There are 399 Web Log Items in 50 pages and you are on page number 37 |
| 8/30/05 |
Tuesday night.
Not much happening, which isn't all bad. To answer some of the questions: No BTK, and no Natalie Holloway. These very, very, media saturated cases would just be rehashes in any book of all the information being published all the time. With the BTK, I am particularly committed to NEVER giving him any more publicity. He isn't worth it. These serial killers have a yen to be famous (infamous, really), and get a kick out of being in the headlines. Well, the BTK won't get that kind of publicity from me!
You know, I never saw what the German post was because my webmaster obviously took it off. Every once in a while, somebody puts something nasty on, or a plug for some product. We don't want that and so my webmaster checks out the new posts daily.
Karen had her surgery several days ago. She is home now, but unfortunately, they could not remove all the cancerous tissue, so she faces another round of Chemo. She says she's really "sore," which I'm sure she is. I've had abominal surgery a couple of times, and probably a lot of you have too--and it sure does make you"sore" for a week or more. With your advice, I sent her last big lump of donations via Postal Money Order so she shouldn't have trouble cashing it.
Lately, I've had so many emails from families and friends of victims of unsolved homicides. There's nothing I can do about writing these cases until they're closed, and I feel sorry that I can't help more. I am looking at several cases that ARE closed and they are going to trial.
Saturday night, I went to a cocktail party at the Seattle Chief of Police--Gil Kerlikoski's home. We were auctioned off as an item on the Washington State Police Memorial fundraiser. There were about 15 of the top brass of the Seattle Police Department there, and some of the guys with the most years on the force and I talked about the unsolved cases that remain that way. I remember every detail of cases from the 1970's and 1980's and I do believe that they will be closed successfully soon. Earlier, I had called to ask if I should bring my special "clam dip," but I didn't need to bother. The cops' wives catered the party and it was a lovely buffet of things I would have no idea how to make--from sushi to Stilton cheese with apricots! Cheryl Terry, her mom, Tommie, and her sister, Monika, were there, too. Several years ago, Cheryl's husband, Antonio, a Seattle police officer, stopped to help some young men who appeared to be having car trouble. And they shot him to death. Cheryl, a young mother, remains a figure-head in the project to remember the good cops that we have lost in the line of duty.
When I was a 20-year-old rookie cop more years ago than I care to tell (!), I remember a terrible bank robbery shooting in a bank in the Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle. Three of our officers responded to the call for help, but the sun shining on the glass windows of the bank blinded them to what was going on inside. Sergeant Slessman was shot and left for dead by the robber who thought he had killed him, Frank Chase was terribly wounded, but survived with life-long after-effects, and Frank Hardy was killed. On a Saturday soon after, the policewomen and Hardy's fellow cops went out to finish the remodel of his house that he never got to complete. I recall that he had small children and his wife was pregnant. We cooked all day, and the men finished that house. Today, I think the women officers would be in there building, too. Up until then, I thought being a cop was all excitement and glamour. I learned the tragic side of it after the Greenwood Bank Robbery. I was working a day shift when one of my roommates--a social worker at our county hospital--called me that day in March to say, "What's going on? They're bringing your cops in all shot up?" That was the first we'd heard about it in the Women's Division. That was a moment like the time I heard Kennedy was shot. I remember it like it was yesterday, but I'm more than four decades older now. You never forget where you were or what you were doing.
When Kennedy WAS shot, I had just left my obstetrician's office after an 8 month checkup, and I went to visit another young mother whom I'd never met. She opened the door and pulled me in and said, "Come in quickly. There's bad news on the TV," and we watched Walter Cronkite announce that Kennedy had been shot. My son was born about the time John F. Kennedy Jr. was born. She still served lunch and we ate it without tasting it. I remember that she made Pillsbury's croissants out of dough in a cardboard tube, and I'd never had them before. And I never bought them myself because they reminded me of the president dying. Funny how our memories connect things. . .
Thanks to dozens of you who sent in your email addresses. I'm hoping to compile a basic list that starts with a hundred thousand names which means a lot of typing but it will be worth it. I've saved all my mail and email for 30 years so I've got lots of raw material to go through for the list. We're getting really close to a million hits on this website, although we sure have had our ups and downs with the Internet server in the past week. Fingers crossed, I think we're o.k. now. I still find I may have difficulty going from the Home Page to the Guestbook or the blog. My webmaster and I are determined to get it back in dependable form, and start building the photo album section.
It threatened to rain all day today--and never did. But, suddenly, there are the portents of fall. My tomatoes are still mostly green, and my Zuchinnis are pitiful. My biggest disappointment though are the Nicotiana seeds that I babied along all summer. I had dozens of plants of the fragrant white variety, and suddenly they are all turning brown at the edges and giving up, without ever blooming. I think I should have thinned them more, but I couldn't bear to sacrifice any of them. . At the same time, the purplish Nicotianas that have made it through at least two winters have suddenly taken off and they have regressed to the fragrance of the old-time flowers that I've been searching for all over. Whoever would have thought it!
I've been cleaning house steadily for four days as one of my editors is coming from New York on Thursday before he leaves for a cruise to Alaska. He's never been here, and I want him to think I am neat. Which I'm not. I realize that I have become a collector of knick-knacks, Tchotskes (I'm not Jewish, but you know what I mean), doo-dads, cobalt blue glass things, old bottles, tiny perfume bottles, magazines, teddy bears, etc etc. Too much. I cleaned off the window sills, and stored 60% of the stuff away. Watched Dr. Phil tonight on "Hoarders" and I'm nowhere near that bad, but it sure is easy to collect "stuff" when you're not paying attention! Everything had a layer of dust from when the hardwood floor guys sanded the new floors two weeks ago. But it looks so much better now!
