Marilyn's Musings

THE HELLO GIRLS   Stories of veterans who served their country during wars are treasured as first-hand accounts of history.Yet, there are many stories that never get told. One of these is the story of the Hello Girls of WWI.   My friend told me about a non-fiction book by Elizabeth Cobbs called “The Hello Girls.” I found it in the library along with a fiction account Jennifer Chiaverli titled “Switchboard Soldiers.” In 1917, America entered the war in Europe. Communication was vital. Portable switchboards were designed but the men assigned only knew Morse Code.   General Pershing went searching for trained female telephone operators who could speak fluent French.They had to be single and in their 20’s. He felt that they would be less argumentative than their male counterparts, who had a habit of disconnecting irate officers. 7,600 women responded. Although they weren’t allowed to join enlist in the Army, the women became part of the signal corps. They were expec...

“Bubble, bubble toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble.” This is the chant of the three witches in Shakespeare’s MacBeth. But maybe they weren’t actually witches. Maybe they were just practicing herbal medicine. Evidence of natural medicines has been found as far back as 60,000 years ago. When society moved on to man-made medicines, women still used the healing properties of plants. While men experimented with alchemy, women became apothecaries and often dubbed witches. I just finished a book called The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner. When a woman inherits her mother’s apothecary shop (the Rite Aid of its day) she promises never to use her poisons to kill a women. Men have no idea her secret shop exists but women know where to find it. Not only is it a fascinating book but the author includes recipes. Want to shorten the life of an elderly gentleman? Find Graveyard Yew, grind up the seeds and use as a suppository. Devil’s Snare is ideal for killing lawyers. It’s nast...

In school we've learned much about the great men of history. Somehow, women are overlooked. Before the movie Hidden Figures came out, we'd never heard of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson and Christine Barden. These mathematicians worked with NASA but they had two strikes against them: they worked in a field dominated by men and they were African-American.  Another Black woman hidden in the shadows is Belle da Costa Green, the subject of the novel The Personal Librarian. She passed for white to work for J.P. Morgan, who was very racist. She became instrumental in amassing priceless books (Gutenberg Bible anyone?) and became one of the most powerful women in NYC.   Helen Frick was the daughter of Henry Clay Frick. He was the chairman of Carnegie Steel and partially responsible for the infamous Johnstown Flood in Pennsylvania which killed over 2,000 people. Helen, who remained a spinster, inherited her father’s collection of art and artifacts and turned the family mansio...

(In this piece she's written about the San Joaquin Valley where we both live.) I’ve heard people use that phrase to describe the Valley. Some of my friends have left for San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland and Salt Lake City seeking higher-brow entertainment. What draws them are museums, theatre, concerts, bookstores and art galleries. But, when I ask if they are attending any events, I hear deterrents like fighting the traffic, the cost, the crowds, the parking. The culture is there, but where are they? I came across a book in the library titled Valley Light: Writers of the San Joaquin. It was written in 1978. I wasn’t writing my law enforcement mysteries back then and they forgot to mention Marilyn’s Native American mysteries set in Tulare County. (Because I hadn't written them back then,) But I recognized many of the featured authors. C.G. Hanzlicek was my poetry teacher at Fresno State. Wilma Elizabeth McDonald hosted me at her house to watch Shakespeare in Love. I’ve he...

May is Asian-American and Pacific Islander Appreciation month. Jimmy Carter selected this month in 2009. Filipinos came ashore in 1587. The Chinese followed in 1778. One hundred years later the Koreans showed up. Samoans arrived during the Roaring 20’s. The Vietnamese came in 1912, years before we went to war in their country. After the Vietnam War, Fresno   became the home of one of the largest population of Hmongs in the country. The Hmong New Year celebrated at the fair grounds is attended by over 100,000 people. But after the invasion of Covid, some Americans blamed Asians and  sought revenge. Hmong women going to market. I love historical fiction. Up to now I’ve been focused on the Medieval history of Europe. I can recite   the entire line-up of the Plantagenets, talk about the Tudor era but I wouldn’t go as far as James I. Italian and French timelines are a bit harder, especially the names. I steered away from Asian novels. I didn’t think I could relate. My cu...

Let me introduce myself. My name is Sunny Frazier. Marilyn and I have been friends for forty years. She’s been my mentor and we’ve done speaking engagements together. Recently our mutual friend, Lelia Taylor, passed away. She managed a website called Buried Under Books and was very supportive of authors. I wrote a regular column for the site. Marilyn quickly came to the rescue of my homeless blog and invited me to post on her page.   As you’ll discover, I love books and love to introduce readers to new reads. I don’t do reviews, but I do get personal by tying what I read to my life. And I love feedback. Right now we’re celebrating Earth Month and April 22 is Earth Day. It was started by Senator Gaylord Nelson in the 70’. Inspiration and awareness of the damage humans were doing to Mother Earth sprang from Silent Spring, written by Rachel Carson a decade before. At the time she was focusing on pesticides used in agriculture. Oh, we are well aware of use in our region of Californ...

