Fact and fiction Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Shelley Blanton-Stroud

Queen of Mean: Hedda Hopper

Shelley Admin2022-09-20T16:54:22+00:00#amwriting, Catriona McPherson, COLUMNIST, Copy Boy, Fact and fiction, Flyboy, Gossip, historical fiction, Interview, Mystery Review Crew, Research, Stories on Stage Sacramento|

Researching the third Jane Benjamin Novel (Flyboy, November 2023) had me reading quite a bit about 1940s gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. [...]

Who gets to tell the story

Shelley Admin2022-09-05T14:56:19+00:00#amwriting, Fact and fiction, History, Rosie the riveter|

I first learned about Betty Reid Soskin (above, in a photograph by Frederic Aranda for National Geographic Traveler) while visiting the [...]

Difficult? Horrible? Badass?

Shelley Admin2022-08-26T22:53:47+00:00#amwriting, audience, AUTHOR, Book Event, Catriona McPherson, Fact and fiction, feminist, Gossip, historical fiction, historical thriller, Interview, Tomboy|

Talking about Tomboy with very good friends. For the past three years I've co-directed Stories on Stage Sacramento with author Dorothy [...]

Inspired by Herb Caen

Shelley Admin2022-12-01T18:25:50+00:00AUTHOR, COLUMNIST, Copy Boy, Fact and fiction, Gossip, Herb Caen, historical fiction, origin story, Research, San Francisco, Tomboy|

I love this Jerald Silva painting of Sacramento literary luminaries featuring authors Cornel West, Joan Didion, Ann Bannon, Ernesto Galarza, [...]

Book release party at Bogle Winery

Shelley Admin2022-06-03T22:06:01+00:00AUTHOR, Book Event, Book signing, Copy Boy, Dust Bowl, Fact and fiction, FAMILY, historical fiction, Launch, Publishing, Tomboy|

Tuesday, June 28, 2022, 6:30-8:30 Pacific. You're invited to help me celebrate TOMBOY’s publication day at Bogle Winery with wine and heavy [...]

Start Jane Benjamin’s adventure with Copy Boy–free upload

Shelley Admin2022-03-02T19:27:48+00:00AUTHOR, Copy Boy, Dust Bowl, Fact and fiction, FAMILY, feminist, feminist noir, FREE, Giveaway, historical fiction, historical thriller, Noir, Publishing|

I loved Mona's cranky, disgruntled humor in Elizabeth Gonzalez James's debut novel, MONA AT SEA. That's why I was so [...]

Mustn’t let adults know

Shelley Admin2022-01-27T21:51:00+00:00AUTHOR, banned books, Fact and fiction, FAMILY, History, Justice|

I used to run The Banned Book Club for teenagers. We only read books that had been banned by libraries [...]

Cantankerous and fussy

Shelley Admin2022-01-18T18:25:24+00:00AUTHOR, Copy Boy, Fact and fiction, feminist, Grit, historical fiction, historical thriller, History|

I wrote Copy Boy, my first of the Jane Benjamin novels, in ten years, dipping in and out of the [...]

Interviews are dangerous

Shelley Admin2022-01-18T18:27:28+00:00audience, AUTHOR, Copy Boy, Craft, Dust Bowl, Fact and fiction, FAMILY, historical thriller, Interview|

It's like I'm a sophomore. It's fascinating to me how a person can turn sixty and still feel, well, sophomoric. To [...]

The passing of Joan Didion

Shelley Admin2022-01-18T18:29:12+00:00AUTHOR, COLUMNIST, Craft, Fact and fiction, FAMILY, History, Joan Didion|

Sacramento-born author, Joan Didion, who passed away over the holidays, had an outsized effect on me, especially this idea from [...]

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