Marilyn Meredith's Dangerous Impulses

Please Welcome F.M. (Marilyn) Meredith to Acme Authors Link 

F.M., also known as Marilyn Meredith, is the author of the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series. She first became interested in writing about law enforcement when she lived in a neighborhood filled with police officers and their families. The interest was fanned when her daughter married a police officer and the tradition has continued with a grandson and grandson-in-law who are deputies. She’s also serves on the board of the Public Safety Writers Association, and has many friends in different law enforcement fields. For twenty plus years, she and her husband lived in a small beach community located in Southern California much like the fictional Rocky Bluff. She is a member of three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Epic, and Mystery Writers of America.
Webpage: http://fictionforyou.com/

Blog: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

And on Facebook and Twitter as MarilynMeredith

Marilyn's Shares Her Writing Journey With Us Today -

Looking Back Over My Years as a Writer  

by F.M. Meredith

Sometimes it’s a good idea to look back over your accomplishments and disappointments in order to see how far you’ve come.

My first book (an historical family saga) received nearly thirty rejections before finding a publisher. (This was back in the days of typewriters, carbon paper, submitting full manuscripts in a box with another pre-addressed and stamped box inside.) I knew nothing at all about promotion and expected the publisher to do it all. One thing I do know, the distribution was good because people spotted it in markets and drugstores. The editor who bought it left the publisher—a big setback.

The second book (also an historical family saga) was accepted by a publisher that turned out to be a crook—and guess what, I self-published with another company that also turned out to be dishonest. I bought a lot of the books and managed to sell them myself, but never received a single royalty.

I changed genres and wrote my first mystery, The Astral Gift. This poor book found a home first with another crooked publisher (back then, there were lots of them preying on writers), 50 books were printed and the publisher disappeared. The Astral Gift had two more publishers after that.

Somewhere in this time period, I found another publisher who wanted me to make my submission camera-ready, long before print-on-demand companies, I struggled but managed to complete the project only to learn the publisher died.

When I wrote my first Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery, it was accepted by an e-publisher before anyone had a clue what this meant, nor were there any e-book readers. This was an unsuccessful venture. I’ve already written about what happened next, the series went through two more publishers until finally begin published by Oak Tree Press.

My other series about Deputy Tempe Crabtree has had a similar rough path to publication and staying published. An agent told me she wouldn’t represent me unless I changed Tempe’s name. She thought it too unusual. I found another agent who loved the name but accomplished nothing in four years. I struck out on my own and sold the book to a small independent Press, Golden Eagle. Four books were published, and then the publisher who’d become a friend, passed away unexpectedly. Hard Shell Word Factory republished the series as e-books, including a prequel. The publisher sold the company and all this series was picked up by Mundania Press both as e-books and trade paperbacks.

None of it has been easy. Would I do it again? Only if it were in this time period of computers and the Internet. Today, self-publishing is much easier with far better results. There are many legitimate small presses out there looking for good books to publish. It is easy to contact authors for a recommendation of their publishers. You can find out about all the best ways to promote through the Internet and get lots of advice and support from fellow authors.

This is the briefest of histories, there were other books and other mishaps along the way, but this is what I remember the most clearly. One thing that I mustn’t forget is I learned a lot along the way, some from other agents I had, much from writers’ conferences, writing magazines and books, but the very most from the members of the critique group that I joined over thirty years ago.

Now a bit about Marilyn's latest, Dangerous Impulses:

An attractive new-hire captivates Officer Gordon Butler, Officer Felix Zachary’s wife Wendy is befuddled by her new baby, Ryan and Barbara Strickland receive unsettling news about her pregnancy, while the bloody murder of a mother and her son and an unidentified drug that sickens teenaged partiers jolts the Rocky Bluff P.D.

Buy Link:  http://tinyurl.com/byxomtk

 And A Contest!

The person who comments on the most blog posts on this tour may have a character named after him or her in the next Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel or choose a book from the previous titles in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series in either paper or for Kindle.

