The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Cameron was first published in 1954, and it’s a truly odd and lovely book. So when I was looking for books that would interest Harriet, the science-loving protagonist of my 1950s coming-of-age romance novella Tomboy, it naturally came to mind. … Read more
Decades before it became socially acceptable in the United States for women to wear pants anytime they liked, movie star Katharine Hepburn was doing it on-screen and off. She was also known for playing career women who refused to give up on their ambitions to please the men in their lives. So it’s only natural that Harriet, the narrator of my 1950s coming-of-age romance novella Tomboy, thinks of Hepburn every time a woman bends gender roles. … Read more
While researching my 1950s coming-of-age romance novella Tomboy, I was delighted to come across a long-forgotten, budget-conscious teen fad from that era: dog-collar anklets. … Read more
Harriet, the narrator of my coming-of-age romance novella Tomboy, never explicitly states where she grew up in the United States, but she drops some clues. Probably the biggest one is when she mentions her fellow classmates going back-to-school shopping at Wanamaker’s. … Read more
In the first scene of my 1950s coming-of-age romance novella Tomboy, Harriet Little is at school for her first day of fourth grade. It’s 1951, and they start out the day by saying the Pledge of Allegiance. The pledge recited by school children back then differed from the one Americans use today. It had two fewer words. Do you know what they were? … Read more
A charm bracelet plays a significant role in my 1950s coming-of-age romance Tomboy. My main character, Harriet, wears one throughout the decade, adding new trinkets and switching some out as her life changes. … Read more
You probably think of rock ‘n’ roll when you think of the 1950s. But a lot was going on in other genres as well, including Ella Fitzgerald’s growing popularity as a jazz singer. In this post, you can listen to three of her songs that I reference in my 1950s novella Tomboy. … Read more
When I was writing my 1950s coming-of-age romance novella Tomboy, which is being released today by NineStar Press, I had to pay special attention to language. The words we use tend to change over time, and nothing illustrates this better than the fluctuating popularity of “blue jeans” versus “dungarees.” … Read more
In my 1950s coming-of-age romance novella Tomboy, crushes on movie and television stars a major factor in Harriet’s sexual awakening. One of those crushes is Amanda Blake, who played saloon owner Miss Kitty on the Western television series Gunsmoke. Read all about Gunsmoke and how it broke new ground in entertainment in this post.
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This week’s Rainbow Snippet takes place right at the beginning of Harriet’s school year in 1951, the year the Federal Civil Defense Administration was set up to teach Americans ways to survive atomic attacks. One popular survival tactic was “duck and cover,” which began to be taught widely in schools. … Read more