Too many people are telling lies: The husband of the murder victim and his
secretary, the victim’s boss and co-workers in the day care center, her
stalker, and Detective Milligan’s daughter.
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| Marilyn (F.M.) Meredith |
No Matter how Bad it Got, I Never Gave Up
Not many authors
have had publishers die on them (two), be struck down by a stroke (one), turn
out to be out-and-out crooks (three), decide that because of circumstances not
to continue with the publishing business (two.)
Yep, that really
happened to me, plus more.
The first to die
was early on in my writing career. A publisher accepted my novel but told me I
had to get it camera ready. This was long before the Internet. I had a friend
who was a computer expert and had a computer store, he showed me what to do on
one of his computers. For several weeks, I went to the store at 6 a.m. and
worked diligently. When it was ready, I sent it to the publisher. Waited a
while, then heard from his wife that he’d died.
I crossed paths
with the crooks early on too. Two started out honest and actually published
books. One in Canada made the decision to keep all profits and skipped out. The
other in the U.S., gambled away his profits and went to jail. The third, who
charged for publishing services, didn’t come through with the books.
One publisher had
something happen in her family that caused her decision to quit the
business—the other, after printing two books in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series,
decided the business wasn’t for her.
The previous
publisher of this series was a good friend—and a stroke took away her ability
to run her business, and finally her life. Sad on all counts.
Of course, I didn’t
receive the royalties I earned from most of them. That’s like working and never
receiving a paycheck.
Believe it or not,
there were other hurdles, but I never gave up. I kept on writing and looking
for new publishers.
So what would make
someone so driven to keep on going? In my case, the love of writing and the
fact that I wanted to know what happened next in the lives of the characters
I’d created.
Bio: F.
M. Meredith who is also known as Marilyn once lived in a beach town much like
Rocky Bluff. She has many friends and relatives in law enforcement. She’s a
member of MWA, 3 chapters of Sisters in Crime and serves on the PSWA Board.
Webpage: http://fictionforyou.com
Facebook: Marilyn
Meredith
Twitter:
@marilynmeredith
Once again I’m
trotting over to visit Thonie Hevron at https://thoniehevron.wordpress.com/
and revealing what I think is the biggest plus of being a mystery writer.
Welcome back, Marilyn! I'm looking forward to reading your new release. I love the series!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Patricia, and thank you for hosting me today.
ReplyDeleteWow Marilyn, and I thought I had problems with my former publisher. Of course I haven't been writing for publication as long as you have, I just started submitting my manuscripts after I retired. Anyway, I'm so glad you didn't give up, your mysteries are wonderful reads.
ReplyDeleteIt's been quite a journey, Evelyn
DeleteI had no idea you'd been through so much, Marilyn. I'd like to add agents to that list. I had one who was as dishonest as the day is long. I appreciate your tenacity and I'm glad you keep putting out new books. Your readers want to know what happens to the characters next, too. Thank you for sharing your story.
ReplyDeleteI had agent problems too, Marja, forgot about them.
DeleteMarilyn you make me feel like such an amateur. I had one of the same publishers you had, God rest her soul, but I haven't even attempted to search for another. Well that's not exactly true, but all I keep running into are self-publishers. As usual you have inspired me to continue looking. Thank you for your strength and your encouragement.
ReplyDeleteDid you try Mke Orenduff? That's who I'm with now.
DeleteOh my goodness! You are the embodiment of perseverance, Marilyn. A weaker author would have given up. I'm so glad you did not. You are truly an inspiration.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm just a little crazy!
Delete