Ye Olde Rubber Band Trick

You are probably looking twice at the picture above. This is the inside of my purse.  You see some gum and a tube of lipstick within a zippered pocket.  And the only blue in the photo is a rubber band wound tightly around the gathered pocket fabric, closing off the hole in the corner.  While this may be less than sightly, it certainly is functional, until I either sew the hole shut or buy a new purse.  

I have my father to thank for this easy repair tip.  I remember him showing me the rubber band at the tip of the pocket in his trousers.  When the rip occurred as he was teaching school, he quickly solved the problem like this.  Thank you, Daddy.  Good one!

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Goodbye Lie Diaries
Fernandina, Florida 
late 1800s

Peeper

Grandmother Peeper writes:  I pronounce yur trick ta be Peeper approved, Jane Marie.  I been a-doin' the same thing with string once er twice myself, especially durin' the war.  My bonnet's off ta your pa.  Glad ta see you a-carryin' on his tradition.

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Note:  Peeper is the ever-thrifty grandmother who walked into Dunnigan Manor on Amelia Island, Florida in the 1860s, home of the beloved Irish family in The Goodbye Lie Trilogy, and never left! 

New to Me, a Gone With The Wind Photo

If you didn't know, I'm a long time Windie.  This means I love all things Gone With The Wind. (Perhaps that is why my Goodbye Lie novels have been compared to this classic in tone and appeal.) Over the years, I've read and seen much on the subject.  I was happily surprised the other day when my daughter, Barbra, send me this photo of the great author, Margaret Mitchell!  I had never seen this shot before.  What a treat! 

I don't know where it was taken or by whom. To me, it appears the writer is sitting on either a radiator  or plaid window seat cushion because she's leaning against an open window.  I think those are bushes beyond her right shoulder.  Note the jaunty hat and corsage, the fancy dress, too. It's more than a house dress.  It looks sheer.  I dare say this is part of the publicity for the book (released in 1936) or the film (first shown publicly on December 15, 1939).  Who wears a hat inside? Maybe for a tea or luncheon?  (You might catch me wearing a crown, but rarely a hat indoors, unless it's for the press.  Then I'll wear whatever they want me to, within gracious reason, of course.)

If you know the origin of this picture, please email me at graciousjanemare@yahoo.com and I'll update this post with the info.

I love discoveries!  Don't you?

Tagline Origin

Folks often ask me how I came up with my Goodbye Lie tagline “where Little House on the Prairie meets Gone With The Wind …” Actually, I didn’t.  A man walking past my table during a book signing, on Centre Street in our historic district on Amelia Island, Florida, said this to me. My head was down as I was writing an inscription so I never saw his face, but I did catch him offering me a thumbs up as he walked away.  He disappeared into the crowd, never to be seen by me.  So, sir, if ever we connect again, and I recognize your voice, for I’ll never forget it, I want to thank you and shake your hand.  Having my novels compared to such American classics by such wonderful authors is the highest compliment I can receive.

Hollywood Bunco

Excerpt from The Goodbye Lie, circa 1882, 

on Amelia Island, Florida

Chapter 11

     The following days aboard ship were full of activity. There were picnics on deck, shuffleboard, fishing tournaments, bingo, bunco, board games and card games from euchre to old sledge to poker. Amusement, proper and improper, was available, with one's degree of pleasure regulated only by one's conscience.  

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Yes, folks, bunco (sometimes spelled bunko) has been around since Victorian times.  A roll of the dice, actually many rolls of the dice, is all the effort it takes.  It has turned into such a popular game today, there is an app on phones for said score keeping.

I've been playing bunco with the same group of 12 ladies for just about that many years.  Each month, one of us hosts the shindig in her home.  It includes a full dinner and gifts for every person, bought from the $5.00 fee paid by each player the previous month.  My month is always September and the last several years, I have asked the gals to dress in some sort of easy costume.  This year I suggested we dress up like any Hollywood star from any movie, male or female.  

