While filming a movie on the Bear Creek Indian Reservation,
the film crew trespasses on sacred ground, threats are made against the female
stars, a missing woman is found by the Hairy Man, an actor is murdered and
Deputy Tempe Crabtree has no idea who is guilty. Once again, the elusive and
legendary Hairy Man plays an important role in this newest Deputy Tempe
Crabtree mystery.
How Tempe
Crabtree got her Name
When
I realized that I wanted a character who was part Indian, I wanted a name that sounded
Indian, but unique.
Years
ago, my sister did our family genealogy and when I read about my
great-grandmother on my father's side and all that she went through, I was
amazed by her strength and independence. Of course I'd heard about her from my
father, but I never met her.
Her
parents named her Temperance and she was called Tempe from the time she was a
little girl. She met and married Newt Crabtree in what was called Globe at the
time--now Springville where I live. She gave birth to several children who died
soon after birth. When a girl was born she called her Hope because she hoped
she’d live. (She did, and several more children were born after that, including
my grandmother.) Just living back in that time period was tough. She was a true
pioneer. When her husband died, she lived on her own for many years.
The
resident deputy that I had pictured in my mind had many of the same attributes
and personality traits that I'd learned about my great-grandmother. The more I
thought about it, the more I realized that Tempe Crabtree was the perfect name
for my heroine.
Marilyn Meredith
Marilyn
Meredith
is the author of over thirty-five published novels, including the award winning
Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, the latest River Spirits from
Mundania Press. Marilyn is a member of three chapters of Sisters
in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the
Public Safety Writers of America. She lives in the foothills of the Sierra.
Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com and her blog at http://marilymeredith.blogspot.com/
Contest: The winner will be the
person who comments on the most blog posts during the tour.
He or she can either have a
character in my next book named after them, or choose an earlier book in the
Deputy Tempe Crabtree series—either a paper book or e-book.
You can find me tomorrow
visiting with my good friend Lorna Collins who wanted to know where I get my
inspiration after writing so many books. http://lornacollins-author.blogspot.com/
For Kindle:
Amazon paperback:
For Nook
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/river-spirits-marilyn-meredith/1120425385?ean=2940150347090
Thank you so much for hosting me today, Patricia. I always love stopping by your place.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn, it's my pleasure. I love to have you visit. I ordered "River Spirits" and I can't wait to read it. I love your Tempe Crabtree series!
DeleteGlad to see you again, Marilyn and glad you used Tempe for your character's name and not Temperance. I'm at work and wasn't able to open your trailer (I think that's what it is), but I have seen the trailers on your website. I thought I'd tell you that the link for this blog is wrong on your website. It may delay some people finding this. The link is http://pat-writersforum.blogspot.com/ See you tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI love her name. It's perfect for her and memorable without being just plain weird.
ReplyDeleteI think it works well too, Lorna. Glad to see your back from what sounded like a wonderful vacation.
DeleteThis is a great story, Marilyn! And touching--makes Tempe even more endearing to me... (A light aside, one of my puppies is named Tempe, a pretty special pup)
ReplyDeleteMadeline
Thanks for commenting, Madeline. I heard that story from my dad--several time.
DeleteI'll go back and fix it. Thanks, Linda.
ReplyDeleteYour story is very touching and I'm glad you found such an endearing person to fashion Tempe after. Wonderful story!
ReplyDeleteMarja McGraw
Hi, Marja, I did get to meet one of my great-aunts and she took me around and told me all about the family's history in Springville--which I call Bear Creek in my series.
ReplyDeleteI love the story of how you named Tempe. I used one of my grandmother's names for a character also. Doesn't it just make you feel so much more connected to the character?
ReplyDeleteTempe was my great-grandmother and I never met her though I heard many stories about her life.
ReplyDelete