Tuesday Tidbits: PARIS WHEN IT SIZZLES

Paramount 1964

Starring Audrey Hepburn and William Holden
 

ArtsyBee on Pixabay

I LOVE Audrey Hepburn movies. She has those big expressive eyes.

This romantic comedy has a little of everything, and I do mean everything. It starts with a screenwriter struggling to complete his next project and a young woman on her own, throw in a bird named Richelieu, some dancing, horse-drawn carriage, a windmill, chase scenes, a vampire, an army of trench-coat spies, intrigue, Indians, a horse race, bi-planes, a thief, Parcheesi, a heist, streets of Paris, and a brawl. (Not necessarily in that order.)
 
The premise is a screenwriter has two days to write his screenplay. A typist is hired to help him complete the script that isn’t even started. Only a title — “The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower.” He has a great title.

He describes his story as an action/suspense/romantic-melodrama with lots of comedy with a substrata of social comment. Evidently he had trouble picking a genre. =0)

Paris When It Sizzles is a fun romp. Is it realistic? Not even a little, as is the case for a lot of fiction. But I was swept up into their imagination world. I would call it a tongue-in-cheek process of writing a story and rewriting and playing with various version of the story.
 
The melodrama and overacting reminded me of the 1984 Clue movie. The vignettes into the imagination reminded me of the 1947 version of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty starring Danny Kaye.
 
Here is an early scene in the movie when William Holden’s character explains to Audrey Hepburn’s character the whole plot of his story without telling her anything of what the story is about. As he goes around the room tossing down blank pieces of paper and she, wide-eyed, follows him, it is like a dance. I love it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbUjy7w93l8

If you enjoyed that clip, or like old movies, or like Audrey Hepburn movies, or like silliness, you might enjoy this movie.
 
What old movies do you like?

The Quilting Circle series: Historical romances stitched together with

friendship and love.

COMING SOON!!! Book 3 THE DAMSEL’S INTENT releasing June 1, 2020

A hermit comes down from the mountains to snag a husband. #TheDamselsIntent

AND Book 1 will be coming out in audio format SOON!

Book 1 THE WIDOW’S PLIGHT

FREE Preview: http://a.co/1riJfrA

A single mother steps out of the shadows of abuse and into the sunshine. But will a secret clouding her past cost her the man she loves? Get it here for FREE on Kindle Unlimited or Kindle to buy for $4.99 or paperback for $12.99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CV4XDLH/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_XaM.DbMKBGBG1

#TheWidowsPlight

Book 2 THE DAUGHTER’S PREDICAMENT

FREE Preview: http://a.co/4UXlRN5

Can a patient love win her heart? Or will a forced marriage be the end of her romantic dreams? Get it here for FREE on Kindle Unlimited or Kindle to buy for $3.99 or paperback for $12.99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NQZVNWY/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_WcM.DbRBRKVQ9

#TheDaughtersPredicament

#ChristianRomance #HistoricalRomance #Romance

MARY DAVIS s a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her 2018 titles include; "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, Courting Her Amish Heart, The Widow’s Plight, Courting Her Secret Heart , “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection , and Courting Her Prodigal Heart . 2019 titles include The Daughter's Predicament and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of over thirty-four years and two cats. She has three adult children and two incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at:

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ThrowBACKLIST Thursday: NEWLYWED GAMES

In honor of “ZOLA’S CROSS-COUNTRY ADVENTURE”, a novella in The MISSAdventure BRIDES Collection, releasing this month and in honor of the heroine being named after my mom, Zola, and the hero after my dad Allen, I thought it would be fun to interview my mom about one of my backlist titles.

ME: Mom, what did you think when your youngest daughter first started writing books?

MOM (Zola):
Excited. And proud!!! Even in grade school, you wrote and wanted to be a writer. You said it was to get the characters out of your head. You were always making notes as you got older to use.

ME: I still need to get those characters out of my head. What is one of your favorite books that I’ve written? What is it about?

MOM (Zola):
I’ll give a mother’s answer. All of them!

