About the In-Person Adventure

“Hollywood is a very inspiring place.” – Donatella Versace.

Take a trip through classic decades with USA Today and international bestselling author Noelle Salazar in this Old Hollywood Dinner Adventure to celebrate her new book The Roaring Days of Zora Lily which follows the story of a young seamstress in the 1920’s who dreams of becoming a designer and how her quest for her dreams become more than she bargained for.

Join us at Studio Diner for dinner and a lively book discussion! Immerse yourself into the 1940’s aesthetic of this unique restaurant while learning from Noelle about the life and times of Zora Lily, an inspiring designer living in the 1920’s whose work gets discovered by a costume conservator in 2023. Enjoy some classic, American food and a soft beverage with friends and transport yourself back to the glamour and opulence of Old Hollywood.

Your Adventure includes a delicious dinner, a soft beverage, tax, gratuity, a paperback copy of The Roaring Days of Zora Lily to be signed at the event, and an opportunity to meet the author up close and personal in an intimate setting.

About the Author and Book

Noelle Salazar was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, where she’s been a Navy recruit, a medical assistant, an NFL cheerleader, and always a storyteller. As a novelist, she has done extensive research into the Women Airforce Service Pilots, interviewing vets and visiting the training facility—now a museum dedicated to the WASP—in Sweetwater, Texas. She is a USA Today and international bestselling author of The Flight Girls and Angels of the Resistance.

Her newest novel, The Roaring Days of Zora Lily, is about the discovery of a hidden label on a famous gown which unearths the story of a talented young seamstress and her journey from the smoke-filled speakeasies of Jazz Age Seattle to the costume houses of Hollywood.

In 2023, a costume conservator is preparing an exhibition featuring movie costumes from the 1920s to present day. As she gingerly places a gown once worn by Greta Garbo on a mannequin, she discovers another name hidden beneath the designer’s label, leaving her to wonder—who is Zora Lily?

In Seattle 1924, Poverty-stricken Zora Hough spends her days looking after her younger siblings while sewing up holes and fixing hems for clients to bring in extra money, working her fingers to the bone just to survive. But at night, as she lies in the bed she shares with one of her three sisters, she secretly dreams of becoming a designer like Coco Chanel and Jeanne Lanvin.

When her best friend gets a job dancing in a club downtown, Zora is lured in by her stories of music, glittering dresses and boys. It’s a world she has only ever imagined, and one with connections that could lead her to the life she’s always dreamed of. But as Zora’s ambition is challenged by tragedy and duty to her family, she’ll learn that dreams come with a cost.

To schedule a book club visit with Noelle or any of our authors on NovelNetwork:

About Studio Diner

Do the time warp down Ruffin Road and feast your eyes on the neon-lighted Studio Diner. It’s an authentic trip back to the ’40s — in the middle of the Kearny Mesa Business District. Wrapped in chrome & Blue neon, the Diner is a welcome roadside stop. Decorated with “behind-the-scenes” movie-making equipment and serving comfort food with an upscale vibe, Studio Diner is fun for the senses.