Is it Time to Quit?

Radine Trees just wrote a similar post, but I think mine is enough different to go ahead with this one.

Lately I've been reading post from mystery writers who've decided to quit writing or to at least take a break from writing.

Frankly, I'm a bit surprised. I've never felt like that. I've been forced to take a break when family emergenies arose and when I broke my ankle a few years ago, I just couldn't get into the frame of mind to write for a long time.

But to decide I'm not longer going to write just because has never entered my mind--and certainly not for the reasons some of the authors stated. I've listed them here.

1. I'm not making enough money after all the time I've put in.

2. I haven't become famous or received the recognition that I hoped for.

3. I'm retiring and just going to enjoy life.

Though I'd certainly like to be making more money, that has never been my motivation for writing. I write because I just love doing it. I also want to find out what my characters are up to next--and the only way to do that is write the next book.

Oh, my, I don't think I ever aspired to being famous. Of course, my hope has always been that I'd interest some readers who really liked my books--and I've done that. I doubt many readers recognize my name, but I love those readers who've told me they love my books and those who've written wonderful reviews for them.

I've retired from many jobs--teaching in pre-schools and day care centers and my last occupation was owning and operating a licensed care home for developmentally disabled women; hubby and I did this for 23 years. No matter what "job" I had, I always managed to write and get published.

Now the only job I have, besides being a wife, mom, grandma and great grandma, is writing, and I am not ready to give it up. If I did, what would I do? Writing has been a big part of my life since I was a kid.

To the writers out there, have you considered retiring? And if so why?

And to your readers, would you be disappointed if your favorite authors decided to quit writing?

Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith
http://fictionforyou.com

My latest books:

                       

Some Thoughts About my Recent Blog Tour by Marilyn Meredith

Yesterday was the last stop on my month plus one day blog tour for River Spirits, the latest in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series. http://www.rebeccaswritingsvs.com/ where I wrote about What Makes A Mystery Writer.

It's too soon to tell you who won my contest(s) and I actually turned it into two. I'm pretty sure who the winner of being a character will be as one person posted consistently on all of the blogs.

On this tour I had far more unique visitors than ever. I think that's a good thing, especially if they decide to buy my book.

I tried really hard to put a different picture of me on every post--though when someone lost what I'd sent them (happened a few times) I hadn't kept a good record of who I sent what photo to.

Some topics seemed to draw more interest than others--and I can only judge by the people who left a comment as I don't have anyway of knowing how many just visited and read.

Was my tour too long? Perhaps, but I don't know any other way of getting the message about my new book out to many different people. I always try to find bloggers who have different followers--and I think I did that pretty well.

I've thought about not doing the tour on weekends, but some of my favorite blogs only have guests on the weekend. I have no idea what I'll do in the future.

Are blog tours worth the trouble? I say yes because I do see an increase in sales during the time I'm touring.

And after all, everyone says name recognition is what's most important.

Because I've cut down on my travel--this still seems to be a good substitute for some of the in-person events I can't do any longer.

Any thoughts about any of the ideas I've shared?

Bears, Mountain Lions and Clowns by Marilyn Meredith

Perhaps you've read or seen in the news, or on the Internet, about the clown who has been turning up in various small towns in the San Joaquin Valley. It began on October 1 in the town of Wasco.

Of course copy cats followed immediately. Sightings have been reported in Bakersfield, Visalia and believe it or not, in my little town of Springville. Yes, it's true, I heard in an email message from our local resident sheriff.

And to make life interesting, before we learned about the clowns, our neighbor reported seeing a young mountain lion down by the river that runs behind our houses. We knew there was some sort of predator roaming because the feral cat population has diminished drastically.

That's not all--along with these events came the news that a bear or bears have been sighted under the bridge in town and on one of the nearby roads. Others have reported bear scat in various places.

Of course the mountain lions and the bears have always been here, and that's what makes living in the foothills interesting.

But a clown? There has to be a mystery here.

And if you'd like to read more about what goes on in my little town, all you have to do is read one of my Deputy Tempe Crabtree mysteries, since I've liberally borrowed from my surroundings for the setting of these novels.

The latest is River Spirits. And no, Tempe has never dealt with a clown, but she has had encounters with plenty of other wild life--human and animal.

P.S. I doubt I'll ever run into the clown since he/she only appears at night. I seldom go into town after dark.

Marilyn

Announcing the Debut of River Spirits

River Spirits is #14 in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series.

Blurb:

While filming a movie on the Bear Creek Indian Reservation, the film crew trespasses on sacred ground, threats are made against the female stars, a missing woman is found by the Hairy Man, an actor is murdered and Deputy Tempe Crabtree has no idea who is guilty. Once again, the elusive and legendary Hairy Man plays an important role in this newest Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery.

It doesn't matter how many books an author has written, it's always exciting when a new one arrives on the scene.

The book can be obtained from the usual places, and in every format directly from the publisher at http://mundania.com/

Bear Creek is very much like the town where I live with a few big exceptions. I moved Bear Creek 1000 feet higher into the mountains for better trees and the chance of more weather.(You can do those things when you're an author.) 

I've given all the places of business new names because sometimes the businesses don't last long in the real town--but I'd like to keep the ones I have in my fictional Bear Creek. Even our historical inn closed this year--but the one in my book is thriving.

October 13-17th, an earlier book in the series, Bears With Us, one of my favorites, will be offered for Kindle for .99 cents. Of course the idea is to have readers sample the series in hopes that they'll want to try others.

In November I'm having a blog tour and I'll be discussing all sorts of things from details about the characters in the series and some insights into my life as a mystery author.

Of course I'll also be doing several in-person events during October.

On the 11th, I'll be with my Rocky Bluff P.D. series publisher at Taste of the Arts in Visalia, CA--a street fair for artists, with a few authors in attendance.

On October 18th, I'll be at the Great Valley Book Fest in Manteca, CA from 10 to 4.

And on October 25th from 1-4 I'll be on a panel with Central Coast Sisers in Crime from 1- 4 at the Atascadero Library.

Can you tell I'm excited?

Marilyn