Marilyn's Musings

Armed and Outrageous features Agnes Barton as lead amateur sleuth, but it’s her partner in crime Eleanor Mason who steals the show. 1. Thanks Eleanor for letting me interview you today. You’re welcome Madison . 2. Can you state your age for the record? Well that’s one heck of a question to ask me. I happen to be a very young eighty-two. 3. What’s it like working alongside Agnes Barton solving crimes? It’s kinda like getting a tooth pulled, painful at times, but you know you have to do it or everything will fall apart. 4. So would you call yourself the glue that holds everything in place? Of course, Agnes needs all the help she can get and at least with me tagging along she has protection. 5. Is it true you pack a pistol in your purse? We-Well I don’t know if I should say. I don’t want to spend the weekend in the pokey. 6. Don’t you have a concealed weapons permit? Is that a trick question? 7. Next question. What makes Eleanor tick? ...

Interview of Anna McClean  Please tell me about your background.             First, thanks so much for hosting me!             I was a small town kid who spent an awful lot of time daydreaming and reading…and never outgrew that need to live many, many lives.  As a young adult, I studied literature and traveled in Europe, filling my eyes and my imagination, and as soon as I settled down again – first in Boston, then in the Finger Lakes area of New York State – I started to write.  I’ve worked as a waitress, apartment rental agent, hotel maid, bookkeeper,  journalist, and college professor…in that order.  But always, always, I was writing. What inspired this particular book?             Louisa May Alcott herself.  Her character, Jo from Little Women, was my role model when I was young....

A conversation with Anne K. Albert: It’s a pleasure to visit with you today, Marilyn. When we first chatted, you asked what inspired me to write FRANK, INCENSE AND MURIEL, first book of the Muriel Reeves Mysteries. The short answer is snakes. The long answer, well, the long answer will take at least the rest of the week, but I’ll try to keep it short! When my husband retired, we downsized and moved out of the city to a quiet condo complex near a lake, aimed specifically at seniors. The first year was wonderful. Then, the neighbor from hell moved in next door – literally. Only our shared living room and upstairs bedroom walls separated him from us. In his early 30s, with shaved head, tattoos, two massive guard dogs and a surly attitude, we soon realized he was involved in the drug trade. As bad as that was, he delighted in telling everyone about his assortment of 40 large snakes and a few hundred rats (the snake’s food). It is truly amazing how one unscrupulous individual can turn...