A Visit with Marilyn Meredith

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith is one of my favorite authors. She's published nearly thirty novels including her latest Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel, Angel Lost, the third of her Dark Oak mysteries from Oak Tree Press, and the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, the Invisible Path from Mundania Press (writing as F. M. Meredith). Marilyn is a member of EPIC, Four chapters of Sisters in Crime, including the Internet chapter, Mystery Writers of America, and she's on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America.

Marilyn, why you write?

Writing is part of my life like breathing. I enjoy creating a story and seeing where it’s going to go. I love connecting with my readers either by way of the Internet or in person at promotion events.

When did you start writing and why?

I began creating stories before I could write by drawing pictures in what some might call a story board today. As soon as I began reading real stories I began writing my own. I’ve been writing ever since in one form or another.

Tell us about your latewet novel, Angel Lost.

As plans for her perfect wedding fill her mind, Officer Stacey Wilbur is sent out to trap a flasher, the new hire realizes Rocky Bluff P.D. is not the answer to his problems, Abel Navarro can’t concentrate on the job because of worry about his mother, Officer Gordon Butler has his usual upsets, the sudden appearance of an angel in the window of a furniture store captures everyone’s imagination and causes problems for RBPD, and then the worst possible happens—will Stacey and Doug’s wedding take place?

How did your Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series come about as well as the Rocky Bluff PD?

I first became interested in law enforcement when my police officer son-in-law would come to my house after work, have a cup of coffee and tell me what he’d done on his shift. I went on a ride-along with him and with other officers–including a woman who was a single mom. She poured her heart out to me about how tough it was being the only woman in her department.

I interviewed a female resident deputy who lived in the mountain area where I live and about the same time met a Native American woman who’d grown up on the reservation nearby. I sort of combined these women into Deputy Tempe Crabtree.

When we lived in Oxnard, California, which is a beach community, we had several police officers and their families as neighbors. We were all good friends and I observed how the job affected their families and what was going on with the families affected their job. From there came the birth of the Rocky Bluff P.D. located in a small beach community.

Do you feel that ebooks are the wave of the future?

I’ve been electronically published for over ten years. Most e-publishers today publish electronically and in trade-paperback. There have been e-readers around for years, and now with the Sony E-Reader and Amazon’s Kindle, ebooks have really come into their own. Even some of my older books are now on Kindle.

What’s your writing schedule like and how long does it take to write one of your novels?

My goal is to write every morning at least three or four hours. It doesn’t always work out that way because when I have things I need I know have to be done, that weighs heavy on my mind. My writing will work better if I clear my desk–or computer, as the case may be.

I don’t have too many other projects going, I can finish a book in three months. Of course that doesn’t count the rewriting. Most books I usually read to my critique group too, a chapter at a time.

Are you a seat-of-the-pants novelist or do you outline your books? And do you know the ending before you start?

I don’t outline in the true sense of the word, but I start collecting ideas first. Then I decide on characters–who will be the murder victim, if there is one, in the book I’m writing now, I don’t think anyone’s going to die, who the murder could be, usually several folks that had a motive and the opportunity. Then I write something about each of those characters so I can get to know them.

When I start writing I think I know how the book will end, usually the final climax scene, but as I write that often changes. I do keep notes along the way as I think of things I want to put in.

Have you had any strange or humorous events happen while you were researching a book, and do you visit the locations to get a feeling for your settings?

In my Rocky Bluff P.D. series, I’m relying on my memories of living near the beach for twenty years. In my  book, No Sanctuary, the two churches are similar to ones I’ve gone to in the past–but the ministers are totally made-up. I’ve lived a long time so I can reach back into my experiences for a lot that I write about.

For my Deputy Tempe Crabtree series, I’ve done a lot of research about Native American culture and visited the reservation and the casino. My most exciting research happened when I discovered that the Tule River Indians (who I write about but call them a different name) believe in a Big Foot like creature called the Hairy Man and that there are pictographs of him and his family on the reservation. I’ve talked a couple of times to the anthropology class and when I talked to the professor about the pictographs he invited me on a college field trip to see the pictographs. What a wonderful experience! The pictographs are hidden away. To get to them you have to climb down huge slippery boulders. Fortunately, the college kids helped me get down there–and back up. The Tule River Indian who guided us told us some wonderful legends and stories of sightings of the Hairy Man. The Hairy Man is in the Tempe book that was released during the fall of 2009, called Dispel the Mist.

