I’m late out of the gate this week. I usually write the blog on Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon. This week I’m writing it on Thursday morning while on a plane back to Seattle after a minutes under twenty-four-hour stay in Phoenix. More about that later.
Instead of writing this on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday, I was once again busy doing a word-for-word read on the second pass of the galleys for Collateral Damage. I’m sure one or more of my readers will STILL find a typo or two lurking in the text and send me a reproving message telling me that I need to have better editors. But believe me, when typos are there nonetheless, it isn’t for lack of trying on the part of a cadre of six readers searching for them.
So Tuesday night, after finally sending the re-edited manuscript back to New York, I went down the hall to pack because I had an event in Phoenix the next day where I was expected to speak at the national ABOS conference. ABOS stands for the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services—in short librarians on wheels.
My way to the conference was paid for by Thorndike Press, the publishers of LARGE PRINT books. I happen to know that many of my fans are LARGE PRINT readers, so here’s a thank you shout out to Thorndike from all of us. When arrangements for the conference were starting to be made, I had planned to fly down to Phoenix and back on the same day, but the evening return flight was canceled early on, so arrangements were made for an overnight stay.
In my natural state, I am a night owl. I generally go to sleep around one and wake up sometime between nine and ten. That’s the advantage of working at home which I’ve been doing since 1984. Tuesday night I went to bed early—to bed but not to sleep. So my five a.m. wakeup call for a five-thirty airport shuttle came very early. My watch keeps track. Initially it said I had slept for three hours and seven minutes. Later in the day, for some reason, it subtracted three of those.
Did I sleep on the plane? I did not. So I staggered into the hotel in Scottsdale minutes before I was due at a luncheon with the Thorndike folks. I had time to redo my makeup—the five a.m. makeup job just didn’t cut it—and then off I went, first to the luncheon and then straight from there to the ballroom for my speaking event. It was wonderful. I spent the next forty-five minutes speaking to a crowd of between four to five hundred people, most of whom had never read any of my books. They did not expect me to be funny, but I was. They did not expect me to make them cry, but I did that, too, and when the talk was over, I had a roomful of brand new fans who gave me a standing ovation.
After almost three years of speaking into my computer for zoom events with my doxies barking in the background, it was breath of fresh air to be speaking to a living, breathing audience who actually laughed aloud when I cracked a joke. And suddenly those three hours of sleep no longer mattered. I was back in my element and too joyous to be tired.
My room at the hotel didn’t work out. The seat of the chairs and the armless sofa hit somewhere between four to five inches below my knee. If I had sat down in them, I would have needed to have a winch to get back out. Fortunately, Thorndike had also hired a media escort to get me from hither to yon. Nancy Stuebe is my favorite media escort ever. You’ll meet her in person in Blessing of the Lost Girls. She had already asked if I’d like to stay overnight in Scottsdale with her and her husband Danny. Bearing the hotel situation in mind, I took them up on that offer.
And then, guess what? My perfect day got even better! Once at their house, I was finally able to check my email. There was a note from my editor with two pieces of great news: Nothing to Lose came in #4 on the NY Times mass market best seller list. That means I’ve found my way to a whole bunch of new readers, and with any kind of luck, some of them will be IORs—In Order Readers. As for the other piece of good news? My editor is almost done reading Blessing, and she’s loving it. Whew!
After that Nancy, her husband, and I went to dinner at my favorite restaurant in Phoenix, La Piñata. (Siri calls is La Pinnada!). Their machaca, made from a long-cherished grandmother’s recipe, is to die for! It’s the first time Nancy and I have been there when we haven’t been working and had a designated driver, so we both had Margaritas. Then we went back to their house where I fell into bed and slept the sleep of the dead for seven hours forty five minutes.
