Perfume: what you never expected to find in a World War II novel set in Occupied Paris by Jina Bacarr
October 11, 2021 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as historical fiction, Paris, perfume, Resistance, World War 2
I’ve had a zillion jobs in my career.
US Army rec specialist in Europe, AM/FM radio commercial artist, traveling cosmetic saleslady for a French company, club dancer, soap opera player, writer for kids’ TV…
And perfume model.
So, what does a perfume model do?
The gig started when I got a call from the modeling agency I worked for asking me if I was available to introduce a new perfume. Since I was freelancing for a travel magazine company in Beverly Hills back then, I jumped every time the agency called me with a perfume job.
The pay was good. The hours ranged from four to six hours a day. The location was always a posh department store (remember Bullocks, I Magnin’s?), and occasionally, I’d get to wear wardrobe from the couture department to complement the color scheme and theme of the perfume.
I felt like a film star.
After a session with the perfume rep explaining their marketing campaign, off I went. Sashaying around the store like I was walking on the red carpet. I’d engage customers in small talk and introduce them to the perfume.
I’d spray it on their wrist – or mine if they preferred – and then gave them a sample. It wasn’t easy. I was snubbed by snooty women, hit on by male customers, and constantly asked, ‘Where is the ladies room?’
By the end of my shift – toes squashed in three-inch heels – my feet were killing me.
But I loved it. The customers were enchanted by the quick whiff of a new fragrance and loved being whisked away for a moment of glamour. I’d regale them with my stories about Paris and the Belle Époque department stores I visited along with the history of perfume.
And the different notes of the perfume. Top, heart, base.
I soon discovered you didn’t sell the steak… perfume, that is… but the sizzle. The mystique, the mood. I had to evoke an emotional response in the customer and I did it by storytelling and learning as much as I could about perfume. How it’s manufactured, the ingredients, what that perfume can do for that customer to make her happy, feel sexy. Powerful. Loved. I became an amateur ‘nose’, learning about the different scents and essences and how they configure in varying ratios to make up a lovely new fragrance.
I used that perfume experience to create parfumier Angéline de Cadieux when I wrote ‘The Lost Girl in Paris’.
How a girl from a controversial upbringing becomes a famous perfumer during the war when she comes to Paris in 1940 to escape the Gestapo. Then how she uses perfume to do her part to win the war…
THE LOST GIRL IN PARIS is up for pre-order – and my just-revealed cover is on Amazon!
Release date: November 30, 2021
US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B1QDRVW/
UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09B1QDRVW/
CA https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09B1QDRVW/
Australia https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09B1QDRVW/
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Photo credits:
Jina Bacarr: Laura Burke Photography
Background: ID 137251284
© Viktoriya Panasenko | Dreamstime.com
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Nearly 500 ratings on Amazon UK!
The Resistance Girl
Juliana discovers her grandmamma was a famous French film star in Occupied Paris & her shocking secret…
Babies, Books and Autumn?
October 10, 2021 by Tari Jewett in category Charmed Writer by Tari Lynn Jewett tagged as babies, booksIt’s October! Autumn is my favorite time of the year. I love the crisp autumn air, and the anticipation of the holiday season. This year is especially special. Our new grandson arrived and will experience his first autumn, first Halloween, first Thanksgiving and for Christmas. I hope you’ll forgive my absence the last few months, we’ve been totally captivated by Milo.
Milo Porter was born on April 9, to my oldest son Gerrod and daughter in law Kristina. And he has absolutely stolen my heart. Did I mention that he was named for me? Porter is his middle name, and my maiden name. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t get a full name from my son before he was born, then when they were leaving the hospital (because of the pandemic we couldn’t be there) he sent me a picture of the discharge papers, and there was his name. Okay, I might have cried (sobbed). They named their baby for me.
He’s beautiful, charming and has both GrandPaul and I wrapped around his little finger.
We all read to him, but I think the first to read a book to Milo was his big brother Isaac. Yes, this is a family of book lovers.
I do have some writing news. #SilverBracelets Book 2 in my #HermosafortheHolidays series is finally out in paperback. We had some glitches along the way, but it’s available on Amazon, and I’m so excited to finally have print copies!
And if you haven’t read #HauntedHermosa yet, this is the time! It’s a sweet little Halloween romcom. It’s available in ebook on Amazon.
I’m off to convince my son that Grandma needs zoom time with Milo and Isaac.
Happy October everyone!
2 1 Read moreVeronica Jorge: October Featured Author
October 7, 2021 by Veronica Jorge in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Featured Author of the Month tagged as Featured author, Reviewed by Veronica Jorge, Veronica Jorge, Write from the heart
Manager, Educator, and former High School Social Studies teacher, Veronica credits her love of history to the potpourri of cultures that make up her own life and to her upbringing in diverse Brooklyn, New York.
Her Work in Progress is a Young Adult Novel based on a search into her ethnic roots that explores identity, belonging, and self-discovery. Her genres of choice are historical fiction, where she always makes new discoveries, literary works because she loves beautiful writing, and children’s picture books because there are so many wonderful worlds yet to be imagined and visited.
She currently resides in Macungie, PA., but she’s still a Brooklyn girl at heart. How sweet it is!
Veronica’s story “Fiona Malone’s Fesh,” is featured in the Fall 2021 Issue of Bethlehem Writers Roundtable.
In addition to her fiction, she has a monthly column, Write from the Heart, here on A Slice of Orange where she writes about writing, life and does book reviews.
Connect with her on Facebook @VeronicaJorgeauthor
Books Reviewed by Veronica
Glamor Girl Blitz
October 6, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Rabt Book Tours tagged as @RABTBookTours, Glamor Girl, historical fiction, The Fourniers, Vera Jane Cook
Date Published: 10-06-2021
Publisher: Indies United
Escaping from her childhood, Sheela, flees her aunt’s motel where she is forced to work as a cleaning maid and provide ‘favors’ for wealthy guests and winds up in Miami in Kit Malone’s fancy brothel. Beautiful and stately, Sheela becomes a high-class prostitute, a millionaire’s mistress and a Billy Rose showgirl. When she meets the love of her life in Manhattan, the charming but naïve Julius Clark, life blossoms into something both frightening and titillating. But when Sheela gives birth to her daughter, Fanny, it is this shadowy and stormy relationship that alters the course of both of their destinies and defines their future.
About the Author
Vera Jane Cook was born in New York City and has been a city girl ever since. As an only child, she turned to reading novels at an early age and was deeply influenced by an eclectic group of authors. Before Jane became a writer, she worked in the professional theatre and appeared on television, in regional theatre, film and off Broadway.
At the age of fifty Jane began to write novels. Some of her titles include Dancing Backward in Paradise, winner of an Eric Hoffer Award for publishing excellence and an Indie Excellence Award for notable new fiction, 2007. The Story of Sassy Sweetwater and Dancing Backward in Paradise received 5 Star ForeWord Clarion Reviews and The Story of Sassy Sweetwater was named a finalist for the ForeWord Book of the Year Awards. She has published in ESL Magazine, Christopher Street Magazine and has written early childhood curriculum for Weekly Reader and McGraw Hill.
Jane still lives on the upper west side of Manhattan right near Riverside Park, where she takes her delightful dogs, Peanut and Carly, for a jog,. She comes home to her spouse of thirty years and her two cats, Sassy and Sweetie Pie.
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Starting a Novel Series with a Partner: The Planning by E. J. Williams
October 3, 2021 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger, Starting a Novel Series with a Partner by E. J. Williams tagged as E.J. Williams, novels, Planning, Writing with a Partner
My husband, Will Zeilinger, and I co-write the thrillers of INTERNATIONAL MYSTERY SERIES, as E. J. Williams. Our tales transport the reader from 1962 Southern California to various international locales. In the first new book of the series, STONE PUB, we find ourselves in County Cork, Ireland.
Planning the series, then planning the individual novel in the series takes a great deal of time. It is so easy to get stuck on one idea and not move ahead. The two of us had MANY ideas we threw around.
So, we implemented deadlines—not just for writing (which needs to happen) but at the planning stage … making decisions.
For example, “By the next meeting follow, we will decide on:”
1) Romantic scene, when, where, and with who.
2) Car chase: where will it take place and who is chasing whom, etc. Once we agree on these details, one of us writes the scene, and the other adds to it.
Beware of analysis/paralysis. We knew of a co-writing team who couldn’t agree on the names of the characters, not just one but all. Their writing ground to a halt for months!
Remember that your mutual goal is to write a good story.
The takeaway: When writing together, plan your approach.
Remember… the crucial thing is to write a good story. So, stay tuned … there is more to come.
STONE PUB is the first in the series, and yes … we are still married!
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Some of Janet’s and Will’s Novels
Featured Books
HELLO SPAIN, GOODBYE HEART
Dayna hopes for a second chance at love . . . but . . .he wears a wedding band.
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THE SHORT & SWEET OF IT: When the Right Word Is a Short Word
How do we say more with less? Can short, simple words make what we write so clear that the reader gets it? Or will it remind them of reading a child’s board book?
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