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| Playing Hookey Again. . . |
Thursday Morning:
I know I should start out my day by writing on the BOOK and not in the BLOG, but I miss you all when too many days go by. The guestbook certainly has its bizarre and lively moments, doesn't it? Sometimes it's difficult to tell whether the more peculiar posters are malevolent or just playing naughty games. Most of us don't have enough time to be and do either.
I worry about those of you who are worrying about getting a job, and wish I could come up with some really good suggestions. Diane D., if you are in Oregon (and I think you are), why don't you send me your resume to P.O. Box 98846, Seattle, WA 98198. I know a lot of people down there, and maybe I could suggest some places to apply. Everyone looking for a job should have a resume--it looks very professional. Only a single sheet will do, but you can put on your education, job history, special skills, hobbies, references, etc. When I think back over my jobs, whoo boy! I started babysitting when I was 10, and have always had some kind of job since: dimestore clerk, camp counselor, selling tickets and candy in a theater, filing slips at a credit union (way, way back before computersJ), switchboard operator, intern in a girls' reform school, secretary AND janitor AND ad-writer in a real estate office, house-cleaner, consumer surveyor, police officer, welfare case worker, ghost-writer, remedial teacher and tutor, parttime cook for the people I babysat for in college, and probably some jobs I don't remember now. I have had some really mean bosses in my day, usually people who made themselves feel superior by being mean to people who couldn't answer back! As a housewife, I learned to paint houses, sand, mud and tape plasterboard, lay floor tile and tack up ceiling tile, put on roofs, wallpaper, sew, cook on a really tight budget and make a whole meal out of a tin of beef (in the days when it cost only 35 cents!), and that stuff that we've all had to learn how to do! When you look back on your lives and realize how much you have coped with and learned to fix, doesn't it make you feel kind of proud? It should. Just try to picture Paris Hilton, Angelina, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tori Spelling, etc. etc. doing what we have done. I'm glad for all the hard times--maybe not while I was going through them, but glad for what the lessons in life I have learned.
Let's all put our heads together some more to help think up good jobs for our friends here who are out of work right now? I still think setting up and errand, shopping, maybe transportation service for shut-ins and the elderly is a good idea IF you have liability insurance for your car and an umbrella policy to protect you. Check out the cost--it isn't as much as you think. Cooking at home--baking, casseroles, whole meals--can work, too, if you're good at it, if you check with the health department about what licenses you need. Another job that isn't too bad and it's on a "per job" basis is taking consumer and public opinon surveys. You can go door-to-door or do it on the phone. You get paid for training for each survey, and mileage from the time you leave your house until you get back. You are NOT selling anything. I did that for years while I was trying to sell my writing. Sometimes, you can juggle several parttime jobs and come up with a pretty good income. It's better for benefits, of course, to have one full-time job, but when you are past 50 it can be hard to get a job because the employers are thinking about how soon you would need a pension, retirement plan, medical payments, etc. Think of what you really like to do--gardening, cooking, cleaning, etc. and create a great job for yourself! I have a friend who cleans houses--both for families and for builders who want their just-built houses cleaned up before they put them on the market. She does very well financially! I have a friend who is a psychic and reads cards. She does well, too. Another friend shops very carefully and re-sells on eBay and makes her living from that. Let's here some more suggestions of jobs you never thought of, everybody!
My "Bernita seedlings" aren't as tall as they are in some of your gardens, but I only planted them 10 days ago, and it's been so cool and rainy in Seattle! If anyone has dahlia tubers or canna bulbs or anything else to share, I can use them. Hint. Hint. I am just itching to get out in the garden, but I can't--until I finish doing the editng changes. There are so many stages in writing a book from research to first draft, re-write, editing, copy-editing, proof-reading, picture captions, writing cover copy. It's easy to think you're done--when you're really not quite done. . . I also have to write about a dozen pages for a kind of proposal for my memoirs. Should I start where I was a decoy (when I was a cop) in a dark park for a sex maniac--or when I used to sleep in the cells in my grandpa's jail--or when a killer threatened my life--or when I found out I had once dated a killer (No, not Ted) and found him kind of creepy but blamed it on my imagination? I really am looking forward to writing this one, but that definitely has to come AFTER the Corbin case in Georgia. Whenever my arthritis hurts so much (as I'm always complaining to Micki Mouse and Pattie), that I feel sorry for myself, I remember that I am really lucky to have a job doing what I enjoy!
I rented "Crash" and I found it too disturbing and the film too dark (literally) to see clearly. I was also disappointed in :"Mrs. Henderson Presents." Have "Shop Girl" coming next, though.
Have to say I'm still amazed at how I found the key that got me out of the storage area beneath my house the other night. Someone said I had their location in my subconscious mind--but I never even KNEW there was a key to that door? And I think I said my calling card in that little basket had a phone number on it that I haven't had for more than 17 years. I can only thank my angels and God for leading me to what was literally a needle in a haystack. I am a believer in what cannot be explained in our rational, no nonsense world, and my daughter Leslie's research into the world of ghosts only makes me believe more.
My inclination on the hoped-for 2007 cruise extravaganza is to go someplace warmer than Alaska. It's been fun to hear from people who have actually taken cruises, but remember we're not going to do anything that requires you to be rich to participate. This is a down-home, regular gal kind of cruise. Yes, you can bring husbands if you have one and you like him. You can even bring a gentleman-friend for all I care! Watching the shows and concern over safety on cruises, we will all have to keep track of each other and take care! I will so much enjoy sharing the very best of my slide shows and lectures with you. And, no, I couldn't publish or sell that material. A lot of it was given to me ONLY for my seminars and not for me to make a profit on. I may, however, make copies of my TV miniseries to give away to those of you who missed them.
Will be thinking of all of you, and congrats, Larry, on the retirement!
O.k., I've played hookey long enough.
Gotta get serious about working,
All my best,
Ann
www.annrules.com |
| Posted by Ann on Thursday, May 25, 2006 at 12:40 |
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| Amazing! |
11 P.M. Monday Night,
Well, here I am, after another long day of dealing with WORD, and I think it's a WORD document that started out with three strikes against it. I'm almost done fixing the six shorter cases in NO REGRETS. It's been really stressful, blaming myself for stupidly erasing my final draft, and now reconstituting it while I pay heed to my editor's suggestions. For some reason, this makes my eyes burn more than just writing a regular chapter. But I'm learning WORD. I am so proficient in WordPerfect, but I know that it is probably on its way out. 20 years ago, I would had no idea of any of this miraculous computer stuff, and I AM grateful that it usually makes my creative processes so much easier! But today was difficult.
I have to tell you about something that seems really remarkable to me that happened this evening. I finished writing a little after 9, turned to see what Dr. Phil had corralled to shock all of us natives. I don't always like him and his ego--but he sometimes has good advice. So, I'm watching undercover agents trap pedophiles. But I had to go down into the storage area off my pantry where my freezer is to get something for supper. Buns and Toonces, my two wild tomboy cats like to stalk around down there. It's not my favorite place because some bad-boy rats chewed their way in a year or so ago. And the ONLY thing that really scares me is rats. But the nice pest control guy--who is actually a very talented musician in his true life--comes every couple of months and checks to see that they are gone.