Who most influenced your work?

Once I joined a critique group, about 30 years ago, I met a wonderful author named Willma Gore who helped me more with my writing than any other person. Willma wrote and still writes for all sorts of publications and has had several books published, fiction and non-fiction. She taught me more than any writing class or conference I ever attended.

Favorite author and why?

I have far too many favorites to even list them. Jan Burke has always been one of my favorites. I started with her Irene Kelly series and just kept on reading. I've met her several times, and she's a sweet person as well as a good writer.

Betty Webb is another. She's tackled a social issue that has plagued Arizona and now she's changed gears a bit and started a new, lighter series. I admire her courage--and she's also a nice person.

Some men that I really like to read are William Kent Krueger and James Lee Burke, and I love the way both of them describe settings.

Advice to fledgling writers?

Read what you want to write. Learn the basics of writing. Write every single day. When you are done have someone who knows what to look for edit your book. Join a critique group. And when you have begun the submitting process, start writing another book. Do not let rejections stop you. Over the years I’ve met several gifted writers who got discouraged after one or two rejections. My first book received nearly 30 rejections before it was accepted. Over the years, most of my books have been rejected at least once, some several times. Rewrite when necessary.

Marilyn's website: http://fictionforyou.com
Her Blogs: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com
Stiletto Gang blog: http://thestilettogang.blogspot.com (every Tuesday)
Make Mine Mystery: http://makeminemystery.blogspot.com (1st & 3rd Tuesdays)

Marilyn offers advice to fledgling writers Friday, May 27 at Murderous Musings.

Nancy Pickard Revisited

Winner of the Agatha, Anthony, Barry, Shamus, and Macavity awards, and 4-time Edgar finalist, Nancy Pickard's latest novel, Virgin of the Plains was the Kansas Reads selection for 2009.

Nancy, what happened to your first novel?

It was, thank the publishing gods, rejected by nine wise publishers. It got me an agent, though, so I love it anyway. It was my apprentice novel and no longer exists in any form. Heh.

What was the turning point in your career?

Funny, I've never thought about it like that in terms of my novels, only my short stories. I'm thinking of three turning points:
1. When I moved from original paperback at Avon to hardcover at Scribner, with the wonderful Susanne Kirk as my editor.
2. When Linda Marrow became my editor, first at Pocket and now at Ballantine. We're writing/editing soul mates. I'm very lucky.
3. And for short stories, when I heard a writer say that every short story needs an epiphany. Having not been classically trained as a fiction writer, I'd never heard that before. After that, my stories sold.

Sue Grafton said your nonfiction book, Seven Steps on the Writer’s Path, written with psychologist Lynn Lott, is “fresh, insightful, candid, funny, supportive, encouraging and wise." How did the book come about?

I had met many writers--especially new ones--who seemed lost and alone, sad and confused, bewildered and overwhelmed by the highs and lows of the writer's life. I felt for them, and I wanted to talk to them and let them know we all feel crazy sometimes, and then give them some ideas about how to cope with the emotional roller-coaster.

Why have you written such a variety of mystery subgenres, from cozies to private eye stories, humorous mysteries to psychological suspense?

Two reasons. One, I get bored if I do the same exact thing over and over. Two, in my life I have loved all kinds of books in the mystery world, so I am influenced by all of those kinds of novels and I like to play around with their tropes and charms and quirks.

Tell us about The Virgin of Small Plains, your multi-award winning novel. Why did you set it in Kansas?

I set it here because one day I was hit with the need to write about Kansas forever and always. It's as simple and was as career-altering, as that. I was born on the Missouri side of Kansas City, and moved to this side when I married a Kansas cattle rancher. (Hence, my two books set in the Flint Hills cattle country--Bum Steer and Virgin.) I'm still here and feel completely Kansan now. I love this state, political warts, and all.

Your work has won or been nominated for nearly every existing mystery award. Which means the most to you and have the awards translated into higher book sales?

