There are 399 Web Log Items in 50 pages and you are on page number 43 |
| 5/14/05 |
Saturday night:
It's been a busy week, as it always is when I get into the rhythm of writing a book. I'm half done with Worth More Dead, and it is flowing nicely. As I think most of you know, I am always trying to find the best way to protect the "innocents" in my books, to give the most accurate story without revealing any personal information that might reveal their identities. This one is difficult that way, because the bad guys took such advantage of the innocent. But it's working out.
As far as my personal life, well--not that much happened. Willow came tearing downstairs the other night to challenge the raccoons who had the audacity to eat leftovers I'd put out on the front deck. She hurt her leg, but some anti-inflammatories (sp) fixed it in 48 hours.Fluff-Butt, my 17-1/2 year old cat sleeps most of the time, but he says he feels much better now that the weather is warmer.- My other three cats and Lucy, the old dog, are doing well.
Nope, I'm still not writing about the BTK! The details will surely be horrific, and I cannot do that book in good conscience, and it would really get to me, too. I think you know that there's simply not way I can accede to all the requests that come my way to write books on particular subjects. I can only write two books a year and do a good job on it. And I've had to stop giving talks because I cannot do that and write those two books a year. I hate the thought now of racing through the airport to catch a plane to make a speech. It means three writing days gone!
Your emails have been great, and I appreciate them so much! I decided not to build a new office. It wouldn't even be done for two years, and the price was astronomical, so I'm going to stick with my little cabin, and spruce it up a lot.
I've been planting annuals and throwing out widlflower seeds. Gardens are one place where you can really relax. The annual Zucchini experiment begins again. This year, I'm planting them in old tires. We'll see. A reader in Florida wrote an hilarious letter saying she has so many she can't give them away. But, then, Seattle is no Florida when it comes to growing gigantic, productive vegetables!
I know I have more questions to answer for you, but I can't remember them. Maybe tomorrow.
I'm going to watch MAD TV now and then Saturday Night Live. It's good therapy for me, and watching the true crime channels just make my day of trying to understand criminal minds longer.
I watched the Elvis Special last night, and it always strikes me as so sad. I think he had a lot more to offer, but they wore him out. When you think that he was only 42 when he died, that seems younger and younger as I get older and older.
Bought a new weedeater today though. How's that for excitement? :*)
All my best!
Ann |
| Posted by Ann on Saturday, May 14, 2005 at 23:01 |
|
|
| Tuesday Night |
Tuesday Night.
First of all: please, please do not put your name, address or phone number in my guestbook! I have no control over who reads the guestbook, and it chillled me today to see a young woman put all that information about herself out there. And then another gal did it.
My webmaster takes those off and forwards them to me as soon as she can, but it is so dangerous to give that much information to strangers. If you need to write directly to me, remember that my email address is AnnieR37@aol.com. Do not put personal information on my guestbook. I try to answer personal emails, although it's getting really hard now that I'm racing a book deadline. I lost more than a month of writing when I had pneumonia in March.
Remember that most of the questions you ask are already answered on this website. Go to the home page and look at all the choices you have--from my autobiography to Frequently Asked Questions. Also, if you go to www.google.com, and just enter my name in the search slot there, you will find dozens of referrals and articles. Or you can go to www.barnesandnoble.com and enter my name. They have a really good bio of me there. I wish that I could help with school papers, but if I stopped to do that, I would never meet my deadlines. For students, the advice above about where to go to get the scoop on me and what I write about and why, will help you a lot.
If you have written to me, and received no answer,it's probably because I just didn't receive your email. That is a big problem with the Internet; often I have no way of knowing that you tried to get in touch. If you don't get an answer back, please try again. You can also write to BlueZinnia9@aol.com. That will reach me, too.
