Lunchopolis Lunchbox Giveaway at Confessions of an Overworked Mom

If you are getting kids ready for school in the fall, you have to visit Ellen's Confessions of an Overworked Mom blog. She is running giveaways on all types of back-to-school products.

Today I noticed she has up for grabs a garbage free lunchbox from Lunchopolis. Well, don't you hope your kid's lunchbox is garbage free? This lead free insulated lunchbag contains items so that you're child isn't tossing a bunch of stuff away and adding to our landfills.

Each kit includes:

• a lead free insulated lunchbag in a stylish color,
• four reusable tinted BPA free containers,
• and one reusable BPA free bottle. 

All the containers are microwave and dishwasher safe.

Visit Confessions of an Overworked Mom at http://www.confessionsofanover-workedmom.com/2011/08/school-rules-win-garbage-free-lunchbox.html for more information.

Oh, one other thing, I had stopped entering many blog giveaways because the typing became too tedious. Ellen uses Rafflecopter, which makes entering giveaways much easier and faster.

Mystery Special Feature: Murder in The Vatican: The Church Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes by Ann Margaret Lewis

A sudden death in the Vatican. An international incident over stolen artifacts. A priest’s wrongful imprisonment for murder. In this collection of three as yet untold tales, hinted at in the original Holmes stories, the voices of Dr. John H. Watson and the legendary Pope Leo XIII reveal how the great Sherlock Holmes brought these grim ecclesial cases to startling and poignant conclusions.

Story Summaries:

“The Case of Cardinal Tosca”

In this memorable year '95 a curious and incongruous succession of cases had engaged his attention, ranging from his famous investigation of the sudden death of Cardinal Tosca -- an inquiry which was carried out by him at the express desire of His Holiness the Pope . . . .

—Dr. John H. Watson, “The Adventure of Black Peter”

Pope Leo requests the aid of Sherlock Holmes to investigate the sudden and mysterious death of a member of his curia. Holmes and his friend Dr. Watson discover that the pen is definitely mightier than the sword in the hands of a murderous artisan whose intended victim is the Pope himself.

"The Vatican Cameos"

I was exceedingly preoccupied by that little affair of the Vatican cameos, and in my anxiety to oblige the Pope I lost touch with several interesting English cases.

—Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles

Sherlock Holmes helps Pope Leo XIII recover a rare collection of ancient Roman cameos that has vanished en route to Queen Victoria. A gift with political implications, their loss could cost English Catholics their much-needed cathedral in London. Holmes travels to Rome to locate the stolen baubles, but when this theft quickly turns to murder, Holmes and the Holy Father realize this case is more treacherous than they imagined. Introduced and concluded by Dr. Watson, the bulk of the tale is told in the fatherly voice of the erudite and prolific Pope Leo XIII.

“The Second Coptic Patriarch”

You know that I am preoccupied with this case of the two Coptic Patriarchs, which should come to a head to-day.

—Sherlock Holmes, “The Retired Colourman”
When the famous Father Brown is imprisoned for the murder of a Coptic clerk, Brown’s ex-criminal friend Flambeau seeks the help of Sherlock Holmes to set him free. The case is a tangled problem that spans from the hearth of a simple family to the upper-echelons of the Church of Rome.

Read an excerpt from MURDER IN THE VATICAN, “The Death of Cardinal Tosca”:

“You’ve forgotten one detail, Padre,” said Holmes, in reference to the pope’s new attire.

“Che?”

“L’anello.” Holmes held up his right hand and pointed to his fourth finger.

“Ah.” Leo pulled the fisherman’s ring from his finger and dropped it into the left pocket of the black cassock. The young priest then handed him a tall black umbrella, and Leo set its end to the floor with authoritative thud.

It is amazing how clothes can change the appearance of a man. Where once stood the proverbial Vicar of Christ on Earth, now stood a simple, venerable Italian priest. Strangely, he resembled the aged Italian cleric persona Holmes once adopted to avoid the notice of Professor Moriarty.



Read the reviews!

"Engagingly written!"

--Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine


"Even the casual reader of the Canon comes away noting that several of Holmes’s unpublished cases have to do with the Catholic Church. Lewis runs with this ecclesiastical hook, giving us a decent dose of Baker Street and three good mysteries, and even throws in a meeting with G. K. Chesterton’s Father Brown. In addition, Rikki Niehaus illustrates the book with delightful period-style pen-and-inks."

–The Baker Street Journal

"It is only a subjective truth, and my own personal opinion, that Ann Margaret Lewis successfully captured the spirit and character of the original Holmes mysteries in her three stories, but all the same this is a book that I find myself re-reading with great pleasure."