After our cottage was clean for the party, lots of work, but so worth it, the smell of crock pot spaghetti was overpowering the scented plug-ins, the three four-top tables were set for the girls and I was dressed in costume, I realized I had no Hollywood-themed centerpiece!  Yikes!!!  Hmm, thought I.  I went around the room and extracted several Gone With The Wind (GWTW) books, an MGM book, added a few GWTW music boxes, GWTW nail polish and a GWTW bracelet, each decorated with pictures from the famous film,  and you can see the result in the photo above.  It took me all of ten minutes and cost me nothing extra.  (You know, if you step back and look around at the treasures you have in your own house, you would be surprised how easily creative you can be.)

We had one lady show up in jeans, a white blouse, denim jacket and cowboy boots.  Her lovely hair is white.  I couldn't begin to guess who she was supposed to be and was blown away when she told me, "Marilyn Monroe from the Misfits with Clark Gable."  It was the last movie for both of them and I know it well.  Great job, Emmie.  Another, in an wild orange fright wig and big hat, asked me to guess who she was and I said jokingly, "Bozo, the clown."  Yes, I knew she was the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland.  I'm not sure she found my remark funny, but I did.  Then there was a mountain climber from a movie I don't know and another who tried on a wig, but it was too small, so she took it back to the store.  I know you're dying to hear who I dressed as.  I have to confess that the only reason I chose the costume I did was because of the black Snow White wig I got on sale the day after Halloween a few years back.  I removed the red bow, put on a white blouse, black pants, painted my nails a bright red, added red lipstick and lots of blush and eyeliner, borrowed a cigarette to hold from a friend,  and I was, wait for it...Uma Thurman from Pulp Fiction.  I freely admit Pulp Fiction is not my kind of movie at all, but I had the wig, so, it worked. By the way, my husband, Bruce, said he would not have recognized me if he'd passed me on the street in the wig. 

So there you have it.  If you've never buncoed, it's mentally easy to play. Add food and chatter and  prizes and it, too, may become a part of your life as it has so many others. 

PS Just Google bunco for details on how to play the game.

Gone With The Wind Red Dress Discovery

Hey to all you Windies out there aka "fan-atics" about Gone With The Wind , like me. That whole romantically themed book is, in part, what inspired me to write historical novels set in the deep South. Well, whether you've seen the movie once or twenty times, I don't know if you've ever seen the back of Scarlett's famous red dress. You know, the one she wears to Ashley's party? When she enters Melanie's front door, the camera shot is only from the front.  I came across this wonderful photo of the back of the dress on Facebook. It comes from the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, in Austin Texas.  ( Click here for more on the wonderful costumes in their GWTW exhibition:  Harry Ransom Center As you study the photo on the right, notice the gathered bustle,looks to be velvet, the few scattered crystals, all the feathers and if you click on the link above for more pictures, you'll see it had a train, too!

Did I ever mention that, when I grow up,  I want to be a period costume designer?

Vivien Leigh, a Star

My sister, Peggy Brown, vacationed in Hollywood.  Knowing I'm a big Windie, meaning Gone With The Wind fan, she searched the Hollywood Walk of Fame and snapped this photo of one of the most delicately beautiful women from the past, Vivien Leigh, star of that film.  How sweet of Peggy.  She knows her sister well.  Thank you, Peggy.

There are over 2,500 stars, all five pointed, on the Walk!  

Click on the link below for lots of pretty pics of Vivien and more. (Thank you Google Search.) -->Vivien Leigh Pics and Quotes   

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Read my Goodbye Lie series set on Amelia Island, where Little House on the Prairie meets Gone With The Wind ... info at http://www.amazon.com/Jane-Marie-Malcolm/e/B002ZFSBKE/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2?qid=1439924592&sr=1-2 

Grammy Camp - Braided Rug - Goodbye Lie Excerpt

braided rug from tee-shirt hems

Granddaughter Ava and I made this braided rug at Grammy Camp. Unlike the rugs my grandmother created from folded strips of old clothes, ours is made from the hems of tee-shirts. You see, we were making diapers for Honduras at church one afternoon. We cut off the hems from all the shirts and they were going into the trash until it came to me how we might use them to make a rug.  I tried looping one randomly colored hem into the next, pulled tightly, making a knot and then we braided three strips into one long length. The final step will be to sew that long braid flat and into an oval using the zigzag stitch on the sewing machine. I could hand sew the braid, of course, but that would take too much time from playing with Ava. 

