Back for a visit today is the lovely Brita Addams, celebrating her new book Tarnished Gold with way cool giveaway goodies. Way cool stuff, like a Kindle and whatnot.
That's waaay cool.
So, be sure and say hello, check everything out, aaaaand... good luck!
Brita my dear... welcome back! Congrats on the new book!
Giveaway:
Ebook giveaways
at each stop. Random commenter's choice from my backlist (Tarnished Gold
excluded)
Signed 8x10 glossies of Jack Abadie
Grand Prize is a Kindle, along with the
winner's choice of five (5) of my backlist titles, sent to them by email.
Rules:
Easy. Leave a comment at one or all the stops. At
each stop, a random commenter will be selected to win their choice of backlist
book (Tarnished Gold excluded.) This selection will be made daily throughout
the tour, except where blog owners wish to extend the eligibility. Be sure to leave
an email address in your comment.
All names of commenters and their email addresses
will be put into the drawing for the Kindle, even if they have won the daily
drawing. The more comments you make the more chances you have to win.
Other prizes include five (5) 8x10 glossies of Jack
Abadie, signed. The winners will be selected on April 10, from all the
commenters at all the stops, and notified by email.
The Grand Prize winner will be selected on April
10th and notified by email. Once I have heard from the winner and obtained a
shipping address, I will order the Kindle and have it shipped directly to the
winner.
They will also be eligible to select five (5) of my backlist titles and
I will email them to the winner.
Hollywood's
Golden Age
With the writing of my novel, Tarnished Gold, I did
a tremendous amount of research. My interest in the golden age of Hollywood is
longstanding. As a young girl, I learned of my father's interest in the early
age of films. He loved Chaplin and Pickford, the slapstick comedy of Charlie
Chase and Buster Keaton, and the melodrama of the silent films.
I sat on the sofa with him and watched, even from
the age when I had no idea that I was watching something quite old. I fell in
love with the early talkies and when I was old enough to read, I devoured
biographies of stars long dead. I remember imitating the affected speech,
something created during the transition between silents and talkies.
Upon embarking on the writing of Tarnished Gold, I
harkened back to the knowledge I possessed and found it woefully lacking. My
friend Damon Suede proved invaluable in his knowledge and led me toward a
treasure trove of books that focused upon the topic most close to my
story—homosexuality in Hollywood during the golden age.
Some
years ago, I became aware of William Haines, a gay actor from the 1920s and
'30s. I read William Mann's book, Wisecracker, a wonderful account of Billy's
Haines life. During that reading, I fell in love with Billy, for he was an
amazing man, with insight and forward thinking at a time when he played silly
parts in collegiate romps.
I watched several YouTube videos of Billy, so that I
could get a sense of the man—his voice, his manner. One such video was an
appearance on the Jack Benny Show. I
was treated to a wonderful look at Billy's sense of humor, albeit scripted, and
his very natural smile and the twinkle in his eyes. I also enjoyed hearing his
voice, which was much more natural than in some of his films.
From the start, I wanted to create my character,
Jack Abadie, with Billy Haines in mind, as an homage to the man who is arguably,
the bravest actor Hollywood has ever known and I refashioned some of them in
Tarnished Gold.
Hollywood was very different in those days. Freewheeling,
where people worked hard and played harder. They gave little care for propriety
or moderation. With that attitude, scandal struck often.
The studio publicity departments worked overtime to
cover up the rampant scandals. In 1920 in Paris, Olive Thomas, wife of fellow
heroin addict Jack Pickford (brother of Mary,) ingested mercury bicholoride and
died. In September, 1920, Robert Harron died of a gunshot wound. Rumors had it
that he shot himself after he lost a role in a D.W. Griffith film to Richard
Barthelmess. Even after his death, the rumor raged that Harron was involved in
a homosexual triangle on the Griffith set.
In 1921, Fatty Arbuckle was accused of the rape and
murder of Virginia Rappe, a young woman with a sketchy past. Rappe was
assaulted with a champagne bottle and died several days later of a ruptured
bladder and Peritonitis. No one saw Arbuckle assault the young woman, the
details of which came out over the course of three trials. Ultimately, Arbuckle
was acquitted, but by then, the scandal had irreparably damaged his career. He
died in disgrace in 1933.
A concurrent scandal, one which has fascinated me
for many years, was the death of director William Desmond Taylor. Someone shot him
to death on February 9, 1922, in his own home, shortly after a visit from drug
addicted Mabel Normand. Taylor was in love with Normand and tried, to no avail,
to ease Normand away from her $2,000 a month cocaine habit. He warmed her
against the company she kept, but she refused to listen. She died in 1930 after
a reoccurrence of tuberculosis, brought on by her addition.
