I SEE MYSTERY EVERYWHERE by Marilyn Meredith

Yes, I really do see mystery everywhere. The question, “What if” is always forefront in my mind. I think “what if” when I’m reading any intriguing article in the newspaper. When driving down the road, a gathering of vehicles, someone getting a ticket, lots of tents at the campground, an interesting conversation at a nearby table in a restaurant, something someone tells me, and I could go on and on.

For my Rocky Bluff P.D. series, I’ve gotten ideas from law enforcement professionals who’ve spoken at my Sisters in Crime chapter. I’ve also been piqued by things I’ve seen or heard when visiting the coast. (RBPD mysteries take place in a fictional small beach town.)

For my Deputy Tempe Crabtree series, other things will trigger a story idea. When I first began thinking about the plot for Raging Water, which didn’t have a title at that time, it was raining a lot where I live. Tempe lives in Bear Creek which is much like the place where I live, though 1000 feet higher in the mountains. Locals were discussing how much the river was rising and remembering past flooding. 

As the rain kept coming down, mud slid down and blocked parts of the road that leads to town. H’mmm, what if after lots and lots of rain, not only would the river flood and send folks who lived along the river finding shelter elsewhere, but a mud slide could make it impossible to leave Bear Creek.

All that could certainly make a mystery interesting, but I needed a murder.

Not too long ago two women who went to our church died under what I and a few other considered suspicious circumstances but our local law enforcement did not. Our deputies are also deputy coroners and can pronounce someone dead. In the case of these two women, both with serious chronic illnesses, no autopsies were performed. Both women were poor and didn’t have any family to demand an autopsy. I decided to include their deaths in the book. 

One more ingredient came along. A good friend of mine and a fan of the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mysteries asked if I’d put her in one of my books. I agreed. Though the character has a new name, I used her physical description and some of her personality attributes—though I’d rather say that it is her essence in the character. I did use her two dogs though, including their breed and names, and they become quite important to the plot.

Raging Water Blurb: Deputy Tempe Crabtree’s  investigation of the murder of two close friends is complicated when relentless rain turns Bear Creek into a raging river. Homes are inundated and a mud slide blocks the only road out of Bear Creek stranding many—including the murderer.

Marilyn Meredith is the author of over thirty published novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, the latest Raging Water from Mundania Press. Writing as F. M. Meredith, her latest Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel us No Bells, the forth from Oak Tree Press. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. This is the first stop on her blog tour for Raging Water.

Contest: The person who leaves comments on the most blogs on Marilyn’s tour will have his/her name used for a character in her next book — he or she may choose a Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery or a Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel.

Visit Marilyn at http://fictionforyou.com and follow her blog at http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

Getting to know Sally Carpenter

We have mystery author, Sally Carpenter, visiting with us this week. I read Sally’s The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper and really enjoyed it. Now, let’s get to know Sally.

Patricia:  Sally, where did you grow up? Did your childhood contribute to your desire to be a writer?

Sally :  I was born and raised in southwestern Indiana, the same setting as my book. Growing up I read a lot because that wasn’t much else to do. My family lived in the country outside a small town, Princeton, pop. 10,000. We didn’t go into town frequently and when we did, the only entertainment was a bowling alley and a single-screen movie theater. During the school year I checked out books from the school library and in the summer I hung out at the public library during the day while mom did the shopping. In eighth grade I won the library’s summer reading contest by reading the most books. I made up stories, too.
In the evenings we watched TV (only three channels!) and that helped to inspire my series character who starred in a fictitious TV show. In high school I was active in the school drama club and plays, which also helped to develop my storytelling skills.  

Patricia:  Where do you live now? Do you use that locale for settings in your novels?

Sally :  I’ve lived in Southern California since 2000. As a kid I dreamed of going to Hollywood, so here I am. I came to LA to break into TV writing and ended up writing mystery novels! But that’s okay. I live west of LA in Moorpark, which is considered a “small town” even though it’s three times the size of Princeton. The hero of my books lives in LA because he works in showbiz.  

