Oh, the Theatah!

So, I was perusing a file of photos and came across a huge stack I was going to post here once upon a time. While I don’t have the mountain of time required to process all the images at this exact moment, I did have the time to post one.

And here it is:

This is the private theater of Adelina Patti. She was the first person in Wales to have electricity in her home. I snuck behind that original drop and discovered that the technology has not been updated. Every spot a gas burner would have been, there’s a lightbulb.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I mean, I’d read mountains on the topic of stage lighting from candles to early electricity, but never thought I’d get to witness it in person. This was the type of thing I’d only ever seen in pictures and illustrations. I wanted to spend hours there in Adelina’s theater.

Sure, the front of house is all gold leaf and finery, but I wanted to explore the fly gallery and all the electrics. I couldn’t quickly figure out where the controls were or I’d’ve definitely snuck in there, too. It was dark, I didn’t have a flashlight and backstage was in use as a storage facility during restoration.

I’ll go back to Crag-Y-Nos someday. You bet I will. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll go on another impromptu tour backstage…perhaps a ghost of performances past would show me around!

The Starter Wife (2)

I was so glad to be back on this show. Last time was great. This time I was actually booked with my Viper rather than being bumped up.

I got there, parked in a dirt lot before being directed up to the set, survived wardrobe with flying colors (she actually loved what I was wearing and the fact that I’d brought a ton of choices. Why can’t all costumers be that awesome?) and got the car appropriately backed in just in time for the first rehearsal. Then, the scene was shot–without any picture cars in the background–and I was sent to holding. Ummm…okay…

About an hour or so later, I was brought in to do about three takes for a tiny little scene and then ushered back out to holding. Ummm…all right…

An hour after that, I was wrapped. Ummm…yay!

Unsightly and Peculiar

So, the other day, my husband emails me this image…

Granted, it was with a bunch of other ones, but my first thought when I saw it was “Oh! I wanna shop there!!!!! Where is it?!”

Sadly, it looks like false advertising. I mean, I don’t see anything truly unsightly and peculiar in that photo.

And I should know what unsightly and peculiar clothes look like… This is only a tiny part of my wardrobe:

Not just one ugly polyester pantsuit, there’s three or four there…including one that’s plaid burlap. Oh yeah…unsightly…peculiar… That’s my taste in clothes.

Here’s a section from what I call my “everyday” pants…

Do you see why I got irritated by the costumer who told me “less is more” on Yes Man? These pictures are only a fraction of the clothes I have. I’ve also got a little over 100 yards of fabric in my collection. Some vintage, most not, but it’s all ready to go the moment I get inspired to design and build a garment or two. In fact, I did that last weekend and screwed up pretty bad!

I created a pattern using an existing, well-fitting pair of pants…and then forgot to add the seam allowance! When I went to try them on, I couldn’t figure out why they were so small…so tight I couldn’t even pull them all the way up. My husband started laughing with me as I wondered what the hell I’d done wrong.

Thankfully, I had about a half yard of scrap with which to fashion a peculiar solution to my dilemma. He thinks the pants are still somewhat unsightly, but I haven’t hemmed or put the waistband on them yet. He did agree that my creative attempt at salvaging them went well. They hardly look like I screwed up. They look more like I meant to build them that way. Yay!

This from a man who thinks my clothes are unsightly and peculiar… I don’t know why he’d think that…

And let’s not forget:

Okay, so perhaps that pic is best left forgotten. 😉

Driven to Distraction available…Finally!

Once upon a time, I was driving in my ’68 Mustang fastback…just out for a fun drive (gas was still waaaaay cheap back then!). I had a route I used to take which reminded me of a few stretches of road where I grew up and discovered the pleasure of taking the long way home. As I turned the corner, there was a sweet ’69 Firebird, hood up, with a hot guy standing there.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. It actually took me two blocks of deliberating before I finally said, “Fuck it! I’m going back.” I whipped a U-turn at the next opportunity and then whipped another one to pull up behind him.

He was closing up a cell phone as I came to a stop, but he walked toward me, a smile slowly growing across his lips. It seemed like he was trying to figure out whether he knew me.

Nope. We were complete strangers to each other.

I asked, “Do you need help? I’ve got tools in my trunk.”

He replied, “No, it’s okay. The car just overheated. I’ll be back on the road in a few minutes. No worries. Thanks for stopping, though.”

I hid the fact that my world was crushed and continued on my way to nowhere. *sigh*

Fast forward several years and this was the incident that spawned the opening to a novel…which is now finally available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Borders.

My best friend and I write as Ashleigh Raine and when she decided we should write a novel that takes place in the entertainment industry–but how do we start it?–I knew my little experience was perfect.

Except I get the guy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We used a bunch of my on-set experiences, including the time I tripped while working on Threat Matrix which spawned a chapter or so. I recall using the base camp and set from one of the times I was on Anchorman. The area for the helicopter stunt was inspired by my night on a music video for 4Mula1 plus a building that served as holding on American Dreams. There were two guys on Ripley’s who inspired both Jay and Levi…and the snake incident. One of the precision drivers on Starsky & Hutch also served as inspiration for both Smitty and Cash. The cars in Jay’s garage include a few similar to ones I own (Viper and Corvette). And then there were the times I went to stunt driving school…failed the first time, passed the second and got to ride along during an afternoon of drifting which served as further research and inspiration just talking to all those stunt drivers. Oh yeah, and the week I spent being paid to drive four exotic cars which inspired the Ferrari F430 being used as a hero car.

As you can imagine, it was up to me for all the car references as well as the on-set stuff, but Jen played a critical role in it. She was my barometer. Whenever I got too technical, she could chime in with such phrases as “I have no idea what you’re talking about here.” and I could tone it down for people who don’t work on their cars and would likely get lost among the trailers on a typical base camp.

Driven to Distraction has a lot of other stuff inspired by my experiences, but if I were to list them all here, this post would go on forever. And since the book is classified as erotic romance, it’s probably better you just go read it. Or at least read some excerpts…

Part of the infamous opening scene inspired by Mr. Hot Firebird: Roadside Attraction
Part of the sex scene inspired by my cars: Garage Rendezvous
Part of a scene inspired by many little friendly races I’ve had: After Race Romp
Part of the scene using a few locations I’ve been on: Helicopter Stunt