Jennifer Susannah Devore's Blog, page 17
June 27, 2012
Gary Oldman, Prada and Steampunk Power Their Way To Haute Couture
"I still don't get it, Jennifer. What the heck is Steampunk?"
Voila, the de rigueur response from most when hit with a steampunk reference. Nebulous, querulous Steampunk. Briefly? 'Tis an anachronistically-based, alternate-existence, period-shod, fantasy world wherein steam power industry mixes bombastically with the funky, sharp vibes of modern technology. "Quod the quod?", you cry. No worries. It doesn't matter. It's just a bit of stylish fun. A weird and wild wedding of fashion, decor and technology flanked by the bridesmaids of science-fiction and fantasy. It's a mad, mad, mad, topsy-turvy twist of Victorian-era British Colonialism, the American West, 19thC. Industrial Revolution and NASA. If Charles Dickens, Gail Carriger, Jules Verne, Walt Disney and Tim Burton co-recreated a Gilbert & Sullivan musical, you'd have Steampunk, sort of.
Anyhoo, whilst Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B., Vivienne Westwood, Betsey Johnson and Ralph Lauren have been giving us teases n' tastes of the Victorian-fantasy look for years, now Prada, with the help of Gary Oldman, Garrett Hedlund, Jamie Bell and Willem Dafoe, give us a four-course sartorial feast with the Fall/Winter 2012 line of menswear ... steampunk inspired, clearly.
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Want a bit of women's steampunk gear? Try Clockwork Couture.
June 15, 2012
Sexy, Fun Reading: An Author's Review of The Darlings of Orange County
This easy, breezy, beautiful day along the San Diego coast, I offer a delightful surprise, for me anyway: a humbling and downright awesome follow-up review to my Skype interview about The Darlings of Orange County with Natalie Wright. As I mentioned previously, Natalie calls 'em likes she sees 'em. Lucky pour Moi, she sees 'em a far cry from Fifty Shades of Grey. Phew!
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Reprinted with permission via Natalie Wright's YA
Natalie Wright
Friday, June 15, 2012
I was fortunate enough to recently snag a Skype interview with author Jennifer Devore, a charming and witty Southern California gal and authoress. In addition to writing novels, Jennifer writes for Good to Be Geek and her own blog . Whatever Jennifer is writing, you can be sure it will be funny and smart. I highly recommend her blogs. Jennifer's posts never disappoint and I am continually amazed at her vocabulary in several different languages. If you missed my interview with Miss Jenny, check it out here.
Having become a fan of Jenny's writing via her blog, I eagerly snagged a copy of Ms. Devore's The Darlings of Orange County
for my e-reader. The description promises "salacious and comical" and this book delivered. I had downloaded a sample of Fifty Shades of Grey: Book One of the Fifty Shades Trilogy
and did not find the book compelling enough to hit the "buy" button. A lot of people must disagree with me, because the book sits atop the bestseller list!But I was in the mood for a read that is a bit naughty. Nothing too serious. I wanted a break from gritty, moody, YA fiction. If Fifty Shades wouldn't fit the bill, would The Darlings of Orange County
?My answer: Yes!
Let's get some deets on the book. Here is the description from Goodreads:
The casually-cashmere, sexy beaches of Orange County and San Diego aren't always what they seem. The dirty little secret here is what it takes to make it. Everybody has a trick up their silk sleeve. Veronica Darling is smart enough to know what it takes and is willing to soil her soul to bring Hollywood to the California Riviera.
The Darlings of Orange County is a salacious, comical and harrowing romp chock full of eco-terrorism, horse-racing scandals, weed deals and the obligatory lipstick-lesbian affair that inevitably leads to murder. It all builds to a mind-shattering, white-knuckled climax in a glitzy, celebrity-stacked Laguna Beach Film Premiere that spells success for Veronica Darling and trouble for her friends and family. Others who like The Darlings of Orange County also like Absolutely Fabulous, Arrested Development and The Real Housewives of Orange County.
The Darlings of Orange County is a laugh-out-loud romp set in Southern California. Jennifer Devore's formidable powers of descriptive detail create a setting so rich, you'll swear you've been there. They say, "Write what you know." It is clear that the author knows the California setting - and people - that fill the pages of this book.
