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Linda Suzane, the fantastic author and the inspiration behind the ON WINGS OF MURDER site, has just received a great review for her novel EYES OF TRUTH. Go to the following link and check it out. Then buy the book and curl up in your favorite chair for a good read.



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Coming soon from Hilliard & Harris

Be sure to look for Dorothy's upcoming release from Hilliard & Harris.

Welcome Dorothy Bodoin

Dorothy Bodoin returns to On wings of Murder with the upcoming release of her new mystery from Wings, A TIME OF STORMS. The following reviews will convince you this is a must read. Dorothy also shares with us the inspiration behind the wonderful stories that have won her a loyal following of readers.

Rave review for Bodoin's A TIME OF STORMS

REVIEW of A TIME OF STORMS by Suzanne Hurley

Dorothy Bodoin’s new book ‘A Time of Storms’ is a must read. It is the ninth book in her series, set in Foxglove Corners. I have read every one of them, loved them all and already anxiously await the next installment in Jennet Greenway’s life.

‘A Time of Storms’ is a page turner that will have you racing to the end to find out what happened. It is an exciting story, breathtaking at times and guaranteed to keep you guessing. Ms. Bodoin is a master at shrouding her events in suspense with the feeling that something evil is always lurking behind the scenes. The reader will also be thrilled to be back with familiar faces, dogs and neighbors.

In ‘A Time of Storms’, Newlyweds Jennet Greenway and Crane Ferguson are settling into married life. Madly in love, Jennet is struggling to juggle her desire to take care of and spend time with Crane while also working full time as an English Teacher. It’s not easy with meetings at work, marking to do and a long commute. Jennet’s world is then shaken apart by the arrival of a stranger who shows up at her house with accusations that her dog Candy was tormenting his turkeys. He threatens to kill the dog. This sets Jennet off into a tailspin as she fears for the life of her beloved dog. Then there is the concern of a mysterious someone crying out for help in an unfinished Victorian house. Or are there ghosts there? Mysterious diaries are discovered, a tornado watch rings out and fear and destruction envelopes Foxglove Corners. Will Crane and Jennet survive the mysteries, chaos and disasters threatening their lives?

Dorothy Bodoin is an author you don’t want to miss out on. Her books provide you with hours of cozy stories of interesting people, while her plots will mystify you with their ingenuity and suspense. Please take the time to put on a pot of coffee and hunker down for a good read. Your life will be enriched and you will long to live in Foxglove Corners near Jennet and Crane. I look forward to Ms. Bodoin’s next book.

Review for A TIME OF STORMS

A TIME OF STORMS

By Donna H. Parker


Jennet looks forward to enjoying a long and happy life with her new husband, Deputy Sheriff Crane Ferguson, and their two collies, Halley and Candy, but storm clouds hang over the community of Foxglove Corners in more ways than one. A menacing newcomer, an old mystery about a woman who vanished from the local library, an intriguing blue Victorian mansion Review of A TIME OF STORMS
which was deserted before it could be lived in--all these problems and more converge on Jennet and spawn a roiling vortex which threatens to destroy all she holds dear.

In A TIME OF STORMS, Dorothy Bodoin expertly weaves together the storyteller's basic threads of plot, pacing, setting, dialogue and character, adds her great love for her collies, and sprinkles in a sparkle of the supernatural to create a suspenseful, satisfying and all around excellent read. A TIME OF STORMS is Ms. Bodoin's eighth book in her Foxglove Corners series, but it can easily be read and enjoyed as a stand-alone mystery. Highly recommended for all ages.

One Writer's Inspirations

Inspiration/Love Deadly Love/Series

Changing seasons . . . Victorian houses . . . collies . . . the songs of Stephen Foster . . . antique jewelry . . . favorite poems . . . old Gothic novels . . . fountains . . . northwoods cabins . . . Valentine hearts . . . Everything I love has, at one time or another, found its way into my writing.
The Cameo Clue began with a vision of a caramel apple, “the undisputed star of the Fair,” in the words of Cora Valentine, Maple Creek’s beloved retired teacher. Moments later, she takes a bite of her apple and is dead, the victim of a poisoner. Soon afterward, Katherine Kale, now living in the house Cora occupied as a young woman, finds a crushed cameo in the ground.
I was probably thinking of the apple in Snow White—red, delicious, irresistible. But my apple had a stick through its center and a coating of nut-studded caramel. Beautiful to behold, an instrument of quick death to one who takes a single bite of its fruit.



