Hollywood was wooing back the public with blockbusters like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo and The Three Musketeers. The beautiful people were “seen” at the Brown Derby and held their not-so-secret trysts at Chateau Marmont. They drove fishtail-finned Caddies and flew in the luxurious Douglas DC-6.

Darla Foster wanted to be in pictures. Just 21, she worked the circles, attached herself to the arm of any available actor with connections. On this night, March 20, 1948, one of her dreams came true as she sat at Sid Grauman’s Chinese Theatre watching Hollywood’s brightest accept their coveted Oscar statuettes. Later, at the Derby with her date, she met one of Tinsel Town’s favorite sons: the suave, slick headliner, Jordan Kent.

Darla’s life was about to take a sudden left turn as she found herself cast in Jordan’s next big film, about star-crossed lovers, a lighthouse and murder. Exciting fantasy, or true life?

CAPE SEDUCTION… available now for your reading pleasure!  BUY IT HERE:

My Planets?

So what’s going on in the world?

I’m feeling good. Like some positive vibes are at work, downloading in the background. Can’t really explain it. Planets aligning or some such malarkey. When I feel this way, I want to share it. So here, have a slice!

Been hard at work making decisions about my career, and am going to be delving into some new areas this year. Will be posting more about that later.

I’d love to hear from any newly converted ebook readers. The news this morning that Apple’s half million or so brand-new iPad owners downloaded a whopping 250,000 ebooks was exciting, especially to us 12 year plus veteran e-authors. What a showdown this is becoming! Devices and formats are facing off in a “High Noon” scenario, and I’m confused but loving it. Making darned sure all my books are offered in those most popular formats. I’ve always been pretty technologically sound, but even my head is doing the Linda Blair trick right now.

My website wants a new face. I really like the template/theme I’m currently using, but it doesn’t provide for some of the things I want to do in the future, so I’m prowling for a new one. Dreading and yet looking forward to the customization process. It will be my forth Word Press customized site, and I learn a lot more every time.

When I was in high school, our French teacher made us all get “pen pals” in France. The French students were far better at English, I’m afraid, than we were at their language, but it was lots of fun. Today, I have a new on-line pen pal in Wales. This delights me to no end. There is something incredibly special about sharing news with others so far away. Fortunately, my new friend speaks English, otherwise I might have trouble. Anybody know Welsh? LOL.

Will I buy an iPad? No, not now. Too expensive for me. Plus, you know that old advice about never buying a first-run anything. My niece is loving her nook, which is a whole lot more affordable, but of course, it’s “just” a reader. Thoughts?

• Small press month
• Women’s history month
• National Nutrition Month
• National Kidney Month
• American Red Cross Month.

See anything interesting yet? Maybe you’re not up to a whole month of anything, so consider this: it’s Read an ebook week! Yes, those annoying tree-huggers are back, admonishing you for still reading paper books! I’ll admit to reading both, although I prefer the “e” variety and have for many years. Do I have a dedicated ereader? Yes, and no. My ereader is the granddaddy of all ebook reading devices, the Rocket eBook, and it’s like 8 years old already. Heavy, clunky, but adorable.

On Monday, I noticed the woman on the next treadmill was jogging while reading a Kindle, placed on the magazine deck of her machine. She had to reach up every few seconds to press the spot that would turn the page as she ran. Very jazzy. Poor me, trying to read about Johnny Depp in Entertainment Weekly, while the overhead fan kept blowing the magazine’s leaves. Hrmph.

To celebrate REBW, my niece and I went to B & N yesterday and she scraped up $280 in cold, hard-earned cash (she’s 18) for a nook™ ereader. (Yes, it’s lower case. Go figure.) We were both so excited and spent quite a while playing with it later. While I am enamored with the upcoming Apple iPad, I am so not enamored with the $500+ price tag. So I’m going to wait a bit, get the feedback from my niece on the nook and see if I get a chance to test drive the iPad when it comes out. In the meantime, I’ll play with her nook. Say, look what she’s reading!

POINT SURRENDER is available for your nook, your Kindle, your Sony reader and even your Rocket eBook. Read it on your computer, your iPhone, your MACBook. Your Pocket PC, your Blackberry, your Palm Pilot. And even (shhh! – don’t tell everyone) available in dead-tree version! (On sale at B&N.com for $11.69!)

Happy Reading!

Why “La-La?” The definition, “A state of being out of touch with reality,” has been applied to the residents of Los Angeles, poking fun at our oddball, possibly eccentric ways. Being the eccentrics we are, we tend to just laugh it off. Anyone who’s seen “L.A. Story” would understand. When the Los Angeles chapter of Sisters in Crime looked for a name for its newest anthology, it just seemed to fit. The call went out for short stories concerning crime with a local flare. My story, “Just Like Jay” was selected! When you see the company I’m keeping, you’ll know why I feel so honored.

