Diana C. Reep's Blog

Here’s a moment when a ghost visits the heroine in Kiss’d: A Time Travel Romantic Adventure. Copyright © 2016 by Diana C. Reep

I don’t even undress and get ready for sleep. Instead, I silently open my door and creep down the stairs. In the kitchen, Snowball circles my feet purring softly, while I hesitate in front of the meat fork. If the other night was a dream, I don’t need a weapon. If I really saw a ghost, the meat fork won’t protect me. Snowball follows me out into the garden.
The air’s warm and humid, the moon half hidden under clouds. I forgot to turn out the lamp on my desk, so light from my bedroom window shines on the stone path. Walking slowly across the flagstones toward the arbor, I have to keep lifting my feet over and around Snowball who’s twisting around my ankles, demanding attention. Near the arbor, I stop and stand in place, waiting—waiting for something. The clouds shift, and the moonlight breaks through, changing the shape of the shadows in the garden. The only sounds are Snowball’s purring and the crickets. I feel alone, but then Snowball hisses and races back to the house.
“I know you’re here,” I whisper. I strain to see into the shadows cast by the rose arbor. “Why did you come?”
He seems to form out of the darkness, looking more substantial than before. Definitely a soldier. Brass buttons. Heavy boots.
My pulse jumps. “Why did you come?”
“You called me.” His voice sounds like an echo.
“I already told you—you’re wrong about that. Who are you?”
“I need your help.”
I dig my fingernails in my arm. A jolt of pain. I must be awake. “Why do you need help?”
Edges of him break into pixels, but only for a second this time.
“Who are you?” I repeat.
“I’m looking for Jenny.”
“I’m Jenny.”
His eyes lock on mine, and he walks slowly toward me. “I know a poem about you.” He smiles.
“Jenny kiss’d me when we met,
Jumping from the chair she sat in. . . .”
He holds out his hand, but I back up a step. While I try to decide whether to stay or run, he moves—he glides—close enough to touch me. Not transparent anymore.
“Jenny kiss’d me when we met,” he repeats.
He’s so close now I have to tilt my head to see his dark eyes. He puts his hands on the sides of my face, his fingertips slightly rough as a soldier’s would be. I can’t pull away. I can’t resist. He bends his head toward me. My heart pounds. My blood whooshes through my body.
“Jenny, come with me now. You belong with me,” he whispers.
Slowly, he leans down and presses cool, soft lips against mine. My head whirls, and thick darkness blots out everything.

The first major battle occurs in and around Mons, Belgium. Outnumbered by the German Army, the British Expeditionary Force has to retreat. On August 23, the last British units, ordered to resist to the end, delay the advancing German army for four hours but incur 80% casualties. In honor of those fallen on August 23, here is an excerpt from Luke Under Fire: Caught Behind Enemy Lines. Copyright © 2020 by Diana C. Reep


I’m flat on the ground, bracing my rifle on a rock when Ray drops on one knee next to me. We spray bullets into the gray lines. They fire back, but they stop advancing. We’re holding them at last.

Ray reloads and gestures behind us. “Cavalry’s up. The 9th Lancers are going to charge.”

Horses line up in columns, snorting, pawing the ground, pulling at their bridles. Too many to count. Maybe over three hundred. To me, a horse is the most beautiful animal anywhere. I stop firing and take a second to admire the sleek coats—black, white, dapple-gray—the proud heads. The Lancers canter to the left of our position, along the railway track and pause to straighten their lines. Then a trumpeter blows the charge, and the Lancers gallop forward, rounding the sugar factory below us, bunching to cross the road at the few openings, and disappearing into a hollow where they’ll be riding straight across the front of the German artillery and infantry fire.

“That field,” I say to Ray while I reload, “is full of fences and barbed wire. We had to climb the fences to get in the cornfield.”

He looks beyond me. “The 4th Dragoons are going in too. They’ll all get caught in front of those fences. All of them jammed in front of the German guns.” He takes out his water bottle, drinks, and swears an oath that would shock even my dad.

