A Real Atmospheric Theater
The proscenium arch of the theater. See the stars?
In my latest Mirror Lake small-town romance that released this week, This Loving Feeling, there is a fabulous old theater from the 1920’s that’s in need of restoration. It’s a big, splendid “Movie Palace” from the 1920’s, and it’s modeled after one in my very own hometown.
Better view of the stars and carvings.
This theater, smack in the middle of Main Street, is spectacular! It’s built to look like a Moorish Castle, complete with intricate plasterwork, European antiques and alabaster sculptures. The grand staircase is modeled after one in a French opera house. If you love old historic things and you’re ever in Akron, Ohio, go on the backstage tour! It’s a feast for the eyes…and heart.
The feature about this theater that most captured my imagination
was its ceiling–called an “atmospheric theater,” it’s one of 16 designed by famed theater architect John Eberson in the 1920’s. Only 5 of these remarkable ceilings survive today: the entire theater has an overhead dome covered with fiberoptic stars and clouds that lazily drift by. You can literally spend the entire time you’re there staring up at the gorgeous “sky” which creates the illusion of being outdoors in a Moorish garden on a clear, starry night. Completely awesome!
Very romantic, yes? Well, I did take advantage of that in my book, but I’m not going to tell you how. You’ll have to read it to find out 🙂
Loretta the macaw.
For most of my life as a mom, the theater was home to my daughters’ yearly dance recitals. Big events came there, like the Nutcracker at Christmas and intriguing speakers like David Sedaris. Today, it continues to be a community anchor, home of many wonderful events–musicals, bands, workshops, etc. My city does indeed think of it as “The Jewel on Main Street,” which is how Marcus Loew, (the founder of Loew’s theaters and the one who opened it) referred to it.
Loretta lives on in the carpet. See the feathers?
My photos are paltry compared to the ones in this article, which tells amusing anecdotes and interesting history about the theater, like about Loretta the ornery macaw, who lives on in taxidermy and in the fantastic pattern on the carpet.
I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed researching this theater. I hope these pics give you a better idea of what a gem it is and how proud my city is to be home to this gorgeous building!
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For more about This Loving Feeling, visit the Harlequin Junkie blog, where this past week I did a fun in-depth interview with excerpts.
Want more news and updates about giveaways? I hang out frequently at my Facebook author page or on Twitter. Thanks for stopping and see you around!
Antiquing
On a recent rainy day, I went to the antique mall with my daughter who just graduated college, looking for some bargains for when she will soon move into a tiny one-room apartment for grad school. I love antiques because they remind me of my childhood. But I realized my daughter doesn’t know the history of some of that stuff, so it was a fun opportunity to share some of those long-gone things–and memories–with her. Here’s my walk down memory lane…see if you share some of them…
Remember when yellow smiley faces were everywhere? They still make me smile.
I swear I had this exact same puppy! My daughter described it as “creepy” (thanks, dear). But I recall mine as being significantly more beat-up looking and possibly a bit chewed around the ear, clearly signs of toddler love. Then I suddenly remembered something–it squeaked! Sure enough, I picked it up and…wala! Squeaky puppy, yep.
I love when people take old jewelry and make art out of it. 
This desk (below, right) would fill my daughter’s entire apartment. But I told her I needed it. This desk is a writer’s dream. Maybe it was fashioned for a duke, like one that sits behind his mahogany desk and glares across at a young fop in a Regency novel. Or is that (probably) the wrong time period? Then maybe a gothic lord banging on it, demanding his ale? (No, not that time period either.) But anyway, sitting behind this desk would make me feel manly, big, and powerful. All pluses when you’re struggling to pound out a story. I’ll take the gorgeous oriental rug it’s happening to sit on too! Load it up, boys!
I don’t even want to know what this animal is (below, left) or why people used to wear it around their necks.
Sconce, anyone? Ew, is that a real deer leg? Enough said about that!