I explained what I can't do on this weblog a couple of months ago, but maybe I should update it. Here's the list. I can't: Give Legal Advice--I'm not an attorney; Investigate unsolved cases because I'm not "Jessica Fletcher:" Read your unpublished manuscripts and critique them. (I write about 9 hours a day); Have assistants who want to learn how to be true crime writers. (The more alone I am, the happier I am during writing hours!); Have you proofread my manuscripts (That is done by my publisher in New York; Find your long-lost friends or relatives (This really calls for a Private Investigator); Read books that are not yet sold to a publisher and give quotes on them (Blurbs. Again, I just don't have time to do that.)
There are so many ways I would like to be able to help, but my eyes are always on the goal, and that means the next book deadline. Lots of people tell me to write faster, and, heaven knows, I try. I also try to keep in touch with my readers, so I hope you will understand why I can't do the things I've outlined above.
For those of you who have lost loved ones to murder and want to get the word out to help solve the crimes, please go to www.realcrimes.com. This is a site maintained by Lois Duncan Arquette ( a wonderful young adult writer who lost her own 18-year-old daughter to murder) and her husband, Don. You can put your information up on this site, and it's a very busy place.
Free Kitties! The Rule Extended Family (Leslie and myself) find that we have rescued too many cats. If anyone in the Greater Seattle area truly loves animals and would like to adopt a really great cat, please write to me at AnnieR37@aol.com. We want people who are devoted cat lovers, as we love all of these critters. They are spayed or neutered, have had shots, and have wonderful personalities. Each cat comes with two signed books--one from me and one from Leslie. It is so difficult--if not impossible--to turn away a hungry, forlorn cat, but we realize we cannot save the entire feline population! All my children share my love for animals, but we all have our limit of dogs and cats, so please contact me if you have a place in your heart and in your life for a new pet?
Thank you for the rocks that have arrived in the mail. My future fireplace is well on its way! I know the Post Office must be wondering what the heck I'm doing now, when those heavy boxes arrive.
I'm still looking for anyone who may have known R.N. Debbie Swiegart,(Spelling may be wrong) who worked at Overlake Hospital about 15 years ago before she was murdered. I'm trying to find out more about her. One gal contacted me three or four years ago and we talked on the phone, but I cannot find your number. Also, the young woman who wrote to me about the Ringrose case--please write again? I've lost your email, too. If you could see the bins and bins of mail I have, and all the newspaper clippings and notes, you would understand how easy it is for me to lose things.
Things are going pretty well here, although Willow rushed down the stairs to bark at the raccoons through the glass door that she pulled a muscle in one back leg. After two days of anti-inflammatories, she says she feels just fine, thank you. I tell Willow and Lucy, "Try to think of the raccoons just like you love your cats," but they just stare at me like I've gone round the bend at last.
I'm going over the galleys for the paperback version of Green River, Running Red, so I will have a chance to fix about four places where I either made Freudian slips or really bad grammatical or time wise mistakes. It's awful to see a book in print, and finally be able to spot your own dumb mistakes. Now, I have a chance to correct those things. This book comes out in October in paperback.
Remember, if you are looking for one of my books and don't see it in the bookstore, you can always order it. All of my books have stayed in print, and any bookstore can order them and have them for you in a week or so. Often, you can find my books used on eBay--although then I don't get any royalty for them. :*) But I want all of you to be able to find them at a cost that suits you. And don't forget the libraries. Most of my books are available from Thorndike Press in Large Print, and taped books can be ordered, too. Either Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Books on Tape, or the Library for the Blind. My books are sold in the UK, Italy, France, Germany, South Africa, Japan, China, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Holland, Denmark--and probably even some other places I don't know about. I am always amazed and touched to receive letters from as far away as Zimbabwe or Singapore! Just imagine. . .
It's late, and I moved files and boxes around today, looking for photographs, and cleaning my office at the same time--so I'm going to bed to watch David Letterman.
Hope you will all have a good night and a super tomorrow! If there are typos in this post--and I'm sure there are--I'm just too tired to go look for them. Just read past them, please?