Saturday, March 14 at 2 p.m. Sunny Frazier, Cora Ramos and I will be at the Book Barn at 640 Clovis Ave., in Clovis CA. All three of us are members of the San Joaquin Chapter of Sisters in Crime. We're going to be discussing The Maltese Falcon, the mystery and the movie, and how mysteries have changed since then. It should be a lively discussion--and of course, we're open to comments and questions from the audience. Sunny Frazier is the author of the Christy Bristol Astrology Mysteries.  Cora Ramos is the author of  Dance the Dream Awake. Marilyn Meredith also known as F. M. Meredith, is the author of the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series and the Rocky Bluff P.D. series. The authors will have copies of their books on sale. This should be a lively discussion, do come and add to it.

I am not a short story writer--I've written two, hardest writing I've ever done. I wrote them for anthologies and they were published, but it wasn't something I enjoyed doing. At this months Sisters in Crime, there was panel of experts who told about writing short stories. All five have won prizes with their stories, some have won many prizes and gone on to have their stories published. JoAnne Lucas talked about writing a short mystery and said it should have a crime or the intent of committing a crime. She also added that it must have dialogue. Mary Redmond won a prize for the first story she ever wrote--in fact it was her first try at fiction. She sadi to let your mind wander and let the story com. Kate Anderson said in order to win a short story contest you must follow the rules of the contest. Use basic formatting. You should have a great opening line. Researching can give you the idea for a story. JoAnne said to keep track of your submissions, where you sent ...

Book Festivals are among my favorite promotional events. The one in San Luis Obispo is a particular favorite. The location in the plaza behind the San Luis Mission is ideal. One thing about being near the coast the weather will change all through the day. It was chilly enough in the a.m. for a wrap. Midday it was warm. By the end of the festival, the wind had picked up to the point that it was actually blowing over some of the umbrellas. As usual, I hardly took any photos--but here are two. One is of good friend Madeline Gornell. She will soon have a mystery out that is centered on the old Route 66 and she's beginning her pre-promo. The other two gals were selling their books a the Central Coast Sisters in Crime booth, both good friends. Victoria Heckman is the president of that Sisters in Crime chapter and writes books set in Hawaii. She's also a popular teacher in the area and several of her students stopped by to tell her "hi." I've known Victoria since her boy...

I couldn't believe it when someone sent me an email and said he hoped I wasn't just a shill for Sunny Frazier. I was horrified by the accusation. Then I thought about it a bit, maybe I am--and she is for me. Sunny and I do a lot of events together and we promote one another on the Internet, if that's being a shill--well, I guess I am. Right now I'm really pushing the PSWA conference http://www.publicsafetywriter.com and she's promoting a mystery cruise. I'm in charge of the program which I think is dynamite--can't believe all the wonderful speakers who've agreed to come--and so of course I'm promoting it like crazy. Anyone writing a mystery with any kind of public safety person in it should come to this conference. Sunny is the one lining up the panels for the mystery cruise and encouraging people to come. Guess what, we're both going to be taking part in the PSWA conference and the mystery cruise. And we're promoting both. If that makes me ...

This gives you an idea of what happened at the Clovis Book Club talk. Of course one is of Sunny and me together, Sunny broke her shoulder and I'm the older lady. Hubby goes with me often and takes charge of selling books and that's him by my book display. Our book selling went on in the lobby of the Chamber of Commerce. The one where I'm waving my hand around is the chamber and where Sunny and I talked. We had a great time and so glad we were invited. Marilyn mmeredith@ocsnet.net http://fictionforyou.com

Sunny Frazier is always a hit at the PSWA conference. This year she's speaking about How Much Sex is Too Much! Wow! What a topic. This one was asked for by last year's participants. Sunny is a good friend of mine and I know she'll keep everyone interested. Sunny Frazier has been publishing both fiction and nonfiction since 1972. She is a Navy veteran, earned a BA in Journalism, and wrote for a newspaper before joining the Fresno County Sheriff's Department. During her 17 year career in law enforcement, 11 of them were spent working with an undercover narcotics team. Frazier is also an amateur astrologer. She has been involved in astrology for 35 years. Her short mystery fiction has won over 30 awards and trophies, as well as publication in mystery magazines and law enforcement magazines. Her first novel in the Christy Bristol Astrology Mysteries, FOOLS RUSH IN, received the Best Novel Award from Public Safety Writers Association. WHERE ANGELS FEAR came out in April, 2...

