Murder We Write Kick Off

Welcome to the Murder We Write Blog Tour. Today is the first day of the 15-day tour and I have a bye if you will here on my blog. One author had to drop for personal reasons and I hope all is improving in her world.  My prayers are will you!  For the next 14 days, I will turn the blogging duties over to my main character, Mitch Malone. He is an expert interrogator from his experience as crime beat reporter for the Grand River Journal.

Mitch will interview characters from some terrific author’s books that would make perfect Christmas gifts for those readers who love mysteries. I’ve read many of these author’s books and enjoyed them. And better yet, you will have a chance to win free copies by commenting on the blogs. The total number of books hasn’t been added up yet, but last year’s Mystery We Write Blog Tour gave away more than 50 books with less authors participating. Each author has their own rules but mostly to enter, just comment on any participating blog.  I’m giving away three books. The winner can pick from A CASE OF INFATUATION, A CASE OF ACCIDENTAL INTERSECTION or A CASE OF HOMETOWN BLUES.

I hope you enjoy Mitch Malone’s savvy interview style and pick up one of the books in the series and check it out. They are available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I also would be happy to send you signed copy. Email me at wsgager@yahoo.com and I will send you details. For more information on each book, check out my new and improved website: http://wsgager.com

As a side note, follow my guest blogs and you may read about the next in the Mitch Malone series: A CASE OF VOLATILE DEEDS that will be out in February. Here is my schedule:

Today:  Patricia Gligor

Tuesday:  M. M. Gornell

      Wednesday: MadisonJohns

Thursday: Collin Kelley

Friday:   Jean Lauzier 

Saturday:  Joyce Lavene

            Sunday:  Jean HenryMead 

Dec. 3: MarilynMeredith

Dec. 4:  Rionna Morgan

Dec. 5:  Larissa Hoffman 

Dec. 6:  Earl Staggs

Dec. 7:  Anne K Albert 

            Dec. 8:  SR Claridge 

Dec. 9:  Evelyn Cullet 

Dec. 11:  Winners announced on my blog.

Up tomorrow is Evelyn Cullet's character Charlotte Ross, the main character in MASTERPIECE OF MURDER. You don't want to miss Mitch's first interview! Comment early and often for a chance to win!

Check out Mystery Readers Journal

The latest issue of Mystery Readers Journal is out. It is the second issue devoted to all things legal in mysteries. I'm excited to have an essay printed with a host of people more famous and noteworthy than I. My article, "The Fine Print," stretches the definition of legal but talks about my writing as therapy and how killing people in print is a lot less hazardous than doing it for real.

Please check it out.

http://www.mysteryreaders.org/Issues/Legal2-2012.html

Mitch Malone Mondays: F.M. Merdith's Miqui Sherwood

Welcome to a special edition of Mitch Malone Mondays on Saturday. Today I’m pleased to have F.M. Meredith or Marilyn as she is known to her friends stop by but she usually doesn’t say much. She visits regularly and always brings the most interesting people. Today is no exception. Miqui Sherwood is featured in the next Deputy Tempe Crabtree book called RAGING WATERS. Welcome Miqui. Tell me a little about the country where you live. It is a long way from West Michigan isn’t it?

Miqui: Yes, I live in a small mountain town called Bear Creek in the Southern Sierra, that’s in California, in case you didn’t know. The town is named after the river that runs through town. I don’t know what idiot named it Bear Creek since right now it’s full to overflowing.

I understand you have an interesting hobby and it has something to do with the U.S. Mail. Tell me how it got started and why you do it?

Miqui: I’m crazy about holidays and I love to decorate my home with all my collectibles. I have some priceless and antique Christmas figurines, everything from Santa and Mrs. Claus to groups of carolers I decorate inside and out to celebrate every new season. I even decorate my mailbox.

I’ve been real nice asking you easy questions but I am a reporter and wanted to soften you up before I got to the last couple of questions. You had a criminal element surprise you? What did they want? And what did you do?

Miqui: We’ve had a rash of burglaries in Bear Creek lately. The burglar creeps into people’s houses while they are sleeping and they don’t even know until they wake and find their possessions missing. I woke up when he was in my house and my two precious dogs chased him out. I called Deputy Crabtree and she and her husband came right away but not in time to catch him.

Now if I am in the area, would you open up your home so I could stay? You had any experience with that?

