Christmas begins early at our house. The tree goes up right after Thanksgiving, a faux pine but a beautiful one, with artificial snow sprinkled about its branches. It’s always a full weekend of hauling boxes, unpacking ornaments, putting out the whimsical Santa that stands in our front hallway, and climbing up on the ladder to put the spindly glass ornament on the top of the tree. But for me, there’s really no Christmas tree without one special ornament, a reindeer with a red nose: Rudolph, of course.
This particular ornament takes me back to my childhood in Wisconsin. I don’t remember not having it. As far in the past as my memory travels, it hung on my parents’ Christmas tree. To see it, I imagine most folks would wonder why it’s so special. It’s made of plastic not gems or even blown glass. It doesn’t sparkle. It has no value. But to me, it’s irreplaceable.
My mother kept it in a green box, in amongst her collection of ornaments. There were many. Some my maternal grandmother crocheted, others my father’s sister and mother made of wax paper and sparkles during the Great Depression. As a small girl, I heard the stories of how my father sold the tiny creations door-to-door, desperate for money to buy food and wood for the stove. I think of the trials many are enduring today, with a rocky economy and so much trouble in the world, and those small tattered stars remind me that there have been tough times before, and always we’ve persevered.
Of all the ornaments, however, for me the reindeer was exceptional. I don’t know why except
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My Reindeer
December 6, 2010
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The German edition of Singularity
November 6, 2010
Hey All,
Had to share this: Singularity is getting a German make-over. Yup. That's the cover in the right hand column, in German. They've renamed the book, I believe "Blood Sins," or something like that. Since I don't speak German, I'm not entirely sure. This is exciting.
Plus, a reminder: Next Saturday, November 13, at 3 p.m., I'll be at Murder by the Book signing all my books, most of all the latest Sarah Armstrong mystery, The Killing Storm. The reviews have been great, and I can't wait to get out and meet everyone again. The truth is that we writers spend entirely too much time at home alone at our computers. I really need to get out more!
I would also like to take this opportunity to again say thank you to all of you out there, everyone who reads my books and recommends them to others. Your help is sincerely appreciated. I can't tell you how much it means to me. I hope fall is beautiful wherever you are, and I look forward to seeing all of you who can make it at Murder by the Book next Saturday! Read More
Had to share this: Singularity is getting a German make-over. Yup. That's the cover in the right hand column, in German. They've renamed the book, I believe "Blood Sins," or something like that. Since I don't speak German, I'm not entirely sure. This is exciting.
Plus, a reminder: Next Saturday, November 13, at 3 p.m., I'll be at Murder by the Book signing all my books, most of all the latest Sarah Armstrong mystery, The Killing Storm. The reviews have been great, and I can't wait to get out and meet everyone again. The truth is that we writers spend entirely too much time at home alone at our computers. I really need to get out more!
I would also like to take this opportunity to again say thank you to all of you out there, everyone who reads my books and recommends them to others. Your help is sincerely appreciated. I can't tell you how much it means to me. I hope fall is beautiful wherever you are, and I look forward to seeing all of you who can make it at Murder by the Book next Saturday! Read More
My Life Writing
October 8, 2010
by Kathryn Casey
The truth is that there's always one. Whenever I have a new book out, as I do right now with Shattered, I emerge from the confines of my office, momentarily unlatched from my computer, eyes blurred from months of staring at the screen, ready to meet the world and do book signings. Now let's be honest, what I'm there for is to connect with people who enjoy reading and, I hope, sell some books. Meanwhile, what those who attend are there for varies. Some folks like to drop in just to say hi and tell me that they enjoy my books. Others come to ask questions, bringing up different aspects of the cases in my books or inquiring about the inspiration for my fictional characters.
While that's why most have come, at nearly every book signing at least one person Read More
The truth is that there's always one. Whenever I have a new book out, as I do right now with Shattered, I emerge from the confines of my office, momentarily unlatched from my computer, eyes blurred from months of staring at the screen, ready to meet the world and do book signings. Now let's be honest, what I'm there for is to connect with people who enjoy reading and, I hope, sell some books. Meanwhile, what those who attend are there for varies. Some folks like to drop in just to say hi and tell me that they enjoy my books. Others come to ask questions, bringing up different aspects of the cases in my books or inquiring about the inspiration for my fictional characters.
While that's why most have come, at nearly every book signing at least one person Read More
Getting Away With Murder
October 8, 2010
by Kathryn Casey
We like to think that the bad guys get caught, and that when a murder takes place, the person responsible is held accountable and punished. Unfortunately, that often doesn't happen. One of the most disturbing headlines I've seen ran in the Houston Chronicle on a recent Sunday: People Are Getting Away with Murder.
