Guest Post: “The
Inspiration behind ‘A Very Good Life’” by Lynn Steward
About
five years ago, I labeled a personal file as “Act Three,” and filled it with
creative ideas for a new work-interest. I first enjoyed an exciting career in
New York’s fashion industry, then later, via a circuitous route on the way to
opening my own boutique Shop for Pappagallo, I established a successful real
estate business in Chicago. But I always enjoyed business-related writing and
thought a non-fiction self-help book, with life-lessons I learned along the
way, was something to explore during this next phase.
But,
as often happens when you put yourself out there, I discovered another path and
took it: I developed a TV pilot about New York in the seventies because, as
they say “Write what you know” and I know New York. I’m a native of Long
Island, and between attending school and working, I spent twenty-two years in
Manhattan. I was so overwhelmed with ideas, I
created a TV series designed to run for five seasons. Appropriately placed
in the New York City of 1975, which was International Women’s Year, the plots
in the series intermingled fashion legends, business icons, real events, and
untold stories, providing a behind-the-scenes look at inspirational women in
the worlds of art, fashion, and business.
After
meeting with professionals in the entertainment industry, I realized that the
main character needed more drama and the plots had to be developed, and I felt
the best way to do that was to write a novel, incorporating the TV stories. While I still hope to see the characters
alive on the big screen, I tremendously enjoy daily researching and writing
historical fiction. My favorite time to write is early in the morning,
preferably around 5:30 a.m., when my mind is clear, it is peaceful, and there
are no interruptions. For at least three hours a day, I am again at home in New
York City in the 1970s, creating a life for thirty-year-old Dana, her family
and friends: attending parties at Café des Artistes with celebrity guests like
legendary Vogue editor Diana
Vreeland, the tree lighting at Rockefeller Center, a business meeting with
Estée Lauder, an art lectures at the Met.. At the same time, raising important
questions that are relevant at every age, then and now: how does one find balance
and meaning in the daily routines of life? How does one stop counting the
candles, a single year or event, and instead, value the tapestry of life? This
quest for self-fulfillment is a universal theme everyone can identify.
Although Lynn Steward’s debut
novel, A Very Good Life, takes place in 1970s New York City. it has
a timelessness to it. Dana McGarry is an "it" girl, living a
privileged lifestyle of a well-heeled junior executive at B. Altman, a high end
department store. With a storybook husband and a fairytale life, change comes
swiftly and unexpectedly. Cracks begin to appear in the perfect facade.
Challenged at work by unethical demands, and the growing awareness that her
relationship with her distant husband is strained, Dana must deal with the
unwanted changes in her life. Can she find her place in the new world where
women can have a voice, or will she allow herself to be manipulated into doing
things that go against her growing self-confidence?
One Very Good Life chronicles
the perils and rewards of Dana’s journey, alongside some of the most legendary
women of the twentieth century. From parties at Café des Artistes to the annual
Rockefeller Center holiday tree lighting ceremony, from meetings with business
icons like Estée Lauder to cocktail receptions with celebrity guests like
legendary Vogue editor Diana Vreeland. Steward’s intimate
knowledge of the period creates the perfect backdrop for this riveting story
about a woman’s quest for self-fulfillment.
Purchase
on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Very-Good-Life-1/dp/0991500776/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397086916&sr=1-1&keywords=a+very+good+life
About the Author:
Lynn Steward is a successful
business woman who spent many years in New York City’s fashion industry in
marketing and merchandising, including the development of the first women’s
department at a famous men’s clothing store. Through extensive research,
and an intimate knowledge of the period, Steward created the characters
and stories for a series of five authentic and heartwarming novels about
New York in the seventies. A Very Good Life is the first in
the series featuring Dana McGarry. www.averygoodlife.com
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