Blogging from A to Z: O is for Opéra Garnier

I’m reblogging this 2017 post about the Opéra Garnier, which includes photographs from my visit. The opera house is the setting for most of In The Eye of The Beholder.

Sharon E. Cathcart

If you read any of my Seen Through the Phantom’s Eyes series, the importance of the Palais Garnier, also known as the Opéra Garnier is obvious.

Construction on the Palais Garnier was begun in 1861 and opened in 1875.  The architect, Charles Garnier, was a young man who won a competition, from a field of 170; Napoleon III had a vision for redesigning the city by widening the streets and creating a new “look” for the City of Light, and this was part of it.  Garnier’s opulent design reflected the Second Empire Beaux-Arts style, and presented ample opportunities to see and be seen.  At this time in history, people did not go the the opera to look at the show, but to look at one another; the house lights were not even dimmed during the performance.  Until 1881, when electricity was installed, the theatre used gaslight.

The auditorium itself is…

View original post 108 more words

Advertisements

Blogging from A to Z: K is for Kissing

Call it cheating if you want to; I am all too pleased to recycle this post. Honestly, this scene with Erik and Claire’s first kiss is one of my favorite parts of In The Eye of The Beholder

Sharon E. Cathcart

I looked down at my gloved hands, twisting in my lap. “I kissed him before they took him away, Erik. That was the last touch of a man’s lips that I felt, still warm because he hadn’t been gone for long. After that, my cousin François sold the house in Baincthun. He sold my jewels and my books. He sold everything but Josephine and my clothes. He made me come with him and his riding troupe, because my father had appointed him as my guardian unless and until I married. He still controls the income from the allowance my father left me; I see none of it.”

I looked up at him. “That is all.”

“Claire, I have known only one woman’s kiss, and that one was quite … reluctant. If what I ask of you now is refused, I will understand. Please, Claire. I want you to feel a…

View original post 214 more words

Reblogging: Yesterday at the Lorraine Motel

Fifty-one years ago today, Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated on a balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. We need to remain mindful that the civil rights struggle continues.

Sharon E. Cathcart

As you’ve gathered, I’m in Memphis this week.  I’ve been doing research for the new short fiction collection, the working title of which is Bayou NonStandard Time (that is definitely going to change).

Anyway, itineraries have changed on the fly more than once during this trip, with things shifting in and out of priority and sometimes off the list altogether depending on circumstances, weather, and more.

Yesterday afternoon, I shifted priorities once again and visited the National Civil Rights Museum.  It’s located at the Lorraine Motel, 450 Mulberry Street.

Does that location ring any bells with you?  Perhaps it should.

It’s where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated by James Earl Ray on April 4, 1968.

So.  I drove from downtown Memphis, which is pretty nice and thriving (despite the fact that Greater Memphis has the worst poverty rate in the nation, at nearly 20 percent), to the…

View original post 436 more words

Facts from My Fiction: Executive Order 9066

Signed on this day in 1942.

Sharon E. Cathcart

Instructions Based on Executive Order 9066

This is probably going to be one of the hardest posts I’ve ever written.  Not because the content is difficult to understand, mind you, but because it’s very personal.  Over the course of this post, you’ll find out why.

Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was the reason that Japanese-American citizens like actor-activist George Takei and his family were taken to live in concentration camps.  Before the camps were built, many Japanese-Americans had to live in the stables at race tracks.  One of them, Tanforan (which is now a shopping center), is only 45 minutes from where I live.

I worked with a man named Jan Kurahara who was an internee.  Jan was also one of the nisei, Japanese-Americans who joined the Army to prove their loyalty to the country.  Before he passed at age 91, Jan wrote a book…

View original post 334 more words

Frequently Asked Question: What are five objects we’d find in your writing space?

This question comes from the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, and will be the last one for 2018.

1. One of the cats. Seriously, they like to “help.” At the moment, it’s Gracey; she’s a lavender point snowshoe Siamese, and is the most mischievous of our feline family members.

2. My bulletin board. It’s always covered in reference ephemera from my most recent research trip, so I can grab what I need if I want to double-check something.

3. Model horses. I have a huge collection, and most of the display shelves are in my office.

4. A soda. I don’t drink coffee (I know, it’s a shocking thing to confess). My favorite sodas are regular Coke, Vanilla Coke, and Dr. Pepper.

5. My diploma from the Defense Information School. I graduated from Public Affairs Officer Course 4-90, with honors. The first 16 years of my “day job” career were with the Dept. of the Army as a civilian, and it was during that time that I wrote my first book. Born of War … Dedicated to Peace is available via Scribd.