Hope you all have a restful and fun Labor Day Weekend. I just realized today that we have a holiday coming up.
All my best,
Ann
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| Posted by Ann on Tuesday, August 30, 2005 at 22:43 |
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| Saturday Afternoon/Cranky Website |
Hi Everyone,
I'm writing this and hoping to get it posted before our crazy website starts hiccupping again! I do know that it's on and off, and just when our server tells us it's fixed, it disappears again. So frustrating. But I promise that it's not going away for good; if we have to,we will hook up with another server, but I hope we won't have to.
One thing I've noticed as people post their ideas of people they admire and "heroes." As Jan pointed out, most of them aren't famous. They're ordinary people who show extraordinary courage and concern for their fellow man, people who survive tough odds, illness, despair, poverty, disappointment, and broken dreams. And those are the people I admire too! I was thinking to myself last week that my favorite articles in People Magazine are the ones that end up in the back of the magazine, not the glittery "star" gossip on the cover or in the front! I don't know why People decided it needed to emulate all the tabloids and feature movie and rock star gossip, when I always felt it was the natural heir to Life magazine, where they might have one movie star story, but the rest was full of articles bout real people, science, politics, animals, nature, etc and it was a great magazine. Now People is a pale imitation of it and of all the gossip rags. I think that the response to my question from you all shows what truly interests us! But then, I've always said my readers were extra compassionate and kind!
Yes, I'm still reading tabloids. Can't seem to stop hoping they will go back to what they used to be--interesting tales of real people. The Globe and Examiner have a few of those lately. But don't despair about my intellectual pursuits; I also subscribe to the New Yorker and a dozen other magazines that barely ever mention movie stars, and I'm kind of a snob about the books I read. They have to be really well written by people I wonder if I can ever match as far as their brilliance and command of the English language goes. I suspect we all have our little secrets about some of the stuff we read, movies we like, and TV shows. I know people who don't even OWN TVs! I kind of admire them for having so many other interests, but I like to watch TV! Right now, they're showing a bunch of re-runs of the old Grace Under Fire show, and I still think it's great. I think it speaks to a lot of us mothers who had to raise children all by ourselves, worrying about how we were ever going to afford it.
I see another post from a mother who has to fight with an abusive ex. Over the years, I have had hundreds of letters like this, and always feel so helpless. The best thing I, personally, can think of to do is to write about cases that involve domestic violence, hoping to warn women while there is still time. We have to find some way to break the cycle of violence, to stop what happens in totally non-functional families as kids grow up. If we don't, we are sure to see the next generation of domestic abusers. Most are male--but not all. Do I have the answers? No, just wish I did. I am thankful that we have support groups now to help victims, and who give them a place to hide. But no one should have to live in fear and hiding out for their whole lives.
Lately, I've fallen behind in answering personal emails, and I know I will never catch up. I will try to write back, but please understand when I can't. My daughter, Leslie, tries to answer a lot of emails for me. As a writer, too, she knows a lot of the answers. I do READ all the emails, but these days that's about all I can do. As school is starting, I'm getting student requests to help write papers and research for their reports. Can't do that. Most of the answers they are searching for are already on this website, so they will have to go back to the Home Page and look harder.
Again, I'm still not a detective or an investigator of unsolved crimes. I highly recommend posting your information about an unsolved murder that has affected your life or the life of someone you love on www.realcrimes.com. This is a site put on by Lois Duncan Arquette and her husband, Don Arquette. They lost their 18-year-old daughter to murder many years ago--still officially unsolved. Lois is a beloved young adult author, and she has done so much to help other parents. The real crimes site is well worth visiting.
Going to rain tomorrow! Whoopee. But I sure feel worried about my friends in the deep south as the storms keep swirling in.
Happy Weekend!
Ann
www.annrules.com
P.S. As you probably know, neither I nor anyone else can get your screennames from your posts. I am working to gather as complete a list of email addresses as I can so we can do mass mailings to update you when books are about to come out, or when I'll be traveling to sign books or give talks. If you'd like to be included, just send me your email addresses to AnnieR37@aol.com and I'll add you to the list. Nobody else will have access to this. It's just for me and my publisher. In time, I think I'll probably send more than half of my newsletters out this way--now that it's easier to put more photographs in.
ARR
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| Posted by Ann on Saturday, August 27, 2005 at 12:33 |
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| On the Road Again. . . |
Sunset in the Northwest, and finally I can get on my own Guest Book and also write a blog. I've been testing it all day, and it's usually not here. Hopefully, we will soon get more consistency.
Well, I didn't get a whole lot done today, but that's o.k. I'm just not used to taking time off! I've been trying to post a blog thanking the second "platoon" of readers who have stepped forward to help Karen's kids. I deposited these checks in my bank account and they should show up in your next statements. Many thanks to: Joanne and Richard in Virginia Beach, VA; Bettejo in Collierville, Tenn; Emily in Las Vegas; Peggy and William in Tustin, CA; Genny in Wildomar, CA: Kelly and Karolyn in Nine Mile Falls, WA; Lorraine in Chatham, N.J.; Kathy in Spring, TX; Larry in Brush Prairie, WA, and Jo Ann in Colorado Springs, CO. This second batch of letters with checks and cash will come, I'm sure, as a very pleasant surprise for Karen and her children! If I have omitted any names, please write to me at AnnieR37@aol.com and let me know? And thank you also for the advice on how to send money orders that Karen can cash without a lot of hassle on the other end!
