Author Archives: JimArnoldLA

KEPT: Two Truths and a Lie

Herewith: Of the following statements, two are true and one is false.

To figure out which is which, you’ll have to read the book. (or just send me a message and I’ll respond!)

Nancy Argento is an second-rate reporter from Cleveland trying desperately to redeem herself with a new job in Palm Springs.

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Jacy Martin is part of the rich family that owns the Native American casino in Palm Springs.

In a fit of absolute and horrid rage, studly contractor Connor Hurst strangles former TV star Carol Blair Rosen.

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Why KEPT? The Inspiration and the Notes. . .

I had the pleasure of re-watching the 1946 version of “The Postman Always Rings Twice” again last night. This wonderful example of early post-war film noir stars the luminous Lana Turner (how does one get that silky platinum hair?)  and the quite studly John Garfield, (as well as Hume Cronyn, Cecil Kellaway and Leon Ames in supporting roles) in the James Cain story.

postman-always-rings-twice-3

The Postman Always Rings Twice

 

 

 

 

 
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Like in his “Double Indemnity,” this story involves getting rid of an inconvenient third wheel who happens to have some money. These two stories, as well as Cain’s fabulous “Mildred Pierce,” are all basically about greed and our susceptibility to letting it drive our actions. This is usually at the hands of someone who uses sex as a convincing argument, if you have or had any scruples to begin with. Traditionally, this role was played by a woman, who became known as the femme fatale.

So these Cain movies/books and the additional “After Dark, My Sweet” – a similar type of noir story, set in the SoCal desert of around 1990 and from a book by Jim Thompson, are the inspiration for the screenplay I wrote of “Kept,” which I turned into this novel.

Having spent so much time in Palm Springs myself, I wanted to set a crime story there. Also, I wanted to remake the femme fatale role into an homme fatale, and make male-male gay attraction the driving force behind the greed this time around.

I’d often felt that the Palm Springs area was a crucible – where people from many backgrounds mixed. You had your gays, your old white Republican retirees, retired movie stars, Mexican immigrants, Marines from 29 Palms, the Native American Tribes, tourists from all over, real estate speculators, and everyone else as well. I thought there’d be lots of stories and potential for dramatic conflict in them.

And there is! It’s all in KEPT.

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KEPT: The story of the cover art

When you self-publish a book, one of the crucial decisions you make is approving the cover art and design. For most writers, this is counterintuitive, as our strengths generally (at least we hope) lie in the realms of words and storytelling, not so much in imagery.

Which makes this process even more nerve wracking.

Because – there’s this thing out there called the Internet now. Where everybody goes for books. And usually they’re bombarded with a screenful of pixellated book covers, all of them vying for the opportunity to catch the browser’s eye. Decisions are made on the basis of interest in the cover. There’s no table full of books to flip through. There’s no physical shelf showing all the new books in the genre. It’s a much bigger and confusing landscape and of course, it’s all virtual.

And what is it that catches the browser’s eye? Color, for one thing. Red is more eye-catchy, than say, brown or yellow. Hello stop signs! Also strong graphics, I think, especially considering small screens.

And of course, naked men, for this genre, which is a gay mystery/suspense/thriller. The one action the cover is designed to elicit is a click further – basically that’s it, stop and find out some more.

So I did have an image in mind, which I gave to the cover designer at that point — it’s this:

2365800428_0cc260e6a8 I found it on the internet, on Flickr. I didn’t take the photo and I don’t know who the subject is. But I do know it’s an image of the desert near Palm Springs, and also has a hot looking half-naked guy who looks vaguely Latin as the subject.
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One of the main characters in KEPT, if not the main character, is a guy named Jorge who anglicizes his name to George. This would be my cover image.

The cover designer at CreateSpace (the company Eureka Street Press uses for actual book and ebook publication) came up with this image based on the idea of a man in the desert:

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So, a different desert (it looks more like Joshua Tree to me, and well, it’s close enough) and a different man, obviously, someone from their bank of usable images. Yeah, he’s got better abs, too, that never hurts, right?

