#murdermostblonde

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TELLING ROBERT WAGNER JAKE WAS DOA

Chapter 15 

TELLING ROBERT WAGNER JAKE WAS DOA

  A week later my gambler/billionaire was out on bail, and scrambling to get the money from overseas to a trust account in the United States. His freedom, our retainer fee, and definitely Jake Swanson depended on that money making it to a bank Stateside.

But, the worst kept happening. It appeared our gambler also gambled at other things and with other people’s money.  Too many people wanted a piece of his pie, and/or a piece of his hide.  There was no money coming, not from London, not from Switzerland, and definitely not from Malaysia. My gambler had no money to show me.

After two more months of no money, it became clear that I had to speak with Mr. Wagner and his crew to tell them that it looked like Jake was, for all intent and purposes, DOA (dead on arrival). 

The time came for the conversation during Mr. Wagner’s book tour in March. He was signing books at the Vroman’s Book Store in Pasadena, and I promised his sister I would take her to see him.

Prince Charming and I waited and reveled at the huge number of his fans that came out to greet him. It is undeniable that he still has fans who love him. They waited in line for hours to have a few seconds to chat with him and have him sign their books. Throughout it all he was gracious and charming. It left me with an incredible sense of joy to see that he made these people so happy and that he was so very thoughtful with his time.

Unfortunately, no matter how many hours passed, I still had to wait to pass him the news that our gambler/billionaire would not be around to see Detective Jake Swanson live.

The opportunity came later while we all sitting around a table at one of Pasadena’s great restaurants. He and the prince were laughing it up, and celebrating Wagner’s successful book tour. He was on the New York Times Best Seller list with two books!  His recent book, You Must Remember This was shooting up the charts, and his first book, Pieces of My Heart was fast on its heels. While the mood was light and cheery, mine was dark and foreboding.  I had to tell him, and longer I waited, the harder it became.

Finally, I took a deep breath, and spilled the beans. I just blurted it out, trying not to cry.

 “RJ, our investor is looking at numerous felonies, and we can’t get the money to land here in the United States,” I said, afraid to look at him.

Did I ever say that Robert Wagner is a true gentleman? Well, let me tell you he is, beyond any doubt this man right up there with my own prince—a true prince of a man!

He just looked at me, patted my hand, and said, “Well, then, he’ll never get the money here—the Feds will see to that. Don’t worry, we’ll find another way. Jake will live.”

I was grateful for his understanding, but could only hope he was right.

[mjhatch-blog]

A BIG Thank You!

A BIG Thank You!

to all those who downloaded 

Murder Most Blonde!

During our promotion of the Murder Most series, I decided to give the book away for Free, and boy was that a surprise! In one day alone we gifted over 1,200 copies of Murder Most Blonde! So I wanted to say Thank You so Very Much for your support of the series, and I hope you continue to enjoy Detective Jake Swanson and other books under my other pen name, Mary de la Pena. 

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WHAT DO YOU WEAR TO A POWER LUNCH?

CHAPTER EIGHT

I have already talked about the necessity of us women making sure we look whatever the part we need to play by wearing the correct clothes. For me the challenge was knowing I was going to the world famous Bel-Aire Country Club for lunch with some of the most powerful independent writer/producers in the country, and of course, my sweet idol, Robert Wagner.

No pressure here, right?

As I said in an earlier post, Southern California was experiencing the warmest January in history. It was summer in January, making my decision of what to wear even more difficult.

Added to that, I was ill during most of the month, and lost a few, never a lot, of pounds. My pants hung wrong, and I hated the idea of wearing a suit since they make me look like a toad. I had no real dresses at the time, and my wardrobe was in desperate need of an update. I had weekend clothes, and courtroom clothes, but nothing in between for a lunch at a country club.

Somehow I envision a lunch at a country club with women dressed in silk dresses, brightly colored pumps, fashionably toned stockings, and long silky hair. I had the long silky hair, but it was also in need of updating. The blonde was starting farther and farther down the strand of hair, and the gray was definitely making a strong showing. That meant I needed a trip to the hair dresser along with a shopping trip.

