Telephone Booths in the 1950s by Will Zeilinger
February 3, 2019 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as Fads, Researching Historical Fiction, the 1950s
Ah, the convenience of a smartphone. Almost all of us have one (or more) of these tiny mobile computers and telephones, in one.
Believe it or not, the first mobile telephone call from a hand-held device wasn’t made until April 3, 1973. Cellular phones and smartphones were still decades in the future.
Now, let’s take a look back to the mid-1950s and see what calling home entailed.
If you were not at home, the first order of business was to find a telephone, and you had better have had a pocketful of change because you paid to talk.
In the U.S., one could find “pay phone” inside a telephone booth or just “phone booth” for short, as they were called, on many street corners and in most commercial establishments. On the street, the ubiquitous phone booth featured a folding glass door that afforded some privacy and protection from the elements. They were not air-conditioned, but when you stepped inside and closed the door, an overhead light would come on. That feature was especially helpful at night. By the mid-1950s, most were upgraded from a wood and glass structure to a weatherproof glass and aluminum booth that was large enough for one (maybe two, if you were friends).
If you’re too young to have seen one in person, you’ve no doubt, seen them in old movies and TV shows.
They were found inside almost any hotel, train station, bank, restaurant or office building. You would have seen rows of wooden phone booths lining a wall somewhere near the entrance. Many of them had a seat inside for long conversations. During breaks between the action at conventions or meetings, people would line up to use the half dozen or so telephones in larger hotels, and in smaller hotels, there may have been two or three.
Today many hotels and convention spaces have mysterious empty areas that will cause the visitor to wonder the reason behind the wasted space. The answer is telephone booths once stood in those places before they were removed because they were no longer needed.
To make a call you would first deposit a nickel or dime in one of the round holes at the top. “Dial” it on the rotary dial . . . one digit at a time. A live telephone operator would come on the line and tell you how much money to put in, based on the number. If you didn’t know the person’s number, you’d look up the person by name from the telephone directory book, suspended under the phone. If you needed to make a long distance call, the live operator would handle that for you as well.
Since the 1950s were part of a decade of fads, one popular fad was “Phone Booth stuffing.” The point of this was to see how many people would fit into a phone booth designed for one person. From what I could learn, the record for cramming the most people into a standard sized telephone booth was 25. This was accomplished by a group of South African college students.
Too many people? You want a little privacy when you make a phone call? In today’s culture, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find privacy in a public place when you need to have a conversation (except maybe, in your car) I’m sure you’ve been in a restaurant or standing in a checkout line, and had to endure someone’s inane conversation right behind you or next to your ear. Well—good news! Some establishments are resurrecting telephone booths by providing an enclosed compartment with a comfortable seat and a door (see phone booth) for people to make or take private cell calls without having to go out to the parking lot. What goes around,comes around.
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Slow Burn an Interview with Aviva Vaughn
February 2, 2019 by Jann Ryan in category Jann says . . . tagged as Avivia Vaughn, food, reading, women's fiction
Aviva Vaughn is the author of BECKONED—slow burn women’s fiction inspired by food, travel, and Jane Austen. A lifelong bibliophile, she enjoys a wide variety of genres from historical fiction to science fiction to non-fiction, and loves reading, and writing, hot—scientifically accurate—sex.
As a young adult, Aviva rejected the romance genre. “My mother had at least sixty of those old-school romances with the Fabio-esque covers. I didn’t like the way they depicted women or sex,” she says. However, after becoming a mother herself, she recognized the potential power of fiction as a force for female empowerment.
Her series—BECKONED—features strong, educated, diverse characters, with heroines who speak their mind and heroes who respect them for doing so. She writes so that her daughter will have inspirational, multicultural book characters to identify with, and a depiction of what a healthy relationship looks like both in the power dynamics and in the sex itself.
Aviva is not afraid to try new things, which has made for an interesting—although not always straight forward—life. Her favorite “two truths and a lie” line is: I have ridden bareback in the Navajo nation, I have jumped out of an airplane over New Zealand, and I have gone spelunking in Costa Rica. The answer appears at the end of BECKONED, Part 4: From Barcelona with Love ;^)
For a list of her favorite books, visit AvivaVaughn.com/about
Jann: Let’s welcome Aviva Vaughn to A Slice of Orange blog today to chat about her series BECKONED.