The very inportant thing to remember about this storage area is that I ALWAYS have to remember to unlock the door before I go down there. Once there, with a locked door behind me, I'm kind of trapped. Once, about eight years ago, I got trapped down there and finally managed to jimmy the lock with a screwdriver, and that taught me a good lesson. Until TONIGHT. I was really tired,hungry, and not thinking that well. As I opened the door, Buns-the-cat who had been under there, made a rush to the door. Since he and Toonces like to jump on my counter while I eat, I wanted Buns to stay down there for half an hour. And what did I do? I slammed the door shut behind me, effectively trapping both me and Buns. "Oh, Buns, " I said, " We are in deep trouble. How are we going to get out of her?" He just looked at me angrily and meowed with great impatience.
I had one way out--getting up on a platform and exiting through a half door that led outside into the blackberry bushes. It was pitch dark outside, and I had locked all my outside doors tight (as I always advise you to do), and once I was outside, I wouldn't be able to get back in my house. So I paced around down there, trapped like a trap in a trap (as Monty Python or someone once said.)
I started looking for a nail file, a screw driver, ANYTHING that might open the door.Nothing. There are at least a hundred boxes down there--some with books, some with mementoes, Christmas ornaments, light bulbs, old letters, files, you name it! Something led me to a cardboard box that said "Christmas Nik-Naks" on it. It was sealed tight with duct tape.I managed to peel off the duct tape, and found a vase, an old detective magazine and some torn papers, all the time looking for something sharp. Then, I reached under that stuff, and found a little woven basket. Believe it or NOT, at the bottom of that basket, I found about 7 keys. I had no idea they were there, and I sure didn't recognize them. This had to be too good to be true--but I figured I would give it a try. Would you believe that the 4th key OPENED the door and led me to freedom? This still baffles me. How on earth did I go to just the right box among more than a hundred? There was a dog license from 2000 in the little basket, and one of my cards with the telephone number I had in 1989 in there, too! I said, aloud, "Thank you , God for getting me out of this jam!" Otherwise, I would be sleeping down there all night and locked in til about noon tomorrow when my son came by with the mail, and my dogs would have been shut in the house all alone. At least, I hadn't turned the stove on yet. Sometimes, things are just plain serendipitous (sp.?) I'm going to be sure I leave a key hidden down there in case I ever lock myself in again! But some thing or Somebody or some angels saved me frm that tonight.
Buns is still mad at me for taking so long to let him out.
Leah, your ordeal sounds really scary. I believe that Pit Bulls are abused by owners who want them to be attack dogs, and I feel sorry for them--but I think there is something bred into them that is scary. Several cities have outlawed them, and they have killed and injured a number of women, children, and small pets. I don't know what the answer is. I'm just so grateful that Leah and her pups are o.k., and bless that gal who took a chance to save you! In the end, dogs are good people; people aren't always good people!
Diane D, I hope that your job tomorrow leads to more assignments than you know what to do with! The gal you met today sounds like one of those people who enjoy putting others down. Try not to let her hurt your feelings. You will soar far above her very soon! I hope you will find a job that will give you benefits and more of a sense of security, but this is surely a way to show people what you can do! I have had so many jobs in my life where my bosses were "superior" and I had to do things that were difficult while I felt powerless. Everything from being a secretary who also cleaned toilets to picking strawberris in briar patches to taking door-to-door surveys and getting doors slammed in my face! But what goes around comes around. We all have faith in you!
Did I tell you that Bev Morrison sent me the greatest thing? It's an angel who harnesses solar power. She stays in my garden all day, soaking up sun (which we don't have any of right now) and then at night, she lights up to guide me safely between my house and the cabin where I write. She is so lovely. Thank you, Bev!
My seeds from Missouri are really taking off! I can hardly wait to see what they're going to be. Haven't been able to plant all the bedding plants I bought last week because I have to write, but the cool and rainy weather is keeping them perky until I can.
I'll be anxious to hear what you think of If You Really Loved Me--you gals who are reading it together. No, the Cinnamon Brown in New York is NOT the Cinnamon Brown in this book. "Cinny" has a good job, a husband, a little boy, and she was doing very well the last I heard. Remember, anyone who wonders about what people in my early books are doing now can go to the NEWSLETTER on this website. The guestbook is only one section of many, many ,sections of my website.
I'm just too sleepy to write more tonight, but I had to share my "miracle of the keys" with you. Please remember that when things seem the worst they can be, our angels may just surprise us!
Love,
Ann
www.annrules.com
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| Posted by Ann on Monday, May 22, 2006 at 23:39 |
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| Sneaking away from work |
Thursday afternoon,
I cannot stand it. I have to sneak in with a little blog, even though it's playing hookey from my following my editor's requests for NO REGRETS. Besides, I am having so much trouble trying to use $#&&** WORD. I work in WordPerfect, but my son Mike typed the cases for me in WORD and it keeps doing crazy things that I can't figure out how to undo.
For Lauren--of the coming colonoscopy. This is so important to your health and to everyone on here. By the age of 50, you should all have one done so that you know how that very important inside chute is working! Cancer in the colon is VERY slow-growing, and once you know you're in the clear, you can relax for several years. If you should happen to have a polyp or three, the doc can snare them and take them out before they grown any more. I've had two colonoscopies, and they really are not bad. You ARE so filled with Valium and more that you just don't give a hoot,and it doesn't hurt. My dad had colon cancer when he was 65, had surgery that got all of the tumor out, and was cancer free from there on. But, because of that, I make it a point to get a colonscopy every 8-10 years. For my second one last year, I decided to stay awake and watch the scope travel up the length of my colon. I know it's odd, but I'm the gal who stayed awake for my hip replacement, too. I am just fascinated with the art of medicine. It sometimes makes my docs a little nervous when I'm talking to them during surgery or other procedures, and they always think I won't remember--but I always prove to them that I do. ANYWAY, as several of you have said, the prep is the worst part of it. You have to be cleaned out, and the fizzy stuff you have to drink isn't real tasty--but just be sure it's real cold, and hold your nose and swallow it. This is NOT major surgery at all, and you snap back quicker than the novocaine wears off when you go to the dentist. It just makes really good sense to do it. Just as it makes good sense to have your mammographies regularly. We can do so many things to protect our own health, and it never pays to stick your head in the sand and hope that something that worries you will just go away.
For Debbie P., You, of all people, should never let a stranger into your house. After what Anthony did, we can't put ANYTHING past him. You are under no obligation to talk to his investigator--if it really WAS his investigator. Anthony would hire a hit man as quick as he would brush his teeth, and he meets all kinds of opportunists in prison. Just as he did in jail. Please, promise us you will keep your doors locked, peek out to see who is there, and keep your doors closed if you don't know who it is out there. That's what I do--and I've got two great big dogs, a tram that locks down, a .38, and an alarm system. I don't live in fear, but I am suspicious of strangers, as I should be. Tell Frank and the guys at the D.A's office who investigated Anthony about this guy RIGHT AWAY! Also tell Dennis. As for Lauren being mad at you, join the club. When our kids become teenagers (ESPECIALLY daughters), they are often hard to recognize. Anything mothers do seems dumb to our teenage daughters. They don't realize that we were once teenagers too. She may not realize how smart you are for years. :*) But forbidding her to date a certain guy will usually just make him more attractive. A 21-year-old guy can be a nerd who can't get girls his own age, or he could be a smoothie. And Lauren's picture on My Space is very sexy and sophisticated. If she met him on line there, I'd be in full alert mode, and ask Ralph to look the guy over. Big brothers can be very intimidating. If he's one of D.J's friends, you know D.J. will be very protective of Lauren, too. I think I would just open up my home to the guy, treat him nicely, let Lauren see that he isn't as cool as she may think he is if you make him forbidden fruit. I would not allow her to date him unless he is willing to come into your home, meet you, meet Ralph, meet D.J. and Shelly, and see that Lauren is watched-over by any number of people who love her and want the best for her. Other than that, you just have to draw the line you have to, grit your teeth, and pray. And also be sure she understands birth control--in the worst possible scenario for moms--and isn't dating an older guy with he heard filled with misinformation. Sex among high school and college students wasn't nearly as common when I was that age as it is today, but the girls I knew who got pregnant were the most innocent and misinformed. They actually didn't think that having sex "just once" could make them pregnant. And, of course, it did.
