Author Marilyn Meredith Visits

It’s always a pleasure to have award-winning author Marilyn Meredith guest blog here at Thoughts in Progress as she makes her way on her virtual book tour.

Marilyn’s latest release is INVISIBLE PATH, the 8th installment in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series. You may remember Marilyn also writes the Rocky Bluff P.D. Mystery series too.

Here’s a brief synopsis of INVISIBLE PATH - While Tempe’s son, Blair is home from Christmas break, he and his roommate from college do a bit of snooping to find out about the para-military group who’ve been seen driving through town. When a young popular Indian is found dead near the recovery center on the reservation, Tempe is called in to help with the investigation. Another Native American but a newcomer to the rez, Jesus Running Bear, is the only suspect. A hidden pregnancy, a quest to find the Hairy Man, and a visit to the pseudo soldiers’ compound put Jesus and Tempe in jeopardy.

Today Marilyn has stopped by to tells us about her writing. Be sure to check out her blog, she has a contest going on.

I love visiting Mason Canyon and Thoughts in Progress. It reminds me of stopping by a friend’s house for a cup of coffee. Actually I’m drinking my favorite Chai tea while writing this. Because I’ve visited Mason’s blog before and she’s kindly visited mine and left comments, I feel like we’re friends.

Today I thought I’d talk about some of the dilemmas of being an author. Of course I don’t have the same kind of dilemmas as Mary Higgins Clark or James Patterson because I’m not nearly as well-known nor do I come close to selling even a fraction of the number of books they do.

While writing this blog I’m putting off working on my next Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel. I’m about ¾ of the way through the first draft and I’m anxious to finish. Once I’ve done that, then I’ll go back and start the rewriting process which will involve reading it chapter by chapter to the critique group I meet with most Wednesdays.

They’ve nearly finished hearing all of the next Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery, the one that will come out next fall. Once they’ve finished with that one, then I’ll do some extensive editing before sending it off to my publishing company. (Sometime near the end of summer, an in-house editor will be assigned the book and it will be edited again.)

I’ve started the promotion for INVISIBLE PATH which is the Tempe book I’m letting people know about now. I’ve arranged for a book launch at a used bookstore in the nearest town and will soon have to make some posters and let the newspaper know in order to have some publicity.

One of my favorite kinds of promotion is a blog tour, that’s one of the reasons I’m here visiting Mason.

A new event I’m trying is a mystery cruise to ports in Mexico. For the three days we’re at sea, we’re having a mystery writing conference. No matter how it turns out, whether books are purchased or not, it’s going to be fun. (Marilyn had sent me her post prior to going on her cruise and then there was the crazy turn of events. If you've been watching the news on TV you've seen the cruise ship that's in distress and having to be tugged back to San Diego. That's the ship Marilyn was supposed to go on. Needless to say, her cruise was canceled, but she went to Las Vegas to visit with her sister instead.)

I also do other in-person events like book and craft fairs, visit book clubs, attend mystery conventions to meet more fans, speak to service and social groups, libraries, schools, really, anyone who would like me to come.

The only drawback to in-person events, they take a lot of time, time away from the computer and writing.

The hope, of course, for any kind of book promotion is that people will buy books. In my case, not only do I hope for this, once the book is purchased, I want the reader to enjoy it.

P.S. I also love to answer questions. You can ask me anything you want and I’ll come back and answer it for you.
INVISIBLE PATH can be purchased as a trade paperback or e-book from http://www.mundania.com or any of the usual online bookstores.

Marilyn, it’s always a delight having you stop by and visit with us here. I’m glad you weren’t already on your cruise when the ship developed trouble, but I can image that could lead to interesting tidbits in a book too.

Now a little bit more about Marilyn. She is the author of nearly thirty published novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, the latest INVISIBLE PATH  from Mundania Press. Under the name of F. M. Meredith she writes the Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series, AN AXE TO GRIND is the latest from Oak Tree Press.

Marilyn is a member of EPIC, Four chapters of Sisters in Crime, including the Internet 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

Here’s a video of her book trailer, enjoy!



To read an excerpt of INVISIBLE PATH click here. As writers, what are some of the dilemmas you've faced? How did you handle them? Share your thoughts with us today.