Marilyn's Musings

Thank you, Marilyn, for giving me the opportunity today to “converse” with one of my characters (yes— converse, not talk — to use my latest and rather proper protagonist’s vocabulary!). But Mitch Malone, Wendy Gager’s protagonist is already grilling my dear Margot Madison-Cross on her blog later in our tour. So when you, my friend and “guiding light,” asked me to interview one of my characters, I let Margot off the hook this time. I even gave my other protagonists—Hubert James Champion III, Jada Beaudine, and brother/sister Belinda and Bernard Jones—a pass. Instead, I decided to interview a “minor” character who appears in both Reticence of Ravens and in my current work-in-process, Counsel of Ravens . Neil Knight is in the hot seat today. Sometimes it seems, minor characters take on a life of their own! And Neil was one of those for me. He started as a foil for Hugh, and somehow, someway, he became a special… Thanks for stopping by Neil. In Reticence of Ravens , I ...

Marilyn: I'm so happy I've had the opportunity to really become acquainted with you. For the readers of this post, I first met Madeline at a book fair in Hanford, then again at the Sisters in Crime/MWA conference in Pasadena, and she came to last year's PSWA conference, and she came to my booksigning at my family reunion in Barstow and we were next to each other at a book fair in San Luis Obispo. My first question is, when did you first become interested in writing? Madeline: Hi, Marilyn, great being able to “talk to you” on your blog. Some of my earliest memories are of reading, and wanting to become a writer. Admittedly, there was probably some childhood fantasy type of thinking going on then, because I also remember wanting to be a firefighter, teacher, doctor, and magician. But for sure, the genuine desire to write started very early, and has remained throughout my life. But even with that lifelong desire, and having a couple short stories published “way back when,” I d...