There are 399 Web Log Items in 50 pages and you are on page number 13 |
| Made a mistake a minute ago |
Whoops. I mispelled the address to protest Michael Vick's dog cruelty.
Here is the right address: http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/afalcons_Vick_2
In the blog below, I spelled falcons falcoms. Mybad.
Ann |
| Posted by Ann on Friday, July 20, 2007 at 16:54 |
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| Petition RE: Vick's Cruelty to animals and more |
Hi Everyone,
I don't really have time to write a blog, but I'm sneaking some time away from finishing Smoke, Mirrors and Murder. I have received requests from many animal-lovers to sign the petition to get Michael Vick banned from professional football, after it's been revealed he has kept scores of helpless dogs on his property for illegal dog fights, starved them, abused them, and tossed away their bodies. I tried to put the address where you can sign the petition on the guestbook, but it wouldn't work. I hope it works here. If it doesn't, please go to www.google.com and enter PETA in the search slot. I think that will bring you to the site for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the petition will come up. Here's the address I have http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/afalcoms_Vick_2
I hae signed this petition, and I hope you will, too. Anyone who is cruel to vulnerable victims--human or animals--deserves to be held accountable.
I didn't mean to leave that odd review of my books and me as the last Blog entry, but I appreciate those of you who wrote to soothe my hurt feelings and ego. I'm all better now.
Too Late to Say Goodbye is doing pretty well in sales, but not as well as I had hoped. I've had more letters and emails from readers who were really touched and fascinated with this book than I've ever had, and more wonderful reviews on www.amazon.com so I don't know why sales aren't better. My publisher thinks the Harry Potter release may be hurting all other books out there, but I don't see why it should affect a non-fiction true crime book? Maybe people are saving their money to buy H.P.? I am one of the odd ones who could never get into a Harry Potter book. I just don't like fantasy, and I never have. Didn't like Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, Star Trek, any science fiction, or magical stories. Even as a kid, I wanted to read something that was REAL. My favorite books were about collies, horses, Penrod, Nancy Drew, and Jane of Lantern Hill and Anne of Green Gables. My first grown up book was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Oh, that book thrilled me. The first time I stayed up all night reading. Now, I'm just waiting for the next book by Anne Tyler, Wally Lamb, Michael Lee Stuart, and Fanny Flagg. (Fanny's a little bit whimsical, but I do BELIEVE her characters!)
It's raining, raining, raining here--but that's really good writing weather, and boy, am I writing. Some of the seeds I'd given up on started to poke through the soil in the last two days. Hope it's not too late in the season for them blossom before frost: snapdragons,Heavenly blue morning glories, straw flowers, more cosmos, a stray petunia, some more zinnias. I'd be in my garden many hours each day if I only had the time. But my plants are doing great anyway. So many gorgeous hydrangeas of all different colors.
We are still grieving here over the lovely little girl killed by a long-time sex offender. It looks as though he may have killed several other 11-13 year old girls. Oh, how I wish someone had spotted him sooner. He is very small, looks almost boy-like at 42, and doesn't look at all dangerous, and that's one of the problems, isnt it? The news just said that a Level 3 sex offender tried to abduct a girl at Costco and, thank goodness, bystanders saved her. Keep your eyes open and your head up. BE SUSPICIOUS. And protect the children and vunerable victims in your part of our country if you can.
I have asked to have a little less chit-chat on the guestbook and a little more focus on true crime and safety measures. Don't want to step on any toes, but I think we can all learn a lot about my particular genre of writing, other recommended books in the true crime area, how to stay safe, and, especially, how women can avoid getting trapped in abusive relationships! If I could somehow change women's occasional blindness to danger ahead and keep some of them free from "a living hell" of a marriage or relationship, that would make me very happy. I love men--good, caring, dependable men, and wish I had one myself--but I hate to have to keep writing about women who have suffered and died at the hands of sociopathic men who want to own them.