My favorite TV shows are: Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Reno 911, Super Nanny, King of Queens, Two-and-a-Half Men, Airline, Flip This House, Sell this House, Moving Up, 48 Hours Mystery, Deal-No Deal (Which, I'm sure, will begin to fade), and Trauma in the ER. My most unfavorite and never-watched shows are: American Idol, Survivor, The Bachelor and Bachelorette, Martha Stewart, The Great Race, or any of the other so-called reality shows, and also pseudo crime shows like CSI,NYPD, Special Victims Unit, etc. etc. (I get plenty of that kind of stuff in my career--and these aren't really very true to life, while being really bloody and attempting to shock.) At night when I can't sleep, I watch good-old NICK at Night to see Roseanne, Murphy Brown, Mad About You, and old Cosby shows. They're just kind of comforting. I also like the Game Show Network, to watch the old, old, shows like Family Feud, Love Connection, and So You Want to Be a Millionaire. The old shows make ME feel younger!
O.k., I've goofed off long enough! I have to work at least five hours before I can go plant all the bedding plants I bought. Took the hint on here about 48 plants for $9.95 from Fred Meyer, and I found those wonderful Midnight Blue petunias with the sweet fragrance, plus white petunias, too. Have you ever noticed that in the race to make plants grow taller and stronger, they have just about bred fragrance out of them? I have tried for five or six years to get White Nicotiania with the heart-breaking nighttime fragrance. Planted seed last year, and they grew, but they all died before they ever bloomed. I think I should have thinned them more, but I couldn't make up my mind about which shoots had to die--so they just plain crowded each other out. Sigh. Oh, and I found black Hollyhocks! I have black pansies from last year. They should be interesting.
Planted Bernita's seeds 8 days ago. Nothing yet, but I water them tenderly every night and talk really nice to them.
Now, I'm really going. What if my editor should look on here and find me not writing???
Please say a prayer for my good friend, Flyer Don in Texas who is fighting cancer. He's a great guy and I know you folks pray very effectively!
Love to all,
Ann
http://www.annrules.com/
P.S. Whoops, I wrote this five hours ago, but I got interrupted and forgot to put it in my weblog. The WORD just drove me nuts all afternoon. It goes into some odd font and I cannot get it to go back. I know it's supposed to be easy and wonderful, but it doesn't work very well for me.
I laughed and lauged at Harriete Fennerstein's "post." I think I know who Harriette is. I suspect a couple of males writers who live parttime in Hawaii and parttime in Seattle--whose initials are J.S. and M. S. If it isn't them, will the real Harriette stand up?
I have kind of an anecdote about Scott Turow. About 8 years ago, I was in Canada to appear at a breakfast for the Canadian Bookseller's Association, and so was Turow. As I recall, three authors were to speak. He came up to me before we spoke and told me not to feel bad if his talk was better-received by the crowd than mine was because his would be more professional than mine because he was, after all, a trained prosecutor who was used to speaking in court. As well as a best-selling author. Well, his talk was pretty ponderous, full of self-puffery, and not so impressive, after all. I am also a trained speaker--just because I've had to survive out there on the book tours and on umpteen talk shows, etc. etc. And I try to use a lot of humor since my subject is pretty dark and gloomy. This is self-puffery of me to say, but I cleaned up the floor with old Turow. The breakfast folks laughed and laughed.He didn't stick around to discuss our talks afterward. He is a marvelous writer, but it kind of went to his head. As a very late bloomer who is doggonned thankful just to BE an author, my head is pretty much the way it always was. There's something about your children finding you boring, cleaning the litter boxes, and seeing yourself in a three-way mirror, that keeps you humble! :*)
Whoopee! I just got a big package from Bev Morrison, and I can't wait to open it. I wonder if it's a tutu? Or a handsome bachelor all crunched up, and needing air? I'll let you know.
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| Posted by Ann on Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 18:46 |
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| A Totally Rambling Mind. . . |
One more blog. Turns out that my editor won't be sending his editing suggestions until tomorrow, so I have one more day to ramble on.
We did have an interesting show on Northwest Afternoon yesterday, going over only about eight of the letters and emails I've received. I was,a s I promised, very, very, careful not to reveal any names, places, or identifying things about the writers. But if I just wrote a book about some of the problems that come my way, I think it would be fascinating. Peoples' lives have ALWAYS interested me--the way they cope with the good and the bad, their stories of triumph over adversity, the way they have managed to save their own lives, the things they regret and would do over if they could. The studio audience really responded to the show we planned around that. But I never want to reveal anything that you want kept secret.
But I have to tell you that every time I get to the TV studios and see myself in their full-length, three-way mirrors in the dressing room, I am sorry I didn't get my hair cut, or get the grey strands out of it, and the clothes that looked o.k. at home look awful to me. So I NEVER look at the monitors. And now I hear that you can buy a tape or share a tape, and there I'll be looking like that, wearing my lime green sneakers and watch and black on black for slimness. Sigh. But I figure as long as I sound intelligent and don't make a fool of myself, I'm ahead of the game! Sigh. I'm not short, you know. I'm 5'5-1/2" inches tall. It's the sneakers that make me look short. :*)
I went to Fred Meyer's this week (Our chain in the Northwest that is sort of like Wal-Mart) and bought every plant in sight. Now I have to plant them. I spent all afternoon rolling big old pots and whiskey barrel planters around, getting ready. So far, I have planted Bernita's seeds, and I have beddding plants: petunias, snapdragons, three kinds of pansies, three kinds of begonias, nemesia, lobelia, hollyhocks, coleus, cosmos, nicotinia, trailing arbutus, heliotrope, and some cute little plants that I don't even recognize! Also bought four packs of seeds, and I'm far from done yet. Oh yes, and ZUCHINNI! I love gardening and especially love "having gardened."
Glad to see the enthusiastic response to the cruise idea. It would have to be in 2007, and I would just as soon go south as to Alaska--since I'll be in Alaska in September for the Bouchercon Fans' Conference. On a ship, everything would be easy--food and rooms and shopping and sitting on deck chairs etc. I've never had time to go on a cruise so I would enjoy that too. There's a company in Portland who have written to me, so I'm going to ask them about dates, costs, destinations, etc. And how LONG a cruise is--a week, two weeks, four days? I would definitely bring along my slide show and videos of Diane Downs' interviews, etc. Although I don't have time to do the public speaking that I did up until last year, I still have all my stuff that I use to teach law enforcement seminars and other groups like the FBI Academy and prosecutors, etc. I know we come from all levels of financial assets and a lot of us support family, too, besides ourselves--so I'm not going to look for anything fancy-schmancy. I'll report back after I get some facts to share. Might be a couple of weeks, though. Anyone else who has the time to inquire about ships leaving from Portland, Seattle, or Vancouver B.C.