When I interviewed Jennifer, she admitted that it was her goal to write a sexy book (as opposed to her previous historical fiction). The age old moniker - sex sells (just witness Fifty Shades of Grey). But Ms. Devore is a witty and smart writer. Thus, while the Darlings is certainly filled with sex (and wine drinking and occasional dope smoking), it is also smart, witty, and does not shy away from commentary on our culture when it fits the storyline.
The main character, Veronica Darling, is a likable character. Veronica is an author of historical fiction. Veronica watches in stupefied amazement as her own, serious, historical fiction books are backseat to her agent's recent find - a book called My Vagina Loves You by female author Raina Schein, who bares her own nether region for photos that are in book. No surprise, the salacious book flies off of the shelves.
To add fuel to Veronica's growing fire, her lovable but dumb-ass husband, Ryan, goes head to head with a shark during a round of ocean fishing with his friend, Pardo (the fact that Pardo is into naked, Encino Man fishing adds hilarity to the scene). When Victoria's husband makes the Today show for his ill advised shark fishing, Veronica is pushed to the edge.
What ensues is a funny, sexy and witty tale set in the Southern California sun. The Darlings of Orange County is a perfect summer read for your e-reader. But be careful where you read it. In some places, laughing out loud while reading may be embarrassing.
Note: This book is for adults. Due to strong sexual content, I do not recommend or endorse this book for those under the age of 18.
June 13, 2012
The Darlings of Orange County Interview: Encino Man Sportfishing, Shark Guy and The Perfect Summer Sailing Read
Wednesday, apparently, is The Day for writers: according to Twitter's #WriterWednesday (Find Moi there @JennyPopNet) and the plurality of reviews which come out each Wednesday across the Internet. My dear fellow authoress Natalie Wright, of Emily's House fame, hosts her own, midweek roundtable with Natalie Wright's YA: Writer Chat Wednesday.
Each week, she serves us delightful smatterings of friendly, casual chit-chat in the manner of extremely well-researched, contemplative, literary interviews. From up-and-coming, first-time authors hoping to make next week's cell phone bill, to established multi-title novelists with a coveted, brand-new 20th Century Fox TV series, Natalie takes them all very seriously. She offers the moral support and vote of confidence, based in honest scrutiny and without any pandering or sycophancy, that only another writer could understand. Miss Natalie comprehends, viscerally I presume, the continual effort to create and expose said-creations to friends, family and strangers alike, all the while terrified of being slapped down and brushed away, like mosquito at summer camp.
The Darlings of Orange County, and to some extent my Savannah of Williamsburg series, were fortunate enough to be the focus of one of her Wednesday Writer Chats via Skype. As my motto vacillates betwixt "Perky on the Page, Awkward in Person" and "Sic Gorgiamos Allos Subjectactos Nunc" (Okay, that one is The Addams Family motto, but I like it, too. 'We would gladly consume those whom would subdue us.' Yeah.), I was a tad nervous in the beginning. Happily, Natalie's kindness and affability brought me out of my shell a bit and, with a glass of Chardonnay, it wasn't too long before we started talking nude sportfishing, The Real Housewives of Orange County and how, apparently, I was able to bring the smell of a summer's day at the beach, out of Kindle screen.
"Especially, I think, as summer comes up, this is a great beach read. It's a fabulous book to get on your Kindle. You'll be laughing out loud on the beach, so just beware you might look a little bit weird, laughing to yourself!"
-Natalie Wright's YA: Writer Chat Wednesdays
Thank you, Miss Natalie :) Enjoy!
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June 12, 2012
San Diego Comic-Con: Tarzan, Peanuts and Just a Touch of Chainmail
Cheers, babies! It's me, Miss Hannah Hart, ghostdame of the Hotel del Coronado and it's June: that bonkers-beautiful time of year in San Diego. It means summer's mere days away and Comic-Con's a mere month away!
No one is more excited than yours truly ... well, okay. I imagine there are some nibbling their fingernails a tad more than I. After all, part of the appeal of our Comic-Con is that it's in glorious San Diego. I get to live here year round, kids, haunting my dilly of a Hotel Del. If you're zinging your way here for the Con and it's your first time in San Diego, we welcome you, one and all! 'Tis no place in Cali quite like San Diego. Even the dearly departed Godfather of Comic Books, Richard Alf, knew that! Sunnier than San Francisco, cheaper than Santa Barbara, friendlier than L.A. and cleaner than Anaheim, why wouldn't we welcome the world? Whilst you're in town, may I heartily suggest Nerdcore Night at famed The Ruby Room in Hillcrest?