Simple typography for a very simple title, and my name as the author. I think it sticks out on a page full of busier titles (though I was unable to get much red in this image). What do you think?

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KEPT: 10 Things Consumed in the Novel

Say what? Yes, you read that right. Here is a list of the first ten unique things I could find in my novel “Kept” which were consumed or offered to the characters, food or drink or something else, as long as it went in by way of mouth:

    • Beer – in this case, Tooheys New, an Australian brand.
    • Whiskey, cheap, as a lubricant for a reporter source, put in:
    • Coffee, from an indie coffee cart in a dead mall
    • Chai, or the hint of it, on someone’s breath
    • Cock, yes penis, in this case it’s Connor’s being consumed by Sy
    • Breath Mints, as in the dish Vi keeps by her door (you were thinking they were for Sy?)
    • Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Locker Hurst eating this while talking to his mother, Vi

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  • Corn Bread (one item of a Jacy Martin breakfast)
  • Bacon (the other item of a Jacy Martin breakfast)
  • Indian cake (old style, made from mesquite seed pods, which Kaya is grateful she doesn’t have to make as a modern Native American woman)

Survey says basically you won’t get fat on this “Kept” diet. But you might get ornery and commit some heinous crime.

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KEPT Character Biography: Andreas Alvarado

Another in the series of character bios for my novel KEPT. Here we have Andreas Alvarado, the corpulent and criminal manager of the tribal casino in Palm Springs (Montana Grande).

Who inspired me for this, who was I thinking of or who did I have in my mind’s eye while writing? James Gandolfini, Joe Mantegna, they come close. If they were Native American and lived in Palm Springs and were devious and bossy.

James Gandolfini

James Gandolfini

Joe Mantegna

Joe Mantegna

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sex, Age, Ht. and weight: Male, 45, 5-9, 200+ lbs.

Black/gray hair and black eyes.

Posture: good, pot belly though.

Appearance: dresses very nicely in the tribal executive style.

Has no visible deformities other than that he’s heavy.

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Social:

He was lower middle class, now with the tribal casinos, he’s upper class in income.

Occupation: he’s the tribal manager of the casino. He’s the big boss. He knows the governor!

Education: he’s a college graduate, a local college (San Bernardino) liberal arts marketing degree. His favorite subject was California History. He also did well in math, surprisingly. Good for counting money.

Home life: his aged mother is still alive, she’s revered in the tribe. The parents were also tribal leaders. His father is the person they named Andreas Road after in Palm Springs. Andreas himself is divorced and has 3 grown children. Two of the girls work at the casino, and the boy is away at Stanford. He’s so proud of his boy. (which is just another reason Jacy Martin hates him).

Religion: Roman Catholic with some of the tribal beliefs thrown in.

Community: He’s head of the tribal council. Also a member of many local civic organizations that have nothing to do with the tribe.

He is a Democrat, but has a lot of successful dealings with Republican congressmen and the former governor, etc.

Amusements: he’s very much a businessman, so he reads those kinds of magazines. He likes going to the movies. He’s odd that way, an independent film fan, who goes to arthouses. He also has a girlfriend (on the sly) who lives in Joshua Tree. She is an artist, a white woman. She makes jewelry, and he wears a lot of it.

Psych: He’s straight.

Premise, ambition: The face he shows to the public is very much a straight shooter, believes in doing what’s best for the tribe. Wants to build up the tribal holdings in Palm Springs to be very lucrative for the tribe — and himself. Works well with the white folks in town.

Frustrations, disappointments: Andreas is one of those people who are actually quite contented at his successes, legitimate and otherwise. He’s a little arrogant because of that. It’s only when Jacy starts trying to fuck him up that he has to go on the defensive.

Temperament: generally optimistic

Attitude: very militant. He gives orders, he is in charge.

