Giveaway – Win a Copy of the Mystery Novel Bears With Us

Our guest author is Marilyn Meredith, author of Bears With Us, a mystery novel . Hollywood Daze will be giving away a copy of her book at the end of the month. The winner will be picked on Oct 28. 

To become eligible to win, all you have to do is leave a comment between now and the end of the month.  One lucky reader who comments with their email address is put in a pot to win the book. 

To recap:

·     Leave a comment between today and Oct 28. 

·     Leave your email address 

·     Optional to subscribe for email updates

·     A winner will be picked on October 28, and be notified by email

·     The winner of the contest will be announced on this blog

·     You will receive a copy of Bears With Us 1-2 weeks after the winner is announced

·     Visit Bears With Us Tour Page at Pump Up Your Book

About Bears With Us 

A burglar turns out to be a bear and Deputy Tempe Crabtree and her pastor husband, Hutch, chase the bear out of the house. This is their first encounter with a bear and the occupants of the home, an elderly couple and their daughter—and it isn’t the last.

A bear turns up at the school, at a restaurant, an apple orchard and two more homes. That is only part of what Tempe is called to handle. A teenager’s suicide, a mother who doesn’t like her daughter’s boyfriend, a wandering senior with a strange form of Alzheimer’s, and a long ago love affair keep Tempe hopping.

Read an excerpt!

The highway twisted more and more the higher into the mountains they drove. Tempe slowed to turn onto one of the few roads that left the highway. Also two lane and much narrower, it wound around even more. “Watch for the mailbox with their name on it. I think it’s a shaped like a house with a shingle roof.”

“I will…”

Tempe switched off the emergency lights. No need in alerting a burglar of her approach.

“There it is,” Hutch said.

She pulled into the lane, pine trees bracketing either side. The lane climbed a bit before widening into a flat spot. A silver Scion sat off to the side of a three car garage. A wide porch ran around the front and sides of the two-story cedar structure. All the windows were dark.

Tempe grabbed the shotgun from its holder under the dash. “Don’t shut the doors. Be as quiet as possible.”

Chimney smoke scented the pine and cedar laden fall air. Holding her flashlight in her other hand, she kept the beam low as they climbed the three steps leading to the front door. It stood open. Unfortunately, many people living in the mountains didn’t think it necessary to lock doors.

The minute Tempe stepped inside, she knew what was happening.

The tell-tale snorts and slurping sounds told the tale. It was no longer necessary to be quiet. “Bear.” Bears had gotten smart over the years, learning how to open trash cans and open doors. Sometimes just leaning their heavy bodies on the barrier popped the latch. If a window was left open, a screen never stopped a bear.

Hutch grimaced and peered toward the area where the noise came from. “Are you sure?”

“Positive. Run upstairs and let the residents know what’s going on. Ask to use their phone and call Fish and Game. I know my cell won’t work up here. We might need some help. Then come back down and help me chase it or them out.”

Available directly from the publisher as a trade paperback and all forms of e-books

http://mundania.com/book.php?title=Bears+With+Us/

Also available from Amazon and all the usual places.

Hollywood Daze Welcomes Marilyn Meredith author of Bears With Us

Our visiting author today, Marilyn Meredith talks about growing up in Southern California. Her latest book is Bears With Us and Deputy Tempe Crabtree has her hands full when bears turn up in and around Bear Creek, a young teen commits suicide and his parents’ actions are suspicious, a prominent woman files a complaint against Tempe and her preacher husband Hutch, a love affair from long ago comes to light, and a woman suffering from dementia disappears.

Available directly from the publisher as a trade paperback and all forms of e-books

http://mundania.com/book.php?title=Bears+With+Us/

Also available from Amazon and all the usual places.

Marilyn:  I was born in Southern California, Glendale to be exact. I grew up in that bit of L.A. between Glendale and Pasadena. My father worked for Paramount Studios and we went to the movies every Friday.  Going to the movies back in those days was an event. First, the previews of coming attractions, the newsreel came next, then the main feature. Intermission had some sort of talent show, or a game similar to Bingo. The second film usually was a B-movie of some sort, quite often about gangsters. It didn’t matter, our family stayed through the whole thing.

I collected movie magazines and cut out the photos of my favorite stars, and taped them to my closet door. My dad wasn’t fond of most actors, though he did have some favorites he brought home. One in particular was Rod Redwing. He was in almost every Western, when Westerns were really popular, playing an Indian and often doing the trick shooting for the hero.