Micqui: I probably would though I had a recent bad experience. More rain than we usually have caused the river to rise and threaten all the homes built near the banks. I offered my two extra rooms to couples that I know on a social level. It was not a good experience.

Thank you Miqui for stopping by. I can’t wait to hear more about your adventures.

Micqui: In Raging Water Deputy Tempe Crabtree’s  investigation of the murder of two close friends is complicated when relentless rain turns Bear Creek into a raging river. Homes are inundated and a mud slide blocks the only road out of Bear Creek stranding many—including the murderer.

Please leave a comment and you could win. The person who leaves comments on the most blogs will have his/her name used for a character in my next book—can choose if you want it in a Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery or a Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel.

Marilyn Meredith is the author of over thirty published novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, the latest Raging Water from Mundania Press. Writing as F. M. Meredith, her latest Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel us No Bells, the forth from Oak Tree Press. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com and follow her blog at http://marilymeredith.blogspot.com/

My Critic Group is the BEST!

Today is a beautiful day! I mean that literally in that the temperatures are in the 80s with little humidity and a great breeze. I also mean that figuratively, emotionally and physically. For the last few months I have felt like I have been under a giant thunderhead. I thought it was my looming book deadline but have learned it was a multitude of things and too many to go into in a blog.

However I would like to say to my critic group that I love you guys dearly and thank you for letting me talk on Friday. I know we didn’t get any work done but you don’t know how much it meant to me to be honest and vent. Between that, my first great nights sleep in months and the medication that I think is finally fixing my debilitating headaches, I may not only survive but thrive. I can’t tell you how good that feels. I also feel energy and ambition that I haven’t felt in way too many months.

It also doesn’t hurt that I know where I’m going in the short term and can plan. You know how I like to have the details in order or I go crazy! So the next time we meet, I promise we will get some work done and I will be a regular member  You guys are the best.

Not only that they are each published! Check out their varied works. You won’t be disappointed. How could great friends not write great books? Click on their name to see them on Amazon!

Joselyn Vaughn

Tess Grant

JQ Rose

Anthology's Top Ten Lessons Learned

            I am proud to be an author in the Corner Café: A Tasty Collection of Short Stories. This was the brainchild of Dani Greer, owner and chief expert on BBT Cafe with the help of Helen Ginger and Bob Sanchez. Sherry Wachter at Magic Dog Press did the delicious cover.

This project is a study of book marketing 101 and while the results aren’t in yet, the experience has already been invaluable for me. The top 10 lessons I’ve learned are:

1.      Always follow the rules. You don’t want to hold up a project because you didn’t listen or read.

2.      Always listen to the teacher or boss. They are making the decisions and you need to do whatever they ask.

3.      To be part of a group effort, you must put in the effort to do your part. (I have been lax in this area but hope to have a strong finish.)

4.      Brainstorming through emails develops great ideas but can fill your inbox in a short period of time.

5.      Book marketing is an evolving science and if you blink, you may miss the next great marketing idea.

6.      You need to be a member of a tribe, pin daily, tweet, post to Facebook, Google Plus and other things I’ve never heard of but they do sell books. (At least a couple)

7.      No matter how many times you look at the words someone can find a typo in it. (Thank you Dani and Helen for all those versions until we got to the final. I haven’t found any typos yet!)

8.      Hootsuite can schedule posts to facebook and twitter. Who knew?

9.      Screen shots of good things about your books and their rankings are great ways to preserve them for future use and to track results of book sales.

10.  The final thing I’ve learned is that in the book business, you can never have enough contacts or friends to converse and commiserate with. They are a fantastic life line and I am thankful for each of my fellow authors and the others on the Blog Book Tours loop who give of themselves, their talent, and their time to promote others.

Please follow the other blogs in the tour.

June 13 Chris Verstraete http://candidcanine.blogspot.com

June 14 Helen Ginger http://straightfromhel.blogspot.com

June 15 Kathy Wheeler

June 18 Morgan Mandel Double M http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

June 19 Pat Bean http://patbean.wordpress.com

June 20 Shonell Bacon http://chicklitgurrl.blogspot.com

June 21 Alberta Ross http://albertaross.wordpress.com

June 22 Karen Casey Fitzjerrell http://karencaseyfitzjerrell.blogspot.com

June 25 Pat Stoltey http://patriciastoltey.blogspot.com

June 26 SB Lerner http://www.susanblerner.com

June 27 Maryann Miller http://its-not-all-gravy.blogspot.com/

June 28 Mary Montague Sikes http://marymontaguesikes.blogspot.com

June 29 Stephen Tremp http://breakthroughblogs.blogspot.com

Summer Reading Plans

This week I'm starting off the start of summer with my wonderful critic buddies doing a blog hop. This is my first blog hop but not my last. Joselyn Vaughn, Tess Grant and JQ Rose know my worst mistakes, my greatest fears and my best writing moments. If you like my books, check out theirs. I love them. The are teh best. I mean both the authors and their books) Add them to your summer reading list.