Reading the piece, I learned that the national clearance rate on homicides is a dismal 64 percent. As the cause, the article cites a lack of money, manpower, too many murders and not enough folks in law enforcement investigating. It points out that in a city like Houston, with six million folks, there's more crime than cops to go around. In all, 120 Texas communities didn't even reach the national threshold, with clearance rates of 63 percent or lower. Take Galveston, for instance, where of the 32 murders committed in 2004, only seventeen were solved. That means that fifteen families are still waiting for justice. San Antonio is even worse, with a clearance rate of only 39 percent. The trend isn't new. One study showed that from 1980 to 1996, the national clearance rate Read More
We like to think that the bad guys get caught, and that when a murder takes place, the person responsible is held accountable and punished. Unfortunately, that often doesn't happen. One of the most disturbing headlines I've seen ran in the Houston Chronicle on a recent Sunday: People Are Getting Away with Murder.
Reading the piece, I learned that the national clearance rate on homicides is a dismal 64 percent. As the cause, the article cites a lack of money, manpower, too many murders and not enough folks in law enforcement investigating. It points out that in a city like Houston, with six million folks, there's more crime than cops to go around. In all, 120 Texas communities didn't even reach the national threshold, with clearance rates of 63 percent or lower. Take Galveston, for instance, where of the 32 murders committed in 2004, only seventeen were solved. That means that fifteen families are still waiting for justice. San Antonio is even worse, with a clearance rate of only 39 percent. The trend isn't new. One study showed that from 1980 to 1996, the national clearance rate Read More
LIBRARY JOURNAL gives THE KILLING STORM a star!
September 22, 2010
Great News! The Library Journal just gave my new novel, the third of the Sarah Armstrong mysteries, a starred review! This is the highest of honors. Rather than rattle on about it, here's the review:
The kidnapping of a four-year-old boy from a Houston park brings local law enforcement and the FBI together in an intense search. Meanwhile Texas Ranger Sarah Armstrong (Blood Lines) investigates the slaughter of some prize cattle. Symbols drawn on their hides point to African folklore. As the search for the guilty party intensifies, a major hurricane bears down in the Gulf heading straight for Houston. Contrasting the seeming unconcern of the missing boy’s mother with the anguish of Sarah’s daughter, who has just recovered from her father’s death and now fears that her mother will perish in the storm, adds depth to this suspenseful thriller. VERDICT Readers waiting patiently for the next J.A. Jance mystery will want to try this exciting read. Read More
The kidnapping of a four-year-old boy from a Houston park brings local law enforcement and the FBI together in an intense search. Meanwhile Texas Ranger Sarah Armstrong (Blood Lines) investigates the slaughter of some prize cattle. Symbols drawn on their hides point to African folklore. As the search for the guilty party intensifies, a major hurricane bears down in the Gulf heading straight for Houston. Contrasting the seeming unconcern of the missing boy’s mother with the anguish of Sarah’s daughter, who has just recovered from her father’s death and now fears that her mother will perish in the storm, adds depth to this suspenseful thriller. VERDICT Readers waiting patiently for the next J.A. Jance mystery will want to try this exciting read. Read More
My morning with the Discovery TV crew
August 1, 2010
Hi All,
I had an interesting Sunday morning this week; two producers, a sound and a camera man from Investigation Discovery dropped in to interview me. They shuffled around my living room furniture, set up lights, hooked up cameras and the sound equipment, then sat me in a chair and drilled me with questions. What about? Did I get caught doing something illegal? No, thank goodness. They wanted to talk about the case in EVIL BESIDE HER, that of James and Linda Bergstrom.
It seems that ID is introducing a new series this coming fall. They don't have a set title yet, but it'll be on women who've married men only to find out later that they're criminals. That, of course, fits Linda to a "T." She married a shy young man who worked in a paint factory, one who blushed when shown Playboy and who wanted to wait until after marriage to have sex. Only later did she discover that he was a dangerous sexual predator. By then, she was pregnant and worried that if she left him he'd attack other women and, on visitation days, molest their own daughter.
At first Linda tried to change James. Then, when presented with evidence that she couldn't, she worked to get police to stop him. I have so much respect for Linda. If it weren't for her, many more women would have suffered. She hit so many roadblocks, but kept pushing. It was a long battle, full of heartbreaking twists and turns.
Anyway, it was quite the morning. Linda, the producer, drilled me with questions the way I usually do those I'm interviewing. Some I expected, others really made me think. But in the end, it was fun. I'll be sure to let y'all know when the show begins airing, and I've posted a photo of myself with the crew in the right hand column of this page.
