I'm thrilled to have Marilyn
Meredith visiting with us today as one of the stops on her blog tour for
her new release. I've read the other books in her Rocky Bluff PD
mystery series and I'm looking forward to reading "A Crushing Death."
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| Marilyn Meredith (aka F.M. Meredith) and Craig Johnson |
Patricia: Marilyn, when did you know that you wanted to be a writer?
Marilyn: Very soon after I learned how to read. My first long efforts began after reading the
Little
House on the Prairie books. I wrote my own version of one. And no, I
don’t have a copy, it was when I was about 10 or 11. Sometime in that same
period I wrote and illustrated a book about a fairy—and I received my first
rejection from a publisher. The note told me to keep on writing.
Patricia: If, for some reason, you couldn’t be a writer, what
profession would you have chosen?
Marilyn: I’ve had several other jobs or professions while being a writer
and I’ll start with my first:
I had my first
babysitting job when I was 10 and it was with 4 tiny tots. I fell asleep and
the parents couldn’t wake me to let them in—they had to go to a pay phone and
call me. Despite that I continued to babysit until I married and left home.
My first paying job as a
married woman was as a telephone operator, information and long distance. I did
that off and on for years.
Teacher in a pre-school
for developmentally disabled children. I worked there for 10 years and was one
of my favorite professions. I also taught in two different day cars in
low-income areas, and was also a teacher in a pre-school for disadvantaged and
non-English speakers.
For over 23 years I
owned and operated a residential facility for 6 women with developmental
disabilities. Another of my favorite professions. During that same time period
I organized, ran and taught accredited classes for people who wanted to have
licensed adult residential facilities as well as required continuing education
classes.
I am still writing a
newsletter for residential care administrators.
You can probably guess
why I’m not doing a lot of the professions I enjoyed. Yes, I’m getting older
and don’t have the physical energy to do what is required for those jobs.
Patricia: Do you have a bucket list, things you still want
to do and/or places you want to visit?
Marilyn: I no longer enjoy traveling as I once did, so
I’ll never be traipsing off to faraway places. I have been to Alaska and Hawaii
twice, Mexico several times and visited many of the states. We once tent-camped
from California to Maryland and back—and I never tent camped again. I do hope
to continue wandering about my home state of California and especially trips to
the coast. As far as what I want to do, I hope to be able to continue giving
talks to writers groups, going to book and craft fairs, and mystery
conferences.
I’m thankful I’ve had such a rich life full of family and
wonderful friends, and many adventures.
Some of you who have more exciting bucket lists than mine, share
some in the comments.
A pile of rocks is found on a dead body
beneath the condemned pier, a teacher is accused of molesting a student, the
new police chief is threatened by someone she once arrested for violent attacks
on women, and Detective Milligan’s teenage daughter has problem.
Buy link: http://www.amazon.com/Crushing-Death-Rocky-Bluff-P-D/dp/1610092260/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457618775&sr=8-1&keywords=A+Crushing+Death+by+F.M.+Meredith
Buy link: http://www.amazon.com/Crushing-Death-Rocky-Bluff-P-D/dp/1610092260/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457618775&sr=8-1&keywords=A+Crushing+Death+by+F.M.+Meredith
Bio:
F. M. Meredith who is also known as
Marilyn Meredith is nearing the number of 40 published books. Besides being an
author she is a wife, mother , grandma and great-grandmother. Though the Rocky
Bluff she writes about is fictional, she lived for over twenty-years in a
similar small beach town. Besides having many law enforcement officers in her
family she is counts many as friends. She teaches writing, loves to give
presentations to writing and other groups, and is a member of Mystery Writers
of America, three chapters of Sisters in Crime and on the board of Public
Safety Writers Association.
Website: http://fictionforyou.com
Facebook: Marilyn Meredith
Twitter: MarilynMeredith
Contest: Once again, the person who
comments on the most blogs during this tour, can have a character named after
them in the next Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery. Tomorrow you can find me here:
