What will happen to the old Marshall Field's?

Holy cats! Is my dear old workplace, Chicago's great Marshall Field's store, going to become unrecognizable soon? Or worse (gasp), perhaps disappear forever?

I realize you 21st-century moderns turned Marshall Field's into that other word that starts with M, Macy's, even though it will always be Field's to those of us who love it. But now it appears even Macy's is closing a jillion stores. What gives, people? Do I have to come up there to your century and straighten things out?

I'm heading up to stare at the Tiffany dome for a while and collect my wits. You coming? 

Marjorie
XXXOOO

Yoga Talk

Jennifer posted about your 21st-century craze of women wearing yoga pants in public. I just want her to know that we in the 1920s also have yoga pants. So once again, we're way ahead of you. Wearing them to the grocery store, however, would likely get one arrested for indecent exposure. Which perhaps, as Jennifer notes, is as it should be.

The young and attractive Swami Vivekanada made quite an impression when he came to the Parliament of Religions here in Chicago back in 1893. That's apparently when the practice of yoga arrived on U.S. shores. He was followed by the tremendously popular Paramahansa Yogananda in 1920. Many people are wild for "orientalism" here in the early 20th century, so they're ready to twist themselves into knots. 

I'm not one of them. I think I'll stick with ballet, or maybe the briefest sojourn into Isadora Duncan territory. Nothing too outrageous, though. I'll leave that crazy stuff to my best friend and roommate, Dot. 

XOXO,
Marjorie

Catching our breath!

What a whirlwind the last couple months have been! 

As you know, our book launched in mid-September. We had a lovely 1920s-themed launch party at a local coffee shop. Lots of Jennifer's friends came out to help us celebrate, and of course now they're my friends, too. There was plenty of danceable music from my era playing from a box that was something like a Victrola, but smaller and with

I selected Jennifer's outfit for the party. What do you think?

shiny silver disks. It played catchy tunes like "Charleston" and "Ain't She Sweet" and "Black Bottom," and but, as usual for the 21st century, nobody danced. What is wrong with people these days? I couldn't keep my feet still!

Right before the book launch, we took an automobile trip across the United States from Florida to Idaho with Jennifer's friend Tracy. In the 1920s "Tracy" is usually a gentleman's name, but in the 21st century I find it's frequently applied to girls. I like Tracy very much and she seems to like me, too. My favorite part of the trip was

spending a few days at Pensacola, where we sat on the beach and watched the moon rise. Jennifer and Tracy kept remarking on the heat and saying they wished the cooling mechanism in the car hadn't broken, but I didn't quite understand what they were talking about. I mean, who would ever expect to push a button and cause cool air to pour forth in a hot car in the middle of a Florida September? Frankly, that sounds like something out of Jules Verne. I think the heat must have gone to their heads and made them temporarily delusional. I, on the other hand, was supremely comfortable, having selected an appropriately cool cotton traveling frock and shaded sun hat. Discomfort can be avoided with just a little foresight and planning.

Here in the 1920s, Florida is enjoying a great land boom (some are calling it a "bubble"). The railroads are promoting the state as a vacation paradise, the "American Riviera." There's lots of new construction going on, and brand-new highways from major northern cities like New York and Chicago are making it easier for people to drive down there to escape the winter. Towns like Miami and Boca Raton are booming. Of course, some people have lost their shirts on land deals gone bad, and a few doom-and-gloomers are predicting that the boom won't last. I guess time will tell.

Thank you for stopping by!
Toodles,
Marjorie

That swoony fellow in Menswear...

So...his name is Peter, he works in The Store for Men at Marshall Field's. Here's what I've been able to ferret out so far. He's new at the company, and he came from New York and worked at Macy's or Gimbel's or one of those places. And I see him too often talking to that slinky redhead from Fine Jewelry. I may sneak over to Menswear on my lunch break and see what he's up to.

The thing is, he looks exactly like somebody I used to know. Trouble is, that somebody is supposed to be dead--struck down on a battlefield in France, not selling neckties and cufflinks at Marshall Field's. So it can't be the same person. Can it?

Read the story and find out.

Now available for pre-order: You're the Cream in My Coffee!

He-e-e-ere we go! Our novel is now available for pre-order on Amazon! (A flattering image of me on the cover, n'est-ce pas? Too bad I have absolutely no memory of when it was taken...) Hop on over and order yours. Then it will automatically be delivered to you on September 15, without your having to think about it again.

A lovely author friend named Susie Finkbeiner (author of A Cup of Dust) wrote:

Every single inch of this novel is delightful. From the start Marjorie Corrigan felt like a friend, one I was glad to see each time I returned to her story. With charming characters and a plot that keeps moving, this is a novel you don't want to miss. Jennifer Lamont Leo is a fresh voice in Christian fiction. I can't wait to read more of her work.