This brings me to what I really wanted to say about movies and my Deputy Tempe Crabtree series. I’ve had numerous people say, “Your books ought to be made into movies.” That would be great, but that’s not for me to decide. Don’t get me wrong, if someone wanted to option one of my books for a movie, I’d certainly sign on the dotted line.

Think about it though, how many movies have you seen with a female Indian as the star? I’m talking about the Native American variety. There aren’t many movies with a male Indian even as a supporting actor. I can’t tell you who I’d like to see play Deputy Tempe Crabtree because I don’t know any female Indian stars. The same goes for her friend, Nick Two John. (Rod Redwing would’ve made the perfect Nick Two John.) Though I know who the usual male Indian stars are, none of them look like the Indians I know and envision as Tempe and Nick Two John.

If you have any ideas about who’d make a good Deputy Tempe Crabtree, leave a comment. Same if you have a suggestion for Nick Two John.

In my latest Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery, Bears With Us, bears play an important part. Hollywood never has a problem finding animals to be in films—or even using special effects to get the right animal action, so I don’t think that would be a problem.

There are plenty of people who could play the other parts—Tempe’s husband for instance, just needs to be someone who looks kind and has auburn hair. Anyone envision a certain actor for Pastor Hutch?

What about Detective Morrison who looks like an old and battered full-back?

Anyone who is familiar with any of the other characters in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series and has suggestions for actors to play them, by all means, make the suggestion here in the comment section.

I’d love to see Bears With Us come to life on the silver screen. Anyone want to do it?

Bio: Marilyn Meredith is the author of over thirty published novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, the latest Bears With Us from Mundania Press. Writing as F. M. Meredith, her latest Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel is Angel Lost, the third from Oak Tree Press. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, Four chapters of Sisters in Crime, including the Central Coast chapter, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. Visit  her at http://fictionforyou.com and her blog at http://marilymeredith.blogspot.com/

CONTEST DETAILS: Would you like to be immortalized in print? Marilyn Meredith is running a contest during her BEARS WITH US virtual book tour. Whoever leaves a comment on the most blog sites during the tour, will have his or her name used for a character in Marilyn’s next book. Please visit http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2011/08/11/bears-with-us-virtual-book-tour-october-2011/ for her entire schedule. Good luck!

The L.A. Times Book Festival through the Eyes of a Small Press Author

Recently, I was honored to host author Marilyn Meredith, author of No Sanctuary on her virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion. Meeting her this weekend at the Los Angeles Times Book Festival was one of the thrills of writing this blog. When you write about celebrities whether they are movie stars or book authors it’s nice to meet them in person.

Here is Marilyn’s guest post/review on the festival.

This was the third time I've been to the L.A. Times Book Festival. For those who've never been there, it's sprawled all over the UCLA campus--which by the way is beautiful.

Each booth is housed in a white tent and they seem to go on forever and ever. Thousands and thousands of people come. There are bookstore booths, publishing company booths, college bookstore booths, library booths, single author booths, booths advertising all sorts of things from health products to every religion you can imagine and some you never imagined, and of course, food booths.

In order to get to the festival, first you must find a place to park--there are plenty of parking garages. Then you must be prepared to take a long walk. If you are toting books for signing, like I was, then you need some kind of conveyance for transporting them--which I do. Actually we pulled along two rolling beverage carriers filled with books.

If you are a big name author and signing in a bookstore's booth (there are lots of these), the bookstore will order them and bring them for you.

I had two signing spots: one hour both days in the Author Co-op Booth and a two hour slot in the L.A. Chapter of Sisters in Crime's booth.

In the Co-op booth I only sold one book each day during my short time period, but I certainly talked to lots of people and my husband handed out many cards with my website and information about my books.

The Sisters in Crime booth had an advantage in that it was right in the middle of the action and it was a corner booth. Six authors signed at a time, but I sold nine books while there.

Of course this comes nowhere near paying for what it took for me to get there. It's a three and a half hour drive and we stayed in a motel two nights and of course had to pay for food.

Was it worth it? In monetary terms, no. I think every author ought to experience it at least once.
It's absolutely mind-boggling! If you got tickets ahead of time (free) you could see and hear all sorts of celebrities who have written books, including Mary Higgins Clark and her daughter.

For me, one of the pluses was meeting Rebecca who hosts this blog! I also met someone who graduated from the same high school in L.A. that I did, though she graduated a couple of years before I did. I ran into author and friend, Sue McGinty, who lives in San Luis Obispo twice. I also got to see another author friend, Gay Kinman, who lives in the L.A. area and haven't seen since we went to the Edgar Awards in New York together.