Patricia:  What inspired you to write your most recent novel?

Sally :  More than a decade or so ago VH1 started running “The Monkees” TV show again, which I hadn’t seen since I was a kid. I fell in love with the guys and became a super fan—going to concerts, collecting stuff, talking to fans, reading about teen idols. I was taking a college course in playwrighting at the time and wrote a one-act play about an aging star meeting one of his fans. The play was a finalist in a playwrighting contest and one of the judges said, “I can see a bigger story here.”

In 2008 a local library hosted a panel discussion with members of Sisters in Crime. The program inspired me to start writing mysteries (and to join SinC), so I took the teen idol character and turned him into an amateur sleuth.    

Patricia:  Did you plan to write a series before or after you wrote the first book?

Sally :  I always knew this would be a series before I started. As a kid I wanted to create and star in my own TV show so I think of the individual books as episodes in my TV series.

Patricia:  Name three of your favorite authors in the mystery genre.

Sally :  Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes) and Richard Levinson/William Link (Columbo) would be tops. I also love the Holmes on the Range series by Steve Hockensmith. 

Patricia:  What are your favorite things to do when you’re not reading or writing?

Sally :  I don’t have much time left over when I’m not reading or writing! I work a full-time job at a community newspaper to pay the bills then come home to write. I’m also a play critic for the newspaper so I occasionally review the local community and school productions. I spoil two black cats. I enjoy watching old movies and the classic TV shows I grew up with; I have an enormous home video collection. I like to help out the city library; next month I’ll be reading books to preschoolers for a session of PJ Storytime. On Sundays I go to church. Not exciting but I like to keep the drama on the page and out of my life.

Patricia:  Do you like to travel? If so, what are some of your favorite places to go?

Sally :  I wish I could travel more but with a full-time job and limited finances I don’t go far. One of the local libraries takes day trips to museums and interesting places in LA and I usually take those excursions. Some time ago a local group hosted a location tour in LA to see places where various Laurel and Hardy movies were filmed. Some of those houses/places still look the same!
Years ago I was with a traveling drama troupe and we toured Western Canada. I’ve been on a weekend cruise to the Bahamas and would love to take a weeklong cruise. I like the whole shipboard experience. In 2014 I plan to go to Monterey Calif. for the Left Coast Crime convention.  

Patricia:  How would you describe yourself personality wise?

Sally :  Introvert, funny, spiritual, smart, loving, independent, loyal friend.

Patricia:  What’s your favorite color? Why?

Sally:  Green. It’s the color of grass and represents growth (also coincidentally the color of money but that doesn’t mean I’m greedy). Blue is runner-up because my eyes are blue and I look good in dark blue clothes; my series protagonist has blue eyes too.

Patricia:  How would you finish this sentence? If I won a million dollars, I would . . .

Sally :  pay off my debts, buy a house, invest the money so I could afford to write full-time and give to charity.

Thanks for having me, Patricia! This has been fun!

Yes it has, Sally. Thanks for being my guest this week.

To read more about and/or to order a copy of The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper go to:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_11?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+baffled+beatlemaniac+caper&sprefix=The+Baffled%2Cstripbooks%2C213&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Athe+baffled+beatlemaniac+caper&ajr=0

Getting to know Sunny Frazier

Sunny Frazier is a woman of many talents. She’s the Acquisitions Editor for Oak Tree Press and the founder of the Posse, an online writing/marketing group. She’s also the author of two mystery novels, Fools Rush In and Where Angels Fear.

Patricia:  Where did you grow up? Did your childhood contribute to your desire to be a writer? 

                                                                           

Sunny:  I grew up all over the world. My father was in the Navy. One of the most exotic places we were stationed was Midway Island. As a Navy child, when you have to move around, books are too heavy to pack, so I grew up without books in the house. However, I lived in the libraries. My education was constantly interrupted (three fourth grades!), so no, I'd say my childhood was a detriment for my growth as a writer. 

Patricia:  Where do you live now? Do you use that locale for settings in your novels?     

