Jody Ewing

Iowa Author

Jody Ewing

News Full of Ews

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After 18 years working as a writer, it’s not often the news shocks me anymore. Sure, people lie, they steal, they kill, and they often get away with crimes — sick and twisted acts against humanity — that never should go unpunished.

Today, however, several news articles caught my eye. They all don’t involve murder, and some aren’t even crimes against humanity but rather crimes against canines and wild animals.

Still, they all had the ability to stun me, to leave me asking questions like “How could someone do this?”

Ergo…

Dept. of Homeland Security official arrested in child sex sting
Meet Brian J. Doyle, 55, who didn’t even bother to conceal his identity while engaging in online conversations “too extraordinary and graphic for public release,” according to a statement from the Montgomery County (MD) sheriff’s office. Doyle not only gives the “14-year-old girl” (actually an undercover officer) both his home and work numbers, but even his government-issued cell phone number.

A back to school special…

Teacher charged with raping student 28 times
Rachel L. Holt, a 34-year-old science teacher at Claymont Elementary School in Deleware, is charged with having sex with a 13-year-old student 28 times over a one week period. But not without an audience, of course. A 12-year-old.

And the final stomach twister…

Dog decapitations shock Michigan town
Nine dead dogs — including four without heads — are found dumped in a rural Michigan township, along with piles of skinned foxes and coyotes. Despite a growing reward, officials have yet to determine who is responsible or even who the dogs belonged to.

Jody – who won’t be visiting Michigan (with her dogs) anytime soon.

7 Dogs did NOT need “Big Bang”

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Shame shame shame on Fremont (IA) County dispatcher Deborah Weiss of rural Shenandoah for lying to and misleading Police Chief Nick Millsap, who took seven dogs out into the country and shot them while the dogs’ owner was in jail.

The Des Moines Register has five audio tapes of phone conversations going back and forth between Weiss and veterinarian Richard Jamison, and Weiss and Police Chief Millsap.

While Millsap is charged with animal cruelty and currently is on paid leave, dispatcher Deborah Weiss is getting a “letter of reprimand” placed in her file. There is something very wrong with this picture.

Weiss led Chief Millsap to believe the vet was refusing to accept the animals, and that is not the case. She also told Millsap the dogs needed a “big bang.”

What Millsap did is clearly wrong, but in my opinion, Weiss is no less accountable. I hope to God Fremont County residents will make their voices heard in this matter.

Read the article and listen to the tapes. You decide.

DesMoinesRegister.com
Note: DMR article no longer available

"Pull" on Amazon Shorts

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From the moment I first heard about the new Amazon Shorts program, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. As a writer who’s frequently interviewed other authors, what could possibly be better than getting to read non-fiction articles and essays by some of my favorite novelists, or an author’s account of why he or she decided to write a particular book?

I not only wanted to read these shorts, I wanted to write some myself. My mind went wild with all the possibilities — expanding on my cold case series of unsolved Iowa homicides, or being able to write longer pieces than what the newsweekly that normally publishes my work could possibly allow?

My Amazon Short, Pull, is the first in this writer’s latest journey, and though I’ve published hundreds of articles over the years I couldn’t be more excited if this was my very first.

It’s actually an excerpt from my novel, which began as a memoir and slowly transformed into a work of fiction. I’m not quite sure if I molded my characters and their actions into other people or events I personally preferred, or if they spoke to me and said this is who I am, so let me tell you the way it could have been or how I wish things could have been different.

Like any piece of fiction, there’s kernels of truth sprinkled throughout Pull. Yes, the Clydesdale horse was real. Yes, the abandoned schoolhouse did exist, and my father really told us we’d be walking home if we crossed that gravel road. And yes, my brother and sister did cross that road in the summer of ‘69 and my father did run out of cigarettes.

He always said to us, “Let’s set ‘em on sick’em.” I am, Dad. Still.

