PRINT DAY!1

THE SECOND MRS. LONDON went to print today! It will be live on Amazon by the end of the week. The order went in for the hardcover--that could be anywhere from a week to three. I will launch the book the beginning of May in Pacific Grove, California with a presentation of the novel's history, a reading, by opening (and sharing) a bottle of Cabernet Sauvingnon created from grapes Jack London planted. It was a gift from his grandnephew. Stay tuned for details.

In print! It does not seem real after all these years. I began it with a newspaper column on Charmian's clothes in her private appartment in "The House of Happy Walls" at Jack London State Park in Glen Ellen, California. I approached the park ranger about the collection and explained about my weekly by-lined column in a Bay Area daily. He took me to a hidden door that led to Charmian's apartment. I must admit, as a former English teacher who had taught Jack London's short stories, I had never heard of Charmian London before that moment.

At the top of a short staircase with a hard right turn, the ranger, Greg Hayes, asked me to close my eyes and to place my hand on the wall at my right. I felt something incredibly soft, yet could not identify it. There was no tactile sense of identification. When I opened my eyes, I was touching a red suede jacket--Charmian's hunting jacket--the one she is wearing on the cover of my novel. It became a symbol of the woman I came to "know": soft, pliable, tough and resiliant.

I wrote about her in my next newspaper column. It's focus was on fibers and textiles. I wrote about the amazing red jacket. I wrote of her beautiful wardrobe of custom made dresses, many with matching coats, hats and shoes. I wrote of her silk charmeuse hand-made undergarments--satin on the skin side--that she commissioned in France when she travelled to collect Jack's royalties. The French government froze exit of any monies after WWl. Charmian collected the royalties in francs and spent them on clothes--especially undergarments made in convents by French nuns.

And so the adventure began. It led me on horseback along the forests and creeks the Londons enjoyed on their "Beauty Ranch. It led to treks in the Hawaiian Islands to experience the leper colony at Kalaupapa. It led to the house where Charmian and Jack stayed in Hilo. And, it led to people of all walks of life. Some knew Jack. Several knew Charmian. I met his daughter, Becky and his grandaughter.

Now the adventure continues... Read The Second Mrs. London and share the inside stories.

Always.

Marlo