Author Diane Fanning

[Bailey]

Casey Anthony case: 'Mommy's Little Girl' author defends title, book

Hal Boedeker | Sentinel TV Critic
3:06 PM EDT, June 25, 2009

Author Diane Fanning says she has heard from people who aren't happy that she has written a book about the Caylee Anthony case. "Mommy's Little Girl" from St. Martin's Press will be published in November.

Among the most-frequent complaints:

1. A book is premature before Casey Anthony's murder trial.

"Maybe we shouldn't have any news stories, either," Fanning said today from her home in Texas. "If it's wrong to do this, then it's wrong to have newspaper stories, magazine stories and TV reports. You can't wait on the vagaries of the justice system."


Fanning notes that her book on astronaut Lisa Nowak was released in November 2007 and that trial is set for December.

Fanning said when she agreed to write about Casey Anthony, who is charged with daughter Caylee's murder, the trial was set for January, then pushed to March. The earliest the trial could start now is next year.

"There is a point in the public world when things get in place and you can't stop that train," Fanning said. "It was supposed to be a post-trial book. This case is so different. There is so much available. Will I write a sequel? It's up to the publisher."

2. The Anthonys will profit from the book.

"A lot of people in the general public seem to believe to write a book like this, you have to purchase rights," Fanning said. "Not true. It's no more true of writers who work for newspapers. People make the assumption I put money in the Anthonys' pocket. It's not true, and it's not ethical. There were enough people to talk to. I could round out what was available from documentation."

3. The title is disrespectful to Caylee.

"Some people are upset by the title," Fanning said. "I didn't pick the title, but I thought it was a good title. No matter how horrendous a mother might be, that child is always mommy's little girl. Children love without any limitation."

The subtitle is "Casey Anthony and Her Daughter Caylee's Tragic Fate."

"She didn't have a long life," Fanning said of the toddler. "I couldn't fill the whole book with Caylee."

4. She is profiting off the tragedy.

"I'm making my living," Fanning said. "That's it. This is what I do to get my paycheck. I write books."

The Anthony saga is her 10th true-crime book, and St. Martin's Press is one of the most respected publishers in that field.


Fanning said readers should expect the Anthony discovery information presented in story form along with anecdotes about Caylee and other people connected to the Anthony family.

"There are stories and anecdotes that have never been published before -- not earth-shattering, but I think it adds another texture to the story," Fanning said.

Fanning started the book on the day after Casey Anthony was arrested in the murder in October. The author finished the more than 300-page work May 15.

The constant outpouring of documents made this book easier to write than others, Fanning said. "What was more difficult, I have never seen another case, except Lisa Nowak, where everyone had a lawyer and a publicist," the author said. "It's very strange to me, and it is odd to me that both cases happened in Orlando. I don't think it says anything about Orlando."

She also couldn't interview some of the major players, such as George and Cindy Anthony.

Fanning said she couldn't discuss her conclusion because lawyers are looking over the book before its publication.

"In all my books, there's an afterword, and I give my opinion," she said. "And it's there in this book."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...,7673530.story

[Bailey]

Wednesday, November 04, 2009 5:13:01 AM

Reported by Jacqueline Fell

ORLANDO -- A new book on the case against Casey Anthony hit store shelves Tuesday.

Author Diane Fanning called the book, titled “Mommy’s Little Girl,” the first full-length, in depth account of the Caylee Anthony case.

On the cover, "the story that stunned and shocked a nation" and has Casey Anthony in court in her blue jail jumpsuit.

Relying on court documents, police interviews, audio and videotaped conversations, Fanning speculates how Casey Anthony might have killed her daughter, Caylee. The Web page says there are eight pages of "alarming photographs."

Fanning did not interview Casey, George, Cindy, or Lee Anthony.

Fanning is an award nominated crime author and blogger on the Web page Women in Crime Ink. She's blogged about Casey for months, calling her a pathological liar, and that her life seems like a study of narcissism.

Mommy's Little Girl also talks about the support Casey continues to receive from her parents George and Cindy.

The author thanks family of Cindy Anthony, as well as former friends for sharing their personal experiences with her.

Fanning has also written a book called Out There which centers around former astronaut Lisa Nowak.

In Mommy's Little Girl, she calls Caylee, the victim "who mattered the most."