With the death of Wallace Reid in 1923, Hollywood
lost a beloved actor. Reid had been injured while filming a scene on a train
and consequently took morphine for the pain. His subsequent addiction caused
his death at age 31. And then there was the mysterious death of prominent director
Thomas Ince, aboard William Randolph Hearst's yacht. There was a question
whether Ince was having an affair with Marion Davies, Hearst's paramour, or was
it Charlie Chaplin. Ince died of a gunshot wound and the murderer was never
found. Or rather, no one ever 'fessed up.
It was amid this atmosphere that the public decided
that they wanted Hollywood to clean up its act and with that, the attitude
changed toward everything not considered mainstream.
Remember the old sit-coms and movies where there
were twin beds and if the couple was close, feet had to be on the floor? That
came out of the morals clauses instituted by the Hays Office in the late 1920s.
Those clauses and strict production codes stayed in place until 1968 (ah, I
remember it well!)
I depict the affects of the changes in Tarnished
Gold. Jack Abadie is confronted with the morals clauses and production codes
and his answer was not the usual.
In reality, many actors and actresses went
underground, refusing to make public appearances. Popular star Ramon Novarro,
Rudolph Valentino's heir apparent in Hollywood, became a recluse, hiding away
in his Laurel Canyon home, after he refused Louis B. Mayer's edict to marry or
else.
Hollywood as we see it today, a time of anything
goes, was not as such in the early days. Tarnished Gold tells the unvarnished
story of those days and the way attitudes twisted truths and tried to make men
and women something they weren't. It is also the story of a brave man who saw
the world quite differently.
Here's
the blurb for Tarnished Gold:
In 1915, starstruck Jack Abadie strikes
out for the gilded streets of the most sinful town in the country—Hollywood.
With him, he takes a secret that his country hometown would never understand.
After years of hard
work and a chance invitation to a gay gentlemen's club, Jack is discovered.
Soon, his talent, matinee idol good looks, and affable personality propel him
to the height of stardom. But fame breeds distrust.
Meeting Wyatt Maitland
turns Jack’s life upside down. He wants to be worthy of his good fortune, but
old demons haunt him. Only through Wyatt's strength can Jack face that which
keeps him from being the man he wants to be. Love without trust is empty.
As the 1920s roar,
scandals rock the movie industry. Public tolerance of Hollywood's decadence has
reached its limit. Under pressure to clean up its act, Jack’s studio issues an
ultimatum. Either forsake the man he loves and remain a box office darling, or
follow his heart and let his shining star fade to tarnished gold.
Read an excerpt and purchase the Tarnished Gold ebook
or print,
signed by the author (if one of the first twenty sold.)
I also have For
Men Like Us, which takes place during the Regency in England. You can find
it at Dreamspinner Press. Just click the title to be magically transported.
Blurb for For Men Like Us:
After Preston Meacham’s lover dies
trying to lend him aid at Salamanca, hopelessness becomes his only way of life.
Despite his best efforts at starting again, he has no pride left, which leads
him to sell himself for a pittance at a molly house. The mindless sex affords
him his only respite from the horrors he witnessed.
The Napoleonic War left Benedict Wilmot haunted by the acts he was forced to
commit and the torture he endured at the hands of a superior, a man who used
the threat of a gruesome death to force Ben to do his bidding. Even sleep gives
Ben no reprieve, for he can’t escape the destruction he caused.
When their paths cross, Ben feels an overwhelming need to protect Preston from
his dangerous profession. As he explains, “The streets are dangerous for men
like us.”
About
Brita Addams:
Born
in Upstate New York, Brita Addams has made her home in the sultry south for
many years. Brita's home is a happy place, where she lives with her real-life
hero, her husband, and a fat cat named Stormee.
She writes, for the
most part, erotic historical romance, both het and m/m, which is an ideal fit,
given her love of British and American history.
Setting the tone for each
historical is important. Research plays an indispensible part in the writing of
any historical work, romance or otherwise. A great deal of reading and study
goes into each work, to give the story the authenticity it deserves.
As a reader, Brita
prefers historical works, romances and otherwise. She believes herself born in
the wrong century, though she says she would find it difficult to live without
air conditioning.
Brita and her husband
love to travel, particularly cruises and long road trips. They completed a
Civil War battlefield tour a couple of years ago, and have visited many places
involved in the American Revolutionary War.
In May, 2013, they are
going to England for two weeks, to visit the places Brita writes about in her
books, including the estate that inspired the setting for her Sapphire Club
series. Not the activities, just the floor plan. J
A bit of trivia – Brita
pronounces her name, B-Rita, like the woman's name, and oddly, not like the
famous water filter.
Please
visit me at any of these online locations:
Twitter: @britaaddams
