Tag Archive for: Marilyn Meredith

Looking Forward

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It seems I’m always looking forward to something. This weekend it’s having a booth at the Jackass Mail Run. This is the beginning of Rodeo Weekend in Springville, CA. This particular event begins at noon with booths lining Main Street. (The part of Highway 190 that goes through town.) My booth will be in front of the dentist’s office.

Most everyone will be dressed up like cowboys or saloon girls of the Old West. If a woman wears pants, she might be thrown in jail. If a man doesn’t have a beard, the same thing will happen to him. It can get pretty rowdy, but not nearly as bad as it was when we first moved here, and the drunks took over by late afternoon.

There’ll be some local bands playing and games for the kids. Plus it costs a buck to get out of jail if you’re caught breaking the only two laws that are enforced. About 100 horse and riders will come up 190, having started in Porterville (17 miles) in the morning, escorting the mail wagon. Some of these folks do too much drinking along the way and get a bit wild. Sheriff’s cars escort them as well as an SPCA truck and horse trailer.

When the mail wagon reaches Springville around 3:30 or 4, they are attacked by bandits. Lots of gun fire. Sometimes the Civil War Calvary gets in on it and shoots a cannon. The bandits drop dead in the street, but miraculously rise to fire again. It gets pretty darn noisy.

Most of the booths are manned by people selling food and trinkets. Our youth group will have a booth with popcorn and cotton candy. I’ll be there hoping that, among the attendees, a reader or two might drop by and take a peek at my books. One thing I do know, is that there will be some folks I know who I haven’t seen for awhile and they’ll stop and chat.

After all that excitement, there’s a dance in the Inn. I won’t be attending. After being outside all afternoon, I’ll pack up my books and head for home.

The next day, I’m having a visitor, a dear writing friend, Willma Gore. She taught me more about writing than anyone else while we attended the same critique group for many years. She moved to Sedona AZ a few years ago, and I’ve only seen her a couple of times since. We’ll have all Sunday afternoon and evening as well as Monday a.m. to bring each other up-to-date. I can hardly wait.

Next on my agenda, is the Public Safety Writers conference in Las Vegas.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

For Writers: Organizing Your Time

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Or I could title this, “Figuring Out How to Get Other People to Do your Chores.”

The older I get, the harder it is for me to take care of everything in my home like I used to do. I’ve been paying someone to do my housework for years. Back when I had kids at home, I paid them. Relatives, who need money, have been my later choices.

One thing I’ve learned, though it hasn’t been easy, it isn’t necessary to do my chores on a particular day of the week like my mother. Believe it or not, some things don’t have to be done weekly. A lot depends upon your personal tolerance for messes. Dust waits for you.

I can’t stand to have dirty dishes piled around, so besides using paper plates a lot, I’ve trained everyone who eats or drinks at my house to put dishes and glasses away in the dishwasher. I only run it when it’s full. Then I hope that someone else will put the clean dishes away and often someone will.

My best time for writing is in the morning, so after I shower and dress (yes, I always do that first because I don’t like to be caught later in the day in my p.j.’s – just doesn’t seem fitting for a great-grandma), I plop myself down in front of the computer and get started. Usually I quit when I’m getting tired but still have more to write. That way it’s easy to get right back to it the next day.

I’m interrupted plenty during my writing time – phone calls, hubby or other relatives who have something “urgent to tell me that just can’t wait” and I do stop and listen. When the laundry piles up, I take time to do that while I’m writing. After all the washing machine and dryer work while I am. I fold and put away the laundry in the evening when I’m watching TV.

Yep, I watch TV. Love movies and I have my favorite shows. If I’ve written all day, I’m done by evening and need to give my brain a rest. Sometimes I do other paperwork in the evening – might even do some editing. I’m a champion at accomplishing odd jobs during commercials. (Helps keep me awake.)

Once a week, I take a break and for at least part of a day, do something totally unrelated to writing. Usually it involves a movie and eating out. Reading is also important to me. I read in bed and always take a book with me if I have an appointment somewhere and might have to wait.

For me, to keep my writing fresh, I have to know when it’s time to stop and have some fun. Though I don’t write out a schedule, I’m always sure to make that part of my daily schedule.