The tutu ladies can pirouette all night if they like, and people can take naps all they want, or chase sailors. Well, don't chase them too fast, girls!
I think every so often, we should put posts on to welcome newcomers. I suggest that everyone who emails me take a look at the Guestbook, and I imagine they might be confused if we don't regularly post a welcome greeting and explain what we're up to here. People drop in here for all kinds of reasons. Some are victims. Some have problems they need help with--as we all surely know. Some want information, and a lot of people just read the posts. And, bless you, a lot of you post to tell me you enjoy my books! I appreciate every one of those "Atta girls!"
Leslie Rule has finished her "ghosts and homicide " book, called WHEN THE GHOST SCREAMS, photos and all, and it will be out this fall. My friend, Donna Anders, has finished her next psychological suspense: DEATH WAITS FOR YOU, and I'll have NO REGRETS, all out around November. So we'll be a traveling road show and book signing trio in the Northwest-- three authors for the price of one, which was, of course, free to begin with! Don't they all sound like lovely Christmas presents? :*)
If you haven't seen AND NEVER LET HER GO yet, remember it shows again--all four hours of it--on Lifetime on May 20th. Check your local TV listings for the time in your area.
Week after next, I'm going to write the "proposal" for my memoirs so that my agents will have something to show my publishers. I do think that this is the era of autobiographies and memoirs, so I hope I don't start writing, only to find out I'm BORING. . . At least I will know. But that will be just about 20 pages, and the real work, of course, is on TOO LATE TO SAY GOODBYE, the Georgia book coming out at the first part of 2007. See? I'm so busy I don't have time to get into trouble. At least not much trouble.
I'm going to watch "Mrs. Henderson Presents" and "Crash" tonight. And, of course, this is tabloid day. I hope it isn't Denise Richards and Heather Locklear again. That looks as though its going to be the scandal du jour for a few months, now. Did you see Britney on David Letterman the other night? She stumbled some over the big words she read aloud for the "Top Ten" segment, but he was gentle with her. If you are down and out, Letterman tends to be nice to you. You know, even though she has all kinds of money, I feel kind of sorry for her. Her self-esteem looks to be just as low as women who are living mouth to mouth and are being trashed by their husbands. How Britney can stay with K.Fed remains a complete mystery to me. Yes, she's pregnant again and now she'll have two babies, but he hasn't helped with the first one--or the two he walked away from--and even if she should stay with him, he won't help with this one either. What good is he? He is mean to her, puts her down, makes fun of her, spends her money, flirts (or worse) with other women, and struts around like a retarded rooster! I would like to just sit her down and remind her that SHE is the one who is famous, made the money, and treats people nicely. HE isn't worth anything to her, and she shouldn't let him chip away at her self-confidence. I have yet to see Brit's baby smile, but maybe he does in the privacy of his own house?
Tom Cruise flew up to the fishing town of Aberdeen, Washington to make about a two-hour appearance with some guy who won some contest. He was dragging Katie Holmes behind him like one of those toy ducks our kids used to play with. She had that same pasted on, confused smile. They didn't stay to see his movie. I may have said last time that I sure wouldn't want to be flying all over when I had a new baby. Even if you've had a pretty easy delivery, your hormones are all jumbled up, you feel kind of nostalgic and weepy and want to stay home and snuggle your baby. But if you have a husband who is a publicity automaton, I guess you don't have much choice. I think they must be giving Tom "Doggie Downers" in his vitamins to keep him acting semi-normal during his interviews, but I expect him to leap on top of a fire truck any time now and go berserk with that smile and those teeth.
And, my opinon again, I don't think Jennifer Anniston is quite as heartbroken as the tabloids are trying to paint her. I think she's got more guts than that. And I think it's she who is dumping Vince. After seeing Brad act like such a whipped pup, maybe Jen doesn't WANT him any longer. Any day now, Angelina will give birth in a sweet potato field, bite the cord in two with her teeth, and jog back to their hut. Don't you just think that after awhile, celebrities forget what is the real world and what is the world they made up? Again, I think it's great that she gives money to help people in terrible need, but I also think she's neurotic and a little full of herself. But then if I looked like that, I might be full of myself, too.
One of my most un-favorite movie stars is Gwyneth Paltrow. She just comes across as a snob to me. Remember how she carried around her daughter, "Apple," without supporting her head? That baby always looked as if her neck hurt and that she was about to fall out of her mother's one armed grip and hit the ground. I'm glad she didn't. Now, it's "Moses" and I hope she holds him more carefully. At least, we can be thankful that Paris Hilton hasn't given birth. She would probably leave the baby someplace and remember it later.
Guess I'm naughty tonight--and I haven't even opened my tabloids yet! There are many people in Hollywood that I do admire: I think Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell have been good parents, married or not, and Sam Elliott and Katherine Ross, Tom Selleck and Jilly,and the late Jimmy Stewart and his wife, and Merle Streep, Sally Fields, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher (a trio of parents who seem to think of their kids first, mostly), Connie Stevens (raising her two girls by Eddie Fisher and supporting them all), Debbie Reynolds (Again raising Eddie Fisher's kids), and I think Liz Taylor (Another of Eddie's exes. Didn't you think his autobiography was a shameful display of someone who is NO gentleman?) has stood by her kids and step-kids and turned out to be a fairly strong woman through a life that none of us would have wished for--even with that beauty! I hope Liz isn't dying now, as the tabs say, but she must be lonely. Almost all the men in her life have died, and she doesn't seem to have any more dates than the rest of us single women! I also like William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman. They're great actors, seem like nice people and good parents, and they also seem to like each other.
I hope I don't go look in my tabs now and find any of the above have done something totally reprehensible!
Happy Mothers' Day, and for those who are sad for a number of reasons this Mothers' Day, please know that we are thinking of you and holding out a hand to you. This too shall pass.
Love,
Ann |
| Posted by Ann on Friday, May 12, 2006 at 19:43 |
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| Casting and more. . . |
Hi Everyone,
Regarding how actors are cast in my miniseries. Several people have written to say that they were disappointed that the actress who plays Anne Marie Fahey in AND NEVER LET HER GO, (second half showing tonight on Lifetime)looks nothing like the real Annie. Here's one answer I sent to a reader and TV watcher:
"Yes, I was really disappointed in the casting, too, of the actress who played Anne Marie. But I had nothing to do with it. There are so many factors involved. We make movies in Canada because they are much cheaper there due to the rate of exchange. (I say "We" but the production company in Hollywood makes all these decisions.) To get Canada's blessing, 50% of the actors and crew must be Canadian citizens, and this gal was. Next, they look for the best actors they can get who ask the least money and who are available. Kathleen, Anne Marie's sister, said Catherine was very close to Anne Marie in mannerisms and she could deal with it. I wanted an American actress whose name escapes me at the moment. She had long auburn hair and looked so much like Anne Marie. But they vetoed me. This has happened in all four of my miniseries and I'm getting used to it now."
By the way, no one from Hollywood bothered to inform me that Lifetime had bought the miniseries, or that it was going to show this week. Authors really, truly "get no respect" in LA LA Land. No one there seems to remember that if there weren't authors and/or scriptwriters, there would be no movies to make! I wish I had known so that I could at least have alerted Anne Marie's family and others who loved her that it was about to show again.