Rocky Bluff P.D. Series: Though each book in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series is written as a stand-alone, I know there are people who like to read a series in order. From the beginning to the end:

Final Respects

Bad Tidings

Fringe Benefits

Smell of Death

No Sanctuary

An Axe to Grind

Angel Lost

No Bells

Dangerous Impulses

Find F.M. (Marilyn) Meredith at: 

Webpage: http://fictionforyou.com/

Blog: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

On Facebook and Twitter as MarilynMeredith

Check Out F.M. (Marilyn) Meredith's last stop on the tour tomorrow, March 28, when she visits Chester Campbell at http://chestercampbell.blogspot.com/

Please leave a comment to welcome F.M. (Marilyn) Meredith to Acme Authors Link.

Inspiration! by DL Larson

Our guest blogger this week, F.M. Meredith, has the energy and know-how to get things done. If you have not read her blog at Acme Authors (Wednesday, March 23) please take a moment to do so. Her schedule is full and she has the capacity to be in several places at once! Perhaps she's a magician, a juggler at least. She is a great-grandmother! She is a wonderful author.

Since I just put my grandson down for his morning nap, I understand a bit about juggling a schedule. My daughter is getting married in two weeks, my husband and son have ventured into a business expansion and just two days ago I made a plethora of food for their Open House. I had a polka-dot party for my preschoolers at the library and judged our 2011, two day, Chess Tournament. Our Teen Book Club met and chatted about Dear America Books and our Teen Advisory Board has decided to send books to Taiwan. I was several days behind on my Bible Study, but went to our gathering anyway. I have yet to buy anything for my daughter's two bridal showers this weekend and I haven't a clue on what I might wear. And it's only Thursday!

Writing has been not only nudged off my plate, it's been dropped off the table of things to do. So, why did I wake last night at 1:15 and go downstairs and work on my writing for two and a half hours? I need my sleep. I'm exhausted, I need a mom to clean my house. I have guests coming in two weeks to stay at our home. Messy is the kindest word I can think of when I glance at the various rooms in my house. Okay, dirty too! I can see where I stopped cleaning when I attempted to put up Spring/Easter decorations. Three tubs sit in my dining room, half empty and taking up space. Yet, I woke with the urge to write!

The sensible me says, "Get a grip! You do NOT have time to write!" The writer sasses back by saying, "You've gone without sleep before. And besides, I need to do this!" Then I read Meredith's blog awhile ago and I feel energized, ready to trade sleep for writing production. Writing is part of who and what I am. When I don't make time in the day for writing, insomnia always sneaks in and makes me pay. I will write. One way or another I must write.

Thank you F.M. Meredith for sharing your insights with us this week. I know it takes determination and tenacity to become a successful author. You have proven hard work pays off.

Til next time ~

DL Larson

Please Welcome Morgan Mandel's Guest, F.M. Meredith, Prolific Mystery Author

F.M. Meredith

F.M. Meredith, also known as Marilyn Meredith, is the author of nearly thirty published novels. Her latest in the Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series, from Oak Tree Press, is Angel Lost. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, Four chapters of Sisters in Crime, including the Internet chapter, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com and her blog at http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

Today, you can catch a glimpse of what F.M. is doing to promote her latest book. First, here's a little bit about that book.

Angel Lost by F.M. Meredith

As plans for her perfect wedding fill her mind, Officer Stacey Wilbur is sent out to trap a flasher, the new hire realizes Rocky Bluff P.D. is not the answer to his problems, Abel Navarro’s can’t concentrate on the job because of worry about his mother, Officer Gordon Butler has his usual upsets, the sudden appearance of an angel in the window of a furniture store captures everyone’s imagination and causes problems for RBPD, and then the worst possible happens—will Stacey and Doug’s wedding take place?


My Promotion for Angel Lost
by F.M. Meredith
I do a lot of the same things as everyone else, Facebook and Twitter, and I’m on a blog tour through the month of March and will be visiting a few other blogs in April.

About Blog Tours: I host authors on my own blog http://marilynmeredith.blogpost.com and I’ve found that some of my guests don’t really have a clue about what they ought to be doing. Oh, they send me exactly what I ask for, and usually write great blogs, but they don’t do a thing to promote (I do) and they don’t come back and visit to see if anyone has left a comment or a question that they can answer.