The awards have helped a lot, I think. As for which awards mean the most, they're the ones that reinforce me after I've tried something new, as for The Whole Truth and for The Virgin of Small Plains. When you disappear for a while to take some chances with your writing, it's reassuring to come back and find that readers appreciate it. The same is true for awards for short stories. For instance, when the first and only fable I've ever written was picked for a Year's Best anthology of Fantasy and Horror stories I was thrilled by the confirmation--from people who really know the genres--that I'd done an okay job of it.

How important are organizations such as Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America to a writer’s career?

I think they're wonderful and I encourage participation. They make you feel part of something larger. They let you give back to the genre that supports you. They're not for everybody, I suppose, but for writers who like to hang out with other writers, they're pretty great.

How did the Jenny Cain series come about?

One day I was in the Asian section of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and I saw an antique Chinese bed with gauzy curtains and a little alcove with seats in it. I thought, "What a great place to find a dead body." Seriously. That's how it started. Not exactly profound, lol.

Tell us about your soon-to-be released novel.

My new “Kansas novel,” coming out in April, is called The Scent of Rain and Lightning. For this book, a different kind of landscape called to me. Instead of the rolling ranch land of the Flint Hills of east and central Kansas, where Virgin is set, now we have a flat land with astonishing stone monuments rising out of it like a natural Stonehenge, only much taller and bigger even than those formations.

On a violently stormy night, in this land of dramatic contrasts, the favorite son of the county’s wealthiest landowners is shot and killed and his young wife disappears. They leave behind a 3-year-old daughter to be raised by her grandparents and uncles. The obvious suspect is quickly caught, convicted, and sent to prison, leaving behind a wife and 7-year-old son. Twenty-three years later, he is released pending a new trial, and returns to the scene of the crimes he may not have committed. The secrets about that night of dramatic change for a family, a town, and a county, are revealed both to his son and to the daughter of the victims, as these two children of tragedy struggle to uncover dangerous truths about their families.

What is your writing schedule like?

I'm a binge writer. When I'm really going at it, it's all I do. I ignore everything else. At other times, I may do nothing writerly at all. Or I may catch up with all of the things I've neglected. Like interviews. :)

Advice to today’s novice writers?

Yes. One, be patient with yourself and your writing. Doctors aren't built in a day, neither are lawyers, neither are plumbers, neither are teachers or truck drivers, and neither are writers. It takes a long time to get good enough to be published. Give yourself that time and try to enjoy it! Two, please please please give yourself time before you start worrying about getting an agent, etc. Write first. Write second. Write third. Finish the manuscript. Rewrite it. Rewrite it. Rewrite it. Maybe send it out, or maybe start the next one. Time. It takes time Give yourself that time and please don't be so hard on yourself if things don't happen fast for you. Third, care first and always about the writing. The writing. The writing. ::steps off soapbox:: Oh, and read Annie Lamott's fabulous book about writing, Bird By Bird.

Thank you, Nancy, for taking part in the series.

Nancy's blog site is now closed and her website is being redone in preparation for her next Kansas novel, The Scent of Rain and Lightning, which is slated to appear in April, 2010. But if you're curious, she says to visit: http://sweetmysteryoflife.blogspot.com/ and http://nancypickard.com

A Visit with J. D. Webb

J. D. Webb was thrilled to be included in Susan Whitfield's Killer Recipee anthology, written by fellow mystery authors. He also writes mystery dinner plays as well as his mystery novels.

Dave, tell us about your Killer Recipes and why you enjoy cooking mysterious dishes?

Anytime I can contribute to a cure cancer cause, I try and this was a great way to do it. It's also a great way to try some sumptuous recipes. I'm now learning to cook low-sodium for my wife. We want to avoid another stroke. Hard to give up some of my own concoctions. Seems everything that tastes good has high sodium.

How did your dinner mystery writing come about?

We have a favorite Bed & Breakfast The Fleur de Lys Mansion in St. Louis. The owners have become pseudo family members. When discussing my novels one night they began talking about a dinner mystery they went to. They asked if I had ever done anything like that and finally wondered if I would consider doing one for them. We worked it out and I wrote an exclusive for them, Murder at the Fleur de Lys. Our first performance, I'm narrator and the murder victim, took place in January 2010 and it was a blast. We are doing two more follow-ups and I plan to write one for other B&Bs as well.