AAARRRGGG!

The shopping trip was difficult at best. What is it with dress designers? Do they all think we are Michelle Obama with beautifully toned upper arms? What about those of us who could use our arms as wings if we ever fell out of a tree—sort of like Rocky the flying squirrel? Why can’t they design dresses with some sort of attractive sleeve?

I finally ended up with a navy blue silk shirt dress that would have made my mother proud. But the stocking issue remained--natural color or gray? And should I do matchy-matchy navy pumps or red shoes for some sort of independent flair? And, lastly, with a shirt dress, do I wear my hair up or down?

You think these decisions were easy? It was only my future on the line. But, once again my fair Prince Charming came to my emotional rescue. He reminded me that I always pulled things together, no matter what the challenge. And, even if everything went wrong, which he did not see happening, he would still love me tomorrow, and I still would be a lawyer and author. There was not that much on the line, only my false pride.

With things back in perspective, I was finally ready for the meeting for which I had been waiting for since October.  

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WICKED CRAZY and CHRISTMAS—IS THIS ANY TIME TO LAUNCH A BOOK?

CHAPTER SIX

December was a crazy month for me. It was decided that because I was launching the second in the Detective Jake Swanson series in January, we would do a special reader’s gift on Amazon where we would offer a free download of the e-book of Murder Most Blonde. It was intended to build anticipation for the upcoming Murder Most Judgmental.

          Remember Christmas—shopping, gift wrapping, cooking, cleaning for guests, decorating, visiting, and a myriad of other things we do to make our lives more complicated? What was I thinking? How could I have agreed to this? Maybe it was because it wasn’t fully explained to me that I needed to do blogging, tweeting, and other promotional things to make sure the launch went as planned. It was enough to turn me into the wicked witch of the west.

With everything I had to do, and a law practice that was always busier during the holidays, the last thing I could think about was whether or not I was ready to step into the new world of television and entertainment. But, then the phone call came, the wonderful, and now dreaded phone call that Mr. Wagner and I would be meeting with the renowned Papazian and Hirsch on January 15th of the coming year. Less than three weeks from then. And me, not prepared.

For all you writers out there who have dreamed of selling a script, or becoming a TV writer, you have taken classes, dreamed the dream, done the preparation in hopes of having this kind of wonderful day. But, remember me—the one who dropped out of screenwriting because I was too old and too descriptive—I was the one who was not prepared.

Also, for you ladies, you understand the horrible dilemma of what to wear. In California we were suffering the hottest December and January in history. All the winter clothes I bought were too hot, and I don’t mean as in look at my legs hot, I mean get down and dirty sweating hot. So the next question was “what to wear, what to wear?” I had to go shopping, during after-Christmas sales. Oh what Hell was this?

With everything I needed to prepare to do, Christmas had to wait. I had a future to prepare for.

LOOK FOR MURDER MOST JUDGMENTAL,

 another Detective Jake Swanson Mystery

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DAZED AND AMAZED—WAS THIS REALLY GOING TO HAPPEN?

CHAPTER FIVE

As you have seen from my earlier postings, I am very insecure at times. Actually, I am insecure most of the time unless I am playing the part of confident lawyer. For several hours every week day morning I am in court, pretending to be confident and unafraid. By now, after 25 years of pretending, I am confident, but not too much. I tell you this so you understand how difficult this time has been, waiting for all of this to happen.

In the first few weeks after the phone call, I was in a daze, afraid to say anything much, afraid to even imagine what the future would look like. My life was settled, not always easy, but I knew I was a competent lawyer, had a great husband, and was the author of several books. Was it really that hard to imagine success?

Yes, yes it was. I mean, after all, I wrote books, not screen plays. When I was first transitioning into writing, I took a series of screenwriting classes at Fullerton State College, while also picking up my certificate in creative writing. I never pursued screenwriting because my instructor told me I’d never make the transition because I was too intent on setting stage and writing emotions. Those things were evidently the prerogative of the director and the actors.