Complexes: Superstitions. Andreas has a whole complement of superstition from the tribe. Gods on the mountain, of the desert plain, etc etc. He really believes in this stuff, as opposed to Jacy, who knows it’s bunk.

He’s an ambivert.

Abilities: Very good at math. He, unlike Jacy, does speak Spanish. And French. And Italian, and German. Even Swedish (for those Scandinavian tourists)!

Qualities: he has a really good business sense (as in new opportunities) and a low tolerance for bullshit. He can smell it a mile away. Distrustful of Jacy, as he should be.

IQ: High

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Kept Character Biography: Jimbo McLaughlin

The Marine — the Marine in the closet. Until he’s not in the closet any more. I was thinking more in the realms of all the blond boys who do porn as gay for pay — as guides to envision the twins Timbo and Jimbo. I did two separate bios for them, only including Jimbo’s here as he’s more of a character in the actual book.

You get the idea.

You get the idea.

You get the idea.

You get the idea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jimbo McLaughlin

Jimbo – Marine
Sex: Male, Age 23. IDENTICAL TWIN OF TIMBO McLaughlin
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5-10, 170.
Posture: Military
Good-looking, almost mean looking, a sneer.
Class: lower class, educated in military to be something more.

Occupation: truck driver in the Marines, stationed Twentynine Palms. Did a tour of Afghanistan already.The TWINS DRIVE A JEEP that they co-own.
Education: High school and marine schooling.
Home life: They are from Texas. Their parents are still there, in Fort Worth. They have 2 older sisters, both married with kids, both in Texas. Their parents are conservative, Republicans.
Religion: Southern Baptist upbringing. Jimbo is less religious than Timbo.
Race: Blindingly white.
Politics: Timbo is almost reactionary right wing. Jimbo doesn’t really know, can be swayed either way.
Amusements: They like to get drunk, pick up girls. They don’t read. They do watch TV sometimes. Both much more interested in criminal activity. Although Timbo is more violent.

Sex: Says he’s straight. Jimbo is really gay, hides this from Timbo, from everyone.
Personal premise: It’s “I ‘m gonna get mine and fuck you in the process.”
Too young to have ever been disappointed. He’s terrified that Timbo will find out he’s really gay.
Temperament: highly volatile, not someone you’d want to cross.
Attitude: he’s always right, you’re definitely wrong, and, you’re an asshole.
Complex: Mistrustful of anyone not white. Very prejudiced, that’s why his attraction to George is so hard for him to understand.
Ambivert – he’s more outgoing than Timbo.
Abilities: lies well. Speaks a few words/phrases of Pashto.
Qualities: Can sense pros/cons of any situation very quickly.
IQ: Exactly the same as Timbo, higher than it would appear by their gruff presentation.

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Car Free in L.A. for Three Years – and counting

Three years ago on June 7, 2013, I drove into CarMax in Burbank, California, and sold them my car. They gave me a check for $6000.

The Blogger at an Orange Line stop, waiting patiently.

The Blogger at an Orange Line stop, waiting patiently.

I walked back to my apartment via Magnolia Boulevard. It took more than an hour. During the early summer walk, I had numerous moments of “oh my god, what have you done?” but I did not fall into the earth, wailing or otherwise.

I’d planned to go car free, and had been thinking about it, reading about it for years. There were lots of reasons, from wanting to be more environmentally conscious to wanting to save money to frustration with driving and especially with parking.

I made lots of dry runs with LA’s Metro system, did lots of bike riding on streets with bike lanes (and others without them, but rarely) and started figuring out places I could walk to in my neighborhood of Valley Village.

Still, it was very strange to arrive back at my apartment and leave my parking space empty. That voice in my head would say, well, you’re crazy, you’ve finally done it buddy, what are you thinking, Jim? You can’t live in L.A. without a car, everybody says so!

But then I have lived in L.A. without a car, and for three years now.

Benefits:

  • more money for me (I save about $5K a year on car costs)
  • easier for me to keep weight stabilized, as I get so much aerobic exercise
  • stress level is lower, and blood pressure readings are more in the normal range
  • I see the city on a more human, sidewalk level. I notice people and buildings and plants and . . . that I would have missed before, speeding by.
  • I don’t get road rage.
  • I don’t have to deal with road ragers.
  • I don’t fret over the price of gas or car insurance or car repairs or any of that.
  • I can still be spontaneous — hello car sharing services, Uber and Lyft. That’s one of the missing pieces to this puzzle, and it’s been filled in.
  • I love just showing up at a venue and walking through the front door, shaking my head when someone asks if I need to be validated.

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The donut stand on Magnolia and Keystone in Burbank. That's my bike, but the guy is someone else.

The donut stand on Magnolia and Keystone in Burbank. That’s my bike, but the guy is someone else.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are really no cons to being car free, but I have learned some things about myself and the whole idea of “car free” from a white, middle class perspective.

Some of these things are:

  • Public transport is really a class thing in L.A., still. Regardless of the new Expo line, which everyone wants to ride, because it goes to Santa Monica and the beach, most people ride the Metro because they can’t afford cars. A decision like the one I made to be “car free” was born of privilege (similar to Voluntary Simplicity or New Frugality movements) — because I can afford a car if I want one, if I wanted to return myself to that misery. I imagine that most of the people who have no choice but to take the trains or buses would consider me a silly old fool. I hope that perception will change and we’re making headway, but we’re not there yet.
  • Speaking of that Expo line or the Wilshire 720 Rapid or any of the other public transport ways to get to the Pacific Ocean from the San Fernando Valley: There’s no quick way to get to the beach, other than a car, and even that’s relative. At like, 4 am. On a Tuesday. It would probably take about half an hour at that date/time. But at any other time, rail makes the journey a lot more palatable, i.e. there are no potholes on the rails. And you can read, you can access WiFi or a cell tower (Expo is above ground). You shouldn’t read while driving.
  • When you have a car, you go to lots of places just because you have a car to get there, whether it makes any sense to go there or not. It SEEMS purposeful, but I think that might be an illusion. Because I’ve found that with just a little bit of resistance (the resistance being not having an easy transport option at the ready 24/7) you make lots of different choices.
  • Driving also serves to mask boredom and loneliness. You’re part of this stream of humanity, all GOING somewhere, or at least seeming to, if really not. Listening to the radio is part of it, too, feeling connected to the music or the DJ or the newscaster makes it all a little less lonely.

Just as I started this post I saw that yet another bicyclist had been killed in the LA area, this one in Compton, today, June 6, 2016. RIP.

Be careful out there.

How the blogger lights up his ride

How the blogger lights up his ride

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“Kept” Character Biography: Vi Gamble

Here’s another in the process of the writer’s preparation of character biography – here, Violet Gamble (Vi) of “Kept,” one of the more fun characters to play with.

Out of all the characters in the book, this one morphed probably more than the rest. I had originally envisioned her as a small-time meth dealer, but as I wrote the screenplay of KEPT (which preceded the novel) the phenomenon of “Breaking Bad” happened, and I didn’t want to have similarities to the TV show’s story, so I made her an unsuccessful dealer of pills ‘n pot.

Who was inspiration? Originally, it was characters like a rough Linda Hamilton, as well as the actress who played Danielle Rousseau in “Lost” (Mira Furlan) and Katharine Ross (at least her look) in any recent movie or TV appearance (so I guess sexy, long haired, truthfully-aged beautiful actresses not afraid to show who they are).

Linda Hamilton

Linda Hamilton

Mira Fulman

Mira Fulman

Katharine Ross

Katharine Ross

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Violet Gamble – Drug dealer. Incestuous. Who do I see as inspiration: Danielle Rousseau (Mira Furlan), from LOST. Katherine Ross. Linda Hamilton. She drives a pickup truck. Old, dinged. An F150. 1995.

