During the Great Depression era United States reached record highs of great depression unemployment.

My wife and I recently attended a James Taylor concert. It was a shared experience of baby-boomers that left me with some thoughts about getting older.

A retelling of Hamlet in LA. Now, when you hear these words, do you get as excited and curious as I do? Today I have a special treat for y'all: Latifah Salom is here to explain the inspiration for her debut novel, The Cake House. I am currently running a giveaway for The Cake House; and I would urge you to enter if you like reading Latifah's response here today.

Release Date: March 3, 2015

The Cake House - Latifah Salom | Goodreads

Part mystery, part compelling coming-of-age tale, The Cake House is a riveting debut novel that re-imagines the classic story of Hamlet amidst the hills of suburban Los Angeles.

Rosaura Douglas’s father shot himself after her mother left him . . . or at least that's the story everyone is telling. Now her mother has remarried and Rosie is trapped in “The Cake House,” a garish pink edifice in the hills of Los Angeles that's a far cry from the cramped apartment where she grew up. It’s also the house where her father died—a fact that everyone else who lives there, including her mother, Dahlia, and her mysteriously wealthy stepfather, Claude, want to forget.

Soon, however, her father’s ghost appears, sometimes in a dark window, sometimes in the house’s lush garden, but always with warnings that Claude is not to be trusted. And as the ghost becomes increasingly violent—and the secrets of her family’s past come to light—Rosie must finally face the truth behind the losses and lies that have torn her life apart.

The Cake House and Los Angeles

By Latifah Salom

What informs our choices when writing? What strange jumble of influences, the flotsam in our conscious or unconscious minds that leads a writer to chose not only plot and theme and genre, but also character traits, history, and of course, setting?

Like in chemistry, sometimes all you need is that right mixture of elements to start a chain reaction. Every writer starts somewhere – an idea, a theme, a small kernel of story, a line of text – whatever it is that sparks that impulse to sit down and start writing. For my novel THE CAKE HOUSE, it started with Hamlet. That was my base, stripped down to its bones: a murder, a ghost, heartbreak, revenge.

As I began writing, I asked the sort of questions most writers ask: What do I want to say with this story? Who are my characters and what are their wants and desires? Where do they live, and why?

I am fond of questions. The beauty of asking a question when writing is that it doesn’t always matter what the answer is, as long as you do answer it. Case in point: Why Los Angeles? Well, the quick and easy answer is I live in Los Angeles and grew up here. But, in truth, familiarity only goes so far.

I knew this story needed to be set in a real place and not in an imagined town or city, to balance against the heightened drama of the story and to give credence to the ghost.

Los Angeles is big and vast and even though there are actual city limits, the perception is that it stretches across Southern California like a blanket of smog, from ocean to desert. But even choosing Los Angeles, I was still faced with deciding where: Beverly Hills or Hollywood? Westside or the Valley?

When I was in junior high I knew someone who came from Canyon Country, a place that is actually located outside Los Angeles, and I remembered how she used to speak about it, like a far off kingdom. I wanted that sense of isolation, of loneliness and seclusion.

I called upon those years as a young girl, living outside of Los Angeles – the way the asphalt almost melted in the September, the way I felt surrounded by hills. These were the flavors I wanted for my novel.

As soon as I decided to write a story based on Hamlet, I turned my back on the play. I didn’t want to be overly influenced by it. It was there of course, but under the surface, like a ghost. There is universality to Shakespeare’ that make them infinitely adaptable to any culture or setting. This is like magic.

“The Cake House is a gem of a novel: a mystery wrapped in a cloak of family dysfunction with subtle Shakespearean trim. . . . Rosaura is a heroine with spunk and a vulnerability so endearing I missed her the second I closed the book. Salom has written a dazzling coming-of-age tale that will resonate long after you reach the end.” —Elizabeth Flock, New York Times bestselling author of Me & Emma and What Happened To My Sister

copyright: Shannon Keast

About the author:

Latifah Salom was born in Hollywood, California to parents of Peruvian and Mexican descent. As a teenager she attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, and she holds degrees from Emerson College, Hunter College, and from the University of Southern California’s Masters of Professional Writing program. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

What do you think? Does the Los Angeles setting sound fascinating to you or what? I particularly love how Latifah described "the way the asphalt almost melted in the September, the way I felt surrounded by hills" as flavors for her novel. As someone who grew up in Los Angeles, I can definitely identify with this sentiment. The Cake House and Los Angeles

I have something special for y'all today! A giveaway of The Cake House by Latifah Salom, a loose retelling of Hamlet in Los Angeles. Having lived in Los Angeles for the majority of my life and studied Hamlet in school for quite a bit, I naturally found myself really intrigued by Latifah Salom's debut. I can't wait to read it and I'm so happy to share the opportunity to win this book with you too.

THE CAKE HOUSE by Latifah Salom (being published as a Vintage Paperback Original on March 3): hailed by Janet Finch (White Oleander) as an “accomplished, mesmerizing debut,” THE CAKE HOUSE is a charged blend of coming-of-age and mystery.

[...]

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Title: It Happened at Christmas
Author: Debbie Mason
Publisher: Forever
Series: Christmas, Colorado #3
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: 5
Review:

"It Happened at Christmas" by Debbie Mason

Book Description...

"Christmas, Colorado, will get you in the spirit for love all year long." --- Jill Shalvis, New York Times bestselling author

Love is the best Christmas gift of all.

"Free-spirited activist Skylar Davis is out of money and out of options. After using up her trust fund trying to save the world, she hides out in Christmas, hoping the kindness of friends will help her forget the reckless actions of her past. All goes well . . . until she comes face-to-face with one of her mistakes: the town's gorgeous young mayor.

Ethan O'Connor likes his life drama-free and predictable now that he's about to make the move from small-town politics to the Colorado State Senate. Then Skye blows back into town, as impulsive and passionate as he remembers. If word ever got out about their night together-the night he's never been able to forget-the scandal could cripple his career. Yet as he starts his campaign, Ethan finds that, like the town of Christmas itself, he can't get Skye out of his head . . . or his heart."

What I liked about this novel....

I liked this series with the love story dealing with Skylar Davis and Ethan O'Connor. The first two series by this author had been of the friends...Madison Lane and Grace Flaherty...now we get Skylar's love story and what a beautiful place to have it happen in Christmas, Colorado. The description of this area as you read through this novel was simply beautifully presented.

This author gives the reader a excellent love story that can not only be read during the holidays but all year round. I really enjoyed reading this novel and how it was all presented in the well written story. It seems for a minute as though Skylar was at her lowest point in her life being out of money, but it was sheer enjoyment seeing the out come of it all. Ethan thought he had it all until he came involved with Skylar. With all his politics...running for the Colorado State Senate, his campaign manager, his mother and now his involvement with Skylar his life was about to change. Did Ethan see it all coming? Possibly not but when it all comes out what a life change for all of them all there in Christmas. Colorado.

I love how this author was able to bring in many of her characters from the first two series where you will find them all so lovable(some), well developed, interesting, funny, colorful, believable and in the end just a fascinating story to read. I found that these characters seem to come alive on each page as you read through the story.

There were several areas in this read that caused me to laugh out loud. The situation was so funny and I don't want to give any of it away other than to say you must pick up "It Happened at Christmas" to see for yourself how well this author gives us such a wonderful love story.