utterly captivating portrait of Sissy LeBlanc’s tumultuous coming of age and her struggle to break free from the loveless, stifling marriage it led her to."

I was already staying up past my bedtime to read, then I hit Chapter 13 and BAM! The book got even better with a plot twist..."

For more and to read an excellent blog on writers and writing go to: http://mindylong.com/the-scandalous-summer-of-sissy-leblanc/#comments.

Never hide your light

A Southern Belle never hides her light under a bushel...or under anything else. Admit it, we all love attention. So let's live in the spotlight while we can. Rule 230 Southern Belle's Handbook.

Ok, I admit it. I love it when someone praises one of my books. I was delighted to find Mindy Long's excellent blog MINDY WRITES especially when she wrote:

"On a recent trip to the bookstore, I just happened to reach up on the shelf and pull down The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc by Loraine Despres. I was hooked before I even finished reading the back cover, which starts, “It’s a steamy June afternoon in Louisiana, circa 1956, and Sissy LeBlanc is sitting on her front porch, wondering—half seriously—if she could kill herself with aspirins and Coca-Cola.”

Within 30 seconds I knew I would be taking the book home with me and I’m so glad I did. It is a page-turner packed with small-town scandal and choices–not to mention a cute high school football star. The author’s Web site says, "More than a rip-roaring good read about a feisty Southern girl tearing up her hometown, The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc is a poignant story about innocence lost and hope regained, about the dangers of taking a risk—and playing it safe, about wresting control of your life before someone does it for you. Shifting back and forth in time, Loraine Despres limns an utterly captivating portrait of Sissy LeBlanc’s tumultuous coming of age and her struggle to break free from the loveless, stifling marriage it led her to. I was already staying up past my bedtime to read, then I hit Chapter 13 and BAM! The book got even better with a plot twist I never saw coming." For more and to read her excellent posts about writers and writing go to: http://mindylong.com/the-scandalous-summer-of-sissy-leblanc//

Married Men

A woman who goes out with a married man always plays second fiddle to his wife--
Southern Belles don't make that kind of music.

Rule #54 The Southern Belle's Handbook, Sissy LeBlanc's Rules to Live By

THE FLAVOR BIBLE

We Southern girls love to cook--and if we don't actually cook ourselves we love to eat. For real cooks, the ones who itch to try a little of this and pair it with a little of that to see how it tastes, I mean the really creative cooks who don't want to be recipe bound, but want to create something original THE FLAVOR BIBLE is a must. The authors, Karen Page & Andrew Dornenburg spent eight years interviewing great chefs all over the world and came up with parings--what tastes great with what. The book has been out 52 weeks inspiring amateurs and professionals and is now in its 4th printing. So the Southern Belle lifts a virtual glass of champagne. Way to go Karen.

Rule No 172, The Southern Belle's Handbook: There's nothing so sexy as a man who cooks.

A Slice of Life in the Big Lemon

My husband and I came home from a wedding in San Diego and found the road to our house was blocked. A water main had flooded.

Water gushed down Coldwater Canyon and flooded Ventura Bldv in the valley damaging homes and shops. Beverly Hills is safe. Isn't that always the way?

Here are some amazing photographs of the street. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/09/coldwater-canyon-could-be-closed-for-3-days-due-to-destructive-water-main-break.html

And in color:

http://laist.com/2009/09/06/water_main_break_floods_ventura_blv.php?gallery0Pic=1#gallery

The irony and tragedy is we're in the middle of a terrible drought.

We're fine. Our house is high in the hills. But it's all a slice of life in the Big Lemon.

--
www.LoraineDespres.com

Why You Can't Dress Like a Super-Model

A friend of mine is a stylist and he just did a gorgeous photo spread for a fashion magazine in Asia. He hired a beautiful young European model who had, in his words, "giraffe legs." He shot her in a micro-miniskirt and stiletto heels on a rocky mountaintop. The shot was gorgeous. The shadows under her slim derriere echoed the shadows in the mountains.