The champion promoter on Facebook is Rob Walker and I can’t really add anything to what he’s doing, in fact I’ve copied some of his strategies. Just know, Facebook is there and it’s great way to reach a lot of people. Facebook and Twitter are other ways to steer people to your blog posts. And if you use http://iPing.com you can connect with most of the social networks you’re on with one post.

Though I love promoting on the Net I do a lot of in-person events too.

The only mystery con I’m going to this year is Mayhem in the Midlands in Omaha. This is one of my favorites because I’ve made a lot of friends who attend every year and are also my fans. Attending is much like going to a family reunion.

I only have two bookstores where I make regular appearances; one is our local used book store and I’ll be doing the launch for Angel Lost there. I’m also going to an independent, Willow Bridge Books, in the foothills to give a talk to their writers’ group. I love going there and I always sell a lot of books. This year though, I’m traveling to Sedona AZ and will be speaking at the Well-Red Coyote Book Store http://www.wellredcoyote.com/ because my hubby and I and our daughter and her husband are going there on vacation. I spoke there about three years ago and it’s wonderful bookstore. (Another tip, combine your speaking engagements with your vacations.)

Writing conferences are another favorite, though I don’t attend them anymore unless I can be a speaker. (Don’t get me wrong, I always learn something new at a writing conference and they are always great for recharging my battery, it’s just that I have so little time I have to choose what works best for me. So, having said that, this year I’ll be heading to Public Safety Writers Association http://www.policewriter.com where I’ll learn from the experts and know I’ll be on panels because anyone who wants to be on one will. ( Plus I’m the program chairperson and because my sister lives in Vegas where the conference is I’ll visit her while I’m there.)

I’m also one of the instructors for the Cuesta College Writing Conference http://www.communityprograms.net/wc/wcindex.htm  which leads me right to Book Festivals.

The Sunday following the conference is the Central Coast Book and Author Festival in San Luis Obispo. This is an event I never miss. Craft Fairs are also great venues for authors to sell books and this year I’m going to the Jane Austen Festival in Fresno—yes, I know my books are not historical or about Jane Austen, but I was well-received last year and invited back this year. My point here would be to look for places where you can sell your books.

I’m also going to be talking about what gave me the ideas for my books at a college in Southern California. Check out your nearby colleges and see if they’d like to have you as a speaker. Some pay a speaker’s fee and some will let you sell your books after the talk.

If you belong to a Sisters in Crime chapter or more than one like I do, you could offer to be a speaker at their meeting, or perhaps they have a speakers’ bureau like the LA Chapter of Sisters in Crime that arranges for panels at local libraries.

The potential for speaking engagements and selling opportunities is only limited by your imagination and time. I hope I’ve give you some ideas.

Please leave a comment to welcome F. M. Meredith, author of Angel Lost the latest in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series.

Marilyn (F.M.) Meredith Has an Axe to Grind - She'll tell you about it

I couldn't help using that line in the title. It was way to tempting. (G) Seriously, I'm happy to be hosting Marilyn a/k/a F.M. Meredith on our blog today. She's a vibrant member of the mystery community, with lots of energy and talent. I'm particularly happy that Marilyn is one of the members of the mystery blog, Make Mine Mystery, but that's not all she does.  - Morgan Mandel

F. M. Meredith who also writes under the name Marilyn Meredith is the author of nearly thirty published novels including the Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series, An Axe to Grind is the newest from Oak Tree Press. No Sanctuary was a finalist the mystery/suspense category of the Epic best in e-books contest .

She is a member of EPIC, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. She was an instructor for Writer’s Digest School for ten years, served as an instructor at the Maui Writer’s Retreat and many other writer’s conferences. For over twenty years she lived in a beach community similar to Rocky Bluff.

You can visit the author online at http://fictionforyou.com/ and her blog at http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

Here's what Marilyn's Axe to Grind is about:

Detective Doug Milligan and his partner question suspects in the murder of a stalker including the stalker's target, her boyfriend, father and brother, as well as the stalker’s step-father. The investigation leaves little time for Doug to see his fiancée and fellow officer, Stacey Wilbur.