MURDER IN LA-LA LAND is being published by Top Publications. As one of the anthology authors, I’m excited to announce that a launch party has been set. A favorite local bookseller has graciously arranged for us to unveil our new book amid happy festivities!

The Mystery Bookstore, Westwood, Los Angeles

Saturday May 22, 5pm

I certainly hope some of my readers will be able to come by. As it turns out, advance copies of CAPE SEDUCTION should be in hand by that time as well! (Formal release will be at Printers Row in Chicago in June.)

Although people keep asking, I’m not allowed to divulge the identity of the mysterious “Jay” in my story. I will only say that the tale involves a particularly vintage Oldsmobile, and the chance sighting of L.A.’s most beloved nighttime talk show host. Ahem.

I confess to not re-viewing this film lately. I couldn’t wait to see it when it came out, ten years ago, for two reasons. One, I was a huge Kevin Costner fan at the time, and two, I’d read the book by Nicholas Sparks (also available for Kindle, Sandy!). I bought the book in the airport as we were getting ready to board a vacation flight to Colorado. I read it in one day. I was disappointed in the book; the story was great, but the mechanics were poor. Not well edited, IMO. Head-hopping so often I couldn’t tell who was thinking what. Simple, but annoying habits like repeated use of the same adjectives. Sentence structure was uninspired. I mention this because it was that day that I got out my old, dusty manuscripts and decided I would one day be published. Thanks, Nick.

Aside from my then-schoolgirl-type-crush on Costner, I’ve had a life-long love affair with Paul Newman. I could watch him do a paper towel commercial and drop into a full swoon. Not that he ever did such a thing. He (and Costner, to some extent) was the inspiration for the character of Dane Pierce in STARCROSSED HEARTS. If you want to see Paul in one of his (IMO) sexiest early roles, see WINNING.

But I digress. Seguin Island Lighthouse is located in what is one of the foggiest places in the world, according to those wonderful Lighthouse Friends. It is Maine’s second lighthouse, and was authorized by George Washington. That’s old. The Fresnel lens is 13 feet high, and still operating, thanks to the Friends of Seguin Island, who also see to the volunteer keepers year after year.

For die-hard romantics and hanky twisters, the film is worth seeing. And you, lucky readers, got two movie recommendations for the price of one!

Moesha.

Suffering. I made some kind of mistake, not knowing (well, if we knew when we were making mistakes, we wouldn’t make them, duh!) and now I am trying to fix it. It’s not an easy thing to fix, either. My day was going pretty well, too. The thing is, I’m the kind of person that doesn’t take mistakes that easily. I know people who basically just shrug it off when they goof. Life’s too short for regrets, right? Yeah, but.

Moesha is not my mistake, but she is kind of a mistake, hence her photo here.

We’ve had great weather the past two days. Excellent weather. We are neither sweltering, nor under water. Breezy, 72 degrees, the kind of weather the rest of the nation thinks we have all the time. We don’t. In a matter of days, it will be either HOT again, or the pre-Halloween cold snap will settle in. But I’m okay with it, I really don’t want to live anywhere else. Not permanently. I think I’d enjoy London for a few months. Kahana, too, would work. (That’s in Maui, FYI.)

I’m probably 2/3 or 3/4 through my oddball book. This book will need serious editing. I may consider self-pubbing this one, as an experiment, since the story itself is experimental. My cross-cultured characters are struggling, and I am trying to help them find peace. We shall see.

I caught up with George this week. BOY GEORGE to most of you, George O’Dowd to some and just plain George to me. Although he doesn’t yet know it, we have become good friends as he unwittingly helps me to write my story. Although there have been periods where he has tried to shed the “BOY” part of his moniker, it does have a bit of franchise with it and likely serves him well even now. Unfortunately, his good name has been hi-jacked, used as a somewhat derogatory nickname for conservative British Parliament member George Osborne. (While I’m sure you laugh it off, dear George, I’ll bet you hate it, wish you’d trademarked it way-back-when.) Anyway, George is looking good, sounding good, and I’m happy to see he is busy and productive.

Saturday I’m heading out to the Duarte Library Festival of Authors. Fellow Echelon authors Gayle Carline, Jeff Sherratt and I will be participating in a mystery panel as well as hawking our books to hungry readers. On Sunday, I’ll be signing with Sisters in Crime/LA at WEHO – West Hollywood Book Fair. Should be a fun weekend!

Los Angeles Times reports that ebook readers are expected to be a hot item for holiday sales this year. Great news for all authors, I think. Since CAPE SEDUCTION comes out in November, I’d say that’s very good timing.

Okay, back to obsessing about my mistake. Back soon.

Okay, I’m also writing a new book. Yeah, I know, I shouldn’t be, with school, and the edits to CAPE SEDUCTION due on my desk at any micro-second. (Katie?) I’m also just gearing up to participate in the upcoming political campaign of a good friend. Fun, but time consuming.

