Saturday, June 22, 2013

F.M. Meredith's Excerpt from Dangerous Impulses



BLURB:

An attractive new-hire captivates Officer Gordon Butler, Officer Felix Zachary’s wife Wendy is befuddled by her new baby, Ryan and Barbara Strickland receive unsettling news about her pregnancy, while the bloody murder of a mother and her son and an unidentified drug that sickens teenaged partiers jolts the Rocky Bluff P.D.


EXCERPT:
Officer Gordon Butler couldn’t believe his good luck. First, because he’d been assigned the new hire, even though he knew everyone else on the Rocky Bluff P.D. thought Chief McKenzie had lost his mind for making such a decision. Second, Officer Lizette Gibbs was gorgeous. Though still suffering from a broken heart, Gordon thought his chances for healing had finally improved. He stole a side glance at her. Shiny black, chin-length hair framed her golden-skinned profile. High cheekbones and full lips glowed with natural color. Her name gave no clue to her ethnic background, but she was some kind of mix. Gordon couldn’t tell how much might be Hispanic, Native American, Far-Eastern or Anglo. Whatever, she was flat-out gorgeous.

She must’ve felt his scrutiny because she glanced over from her place in the shot-gun seat. “Is it always this quiet during the day shift?”
“To be perfectly honest, ninety-percent of the time, yes.” 
“How do you keep from getting bored?” 
“I hand out lots of traffic tickets.” Gordon laughed. “Once in a while something more interesting happens.”         

“I wanted to work in a bigger city.” Lizette peered out the window at the rows of orange trees. “I applied to about twenty places, but when I got called for the interview here I thought being between two fairly large cities like Ventura and Santa Barbara, there could be the possibility for some action. Finding out Rocky Bluff is a beach town influenced me too. I love the ocean.”          

While Gordon drove, he pointed out all the various neighborhoods. The mostly dilapidated rentals on the beachfront, the downtown area that ended on the north side at the undeveloped area by the creek near the bluff. They traveled to the south side with the upscale seafood restaurant at the far end. He showed her the older neighborhoods that climbed the hillsides, and the orange groves and ranches on the eastside of the101 that nearly covered the foothills.

He’d turned toward the more populated sections. “I’ll show you the ritziest part of town next, up on the bluff. He passed the freeway exit and entrance. “I manage to catch quite a few speeders here.”  
        
“I hope to do more than hand out speeding tickets.”  Lizette sounded disappointed.
“I think Stacey Wil . . . I mean Milligan, has her eye on you.” Gordon still forgot to call Stacey by her married name, as did many of her other co-workers. 
“Why? I couldn’t quite figure out what her job is. Sometimes she wears a uniform and sometimes she doesn’t.”
“She covers all the vice crimes. Being the only female officer we’ve had for a while, she’s kept pretty busy.”
“That would be okay. I wouldn’t mind helping her out. Do you think I ought to talk to her?”
Before he could answer, the dispatcher’s voice came over the radio, “See the man concerning a missing teen.”
 




BIO:

F.M. is also known as Marilyn Meredith, the author of the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series. She first became interested in writing about law enforcement when she lived in a neighborhood filled with police officers and their families. The interest was fanned when her daughter married a police officer and the tradition has continued with a grandson and grandson-in-law who are deputies. She’s also serves on the board of the Public Safety Writers Association, and has many friends in different law enforcement fields. For twenty plus years, she and her husband lived in a small beach community located in Southern California much like the fictional Rocky Bluff. She is a member of three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Epic, and Mystery Writers of America.

 
 

Find Marilyn at: http://fictionforyou.com/
 

Facebook under my name, Marilyn Meredith

Buy links to your book: http://tinyurl.com/byxomtk



Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Meet Marilyn Meredith


Please join me in welcoming Marilyn Meredith, also known as F.M. Meredith, the author of the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series. She first became interested in writing about law enforcement when she lived in a neighborhood filled with police officers and their families. The interest was fanned when her daughter married a police officer and the tradition has continued with a grandson and grandson-in-law who are deputies.

She also serves on the board of the Public Safety Writers Association, and has many friends in different law enforcement fields. For twenty plus years, she and her husband lived in a small beach community located in Southern California much like the fictional Rocky Bluff. She is a member of three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Epic, and Mystery Writers of America.



LA: Hi Marilyn, welcome to My Story ~ My way. Tell us about your current series.

MM: Hi Leslie, Thank you so much for hosting me this week. Dangerous Impulses is number 9 in the Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series. My intentions all along were to show how what happened on the job affected the families and what happened in the family affected the job. In each book the major plot is brought to a conclusion, but the families might have some ongoing problem.

LA: What’s next for you?

MM: I am polishing the next Rocky Bluff P.D. novel and getting ready to launch the next in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series, Spirit Shapes.

LA: How much time do you spend promoting your books? 

MM: Way too much. Writing posts for blog tours takes a long time because I want the post to be interesting and different from others I’ve written.

LA: What works best for you?

MM: I am partial to blog tours, I’m not sure that works best for me—but it introduces me and my books to new potential readers. I love interacting with readers. And no, I do not have a publicist.

LA: Do you use a pen name? If so, how did you come up with it?

MM: F. M. Meredith is my first two initials and at the time I started using it, it seemed like a great idea.

LA: Which aspect of writing do you love the best, and which do you hate the most?

MM: I like the editing part best—once the book is all done and I am going over it, working to make it better.

LA: Describe for us, if you will, your writing style, as in plotter vs. seat of the pants, and do you put more time into developing characters or plot or are they equal?

MM: I think I’m a bit of both. I don’t set down an actual outline, but I begin with research and an idea for the plot. I begin jotting down lots of notes about what will be in the book, the new characters, etc. Then I start writing. As I write more ideas come and more notes.

LA: What do you do when you find yourself overwhelmed with all the stuff that goes along with writing and publishing?

MM: Hubby and I take the afternoon off and go out to lunch and a movie.

LA: That sounds like a great idea. Make note to self! Any advice you want to offer our readers about the dreaded Blurb writing ?

MM: Keep it to one or two sentences and use something about the book that will intrigue a reader.

LA: Key advice for other writers?

MM: Keep reading the kind of books you like to write—and write, write, write.

LA: Here is a social question. Someone has cut you off in the checkout line. How do you handle it?

MM: I had a friend who would always say quite loudly, “That must’ve been a very important person.” I always think that and may say it not so loudly to the person behind me.

LA: Coffee, tea or other?

MM: Chai latte.

LA: Are you superstitious?

MM: I’m not superstitious, but I like to put scary and weird things into my books. We have some resident ghosts in our home, but I know they can’t hurt anyone, so we put up with doors opening and shutting and weird noises.

LA: Do you have a view in your writing space? 

MM: Yes, the hill called Snail Head and the mountains beyond.

LA: Societal pet peeve … sound off.

MM: I am so tired of politics—politics corrupts and no politician comes is clean. No matter the party, no one has the people’s good in mind anymore—and I’m not sure they ever did except our founding fathers.

 


Blurb:
An attractive new-hire captivates Officer Gordon Butler, Officer Felix Zachary’s wife Wendy is befuddled by her new baby, Ryan and Barbara Strickland receive unsettling news about her pregnancy, while the bloody murder of a mother and her son and an unidentified drug that sickens teenaged partiers jolts the Rocky Bluff P.D.

Find Marilyn at: http://fictionforyou.com/
 

Facebook under my name, Marilyn Meredith

Buy links to your book: http://tinyurl.com/byxomtk


 



 
Don't forget F.M Meredith's (Marilyn's) excerpt on Saturday.