~ The Secret Life of Dresses: Vintage Reviewer Book Review ~ by Tam Francis The Synopsis The Secret Life of Dresses (5-Spot Hachette Book Group, 2011), by Erin McKean is the story of a young college girl realizing her potential through the secret life of the dresses she begins to wear. When Dora’s grandmother unexpectedly ends […more…]
~ My Dream Vintage Girl Scout Troop ~ By Tam Francis What’s a vintage mom supposed to do when her daughter joins the Girl Scouts? Form a Vintage Ambassador Troop, of course. Here’s my story of how I went from idea to realizing the dream of a vintage girl scout troop. Getting it together It […more…]
~ Good Clean Sweat: Moments in Dance ~ by Tam Francis Embracing the Sweat I felt the beads of sweat gather, fill, and slide down the small gully between my breasts only to be absorbed by the crisp white cotton of my floral halter top. At this point in the night, the baby powder that I’d dusted […more…]
The Paris Wife: 1920s Hemingway’s Hadley Book Review by Tam Francis The Synopsis The Paris Wife written by Paula McLain (2012 Random House), tells the story of Ernest Hemingway’s first wife Hadley Richardson at the cusp of Hemingway’s writing career. The story opens with Hadley visiting friends in Chicago and meeting the pre-published Hemingway. McLain gives […more…]
The Little Church of the West Unites the Past & Present by Tam Francis The Church of the West I’m always surprised when the past folds on itself and reveals a connection that seems too serendipitous to be real, though that’s what moments of fictional romance are made of, aren’t they? But then life’s often stranger […more…]
5 Elements for your first 5 pages I’m a member of ARWA (Austin Romance Writer’s of America) and we are fortunate to have experienced writers who are willing to share their expertise. We were recently treated to a 5 Elements for Your First 5 Pages workshop by Shellee Roberts who taught us the important elements for the first five […more…]
~Some Girls, Some Hats And Hitler: Book Review with a Vintage Slant~ By Tam Francis The Synopsis Some Girls, Some Hats and Hitler by Trudi Kanter (originally self published in 1984, republished by Virago Press 2012), is part love story, part Holocaust, and very much vintage fashion and lifestyle memoir. We follow Trudi, a half-Jewish milliner, […more…]
Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: Vintage Reviewer by Tam Francis As I was writing The Girl in the Jitterbug Dress (a story told in a parallel narrative with two points of view), my mother insisted I read this book. She thought it similar to my novel and thought I’d love it. It […more…]