Sex, Age, Ht/Weight: Female, 50, 5-6, 125

Hair: RED, dyed redder than it would ever be.. Blue eyes. Nice skin, very tan, a little leathery — she lives in the desert.

Posture: good, not fantastic

Appearance: she looks like she’s been in the sun too long. She is very tan, very red but does not look like she belongs shopping on El Paseo.
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Defects: She’s had a bad nose job. She has psoriasis. She’s malnourished, cause of the meth and other drugs, so she has a few bad teeth and she has bad breath. But ironically, she still can get guys.

Heredity: nothing comes to mind – the worse thing is her name, Okie background in the 1930s.

Sociological:

“White trash with illusions” background.

She’s a drug dealer and a meth lab operator. She’s worked in the underground cash economy basically forever, from prostituting to being a con-woman to dealing drugs, that is the only thing she understands. The rest of the world’s conventions are unknown. She keeps cash in places like shoeboxes, safety deposit boxes, etc.

Education: she got a high school diploma. Lot of good that did! She’s a veteran of the military, was there for a couple of years so she knows her way around the soldiers a bit, (helpful near 29 Palms!) speaks their language. She’s retired from the Navy.

Home Life: her parents are dead. They died young, they had such hard lives. But they weren’t crooks. They were also divorced. She’s got a few brothers and sisters in different places, mostly Arizona, Vegas, some New Mexico and Texas. All of them like drugs. Violet has been married and divorced twice. Once she was widowed. Her husband died under mysterious circumstances and Violet might have been the one who murdered him. (Three boys have two different fathers) Her divorced husbands are still around, still alive somewhere. One’s in Reno.

Religion: She’s an atheist

Race, Nationality: Background is Anglo-Saxon

Place in community: an outcast. They live on land out in the middle of fuckin nowhere. They are shunned by their neighbors. The only exception is a few of the men, who Violet fools around with. She’s still kind of hot.

Politics: She does not vote.

Amusements, Hobbies: Young Service men. She has odd dreams of learning how to ski. She looks up at the mountains sometimes and wonders what if…. But not for long.

Psychological:

Sex life, moral standards: she’s a whore by most standards. She has fucked her own son, for Chrissakes! She likes sex, likes younger men. She is straight.

Personal premise, ambition. Like everyone else, wants to be rich. Wants to be INDEPENDENT. Does not really trust men, just likes them for sex.

Frustrations, disappointments: She’s remarkably ok with her lot in life. She knows she’s been dealt a bad hand but does her best to deal with it and is proud in her own way of what she’s accomplished. She has a very different yardstick.

Temperament: volatile, has an explosive temper.

Attitude: Wakes up cheerful and it goes downhill from there. She’s been around long enough to know that things change a lot and what is true today won’t necessarily be true tomorrow.

Complexes: Obsessed with her nails and hair. Likes fashion magazines. Is a smoker, has to have her cigs, lighter, etc always close by. She’s a real addict that way.

Extrovert: Yes, she’s outgoing

Abilities: Has a way with men. Actually knows some Spanish. Has some aptitude with things like car engines, she has been so self-reliant for a really long time. She can fix the plumbing, etc.

Qualities: She has western tastes. Pretty much simple things, tied to where they are. She’s really not grandiose. She does the drug stuff because she’s a user herself, but also because it was the most lucrative thing available

IQ: surprisingly high.

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“Kept” Character Biography: Jacy Martin

Jacy Martin – Crooked Native American Guy, 30s.   Who do I see: Gollum, Moocher from “Breaking Away,” Michael J. Pollard character (C.W. Moss) from “Bonnie and Clyde.” A snarky, somewhat devious and shady sidekick kind of guy.

The person who serves as proxy, to bring the battle of the Grecos vs. Connor and George directly to them.

