DeAnna Cameron's Blog, page 3
November 4, 2016
Victorian Romance Giveaway, Featuring 20-Plus Authors!
To celebrate the fall, I’ve teamed up with more than 20 fantastic Victorian romance authors to give away a huge collection of novels, PLUS a Kindle Fire to one lucky winner!
You can win my novel THE GIRL ON THE MIDWAY STAGE, as well as books from authors like Monica Burns and Erica Ridley.
You can enter the giveaway by clicking here: http://bit.ly/victorian-rom.
But be quick! The contest is only open for a few days…
Good luck, and enjoy!
DeAnna
November 1, 2016
National Novel Writing Month Starts Today
If you’re a writer or you hang out with writers, you probably already know it’s National Novel Writing Month — or NaNoWriMo for short. That crazy time when writers commit to writing 50,000 words (and ideally a complete novel) over the course of the next 30 days.
I’ve been participating every year since 2011, and I’m excited to participate again this year. If you’re a playing along and want to buddy up, you can find me here: http://nanowrimo.org/participants/deanna.
It’s a tough challenge, but it’s always easier with friends 
October 24, 2016
Fall in Love Giveaway and Great Romance Bargains!
Fall in Love Super Sale & Giveaway 10/24-10/31!
I’ve teamed up with a group of 39 romance authors to offer our fans a great giveaway! We have dozens of great book bargains, including THE GIRL ON THE MIDWAY STAGE for just 99 pennies!
It’s just our way of thanking our loyal readers.
Don’t miss your chance to win a Kindle and Amazon gift cards — just for subscribing to our newsletters or following us on social media.
<< TAKE ME TO THE GIVEAWAY PAGE >>
If the link doesn’t work, copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://lovekissedbookbargains.com/reader-rewards-sales-giveaways/
October 11, 2016
Winners Announced
It’s time to do one of my very favorite things: Give stuff away!
And today, it’s double the fun because the Goodreads contest for the signed paperback copy of THE GIRL ON THE MIDWAY STAGE just wrapped up, and so did the Launch Team appreciation contest for a $25 gift card.
So let’s get started:
Congratulations to Lorin D., who is the winner of the Goodreads contest
And…
Congratulations to Sophie K., who is the winner of the Launch Team appreciation contest.
I’ll send notification to both of you straightaway to let you know your prizes are on the way…
For those who might be wondering, Goodreads selected that contest winner, and I put names in a spreadsheet and used Random.org to select a random number to choose the Launch Team winner.
Also, if you didn’t win this time, there are still two other Goodreads contests open. You can find them at http://deannacameron.com/extras.
October 10, 2016
Gaslight Gathering 6: The Photos!
It’s Monday, and I’m almost recovered from this weekend’s crazy incredible Gaslight Gathering 6 in San Diego. The monster panels with Gail Carriger and David Lee Summers were fantastic, and definitely a high point for me. Meeting the lovely people who stopped by the Traveling Suitcase of Swag at the Floating Flea Market and Victor Von Frankenstein’s Monster Ball were others.
In fact, I was having so much fun that I forgot to take photos most of the time, but I do have a few to share. So let’s get started…
Lovely Gail Carriger is not only a master storyteller, but darn crafty when it comes to embellishing a corset. Yes, those are real teaspoons and they are magnificent!
Dude Vader made another appearance this year in all his Steampunk-styled, toy-inspired glory.
I didn’t realize Tea Pot Racing is the sport I’ve been waiting for all my life. Honestly, how can you resist all that cuteness?
The SPLASH Water Ballet was back this year and better than ever. The choreography was set to the Flash Gordon theme, and, yes, it was awesome.
This young lady melted my heart with her Ruby Gloom purse. Can you believe she was the only one in the audience at Sunday’s monster panel familiar with Ruby Gloom? I couldn’t either
October 6, 2016
THE GIRL ON THE VAUDEVILLE STAGE Is Officially Out: Launch Day Sale!
THE GIRL ON THE VAUDEVILLE STAGE(The Dancer Chronicles, Book 2)
$3.99 ebook
Get it TODAY for 99 cents!
The magic that happens onstage is only half the story. Go behind the red curtain, and follow Pepper’s wild vaudeville adventure…
New York City in 1907 is a wonderland of endless possibilities for anyone who dares to dream, and no one has bigger dreams than young Pepper MacClair, a struggling vaudeville chorus girl who craves the Broadway limelight.
When Pepper must choose between the love of her life and her beloved Chance Theatre, a run-down venue well past its prime and her home for as long as she can remember, she’ll discover real life doesn’t always go according to script.
She’s left heartbroken and betrayed. But as the larger world changes around her and she is pulled into the intrigues of the city’s elite, it is her last hope, not only to fulfill her dream, but to follow her heart.