Lieutenant Ridge signals to hold our fire because the cavalry units are in front of us. The pause gives me a chance to gulp some water. Charley swears and shakes his bottle. A bullet’s ripped through the side, and it’s empty. I tell him the bottle probably saved him from catching a bullet and give him my bottle. When he hands it back to me, I shake it. No more than one swallow left.

The 4th Dragoons ride in columns past us and follow the path of the 9th Lancers. Once the cavalry rides beyond the sugar factory and dips into the hollow past the road, the horses and men are out of sight, covered by smoke while the German artillery pours fire into the hollow. The screams from the horses rise above the roaring guns. German artillery slows into short bursts. The shrieks and groans from the horses fill the air, so they’re all we can hear. For a second, I close my eyes. My stomach churns. The men around me curse and shake their heads. Horses stampede back from the hollow and run wildly around the factory, over the railway tracks, and head up the slope toward us.

There are no riders.

Remembering a forgotten movie star—Cesar Romero—His father was Spanish, and his Cuban mother was a concert singer, who was said to be the daughter of Jose Marti, a Cuban revolutionary hero. Cesar first worked as a ballroom dancer and then began acting on stage in the late 1920s. He entered movies in The Shadow Laughs (1933). The Depression wiped out the family businesses, and he had to support his relatives, taking them to LA. He worked steadily in the 1930s, e.g., The Thin Man (1934), Clive of India (1935), The Devil is a Woman (1935), and Wee Willie Winkie (1937). He began playing the Cisco Kid in The Cisco Kid and the Lady (1939) for a total of 6 movies in the series. During WW2, he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard and served in the Pacific. Tall and debonair, he was frequently the Latin Lover, e.g., Week-end in Havana (1941), Springtime in the Rockies (1942), and he played the Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes in Captain from Castile (1947). Beginning in the 1950s, he appeared on dozens of TV shows, e.g., Studio 57, Wagon Train, Zorro, Death Valley Days, Burke’s Law, Fantasy Island, and The Love Boat. He played The Joker in the Batman series (1966-68) and repeated the role in the movie Batman (1966). At age 78, he became the romantic lead for Jane Wyman on Falcon Crest (1985-87) and at age 83, played Sophia’s boyfriend on Golden Girls. He also had a recurring role on Murder, She Wrote (1985-1992). In 1986, he received the Golden Boot Award for his work in westerns, and he has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for movies and one for TV.

Remembering a forgotten movie star—Bela Lugosi—Born in Hungary, he left school at age 12 and had a variety of jobs while he looked for acting opportunities. By age 20, he had had some parts in regional theaters and then in the National Theatre of Hungary. World War 1 interrupted, and he served in the Austro-Hungarian Army until he was wounded on the Russian front. He had some parts in Hungarian movies, but after the war, he went to Germany and then to the US in 1920. Unable to speak English, he memorized a part in a play phonetically and went on stage. His first American movie was The Silent Command (1923) followed by a few small parts. In 1927, he starred in the stage play Dracula. Previous images of the vampire portrayed him as a ugly deformed monster. Lugosi, with his Hungarian accent and formal clothes, created a sophisticated European vampire appealing to women. The movie version of Dracula (1931) was a huge hit. It also typecast him as a horror villain. He starred in, e.g., Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), White Zombie (1932), The Black Cat (1934), Mark of the Vampire (1935), The Raven (1935), The Phantom Creeps (1939), Son of Frankenstein (1939), The Devil Bat (1940), and The Return of the Vampire (1944). In the late 1940s, he played Dracula in the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). His career then slipped into smaller parts. He toured on stage in Dracula while trying to manage a morphine addiction resulting from treatment for back problems. He was cast Ed Woods’ Plan 9 from Outer Space but died after filming a few scenes. He was buried in full Dracula costume and was featured on a US stamp in 1997 commemorating Famous Movie Monsters.

