Marilyn's Musings

1.            Thank you so much for letting me visit your blog today. I write mystery novels and short stories. The Tulip Shirt Murders is the second in the Delanie Fitzgerald mystery series. She is a private investigator who lives in Central Virginia. And I’m often asked about what my protagonist is really like. Here’s my list of twenty Delanie facts. 1.       Delanie is a redhead like 1-2% of the human population. She has grit, determination, and a spunky spirit. 2.       She drives a Mustang, and she calls it “Black Beauty.” 3.       She used her share of the money from her father’s estate to open Falcon Investigations. 4.       Delanie chose the name for her company in honor of Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon . 5.       My private investigator graduated from VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) with...

Recently, I was asked, "How much research do you actually do for fiction and how much of your work is true?” There’s quite a bit of research that goes into writing mysteries. I want to make sure that my stories are plausible and as accurate as possible. I mix quite a bit of “real” in my short stories and novels. All of my settings are actual places. I tend to put my works in Virginia cities and counties because I write what I know.  If a crime occurs, I make up that location's name. I wouldn't put a horrific or violent event at a real restaurant or store. But if you've been to the cities, you'll recognize landmarks, neighborhoods, and street names. I get ideas for crimes and capers from real cases, but I usually take liberties with the details. In my short story, "Washed up," in Virginia is for Mysteries , a beat up suitcase washes up on Chick's Beach, and it's filled with some mysterious contents. Back in the ‘80s, there was a real cri...