I probably will never have another movie or miniseries. Now, the true crime documentary shows simply go through all my books and take my stories and my research and use them. They used to acknowledge me , show the book cover, and even interview me. But no longer. Since I write true cases, they can always say they did the research, and that's what they do. I learned a week ago that the next one they're doing is "Desperate Housewife" from Worth More Dead. They called someone I had interviewed and she asked how they knew about the case,a nd they actually said, "Oh, we got it out of Ann Rule's book." So there you go. Unless, I go back to writing fictional novels, I can probably kiss Hollywood goodbye. :*)
One of you wonderful posters came up with the best suggestion yet about getting together. I should have remembered this. A cruise line has offered me a
"fan cruise" package to Alaska and back, up the Inside Passage, if I would give two talks on the cruise,and they would dedicate that cruise to my readers. Hopefully, they would offer you an affordable price! They ask me every year if I'd like to do it. I would LOVE to do it, but I've never had time--I have had a book deadline every summer. Maybe we could do this in 2007? Or a cruise to somewhere else, warmer, a little later in the fall? I have no idea of the cost, but I will check it out. That way, we would all have rooms, meals, fun, touristy stuff at the ports and be able to get together.I've always wanted to take a cruise, but never stopped to relax. I guess it's time?
Many of us have suffered losses lately, and I'm so sorry. Today is the 11th anniversary of my mother's death. Such a beautiful time of year with all the flowers blooming, but it makes me sad, too.She was a great Mom! I miss her every day,but know she was not happy the last 17 years of her life after she lost my dad. Now, I know they are together. They had one of those perfect marriages that few of us are lucky enough to find!
I may not be able to post here for awhile as I have a huge writing crunch coming up. I will miss you, but will pop in when I can.
Ann
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| Posted by Ann on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 at 09:40 |
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| Lots of Things |
Hi Ladies, the the FEW STUDLY males who check in here,
Well, I just wrote a whole page, and my little finger slipped and erased it all. I hate when that happens. I'll start again.
Leslie is feeling some better, but her throat is still so SOOOOOoooooo sore. Her doc said her tonsils were really, really infected and probably had been for years. So she should feel a whole lot better soon. I've been cooking pudding and other soft things for her to eat. And Fluffbutt and Bunnie have been sleeping on her bed to comfort her, which helps a lot--as she is a huge cat lover. She misses her own cat-gang and hopes to go home to them today.
I'm waiting for 450 pages of edited manuscript on NO REGRETS, so I'm not really playing hookey. I can't work until the FEDEX guy comes with it.
I jotted down some of your questions and will try to answer or comment while I wait.
I THINK you guys are joking about the great boat trip to Seattle. You ARE, aren't you? I'm such a workaholic that I have writing to do and couldn't possibly be serious about this. I DO think we should think about a big convention, conference, meeting, slumber party, weekend get-together at some central place in America--or even in Seattle if the price wouldn't be too high. Our weather is best in July through September, but that's when the hotel prices go up, too. As for the cruise idea with Micki chartering a sailing craft, it really wouldn't work in Puget Sound. The area in front of my place is a shipping lane and there are huge wakes that wash ashore from the ships going by all the time. Also, sound carries over the water in such a strange way that I can hear conversations way, way, out as clearly as if they were sitting on my front deck. The cacaphony that would come from some 100 tutu-tutu-clad maniacs would surely get everyone reported to the Coast Guard, the Fire Department, the King County Sheriff's Office, and the Health Department--at the very least. I used to have two buoys (good for one boat apiece) but they washed away in a big storm. And, yes, we get the big storms--with winds blowing up to 100 miles per hour every few years. When I hear Micki asking about sea walls and bulkheads and all, I begin to think she's really serious. You can't tie up to my sea-wall because the tide changes about 14 feet twice a day where I am. The few people along here with boats have to tie up to their buoys way, way out, and use a dinghy or raft to get to them. They are all comparatively small motorboats, and they cannot be moored out there except in the summer months because of the high winds. As far as Marinas go, all of them around Seattle have at least a three -year waiting list for permanent docking and I don't know about temporary tie-ups.
I know I'm just being an old nervous Nellie and that you really are only kidding, but then I don't want anyone to think this game is real and end up being disappointed. We should probably take a poll of how many of you would and could actually come to a weekend get-together in 2007. I would imagine it would cost at least $1,000 apiece--and maybe more--for plane tickets to Seattle, two or three nights at a hotel, meals, bus tours, etc. I would think that October might be the best month next year. I have to go to Alaska in September for a conference,. and the first 8 months of 2007 will be taken up with a publicity tour for TOO LATE TO SAY GOODBYE in February-March, and then writing on my autobiography until late summer.
I would suggest taking a ferry ride to one of the islands around here, perhaps even going to Victoria B.C. on a longer ferry ride, one night with a nice, casual banquet at the hotel we'd pick, followed by a slumber party get-together, and a brunch and tour bus trip to local crime sites another day. If they still have it in October, Blake Island has a great Salmon Bake (done by real native Americans) after a lovely boat ride. Or I could give a talk and show my videos of interviews with Diane Downs and other interesting people I've written about. (Right now, I'm suffering with Fibromyalgia, which makes long lectures hard for me --probably from too many years hunched over a computer--but I think it will be self-limiting and go away!!!) If you would really, truly, be interested in such a project for 2007, cast your vote on my Guestbook so we can get a sense of how many? I'm thinking it would be 200 or less? Off-season, we could probably arrange for blocks of rooms at a pretty good price in a couple of hotels. We might even find a hotel in Tacoma, 26 miles South of Seattle, with better rates. If you are all rich, then "Never Mind,." and we can book a whole floor at the Olympic Hotel or the Sheraton.
Not that I'm nervous that I'm going to go out on my deck and be greeted by a bunch of people wearing mult-colored tu-tus, yoo-hooing at me. Oh, Yessss I am. Nowadays, I open the door to my deck and peek out cautiously before I step out to carry garbage to my mulch pile or feed my raccoons. Anyone who has already done the daredevil stuff Micki has done just might be showing up any day now.
On San Antonio, Linda. There are some great places to go there. I l spent lots of time there in 2000 at the Allen Blackthorne trial for EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE. There is a great public market area with really good, genuine Mexican Food. Lots of shops and Mariachi (sp? bands). And a number of other Mexican restaurants all around San Antonio.. I usually don't like Mexican food, but I love it in San Antonio. For superior old-fashioned, chicken dinners, go to Earl Abels where the waitresses and hostesses tend to be in their 80's and you will go away feeling sooo young! They also have delicious cream pies. I think it's on Broadway, but my memory may be fading. I know you get off the beltway that soars around San Antonio at the "University of the Incarnate Word" sign. Right across the street from Earl Abel's is the most fantastic supermarket I've ever seen The Central Market. They have 27 different kinds of EVERYTHING from cheeses to meats to deli stuff to fruits and vegetables. And maybe you can find a local to take you to the haunted railroad tracks outside of town where the ghost children will push your car across the tracks. (Read about this in my book EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE and Leslie Rule's GHOSTS AMONG US.
The Alamo will surprise you by how small it is. But what a sense of history. If you read my book, you can find the area where the once-pink, now-orange, mansion of Allen Blackthorne sits. The RIVER WALK is fun, and be sure to take one of the boats that wends its way around the river. It's more "touristy" than the things I mentioned above. People in San Antonio are very, very nice and friendly, too!