Toxic pet food may have killed dozens of dogs

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Now, this is a story that absolutely breaks my heart. I can’t begin to imagine what this 19-year-old woman is going through. Her father’s in Iraq — she lost her daughter last year — then lost one of her two dogs last month after it consumed Diamond’s contaminated dog food, and now her remaining dog is suffering from the toxic poisoning as well.

Pet lovers, please spread the word! The article below also provides a link to a complete list of states and brands affected by the recall.

Toxic pet food may have killed dozens of dogs – Pet Health – MSNBC.com

Hugh’s story behind the photos

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Johnny Cash and Hugh WaddellPhoto by Mark Seliger, Rolling Stone Magazine
Johnny Cash and Hugh Waddell

As some of you may or may not have noticed, I changed a couple of photo credits on my Johnny Cash/Hugh Waddell story. Though the photos had been provided to me by Cumberland Publishing for use with the article, they formerly did not state who’d taken the photos. That’s now included, and Hugh even provided some background info on the stories behind the photos. (Again, with permission to reprint!)

Here’s what author Hugh Waddell had to say about them:

I love your website. Change it to JODYROCKS.COM. It is so cool. AND how nice to see the article we did. Oh, at the article page, how about those photo credits? Can you change ’em? The one of John and myself was made by Mark Seliger for Rolling Stone Magazine at Red Rocks just outside of Vegas in 1993 (actually during a shoot for Stone and he was burning off a few left over frames on a roll of film).

Rolling Stone Mark sent me a portrait-sized copy of that picture, as I not only set up the photo shoot, I also found the Winchester lever-action rifle our cowboy Johnny is holding, by calling the non-emergency phone of the Las Vegas PD at 2 AM, and asking them to dispatch out over the radio, did any cops on duty have a rifle in their collection for use at 6AM for a Rolling Stone/Johnny Cash photo shoot. (By 9 AM it gets over 100 degrees in the desert, so you have to shoot early – the photos, not the gun.) I got 4 calls from cops within thirty minutes and they all met at the Hilton by giving our bus (Johnny’s bus he called JC Unit One – yup, it said so on the side rear) a police escort to the photo shoot location.

We were originally going to shoot at the theatre stage at the Hilton where John was appearing, but that would have been too – how shall we put it – too Wayne Newton.

The other shot is by Jim Marshall, who also did the famous “Johnny Cash giving the finger” photo. This was a promotional photo that Columbia Records put on a post card and used to promote the Folsom “live” album. That photo, of course, was shot at Folsom Prison in ’69. He (Jim Marshall) signed a print of this to me back in ’88 and I used it in the book.

Hugh also went on to tell me about some great bargains he was finding on QVC at 2 a.m. and some especially good deals last night on The Home Shopping Channel, but, alas, I don’t want to embarrass Johnny Cash’s former road manager by telling the whole world what he really finds entertaining at 2 a.m.

(See there, Hugh? I don’t print everything on my blog. :-)

Jody (who hasn’t yet checked to see if jodyrocks.com is available)

Update: Did I say Johnny Cash Rocks?

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Okay, since I received such a nice e-mail from Hugh Waddell today, and because it’s the last day of November, I thought I’d take another peek at my website stats so I could give him an update on how many people visited my site to read the article on his book, “I Still Miss Someone: Friends & Family Remember Johnny Cash.”

As I mentioned in my previous post, nearly a thousand visited that particular page last month, but I honestly didn’t except that number to quadruple in just one month. Yes, more than 4,200 people visited that individual URL to read about Hugh’s book on Johnny Cash, with 900+ viewing the image of the Man in Black at Folsom Prison.

Did I mention Hugh has compiled one terrific book? And what a superb job Cumberland Publishing does with creating some very beautiful books? And now, after having interviewed Earl Hamner and James (Jim) Person, who wrote Earl’s bio “From Walton’s Mountain to Tomorrow,” I’m really looking forward to working with the folks at Cumberland Publishing again. Stay tuned for more updates on the terrific interview with Earl and Jim.

Goodnight, John-Boy.

Jody