~ The Biggest Jitterbug Contest in History ~ By Peter Loggins edited by Tam Francis I’m thrilled to share another article by dance historian Peter Loggins. I was fortunate to have Peter on staff when I published Swivel: Vintage Living Magazine. I’m happy to take it from the printed page to the digital world! Take […more…]
~ A Brief Interview with Lindy Legend Frankie Manning ~ By Tam Francis For anyone of you longhairs who don’t know who Frankie Manning is, just keep swinging and you soon will. Frankie Manning is credited as the man who invented air-steps (aerials) done in time with the music while doing the lindy hop, as […more…]
~ How to create a vintage swing wedding on a budget ~ When David and I got married we wanted to have a vintage wedding. I mistakenly picked up bride magazines, but found them filled with articles and […more…]
~ Meet Jimmy Valentine the Extraordinary One-Legged Lindy Hopper ~ by Peter Loggins edited by Tam Francis About Peter Loggins Peter is a dancer and dance historian who I had the very great pleasure of working with for my magazine Swivel: Vintage Living, and also the good fortune to take many lessons from. He’s collected […more…]
~ Everyone’s a Critic: How to be the one Everyone Wants ~ by Tam Francis As writers, it’s in our best interest to have our works critiqued, and we need to learn to take it on the chin, and how to improve our writing with the criticisms we receive. If you want to be treated like […more…]
~ How do you handle Dancing Fools: Read this Q & A ~ by Tam Francis Over the years I’ve taught dance, jitterbugged, collected vintage and published my (out of print) magazine, Swivel:Vintage Living, and have been asked many questions about these subjects. Below are some of the most interesting and funny of the bunch. Let […more…]
~ Fred Kelly: Tony Winner, World Class Choreographer and Story Teller ~ Written by Steve Conrad with edits by Tam Francis The multi-talented dance legend spoke about the history of the Lindy Hop, the creation of the Big Apple to the invention of the Cha Cha Cha and performing with his brother Gene. A few […more…]
~ Don’t be a Fool: Query, Rewrite and Ninja Edit ~ The Torture of Querying It struck me that most of the blogs out there for writers are pushing self-publishing. Heck, I’m going to jump in with a short story collection, but am still on the fence about self-publishing the novel. Especially when gurus like […more…]