If you're still looking for a hotel, I feel true pity, ya mooks. Whilst an average $560.00-$730.00/night seems lofty at my Hotel del Coronado, it's a regal steal compared to some of the fleabag dumps near the airport: real slimy, 1-star m-m-m-motels charging upwards of $569.00/night during the week of SDCC!!! That should be criminal. It's easily extortion and trust me, I lived in Beantown during Prohibition. I know all about mob behavior. If you have a room at all, huzzah for you!
May 31, 2012
Summer's Here: Please Pack Out Your Trash and Thank You for the Dresses, Miss Ashley
Summer solstice is still weeks away; yet, if you're in California or any other temperate clime, you know summer's already here. Glory be, it also seems there's a bit o' style in the air!
Some girls are in lovely florals, some are in next to nothing; the dudes are in their board shorts, but some of them must have read my George Will post, because I'm seeing a nice uptick in the appearance of fedoras. Whatever the trend, Moi likey! Bright colours and a bit of panache seem to be making a comeback! Even Ms. Ashley Judd is helping the cause, keeping those racing crowds in chiffon and chapeaux.Three Indy 500 victories prove her gorgeous style keeps her husband, driver Dario Franchitti, happy and revved all the way to the checkered flag.
Lovely Ashley Photo: Michelle Pemberton, The Indianapolis Star
Das Deutsche Wedding. Ich liebe fur jede Tag! An Nordstrom!
May Grey has exited stage left and though June Gloom is still hanging about in the wings, Summer is freshening her lipstick, checking her highlights and primping backstage. We're ready and waiting, Mademoiselle Soleil!
Remember, folks ... please, oh, please clean up your beach, park, forest, campground leavings. Pack out what you pack in, as the National Park Service directs this National Oceans Month. Your trash, even the smallest bits end up directly in our streams, rivers, oceans and seas and eventually, right back to us. Ever hear of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? As my dear friend Jason Ruiz says, "That's nothing compared to the Great Pacific Cabbage Patch. Those dolls are out of control." Keep the jellies, sea gulls, sea turtles and Cabbage Patch Kids cigarette butt-free and our seafood and kelp (Because Moi eats tons of seaweed and kelp) Rx residue-free.
Watch your trash, people, or I'm coming for you. Photo: Gary Dev
Now, off you go! Grab your sunscreen, pack the martini shaker and get thee to a beach! May I suggest either my glorious beaches of San Diego and Orange County or, should you be back east, the one and only Hamptons? Montauk and South Hampton ... simply Heaven!
How did Moi end up on a driving range? This isn't regulation golfy wear?
Happy Summering, Amis!
May 16, 2012
Emily's House, a Brief Review ... and an Update on Snoopy's Brother Spike
Book Review of Emily's House (Akasha Chronicles, Book #1) by Natalie Wright
Photo: Boadicea Press
The vast border betwixt a contemporary American Southwest and an ancient, Celtic Ireland is as foggy and hazy as a seaside, Sligo morning; yet this chasm is bridged brilliantly and smoothly enough to ease the reader hither and thither, back and forth, between said realms.
Natalie Wright has divined in Emily's House a simultaneous modern and ancient fairy tale of the greatest kind: sans parents, sans immediate consequence, sans cowardice. Bravery is said to be not the lack of fear, but action in the face of it. Like the best of Grimm, Perrault and Charles Schulz, Ms. Wright's kids find themselves amidst adventure, terror and turmoil, as well as ineffective and/or absent parental units. By their own bootstraps they must find help themselves to find their way home, to save not only each other, but perchance an entire civilization. "Adults drool, kids rule" is the motto for any well-written young adult or children's tale. Natalie's kids indeed rule.
This one will last, alongside Grimm, Perrault and Schulz, in the coffers of timeless, fantasy literature. Plus, there's Hindergog and no one could not love Hindergog! Well done, Ms. Wright. Well done, indeed.