Off my soapbox now,
Gotta go write.
All my best,
Ann |
| Posted by Ann on Friday, July 20, 2007 at 16:51 |
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| How Much Fun is This? |
Hi Gang,
I just wrote a long blog about how disturbing it can be to be the subject of articles, and my computer must have thought I was whining--and ate it.
The following is mostly generous, and I'll get over being described as "a heavyset, older woman, who dresses in ugly grandmother dresses (don't even WEAR dresses), and writes purple prose and clunky sentences!" Just when I had myself convinced that I looked o.k., wrote pretty doggonned well, and that nobody would ever guess I was "older." So much for self-delusion.
Can't say I like the caricature, though.
Love,
Ann
P.S. The people on the dinner cruise where I spoke KNEW they were going to hear about crime-writing. That's why they bought tickets for that night.
This article is from a newspaper in Seattle called THE STRANGER. It is distributed free all over the city, and delights in being outrageous.
"Books
A Weird Kind of Grace
If Your Mom Were a Detective, She'd Be Ann Rule
By Paul Constant
Lydia Nichols
Too Late to Say Goodbye
by Ann Rule
(Free Press) $26
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art cred: Lydia nichols
Five or six years ago, I wound up selling books on an Argosy ship. The cruise line was trying to attract different clientele in the off-season and someone in marketing had the grand idea of serving fancy dinners as popular authors gave lectures—and the inaugural author for this books 'n' boats campaign was Ann Rule.
You've probably heard of Rule. She's written 26 true-crime books—basically inventing the genre—and she's one of America's best-selling authors, right up there with Stephen King and Anne Rice. But there's nothing about Rule that screams "best-selling author." She's a heavyset older woman with a cheery demeanor and a saint-like patience for stupid audience questions.
I also think that she single-handedly ruined the Argosy's dinner-with-an-author program. I still recall the disgusted faces in the audience: People who'd paid a lot of money for this experience were pushing away their untouched froufrou dinners because Rule was up at the podium happily discussing exit wounds and bruises caused by nylon-rope strangulation, while billboard-size photos of same were projected over her head.
I especially remember the look on her face as she was talking about men who kill their wives and the mothers of their children. She wasn't ebullient, exactly, but it was the kind of look that someone gets when she's doing something that she dearly loves: Her expression was full of a weird kind of grace.
Decades ago, Rule was a Seattle cop, but she was a young mom with five kids and she found that solving crimes didn't pay as well as writing about them. She started out covering murders and rapes for lurid magazines with names like Master Detective and Front Page Detective. While working on her first book, about a still-at-large Northwest serial killer, Rule was volunteering at a crisis line with a man named Ted Bundy. Rule and Bundy became friends. And when Bundy was later revealed as the same killer that Rule was researching, her book about the case, The Stranger Beside Me, became a publishing sensation.
It was the kind of bizarre coincidence that can only happen once in a career. And most authors, after a scoop like that, would destroy themselves trying to replicate the success of the first book—but Rule has been relentless in both her publishing schedule and in her study of crime. Rule attends the same conferences and seminars that detectives do, on matters like CSI and search and seizure, and in recent years her knowledge has surpassed that of most experts: She's the headliner at a lot of conferences now, too. This woman who looks like anybody's mother, and who regularly blogs about Paris Hilton, Anne Heche ("She dumped Ellen without looking back, and, I think, hurt her badly"), and Chuck Woolery ("One of the handsomest game-show hosts over the years"), is a certified instructor on topics such as Sadistic Sociopaths and Serial Murder.
Rule isn't a writer of beautiful prose; her books are full of clunky sentences. The newest, Too Late to Say Goodbye, begins with a choice example: "With every book I write—and this is number 27—I realize more just how many lives are affected when one cruel and conscienceless person decides to take another human being's life." Frequently, parts of her books veer into prose as purple and maudlin as their titles: A Fever in the Heart, The End of the Dream, A Rose for Her Grave.
