Marilyn's Musings

THE DEEPEST DARK By Joan Hall Hovey A novel of suspense “Before I began to write The Deepest Dark , I asked myself what would be the worst thing that could happen to a woman.  And the answer was of course, to lose a child.”    Novelist Abby Miller has lost not only her ten year old daughter Ellie in a horrific head-on collision as they are returning from Christmas shopping, but her husband, Corrie, as well.   Following their deaths  Abby sinks ever deeper into a black depression. She contemplates suicide as a way to be with them, and to end her unrelenting pain. In a last desperate effort to find peace, she drives to the old isolated cabin in the woods where they spent a magical vacation together, wanting to believe they will be there waiting for her.  At least in spirit, which she is not sure she believes in.  Barring that, there are always the pills in her purse the doctor gave her to help her sleep.   The cabin at...

As a board certified rheumatologist, Glenn Parris has practiced medicine in the northeast Atlanta suburbs for over 20 years. He has been writing for nearly as long. Originally from New York City, Parris migrated south to escape the cold and snow, but fell in love with the southern charms of Georgia and Carla, his wife of nearly 23 years. He now writes cross-genre in medical mystery, science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction. The Renaissance of Aspirin is his debut novel. Coming soon: Watch for The Renaissance of Aspirin book trailer. More to come from Jack Wheaton, also strange tales of the past, alternate present and future. Look for excerpts from upcoming short stories and novels. The Renaissance of Aspirin By Glenn Parris, MD ISBN-10:  1483633020 ISBN-13:  978-1483633022 XLibris Trade paper, 406 pgs. $16.95 Also available for Kindle This is the story of Anita Thomas and Jack Wheaton, two young doctors unwittingl...

When did you first start writing? Writing classes in high school got me started.  I took journalism and wrote for the school paper and I took creative writing and had short stories published in the high school magazine.  I think I was initially attracted by the mystique of being a newspaper reporter, which eventually I was. What prompted you to write Death in Nostalgia City? Many things.  My main reason was to create the type of mystery/suspense novel that I like to read.   Agatha Christie was my introduction to the genre and I read nearly all of her books plus many other cozy authors.  Gradually, I wanted more action than the typical drawing room mystery provides and I shifted to suspense and noir novels. The mysteries I like best challenge you intellectually, but also have lots of suspense elements and action that appeal to the emotions.  Raymond Chandler said he didn’t care for manor-house mysteries because the entire value of...

My calendar for October is full--and if all goes well, I shall be quite busy. First event is a celebration for a good friend's 50th wedding anniversary--looking forward to that. On October 11th from 10 to 4, I'll be in Visalia at the Celebration of the Arts Street Fair, in a booth with my Oak Tree publisher. From the 13th through the 17th I'll be promoting the sale of Bears With Us (an earlier mystery in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series.) to only .99 cents on Amazon Kindle.  On the 18th I'll be at the Great Valley Book Festival in Manteca from 9 - 4. Not only will I have a booth with all my books, but also am speaking at 2 p.m. about writing two mystery series. On October 20th I'll be attending the CRSA Annual Meeting--mainly to take notes for information for the newsletter that I do for this organization.  We'll also be heading down to Bakersfield for a day to visit our eldest daughter and hubby who will be camping with a group there.  ...

When I began writing River Spirits I wasn't sure exactly where I was going with it. The only thing I really knew was that I had to have a character named Kate Eileen Shannon. If the name sounds familiar to you it's because it belongs to an author. She won my last contest to have a character in a book named after her. I only know Kate Eileen Shannon from the Internet and her books. However, isn't that a great name? It conjured up a great person. I immediately imagined a young and in some ways, naive person, with red bouncy curls.  My Kate Eileen has a job that might've been fun under different circumstances as she's the personal assistant to a fading movie star. Unfortunately, her boss is a shrew. She treats Kate Eileen as a servant. The only reason Kate Eileen doesn't quit is because her beau is the star's driver. If she quits she won't be able to see him. Once I knew this character, the plot began unfolding. Of course there is a m...

It won't be long now until you can purchase River Spirit s in just about any format you want. This is always an exciting time for an author, knowing that the time is getting close when the book you've written, read to your critique group, edited, edited again, checked the galley proofs, is actually going to be a book. The book will be available from  Mundania Press  in all formats, and of course from all the usual places. One of the things I did which I hope will also encourage sales of this book and others in Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series is that one of the earlier books, Bears With Us , the Kindle version will be offered for .99 cents from October 13-17. You'll be hearing more about when the time comes. In preparation for the advent of River Spirits I organized a blog tour which is a lot of work. It won't happen until November, but watch for it, as I'll be having a contest again. This time, the winner can choose to be a character in the...

When you are dreaming about being an author, thoughts seem to go to doing book store signings. Many authors still do them and quite successfully. In my case, bookstores have disappeared from our local areas. I still have a few favorites that I like to visit for a signing. However, I've found if I am going to draw people to the store for the event--it needs to be just that--an event. Give a talk and have refreshments. Even pick a theme to build the event around. Libraries are among my favorites to visit. I like to do any kind of event in a library. Giving a talk of some sort is a must. Being part of a panel on a subject of interest is always fun. I just participated in one on cozies--and I'm going to be part of one soon on the E-Publishing Age. But there are many other venues where authors have had successful events: restaurants, coffee shops, wineries, grocery stores, to name just a few. Think outside the box,  as they say. If you have the right kind of book, sc...