There are 399 Web Log Items in 50 pages and you are on page number 36 |
| 9/15/05 |
September 15, 2005:
Stopping off at home for a little bit! I am spending most of my vacation going on short trips to see old friends, and I'm really enjoying it. I've found that the older I get, the more my long-time friends mean to me--the girls I went to college with or women who were fledgling mothers at the same time I was. We have all weathered near-poverty, marriage, childbirth, the first wrinkles and gray hairs, losses of people and things, sometimes divorces or widowhood, things we'd counted on that never happened, and all the parts of life that we probably never thought about during our days at Willamette University or Oregon State University or the University of Washington, and before that at S.Horace Scott Senior High School in Coatesville, Pennsylvania or Ann Arbor (Michigan) High School. I think we all expected to be about 18 to 20 forever! Ahh well. I think everybody does.
I'm trying to be charitable and believe that Britney Spears didn't mean it when she said she was going to have her baby by Caesarean because she didn't want to feel the pain of childbirth. But, Gee, she had a boy yesterday--by Caesarean! Having given birth to four children and also having had five abdominal surgeries, you sure feel better after a normal delivery, and it's easier on the baby to have them come down the chute the regular way, too--or so I've always heard. I'd hate to think that some doctor gave in to a mother selfish enough to go so far to avoid pain. She has clearly indulged herself for her whole pregnancy and put on a LOT of weight. I wonder if she will find it easy to get back to her teenage figure and if her career will take off or just peter out? And will she get up in the middle of the night to do that part of the mothering stuff? Babies are a little more difficult to take care of than Chijuajuas. And while I'm muttering about waking up and smelling the coffee, I wonder if Kevin Federline, her "toy husband," will take any more responsibility with this baby than he did with the two he walked away from?
Having known so many young women who did their best as mothers and survivors against great odds, it's easy to be impatient with super-rich stars, I'm afraid.
There's another thing that's really been niggling at my patience. That is Barbara Bush's tasteless, thoughtless, comment that most of the people who suffered through the aftermath of Katrina's fury didn't have very good lives to begin with so she thought they were probably better off now than they were before (their houses, pets, and some relatives washed away.) It may be that the elder Mrs. Bush just doesn't get it, either. Has she always been so rich that she cannot even empathize with people less privileged? I met her once in the Green Rooms of several Portland television stations. I was talking about Ted Bundy and the Stranger Beside Me, and she was talking about her husband, then vice-president. I didn't know what to say to her, and finally I blurted out, "Ted Bundy is a Republican, too. . ." and she just smiled vaguely and said, "That's nice." So I guess she wasn't listening while it was my turn in front of the camera. This is the second instance of her patronizing the poor and the black, and I'm sorry--but this has bothered me ever since she said it.
Just heard George W. speak of his more definitive plan for helping those who have suffered so much. That's good. It's hard to even imagine what they have been through, and possibly what some of you--who were in the path of the storm--have been through.
My kids are all reminding me, and I'm reminding them, and probably your families are doing the same, but we should all remember lessons learned and try to update our emergency response plans. These are the things I've done--just in case: a week's supply of canned food; hand-operated can opener; two weeks' supply of water (in bottles and I also have a barrel that stores rainwater; extra supply of prescription drugs; first-aid kit; batteries; flashlights; radio powered by batteries or that you can crank for power; warm clothes, enough so everyone can dress in layers for warmth; pet food; candles; lights that automatically come on when the electricity goes off; firewood for fireplace; charcoal for barbecue (but use it OUTSIDE to avoid being overcome by fumes); blankets--in house and in car trunk; some good books to read and board games; cell telephone and extra battery; phone that plugs in, the old-fashioned way that doesn't need electricity; moved my inflatable raft up on the high-land side of my house; whistles for family members to wear around their necks in case you're separated.