--Catholic Phoenix

"[Murder in the Vatican] rawks. I liked it so much I offered it the greatest and most conflicting-to-authors compliment I could pay it: I passed it along as a gift to somebody else (in this case, Fr. Shane Tharp). 'Greatest' because the highest compliment you can pay a book is 'Hey! You gotta read this!' 'Conflicting' because, of course, pass-along readership means 'readers who don't pay you for your work.' "

--Mark Shea, Catholic author and blogger

"Some of the best fans to follow in Conan Doyle’s footsteps are Nicholas Meyer, August Derleth, Denis Green, and Anthony Boucher. With the publication of Murder in the Vatican, Ann Margaret Lewis can join the ranks of authors who have provided worthy additions to the adventures of Holmes and Watson."

--Chris Chan, American Chesterton Society

"Lewis's attention to historic details, combined with masterfully told stories, engaged me from the first page. I couldn't put the book down. Having some recurring characters appear in the stories helped to show their development; in addition, it was a nice to witness how the relationship between Holmes and Pope Leo evolved over time. As one would expect, the stories are eloquently told, spoken in a style that speaks to a by-gone era."

--The Book Connection (see full review here)

PURHCASE MURDER IN THE VATICAN AT AMAZON!

Born and raised in Waterford, Michigan, Ann Margaret Lewis attended Michigan State University, where she received her Bachelor's degree in English Literature. She began her writing career writing tie-in children’s books and short stories for DC Comics. Most recently she published a second edition of her book, Star Wars: The New Essential Guide to Alien Species, for Random House.


After attacking the Star Wars universe, Ann plunged into writing science fiction/fantasy, historical fiction, and, of course, mysteries. Her latest book is Murder in the Vatican:The Church Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes published by Wessex Press. She is also co-writing a historical novel entitled Roman which tells the true story of a priest in 1840s southern Indiana who was accused of assaulting a woman in a confessional.


Ann is a classically trained soprano, and has performed around the New York City area. She has many interests from music to art history, to theology and all forms of literature. She is the President of the Catholic Writers Guild, an international organization for Catholic Writers and the coordinator of the Catholic Writers Conference LIVE. After living in New York City for fifteen years, Ann moved to Indianapolis, Indiana with her husband Joseph Lewis and their son, Raymond. Together they enjoy their life in the heartland.

Visit her online at http://holmeschurchmysteries.com/.

Naked Binder Giveaway at Confessions of an Overworked Mom

My friend Ellen over at Confessions of an Overworked Mom is running a great giveaway for those of us who are getting the kids ready for back to school.

Naked Binders is offering Ellen's readers a chance to win 3 of their binders that are made of 100% recycled board and 97% post-consumer waste.

I can't tell you how many vinyl binders I've purchased and thrown away over the years. These sound like a great, green alternative.

For more information, please visit Confessions of an Overworked Mom at http://www.confessionsofanover-workedmom.com/2011/08/school-rules-win-3-eco-friendly-naked.html

Book Spotlight: The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin

In her national bestseller Alice I Have Been, Melanie Benjamin imagined the life of the woman who inspired Alice in Wonderland. Now, in this jubilant new novel, Benjamin shines a dazzling spotlight on another fascinating female figure whose story has never fully been told: a woman who became a nineteenth century icon and inspiration—and whose most daunting limitation became her greatest strength.

“Never would I allow my size to define me. Instead, I would define it.”

She was only two-foot eight-inches tall, but her legend reaches out to us more than a century later. As a child, Mercy Lavinia “Vinnie” Bump was encouraged to live a life hidden away from the public. Instead, she reached out to the immortal impresario P. T. Barnum, married the tiny superstar General Tom Thumb in the wedding of the century, and transformed into the world’s most unexpected celebrity.

Here, in Vinnie’s singular and spirited voice, is her amazing adventure—from a showboat “freak” revue where she endured jeering mobs to her fateful meeting with the two men who would change her life: P. T. Barnum and Charles Stratton, AKA Tom Thumb. Their wedding would captivate the nation, preempt coverage of the Civil War, and usher them into the White House and the company of presidents and queens. But Vinnie’s fame would also endanger the person she prized most: her similarly-sized sister, Minnie, a gentle soul unable to escape the glare of Vinnie’s spotlight.

A barnstorming novel of the Gilded Age, and of a woman’s public triumphs and personal tragedies, The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb is the irresistible epic of a heroine who conquered the country with a heart as big as her dreams—and whose story will surely win over yours.


