Marilyn's Musings

As usual, I have way too much to do.

I'm working on two program designs for folks want to start residential care homes for the developmentally disabled--very time consuming. Both have a deadline.
I am plodding along on my next Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery. Today, I need to fix the chapter I read to my critique group and print out the next one. I'm barely keeping ahead.
Because I am completely out of paper copies of Deadly Omen, the first in the Crabtree series, Mundania will print a new fresh copy. In order to make sure it is up to snuff, I need to re-edit it. I've begun, but have to do things as per prioity.
And then there's life.
I'm the chief cook around here--my choice. I'd much rather cook for a crowd than just for two, because frankly, I don't know how to cook for only two. Plus, I rather like to cook and try new recipes.
When I had my residential care home, 6 women, a grandsons lived with us and he often brought home a friend to have dinner. And of …

A Review
Murder at the Bus Depot is the latest of the Blue Place Café Mysteries, by Judy Alter. In this delightful offering, Kate Chambers is still whipping up delicious comfort food in her small diner for the citizens of Wheeler, and an occasional visitor or two.
One of these occasional visitors is Silas Fletcher, a Dallas developer who swoops into town with unwelcome ideas on how to revitalize the town. One of the worst being, spotlighting the abandoned bus depot, the site of a gruesome murder thirty years earlier. The murder was never solved, though the townspeople have several ideas about who was responsible.
Though Kate likes the idea of having a festival and starts planning for one, another murder at the depot stalls everything. With the help of the new minister’s wife, she decides the only way to help the town is to solve the murders.
Of course, there are plenty of suspects among the many unique characters who live in Wheeler, with the most prominent being the first murder vic…

by Janet Elizabeth Lynn
My husband, Will Zeilinger and I co-write the Skylar Drake Murder Mystery series, a hardboiled  series that takes the reader to 1950s Los Angeles and other areas of the west. Our new book, Slick Deal, begins News Year's Eve 1956 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, The first murder and clues lead to Avalon, Catalina.


We discovered that  Charlie Chaplin’s half-brother Syd began the first seaplane service to Catalina in 1919. It operated only for a couple of summers, when other firms moved in to operate the service until 1931. Researching Catalina in the 1950s we found that getting to Avalon was usually by ship but a seaplane also had regularly scheduled flights to the island. The Grumman G-21 Goose,  twin-engined amphibious  aircraft designed to serve as an eight-seat "commuter" aircraft for business. During World War II, the Goose transported US military (including the United States Coast Guard). During hostilities, the Goose took on an increasing numbe…

My husband, Will Zeilinger and I co-write the Skylar Drake Murder Mystery series, a hardboiled series that takes the reader to 1950s Los Angeles and other areas of the west. Our new book, Slick Deal, begins News Year's Eve 1956 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, The first murder and clues lead to Avalon, Catalina.           Each one of our books required research not only for 1950s but for the location where the clues lead us. We spent a week on Catalina and found a great deal of information by visiting the libraries, museums and the Casino Ballroom. Every, I mean every,  place we went to research mentioned the song with pride. I remember the song in 1958 and it's upbeat, catchy tune.  So I looked it up. Unfortunately, it was too late for us to use it in the book but I enjoyed reading about, and listening to the song. After all the island is all about romance!



26 Miles (Santa Catalina) was written and performed by the 1950s pop band The Four Preps. It reached number two on the Bi…

In Tulare County there are a lot of activities going on. (I sometimes wonder why the people who plan big events don't take into account what else is on the calendar.)

That being said, I'm sure you know what's going on around you.
The one I'm attending as a vendor is the first annual Tulare County Library Festival from 10 to 3. All the authors will be out on the front lawn of the Visalia Branch on Oak Street, so of course I'm hoping for good weather--no rain, not too hot or too cold.  The 
Why you might want to visit me:
I'm bringing lots of books and they will all be on sale! I'll have copies of most of my mysteries there and I've even cut the price on my two historical family sagas!
and
I'd love to see you!
Marilyn

After retiring from my former job as a newspaper editor I began writing a weekly column for the paper on local history. This fit in well with the new post I accepted as librarian of our county historical society where I assist patrons with genealogy and research. I didn't realize at the time it would also provide grist for writing fiction.
As I browse through old copies of our paper and those of surrounding communities in search of material for the column I'm constantly stumbling on bountiful sources of ideas for my stories. I make copies or jot down notes on these ideas for further consideration.
Sometimes the idea will lead directly to formation of a story. Just as often mulling on one of these nuggets will take me off on a tangent and the completed story will have scant relation to the original source.
One of these nuggets inspired my latest novel, The Bartered Body.
In 1876 a band of counterfeiters attempted to steal Abraham Lincoln's body from his tomb in Springfield, Ill…