How did your novel Smudge come about? And why a female protagonist?

I sometimes get an idea for a character or one in a short story who then demands to be put in a novel. Tish Morgan is one of those I could not resist. Her story captured my attention and I wanted to tell it. A female? Why not? Many authors write cross-gender protagonists so I didn't hesitate. I admit the challenge was daunting to try to get inside the female mind. Fortunately my writing group is populated with 5 strong-minded and competent women. I should share the authorship with them.

Who comprises the Write Stuff? And how have they helped you?

As in the previous answer they are my co-writers, my critique group. A creative writing teacher with ten published novels to her credit, a computer programmer who corrects my plot errors, a former librarian, a former editor at the newspaper, and a media communicator for a major corporation - all instructing me. Having learned the rules of English some fifty years ago, I need them to bring me into this century. I'm so comma-challenged it's pathetic, and they are excellent. My last novel was grammatically clean, I was informed. Of course, I took credit. LOL

Tell us about your writing background?

I've always written. Short stories, essays, contracts and procedures for corporate America, letters of outrage to the newspapers or other media, but never had the chance to put together a novel until "retirement" in 2002. That's when I became whole.

As a resuIt of some high school mischief in 1959 my punishment was being thrown into a creative writing class. It was the best outcome of any mischief I'd ever done and propelled me to continue mischief, seeking further rewards.

What's the best advice you can offer aspiring mystery writers?

Never stop learning your craft, seek out experts and teachers, and most of all get your butt in the chair. I maintain there is no such thing as writer's block. Only the refusal to tackle a tough situation or endure the hardship of concentration. Writing is not easy. If it were everyone would have a book out. One last thing - do not neglect to read. Find out how the great ones do it through examining their work. The lessons are all there. Plotting, character development, settings, suspense tricks, conflicts, dialog. Study them carefully.

How important is writing in your life?

Well, ask me how many times I've missed a meal due to writing - I know my belly may look like never, but trust me I have. I cannot fathom being unable to write. It frustrates me when I have to leave one of my characters in the middle of a situation. Often the dog yowls loudly to go out and I tell her, just a minute. She hates that.

How did the plot lines for your novels, Moon Over Chicago and Her Name is Mommy come about?

Moon Over Chicago was actually the first novel I wrote even though it was the second published. When Shepherd's Pie was accepted I sent my publisher Moon. They accepted it also. Lucky me!! The book is a throw-back and a kind of tribute to all the hard-boiled detective writers of the 30s to the 50s - the golden age of the noir. I put a wise-cracking, not too proficient, amateur detective in Chicago whose day job is cobbler. Fulton Moon (Full Moon for short) has his repair shop, Moonshines, in a bad area of town. And all he wants to do is help a damsel get rid of her abusive husband.

For Her Name Is Mommy, I was thinking about my next novel while sitting on a bench in a busy mall at Christmastime and saw a child on another bench across from me. What idiot would leave a child alone in a busy mall? Fortunately her mother finally appeared from the innards of a store and gathered up the youngster. I got furious and wanted to see that woman punished, so I put her in a book and had her kidnapped. It was great therapy to see her suffer in my book. So Her Name Is Mommy takes place in a Chicago mall at Christmastime. My PI spots a tiny tot sitting alone on a bench across from him, silently crying. No one is around for over 15 minutes. He finds out her mother has been kidnapped and the kidnapper did not spot the little girl. Mike's quest is to find the tot's mommy.

What's the most difficult aspect of writing for you, and the most pleasurable?

Most difficult - editing. And editing. Did I mention editing?

Most pleasurable - Hard to define the most. Absolutely when a publisher says yes I'll make your story a book is one. Or when a reader says she missed getting enough sleep because she couldn't put it down and had to finish it. Or when my fingers can't keep up with the thoughts I'm trying to capture. Or finding a twist at the end of my novel that I had not anticipated. Okay, I'll stop here and not complete the list.

Thank you, Dave.

You can learn more about Dave at his website: http://www.jdwebb.com/ where sample chapters of his novels are available. You can also visit his blog site: http://makeminemystery.blogspot.com/ (the second and fourth Monday of the month).