But the unimpeachable fact of Rule's writing is that it's excellent journalism, and endlessly compassionate. She interviews subjects exhaustively; she attends all court proceedings related to a case; she delves into the family and personal histories of both the victims and their killers. She keeps in contact with all her subjects and frequently updates her books and website with fresh information. Once you get past the (admittedly, often rough) first two chapters of any Rule book, it becomes a compulsion: You're involved in the crime, as swept into the events as is humanly possible. If that's not some kind of good writing, I'll gladly stick with the bad.
The thing about seeing Rule in person is that it's hard not to be charmed by her: She's a woman with both a grandmother's taste in ugly dresses and a nerdy, encyclopedic understanding of forensics. When the question comes up, as it always does, about why she does what she does, the answer is so corny, but delivered so earnestly, that you can't doubt her. She always patiently explains, that weird grace in her smile again, that if she can save just one woman from a rage-filled creep of a husband who tries to bounce her off the floor like a Super Ball, or convince one promising young coed to not take that beer with the slightly funny aftertaste at the questionable party, then she feels like she's done good work. You have to believe her, when she says it, and it's a hell of a lot more than Stephen King could say for himself when he gets asked the same question.
Ann Rule reads on Thurs June 28 at Third Place Books, 7 pm, free."
Ann again. Sigh.
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| Posted by Ann on Saturday, June 30, 2007 at 16:36 |
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| Quick thoughts from a weary mind |
Hi Gang!
Just a quick post. Novels are fiction--not non-fiction, but many people call my books that. Even Hollywood types. I only wrote one novel: Possession. Oh, and another one called ONE OF THE BETTER NEIGHBORHOODS that I never did sell to a publisher.
Hey, I need some help from all you "booksellers/readers!" We slipped off the bestseller list this week. There is so much competition in non-fiction with all the political books, Princess Di, and books that have been on there forever. If you can put in a recommend for TLTSG to your friends, relatives, and strangers on trains and buses (No, you don't really have to talk to strangers), I would sure appreciate it, and it might put my book back on the lists! Sometimes I wonder if all the docudramas that rushed in before I could finish a 500 page manuscript,, and put the basic story line on TV have cut into interest in the book, which is, I think, the complete story. It's really hard for a true-crime writer these days with Court TV, Greta, Nancy G., etc etc telling the stories before trial. I can't do that--not with a clear conscience because it could mess up the cases for both the prosecution and defense.
Heather, my son and I drove around Queen Anne Hill Wednesday between my interviews. It is beautiful but one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Seattle. One house built in 1917 cost $1,200,00.00! Many of them are $3 mil or more! There are affordable condos down near the business district--starting about $225,000, and I think apartments start about $850 a month. Even the areas like Belltown that were high crime and not desired when I was a cop have now been gentrified and cost a ton! It's hard to recommend a spot that's nice and affordable, too! The southend where I live is more reasonable--say Tukwila, Burien, or Des Moines.
I may be an old fogey, but I loved the way Seattle was 30 years ago before it got so popular!
Lucy goes back to the doc for a check-up today. She has an incision about 8 inches long with a drain on each end, but she's been real good about not messing with it, and I took that awful collar thing off! I would sure hate to have to wear something like that. I've been afraid to call and asked if her tumor was malignant. Guess we'll find out today.
I'll be at Costco in Tukwila tomorrow at noon, so hope lots of you Seattle guys will come by and buy about 10 books apiece. :*)
I'm working hard on Smoke, Mirrors and Murder, and will meet with two of the prime people in the two longest cases today and tomorrow and Sunday. Bev in Tennessee is going to send me a big stack of research by, I think, next week--so I can finish the Mary Winkler case. And I am trying to find an hour here and an hour there to plant flowers. Grew a lot from seeds, and the cosmos, zinnias, bachelor buttons, calendulas, and marigolds grew almost like weeds. I am replanting Shirley poppy seeds--which didn't make it in the cold weather in May, strawflowers, Oriental poppies, heavenly blue morning glories (Hope they won't spread like the damnable bindweed I keep pulling out), and more of Jenn Corbin's seeds that her sister Heather gave me. I would be happy as a clam if I just had a week to pull weeds, and mess with my garden, but I feel guilty now when I take the time away from writing. And I don't even dare think of Goodwill shopping until August.
