Grinders
Corner
explores
the world
of taxi
dance halls
in the
1960s in
all its
raw
hilarity.
Saucy,
sassy and
sexy, but
not the
least bit
erotic, it
follows the
adventures
of three
young women
trying to
survive in
the glitter
palaces of
Los
Angeles.
Like
lambs led
to the
slaughter,
Uptown, a
newly
divorced
English
major with
panic
anxiety
disorder
and no
job skills,
Voluptua,
an out
of work
actress,
and Mouse,
a former
child star
trying to
make a
comeback
all
struggle to
make enough
tickets to
pay the
bills.
Things get
complicated
when Uptown
falls in
love with
a customer
who happens
to be
a
priest.
In
Grinders
Corner it
was a
simpler
time, long
before
gentlemen’s
clubs and
pole
dancers,
and it
happened in
a place
where shy,
lonely men
could talk
to women,
even dance
with them,
with no
fear of
rejection—for
about
fifteen
cents a
minute.
Excerpt
Downtown
Los Angeles
Romanceland,
1969
The
jukebox was playing Close To You. The lights were low and romantic,
the red candles on the intimate little tables for two flickered
seductively, and the many-faceted, mirrored chandelier reflected tiny
droplets of shivering, shimmering light onto the dance floor. His
strong arms were about me, and he was lightly kissing my ear. Then
he spoke in a throaty whisper.
“Hey,
baby, you wanna make a quick twenty five bucks? Let’s go to a
motel.”
Oh
God, I thought, as I looked at the clock. One more hour to go. I’m
going to have to put up with this clown for sixty more minutes unless
he runs out of money. Maybe I can get him to sit down and have a
Coke. Then I won’t have to endure this tortuous ritual known as
dancing. If we get a Coke, I’ll have to make conversation with him
and that might be worse than dancing.
The
only good thing about dancing is that I don’t have to talk to him.
I only have to hear about the motel.
He
was staring at me as if waiting for a reply, so I asked, “What did
you say?”
Okay,
that isn’t particularly original but it used up a couple of
seconds. Then he had to repeat it all. That took a few more
minutes.
I
started to think maybe I could make it to the two o’clock finishing
line, but I was wrong. He wasn’t slobbering on my ear anymore.
Now it was my bare shoulder.
“Hey,
I’m kind of thirsty,” I said. “Why don’t we sit down and
have a Coke?”
“Baby,
I don’t want a Coke.”
“Oh,
hell,” I said as I deftly stepped out of his reach. “Let’s go
to the desk so you can check out.”
He
retorted with, “How about fifty bucks? I’ll buy you a steak
besides.”
I
smiled, thinking how delicious that can of beans at home was going to
taste. “I’m sorry. I’m not in that line of business.”
“Whaddya
wanna do—get married?” he yelled.
Review
What
do you do when you’re newly-divorced, broke, have no job skills,
and although you live in Los Angeles, are too anxious to drive on the
freeway? That’s the dilemma facing the heroine of Grinder’s
Corner, a fictionalized memoir by Ferris H. Craig and Charlene
Keel.
Working
as a “Beautiful Hostess” at the Romanceland dance hall in gritty
downtown LA isn’t exactly the oldest profession, but it’s not
that many steps away, either. Uptown (as she is christened by her
friends Mouse and Voluptua) endures sweaty bodies, bad breath,
wandering hands, constant lewd propositions, and the occasional
frottage orgasm as her customers grind themselves against some random
body part, all for the princely sum of fifteen cents per minute. It’s
a difficult job, not one anyone would choose, but Uptown doesn’t
think she has a choice.
Then
she falls in love with one of her customers, a handsome, polite,
normal-seeming guy—who turns out to be a straying Catholic father.
As if her life isn’t tough enough!
Grinder’s
Corner is surprising, entertaining and very smoothly written.
Uptown’s educated but somewhat clueless voice dominates the book,
while Mouse’s fractured fairy tales and Voluptua’s flamboyant
sexuality provide comic relief. Probably the best part of the book is
Uptown’s tortured relationship with Don the Priest. Although he’s
attractive, clean, shy rather than pushy, and truly loves her, in
many ways he’s not that different from the members of the Other
Species who haunt the dance halls. Like them, he’s lonely, horny,
tends to take women for granted, and feels that his own life and
career come first.
The
pain he puts Uptown through made me ache in sympathy. Still, she
changes and matures in response to the travails of her love affair,
growing in confidence and letting go of some of her anxiety. One can
only hope that soon she’ll figure out that she has control over her
life, that Romanceland or its ilk is not her only option.
I
have one criticism of the book. It is set in late sixties southern
California, but to me conveyed almost no sense of the time or the
place. Aside from the lack of cell phones, and the fact that dance
halls are long gone, Grinder’s Corner might have been a
contemporary story. The nineteen sixties were tumultuous, garish,
troubled, conflicted, wild. There were urban riots and men walking on
the moon. None of this ferment comes through in the book. There are
few if any period details: no teased hair styles or go-go boots, no
hippies or pigs. This isn’t the sixties I lived through.
However,
there’s a lot of irony, humor and warmth in this book. I gather
from the conclusion that it’s based on real life experiences.
Nineteen sixty nine was a long time ago. Perhaps some of the
environmental details have faded, but clearly the memories of the job
itself are still vivid and powerful.
About
the Authors
Ferris
Craig
is
a
professional
dancer,
choreographer,
actor
and
writer.
Her
credits
include
The
Dean
Martin
Show,
The
Ed
Sullivan
Show,
The
Honeymooners,
The
Golden
Girls
and
many
TV
commercials.
In
the
1970s
she
performed
with
The
Hollywood
Hoofers
in
Las
Vegas,
later
establishing
The
Burbank
Academy
of
Performing
Arts
where
she
taught
dance
and
acting.
More
recently,
she
choreographed
and
performed
for
The
Broadway
Seniorettes,
and
with
Recycled
Teenagers
(dancers
over
50).
Currently
she
lives
in
Southern
California
with
her
three
delightful
dogs.
Connect
with
Ferris
on
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/thecricketdance
Charlene
Keel has written over a dozen novels and how-to books. Shadow
Train, the final installment of her YA supernatural
trilogy, won a Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewer’s Choice Award,
and The Congressman’s Wife
(for Red Sky Presents) is getting rave reviews. Her new blended-genre
novel, Lost Treasures of the
Heart, was released in November, 2016.
Keel
has also worked as editor for international magazines, including
Playgirl, For the Brideand
Black Elegance. She says the most fun
she’s had as an editor (so far) was at Spice, a fanzine
featuring rap, R&B, soul and gospel music. During her time there,
she enjoyed going to parties for such notables as Puff Daddy, having
lunch with Gloria Gaynor and attending a pasta dinner where Mariah
Carey did the cooking.
Keel’s
editorial assignments include The Health of
Nations, a book on political philosophy, and That
Nation Might Live, a moving
tribute to Sarah Bush Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s stepmother. Her TV
credits include Fantasy Island and Days
of Our Lives, and her book,
Rituals, was the basis for the first made-for-syndication soap
opera. She also produced (for Romantic Times)
the first annual Mr. Romance Cover
Model Pageant.
Buy
link:
The
book is on sale for only $0.99.
Giveaway!
Ferris
H. Craig
&
Charlene
Keel will
be awarding
two
winners, a
free copy
of Grinders
Corner
(print or
ebook).
(U.S. only
for print,
International
for ebook)
to two
randomly
drawn
winners via
rafflecopter
during the
tour.
Winners will also receive a fantastic Kama Sutra gift basket.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
