Recommended to me by the illustrious Sarakastic, I’ve taken this video under advisement for The Great Big Birthday Dance-Along I’m hoping is somewhere close in my future.
Not sure about the blue sequined number or being passed along above the heads of fellow dancers, but I like the color-coordinated outfits and the artistic vibe.
I’ve discovered a new (to me) author and mystery series–in addition to Vish Puri! Set in 1920’s Africa, with its green-eyed heroine the gutsy daredevil Jade del Cameron, the series is written by Suzanne Arruda and has garnered an impressive amount of praise. Both the exotic setting and the unique heroine make this book a fun read, but I have to admit that my mind keeps straying both while I’m reading and in between opportunities.
It’s straying to the Banana Republic stores I remember from the 80’s. And I’ve started to feel a little nostalgic. My mom usually worked weekends when I was growing up, so my dad towed us around the city. First stop would be some tool store, lumber yard, flea market, or other objectionable spot to a tween-age girl. After that, it’d be lunch out and a trip to the mall–my dad’s version of fair play. We went to the Houston Galleria A LOT. My sister and I would split up from my dad and brother and shop for a prearranged amount of time. We’d occasionally venture into Banana Republic, just to look. 
If you don’t remember Banana Republic in the 80’s, it was NOTHING, NOTHING like it is now. It sold ‘Travel & Safari Clothing’ and was decked out like something from an Indiana Jones movie: wooden crates abounded, stamped with travel destinations, dark wood played against rattan, with animal accents scattered throughout. They sold buttery leather jackets, safari hats, and loose, flowing white blouses and khaki slacks. Oh how I wished I had a reason to dress that like! But I was a tween in the 80’s–the era of ghastly fashion–even I couldn’t bring myself to buck the trends that significantly.
Doing a quick search on Google brought all the memories flooding back: the J. Peterman-like catalogs, the logo: a star bracketed with two bananas, the classic style with a hint of African mystique… Where, oh where, did that store go?
Images from here. I’m so glad this person had the good taste to save these!
My book has been out for five and a half years now, and it’s only because of the Wide World of Amazon.com that it’s still selling as well as it ever did. (Keep in mind here that it was published by me, by my own press, and any moderate success it achieved was through my own efforts). In keeping track of my sales, I’m on my Amazon page pretty regularly, and so I notice quickly if a new review gets posted. One was posted today, and not a particularly good one.
It’s already a rainy day here, pushing into the tail end of two almost solidly rainy weeks, and so spirits are a little low anyway, but it’s never nice to get a less-than-stellar review. If I didn’t already have a solid number of good reviews notched on my belt, I’d really be feeling this one–particularly as the reader said she actually fell asleep while reading it–but mostly it’s just sliding off me. It’s important to remember–for all writers, published and yet-to-be published–that everyone’s tastes are different. I’ve felt less than enthusiastic about whopping best-sellers, and books that I’ve love-love-loved were not very well received.
It helps a bit–just a bit–that I was reading Jenny Crusie’s blog last night and noticed that after a glowing review from Publishers Weekly for her August release, she received one of those less-than-stellar reviews from Kirkus. In fact, in the words of Cher from Clueless, the Kirkus review was ‘way harsh,’ and I’m sure it hurt, just a little bit. Still, if Jenny Crusie is still getting the occasional bad review, that gives the rest of us hope, doesn’t it?
What I need right now is a flash mob to show up in my front yard dancing to Right Back Where We Started From by Maxine Nightingale…but I think it’s too rainy.