You are all so great, and I can't thank you enough!
And, on another subject, it was Gladys Taber who used to write her homey column in the Ladies' Home Journal. Her life couldn't have been as serene as she made it sound, but it sure seemed as though it was!
Yesterday, I got a lovely letter from Japan. It was in a package containing a copy of The Stranger Beside Me. The sender is a young man who has been collecting my hardcover books, even though it means he's had to send to America to get them and then wait for at least a month. He lives with his parents, and he sent me pictures of the rose bush in their yard, the local library which is a beautiful building, a stack of my books that he already has, and his cat, "Olympian." Olympian has his own little bed. He also sent me a $100 check to pay for postage to send his book back--$100 American! I'm sure it won't cost that much. I have put together five books that he doesn't have, and I'm going to send those along with his copy of "Stranger." I hope he'll be pleasantly surprised, and I think he'll STILL get change from the money he sent. It always amazes and thrills me to get fan mail from places so far away. A bookstore in South Africa has asked me to sign some book-plates and some photos and send them to their store, where I outsell every other author, even really bigtime American writers. . What an honor. My books are now translated and published in France, Italy, China, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Holland, Finland, and in English, of course, in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and England. I have copies of the foreign editions, but I can only make out a word here or there.
There's a really interesting weblog you might like to viist. It's written by Steve Huff, who lives near Atlanta. Actually, he has several blogs but I like this one the best: www.planethuff.com/Darkside It's all about True Crime. I'm sure that Steve will be branching out into books very soon. He has real talent as a writer, and his blog is great!
Recently, I brought six large plastic bins of files to my house, and I had no idea what was stored in them, but I hoped to find some treasures. My son, Mike, bought the house we lived when I moved out 16 years ago, and I'd left all these files behind. I've been gradually going through them, and I have found things I didn't even know I still had--going back into the seventies. There are copies of homicide investigations, photos, old magazines, and suggestions for cases to write about. And there really are some treasures in there, some classic cases that I had almost forgotten. Now, that I'll be scouting for a half-dozen cases for #11 of the True Crime File series, these mysterious plastic bins are really going to help. Among the "prize finds, there are some disappointing letters from the old days-- dozens of rejection slips that I received over the five or six years I tried to publish without any success at all. Human nature makes me want to write to all those editors who rejected me, and say "See? See, I can write, after all." But I know that's silly, and probably they've all retired or passed away by now. I mention it so those of you who are just starting out won't get discouraged. Hang in there and you can do it!
I'm so weary tonight. Had one of those nights where I woke up in the wee hours and couldn't get back to sleep. I hate when that happens! The things you worry about in the daytime always seems three times as bad in the middle of the night. And all the Nick at Night comedies were re-runs. Not good to watch movies because they tend to wake me up more. So I read, and finally went back to sleep. But I'm certainly not very alert today, or creative!
Think I'll go to bed early. Sometimes it's easier to sleep away from home, and other times it isn't. As a true Northwesterner, I'm beginning to miss the soft patter of rain at night. That sure makes it easier to sleep!
Before I get any more boring, I think I'll sign off for tonight,
Ann
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| Posted by Ann on Thursday, August 25, 2005 at 21:15 |
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| Wednesday Night |
Hi Friends,
Yes, it's really great to be back on-line. My own connection to my website was kind of on-and-off all day yesterday, but it seems to be back now. Like you, I really missed it.
David Letternan is just coming on in the background--although I think he may be a re-run. I know he is audacious and quirky, but he seems to be a really nice man to me. Remember all those times the poor crazy lady broke into his house, stole his car, and told everyone she was his wife? Most stars, I think, would have prosecuted her--but he never did. She died several years ago, a suicide out west when she put her head on a railroad track. You can tell how much Letterman loves his little boy, a surprise baby who came along after his quintuple heart bypass. It just goes to show that we never know what GOOD things lie around the next bend in the road. And I love his mother on the show. She's a totally normal Indiana mom who bakes pies.
For those of you who write to tell me to hurry writing books, I'm so pleased you want more--but, honestly, I'm writing just as fast as I can! How many authors do you know who write two books a year? I went out for lunch yesterday with Claudia, a dear friend of mine, a native of Germany who married my son's best friend--whose father was my ex-husband's best friend in high school. She is so smart and such a hard worker and she has a year-old son--Max--who is a great baby. I guess my point was that having lunch with her was my first time out of my house down on the beach for 11 days! I'm down here writing, and I also love it so much that there doesn't seem much point in getting out UNLESS it's to have dinner with a fascinating middle-aged to "kind of old" man (not in plentiful supply) or because I've run out of: pet food, toilet paper, or fresh fruits and vegetables. Everything else, you can improvise. And now that the blackberries are ripe, I don't even need th fruit!
I'm so happy that you enjoy my blog. I think that I may be emulating a column in the Ladies' Home Journal when I was in grade school in Michigan. That writer's first name was Gladys, and I can't remember her other two names. She wrote about her every day life--her garden, what she had cooked, or sewed, or her neighbors. I loved to read about her life. I always liked "How America Lives" too, and "Can This Marriage Be Saved?" possibly the forerunner for Dr. Phil.