There are probably other things I've forgotten. If you can think of more, please add it on the Guestbook page. I hope none of us have to confront natural or terrorist disasters, but we made to depend on ourselves for awhile, and it is better to be prepared now when we don't need it.
When I got back, I had several faxes and emails from people who were desperate to have me investigate both civil and criminal cases against them. I am not in a position to do that. But I always suggest that they contact their State Attorney General's Office to report police departments they feel are dishonest, or to report civil fraud. I feel bad that I can't help, but I can't. Several women feel their lives are in danger because they are holding out for more equitable divorce settlements. My feeling is that money isn't worth it--if you have to live in terror all the time. Even if it isn't fair, I'd rather have less money and not be afraid all the time.
Please try to know a man--or, sometimes, a woman--well BEFORE you marry them. I know that some of them show their wicked sides only after marriage, but if a potential mate seems too good to be true, too soon in a relationship, and you don't know very much about their past relationships, please, please slow down. Maybe they ARE too good to be true.
And if they hit you once or scare you badly once, my advice is always: RUN!
I'm working away on the photo album. Would you like to see both pictures of scenes and people from my true crime books AND photos of my early days and my family, or just the former? Right now, I have an assortment of both.
Lots of real bargains on my books on eBay right now. Hate to chip away at my own royalties, but some of you need a break and I've seen as many as ten of my books in one lot for sale on eBay. You will need to have a credit card to register on eBay, I believe. But I could be wrong. Hey, just remember if I've sent you off to get a great bargain, you promise to buy some of my new books? :*) Or take them out of the library so the library has to buy more?
The sun has set, and the house is getting chilly, so I need to go round up the dogs and other critters for the night.
Talk to you soon!
Ann
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| Posted by Ann on Thursday, September 15, 2005 at 19:04 |
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| Very Quick Note |
Quick Note To Kathy W.
I remember your grandfather, Archie Binns, very well, indeed. He was one of my professors in Novel Writing at the University of Washington. He was a very interesting man who shared many traits with other writers who taught at the U. in those days: Dylan Thomas, Theodore Roethke, Richard Eberhart. His personal life was very dramatic and exciting, too. We were all in awe of him because he was a PUBLISHED AUTHOR!
I would write to you in private, but I have no way of knowing anyone's email address when they post on my weblog.
Ann
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| Posted by Ann on Sunday, September 11, 2005 at 21:36 |
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| 9/11 |
September 11.
Four years today since we were all shocked and saddened by the horror in New York City. We never thought that would happen, and we never thought any major American city would be brought to its knees by a storm, either. So many heavy hearts today and time never really takes the sense of loss away. I've learned not to say that people will have "closure." That's something to say that may make the rest of us feel better, but I've heard so many grieving survivors of both murder and other deaths say that it isn't really true. Time dulls the pain a little, but the door is never closed. There is a sense of justice when killers are caught and convicted, but not closure.
The weather has turned suddenly, as it always seems to do somewhere in September. I love autumn--my favorite season--but it is always a signal that life moves too fast. Seems as though it takes forever to get to the Fourth of July, and then the summer just speeds by. Especially for me as I was working all summer, and never once managed to crawl into my hammock or give my garden a proper weeding. I'm not complaining because I do love what I do.
For the reader from the Phillipines or anyone else who is looking for some of my books and can't find them. Although the postage might cost too much, remember that all 25 are available on line from www.amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com . I know I've said that on this blog recently, but when the pages turn over, people don't read that sometimes. Also, look on www.eBay.com for batches of my books, used, at bargain prices. Hate to recommend that because I don't get any royalties, BUT :*) I'm a great bargain hunter myself and I want you to know that's a good place to search for the books you can't find or perhaps can't afford right now.