Today I feel completely restored. Once I got to the airport and made it through security without needing my usual pat down, I spent the time between arrival and boarding to work on my steps—closing my green exercise ring and picking up 6400 steps in the process. Along the way, an airport attendant, pushing an empty wheelchair, stopped and asked me if I needed assistance. I didn’t, but I was walking with a load of twenty-pounds or so of carry-on luggage, so I must have appeared to be a bit tottery to her, and I thanked her profusely for checking on me.
The truth is, I really am coming up on age seventy-eight, and I guess it shows.
Oh, I’m so glad your speaking engagement went so well! (I would love to see/hear any of those that end up being recorded and having links we can click into!) There is certainly something to be said for having a live audience rooting for one, and I’m looking forward to my music students experiencing that in the next music festival, after 3 years of either non-existent or done-by-private-recording festivals. And what an efficient use of time–getting your steps in while waiting in an airport!
Wow! Don’t know how you do it all. I guess all the steps pay off in energy. Makes me feel real old at 72 as I sit in my worn recliner phone in hand. Keep it up. Love your books.
Fan in Ala bam.
I have loved everything that you have written!! I enjoy your blogs. Thank you for all you do for your devoted readers. Have a wonderful day.
Glad your excursion ended well. But I find it unbelievable that you had a crowd who didn’t know who you were, everybody knows who you are, don’t they?
congrats on tenacity and giving your readers more of your presence. Still matriculating into all the changes that are being forced upon all of us for the last 2 plus years. The 3 Hours on you Chronometer probably had to do with time zones and physical movement. Thank you for encouraging a once very active 80 year old to get up in the morning and try to contribute to life positively. Vicariously thru your writings and examples. CHUCK IN TACOMA. Aloha. hopefully this entry strengthens the resolve and aids in others KEEPING ON with their lives.
Welcome to the world of the aging.
Okay, I laughed out loud today. Love seeing your blog in my email. Love your blog. Your bring joy.
As a former secretary, I understand wholeheartedly with your frustrations with typos. I don’t know how many times I’ve ran spell check, grammar check, my own eyes, started aat the bottom of a document and read backwards so I’m reading one word at a time, and still a damn typo is found after publication!
I worked for the Operations Manager of a department of a large insurance company whose boss was the head of our department. He took a red pen to every document that came across his desk and was a monster with it. I had done a 30 page document that had a typo in the middle of the document (this was before word processors were in existence–telling my age here), and he instructed my boss to have the entire document retyped. I couldn’t do just that one page because he had marked every single page with a notation that he had looked at it. I had to do all 30 pages! He was the most unreasonable man I have ever had to deal with in my professional life (then I married my ex!).
And having been one of those who’ve alerted you to a typo on a long ago book, I hope I didn’t add too much to your frustration.
I agree with you. No matter how much you spell check and grammar check you always find stuff you missed or….words that auto check changed. It is quite frustrating.
I am so glad I subscribed to your blog. As the saying goes, getting old isn’t for sissies.
Good morning.
I have been a fan for meany years. Read all your books. I live in Tucson. Been to Bisbee a few times. I love the books revolving around the native Americans. Glad your going to revisit.
I grew up in Miami Fl. In Our first home the Seamole Indians had a village right behind us. When I started school the chef son came over and we rode our bycicle to school togeather. They are a wonderful people also. Then of course you have your mean white boys. So they moved further out in the Everglades. Stayed friends for a long time.
A live event! Does that mean there will be book tours in the future? Please,.please, please.
Wonderful.
I’m struggling to imagine 4 or 5 hundred book-related people most of whom had not read your books! Your talk was indeed a mission of mercy!
Ceci
Thanks for the update. Mom, sisters and I had a similar experience in Austin, Tx. We rented a VRBO and it turned out to be a slum.
We were having dinner, discussing our dilemma when a married couple behind us offered their home to us for the night. It was such a shock, but we accepted, and felt the hand of God had intervened.
When you described your talk to the librarians, I found myself wondering what percentage of the audience was wearing a mask. I’ve found that unless they are required there are fewer and fewer people wearing them. I’m still masking at all indoor venues, and am mostly in the minority. Contagion rates, however, are still pretty high.