Stacey handles a molestation case which involves the son of a friend. She and her mother talk wedding plans, though all must wait until Doug's renter, Officer Gordon Butler finds another place to live.

When Doug disappears while tailing a suspect, Stacey sets out to find him, hoping she can reach him time.

Here's what our Axe Grinder has to say:
Why I’m Writing About a Fictional Place by F.M. Meredith

My Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series is about a police department located in a small Southern California beach community in Ventura County between Santa Barbara and Ventura. I didn’t want to write about a real place. I’ve found it easier to make up the setting because the restaurants and stores I mention won’t go out of business before the book is published.

When I wrote the first book in the series my goal was to show how the family affects the policeman on the job and the job affects the police officer’s family. When we lived in a similar beach community, our first home was in a neighborhood full of cops. We partied with them, our kids played together, and the wives and I had coffee. A few years later, my daughter married a police officer and I had an even more intimate view of the relationship of the job and the family.

Though there are on-going characters, each book features different officers and the crimes they are working on, as well as what is going on in their private lives.

Though I do try to use solid police procedure, because the town of Rocky Bluff is small, as is their police department, they don’t have all the up-to-date equipment of a larger department. Crimes are solved more by old-fashioned detecting rather than by using all the forensics as seen on most of the popular TV shows.

I belong to the Public Safety Writers Association where most of the members are linked to law enforcement in some way, so I do have experts to ask when need be. However, when I’m talking to them about my books, I always say, “Remember this is my police department and I can do it anyway I want.” The statement always gets a laugh and they are forgiving when they read my books.

One thing about writing about a fictional place, I must keep track of all the businesses I’ve made up, where landmarks are located, which way the streets go, and anything else that I might have mentioned in another book. This is as important as keeping track of all the attributes of the characters.

Sometimes my protagonists go to a real city. In An Axe to Grind, Detective Doug Milligan goes to the Santa Barbara University campus to locate a suspect. I had to do some research to find out what the part I was writing about looked like and how the campus police operated. In the same book, Detective Milligan and his partner go to Ventura. I’m familiar with the part of Ventura I wrote about.

Though Rocky Bluff is a fictional place, it seems very real to me. I can see it in my mind just as well as I can see all the real spots that I’ve visited over the years. The town is located right on the coast, though on the north side there is a bluff where the wealthier people live. Along the beach are older, small homes, once vacation spots for people from out of town, but now mostly rentals. I could go on, but you get the idea. I know Rocky Bluff as well as I know the people who live there and inhabit my books.

F.M. Meredith a.k.a. Marilyn Meredith
http://fictionforyou.com/
http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

Please welcome Marilyn by leaving a comment below.

Please Welcome My Guest, Mystery Author Marilyn Meredith

Under the name of F.M. Meredith, Marilyn Meredith writes the Rocky Bluff P.D. series. The latest is No Sanctuary from Oak Tree Press. She is also the author of award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series as well as over twenty published novels. The latest is, Kindred Spirits, from Mundania Press.

She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, EPIC and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. She was an instructor for Writer’s Digest School for ten years, served as an instructor at the Maui Writer’s Retreat and many other writer’s conferences. She makes her home in Springville, much like Bear Creek where Deputy Tempe Crabtree lives. Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com/

Blog Address: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

First on the scene of a traffic accident that turns out to be murder, Officer Stacey Wilbur calls Detective Doug Milligan. Despite her former vow to never date anyone on the Rocky Bluff P.D., she and Milligan are romantically involved. Finding time to be alone together isn’t easy.

The murder victim is the wife of a popular Rocky Bluff minister, and several suspects immediately come to the forefront, the minister himself, his nosy secretary, the choir director, and a nerdy stalker. Stacey helps Doug with the murder investigation, but the Chief asks her to go undercover as a prostitute to expose a pedophile which leads to a surprising job offer.

Stacey must make two major decisions that will change her life forever, and a third that nearly causes her to lose her life.