Jackie Earle Haley in "Breaking Away"

Jackie Earle Haley as Moocher in “Breaking Away”

It's Gollum! (Andy Serkis and CGI)

It’s Gollum! (Andy Serkis and CGI)

Michael J. Pollard as C.W. Moss in "Bonnie and Clyde"

Michael J. Pollard as C.W. Moss in “Bonnie and Clyde”

Sex, Age, Hgt Weight: Male, early 30s, 5-7, 145.

Black hair and eyes.

Dark, Native American skin.

Posture – he can be slightly stoop shouldered, “squirrelly” describes him.

Appearance – Shifty-eyed. Ok presentation, but he sweats a lot. Always looks like he could benefit from a change of clothes.

Defect – one shoulder slightly higher than the other one.

Heredity: prone to alcoholism and high blood pressure.

Drives an old and beat-up car – it’s a Toyota. It was green at one time.

Social:

Lower class upbringing, middle class present but desperately wants to be upper class.

Work: at the tribal casino. Various jobs on the floor. He resents that he’s not making the kind of money his cousin Andreas is. Moonlights working for the Grecos on their home “remodels.”

Education: Grade school, Not a great reader. Hated it! Favorite subject was girls. Dropped out of Palm Springs High School.

Home life: his parents are members in good standing of the tribe. He’s a huge embarrassment to them. Both parents are active but functioning alcoholics. Jacy is not married, but he has a girlfriend. Long-suffering Kaya Belardo.
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Religion: Catholic, schooled at the reservation school and church. Doesn’t buy it.

Race: Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indian Tribe

Place in Community: he is somewhat of an outcast, not a popular guy. But then he’s not alone in his dislike of Andreas Alvarado.

Politics: Democrat, but he doesn’t really follow politics.

Amusements, hobbies: Watches football a lot. Sports fan. Likes to look at shopping channels, too, and plan what to buy. Loves road trips to Vegas.

Psychological:

Sex Life, moral standards: totally straight. Is pretty faithful to his girlfriend. Doesn’t have many women interested in him.

Personal premise, ambition: to be rich and to eventually push Andreas off his pedestal and run the casino himself.

Frustrations, disappointments: Is frustrated that he doesn’t have one of the big positions at the casino, which makes him a ripe target to pal up with Connor and Sy. He’s also bitterly disappointed and angry at his parents for taking him out of school after the 8th grade where he was forced to work on the dusty land of the reservation. Though he did not like high school, let’s be honest.

Temperament: He is annoyingly cheerful with a reservoir of anger underneath.

Attitude toward life: He’s optimistic that he will come out on top, but it’s his hatred of Andreas that largely drives him.

Complexes: He has an obsession with numbers. So he checks everything against the numbers.

Extovert or introvert: More extrovert, I see him as a huckster.

Special abilities: Can speak the tribal language, otherwise, no. Has a Spanish last name but does not speak Spanish.

Qualities: he’s very middlebrow with what could be called middle class educated tastes, by that I mean he’s a sucker for advertising, for the materialist/consumerist messages. For the stuff he wants.

IQ: average. More street smart than book smart.

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Kept Character Biography: Pilar Galindez Greco

Another in the series, to add to last week’s Sy Greco, and others are here (George), here (Connor) andhere (Nancy Argento).

Villainess and matron, real estate agent, errant daughter (Scottsdale royalty), and adulterous wife (to go with the adulterous husband). Pilar Greco.

Who did I see here for inspiration when I was considering Pilar? Eva Langoria, Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Eva Langoria

Eva Langoria

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Catherine Zeta-Jones

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sex: Female, Age: 47 Height and Weight: 5-6, 125.

Skin: light skinned Latina. Brown eyes, black hair. She dyes it to keep it really dark.

Posture: She’s very fit and regal-looking, impeccable presentation. She’s rich and has always had some money.