And another lovely author friend named Sarah Sundin (author of Anchor in the Storm) wrote:

The cat¹s pajamas! Rich in jazzy details of 1920s Chicago, You¹re the Cream in My Coffee is a sparkling debut novel. With an adventurous heroine, intriguing side characters, and a thought-provoking message, this story will keep you riveted. Jennifer Lamont Leo is a name to watch in historical fiction!

Be sure to check out Susie's and Sarah's books as well! They write inspirational historical fiction, just like Jennifer does. 

Love,
Marjorie
xoxoxo

10 Little-Known Facts About Me

I'm taking a fun challenge posed by my author to tell you 10 things about myself. Even though she wrote a whole novel about me (revealing some of my most cringe-worthy moments, naturally), there are some other things you might be interested to know. Some of them made it into You're the Cream in My Coffee, and some didn't.

Me as a nursing student. 

1. In an early version of the novel, I was a nursing student instead of a clerk at Marshall Field & Co. From my point of view, the nursing profession was interesting, but I didn't fare all that well around blood (in the photo at left, I look like I'm posing winsomely, but I'm actually holding myself up lest I faint). Plus, Field's offers a clothing discount. So that was a change I could live with.

2. I met my boyfriend Richard one day when my sister Helen fell while roller-skating and cut her lip. He was the doctor on call at Kerryville General. Helen got stitches, and I got a date.

3. When I was a girl, I had a huge crush on my older brother's best friend, Jack, and he liked me back. I never really got over it when he was killed in the Great War.

4. My stepmother, Frances, and I don't always get along. But I must admit, she makes the best caramel cake in town.

Frances's caramel cake--yum!

5. Sometimes when my roommate, Dot, is at work, I try on her hats. She has dozens, which makes sense, since she works in the Millinery department at Field's. I'd try on her evening gowns, too, but unfortunately I can't squeeze into them.
6. When I was growing up, two of my sewing projects won blue ribbons in the county fair. I used to dream about becoming a great dress designer like Coco Chanel.
7. Unlike Dot, who moonlights as a cabaret singer, I can't carry a tune in a bucket.
8. Helen is dying to get her hair bobbed in the latest fashion, but Frances is making her wait. Outwardly I support Helen, but secretly I hope she keeps her blond braids for as long as possible. I will miss them when they go.
9. When things are slow in Ladies' Nightwear, I sometimes read magazines in the stockroom. One time when Mrs. Cross caught me perusing a copy of Photoplay, I told her I was researching fashion trends of movie

Lupe Velez. Lounging pajamas.

stars. This was a stretch, but there was one photo of Lupe Velez wearing lounging pajamas that were later copied by Field's and sold in Ladies' Nightwear, so it wasn't a complete lie.
10. I can't swim. But I look awfully cute in my bathing costume.

All right, I've spilled my secrets (at least some of them)...now you should, too. What's one thing that nobody knows about you?

xoxo
Marjorie

It's coming!

Our novel is coming out in a little over two months! Here's what the publisher says about it:

In 1928, Chicago rocks to the rhythm of the Jazz Age, and Prohibition's in full swing. Small-town girl Marjorie Corrigan [that's me!], visiting the city for the first time, has sworn that coffee's the strongest thing that will pass her lips. But her quiet, orderly life turns topsy-turvy when she spots her high school sweetheart--presumed killed in the Great War--alive and well in a train station. Suddenly everything seems up for grabs.

Although the stranger insists he's not who she thinks he is, Marjorie becomes obsessed with finding out the truth. To the dismay of her fiance and family, she moves to the city and takes a job at a department store so she can spy on him. Meanwhile, the glittering world of her roommate, Dot, begins to look awfully enticing--especially when the object of her obsession seems to be part of that world. Is it really that terrible to bob her hair and shorten her skirt? To visit a speakeasy? Just for coffee, of course.

But what about her scruples? What about the successful young doctor to whom she's engaged, who keeps begging her to come back home where she belongs? And what, exactly, is going on at the store's loading dock so late at night?

Amid a whirlwind of trials and temptations, Marjorie must make a choice. Will the mystery man prove to be the cream in her coffee--the missing ingredient to the life she years for? Or will he leave only bitterness in her heart? [Well, I'm certainly not going to spill the beans. You'll just have to read the book and find out!]

Join the Cream Team! I'm told that the purpose of the Cream Team is to help launch the novel into the reader-sphere by reading a pre-pub PDF edition, reviewing it on Amazon and/or Goodreads, recommending it to others, talking it up on social media, and (last but certainly not least) praying for the project and its author. :) [Here in the 1920s, I don't know what all those strange terms mean--PDF? social media? But it all sounds impressive, doesn't it?]In return you get Jennifer's undying gratitude (and mine), plus some nifty bonuses and prizes along the way, including 2 copies of the print edition to keep or share with friends.

If you'd like to join the Cream Team, mail an electronic message to Jennifer at jenny@jenniferlamontleo.com Apparently this is the 21st-century equivalent of dialing her up on the telephone.

XOXOXO
Marjorie