Ann
|
| Posted by Ann on Tuesday, May 10, 2005 at 23:28 |
|
|
| Mother's Day Revisited |
An hour or so after I finished my blog posting for tonight, I realized that I had kind of glossed over motherhood in general--even though I was trying to consider many different situations. And I realized that I had done a disservice to those out there who were "robbed" when it came to having a loving, supportive Mom. Mother's Day for them isn't a very sentimental or happy holiday.
All mothers are not loving, caring, protective, nurturing--as much as I wish they were. Many of them are only a part of a vicious circle; their mothers didn't love them and they never learned deep in their bones how to be a mother. Many of their children grew up wondering what was wrong with them? Why hadn't their mother loved them ?.And those are wounds and doubts don't go away.
When I think back of a number of what I call "unnatural mothers" that I have written about, I have to acknowledge that there are bad mothers who never understood what it was like to love a child. And I want to rectify any hurt I may have done to daughters and sons who feel bitter and empty on Mother's Day.
Diane Downs of SMALL SACRIFICES, Debora Green of BITTER HARVEST, Liysa Northon of HEART FULL OR LIES, and Pat Taylor of EVERYTHING SHE EVER WANTED really don't deserve flowers or cards for Mother's Day. (Pat recently had dozens of photographs forwarded to her daughter Susan--who finally had to turn her into the Atlanta police because she feared her mother was about to kill more people. In all of the pictures, Pat had carefully scissored Susan's head out of the pictures.)
So my best wishes to mothers who read this blog was meant for the caring, loving, self-sacrificing moms who think first of their children in almost all situations. And also I respect the courage of those daughters and sons who had to grow up on their own because they had sociopathic mothers. It's not all hearts, flowers, and brunches. I'm sorry if neglected to mention the dark side of motherhood. Heaven knows, I've encountered it in my work too many times.
For the 98% of great Moms, I salute you.
Ann
|
| Posted by Ann on Saturday, May 07, 2005 at 22:44 |
|
|
| Mother's Day |
Mother's Day Eve
Tomorrow, many of us will be taking at least part of a day off, and hopefully spend some time with people we have given birth to, adopted, step-mommed, grandmothered, loved like a mother would, and all the other ways we can look after babies, little kids and big kids. It's a commercial holiday, but it does afford a chance for people to get together, or at least phone.
Motherhood is sometimes not what it's cracked up to be, and sometimes it's wonderful. I watched an old "Murphy Brown" episode at about three in the morning today--the one where she spends her first night alone with her new baby,and doesn't have the faintest idea how to hold it or talk to it. It made me laugh out loud. I remember the moment I was dressing my first child to take her home from the hospital in Niagara Falls, N.Y. Suddenly, I realized "I am responsible for this little being for the next 18 years! Can I do it?" Didn't know then that it isn't just 18 years; it's until I die. Once you are a mother, there's always a link, a cord of some kind.
I used to be scared to stay alone at night while my husband was off at the Anti-aircraft Base but once I had a baby, I was never afraid again. I knew that I would kill anyone who tried to hurt my baby. Mother love comes rushing in with the hormones and the sight of your own baby. Well, sometimes it takes a while for the unfortunate women who get hit with post-partum depression. But, like it did with Brooke Shield, it comes along. Sometimes,animals do a better job bonding to their young than humans do, but I still think being a Mom teaches you to put someone else before yourself in a hurry. Most mothers are the most unselfish people in the world.
Laughter comes quickly, too, when I recall someone asking me the day after I gave birth if I wanted another baby. At that point, after a 29 hour labor with no anesthesia (my choice), I wasn't so sure. Labor deserves its name and parts of it hurt. I wasn't quite ready to start again so soon. I always thought it felt like a Charley Horse in your belly. But I went on to have three more babies and I was delighted to learn I was pregnant with all four of them. We got through the teenage years, although I wondered what had happened to my loving, approving kids when they hit 13. And then it got better about 20. Tomorrow, my kids who in town are going to take me out for brunch, and I look forward to it. They aren't really kids anymore, and I'm not 25, either. Sometimes I still drive them nuts, and vice versa. We do the best we can as most families do, always suspecting that everyone else is better at it than we are.
