Yes, the gatehouse of Borthwick Castle where we had our honeymoon did have a black and white TV. That was 1960=61 after all. Thanks to watching TV and translating Emil Zola my wife learned English. Living with a small coal fireplace is pretty primitive, especially when the water heater tank is built in above it and produces about five gallons of hot water. For a bath that means about two inches of water in the tub before the water stards to run cold again, like taking a bath in a puddle.

As for characters in series books, Smiley in leCarre's books was terrific. One does get attached to the characters. The risk is they take over your own life as an author. For a fun analysis of that pitrfall, read my book "IS" about what is real and what is not. It's available as a cheap download or inexpensive paperback at www.lulu.com. I wrote it as a kind of self-therapy to rid myself of wondering what my characters were doing NOW when they, of course, do not exist.

Thanks for the invite to be your friend.

When you get a chance, check out my Crimespace Blog re the info and pics from my recent book signing event.

Smiles,
Douglas Quinn
www.douglasquinn.com

Glad to be your friend. Often wanted to visit South Africa. Been to Kenya. Maybe in a couple of years.

Dennis,
You're right about the success. "Success comes to those who wait." Or something like that. Of course, you can't just sit and wiat. You have to work your but off for that fifteen minutes of fame. I'm really impressed with your resume. Goodness! I'm in the company of greatness!
Yeah, we get a lot of rain here, too. My landscape is becoming a jungle. When it gets cool enough to trim the trees and shrubbery, the garbage company will have to send an extra truck to pick up our yard debris. It will be stacked to the sky.
Heard any good "lawyer" jokes, lately? I assume those kind of jokes are abundant in South Africa as well as in the U.S. Most of the lawyers I know take the jokes in stride, but one I knew (he's dead now) HATED those jokes. ( I think he took his job too seriously I always enjoy life. I never take it too seriously.)

Is summer never going to end? It's still in the upper nineties here. Humidity is probably the same. Don't ya'll have summer year round, like we do? Southwest Florida only has two seasons. Spring and summer. We're looking forward to the Winter temperatures, which is usually in the seventies. What television scripts have you written? Share that part of your experience with me.

Hi, Dennis,
I like your poetic verse descriptions of south Africa. Sounds like a journalist (or a novelist), and a little bit like James Mitchner. It still sounds like an interesting place to visit. I've never been to that part of the world. Oh, well. Maybe one day.

Oh, forgot. I like your Mike Hammer impression photo on "Your Page."

OH! I hope you're not a former defense attorney! I'm pro law enforcement (former deputy sheriff), & I'm forever on my soap box. I saw enough injustice and inequities in the justice system, that I sometimes get carried away. My detective in my murder mysteries is the same way. He states that if he HAD to be an attorney, he'd have to be a prosecutor.

Dennis, old pal, old buddy, old friend,
Tell me about south Africa. It sounds so exotic.
What part of Law did you hate? All of it, or just the idiocy of the whole thing? I especially abhor defense attorneys, myself.
Keep working on that novel. I'm writing my third.
Charlotte

Hey Dennis!
The run of the final 9 episodes has just started here, so I don't know what happens in the last one - though I've seen the odd comment about it online (try as I might to avoid reading anything about it!) So if it's OK with you I won't be getting into a discussion about it for, oh, another 8 weeks ... hehe

Hi Dennis, thanks for befriending me. Your TV writing sounds great - have you written any crime series? Am I likely to have seen any of your series in Australia?

Dennis,
I accidently hit "decline" instead of "accept" in your request to be my friend on crimespace. Can you resubmit it? I'm really interested in talking to someone from south Africa. Your resume sounds intriquing.

Hi Dennis
I like your taste in books! Your writers and TV shows reflect my favourites too. I guess when you're into this 'crime' world you hunt down the best in whatever medium you can, huh?

See you like James Lee Burke (have corresponded with him--he's a nice man) and Carl Hiaasen. Two of my favorites. Personally, I'd think a novel would be easier to write than a television script, but it depends what you're in the groove on, I guess. I'm trying to find the time over the next week to update my Crimespace with excerpts from my books, but in the meantime, check out my website and see what I've got going on.

Douglas Quinn
www.douglasquinn.com

Hi (howzit :) )Dennis,

I'm Johannesburg-born, and my most recent 15 years in South Africa were spent in Cape Town, which has got to be geographically one of the most beautiful places on this earth.

And yeah -- I miss the warmth. Some of our summer days in these Canadian mountains are as cold as a mid-winter one in CT.

I do, however, love the snow. I have become an avid Nordic skier -- both classic and skate, and a snowshoe hiker/runner. Winters are magic ... and well, the houses are warm inside :). Much warmer than an SA on in winter!!

Fabulous to "meet" you.

And Barri (waves) it's a fabulous place for a vacation -- the dollar goes far :)

Loreth

Cheers, Dennis. Always envied screenwriters their economy with words. Good luck with the feature.

I agree with Tim about the novel, you'll get another crack at it, see if you don't.

I didn't get to do mine until I'd given it up. What is it they say about if you love something, set it free? Well it went and it came back to me. Lucky me.

Hey, Dennis - I envy anyone with the command of structure necessary to write scripts. I have to write a story two or three times before the structure really becomes apparent, and then I have to go back and reshape. Ands even then I'm never sure I got it right. I just finished reading a new biography of Kingsley Amis, and Amis is quoted as saying it's more important for a story to be well told than it is for it to be well written, which I agree with, and I think structure is one of the most important elements in a well-told story. You'll write your novel.
Tim

Hello, Dennis:

So you're from South Africa? I had a few friends in grad school from SA. I'd love to get there someday.