Oh, the book? You want to know about that. Well, it’s about… a secret. I mean, the story is a secret. It’s different, WAY different than anything I’ve ever ventured into. I guess you could call it a romance, of sorts, and it involves two unusual, needy people who persist in getting into trouble and rescuing each other every few years. What’s so different about that? Well, not much, actually. It’s just that one of the characters is rather… androgynous. Or maybe a little gender-bent. There I go, spouting off secrets. Zipping lips now.

Have you heard about Echelon Shorts? Well, similar to Bermuda Shorts, only a lot more fun. The authors of short fiction at Echelon are blogging about their great stories. Hey, I think I’m there today! Yep—I’m there, yapping about WHEN HARRY MET SOLI. I love this little story. It’s great fun, about a little boy who is convinced he is the real Harry Potter. Easy, 30-40 minute ebook read for $3.00. Enjoy it today…

Let’s see… today is September 11^th, a day we do, and don’t, really want to remember. What I do recall was my husband sitting beside me on the bed as we watched (again and again) the towers burning, collapsing. He said to me, “the world will never be the same after this.” He was right, of course. Some good info on Patriot Day here.

Today is also my super duper smarty-pantz niece’s 18^th birthday. I can’t believe she made it this far without talking herself—and me—to death. Happy Birthday, Litter Box!

Heading out to the Hollywood Bowl tomorrow night with friends. Our last deal of the year. Blame it on Rio! With fireworks finale! Can’t wait.  (Note to self:  take extra cushion for aching back.)

Okay, chums, have a great weekend and hopefully I’ll be back on track next week…

Hasley Hall at COC

(Yeah, I know it’s Saturday. I ran out of minutes yesterday.)

School. My first on-campus class was great. I got a spot in the upper parking lot and arrived at my classroom early. Well, it’s not really a classroom, but a good sized movie theatre, with cushiony seats, cool air conditioning, great sound system… My instructor is Melinda Johnson, and she describes herself as the foremost expert on Tinkerbell, among other very impressive things. Like working with Disney on the restoration and re-release of vintage animated movies. Snow White is next, she told us. Liked her a lot. Lots of energy and an obvious love of sharing knowledge. The class is “Cinema 123 – Crossing Cultures” and it meets the “diversity studies” requirement.

We talked about Senator Ted Kennedy, and she chose a film which, she felt, would spark some thought about Kennedy’s career:  Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, starring James Stewart and Jean Arthur. Well, as Jimmy Stewart is one of my most favorite actors, I was delighted. My nephew, a big fan of Mr. Smith, just commented that he doesn’t remember Kennedy filibustering for Boy Scouts. He may have something there.

Fire. We are again living under the haze of smoke and the fear of flame. Just another hot August in So Cal.

Film. Today, hubby and I went to see District 9. Not at all what we were expecting. Peter Jackson’s reputation put our anticipation higher than warranted. Not a bad film, but just not anything on par with his previous blockbusters.

Book. Last night, I finished The Rosary Bride: A Cloistered Death by Luisa Buehler. Wow! Great first-person mystery. Well-paced, interesting settings, great writing. First in the Grace Marsden Mystery series, so I’m hopeful of downloading the second this week.

Funeral. I did watch Ted Kennedy’s services. Once again inspired by Barack Obama’s public speaking skills. Well done, Mr. President. Moved by Edward Jr.’s speech. Surprised that although the cameras paused on Jimmy Carter, Bill & Hillary Clinton and swept past George & Laura Bush, I must have blinked when they showed our governor and his lovely wife Maria.

Website:  I am seeking someone with experience in making flash animations. I’d do it myself except that the learning curve would put me into next year, and I need it sooner than that.

Have a great weekend! Or what’s left of it.

My New Cover!

My upcoming release has a face! I am so delighted with this cover. The lighthouse is none other than St. George Reef Lighthouse, the inspiration for CAPE SEDUCTION. This photo, taken by the delightful Lighthouse People, perfectly captures the dark, broody mood of the setting in this novel. The young woman represents Darla Foster, a young starlet whose terrible plight is central to the plot, which takes place in both 1948 and in present day.

Cover artist Nathalie Moore did a wonderful job in matching the artwork on my previous book, POINT SURRENDER, also created by Nat. I can’t wait to hear what people think of this cover.  Oh no! Here comes the commercial…

“In 1949, up-and-coming starlet Darla Foster goes missing after the release of Cape Seduction, a tragic romance filmed in a California lighthouse. Now, sixty years later, the long abandoned lighthouse is causing trouble for its present-day owners. Has the sexy, eccentric actress returned to avenge her stolen life? CAPE SEDUCTION by ANNE CARTER, November, 2009, from Echelon Press!”

Whew. End of commercial. For now.