THE GIRL ON THE VAUDEVILLE STAGE is a richly drawn historical tale that takes readers behind the scenes of the exuberant, exciting, and often eccentric world of early New York vaudeville and one woman’s romantic journey to find the life she craves and the love she deserves — with a little help from the legendary showman Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.
Rating: PG
*** This book was formerly published as DANCING AT THE CHANCE ***
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2dL7Cl8
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Historical-Romance-Vaudeville-Dreams-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B01LXFY971
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/Historical-Romance-Vaudeville-Dreams-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B01LXFY971
Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.ca/Historical-Romance-Vaudeville-Dreams-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B01LXFY971
THE DANCER CHRONICLES is a series of stand-alone novels featuring young women destined for passion and fame. Step into their heart-warming stories of love and discovery, where there’s never a cliff-hanger ending and always an uplifiting happily-ever-after.
Happy reading!
DeAnna
October 5, 2016
Ready for Gaslight Gathering
Friends and family at Gaslight Gathering 5 in 2015.
It’s almost here… It’s almost here… IT’S ALMOST HERE!
Come Saturday morning, the Cameron crew and I will be heading out to Gaslight Gathering, a steampunk and neo-Victoriana convention, at the Town and Country Resort in San Diego, for another weekend full of turn-of-the-last-century goodness.
This will be our fifth year in attendance, and I think it might just be the best one yet because my favorite steampunk author, Gail Carriger, will be in attendance. Will I be able to keep it together when we’re on the author panels together? I honestly don’t know. There’s a seriously good chance I’ll melt into a sticky pile of fan-girl goop the minute she walks into the room. We’ll have to see…
The Dancer Chronicles traveling suitcase of swag for Gaslight Gathering.
If you’re planning to attend the event and want to check out the panels, here are the details:
SATURDAY 1-2PM – Zombies, Vampires, and Ghosts – What Are Your Favorite Monsters? – a panel that explores different monsters and paranormal creatures who have appeared in steampunk books. Which ones work best? Which are your favorite? Which didn’t work so well in both literature and the cinema! – Gail Carriger, David Lee Summers and DeAnna Cameron – Garden Salon One
SUNDAY Noon-1PM – Taking the Horror Out of Monsters – Not all monsters are monstrous. Some monsters are darn near lovable. Share who are your favorite monsters and why you like them better than certain people. – Gail Carriger, David Lee Summers and DeAnna Cameron – Garden Salon One
And if you stop by the FLOATING FLEA MARKET (10AM-Noon in the Le Chanticleer Room), I’ll be giving away some free stuff to celebrate my Victorian girls (THE GIRL ON THE MIDWAY STAGE and THE GIRL ON THE VAUDEVILLE STAGE).
October 3, 2016
THE GIRL ON THE VAUDEVILLE STAGE #Novel #Inspiration: Sweet Pancakes Recipe
Have you seen the PBS show “Taste of History” with Chef Walter Staib, where he re-creates meals from colonial America? It’s one of my favorites, and it has inspired me to track down recipes from my own favorite era in American history – the late Victorian and early Edwardian years.
My first discovery in that search was “The Myrtle Reed Cookbook,” published posthumously by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in 1916, which pulls together the author’s earlier cookbooks. Books with such charmingly simple and straightforward names as “What to Have for Breakfast,” “How to Cook Meat and Poultry,” and “One Thousand Salads.”
I have been working my way through the book, and one section in particular that caught my attention was one devoted to pancakes. This is Myrtle Reed’s introduction to that topic:
“The edible varieties of pancakes are readily distinguished from the poisonous growths. The harmless ones are healthful and nutritious and grow in private kitchens. The dark, soggy, leaden varieties are usually to be found in restaurants, but have been known to flourish in private kitchens also.”
She goes on to explain the perfect consistency for a batter and the type of pan that should be used (“[a] soapstone griddle is best, but an iron one will do, and many a savory pancake has come from a humble frying-pan”).
She concludes with this cautionary note:
“Batter enough for one pancake should be dipped from the bowl with a cup or large spoon, as adding uncooked batter to that on the griddle even an instant after it has begun to cook will work disaster to the pancake—and the hapless mortal who eats it.”
I found Ms. Reeds’ recipes to be such a delight that it was her version of Sweet Pancakes that I was imagining when they’re mentioned in The Girl on the Vaudeville Stage.
Recently, after mail-ordering some orange-flower water, I set out to make them myself.
SWEET PANCAKES
From the Myrtle Reed Cookbook
Mix two tablespoons of flour with a few drops of orange-flower water and a few grains of salt. Add the yolks of four eggs, well-beaten, and the whites of two. Fry by tablespoonfuls in butter, turning once, and sprinkling with sugar. Or, spread with Jelly, roll up, and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
The result?