Jann: When did you start writing? Why romance?
Aviva: I can’t remember a time when I didn’t write creatively. I’ve written songs, poetry, and fiction at least since I was thirteen, if not before. I’ve always been fascinated with books and words, and have been an avid reader my entire life. Although my writing covers a variety of genres, the first book I decided to publish was a romance, and the reason why was because it told me to. My slow-burn contemporary series, BECKONED, has been a very bossy master. It wouldn’t leave me alone … it beckoned to me. However, it makes sense that I would start with a romance, because my favorite stories are always the ones where the human relationships are the focus, and the challenges that come up are the all too real challenges of human interaction and miscommunication. I mean, I like plot too, but what makes stories pierce your heart is not plot, but the human relationships. What would Star Wars be without the angst of Darth the wayward father, or the war-torn love of Han and Leia? It’s the relationships that hold one captive, and the stories that focus on them are the ones that I return to again and again. Authors like Jane Austen, Edith Wharton, and Margaret Mitchell, who create characters that just seem to keep missing each other over and over, those are the stories I love, but I wanted to give them a modern twist.
I often describe BECKONED as “a modern story told in an old-fashioned way.” By “modern story” I mean that it’s set in contemporary time, and the characters are diverse, and the heroines are strong. By “old-fashioned” I mean that the language and scene setting are very descriptive and literary feeling. My tagline for BECKONED is “slow burn, second-chance romance inspired by food, travel, and Jane Austen.” If your readers would like to read my series starter for free, they can sign-up for it at SmartURL.it/BeckonedLondonFree
Jann: Your series BECKONED–how, when, or where did your idea for the series come to be? Do you have a goal for the series?
Avivia: BECKONED was birthed by a couple of ideas. The first was that as a multicultural reader—I’m of Asian, Polynesian, Hispanic, and European descent and I was born and raised in Los Angeles—I was never able to find a character that looked like me, not even one. I wanted to create characters that my own mixed child could relate to and look up to. So I fashioned Angela: an aspiring entrepreneur putting herself through MBA school who just happens to be of a mixed background. The second idea was kind of inspired by one of the parameters Stephenie Meyer uses in TWILIGHT; in her books, vampires’ personalities are fixed when they become vampires, so her hero, Edward, has the values of someone from the early 1900’s. I liked the tension that it created having her modern heroine fall in love with a old-fashioned guy. I also wanted to have a hero who was the complete opposite of my fiery, multicultural Angeleno, and so I looked to Denmark which is a very homogeneous society and is famous for its gender equality and it felt perfect. So I created my hero, Soren Lund, who is a humble, polite real estate heir that has lived a life of boring privilege until he meets fiery Angela—who melts his heart—and realizes he doesn’t want to live without her.
Those twin inspirations, along with my love for food and travel, are what inspired the series. As far as my goal for the series, I want women to feel inspired and empowered by BECKONED. Many readers have said that they look up to Angela and I think that’s wonderful. I happen to know many women like Angela, so she’s not aspirational, she’s inspirational.
Jann: Beckoned Part 6 – Adrift in New Zealand makes its debut on May16th. What can you share with us about this new book?
Avivia: Hhhhmmmm … all I can say is that books 1-4 are kind of like “The Bachelor,” where there is a love triangle, and the man who doesn’t get the girl becomes the focus of Books 5 and 6. Readers have loved that I’ve been tying up the loose end of the guy who “lost”. Part 6 will be a very satisfying conclusion to this part of BECKONED.
Jann: What’s the best writing advice you ever received?
Avivia: The best writing advice I’ve received can be summed up in four points
- Keep a writing calendar (I like the tiny business card size ones), and highlight every day you write and note the number of words. It motivates me to keep going! (Jerry Seinfeld does something similar for writing jokes.)
- Find your most productive time of day (for me that’s morning) and type without any sort of self editing (vomit onto the page).
- STOP writing before the end of the scene so that you have a place to pick up the next day (I heard this is what Hemingway did).
- Once you are done writing for the day, give your new words a quick edit for typos, etc. (I can’t remember who told me this, but it’s a good tip! Helps make later editing easier.)
