Who’s reading what?
1.The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.
2. The WashingtonPost is read by people who think they run the country.
3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run thecountry and who are very good at crossword puzzles.
4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don’t really understand The New York Times. They do, however, like their statistics
shown in pie charts.
5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn’t mind running the country — if they could find the time — and if they didn’t have to leave Southern California to do it.
6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a far superior job of it, thank you very much.
7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren’t too sure who’s running the country and don’t really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.
8. The New York Post isread by people who don’t care who’s running the country as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.
9. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores.
10. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren’t sure there is a country… or that anyone is running it; but if so, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped minority feminist atheist dwarfs who also happen to be illegal aliens from any other country or galaxy, provided, of course, that
they are not Republicans.
11. The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.
12. None of these are read by the guy who is running the country into the ground.
Betty Dravis is a former newspaper publisher and long-time California journalist who also hosted a Cable TV talk show. Dravis, of San Jose, Cal., is the author of three novels: “1106 Grand Boulevard,” “The Toonies Invade Silicon Valley” and “Millenium Babe: The Prophecy.” She is currently writing a horror novel.
brenda said,
January 1, 2007 at 6:20 pm
laflamme guest blogging here? hi, happy new year!
Lately, I read yahoo.com news and border01.com , of the above, I think I might like the San Francisco Chronicle……
Linda in Maine said,
January 1, 2007 at 8:53 pm
That’s great, Betty! Who reads The Funny Times do you think?
Betty Dravis said,
January 18, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Hey, Brenda, you picked a good one. Their readership group does sound sort of appealing, doesn’t it? I asked Mark to add a clever readership group at top or bottom of that list (about the kind of characters who read the SJ), but I guess his wit deserted him at the time.
LInda, (is this my Linda from Wilton?) … Anyway, I think the FUNNY TIMES is read by people who read my TOONIES YA novel. But come to think of it, youse people up in Maine are funny, witty and charming, so perhaps the right answer is LEWISTONIANS.
I didn’t know this was posted until today, January 18th. Talk about slow. But that’s really a testament to how hard I work on my books, etc. This is posted so late probably no one will catch it. Dang!
P.S. I do not take credit for writing that list; I got it off the Net and sent it to Mark, thinking it might fit. I may be good at the ol’ sarcasm, but I’m not nearly as witty as you Maineliners.
brenda said,
January 19, 2007 at 9:04 pm
aw, shucks, we aint witty, just twisted….
Bobbie said,
January 20, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Three more books to add to my “must read” list. Will I be able to order them thru Barnes & Nobles or such?
Bobbie said,
January 20, 2007 at 9:49 pm
And if you happen to live in the Arkansas Valley, you’re reading The Rocky Ford Daily Gazette, The La Junta Tribune and The Ordway News. The first two are daily papers while the third is a weekly. About the only thing that those three have in common is that they’re good for catching up on the local gossip.
Linda said,
January 21, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Hi Betty, yes that was me. The name field accidentally picked up the name I use to comment on a bunch of other blogs. It seems redundant to call myself “Linda in Maine” when I’m commenting in a Maine blog.
BTW Mainetarr and I each ordered one of your books and we’ll read and share. Is it tacky to tell a writer that — like, “I’ve been wanting to read your book but they don’t have it at the library yet”? That one cracks me up. Actually I didn’t even know Mark when I saw his book at the library here in Wilton. I liked it so I bought it afterwards, though, so I don’t mind telling you that.
Bobbie — I don’t know about MT but I ordered from Amazon.
Betty Dravis said,
January 26, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Hey, I’m really getting bogged down … when it takes me six days to get back to this blog. And look what I almost missed; BOOK SALES … which Mark and I die for! Grin!
Yes, Bobbie, you can order my books from any bookstore, but I prefer AMAZON.com because they have a better price than BN, and they give rankings for sales, etc. I loooooooove brick-and-mortar bookstores, but they charge about $4.50 more than Amazon (on my books).
And as for those Arkansas newspapers, I love small-town papers with their gossip, birth stats, etc. I miss that in the San Jose Mercury News, but we’re adjacent to several small towns and I have a reporter friend at the Los Gatos Daily who frequently writes about me and my books, and THEY have local gossip, so I faithfully read that paper too.