Drawbacks: It's easy to get turned around and sometimes hard to find what you're looking for. Food was overpriced. During the busiest times, lines for the bathroom were long. The pluses far out-weigh the drawbacks. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience--and I've done it three times.

Marilyn a.k.a. F. M. Meredith

http://fictionforyou.com
http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/
http://rockybluffpd.blogspot.com/
Stiletto Gang: http://thestilettogang.blogspot.com/

Kindred Spirits - Author Interview - Marilyn Meredith

Today’s interview at The Real Hollywood’s Book Chat is with Marilyn Meredith, author of the mystery novel, Kindred Spirits. Yesterday, Marilyn provided us with a chance to read her book with chapter one excerpt. If you missed reading it I highly recommend reading it, but be sure to click back here and read some of the funny antics in Marilyn’s hobby of collecting celebrity autographs.

While Marilyn is on her virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion a special promotion is being offered to all authors and commenters. Leave a comment and win A FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. The winner(s) will be announced on our main blog at www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.wordpress.com on October 30!

About The Book
Trouble in Deputy Crabtree’s marriage is soon forgotten when the body of a murder victim is found in the wake of a forest fire. Sent to Crescent City in search of information introduces Tempe to the victim’s Tolowa relatives and friends–along with two stalkers and Big Foot.

Upon her return home, a pig’s heart on Tempe’s front porch serves as a warning. Detective Morrison becomes an unusual ally, and the victim’s spirit visits Tempe in the night. She and husband Hutch set off for Santa Barbara in an effort to flush out the murderer and once again she finds her own life threatened.

About The Author
Marilyn Meredith is the author of award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series as well as over twenty published novels. The latest is, Kindred Spirits, from Mundania Press. Under the name of F. M. Meredith she writes the Rocky Bluff P.D. series, the latest, Smell of Death, from Tigress Press.

She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, EPIC and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. She was an instructor for Writer’s Digest School for ten years, served as an instructor at the Maui Writer’s Retreat and many other writer’s conferences. She makes her home in Springville, much like Bear Creek where Deputy Tempe Crabtree lives. Visit her at www.fictionforyou.com.







Hi, Marilyn Meredith,

Welcome to The Real Hollywood Blog,

MM Thank you for having me, this should be interesting.

RH: If your book were sold for movie rights which actor/actress would you want to play the main character?

MM: Since Deputy Tempe Crabtree is Native American, the actress would have to be Native American. Katreri Walker would be my first choice as she is close to the right age and looks enough like my descriptions of Tempe. A second choice would be Irene Bedara. She might be a bit too young, though. There aren’t a lot of Indian actresses to choose from. If there were a Tule River Indian who was an actress, she would be my first choice—but I don’t know of any. I do know some women of Native American heritage who would fit the part, but unfortunately they aren’t actresses.

RH: Who would you want to play the supporting characters?

MM: Tempe’s husband is auburn haired and I don’t know of any actor who would fit. Judge Reinhold would have been perfect—and still might. Her son, Blair, is blond and in his twenties—probably any young man of this description would fit. Adam Beach could easily play the part of Nick Two John.

RH: If your book was already sold for movie rights tell how it felt to be approached by Hollywood and what the journey has been like.

MM: I’ve not been fortunate enough to have that experience—darn.

RH: Who is your favorite actor and/or actress?

MM: I love movies. My husband and I got to the movies often and watch DVD’s at home. I have lots of actors and actresses that I enjoy. I especially like those who are able to really change with the part and not just play themselves in every movie. When I was a kid, I collected movie star autographs. Once I chased an actor’s car (Van Johnson) on foot and caught him at a stop light and got his autograph.

RH: Is there a movie you could watch over and over again?

MM: The one movie I did watch over and over was Gone With the Wind—and I’ll probably watch it again. When it first came out I was a kid and my mother and I went to see it five times. I grew up in Los Angeles, my dad worked for Paramount Studios, and our family went to the movies every Friday night, so I’ve always been a movie fan.

RH: Who is your favorite author? What books have you read by this author?

MM: One of my favorite authors is William Kent Krueger and I’ve read all of this books, but particularly like the Cork O’Conner series—and I suppose it’s because of the Native American elements in the books.

RH: What is next on the horizon for you?

I’ll be spending the next few months promoting Kindred Spirits, the latest in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series. The next one will come out next fall, Dispel the Mist, and I’m working on the one that comes out after that.

RH: Where can my readers find your website?