But through all of this fun, there was the heart of the issue. I will talk to anyone who's willing to talk to me about James Bergstrom. I need to get the news out. I don't go around protesting paroles very often, but this is one very sick guy, someone who needs to be kept behind bars. And the scary thing is that he occasionally comes up for parole.
For those of you who haven't protested James's parole, there are instructions on my update page. Remember: This guy's the real thing, a true psychopath and a sexual predator. We don't want him out of prison. We really don't. So make your wishes heard, and let's keep him behind bars. Read More
I had an interesting Sunday morning this week; two producers, a sound and a camera man from Investigation Discovery dropped in to interview me. They shuffled around my living room furniture, set up lights, hooked up cameras and the sound equipment, then sat me in a chair and drilled me with questions. What about? Did I get caught doing something illegal? No, thank goodness. They wanted to talk about the case in EVIL BESIDE HER, that of James and Linda Bergstrom.
It seems that ID is introducing a new series this coming fall. They don't have a set title yet, but it'll be on women who've married men only to find out later that they're criminals. That, of course, fits Linda to a "T." She married a shy young man who worked in a paint factory, one who blushed when shown Playboy and who wanted to wait until after marriage to have sex. Only later did she discover that he was a dangerous sexual predator. By then, she was pregnant and worried that if she left him he'd attack other women and, on visitation days, molest their own daughter.
At first Linda tried to change James. Then, when presented with evidence that she couldn't, she worked to get police to stop him. I have so much respect for Linda. If it weren't for her, many more women would have suffered. She hit so many roadblocks, but kept pushing. It was a long battle, full of heartbreaking twists and turns.
Anyway, it was quite the morning. Linda, the producer, drilled me with questions the way I usually do those I'm interviewing. Some I expected, others really made me think. But in the end, it was fun. I'll be sure to let y'all know when the show begins airing, and I've posted a photo of myself with the crew in the right hand column of this page.
But through all of this fun, there was the heart of the issue. I will talk to anyone who's willing to talk to me about James Bergstrom. I need to get the news out. I don't go around protesting paroles very often, but this is one very sick guy, someone who needs to be kept behind bars. And the scary thing is that he occasionally comes up for parole.
For those of you who haven't protested James's parole, there are instructions on my update page. Remember: This guy's the real thing, a true psychopath and a sexual predator. We don't want him out of prison. We really don't. So make your wishes heard, and let's keep him behind bars. Read More
The credit goes to all of you!
July 13, 2010
This is a thank you letter of sorts. If I knew all your names, I'd personalize one to each and everyone of you. But I don't, so please forgive me for not being able to do that.
As many of you know, my latest true crime book, SHATTERED, debuted on June 29th. You can look it up here on my Web site by clicking on the title in the left hand column. It's on the Houston murder of Belinda Lucas Temple, and it's a fascinating case, an investigation that took eight years and one of the most amazing trials I've covered. I can't overstate the number of twists and turns this case took over nearly a decade.
The reason I'm saying thank you is that the book is doing remarkably well. It was in the top ten on Amazon's bestselling true crime list for more than a month before it came out. Since its release, SHATTERED has consistently had two places on the top ten, one for the paperback and another for the Kindle edition. For its first two weeks and counting, it's been high on Amazon's bestselling nonfiction summer reading list. Truly wonderful.
And who do I have to thank? All of you, the folks who read the books, and especially those who read them and then make a point to recommend my books to others. So again, thank you! Keep up the good work! It's sincerely appreciated. Read More
As many of you know, my latest true crime book, SHATTERED, debuted on June 29th. You can look it up here on my Web site by clicking on the title in the left hand column. It's on the Houston murder of Belinda Lucas Temple, and it's a fascinating case, an investigation that took eight years and one of the most amazing trials I've covered. I can't overstate the number of twists and turns this case took over nearly a decade.
The reason I'm saying thank you is that the book is doing remarkably well. It was in the top ten on Amazon's bestselling true crime list for more than a month before it came out. Since its release, SHATTERED has consistently had two places on the top ten, one for the paperback and another for the Kindle edition. For its first two weeks and counting, it's been high on Amazon's bestselling nonfiction summer reading list. Truly wonderful.
And who do I have to thank? All of you, the folks who read the books, and especially those who read them and then make a point to recommend my books to others. So again, thank you! Keep up the good work! It's sincerely appreciated. Read More
A great weekend in San Antonio
April 18, 2010
I just returned home from a wonderful weekend in San Antonio, where I was on a panel at the Texas Library Association Convention. Thank you to Sharon and Victoria who invited me to attend, and to all the great librarians who stopped by to meet me.