No, LInda, I don’t think that’s tacky at all. The more people who read my books, the better. Word of mouth is still the most effective sales tool. You will NOT find my books in Lewiston Library (not that BIG … yet …) I’m in all the SJ and local area libraries plus many scattered across the country (don’t know HOW that happened). I even saw a Teacher’s Union newsletter in NEW JERSEY who recommended my TOONIES as good summer reading for kids. How in the world they found my TOONIES is beyond me. Go figure! (Isn’t the Net an amazing tool?)
A little story: My GRAND book is based on the life of my sister and her active love-life; she is 90 now and says I “made her a star.” She’s adorable (in her own twisted way) as you will find when reading GRAND. Grin again! And you would never believe she’s 90! Looks about 60 and is still really feisty and active. Anyhow, when someone asked to borrow her copy of GRAND, she said, “This is ONE book I will not loan out; if you want one, go BUY it! How can my sis make money if even I, the star of the book, loan it out.”
That may not sound funny to you, but I thought it was hilarious.
I didn’t know you just met Mark through his book. That’s cool. I really do think he has a lot of talent in the horror genre; he kept me on the edge of my seat all through the story, and WHAT an ending line. Loooooooved it. (P.S. I tell a lot of authors I like their stuff when I don’t really … but with Mark’s book, I’m telling the absolute truth.)
And I wouldn’t mind some Amazon reviews when you guys finish reading. A secret: My TOONIES is my favorite book, and I had more fun writing it. Don’t discount it as a children’s book; it’s very popular with adults too (surprisingly, more men than women, but a lot of CEOs in Silicon Valley are buying it because of THE WOZ being in it. I suppose they’re getting their “jollies” seeing him running around with a bunch of cartoon characters). More fun!
Thanks for your interest and I hope you enjoy my novels and my “particular writing style.” I genre-hop, as you can see, but I’m having fun in my “old age,” so who can knock it???
And, Brenda, let me correct myself: Youse guys are witty … in a twisted kinda way. And I’m enjoying every twist and turn in these blogs. You’re a special group of people in my way of thinking.
Betty Dravis said,
January 26, 2007 at 1:46 pm
P.S. Hi, MAINETARR. Thanks for buying my books, and hope you like them. Didn’t mean to ignore you above; just hurrying too much, as I usually do. Would love a review from you too (Amazon is a great review place.) Later …
Bobbie said,
January 31, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Not to be picky, Betty, but I live in Colorado, not Arkansas. Not that I’m knocking the state because I have three wonderful grandchildren that currently reside there. The Arkansas River is a few miles from my house and that’s how this valley got its name. I will have to check out Amazon.com for their pricing. B&N’s price wasn’t that bad, but I will comparison shop. I will be more than happy to post a review on Amazon once I’m finished with the book.
Your sister sounds like she is a lot of fun. Gotta love her attitude and looking out for you.
Betty Dravis said,
February 2, 2007 at 12:47 pm
OOPS, Bobby. I never was very good at Geography. Sorry about the mix-up. Colorado is a great place, I hear. One of my best friends, Rochelle Rule Venckus, moved near Denver about 15 years ago and she loves it. I also have another friend there, LInda Shelnutt. My claim to fame as far as Colorado goes.
I hope you enjoy my book/s, and thanks for your interest. A review would be nifty, as they said in my day. (Where was “cool” when I needed it?)
Yes, my sister is a lot of fun and has a fantastic attitude. Another story: My youngest daughter Allie and I visited her in Reno; went to dinner at Atlantis with eight of us. Allie’s father-in-law was with us, too; he’s only 65 and since BJ’s hubby didn’t join us, the father-in-law tried to pick-up on my sister. We all got the biggest kick out of that; so you see, Billie Jean still has “IT.” …
Betty Dravis said,
February 4, 2007 at 11:13 am
P.S. Forgot to tell you my sis, Billie Jean of the GRAND book, will be 90 in March. What a cutie she still is; feisty as hell.
Bobbie said,
February 5, 2007 at 8:55 pm
Betty,
When I received the Toonies book, I realized that it wouldn’t make it past Houston because of the length, so I splurged and ordered the other 2 books, which I’m waiting on now. Between the 3 books and other things that I will bring with me, I should have enough to keep me occupied while I’m flying.