ME: You always were my cheerleader. Early on in my writing career when I’d be down about my writing, I’d send you something I wrote because I needed to hear your usual reaction, “This is the best thing you’ve ever written!” And it would help me get encouraged again. I know that not everything I write is the best, but I know in your eyes it is, and I’m so grateful for that.
    But back to my question of picking one of your favorites. Unless you want to answer each of my questions for every book I’ve written, you’ll need to choose just one for this interview.

MOM (Zola):
If you insist, Newlywed Games.
Newlywed Games is a hilarious romantic comedy about a “little white lie” that grows into a very big problem. Meghann Livingston invents a husband to soothe her dying mother. But when her mom miraculously recovers, then comes for a visit, Meghann is hard-pressed to explain her “husband’s” absence! Before Meghann can come clean, her handsome, elusive boss, Bruce Halloway, inadvertently steps into her romantic charade ... and to Meghann’s shock and horror, insists upon playing “son-in-law” to her mom. The masquerade’s success depends upon them playing their newlywed games extremely well. But when they do, both Meghann and Bruce -- even as they struggle to overcome the consequences of their deceptions -- find themselves falling in love ... for real!

ME: What made this story stand out to you?

MOM (Zola):
It was your first one. Daddy and I were excited that this was a full length and not a short story!!!

ME: What did you take away from this story?

MOM (Zola):
Little white lies can get you in just as much trouble as big ones.

ME: Yes, they can. What is your favorite part of this story?

MOM (Zola):
The mothers trying to control things.

ME: Anything else you’d like to tell us about this story?

MOM (Zola):
I had to keep reminding myself this was my daughter's book.

ME: It was a fun story, and I enjoyed writing it.

If anyone may be wondering why I only interviewed my mom and not my stepdad too that I named the hero after, it's because he passed away years ago. But I imagine him smiling down from heaven and enjoying the story too. =0)

HAPPY READING!
=0)


NEW!

The MISSADVENTURE BRIDES Collection
Love Is One of Life’s Greatest Adventures
Seven daring damsels don’t let the norms of their eras hold them back. Along the way these women attract the attention of men who admire their bravery and determination, but will they let love grow out of the adventures?
    Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure, a 1904 road trip.
Zola Calkin sets out on an adventure to be the first woman to drive across the country. Will the journalist tasked to report her presumed failure sabotage her efforts? Or will he steal her heart?

The MISSAdventure Brides Collection would make a great Christmas present!

RECENT!

THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT ~ A sweet historical romance that will tug at your heart. This is book 1 in the Quilting Circle series.
Washington State, 1893
     When Lily Lexington Bremmer arrives in Kamola with her young son, she’s reluctant to join the social center of her new community, the quilting circle, but the friendly ladies pull her in. She begins piecing a sunshine and shadows quilt because it mirrors her life. She has a secret that lurks in the shadows and hopes it doesn’t come out into the light. Dark places in her past are best forgotten, but her new life is full of sunshine. Will her secrets cast shadows on her bright future?
     Widower Edric Hammond and his father are doing their best to raise his two young daughters. He meets Lily and her son when they arrive in town and helps her find a job and a place to live. Lily resists Edric’s charms at first but finds herself falling in love with this kind, gentle man and his two darling daughters. Lily has stolen his heart with her first warm smile, but he’s cautious about bringing another woman into his girls’ lives due to the harshness of their own mother.
     Can Edric forgive Lily her past to take hold of a promising chance at love?
THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT is available in ebook and paperback.


COURTING HER SECRET HEART
A Prodigal Daughters story, Book 2

Caught between two worlds…Deborah Miller lives a double life as an Amish woman—and a fashion model! All photography is forbidden in her Plain community, so she must keep her job a secret. But when Amos Burkholder starts helping at her family’s farm, hiding the truth from him is impossible. And soon she must choose between the Englisher world of modeling and the Amish man she’s come to love.

Book 3 in the Prodigal Daughters series due to release January 2019, COURTING HER PRODIGAL HEART
#ChristianRomance #HistoricalRomance #Romance

MARY DAVIS s a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her 2018 titles include; "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection (January), Courting Her Amish Heart (March), The Widow’s Plight (July), Courting Her Secret Heart (September), “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection (December), and Courting Her Prodigal Heart (January 2019). She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of over thirty-four years and two cats. She has three adult children and two incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at:

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