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Those Who Appear in THE TRASH HAREM

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ABOUT THE CHARACTERS IN THE TRASH HAREM Of course the main characters are the now-retired Deputy Tempe Crabtree and her husband, Hutch Hutchinson, along with a slew of others. Since this mystery is set in a 55-plus gated community, the majority of the characters are senior citizens. I’ve been one for years, and have many for friends—but none like the ones I’ve created, with the exception of one. The one is Jonathan Reynolds who is remarkably like my son-in-law, Mike. The reason is the whole idea for the plot and title is based on something my daughter told me about him. I couldn’t imagine another person except for him—so the description of Jonathan in the book, though not exact, is a lot like Mike. Jonathan’s wife Samantha is not like my daughter, not in looks or what she does. Jonathan and Samantha’s neighbors are all major characters, the first being Katherine Sullivan, the murder victim. She was the closest to the Reynolds’ ages. Katherine’s son, David, is not at all fond

The 22nd will now be the first day of sale. The Trash Harem--About the Cover

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Deciding what should be on a cover is always something the author and/or the publisher must decide. Since the title of my new Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery is The Trash Harem , yes, it does refer to trash containers, the idea of one on the cover didn’t appeal. One of the threads in the plot involves an old oak tree on property belonging to the Pechanga Indians. If you’ve never heard of this tribe of native people, they are located in the Temecula area (very southern California) and own the very popular, Pechanga Resort and Casino. The Great Oak, called Wi’aasal, is over one-thousand years old making it the largest naturally grown, coastal live oak tree. The huge trunk is over twenty-feet around, and the largest branches touch the ground, and it is over one-hundred feet tall. This oak tree still produces acorns. The native people revere this oak tree whose canopy sheltered many generations. It is legendary and holds spiritual significance. At one time, the land this magnificen

March 22 nd will now be the First Day of THE TRASH HAREM for .99 Cemts

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We had an unfortunate glitch and the first day had to be moeved to March 22.  https://www.amazon.com/Trash-Harem-Tempe-Crabtree-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B096KZDPH8/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3RKVETAU5V6LI&keywords=The+Trash+Harem+by+Marilyn+Meredith&qid=1676730229&s=digital-text&sprefix=the+trash+harem+by+marilyn+meredith%2Cdigital-text%2C239&sr=1-1 The main setting for THE TRASH HAREM is a fictional upscale senior citizen enclave in Temecula. Two of my daughters live in two different such communities, one in Southern Californai and the other in Northern California. I took bits of each to create the one in this mystery. Though semi-retired, both of my girls and their husbands are much younger than their neighbors.  Temecula is a great town. It has many wineries,the Pechanga Indians and their casino, and the famour mystery writer, Erle Stanley Gardner owned a huge ranch here. Old Town Temecula is a great place to shop, do a little olive oil tasting, and enjoy wonderful food in the ma

PUBLIC SAFETY WRITERS ASSOCIATION'S WRITERS CONFERENCE

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https://policewriter.com/conference/ July 13-16, 2023 at the Orleans in Las Vegas! Registration for 2023 is open.  2023 is right around the corner, folks, so save the dates and plan to come to our July conference. Also, we will have the return of our pre-conference workshop on July 13. Conference fees  Early Bird – $275 (register before May 1, 2023) Full Price – $350 (registrations after May 2, 2023) Pre Conference Workshop – $45 This is my favorite conference for mystery writers--get it right from those who live it.  The conference includes a pre-conference get-together and two great lunches, plus a Satruday night award ceremony with snacks. The hotel has special rates for the conference too.  

MURDER AT THE ZOO by Marcia Rosen

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Agatha, Raymond, Sherlock, and Me Mystery: Murder at The Zoo   By Marcia Rosen www.MarciaRosen.com MarciagRosen@gmail.com An Agatha, Raymond, Sherlock and Me Mystery: "Murder at the Zoo," March, 2023.  A body is tossed into the lion’s habitat at the zoo where Miranda Scott is the senior vet.  These authors often seem to live in her head telling her what to do…and not do. So does her gangster father. www.MarciaRosen.com , Artemesia Publishing Brief Summary:  When she was a young girl, Miranda Scott read dozens of mystery books by authors such as Agatha Christie and Raymond Chandler, and she loved characters like Sherlock Holmes. She was equally obsessed with watching old black and white crime movies. She began hearing their voices in her head suggesting what she should and should not do. Sometimes, she even answered them.     After a body is tossed into the lions’ habitat at the zoo where she is the senior veterinarian, Miranda Scott and Detective Bryan Anders

It's Getting Harder and Harder for me to Do what Needs to be Done

The main reason is my husband is at the stage in life where he needs help doing almost everything, meaning I have to squeeze in other projects when I can. I'm working on a new program design and proposal for someone that is harder than the others I've done in the past--for children with special health needs. I have to look up a lot of regulations to include in the plan. It's taking a long time. I finished my last Tempe Crabtee mystery, now need to tackle the rewrite--when I have time. I was slow to get up because the electricity went out and I decied I might as well stay in bed until it came back on, which I did.  At the moment I'm a bit distracted because it is snowing--and I keep looking at it out the window. Nice big flakes, but itisn't stickeing. Snailhead, thehill behind me is covered with snow. I'm woefullybehind on the other blog I'm supposed to contribute to also. Now, I really have to get busy on the program design. Marilyn

Teaching and Me

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My mom wanted me to become a teacher but I had other ideas. Instead of going to college, I went acorss the U.S. and got married and wasn't long before I had a big family. When you have kids, you do a lot of teaching when you aren't even aware of it: besides helping wih homework, how to make a bed, do the laundry, clean house, cooking, etc. When I was a Camp Fire Girl leader I learned new skills so I could teach my girls, everything from knot tying to all kinds of camping cooking inlcuding cooking a turkey underground, backpacking in the mountains, and putting on plays to earn money for our trip to the Grand Canyon.  While reading Job Opportunities in the paper I found one for a teacher of pre-school for handicapped kids. I thought handicapped meant kids in wheelchairs, turned out it was for kids with developmental disabilities. I was interviewed but the job went to a credentialed kindergarten teacher. She lasted a week. I was hired and taught there for 10 years.During that time