I'm still ambivalent about Dr. Phil. I don't like him all that much, but his advice is pretty darned good. And he might be a genuine person--my jury is still out on that. I often wonder, though, why people would agree to expose their deepest secrets and problems on his show for a nationwide audience to judge. And Dr. Phil can be self-effacing and charming. But do I believe him? And do I kind of bristle at how fawning his wife is? But I watch him.
No Vancouver Pig Farmer book for me--as I've said before. After Green River, Running Red, I simply can't face the pain of all the victims of serial murder. And the Pig Farmers have absolutely nothing about them that makes them interesting. The brothers are rich, but only because the city of Vancouver B.C. spread out to include their acreage. And the story is one that is as gruesome as anything I've ever heard of. Maybe I'm chicken, but I have always tried to avoid the truly gruesome, mutilation murders.
If I scare you enough in my books to make you lock your doors and windows, GOOD! I want to do that. Chances are you will be perfectly safe, but why take the chance? I lock up faithfully at night, with two tough dogs, an alarm system, and a .38--which I hope I will never need. I don't believe women should live in fear, but I do think we must all be aware of what is happening around us, when we are vulnerable, and what steps we can take to take care of ourselves!
I've had so many suggestions on cases to write in my recent emails. Trouble is that I can still only do two books a year, and I'm really tied up right now on current cases. And I've had lots of requests to solve unsolved death cases. Since I'm not an investigator, there's not a lot I can do--but I do try to direct people to someone who might be able to help. Remember, if you feel your local police have not done a good job of investigating a suspicious death, you should write to the Criminal Division of your State Attorney General's Office in your state capital. Or it might be capitol? I can never remember. If you have an unsolved case, the best place to go is my friends--Lois Duncan Arquette and Don Arguette's website, designed to get your questions out. It's www.realcrimes.com You can enter information on your families' or friends' unsolved murders there. Lois and Don lost their beloved daughter, Kaitlyn, at the age of 18 in what seemed to be a drive-by shooting in Albuquerqe.
Thank you, Kristi, for the tip on sending P.O. money orders. I should have thought of that before I sent Karen her M.O.;s from my bank.
Tonight, I watched Public TV's documentary on Richard Rodgers of Rodgers and Hammerstein, and was reminded of how beautiful the songs were from his broadway shows like Carousel. I know I'm so ancient in my music tastes, and I was reminded of it yesterday when a nice young reporter from the Seattle Times called to ask what I had downloaded in my IPOD. I had to admit that I wasn't absolutely sure what an IPOD was, although I suspected it was some kind of device that played music. Thinking back to what devices I remember that played music, I felt as though I'd just crawled out of a time tunnel! First, those funny records--not vinyl--that we used to play when we rented cabins in the summer that had wind-up victrolas--when I was a little kid. Then vinyl 78s, 45s, 8 tracks, tapes, Boomboxes and Walkmans, and CD's. But what are IPODS? My favorite songs and artists are probably also woefully out of date. My favorite music is the sound track of Somewhere In Time, when dear Chris Reeve was fully himself before his tragic horse accident, and Michael Crawford in Phantom of the Opera, AND Artie Shaw's Frenesi, Perfidia and Adios. I don't know why Artie Shaw because he was really before my time, but I love those three Spanish instrumentals. The last "modern" song I loved was Ricky Martin's In A Vida Loca, or something like that. There's nothing more sobering than reading the top ten bestselling songs and realizing you don't recognize any of the artists OR the songs! I guess it's inevitable. I can remember my girl friend's father breaking one of our favorite records after he'd had to listen to it about a thousand times. It was Drinking Wine, Spodey-Odey. Anyone from the Philly area remember that? And also the Huckle-Buck?
Yes, poor Paris and her ex-fiance, Paris, and her Jack in the Box commercial. So much ado about nothing. The emptiness of her life when she has the cash and the fame to do so much good kind of depresses me. Maybe she isn't as dumb and out of it as she seems?
It's almost midnight, and I'm tired tonight. I think it's knowing that I am on vacation, and that Worth More Dead is finished, and that I don't have to do anything for the next week or so--my body just said, "Forget it Ann, and relax!"
Even so, I promise to have more updates tomorrow, AND the names of the people who sent help for Karen last week.
One thing I'm thinking about--beyond getting the photo albums up--is that we might list people we admire. I often think about people I have met --or even read about--whom I think have made the very best of their lives, even when they weren't given much to begin with. And there are also those who were born rich and choose to help others rather than party their lives away!
A partial list of my heroes is: Oprah. (Hey, maybe she's a little full of herself now, but she's got a right and she had done SO much good! Who would ever have thought that lonely, abused little girl could have gone so far. And she's nice in person, too.)
Jimmy Carter. Maybe not the most charismatic president, but someone who truly wants to help his fellow man. I can't remember a president with more heart.
Martin Luther King. When I was first in Atlanta, visiting his home, and saw his threadbare shirts, his cheap dark suits, and realized that he cared more for his cause than for money or fame, I was really touched.
Paul Newman. He lost his only son to suicide in a drug overdose. Instead of turning inward, he started his business--where all the profits from popcorn, spaghetti sauce, salad dressing and more--go to camps for sick kids. He has raised millions and millions to help those who had nowhere else to turn. AND he stayed faithful to Joanne Woodward, even though I'm sure he had a lot of temptation with those wonderful eyes he has!
ANYONE who adopts disabled children or children with Down Syndrome or other severe problems. I couldn't do it, but the love these people who transcend anything we could imagine. I am humbled when I read about them.
