Birds and Books: The First Time I Read . . . Welcome Marilyn Meredith

It's always a pleasure to have prolific writer Marilyn Meredith as a guest on my blog. She cranks out the most amazing stories and, like Ed McBain as her inspiration, she is one of mine!

Who Most Influenced the Writing of My Rocky Bluff P.D. Mysteries

The first time I read Ed McBain's 87th Precinct novel, I was totally intrigued. It was a long time before I found out McBain was also Evan Hunter. What a talent, to be able to write with such different voices. Of course the Evan Hunter novels were more literary, but I bet he had more fun writing about the 87^th Precinct.

No, I didn’t read every single one of the books, but I read a lot of them and I grew fond of all the characters and loved it when I learned more about each of the officer’s private lives.

To be honest, up to being challenged to figure out who most influenced my writing, I hadn’t realized it was Ed McBain. I’ve read so many more mysteries by other authors since I last read an 87^th Precinct mystery that I’d forgotten about McBain. In fact, I thought I was being totally original by focusing so much on the private lives of the characters in my Rocky Bluff P.D. series. My mantra has always been how “the job affects the family, and what is happening with the family affects the job.” McBain did that too.

Another similarity between my Rocky Bluff series and McBain’s 87^th precinct is his large and ongoing cast of character and the way he focused on different ones from one book to another. Here I thought I was doing something different, when in fact, it shows how I was influenced by McBain, even though I didn’t realize it.

Bio: Marilyn Meredith is the author of over thirty-five published novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, the latest River Spirits from Mundania Press. Writing as F. M. Meredith, her latest Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel is Violent Departures from Oak Tree Press. Marilyn is a member of three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. She lives in the foothills of the Sierra.

Violent Departures Blurb: College student, Veronica Randall, disappears from her car in her own driveway, everyone in the Rocky Bluff P.D. is looking for her. Detective Milligan and family move into a house that may be haunted. Officer Butler is assigned to train a new hire and faces several major challenges.