MM: http://fictionforyou.com and I also have a blog http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/


I thank you being sharing your book with The Real Hollywood Blog and I wish you continued success on your virtual book tour.

MM: And thank you for inviting me to visit your blog, it’s been fun.

KINDRED SPIRITS VIRTUAL BLOG TOUR '08 officially begin on October 1 and will end on October 30. You can visit Marilyn's blog stops at www.virtualbooktoursforauthors.wordpress.com in October to find out more about her new book!

Mystery Novel Kindred Spirits Chapter one excerpt

Continuing our Halloween Theme this month is an excerpt of Chapter One from the mystery novel, Kindred Spirits written by Marilyn Meredith. Join us tomorrow as The Real Hollywood features the Marilyn Meredith interview and see which Hollywood actor or actress she would pick to play the leading role in her novel. Leave a comment and WIN A GIFT CERTIFICATE

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available. The winner(s) will be announced on our main blog at www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.wordpress.com on October 30!

Kindred Spirits

Trouble in Deputy Crabtree’s marriage is soon forgotten when the body of a murder victim is found in the wake of a forest fire. Sent to Crescent City in search of information introduces Tempe to the victim’s Tolowa relatives and friends–and two stalkers. Upon her return home, a pig’s heart on Tempe’s front porch serves as a warning. Detective Morrison becomes an unusual ally, and the victim’s spirit visits Tempe in the night. She and husband Hutch set off for Santa Barbara in an effort to flush out the murderer and once again finds her own life threatened.



Chapter One


Before Deputy Tempe Crabtree could see evidence of the forest fire, she could smell it.
Smoke was heavy in the air and got thicker as she drove up the highway into the mountains. Monday was one of her days off, but when something happened in her jurisdiction she was often the first responder. Her instructions from the sheriff’s sub-station in Dennison were to make sure everyone who lived in the path of the fire started in the higher elevations of Bear Creek canyon had obeyed evacuation orders.
As resident deputy of the large but sparsely populated area around the mountain community of Bear Creek, Tempe’s job usually consisted of making traffic stops, arresting drunk drivers, solving problems among neighbors, and looking for lost children or cattle. Along with the highway patrol, Tempe was the law in the community located in the southern Sierra where the foothills turned into mountains.
The last estimate Tempe had heard about the fast moving fire in rugged country was that it covered more than 1100 acres. She was stopped at the staging area by a highway patrolman she knew by sight though couldn’t remember his name.
Though his uniform still had sharp creases, large circles of dampness crept from his underarms. Opaque sunglasses covered his eyes. He put both hands on the open window of her Blazer as he bent down to speak to her. “Where’re you headed, Deputy?”
“My orders are to check out some of the houses in the path of the fire. Make sure everyone’s out.”
“Be careful you don’t put yourself in danger. It’s one fast-moving fire. It’s in a rough area where they haven’t been able to get in any personnel yet. They’re doing lots of water drops. All the roads are closed from here on up.”
“Thanks for the warning. I know some of the folks who might not have received the word yet.”
Tempe drove by the private airstrip that had been taken over as the fire command post. Men and equipment, fire engines, water tenders and bulldozers were being dispatched from there as well as truckloads of hand crews.
Leaving her window down, Tempe drove around the traffic cones that temporarily blocked access to the road. She planned to stop at the Donaldsons’, but they were loading horses into a trailer, obviously on their way out.
The higher she drove on the winding road, the darker the sky, the thicker the smoke, the harder it was to breathe. Ashes showered on her white Blazer. She passed fire trucks and men heading upward to fight the fire. In her heart she was thankful her son, Blair, was already back on the coast for his last year in college or he’d be on the fire lines. Fighting fire had been his first love since the age of sixteen when he began hanging around Bear Creek’s fire station.
Tempe stopped at several homes hidden down winding trails or perched on hilltops, surrounded by pine and cedar trees and underbrush. Most homes were deserted with signs of hurried evacuation.
Loaded pick-up trucks drove down the hill, some pulling horse or cattle trailers, not getting out any too soon from the looks of the black sky and the large amount of falling ash.
She had one more place she wanted to check. A beautiful home and separate studio built of sugar pine stood atop a knoll surrounded by Chaparral, and a thick pine forest. Tempe had been there once on a domestic abuse call. The owner, a well-known artist, Vanessa Ainsworth, now lived alone since her boy-friend had been served with a restraining order. If Vanessa wasn’t gone already, Tempe hoped to help her collect her animals and paintings and carry some of them out for her.
When Tempe made the last turn before Vanessa’s she was halted by a horrifying sight.