Guess What? I'm on Vacation!

When this appears I'll be in Murrieta CA visiting my eldest daughter and son-in-law with the added treat of spending time with two of my grandchildren, their spouses and five great grandchildren. Nothing better!

Me and daughter Dana on vacation another time.

Coming along with me will be my hubby and middle daughter who is kind enough to do the driving chores. (To get to where we're going we have to travel through too much Southern California traffic, something neither hubby nor I are willing to do any more.)

When ever we go there, daughter plans our days--and I know we'll be visiting interesting places, perhaps Old Town Temecula, going to a couple of movies, eating out, swimming, and best of all, lots of family time.

To tie this into mystery, for those of you who don't know, Temecula is where Erle Stanley Gardner had a ranch and wrote many books--usually four at a time. He had four secretaries he dictated them too--one he was romantically involved with. I read a lot of his mysteries, especially those with Perry Mason and Della Street. (Also loved the TV series.)

Will I be doing any work? A little probably. I always check email wherever I am and will respond to what is needed. I'll promote this blog and another I'm on. Because I'm just beginning a new Rocky Bluff P.D., I'll probably talk to Dana and her daughter Genie (who are both fans of the series), about what they might like see happen to the characters this time around. And since I'm making up a religious sect, I'll get some ideas for that from them.

And for any culprits who might read this--even though we're goine, my son and his wife aren't, and they live on our property.  Anyone who has seen my son and his dogs won't foolishly come around for any of the wrong reasons.

Son Matthew, his dog redwood, and some friends.

When I get back, I'll let you know how much fun I had. We don't go on many vacations--mostly when we leave it's to go to some book event.

Summer is coming, time to plan on reading some of the great mysteries that the authors on this blog have written.

You might want to try the latest in my Rocky Bluff P.D. series, Violent Departures--available on Amazon.

Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith

My Love Affair With Perry Mason

Since Perry Mason is a fictional character, I didn't really have a love affair with him. But I read plenty of Erle Stanley Gardner's books featuring Perry Mason and I never missed a Perry Mason TV show.

In fact, when I was in labor with my third child, despite my husband's urgings, I wouldn't leave for the hospital until the Perry Mason show was over. Pretty exciting since my pains were three minutes apart. Fortunately, we weren't too far from the hospital.

At the time we lived in Oxnard CA. I learned that at one time Perry Mason had his law office in Ventura and many of his mysteries were located in Oxnard.

I'm sure my fascination with Erle Stanley Gardner and Perry Mason had an influence on my own mystery writing. After I had several books published I wondered if anyone celebrated Erle Stanley Gardner in Ventura. I attended one such event and then it disappeared.

Soon after, I discovered that Temecula actually had an Erle Stanley Gardner mystery weekend. Gardner owned a ranch in Temecula where he continued writing mysteries with the help of four secretaries. Temecula's museum has many interesting artifacts concerning Gardner.

Of course I volunteered to give a writing presentation at the mystery weekend. I was accepted and have done so every year since. My next one will be on Novel Writing, this Saturday, November 7th 10 a.m. behind the museum in Old Town, behind the senior
center.

So my love affair with Perry Mason paid off for me.

Has anyone had a similar experience with a fictional mystery character?

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com