Speaking of bargains, I managed to get myself to a Valu-Village yesterday. These are stores with mostly used merchandise that are kind of like the Goodwill or Salvation Army or St. Vincent de Paul stores. They're all full of undiscovered treasures--along with junk, too. You just have to take your time and look very carefully. I found a bunch of books that I wanted--biographies, my favorites, an old Ed McBain 87th Precinct mystery novel, a couple of mismatched--but pretty--plates, and some items that look like they are from the forties that will fit right into my little writer's cabin once I get it painted and store all my files (a huge job) in nice neat cabinets. We've been painting the outside barn-red all summer and that should be done when I get back home. New England barn red is my favorite color for any house, and I think I've ended up painting each one I lived in that same red.
I didn't find any of my books at Valu-Village which is probably a good sign that people don't want to give them away. But then some of you write from time to time and say you've found a whole shelf full of my books in second-hand stores so I'd better not get too uppity about this. :*) One thing that happens when you enter the publishing world is that you get to meet lots of other authors. Most of them are just normal, nice people, who consider themselves very lucky to be making a living by writing. There are a few who ARE uppity, but I won't mention them by name. As much as I would like to. One of my favorite things to do is go through the advertisements for book clubs that I see in magazines and see how many of the authors there I know personally. Usually, it's at least 15 of them. We cross paths at writers' conferences or out on the road on book tours, waiting in the Green Rooms of various talk shows. With the true crime authors and/or prosecutors, cops, and Medical Examiners who become writers, we usually attend the same Forensic Science conferences. That's one place where I learn a LOT about new advances in DNA, forensic anthropology, crime scene investigation, forensic odontology and testing fingerprints. The stuff that was state of the art 20 years ago is now old-fashioned in a way. Still, don't believe everything you see on the CSI show; some of it hasn't been invented yet, but it sure looks good on TV!
No, I hardly ever watch CSI, N.Y.P.D. or any of the other fictional crime shows. Too much like what I write about all day. Last night, we watched a documentary about the early years of Saturday Night Live, which was such a groundbreaking show for comedy. Who would have thought it would still be around? I don't think it's as uniformly funny as it used to be, and I've been kind of disappointed in Mad TV this season ( a lot of disgusting subjects for skits--not sex, but icky stuff).
I'll be interested to see what different readers say about their favorites among my books. People always ask me which of them is my favorite book and I really can't say. I like them all, but for different reasons. The one I probably wouldn't write about again is Lust Killer. It is a very grisly story, and those cases bother me a lot. But I'm glad I wrote it when I did--I think it's helped to keep the killer in prison all these years and forever, too. Because it takes me so long to pick cases to write about and to do that I go through hundreds of possibilities, the ones I DO choose all have interested me a lot.
I'll add another post the next time I find connections to get on line. Hope all the young moms are enjoying having the kids in school every day, although I know a lot of you have to go to work every day yourselves, so you can't sit home and enjoy the quiet. . . I loved my five a lot, but it was delicious when the house was empty of everyone but the dogs and cats and me and I could write without several of my darling children having a fight on top of my typewriter! Of course, as older mothers always told me and I didn't believe them, those early years went by too fast.
Talk to you soon!
Ann
www.annrules.com |
| Posted by Ann on Sunday, September 11, 2005 at 19:27 |
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| 9/8/05 |
First, I want to apologize to everyone who has had trouble--usually sporadically--in getting into my website pages, the Guestbook, etc. I've had the same problem. My webmaster has discovered that one of five "highways" into this site wasn't set up correctly by my server, so we all met with unexpected "road-blocks." We think this has been fixed, but we are keeping an eagle eye on this frustrating situation. If you ever find you can't get on, please wait awhile and try again. And you can let me know at AnnieR37@aol.com if you continue to have a problem.
