'Jurassic Park' author divorces fourth wife

LOS ANGELES -- "Jurassic Park" author Michael Crichton has filed for divorce from his fourth wife, his publicist said.

The author of the sci-fi novels "The Andromeda Strain" and "Sphere" separated from Anne-Marie Martin last summer and has since filed to end their marriage of 14 years, according to the writer's spokesman, Joseph Marich.

Marich said Thursday he didn't know the status of the divorce process.

Crichton, 59, moved out of the couple's Bedford, N.Y., home and now lives in California with their 12-year-old daughter Taylor.

Raymond's kids rarely seen or heard

PASADENA, Calif. -- Children are best not seen and not heard in the world of "Everybody Loves Raymond."

Even though Ray Romano's character in the hit CBS comedy has three kids, they're rarely seen. The show's creator, Phil Rosenthal, said he wanted to do an adult sitcom.

Besides, Rosenthal believes that child actors quickly wear out their welcome with television audiences.

"I wasn't interested in doing a show about cute kids," Rosenthal said. "I wanted to do a show about people who have kids."

Solo projects have downside, Adkins finds

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Trace Adkins can tell you that there's a downside to getting your own way. If the project flops, it's all yours.

"On my third album ... I exercised pretty much complete creative control over what I did," he told reporters. "I did exactly what I wanted to do, cut what I wanted to cut and it sold the least copies of anything I've ever done."

So when it came time to record his new album, "Chrome," Adkins told the record label, "Hey, help me."

Adkins, who turns 40 on Sunday, is a former oil field worker from Louisiana whose hits include "(This Ain't No) Thinkin' Thing."

--From wire reports