You asked for it….so here it is.....

A sneak peek into
Arabella’s Den!

"Night Lights" original oil painting
No, that isn’t it!

But there are questions you’ve asked we haven’t answered….
                                                                                                 …until now.

Where and how does Arabella happen?
  Where do you get your information?

Arabella happens here…..

…at this worn and messy desk!

Masai Totem carved from one piece of solid wood and then painted.

Think Central Casting meets Wardrobe! The editor and her staff “meet” to decide who we will cover, what gets written and how we want it to look on the page. Meetings are conducted by e-mail, Skype and cell phone because the staff is from all over the globe.  Jess, our research coordinator from Evans City, Pennsylvania (unless she is here at grandmother’s place) also helps with photos, graphics, my technical questions and does the Worker Bees page. Christine, copy coordinator, is from Millbrae, California and checks up on the editor’s final drafts. She is also a font of information on old Hollywood. Annie Maddern is our correspondent from Victoria Australia, who provides copy for the Baritone’s Corner and oversees information on those sexy Aussie imports in Hollywood. Joan Woolley, from Green Bay, Wisconsin keeps the Baritone’s Corner supplied with pictures and music tracks. Then, finally and very importantly, Glenny (Capriella Web Design), our technical support, pulls it all together and puts it up on the site.

One of the places we get our information is here….  

….in the biographies and bio-files.  

With each issue, the number of biographies we have to acquire increase by at least 4 and our bookshelves seem to grow by at least one a year. All the additional research that we do on the internet finds its way into the bio-files. I never did learn to rely on the computer to keep everything safe and secure. I have to have a paper trail and I do apologize to those who worry about the trees.

And another one is here….

….in books that chronicle film history, films that made history and the historical and literary foundation for some of our most celebrated films. The cabinet under the television (patiently waiting for a spring upgrade) contains current paper work, turntables and recorders.  The file cabinets on the right hold clipping files, obituaries, movie magazines from the 1930-1950 era, current film and television news and anything dealing with classic films. In fact, old Hollywood lives here in almost every nook and cranny.

Scarlett and Rhett join the Barkleys of Broadway  in this quiet lttle corner... …while Miss Ophelia, her gramophone and three cats watch over the old books, most from the 1880s .

In a bedroom, Arabella’s books must share space with DVDs and recording equipment....

Behind the bed are books seldom used directly in the magazine but important nonetheless…fiction written by Hollywood insiders (Sheilah Graham, Jackie Collins etc.), fiction that became films on either the big screen or television (“Gone with the Wind”, “Fatal Vision” “Scarlett” or “Asking For Trouble” a British novel by Elizabeth Young that became “The Wedding Date” to name a few) and fiction authored by actors themselves like “The Original Sin” by Anthony Quinn and novels by Tom Tryon (“The Cardinal”) who made more money with his writing than with his acting.

Here we have contemporary novels that have been made in to films or we think will be shortly because the authors have a penchant for writing screen-worthy stories…. John Jakes, Danielle Steele, James Michener, Nora Roberts and Norman Mailer among others. The DVDs in the tower number 261 and are those copied from cable. The hats on the wall are from Australia and made for the outback. I am still waiting to go there.

This tower holds all the commercial DVDs including special collections for Nelson Eddy, Hugh Jackman, Tyrone Power, Alex O’Loughlin and Dermot Mulroney all heavily favored in the family. Arabella’s total DVD collection runs about 600 movies give or take a  day we are recording or find great sales online. Video tapes are in another room.  The bookshelf however holds domestic fare…cookbooks!

Oh, that other question you asked?

I am two years younger than Angela Lansbury and three years older than Clint Eastwood!

Original oil painting/ needlework wall hanging…Dorothy Kort Jadlowiec
Photos were taken by Jess Kort