The recipe yielded 13 pancakes, and I can’t say they resembled anything that I have come to expect of pancakes. I would describe them as thick, small crepes. Also, the amount of orange-flower water was not nearly enough to be detected. Still, the pancakes were good and they went quickly. I had a few with just the powdered sugar, sort of like a French Quarter beignet. And before my husband could even sample them, my picky-eater 3-year-old daughter smeared them with grape jelly and finished them off.
If anyone else gives them a try, I’d love to hear how they turned out for you.
If you’re interested in seeing more inspirations for THE GIRL ON THE VAUDEVILLE STAGE, check out my Inspiration board on Pinterest.
THE GIRL ON THE VAUDEVILLE STAGE is a richly drawn historical tale that takes readers behind the scenes of the exuberant, exciting, and often eccentric world of early New York vaudeville and one woman’s romantic journey to find the life she craves and the love she deserves — with a little help from the legendary showman Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.
Photos by DeAnna Cameron. An earlier version of this post appeared on March 15, 2012.
October 1, 2016
THE GIRL ON THE VAUDEVILLE STAGE #Novel #Inspiration: Ragtime Music and More
One of the joys of writing a historical novel is getting lost in the research. Something as benign as looking up women’s fashion for a particular year or sifting through old photographs of a particular place at a particular time can lead to so many interesting and unexpected discoveries.
One of the most fascinating rabbit holes I fell down during the research of the story that became THE GIRL ON THE VAUDEVILLE STAGE had to do with the music that was performed on theater stages in 1906 and 1907. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, and especially the sidebar recommendations on YouTube, I stumbled onto all sorts of music that was popular at that time.
I spent countless hours listening to original ragtime recordings, as well as new and restored versions of the old classics. It was a joy to discover this incredible window onto the past, and I thought you might enjoy listening in on some of the recordings I refer to in the novel.
MAPLE LEAF RAG, composed and played by Scott Joplin
FROG LEGS RAG, composed by James Scott
IN MY MERRY OLDSMOBILE, sung by Billy Murray
ESPANA WALTZ, played on a music box
DON’T LET HER LOSE HER WAY, played on a music box
I’ll share more inspiration Monday
September 30, 2016
THE GIRL ON THE VAUDEVILLE STAGE #Novel #Inspiration: Vaudeville, of Course!
How did I come to fall in love with vaudeville? I blame it on the belly dancers.
While researching the story that became THE GIRL ON THE MIDWAY STAGE, I learned that many of the Egyptian dancers who performed at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair stayed after the fair closed and began to dance in the vaudeville circuits.
That sparked my imagination. I wondered what it must have been like for them, and how did the audiences react? I had to find out, and along the way I discovered so much more.
For example, I thought vaudeville theaters, concert saloons, burlesque theaters and dime museums were all part of the same entertainment stew. How wrong I was!
Just as society was deeply stratified during the late 1800s and early 1900s, so was public entertainment. Vaudeville, at the time, occupied a middle ground between the lowbrow concert saloons and burlesque theaters and the posher opera houses and “legitimate” theaters. It was considered “polite entertainment.”
Despite the rigid divisions between the entertainment venues, however, the theater world was more fluid for the performers themselves. Even the biggest stars of the day—Lillian Russell, Eddie Cantor, Eve Tangua,y and the like—found themselves booked for vaudeville runs between bigger bookings, or when their popularity ebbed.
Yet it wasn’t the headliners who appealed to me as much as the performers who worked at the other end of the spectrum—the show openers and the chasers, and all the acts that filled the least desirable spots on the bill. These were performers who worked long hours in poor conditions for very little pay, and even less prestige, with the hope of one day making it big. They were people who lived on hopes and dreams and promises—and that captivated me.
I also found myself captivated by the idea that at this time in vaudeville’s evolution, before the slick productions that Florenz Ziegfeld,, Jr., and others would go on to pioneer, the magic of a theatrical production depended almost entirely on people: the performers, of course, but also the workers backstage, from the seamstresses stitching costumes to the stagehands who built the sets and then muscled them to their mark between acts.
It was a much more human endeavor than it is now, and that was the world I wanted to explore in THE GIRL ON THE VAUDEVILLE STAGE. It was a world where people could determine their own success—or failure—as well as the wonderful joys and challenges and heartaches that could bring. I wanted readers to experience this sometimes eccentric and often chaotic environment where the rules of the outside world didn’t always apply, and where individuals—performers and others—were free to rewrite the scripts of their own lives, to reinvent themselves, if they had the courage and the talent to do it. A world, I think, many of would like to inhabit, at least for a little while.
Ultimately, that’s what I came to love most about vaudeville—the courage and determination, the imagination and perseverance of the dreamers and believers who inhabited this world: the vaudevillians themselves.
I’ll share more inspiration this weekend
