I kill people for fun. In books.
Q: Cass, thanks for stopping by Island Confidential! Tell our readers a little bit about yourself–maybe something we might not guess?
A: My name is Cass Donovan, and I own a small psychic shop on Bay Island, a small island nestled between the north and south shores of Long Island, New York. Since I own a psychic shop, readers might not guess that I’m not actually psychic. At least, I never thought I was, though a few recent incidents have me questioning that assessment. Typically, I use my intuition, as well as years of psychiatric training, to dissect the small tells people don’t even realize they give away on a regular basis. Those gestures and subtle nuances usually give me enough information to come up with a fairly accurate “reading.”
Q: Who’s the character you get along with the best?
A: I’d probably have to say I get along best with my friend, Stephanie. We were childhood friends growing up on Bay Island, then fell out of touch for seventeen years when I went away to college and didn’t return. When I finally came back to Bay Island, our friendship picked up as if no time had passed at all. Of course, her husband, Tank, is a bit of a problem, only because he thinks I’m a bad influence and a magnet for trouble. I’m not sure where he got that idea from. Okay, maybe I have some idea…
Q: Which other character do you have a conflict with?
A: My biggest conflict is with Marge Hawkins. I don’t have anything against her, really, except that she’s giving my friend, Bee, a hard time, but she has no use for me. She doesn’t believe in what I do and wants me to stay away from her daughter, Ellie. But Ellie and I are friends, and I would never offer her bad advice. And she trusts me, coming to me often for readings. One day, after she finds out I did a reading for Ellie, she calls me out in the middle of the deli. In case you don’t know, the deli is pretty much gossip central, so a public confrontation there spreads throughout the island like wildfire.
Q: Just between you and me: What do you really think of your author, Lena Gregory?
A: Well, don’t ever tell her I said so, but she’s kind of stubborn. Sometimes, I try to tell her how to tell my story, and she insists on writing it her own way. Usually, I just shut up and let her do her thing, fully content she’ll back up and do it the way I told her to. She’d save herself a lot of time and frustration if she just did it my way in the first place.
Q: What’s next for you?
A: Winters on Bay Island don’t bring much business, so I’m working on a way to generate some extra income for the season. I don’t want to give away the surprise, but let’s just say it involves a séance and a haunted house.
Lena lives in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island with her husband and three children.
When she was growing up, she spent many lazy afternoons on the beach, in the yard, anywhere she could find to curl up with a good book. She loves reading as much now as she did then, but she now enjoys the added pleasure of creating her own stories.
“What we discovered was that when someone perceived that their partner phubbed them, this created conflict and led to lower levels of reported relationship satisfaction.
These lower levels of relationship satisfaction, in turn, led to lower levels of life satisfaction and, ultimately, higher levels of depression.”
Examples of phubbing include:
The survey, which included 145 people, found:
Dr Meredith David, another of the study’s authors, said:
“In everyday interactions with significant others, people often assume that momentary distractions by their cell phones are not a big deal.
However, our findings suggest that the more often a couple’s time spent together is interrupted by one individual attending to his/her cellphone, the less likely it is that the other individual is satisfied in the overall relationship.
Specifically, momentary distractions by one’s cellphone during time spent with a significant other likely lowers the significant other’s satisfaction with their relationship, and could lead to enhanced feelings of depression and lower well-being of that individual.
Thus, when spending time with one’s significant other, we encourage individuals to be cognizant of the interruptions caused by their cellphones, as these may well be harmful to their relationship.”
The study was published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior (Roberts et al., 2016).
Source: ‘Phubbing’: The Modern Way To Kill Your Relationship – PsyBlog
Haunted houses are scary enough without knife-wielding clowns. Especially murderous knife-wielding clowns. So thinks Ellison Russell, single mother, artist, and reluctant sleuth.
The most likely culprit is disgruntled real estate agent Flora Curtival, whose issues with the town give her a motive. But when Flora is murdered and one of Rory’s toy rabbits is found with the body, Rory needs all the luck she can get while trying to determine just who killed the superstitious vandal.
Q: Today we have artist and amateur sleuth Ellison Russell as our guest. Ellison, tell our readers a little bit about yourself–maybe something they might not guess?
A: Most readers will guess that I drink an insane amount of coffee. Some may even surmise I drink a fair amount of wine. What no one may guess is that I adore Tab with lime.
Q: Who’s the character you get along with the best?
A: I get along well with Libba. We share a love of coffee, and a deep and abiding dislike of raisins, and a taste for wine. We also love to shop. This season boots and coats top my want list. In fact, there’s a coat in the window at Hall’s Plaza I want more than coffee—and that’s saying something.