Today, they officially set the date for the trial of Dentist Dr. Bart Corbin who is accused of killing Dolly Hearn in Augusta, Georgia more than 14 years ago. It will begin on January 9, 2006. And I plan to be there for the entire trial. After that, there will be the trial in Gwinnett County, Georgia, in the murder of Jenn Corbin, Bart Corbin's wife, who was killed last December, and I will be there, too. I suspect that trial will be in March of next year. This book, Too Late to Say Goodbye, will be published in Hardcover by Simon & Schuster around Christmas, 2006. If anyone who visits here on my website is acquainted with Bart Corbin, Jenn Corbin, or Dolly Hearn--or anyone else involved in this tragic story wants to share memories with me, I would appreciate it. You will, of course, have your privacy protected and any correspondence from you will be held in strictest confidence. I have already heard from a number of people familiar with the Corbin and Hearn cases, and many who know Bart or Dolly or Jenn well. That has helped me a lot as I begin to write this very complicated book.
As you know, I never publish books about casess until they have been to court and there is a verdict. But it helps me a great deal to hear from those who knew the principals--even if it was way back when they were children. I try to go as far back in the lives of the people I write about as I can because their early years often explain what happens later.
Not that it was a momentous occasion (Oh, yes it was!) but I sent the final galleys--the Worth More Dead, the book set in print, just waiting for the covers--to NYC by FEDEX at 6:17 last evening. I'm on vacation and feeling vaguely guilty because it's such an unusal state for me to be in! I'm sure I'll get over this and learn to enjoy doing anything I want! I guess my most favorite thing is to go shopping at the Goodwill or the other thrift stores around here. Before I do that, though, I have to finish my project of uncluttering. I'm proud of myself that I have cleared my windowsills of interesting bottles (even though I collect them), put all the newspapers from the past two weeks in the recycle bin, and taken last month's magazines to hospitals and laundromats. It always seems wasteful to me to throw away good reading after only one person has read it. Having been born on the last fringes of the depression, I learned to appreciate items that still have use. The first thing I ever bought to "decorate" my home was a foot-high ceramic bear with flowers growing up to his knees. It cost a dollar. It still sits on the edge of my bathtub. My mom, Sophie, who has been gone for 10 years now, really stretched HER budget as a young wife to buy a black glass vase and two matching candle-sticks. They cost a dollar, too. And they are still in my dining room, quite valuable now as Art Deco antiques, but more valuable to me because my mother treasured them.
The TV footage of the disaster from Katrina continues, and there's really nothing we can do to insulate our emotions from so much tragedy. I'm heartened by how almost everyone who has been lucky enough not to be personally harmed is rushing to help. It does seem silly to me that good, clean, clothing can't be accepted by relief agencies. I suppose the relief folks don't need piles of stuff they can't use, but we all know that baby clothes are often hardly used before they're outgrown. I worry a lot over the animals left behind, and it makes me feel a little better to see how many of them are being cared for, and even some reunions with "their people." You can't explain to little kids and to pets why their worlds have turned upside down. Maybe that's why I get nightmares about it. Bless those who are going from roof-top to roof-top to rescue pets!
It's good to hear from so many younger and not-so-young readers who are studying to have careers in law enforcement and forensic psychology. Also in crime scene investigation. Many of these jobs require a four year degree or a two year degree, and some even more education but all these fields are opening up as our skill at solving crimes improves each year. And for those of you who may be just a little too "mature" to be cops, forensic psychologists, and CSI's, most police agencies welcome volunteers who help with office work and in dealing with crime victims. Another good job, or it seems so to me, is to be a Community Service Officer. These positions are for those who help people in trouble, but not necessarily involved in a crime--lost kids, people who need a place to stay, a ride home, or some counseling. In the meantime, it never hurts to get as much education as you can. I went back to college to get a degree in criminal justice a long time after I graduated from the U.of Washington with a degree in Creative Writing. And I sure learned a lot about working crime scenes.
Please remember, and help me remind new posters here that I do have an Updates section on this website where you can go to find the latest on people from my earlier books. Also, there is a complete list of my books, with their covers, for those who are looking for a list of my books. Just go back to the Home Page and click under these categories.