I totally understand the appeal of a live audience giving you real-time feedback! I had many opportunities to sing on-line or recorded, and gave it up as unrewarding. My choirs have gradually transitioned into live practices (still masked) and performances, for which I am very grateful!
I am an IOR the first time I encounter a new series. However, I’ve been acquiring your books gradually, after having gone through the library copies and deciding that yours are worth keeping around for comfort reading. Those haven’t been acquired in order, and I can’t resist re-reading when I bring a new one into the house. Betrayal of Trust kept me up till around 3 a.m. recently. Short on sleep but long on satisfaction!
Do you get extra credit for weight-bearing, or weight-towing, steps?
I think most folks accept that if you are even reasonably healthy covid is no more a threat to you than a cold or the flu. Someone we have managed to live with both for millenia without wearing masks. I feel badly for anyone who is healthy that still fears covid. I am almost 68 and while I have no interest in ailing from anything I don’t fear covid and my first booster will be my last. Fear is a powerful thing and it’s unfortunate thay people are still fearful, most of them irrationally so. I wish you the best.
A friend of my sister’s got so fed up typing and retyping a manuscript on medical research (back in the days of simple typewriters) that she added to the index, “Birds, for the” which was not noticed until the third printing!
Congratulations on your in-person presentation! I hope they will continue so that I can attend one soon-
Speaking of “armless sofas,” what is this trend of chairs and couches without arms? They are so uncomfortable! Once my husband and I went to to a concert in NYC where the audience was forced to watch from seats without arms-
I may be old-fashioned, but it was very hard for me to enjoy the music while I was trying to figure out how to (1) Not elbow my neighbor to the right, and (2) Relax
my arms, which had no support!
I think that armless chairs are considered more accommodating to people who are wider than average. I am such a person, and I got slightly stuck once when, while visiting a mobility-limited relative, I used the toilet with the raised seat and arms. Also, in my office I have had clients who are heavy seek out chairs without arms, so I am glad that my employer provides a mix of chair styles.
Thanks for explaining the trend- I had not thought of that-
I think a better solution would be to have more expansive furniture, so that everyone could sit in comfort and ease- Having just flown across country on a “Normal” economy flight, I wonder how most people survive the sardine-can conditions- As a short person I am lucky not to need much leg room- I am fairly thin, and still felt cramped by the narrowness of the seat, even on the aisle!
It is probably a good thing for Judith Jance, a tall person, that she can afford 1st class seats. I survived my cross-country flights this summer, but I did not enjoy them. I had strong motivation to reconnect with important people in my life, or I would not have put myself through it.
My motivation as well!
As I have said many times, I love your books and blogs. I don’t think though that “doxies” is quite the appropriate word.
It is for people who love the little imps.
It is always good to wake up and find one of your blogs awaiting me. I love reading about another chapter of your life AND getting info on upcoming books. When Nothing to Lose came out, I started reading it the minute I bought it. Since then I have already read it a second time. In my opinion you knocked it out of the park and even made me tear op at one point.
I am a soon to be a 70 year old male reader and you are by far my favorite reader I have read all of your books multiple times and enjoy them immensely every time.
I am going to retire for a second time next February and plan to read everyone of your books in order.
I love to hear about your walks too. I will start my 10,000 step program when I retire. You inspire me more than you can imagine.
Take care,
Martin
Glad you had. A nice visit. We love you down here and share a common thread in Bellevue where I went to high school and Arizona where I have lived for 40 years. Thanks for the blog. Always entertaining.
I have been a fan since your first book!
You brought back memories of going to the Doghouse in Seattle…..great memories ?
So happy your live event went so well!