The paragraphs below are from a frequent guestbook poster. Through a misunderstanding, Ellen was asked not to post her information about a product she and her husband sell on the Guestbook. Although we discourage "selling" things on the guestbook, Ellen was responding to a special request. I told her I would post this one time on my blog--so if you need any of their natural product, you can go to their site.
"Someone on your site (Michelle J) had asked for help in general for getting rid of cradle cap for granddaughter, so I gave her our web site address via your guest book. Your web master very kindly asked me not to do that again, so I will not, unless it's OK with you.
The reason I suggested she check out our products is because they are all natural. We have another one for dogs and larger animals. If you have time to look, our web sites our Whitemountainnaturals.com and Malamutemountainnaturals.com. My husband and our partner are not looking for a "quick buck", but simply to help others through these products. They're good and they work quickly, besides being all natural. If you read the "About Us" pages you will see that my husband started it in order to create something to keep him from having continuous infections, etc., from wearing a leg liner, as he is an amputee, and to get himself working again, since he really doesn't want to stay dependent on social security for the rest of his life.
I appreciate your time -and especially your books! Thanks, again, for all your hard work.
Sincerely,
Ellen Harper"
I don't mind if people who have a business and see that someone needs their product contact me personally at the above address. If it seems legitimate, I'll mention it in my blog.
Well, I'd better get to work. I miss all of you, and wish I had more time to post and to blog.
All my best!
Ann
Oh Pet Peeves. That stupid commercial with Sally Field where she talks about a calcium supplement that she only has to take ONCE a month, and not be bothered once a week. Gee whiz. I can remember to actually take several pills every day without it's cutting into my schedule too much! I like Sally, but this is so silly.
James Patterson's book factory. He seems to come out with a book every month, and, rats, makes the bestseller lists. Most of them have co-writers, and I suspect he doesn't even write them. It kind of takes the fun out of them for me. He used to be a good author, but now I wonder. . '
Rosie O'Donnell. I think poor Rosie is on the verge of a breakdown, and wonder sometimes if she is just plain mean and doesn't see anyone else's point of view anymore! Some hours with a shrink and some meds might help her. I sure wouldn't watch her on my favorite The Price is Right!
And the usual: Brit, Lindsay, Nicole,Paris. I declare them all UN-celebrities for two years so they can get lives, stop drugs, learn some lessons and humility. Might even save their lives.
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| Posted by Ann on Friday, June 22, 2007 at 12:50 |
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| More Wandering Thoughts |
Hi guys-- on Saturday afternoon,
I'm going to be on Fox News tonight at 10 Eastern time, talking about the Corbin case. Or my voice will. I am not quite up to driving into Seattle yet to do a satellite interview. Still set to go to Portland, Oregon on Monday afternoon. Will be on Lars Larson on KXL Tuesday, A.M. Northwest on KATU on Tuesday, and at Powell's Tuesday night. My media escort in Portland is an old friend; she's been driving me around in Portland every book tour for more than ten years! Halle and I usually manage to get in some kind of trouble. Once, we got lost, and stopped to ask these nice men working on the road for directions. Turned out they were a chain gang from the jail!
More thoughts on Paris Hilton. I stand by what I said in my blog yesterday, but, after reading this week's tabloids and learning about her fondness for Valium, I suspect she is suffering from drug withdrawal on top of her shock that she's only a prisoner right now, and not "Miss Got Rocks who gets whatever she wants." They may have to put her in a re-hab, hopefully an L.A. County Jail re-hab to de-tox and not one of the country club places where Lindsay, Nicole, Britney et al waltz in and out. She may be suffering withdrawal from a lot more than champagne and gourmet cupcakes.