Here's What Marilyn has to say today:

ABOUT GOING TO MYSTERY CONFERENCES OR CONVENTIONS

Probably everyone who reads this will know the difference, but just in case, here’s my explanation. Conferences are more of the “how to” variety, how to write a mystery, how to create convincing characters, how to make sure you get your forensics right, how to kill someone off in a new and innovative manner, and so on. A mystery convention is geared to fans, those wonderful readers who love to read (and buy) mysteries and actually enjoy listening to authors talk about how they came to write their mystery, or how they did the research for it, or how they created their characters, and so on.

Most mystery writers attend both. At a mystery conference they may be one of the presenters telling how they do all of the above mentioned how-tos and of course, they will figure out how to talk about their own book in a subtle manner so those listening will be curious and want to buy their books.

At the convention, the mystery writer hopes to sparkle and entertain in the hopes that those listening will be eager to buy his or her book.

I’ve gone to lots of both types of mystery confabs. The biggest of course is Bouchercon. This one is held all over the country and has the biggest attendance of both fans and mystery writers. This is the place to see some of the biggest and most popular mystery writers in the business. It can be pretty overwhelming at times too, you might make a new friend and never be able to find them again among the throngs of people.

Left Coast Crime is the second largest mystery con and always held on the left coast (though once that left coast was in Britain and another time in El Paso TX—this year it’s being held as left coast as possible—in Hawaii. It’s a bit smaller than Bouchercon, though many big name authors are always in attendance and lots of wonderful fans.

Then there are other smaller cons and conferences like Love is Murder which is always in Chicago. Some big names attend this one too—just not quite as many because there just aren’t as many people who go. It is also a writers conference as there are lots of opportunities to learn about writing mysteries and there are usually a few publishers and agents in attendance.

Mayhem in the Midlands is one of my favorites—this one is a mystery con put on by librarians, and it’s always in Omaha. This is not a how-to—but a how it was done convention, with a few big name authors and more not as well-known and lots of wonderful fans. What I love about this con is how friendly the fans are. At all the cons I’ve made a lot of author friends, but at this con I’ve made many life-long reader fans. Fans who I look forward to seeing every year.

A new writing conference that is rather unique is the Public Safety Writers Association. The organization was started by a law enforcement officer for law enforcement officers who write or want to write. Over the years it has embraced other public safety fields and people who write fiction and non-fiction about any of the public safety fields and have included mystery writers.

This is the smallest of all the cons that I’ve mentioned, but it has top-notch experts in forensics and all aspects of law enforcement as well as publishers and editors on hand. Because it’s small, there is ample opportunity to network. Anyone who wants to be on a panel is welcomed. To learn more about the PSWA conference go to: http://www.publicsafetywriter.com/

My advice to anyone wanting to go to any convention or conference, if you’re a writer register early. Plan to get to the conference a day ahead of time if possible, so you don’t miss anything. While at the conference, be friendly, talk to everyone. This is the best way to meet people. If you don’t have anyone to go to dinner with, ask someone to go with you. If they already have plans, ask the next person. Hand out your business card to everyone. If you’re fortunate enough to be on a panel, smile a lot, be funny, tell about your book but don’t go on and on about it, and don’t hog the panel.

Go to the panels that interest you the most. Hang out in the bar in the evenings—you don’t have to drink—just get acquainted with folks. And again, talk to people. Find out why they’re at the con—are they a writer, find out what they write, are they a reader? Tell them about your book.

Because I have a new book out, No Sanctuary, I’m heading out to several cons this year: Epicon, which is for electronically published authors—all my books are e-books as well as trade paperback; Mayhem in the Midlands, California Crime Writers (brand new writers’ con), and of course, PSWA. Hope to see some of you at one or more of these conferences. Be sure to say “hello.”

F.M. Meredith a.k.a. Marilyn Meredith
No Sanctuary is number 5 in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series
To learn more about the series visit http://rockybluffpd.blogspot.com/

No Sanctuary by F.M. Meredith is available at http://www.oaktreebooks.com/, Amazon, or an autographed copy from the author’s website: http://fictionforyou.com

Please welcome Marilyn by leaving a comment below.