He's also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/jdavewebb

and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jdavewebb

A Visit with Barbara D'Amato

Barbara D'Amato served as 1999-2000 president of Mystery Writers of America and is a past president of Sisters in Crime International. She writes a mystery series starring Chicago freelance investigative reporter Cat Marsala, a series starring Chicago patrol cops Suze Figueroa and Norm Bennis, and standalone novels. Her thriller Foolproof, co-written with Jeanne M. Dams and Mark Richard Zubro, was published in December 2009. Her latest release is Other Eyes.

Barbara, You've held a number of unusual jobs, from assistant tiger handler to teaching mystery writing to Chicago police officers. When and why did you decide to become a writer?

For years, my idea of a perfect day was work all day, make dinner, then read a mystery. Like almost all the mystery writers I know, I finally thought "This looks like fun. I should write one." It's MUCH harder than it looks.

What does the job of crime researcher entail? And how do you conduct research?

I no longer do active crime research for legal cases. Searching old paper files, interviewing police officers and running after witness, videotaping possible routes of fleeing felons--all that is a young person's job. For my fiction, though, I do visit possible crime scenes. Plus, thank goodness for the Internet and Google Earth.

What was the result of your research of the Dr. John Branion murder case?

Dr. John Branion had been convicted of the murder of his wife and was in prison in Illinois when I first met him. His second wife, Shirley, whom he had married while out on bond pending appeal, had seen an article about my husband, Northwestern law professor Tony D'Amato, securing the freedom of a man imprisoned in Mexico. But Tony is an international law specialist, not a criminal law specialist. I looked at the facts of the crime and could see no way for Dr. Branion to have gone home at lunch, shot his wife, then picked up his son at school, visited a friend, and gone back home to discover the body. Let alone the fact that the neighbor in the adjacent apartment heard shots while Dr. Branion was still at the hospital. While new appeal briefs were being written, I started working on what I thought would be a short article on a time alibi that might help the case. It turned into a book that took five years to write--The Doctor, The Murder, The Mystery, published by Noble Press. Dr. Branion was never freed by the system, but I am glad he and his family could know as a result of the research that went into the book that he was innocent.

Tell us about your latest book, Other Eyes. 

Blue Eriksen is a forensic archaeologist who became famous, much to her amazement, when her book Goddess became a bestseller. It was scholarly, it had footnotes! She has recently seen evidence that the hallucinogen psilocybin can prevent or cure addiction to many illegal drugs. She is now testing ancient mummies for evidence of the use of hallucinogens in the development of religions. Other Eyes takes her to Peru and to Catalhuyuk in central Turkey, considered the first city in human history. Unknown to her, someone is following her to kill her.

Have you used the research you've conducted for law enforcement agencies as background for your books?

The research I've done on crimes, and the police officers' wonderful stories, get used in my fiction constantly. I wouldn't want to waste such riches.

Are your son and husband involved in your work?

My husband has a wealth of law tales and also keeps me from making mistakes in legal processes. My son Brian has read my stuff since he was in middle school. It was good to have somebody a generation younger to look at it. He would find phrases I thought were the latest thing and draw cornbobs in the margins, meaning "Mom, this is corny." He is now a published author-- Beauty [Delacorte] and In the Courts of the Sun [Dutton]. A wise writer friend once told me that he thought the reason children of writers often became writers was that they know it isn't easy.

How has writing changed your life?

Writing has made it possible for me to go places, meet people, and see processes I never would have otherwise. [Never would have had the nerve otherwise]. It's enriched my life.

Who most influenced your own writing?

Agatha Christie. Nobody else has plotted so cleanly, so crisply, so fairly, and yet so deceptively.

Advice to aspiring writers?

Don't try to jump on a trend. If it takes a year to write a book, then however long to find a publisher, then a year or so to go through editing, copy editing, and so on, the trend may be gone. In any case, your best asset is your own voice.

Thanks for the visit, Barbara.

You can visit Barbara at her website: http://www.barbaradamato.com/ where you can read the first chapter of Other Eyes. She doesn't Tweet but shares a blog site with other Chicago-area writers titled: The Outfit, a Collective.