"Hi, my name is Denise Dietz Rubenstein Sourdellia Wiley Aalborg—"

"We don’t use last names here."

"Oh. Okay. Hi, my name is Deni, and I’m a blogaholic."

Hi, Deni."

Do you want to hear how my addiction started? I’ll tell you how my addiction started. Slowly.

Once upon a few weeks ago, when I was miraculously in between [free-lance] edits, I clicked on one of the Murderati blog links. I believe it was Naked Authors…

And I haven’t stopped.

Clicking from link to link, I’ve found that several blogs talk about Serious Pub Biz Issues and/or Important Author Issues, and that’s a Good Thing. Despite what passes for humour and my occasional [ahem] irreverence, I, too, have addressed Serious Issues. But recently my friend
Lynn Whitacre said, "Deni, why don’t you write a blog just for fun?" [Hah! I told Lynn I’d put her name on my blog and she didn’t believe me – hah!]

So, since it’s summer and hot as hell and all the editors are on vacation (except me), my blog designation for today is: JUST FOR FUN

Subtitled: MY SISTER EILEEN

Yes, I know. My Sister Eileen is a 1955 movie, a musical remake starring Betty Garrett, Janet Leigh, and a very young Bob Fosse (first, it was a non-musical with Rosalind Russell and Janet Blair).  But I’m talking about my sister Eileen Dietz, who has been an inspiration to me since the day I decided I wanted to be a "real live author."

My sister Eileen Dietz is a "real live actress." She was a series regular on General Hospital [which inspired me to write a glitzy mystery called SOAP BUBBLES].

Eileen played The Demon and many of the possession scenes [for Linda Blair] in The Exorcist. Eileen was, of course, the inspiration for my black-comedy novel, FIFTY CENTS FOR YOUR SOUL ["Horror and Hollywood noir…who can resist?" said Publisher’s Weekly], which revolves around events that occurred during the filming of The Exorcist.

More recently, Eileen starred in Exorcism and had supporting roles in Sin-Jin Smyth and Creepshow III. Eileen was also featured in Constantine, Doglover’s Symphony and Tracing Cowboys. 

I’ve seen my sister Eileen in several plays. My favorite was the original Steambath at the Turck & Warehouse Theatre in NYC. Written by Bruce Jay Freidman, Steambath was directed by Tony Perkins. Hey, let me tell you, it’s always a blast to see your little sister run naked across the stage. Almost as much fun as seeing her spew pea soup and spin her head.

Here is a composite, except I haven’t learned how to make pictures big.

Here Eileen auditions for a lucrative Cover Girl contract. It finally came down to Eileen or Christie Brinkley.

When a producer/director friend of Eileen’s said she planned to shoot an Indie film in Victoria, on Vancouver Island, Eileen volunteered to play a small role. She had never been to Canada, thus had never met my husband Gordon or seen my house, so she and another beautiful actress, Promise LaMarco, stayed with me the whole shoot.When the director needed a house interior to film a murder, Gordon and I volunteered our home.

1-Eileen at my kitchen table. 2- Eileen gets bopped on the head by the killer. 3-Eileen and promise. 4- Eileen with the two teenage stars.

Although my dog Pandora might disagree, it was fascinating to watch the filming. I especially loved watching Eileen improvise. The director said she wantedEileen to sing or hum something as she entered the (my) kitchen, so she sang, "The lord is good to me, and so I thank the lord, for giving me the things I need, the sun and rain and the apple seed…" from Johnny Appleseed. I forget how many times Eileen sang it, as they shot the scene over and over, or how many times she "died" in my upstairs hallway, but the director said cut-and-print just before the take-out Chinese restaurant closed. As you can see, Eileen "died" before she could finish reading THE SPECIALIST by Gordon Aalborg. I’m told that the final cut will have framed posters of my book covers on the wall.

Here’s a poster of SIBLING RIVALRY,  just in case it appears any time soon at your neighbourhood theatre or in your neighbourhood video store.

Eileen will start shooting her next movie in a few weeks. She told me it’s "Sunset Boulevard meets Carrie." I love that. And I love the title: THE QUEEN OF SCREAM

Meanwhile, if you can rent a video of Helter-Skelter, you can see what my sister Eileen looks like bald. Personally, I think that, even bald, she’s much prettier than either of the Janets (Leigh and Blair).

Eileen humors me by pretending to be a Denver Broncos fan. She’s such a good little sister.

Over and Out,
Deni