Blog Blitz - Secrets and Fries at the Starlight Diner- (24/11/17)
Blog Tour
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Rachel's Random Resources and Helen Cox for my place on this fabulous Tour!
Below is all the information you need followed by a fab giveaway!
Secrets and Fries at the Starlight Diner
By Helen Cox
Hi Everyone, so today is my stop on
Secrets & Fries at the Starlight Diner
Blog Tour.
Secrets & Fries at the Starlight Diner
Blog Tour.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Rachel's Random Resources and Helen Cox for my place on this fabulous Tour!
I want to start by saying how much i adore Yummy cover!!
Below is all the information you need followed by a fab giveaway!
Happy Reading Everyone!
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Book Information
What brings Bonnie Brooks to The Starlight Diner? And why is she on the run?
As the front-woman in a band, Bonnie is used to being in the spotlight, but now she must hide in the shadows.
Bonnie only has one person who she can turn to: her friend Esther Knight, who waitresses at the Fifties-themed diner. There, retro songs play on the jukebox as fries and sundaes are served to satisfied customers. But where has Esther gone?
Alone in New York City, Bonnie breaks down in front of arrogant news reporter, and diner regular, Jimmy Boyle. Jimmy offers to help her. Can she trust him?
When the kindly owner of the Starlight Diner offers Bonnie work, and she meets charming security officer Nick Moloney, she dares to hope that her luck has changed. Is there a blossoming romance on the cards? And can Bonnie rebuild her life with the help of her Starlight Diner friends?
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Guest Post
I’ve had a long running love affair with America. Like most who grew up in 1980s Britain, I watched too many American movies on scratchy VHS tapes and thus dreamed of following in the footsteps of Macaulay Culkin, tearing around New York City in snow, foiling the plans of inept thieves.
I truly embraced my love for that country across the Atlantic when I studied for my MA in Literature and Creative Writing about a decade ago. I specialised in 20th Century American literature and during those years at the University of York St John, I knew that this world etched in words by poets, playwrights and novelists would forever entice me. It was both at once familiar and completely alien. Inspiring and startling.
Given the way in which America captured my imagination so completely, it’s perhaps not that surprising that my first two novels were set in New York City.
Whilst trying to capture American life in prose, I looked at how others had portrayed it in paintings, poems, photographs and in song, and today I’m going to share about some of the more interesting lyrical portrayals I stumbled across during my book research.
Whilst trying to capture American life in prose, I looked at how others had portrayed it in paintings, poems, photographs and in song, and today I’m going to share about some of the more interesting lyrical portrayals I stumbled across during my book research.
Most people are familiar with songs like American Pie, Tom’s Diner and California Girls, but my quest here is to introduce you to some songs about the States you might not have listened to, starting with Marina and the Diamonds.
Marina’s song Hollywood, opens almost with a chant ‘American queen is the American dream’ and the first time I heard this record, I immediately knew it was going to encapsulate my ongoing thrall for the land of the free. I have since listened to this song countless times, probably because I too am ‘obsessed with the mess that’s Americaaaa.’ This song, to me, depicts the flashy ideas we have about American life and cleverly contrasts them with more mundane realities. Objectively, many of us admiring America from afar recognize that Hollywood glitz is just a surface sheen, but it doesn’t stop us being seduced by the sparkle.
Moving to more every day depictions of American life, it’s difficult to top Wichita Lineman, written by Jimmy Webb and performed by Glen Campbell. Anyone interested in sixties music will know this classic but as time passes it’s easy for even beautifully meandering instrumentals such as these to be forgotten. Webb, who wrote the song, has spoken on several occasions about the fact that it is about an average, every man working in America. A man who is easy to judge and sum as far as the outside world is concerned but the truth is, you never really know what is going on inside such a person. This idea turned out to be a dominant theme in my Starlight Diner novels – whether they’re a waitress, a rising Hollywood star or a reporter for the local paper, you never know what a person’s story is, until they tell it for themselves.
Dreams are also a big concept associated with American culture, thanks in part to ‘The American Dream’ and the aforementioned gloss of Hollywood. East River Lovers performed by the obscure, New York-based band Culver Street Playground is an echo of The American Dream concept. The song lyrics ‘Everybody’s got to dream’ indicates that dreaming is not a luxury but a need, or compulsion. Something that in order to live to the best of our potential we must harness, and on this point I agree.
In addition to feelings of admiration and enchantment however, America is a country that has also spurred some disillusion from artists. In 1975, when the country was approaching its bicentennial, Chicago-based rock band Styx wrote a song called Suite Madame Blue which conveys a certain sorrow about the direction in which the country is heading. The Vietnam War was only just coming to an end and American culture was more obsessed with commercialism than ever before, it’s not surprising that some people felt a disappointment about what had become of the nation’s lofty aspirations. The Madame Blue of the title is thought to be the Statue of Liberty. The lyrics: ‘Suite Madame Blue, gaze in your looking glass, you’re not a child anymore,’ are particularly moving and poignant if you hold this idea in your mind whilst listening to the song. For many, the Statue of Liberty was the first visible emblem of the new life they hoped for when they made the crossing to America. It’s a difficult truth to grapple with that all the hopes that statue symbolises feel, to some, impossible to realise.
Native American history is part of American culture that tends to be less talked about. I’ve recently begun reading Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and given what I’ve read so far I understand why. It’s a harrowing read and it’s no wonder that modern-day Americans might find it difficult to face the genocide that occurred on the land they now live on all those years ago. Though this story has undoubtedly been repressed, it has not been altogether forgotten. Many poets, artists and songwriters still remind us of the history, including Tori Amos.
Amos has Cherokee heritage and this heritage comes to the fore in her song Wild Way. When interviewed in Uncut Magazine about the record she commented: 'Wild Way' explores how violent, manipulative men will fetish women as they use them, just as pilgrims fetished Indians while they were committing genocide. And society hasn't really confronted either."
America continues to fascinate and inspire. It’s such a vast country, woven with such intricate threads. As the dominant power in the Western world, I’ve no doubt its legacy in art, literature and song will be enduring. It inspired me, and I won’t be the last.
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Author Bio
Helen Cox is a book-devouring, photo-taking, film-obsessed novelist. If forced to choose one, Helen’s Mastermind specialism would be Grease 2. To this day, she still adheres to the Pink Lady pledge and when somebody asks her if she is a god she says ‘yes.’
After completing her MA in creative writing at the University of York St. John Helen found work writing for a range of magazines, websites and blogs as well as writing news and features for TV and radio. She has written three non-fiction books and founded independent film publication: New Empress Magazine. She currently lives in York and writes novels.
After completing her MA in creative writing at the University of York St. John Helen found work writing for a range of magazines, websites and blogs as well as writing news and features for TV and radio. She has written three non-fiction books and founded independent film publication: New Empress Magazine. She currently lives in York and writes novels.
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/helenography/
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Giveaway
Win a signed proof copy of book 1 – Milkshakes and Heartbreaks - Open Internationally.
Sign up to Helen Cox’s mailing list before 1st December in order to be in with a chance of winning –
As a thank you to signing up to the mailing list you will receive three short stories too.
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Happy Reading !!
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