The cameo belonged to me. As described in the novel, it had a brown background and the face looked forward rather than being carved in profile. Crushed under the tire of a car when it slipped off my sweater, it came to life again in my book as it was after the accident, the lovely carved smile twisted into something almost evil.



The Cameo Clue was my first novel of romantic suspense. I found my publisher, Hilliard and Harris, on the Sisters in Crime Internet Chapter site and submitted the manuscript to them. They suggested minor revisions to the first chapter and invited me to resubmit it. I did, they accepted it, and some time later, Harlequin selected The Cameo Clue for their Worldwide Mystery BookClub.



My relationship with Hilliard and Harris has been a happy one. I have four books published by them now. A northwoods cabin I used to visit as a child inspired A Shadow On The Snow. A life-sized statue of a Greek god seen at a local florist’s shop became the sinister satyr in Secret For A Satyr. A series of film strips on descriptive writing I showed as a young teacher so fascinated me that I created my own Christmas Room for the haunted mansion, Snowhedge.



My collection of Valentine cards, decorative plates, and hearts started me thinking about a house called Valentine Villa, Linnet Shellwin’s pink Victorian in Maple Creek, although by the time Linnet moves into Valentine Villa, the Valentine memorabilia is gone and Linnet prefers simplicity to Victorian excess.



My mystery came from the headlines. I’ve never understood how an author can take a news story and weave it into her own work of fiction. Not until I read the story about a fourth grade class who had plotted to kill their teacher, that is. Immediately I remembered some of the bad classes I’ve had over the years, which somehow burn brighter in memory than the good ones. I was amazed that today this idea isn’t as shocking as it might once have been.



Using a pattern that has served me well—a new woman in town moving into a Victorian house with a past—I gave Linnet Shellwin the serious problem of teaching the killer class, along with many of the minor irritations and frustrations I remember experiencing in my own first year of teaching all ninth grade classes in a small town that is very similar to the fictitious Maple Creek, Michigan.



The murder in the story is thought to be a copy cat killing, inspired by the caramel apple poisoning of Cora Valentine in The Cameo Clue. My job as a writer was to connect the cherry tart murder of Violet Julaine with Linnet’s troubles in her classroom. At times I didn’t think I could manage it, but in the end everything came together rather nicely, in my opinion, with one handsome hero left over for another book.
* * * *
Books in a series are wonderful. If you are lucky, one book can lead to another. When my brother and his family moved to Metamora, Michigan, AKA Foxglove Corners, I fell in love with the area. My happiest hours were spent exploring country byroads with my niece.
Almost immediately the bits and pieces of the series I’d been planning came to life for me: The Victorian style farmhouse I wanted to build; my heroine, Jennet Greenway; her black collie, Halley; the mystery; and the romance.



With Darkness At Foxglove Corners published and enjoying modest success with readers, I remembered the sport of fox hunting that flourished in Metamora and made an appointment to talk to Patricia Pearce, the Huntsman, at her home. For me, from fox hunting to animal activism was a natural leap, and soon Cry For The Fox was born.



Winter’s Tale began not with the image of a collie lying on a snowy country road but with a Christmas card: A lighted and decorated Christmas tree in the bay window of a white Victorian house. It became a phantom tree. The collie came later, along with the dognappers.
So Winter’s story was told. But what happened to him before he reached that snowy road? Even his creator wanted to know. I dealt with Winter’s mystery in A Shortcut Through The Shadows, a book that won its publishers Golden Wings award.



My books had been taking place in different seasons. Summer, fall, winter, spring-into-summer. Suddenly it was fall again. I began thinking about black cats and witches. Out of nowhere came Marla Holland, the much-disliked aspiring book burner in The Witches Of Foxglove Corners.



