Marilyn Meredith: MYSTERY WE WRITE guest today

Marilyn Meredith is the author of over thirty published novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, the latest Bears With Us from Mundania Press. Writing as F. M. Meredith, her latest Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel is Angel Lost, the third from Oak Tree Press. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, Four chapters of Sisters in Crime, including the Central Coast chapter, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com/ and her blog at http://marilymeredith.blogspot.com/

BOOK GIVEAWAY: Marilyn will be giving away a copy of Bears With Us to a lucky commenter on the MYSTERY WE WRITE blog tour ending December 9. Leave a comment on this blog and maybe you will be the lucky winner!

So, heeeers Marilyn!

First, to tell you a bit about myself, I’m probably the old lady of the group, but I certainly don’t let age stop me. Well…to tell the truth, I don’t last as long as I used to, and partying no longer interests me because I usually go to bed pretty early, but I love to hang out with my friends and family, writing is a passion, and it’s fun to promote. I’ve made so many good friends as I’ve traveled the road of publishing and promotion and I consider it a major benefit of being an author.

She also mentioned that we could tell what our writing style it so I’ll talk about what I consider it to be for my Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series. In most cases, the stories contain a mystery, often times a murder, but because Tempe is a deputy of a small town and its surrounding area, she always has many things that come along to challenge her. In Bears With Us, bears take top priority, but she also is dealing with a teen suicide and parents who aren’t reacting as she’d expect, a complaint against her and her preacher husband by a prominent Bear Creek woman, a woman with dementia who keeps wandering away from home, and a secret long-ago romance that is causing a big problem.

With each new book I like to think about problems that may crop up in a mountain community like Bear Creek. Most books are told completely from Tempe’s point-of-view as this one is. I also like to let people read about Tempe’s and her husband, Hutch’s relationship. He is always supportive until she becomes too involved in the mystic side of being an Indian. Because she’s Indian, she has friends on the reservation, and often gets involved in helping out with crimes that occur there.

My writing style isn’t complicated. I’ve always considered myself more of a story-teller—one who likes to weave a mysterious web that includes a Native American female resident deputy, her preacher husband, her Indian friend, Nick Two John, whom she often consults, and a small community that includes the mountains and old-timers and people who have moved from the city. And though I am writing a series, each book is complete so they do not have to be read in any order.

Where you can purchase Bears With Us:
As an eBook or trade paperback from the publisher: http://mundania.com/
For Kindle or trade paperback from http://Amazon.com/
As a trade paperback from http://barnesandnoble.com/

Review of Bears With Us:
Marilyn Meredith's latest Deputy Tempe Crabtree offering, "Bears With Us," is full of the well-crafted twists and turns we've come to expect from her. It also has a lot of bear action, as we might expect from the title. For those readers who may not live in bear-y areas, it accurately depicts what life with those creatures can be like. (Just check out some of our National Park's pages like Yellowstone and Yosemite and see the real damage bears can do!) Far from the cuddle teddy bear image we've grown accustomed to, we are treated not only to a well-crafted tale, but also it's topped off with the unpredictability of 'nature.' And isn't that what really happens in our lives? Unpredictability. --Victoria Heckman, author of Hawaii Mysteries and "Burn Out." Sisters in Crime-Central Coast Chapter President