The book is dedicated to Caylee.

The book, from St. Martin's Press, is coming out while the case is still in court.

Casey Anthony is charged with her daughter's murder and is in the Orange County Jail.

We e-mailed a list of questions to Fanning. She has not answered as of yet.

Brad Conway, the Anthony family's lawyer, will not comment or make a statement until he reads the book. The family did not receive an advance copy.

We have also learned that the case against Casey Anthony has been the inspiration for a play in Australia.

http://cfnews13.com/News/Local/2009/11/3/mommy39s_little_girl_new_book_released_in_caylee_c ase.html

[Bailey]

By Amy L. Edwards, Orlando Sentinel

10:33 a.m. EST, December 8, 2009

On the glossy cover of the book Sun Struck, Casey Anthony's mug shot is sandwiched between convicted child killers John Couey and Joseph Smith.

In The Murder Business, a detective-turned-television consultant writes about the "truth," and states Anthony killed her 2-year-old daughter Caylee in their family's home.

As Anthony sits in the Orange County Jail awaiting trial, several authors have seized the opportunity to write about Central Florida's infamous mother and daughter.

One author, Diane Fanning, devoted an entire book to the case: Mommy's Little Girl.

All three books were released last month — at least half a year before Anthony is expected to face a jury on a first-degree murder charge. Anthony's trial is expected to begin next summer.

The timing doesn't surprise those in and tied to the publishing industry.

"It really depends in part on how much material is available before a trial," said Jim Milliot, senior editor at Publishers Weekly.

Anthony's name has appeared more than 600 times in newspaper stories and television news transcripts since Caylee was reported missing in July 2008, according to a search of Lexis-Nexis.

Sun Struck, about "16 Infamous Murders in the Sunshine State," includes a 15-page chapter on Anthony, now 23, and her dead 2-year-old daughter Caylee Marie.

Ocala authors Robert A. Waters and John T. Waters Jr. recap the case with already-published details about Caylee's disappearance and the eventual discovery of her remains.

"If Casey had killed her child, why did she do it? Investigators theorized part of the reason was so that she could enjoy her freedom without the burden of a child," the authors wrote. "It was also believed that she had a deep-seated hatred of her mother. The venomous anger she felt toward Cindy was obvious from the recorded jailhouse conversations between the two. Had Casey murdered her child to hurt Cindy?"

The book is drawing sharp criticism from Anthony's defense team.

"Any book that includes and classifies Casey Anthony as a murderer is unethical," said Marti Mackenzie, spokeswoman for Anthony's defense team. "She is innocent until proven guilty, and it is irresponsible and flagrantly unconstitutional to label somebody a murderer unless they have been convicted."

With so much information already public in the Anthony case — thousands of pages of investigative documents already — the authors' challenge is to present something new.

"The whole notion of instant books about anything — a big crime, a disaster — has fallen off over the years because there's so much available on the Internet," Milliot said.

"It's tempting when you see something that's in the media day after day or week after week. You have to bring some sort of view point, or something at least a little different, that will get people to fork over the 10 bucks."

Mark Fuhrman, a former Los Angeles Police Department detective who gained national attention during the O.J. Simpson case, included his conversations and observations of Anthony's family in The Murder Business.

Fuhrman, working for FOX News, recounted a meeting with Caylee's grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony, in their living room.

"I looked straight at them and said gently, 'You know Caylee is dead,' " Fuhrman wrote. "There was silence. George looked at me and he just bobbed his head up and down, as if to say yes. Cindy cried quietly. I got the feeling George knew that the baby was dead and that Cindy also knew but was blocking it out."

Fuhrman says Caylee died June 16, 2008, at the Anthony family home. An exact date of death has not been established by a medical examiner.

"Exactly how that happened, we'll probably never know," Fuhrman writes. "Casey immediately started to think of how to dispose of her daughter's body."

Brad Conway, lawyer for George and Cindy Anthony, did not respond to requests for comment.

Mommy's Little Girl is Fanning's 10th true-crime book. She said she has been "deluged" with positive feedback.

Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO of Author Marketing Experts, said the reason these books are marketed so quickly is because authors are trying to capture a story while it's fresh.

"Let's face it, the 15 minutes of fame has shrunk to 15 seconds," she said. "With so much going on . . . consumers move on quickly."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...,4983140.story