Having a calendar nearby that I make notes in also helps keep me on schedule for upcoming book promotions, blogs, the teaching I do, and the mundane stuff like doctor appointments. I also write myself lots of notes, especially when I’m in the middle of a book.

Fortunately, I have a wonderful husband who loves to go to town so he’s stuck with grocery shopping and running errands.

Now, it’s time to get back to the book I’m working on.

Marilyn

http://fictionforyou.com

Fresno Dreams

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Spring is definitely on its way in Central California.

Driving through the foothills is a treat. The hills are covered with wild flowers, whole fields of gold and orange with patches of white and purple. Above the hills you catch glimpses of the snow covered mountains. It’s gorgeous!

Hubby and I took in the beauty on our way to Fresno yesterday. I’d been invited to a Newcomers Book Club to speak. A couple of months ago I was contacted by the leader of the book club, and she asked if I’d send 12 copies of Judgment Fire. She sent the money and I sent the books.

What great fun it was to be the center of attraction among a wonderful group of booklovers. They asked terrific questions and told me what they’d liked best about the book-and were kind enough not to mention anything they didn’t like. I enjoyed myself and I hope they did too.

Afterwards, hubby and I checked into a hotel because I had to teach a class in Fresno in the morning and it didn’t make sense to drive home and back again. Because we live in a small town, we don’t have a lot of restaurants to choose from so it’s always a delight to go where there are lots of choices.

Because they’d over booked the hotel, we were given a suite with not only a regular bathroom with shower but also a Jacuzzi in a separate room. The most exciting thing we did was watch Dancing with the Stars.

However, I had the craziest dream just before I woke. We were trying to get dressed for my morning class and the housekeeping staff kept coming into the room while we were in various stages of undress. I’d yell at them and chase them out and then they’d be right back in again. Right before I woke, I was yelling at them to get out and stay out or I’d have them fired.

Anyone who can interpret dreams want to have a shot at that one?

Now what that has to do with wild flowers and book clubs I have no idea, but that’s what’s been going on in my life lately.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

Book Launch

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My book launch for Smell of Death was Saturday. I live in California but during the winter you never know what the weather might be like. We’ve had plenty of sunny days since the beginning of the year, but this wasn’t one of them.

That was the first of the problems. Three storms in a row rolled in since Wednesday, with Saturday’s forecasted as the “biggie.” The weather wasn’t the only problem.

My major publicity was in our local weekly newspaper which comes out on Thursday–mine didn’t show up in my mailbox until Saturday morning. I have no idea if the rest of the deliveries were as late.

First we stopped at our local coffee and sandwich ship, Coffee Etc., where the owner had graciously agreed to bake cookies for the event. (I don’t bake anymore–it’s one of the things I’ve given up in my old age, like ironing.) Wow! She’d made a tray of the most beautiful cookies–two kinds–lemon (tasted like eating lemonade) and chocolate chip with raspberry drizzled over the top. Also yummy.

We took them and my books, table, etc. to the Visitor’s Center. We also manned the Visitor’s Center for the afternoon. Which is fun, because people stop by to find out if they can get to the giant Sequoias from here. You can, but yesterday you couldn’t get far without chains because along with the rain came lots of snow at the higher elevations.

The launch was scheduled for one, so we had plenty of time to set up. We also visited with the editor of the local paper who had the morning shift for the Visitor’s Center. She ended up staying through most of the afternoon because interesting people stopped by–not necessarily to buy books.

However, six of my fans displayed their loyalty by coming despite the foul weather and bought books. (I’ve done worse at book store signings.) While we were there we met a lovely woman from Oklahoma and her sister who had recently recovered from brain surgery. The gal from Oklahoma lived in Moscow, Russia, for a year and told some fascinating stories.

One of my granddaughter’s highschool teachers and a friend stopped in and the teacher assured me Jessica’s boyfriend was wonderful. (We already knew that.)

One of my fans who always buys any new book I’ve written dashed in for a minute and stayed for a half hour as she brought me up to date on General Hospital (the soap).

All-in-all, we had a good time, sold a few books, and ate lots of delicious cookies.