Sunny:  I live in the San Joaquin Valley and Fresno County is where my books and short stories are set. It's an overlooked part of California, so I get carte blanch.  

Patricia:  What inspired you to write your most recent novel?   

                                 

Sunny:  While I was working with the Fresno Co. Sheriff's Dept., I got a call from a snitch. He'd stumbled into a sex club—we all thought it was a fruit and vegetable stand. Which it was at one time (we're a bit slow on the uptake in this area). I had to report it to Vice, but I loved the idea for a novel. Much of what is in the book is true. My captain wouldn't let me “investigate” the club for my book and detectives watched the place to make sure I didn't try to go in. We eventually busted it for building codes.   

Patricia:  Did you plan to write a series before or after you wrote the first book?  

           

Sunny:  I always planned the Christy Bristol Astrology Mysteries as a series. 

Patricia:  Name three of your favorite authors in the mystery genre.   

                            

Sunny:  J.A. Jance, Robert Crais, Michael Connelly.

Patricia:  What are your favorite things to do when you’re not reading or writing?

Sunny:  Swimming in the pool and playing with my five cats. Or, napping alongside them.

Patricia:  Do you like to travel? If so, what are some of your favorite places to go?   

      

Sunny:  I used to like traveling before all this airport security happened. But memories of my favorite places are Puerto Rico, Cozumel, Antigua, Grenada, Victoria, BC, Kauai, Haiti, Bogotá, Ireland, Newport RI and Mendocino. 

Patricia:  How would you describe yourself personality wise?      

                                 

Sunny:  As I get older, I have fewer filters. I'm also very outspoken when I feel writers are getting bad information. I'm passionate about this industry. I'm considered high energy, but I feel like I'm laid back. I like my sense of humor—it amuses me. I'm easily amused.

Patricia:  What’s your favorite color? Why?    

                                                                 

Sunny:  Purple. It excites my eyes. Speaking of eyes, it's the only shade of eye shadow I wear. I also have an incredible shade of violet lipstick, running out and they don't make it anymore. Amethyst is my favorite stone (but not my birthstone). I plan to put lilac highlights in my hair later this year. 

Patricia:  How would you finish this sentence? If I won a million dollars, I would . . . 

Sunny:  get the house repaired. Hire a gardener. Contribute to cat shelters. Help out friends. Get the pool resurfaced. Feed my cats Fancy Feast. That's about it. I like my life.  

Sunny, thanks for being with us today. It’s been fun! By the way, I enjoyed reading both of your novels.

If you would like to read more about Sunny’s books and/or to order copies, go to:

http://www.amazon.com/Sunny-Frazier/e/B001K8HUGI/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1345209672&sr=1-2-ent

Getting to know James Callan

This week, we have mystery author, James R. Callan, visiting with us. I’ve read his novel, Cleansed by Fire, a Father Frank mystery, and I highly recommend it. Let’s get to know James.

Patricia:  Where did you grow up? Did your childhood contribute to your desire to be a writer?

James:  I grew up in Texas, specifically in Dallas.  My parents read a lot, often reading out loud to one another.  My paternal grandfather was a writer, first as an editor of small town newspapers, and later as a syndicated columnist.

Patricia:  Where do you live now? Do you use that locale for settings in your novels?

James:  I now live in rural east Texas and it provides the setting for at least four of my novels.  However, I also spend a lot of time in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and one of my novels uses Dallas, east Texas, and Mexico for its setting.

Patricia:  What inspired you to write your most recent novel?

James:  My most recently published novel is Murder a Cappella, which I wrote with one of my daughters, Diane Bailey.  Some years ago, she sang with the Sweet Adelines, an international organization of women who sing barbershop harmony.  One year, her chorus went to the International competition and placed fifth in the world.  Of course, her mother and I went to the competition.  Afterwards, Diane (who writes middle grade and YA) and I talked about setting an adult mystery in the glitz and excitement of an international singing competition.  It was several years before we managed to actually do it.  But, eventually, we did and Murder a Cappella was published this year by Wayside Press.

