Author: Becky

At last, some news

Tim and I have been trying to get news about a LJ friend, Garry, for days. We contacted people on his “friends” list. Tim has been in touch with a guy who has Garry’s phone numbers and they’ve both tried to reach him, but of course, the phones aren’t working. I found a friend of his (another Becky) who lives in Picayune who’d been posting as late as the morning the hurricane made landfall. Then of course, there was silence from her.

Tonight, Becky responded to my comments on her LJ. She evacuated to NC after Katrina, but was in her house during the storm and lost her roof and most of her ceilings. Her parents live a few blocks from her, and have now evacuated to Natchez. So glad they are all safe. She was able to give us news about Garry, who she spoke to on the phone. His mother lost nearly everything, but Garry is okay, just without power, of course.

It’s an incredible relief to know they’re okay, and I hope we’ll be able to help them in some way when we can all be in touch again.

Thank you to everyone who’s been worrying with us, and for those of you who are on Garry’s friends’ list (‘Nathan and Todd, I think), I know you’re glad to hear this, too. =)

Looters ‘R Us

I think that reactions to the looting in New Orleans may say more about people than the actual looting does. If I were scared, thirsty, hungry, and tired, I don’t know what the hell I’d do. If I had a child, sick or injured loved one, or elderly parent who was scared, thirsty, hungry, and tired, I’d probably be capable of pretty much anything.

Would I steal a loaf of bread? Absolutely. Would I steal a TV? If I thought I could trade it for a loaf of bread, probably (except I couldn’t carry it, but that’s not the point). I might steal a gun to protect myself and those I care about (but I wouldn’t shoot a man just to watch him die).

And forgive me if you would not, but I think THAT NEARLY EVERYONE would do what they have to do to survive, especially under such circumstances, when no one in authority seems to have any information that can offer hope or promise of an endpoint. If, that is, someone in authority could actually be found in all that chaos.

SO… Seeing what the media chooses to show over and over… Reading what people have to say about it online, has been sadly enlightening. Some people really lack an empathy gene: that is, the ability to actually feel what those residents are feeling and therefore not rush to judgment. Only the absence of a mighty strong wind stands between any of us and a shopping cart with what’s left of our lives.

Mary T has managed to find two pictures that say a little more than we might be comfortable knowing about ourselves. Apparently, looting and finding falls along color lines. Whoever at Yahoo is responsible for these captions should be ashamed.

And I let them go thirsty…

Yesterday, our friend Lindsey called Tim to let us know that her father was collecting clothes to take to the Astrodome for the people being relocated here from New Orleans. She and Rhonda knew that we were feeling helpless and asked if we wanted to donate. OF COURSE! And I called my mother, who went through her clothes, too.

As soon as Lindsey and Rhonda found out we had some boxes for them, they jumped in the not-so-trusty truck and drove over to pick them up, even though they’d just gotten home from the gym. And could we just give them the clothes?

No, we had to abuse them. First, River took a flying leap of joy from the front porch to do a body block on Rhonda, who doesn’t weigh much more than River. Clearly, he thought she needed some love. Fortunately, Lindsey had managed to evade his exuberant welcome, but then she made the mistake of stepping inside, where she was greeted by the “We never get any attention, please touch us NOW” reactions of Margot and Guinness, who basically treated her body like a ladder that needed immediate climbing.

Further, just to show that no good deed goes unpunished, even though I KNEW they’d just left the gym, it never occurred to me to offer them a beverage.

Rhonda and Lindsey, tell me what to stock in my refrigerator. I keep water, sugar-free lemonade, Coke C2, and Diet Coke. But I’ll put whatever you like to drink in there and WILL NEVER SO SHAMEFULLY NEGLECT YOU AGAIN.

Meanwhile, kudos to you two and to Lindsey’s father for making it possible for us to help in some way.

P.S. Most of those clothes came from Tom. Who knew my husband had been such a clothes hoarder all these years?

Mississippi Gulf Coast

Today I am horrified by the images and video I’m seeing from the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Besides the fact that one of our LJ friends lives there, and we are hoping he and his loved ones are okay, this is where Tim and I visited when researching THREE FORTUNES.

The residents were so gracious about answering our questions. They were frank about what was good and what was flawed about their state, but none of them talked about moving away. It’s home. In our acknowledgments, we specifically thank two Visitors’ Centers, two GLBT bars, and a cafe in Pass Christian. I don’t know if those places are even still there.

The houses that play an important role in the novel were inspired by the coast’s beautiful mansions, many of which survived Hurricane Camille. In fact, Camille has a part in shaping one of our characters, and some of our characters do what I did when I was there one morning–go to the Hurricane Camille Memorial in Biloxi. Tim and I made a video record of some of the places we saw so that when we came back to Houston, our writing would be accurate. It’s heartbreaking to think of all that beauty destroyed.

I can’t believe the devastation. I know there is a tremendous loss of property, but even worse, the loss of lives. I worry about the evacuees, the survivors, the displaced animals. I feel so helpless. I wish our book would sell a zillion copies or be optioned for a movie, so I could donate enough money to make a difference. I wish I could help people clean up and get their lives back.

All I can do for the moment is send good thoughts, good energy, to these coastal people who shared themselves and their beautiful surroundings with us for a time. It will be home again.

World’s Shortest Personality Test


You are dreamy, peaceful, and young at heart.
Optimistic and caring, you tend to see the best in people.
You tend to be always smiling – and making others smile.

You are shy and intelligent… and a very hard worker.
You’re also funny, but many people don’t see your funny side.
Your subtle dry humor leaves your close friends in stitches.

The Story Rolling Stone Won’t Touch

Blues Dogs members Cry-Me-A-River Dog and Guinness “Fedbelly” Dog continue to deny rumors of a band split. At press time, Margot “Howlin'” Dog was unavailable for comment about what bone she has to pick with her band mates. Sources close to Howlin’ deny that she called Cry-Me and Fedbelly “nuthin’ but hound dogs” and blamed Cry-Me’s liver problems for a downturn in Blues Dogs’ fortunes.


File photo of Howlin’ Dog.

An Out-of-Compound Experience

Tonight I had to run some errands, so on a whim, and with low expectations, I stopped by our neighborhood Borders. Alas, no copies of THREE FORTUNES were on the shelf. I picked up another of Greg Herren’s mysteries, MURDER IN THE RUE DAUPHINE (New Orleans being on my mind this evening). I also noted that FARB’s TRUST FUND BOYS looks good in its new trade paper release.

As I was leaving, one of the associates asked if he could help me, so I asked if he could look up two books–Lori L Lake’s HAVE GUN WE’LL TRAVEL, which I’ve heard a lot about, and, well… THREE FORTUNES IN ONE COOKIE by Cochrane Lambert.
Continue reading “An Out-of-Compound Experience”

they wanted to go to church or come home after a weekend riding the trails on horseback

A gunman opened fire with a .38 caliber revolver outside the Sash Assembly of God church in Sash, Texas, on August 28, 2005. He killed two people there:

• James Wayne Armstrong (42 years old)
• Ernest Wesley Brown (61)

The perpetrator fled the area and came upon two women who had stopped their truck and horse trailer at an intersection on their way home from a weekend of horseback riding. He killed both with a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol.

• Holly Ann Love Brown (50)
• Ceri Litterio (46)

He later barricaded himself in his house, and after an hours-long standoff with police, took his own life.

Update

You know, in going back through Tim’s LJ archives, it occurs to me that we never told you one of the happy endings.

The fogging, the constant vacuuming, and the beneficial nematodes (thanks, Mother Nature) did the trick.

It’s no longer a flea circus around here.