Loop one circular tee-shirt hem into another, pull tight and make a knot

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The following Goodbye Lie excerpt was inspired by my Grammy: 

Miss Ella

     Miss Ella shook her head at her sometimes moody, but very wonderful husband, thinking how lucky she was to have him. Back inside the aromatic kitchen, she checked the steeping jelly kettle of peaches, stirred the pot of salt pork and bean soup, and cleared a spot for the hot cornbread among the fresh radishes and onions. It had been such a peaceful afternoon. Too peaceful, she realized.

Grammy

     Where was Jack Patrick? Her only son, age eight, was usually so noisy, she knew his whereabouts every minute. She left the kitchen, went down the long hall past the stairs, and entered the front parlor to find her mother, Hettie Eckert, known to all as Grammy. Grammy was swaying in her rocker, intently working on a braided rag rug, and there was Jack Patrick, sneaking up from behind, scissors in hand, about to cut the soft wild-hair wispies from his sainted grandmother's head. 

     "Jack Patrick!" yelped his mother. 

     Calmly placing the shears back in the sewing basket, he stated, "Mama, I hope lightning flies through the window and kills the cat. I'm innocent!" 

     She knew exactly how innocent he was. She allowed the boy to dash out the front door before he caught her laughing.  Fortunately, since Grammy's hearing was not quite as keen as it once was, she was oblivious to her grandson's near attack, figuring only that his mother was yet again reprimanding the boy for his usual mischief.     

Breelan

     Leaning against the wall, Miss Ella thought back to yesterday, remembering her middle daughter, eighteen-year-old Breelan, as she’d mimicked Grammy in the construction of her own rug. Over the last few weeks, Breelan had torn three-inch strips of cloth, folded their frayed edges inward and sewn the long thin tails, one to another. She had arrived at the final step of braiding and stitching the tails into a flat oval rug, when her mother had overheard her say, "This will be my scrap mine of colorful memories. I've made it from the worn dresses and torn trousers we've saved, Gram, just like you taught me. When I have my little girl, I want you to show her how to make your rugs, same as you've shown me."

     Miss Ella hoped her mother would still be around in the time it took Breelan to have a child old enough to learn the art of rug making. And interestingly enough, Breelan seemed certain her child would be a girl.

     "Whenever I look at my rug, I'll think of this pretty dress." Breelan pointed to the tail made from green plaid taffeta. "I couldn't wait for Carolena to outgrow it so it would be mine. Its lace petticoat was edged in red satin ribbon. I'll tell you a secret, if you promise not to tell Mama."

     "I promise, honey," Grammy had conspired...

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Miss Ella, Grammy and Breelan are featured characters in The Goodbye Lie, set in 1882 on Amelia Island, Florida.

To order e-books or paperbacks in the trilogy, please click here:
amazon.com/author/janemariemalcolm

Gone With The Wind Anniversary

Scarlett and Pa on the hill overlooking Tara

Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, one of the best-selling novels of all time and the basis for a blockbuster 1939 movie, is published on this day in 1936. (June 30th). This quote was taken from the following website: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/gone-with-the-wind-published 

Many years ago, before there was make your own cross stitch pattern complex software like we have today, I somehow created and stitched two Gone With The Wind themed pictures. 

* see info about the above quote

 
I actually came up with the idea of Gone With The Wind cross stitch kits, complete with cloth, pattern and floss.  My intention was to make my fortune by selling the kits. I was certain there were millions of cross-stitching Windies out there.  So, I sent a sample kit to Ted Turner in Atlanta, Georgia, the owner of Gone With The Wind rights.  Happily, his people loved it.  Unhappily, they required I ship them a particular quantity of kits, oh, something like 10,000, that they might distribute them worldwide.  So much for that particular dream.  

