a cook book? – The Writers in Residence

By Marilyn Meredith, guest blogger

In this case, it’s saying goodbye to two whole sets of characters who’ve been living in my head for many years. First it was the all the police officers and their families who live in the beach town of Rocky Bluff, as well as many of their citizens. This is the first series I wrote and the first published. Reversal of Fortune is number 17, and the last one. I am going to miss the Rocky Bluff P.D. (I wrote this series using the author name F. M. Meredith.)

When I moved to Springville, I learned we lived near the Tule River Indian Reservation and I became friends with a Native woman who grew up on the rez. I love the little town where I now live and incorporated a lot of my surroundings in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series. I’m certainly going to miss Tempe and her husband, Hutch, a pastor, and their good friend, Nick Two John. The latest book is #20,

The hardest part is that I know all these people so well—even knowing how they think, and how each one will act in any situation. In many ways, it’s like losing good friends.

I’ve been asked several questions about this decision. Was I tired of the characters and the settings? Absolutely not. I loved the folks who lived in Rocky Bluff, especially the men and women of the RBPD. The beach community of Rocky Bluff only existed in my imagination, but reflected much of the area where I once lived and other small towns along the coast.

Those who lived in Bear Creek and the surrounding area are near and dear to me since I live in the community that inspired it, with some minor changes. I’ve used much of what is here in many different books in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series: the small river that sometimes floods as it did this year, the Inn as it was in earlier years, and the surrounding mountains. I’m staying where I am, but Tempe and Hutch are moving on.

Another question was had I run out of ideas? No, that wasn’t the problem. With the Rocky Bluff series policing is changing so fast, I didn’t think I was able to keep up with the changes. With the Tempe Crabtree series, I knew in my heart it was time—20 books was enough

So what will I do now? I have another cook book on the back burner—this one with camping recipes. I plan to update one I wrote when I was a Camp Fire Girl leader and we went on many camping trips.

I’m also planning to write either a young adult mystery series set during World War II in Los Angeles, or a memoir. Haven’t really decided yet. My childhood and early teen years were during that period. I have lots of memories during a time that was much different than now.

Like the characters in my books, my life has made some major changes and I am changing along with them.