Since I got my correction for my galley proof off, I've been dabbling in this and that. One of my priorities has been working on next year's conference for PSWA. I'm thrilled because I already have the beginnings of a great line-up. Suspense and thriller author, Simon Wood, is going to be a keynote speaker. Forensic expert, Steven Scarborough will be back to impart some of his vast knowledge. Mystery author Michael A. Black is going to tell us how to plot a book in an hour. Author of The Pot Thief, Michael Orenduff along with his wife, are going to show us what makes a good cover and what doesn't. Joyce Spizer Foy asks the question, "Is your hero too good and your villain too bad?" And most fun of all, Sunny Frazier is going to tell us "How Much Sex is Too Much?" Keep checking the webpage, http://publicsafetywriter.com for the information about the conference. It should be up sometime this week. Marilyn http://fictionforyou.com

I've done a lot of book festivals and fests and you never know how they will turn out. Sometimes the people who come are not the least bit interested in buying books. Sometimes the organizers haven't taken important details into account. Sometimes the event it outside and the weather discourages visitors. Sometimes the venue is far too small for the number of authors. And sometimes everything is perfect! Such was the Hanford Book Fest. Fantastic for a first time event. It was inside, the room was large, though not many people came but more than I expected, they seemed to be interested in the books and purchased some. Sunny Frazier (who spear-headed the whole thing) and the Hanford Libary and the woman who is in charge of the Veteran's Center and the vets who volunteered and helped out in so many ways are all to be commended. And what a variety of authors and books! It was fun just to walk around and look at the books and talk to the authors. Though I wasn't happy about ...

Today hubby and I drive to Fresno to the monthly meeting of the San Joaquin Chapter of Sisters in Crime. The speaker will be Denny Griffin who has written several books, fiction and non-fiction. His fiction are mysteries set in Las Vegas. His non-fiction is about crime in Las Vegas. He's probably the most famous for writing the biography of Frank Culotta, big time gangster who turned state's evidence against other gangsters resulting in a shorter sentence--but also making him a target and putting him into the witness protecting program. We met Denny and his wife Faith (more commonly known as Bear) right after 9/11 when we flew to Orlando FL to what was the called The Police Writers Conference. Everyone was surprised to us there--guess they figured non-law enforcement folks would be afraid to fly. We figured that was probably one of the safest times. At that time, though I usually volunteered to give a presentation of some sort, I wasn't involved with any of the planning for...

Lots of stuff going on right now, some of it mundane like laundry, paying bills, etc. Of course I'm still busy doing lots of promoting for No Sanctuary, the next phaze being more events where I'm there in the flesh. Because I'm the program chair for the Public Safety Writers Association Conference in June, I'm always doing lots of preparation for that too. Working on the actual timing for the program speakers and panels, getting volunteers to time each sequence, and making sure it is all well-balanced. Also making folders for the handouts, tent name plates and name tags. Because we have an extremely limited budget, can't do the fancy stuff the big conferences. Whenever I'm working on these type of things I dream about them. Last night I dreamed about my publisher, Billie Johnson, of Oak Tree Press and a good friend and fellow OTP author Sunny Frazier. Have no idea what the dream was about, but I'd been in touch with both of them by email yesterday talking a...

We're headed to Temecula in the morning to attend the Erle Stanley Gardner Mystery Festival and with good friend and fellow author, Sunny Frazier, give two presentations. We'll be talking about promotion in the morning and alternate means of getting published in the afternoon. While I'm gone, I'll have my Blackberry with me for emails, but I don't take a computer which means no blogging. I don't mind taking a break from blogging. Sometimes it consumes my day, and right now I have two books to finish and need to start planning two more. May do some of that while we're driving to Temecula--and maybe not since the traffic is horrendous going in that direction. The first night we'll be spending with one of our granddaughter and her family. It's a good time to catch up with them. They have two delightful children: Peyton and Garrett, 6 and 2. Peyton does those Irish dances and competes and she's a Brownie. Garrett is all boy. The second night we'l...

Because I have three other posts I need to do I'm not always up-to-date on my own. Wanted to share a bit about the Public Safety Writers Association conference held last weekend in Las Vegas. The photo is of Sunny Frazier who gave a great and entertaining presentation on book covers. This conference is small, which is a good thing, because everyone has the opportunity to really get-aquainted and network with one another. Hopefully, we'll soon have a date and place for our next get-together which will have a name, Crime Writers and Fighters. My next conference coming up is Mayhem in the Midlands, another favorite. It's held in Omaha every year, which has become a favorite city for hubby and me to visit. That's it for now. Marilyn http://fcitionforyou.com

My latest book, Smell of Death , the fourth in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series has it’s roots in several places. I began writing the series with the idea in mind of showing how the families of police officers and what goes on with them affects the job, and how the job affects the families. Many of the characters, good and bad, in the first three books were inspired by the police officers and their families who lived in our neighborhood years ago. These were people we partied with, and I had coffee breaks with their wives. Another inspiration was my son-in-law who was a police officer in Oxnard for 15 years and later lost his life as a deputy in El Dorado County. He bravely took me on my first ride-along; letting me follow him around as long as I promised not to tell anyone I was his mother-in-law. When I moved to Springville, I went on two ride-alongs with officers of the Porterville P.D. Because I arrived early, I sat in on the shift change. When the men learned I was an author, they bega...