I sincerely hope that the tabloid's hints that Nicole Ritchie is pregnant aren't true. Think of that poor fetus trying to survive on hardly any calories. At least babies in utero are little parasites, and if there are any nutritional things available, the baby will get it. But her as a mother is scary. Britney seemed to enjoy being a mom for almost a year, but from all the news lately, I think she got bored with it. I don't think anyone has even seen a photo of her second baby. I hope he's all right.
For folks who ask if I got their mail, please remember that I get about 400-500 emails a day (counting spam in there, too), and it's hard for me to remember each one. I try to answer those that really require an answer, and sometimes I just have to file the case suggestions away to look at later--especially over the last ten days. I don't recall if I got an email from you, Serena. And I don't have the energy to scan back through the emails for the past 10 days. A lot of you know that I DO try to respond, but I don't have anyone reading my email to sort it out for me. I feel as though much of it is meant to be private, so I try to read it all myself to protect your privacy.
I have been getting your really nice critiques of Too Late to Say Goodbye, and they really cheer me up! And thanks to those who have posted reviews on Amazon.com!Right now, I don't know when I may be able to get back to NYC and Georgia. I have that deadline looming for Smoke,Mirrors and Murder, and need to work on that so it can go into production and be out in time for Christmas. I know my books don't sound very Christmasy, but a lot of people like to buy them as presents for their dear old moms and grandmoms--the ones who are fascinated by True Crime!
On why paperback books don't come out as the same time as the hardcovers. Publishers like to give the hardcover versions a chance to sell first before they release the paperback. Usually, it is about a year before a paperback comes out. For Too Late to Say Goodbye, we have compromised on six months. If you should want to join a book club like Literary Guild, Mystery Book Club, Doubleday Book Club, you only have to promise to buy about six books a year, and you can get their hardcover version of all my books for about $12 or so. Also Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com offer them for about 30-40% off. And, fingers crossed, when my books go on the N.Y Times Bestseller list, they are offered at a good bargain price at most bookstores. And don't forget the library as a source. Once the paperback books come out, it gets harder and harder to find the hardcovers, and they become kind of collectors' items, especially if you have a first edition. If you send them to me to be signed, they're worth a lot more. Anyone wanting a signature, just send the book, along with a stamped, self-addressed, return mailer and a note on what to say to: P.O.Box 98846,
Seattle, WA 98198.
On the Candra Torres story that was on Forensic Files this week, it's just another one of my books that those shows "lift" from me. Regulars here know it's my pet peeve. They used to interview me briefly, show the book cover, and that helped me. Now, they just take my research and use it. This is a story that they would never have heard about without reading Possession or The Stockholm Syndrome in one of my true-crime files books. I came across it in Salem, Oregon, when a detective for Marion County and, later, the Attorney General's zoffice, told me about it. It wasn't a headline case at all. I used to have my mini-series made from my books, too, but that material also tends to get usurped by production companies. They can always say that since the cases are true, they discovered them and did their own research. The only way I can prove they didn't is when they use the same fake names that I've made up to protect the innocent. I just have to go ahead and do what I do, and try not to feel bad when I see "my" cases on TV or in the movies, without any acknowledgment for the work I've done. 48 Hours, on the other hand, has been very gracious by inviting me to partner with them on their docudramas.
I got a kind of indignant letter from a gal this week--upset because she bought TLTSG,and was angry because she had already read the quickie paperback that came out a few months ago. She felt they were "identical" books, but, of course, they weren't. Hey, if I could write a superior book in about two months by simply reading newspaper clips, I'd be rich by now! But I think most true crime readers can tell the difference between a book that took more than two years and hundreds of hours of research, and one from an author who writes three or four books a year, using newspaper clips. I won't dignify the other book by giving the title because I was dismayed by the way the author portrayed Jenn Corbin. It was falsely sensational and unkind to her, and those who love her.
