Today, my friend and fellow mystery author, Marilyn Meredith, is taking over the Back Deck Blog to tell us about her latest Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery, "A Cold Death", and her journey as an author! Grab a cup of coffee (or chai, Marilyn's choice) and enjoy your visit!
My
Journey as an Author
Like many others,
I’ve written since I was a kid, starting before I could actually
write words, drawing a story and all the characters. Once I could
read, I went on to write my own version of the Little House on
the Prairie books. I also wrote and illustrated a book about
fairies that my mother sent to a publisher and received a kind
rejection. In grammar school, I also wrote plays for the neighborhood
kids to perform and in junior high, I wrote and put out my own
magazine.
Because of marrying
soon after graduating, and raising a big family, my writing narrowed
down to PTA newsletters, and plays for my Camp Fire Girls to perform.
Though I did write a couple of novels that were rejected, I didn’t
write any fiction again until my sister did our genealogy. It
fascinated me and I decided to do some research to try and find out
more about what happened. The research then led me to write a 500
plus page fictionalized novel of my mother’s side of the family. I
was a grandmother by this time. After many rejections and rewrites,
this became my first published book. I wrote about my father’s side
of the family, and that one was published too.
During my writing
life I’ve had several agents, learned from some, and not from
others, but no one sold anything for me.
I switched to
writing mysteries after I’d finished with the historical family
sagas. My Deputy Tempe Crabtree mysteries were first published by a
small press and I became friends with the publisher. She published
the first four and unexpectedly, died. I’ve gone through publishers
who turned out to be crooks, others who decided publishing was not
for them, others who’ve gotten ill or had family tragedies that
made them decide to close their businesses.
Fortunately,
Mundania Press, the publisher for the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mysteries
is still going strong.
What I’ve told you
is merely the highlights of what I’ve experienced on my journey. In
reality, looking back I often wonder why I didn’t give up. Of
course, I’m glad I didn’t. Because of being an author I’ve met
so many wonderful people, other authors and readers, helpful folks in
law enforcement who have become friends, have had many adventures,
traveled to places I’d never gone to before, learned so much about
writing and publishing, and for the most part, had a great writing
life.
Marilyn
Blurb for A
Cold Death:
Deputy Tempe
Crabtree and her husband answer the call for help with unruly guests
visiting a closed summer camp during a huge snow storm and are
trapped there along with the others. One is a murderer—and another
a ghost.
Anyone who orders
any of my books from the publisher‘s website:
http://mundania.com
can get 10% off by
entering MP20 coupon code in the shopping cart. This is good all the
time for all my books, E-books and print books.
On
Kindle:
Marilyn Meredith’s
published book count is nearing 40. She is one of the founding
members of the San Joaquin chapter of Sister in Crime. She taught
writing for Writers Digest Schools for 10 years, and was an
instructor at the prestigious Maui Writers Retreat, and has taught at
many writers’ conferences. Marilyn is a member of three chapters of
Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and serves on the board
of the Public Safety Writers of America. She lives in the foothills
of the Sierra, a place with many similarities to Tempe Crabtree’s
patrol area. Webpage: http://fictionforyou.com
Blog: http://marilymeredith.blogspot.com/
and you can follow her on Facebook.
Contest: Once again
I’m going to use the name of the person who comments on the most
blogs on my tour for the next Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery—which
may be the last in the series.
Tomorrow I’ll be
here:
What About Killing
Off a Main Character?
