Color Film -- in 1901?

Any fan of early cinema will remember that there were many instances of color on film. It was a common practice to hand tint film stock to achieve the appearance of flame or a night sky. What few people know, however is that actual real-life color images had been put on film as early as 1901 or 1902, thanks to the pioneering work of Britisher Edward Turner. Film shot by Turner languished after his death in 1903, eventually being donated to the London Science Museum in 1937, where it remained in storage until a few years ago. Then, the National Media Museum got hold of the film, digitized it and made it available to be seen by the public.

The process used by Turner was clunky and unreliable, but provided vivid images of true-color life, as demonstrated by the image of the scarlet macaw, shown.

You can read more about this early work in color film here.

And Now, a Word from the Designer

The very talented young man who designs the super covers to my books is featured in an online interview that you can read here. His name is Matt Hinrichs and, yes, we're married. Does that make me biased in any way? Nope. He really is that talented.

"Sarah & Gerald"

Hey! Just wanted to let you know my newest novel just published! It's called "Sarah & Gerald" and is something of a love story about two Americans in Paris after the first world war. You can read more about it here.

P.S. I'm just diggin' the great cover done by my spouse Matt.

OMG!

We just got our advance copy of 2 Broke Girls: The Complete First Season on DVD so Matt can write a review of it. I'm stoked!

Other Things That Don't Happen

According to at least one politician, a woman who is raped does not (or rarely does) get pregnant. Using that logic, here is a list of other things that don't happen:

• Sexual activity in a public bathroom between a heterosexual married man and another man does not mean the first man is homosexual

• Raising taxes on those who earn the least amount of money does not make them poorer

• Photographing himself in his tightey-whitey underwear, sharing the photo with others via email and then lying about it does not make a politician a douche bag

• Sending jobs to other countries from America does not mean Americans lose jobs

• Smoking does not cause cancer

• Making enormous profits by buying stock based on insider information does not make a politician a criminal

• An annual increase of the average daytime temperature in America does not mean global warming exists

• Hunting with an automatic weapon, like an AK47, does not provide an unfair advantage

• Teaching a child the arts -- like music, painting, dance and theater -- does not have any value

• Cutting funding for education does not mean teachers are underpaid

• Lying about which country started which war does not create an ethical or moral problem

• Denying a child medical coverage does not contribute to lifelong medical problems

• Spraying secret chemicals on areas where soldiers are working does not cause them any medical problems

• Voting against legislation to grant equal rights to gays and lesbians by secretly-gay politicians does not make them hypocrites

The Seahorse Hotel - Galveston

I was flipping channels this a.m. and stopped on a 1963 episode of "Route 66" -- not necessarily because the show is interesting; rather it featured the ever-gorgeous Glenn Corbett, which was reason enough to stay tuned. Part of the story took place at the Seahorse Hotel, built in 1956 and torn down in 2005. The hotel's sign (see picture) is totally cool and I sure hope someone thought to preserve it. From what I can tell watching the episode and doing a little online research, the Seahorse Hotel was a large crescent shape, with the concave section facing the ocean. It looked like a cool place to stay. Too bad it's gone.

Books I Am Reading

Am reading this.

Just finished reading this.

What to Write About

I've been having a hard time today trying to pick just one thing to write about on my blog. What would be the best topic?

How about the fact that we awoke to a pigeon trapped in our fireplace and we rescued it and set it free and I wrenched my left knee in the process? Or perhaps that today is the 67th anniversary of the first atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima? Or maybe how we humans landed yet another rover on Mars? I dunno. They all seem pretty interesting.

On Tour with "News on the Home Front"

The good folks at Charisma Media are hosting a nine-day blog book tour for my novel "News on the Home Front" featuring excerpts from the novel, reviews, an interview with me, and a guest post about the role of women in the workplace during World War Two. Oh, and giveaways -- lots of giveaways! Won't you stop by and join me on my first ever book tour? Just push the magic green button below, and scroll down for the schedule!

Tony Martin RIP

My lunch with Tony Martin (1913 - 2012): In March 1991, I was in Los Angeles visiting with my great friend Shirley Wilson who loves little more than taking me to cool "old Hollywood" hangouts -- knowing, as she does, my great love of all things "old Hollywood." On this trip, after a tour of an exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, she took me for lunch to the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Very few things in Hollywood say "old Hollywood" in quite the same way as the Polo Lounge. We sit there, among the banana-leaf wallpaper dining on something scrumptious when Shirley points out to me a man sitting by himself at a table across the aisle from me. She gives me a hint as to his identity but, alas, I have no idea.  Turns out it was singer Tony Martin (see photograph, next to a swatch of the wallpaper)! Embarrassingly, I still had no idea who he was. But, there he sat, by himself, eating lunch.