Well, enough of my sputtering. Guess I've been house-bound for too long. I'm watching "What Not to Wear," knowing that I could use some good advice on my own clothes, but thinking "No way, would I let those two experts throw my whole wardrobe out and make fun of me!" But most of the subjects sure look a lot better by the end of the show! When I have to go on TV, I spend hours trying on stuff to see if I can find something that works. It's really awful to see yourself on TV--unless you're naturally gorgeous. I try not to look! :*)
The summer rain is softly pattering on the plants on my balcony and a nap sounds really good right about now. Still, I hope we will get some actual warm weather and sunshine this summer. The seeds I've planted take two steps forward, and one step back.
Thanks for listening to my wandering thoughts.
Love,
Ann
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| Posted by Ann on Saturday, June 09, 2007 at 16:29 |
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| First part of my blog |
Hi Everyone,
I should have been in Washington, Georgia tonight, speaking at the library where little Dolly Hearn got her books. But, as you know, I got sick, and I've been fighting pneumonia for about 11 days. I feel a lot better, although I'm still coughing and wheezing. But I can go upstairs without feeling short of breath. And I will be getting on a train Monday to go on down to Portland, Oregon, so I can speak at Powell's Bookstore Tuesday night. Will also be on A.M Northwest at KATU Tuesday morning, and joining my old friend--and kind -of-adopted son--Lars Larson--on KXL that day. Lars and I have been friends since we covered the Diane Downs trial together back in 1984. He was a young reporter then, and I was hoping to cross over from little-known books to, hopefully, a bestseller. And the rest is history, as they say.Lars has a nationally syndicated show now, and I have had some good book sales. Our politics are as far apart as they could be, but we respect and love each other, anyway.
Today was an interesting day: Mary Winkler got 210 days for shooting her preacher husband in the back while he (probably) slept, and Paris Hilton got 45 days for drunk driving and for being a problem in jail. Mary has h
MOVE TO NEXT BLOG BELOW |
| Posted by Ann on Friday, June 08, 2007 at 22:53 |
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| Mary Winkler, Paris Hilton, and Random Opinions |
already served five months, and 60 days of her sentence is to be in a mental healthy facility, so she's facing less time than Paris.I have to ponder what I think about Mary--although after Liysa Northon in HEART FULL OF LIES, I know that it's not always the husband who is the domestic abuser.
I've been thinking why I'm happy Paris has to go back to jail. If I were to be totally honest, I think it's because all of us--me included--remember some rich, spoiled, beautiful girl we knew in high school or college. We all wanted to be like her, and we hated her because we weren't. Most of us weren't really popular, and we had to work hard for what we had. But we hated our noses, figures, hair, ears, teeth--whatever. And there was always the spoiled darling who looked perfect, never worried about having a date to the prom, or whether there would be enough money for the clothes she wanted, or even if she had enough money for tuition or even lunch. So, when Paris fell on her face--at last--today, we all secretly smiled. That's not the side of me I'm proudest of--not proud at all. But it's honest.She's stuck her nose up for so long, that it's only human to want to see her get her come-uppance. I don't think she got celebrity justice. I do think the original judge made his sentencing clear, and it must have galled him to see her home, ordering gourmet cupcakes, and undoubtedly getting ready to party again. She could have had all of her BFFs come in, even though she couldn't go out.
Why did Paris freak out in jail? I think it was more than the baloney sandwiches, the three pair of underpants, the hard cot, the toilet in her cell. I think Paris knows that she has no substance, and little value. She has kept that thought away by surrounding herself with BFFs, alcohol, drugs, party, party, party, and shopping. Alone in a cell, she probably had to come face-to-face with herself, and had to acknowledge there's nobody there. The thought of 3 weeks with only her own company must have made her recognize how empty her life is, how empty she is. I would hate to have nothing to look forward to than endless parties, shallow love relationships, the knowledge that a video of me having sex was for sale on the internet, worry about getting older and looking gorgeous less and less, and knowing she really had no power at all. What an awful life! I've never heard of her doing one thing for anyone else that might have inconvenienced her. She's 26, but her maturation level is probably about 14.