I am compiling a huge list of email addresses so I can send out bulletins on new books, booksignings, any speeches I have scheduled (Not that many anymore. I've pretty much stopped giving talks so I have more time to meet my writing deadlines.) I save every email address that comes my way, and also home street addresses for the mailable newsletters that I send out about once a year. I promist not to give them to anyone except to my daughter, Leslie Rule, and my best friend, Donna Anders. They are both writers and have bulletins on their new books, too.
I know many of you have been looking for Leslie's early mystery novels. She has the rights back to Whispers From the Grave and Kill Me Again, and she will soon be reprinting them and selling them by mail. I'll let you know when they are available. Of course, her true ghost books are in most stores and on www.amazon.com: Coast to Coast Ghosts, and Ghosts Among Us. Leslie will have an article in the October issue of Readers' Digest--on ghosts. Donna has many mystery books, too, available from www.amazon.com and on order in bookstores if they are temporarily sold out
. Their websites are: Ghostygirl@aol.com and www.DonnaAnders.com
Well, this IS my vacation--for real, this time--so I'm going to go lie in my hammock. :*)
All my best,
Ann
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| Posted by Ann on Thursday, September 08, 2005 at 18:14 |
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| No little wars, please :*) |
Wednesday:
It's probably best that we don't get into political arguments on my Guestbook and Weblog because I'm sure many of us have opposite views, and very few of us are likely to change. We all tend to agree on really important things and I think all of us are truly concerned about people in need. Like everyone else, I have been so horrified and shocked by the tragedies after Hurricane Katrina that I vented my honest and pretty emotional opinions. Didn' t mean to offend anyone, and I don't intend to fight about it. The most important thing is that we all help the best way we can, and we can sort out later who might--or might not--have been asleep at the wheel. So far, I guess the polls are blaming FEMA and local authorities in the besieged states.
I just got this email from my daughter, who is a counselor for young children and their families. Here's another place that needs our help:
"Purchase Supplies to Share with Survivors – Women and girls need bras, underwear, tampons/sanitary pads and hygiene supplies. Our children need baby clothes, bibs and diapers. Please send NEW items in original packages to:
YWCA Alexandria, 5912 James St. Alexandria LA 71303"
I have to get back to work, but I'll try to post more tonight.
Ann
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| Posted by Ann on Wednesday, September 07, 2005 at 15:04 |
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| Tuesday's Thoughts |
Before I start work today:
My grief over the near-destruction of New Orleans, is shared, I'm sure, with millions of people. I weep for those who have lost almost everything. I cannot imagine how terrible it has been for the police there, as it has been for everyone else. Nature's disaster has affected different people in different ways. I do believe that some people who COULD have evacuated ignored the warnings and didn't go. Some could not bear to leave their homes and pets. Some could not afford to go and were frozen with indecision and fear until it was too late. Some had no transportation and no money and no supplies to go. Some didn't give a damn and waited around to see what was going to happen. Some are people who just drift along with life, never taking responsibility. And it doesn't matter what race, color, sex, economic group they are in. I fear that there will be more than 10,000 dead found when the city is drained, a catastrophe that may be the worst we've known in a hundred years or more. Most of the time, I cannot even grasp the full impact and the horror of it, and sometimes I don't want to let my mind go that far. I'll admit that there are times when I can't stand to watch the news and I skip to the 100th re-run of some '70's comedy or game show.
I can understand that people took food and water from groceries stores. We would all do that to save our children and our families. How foolish the looters were who stole television sets and other things totally useless in a city without food, electricity, or safe havens for many.The mob mentality makes us all wonder how civilized human beings really are. Why ANYONE would shoot at policemen trying to help them or those who were rebuidling the levees or rescuing victims by helicopter! What does that prove? If they were angry, they should not have been angry at the rescuers. I've heard that one of the police officers who committed suicide because he thought his whole family had perished did it in vain--his family is safe, and now he is gone.