Summer: It should bring images of hot, lazy days at the beach, long bike rides and kayaking across lakes. It should be a slowing of activities, communing with nature and enjoying ice cream, lots of it…I mean all three. That doesn’t seem to happen in my life. If anything with longer hours of daylight, I try and pack in more.

My dream day would be watching the sun rise and walking along the beach and then a late morning nap with a warm breeze. The afternoon would be spent reading a great book and then getting dressed for dinner with the love of my life. I doubt I’m going to get my dream day but what I am going to make a point of doing this summer is getting in some reading time. It is hard for me to read for pleasure when I’m writing. I analyze the books instead of getting lost in the story. That is the one thing I don’t like about being a writer is that reading books has now become work. Kind of like the reading you had to do in your high school English classes. Took all the fun out of the story when you had to figure out the character’s motivation and what setting added to the plot.

So I am going to give myself permission to read, just jump in and read. On my list for reading is my favorite author, Catherine Coulter’s latest in her FBI series, “Split Second” and “Back Fire.” (I’m a little behind in the series.) A new favorite author is also on my to-be-read pile, Julie Hyzy’s latest in her White House Chef series, “Affairs of Steak.” If I get those three done, I may read some classics that my daughter has to read for school so we can discuss them. I will be happy if I can get my fun three done but I am determined even if I only get in five pages a day.

What about you? What books are on your list for this summer?

Let me know your reading plans and you will be entered for a chance to win one of my books, your choice. Check out these blogs for other great giveaways:

My critic buddies' blogs:
JQ Rose: http://jqroseauthor.blogspot.com/
Tess Grant: http://tessgrant.wordpress.com/
Joselyn Vaughn: http://joselynvaughn.wordpress.com/

A Case of Hometown Blues is a FINALIST

I am honored and thrilled to announce that “A Case of Hometown Blues” is a finalist in the first round of the Kiss of Death Chapter’s Daphne Du Maurier Award for Excellence in the Mystery/Suspense — Published Division. There are several categories but I was in the Mainstream/Mystery/Suspense category. The winner will be announced at the Romance Writers of America Conference in Anaheim, California in July.

It is even more of an honor because I have read both Linda Castillo and Lois Winston and love their books although I have not read “Breaking Silence” yet. I will have to read the others! Here are the finalists in Mainstream/Mystery/Suspense.

Linda Castillo – Breaking Silence

W. S. Gager – A Case of Hometown Blues

Julie Kramer – Killing Kate

Elizabeth Voss – The Winslow Incident

Lois Winston – Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun

More information on the other categories or the contest can be found here: http://www.rwamysterysuspense.org/pdf/2012PubFinalists.pdf

If you would like to check out the first couple chapters of “A Case of Hometown Blues” go here: Amazon

Or if you would like to buy it: Amazon   or Barnes and Noble   

Wondering what it is about, here is a synopsis:

When Pulitzer-winning reporter Mitch Malone's editor presses him for a favor, Malone breaks his vow to never return to his hometown. It seemed simple enough--lead a seminar for Flatville, MI's newspaper, keep a low profile and get back to the city post haste. But memories of his parents' death swarm him, and, to avoid solitude, he stops for a beer. In the crowded bar, Mitch is dismayed to see many of his former classmates--including the still-lovely Homecoming Queen, Trudy. Once the object of his teenage crush, Trudy joins Mitch. He quickly realizes she is upset and inebriated. Always the gentleman, Mitch sees her safely home, and returns to his B&B, still trying to shake memories of his parents' sad demise. The next day, he is stunned to learn Trudy was murdered and he is the prime suspect. The locals treat the murder charge as a slam dunk, and Mitch realizes he must track down the real killer to keep his butt out of jail. As he investigates, facts he thought he knew about his family unravel, and danger ratchets up. Can Mitch discover the truth that will allow his parents to rest in peace, or will he be resting with them?

Wish me luck!