Will she make it for 45 days without cracking up? I think she could if she would stop blaming everyone but herself, and decide to just deal with it. She could even discover reading, maybe start work on getting her GED, do some studying, learn to say something more profound than "That's hot!" She could look at life without the veil of drugs blurring the more unpleasant realities of life that everyone has to deal with. She could actually grow up. Even though she is reported to be a billion-heiress, I think she probably isn't that happy. When you can buy ANYTHING , it doesn't mean as much as something you have to work and save up for. If Paris is weak, she might, indeed, have a nervous breakdown in jail. But it's really up to her. Martha Steward managed four or five month and came out with the respect of her fellow inmates. Paris could do that if she would quit crying for her mother.
What is saddest of all is how captivated we are with the coverage of this empty-headed, spoiled, brat when our young men are dying in Iraq, innocents are being stalked and murdered, and people are starving around the world. Are we watching Paris' s soap opera because we just can't bear to think about the real tragedies all the time?
Well, we've got Nicole Ritchie coming to court soon, and Lindsay Lohan is in rehab. I shudder to think that teenage girls may take ANY of these neurotic, self-indulgent young women as role models!
The people I admire and I'm drawn to are those who somehow triumphed over adversity, usually fighting to protect their kids at the same time, and somehow made it. I suspect that's almost everyone on this guestbook!
On the Patsy 'Cornwell stalker story, I have my doubts. Some years back Sachs wrote to me, and proved he had written the story that he said Patsy stole from him. He was afraid of her--not the other way around. She has the endless money and can be vindictive. She has believed that people were after her for years, according to the scuttlebutt among authors. She used to travel with two bodyguard ladies, dressed just like she was, and she carried a .45, and checked out bookstores before she would go in. As I've said before, she did terrible damage to three good people that I know. She turned in an FBI agent to the FBI, claiming he had stolen records--which he hadn't. She let a well-known writer befriend her and help her with her first book, and then viciously satirized that writer in that book. She fired the agent who wrote the outlines for her first three books--and helped her get started, and she fired him by FAX. Patsy always reminded me of the Anne Baxter character in "All About Eve," the young, innocent ingenue, waiting in the wings for the old actress to falter.I don't know if she is still writing. Is she? I haven't read her books after the first three or four, and she has great writing talent when she applies herself. She made a tremendous amount of money. All I can speak of is what I personally observed happening. When I met her back in about 1980, she seemed very shy and spoke softly about her 'little mystery" that was coming out. My writer friend had brought Patsy along to a brunch, part of her mentoring the young Patsy Cornwell. The rest of the Cornwell story is beyond my personal knowledge, but fonly folklore in the mystery writers' pipeline. She has been phenomenally successful, so perhaps some of the rumors have been sparked by envy.
I'd better get to bed. I'm happy to see the nice reviews on Amazon. The book is about 70 from the top there, and 40 from the top at B & N. I'm hoping that my inability to go out on tour this week isn't going to hurt book sales. I'm counting on my ARFs to make up for that!
Love,
Ann
Ann
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| Posted by Ann on Friday, June 08, 2007 at 22:46 |
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| Much Better Now! |
Hi Everyone!
Wednesday Morning:
Well, here I am, finally blogging. I have a wonderful, lightweight, wireless laptop that I just carried up to bed with me a few days ago, and it's kept me connected with the world! I've even gotten used to the small keyboard, and the built-in joy stick.