The wall Emily and pals scale to seek the golden band of the Order of Brighid
Best of all, Emily's House, chock full of the Irish tongue, offers a fantastic glossary and pronunciation guide. Who knew there was a difference betwixt ban sídhe and sídhe? Plus, now I know how to say Cathair without saying cat-hair. Look at me! Adding Irish to my list of languages!
Miss Wright is currently living somewhere near Tuscon, AZ with Spike, Snoopy's desert-dwelling beagle brother. They have taken up residence in a rock cave rumoured to have once been an ancient Anazazi compound and Spike works as her assistant. She is holed up, literally, working diligently, editing her second book The Deep Beneath: Book I of the H.A.L.F. Trilogy. Her husband says she may return home as soon as she can produce a final edit.
Want to learn a bit more about the Celtic Queen of the American Southwest (keep that sunscreen handy, Freckles!)? Subscribe to her blog: Natalie Wright's YA.
May 14, 2012
Vive la Plume! Quelle Belle Ecriture
Inspired by a simple yet beautiful Instagram photo, by fashion and design superstars at Demu Label, I add my own voice, echoing historical scriveners, to the present paradigm of writers, designers and sketch artists everywhere. I declare, "La plume et le papier ne sont pas mort!" The pen and paper are not dead!
Like a garden shed or one's shoe closet, the journal is a storage unit of sorts: a private spot where one gathers, collects and organizes one's thoughts before committing them to the exposure, sunlight and scrutiny of the harsh outside world. Combined in perfect unison and in complementary usage throughout the creative process and stages, the pen, the journal, the lone bits of hotel notepad paper, plus all necessary digital mechanisms can trudge forth as one. Vive le tablet, vive le laptop, but longer vive the pen and the paper! (Waterman pens, especially :D Thanks, Mom!)
Mom says my scratch looks like a Chinese take-out menu, but I can read it.
Happy Scribbling!
May 3, 2012
George Will Is Right, Mostly: Give the Beanie a Rest, Sporto
With the exception of Del Mar, bits of L.A. and Laguna Beach on a Saturday night, Southern California is fast becoming a sartorial desert, at least south of Melrose. If it's not a bevy of cookie cutter, polyester, primary colors, Real Housewivesesque maxi dresses and oversized -just plain over- leather, studded handbags, it's a dusty and prosaic, coastal desert landscape speckled with naught but jeans, hoodies, beanies and Old Navy tees. Enough of the desperately casual look already ... especially when I know darn good and well your hobo get-up cost far more than my weird, New Girl ensemble. Just because economic times are in a downturn, doesn't mean you have to look like a Dust Bowl survivor. Then again, they looked pretty good, considering. Heck, Ralph Lauren did an entire spring line around 1930s rural, migrant style. Certainly, my pal, Miss Hannah Hart, ghostdame of the 1930s herself, has a thought or two on the downgrade of American fashion. Big shock, right?
Okay, she can wear her garage-cleaning togs to town.
I'm not so stuffy as to head down George Will's "no blue jeans" road: Today it is silly for Americans whose closest approximation of physical labor consists of loading their bags of clubs into golf carts to go around in public dressed for driving steers up the Chisholm Trail to the railhead in Abilene. True dat, George! I like the unapologetic snob in George Will and I appreciate, if not completely agree with, his further advice: For men, sartorial good taste can be reduced to one rule: If Fred Astaire would not have worn it, don’t wear it. For women, substitute Grace Kelly.
I dig my Bebe jeans, bikini tops, sarongs and tattered espadrilles and played, Justin Timberlake dancer fedoras; but I get his frustration, even if it is a bit stiff. It's a reaction to a national theater of drudgery. Does everyone have to look like they're forever taking a break from cleaning their garage?
It's not tough, folks. Pulling on a skirt or a stylish blouse is as easy as pulling on those Kohl's stretch pants or Wal-Mart tee. Heels are easier, in fact, to slip on than tennies. You don't have to have crazy cabbage in the bank to dress up a bit, either. Recession has nothing to do with it; thrift stores are amazing places to scoop up an entire season's gear for less than a month's worth of Americanos. Even better if you're in an area where the hand-me-downs started out at Neiman Marcus, Anthropologie and Barney's. Go, Moi! Plus, eBay gives you a chance to be green a bit by recycling already produced clothing and it's a bonkers vintage marketplace! Yesterday, I was wearing Gucci sunglasses from Israel, a vintage dress from some island off Florida and my fave, Orange County swap meet find ever: a pair of 1970s wooden, patchwork platforms for which I paid one shiny quarter.