Read an excerpt!

[ ONE ]

My Childhood,
or the Early Life of a Tiny

I will begin my story in the conventional way, with my ancestry.

About the unfortunately named Bumps, I have little to say other than they were hardworking people of French descent who somehow felt that shortening “Bonpasse” to “Bump” was an improvement.

With some pride, however, I can trace my pedigree on my mother’s side back through Richard Warren of the Mayflower Company, to William, Earl of Warren, who married Gundreda, daughter of William the Conqueror. This is as far back as I have followed my lineage, but I trust it will suffice. Certainly Mr. Barnum, when he first heard it, was quite astonished, and never failed to mention it to the Press!

I was born on 31 October, 1841, on the family farm in Middleborough, Massachusetts, to James and Huldah Bump. Most people cannot contain their surprise when I tell them that I was, in fact, the usual size and weight. Indeed, when the ceremonial weighing of the newborn was completed, I tipped the scales at precisely six pounds!

My entrance into the family was preceded by three siblings, two male and one female, and was followed by another three, two male and one female. All were of ordinary stature except my younger sister, Minnie, born in 1849.

I am told that I grew normally during the first year of my life, then suddenly stopped. My parents didn’t notice it at first, but I cannot fault them for that. Who, when having been already blessed with three children, still has the time or interest to pay much attention to the fourth? My dear mother told me that it wasn’t until I was nearly two years old that they realized I was still wearing the same clothes—clothes that should already have been outgrown, cleaned and pressed, and laid in the trunk for the next baby. It was only then that my parents grew somewhat alarmed; studying me carefully, they saw that I was maturing in the way of most children—standing, talking, displaying an increased interest in my surroundings. The only thing I was not doing was growing.

They took me to a physician, who appraised me, measured me, poked me. “I cannot offer any physical explanation for this,” he informed my worried parents. “The child seems to be perfectly normal, except for her size. Keep an eye on her, and come back in a year’s time. But be prepared for the possibility that she might be just one example of God’s unexplainable whims, or fancies. She may be the only one I’ve seen, but I’ve certainly heard of others like her. In fact, there’s one over in Rochester I’ve been meaning to go see. Heard he can play the violin, even. Astounding.”

My parents did not share his enthusiasm for the violin- playing, unexplainable Divine whim. They carried me to another physician in the next town over, who, being a less pious man than the previous expert, explained that I represented “an excellent example of Nature’s Occasional Mistakes.” He assured my increasingly distressed parents that this was not a bad thing, for it made the world a much more interesting place, just as the occasional two- headed toad and one- eyed kitten did.

In despair, my parents whisked me back home, where they prayed and prayed over my tiny body. Yet no plea to the Almighty would induce me to grow; by my tenth birthday I reached only twenty- four inches and weighed twenty pounds. By this time my parents had welcomed my sister Minnie into the world; when she displayed the same reluctance to grow as I had, they did not take her to any physicians. They simply loved her, as they had always loved me.

“Vinnie,” my mother was fond of telling me (Lavinia being the name by which I was called, shortened within the family to Vinnie), “it’s not that you’re too small, my little chick, but rather that the world is too big.”

Read the reviews!

“By turns heart-rending and thrilling, this big-hearted book recounts a fictionalized life of this most extraordinary of women in prose that is lush and details that are meticulously researched. I loved this book.”—Sara Gruen, New York Times bestselling author of Ape House and Water for Elephants

“Melanie Benjamin’s striking novel about the diminutive Lavinia Warren Bump, one of P. T. Barnum’s ‘oddities,’ shows that love and desire, strength and ambition, come in all sizes. Mrs. Tom Thumb brings out the humanity in all of us.”—Sandra Dallas, New York Times bestselling author of The Bride’s Home and Whiter Than Snow

“Melanie Benjamin has created a compelling heroine, whose dramatic and poignant story will capture the reader’s heart to the last page.”

—Stephanie Cowell, author of Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet and Marrying Mozart

"As the curtain eventually began to go down so to speak– as I neared the finality of such an amazing and remarkable novel– I found myself thinking how elated I was to have had the opportunity to make the acquaintance of such a special and memorable person in Mrs. General Tom Thumb! Benjamin finishes the story of a heroine that was never completely told before this."


--Marianslibrary's Blog

"I was thoroughly charmed by Benjamin's story; she has managed to give the reader a full range of emotions, to show the reader both the seedy underbelly of life in the mid-19th century and the over-the-top lifestyle of the well-to-do, and give us a love story on so many levels."


