Fringe Benefits of Being a Writer

Today I welcome mystery writer and good friend Marilyn Meredith (F.M. Meredith) back to my blog to talk about some of the benefits of being a writer. Hope you enjoy meeting her.

If I hadn’t been a writer, I’d probably never have learned all the things that I now know how to do on the computer and the Internet. (Believe me, I’m far from an expert, but because I am a writer, I know lots of experts to ask when I have a problem. Lorna is one of these.)

Being a writer has afforded me the chance to travel to many places in the U.S. that I would have never even thought to visit on my own. On March 13, I go into detail about this at http://travelswithkaye.com

Because I’ve had the opportunity to give talks about writing and my books in different venues, I’ve become confident doing this and enjoy it.

I’ve taken on jobs I’d never imagined I’d do, such as being the program chair for the Public Safety Writers Association’s Conference. Because of this association, I’ve become friends with law enforcement officers from every conceivable branch including the military. You can check out who we are having this year at http://policewriter.wordpress.com/

Best, though, is all the friends I’ve made along the way. I am a founding member of the San Joaquin chapter of Sisters in Crime and have made wonderful friends there and look forward to seeing them whenever I can attend a meeting. When my first books were published, I made trips to the Central Coast Sisters in Crime to give talks and grew close to many of their members—and I ended up joining that chapter too.

We attended the now-defunct Mayhem in the Midlands every year and made so many good friends among readers and writers, most of whom I’m still in touch with even though they live far away. Radine Trees Nehring and her husband John are stand-out friends we met at Mayhem.

 At a Left Coast Crime in Anchorage, I met two young Native sisters who are avid readers. We stayed in touch and when Bouchercon came to Anchorage, I was invited to stay at one sister’s home, Katina, and had some great times with the whole family. I keep up with them on Facebook—and it’s great to hear what they are doing. Mom, Ruth, is a fan of my Deputy Tempe Crabtree series.

Attending EPICon, which meets in many different places around the country has resulted in many great friends, way too many to list, but two of them are Lorna and Larry Collins. We were together at several more EPICons and the most fun of all, were invited to be guests at the Collins’ lovely home one weekend, where we participated in a book and art fair one day, and enjoyed the launch for one of Lorna’s books. [We also celebrated our mutual birthdays that weekend! Lorna]

And to tie this up, if I wasn’t a writer, I wouldn’t have met so many other writers and had the opportunity to enjoy so many wonderful books.

Thanks for hosting me once again, Lorna.

Now a bit about Dangerous Impulses:

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.

Buy the book here: http://tinyurl.com/byxomtk 

Contest:

The person who comments on the most blog posts on this tour may have a character named after him or her in the next Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel or choose a book from the previous titles in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series in either paper or for Kindle.

Rocky Bluff P.D. Series:

Though each book in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series is written as a stand-alone, I know there are people who like to read a series in order. From the beginning to the end:

Final Respects

Bad Tidings

Fringe Benefits

Smell of Death

No Sanctuary

An Axe to Grind

Angel Lost

No Bells

Dangerous Impulses

F. M. Meredith’s 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.

Webpage: http://fictionforyou.com/

Blog: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

And I’m on Facebook and Twitter as MarilynMeredith