Well, I can still share the results with you.  Sharing is the best part of anything anyway.  

* “There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South. Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow. Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave. Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a Civilization gone with the wind...” - written by Ben Hecht.  Mr. Hecht was paid $10,000 by producer David O Selznick for a fast doctoring of the Gone With The Wind (1939) script, for which he received no credit and for which  Sidney Howard won an Oscar, beating out Hecht and MacArthur's Wuthering Heights (1939) script.- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0372942/bio

Advice to Aspiring Authors-Author's Digest Interview cont.

Posted May 18, 2015 by M Burns
This time, Jane Marie tells us about the inspiration for her book, as well as her advice for other aspiring writers.



Jane Marie, what inspired you to write your book? How long did it take you to finish it? 

My husband lost his job due to company downsizing, and we were forced to move from our small town of Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, Florida. How might I remember this place we had come to love and would miss so very much? I’ll just write a book, I thought. You should write what you like to read, right? I love historical fiction. Since I had taken docent training at our wonderful Amelia Island Museum of History, I had those basics down. The rest came from my imagination. My intention was to write one book and put it in my daughter’s hope chest for posterity.

We moved back to Amelia Island after two years. Little by little, family, friends, acquaintances and strangers read The Goodbye Lie and provided encouragement; the result was a confidence which filled me. When a woman I very much respected emailed me with: “GBL (Goodbye Lie) is a real world to me,” I felt validated. It was a sort of permission to continue to find out what happened to the other grown children in the fictional Dunnigan family. As a result, I ended up with a completed trilogy, each book taking about two years to finish… with a wonderful life, weddings, a grandchild, and politics slowing the process between novels.

What’s the one message you’d like to convey to readers about your book?

It’s simple. The key to happiness and love is forgiveness.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Someone told me once to make a wall hanging or pillow before I tackled the sewing of an entire quilt. It’s the same with writing a book. Complete a short story first, then another, then move onto longer pieces. If you don’t mind the hours falling away as you write, or the sun yielding to the moon without you realizing it, or not talking aloud to anyone for extended periods while you silently converse only with the characters in your head, then writing is for you. Let go and enjoy!

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For more information about Jane Marie and her books, check out her blog [here] at www.GraciousJaneMarie.blogspot.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter.

Amelia Island’s Goodbye Lie Trilogy is available at Jane Marie’s blog or at the following links:

The Goodbye Lie

Amelia Island’s Velvet Undertow

Amelia Island’s Mark of a Man

Author's Digest Interview-Fave Authors

Suspicion and Betrayal – Jane Marie Malcolm’s Amelia Island

Posted May 15, 2015 M Burns

Welcome ... to Author’s Digest and the ... interview with Jane Marie Malcolm, ... author of the Amelia Island’s Goodbye Lie Trilogy : The Goodbye Lie, Amelia Island’s Velvet Undertow, and Amelia Island’s Mark of a Man.

Jane Marie talked about her (rather colorful) life and background. Today, she discusses her literary influences… and introduces us to her trilogy.

Jane Marie, were there any books or authors that influenced your style?

Little did I realize how watching the movie Gone With The Wind at age nine, and then reading Margaret Mitchell’s novel of the same name as a teen, would influence my future writing of historical romance. The strong hero, Rhett Butler, set the standard (in my mind and millions of others) of what tasteful-yet-thrilling romance should be. As I wrote my historical trilogy, my thoughts stayed within the limits of that kind of good taste. Having dedicated my first novel, The Goodbye Lie, to my father, I often tell readers, “I didn’t want to be embarrassed when Daddy read it,” and they understand what I mean.

Jan Karon (author of the Mitford series), Jane Austen, and Laura Ingalls Wilder are at the top of my list of favorite writers, too.

Tell us about your Amelia Island’s Goodbye Lie Trilogy.

While some call Florida’s Amelia Island a romantic Victorian paradise, suspicion and betrayal are part of the seductive setting of the Amelia Island’s Goodbye Lie Trilogy as well. Exploring the captivating mysteries deep within the Dunnigan family, the novels focus on the lives of each of their grown children. Discover where Little House on the Prairie meets Gone With The Wind on Amelia Island.