Patricia:  Do you plan to write a series before or after you write the first book?

James:  I always ask myself if there is series possibility when I start a new book.  For one thing, it affects how I treat the bio of the protagonist.  If a series might develop, it will have a bearing on the bio of the protagonist.  I want to leave myself room for future incidents. I don’t want to have something in book one which will kill opportunities in later books.

Patricia:  Name three of your favorite authors in the mystery genre.

James:  David Baldacci, Dick Francis, and Donn Taylor –  Baldacci for the intricate plots; Francis for the smooth flow of words; and Taylor for a “good read.”

Patricia:  What are your favorite things to do when you’re not reading or writing?

James:  I am active in a local writers’ organization (Northeast Texas Writers Organization – NETWO – where I ran its highly respected writers conference for fourteen years), but then, I guess that is too closely related to reading and writing.  So, I’ll just refer you to the answer to the next question.

Patricia:  Do you like to travel? If so, what are some of your favorite places to go?

James:  Yes.  My wife and I love to travel and we do a lot of it.  We spend roughly half our time in Mexico.  We just got back from a trip to Canada, and in the past have visited South America, Australia and the South Pacific, England, Europe, Morocco, and on and on.  Perhaps more important, we’ve visited all fifty of the United States.

Patricia:  How would you describe yourself personality wise?

James:  Easy going.  Then again, you might want to ask my wife.

Patricia:  What’s your favorite color? Why?

James:  Blue – probably because my mother thought it was a good color for me.  On the other hand, I usually drive a red car.

Patricia:  How would you finish this sentence? If I won a million dollars, I would . . .

James:  Build a school for a disadvantaged village in Mexico.

James, thank you for being with us today. I enjoyed getting to know you. And, by the way, I love Mexico! I hope you win the lottery so you can build that school.

If you'd like to read more about and/or order his books, go to: 
http://www.amazon.com/James-R.-Callan/e/B004KEMA32/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1344713589&sr=1-2-ent

Getting to know Lesley Diehl

My guest this week is mystery author, Lesley A. Diehl. So far, I’ve only read one of her novels, Dumpster Dying, but I definitely plan to read more! Let’s get to know Lesley.

Patricia:  Lesley, where did you grow up? Did your childhood contribute to your desire to be a writer?

Lesley:  I grew up on a dairy farm in Northern Illinois. That experience contributed to my writing in many ways. My settings are always small towns in rural America. Animals are important in my work, not always as pets, but often as characters such as pot-bellied pigs, alligators, cows, horses, and people who may be as ornery as riled- up raccoons. Recently, I have found myself mining my relatives for characters in my short stories. Especially prominent in two of them is my red-headed, six foot tall aunt, a woman with more attitude than my cat (who has more than she deserves, and I put up with it!).

Patricia:  Where do you live now? Do you use that locale for settings in your novels?

Lesley:  I divide my time between upstate New York and rural Florida. Upstate has been the setting for three of my books, two about a microbrewer, set in the Butternut Valley where I live, the other in the Catskill Mountains. Because in Florida we live in cow country (think Texas with palm trees and alligators), the setting is also country.

Patricia:  What inspired you to write your most recent novel?

Lesley:  The novel that came out in May is the second in the mircrobrewing series. I knew I wanted to do another because my protagonist’s profession is so unusual and the setting is close to my heart, where I live for six months of the year. Then along came hydraulic fracturing, a controversial gas drilling technique used to extract gas from shale. The Marcellus Shale field covers several states including New York. In Pennsylvania, fracking has caused difficulties with the water supply. It has destroyed the landscape and ruined country roads. There are serious issues with how safe it is, but advocates argue that it will benefit the area economically as well as provide abundant supplies of natural gas. Because of problems elsewhere with fracking, the controversy heated up here in the Butternut Valley. So how could I not insert this issue into my book, Poisoned Pairings, which explores how fracking can impact the region and the small breweries in particular by focusing on the issue of clean and abundant water, necessary for making beer. And of course, there’s a murder.