Marilyn
http://www.fictionforyou.com/

More on Valentine’s Day

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Hubby and I have been married so long I have a hard time remembering. I know it’s over 50 years, we were married the year I graduated from high school, ‘51–you figure it out. We met on a blind date during my senior year. He was the cutest sailor, all decked out in his bell bottom pants. With a whole group of my school friends and their dates, we rode the streetcar to downtown L.A. to Chinatown. A favorite hangout for us back in those days. We ate dinner, everyone danced except my date and me–he said he didn’t know how. (This was remedied in later years and he later could tear up the dance floor.)

We came back to my girlfriends home as her mother was supposed to be there to drive me home. She didn’t turn up. Finally this cute sailor and I walked the five miles to my house–arriving around 2 a.m. All the lights were burning, both my parents were waiting up. (I’d only left a note that I was going on a blind date, needless to say they were worried and angry.) After a lot of explanation on my part, and my father giving my new, good looking friend the third degree, my parents invited him to spend the night. Turns out this cute sailor was going to school at Port Hueneme Sea Bee base, quite aways from L. A. He managed to make the trek back to my house nearly every weekend via bus or thumb.

When his schooling was nearly up, he proposed. He was so darn cute I had to say “yes.” (And I still think he’s pretty cute.) The problem was he was leaving for the East Coast and probably overseas deployment. I was only 17 and he was 20 and our parents weren’t willing to give permission for us to marry. In October, we’d both reached the magic ages, and he asked if I’d come back East to marry him. Of course I said, “yes.” Mom and I traveled to Washington DC on the train–an adventure in itself. We went to hubby’s family home in a dinky town in Maryland where I wasn’t greeted with great enthusiasm. They had the idea that I was some sort of wild gold-digger–after all, I came from California.

My family hadn’t been all that enthusiastic either. My grandfather thought sailors were worthless. No one thought our marriage would last, after all we hardly knew each other. We know each other pretty well now.

Hubby works with the kids at church at the Wednesday night Awana program. The kids made cute Valentine’s as a project–hubby made me one too. Yep, he still loves me after all these years–and the feeling is mutual.

And that’s my Valentine’s story.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

Weather and Other Items of Interest … or Not

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Hubby and I just returned from the Central Coast (California) community of Arroyo Grande. The weather was wonderful! Sunny and gorgeous. As we drove down the coast, the ocean sparkled. People who want to visit California beaches would be smart to go in February when the weather is often sunny as can be. In the summer, often the fog rolls in, making it chilly.

The weather was quite a contrast to the previous weekend when we were in snowy Chicago. We loved that too, though. In fact, I thanked the organizers of Love is Murder, our reason for being there, for having such a lovely snow storm for our entertainment.

The reason we were in Arroyo Grande was for me to participate with the Central Coast chapter of Sisters in Crime in a library presentation–which I did, of course. I’m always up for talking about my books and meeting new people. A chance to go to the coast was a huge incentive. We used to live in Oxnard (which is near Ventura) about one mile from the beach, and frankly, I miss the proximity to the ocean.

It was in Oxnard that I first became interested in writing about law enforcement. Our first house was in a neighborhood with police officers, firemen, and Navy personnel and their families. We partied and had coffee with our neighbors and got to know them all very well. Years later, my youngest daughter married a police officer who loved to tell me stories about what happened on his shift–he even took me on a tour of the police station and on a rather scary ride-along.

In my Rocky Bluff series (much darker than my Deputy Tempe Crabtree series), I’ve drawn quite a bit on my experiences from the days I hung out with those policemen and their families. If you’re interested, here’s a video about the latest book, Smell of Death,

http://au.youtube.com:80/watch?v=B1Q_1YJe2XQ

And to bring this back around to the beach, the Rocky Bluff series is set in a fictional beach community somewhere on the coast between Ventura and Santa Barbara–with some resemblance to Oxnard back in the time when I lived there.

Traveling around to promote books is fun, though not at all profitable. What I truly like best is meeting new people and my travels have been a great way to do it.

Now, back to working on my income taxes. Ugh!

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

On Writing About a Culture I’m Not Really a Part Of

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(Yes, I know that’s terrible grammar, but “On Writing About a Culture of Which I’m Not Really a Part” sounds terribly stilted.)