--Lit and Life


"Benjamin develops the story with careful attention to historical detail and the apparent difficulties of the life of a little, but determined, woman. I was so taken with Vinnie’s story that I conducted online research about Vinnie, Tom Thumb and P.T. Barnum to verify history details. While this book fictional, it is an accurate account of Vinnie’s inspirational life. Benjamin brought a little known woman to the world’s attention in The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb. I heartily recommend this book."


--Donna Landis, Backseat Writer


Look for my review coming to The Book Connection on August 25th!

Melanie Benjamin is a pseudonym for Melanie Hauser, the author of two contemporary novels. Her first work of historical fiction as Melanie Benjamin was Alice I Have Been. She lives in Chicago, where she is at work on her next historical novel.

You can visit her online at http://www.melaniebenjamin.com/.

Book Spotlight: What Happens In Vegas by Natasha Deen

It’s not that Binda Morningstar’s an idiot—the girl’s got more degrees than a thermometer—but there’s something about a crisis that makes her lose her mind…and accidently injure anyone within a ten foot radius. But if she’s going to rescue her boss from a cursed jewel, she’s going to have to keep it together. Unfortunately for her, the cop on the case, Corin Hawthorne, has her losing her mind and her heart…and if he gets anymore drool worthy, she’s going to lose her inhibitions, too.  To save her boss and win her man, she’s got to outrun a mobster, outwit the YIFFS at a sex fetish convention, and outthink an ex-wife—and she’s got to do it all without breaking an arm or inadvertently hitting anyone with pepper spray…it’s all got Binda hoping that what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

Read an excerpt!

Of course, the man would want to know why I kissed him, but what could I say? If I admitted to a magnetic attraction strong enough to change the polarity of the earth, then I risked not only his complete rejection, but not being able to accompany him. “Would you believe I’m wildly spontaneous, and having never kissed a cop, I had to give it a shot before the investigation got too complicated?”

“Oh. Sure.” He shrugged. “I believe that.”

He did? Either his detecting skills were highly overrated or he was giving me an out for making the stupidest—but most arousing—decision of my life. The man wasn’t just noble, but sensitive. God, just when I thought he couldn’t get more drool-worthy.

“Here’s the thing.” He tapped his black phone against his jeans. “That’s a lot riding on the kiss.” He looked at me. “You should have warned me, since the reputation of every cop was on the line.” His expression changed from thoughtful to chastising. “You really didn’t give me a chance to prove what a boy in blue can do.”

Oh, God. My heart just stopped beating.

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS WILL BE RELEASED ON AUGUST 17TH BY THE WILD ROSE PRESS. ORDER HERE!

When she was little, there was only one thing Natasha Deen wanted to be: a superhero. But then she realized that being a klutz was not, in fact, a super power, and her super weakness for anything bright and shiny meant a magpie with self-control could easily defeat her in a battle of wills. She turned to writing as a way to sharpen her mental super-hero skills. She doesn’t get to orbit the earth in a space station (and thank God, because she gets sick on merry go round), but she does get to say things like: “Stand aside! This is a job for Writing Girl!!”


Visit Natasha online at http://www.natashadeen.com/ and her blog at http://natashadeen.blogspot.com/. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.

August 1-Guest Post&Giveaway@ CMash Loves To Read


August 2-Guest Post@Tribute Books Reviews

August 3-Spotlight@Books, Products and More

August 8-Review@Hott Books

August 9-Interview@The Book Connection

August 10-Guest Post@Stuff&Nonsense

August 15-Review&Giveaway@Terri Forehand

August 16-Review@iMiraculous!

August 16-Guest Post@Darlene's Book Nook

August 18-Guest Post@Dollycas's Thoughts

August 19-Review@From The TBR Pile

August 23-Guest Post@Terri Forehand

August 25-Review@Cafe Of Dreams Book Reviews

August 26-Review@Gelati's Scoop

August 30-Review@A Good Day To Read

August 31-Interview@ Blogtalk Radio's G-Zone

September 1-Review@Cocktails and Books

September 2-Review@Bags, Books and Bon Jovi

September 5-Interview@The Top Shelf

September 6-Review@ Words By Webb

September 6-Interview@Coffee and a Keyboard

September 8-Review@Hypnotically Entranced

September 13-Review@Coffee and a Keyboard

September 16-Guest Post and Giveaway@Darlene's Book Nook

September 19-Review@Oodles Of Books

September 20-Interview@Book Marketing Buzz

September 23-Review@Urban Girl Reader

September 23-Review@Lady Lit Reviews

September 26-Review@Romancing The Book

September 27-Review@Frequent Reader, Infrequent Blogger

September 28-Review@Sweeping Me

September 29-Review@Socrates Book Reviews

September 30-Guest Post@The Book Faery Reviews
 

Mystery/Crime Special Feature: July Heat by Billie Williams

Smoldering July heat creates unpredictable and dangerous weather -- as dangerous and unpredictable as the men who are chasing Judy. Can what you don’t know kill you?