Libraries are inspiring places, don't you agree? I told the story of my first encounters with the school library, and how I fell in love with one book in particular: The Reader's Guide to Periodic Literature. Strange choice? True. Very true. Why that book? Because Read More
Libraries are inspiring places, don't you agree? I told the story of my first encounters with the school library, and how I fell in love with one book in particular: The Reader's Guide to Periodic Literature. Strange choice? True. Very true. Why that book? Because Read More
A Holiday Nightmare
March 4, 2010
by Kathryn Casey
You probably wouldn't have noticed him in the crowd, the bearded, 36-year-old man at Wal-Mart two days before Christmas, scouring the tool aisle. He picked up one item after another, examining each, perhaps testing their weight, considering how they were made, the quality of a hatchet, a machete, and a variety of knives. What Jason Bouchard settled on, what he paid the cashier for and walked out the door with, was a crowbar.
Miles away at her Houston home, Terri Sanvincente, a well-known Adam Lambert fan and an assistant manager at a Walgreen's drug store, worried about Bouchard, a man she'd once loved who'd systematically tormented her life.
Two years earlier, she'd had the ex-army paratrooper formally evicted from their home. The separation, however, had dragged on, with Bouchard seeking custody of their three children, ages eight, six and three. Yet that, too, had recently been settled in Sanvincente's favor; six weeks earlier, after an 18-month battle, jurors granted primary custody to Sanvincente. Perhaps it wasn't surprising. At the hearing, Bouchard, who represented himself, surprisingly well, one expert says, admitted drug use and frequent masturbation. The jury ruled that he'd be allowed only supervised visits with his children.
Forty-year-old Sanvincente, it would later appear, took little comfort in the ruling. She continued to worry that she and her children (one dressed as Lambert on the right) remained in danger from a man who'd pushed her and hurled constant insults. “She was always afraid of what he was going to do next,” said Tabitha Charlton, Sanvincente's first family attorney, who walked away Read More
You probably wouldn't have noticed him in the crowd, the bearded, 36-year-old man at Wal-Mart two days before Christmas, scouring the tool aisle. He picked up one item after another, examining each, perhaps testing their weight, considering how they were made, the quality of a hatchet, a machete, and a variety of knives. What Jason Bouchard settled on, what he paid the cashier for and walked out the door with, was a crowbar.
Miles away at her Houston home, Terri Sanvincente, a well-known Adam Lambert fan and an assistant manager at a Walgreen's drug store, worried about Bouchard, a man she'd once loved who'd systematically tormented her life.
Two years earlier, she'd had the ex-army paratrooper formally evicted from their home. The separation, however, had dragged on, with Bouchard seeking custody of their three children, ages eight, six and three. Yet that, too, had recently been settled in Sanvincente's favor; six weeks earlier, after an 18-month battle, jurors granted primary custody to Sanvincente. Perhaps it wasn't surprising. At the hearing, Bouchard, who represented himself, surprisingly well, one expert says, admitted drug use and frequent masturbation. The jury ruled that he'd be allowed only supervised visits with his children.
Forty-year-old Sanvincente, it would later appear, took little comfort in the ruling. She continued to worry that she and her children (one dressed as Lambert on the right) remained in danger from a man who'd pushed her and hurled constant insults. “She was always afraid of what he was going to do next,” said Tabitha Charlton, Sanvincente's first family attorney, who walked away Read More
ARF's, Ann needs your prayers!
February 18, 2010
Hey Everyone,
All of us who read true crime know one name: Ann Rule. Right now, she's fighting a difficult battle. Ann is hospitalized, fighting some strange virus that's attacked her neck. She's flat on her back, unable to move her head. It's a tough one.
So all you ARFs out there (Ann Rule Fans), now's the time to send your best wishes, prayers, good vibes, whatever you can, to Seattle, to Ann. Here's wishing her a speedy recovery. I'll keep you posted!
Best,
K
Update: Ann is turning her head now, and she appears to be improving. Thanks to everyone who wished her well.
2nd Update: Ann's in rehab, busy getting better! Let's continue to send good thoughts and hope that she's at home and well, writing again very, very soon! Read More
All of us who read true crime know one name: Ann Rule. Right now, she's fighting a difficult battle. Ann is hospitalized, fighting some strange virus that's attacked her neck. She's flat on her back, unable to move her head. It's a tough one.
So all you ARFs out there (Ann Rule Fans), now's the time to send your best wishes, prayers, good vibes, whatever you can, to Seattle, to Ann. Here's wishing her a speedy recovery. I'll keep you posted!
Best,
K
Update: Ann is turning her head now, and she appears to be improving. Thanks to everyone who wished her well.
2nd Update: Ann's in rehab, busy getting better! Let's continue to send good thoughts and hope that she's at home and well, writing again very, very soon! Read More