Billie Rae Bates has written a variety of stuff, besides novels and reference books. Much of what you see below is from her years in the daily newspaper industry.
Coverage of CMT DukesFest 2006 in the Covington (Ga.) NewsStory on fertility in older females in The Detroit News
Review of Anna Quindlen's book "Black and Blue" in The Detroit News
Review of Jenny McCarthy's book "Jen-X" in The Detroit News
Review of Larry McMurtry's book "Zeke and Ned" in The Detroit News (***this review is quoted on the book's dust jacket***)
Review of Howard Blum's book "The Gold of Exodus" in The Detroit News
Review of Grace Lee Whitney's book "The Longest Trek" in The Detroit News
Review of Melina Gerosa's "Fun Book" in USA Today
Review of Elmore Leonard's book "Out of Sight" in The Detroit News
"In Our Family" columns appearing in The Saginaw (Mich.) News, autobiographical in nature and running on the News' Tuesday Living page:
For better or worse, forever?
Grandma provided the glue
Talk's not always cheap
Life takes you along other aisles
Comics Continuum, a website devoted to comic books, film, TV and other elements of pop culture, which Billie Rae helped out with in its early days, with coworkers at The Detroit News in 1996. Once under the umbrella of The News, the Comics Continuum went independent in 1999. Billie Rae did reporting, editing and photography for the site in its first few years.
Feature on Adam West, long known for his role as TV's "Batman," but also a voice actor.
"Batgirl not blond" column, Billie Rae's first piece for the Comic Book Continuum, a tongue-in-cheek column much discussed at the offices of The Detroit News!
Feature on Billy Dee Williams, previewing his 1999 appearance in Metro Detroit, appearing in The Detroit News.
Feature on Emily Hart, voice of Sabrina in Disney's animated series and sister to Melissa Joan Hart, star of TV's live-action "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" sitcom.
Story on Archie Comics, and their resurgence, in the golden years of this American icon.
Feature on Grace Lee Whitney, Yeoman Janice Rand of the original "Star Trek" TV series, who faced years of alcoholism and wrote about it.
Feature on Yvonne Craig, the Batgirl of the "Batman" TV series, previewing her appearance in Metro Detroit.
Feature on George Macas Jr., who travels to comic-book conventions around the country spreading the Word of God.
Interview with Dan Brereton, wildly talented comics painter.
Interview with Andrew Pepoy, Michigan native and creator of the comics characters Simone and Ajax.
History of Redeemer Lutheran Church, the church in mid-Michigan where Billie Rae was baptized and raised; Billie Rae compiled and wrote this history of the church for its website, and a version of it also ran in a local, mid-Michigan newspaper.
Feature on the popularity of chunky shoes, one of many miscellaneous stories she wrote for the features section of The Detroit News, which here is copied into some sort of online tribute to clogs! Go figure!
Billie Rae is a also regular book reviewer on Amazon.com; browse her reviews here.
She's written an entertainment blog for Congoo; visit her profile page here.
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Cheryl Blossom #34
Archie Comics have been a lifelong love of Billie Rae, so you can imagine just how tickled **red** she was when in the '90s they introduced the character of Cheryl Blossom -- a vivacious and redheaded rival to Betty and Veronica for Archie's affections. Billie Rae had the pleasure of interviewing legendary Archie Comics artist Dan DeCarlo for a story in the mid-'90s. DeCarlo, who created the Cheryl character, worked for Archie Comics for more than 50 years and was well-known as one of the artists creating "the" look for Betty and Veronica. DeCarlo knew Cheryl Blossom was Billie Rae's absolute favorite character, and he thought she would get a big kick out of this cover to issue 34. Look at the boogie board below (and click on the image to see a larger version) ....
Sadly, DeCarlo has passed on, though his widow Josette still travels to comic conventions to share her husband's art with fans.
Spence Beamon's CDs
Detroit musician Spence Beamon, who lived in the same high-rise apartment building downtown where BRB lived, asked her to pose her feet for his CD "Innovative Expressions Part 5." Spence, who plays numerous instruments, has created a whole series of CD that each highlight a different musical genre.
To see Billie Rae's very first "books," as well as the very first "newspaper" she ever worked on, see the feature at the bottom of the About page.