My dear friend and fellow scribe Alison Singh Gee hooked me up with the AAA magazine of Southern California, Westways. My essay, Confessions of a Taxi Mom, came out in the SoCalLife column last week. I wrote about driving my kids around Los Angeles. It’s something I did for a long time, I still do it – sometimes I didn’t like it and other times I treasured it. It was a blast to write. When you have kids and live in SoCal you spend a great deal of time in the car. Now I’m nostalgic about that time; my kids are grown and although I adore them, I do miss those days before they were 24 and 20 years old. It goes so fast …

#AAAMagazine #WestwaysMagazine #TaxiMom #SoCalLife #Momlife #amwriting

Having seen Elton John in concert not once but TWICE during my teen years in 1970s London (he performed in my high school gym at the American School in St. John’s Wood) I was worried about going to see Rocketman. I thought – what if I’m disappointed? But I couldn’t stay away.  And it’s a fantastic film, almost a musical that’s big and glammy like Elton himself. It’s a trippy spin on the life of little Reggie Dwight who grew up to become one of the biggest pop stars of all time. Go see it and have fun singing along to all the songs. I did.

#rocketman  #eltonjohn #biopics #1970sLondon #popstars #memoirs #chanelbonfire

The marvelous Tony nominated choreographer Donald McKayle recently left us at the age of eighty-seven. Although he had no formal dance training he became a force on Broadway in shows such as “Raisin” and “Sophisticated Ladies” to name just a few. I was lucky enough to work with him as a student at the Denver Center in a 1986 production of “South Pacific” in which I played a singing and dancing nurse. I hoofed around and sang, pushing hospital equipment with the other nurses, washing that man right out of our hair, struggling to hit my marks and keep in time with the other members of the chorus. I’m sure it showed that I was playing keep up; Donald took me aside the first day and said that I shouldn’t worry.

“Wendy, when I’m done with you, I’ll have you dancing like a flea in a griddle!” he laughed.

He was kind and patient, and eventually – I got it. I’ll always remember his warmth, humor and grace. Rest in peace, dear man. You are dancing in Heaven now …

#donaldmckayle  #choreographers #dancing

My latest Goodreads giveaway just came to a close. 1,964 people entered to win either a Chanel Bonfire paperback or the Heart of Glass audio book. Thanks to all who entered and congrats to the winners! I was a bit unpopular in the post office line when I showed up with a mess of books to mail, but copies are on their way to Alabama, Florida, Michigan, New York and Washington.

#freestuff #memoirs #chanelbonfire #heartof glass #books

Randomly surfing the web, I came across a piece on a recently opened gelato place in Berlin, Germany, called Cuore di Vetro, or Heart of Glass in Italian. A bit odd, I thought, as I clicked on the article on CultureTrip.com . Even more bizarre was that the author of the piece mentioned of course the Blondie song but also my book – she wondered if there was a connection as I “have a crush on all things Bowie”.  And so I do.

Link below …

Cuore di Vetro

My husband and I were toodling around Hollywood the other night – driving past the old Tower Records store and the Chateau Marmont on the Sunset Strip. After dinner we popped into one of my favorite book stores, Book Soup, the sister store of Vroman’s in Pasadena. Both are fabulous indies and kindly continue to support my work. Nestled in between Left of Boom (I’m pretty sure I’ve been there – haven’t you?!) and Lawrence of Arabia are Chanel Bonfire and Heart of Glass. #Grateful.

It’s that time again – I’m giving away ten hard cover copies of HEART OF GLASS on Goodreads to ring in 2017. You have until midnight, January 14th to enter. Good luck and a huge thank you to all the people who have already entered, or who have reviewed the book on Amazon or Goodreads. Click on the link below:

2017 “Heart of Glass” New Year’s Giveaway!

#giveaway  #memoirs  #heartofglass  #1980snyc #actresses

One night in 1981, I accompanied my pal Lee Thompson, the sax player for the band Madness, to Bond’s International Casino in Times Square. A swanky supper club in the 1930s, then a department store, in the 1970s Bonds was reborn as a punk club with a dance floor rumored to be the biggest in town. It was a crazy scene – water fountains from Liberace’s old TV show burbled on the dance floor, silver balloons shaped like people whipped around on the ceiling looking like tortured aliens, and bare chested bartenders in gold lame shorts worked the bar. I remember the ladies’ room was filled with young women rifling through suitcases looking for one of the many different outfits they had brought to change into during the evening, or feverishly pressed against the mirror doing their make-up.  Your life is like that in your early twenties–trying on different looks, different jobs, different loves, different selves–like those girls pulling on a new dress, spike heels and jungle red lipstick, rushing out to the dance floor when they heard their favorite song.