Phone Message Transcript: August 10, 1999
[appearing on Anne's fan phone line]

"Hello guys

We're having bad thunderstorms here and this message may be knocked off the machine by a storm. If so, I may repeat it or you will get a brief recording asking you to leave a message.Whatever the case - - even if I am cut off as I speak - - you can always leave me a message.

I want to talk about two things, the first being that we have had another very sad canine loss here - - that of Sonny, our Golden Retriever, the first dog we ever had after our return to New Orleans. Sonny was a marvelous old fashioned animal in that he was a natural hunter. Pity the squirrel, the kitten, or the bird that got in the way of Sonny. But with human beings, he was always gentle, and even a little aloof.

Sonny knew stardom in his day. Having been obedience trained for over a year by a young woman named Peggy, Sonny was recruited for a role in Oliver Stone's famous movie JFK, much of which was filmed only a block from our house. If you ever see that movie - - it stars Kevin Costner and Shelly Duval - - you can't miss Sonny in his key role as "Touchdown"--Jim Garrison's dog in the plot.

Long after the movie company had packed up and gone, Sonny could be seen at our front gate waiting patiently for a make up crew who never came.

Sonny was also in a photograph with me on the hardcover jacket of my novel TALTOS.

Sonny met his end tragically. Escaping the property where he had lived for some time, he apparently wandered into traffic on St. Charles Avenue and was hit by a car before we ever knew that he was gone.

On a Sunday Evening, two very remarkable young people, Matthew Macdonell and Mary Shea Burke, who were driving by, spotted Sonny as he lay there dazed and obviously hurt. With incredible bravery they picked up Sonny, put him in the car and rushed him to an emergency Vet. There he died peacefully on the table without ever uttering a bark or a cry.

We all miss him. Like Mojo, our other dog who died so recently, Sonny was an animal of distinct personality, surrounded by people who valued him, and we were deeply touched by the generosity of Miss Burke and Mr. Macdonell, that they would go to such lengths and take such a risk especially for a dog of Sonny's size.

It's all over now. New dogs will come. Life will go on. But Sonny won't be forgotten.

The other subject I want to talk about is our graphic novel or comic book version of TALE OF THE BODY THIEF, which is being done by Ross Tafaro's new company, SICILIAN DRAGON. For all of you who are fans of graphic novels, or comic versions of novels, I want to assure you that I am supervising this adaptation completely. As head of the company Ross looks at every panel and every page, but so do I.

I give instructions directly to the penciller, the colorist and the adapter. I want to see that the faces of Lestat, Louis, and David Talbot - - the main characters of this novel are consistent throughout. There will be twelve issues or episodes of TALE OF THE BODY THIEF before it is bound into a graphic novel. The issues will start appearing soon, they are coming through Diamond Distributing to comic book stores all over the country.

If you're a comic book fan, and you were disappointed by earlier comix of my works, let me assure you that this new series of comix will be totally different, and we think, much better in every respect.

For those of you who've never read comic books, you might be surprised at how many comic book stores there are. They are virtually everywhere.

That's all for now.

Thank you for listening or reading. If you are listening to the phone version of this message, please leave me whatever message you like. I never get tired of hearing your movie recommendations. And I never get tired of hearing your responses to various books. I'll be back soon with another message.

Love,

Anne Rice"