I want to welcome Marilyn Meredith as a guest blogger to my Musings today. For those of you, like me, who love a good mystery series, Marilyn has created an interesting "family" of characters in her Rocky Bluff P.D. series. I was curious how she balances her hero/heroine so they're like real people...with all the foibles needed to make them fascinating! Let's see how Marilyn does this so well....
Libby asked me to tell how I
avoid making the hero or heroine too good a person to be believed. Honestly,
I’ve never quite thought about in this way.
In the Rocky Bluff P.D.
series, I have a group of characters who appear in each book—at times in the
forefront; at others with smaller parts.
Detective Doug Milligan
appeared first in Fringe Benefits as a police officer with family problems that
exploded after the murder of his babysitter. He was plagued by depression when his wife left him. He’s
had other problems through the series, but at the moment, life is pretty good.
Stacey Milligan appeared a
few books later as Stacey Wilbur.
A relationship develops between her and Doug, culminating in marriage.
She is far from perfect, and doesn’t always keep her mind on her job. Though
she’d like him to, her son Davey doesn’t always come first because her work
interferes.
Officer Felix Zachary has
had some difficult times in earlier books relating to a shooting, his family
being unhappy because he didn’t marry an African American woman, and now
frustration with his wife in Dangerous Impulses.
Wendy Zachary has been a
good wife up 'til now; the arrival of her and Felix’s first child has caused
much self-doubt.
Family problems have
distracted Sergeant Abel Navarro in the past and he had a bout of guilt when he
made sergeant instead of Zachary, who seemed the most likely candidate until
the fateful shooting of an unarmed suspect.
Officer Vaughn Aragon ruined
his marriage and nearly his career because of an unresolved problem.
Self-centered Ryan
Strickland has kept a huge secret, which, if confessed, might ruin his marriage.
He also is confronted with a new family crisis that he isn’t sure he’s man
enough to handle.
His wife Barbara has been
through a lot beginning with the first book. Though revered by many, she loves
to talk. She’s now facing another big crisis, one that she might have to face
alone.
And then there’s Officer
Gordon Butler, much loved by fans of the series, who has more than his share of
troubles, though seldom are they his fault. He longs for someone to fall in love
with and often picks the wrong girl.
I’ve come to know these
people quite well since I’ve written about them over a period of years. I
really do know their strengths and weaknesses, and something these attributes,
or lack of, help in planning the plots.
Now a bit about Dangerous Impulses:
An attractive new-hire captivates Officer Gordon Butler,
Officer Felix Zachary’s wife Wendy is befuddled by her new baby, Ryan and
Barbara Strickland receive unsettling news about her pregnancy, while the
bloody murder of a mother and her son and an unidentified drug that sickens
teenaged partiers jolts the Rocky Bluff P.D.
Contest:
The person who comments on the most blog posts on this tour
may have a character named after him or her in the next Rocky Bluff P.D. crime
novel or choose a book from the previous titles in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series
in either paper or for Kindle.
Rocky Bluff P.D. Series:
Though each book in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series is written
as a stand-alone, I know there are people who like to read a series in order.
From the beginning to the end:
Final Respects
Bad Tidings
Fringe Benefits
Smell of Death
No Sanctuary
An Axe to Grind
Angel Lost
No Bells
Dangerous Impulses
F.
M. Meredith’s Bio:
F.M. is also known as Marilyn Meredith, the author of the
Deputy Tempe Crabtree series. She first became interested in writing about law
enforcement when she lived in a neighborhood filled with police officers and
their families. The interest was fanned when her daughter married a police
officer and the tradition has continued with a grandson and grandson-in-law who
are deputies. She’s also serves on the board of the Public Safety Writers
Association, and has many friends in different law enforcement fields. For
twenty plus years, she and her husband lived in a small beach community located
in Southern California much like the fictional Rocky Bluff. She is a member of
three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Epic, and Mystery Writers of America.
And I’m on Facebook and Twitter as MarilynMeredith
Thanks for visiting, Marilyn!
Libby
Libby McKinmer
www.libbymckinmer.com
Romance with an edge
Find me on Facebook, Twitter & Goodreads
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