 

Patricia:  Did you plan to write a series before or after you wrote the first book?

Lesley:  I guess I fall in love with my characters, so much so that I don’t want to let them go. That’s probably understandable with a protagonist, but I have a dirty cop in my series set in Florida. He’s so pathetic that I continue to play with his evil side as well as his incompetencies. I had to put him in the second book. I hope my readers find my settings and my protagonists compelling enough that they come back for a second or a third.

Patricia:  Name three of your favorite authors in the mystery genre.

Lesley:  I adore Elizabeth George, Robert Parker, and Nevada Barr, all quite different in writing style, plot lines, and characters from one another, but there is something about each one that brings me back to them again and again. With George, it’s her characters and their relationships with one another. Parker’s ability to say more in a sentence than many writers do in a page keeps me up reading him late into the night, and then I finish the book and want more. I miss him. Nevada Barr creates action plots in national parks, great places for a murder.

Patricia:  What are your favorite things to do when you’re not reading or writing?

Lesley:  My husband and I love to cook and eat, of course. We also like to hike, read, and talk about writing. We’re questioning how much we like this activity right now, but we have an 1874 cottage on a trout stream which we are renovating. We’re redoing our old kitchen, and projects that should take a day are taking far longer. We knew this would happen in an old house, but we weren’t fully prepared for how much longer everything would take.

Patricia:  Do you like to travel? If so, what are some of your favorite places to go?

Lesley:  I guess we must like to travel. We spent two and a half years on the road in a tiny motor home with two cats and a dog. Now we travel between upstate New York and Florida every six months. We went to Tuscany several years ago and loved it. Just last week we spent several days in the Finger Lakes region of New York sipping fine wines and, or course, eating.

Patricia:  How would you describe yourself personality wise?

Lesley:  I think I’m a bit of an introvert, but, when I’m with people I know, I really enjoy them. In settings with strangers, I find my husband, less of an introvert than I, babbles away happily while I listen. This makes some sense. I was trained as a psychologist, taught to listen, read body language, and facial expressions. People are fascinating. I love to watch them and listen to their conversations. I am guilty of eavesdropping at restaurants.

Patricia:  What’s your favorite color? Why?

Lesley:  Green because it speaks of water and growing things.

Patricia:  How would you finish this sentence? If I won a million dollars, I would . . .

Lesley:  Put it in the bank, tell no one, and go back to Tuscany for great gelato!

Thanks for being my guest, Lesley. I’ve enjoyed it and I learned a lot about you.

To read more about Lesley and her novels and/or to order them, go to:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Lesley+A.+Diehl

It takes a village

     Today's post will be a short one and will only be "up" for one day. For the past few weeks, whenever I had a chance, I've been working on a book trailer for my mystery novel, Mixed Messages, and I've finally completed it.
     I'd never done a trailer before and, let me tell you, creating it was both frustrating and fun. I can laugh now when I think about how many times my computer locked up, just as I was getting close to the end. Of course, I had to reboot and start over again. Now, in a couple of hours, I'll post the video on You Tube. Fingers crossed that it all goes well.
     The whole process of creating the movie, revising, editing and then letting it go reminds me of how I felt when I sent my first book out to the publisher. Excitement mixed with apprehension! Will he like it? Will people want to read it? Will they recommend it to their friends? So many emotions.
     Two weeks ago, I sent Unfinished Business, the sequel to Mixed Messages, to my publisher and, once again, I'm feeling those same feelings and thinking those same thoughts. My second "baby" just got on the bus to go to kindergarten!
     No matter how hard I work to write and promote a novel or to create a video, it all boils down to this. "It takes a village to raise a child" and it takes the support of friends and family members to promote a book - or a video. In other words, I can't do it without you.
     I'll attach the You Tube link to my blog after I've "completed" the project. I hope you'll share it on Facebook, tweet it and forward it via email to your friends and family.  
     Here's a preview of coming attractions. I hope you enjoy the show!