Bobbie said,
February 8, 2007 at 11:57 am
Betty,
I now have all three of your books and am looking forward to reading them on the flights. Knowing my luck, I will be in an inappropiate (?) place when I come across the “limp dick” remark and start laughing. Waking someone up at 2 AM on a long flight is not the best thing to do, but would be well worth it.
As much as I have forced myself not to, I snuck a peek and am now up to page 15 in the 1106 Grand book. I almost thought that I would have to reorder that one because UPS made a rare mistake and put it on the truck for the wrong city. Thankfully my husband knows a lot of people thru his line of work and managed to get the book so that Iwouldn’t have to wait an extra day for it to arrive. Before you say how sweet that was of him, he did have an ulterior motive behind his act of kindness.
Bobbie said,
February 8, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Just to satisfy my own curiousity, how many people have made the remark that you look like a younger Sally Jesse Raphael? I will admit that that was the first person who popped into my head when I saw your photo. Maybe it was because of the red glasses and red lipstick that I thought that.
Betty Dravis said,
February 10, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Hi, Bobbie,
Well, here I am answering a blog two days late … again. Dang, it’s tough being in such hot demand! Grin!
I can’t keep up with my own schedule, let alone yours, so I don’t know if you’re winging through the air or have both feet back on good old terra firma by now. But I’m glad you got off okay and that the books arrived in time. It’s great that your husband has such “high-powered” connections. Could his ulterior motive possibly be that he was eager to see you off? (You can tell us later … ‘Fess up, so to speak. Ha!)
How pleasant to think of someone reading my books while winging through the sky. I hope you’re flashing those book covers all over the place. Ha-ha! (There I go, book-ho’ing again, Mark.) I hope you like them, and I look forward to reviews from you. Believe it or not, I was at the San Jose (Mineta International) Airport with a friend the other day and I saw a woman reading Mark’s THE PINK ROOM. I went over to brag to her about knowing the author, just as she jumped to her feet and ran for the boarding ramp. One never knows where one’s book might end up. Isn’t that something?
NO ONE (who lived to tell about it) said I look like SJR. (Joking; I really admire the woman.) I’ve been compared to Marilyn (I have the pics to prove it) quite often in my younger days and to Angela Lansbury in my “older” age. There was a time, when my hair was long, that people kept comparing me to Joanne Woodward, so take your best shot! At my age, I’ll take anything I can get.
And my glasses and lipstick aren’t really red; both are pink. (The glasses are a flesh-colored pink.) My hair isn’t red, either; the lighting did that to me. You might call it: a free color-job. (Actually, the book cover color is more accurate than the photos on the Net.) Enough of that; just wanted to set the record straight, but who really cares … except me?
It tickles me “pink” that you couldn’t resist peeking at my GRAND book. Well, if you got to page fifteen, I’d say you are hooked! Some intriguing scenes in those few pages, if I do say so myself.
Bon voyage, Bobbie … Have fun, but hurry home!
Rochelle Venckus said,
February 26, 2007 at 8:19 pm
Betty, Betty, Betty in a round about way, “googling myself” I found your blog! I have a hard time keeping up with you! Would love to have an opportunity to catch up!
Bobbie said,
March 18, 2007 at 3:17 am
Betty,
As you know by now, I am visiting Guam. I left the States on 2/21 and will leave Guam on 3/28. The newest addition to the family arrived on 3/10 at 0033 hours and is named Eastern’Dawn Ann Wise. She was 19.1 inches long and weighed 7 pounds, 6.4 ounces. She is a gorgeous baby and growing like a weed now (Mom is breastsfeeding and learning the ins and outs-like no raw onions before feeding-of things.
I just learned from Linda that she mentioned that I had sent her Millenium Babe in time for her to take it to Australia and New Zealand. Unfortunately, I haven’t found the post yet, but I’ll keep looking. Yes, I did flash the covers around while I was out and about. I will get those reviews done shortly-the last 8 days I have an excuse for not getting them done, but before then, I have no excuse at all.LOL
I really enjoyed all of your books and have been recommending them to everyone that I know who wants a good book (or 2 or 3) to read.