Faith, it's so hard to be new to a city or state. Because my father was a football coach, we moved often and I used to hate to start over in each place--but I'm glad now for the experience because there ARE nice people all over. Every area needs volunteers and I would think you could be a victim advocate in your new town, too. I would say that you should get out there and volunteer for something that interests you. Look on the Internet for agencies and charities in your new area. Your neighbor sounds very nice! And keep logging on here for your nation-wide support group!
Oh boyyy, I saw Dr. Phil last night ,too--with the crazy woman and her poor children. I would have felt a little bit sorry for her and her nuttiness--IF she hadn't gone so quickly from beating her 10-year-old son to talking so normally to the girlfriend who called her. What a fake! I don't like the husband, either. In fact, I wouldn't have sent those kids home with either of them until there was a real intervention. Those children were so much more mature than the parents are. How many people would give anything to have those kids! I have known people like the mother who have almost split personalities, going from screaming at those they dominate to being sweetie-nicey to someone they want to impress. I'm not sure if the mother is psychotic or not, but she sure seems on the edge, doesn't she?
For those of you who are looking for jobs or a way to make a living: I've always thought that this idea might be the answer for a lot of people. If you have a car and several hours a day, I would think about starting a "shopping service" for the hundreds of elderly people who live in assisted living apartment complexes. Most of them have kitchens where they could cook one or more meals a day in their apartments, but they aren't able to shop. You could get a list from them on shopping and errands, too, and the money to pay for it, and then charge a percentage of what it costs or by the hour to pick up what they need and deliver it to them. Maybe you could even take them to doctor's appointments, pick up their prescriptions, and do what their own children would do if they lived close by. Or be a "Girl Friday" for a lot of busy people who don't have time to pick up laundry, buy supplies for a party, shop for groceries, pick up their children at school, bake something for the day their child needs to take treats, all kinds of things. For instance, I've met gals who do this for some of the professional sports figures in Seattle. I think you might need to incorporate to help you write off your expenses for tax purposes, but you might not have to at first. I would get an Unbrella insurance policy (they don't cost that much) to cover yourself. Maybe you could start by putting up notices on the bulletin boards or leave them in the offices of retirement communities to see if there would be an interest. With more and more people living to a ripe old age, this seems like a natural "job" to me.
A lot of people have been asking me why I don't write about older cases that have already had books about them ==like Jon-Benet, The Memphis Five, Darlie Routier, Jeffrey McDonald, etc. etc. I really don't want to. They have been re-hashed so often. I prefer to find new cases which aren't so familiar to readers. I am not an investigator,a nd I have to go to trials, whenever possible, for the books I write. For these cases, it's much too late to go to the trials!
And, forgive me, but I sigh when I get emails and letters asking me how to be a writer. Especially on how to be a crime writer. I'm so doggonned busy. I want to help, but I just don't have the time to tell someone how to do it. If you really want to be a writer, you will read books on how to do it, go to writers' conferences, read writers' magazines like THE WRITER and WRITERS' DIGEST, take courses in writing, and get out there and dig to find a way. I did respond to a gal this morning, and I'll copy what I sent her here. Maybe some of you would be interested. And I think there is probably something about getting started in writing on this website under FAQs
Here's what I sent her.
"I'm on a tight deadline with a book, so I have to answer briefly. Remember that a would-be true crime writer has to be a detective herself and figure out ways to research. I have a four-year degree in Creative Writing, and a two-year degree in Criminal Justice. But it's not necessary. The AA degree probably helped the most in this genre.
Here's the list.
1. Buy a book called THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO GETTING PUBLISHED by Sherri Bykovsky, my daughter's literary agent. Great general advice on getting started! It will tell you how to write a proposal to sell your non-fiction book.
2. Start attending trials to get a sense of how the justice system works. I go every day to the trials on the cases I write about. Take your own notes of the testimony and courtroom ambiance. (You can attend any trial EXCEPT most juvenile hearings.)
3. Save all newspaper articles and record TV news coverage.
4. Once a case has been adjudicated, ask the District Attorney's Office what documents are available to you under the Public Information Act.
5. Take some Community College courses on crime scene investigation and other criminal justice courses. Crime Scene Investigation and Police Photography helped me the most.
6. In most cases, you can't get police records, except through the D.A.'s office in most cases. You CAN interview detectives who are willing to talk to you about the case. But only AFTER the trial has been adjudicated.
'
7. Try to interview witnesses AFTER the trials are over for more personal viewpoints.
8. Visit the area where the crimes occurred for local color and background.
9. You can buy trial transcripts--usually--from court reporters. They cost from fiftty cents to $3.50 a page. That's why it's better to be in court and take your own notes!
10. Always get a contract for a non-fiction book before you take on the story. To do that, you need a proposal to submit to a literary agent. Agents take 15% of the money paid to you by the publisher. They send the checks to the agent who takes his (or her) share, and the agent sends you the rest.
11. You must pay all your own expenses: photos, copies, phone bills, travel, lodging, etc. etc.
Good luck!
Ann
http://www.annrules.com/
P.S. Most true crime books from first-time authors only get an advance of from $3500 to $7500, unless it is a really big case, and you are a great writer. I got $10,000 for the Bundy book--my first-- and that money came in over a five year period. And this was after my agents had taken their percentage. It cost me a lot more than this to travel to Florida, stay in hotels, and pay for many other expenses. Eventually, of course, I made a lot more than this as The Stranger Beside Me continued to sell. It's now in its 50-somethingth printing. "
A lot of people also asked me about what is happening now to people in earlier books. I hope everyone here knows about the Updates to be found in my Updates section here, and in the Newsletter here. Beyond the guestbook, this website is just packed with other sections.
I'm glad we found Bernita, too. If anyone else stays missing for very long, let me know and I will track them down. :*) But it is true that I don't have any way to find you from your posts. Some of you have written me private emails, and you occasionally tell me where you work or live. I found Bernita because I knew the name of her seed company from the present of seeds she sent me last year.
Wish I could address all of you personally, but I am aware of the struggles many of you have and the illnesses and sadness. I say prayers for you, and think of you often.
The FEDEX man is here, so now I have to get to work for real.
Love to all!
Ann
www.annrules.com
P.S. Remember that pulling weeds on a sunny day is good for the soul. If you have a battery operated radio and tune to an oldies but goodies station, it's even better. And if your pets are nearby, you have it all!
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| Posted by Ann on Tuesday, May 09, 2006 at 12:18 |
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| Sunday |
Sunday Morning Coming Down,
Well, really we're a lot more cheerful than that here, but it made me think of that song. Friday, it was 77 degrees, and today it's only 48. The wind is blowing and little pitterpats of rain. Leslie is upstairs sleeping. It's so good to have her here. She had a really bad day Friday, but she's lots better--but still hurting. Fluffbutt, my dear 19 year old cat, has always been the "Registered Nurse Cat" and right there sleeping beside anyone who is ill. He made it upstairs to take care of Leslie. He's really creaky and he feels as if he's made of air and feathers now, but he's happy, has a good appetite, and knows how to measure out his energy. I hope I get to have him a few more years. Most of my animals are getting long in the tooth, now. Willow, the Bernese Mountain Dog, is only 3, though. Lucy's surgery helped her paralyzed larnyx a lot and she doesn't cough all the time anymore. Thank Goodness.
The extra step to get into the Guest Book is our latest strategy to fight back those %%##**&& blankety-blanks who are showering my website with their advertising and porn. Talk about leeches!
