Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Say hello to Marilyn Meredith!


  • My guest today is one of my favorite people, prolific author Marilyn Meredith. She has more than thirty published novels to her credit, including the award-winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series. She borrows a lot from where she lives in the Southern Sierra for the town of Bear Creek and the surrounding area, including the nearby Tule River Indian Reservation.

  • She does like to remind everyone that she is writing fiction. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America.

  •                                                              CONTEST!
The person who comments on the most blogs on this blog tour will have the opportunity to have a character named after him or her in the next Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery. This is the last blog on my tour for Spirit Shapes.  She will wait a few days and make sure she has counted everyone who commented and on how many blogs—then will inform the winner, and announce who it is on my own blog: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/


Today she tells us abut her newest Crabtree mystery, and how such an otherwise sweet person is so in entranced with horror!

My Love of Horror Movies
When my children were little and my husband was overseas, if a horror movie was on television, everyone piled into my bed to watch,  which meant between 3 to 5 kids joined me. Because the movies were scary, often the whole bunch spent the rest of the night with me. Back during that time period, the horror movies that were on TV were pretty campy by today’s standards—Frankenstein, Dracula, and other mad scientist tales. But once in a while there was a really good (meaning really scary) like the Spiral Staircase. That was far scarier than any monster movie.

I’ve continued to enjoy watching scary movies, but I don’t like the slash and gash types that are more blood and gore than storytelling, or the ones about the group of young people stranded in a house, on an island, in a campground and are killed one by one.

I loved the Woman in White and other such movies set back in some early time period with lots of fog and atmosphere.

The best horror films are the ones that seem somewhat plausible—the latest one being  The Conjuring. One of the scariest I can’t remember the name of, but it was about some people traveling in a motor home that were being pursued by witches. I still get goose bumps when I think about that one.

I’ve read most of Stephen King’s books and the one I though the scariest was It. The movie didn’t come close as far as the shiver factor is concerned. (That seems to be the problem with most of the movies made from his books though The Shining was scary, just not as much as the book.

That gives you a pretty good idea that I do love scary movies and books and that’s probably why I like to put the scare factor into my mysteries. If you like a bit of that too, do try Spirit Shapes: Ghost hunters stumble upon a murdered teen in a haunted house. Deputy Temp Crabtree's investigation pulls her into a whirlwind of restless spirits, good and evil, intertwined with the past and present, and demons and angels at war.
 
 

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11 comments:

Kate Eileen Shannon said...

This has been a great tour Marilyn. Enjoyed every single stop of it. Already loved Tempe and now I feel I know so much more about you too. As to horror movies, that would be me hiding under the bed. Can not watch them. I never saw the Wizard of Oz all the way through until I was sixteen because I was scared of the witch. That's how bad I am. And I let out a blood curdling scream in a theater at Play Misty For Me.

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

Hi, there Kate! Yep, this is the end, and I still do love horror movies--but I must say I like them best when I watch them at home. My grandsons when they were 3 and 4 watched The Wizard of Ox up until the flying monkeys appeared, then they ran screaming from the room.

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

Hey, Jinx, thanks so much for being the last stop on my tour for Spirit Shapes. Wish I could see you again--I remember how much fun we had kibitzing at the cocktail party at Epicon in Nevada. It's been awhile.

Lorna Collins - Author said...

I don't like being scared, so I don't ever watch horror movies if I can help it. the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland is about as much as I want to be scared. However, I love ghost stories. Took the Ghost Walk in San Juan Capistrano last Friday night--interesting and not scary. And I wrote a book about a ghost. Spirit shapes is really fun because it has Tempe Crabtree--and me!

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

Hi, Lorna, I think the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland is my favorite there. When I used to go, I always headed there first.

mindprinter said...

Hi, Marilyn, Loved The Spiral Staircase and just last night watched Julie Harris in The Haunting, the first and best version of Shirley Jackson's Haunting of Hill House. Scary and wonderful performances by Harris and Clare Bloom. My all time favorite is The Uninvited with Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey. Maybe black and white has something to do with it. And let's not forget the greatest of all, Psycho. Yikes, I'm even scaring myself. Happy Halloween and I've loved following you on this blog tour. Paul

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

Paul, I just rented The Spiral Staircase, but I'll have to add the others to my Netflix list. Of course I've seen them all before, but it's fun/scary to see them again.

Morgan Mandel said...

Marilyn, I'm constantly in awe of you. So many published novels, and you always seem to be running around promoting in person, and also doing so online!

You are amazing!

Morgan Mandel
http://www.morganmandel.com

Diane Kratz said...

Marilyn,

Loved the blog post, because it brought back memories for me.

I loved TV shows like "The Sixth Sense" and "Night Gallery". Night Gallery had one about a guy who hired a man to put an earwig bug in his lovers husband ear.

The man mixed up the rooms and put the bug in his. He survived the bug eating all the way through his brian only to learn the bug had babies in his head.

It was irony at its best! To this day I always sleep with my blanket covering my ears.

We had Friday Fright Night with Elvira hosting. I never missed it! I think I was the only one in my family, who cried for monster Frankenstein.

Vincent Price was another favorite in the movie "The Fly" and Hitchcock's "The Birds" and "Psycho" TERRIFIED me!

They don't make thrillers like this anymore! I hate all the blood and guts.

Thanks for reminding me of scary nights from my past! It is after all Halloween!

Diane

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

Diane, I loved all the shows you mentioned and I forgot about Elvira and her Fright Night. I watched that too.

Morgan, you do as much as me and more!

Unknown said...

Hello everyone, and thanks for visiting. And Marilyn, you can unpack your bags and take a well-deserved break. Knowing you, however, it won't be for long. Best of luck on your latest book!