Mix it up, use your imagi-naaation. Toss a vintage, Maggie the Cat slip over those jeans or pair that frowsy tee with a pair of plaid, city shorts. Dolling up, even a little, is a fab way to whisper, "I respect you." to those throughout your day, that simply being around them is special enough to make an effort. It's also a fab way to grab a little self-respect. Now, there is still a handful of folk whom know how to don the goods: Dita Von Teese, Gwen Stefani, Donny Deutsch and Zooey Deschanel to start. Then, the Europeans ...
George Will Was Right, Mostly: Give the Beanie a Rest, Sporto
With the exception of Del Mar, bits of L.A. and Laguna Beach on a Saturday night, Southern California is fast becoming a sartorial desert, at least south of Melrose. If it's not a bevy of cookie cutter, polyester, primary colors, Real Housewivesesque maxi dresses and oversized -just plain over- leather, studded handbags, it's a dusty and prosaic, coastal desert landscape speckled with naught but jeans, hoodies, beanies and Old Navy tees. Enough of the desperately casual look already ... especially when I know darn good and well your hobo get-up cost far more than my weird, New Girl ensemble. Just because economic times are in a downturn, doesn't mean you have to look like a Dust Bowl survivor. Then again, they looked pretty good, considering. Heck, Ralph Lauren did an entire spring line around 1930s rural, migrant style. Certainly, my pal, Miss Hannah Hart, ghostdame of the 1930s herself, has a thought or two on the downgrade of American fashion. Big shock, right?
Okay, she can wear her garage-cleaning togs to town.
I'm not so stuffy as to head down George Will's "no blue jeans" road: Today it is silly for Americans whose closest approximation of physical labor consists of loading their bags of clubs into golf carts to go around in public dressed for driving steers up the Chisholm Trail to the railhead in Abilene. True dat, George! I like the unapologetic snob in George Will and I appreciate, if not completely agree with, his further advice: For men, sartorial good taste can be reduced to one rule: If Fred Astaire would not have worn it, don’t wear it. For women, substitute Grace Kelly.
I dig my Bebe jeans, bikini tops, sarongs and tattered espadrilles and played, Justin Timberlake dancer fedoras; but I get his frustration, even if it is a bit stiff. It's a reaction to a national theater of drudgery. Does everyone have to look like they're forever taking a break from cleaning their garage?
It's not tough, folks. Pulling on a skirt or a stylish blouse is as easy as pulling on those Kohl's stretch pants or Wal-Mart tee. Heels are easier, in fact, to slip on than tennies. You don't have to have crazy cabbage in the bank to dress up a bit, either. Recession has nothing to do with it; thrift stores are amazing places to scoop up an entire season's gear for less than a month's worth of Americanos. Even better if you're in an area where the hand-me-downs started out at Neiman Marcus, Anthropologie and Barney's. Go, Moi! Mix it up, use your imagi-naaation. Toss a vintage, Maggie the Cat slip over those jeans or pair that frowsy tee with a pair of plaid, city shorts. Dolling up, even a little, is a fab way to whisper, "I respect you." to those throughout your day, that simply being around them is special enough to make an effort. It's also a fab way to grab a little self-respect. Now, there is still a handful of folk whom know how to don the goods: Dita Von Teese, Gwen Stefani, Donny Deutsch and Zooey Deschanel to start. Then, the Europeans ...
How's Your Onus Probandi? Thank You, John Peter Zenger, Andrew Hamilton and Miss Savannah Squirrel
The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them.
-Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, 1787
'Tis Press Freedom Day, folks! Do you know where your journalists are? One trial, one bonkers-brilliant attorney, one timid, German printer and one stunning and shocking verdict of "Not Guilty" and the concept of onus probandi changed the course of American journalism and conferred upon us the all too important freedom of the press.
Don't let the poncy squirrel in a frock scare you. The thousands of readers and scholars who have made Savannah of Williamsburg: Ben Franklin, Freedom & Freedom of the Press #88 in Amazon's Law Fiction/Legal Perspectives genre can't be wrong. Let my Squirrel Girl and John Peter Zenger share with you one of the cornerstones of our great democracy. Read on, keep up, write oft and speak out, people!