For Christmas I created a trio of white ghost collies and Past Perfect, the kind of magical antique shop I’d love to visit myself. The opening scene was inspired by any one of the many times I drove home from school in an ice storm. This second Christmas book is titled The Snow Dogs Of Lost Lake.



All this time, Jennet’s romance with Deputy Sheriff Crane Ferguson had been growing. In The Collie Connection, their wedding is a month away. What can possibly go wrong with perfect happiness so near at hand? Something she never expected. She loses her beloved collie, Halley.





In A Time Of Storms (a Wings’ November 2009 release) Jennet and Crane are safely and happily married. Again, what can go wrong? How about a threat to the life of Jennet’s rescue collie, Candy, and storm clouds gathering over Foxglove Corners?
All I do these days is ask myself what is happening next in Jennet’s life and what can go wrong? All I know for certain is that the time will be the next season and there’ll be a collie in it.


HOME PAGE: http://www.dorothybodoin.com/

WRITING ABOUT LAW ENFORCEMENT

by Marilyn Meredith

People often ask me if I was ever in law enforcement and the answer is “No.”

I had an uncle who was a motorcycle cop and I babysat for an L.A. police officer. Maybe that’s what planted the first seeds way back when I was a kid.

When hubby and I purchased our first house for $100 down, our neighbors were mostly firemen and police officers, along with Navy men (my husband’s profession), this was the first time any of us could afford a house. Of course we got acquainted with everyone, partied with them, and I heard a lot from their wives.

A few years later, my youngest daughter married a police officer. She did not like to hear his stories—but I did. He came over every morning after his shift and told me all that he’d done that night—the bad guys he’d arrested, the stupid things he’d been called about. He even took me on a ride-along once, after making me promise I wouldn’t tell anyone I was his mother-in-law. He had me run along behind him when he chased a burglar so I’d really know what it was like. I was impressed by how he was able to talk down volatile situations. Of course I’ve used his techniques in a book or two.

Later, after we moved, I went on two more ride-alongs. One with a brand new officer who wouldn’t let me get out of the car, yes, I’ve written about him, and another with a single mom, the only female officer in the department. It was a Saturday night and she had me come in with her while she did bar checks. When she was through in each one, she’d holler, “Did anyone see the little old lady I came in with?” Everyone would point at me. I wasn’t all that old back then, so it didn’t do much for my ego. She got one family dispute call and had me stay in the car. She took care of it and from then on, about 2:30 a.m., she didn’t get another call. She drove around and told me all about her life, how hard it was being the only female officer and raising a son by herself. I’ve used so much she told me in both series.

When I first moved to the place where I live now, I wrote personality pieces for the local newspaper. It was a good way for me to meet people and learn my way around the area. It was also a way for people to become acquainted with me when they read the articles with my by-line. One of the people I interviewed was the female resident deputy of the place where I live. Her interview was quite eye-opening about how she was treated by the male deputies and the discrimination she faced from the men in charge. I wrote the piece and told her she should read it before I gave it to the paper because I was afraid she’d be fired. She read it, told me it was all true and she wanted it in the paper just as I’d written it. When it came out, guess what? She was fired. Fortunately, she got a better job soon after that.

Not only did I use a lot she told me for my Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, I’ve also created characters from all the people I’ve met for this series. One of the main characters in this series, Nick Two John, is based on a Native American who lives on the local reservation. The real person called me once and I was afraid he’d noticed some similarities with himself and the character—but he’d only called to tell me how much he liked the book he’d read.

For the Rocky Bluff P.D. series a lot of the ideas for stories have come from people who’ve come to the chapter of Sisters in Crime that I belong to and given talks about some aspect of law enforcement. As for the characters, none of them are real, though again, I’ve lifted some of the personalities and personal histories from people I know or have come in contact through the years. I have a good memory about people and things they’ve told me. I also like to eavesdrop on conversations in restaurants—quite often bits and pieces of what people discuss can conjure up a whole plot detour.

Fortunately, no one has ever recognized themselves in any of my stories.