I write about the dregs of humanity, but I'm sure inspired by those who dismiss their own needs to reach out to help others. So far, the good guys are way ahead!
Tell us all who some of your heroes are? After the help that poured our for Karen, my faith in my readers' capacity for unselfish caring is totally validated!
Willow, Lucy, Bunnie, Fluffbutt, and I are going to bed now.Beanie stays in the office-house, and Toonces decided to check out the basement area tonight.
All my best,
Ann
P.S. Yes, I am finally working on the new newsletter that will be sent out by mail. Finally. Finally. I'm on my laptop on a sort of, kind of, vacation, traveling around Washington State. |
| Posted by Ann on Thursday, August 25, 2005 at 00:32 |
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| We're back again! |
Hi Everyone!
I didn't realize how much I would miss the Guestbook until it disappeared on Friday! I think we got caught up in the huge "worm" that was launched about then, and hit both servers and individual accounts. I wonder why people want to mess up other peoples' computers--maybe it makes them feel powerful for awhile? Anyway, I missed all of you!
It's late, and I'm watching "Medium." My daughter, Leslie, and I watch and then call each other during the commercials. Like my son Mike and I watch Reno 911 together. It's watching TV alone, but together, I guess. Leslie and I used to do it with my Mom when she was quite elderly and living in a retirement facility. We'd all watch Golden Girls. I still like Golden Girls. I met Estelle Getty once in the "Green Room" of a show in Los Angeles where Meredith MacCrae was the host. Meredith and I became friends, and I was sad when she died so young of a brain tumor. And I think Estelle Getty is dealing with senile dementia now. But it's still great to laugh out loud at Golden Girls, even if I've seen most of the episodes many times now.
So many of you contributed to Karen's family, and the kids DID go off to school Friday with new clothes and shoes and money for the different things the school tells kids they need to buy. Karen has to have more surgery in September, but she's hanging in there--pretty tough with all she has had to face. She says she'll come on the Guestbook to thank people when she feels a little better. She's had a lot of chemo and it makes her sick. Any of you with outgrown--but good--clothes that would fit an 11 year old girl, and boys who wear small to medium teenagers' sizes, let me know at AnnieR37@aol.com . But I salute all of you who jumped in right away to help and made the beginning of school a happy time for Karen's four children.
My webmaster tells me that we put a Photo Album section onto this website quite easily, so we'll be working on that in the next few weeks--with pictures of people in my books, my dogs, cats, me, and whatever I find that looks interesting. I know that readers really like the photo sections in my books, and I fight to get as many pictures in as I can! They have to go in 8 page segments, and I always beg for 32 pages, but usually end up with 16. I may have told you before that finding pictures is the hardest part of my job, but I think they add so much to true crime stories. I know I keep going back to the photo sections of all the non-fiction books I read.
Believe it or not, I may be on my extended "sort-of" vacation, but I'm already beginning to look around for the best cases to use in my next True Crime Files book--not title yet--but it will be #11. While I'm waiting for the Corbin trials in Georgia, I'll be building the framework for that book with what I already know--so I can fill in all the details when I learn them. But I'll also be getting a headstart on #11. And I'm thinking of what happened to the fictional characters in Possession, so I can write the sequel. I thought that I was the only one who discovered that when you write fiction, the characters kind of "take over" and you never know which direction they are going to take you. I used to get up in the morning, really curious about how the book was going to unfold. Already, the characters in Possession have their own ideas of what happened after Sam married Joanne and she gave birth to the red-haired baby!
I really do love what I do, and I consider myself very, very lucky that I have the opportunity to write about true cases and cases that could have been true.
It's chilly tonight. Funny how fall begins to creep in in the early morning and after the sun sets. One day, it's full summer, and the next you know that the season is changing. Fall is my favorite season, probably because I was born in October. But I hate to see my garden pass its prime. Still waiting for the Nicotiania to bloom, but I think--fingers crossed--it will winter over and get a head start in the spring if I don't get to smell it this year. Bernita, a great fan of mine who works for a seed company, sent me a pound of wild flower seeds. I'm going to plant half now and half in the spring. The zuchinnis sure aren't overflowing, but I'm getting enough to have some every day--better than the last two years. And losts of tomatoes turning red now.
I will try to answer some of the questions posed in the Guestbook tomorrow. I'm just too sleepy tonight. I'll also list the first names of those who rushed to help Karen and her kids.
I sent Karen five money orders and it took 8 days for them to get to Arkansas and then she had trouble cashing them. Luckily, she found a lady who was one of my readers, and she said "Sure." I'm going to send her a signed book. One time in Chicago on my first book tour, I ran completely out of money. My publisher sent me a $1000 check, but nobody would cash it for me. I was feeling desperate, when finally one nice guy at a bank agreed that I looked like the photo on the back of The Stranger Beside Me ( I showed him the book) and cashed it. That was in 1980. I went to 40 cities, and I lost 25 pounds, worrying about how I'd find the next TV station or bookstore. (They didn't have media escorts who took authors around then). And I also was so dazzled by all the free soap, shampoo and lotion in every hotel that I took it all. Remember, we'd been really low on money for years at that point. Anyway, when I finally got to come home, I weighed the soap and toiletries. They weighed over 20 pounds, and I'd been lugging them from city to city for five or six weeks! I have to admit that it's still hard for me to resist those little bars of free soap!
Better head for bed.
