Today I welcome one of my favorite authors and good friend, Marilyn (F.M.) Meredith. I asked her why she wrote about a ghost in her latest book, Violent Departures. Since my own book Ghost Writer, features a ghost, I wanted to know why she chose one as a character.
My host for today
posed this question, and it’s a good one.
Stories in my Deputy
Tempe Crabtree series often have ghosts in them. Tempe is a Native American and
she’s quite open to the spirit world. I’ve done a lot of research about spirits
and ghostly visitations for this series and other books I’ve written.
I’ve never had a
ghost in my Rocky Bluff P.D. series before, but there is one in ViolentDepartures. I’m not going to tell you about it because I don’t want to
spoil the story.
I’m not sure how I
feel about ghosts, but the idea has always intrigued me. Perhaps they are just
a residue of a person, a remembrance that remains in a place, or maybe as some
have said, they are not ready to move on or have unfinished business that is
keeping them here.
My grandkids think
the house hubby and I call home is haunted. Yes, doors do open and close on
their own, and our two big cats have always acted like they see things we
don’t. Does it bother us? No, because I don’t think ghostly beings can do any
harm.
Hubby and I have
stayed in a few reportedly haunted places. The Menger Hotel in San Antonio is
one. It’s a beautiful old hotel built in 1859. My experience with a ghost there
happened at night. Someone kept knocking on a nearby door. I finally stepped
into the hall to see what the problem was. The knocking continued, but no one
was there.
Room
17 in the Bella Maggiore Inn in Ventura CA is supposed to be haunted by a
prostitute. Of course we asked for that room—but no ghost. Daughter said it was
because I was there with my husband. Because it’s an old hotel, it does have
the ambience of having ghostly residents.
And
then there’s the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. We’ve stayed there several
times. It’s fun to take the ghost tour where you can see manufactured ghosts.
One time when I left an event and came down in the elevator to my deck, I was
completely disoriented. Nothing looked the same as it had earlier. I felt like
I’d stepped back in time. I couldn’t find my room. I went to the center of the
deck, turned around and walked back and everything returned to normal.
That’s
as close as I can come to telling you why I write about ghosts.
If you’ve
had a ghostly encounter, do write about it in the comments.
F. M. aka Marilyn
Meredith
Blurb for Violent Departures:
College student,
Veronica Randall, disappears from her car in her own driveway, everyone in the
Rocky Bluff P.D. is looking for her. Detective Milligan and family move into a
house that may be haunted. Officer Butler is assigned to train a new hire and
faces several major challenges.
F.M. Meredith, also known as Marilyn
Meredith , is the author of over thirty published novels.
Marilyn is a member of three chapters of Sisters in
Crime , Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the
Public Safety Writers of America. Besides having family members in law
enforcement, she lived in a town much like Rocky Bluff with many police
families as neighbors.
Contest:
Because it has been popular on my other blog tours, once
again I’m offering the chance for the person who comments on the most blog
posts during this tour to have a character named for him or her in the next
Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery.
Or if that doesn’t appeal, the person may choose one of the
earlier books in the series—either a print book or Kindle copy.
Links:
I tackled the topic of
reading reviews of my books at http://jlgreger.blogspot.com/ and you can read it
tomorrow.