Q: Which other character do you have a conflict with?
Mother and I have been known to cross swords. She remains convinced that I’m a teenager trapped in a middle-aged woman’s body and that only she can steer me in the right direction—namely into Hunter Tafft’s waiting arms. Of late, she takes strong objection to my finding bodies. That I don’t find them on purpose (really, who would go look for a body?) makes no never-mind to Mother.
Q: Just between you and me: What do you really think of your author?
A: My author? She needs to sleep more, drink less coffee, cut out chocolate, and find her gym shoes!
Q: What’s next for you?
A: I’ll be back in May, when—much to Mother’s dismay—my decorator is murdered while measuring for new carpet!
About The Author
Julie Mulhern is a Kansas City native who grew up on a steady diet of Agatha Christie. She spends her spare time whipping up gourmet meals for her family, working out at the gym and finding new ways to keep her house spotlessly clean is an expert at calling for take-out, she grumbles about walking the dog, and the dust bunnies under the bed have grown into dust lions.
Her first romance, A Haunting Desire, was a finalist in the 2014 Golden Heart® contest.
The Deep End is her first mystery and winner of The Sheila Award.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Kobo
Introducing Deputy Tempe Crabtree
Tempe is the resident deputy of the mountain community of Bear Creek located in the southern Sierra of California. She is a Native American (though she and other members of the Yokut tribe prefer to be called Indian.) Married to a Christian pastor, at times her use of Indian mysticism causes problems in an otherwise happy marriage.
She is often called upon by the Violent Crimes detectives to help with murder cases involving Indians, the Bear Creek Indian reservation, or those that happened in or around the town of Bear Creek.
Her best friend is another Indian, Nick Two John, who, along with his significant other, owns the local Inn. He’s the one who has educated her in Native American ways and often offers her insight into cases she’s working on.
Though most of the mysteries she’s been involved in have happened in her local area, at times she’s had to find answers in other places.
Tempe is brave, intelligent, and level-headed.
In this scene from the latest book, Seldom Traveled, Tempe has teamed up with a fugitive to try to escape from a forest fire:
She moved toward the front door and opened it. Things had changed in the short time she’d been inside the cabin. “Oh, dear God, we’re in big trouble.”
The fire had worsened considerably. Black smoke billowed up from the valley. The wind blew fiercely. The air felt hot against her face. Embers fell all around. She couldn’t see any flames, but it wouldn’t be long.
Delano let loose with a string of swear words. “We’re doomed.”
“Don’t give up yet. Let’s get in my truck and see if we can make it back to the main highway.” She galloped toward her vehicle.
“I’m right behind you. Don’t try any funny stuff. Remember, I’ve got your gun.”
She didn’t bother to answer, the smoke made breathing hard. Pulling open the driver’s door she hopped in.
Within seconds, Delano was beside her. “Get us out of here.”
She hoped that she could. She knew better than to drive too fast because of all the potholes in the road, but if they didn’t hurry they weren’t going to make it.
Maneuvering around the curves as fast as she thought safe, wasn’t fast enough for Delano.
“Step on it.”
“I can’t go any faster. If we break down, we’ll be in a worse mess than we are now.” She eased around one curve and then the next.
When she came to the place where she thought the road started to straighten, she knew they couldn’t get through. She braked.
“What are you doing?”
“We aren’t going to make it. Not this way anyway. Take a look ahead.”
A wall of flames crossed the road. The tree tops on either side blazed. Sparks flew high into the sky.
Tempe put the truck in reverse, going back the way they’d just come.
Delano gasped. “The whole mountain is on fire. We’re doomed.”
I’m the author of the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series and the Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series under the name, F. M. Meredith. Reading and writing have been a part of me since I was a little girl–a very long time ago. I love to hear from readers who have enjoyed my books. I’ve made many new and good friends among the readers and writers at various mystery conventions and conferences. Hubby and I live in the foothills of the Sierra much like the place where my heroine Tempe Crabtree lives. And we once lived in a beach community that resembles Rocky Bluff.
I love to hear from my readers or have them visit my webpage at http://fictionforyou.com
The Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series by Marilyn Meredith:
(latest to first.)
Seldom Traveled
Not as it Seems
River Spirits
Raging Water
Bears With Us
Invisible Path
Dispel the Mist
Kindred Spirits
Judgment Fire
Calling the Dead
Wing Beat
Intervention
Unequally Yoked
Deadly Omen
Deadly Trail
Rocky Bluff P.D. series, as written by F. M. Meredith
(latest to first)
A Crushing Death
Violent Departures
Murder in the Worst Degree
Dangerous Impulses
Angel Lost
No Bells
An Axe to Grind
No Sanctuary
Smell of Death
Fringe Benefits
Bad Tidings
>>> Win a copy of Deadly Wedding<<<
Why murder a dying man?
