Dying to Call You

What to eat: Salt-and-vinegar potato chips and dark chocolate, especially chocolate-covered orange peel. Dark chocolate is a health food. It’s good for your heart. Oranges have Vitamin C.

What to drink: Box wine or Cosmopolitans. Do not make Cosmopolitans out of box wine. The hangover is horrific.

What to wear: Cute sandals. Floridians never wear hard shoes except to funerals. At the very least, kick off your shoes for this discussion. Set your feet free and your mind will follow.

The Questions

(1) Helen Hawthorne’s search for Savannah’s lost sister, Laredo, seems to have special significance for her. What -- or who -- does Laredo symbolize? Do you think she is worth the search? Is Helen justified in looking for the missing sister?

(2) What is the significance of Savannah Power’s name? Do you see her as a strong woman? Why is she so dependent on Helen? Do you feel this is a healthy relationship?

(3) One of the strengths of this book is its vivid characters. Many of them live at the Coronado Tropic Apartments, a typical old Florida apartment complex. What is the role of the Coronado and its inhabitants in Helen’s life?

(4) Fred and Ethel are the “normal” couple at the Coronado. What is Helen’s attitude toward “normal”? What is Margery’s? Why does Helen take such an instant dislike to this pair? Is she justified?

(5) In DYING TO CALL YOU, Helen struggles with her need for love, work and friendship. Do you feel she achieves a proper balance? Is one more vital than the other?

(6) Mothers, good and bad, have great influence in this book. There are the surrogate mothers, including Margery and Savannah, and birth mothers, such as Helen’s sister and her mother. How has Helen’s mother helped make her the woman she is today? What is Margery’s role in Helen’s life? Her sister’s?

(7) Every society has its pariah professions. China has night soil collectors. The United States has telemarketers. Do you think telemarketers deserve their treatment? How do you treat them? Why do you think people would become telemarketers? Has DYING TO CALL YOU changed your attitude toward them?

(8) What do you think of Helen’s “telemarketing goddess” game?

(9) To get the information Helen needs to solve a murder, she must do something that her mother would find shocking. What do you think of Helen’s justification for her actions? Do you believe going topless can be a feminist act?

(10) Sex and death are recurrent themes in this book. Discuss how they are used in DYING TO CALL YOU. What effect does money have on sex? On death? What do you think of the charity orgies? Of the Six Feet Unders?

(11) Helen has had problems with men in her past. What about her relationships in this novel? Are they a step forward or backward? Has Helen changed in her view of men? Is this change for better or worse?

Want rid of those pesky telemarketers?

Put your phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry (www.donotcall.gov).

It takes three months for the registration to be effective.

Did a telemarketer slip past?

Just say the magic words: “Take me off this list.” Federal law requires that telemarketers remove you from their lists or face stiff fines. Telemarketing companies fear that you are taping the calls, waiting to nail them. Trust me. I was there.
Do NOT curse, swear, threaten, proposition or blow whistles in the ears of telemarketers. We’ll getcha for that.

Helen’s Favorite Florida Eateries in
“Dying to Call You”

The Floridian, 1410 East Las Olas Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, 954-463-4041. An excellent Florida grease spot. Great food and servers who don’t take any sass. I was once held hostage at the cash register while my husband went across the street to the ATM to get enough cash to pay for breakfast. Open 24/7.

The Rustic Inn Crabhouse, 4331 Ravenswood Road (Angler’s Avenue), Dania, 954-584-1637. There’s something satisfying about pounding your food with a wooden mallet. Dinner here can be downright therapeutic. Don’t wear anything you don’t want to see covered in garlic crab butter.

Jimmie’s Chocolates & Confections, 148 North Federal Highway, Dania Beach, 954-922-0441. The scent is enough to make chocoholics swoon. Jimmie’s chocolate-covered strawberries are dipped in white and dark chocolate. They’re big as tennis balls, but a lot tastier. The chocolate-covered orange peel is scrumptious.