A WORK IN PROGRESS
June 19, 2021
Today Saturday, June 19, is the first Nationally recognized Juneteenth federal holiday that commemorates the emancipation of Black slaves in America. A long time coming.
Welcome to Rupp's Newsletter and FBI Special Agent Hartmann posts. I'm Richard Rupp, posting from my airconditioned apartment in hot hot Burbank, California. Did I mention it's not even summered yet? (Happy last day of spring, by the way.)
I'm looking forward to Fathers' Day tomorrow. It will be the first time I have gotten together with my sons Matt and Brian and my grandson Ryan in quite some time because of the Pandemic. Everyone is now fully vaccinated. Brian is hosting, but we are all contributing to the meal. The menu includes filet mignon steaks, lobsters (which I order delivered thru Costco), baked potatoes, pie, vanilla ice cream, and all the fixings.
The lobsters arrived sooner than I thought they would. I managed to get the container into my frig. Here's a text from my son Brian about this – "Working with a professional chef today, he says the lobsters should still be fine for Sunday. He is suggesting adding some ice to the container, so they go into a bit of hibernation. Fingers crossed." The frig has been turned to its coldest level, and ice has been added to the container. Yes, fingers are crossed.
For those of you who have been following my posts, you will note some changes. Some time back, I started using clip art pictures I copied off the Internet to gain interest in what I was writing about. I just found out that's a NO, NO. I apologize to Jamie Banks for the use of his photo without his permission. As an author, I certainly understand his wanting to protect his work. Until I figure out what photos, if any, I can use, you will see the one developed by my PR agency to promote the Series.
Congratulations to my Los Angeles Clippers, who stormed back in the second half of the game last night to beat the top-seeded Utah Jazz. They won 131 to 119 after being down by 22 at halftime. Now they move on to face the Phoenix Suns in the conference finals.
My novel SKYWARD centers around the Bowman Mansion at the top of a hill in San Francisco's upscale Pacific Heights neighborhood. The median price for a single-family home is $10.250,000 in this neighborhood. Here's some backstory about the Mansion. I used to have an apartment on the top of Russian Hill and drove or walked through Pacific Heights all the time. So I know the area well. It is said to be San Francisco's most exclusive neighborhood, where old money rubs elbows with tech billionaires. Examples of people who have or are living there include – Gordon Getty, who I have researched to formulate my character Jordon in SKYWARD. For those of you who don't know, he joined the oil business to please his father; however, he eventually sold the family's Getty Oil to Texaco in 1986 for $10 billion. He frequented one of my regular watering holes Le Central Restaurant. Then there are Larry Ellison of Oracle; Jonathan Ive, who was chief designer at Apple; Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House; Danielle Steel, Author; Jerry Brown, former California governor; Gavin Newson, California's current Governor; Senator Dianne Feinstein; and Peter Thiel, Cofounder of PayPal.
The Bowman Mansion, which coddles Bowman family members and won't let go of them, is based on a Pacific Heights mansion listed on Zillow for $28 million. It has 10,345 square feet. Four levels are strangely configured because of the slant of the hill on which the Mansion is located. There is also an attached parking garage for four vehicles. Part of the roof includes a sizable terrace. The parcel contains a sizable landscaped area. Off the entrance foyer are a 51' x 20' living room with bay windows on either end and two balconies off a third exterior wall that look out over San Francisco. Then is a 20' x 25' dining room, which opens up to a terrace, and there is an extensive library. The Mansion has are 8 bedrooms and 9 baths and a large kitchen with a breakfast area. One of the levels is devoted to staff and includes 2 bedrooms, a laundry room and lots of storage space. Each main room and most of the bedrooms have fireplaces.
In SKYWARD, you will be meeting a British couple who occupies one of the staff bedrooms and keeps the Bowman Mansion going. And, later, a British nanny who occupies the other.
Party time at the Mansion.
Now back to filling the Mansions rooms with action and dialog.
Cheers,
Richard V. Rupp, Author
Website – www.richardvrupp.com
Email – rupprisk@gmail.com
Copyright©2021 by Richard V. Rupp