Guest Author Calisa Rhose & A Bit of History on the '60's

Today on History Undressed I'd like to welcome a new guest author, Calisa Rhose. She is a wonderful sweetheart and a new voice for your reading pleasure!

Hello Eliza! Thank you for inviting me here today to talkabout my debut book, HOME . It's a thrill to be here after working so long topublish. When I met you I was a hopeful taking your month-long editing classwith a group of awesome writers. Thanks to you we are still friends and keep intouch daily. Thanks to your class (I HIGHLY recommend Edit Your Book in a Monthwith Eliza Knight!!!) several of us have become published authors in the lastsixteen months! So when I sold it felt natural to visit the blog of the one whohelped make this day possible. You. You are Queen Eliza to the Divas. Lol
HOME is set in 1967 during the ending years of the Vietnamwar. I didn't plan that. It's just how the story and characters presented tome. I knew so little about that time, I was a tiny tot of 5 years at the time.So it took some research and concentration to stay in that era while I wrote.My heroine is a gypsy but I wanted her to be a modern woman (of her time) andstill have that gypsy style in her clothes. I'm not sure I completely pulledthat off, but I hope I did.
I wanted Poppy Tippen to wear a Poodle skirt in at least onescene. Was that possible, feasibly? Off to the internet I went. Research showedthat these were popular in the late 50's and early 60's. BUT- I was happy todiscover that YES! they still wore Poodle skirts in the mid/late 60's thoughthey retired soon after. So when reading HOME , and I hope you will read it, youcan see if you notice the scene when Poppy wore a Poodle skirt. Hint: I didn'tcall it that in the book.
So what else could my heroine wear that revealed the times? Stirrupstretch pants were big then. Tight pants and tighter sweaters and high heels.In one scene I took one of Sandy's famous outfits from Grease and altered it tofit my book. You might recognize that one as well. Poppy liked to dress modernso she wore the tight pants and high heeled pumps. She also wore a sexy off-the-shouldertop. Could she get away with that back then? Most girls might have beenconsidered 'loose' if they revealed that much skin, but don't forget- Poppy isalso a gypsy. They wore off the shoulder peasant blouses, so I incorporated herheritage with a bit of flamboyant era style. Did it make her a bad girl?G.y.p.s.y. She already wears that stigma so what she wears won't change of fixthat about her. But I also needed to know other facts of the year/era. Did Imention HOME was set in August? So what else happened during that year besidesin August '67 Bonnie and Clyde released in theaters 1967? Here's some fun factsyou may not realize.
The first heart transplant wasperformed by Dr. Christiaan Barnard in Cape Town, South Africa.  ~ http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/christiaan-neethling-barnard

Mar 6th - Jimmy Hoffa enters Lewisburg FederalPrison
Apr 19th - Beatles sign a contract to staytogether for 10 years (they don't)

Photo From:http://www.elvispresleynews.com/ElvisWeddingPhotos.htmlMay 1st - Priscilla Beaulieu & Elvis Presleywed in Las Vegas
May 11th - 100,000,000th US phone connected
Jun 12th - Supreme Court unanimously ends lawsagainst interracial marriages
Jun 27th - The world's first ATM is installed inEnfield, London.
Jul17th – The Monkees perform at Forest Hills, NY. Jimi Hendrixis opening act
Jul 22nd - Jimi Hendrix quits as opening act ofthe Monkees' tour
Aug3rd - 45,000 more US soldiers sent to Vietnam 
~ http://www.historyorb.com/events/date/1967

It was also in 1967, Oct 21st- that seventythousand gathered at the Washington DC Moratorium for the infamous Vietnam warprotest demonstration. I didn't check, but that may have been the largest groupto gather for one cause, in one location in the USA in history. Though therewere other demonstrations during the war, that one is most remembered andprotestors traveled from all over to attend.
~ http://www.jofreeman.com/photos/Pentagon67.html#photos
*~*~*~*
BLURB:
What could a gypsy and a Vietnamveteran have in common?
Silvertown's outcast, Poppy Tippen,has loved football hero Sam "The Force" Callahan forever. But he never seemedto know she was alive. Now he's home from the war and she suddenly findsherself comforting him from the demons of "that damn war." Is his attentionmerely an escape from the haunting nightmares? Or does she hold the interest ofthe only man she's ever truly loved?
Sam Callahan's only solace from thewar nightmares wrecking his life comes in the unlikely form of a gypsy girlwith stigmas of her own. He's known Poppy his entire life, but there'ssomething different about her now. Something special he desperately wants tohold on to. Can he convince her she's the only thing he needs to put the pastbehind him?


Get your copy of HOME at TheWild Rose Press and on Amazon.


Small-town country girl Calisa Rhose lives in asemi-remote area of Oklahoma with her husband, five dogs, one cat and onehorse. All of her three daughters and their families live within throwingdistance. She's a member of RWA and the local chapter OKRWA. She intends tonurture and continue to grow as an author with the help of her family andsupporters.


Find Calisa at her website/blog http://calisarhose.wordpress.com
On twitter @Calisa_Rhose and Facebook @Calisa Rhose
She loves to hear from readers so drop her a line at calisa.rhose@gmail.com