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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Catch Up

Piles of magazines by the bed--New Yorkers, Smithsonians, American Heritage, and Writers mags. Scores of Books on my bedside table. My Nook holds ten more that I look forward to reading. Just finished In Plain View--a torrid romance by Taryn Kinkaid. I'm now reading To the End of the Land, a brilliant novel and Golden Earth written by Norman Lewis that takes the reader along as he travels in Burma. Golden Earth, first published in 1951, was recommended by a friend. I shall have to read all the Lewis books.

Isn't it a shock to wake up one day and realize you can't read every book that's ever been written?

Bests,

Elise

My cozy eBook mystery titled Scene Stealer is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Carina Press and wherever eBooks are sold. An audio version has been produced by Audible.com


Download hot ebooks from Carina PressAudiobooks at audible.com!

Friday, July 22, 2011

A Different Hat




Stick to one genre? It works well for others but it’s not for me. I love to travel and travel leads to non-fiction articles. The people I meet, an off-beat place or a different slant on a well-known tourist spot encourages me to write. A site—with a mystery that has never been solved, or an overheard conversation lends itself to fiction—if I don’t know how a story ends I have to invent one. History goes along with travel—time travel—back to the past. How did people live, would I have been the same person I am today if I lived then, what was it like in different lands, under different laws? How did people eat, cook, dress, rule and love? Dig into history and there’s another tale to be told. Mysteries, romances, science-fiction, literary, you name the category—narrative that doesn’t fit into a short story—pieces that fit together with the actions, speech and thoughts of characters that demand to be heard become a novel.
When it comes to writing I play the field. Please let me know your thoughts—do you wear different hats?

Bests,

Elise

My cozy eBook mystery titled Scene Stealer is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Carina Press and wherever eBooks arre sold. An audio version has been produced by Audible.com



Download hot ebooks from Carina PressAudiobooks at audible.com!

Friday, July 15, 2011

The Saltine Players

When I was an ingenue, a producer I worked for recommended a troupe that played the schools in North and South Carolina. I sent my resume to the director/producer and when he came to NYC, I received an interview that landed me a job with the Sauline Players. I played Hilda Von Gleck, a rich little girl who adored Hans in our play Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates. The problems that Hans faced were all solved when I handed him five guilders. We performed during the school week to enthusiastic classes that changed our name to the Saltine Players. In the evening we played for the entire family. The comedy titled, Your Uncle Henry, was about--I can't--mercifully, I think--remember.
One day, the classes applauded, cheered and lined up to get our autographs after the show had ended. We were all smiles as we signed our names with theatrical curlicues and hearts where a dot hung over the i. The line of kids finally ended with a small redhead who said,"Finally. I've got all the names now--what do I get for my prize?
So much for vanity.

Bests,

Elise

My eBook cozy mystery titled Scene Stealer is available at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble, Carina Press and wherever eBooks are sold. An audio version has been produced by audible.com


Download hot ebooks from Carina PressAudiobooks at audible.com!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Lobster, Bar Harbor and Mary Roberts Rinehart



Monday is my birthday and to celebrate, we'll have dinner in the Trustees Dining Room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the summer, all members of the museum may reserve a table on Saturdays and Sundays and my husband and I will go today because the dining room is featuring a Maine Lobster Bake.




I'm reminded of a marvelous dinner during a short vacation in Maine, where we ate at the Looking Glass Restaurant on property that once belonged to the mystery writer, Mary Roberts Rinehart.




Rinehart had her first three stories published when she was fifteen--she received one dollar for each--and the adult writer went on to pen plays--several became hits. During World War I, she became a war correspondent for the Saturday Evening Post. Hollywood paid $15,000 for one of her books, a romance titled Lost Ecstasy, then changed the title to I Take This Woman. The film starred Gary Cooper and Carole Lombard. A cast any writer would give their eye teeth for.




She came to Bar Harbor in 1935 and the magnificent panorama--sea and mountains--led to a book written in 1945 called The Yellow Room.




In 1947, Rinehart hired a butler in addition to her long-time cook. The cook who resented the newcomer quit but his wife, one of Rinehart's maids, refused to leave with him. Rinehart was reading when the cook entered, words exchanged and a gun fired at her face. Luckily the gun misfired. She ran and the cook was stopped by the chauffeur, and the gun thrown over a wall. As Rinehart phoned the police, the cook came after her with knives--she was again rescued by the chauffeur and the gardener.




Rinehart went on to write additional books before she died of a heart attack in 1958. An interesting and productive life.




I checked the library today, hoping to find her books. Nothing. I will next check Barnes and Noble and Amazon.




Bests,




Elise




My cozy mystery, Scene Stealer, is available at BarnesandNoble, Amazon, Carina Press and wherever eBooks are sold. An audio version has been produced by Audible.com




Download hot ebooks from Carina PressAudiobooks at audible.com!

Friday, July 1, 2011

Yankee Doodle Dandy

I was scheduled to be born on the 4th of July--the date George M. Cohan and Stephen Foster made their entrance into the world--but I refused to leave the comfort of my mother's womb or perhaps I was leery of fireworks and waited an extra week. But I have always enjoyed the music written for the holiday--songs like Yankee Doodle Dandy, Your A Grand Old Flag, America the Beautiful and our unofficial anthem God Bless America though the last note is a bit of a reach.

The weather promises to be warm and clear and it will be a grand weekend for the traditional hot dogs, hamburgers, baked beans and ice cream. flags will wave, bands will play and we'll celebrate our country and our democracy. Remembering those who have given so much to make us free.

Bests,

Elise

My cozy mystery titled Scene Stealer is available at Amazon, Carina Press, BarnesandNoble and wherever eBooks are sold. An audio version has been produced by audible .com





















































































































































































































































































































































































Download hot ebooks from Carina PressAudiobooks at audible.com!