All my best,
Ann
www.annrules.com
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| Posted by Ann on Monday, August 22, 2005 at 22:56 |
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| August 15 |
Monday Morning,
Still pretty hot in Seattle, but nothing compared to those of you in the South and the midwest, so I shouldn't complain. It might even rain tomorrow, which it hardly ever does in August here. I would love a couple of days of rain, but have to remember to put umbrellas over my tomatoes if it does. They get this weird rot that's like a hard brown patch on the bottom of lovely, red tomatoes!
Today and tomorrow, I will be going over the Copy-edited manuscript of Worth More Dead. There are so many steps to writing a book, and it keeps coming back to the author like a bad penny. First, there's the research. For me, that means sitting through an entire trial in most cases, and interviewing all the people involved AFTER the trial ends. Then I write the first draft. I make myself turn out 10 pages a day, if possible. Bit by bit, the think stack of pages begins to add up to a thick manuscript. My editor goes through the first draft, and makes some suggestions about re-writing. I'm lucky that my editors have a very light touch, and make very few changes. I make the changes, and send the manuscript back. At this time, I also go over the manuscript with an attorney who is an expert in publishing law. She will want to know where I got my information, and so we talk about that--on the phone. Now, my copy-editor gets the manuscript. Copy-editors are the picky-picky-picky people who are sticklers for perfect grammar, small details, names of places, dates, geography, commas, dashes, parantheses, brackets, and on and on and on. I go over every sentence again, weighing their comments. I send it back, and now the book is set into print. The next time it comes back, it looks like a book--but it isn't bound between the covers yet. These are the galley proofs. I check each word, looking for typographical errors, and they're so hard to find in your own work. Luckily, professional proofreaders back at the publishers check on MY checking. Finally, the "baby" is put to bed, which means it goes to the printer for the finaly printing and is bound between covers and becomes a real book. I usually read the book when it comes back as a finished product, crossing my fingers that no typo slipped through. There always seem to be a couple, and readers ALWAYS write me about it. Sigh.
Today, I will sit out on my deck, under an umbrella, with a little battery operated radio playing oldies but goodies, and go over the copy-edited manuscript. Tomorrow night, I will send it back to New York by FEDEX so my editor, Mitchell Ivers, will have it on his desk by 10 on Wednesday morning.
In the meantime, during "my vacation," I am corresponding with officials and prosecutors in the Bart Corbin cases in Georgia, trying to find out when the two trials will begin in Augusta and Atlanta. I want to be packed and ready to go when I need to be there. I will literally move to those cities for the duration of the trials, so I'm also looking for places like Marriott Suites or other motel/hotel places close to the courthouses--someplace that is like a home away from home with a little kitchen, living room and separate bedroom. I'll rent a car when I get there, and learn how to get around in strange cities. Atlanta isn't strange, thank goodness, because I was there in 1991, researching Everything She Ever Wanted.
It's kind of exciting to live in another area of the country for awhile, but I miss my pets and my kids. The kids are plenty old enough to take care of themselves, but I am always sure I have really reliable pet-sitters who love animals as much as I do. Luckily, I have relatives who fill that bill!
Right now, I'm trying to find an address for Dan Craig, the prosecuting attorney of Columbia County, Georgia (Augusta), on the Internet--but so far I haven't had much luck. For anyone who is thinking of writing true crime and going to trials, it's always a good idea to have your press credentials taken care of BEFORE you get to the city where the trial will be held. In high profile cases, it's important to be part of the press so you can get into the trial. Most sensational trials now do have "over-flow" rooms for the press where they can view the procedure over closed circuit TV.
Yes, I'm ALWAYS nervous when I first go to a strange courthouse. Will I get into the trial? Can I find the courthouse in the first place? Where do I park? Will the local reporters be friendly? (They usually are--but that wasn't true in Wilmington, Delaware, when I went to the Anne Marie Fahey/Tom Capano trial. I was pretty much snubbed there, because several other reporters were writing books about the trial themselves. That was hard because I went there all by myself--without even a buddy from home to hang out with.)
In the end, I DO get into trials, and the routine sets in and I meet a lot of nice people and get more information than I ever believed I would. And yet I always panic with each new book--thinking I will never, ever, find out enough to tell the story well. I think it's a little like a veteran actress who throws up or gets really nervous before each stage performance. I don't throw up, but I sure get nervous, and then I end up with more information than I can even fit into a book. Although I KNOW that, I still worry.
So, right now, I'm kind of in the worried stage, wondering how I'm going to transport me--and hopefully, my good friend Donna Anders--a great mystery writer--to Augusta and settled in a little suite someplace. Usually, my daughter, Leslie Rule, goes for part of the trial and takes pictures for me. She has book deadlines herself, and so does Donna, but with the help of laptops, we can all write just about anywhere.
All I know about dates is that the Augusta trial is supposed to be "in the fall," and Corbin's trial in Gwinnett County might be in February or March. So I'm trying to plan my life in kind of suspended animation, waiting. . . If anyone in either place has any more information, I would really appreciate any updates!
On other subjects: "Comments by Lauren on Sunday, August 14, 2005 at 19:52 IP Logged
Ann, I am a long-time fan of yours and post here now and again. I had a question that I hoped you might answer on your blog as it may very much interest your readers.
You have mentioned in your book updates that Diane Downs had some male admirers that contacted her in prison. While I do know that it is quite common for incarcerated men to have a "fan club", is it very common at all for incarcerated women to also have these "fans"? I actually did a college paper about woman that love murderers (received an A!), but it doesn't seem that I have heard very much about groupies for the women.