I think I must be better, even though I'm still coughing and wheezing, because I'm beginning to get bored, notice that the carpet needs sweeping, my bed needs changing, and one of my darling animals left a trail of --well, you know what--on my balcony. Luckily, I have a hose out there. Sigh. I am hungry, although nothing sounds really good yet. I've lost more than 10 pounds in a week. For me, that is a good thing.
My daughter Leslie has been staying with me, and my sons, Mike and Andy, deliver food, mail, magazines, and whatever we need. We have five dogs and four cats here now. (Leslie has three), and it's lively. I want so much to be writing and am hoping against hope that I can make it to Portland and Phoenix next week, and do it feeling healthy. Ever notice when you are sick, you can't imagine being well, and when you're well, you can't imagine being sick? And it can change so quickly!
I have cranberry juice running out of my ears, I think, and I'm awash with water. I've taken every pill they gave me. The only thing that's hard for me to do is nap in the daytime without feeling guilty. Leslie is a night owl, so we are like ships in the night; she sleeps in the daytime and is re-organizing my office at night, and we meet sometime in the evening and watch TV together. We remember hilarious things that have happened in our family over the years, and have some good laughs. Laughter really does make you feel a lot better.
The weather in Seattle was gorgeous last week, and now we are expecting some snow (well, all right, snow flurries on the mountain passes), and temps down here in the mid-fifties and rain. I wonder if my seedlings will "EVER make it to the blooming stage. Heather in MV, is your stuff dragging their feet, too? A friend grew me a really healthy Zuchinni plant, knowing that I will not QUIT trying to get more than 3 zuchinnis off a plant all summer. This year, I think I can beat the zuchinni curse! Haven't even tried to plant tomatoes yet. And I don't dare pull weeds until I'm all better. It's cold and damp down there on the ground. Where I live, hydrangeas and foxglove grow like dandelions and they're beautiful, but the pansies are being devoured by slugs, and the geraniums are just looking confused, waiting for more than a week of warm weather. About four years ago, a reader send me some seeds for a very nice plant with gray-green foliage and small bell-shaped purple and red flowers peek out of the top. I think it was called Knight's Bridge or something like that. It's a good re-seeder. Is that gal still on here, or does anyone recognize this? I am still trying to get back the old-fashioned Nicotinia, but it is not easy. Even the seeds I ordered don' t deliver that fragrant smell they had back in the fifties and sixties. At night, they just filled a room, sending the wonderful smell into the window!
I ordered some lilies from QVC, and only two came up. I've written to them by email, but I guess i'll have to call them because they didn't respond--very unusual for them! Their customer service is usually superb!
I may have told you that we encircled the main garden with a wood fence, with a high bar to hang baskets from? And then I found some grape-shaped night lights. It really looks wonderful. Every year, I buy another set of solar lights, so it's well-lit. But, ohhhh, the beach grass in front of the writing cabin has been taken over by horsetails. And some pretty, but noxious vine, is swarming over my roses and mallow plants. When you're lying in bed, sick, you start to think about things like this and they seem insurmountable problems. I know two guys with two weed-eaters and a machete could knock it all down in a day. Like Scarlet, I will think about that tomorrow. . .
I brought back some of Jenn Corbin's seeds from her garden that her sister, Heather, gave me, and they have begun to germinate. Those flowers will be special to me. Poor Heather got run over with a golf court about three weeks ago and has a broken foot (five place), broken toes, and bruises all over. Just imagine her taking care of four kids while on crutches, but she's doing it. Jenn would be proud of her! Heather is amazing!
Think I will get some lovely clean sheets and change my bed, and maybe vacuum. Just enough exercise to get my blood circulating again. Must be feeling better. And, yes, I promise not to over-do, and from now on, I AM going to take more time off and smell more roses, daisies, and violets. Promise!
Please let me know your thoughts on TOO LATE TO SAY GOODBYE? I'm tickled to see how many of you are already reading it. And I hope you will all be making Jenn's squash soup this fall.
Love,
Ann
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| Posted by Ann on Wednesday, June 06, 2007 at 12:17 |
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