I am angry at George Bush, and more angry at his more-informed and perhaps more intelligent advisors on disaster control that they did not IMMEDIATELY start getting food and water and help into New Orleans. What nature did was shocking, but for Heavens' Sake, FEMA actually had training sessions on what they would do if the New Orleans levees failed, sessions held IN New Orleans last spring. It's easy to point fingers now, and I know we were all shocked by what happened but everyone should have reacted more rapidly. The whole country knew for days that a hurricane of tremendous magnitude was on its way. It was not a surprise.
As an animal lover, I can't bear to think of all the pets left behind. I'm sending a donation to the ASPCA today, and I'm gratified to read on-line that they have saved hundreds of pets.I'm proud of the flood victims who took their pets with them to the shelters, although I realize that was impossible for most people who fled just ahead of the rising waters. My dear friend, author Edna Buchanan, who lives in Florida and has survived many hurricanes always ties her dog to her bathrobe belt before a storm, saying, "This way, I know we'll go together." Edna didn't get hit by this storm, and I' m grateful for that.
In my book, The End of the Dream, there is a true anecdote about Hollywood, the bank robber, who met one of the last loves of his life in a flooded bar in New Orleans. About ten years ago, they sat on stools and talked as the water rose up to four feet or so. It seemed kind of romantic when I wrote it, thinking how unique that was. If they had met in a bar this time and stayed there, they would have died.
Americans are pitching in and I'm proud of my country. I'm proud of the New Orleans cops who stayed despite the odds against them, and I can understand why some of them panicked and gave up. We never know what WE might do until we're faced with a situation.
I keep praying that more people and pets will be found in time, and that a year from now, they will be back in their homes. I deplore the looters who let their rage over "whatever" morph into mindless greed, but I don't know what their backgrounds were and I hope that they now feel regret and vow to help their fellow man instead of taking advantage of a tragic situation.
Many, many years ago--during the Cuban Missile Crisis--our neighborhoods were full of bombshelter salesman hoping to make a quick buck by selling all of us underground shelters where we could hole up until the crisis was over. On learning that we would probably have to shoot our neighbors who didn't have shelters to keep them out, my family decided we would rather perish than have to do that. The nation's fear level was so high then, so long ago.
Hopefully, we have all learned many lessons from Katrina, some of them bitter. And we will learn of both heroes and villains as things are sorted out. It seems that September had become a chilling month, doesn't it? The levee is patched and the waters are receding. I only hope that thousands of families will find their loved ones alive and their pets, too. And I hope we've learned to be prepared and to be more loving to our fellow man.
On another note, someone wrote in about Norm Stamper's book, Breaking Ranks, and, I think inadvertently, quoted a mean-spirited, inaccurate, portrait of Seattle's former police chief, calling him an anarchist and blaming him, of all people, for the WTO riots in Seattle. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is what happens when people start to write without their brains engaging! Stamper did his best to save Seattle from a riot that grew into anarchy--a riot that was foisted on him. He is a liberal and a good man, although he does have many critics in the police department who maintain he is TOO liberal. Please read his book, all of you, before you make judgements. Seattle was torn by strife a few years ago, but it sure wasn't Norm Stamper's fault. The WTO riots were dumped in his lap by some local politicians who thought they would bring glory and money to the city--and brought chaos instead. He tells about this dark hour in Seattle's history in his book in a detailed way that I can't hope to do. It's well worth a read before you make up your minds, and it's interesting , too!
Worth More Dead will be in stores by November 30, and, of course, you can order it on line now from http://www.amazon.com/ and http://www.barnesandnoble.com/, http://www.auntiesbookstore.com/
http://www.thepoisonedpen.com/ , http://www.seattlemysterybookstore.com/ and from almost any other independent bookstore and it will be mailed the moment it's published.
I'd better get to work or this book might be a day late.
