Category Archives: Chanel Bonfire

Save The Date! September 29th — West Hollywood Book Fair

The schedule hasn’t been finalized yet, but I will be appearing at the West Hollywood Book Fair on Sunday, September 29th.  It is one of my favorite book events.  Held in and around West Hollywood Park in the heart of one of America’s most fun towns.  If you live in Southern California or are planning a visit, please stop by and introduce yourself!

www.westhollywoodbookfair.org

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Posted by Wendy Lawless  Chanel Bonfire, Save The Date, Wendy Lawless, West Hollywood Book Fair

Venus in Fur a la Place de la Concorde

Mother in her mink at the Place de la Concorde
It is hard for many in this post-PETA, animal rights oriented time to understand the meaning of fur, especially mink, to women of my mother’s generation.  More than the couture clothes, fabulous jewelry and furnishings she was able to buy, the apartments in the Dakota, on Park Avenue, in South Kensington she was able to rent or own, a fur coat signaled her arrival to herself.  And of her many fur coats, her mink was the most important–an incredibly warm, impossibly soft piece of fashion armor that was also as intimate as any item of lingerie.  Her mink was for Mother a cocoon she could wear–it signalled her transformation from provincial Kansas City girl to jet-setting socialite even as it comforted her and protected her from doubters, snobs, and inconvenient questions.  And as the money began to run out, the jewels and Mercedes sold, the coat could provide glamourous cover and a blanketing reminder of where she’d been and how far she’d gone.
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Posted by Wendy Lawless  Chanel Bonfire, fur coats, Georgann Rea, mink coat, Paris, Park Avenue, PETA, Place de la Concorde, The Dakota, Wendy Lawless

RIP Julie Harris

Ethel Waters, Carson McCullers, Julie Harris
Julie Harris, a great actress and one of my true idols, has died.  She was an actor who seemed to have not so much skin as a scrim which barely contained her soul, so available were her emotions.  She’s seen above with the author/playwright Carson McCullers and another great actress, Ethel Waters during the run of McCullers’ own adaptation of her novel “The Member of the Wedding”.  My stepfather Oliver Rea produced the play, which, while not her first appearance on Broadway, was the first big landmark in Harris’ brilliant career.  It was 1950, ten years before I was born, thirteen before the opening of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis which Oliver founded, and seventeen before he ran away with my mother Georgann and we moved to the Dakota.  When I began acting in the early eighties I used one of Harris’ character Frankie’s speeches as an audition piece for way too long–I so loved it and her.
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Posted by Wendy Lawless  "The Member of the Wedding", Broadway, Carson McCullers, Chanel Bonfire, Ethel Waters, Georgann Rea, Guthrie Theater, Julie Harris, Oliver Rea, Wendy Lawless

Rule Britannia! Chanel Bonfire on Amazon UK!

A whole section of Chanel Bonfire, chunk of my life and probably many of the greatest times took place in London.  And now, thanks to the magic of the internet I can be there again!  Go see my new author page on Amazon UK for videos, the latest Tweets, event listings and of course my invitation and instructions for Book Group Skyping anywhere in the world!


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Posted by Wendy Lawless  Amazon.co.uk, Chanel Bonfire, Wendy Lawless

Sehen Sie sich das neue Wendy Lawless Autorenseite auf Amazon!

Chanel Bonfire in Bavaria!

Reader S.M. Giffin took her copy of Chanel with her to beautiful Bavaria.  Hopefully, there will be a Deutsch Ausgabe von Chanel Bonfire but until there is, you can buy an Englisch Ausgabe in Bavaria or anywhere in German through amazon.de!  And check out my new author page there as well:
http://www.amazon.de/Wendy-Lawless/e/B00ENKMASI/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1377097925&sr=1-1

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Posted by Wendy Lawless  Amazon.de, Chanel Bonfire, Wendy Lawless

Bonjour! Consulter la page Wendy Lawless d’Amazon!

From an ASL school trip to Paris.
I’m very happy to see people reading the blog from all over the world including one of my favorite places: France.  While I’m hoping for an edition francaise de Chanel Bonfire, the edition anglaise can now be found on www.amazon.fr and so can my new author page with video, Twitter updates and events.  Including an invitation to set up a Book Club Skype or FaceTime session.  Voir pour vous-meme!
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Posted by Wendy Lawless  Amazon.fr, author page, Book Group Skype, Chanel Bonfire, edition francaise, Wendy Lawless

Monday Morning Madness!

Mr. Lee “Kix” Thompson striking a moody pose in a call box.

If it is true, as the song said, that “music saves the mortal soul”, then I have many bands to thank for saving mine, including: T. Rex, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Elton John, Human Sexual Response, and Madness.  Lee and I met at WBCN in Boston on Madness’ first trip to the States and, as you’ll see in the book, he almost lost his sax to my mother’s insanity.
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Posted by Wendy Lawless  Boston Rock scene, Chanel Bonfire, Lee Thompson, Madness, sax player, Wendy Lawless

Convertible Summer

Daddy-O
I don’t know if it was growing up in frigid Brockville, Ontario, Canada, or the repressive practices of nuns in Catholic School but almost from the beginning of his life as a “landed alien” in the United States, my father was crazy about convertibles–Mustangs, Pontiacs.  Even though he lived most of his years in places with limited summers–Minneapolis, Denver, Washington DC, Santa Fe–he loved the free feeling of driving with the top down.  Many, many years after the groovy 70s picture above, he met my husband and I and our year-old son, Harry, at the airport in Tucson, Arizona, in a Chrysler convertible whose back seat was too small for Harry’s car seat!  If they have them in heaven, my guess is he’s driving one.
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Posted by Wendy Lawless  Chanel Bonfire, Chrysler Convertible, James Lawless, Mustang Convertible, Pontiac Convertible, Wendy Lawless

Buzzfeed: The Unofficial Emma Roberts Reading List Part 1

Emma Roberts on set reading.
This summer has brought many new friends and surprises through book signings, speaking engagements, Book Group Skypes, email, Facebook and Twitter.  One of the great ones has been Emma Roberts.  I’m flattered and delighted that she likes Chanel Bonfire.  And I’m grateful that she has said so in public on Twitter, in July’s Glamour Magazine and now on BuzzFeed.  I am also very impressed that a young person with so much talent and a fanbase that has been growing since before her hit Nick series Zoe 101, has chosen to define herself so thoroughly as a reader.  The first part of her extended list on BuzzFeed can be found via the link below — it is deep, rich, eclectic and fun.  And I’m proud to have a book on it.
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Posted by Wendy Lawless  BuzzFeed, Chanel Bonfire, Emma Roberts, Facebook, Glamour Magazine, Reading Lists, Twitter, Wendy Lawless