Over the years, I told a few close friends about my Tiger Beat days, and they would say “you should write a book.” I thought it was an hilarious suggestion. I knew I could write three-page articles for Tiger Beat, but an entire book? No way. But I could not resist sharing some of my stories and with the help of my husband, who developed my website, and my son, who designed the original masthead, the I Used to Be Ann Moses website was born. This would become annmoses.com once I realized I was known in today’s world.
Forty years after my Tiger Beat days, I spent my days off trying to comprehend that there were people interested in my life as a teen editor for Tiger Beat. I was still trying to wrap my head around the blog post from a woman named Ann Wicker who wrote about me and about meeting Davy Jones in her “Daydream Believer” blog post: “When I was 12, in my daydreams, I was Ann Moses, the editor of Tiger Beat, my fave teen magazine that featured stories and photos of bands and actors. She always wore groovy clothes, white or light pink lipstick, and had bright red hair. She talked to Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz on the phone. Bobby Sherman called her ‘babe.’ She was cool.”
The only writing I had done over the years was four page Christmas newsletters to family and friends. But I sat down and recalled my experience of meeting and photographing the Rolling Stones in “Not an Ordinary Day: The Rolling Stones.” And according to the stats, people were reading the blog and responding. This world of the internet opened to me, and I was resurrecting my past–old was new! I was blown away!
Once I had a few blog posts under my belt, I began to ponder, “Can I write a book? Can I write ten or twenty more blog posts and combine them into a book?” My insecurities won out for the time being. But in a matter of weeks, I had this overwhelming drive to reach out to Ann Wicker. Long story short, we became email pals, and after a few more weeks, I figured out that I would be willing to tackle this enormous project with the help of an experienced editor, journalist, and writer. A graduate of Davidson College in North Carolina with an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte, Ann W seemed to have just the chops I needed. She also edited Making Notes: Music of the Carolinas. This nonfiction anthology came out in 2008 and featured stories and essays about the rich legacy of music in North and South Carolina.
Once we made arrangements for working together, I began sending copy and she began her editing. We determined that by my writing my stories, the book would have my “voice” and definitely my “style,” which was honed in my six years with Tiger Beat. She had edited murder mysteries, science fiction, business books, romance, and had the awesome ability to keep my voice while correcting my English, grammar, and syntax.
After getting a few “chapters” under our belt, we realized we still didn’t have as much as an outline for an entire book. Here’s where the project started to get momentum. Ann W was born and raised in North Carolina. I was California-born and raised, but I moved to Utah in 1979 and in 1981, started traveling to many US destinations as my new husband was a television news director. I felt Ann W and I needed to meet in person and work at getting things organized. Our first meeting was in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We rendezvoused at the Albuquerque airport–two strangers meeting for the first time–but we found each other as soon as I got off my plane and Ann’s had already landed. I had arranged a condo for a week in Santa Fe. My husband and I had made many trips to Santa Fe during our time in Colorado Springs. We raised our sons there, and Santa Fe was a five-hour drive south, so we took many three-day weekends for the art, food, hiking, fishing, and discovering the Anasazi ruins. Ann W had always wanted to see New Mexico.
While we thoroughly enjoyed our Santa Fe time, we studiously spent all day each day developing how my memoir would flow, how we would structure the chapters, who would be in, and who would be out. Ann W sent me home with “homework,” and I found I accomplished more with “assignments” and “deadlines.” Some things just seem to be etched in my DNA.
That week set the tone for the next few years where we would work so closely together, yet with so many miles between us. This collaboration might have been possible before email/text/phone, but it would have been a long, drawn-out process. The near-instant feedback really enabled us to keep things moving.
That first work week in Santa Fe was in the spring of 2013. A year later, Ann W said she’d always wanted to see the red rock of Sedona, Arizona. My family had moved to Arizona in 2007, and Tony and I had been to Sedona for an anniversary vacation a few years before. So, again I rented a condo for us in Sedona. Ann W flew to Phoenix, spent the night with us, and the two of us took off for Sedona the next morning.
This trip involved more organizing (so many faves, so many memories). We also were doing read-throughs of some semi-complete chapters. Just like Santa Fe, we worked all day on the book, then took off for wine and fine dining in the evening. Our shared appreciation for fine wine and fine dining was our reward for our “hard work” during the day. We also fit in sight seeing of the incredible red rocks, and browsing the great, creative shops of Sedona artisans. We did not, however, hike to any of the vortexes. Tony and I had hiked to one on our anniversary trip, but we got no special vibes.
The added bonus of working with Ann W was we became friends despite being from very different worlds. Ann W is a few years younger than I am, and we led very different lives. But we both enjoyed the discovery of our own uniqueness. I appreciated her stories of growing up in the South. She appreciated hearing stories of growing up in Southern California. She envied my life as a teen editor; I envied her life in college, and the reunions she still has today with her circle of women friends from those days.
We made progress and spent loads of time sending out query letters to book agents. Nada, nothing was the response. However, our conviction that this story would be welcomed did not waver.
By 2015 we had a rough draft completed. Time for another Ann & Ann Work Week. It was my turn to fly East, so Ann W made arrangements for a condo in Folly Beach, South Carolina where she and her husband, Mark, liked to go on vacations. Folly Beach is near the historic city of Charleston. She picked me up at the Charleston airport, and we were off on a new adventure.
This time we did two complete read-throughs. I read one, which was really in “my voice.” Ann W read one, and while her southern twang made it a very lilting read, we still found changes and corrections and did some solid editing that you can only do after reading the manuscript aloud. We also made full use of our down time–spending one day in Charleston. Ann W did the driving as she gave me the tour of the Charleston mansions. I was amazed. I had been South on tour in 1966 with the Raiders and Dino, Desi, and Billy all through Florida, but it was bus-show-hotel room views of the state. Our visit to the historic Charleston City Market, where slaves were once sold, was eye-opening. Again, our off time was spent enjoying wine/fresh fish and southern hospitality. I loved it.
I honestly don’t think Meow! would have come to life without our working-discovery-vacations. They were immensely productive and allowed us to become friends in addition to colleagues. And as any author will tell you, the fresh eyes on your copy is an essential part of writing. Ann W filled that role to perfection.
I know that the kind words that have come my way from you, my reader/friends, have meant so much to Ann W too. She helped me bring life to my memories so I could share them with you.
If you’d like to read Ann W’s tribute to Davy Jones here is her blog post:
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Ann,
Thank you!
You must log in to post a comment.