My heroine, Deputy Tempe Crabtree is an American Indian and I’m not. My closest relationship to native people are my daughter-in-law and a four-year-old great-grandaughter. When I first created Tempe, her native blood wasn’t a big part of life. With each book, she learns more and more about her roots. I’ve learned right along with her.

Tempe belongs to the Yanduchi tribe which is part of the Yokuts. Yanduchi is not a real tribe, though quite similar sounding to one. The Yokut Indians have many off-shoots and were and are located all over the Central Valley of California. The Bear Creek Reservation where many Yanduchi live has a strong resemblance to the Tule River Reservation which is located fairly close to where I live.

In looks, Tempe resembles my daughter-in-law who is part Yaqui, but her personality is her own. I’ve also been very much influenced by two female law enforcement officers I know.

Whenever I’ve put Yokut legends in a novel, the legends are true. Calling the Dead has quite a few that seemed to fit what was going on in the story. A future book, Dispel the Mist, is based on a Tule River Indian legend that isn’t well-known, but oh, so much fun to write about. To find out more about the legend, I was invited to go along with the anthropology class to the Tule River Reservation and visit the Painted Rocks.

Though I have attended Pow Wows and visited with our local Indians as part of my research, much of what I’ve used has come from books, especially when I’m writing about supernatural and spiritual aspects of the culture. I want to be respectful and that’s one of the reasons I always emphasize I’m writing fiction.

The town of Bear Creek is a fictionalized version of the town I live in, though I’ve moved it a thousand feet higher into the mountains. In all the years I’ve lived in my little town, there’s only been one murder and a second in a mountain community several miles above us. Bear Creek isn’t so lucky. The worst that happens on the real reservation are vehicle accidents on the narrow, winding road leading to the reservation and it’s casino.

Fortunately, I’m thrilled to say, the Native Americans who’ve read my books seem to like them.
My latest, Judgment Fire, besides investigating the murder of a battered wife, Tempe participates in a Starlight ceremony that opens her eyes to some buried painful memories of her highschool years.

Writing this series has brought me great pleasure and some faithful fans.

Marilyn http://fiction foryou.com

P.S. I met in person half of Evelyn David this past weekend at Love is Murder. Actually I’d met her before though I didn’t realize it. We all had a great time at LIM.

A Bit of History

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By way of introduction, I am the granny of the group. I’ve been on this planet for a long, long time. I remember listening to President Roosevelt on the radio announcing that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. (Maybe my memory has been enhanced a bit by hearing that announcement so many times afterwards.)

Despite the fact I grew up during World War II, I had an absolutely wonderful childhood. In fact my imagination was enhanced by the war. Because they were sending English children to various places to be safe, I told everyone my little sister was a princess and we were caring for her until the war was over. No one really believed me except my sister, who for years thought she was adopted.

Blackouts (when the whole city of Los Angeles went dark) were great fun. You have no idea how exciting it was to ride in a car with no headlights, no lights on the street or traffic lights. (I’m sure my parents were not as thrilled as I was.) We had an inner room inside our house where we could wait until the air raid was over and a place we could have a small light. We played board games and ate snacks my mom had stashed away in the cupboards.

My secret ambition was to be a spy if and when the enemy took over our city. Who would suspect a kid? My friends and I dug secret tunnels in the empty lots and concocted poisons to take care of the enemy. None of our parents had any idea what we were up to because back in those times, as long as you were home for dinner no one worried.

On a regular basis the air raid warden held meetings at his home and everyone in the neighborhood was expected to attend. The adults learned how to grow victory gardens and do first aid, we kids had a great time playing hide’n go seek and various other games. The refreshments were always great despite the fact sugar was rationed.

I organized 4th of July parades with the kids in the neighborhood, everyone decorating their bikes and wagons.

And to bring it around to writing related matters, I wrote plays for my friends to perform, in middle school (called junior high back then) and I put out my own magazine and authored all the stories and articles.

Now, I’m the author of the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series (Judgment Fire) as well as other books. I’d never thought of my series as being cozy, though since my characters don’t swear, not much blood is spilled on stage, there’s a laugh or two, and yes, the bad guy always gets it in the in, I guess the term cozy fits.

Years ago I wore high heels, now I stick to whatever is comfortable. Despite all this, I’m extremely pleased I was asked to join these talented young women.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com/