My tip: I carry a Bluetooth keyboard so that I can “write on my phone.” This lets me write everywhere. I’ve had this $20 keyboard for four years and it’s still as responsive as ever and it weighs nothing. https://amzn.to/2TpmMli
Avivia: I’m working on a collection of steamy slow-burn stories as a way to introduce different couples to my readers and get their feedback on whom I should turn into my next full-length book. I’ll also have some previously unwritten scenes for Angela and Soren to introduce new readers to BECKONED. This collection might come out as early as March 2019, so stay tuned!
Jann: What’s the funniest (or sweetest or best or nicest) thing a fan ever said to you?
Avivia: I don’t think I can pick just one! Some of my favorite quotesfrom reviews are:
- “I found myself stealing away to read this book”
- “This book gives a new meaning to the word sizzling!”
- “Read this is one sitting and left me wanting more”
- “The series has been fascinating and captivating”
- “Singed my eyebrows and melted my kindle”
- “You can’t deny the connections of writing styles between Aviva Vaughn and Jane Austen”
Jann: Do you have a website, blog, twitter where fans might read more about you and your books?
Avivia: Choose your favorite way to follow me! I love interacting with readers. If you are in the Southern California area, I have a bunch of readings and signings coming up.
- My website: AvivaVaughn.com
- My newsletter: SmartURL.it/FollowAviva
- Follow me here: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/aviva-vaughn
- Follow me here: https://www.amazon.com/AvivaVaughn/e/B071KCNFJC/
Jann: Thank you Avivia for chatting with us here on A Slice of Orange.
Aviva’s BECKONED Series
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Dear Extra Squeeze Team: What the Heck Is a Platform?
January 31, 2019 by The Extra Squeeze in category The Extra Squeeze by The Extra Squeeze Team tagged as Marketing, platform, Publishing Questions, The Extra Squeeze
Dear Extra Squeeze Team, I’m working on my first book. I go to a local RWA and everyone is taking about platforms. What the heck is a platform? Why do I need one? How do I get one?
USA Today Bestselling author of 35 books, including the Witness series and the new Finn O’Brien series.
You’re in luck. The queen of platforms is Robin Blakely so I would read her answer first. If you’re reading this one, then my simple explanation is that a platform is who you are as an author. Are you queen of erotica? Are you the definitive word on thrillers? Were you a cop and write police procedurals? When you build your platform you are looking for a way to consistently communicate who you are as an author and what a reader can expect from your books. Keep writing and refining your voice. Write in the same genre. Determine what sets you apart from other writers and there you have it – a platform.
Cover designer and author of the fantasy series, The Fireblade Array
I’m not sure I know either. Sounds a bit like business jargon!
Developmental editor who has worked for twenty plus years with new and established authors of both fiction and non-fiction, traditional and indie.
A platform is that giant, flashing interactive sign hanging in Times Square that says, “Here I am! I’m a writer and this is what my books are about. You want to read them all!”
A platform gives you visibility as an author. It gives the means to speak to your audience, to gain and nurture a following. You get a platform by building it yourself. It’s a process; there is no ready recipe. And it takes time to build up your presence so there’s no reason not to begin long before you publish. You’re going to need it because that’s how and where an Indie writer markets her books.
Social media is the tool, from your website to blogging to Facebook, to engaging with on-line writer groups to Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter— the whole gamut is possible. Your message should include your unique story and voice. The content should target your audience so that you can reach them directly with an option of back and forth communications.
If you haven’t published yet, consider writing a few short stories and offer them for free. Post links on Face Book, or Twitter etc. to get the word out. Join and engage with writer’s groups. Use those short stories for award entries—the more accolades and experience you garner, the more powerful your platform. Blog about your writing process. Join groups with other new writers. It will all work to build your name and credibility.
It takes time. But so does writing a good book. Like all things in life, time management is critical. Decide how much effort toward building your platform is doable without taking too big a bite out of your writing time. But know that every little bit will grow your presence and when you’re ready to publish you’ll have a platform from which to dive into the market.
PR/Business Development coach for writers and artists; CEO, Creative Center of America; member, Forbes Coaches Council.
You need a platform so that you can elevate and protect your brand. To help you wrap your brain around a concept that can be very confusing, try this . . .
