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It’s that time again. Join us on Monday, March 7th, 7-9 PM, at Madame X with returning guest authors, Cara Elliott and C.H. Admirand, and guest emcee, award winning blogger and debut historical nonfiction author, Elizabeth Kerri Mahon.
Admission is $5 or one gently-used paperback romance novel. Net proceeds support an end-of-year donation to a NYC women’s charity.
August is typically a Dead Zone month here in Big Apple Landia, but you’d never know it from the turn-out at last night’s Lady Jane’s Salon. Yes, we had another packed house and great, diverse readers as per always.
Boston Globe features writer and author, Johnny Diaz came down from Beantown to read from his latest contemporary release, Boston Boys Club, which he dubbed as a gay version of Sex and the City–think romantic, poignant, and yes, delicious!
Local author Anna DePalo read from her Silhouette Desire, The Billionaire in Penthouse B, showing us that “housework” can be fun but “mistresshood” far “funner”!
Last but never least, the lovely Delilah Marvelle fogged up the windows by reading from her wickedly humorous Lord of Pleasure in a (very authentic sounding) British accent, no less. And FYI, can that lady ever rock white satin and feathers!
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Distinguished attendees included faces both familiar and new including powerhouse literary agent, Donald Maass; Scandalous Women blogger, Elizabeth Kerri Mahon; bookseller and reviewer, Stacey Agdern; blogger, Kwana Jackson; RWA/NYC prez, Karen Cino; and Rob DiCaterino, Web Manager for RT BOOK Reviews.
Up next month at Lady Jane’s: Salon co-founder, Leanna Renee Hieber debuts The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker–wearing full Victorian regalia, no less. Don’t miss it!
Hope
PS: You Alert Readers out there may have noticed that our photos for this month’s Salon come courtesy of the uber talented, Biz Urban. In the next month or so, look for updated publicity photos of yes, me, all taken by Biz. And bonus: I’m going to get my courage up and my Jamie Lee Curtis on and pose for before and after shots…emphasis on the before as in before the makeup goes on. Yes, you’ll be treated to a behind the scenes gander at me and just me, as God made me–well, plus a few decades added on. Should be most…revealing.
This past week has been totally Mad Hatter in the best and dare I say most Manhattan of ways. In just slightly more than seven days, I:
Received an award for Vanquished from The Beach Book Festival, the ceremony held at the iconic Algonquin Hotel. Thanks to Festival Managing Director, Bruce Haring for the splendid cocktails, canapes, and yes, chance to chat up my fellow honorees.
Attended a Beatrice.com multi-author reading at the Lower East Side bar, The Slipper Room emceed by my friend and fellow Lady Jane Salon co-founder, Ron Hogan. The theme was literature with adolescent protagonists. All four readers: Judy Blundell, Matthew Aaron Goodman, Theresa Rebeck, and Sung J. Woo were great and the five Bushwick Book Club musicians: Franz Nicolay, Susan Hwang, Dibson Hoffweiler, Tom Curtin, and Phoebe Kreutz kept the evening from getting too serious.
Saw some rockin’ live music from new-to-me band, Gordon Voidwell, performed in the back room of another Lower East Side watering hole, Pianos. I went on the recommendation of visiting Aussie friend, Greg, who’s obviously a lot more um…hip to the Manhattan music scene than I am. Props to you, Greg!
Attended a fundraiser cocktail party for The HIV Law Project. To learn more about this twenty-year-old (and counting) advocacy organization and the amazing work they do on behalf of those disenfranchised by their HIV-positive status, please visit the organization’s web site and yes, consider taking the opportunity to give whether that means money or time or both.
Last night, attended the exhibition, “Poison; Erika Keck & Christy Singleton” at Envoy Enterprises Gallery on Chrystie Street, Lower East Side with Scandalous Woman About Town, Elizabeth Kerri Mahon. Dubbed a “potent dose of visual venom” with the intent “to scare the f— out of you,” I’ll leave you judge the show for yourself. Let’s just say that for the first time in decades, I had the strong desire to sleep with my “blankie.”
