tales…
I’ve decided I want to live in an reno’d vintage Airstream. This isn’t a totally random thought, but one born of character research for the my next novel. I stumbled across a post by a woman who, with her husband, converted a second Airstream, this one a 31′ Airstream Sovereign with the double bed/center bathroom option. They remapped the floorplan of it, changing the double bed to a king and even creating two dedicated workspaces. You can see the plans here and some photos of the finished space here. There’s also a video walkthrough of it below.
Pouring through pages and blogs about vintage RVs got me thinking all about one of my own. Just a daydream, but still fun to consider. I love this one, but I can see places where I’d tweak it. If it was just me, the first thing to go would be the dedicated desk area by the bedroom. I’d turn that into a combination pantry and laundry closet with one of those single-machine washer/dryer combos. The existing wardrobe in their plan would become a place for a bigger fridge. But with the hubby? He’d want the desk, so I guess I’d sacrifice the laundry for the fridge. I’d also change the living room area into one of those wraparound set-ups like this one here. There’s a ton of storage behind the bolsters and under the seat, and the table lowers to different positions, allowing it to also convert into a bigger-than-king sleeping area.
However, it’s all just a pretty dream!
thursday 13: podcasts
play along here
I love podcasts and listen to a lot of them through Amazon Music, Wondery, Apple Podcasts, and Patreon. Here are 13 I recommend… if you’re into true crime!!
- RedHanded: Hannah Maguire and Suruthi Bala are award-winning podcasters. I love their humor, their dedication to research. They also do a companion podcast. Another, unrelated podcast, they do is Filthy Ritual, the story of a conwoman in England. So good!
- Rabia and Ellyn Solve the Case: Rabia Chaudry is an attorney, Ellyn Marsh is a Broadway actress. An unlikely pair, but their dynamic, with Ellyn’s humor and Rabia’s knowledge, along with a wide range of guests make for an in-depth and interesting look into various cases.
- The Opportunist: Hannah Smith explores cases of regular people who take advantage of opportunities to do bad things. It’s a fascinating look at these people.
- Letters from Sing Sing: Dan Slepian, an NBC news producer, hosts this one, the story of wrongfully convicted Adrian “JJ” Velazquez. The story is both fascinating and horrible.
- Why Can’t We Talk About Amandas Mom?: This one is hosted by Sarah Cailean, a former cop who is criminal behavorist, investigating homicides. The podcast investigates the still unsolved murder of a young woman, killed in 1993.
- The Girl in the Blue Mustang: Hosted by the quintessential Keith Morrison, this dives into the twisty case of the murder of Michelle O’Keefe.
- Agent of Betrayal: Major Garrett, a CBS news correspondent, hosts the podcast. It tells the story of FBI-agent-turned-Soviet-spy Robert Hanssen. I’m listening to this one now, and it’s so interesting.
- Killer Psyche: Former psych nurse and FBI agent Candace DeLong (also of ID: Discovery) hosts this, diving into the minds of the bad guys she discusses. Her take is unique, focusing on the mind aspects of the perps. She also does a daily version, tidbits of interesting true-crime topics.
- Severed Affair: This is a case that is very recent, hosted by Paula Barros. It looks into the murder of Shad Thyrion by Taylor Schabusiness. NOT for the faint of heart.
- True Crime All the Time: The podcast is hosted by two friends, Mike Ferguson and Mike Gibson. They have a great dynamic as they dive into a wide variety of cases, both recent and older. They also have a companion podcast, True Crime All the Time: Unsolved.
- Criminology: This one is hosted by Mike Ferguson (above) and Mike Morford, diving into a lot of different cases. Morford has also written several books.
- Internal Affairs: This podcast is hosted by NBC news correspondent Josh Mankiewicz. It is a twisted story of murder and its connection to a police station.
- The Seduction: This is another Keith Morrison podcast, the story of a twisted love story gone horribly wrong.
Honorable Mention: any Dateline podcast, any Keith Morrison podcast!
currently
- reading:
- The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
- Storm Breaking by Mercedes Lackey
- Freaky Reapers by Amanda M. Lee
- A Pumpkin and a Patch by Jennifer Peel
- listening: Episode 5 of the Agent of Betrayal podcast: about Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent-turned-Soviet spy
- writing: romantic suspense
- loving: my new composition notebook cover, to be my 2024 reading journal. It’s set up like a Traveler’s Notebook.
shop photos from Etsy
I guess you write murder mysteries. I love dateline and shows like that but my husband hates them. I also loved The Closer. My son once lived in an Airstream.
I don’t listen to podcasts, aside from Ted Talks sometimes. I’m probably missing out on a lot but generally I am listening to an audiobook or music if I’m listening to anything. This is probably something I need to change.