Marilyn's Musings

When someone writes a murder mystery series that centers around one location, and especially one that is a small town, there is always the fear that the place will have the Cabot Cove Syndrome (where Jessica Fletcher's neighbors and friends died one after another.) Deputy Tempe Crabtree is the resident deputy for the small town of Bear Creek and its outlying areas, including the Bear Creek Indian Reservation, which has given me some other places for murder victims to be found. I've also brought in out-of-towners for some of the murder victims. Once in a while Tempe travels while working an investigation. But in the case of Not as it Seems she and her husband Hutch go on vacation. The vacation includes the wedding of their son Blair who lives in Morro Bay. Morro Bay is one of my husband's and my favorite places to visit so it was fun to include some of the places we like to go from restaurants to beautiful places of interest.  Because Bear Creek is fic...

The tour for Not as It Seems is shorter than usual and should be easier to follow. Sept. 15  How do Real People Figure into my Books?   http:// mmgornell.wordpress.com Sept. 16 The Inspiration for the Book and an Excerpt  http://evelyncullet.com/marilyn-meredith-not-as-i t-seems/ Sept. 17  The Character Who Borrowed Linda Thorne's Name http://www.lindathorne.com/blog/   Sept 18   How I Started Writing, and More http://www.bettydravis.com/  On this blog you can't leave comments.   Sept. 19 About Tempe's Indian Background http://lornacollins-author.blogspot.com    Sept. 20 The Setting   http://jwillsbooks.com/blog-posts/ Sept. 21 Researching Ethiopia http://amymbennettbooks.blogspot.com/2015/09/a-visit-with-oak-tree-press-author.html    Sept. 22 Eating Your Way Through a Mystery https://thoniehevron.wordpress.com/    Sept. 23 My Fascination with Law Enforce...

Anyone who is familiar with my two mysery series knows that I don't use actual places for the settings, though in both cases they are similar to places that I know. In my Rocky Bluff P.D. series, Rocky Bluff is a Southern California beach community between Ventura and Santa Barbara--and no, it is not Carpenteria. Rocky Bluff has it's own geography, street names and history. In many ways it's similar to two other beach towns, Ventura and Oxnard. The action in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series usually happens in a fictional town called Bear Creek and the surrounding area. Sometimes the story centers on the Bear Creek Indian Reservation. Bear Creek is similar to the town where I live except I've moved it into the mountains another 1000 feet in order to have "better" trees and more weather. The indian reservation has many similarities to the Tule River Indian Reservation--but it's not exactly like it. I've given Porterville the name Dennison, ...

This has been a busy, busy month. Besides the blog tour, which had a few more glitches than usual and I'll be giving some tips about what I will do differently next time, if there is a next time, I've done a lot of traveling. At least for me. The first weekend of the month, hubby and I headed over to Morro Bay--one of our most favorite places so I could join with my sisters and misters in the Central Coast chapter of Sisters in Crime. I wrote about it earlier, but the best part is always seeing my friends who live in the area. I didn't have to travel far to do a presentation in our local library, only 17 miles. I love the Porterville Library and their staff. Traveling with my daughter this time, we headed back to the coastal area and Santa Maria where I joined up with the CC chapter of Sisters in Crime again at the Santa Maria Library. This was a fast trip--but as usual, we both had a great time. It was fun to stay in the Santa Maria Inn once aga...

 This Sunday, April 6 from 1-3, several members of the Central Coast chapter of Sister is Crime will gather at the Coalesce Bookstore and Wedding Chapel, 845 Main St., Morro Bay. Not only will it be a book signing, but each participant will give a 5 minute reading or talk about their book(s). And (I know this is important) there will be refreshments! Those who will be presenting are: Tony Piazza (the president of CCSinC), Sue McGinty, Paul Fahey, Barbara Hodges, Anne R. Allen, Natalie Jarboe, and me. The event will be held in the chapel and the beautiful garden patio. My hubby and I love to go over to these events, it's like a mini-vacation. We're good friends with so many of the members because we've been joining the chapter for events for a long, long time. I do hope some of you who are in the area will come join us. I'll have copies of Murder in the Worst Degree, Dangerous Impulses, Spirit Shapes and Raging Water.             ...