I'm troubled to hear all the nursing home horror stories. I have a dear email friend named Kathy who was a police department dispatcher and a real athlete until she suffered a stroke in her twenties or thirties. She's had so many surgeries and rough times, but she has an indomitable spirit. Recently, she went to a convalescent home here in Washington State, and she was treated horribly--especially by one attendant who went out of her way to be dominant and try to build up her own power. Kathy is fighting back by writing to authorities at the state capitol. I hope she wipes up the floor with that bitch. Sorry, but that is the only epithet that fits her. Who is more helpless than someone elderly, sick, paralyzed--or all three-- in a nursing home? Some caregivers are truly kind and some are nightmares. We might all be there at some time and, now, we must be watchdogs for others who need someone sticking up for them! I'm so happy to think that Memow is with her family, and that her beloved cat can jump on the bed with her. My own Mom went first to an assisted living apartment set-up and she hated it. She'd always been queen of her own "castle," but when my dad died suddenly, she could not live on their ranch alone. She didn't drive, and I worried so about her. After years, we moved her to an adult foster home with only 6 residents--who all had their own rooms. There were 3 attendants at all times, and that was a good solution. Sadly, my mom died about six weeks after she moved in. She had a stroke, and even though we had DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) written on her records--at her request--the EMT's brought her back. But her essence was gone. She could not hear, see, and she just wasn't there. It was awful to see her like that when she had always been so proud. I was really angry at those young men who had disregarded the DNR instructions. She lived about a month more than she herself would have chosen.
I still miss my Mom. I think all of us who have lost loving mothers (And, let's face it--not all Moms are loving so you don't have to feel guilty if you were unlucky enough to have drawn a mean one)--feel kind of lost. You suddenly realize that YOU are the place where all the bucks stop. But I do often feel my folks around me.
Enough sad stuff.
Yes, Diane Downs will come up for parole in about three or four years. She was sentenced in 1984 to about 50 years (as I recall without looking it up)--but sentences rarely mean prisoners will serve all that time. She may not get out the first time she comes before the parole board, but she will probably get out when she's 55 or 56. And, with today's miracle medicine, I wouldn't put it past her to try to get pregnant again!
George Russell is a serial killer, an African-American son of a wealthy, professional family who lived on Mercer Island, a posh suburb of Seattle. His murders were grotesque and cruel. He once told his attorney that I was going to write a book about him. But I never even planned to. As I said, the late Jack Olsen did write the book CHARMER about Russell. Olsen had it in him to write wonderfully if he felt like it, and then, sometimes, he was anxious to go fishing and kind of tap-danced through some of books. CHARMER is pretty good, and so is Olsen's SON. Jack stopped speaking to me about 15 years before he died, after he got angry when I sold more books than he did one day at a department store signing in Seattle. I think he was outraged that a female could actually outsell him--but then I have spent my adult life preparing to write true-crime, and I did my homework. Jack wrote almost 30 books on all kinds of subjects, beginning with sports books. He worked for TIME and SPORTS ILLUSTRATED and was often an editor. He didn't like Truman Capote, either, because Jack always said HE was the one who had the idea to write about the Clutter murders first--not Capote. He used to live across Puget Sound from me on Bainbridge Island. I actually kind of miss him since he passed away. Sometimes, losing an avowed enemy is as hard as losing a friend! I guess I got used to his sniping at me in his Internet posts. Other books he wrote that I would recommend: DOC, NIGHT OF THE GRIZZLY, and THE BRIDGE AT CHAPPAQUIDICK.
Oh, the thought of you crazy gals getting on a boat with Micki and anchoring it off my buoy in front of my house! Talk about Writer's Block! That would be the end of my career. We would all just sit on my new deck, drinking sweet tea, martinis, beer, and lemonade and eating grits, biscuits with tomato gravy, she-crab soup, Crab Louis, chips and my famous clam dip. The neighbors would revolt, the police would watch us all the time, and probably Mary Kay LeTourneau and her husband (one-time victim) who live down the beach would drop by.(If he doesn't have to go to jail for DWI in her Cadillac) I would never write another word. I only have two bedrooms, and there's not room for a trailer on the hillside. And, by the way, WHERE is Bernita? Now, I'm worried about her. Please check in, Bernita!!!
I will be in Alaska in September, 2007, for a big old writers' conference up there. More on my home page as it gets closer. I've never been to Alaska before.
Now that Leslie has finished WHEN THE GHOST SCREAMS, she is already looking for more ghost stories. The best kind are from those of you who have actually glimpsed a ghost, and even better if you have photos of ghosts. Send emails to me about ghosts to ANNIER37@aol.com or to LLRULE30@aol.com (Leslie's email.) For the person who suggested or wondered if it helped Leslie to sell books because she's my daughter: not so much. Actually, she tried to sell her books to Pocket Books and Simon & and Schuster where I have my contracts, but had no takers. I don't think the folks at Andrews McMeel in Kansas City even knew --or cared--that we are related. She is really on her own, although now it probably doesn't hurt that I write the forewords to her books. She makes me tell stuff that I'm trying to save for my autobiography next year! The best thing I've done for her (and her late father, too) is to pass down some writing genes so that it comes naturally.
I agree that spelling and grammar and typos are not noticed on my Guestbook. I'm always in a hurry as I write this weblog,a nd I don't have time to proof, either. I just sling it out there and know you will understand.
Don't forget to watch NORTHWEST AFTERNOON (in the Northwest area) on Thursday, May 11th where we'll be talking about the interesting email I have received. No names attached--so don't worry.
I rented THE FAMILY STONE, and I hope Leslie wakes up and will watch it with me. I have SHOP GIRL coming next. I like Steve Martin's fey sense of humor.
And, tonight, of course, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES. I know it's kind of dumb, but I still enjoy it.
O.K. O.K., I'm stalling because I don't feel like writing. But I'm going to be a good girl and do some now.
Remember, some of you are going to have to bring your own rowboats, equipped with air mattresses and umbrellas so you can tie up to Micki's big boat. You can fish for salmon, dig clams--even geoducks--and pick wild blackberries on the bank to survive. The seals out front weigh about 400 pounds, but they're usually friendly.
I love you all, but just to be safe, I'm not going to tell you my address. :*) I know half of you are probably packing right now to run away from home! And I still have a really, really, long and difficult book to write this summer!
Bye for now,
Ann |
| Posted by Ann on Sunday, May 07, 2006 at 12:51 |
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| Saturday |
Hi on Saturday Morning!
Well, Leslie had a really rough night, but she's doing a lot better this morning. She's still in the hospital and I kind of hope she stays one more night. She had a chest x-ray this morning because she was coughing a little. I can hardly understand her on the phone, but I could make out that she feels pretty good--compared to last night. Tonsils are a lot harder when you're grown up. I don't give my kids' exact ages in deference to their privacy--but they are all over 21. And that makes me over 40. TeeHee. You would have to pin me to the wall to get me to admit how MUCH over!!!