In the midst of all this making-the-scene mayhem, I sat down and ate a whole steamed lobster. One and a half pounds. Every single bite. Myself. With yes, lots o’ melted…buttah!
Some weeks it’s good to be me. This was for sure one of them.
How’d your week go?
Hope
PS I’m rolling out my new Sizzling Summer Contest tomorrow, June 15th, so check back and find out how uber easy it is to enter.
In case you haven’t noticed how quiet this blog has been, I’ll admit it. My gadfly wings have been seriously clipped by the need to get some honest to goodness writing done. Still, you know what they say about all work and no play…
Fortunately I took time out to attend The Rebels of Romance holiday party at The Dove Parlour in the West Village. In addition to the co-hostesses, Liz Maverick and Marianne Mancusi, all the usual suspects turned out including Dorchester author Leanna Hieber, her editor, Chris Keesler, and Scandalous Women blogger extraordinaire, Elizabeth Kerri Mahon (AKA “EKM”). The Dove, which has appeared previously in this blog, is one of my favorite Manhattan venues–Victorian brothel meets Manhattan “secret” bar with cocktails like the Cherry Tart and, for the season, mulled wine. Then again, the holidays aren’t about a great venue or fab fashion wear though yeppers, everybody was certainly stylin’. Holidays are about spending time with the people (and pets!) we care about who care about us and remembering to be thankful for them as well as all the other blessings in our lives.
Per the pets, please don’t forget my Holiday Goodness Challenge. We’ve had several takers so far, but I still have copies of Vanquished to give out. Beyond that, homeless dogs and cats need our help this holiday season more than ever.
Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza, or the Solstice…
Happy, happy & Merry, merry…
Hope
My very good friend, Elizabeth “Bitsy” Mahon of Scandalous Women Blog fame had her birthday this month. To be perfectly exact, she’s had it twice–so far. She may be on her way to having a whole Birthday Month. If so, she has my total support.
Bitsy’s actual birthday is November 2nd, but this Saturday night was the blow-out bash held at The Dove Parlour–and yes, that’s “parlour” spelled the proper, British way. I’d been to The Dove a time or two, and I’m happy to report that Saturday night did not disappoint. Situated in the West Village, The Dove has all the trappings of a top tier Victorian brothel–crimson flocked wallpaper, ceilings with gilded molding, couches upon which to recline in shall we say a supine state and yes, cocktails with deliciously wicked names like the one I ordered, The Cherry Tart. As for Elizabeth, she looked absolutely stunningly sublime. Translation: smokin’.
Afterward, we decamped to decidely less posh environs, The Pyramid Club on Avenue A. The Pyramid offers two dance floors. On weekends, the upper one features 80’s hits and the lower level caters to the goth folks. If you’re thinking 80’s retro dance music equates to the PTA crowd, you haven’t yet ventured out to The Pyramid. The DJ’s two…um…performance artists were a master and gimp decked out in classic leather bondage gear. The pantomimed B/S was all in good fun until the head honcho–I guess we’ll call him Master Dude–took the theme way over the top by spewing a mouthful of water (God, I hope it was water) on not only Gimp Boy but on the rest of us, too. At the risk of coming off as out of touch, I have to say I’m in no way sympatico with the spitting. Frankly, even before the spitting, I’m really not sure what this quasi comical duo added. I mean, couldn’t we just dance? That spitting was apparently part of the act, an act paid for with my cover dollars, is well, a lot to wrap my mind around. It’s one thing to charge me a cover, but then to use said cover to support spitting on me is well, not positioning me to be your repeat customer.
Yes, I get that “White Wedding” was playing when said episode occurred. And okay, maybe Master Dude was channeling Billy Idol. I don’t know and frankly, I don’t care. Generally I’m a “live and let live” person, but spitting on me, well, that crosses a line.