Many mothers have lost children, and I am reminded of it all the time. Many women could not have the children they longed for. I think Mother's Day must be a sad reminder for them, and I say a little prayer for them. I hope we will all be tactful about what we say in front of people, heedless of how it might affect them. Life is a series of losses in many ways, and it becomes more obvious the older we get. It's so important to enjoy NOW and to tell people we love them NOW, and to end feuds or misunderstandings NOW.
Couldn't resist the siren call of the greenhouse this morning, and I hurried out early to buy annuals, fertilizer, slug bait, and chimes for my garden. I always buy more than I have time to plant before they get droopy in their little brown plastic boxes, but most of them survive anyway. And, yes indeed, I bought some Zuchinni starters because this year with all your advice, I am going to win! I am going to grow enough Zuchinni to hand it out to everyone, and no longer will I have to pay $1.49 a pound for it.
Finished writing six pages today, and I'll do some more tomorrow after I recover from brunch.
I wish the best for all of you tomorrow--and always--and hope that your day will be as happy as it can be for you.
Ann
|
| Posted by Ann on Saturday, May 07, 2005 at 19:56 |
|
|
| 5/5/05 |
Hello on Thursday Night!
I know I haven't written anything for my blog for too many days. It's been a busy week, where each day had fewer hours than I had counted on. Funny how it's suddenly four or five in the afternoon when you were thinking it was about noon, isn't it? I did get quite a bit of writing done, and I hope to be sending my editor 200 or more pages by the end of next week--a good start on a book which will show him I really haven't been lollygagging! No, my editors know me and they've never accused me of not meeting my deadlines!
Today, I did an interview for several hours with E-Entertainment for a documentary on serial murder which they will show in July. Of course, they edit it so what really shows will be much shorter than my interview. Even got to have a professional make-up artist, Melanie, who knows so much more than I do about putting on make-up. Just when I think I'm doing a pretty good job, I find out that I've got a lot to learn! (About make-up, that is. I'm fairly well versed on serial killers.) I have a feeling that Green River, Running Red will be my last serial killer book, though. Thinking about so many victims for one man (all men so far) is really difficult for me emotionally. I just keep wishing that the toll had never reached such high numbers.
Happily, I've finished all the talks I've promised to do until Thanksgiving. You have to have some kind of continuity and and lots of uninterrupted time to write a book--at least I do. Every time I have to stop, pack my clothes, arrange for my pet sitter, comb my hair and fix my face, and go through the security screeners at the airport, I lose a couple of days of writing time. The security folks at the airports are all very nice, but I always set off their alarms because I've got a hip replacement on the right. So then I have the full search. I feel younger having a hip replacement now that Jane Fonda has to have one, too. I was kind of blaming myself because I didn't exercise enough, but she exercised ALL the time, and her hip wore out, too.
Have I complained about the tabloids lately? Well, maybe not for a while. Reading tabloids on Fridays is my guilty secret--only after I've finished writing for the day, though. But they're mostly about people I either don't recognize or don't give a hoot about. Like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. Most of us have babies with a lot less fanfare than Britney! And a bunch of other actors and actresses who all look alike and have such similar names and do very little of interest. I used to really enjoy People Magazine when it was more like Life Magazine was, but it, too, has given up at least half of its space to vapid bulletins about "famous" people I don't know. I really enjoy their coverage of people who are not in the entertainment field or who are but are doing something to help humanity. Probably, I'm just showing my age???
Television can be the same way, as I'm not a fan of reality shows--which always seem kind of contrived and scripted no matter what they say. I'm waiting anxiously for Reno 911 to come back with a new season. That one makes me laugh out loud.