Leslie's never had surgery of any kind before, and I stopped counting after 14. So I know it can smart a lot to get cut into! My mom lived for 90 years without ever having any operations. You just never know. I think my worst one was after I finally convinced my then- (and never again) doctor to let me get an ultra-sound. I'd been telling him for four years that one side of my belly was bigger than the other, and he just pooh-poohed my complaints and said that was "normal." I finally got his nurse to set me up for the ultra-sound--which led to a CAT scan immediately, which led to surgery two days later on Christmas Eve, 1999. I had an 18 pound tumor in there. Luckily, and thank God, it was benign. But I spent Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and then some in the hospital. And my scar ended my topless dancing career! (Just kidding for you with literal minds). I lost over 30 pounds, but, alas, I found them again! (Except for the 18 pounds). I learned that you have to speak up for yourself, and keep insisting that something is wrong with you even if you have to rattle a lot of cages. Somehow, I kept writing through all but ten days of that medical surprise.
I'm sorry that so many of our pals on here are dealing with depression, but I know that it's a very real part of many lives. And you can't just talk someone out of it, or think you can cheer them up by pointing out how good life is. Again, remember that idiot Tom Cruise saying that all you need is vitamins for Post-Partum Depression. With the right combo of medications, depression can be treated successfully but it can take a long time to hit on it. I have long wished that they had had meds for depression when my 21-year-old brother committed suicide. He might still be with us today if there had been. I have always wondered what it might be like to have had my brother all these years. He was handsome, really, really intelligent, and such a nice guy--who was going to be a doctor and was unfailingly kind to everyone.
The wonderful weather of the last two days has blown away with the winds coming off the ocean. It was great to see the sun again, but I know it will come back. If Leslie doesn't get out of the hospital today to come to my house, I think I may go and buy some petunias, zinnias, impatiens, tomato and zuchinni plants today. I have lots of great soil from my mulch pile and added it to my planters. It's dicey around here to fill the mulch pile. One time, I opened the top and there were two fat "Mr. Rats" running around in there. They scared me more than I scared them. Rats are the ONLY critters I'm afraid of. So, now I save my coffee grounds, eggshells, old fruits and vegetables etc. in baggies. I stash them on the side deck outside until somebody brave puts them in the mulch bin for me. I discovered that my son, Mike, who is super neat, has been throwing them away instead of putting them in the mulch! I pointed out the great soil I DID get with the stuff he didn't pitch out and tried to give him a little gardening lesson--but he didn't show much interest. It's a terrible thing when a mother has to HIDE her garbage from her own son just so she can mulch!
I have a good feeling that THIS is going to be the year that I finally succeed with Zuchinni! I'll try one in a stack of tires, two on the ground, one in a deep planter, and see what happens. Any fool--except me--can grow Zuchinni, but I'm not giving up! And I'm going back to Early Girl tomatoes and forget about the heirlooms. They were pretty, but they didn't taste very good.
Hope my raccoons and my possums come back. I don't know why they left. I had about five raccoons dropping by for a snack at 10 p.m. every night, and the poor little possums would come after they left. I think I told you last year that I did have a couple of possums who "played possum." I felt so bad that the dogs had "killed " them, but I learned that they weren't dead at all.If I watched quietly enough, they popped open their eyes, dusted themselves off, and sauntered away. I just feel bad that I put one "dead" possum on a shovel, and dropped him into the blackberries. Hope he didn't get scratched.
I will put a picture of my tram in the photo gallery, along with a bunch of others very soon.
I love TV on weekends--those great shows like Sell this House, Flip this House, Move this House, Trading Places, Moving Up etc. There's the one fellow in the Low Country, Marsha, who does miracles. I think he may be in Charleston. He has open houses after the houses are all ready to "flip" and serves Shrimp and Grits. Never heard of such a thing--but I know when I had my first grits in Texas, they weren't at all what I expected. I thought they'd be deep-fried, I guess. Every place I go to a trial, there's some local dish that is sooooo good! LIke Chicken Fried Steak in Houston, Mexican food in San Antonio, Beef on a Wick in Buffalo, Cat Fish and Hush Puppies in Atlanta, Stone crab claws in South Beach, Florida. When I lived near Philly in high school, I had my first submarine sandwiches and steak sandwiches--long before anyone on the West Coast ever heard of them. What are the special foods where you all live?
Seattle has great sea food, of course. And Delicious Apples and strawberries.
For people who asked me about Jeffrey McDonald, I think he is guilty of killing his family,a nd I always have. From the time I saw him laughing and loving the limelight on Dick Cavett's Show as he spoke of his murdered wife and children, I stopped believing him. He is, in my estimation, one of the most charming and handsome sociopaths I've ever seen. The real truth has long been obscured by movies, books, and slanted looks at McDonald. I understand he is married now, and I would be worried for his wife if he ever gets out of prison and she gets in his way.
Again, on Jon-Benet, I am not sure. But her older half-brother was already on a plane when she was killed and her 9-year-old brother did not have the strength to kill her. Whoever the adults were in that house in Boulder (and there may well have been more than her mother and father), I think one of those adults killed her.
The problem with a lot of media saturated cases is that they take on a life of their own and rumor gets all mixed up with fact until it's hard to know what is myth and what is reality. That's one of the reasons I try to choose cases that are NOT really well known--although they may eventually become well-known. Believe it or not, Ted Bundy was not a well-known killer at all when I first wrote about him. Now, there have been many books and movies. By the way, please remember that the movie called TED BUNDY was made by people who really knew very little about him, and it is full of horrible and fictional scenes. None of us who truly knew this case had anything whatsoever to do with it.
If you haven't read Leslie's books yet, her first two ghost books--already out and available in any bookstore or on line are Coast to Coast Ghosts and Ghosts Among Us. She also has three novels that she is going to take back her publishing rights on and make available: Whispers From the Grave, and Kill Me Again are two of them. Her website is www.ghostygirl.com
For news on Donna Anders' many psychological suspense books, go to www.Donnaanders.com
On those $$#&&**%% ads that keep popping in here, my webmaster is working hard to find a way to block them. I'm wondering if the pharmaceutical companies may have some sort of global search that has picked up on the recent posts about drug names several of you have mentioned? As far as the porn, what can we do? I have a filter on my email addresses, but they keep thinking up ways to spell the more scatological subjects and names for private parts. If they just change one n or add two i's, they can get through. Sometimes I'm so annoyed that I want to write them back and tell them off, but they want you to do that--that proves that they have reached someone and you'll just get MORE porn.
I have been watching Dateline's shows on trapping on-line sex predators by luring them to a house where they think they will find a willing young teen. Besides catching those particular offenders, I think the show may be doing an even greater service by scaring off sexual kooks who prowl the Internet. Many of them watch the show,a nd they have no way of knowing where the next trap will be. I suspect it makes a lot of them scared of meeting teens, for fear THEY will walk into Dateline. I hope I'm right. What is shocking, even to me who was once a Sex Crimes Detective for the Seattle Police Department, is how many of them there are out there! I'm glad my kids are beyond their teens, but please keep a close eye on yours if they are younger. You never know who is hiding a secret from the world, and keep reminding your kids that they really cannot trust anyone and to come to you if they feel "hinky" about somebody. It could be a teacher, the next door neighbor, someone they babysit for, a Sunday School teacher, scout leader. I hate it that this is true--but it is. So keep as open a line as you can with your kids. Having raised five through their teens, I know how hard that can be--once they reach the age where they think almost everything we say is "dumb."
Well, I'd better get to work.
Have a good Saturday and Sunday!
Ann
P.S. I am not going to put my email address in here anymore because I just get more spam there. But you can find it in several places on my website pages. And don't forget that there ARE a lot of other sections here. |
| Posted by Ann on Saturday, May 06, 2006 at 12:58 |
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