My Connection With Arline Chase
Arline lives in a small town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It is the same place my husband called home until he joined the Navy. I lived there for a short period of time and my first child was born there. I grew up in Los Angeles and I found everything [in Maryland] to be very different from what I was used to.
Over the years, we went back to visit several times. I came to appreciate the beauty and history of the town and its surroundings, including the Chesapeake Bay and all the various waterways.
On one of these visits, I appeared with Arline and other authors in the basement of the library. (I could be wrong about the location, it was a long, long time ago.) After this event, we walked over to a local coffee and lunch spot that also sold books. (I know this place has since moved—and may not even be in business anymore.)
[Sadly the owners moved to Branson, Mo., hoping to find more customers than they did here. We are the largest county in the state, but with only 30,000 people in all – about 46 people per square mile, so book sales were not what they had hoped.]
Arline and other authors were also at this event. I was fortunate in the fact that after it was over, Arline offered to drive me home. We were staying at my husband’s cousin’s home way out in the country and right on the bay. Of course we had a great time chatting in all these places about the publishing business, which has changed greatly since that time.
[As I recall, we were in the midst of a Hurricane that came right up the bay, Isabel, perhaps. Of course, that didn’t phase Marilyn. She had her mind on books and completely ignored the rental cars that had floated around in the front yard of the family she visited.]
E-books were fairly new, as was print-on-demand. Both things have changed the publishing industry tremendously. We expected both to explode. They did, but it took longer than we imagined.
[I remember how pleased I was to find that Marilyn agreed with my estimation of the viability of e-books, when everyone in the publishing industry was completely against them! They all swore e-books were too troublesome and they’d never catch on!!!]
Probably one of the most fantastic things about being an author is making a connection with people like Arline. It’s been years since that visit, and I may have a few facts wrong, but I remember it fondly. Perhaps Arline will chime in and correct or add something that’s I’ve forgotten.
[Same for me, Marilyn. I bought your book that day (and many more since) and enjoyed every word. Thanks again for being on my blog and for sharing your insider information with us here.]
Now a bit about my latest book, 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.
Contest:
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
About F. M. Meredith:
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
Tomorrow you can find me at http://jlgreger.blogspot.com/
Thanks so much for having me today, Arline. I have fond memories of my visits to the Eastern Shore despite the hurricanes.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn and Arline, this certainly brings back memories of the terrible day that Isabel blew directly up the York River from the Bay and devastated much of our little town, located where the river divides into the Mattaponi and the Pamunkey. I recall a piano from one of the homes floating down the river and people on rooftops to avoid the rising waters. Wouldn't have wanted to be on the Eastern Shore then!
ReplyDeleteMary Montague Sikes
It was exciting for us from CA the house we were staying in was surrounded by water. It was our rental car floating.
ReplyDeleteIt's great reconnecting with old friends, and often only the good things stand out in our memories. I thank my lucky stars that I've never had to be in a hurricane. I've experienced a few scary tornados, but never a hurricane.
ReplyDeleteI've been in 3 hurricanes--always scary! But I've been in many more earthquakes--they are over much faster.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you got a lot of fodder for your books from the visit, Marilyn. (g)
ReplyDeleteJust curious: When did the hurricane warnings start? I guess, I should just look that up. LOL
Isabel came straight up the bay, pushing about 6-8 feet of water before it. No tides went out for a week, so the water just kept rising and rising, though the wind had passed. Only happens about once every 50 years...
ReplyDeleteThe storm was over and water had started to recede here before the signing, though there were many cancellations earlier in the week.
That weekend, though, parts of Baltimore and Washington were still without power.
Meeting you, Marilyn, was the best part of all that for me.
I enjoyed meeting you too, Arline!
ReplyDelete