Even when I don't have time to write a blog, I read your emails and your postings at least twice a day, and I do thank you! How many people are lucky enough to be able to turn on the computer and read such gracious remarks? How lucky is that? (Yes, there are always a few bad ones here and there, but that's life.)
I swear there are some people whose hobby, obsession, and full-time job is to write really insulting remarks to other people on the Internet. I remember when I first found out about the Internet and how surprised I was that it allowed people who had obviously been harboring grudges toward the world for year to come on and fight in cyber space! And usually with anonymity. An interesting look at human nature!
The sun is setting behind the Olympic Mountains, and that means I should take the dogs and the cats--those who prefer to sleep in my regular house--next door and find us something to eat. My appetite has returned miraculously well after the pneumonia, and my ribs no longer hurt when I sit up to write. Hooray! Well, not "Hooray!" over the appetite. I probably would do better if it was still missing. Sigh.
I'm still waiting to hear if they've set any trial dates in the Corbin cases in Georgia. I can't make any plans for this summer until I know, but I can be ready to travel south within a couple of days when I find out the court schedule. Yes, I know my plans are not important in the big scheme of things; justice for Jenn Corbin and Dolly Hearn, and for the defendant, Dr. Bart Corbin, is what matters.
Wish I could remember all the fascinating topics that I planned on discussing with you. I think I'm just kind of tired after being interviewed in a stuffy room with dim lights aroundme and bright lights in my eyes.
A good night to all of you, and I hope all of us (we?) mothers have a happy time Sunday and that our children tell us that we're really doing a good job, even when we wonder if we are.
Ann
|
| Posted by Ann on Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 20:32 |
|
|
| Domestic Violence Question |
A short P.S. For the woman who wondered if Homeword Bound might be the answer for her to escape her domestic violence situation: I'm sorry, but this is an organization that provides low-income housing in the form of apartments at less than the normal rent in Portland, Oregon. It isn't actually a charity, but a helping hand.
I don't know where you live, but please go to www.google.com and enter Domestic Violence in the search slot. You will find a way to get in touch with the closest organizations to your location that can help you. You need some back-up and some advice. There is a whole network out there to aid women (and some men) caught in abusive situations.
Get in touch with them, and work out a plan to be free--and safe.
God Bless You,
Ann |
| Posted by Ann on Saturday, April 30, 2005 at 22:29 |
|
|
| Last day of April |
Shouldn't admit I don't have a date on Saturday night--but here I am, actually happy to be home after the talks and signings I did in Oregon last weekend. The sun is setting over the Olympic Mountains and the tide is coming in to wash against the bulkheads. I'm always grateful that I get to live in such a beautiful spot.
We have new neighbors a little way up the beach. Mary Kay LeTourneau and her fiance, Villi Fulaa, moved in recently to a house there. She is the ex-teacher who was convicted of seducing him when he was 11, in her sixth grade class, and she was in her thirties. She served seven years in prison for what was categorized as a sexual offense. (She bore him two children when he was barely old enough for junior high school.) They are reportedly getting married next weekend. He's about 21 now and she's in her early forties. It is a topic for endless discussion and author Gregg Olsen's book, IF LOVING YOU IS WRONG, tells the story from the beginning. If the teacher had been male, and the child seduced an 11 year old girl, the upcoming wedding might not seem so romantic. At any rate, they have reportedly sold the rights to film their wedding for $800,000 and they have their gift list posted at a local dempartment store. She is still very petite and pretty, and he is now an adult.
Another "romance" or "not-romance" that is interesting was on Dateline a few nights ago. That is the case of the Warden's wife in Oklahoma. Was she brainwashed, or did she leave willingly? Or did she run away with the charming convict to protect her family when he said he would kill them if he didn't?
