Marilyn's Musings

This is another one of the many books that was re-edited and re-published, thanks to Lorna and Larry Collins. Loran did the editing and all the work that goes into publishing. Larry redid all the covers. The covers are similar except each one is a different color.  When all together they look great. The setting, Rocky Bluff, a small beach community, is not a real place--though it has a strong resemblance to other beach towns before they to popular and big. I once lived in one of those towns, and have visited many other similar ones. In reality, because of where the town is situated, if real it probably would have grown and had different kinds of problems. I've enjoyed keepint it small--with a police department that is underfunced and understaffed.  As for the officers and their families, I've had so many firends who were police officers and knew them and their families so well, it's been a joy to show what goes on in the family as well as with the police department. Downloa...

This started out to be a Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery, but when I was done, it didn't quite feel like it fit.  It's based on Christian principles,  and the heroine just didn't sound like Tempe. Partly because of the lack of any Native American connections, and also because it's not a typical mystery. However, I really liked the book so changed the names of the characters and the location of the story. Fortunately there are many mountain communities that I'm well acquainted with, and it wasn't difficult to make the switch. Those who read this, will definitely see the similarities to my Deputy Tempe Crabtree mysteries. Though it didn't turn out to be part of my series, I still think it's a good scary book.  Try it and see what you think. https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Foothold-Supernatural-Mystery/dp/197930534X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Devil%27s+Foothold+by+Marilyn+Meredith&qid=1578582020&s=books&sr=1-1 Marilyn ...

How did you meet your boy/girlfriend? Spouse? My mother met my dad at a roller rink. My in-laws met at work. I met my husband on a blind date. A good friend met his spouse at church. My daughter met her husband in high school. My son met his wife online. Different times, different methods. I read that approximately one in four relationships start online. On television, we see advertising for matchmaking sites like eHarmony, Match.com, and many more. You can find sites for members of a certain religion, age, ethnicity, hobbies, etc. Whatever the method of meeting Mr. or Ms. Right, caution is always advised. How did my mother know that the young serviceman she met was a nice guy? Who vouches for a prospective date? Is the person you met on a cruise who he says he is? Scammers are everywhere. Most of us know better than to send money to strangers. But what if the guy (or woman) you’ve grown to really like online lives across the country and wants to meet you? But ...

                                    Since my debut novel, A KILLING AT COTTON HILL , was published two weeks ago, I’ve done a few readings and talked to a lot of people who are excited about my books. One thing I was surprised about was some of the funny questions people ask me. Here are a few of my favorites: 1) At a bookstore reading, a man asked if I took up crime writing because it’s easier than writing mainstream fiction.   His question made the assumption that crime writing is easier than writing mainstream novels. At one time, I thought the same thing. When I first started writing, I dreamed of being a “literary” writer. But, knowing how hard it was to break into print, I thought maybe if I wrote an “easy” mystery, it would at least get me in print. And then I discovered reality. At the heart...

 To buy on Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=deeds%20of%20darkness%20by%20Marilyn%20Meredith My sister and I were horror movie fanatics for a long time--until they changed from being scary into plotless gory messes. Often when watching the kind I enjoyed, which often had demonic themes, I'd think too bad the hero or heroine isn't a Christian. So of course in this horror novel, the main character, a teenaged girl, is a Christian--and she ends up being the only one able to battle the evil that takes over the small town of Yokut Springs. It was available years ago, but never on Kindle. This was one of those books that I loved writing, because the whole story came so easily. Yes, it has its gory places too--because I lot of bad things happen in this book. I think you'll cheer on the heroine as she takes on an enormous task. Marilyn  

I've always been a sucker for horror movies, not the slash and blood and gore flicks but the ones that are downright scary and often have demons and even the devil in them. Seldom did the main characters have any faith in any religion or if they did it was usually the Catholic faith--never a Protestant. I began thinking about creating a story with the devil and a heroine and/or hero who were Christians. I did some research into Satan worshiping, and it certainly made me wonder why anyone would be interested in following a supernatural being who would end up in a fiery hell for all eternity. The more are investigated the more intrigued I became and soon began writing. At the time, I was new to the foothill area where I live now and decided to make it the setting. I wanted a female resident deputy with a teenage son and a local pastor in the book. Anyone who has read my Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series will recognize some of these elements. Actually this might have been...

For the first time I have a Kindle book available that I sort of did myself. I've been reading about all these authors putting their books up on Kindle, and especially those who had books they couldn't find a publisher interested in it. I had a book like that. When I finished it, I sent it out to various publishers and though I always got good reports on the writing the rejections from the main stream publishers all said something along the lines of, "It's a little too Christian for our readers." So I sent it out to Christian publishers and received the same kind of rejection, "It's a great story but far too scary for our readers." I liked the story and ended up self-publishing it with an outfit that turned out to not only be a bit on the crooked side (I really know how to pick them) but not all that savvy in the publishing business. The manuscript has been idling in an old word-processing program for years--until I decided to take a look...