Memo to Master Dude: the next time you role play B/S scenarios with your Gimp, kindly have the courtesy to confine any body fluid exchanges, including spittle, to the privacy of your respective caves. Memo to Pyramid Club: you might really not want to invite a lawsuit as this being New York, that dance floor probably included more than one attorney.
On the positive side, the tunes were top notch and yes, we rocked the house. It’s been a while since I’ve “walked like an Egyptian,” let alone felt like it was “raining men.” In retrospect, though, the piece de resistance of the evening was trudging back to the subway with Elizabeth and Liz Maverick, our styling dresses completely sweat-soaked, our feet swelling out of our totally hot but by now totally painful shoes. But then the best part of any night out is the friends who share it with you.
Happy Birthday Month, Elizabeth. May this be your best year yet!
Hugs,
Hope
Fortunately Elizabeth is a great date. We noshed and chatted each up for a full two hours. All the while I kept vigilant Famous Person watch on the room’s only entrance.
At least I thought I was vigilant. Coming up on 10:00 PM and still no Benicio, it was pretty clear he must be sequestered in some VIP suite. Or maybe he’d decided to take his entourage out for a night on the town? Oh well, c’est la vie. Give me an unlimited supply of mini crab cakes and yes, a second glass of wine, and well, after a while, I’m just happy to be there.
Elizabeth and I were deep into our current topic of conversation when the young woman standing next to us interrupted to ask, “Did you see Benicio? ” Her tone implied they were best buds, possibly even related.
“He was here!”  My eyes darted like a pinball machine gone beserk. So much for playing it cool.
“Oh, yes.” She nodded with lazy-lidded self-assurance, her smile so satisfied it was positively post-coital. “Earlier, for a half hour. He’s gone now.”
So I ask you, how does a person, say me, manage to stand in the same (modest-size) room with Benicio Del Toro for a full thirty minutes and manage to miss him entirely ?!?
But then Mercury is in Retrograde. It’s the only explanation, or at least the only one I’m willing to entertain. (The alternate one being that I am a complete idiot)! You see, Mercury isn’t just in any ole Retrograde but retrograde in my Sun Sign of Libra.  Allow me to take this opportunity to express my advance thanks for your support. Seriously. Last week my laptop hard drive crashed. The other day I ordered, or tried to order, replacement bags for my vaccuum cleaner. First online, then via the 800 number. It didn’t go well. Suffice it to say I’m looking into weaving them by hand.
Watcha gonna do? Mercury goes into Retrograde just three times a year though when you’re in it, it certainly feels longer. October 14th, the end of this quarter’s phase, isn’t that far away though personally I’m holding off on signing any contracts and purchasing electronics like say, that laptop I now need until October 20th.  I believe in giving Mercury Retrograde a broad berth.
In the meantime, I’m practicing self-therapy in the form of LOL–laughing out loud. How many of us include “LOL” in our emails, not to mention all those smiley face emoticons, and yet rarely practice either? Maybe we can’t literally laugh our problems away but for sure a good chuckle can go a long way in cushioning the blow.
I was walking along Central Park the other day when one of the carriage drivers called out to an apparently insufficiently cheery passerby, “What’s up wich you, boss? Did you suck lemons for breakfast or what? Give that puss a rest and smile, why dontcha?”
Few things in life are free. Fortunately laughter is still one of them. So go ahead live it up, kick back, and have a laugh on me.
Hope
Hi All,
Tomorrow, August 26th, I’m over at Elizabeth Kerri Mahon’s “Got It Goin’ On” blog–and boy does she ever. Along with being an uber-talented author, British history buff, and president of the New York City chapter of Romance Writers of America, Elizabeth finds time to blog–every day. Her Scandalous Women blog is one of my favorite places in cyberspace, especially on those days (and you know “those days”) when I really need to remember that “Well-behaved women don’t make history.”
And then repeat it like a mantra.
Also, I posted more photos from my Ireland trip to my Facebook page, so when you find two ticks, check it out.
Happy Monday,
Hope