All my best, and please remember to be kind. We are all extremely lucky,
Ann |
| Posted by Ann on Tuesday, September 06, 2005 at 13:18 |
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| 9/5/05 |
A very quick entry. (I'm supposed to be going over the manuscript galleys of Worth More Dead at this very moment.)
I know I'm working on Labor Day, but Time and Editors wait for no wo(man). We have to get the book to the presses by Friday so the books will be shipped in time for the November 30 pub date and in the stores.
Actually, don't feel sorry for me. I sit out on my deck, looking at Puget Sound whenever I glance up. It's that wonderful early September weather--pretty balmy (65 degrees) with the wind blowing gently, the seagulls floating around, crows speaking in all their languages, and all my animals around me. I have a free radio that came when I renewed my subscription to Time Magazine, and it's set to the songs of the 80's. This year, I got new deck furniture, and I have one of those high tables for two with tall swiveling stools, and an umbrella with a tropical print over it. Blackberries are sneaking through the slats in my deck rail, and mostly the sun is shining. I got rained out at the end of the day yesterday, but that was kind of nice. As I said, I have to read EVERY SINGLE WORD! Bleahhh. . .
My writing schedule? Well, this is my job. So I write every day, although I've promised myself before to cut down to five days a week. I usually start about 11 a.m. and write until 8:00 p.m. or whenever Willow, the Bernese Mountain Dog, knocks my hands off the computer keyboard with her nose. When she wants me to quit, she won't take any excuses.
My personal goal is to write ten pages a day, and usually I do. I only think about that day's work, knowing that the pages will stack up soon enough.
Looking for the old-time fact-detective magazines? They're not easy to find anymore. I wrote for True Detective, Master Detective, Official Detective, Inside Detective and Front Page Detective for many years, and luckily, I kept at least one copy of every magazine I had articles in. But these magazines stopped publication about 15 years ago, after being in business since the early 1900's! There are still a few around . . .maybe. There were some fact-detective magazines published in Canada called Startling Detective and True Police Files. I don't know if they are still around any longer. The problem was that the TV true crime shows and the tabloids started putting crime cases on with new news very rapidly, and the old-time magazines couldn't begin to match that. I remember that my stories would come out 2-1/2 months after I sent them in!
However, you can find some of the older, classic True Detective magazines et al on eBay. Go to http://www.ebay.com/ and then enter True Detective Magazines in the search slot. Usually people put them up for sale a bunch at a time. They will have old cases in them, but it's interesting to see them. I must have 1500 of the old detective magazines which I treasure as one of my best resources. I had no idea when I wrote all those cases how valuable they would be to me. I think most of the detective magazines on eBay sell for about $3-$5 a copy. They cost 25 cents when I first wrote for them! Then went up to 50 and finallyh 75 cents. Take a look and you may be surprised how easy it is to find them. And if any of you have grandparents or parents who saved old magazines and books, you might look through storage places and see what hidden treasures you have in the garage or in the basement.
Now, I have to get to work while the sun is shining!
Happy Labor Day,and I hope many of you are having a great picnic or a family reunion!
Ann |
| Posted by Ann on Monday, September 05, 2005 at 16:45 |
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| One Kind of Labor Day |
Sunday night,
I'm pretending to myself that I'm on vacation, but, in truth, I got the final galleys ( the last thing before a book is printed, bound, and shipped)for me to go through on Friday. So I have a big job to finish by Thursday night! Last week, I got the copy-edited version, the nit-picking, anal rententive, gotta-have-it-perfect, version--and this copy editor was really into details, rather than story. He may well be right grammatically, but it didn't even sound like my voice, so I did a lot of erasing and starting over. Because of all that, the galleys have a lot of missing words. Poor printer must have had a tough time reading between the copy-editors harangues and my erasing! Copy -editors and authors are usually so far apart: perfection without soul versus creativity with some mistakes. So this is a daunting task. I have finished one fourth of the galleys, as of tonight. And I'm trying to read every single word to be sure there are no typos or missing words left! Believe me, there are some very sharp readers out there who find the errors and let me know about it. And I hate when that happens!
