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Showing posts from September, 2012

Ways to Make Your Settings Memorable

When researching a place that you plan to use in your next book, pay attention to details. I don't mean that you should make the description of a place sound like a travelogue, but there are simple things that you can note and put in your manuscript that will deliver the essence of the place. Decide on what time of year the story will take place--or the particular scenes and find out what the weather is like during that time period. If the area is prone to hurricanes, do you want to add a hurricane to the story? Or a tornado? Or a dust storm? Or a snow storm. Weather can add a lot to a plot. And if you are going to use something like that, then of course you must do some research as to what goes on during an event like this. What do people experience, how do they feel, what do they do? Be sure to include colors in the descriptions of your settings. Too often people leave color out. When I see some of the wonderful photos of skies on Facebook, I often jot down the colors shown i

My Book Launch for Raging Water

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What a good time we had at the book launch. It was held in the parlor of the Springville Inn. The Bear Creek Inn in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mysteries is fashioned after this Inn. We had a wonderful cake, three flavors, with a depiction of the Raging Water cover in the frosting. Sheri Smith, whose personality is used for the character, Miqui Sherwood, was there and even signed books along with me. Many of her friends came as well as some others who are fans of the Tempe Crabtree series. I talked about how the book came about and why Sheri's essence is one of the characters. We had a great time visiting and I answered a lot of questions. When it was over, many of us stayed on at the Inn and had dinner together. So much fun! This is one of the pluses of being an author. Marilyn

The Moroni Deception by Jack L. Brody

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THE MORONI DECEPTION   BY JACK L. BRODY “The DaVinci Code Meets The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” I asked the question I always want to know, "What inspired you to write the book?" This is what Jack told me:  There were two things--first, and to a lesser extent, it was an economic decision.  I'd written screenplays for a number of years, and had made several half-hearted attempts at a novel, but I'd always found it so much harder than writing a screenplay (probably because I was more of a movie guy, and I'd seen so many that the film formula was practically imbedded in my DNA), so with the couple tries I made, I had tended to give up pretty easily.   And speaking of the screenplays,  I came very close to producing my second one--an offbeat romantic comedy, and I had commitments from an up and coming director, a name actress, along with several companies that were willing to finance half the film.  The problem I kept running into, how

Last Day for Free Copy of No Bells on Kindle!

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 Today is the last day to get No Bells free on Kindle. Remember to look for it under the name No Bells by F. M. Meredith. Try it--bet you'll like it. How about a 21-bell-salute for NO BELLS by F.M Meredith? This latest addition to the Rocky Bluff Police Department saga welcomed me back into the lives of people who have seemed like fascinating friends since I met them in the first Rocky Bluff PD story. Truth be told,I cared about these officers and their families from the beginning. Finding them tangled in knotty problems similar to those real police officers may face on a daily basis gives me the feeling I’m privy to secrets the public in general is never aware of. I’m a fly on the wall; a hidden witness to secrets previously unknown; an invisible sprite watching crime happen. And then I am the invisible ride-along as RBPD officers work their way toward the “Who/Why/How solutions.Ah,what a gift to a reader! NO BELLS is an especially moving addition to this saga, beca

No Bells, Still Free on Kindle!

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Romance and Mystery All in One   By Cheryl C. Malandrinos Long the butt of the police department's jokes, Gordon Butler never seems to catch a break. He gets sent on the oddest calls and manages to end up in some rather strange situations. It looks like his luck might be changing, though. A routine traffic stop introduces Gordon to Benay Weiss, a local hair stylist. He thinks he's finally found the love he's been seeking. But when Benay's best friend, Geri, is reported missing and then found dead, Benay soon becomes a prime suspect. Gordon puts his job on the line to prove her innocence. I've read all the books in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series. Gordon has been my favorite character since he was introduced. I am so thrilled No Bells spotlights this great character. The point of this series and what F.M. Meredith has always done well, is to show how the job impacts family life and vice versa. Even though we've gotten some glimpse of Gordon's per

Great Review of No Bells, Free Today on Kindle

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A Police Procedural With Heart     By Pat Browning A cop's life isn't all gunfire, sirens and squealing tires. In F.M. Meredith's NO BELLS, cops in a small Southern California beach community knock on doors the old-fashioned way. Investigating a murder, they suspect and question everyone who knew the victim. NO BELLS reminds me of "Barney Miller," a low-key but thoroughly entertaining 1970s TV series. The setting was a squad room of New York City 's fictional 12th Precinct, located in Greenwich Village, with an ensemble cast working separately and together. In that small, confined setting the viewer got to know the players. It's the same in NO BELLS, with an ensemble cast in a small setting that lets you get to know the players. Meredith takes her time unfolding the story, with careful attention to detail. In this community where nobody's business is really private, the answers are there for the asking. The trick is to ask the