The Goodbye Lie – It is 1882. Men will die for Breelan Dunnigan. Her foolish vault into folly alters the lives of many… too many. Honor is relentlessly tempted by jealousy. Will it hold against the attack? The lure, the love, the legend …

Amelia Island’s Velvet Undertow – It is 1889. Carolena Dunnigan is judgmental and dismissive. Lured by a world-famous conductor to Charleston, South Carolina, she finds deceit creeping all around, which drives her into the horrific Johnstown, Pennsylvania flood.  His want, his will, his way …

Amelia Island’s Mark of a Man – It is 1898. Amidst the Spanish American War and a great hurricane hitting their enchanting island, Pat Dunnigan (hero or heel) lives hard and loves wild. His sister Marie is an innocent magnet for trouble. Their days and nights are laden with jarring conflicts and assaulted by haunting mysteries. The rains, the rage, the romance …

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For more information about Jane Marie and her books, check out her blog at www.GraciousJaneMarie.blogspot.com. You can also find her on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter.

The Amelia Island’s Goodbye Lie Trilogy is available at Jane Marie’s blog (above) or at the following links:

The Goodbye Lie

Amelia Island’s Velvet Undertow

Amelia Island’s Mark of a Man

A Tasteful Treat for Mother

This month, we honor all mothers and women who are like mothers to us.  With that honor comes respect and with respect comes good taste.  In that vein, I proudly declare that my historical Goodbye Lie mystery/romance trilogy has been compared to Little House on the Prairie and Gone With The Wind.  I deduced my fictional Dunnigan clan is similar in family devotion to the Ingalls family.  The beautifully passionate romance from the thoughts of Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With The Wind , is similar in style to that of my heroes and heroines, or so I've been told.

I humbly invite you to read a more gracious style of story-telling from the past, a classic style that, for many of us, is lacking in the present time.  Get to know each of the grown Dunnigan children in the series and witness their deeds and misdeeds in the late 1800s in Fernandina on Amelia Island, Florida. May they, and so many of the other characters, become your lifelong friends, the same as they are mine.    

THE GOODBYE LIE - It is 1882. Men will die for Breelan Dunnigan. Her foolish vault into folly alters the lives of many, too many. Honor is relentlessly tempted by jealousy. Will it hold against the attack? The lure, the love, the legend …

Amelia Island's VELVET UNDERTOW - It is 1889.  Carolena Dunnigan is judgmental and dismissive. Lured by a world famous conductor to Charleston, South Carolina, she finds deceit creeping all around, which drives her into the horrific Johnstown, Pennsylvania flood.  His want, his will, his way … 

Amelia Island's MARK OF A MAN - It is 1898.  Amidst the Spanish American War and a great hurricane hitting their enchanting island, hero or heel, Pat Dunnigan lives hard and loves wild.  His sister, Marie, is an innocent magnet for trouble.  Their days and nights are laden with jarring conflicts and assaulted by haunting mysteries. The rains, the rage, the romance …

 

 

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely A Must Read Book ! 

 [The Goodbye Lie] from Blue Sparrow

Format:Paperback

WOW! I didn't see ANY of that coming! The characters have depth. No one is ALL good or ALL bad. They are likable, lovable, and detestable.
I thought only real life could have so many unexpected twists and turns.
Jane Marie is a master with words. She really brought me into the story and made me feel a part of the action.

Available in paperback and eBook at book sources everywhere.

Gracious Decorating Ideas

If you love the beauty of antiques, as I do, little touches will add color and bring the pretty past into your home.  In this case, I have framed floral wrapping paper and centered sheet music from 191l on top. Covered with glass for protection, I chose this particular image because it is romantic and delicate and simply lovely.  I had the frame, the wrapping paper and sheet music from my husband's grandmother's gramophone, so it cost me nothing to assemble.  Any sheet music, old or contemporary will work, of course.  It's all about what you like since it will be hanging in your home.