My daughter found a framed pic for $6 which she bought, otherwise we went home empty handed but greatly amused. And she discovered a new love for Fiestaware. A great afternoon!
This week (and until July 19), please visit my Author Facebook page and take a chance on the big giveaway my Montlake Romance sister Sandra Owens and I are doing together to celebrate our upcoming joint release days. We’re doing some flash giveaways in between, too, and all you have to do is comment for a chance to win!
Summer of Champions
Needs no caption! So awesome.
This week, those of us who live in Northeast Ohio are still reeling with ecstasy from the fact that the Cavs brought home the NBA championship. And brought home they did! Three times the population of Cleveland showed up downtown for the victory parade. My daughter got close enough to take this pic of LeBron. Pretty cool, huh?
When James first decided to return home from the Miami Heat, he said something that resonated greatly with all of us here in Northeast Ohio. As many of you know, we’re sometimes referred to as the “Rust Belt” or even more derogatorily, “The Mistake by the Lake.” Which made his words resonate even more. He said, “In Northeast Ohio, nothing is given. Everything is earned. You work for what you have.”
I’ve thought of that often this week, as the Cavs came back from an underdog position to do the impossible–Records were meant to be broken, I heard LeBron say on TV this week. His words to me depict the underlying optimism, toughness, and resilience of the people of our region, i.e., we don’t give up easily–on anything!
My screened porch, where I love to sit and write. Piece of heaven!
So we are in high summer now, the days are warm and long and sunny–such a difference from our weather here the rest of the year, which is highly governed by cloud cover coming from Lake Erie. Every afternoon I walk outside my kitchen door and spend some time sitting in my backyard, staring at my grill cover :)–not the best view, but it’s a private place, with a line of trees between us and our neighbors, and very sunny, and I love it! And as I sit there in the sun, I think, wow, it’s sunny. It’s warm. I can’t believe it. This is awesome!
What I think I’m trying to say is, we Northeastern Ohioans don’t take anything for granted. NBA championships or summertime. We’re used to various degrees of suffering. That’s what makes the victory–and these gorgeous summer days–so sweet.
Summer, NBA championships, and life–they’re all fleeting. And so we have to embrace every minute of them! Hope you’re appreciating every minute of your summer!
***More summertime fun!: my friend and fellow Montlake author Sandra Owens and I are planning a BIG giveaway you won’t want to miss and we’re announcing it this coming week–on Friday, July 1–on both our author Facebook pages, Sandy’s here and mine here. Watch our pages carefully in the weeks leading up to our joint release days, July 19, for fun and giveaways!***
***Stop by the Harlequin Junkie blog on Monday as I do a guest post all about my recent Entangled release. I had a lot of fun with this post, stop by to say hi and join the giveaway!***
Summer of Cicadas
I took this lovely pic in our nearby park. Note the big bulgy red eyes!
**I have a book releasing in a few days. Check out my author page here for giveaways, info about an Entangled Facebook party, and blog tour stops, all happening this upcoming week! My newsletter with giveaways comes out on Monday so be sure to sign up!**
I just completed a cross-country mini-odyssey driving with my oldest daughter from Ohio to Florida for her summer internship so she could have a car with her.
The thing that struck us about the trip, which was mostly just miles and miles of highway surrounded by countryside, was the cicadas.
Ohio, PA, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and NY are privy this year to the 17-year emergence of these insects from their usual home in the ground. They invade the trees, mate, and make a LOT of noise–well, at least the males do. I’ve heard that by July, they’ll be back in the ground. (And I’m excited for that, because besides being loud and sort of creepy, this infestation reminds me of a sort of biblical plague.)
At home, as I drive my usual route to the grocery store, it’s not uncommon to see them flying around the road, in the trees, and around my car. They make an ungodly noise that sounds to me like a high-pitched car alarm. One website advises not to put a cicada near your ear (like I’d do that!) because the noise can damage your hearing!