I tried not to set the stage, but somehow it kept creeping into my writing, and I kept detailing my characters because I really wanted the actors to know the character so they would get it right. But, in the end I gave up. Besides, he told me that I was too old to be taken seriously in the “industry”, and at that time I was twelve years younger than I am now.

 So, where did that leave me? It left me a quivering mess. I couldn’t believe all this was happening to me, and for me. Who was I that a well-known actor believed in me enough to want my characters—me with no training whatsoever?

The waiting was interminable. But, true to his word, Robert Wagner kept calling, almost every week, just to make sure I was alright and to keep me apprised of the progress of getting together with the ever busy Papazian and Hirsch. From October to December we talked. Finally, in late December he told me we would meet when they came out to California, which would be mid-January.

“Have a merry Christmas, M.J.” he said in our last phone call of the year.

Merry Christmas indeed. 

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MY FEAR OF FLYING TO HIGH WITH SUCCESS AND OTHER BAD OMENS

CHAPTER FOUR

I floated on air for several days, afraid to breathe or tell anyone about what had happened.

No, that’s not quite true, I told Michelle, a wonderful woman who does the house keeping at the Blue Sail Inn in Morro Bay. She’s the kindest, nicest woman I have met in a long time, always remembering what my husband and I need in our room, and making sure we are happy. It is that accessibility and care that has made both Prince Charming and I love her dearly, and maybe I felt safer telling her my secret than anyone else.

Of course, she was also just outside our room when I got done speaking with Mr. Wagner, and she heard the screaming and yelling, so really, an explanation was necessary. After I told her, she too was jumping up and down and screaming. But then, I swore her to secrecy. I was afraid if I told too many people what had happened it might dissipate the energy of success for the Detective Jake Swanson TV series based on the Murder Most books my M.J.Hatch.

You ask, “what is the energy of success, and how can it be dissipated by talking about good things?”

Some of we superstitious types are afraid that until something is in our hand that if we talk about it, it will disappear. My husband, Prince Charming is one of those, as am I. We are both criminal defense lawyers, and believe that if we act to superior, Lady Justice will see it and smite us. After all, we are there to hold the hands of the great losers of our society—felons and other miscreants.

 Instead of talking about the great conversation, I contended myself with walking the Embarcadero and silently praying and thanking God for giving me the gift of Jake, and my talent to write him.

You see, Jake Swanson was a gift. He was not something that I thought up, but rather he just came to me fully formed, with a voice and attitude for living that I never could have created on my own.

Jake badgers me when I don’t write him, he gives me comfort when I can’t sleep, and he is that alter ego that comes to us writers when we most need a friend. I joke that he comes to me whenever I am off my psychotropic meds, but actually, maybe for the creative types that isn’t too far from the truth. Maybe we are all just a little crazy.

But, now, I am over the fear, and I want to share with you my journey. After all, I have nothing to fear but success itself.

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DETECTIVE JAKE SWANSON’S BIRTH OF A TV SERIES BY M.J. HATCH

INTRODUCTION

  Sometimes dreams do come true, even those dreams you never dare to dream. In fact, I think there maybe even was a song about that.

For me, a secret dream, maybe not even a fully formed dream is coming true. This is the story of how it came to pass that one of my characters in my mystery series came to have life on the screen.

All of you writers, dreamers, and those who think you are too old, too sick, too settled in your ways, or believe that life has passed you by, follow me each day as I lead you through an incredible journey that even I didn’t dare to dream.

Along the way, meet Detective Jake Swanson, his partner, Melissa Sanchez, and the freaks, geeks, murderers, scammers, and mopes that inhabit their lives in the series of books by M.J. Hatch, including MURDER MOST BLONDE; MURDER MOST JUDGMENTAL, and the soon to be released MURDER MOST MERRTY. Hopefully, by learning them, you’ll love them enough to want to spend an hour with them every week.

So, stay tuned.