I don't want to get a whole truckload of emails pointing out the mistakes! :*)
As for maps in my books. I think I explained a few weeks ago that I have to fight to get as many photos in my books as I can. They are expensive to include, and I'm always angling for about 8 dozen photos, and my editors are trying to explain to me why that isn't possible. The photos can't be found anywhere else in most cases, but readers can always find a map and track the action themselves. We thought about a map inside the front covers of Green River, RUnning Red, but voted instead to use the young female victims' pictures--to honor them. Those of you who are on the Internet can usually tap into Map Quest and find maps to almost anywhere in the world, AND I try to give addresses in the books to help you pick the maps you need. I wish so much I could promise both maps and photos, but I will still try for the photos first. My editors and the production staff also wish we could put in more photos, but sometimes the expense would be too great and would make the books more expensive.
Murphy's Law, I guess.
All of our hearts are breaking, I think, over the tragedies of the hurricane losses. I have felt guilty to have food, water, a bed, a roof over my head, my family safe, my pets safe. I sent as much as I could to the Red Cross via the Internet Thursday. It's http://www.redcross.org/. They give 91% of what they get to the people they serve. I am proud of the way Americans are pitching in, but I'm once again disappointed in our government for dragging their feet in response to the terrible need. It seems as though they could have gotten food and water into New Orleans sooner. Anyone seen that picture of the 105 year old lady in the wheelchair and the little girl beside her, holding her hand? White and Black, old and young, and it just tears your heart out. Such love and trust there. Maybe more good will come out of this than horror--when all is said and done. I'm so proud of my readers for pitching in with help, too. I've never been to New Orleans, always wanted to go there, but I did sit on a plane that landed there and looked out the window, and realized how the water from the Gulf of Mexico snakes up toward the city.
All of us live in areas with SOME disasters possible. In Washington, we have earthquakes, mud slides, and fierce winter storms with high waves. I was in a couple of tornadoes when I lived in Michigan. We all have to prepare as best we can to survive a few days of being isolated and without water, light, heat, and supplies wherever we are. I always have jugs of water under my house. Of course, I also know that my house could be gone in an earthquake, too. I remember sitting through one and watching my walls shake, my appliances slide across desks and floors, and the trees bending to the ground. All I could do was hold on to my desk, and pray. And my hillside had three mudslides, one stopping four inches from my roof. That was very scary and accounted for a number of new gray hairs. So praying is a very good thing, too.
New books and subjects for the next crime files are beginning to pop up in my head, but I'm determined to learn how to kick back and relax completely. It was so easy when we were kids, and even when we had young children. For most of us, we could tuck them in at night and know they were safe.
You don't realize how much your posts mean to me! Like everyone, I have some stressful times and worries and self-doubts, embarrassments and disapointments. It's the human condition. How lucky am I to open up my website and see such wonderful comments? No matter what's happening or what arthritic joint is screaming for attention, I feel better to read them. I knew there were storms coming in today--because everything HURT! Now, it's pattering soft rain where I am. I should be on the weather channel, and they could tune into my back and my left foot for frequent updates of rough weather ahead!
Well, this laptop is a blessing, but it sure is heavy to lug around, more than 8 pounds. The next thing I buy will be a new, fancy one that weighs about 3 pounds--if I can find one.
Remember Labor Day is supposed to be a time for us all to take a deep breath and relax a little. Autumn is my favorite season. One of these years, I'm going to make it to New England in October.
Talk to you soon!
Ann
http://www.annrules.com/
P.S. Thanks to all of you who have answered questions from other posts when I haven't been here to do it. I appreciate it!
P.P.S. I realized that I've had four other DIFFERENT kinds of "Labor Days," and this kind is a lot more comfortable!
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| Posted by Ann on Sunday, September 04, 2005 at 20:05 |
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