I admire you and adore you sooooooo much! Take care of you and make sure you make the most of your brief vacation.
Hugs,
Lauren
United States"
Yes, indeed, Lauren. I have found that many of the women who are in prison for murder have "fan clubs," men who are attracted to them. Diane had more would-be boyfriends than most women I've written about, and I often run into them when I'm signing books. I remember one guy carried a picture of Diane in his shirt pocket, and told me she wrote to him all the time. But several of the prettier women do get mail from men. I suspect that male prisoners are more "popular" because women are more prone to be rescuers who think they can save those poor lonesome men in prison. Also, women seem more willing to have relationships through the mail, knowing that they will probably never be able to consummate their love affairs. I don't think most men would put up with that.
We had the tragic story last week of the woman who shot her way into prison to free her boyfriend, killing a guard. And what did they have? Maybe a few days in a cheap motel, and now they will probably both face the death penalty. It always surprises me that many of these women who help their lovers break out of prison are really bright, have good careers, and throw it all away. I don't think I remember a male who took a chance breaking a woman prisoner out?? Does anyone remember a case like that?
All the lovelorn columns in tabloids have "Men Seeking Women" and "Women Seeking Men" and most of the ads begin with "Correctional Facility Inmate," and prisoners solicit friends through the mail all the time. They all sound really good, too. But I sometimes wonder how people locked up for years list their favorite activities like "Love nature, long walks, the seashore, traveling. . ." when that's really hard to do from a cell.
As I've said, there are also on-line prisoners at "Prison Pen Pals.com" and "Friends Beyond the Wall.com" But how do you KNOW who you are really writing to, what they are in prison for, or how can you be sure that you're not one of a couple dozen people they write to, asking for money for the prison "store," or for many other things? I don't believe that all convicts are bad and many of them are imprisoned for crimes that didn't involve hurting people, but your chances of finding someone who is NOT being truthful with you, are a lot greater when you're writing to someone convicted of a felony. Sometimes, you can't even be sure that the photographs you get are of the person you're writing to, or of someone better looking in the next cell?
Personally, I don't write back to letters from prison. It just opens up a whole can of worms. I'm not an investigator who can prove that someone is really innocent of the crime they're serving time for. I can't send books into prisons; they have to come from publishers. I don't want to get a storm of collect phone calls from prisons. And, frankly, I like to keep my personal life, location, and certain information private for my own protection. That's why I don't send my newsletters to prisoners. They might be nice guys, but how can I tell how much the information circulates?
At the same time, I do believe that some people can change, and that they can come out of prison and lead good lives and never get into trouble again. There's a huge difference between someone convicted of aggravated murder and someone in prison for a robbery or burglary or on a drug charge. I salute those good people who go into prisons to teach, counsel, preach, and to help inmates in their rehabilitation when they get out. The worst of the worst, the sadists, serial killers, etc. aren't going to change, but they make up only a tiny percentage of the prison population--and the rest of the men and women locked up don't like them very much, either.
Don't know why I got off on my soapbox-tangent. Probably I'm just avoiding looking at what my copy-editor did to my manuscript??? :*)
I have sent about $850.00 to Karen in Arkansas for school clothes for her four children and for groceries, and I thank you all so much for your help! I'll put the first names of the latest readers who sent help in a later post today. They're over in my other office. You will see your checks are endorsed on the back by me. I put it all in my bank account, and then wrote money orders which are easier for Karen and her four children to cash. Karen said the kids were so excited to be able to go to Target and pick out clothes! They start school on the 19th. You have helped one family to face an uncertain future with a lot more hope in their hearts!
If you have stayed with me for this very long post, bless you. And now, I have to get to work!
I appreciate you!
Ann |
| Posted by Ann on Monday, August 15, 2005 at 13:02 |
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| Friday Night on the Road |
Just a quick note. Way back in the archives of this weblog, we have had quite a discussion of Diane Downs, and the weird website that someone in Europe has set up to say that she is innocent of shooting her three children in May, 1983. (Small Sacrifices.) There is no truth in his (her?) claims. Both physical and circumstantial evidence served to convict Diane of shooting her own children, in the hope that her married lover would come back to her.
We're sorry that our website mysteriously shut down today, but it seems to be up and working now.
Not much else happening. I'm on vacation, which means I only work about three or four hours a day on email, paying bills, and keeping track of the Georgia case for To Late to Say Goodbye.
Leslie, who's managing the office at home, says that there have been about eight new donations for Karen's kids' school clothes, so bless you all for that. When I get home, I'll put the first names of the folks who helped in this weblog.
Things seem kind of quiet at home. I think a lot of people are on vacation.
'Night,
Ann |
| Posted by Ann on Friday, August 12, 2005 at 23:26 |
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| 8/10/05 |
You guys are so supportive, and thanks for your responses to the gentleman below. Elizabeth, you can speak French! Or if you can't, I sure can't tell! I guess a lot of you saw this post. So I thank you for rushing to my defense, and I think I probably should respond.
