I was born in Los Angeles and grew up under the relentless sun and the dusty palm trees dreaming of becoming a great writer. Then Hollywood discovered me. At twenty-one I did a screen test for Universal Studios. Never having acted professionally, I somehow managed to get a seven-year contract. In that same month I married Bones Howe, record producer and bachelor father of three small children. At twenty-one you can do anything.  

In my first acting job I was shot dead in the titles of a TV movie. They covered me with a sheet and carted me off to an ambulance. Only my hair showed. But in my next role I starred in a TV movie called Kicks where I shot Mickey Rooney dead. Over the next few years I acted in such movies as: The Ride To Hangman’s Tree, co-starring with James Farentino; Coogan’s Bluff with Clint Eastwood; Gaily, Gaily, directed by Norman Jewison; Rabbit Run with James Caan; and The Moonshine War, co-starring with Alan Alda.

I was acting and raising my new family. At night I attended the UCLA Extension where I studied creative writing. I still wanted to be a writer.
In 1980 I wrote a play titled The Lady of the House, which was produced by the Los Angeles Theatre Center, and starred Salome Gens, Nan Martin, and Carol Lockatell. But this first success as a writer didn’t stop me from acting. I was now doing it all; even TV commercials. I sold everything: cars, shampoo, deodorant, Kool Aid, and beer.

One day I went on an interview for a dog food commercial. I entered a room filled with middle-aged blondes. We sized one another up as we studied our dog food script. It was then I wondered what I was doing with my creative life. I put the script down and walked out of the room to the surprised looks of the other blondes, and never returned to acting. 

A few years later I wrote my first mystery novel, The Mother Shadow featuring Claire Conrad and Maggie Hill — the female answer to Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. It was rejected by seven publishers and then accepted by Viking. The Mother Shadow was nominated for an Edgar, Anthony, and Agatha. Shortly after the publication of my second Claire Conrad / Maggie Hill novel, Beauty Dies, I ran into one of my ex-Hollywood agents who asked me what I was doing. I told him I was a published author. And he said, “Why do women facing menopause always write books?” Hooray for Hollywood.

I’m still married to Bones Howe — and they said it wouldn’t last. The three children who are now adults still call me mother. And their children call me grandmama. And I’m still writing: short stories about murder and Hollywood, and a new novel about a middle-aged actress. Hooray for Hollywood.

Back to Top