I also belong to the Public Safety Writers Association http://www.publicsafetywriter.com/ and many of the members are in law enforcement or retired from law enforcement. These folks love to tell stories—and I love to listen to them. They are also handy for asking questions about guns and technical kinds of things—thought I don’t delve into forensics or what happens after someone is arrested. My cops are the kind who go around asking questions and trying to figure out who did what and why. Oh yes, they do get into trouble quite often, it wouldn’t be any fun writing about them if they didn’t.

Marilyn Meredith

HOW TO WRITE TWO SERIES AT ONE TIME

by Marilyn Meredith

I give a lot of talks and workshops for writers. One question I’m asked a lot, is how do you manage to write two series at one time?

Of course the most important answer, is I don’t try to write them simultaneously. I could never do that, each series has a completely different voice. Once I’ve finished a Tempe book, I’ll start on a Rocky Bluff novel. Of course gathering material for either book is an ongoing process.

In the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, Tempe is the main character and though I write in third person, the reader always sees the story unfold through Tempe’s eyes. There are a couple of exceptions, in INTERVENTION there are two places where the point-of-view switches to the villain. Though I can’t remember which book, I know there’s one where there’s a point-of-view switch to Hutch, Tempe’s husband.

The Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series is much different. The story is told through many different points-of-view. Action can be going on in several different places at one time. In each book, different characters are show-cased, though because the stories are showcased through a police-department, many of the characters make reappearances, giving the reader an opportunity to catch up on what’s happening with someone who might have been prominent in one book, but takes a back seat in another.

When writing a mystery series it’s necessary to keep track of a lot and because I’m writing two, I surely don’t want to get them mixed up.

I have to keep track of the ongoing characters, simple things like how each one looks, but also the more complicated ones, like what has affected them in the past to change them? How much are they going to age between each book?

The setting.

In the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series, Tempe is the resident deputy of Bear Creek, a fictional town similar to the one I live in, in the southern part of the Southern Sierra. It’s near an Indian reservation and casino, really, and also in the books. Though I’ve fictionalized the area somewhat, I need to stay true to what I’ve written in previous books. I keep a notebook about Tempe and Bear Creek so I don’t change anything I’ve already described.

Though I’ve given the nearest city a phony name, anyone who lives around here, knows exactly where I’m talking about—but since the name is different I can change locations of things. From there on out, wherever Tempe goes it’s to a real place. When I use a real setting, I visit the place and figure out what I’m going to use that’s there already, and what I might have to change.

Rocky Bluff is not a real place though it bears a striking resemblance to a coastal community in California called Carpenteria. Rocky Bluff lies somewhere between Santa Barbara and Ventura—closer to Ventura than Carpenteria is and the geography has been changed. (I’m writing fiction, I can do things like that.) The Rocky Bluff P.D. is not based on any police department, though I’ve gotten ideas from a couple of departments I’ve visited. I like to tell people that since it’s my police department, I can do what I want. Though the cops who inhabit my stories have investigated grisly murders, I haven’t touched much on drugs or gang violence even though I know both are quite prevalent in all society today—these are topics I haven’t wanted to write about yet.

I can assure you that I can visualize every part of Bear Creek and also Rocky Bluff. Like my characters these places are very real to me.

When I begin each new book, I set out to write it as if it were a stand-alone. If a new reader picks up the book, I want them to not be put off by the fact that it’s a series and they don’t have the first book. My goal is to describe the characters and the settings in a fresh way, so that a fan who is reading every book as soon as it comes out, won’t complain that I’ve written the exact same descriptions as I did in the previous book.

Every author has their own way of doing things, but when I start a new book in either series, I already have a cast of characters that I can draw upon. I usually have an idea about what kind of crime I’m going to be writing about, and if it’s murder—who the victim will be. From there, I try to figure out who all might’ve wanted the person dead (the motive) and the opportunity to do the deed.

With the Rocky Bluff P.D. series, I always try to show how what’s going on with the job affects the police officers’ families, and what goes on with the families, affects the job.

Marilyn Meredith, author of the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series: KINDRED SPIRITS, JUDGMENT FIRE, CALLING THE DEAD, Mundania Press, http://www.mundaniapress.com
and as
F.M. Meredith, author of the Rocky Bluff P.D. series: NO SANCTUARY, Oak Tree Press, http://www.oaktreebooks.com

MYSTERIES FEATURING DEPUTY TEMPE CRABTREE

by Marilyn Meredith

When Deputy Tempe Crabtree first presented herself to me, the Native American part of her identity was not as evident as it became as I wrote about her more and more. The reason was obvious, Tempe knew very little about her ancestry except what her grandmother had told her when Tempe was a child.

