Marilyn's Musings

Unresolved   has two murders, both are unusual. However, the second one is particularly unusual, and the idea was give to me by one of the members of our writers' group--a pediatrician, a great writer and a really sweet guy. This tale has two victims, the mayor who has many enemies, and a not so nice old woman. Whether or not the two crimes are connected you'll have to read the story to find out.  Many of the regular members of the Rocky Bluff P.D. have important parts in this story and a new bunch of interesting characters are introduced.  Members of PSWA will recognize the names of two of the characters--they won a contest to appear in the book--but believe me, neither one looks like or acts like the characters they loaned their names to. Don't let the title worry you, the murders are solved by the end of the book. Want to fin out more? The book is available for Kindle and in paper.  https://www.amazon.com/Unresolved-Rocky-Bluff-P-D-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B08C3VPP...

This one has two characters in it named for friends of mine. They both won a contest I had to have a character named after them. One of the characters is named Joe Haggerty who recently appeared on this blog. The other, Susan Tuttle, who passed away last week. She is missed by many. I can assure you that neither of the characters are anything like the real people. As for what I had to research, one of the means of murder was given to me by a doctor in my writing group. He suggested it, then I looked it up on the Internet to obtain a bit more information. Worked out perfect for the plot. One of the murder victims is the mayor at the time, and the other is an elderly woman. Two murders at the same time keep the small underpaid and understaffed Rocky Bluff P.D. hopping. As always, there is plenty going on with the families of the police offices.  Even though Rocky Bluff is a fictitious community located on the coast between Ventura and Santa Barbara, it has come to feel like a real pl...

It's been a long time since I visited the SLO Nightwriters. That will change as I head over there for a presentation on August 8, at 6 p.m. The location is the Untied Church of Christ of San Luis Obispo, on 11245 Los Osos Valley Rd. in San Luis Obispo. My topic will be "How to Write a Mystery".  After a brief talk (with handouts) on the various kinds of mysteries and ways to write one, we'll embark on planning one of our own. I love doing this--folks come up with the best ideas. I've done it many times, with readers and writing groups, and with school kids, 3rd grader through seniors. Little kids have the wildest ideas, high schoolers like to use school staff for their characters--easy to tell who they like and who they don't. In any case, it's a fun event. If you're in the area do come out and see what we're up to. And as usual, I'll have some of my books with me, especially my two latest ones in each series. Bo...

Though I didn't intend for it to be so long, my blog tour for Unresolved , the latest in the Rocky Bluff P. D. mystery series is posted for all to see. https://thoniehevron.wordpress.com/2017/05/19/ive-had-lots-of-help-on-my-writing-journey/  This has been a long journey, and for the most part, quite satisfying. The best part is reading the comments left by people on the various posts. And of course, those who have read the book saying they enjoyed it.  Did it help sales? Some, probably not a whole lot, I won't know for sure until I get my first royalty check.  Putting together a blog tour is arduous--finding the people willing to host you, writing something different for each post, sending them off, checking each day to see if the post has appeared (sometimes they don't), through the day looking to see if someone has commented and leaving a reply. I'm sure some of you may wonder why I do it, since it is so much work. I have several answers. I love w...

The post that was supposed to be here today, didn't arrive, so I'm going to fill the space. Anyone who follows me on Facebook and reads this blog regularly, know I'm on a blog tour at the moment. For the most part it's gone fairly smoothly. One person didn't remember getting my information, so the post appeared a day late, but we are all forgetful at times. I've been working on a new Tempe Crabtree mystery while doing promotion for Unresolved . The two series are very different except for the fact they are both about law enforcement and solving crimes--and of course, family relationships. With the new mystery I've had three different people who I was sure committed the murder--but all of a sudden I've realized it's someone else completely. I may have to go back and do a bit of rewriting of the beginning to make it work, but I do think this is the way it's going to go. We're getting ready to leave on a trip tomorrow to vis...

Whenever a new book comes out, unless an author has a great publicist, she/he will be scrambling for places to make appearances to talk about the book, writing, or anything that might compel a reader to want to buy the book. Actually, most of us are looking for places to appear and sell our books whether we have a new one out or not.  I've been fortunate to already have made a few appearances. Though for some of them I didn't have the new book yet, I did have cards to hand out with the cover and all the information. I did a joint presentation for my local Sisters in crime group, I've talked to a great group at the Hanford Library, and had a table at a craft show at our church.  My blog tour began on April 22 nd. In May, I'm doing a radio interview at 6:35 in the morning. Yes, I am. I'll let you know how that goes. On June 24th at 11, I'll be over at the Paso Robles Library talking about Best Sellers again. I have five Fresno Library...

Once again I'm embarking on a blog tour to promote the latest in the Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery series. Come along with me on the ride! Unresolved Blog Tour Schedule April 23  About Unresolved and the Rocky Bluff P.D. series https://jwillsbooks.com/blog-posts/ April 24  Favorite Character in the Series http://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/ April 25  The Inspiration for Unresolved http://jrlindermuth.blogspot.com/ April 26  My Writing Process http://www.lindathorne.com/blog/ April 27  My Exciting Life as an Author http://evelyncullet.com/blog/ April 28 Rubbing Elbows with Super Star Authors http://www.pushingtime.com/home/ April 29 Authors Who Have Influenced Me https://mmgornell.wordpress.com/ April 30  Challenges in Writing a Series www.sharonervin.wordpress.com May 1 Interview https://wordpress.com/post/cherley.wordpress.com/1958 May 2 Balancing Writing Two Series http://kathleenkask...

To be perfectly honest, I didn't think the latest Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery would be published. The publisher of Oak Tree Press had a serious illness and all production halted. I was in the middle of writing the next book so continued on, unsure if it would ever be seen. I really thought the last one published might be the last book of the series. Michael Orenduff, the author of the wonderful Pot Thief Mysteries, offered to publish those books by OTP authors who were ready to go through his publisher,  Aakenbaaken & Kent. I know Michael so I contacted him. We actually have a bit of history--we were once both nominated for the Best Mystery Award at the Epic conference and sat beside each other at the ceremony. I didn't win, but I did get to touch his award. I also had the opportunity to see and visit with Mike and his wife at other conferences. The title of the book is Unresolved. The mystery is solved--the murderer discovered and arrested, but there are still a l...