Dearly Departed

When I started working on HEART OF GLASS, I was struck by the number of people who appear in the book who are no longer on this earth. There was the old boyfriend who I discovered had died of the flu at the age of fifty-one, and two close friends who literally dropped dead of heart attacks in their forties. Last week my wonderful old pal Morris Lafon went the way of the angels much too soon. Mo was a true artist, who moved to New York to work in downtown experimental theater in the seventies. He was friends with Janis Joplin, threw Alan Ginsburg out of his house for hitting on his friends, and snuck a bottle of vodka to Nicholas Ray in the hospital when he was dying. I will never forget Mo’s marvelous laugh, hilarious stories, his zest for life – and the time we danced the Lambada at my thirtieth birthday party. I love you Mo and you will always be with me.

I wanted to share the cover of my sequel to Chanel Bonfire, titled Heart of Glass. My dear friend, Ann Marsden, took this picture of me at her loft space in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1983. I was one lost and confused girl, and Annie became my fast friend. She was one of the smartest, wildly talented and supremely stylish people I ever met. She never wore socks in the sub-zero Minnesota weather and wore her camel colored coat unbuttoned draped around her shoulders as she drove a vintage Mercedes around town with an Astrud Gilberto cassette stuck in the tape player. When we arrived at our destination, she’d pull out a popsicle stick and jimmy the meter. Sadly, she no longer here which is why I am so happy her photo is on my new cover and she gets a credit. Love you Annie. You’ll always be with me.

I’m advised not to respond to reader reviews, but sometimes it’s tempting! One recent review on Goodreads assumed that my sister and I had lost touch. Chanel Bonfire is dedicated to my sister, who I consider to be the hero of the story in many ways, and we remain close.

Another common critique is that the book has no pictures. This was an editorial decision made by my publisher, Gallery Books. You can go to the Chanel Bonfire Facebook page or the website www.chanelbonfire.com and see photos of many of the people who appear in Chanel – friends and family.

I hope that clears up a few things!

Rest in peace, Jeremy Lloyd, who has a brief cameo in Chanel Bonfire.  He made uncredited appearances in A Hard Day’s Night, Help! and our living room.  He was, more famously, a writer and co-creator of British sitcoms including Are You Being Served? and ‘Allo ‘Allo!  He was a friend of Mother’s during and after his super brief marriage to Joanna Lumley.  And he too was Absolutely Fabulous.