Hello, everyone! I know it's been a long time, but the past year has had a lot of challenges and changes for me. As I'm preparing my sixth Black Horse Campground mystery for release (it doesn't even have a title yet!), I'm warming up the Back Deck with the latest release from friend and fellow author, Marilyn Meredith. "Tangled Webs" is the 15th book in her Rocky Bluff P.D. series.
Where Some of the
Ideas Came From
As always, the
ideas from Tangled Webs came from some past experiences and a lot of
imagination.
Years ago, I taught
in several day care centers. My favorite and my longest employment was in a pre-school
for developmentally disabled youngsters. I also worked in two other centers run
by the same company. Some of the characters are composites of the people I
worked with—good and bad.
And yes, some of
the plot is based on activities I observed that weren’t what they should have
been. As always, nothing is exactly what really happened (no one was murdered,
of course), but some similarities do exist.
The building for
the center is not based on any of the places where I worked. I created what I
needed to fit into the beach community of Rocky Bluff.
I borrowed the
looks for one of the younger characters in this book from a beautiful child I
know who is a black and white ethnic mix—with fair skin and curly blond hair.
And of course, I
always like to have my characters deal with problems we all may face in our
lives from prejudice, being bullied, having a relative with Alzheimer’s,
problem teenagers, unexpected changes, and having a child with developmental
disabilities.
Life and living
plus a big dose of imagination give me plenty of ideas for all my books.
Marilyn who writes
the RBPD series as F. M. Meredith
Blurb:
Too many people are telling lies: The husband of the murder victim and his
secretary, the victim’s boss and co-workers in the day care center, her stalker,
and Detective Milligan’s daughter.
Bio: F.
M. Meredith who is also known as Marilyn once lived in a beach town much like
Rocky Bluff. She has many friends and relatives in law enforcement. She’s a
member of Mystery Writers of America, 3 chapters of Sisters in Crime and serves on the Public Safety Writers Association Board.
Webpage: http://fictionforyou.com
Facebook: Marilyn
Meredith
Twitter: @marilynmeredith
Tomorrow I’m
heading over to https://jtzortman.wordpress.com/category/jackie-taylor-zortman/
to discuss the setting for Tangled
Webs.
Thank you so much, Amy, this was a fun post to write.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post, Marilyn! Sounds like very gratifying work you did at the pre-school. I love your last line: Life and living plus...imagination = plenty of ideas. So true!
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Lida. Sometimes it's easy to just remember things and then think how it might have all gone wrong.
DeleteSounds like another winner, Marilyn. Having known and worked with this lady for years at the PSWA Conference, I know what a great teacher she is to other writers. I read her books for inspiration in my own writing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Unknown. Always happy to hear I did something right.
ReplyDeleteIt's always a pleasure to have you on the Back Deck, Marilyn! You keep me wanting to keep writing... I have a lot to learn from you!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Amy. And I must say, I'm still learning too.
ReplyDeleteOKAY as to a great series, a favorite of mine. And Marilyn, I love your new hair style!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Radine! As to my hair--my young hairdresser talked me into it, and I'm happy with it.
DeleteMarilyn, you're truly an inspiration!
ReplyDelete