JA. On your having an attendant ask if you needed assistance in the airport: At 74 myself, and with white hair, I’ve had many kind-hearted well meaning people ask me if I would like some help. When I’m lifting an 18 pound bag of charcoal into the car, I gladly accept, although I can do it myself. But when I was on a ladder putting up our Stars and Stripes and a young lady walking on our street stopped and told me she would make sure I accomplished my task without mishap, I really think that many people just watch out for us older citizens. Therefore, there’s no need to think your age shows!
So nice to read your blog!
SO eager to read Blessing of the Lost Girls !!! Love all your books!
Judy, we can hear the fun you had with a live audience. So neat that you got away from a bad hotel room and into a lovely welcoming bed at a friend’s house. And the #4 spot on the NY Best Sellers list! Wow. I bet you are doing the Happy Dance! Congrats all the way around.
It is amazing what the 70s can do to us! I was 72 in Aug. I was recovering from brain tumor surgery my wonderful friend took me to a B Dalton’s and we were finally in our element. It took me some time before I could focus my eyes to read a book again! We looked over the paperbacks and decided we wanted to get a few books so we got 3 books, 2 Beaumont and 1 Joanna Brady books. This must have been 1999. I can’t remember what books because I ordered all of your books from amazon after inhaling those 3. Thank you I felt human again reading!! Loved Beau and Joanna was close in age to my own children. I’m lazy now I listen to audio.
We’ll ignore our age and try to do the walking without the backpack. Welcome back to having a public to laugh and enjoy themselves with you. It must feel like the world is right again.
Thanks for sharing that slice of life. It is nice to have younger folks step in and help sometimes; we have earned that and we can always pay it forward with a little assistance, too. I was recently surprised when I struggled to put a carry-on bag up into the bin, which was a reminder I am catching up with 70’s self more than I knew.
From the first book I read by J.A. Jance, I became an IOR, and meeting you on my birthday in 2019 at a Ladies of Intrigue event in Orange County was my best birthday present! As I read your blog, speaking to a huge crowd & receiving a standing ovation doesn’t surprise me at all. We were with you from 9 am until the afternoon, and as a lucky person, sat at your table. Your sense of humor, humanity and kindness was obvious as you talked to fans who came by, and your talk was so entertaining and engaging. You are a one of a kind, and it’s been a pleasure to be a fan and learn more about you through the blog. Needless to say, you’ve given many hours of entertainment, but more importantly, shared life lessons with your fans. Thank you!
I went over to the Home page of jajance.com because I realized in reading this blog entry that Collateral Damage is rapidly approaching publication, and I was hoping to see a date. That page hasn’t been updated for a while! Is there a scheduled publication date for Collateral Damage, and a rough idea for Blessing of the Lost Girls?
Collateral Damage is due out March 14.
I am in my 80’s and use a wheelchair when out and about. I can stand up to reach things on upper shelves in the grocery store, but it is nice when someone offers to get items for me. There are many nice people around.
remark on Facebook I think. Still working on joining the 21st century league as you can see still having issues … but not going to give up … trying another route. Chuck in Tacoma Aloha.
You are amazing! I am younger and in awe of your stamina and tenacity! I would love you as a life coach. But, I know you do not have ANY time for that! I am working on trying to work up to your energy level. Thank you for being an inspiration! Liz
You have no idea how much i needed to hear a successful person say they are a night owl who gets up well past down! Living in farm country where it’s hotter than hades most of the time, people here are so proud of their early to bed early to rise habits. That has never been me. Then there was all the success guru guilt about needing to start the day at 5 to make anything of ourselves. I’ve known for ac long time that I’ve gotten in my own way and I think this is a big piece of my puzzle i needed to sort out. So thank you!
Some members of Sisters on the Fly Book Club are thinking we need a reading retreat. Perhaps we need to recruit an author or two to join us!
And of course there is a typo! And of course I’ve emailed you about typos… ???
Winston Churchill was a well known night owl who got up well after dawn. I guess you could.say that he was a successful person. He just saved the.world.from Hitler.
Ahhh, those dang birthdays!