Remembering a forgotten movie star—Mary Astor—Beauty contests brought her to the attention of movies, and she began in bit parts in 1921. Beau Brummel (1924) launched her into stardom. She was the romantic heroine in over a dozen successful movies including Don Juan (1926), Rose of the Golden West (1927), and Dressed to Kill (1928). Sound was no problem. She often played socialites, as in Runaway Bride (1930) and Red Dust (1932). Caught in a divorce and scandal over an affair with George S. Kaufman (and leaked diary excerpts), her career faltered, but she bounced back. In the 1940s, she moved into supporting roles and won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for The Great Lie (1941). Her role as the femme fatale in The Maltese Falcon (1941) remains her best known, but she also had success playing the mothers in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), and Little Women (1949). In the 1950s, she worked in TV dramas. Her two autobiographies covered her personal life and over 40 years in movies.

Remembering a forgotten movie star—Norma Talmadge—Pushed by the ultimate stage mother, Norma began modeling in 1908. Her mother dragged her to Vitagraph Studios in NY, and in 1910, Norma entered movies. After small parts, she began to rise as a heroine “with fire in her blood” in dramas, teamed often with Antonio Moreno. Her some 200 movies included titles like The Way of a Woman, The Probation Wife, The Song of Love, Martha’s Vindication, and The Branded Woman. When she married producer Joseph Schenck in 1917, they started their own production company and made a series of successful dramas starring Norma. In 1920, her name was used as the “writer” of a fashion column for Photoplay magazine, and in 1923, she was named the top box office star by exhibitors and was earning $10,000 a week. Sound ended her career, but her name remains on Talmadge Street in Los Angeles.

Remembering a forgotten movie star—H. B. Warner—He graduated from London University, planning to be a doctor, but turned his attention to acting. Successful on the London and NY stages, he entered movies in Harp of Tara (1914) playing a priest. He had immediate success as a leading man and was highly praised for his portrayal of Jesus in Cecil B. DeMille’s The King of Kings (1927). Sound was no problem, but his age sent him into supporting roles in such movies as Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). He was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for Lost Horizon (1937). His career ended in the early 1950s after over 130 movies. But he returns every Christmas as the drunken druggist in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946).

Remembering a forgotten movie star—Dolores del Rio—Born in Mexico, she met an American director in Mexico City and entered movies in Joanna (1925). An instant success, she became the first major female Latin American star in US movies. She had hits in What Price Glory? (1926) and Ramona (1928). Sound was no problem, and she starred in Bird of Paradise (1933) and Madame Du Barry (1934). In 1942, Hollywood career fading, she returned to Mexico, starred in Flor silvestre (1943) and became the most popular female Mexican movie star in the ‘40s and ’50s, a period termed the Golden Age of Mexican movies. She won a Silver Ariel (Mexico’s Oscar) for Best Actress three times. She occasionally worked in the US, playing Elvis Presley’s mother in Flaming Star (1960) and appeared in several TV series, including Marcus Welby, M.D. and I Spy.

Remembering a forgotten movie star—Johnny Downs—He began his movie career at age 10 playing in the Our Gang comedies (also known as the Little Rascals) from 1923 to 1927. He aged out of the comedies and moved into other roles, playing the hero’s younger self in Outlaws of Red River (1927) and Jesse James as a boy in Jesse James (1927). He also did stage work, developing his song and dance skills. Sound was no problem, and he aged into romantic musical-comedy roles, e.g., College Scandal (1935), Pigskin Parade (1936), Blonde Trouble (1937), and Hold That Co-ed (1938). Musicals continued in the 1940s with I Can’t Give You Anything but Love, Baby (1940) and Campus Rhythm (1943). In the early 1950s, he did TV in series like Racket Squad and Sky King. After nearly 100 movies, he left LA and went to Coronado, CA, where he had an afternoon TV show for children, The Johnny Downs Show (1953-1968). The show had themes for entertainment and education, as he played a pilot, train engineer, and boat captain, entertaining while adding information for the young audience. He retired after a 45-year show business career.