Marilyn's Musings

            Last week, I attended a presentation and discovered that without thinking I had headed to the same seat in the auditorium that I’d occupied the week before. I sat down and realized that my seatmates were the same two people I’d sat beside a week earlier. I pointed that out to them and we had a lively exchange about how we – and our students – tend to claim a seat on the first day and automatically return to it.  We humans are creatures of habit. Whether it’s the seat we sit in, the side of the bed that we sleep on, or whether we have mayo or mustard on our sandwich, we tend to make a choice and stick with it. We are offended and annoyed when someone fails to acknowledge our choices – especially when they ignore our claims to ownership. How dare they sit in our chair? Well-developed characters also are creatures of habit. A character’s habits may provide information about his preferences, his attitudes, and/or his belief system. A cha...

Hail, fellow readers! Before you pick up a book by F.M. Meredith, do yourself a favor—reserve time for an uninterrupted read. Once you start reading, you won’t want to stop. No matter the topic, this author has an undeniable gift for hooking readers from page one and not letting go until its conclusion. No Sanctuary delivers well-developed characters and an intriguing plot with a surprising twist at the end. Congratulations, F.M. Meredith, on another winner. No Sanctuary qualifies as a fast and satisfying read. Loved it! -- Karen Kavanagh, former Co-president of Sisters in Crime-CCC.