Guest Post & Giveaway: Denise Hamilton, author of Damage Control
Please welcome Denise Hamilton, author of the new novel, Damage Control!
by Denise Hamilton
How about a little Hollywood Confidential?
That was the name of a 1940s movie star gossip magazine back when men wore hats and women wore cocktail frocks that emphasized décolletage rather than exposing it.
I’m no star, I’m a Los Angeles mystery writer whose books are dark, noiry, romantic and glamorous – think Michael Connelly, James Ellroy and an edgier Sue Grafton.
But I’ve also got a little secret.
Late at night as my family slumbers, I enter an obsessive online world. Bathed in the monitor’s green glow, I pop open glass vials, lift them to my nose or press against my wrists.
My drug is perfume, you see. I’m quite smitten by it.
I’m also the perfume columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
Maybe it came of having a White Russian mother who lived on the French Riviera and wore Chanel Cristalle, Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche and Madame Rochas. I’d spend hours in the bathroom as a child, sampling these gorgeous fragrances.
I’ve worn perfume since then, but it wasn’t until I bought a bottle of Donna Karan Chaos perfume at the Goodwill that I tumbled down the rabbit hole into true obsession.
Coming home, I learned it was discontinued and fetched $300 on Ebay.
Instead of selling I’d spritz it each morning, wondering why people went crazy for this spicy, rich exotic perfume. The third day, I fell in love.
I started buying small perfume samples online and reading the wonderful perfume blogs, where I learned about Haitan vetiver, Madagascar vanilla and Mysore sandalwood. Did you know that 80-year-old parfums stored away from heat and light can be as heady and intoxicating as fine aged wine?
Today, I remain in awe of how perfumers “compose” fragrance. Great perfumes thrill, inspire and seduce. They offer a personal way to experience great art.
Perfume also wafts through the pages of mystery writers Agatha Christie, Ruth Rendell and Ian Fleming. Smell is the least used of our five senses, but mystery writers have long woven olfactory clues, obsessions and scent triggers into their plots.
That’s why I made Maggie Silver, the heroine in my new book Damage Control, a budding perfumista.
Damage Control deals with a political sex scandal, surf noir and the intense friendship of two teenaged girls. When something awful happens at a beach party one night, their friendship is ruined. Fifteen years later they meet again after a Senator’s beautiful young aide is found murdered. As the two one-time friends confront their past, Maggie’s olfactory skills will prove crucial as perfume offers a clue.
I wish you fragrant reading.
Giveaway
I have 1 copy of Damage Control to give away!
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This giveaway is open to US residents only. Deadline to enter is midnight on October 30, 2011.
Giveaway copy was provided free of any obligation by Scribner. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.
Category: Authors, Giveaways, Guest Posts
[...] I do see it as geared more for a female audience than a universal one.Rating: Check out Denise Hamilton’s guest post and learn more about her inspiration for the bookAlyssa is a wife and stay at home, homeschooling [...]
[...] [ 0 ] October 31, 2011 | Vera Thank you to everyone who entered these giveaways!A copy of Damage Control is going to:#40 Crystal FulcherA copy of The Forgotten Waltz is going to:#73 AyushiA copy of You [...]
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I enjoyed reading how the author’s childhood experiences influenced the story!
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Wow! Love how a little history can setup this whole novel. I did not know that about old perfumes.
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I really enjoyed about reading how perfume became a big part of the main character. It was fascinating!
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I loved hearing about your love of perfume. I fell in love with a sample my sister had received and now I can’t find it anywhere.
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I liked the whole thing about perfumes! “80-year-old parfums stored away from heat and light can be as heady and intoxicating as fine aged wine?” Wow! I always thought just the opposite.
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The idea of a perfume obsession is something I have never thought of, but is intriguing.
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Oh wow what a great post! Isn’t it amazing how your sense of smell can bring up memories stored deep in the past, that you didn’t even know you had until you smelled the trigger fragrance? My grandmother wore Chanel No. 5 so anytime I smell that fragrance I think about sitting on her lap, playing with her long necklaces
. I think the cover of this book is just gorgeous and it sounds really interesting, so I would love to win a copy!
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I enjoyed learning about the world of perfume blogs out there – I really didn’t know there was much of a world out there beyond the main names and now I know there is.
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It’s very interesting about the correlation of solving a mystery and the sense of smell. I’ve been reading mysteries for 30 years and I never thought about it. I’d love to read this.
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From what I read about Denise Hamilton I like how she approaches different situations.
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Interesting guest post. As much as I love smells, like old or new books, or buildings and fabric softner, I never thought about perfumes. Perfume is something that never comes immediately to mind, but when I find one I adore I have to have it. Even when it doesn’t smell the same on me.
Thanks for the contest
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Please enter me in contest. I would love to read this book. Tore923@aol.com
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I never knew that about perfume. I do have some that are older, and I only use for special occasions. They still smell just as good. I would love to read this book.
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I actually didn’t know that some older perfumes can be better as they age. My mom had a bottle of her grandmother’s Rose scented perfume and the scent of this stuff when she would open that bottle smelled like you were sitting in a rose garden.
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I loved reading the story of perfume! This should put an interesting spin on this novel.
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I thought it was interesting reading and learning about perfumes.
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Great interview, I have always wondered about old perfumes and this interview answers my question! I did know that old perfumes stored in the right way become better!!! I inherited a bottle of French “parfume” that my father bought for my mother during WWII. The bottle is gorgeous and it has been stored away correctly. If I should be so lucky as to win this book, I will get out that bottle so I can look at it from time to time while I read this book!
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