And then there is the Georgia bride who ran away and let everyone think she was abducted. Maybe she and her fiance should just have eloped if she was that scared of big weddings? Even though I have been writing true crime for 30 years now, I am still amazed at what real people will do. Much more interesting than fiction most of the time!
In many ways, television and the Internet have given all of us too much information about other peoples' private lives, I suppose. But human behavior is endlessly interesting and I guess most of us are curious. I admit that I am. Especially in cases where there are no terrible tragedies involved. Having to write about murder makes me sad--and I sure wish I could put myself out of business, and that everyone who was missing would come home safe.
I am getting ready to plan zuchinnis again, armed with all the advice readers have sent me. Maybe this year will be the year they don't wither and die!
Finally got around to making the chocolate mayonnaise cake from recipes many of you sent me, and it was great. I froze most of it to stave off temptation.
I promise I will update the other part of my website this week. I will do it on my breaks from writing Worth More Dead. I do have quite a bit of new news on old cases.
Happy May Day tomorrow to all of you. Put some posies in a basket on someone's doorknob. Unless you live in a dangerous neighborhood and you will look suspicious doing that. :*)
Ann |
| Posted by Ann on Saturday, April 30, 2005 at 19:50 |
|
|
| 4/28/05 |
Well, it's late on Thursday night. Later in Seattle than most places. Alas, I may be the Susan Lucci of the Mystery Writers of America. With my 4th nomination for an Edgar--for Green River, Running Red--I lost again. I won't even pretend that I'm not disappointed. Maybe when I'm 80?
It's been one of those days. My good friend who is a young writer--but who fills in with helping me with my garden until he sells a book--accidentally pulled up all my flower seedlings today. Back to the hardware store for bedding plants. He thinks I'm mad at him, but I'm not. I was concentrating on my research and was too vague about where to pull weeds, and where to leave stuff alone.
Somehow, I never got started working on my book today. But tomorrow is another day.
For people who believe I was much too judgmental with Liysa Northon (Heart Full of Lies), I ask only that they read the book carefully before they shout at me for making my decisions on this case too quickly. Anyone who knows me knows that I do my best to support domestic violence victims, and that I preach--boringly and endlessly--to young women, trying to get them to recognize controlling and obsessive men early on. The case against Liysa Northon is backed up with both physical and circumstantial evidence. I approached this book cautiously, not sure of which partner was the abuser. And I found the proof. I didn't judge Liysa--not until there was no other way to go. She set the women who are truly abused back at least ten years. Chris was not perfect, but he certainly did not deserve to die from: sleeping pills, lasers, and a bullet to the brain. Of all people, Liysa was quite able to walk away. She had friends, she is brilliant, she had money, she had a career, and Chris would never have stopped her from going. All Chris wanted was a chance to be part of his little boy's life. Now, his son longs for his father, but it is too late.
Tomorrow, I vow to rise at 8 and write like the wind! In the meantime, I've had a number of requests from homicide detectives around America to get together with them and discuss unsolved case they have. I feel honored to be asked, and I only hope I can help them close some cold cases. My life sounds kind of exciting, but, like you, I spend a lot of time feeding pets, cleaning up pet accidents, looking for bills to pay that I somehow mislaid, and thinking I should be a lot more serious about cleaning house. Still, you know I love what I do--and in 20 years, who is going to care about my dusty house, my lost bills, the litter boxes, and the weeds in my garden?
I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend--or just a restful and serene weekend.
Thank you again for all your support and enthusiasm. It means more to me than you will ever know,
Ann
www.annrules.com
|
| Posted by Ann on Thursday, April 28, 2005 at 23:04 |
|
|
Contact Information
FAX 206-241-5542
Postal address P.O. Box 98846 Seattle, WA 98198
Electronic
mail
There have been  visitors to this site.
Write to Ann Rule
If you have questions or comments about this site send them to
Our Web Author .
This page was last updated on
08/01/2010
Copyright © 2006 by Rule Enterprises, Inc. All Rights
Reserved.
|