Actor Adam Beach, The Internet, and Microwave Ovens...

Posted By Lonnie Cruse

I grew up in the Fifties, so who woulda thought telephones would become cordless (ours was tied to a cord in the dining room and my dad could hear every single word I said to my boyfriend, sigh) or that you could talk to someone while shopping at Wal-Mart? For that matter, who would have thought of Wal-Mart? Or microwave ovens that heat our coffee in one minute (or two, depending on your tolerance for heat?) And who would have thought we'd have a box in our house that would connect us to the Internet, and from there, to the entire world? Boggles MY mind.

When we moved to Metropolis, IL from Brookport, (exchanging a satellite dish the size of Wyoming for one that fit on the back wall of the house) we soon discovered a new (to us) channel called Trio, and a new drama, NORTH OF 60 about a Native American town located above the 60th parallel in Canada. Trio aired a lot of Canadian shows, but NORTH OF 60 quickly became a favorite with us and apparently with lots of others in the U.S. Someone formed a Yahoo discussion group for the show, which I moderated for a while and still belong to, and despite the fact that Trio is now defunct and NORTH OF 60 is no longer in re-runs in this country (though it is in Canada, lucky them) the discussion list is still going strong with probably 400 members, and one of the moderators, Patty Winter, has a website for the show. Which is an indication of how terrific the show was, still popular, though out of production, except for the occasional movie based on the plots line. Check Patty's website at: http://www.wintertime.com/OH/nof60.html

Which brings me to Adam Beach, and eventually the Internet. Stay with me. Adam Beach appeared in NORTH OF 60 along about episode 15 and appeared in several episodes as a young, homeless, native male who becomes friends with a cast regular. I've seen just about all of Adam Beach's movies and for my money, NORTH OF 60 will always be one of his finest performances, not that the others weren't great as well. You might have seen him in SMOKE SIGNALS, DANCE ME OUTSIDE, JOE DIRT, or WINDTALKERS. If you haven't, you might want to rent them. And, I recently learned on the North of 60 discussion list that Adam's about to become a regular on Law and Order SVU! Wahhoooo! Okay, back to the Internet.

One of the Five Star authors recently set up a page on MySpace and encouraged the rest of us to do the same. I set up a page, linked to the group, and began receiving requests from others to "join my circle of friends." One of the requests came from someone I've e-chatted with from Norway several years ago, and I gladly renewed the friendship. When I checked HER page, there was Adam Beach, her friend. Shriek! He's her friend! After I stopped hyperventilating, I clicked into his page, and his wife, Tara Mason's page, and sent a friend request. I am now one of Adam Beach's over 2,000 friends, but I assure you, he likes me the best. Really.

Where was I? The Internet. We all gripe about it. I generally spend a minimum of 2-3 hours on the Net per day, answering e-mails, reading/posting to blogs, updating spaces where I have a page, and maybe 6-8 hours if I'm updating my own website or promoting my books. Whew. Time spent away from writing, from family, from local friends, etc. I do jump up to stretch and toss a load of laundry from washer to dryer, but that doesn't add much excitement to my life.

But if not for the Internet, I doubt I'd have become a published writer. My first short stories were published because I submitted them to Future's Magazine via the Internet and later lovingly held the printed magazine in my hands. I found my first writers' group via the Net (the nearest "live" group to me is over an hour away and they meet at night. I'd have to travel a very deserted, scary road, so I rarely make meetings.) I found a great critique group on the Net who help me polish my work. I found my first and second publishers on the Net. And I promote my books here, and chat with my readers. What's not to love?

The Internet has been one of the biggest helps to reaching my dream of publication, and staying there, and it's introduced me to some of my writing heroes, like Bill Crider, Charlaine Harris, Anne Perry (met her in person at a conference I learned about on the Net) Donna Andrews, and many more. And I've made good friends like my fellow Poe sisters and my SINC friends. Gotta love it. Well worth the cost (I'm on sloooow dial-up, $19.95 per month, and when I ask the phone company about high speed, and they find out I'm at the Northeast end of Metropolis, they snicker. Never mind that folks at the other end of town have SEVERAL options for high speed and I have to borrow a friend's computer and Internet access if I want to upload anything over 100K, sigh. Maybe one of these days. Meanwhile, I'll enjoy the blogging, my friends, and meeting heroes.

And if you'd like to see my page on MySpace, check it out at: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=156162434 (might have to copy and paste that puppy, it's pretty long.) While you're there, check out my new bud, Adam Beach. Sigh. Thanks for stopping by HERE! We appreciate all of our blogger readers!