Let’s imagine that your platform is a three-legged table and your brand is a glass ball on top of that table. It seems like the glass ball is the thing to focus on, but really it is the table and its three legs that provide the support and elevation your brand needs. If the platform isn’t solid, the table top will teeter and the glass ball will roll and possibly break.
So, let’s keep the brand safe and secure. Let’s look closer at the platform’s three legs.
One leg is all about promotional outreach—you must effectively tell readers about your work. One leg is all about resources—you must manage your time, money, and helpful people wisely. One leg is all about constantly developing the core talent and skill to produce the best products and services you can create—you can’t sell what you never finish.
You need each leg to do its part and at about the same level. In the platform world, the most common problem is that people figuratively build their platforms using table legs of three very different lengths. One leg is typically very long and well-developed, one leg is quite short and under-achieving, and one entire leg may be practically missing. Take a closer look at those three areas of your creative business. When the three table legs of your platform are forced to operate at uneven lengths, it will feel like your success is teetering and wobbling—that your professional life is unbalanced and uncertain—that your brand is fragile and in jeopardy.
Put an end to topsy-turvy, out-of-control feelings by building a platform to elevate and protect your beautiful talent-driven brand. As you learn to level out the structural legs of your platform, feelings of uncertainty will be replaced by feelings of stability. Promotional opportunities will become better in both quality and abundance. As a result, your platform will command attention in your industry. Your brand will be clearly showcased, elevated, and protected.
Sound impossible? It isn’t.
Have you got a question for The Extra Squeeze team?
Send them to us at: Contact The Extra Squeeze Team.
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The Perfect Death by Neetu
January 26, 2019 by Neetu Malik in category Poet's Day by Neetu Malik tagged as Neetu, Poet's Day
They have been sitting on the porch
in reclining chairs, an old couple,
watching the world go by
each evening the sun's shadows pass
over their faces revealing
nothing more than a few lines
of contentment
they never touch, their hands
always resting neatly on their laps,
or sometimes, they hold a glass of wine.
Passersby note with some surprise
how unmoved they are by changes
like when they widened roads
and built that new high-rise
right in front of their little row house,
dug out cherry trees and tall maples
that grew on both sides
but no one wants to ruffle sunshine
with questions—
they just wave and smile.
Today they sit as usual,
the last of the sun's rays flicker
grudgingly, a little hesitant, it seems
the woman extends her hand,
touches his
their eyes meet—
her hand still on his, a quiver
passes her lips,
she closes her eyes
as he covers her hand
with his.
© Neetu Malik
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Spotlight on KAT MARTIN
January 24, 2019 by A Slice of Orange in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Spotlight tagged as Kat Martin, New book release, romantic suspense, The Conspiracy
New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara where she majored in Anthropology and also studied History. Currently residing in Missoula, Montana with her Western-author husband, L. J. Martin, Kat has written sixty-five Historical and Contemporary Romantic Suspense novels. More than sixteen million copies of her books are in print and she has been published in twenty foreign countries. Her last novel, BEYOND CONTROL, hit both big lists … NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LIST as well as the USA TODAY BEST-SELLING BOOKS LIST. Kat is currently at work on her next Romantic Suspense.
January sees the release of Kat’s newest romantic suspense THE CONSPIRACY. Read the excerpt below:
Excerpt: The Conspiracy
Kat Martin
The sounds of the rainforest surrounded him, the hum of insects, the shrill cry of a monkey, and the rustle of leaves as a wild animal moved through the undergrowth not far away.
In the blackness of night, Michael Winston leaned back against the thick trunk of an eighty foot Kapok rising up from the damp, mossy floor of the rainforest. His wrists burned from the plastic ties biding his hands behind his back. The white Bermuda shorts his captors had allowed him to put on when they had boarded BUZZ Word and found him sleeping naked next to Pia in the master cabin were gone. Replaced by khaki fatigues more suitable for their trek into the jungle.
Huddled on the ground beside him, hands also bound, Pia rested her head on his shoulder, her long mahogany hair teasing his cheek. She was petite, no more than five foot-three, with big brown eyes and smooth olive skin. Even with her makeup gone, her baggy fatigues damp from the afternoon rain and sticking to her lush curves, she was beautiful.
