H is for Hollywoodland (Peg Entwistle)

On the 15th October 2022 my short story collection, Candescent Blooms, is being published by Salt Publishing. I've previously posted here with regards to the background to the collection, and the fact that twelve Hollywood actors whose lives ended prematurely are the main characters in each of the twelve stories. As stated in that post, the intention in the run-up to publication is to focus on each actor with some snippets of information (both about them and the writing of their stories). These posts will follow the same format for each. To begin with, though, our first character is actually the thirteenth. After the twelve stories were written, I decided to include a short introduction. This is provided by Peg Entwistle.

1: the reason for the title of the story

In 1932 Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler had decided to invest in an upscale real-estate development called Hollywoodland, which capitalized on the growing recognition of Hollywood as a movie-industry mecca. The sign wasn't shortened to Hollywood until 1949, when the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce took over ownership and decided to use it more for tourism than selling real-estate. Having previously written a book titled O For Obscurity I think the (slight) alliteration was on my mind. It also echoes the popular song Hooray For Hollywood, and of course it sets out a stall for the contents of the book.

2: why I chose this actor

Tragically, Peg Entwistle leaped to her death from the H in the Hollywood Land sign in 1932. She was twenty-four years old.

3: one 'gift' that enhanced the story

There are thirteen letters in Hollywoodland and thirteen central actors in the stories in this book. 

4: one thing I never knew about Peg

Unfortunately, I never knew she had existed until researching this book.

5: an extract from the story

The evening forms a cool September, nothing yet to bite. My jacket hangs loosely over both shoulders. My knees, bent in this position of departure, remember those stepladder rungs, the indentations in my soles. Nine months previously, the first official snowfall had been recorded in the United States Weather Bureau’s fifty-four year existence in Los Angeles. The snowstorm had begun at 5 a.m. and continued for over two hours.

Today it is I who shall fall.

6: what music I listened to whilst I wrote this story.

Whilst I normally write stories whilst listening to music, my concentration for this one (which incorporates elements of all the other stories in just 1202 words) demanded greater attention. Therefore Peg had no musical accompaniment.

Buy Candescent Blooms here.