But the question on everyone's lips was, how did the model climb up the mountain in those stiletto heels?

The stylist laughed, "She didn't. She couldn't. I carried the heels and two of us lifted her into them for the shot."

Who Are They Kidding?

I just got an email from Neiman Marcus about the new trend in leggings for this fall. What? Does a message go out in New York? "This year we'll torture women by putting leggings on their legs, but making them go barefooted into shoes with heels so impossibly high they can't walk down the block." And get this, "We'll charge $100 for them! Or more if we print the fabric. And we'll all make the same kind that bag at the ankles! That'll be really chic."

Who buys this stuff? Does anyone look good in them?

Last Day in Bali

After a breakfast of scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, and, I'm not kidding, caviar I wrote this in my diary: My friends and I have just finished body surfing in the most glorious warm ocean waves and now the pool boy trainee is polishing my sunglasses.

The beauty of Bali has been praised outrageously. The thing is it's true. The simplest farming village is festooned with decorations and elaborate carvings. It's going to be hard to leave paradise and go back to reality.

To Bangkok and Beyond

I'm off tonight for Bangkok and Bali. I'll be gone three weeks and five days. Not much for my European travel companions who take off a month every year, but my American friends are astonished. I've spent the whole day packing. I was only going to bring carry on luggage, but my German friend, Peter, said "Loraine, the only time you will touch your luggage is when you take it to the airport in Los Angeles." I'm not taking my computer, but I'll try to blog from time to time and send photos of some of the most beautiful islands in the world. My husband, Carl Eastlake, is staying behind because he's running for the board of the Writers Guild of America. Now that's dedication.

Politicians Who Cheat

Those Senators and Governors who loudly profess their devotion to religion and cheat on their wives are only honoring the Old Testament which clearly states that marriage is the union of one man and his wives and handmaidens.

Soccer Mom Says...: I Think I Finally Found It

Soccer Mom Says...: I Think I Finally Found It

Book Club Blog Discusses BAD BELLE

Want to give a shout out to the Book Club Blog http://bookclub2002.blogspot.com/2009/05/kkk.html#comments

They read The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell last month. I want you to know I did a ton of research so if you have any questions, just let me know.

Age is a Peculiar Number

The trouble with admitting your true age is other people always have stereotypes about what the number means. I confess. I did and I was wrong. When I wrote THE SCANDALOUS SUMMER OF SISSY LEBLANC I created Belle Cantrell, the septuagenarian suffragist, and gave her a cane! Seventy seemed very old to me--then. After that, my father-in-law at age 70 began riding in bicycle marathons and did fifty mile practice runs up and down mountains. I've never been that young. Have you? Now I follow Oscar Wilde's advice when he said, "Never trust a woman who tells you her true age. If she tells that, she'll tell anything."

Anxiously Awaiting Another Novel

Many of you have been kind enough to send me emails. When I recieved this, I wanted to share it. Thanks for the encouragement, Cyndi. A writer who goes into a little room by herself everyday needs all the encouragement she can get.

Dear Loraine, I first read, "The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc" about 4 years ago. A bunch of girls at work were passing your book around. It was one of the best stories I'd read in years. It wasn't until recently that I discovered "the Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell". Every bit as wonderful as the first. Your characters are written wonderfully. Great spirit and humour and very real, like they could be my neighbors. (I think some of them are.) Thank you for writing these stories. I do hope you'll have more to come. I have purchased both books and have passed them around to my customers and friends. They all come back with the same reaction, "WOW! What great characters! Does she have any other books?". Anxiously Awaiting Another Novel,Cyndi Jones

"If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton. You may as well make it dance." ~ George Bernard Shaw

KayteandRob on [the next] networking site, just posted a terrific review of THE SCANDALOUS SUMMER OF SISSY LEBLANC in which she says, "I can't wait to finish and find out what happens."

I tried to post a reply and thanks but [the nest] made that almost impossible. Had to sign in and then they said my name was already used, I had to find another name, etc. Why do some sites make it so hard to post?