Every time he looked at her, guilt and fury washed over him. Fury that he was helpless to protect her from what might be in store for them. Guilt that if he hadn’t convinced her to go sailing with him she would be safe back in Aruba.
He could only pray that their captors would continue to obey whatever orders had apparently come down from their leader, which seemed to be not to hurt them.
At least no more than they had already happened during the fight to subdue them that night on the boat. His jaw and cheek were bruised and his ribs acted from the blows he had taken. He would have kept fighting if one of the men hadn’t pulled a gun and pressed it against Pia’s head.
That had been days ago. What day was it now? He tried to count backward, remembered making incredible love to Pia for the first time after a night of gambling at the Trade Winds Casino. Both of them had won a little money, enough to have them smiling when they returned to the boat and ended up in bed.
He remembered Pia falling asleep in his arms. Remembered the deep, satisfied sleep he’d drifted into himself, a rarity with the heavy work schedule he’d been under.
Sometime later that night, two men, big, burly and tough, had boarded the yacht and taken control, forcing him to sail out of the marina into the open sea. For the next two days, Michael had been certain the men’s intention was to pirate the yacht, kill them and dump their bodies in the ocean.
If it hadn’t been for Pia, he would have made an attempt to overpower his captors, but the men were heavily armed and well-trained, and he wasn’t willing to risk Pia’s life unless there was absolutely no other choice.
Eventually, the boat had sailed into a quiet cove on a deserted stretch of beach several hundred miles from Curacao. If his mental calculations were correct, they’d arrived somewhere in Colombia.
They’d been imprisoned two more days before soldiers had arrived to take charge of them. By then, Michael had been certain the motive was ransom, a demand for millions from his mega-rich father in return for his son’s release. But he was no longer sure.
Not since the soldiers had forced him and Pia to begin this grueling trek into the rainforest that covered the steep sides of the mountains. They had hiked all day in ill-fitting boots provided by their captors that rubbed blisters on their feet.
At dusk the soldiers had stopped the march and begun making camp. Exhausted, Michael had slumped against the tree and Pia had eased down beside him. He had no idea how long they’d sat there while the men ate and drank between raucous bursts of laughter.
They’d been brought water and a little food, which they’d been released just long enough to eat, given a bathroom break, then been tied up again and left beneath the tree.
Equally as wet, numb and cold as he was, Pia shifted and raised her head to look at him. “How many more days, do you think, till we reach wherever they’re taking us?”
They hadn’t arrived at their final destination–he was sure of that. “I heard some of them talking. My Spanish sucks, but I was able to make out some of what they said. If I got it right, they’re planning to reach the main camp by tomorrow night.”
Which meant another long day of hiking through the harsh, wet, mountainous tropical landscape. Pia spoke far better Spanish than he did, but she’d been careful not to let them know. She was extremely smart, which was one of the reasons he’d been attracted to her in the first place. Not to mention her beautiful face and fantastic figure.
“Do you think they’ve sent word to your father?”
He had told her his ransom theory mostly to keep her spirits up, told her his father was worth millions of dollars and that he would surely pay for the safe return of his only son and the girl who was with him.
Though Michael had never been able to live up to his father’s expectations and they rarely spoke these days, it didn’t change the fact they were blood. His father would pay the ransom demand and Pia would be part of the bargain—Michael wasn’t leaving without her.
“They’ve probably sent word by now,” he said. “They’ll want to be paid in cash. It might take my father a while to get the money together and get it down here.”
And his sister would be looking for them, he was sure of that. He hadn’t called her in days, as she had made him promise to do. Harper would know something was wrong and she would be doing her best to find him.
To CELEBRATE the release of THE CONSPIRACY, enter Kat’s new contest for a chance to win a KINDLE FIRE 7″ Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB and a Kindle copy of INTO THE FURY, INTO THE WHIRLWIND and INTO THE FIRESTORM. Contest runs from Jan 1, 2019 through Feb 28, 2019.
SPECIAL CONTEST: https://www.katmartin.com/the-conspiracy-giveaway/
KAT’S WEBSITE: https://www.katmartin.com/
You can also follow Kat on SOCIAL MEDIA:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/katmartinauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KatMartinAuthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39929060-the-conspiracy?
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/KatMartinAuthor
Other books by Kat Martin:
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