The tribe Tempe belongs to is loosely based on the Yokut Indians and the Tule River Reservation. I changed the name of the tribe and the reservation mainly so I wouldn’t offend anyone, though I’m sure anyone who lives in our area and knows anything about our local Indians will recognize many similarities. Of course I’ve done other research in order to make Tempe’s experiences as real as possible.

In the first book of the series, DEADLY TRAIL, Nick Two John rebukes Tempe because of her lack of knowledge of her Indian heritage. Nick begins to educate her and also becomes the prime suspect in a murder case. I was fortunate to spend quite a bit of time with a Native American and his wife who furnished much of the information I used in this story. This book is available from Hard Shell Word Factory as an e-book or trade paperback.

The second book, DEADLY OMEN, is about a murder during a Pow Wow. I did extensive research on the many ceremonial dances and their meanings, as well as the outfits worn by the dancers. A Native American from the reservation called to tell me he’d read the book. He said, “I wanted to let you know you got it right.” Of course I was thrilled, but what is really interesting about the call is, I’d based the character Nick Two John on him and he didn’t recognize himself.

Though the homicide detectives who investigate the murders in and around Bear Creek, don’t like Tempe’s interference in any of their cases, they don’t have any trouble calling on her to go to the Bear Creek reservation to interview a Native American of interest. Available as e-book from Hard Shell Word Factory, mass market paperbacks are still available from my website, Mundania Press, and Amazon.

UNEQUALLY YOKED is next. Tempe spends a lot more time on the reservation than she did in the previous books. She participates in two Indian ceremonies, one that fails and one that opens her mind and helps her discover the identity of a murderer. Hutch, Tempe’s husband and the local minister, has a difficult time with her involvement in the spiritual side of her heritage. Because Tempe’s marriage is a happy one, it’s been fun for me to create this ongoing tension between her and Hutch. (This book is out of print, but will soon be available as a trade paperback and e-book from Mundania Press.)

Though there isn’t much about Tempe’s ancestry in INTERVENTION, she has been awakened more to the mystical and when her life is threatened, her protection comes from an unusual source. Two John continues to counsel Tempe in WINGBEAT and CALLING THE DEAD. At times, Tempe’s husband experiences pangs of jealousy because of his wife’s friendship with Two John. However, Hutch is even more upset by what Tempe does under Two John’s direction, fearing for Tempe’s soul when she calls back the dead to learn the truth about a suicide.
INTERVENTION and WINGBEAT are available in e-book form from Hard Shell Word Factory, and as mass market paperbacks from Mundania Press, Amazon and my website.

In the following book, JUDGMENT FIRE, Tempe is confronted with issues that she’s suppressed about being Native American from her high school days. These uncomfortable memories play an important part in the solving of a murder case.

The latest in the series, two years have passed since we last visited Tempe. In KINDRED SPIRITS it becomes apparent Tempe and Hutch are having problems because of their disagreement over the casino built on the reservation. When the body of an artist is discovered in a forest fire it soon becomes apparent she was a victim of a murder. The detectives on the case send Tempe to Crescent City to learn more about the woman. The trail leads her to Santa Barbara and danger. CALLING THE DEAD, JUDGMENT FIRE, and KINDRED SPIRITS are available
from Mundania Press as e-books and trade paperbacks.

With each book in the series, Tempe and I both learn more about what it is to be a Native American in her world. As she becomes more comfortable with this part of herself, she will become more involved with the newly created casino on the reservation and some of the problems that come along with it.

Sometimes I feel I know Tempe Crabtree, her family and friends, better than I know my own relatives and friends–and I probably do.

Are there more to come? Oh yes, the next book will be out this fall from Mundania and it’s called DISPEL THE MIST. Tempe has an encounter with the Bear Creek Indian’s legendary Hairy Man.

Marilyn Meredith, http://fictionforyou.com