She’s a headturner, always smiling, at least in public. She has had breast augmentation. Dresses expensively and knows how to wear clothing. She’s a thin, southern California desert rich woman.

Defects: None apparent, physically. She’s had problems with depression in the past and takes Lexapro or some kind of anti-depressant.

Heredity: she’s also part Native American but it’s not noticeable and she doesn’t talk about it. She’s from a more patrician latin family that’s been in the US, the southwest for many years, perhaps from the time it was still Mexico. She’s more an Arizona/New Mexico person than a Californian. Her rich and influential father’s name is Rodrigo Galindez.

Sexual activities should cialis tabs be avoided strictly at the time urinary tract treatment and yeast disorders, diabetes victims are at high risk of acquiring these disorders. Acidity destroys the pancreas and tadalafil pharmacy online the entire body. This physical issue of men also affects them mentally and emotionally. viagra stores The actions of viagra 20mg cipla are quite simple but have miraculous effects in enhancing sexual performance. viagra increases the body’s ability to achieve and maintain an erection during sexual activity, others completely fail to get an erection for around 18 hours in a day- from what discount viagra. Class: She grew up upper middle class. Now she’s upper middle to upper, because of husband’s income and their nefarious activities.

Occupation: real estate sales. Very successful. She’s bubbly! Clients love her. She makes on her own at least 250K a year.

Education: didn’t finish college. She was studying to be a veterinarian but lost interest. She loves their dog, Candy. She studied French too, and occasionally uses French phrases. Her weapon of choice is a Glock 26, this is a 9mm pistol, very, very common, it’s the most common for concealed carry. Fits nicely in her purse.

Home Life: Parents still live in Scottsdale. She has siblings – 2 older brothers. She was the spoiled little sister. Parents are retired. Her mother never worked. To this day, she treats them really well. Her parents are quiet, church-goers. They have never ever really trusted Sy, though her father admires him for his money-making skills.

Race/Nationality: mostly Latin. Her ancestry is a combination of Mexican and Spanish and Native American ancestry. She tells everyone she’s European (Spanish).

Place in Community: She’s a member of a bunch of organizations. From the museum board to the AIDS Project, to the local real estate organization and she holds office. Past president, current treasurer. She’s good with money, She likes it, like to touch it, likes to count it.

Politics: She’s a Republican, but doesn’t like to flaunt it in increasingly liberal Palm Springs.

Amusements, hobbies: She’s really into girly things like waxing, nail care, etc. She’s flawless. She gardens. Flowering desert plants are her specialty, She really does have a green thumb. Takes after her father that way. She reads Vanity Fair.

Sex Life, Moral Standards: loves sex with Sy, but has also fooled around on him a few times. Mostly with younger men, it was like she was trying to get her son back, in a way. Always, they were mixed race types, white with a little latin thrown in. Often, teenagers having a first sexual experience with a hot older woman. Connor is a departure from this type.

Her personal premise: she’s happy with winning awards for selling real estate. Also working on her house, keeping Sy relatively happy and she has this other thing, this recognition that something’s not there, that things aren’t right. Something’s missing. Which is:

Frustration, disappointments: has never gotten over the death of her boy. His name was Angel. Looks at her parents’ lives and thinks, is that all there is? Angel died in a skateboarding accident. He was hit by a car, no fault of the driver. At the intersection of Rose Avenue and Vadera in Las Palmas.

Temperament: she has a typical latin temper if crossed. She can be very, very focused and has been a good partner to Sy because of this. She’s an optimist, cautiously.

Attitude toward life: militant. She believes she has the power to change things.

Complexes: She’s got that depression. Sometimes thinks (and rightly so) that Sy is putting things over on her. But she’s not really paranoid. She’s afraid of the dark.

Extroverted – yes.

Abilities: bilingual, Spanish English. Good public speaker.

Qualities: She has great taste and poise. She’s surprised that she’s also able to get down and dirty to hold onto what she has.

IQ: very high. She’s smart as all get out.

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