Elvis Blog – Post #10

DATELINE: Amelia Island (near Jacksonville, Florida)
Remembering Sunday 5 August 2012

ELVIS QUOTE:
“I know what poverty is. I lived it for a long time…I am not ashamed of my background.”

ELVIS TRIVIA:
How many countries received the broadcast of “Aloha From Hawaii?”

ELVIS HISTORY:
Thursday 5 August 1954
It seems impossible that just one month ago, on Monday 5 July, Elvis and two others came into Sun Records after work and sang several ballads trying to get Sam Phillips to pay attention.

During a break, a discouraged Elvis wails “That’s All Right (Mama)”…This is the sound Philips has been waiting for.

AMELIA ISLAND, FLORIDA:
Sunday 5 August 2012
This morning about four AM it sounded like a monsoon but it’s raining gently now (an -LY word).

I spent yesterday in a Florida Sisters in Crime workshop with Author Patricia Sprinkle who is wonderful, humorous, and informative.

She explained why we should get rid of all the –ly words in our manuscripts. And for us in the South, all those “justs” and “wells” have to go, too. Patricia has written thirty-some books so she knows what she’s talking about.

A past president of Sisters in Crime—she joked that it is not an organization for nuns who met in jail—Patricia shared information about the organization’s early start by Sara Paretsky, and future goals.

The Police Academy for Writers is one of the conferences Sisters in Crime helps sponsor. This year it’s in North Carolina 21-23 September. Lee Child is going to be there, and I’m going with my friend, Karen Herbelin. We may come back packing heat.

The annual Bouchercon (bough’•chur•con) conference is in Cleveland Oct 4-7, 2012 with keynote speaker Elizabeth George. I attended the Bouchercon 2010 in San Francisco (Two of my favorites, Lee Child and Michael Connelly, were keynote speakers).

I attended Bouchercon 2011 in St. Louis. Another of my favorite authors, Robert Crais, was the keynote speaker. His novels feature L.A. PI Elvis Cole and sidekick Joe Pike. Fan favorite Val McDermid was hilarious as usual. Sara Paretsky, whose V.I. Warshawski paved the way for American female PIs in crime fiction, accepted the life-time achievement award. Bouchercons are awesome.

TRIVIA ANSWER:
40 countries