Apparently, there are “Broods” of cicadas. Some areas have the 13-year broods and we have the 17. Apparently every 221 years it’s a double treat, and you get both the broods emerging at once. (I haven’t been able to figure out from the web when this blessed event will occur, but truthfully, I don’t really want to know if it’s in my lifetime :))
I learned that some cicada individuals get confused and emerge a year early or a year later than they’re supposed to. “Tardy” and “Overly Punctual” varieties, maybe?
As my daughter and I drove through Ohio and West Virginia, we could hear groups of them singing loudly in the trees. It was weird to hear clusters of this noise doing the Doppler effect as we drove along. We could see them flying around in the trees (because they’re big–around 2 inches long each) and a good dozen smacked into our windshield, while many more flew past our car.
Creepy. But very memorable.
It was great fun spending time with my grown daughter as she looked forward with excitement and anxiety to her summer adventure. Fun to have a good amount of time with her now that she is off being an adult and not home very much.
The best part was, when we finally got to Florida, it was hot as you-know-what, but…no cicadas!
A Man of Honor on Pinterest
Hi Folks! This week I spent some time discovering Pinterest…addictive, yes? I made a board for my upcoming Entangled book, A Man of Honor, which releases in a little over a week–on June 20
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If you want to check it out, it’s right here: https://www.pinterest.com/mirandaliasson/a-man-of-honor/
I usually don’t like it so much when authors show pictures of who their inspiration is for their hero. I guess I like to picture the hero in my own mind. But I realized something I didn’t even know about my own hero–that he looks a lot in my own mind like Channing Tatum! And once I found the pictures…I had to post them! Love that man 🙂
Anyway, I tried to put up some fun images of what this book is about to me…Cat’s kindergarten classroom is a colorful, fun image. In the book I poke a little fun at the colorful, stimulating artwork that often abounds in kindergarten classrooms…
And of course Preston is not above rescuing a neglected cat named Dirty Harry. Except when Cat asks what the cat’s name is, he only says Harry, thinking that at least one of them should have a chance with her. Except they both discover a surprise about the cat…
Preston, a war hero, returns with a serious leg injury, but he’s not above having a competitive athletic spirit when it comes to canoe racing. Here’s a little exchange between Preston and his rival for Cat’s affection, Brady. They are all part of Cat’s sister’s wedding party, and they’re at the lake for the day:
“So, Cat, how’s the maid of honor? All your duties fulfilled? Because if they are, maybe you’d like to go for a walk with me?” Then he turned to Preston “Pres, you wouldn’t mind if we went for a little walk together, would you? A few of us are going to have a little race later. We can walk down and see my canoe.”
Right. He was going to show her his canoe. Now he’d heard everything.
Over his dead body.
“You could come, too, Preston,” Brady said, then released an exaggerated sigh. “Oh, sorry. I forgot. I wouldn’t want to do anything to aggravate your injury.” His gaze lingered on Preston’s bum leg.
“I assure you, Brady, there’s nothing wrong with my upper body strength.” Preston couldn’t resist flexing his pecs a little. “I’d be happy to take part in a little friendly athletic competition.”
“You mean like chess, Trivial Pursuit? Those might be safer options.”
Preston grinned widely. “Funny. Where do you race to?”
“From the dock on this side across the lake and back. There’s a couple canoes down there we can use.”
“I’m up for it. Unless you’re a little frightened of some real competition. I mean, I wouldn’t want to embarrass you.”
Brady grinned. “You’re on.”
Hope you enjoy the visuals on Pinterest. As I make more teasers, I’m going to add them up there. You can check out more on A Man of Honor on the Entangled website here.
**Also I’ll be taking part in a Facebook party on Tuesday evening, June 21st featuring Indulgence authors who have released books in April, May, and June of this year. Check my Facebook author page for more details to come at https://www.facebook.com/MirandaLiassonAuthor/