Olivia Denis is hesitant to help an old family friend get ready for her wedding outside London. The so-called friend is a master at using people. As a young widow trying to find her way through a new romantic relationship, Olivia would rather avoid the large party.
She definitely didn’t plan to find the bride’s grandfather stabbed to death. The cruel, enormously rich aristocrat had changed his will only the day before, angering all his children.
As Olivia is forced to investigate the murder, she’s called away by her employer, the owner of an influential London daily newspaper. She must carry out another secret assignment, one that will take her to Vienna, now part of Nazi Germany.
With war on the horizon and attacks on the old man’s family increasing, can Olivia find a way to save lives in two countries?
Q: Tell our readers a little bit about yourself–maybe something readers might not guess?
A: I’m Olivia Denis, now 26, slender, auburn haired, widowed, living in my late husband’s flat, working at a large London daily newspaper on the society columns. Your readers probably know all that about me already.
But do they know, in conflict with society’s rules, I seldom wore mourning for my late husband and have given it up altogether far sooner than I should have? Even the most modern interpretation of mourning rituals for widows has us wearing solid black with a thick veil over our faces for at least a year.
This was ruled out during working hours by the newspaper’s owner, Sir Henry Benton, as a distraction to our jobs of collecting and reporting the news. I could either wear mourning or work. And since I wanted to keep the flat and not move home, during the week, I couldn’t wear mourning.
And then there is a young man, Adam Redmond, a Captain in the British Army. We are quite good friends. In fact, he’s been hinting about marriage, but I think it’s too soon after Reggie’s death. Adam finds my wearing mourning off putting to his courting, and I certainly understand that. I don’t want to lose Adam. I’m falling in love with him. And so, as much as I mourn Reggie and regret his death, I’m flying in the face of convention by not wearing mourning throughout Deadly Scandal and Deadly Wedding.
Q: Who’s the character you get along with the best?
A: That would be Adam. He brightens my days, looks after my safety when a killer strikes, and I miss him terribly when he’s off doing who knows what for army counterintelligence. He’s handsome, brilliant, funny…I could go on, but you get the idea.
Q: Which other character do you have a conflict with?
A: My father, Sir Ronald Harper. My father was away during the Great War, and shortly after he returned, my mother died in the great influenza epidemic. After that, it was just the two of us, and we are such different types. He is stuffy, Victorian in his beliefs, and fussy in that I always had to look and behave perfectly. While he made me learn to pack and dress neatly and speak three languages fluently, I wanted some freedom. I was a teenager in the Roaring Twenties. I wanted to sneak into dance halls and roll down my stockings and bob my hair. Not with Father around. I missed out on the entire decade, hidden away in a girls’ boarding school while he traveled for the Foreign Office. By the time I reached university, the depression had started and fun was subdued.
Q: Just between you and me: What do you really think of your author?
A: I think she has a wicked sense of humor. On the other hand, she’s unkind to me. She sends me into danger and lets me make a fool of myself on occasion while she stays safely back at her computer dreaming up more adventures for me. You’d think turn about would be fair play, but no. She gets to sit home in her office surrounded by books while I go out investigating murder and mayhem…I changed my mind. I’m glad I get to have the adventures. Kate is nearly as boring as my father.
Q: What’s next for you?
A: Kate tells me I’ll start out interviewing the daughter of the Duke of Ashburn for the society page and while there I’ll meet Vivi Vienne, the famous fashion designer. Vivi, always a lover of publicity, takes a shine to me, and adventures, and murder, ensue. It will be called Deadly Fashion.
Kate Parker has wanted to travel to 1930s England since she read her mother’s Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers mysteries when she was a schoolgirl. After many years of studying science, she decided a time travel machine was out of the question so she found herself limited to reading about the period and visiting historic sites. Her love of this fascinating and challenging period led her to the research from which the Deadly series grew. Eventually, she found it necessary to spend several days in the British Library reading old newspapers, which meant another trip to England. Near Christmas. A sacrifice she’d gladly make every year.
The first story in the series is Deadly Scandal, released January 14, 2016.
Author Links
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Amazon
Nook
Should authors give their books away? I don’t know, but I’m doing it today, along with 31 other mystery, thriller, and suspense writers.
Head over to Anne Tan’s blog and load up your e-reader.
You must be logged in to post a comment.