"
Comments by Daniel Lapres on Wednesday, August 10, 2005 at 15:36 IP Logged
Obviously, Ms. Rule, you know very little of the Burns and Rafay case. On your weblog, the opinion you expressed is solely based on the "48 Hours" TV-Show, which is nothing but pure sensationalism. But you also say that you would like making a book on that case. I think it might eventually be a great idea, but only if you look at avery aspect and detail of the case. If ever you want to take upon the challenge, you'll have to make a serious investigation over the case, and you will find many things that will surprise you (yes: even you!). But for that, you'll have to renounce the misinformed opinion you have expressed on your weblog. Finally, you have decided that Mr. Burns is a psychopath, but I wonder where you got that information. Did you order a psychiatric evaluation of Mr. Burns? Oh yeah, you might say that such an opinion comes from your "guts"... But remember that many persons have been executed in the U.S.A. because jurors allowed themselves to be guided by their "guts"... (Sorry if my syntax is bad, English is not my first language).
Canada"
"For Mr. Lapres,
If only I could speak French as well as you speak English. . .Well, ladies, you wanted a male opinion on the Guestbook. He just didn't turn out to be what we all hoped to hear!
I have no idea if this gentleman has well-researched information on the Rafay case, or if he is a close personal friend of the two convicted men.. It's possible that he doesn't know that I live about eight miles from where it occurred, that I have a great deal of information on it, and that 48 Hours was hardly my first exposure to the case.I knew many of the investigators and followed this case closely, although I did not choose to write about this triple murder .
I do think, though, that after more than 25 years as a writer of true crime, as a former police officer who also worked in correctional institutions, with a BA in Creative Writing, with minors in criminology and penology, an AA in Police Science, and a PhD in Humane Letters, and having written more than a thousand articles and 25 books on the subject of true crime, specifically focusing on high profile offenders with sociopathic tendencies, I should have a right to express my studied opinion on my own website. And yes, readers, thank you, I surely do know the value of research and more research!
I know exactly where the triple murders happened, and I know where the theater was and how far away it was from the victims' home. If I had intended to write on this case, however, I would have attended every day of the trial, which I do in almost all my books--especially the hard cover editions.
48 Hours was not the first time I have seen either of the convicted men; their faces and their statements are extremely familiar in Seattle. But the beauty of freedom of speech, which Canada has too--and is a country I greatly admire--is that anyone can give an opinion, and anyone capable can write a book expressing those opinions.
I don't want to see this subject batted back and forth on my website, and I'm sure there are websites where people can post about it all the time. I evaluated what I know and what I have seen--and used my own experience to judge--long before a television docudrama was shown. I stand by my opinion, but I salute Mr. Lapres' right to have HIS opinion, too.
Now, let's move on to the subjects we choose to discuss.
* * * * *
I'm sending money orders to Karen and her children tomorrow, thanks to you and to some of my friends in Seattle. Each child will have $100 to spend on things they want to start school.They will be there by Friday because I'm sending them by FEDEX so the kids can count on shopping this weekend. I'm not sure which clothes have arrived in Arkansas yet, but I'm sure I will hear from Karen. She had some pretty grueling medical tests this week. Kelly, who is sending backpacks and school supplies has been down herself with a kidney stone, but she's more concerned about helping the kids than she is about herself.
I can't tell you how many letters and conversations from those who pitched in began with, "I was in a bad spot myself once, and I don't know how I would have made it without someone reaching out a helping hand."
More shocking news--but not really surprising news--about Duncan, the Idaho/ Montana killer who killed a family and kidnapped their children. He has other secrets in his past. When one of these suspects is captured, it's almost like peeling an onion as all the layers of crimes are revealed.
Oh, I've been meaning to post about a particular "hoax" email that continues to circulate, and it makes me so mad! I suspect most of you have received it by now, but I got another one this morning that had already gone to about a hundred people. It's the hoax that asks for urgent help, and tells of a Wal-Mart Manager someplace int he South whose 9-year-old daughter, "Penny Brown" has disappeared. Then it shows the picture of this sweet little girl with long red curls, and begs people to call with information. Sometimes the hoax email starts out with "Amber Alert!"
Well, there IS no Penny Brown, and there never was. This has been going around for about four years, and I don't know why the original hoaxer started it. The phone number given to call is some poor college registrar's office, which, I'm sure has changed their number by now!
What makes me angry is that when you cry wolf often enough, the kids who really ARE missing won't get the attention they need. Amber Alerts will become old hat, and people won't try as hard to find kids who have been abducted.
If you get this email, please try to at least tell the person who sent it to you that it is a hoax, and Penny Brown is only someone somebody made up!
If you haven't discovered it already, there are many sites on the Internet where you can check out emails you suspect might be hoaxes. Just go to http://www.google.com/ and enter
Hoaxes or email hoaxes or hoax encyclopedia, and you will find scores of them. It's kind of like the old urban legends that circulated long before we had the Internet.
I'm back in my house-house tonight. The floors are done, and don't smell too much like varnish. I've had the fans going all day to blow the smell out to sea. The dogs and cats look at me like I'm crazy and can't decide where I'm going to live. We kind of had fun in the cabin, though. It was a good way to slow wayyyy down after a book was finished.
There's no way we can publish Worth More Dead before the end of November, but this original paperback will be all over America in time for Christmas shopping. I suspect I'll be signing a lot of them in Georgia this year. And I'll be at my usual signing places in the Northwest, too. Green River, Running Red will be on sale in paperback in early to mid-October.
And I'll be writing on Too Late to Say Goodbye by September, probably balancing a laptop computer in airports and hotels for a good part of the fall. But, for now, I'm on vacation--except here I am again posting. Can't just quit typing and thinking with my fingers.
Have a good night,
Ann
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| Posted by Ann on Wednesday, August 10, 2005 at 21:13 |
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