As you're reading this we'll be driving over to the coast, Morro Bay to be exact. Our first destination in La Serena Hotel, which is the designated hotel for instructors who will be teaching at the Central Coast Writing Conference which begins tomorrow, September 16 at Cuesta College We've been told that the views are of the bay--but the last time we stayed her, our view was of an upper level parking lot. Hoping for different this time. Anyone who has followed my blog knows that we really love the central coast and head that way on many occasions. One reason is because I belong to Central Coast Sisters in Crime and I love to join them for their various promotion activities--combining business with pleasure. Over the years, hubby and I have become good friends with members of that chapter of Sisters in Crime. This evening we'll be having dinner with two of them and their significant others. Sue McGinty has been a friend for many years and I met her first when I c...

When we're going to spend the night, I usually look for hotels and motels through Expedia trying to find a cheap one that will be okay. We've stayed in some pretty interesting hotels this way. Some better than others. With the La Serena Hotel we lucked out. Couldn't have asked for a better price and the hotel was lovely and only a couple of blocks from the waterfront and one block from the bookstore where the signing was going to be the next day. I received several phone calls from Karen Kavanaugh both while riding in the car and after we checked into the hotel. Besides being a fellow Sister in Crime, we enjoy Karen's company. We made plans to meet for dinner at the Great American Fish Company. She and her husband, Jim, met us at 6:30. What a fun time! We had a wonderful dinner and jabbered so much and for so long, my husband said, "I think they might want to close this place." It really wasn't that late, but we'd been there for 2 1/2 hours! Karen and ...

We love going to the coast, which anyone who reads my blogs has probably figured out. This time we're going because I belong to the Central Coast Sisters in Crime and they are having a joint author signing at the Coalesce Book Store on Main Street in Morro Bay, Sunday, March 28th from 1-3. We decided to go today and we're booked a room in another hotel we've never stayed in--sure to be an adventure like so many before. Of course we plan to have a great seafood meal this evening and enjoy gazing out the window at the bay. The signing itself sounds fun. I think each of us (authors) will have the opportunity to speak about and/or read a bit from our book. I'll be bringing An Axe to Grind and two other books. So far, this will be my only signing in a bookstore. I've been to this bookstore before and it's charming. Each author is bringing some kind of finger food, so there'll be refreshments to entice people in. When I get home, I'll report how it all went. M...

No, haven't made another trip to the coast, but I've been thinking about the ones coming up. I love visiting the ocean. For years we lived only a mile away--as soon as it started getting warm, usually around April, the kids and I would head for the beach. Back in those days I always swam in the ocean. Can't imagine doing it now, but the cold didn't seem to phase me back then. I jump on every opportunity to sign up for any kind of book event that's being held in the coastal area. In March, we're hading over their twice. First, to Oxnard where I'll have a booth at the Celebration of the Whales at Channel Islands Harbor. That's March 21. Because we still have daughters in the area, we won't have to find a hotel. On March 28th, from 1-3, we're going back to Morro Bay for a joint book signing at the Coalesce Bookstore. That means we'll be spending the night. I just recently received an application for the Central Coast Book and Art Festival coming...

I expected to have copies of An Axe to Grind in my hand by this time so I could plan my two book launches. Instead, there's been a problem. The problem lies not with the publisher but the printer. I don't know the details, but there is a problem with the cover. I've already ordered 50 copies. My blog tour begins next month--and next month is almost here--reviewers are waiting for their copies and I don't have any to send. Of course this is the reason I didn't set up my book launches ahead of time--sweating it out while waiting for books is no fun. Been through that before and I know better. Of course I'm eager--and anxious maybe, but eventually the problems will be ironed out and the books will come, maybe not in time for what I want them for, but they'll be here for other events down the line. I have two biggies coming up at the end of March, a booth at Celebration of the Whales in Channel Islands Harbor, Oxnard, and a group author signing at a bookstore i...

I'll be in Morro Bay when this blog posts. I'm going to participate in a writing workshop put on my the Central Coast chapter of Sisters in Crime, one of several chapters that I belong to. I'm especially fond of the members of this group and I've done several events with them. It's at 10 a.m. at the Morro Bay Library. The one today will have several published authors helping critique aspiring authors work (5 pages apiece.) We'll start with each of us giving a 5 minute talk about some aspect of novel writing, my topic is characterization. Of course I could do an hour or more on the subject, but I'll have handouts which the participants can take home and peruse. Afterwards, we'll be lunching together. Hubby and I love driving over to the coast--besides the gorgeous scenery we know we'll have a great meal with some kind of seafood. We do have to come right back later in the afternoon as we both have commitments on Sunday. February is a much less busy mo...