Judy July has lost a large portion of the memory of her past. She needs a job. Her only credentials, published author J J Watergate, are good enough for the small community college where she applies and is accepted to the staff.

What she can remember causes her to enlist the students in the Creative Writing class that she teaches to help her by going on a class trip to help define the character they are creating to play protagonist in their novel, a group project. In doing so, she finds herself and her students in a life threatening situation.

Betrayal, espionage, and foreign intrigue are all encountered in July Heat. Two of her students turn out to be part of the plot a foot to kidnap her, and a new student, who signed on days before the kidnapping, turns out to be a key player in the kidnapping and hostage situation.

The foreign language teacher, Jacque LaPlant, who now lives across the street from Judy and teaches at the same community college, is the man she had forgotten, her ex-trainer and partner from the assassin training camp. When this memory finally surfaces, so does the terror she faced then.

Judy and the students are kidnapped while on this class trip. Half of them are released, the other half along with Judy are headed for a destination that finally reminds Judy of the past she has forgotten. Cairo, Egypt becomes painfully clear in her mind. She was brainwashed and reprogrammed as an assassin for a foreign entity bent on ruling the world. Their assassins are to take out the world leaders one by one. Judy botched her shot at the Polish President, who was eventually killed in a suspicious plane crash. Mistakes are not tolerated. Judy escaped, running for her life from this assassins group and Jacque LaPlant, to the US.

Eventually, Judy July does manage a daring rescue of her students and herself from the clutches of their captures before they reach Cairo.

Read an excerpt!

The question posed by the student’s manuscript was the question a lover might ask—or a partner in some crime too heinous for her to consider. Yet, it couldn’t be her life that it echoed or was it mimicked? Delta was silt piled up from years of the rush of water passing through, the rush of life flowing through it on its way to bigger things. Delta, the city now, not the river, was similar with the onrush of visitors or passers through on their way to something bigger. It occupied her mind. Why did she choose to join the silt and stay in this town where the river forked?

The prose on the page passed through the editing side of her mind while the other side thought of escape. But, escape to where, from whom or what? She’d only be found again. It had happened before. She still didn’t know who or why, but she knew he was there, stalking her. Maybe this time she’d stand her ground and refuse to leave, stay put without running from some real—or imagined fear. Maybe this time, she’d take her life back.

There’s a real horror in loneliness, but it’s not the worst horror. It’s no reason to put up with rage, twisted love or jealousy. There’s that greed, so ingrained with all the rest it threatens to rot the soul from the inside out. Like a cancerous leprosy eating away at who you are, why you’re here. He, that enigma from her past, was all that and more, that was the only thing she was sure of on a gut level. But who was he? No, she would not run again, not this time, not from this place. She liked it here and already felt a real sense of belonging.

She returned again to her students’ writings. “I met him on the stairs,” the student wrote. But that’s not where she met Ramón and she was now sure it was Ramón. If not, his name a name as fearful as that of the man Luke for sure. Were they the same person? She couldn’t be sure—not at this moment anyway. The name seemed strange and unfamiliar. He wasn’t from some Asian remoteness that planned their daughters’ marriages long before they came of age. Her parents never bargained with her life that way. So why would he, did he think…?

~ * ~

The students filed in with muffled chatter, in most cases arms loaded down with books. She hadn’t finished grading papers, but she’d make them a writing assignment before class began. She’d have time then.

“Class, fifteen minute writing assignment. Grab paper and pen. Here is your prompt.” Judy stood and surveyed the room. Papers shuffled. A few moans protested her directions, but she didn’t need attitude this morning. She needed space, time.
“If I went there a second time…” She looked at the blank stares as if she had suddenly become a two-headed monster and spoke in a foreign language.

“That’s it?” SK was always the one to speak out.

Judy could see she was perplexed. She had little sympathy this morning. “That’s it, pen to paper, fifteen minutes. Show me your unbridled talent, write like the wind.”

She smiled and returned to her desk and her task. Their angst was nothing compared to hers. The phrase she had given them caught in her throat like a pill accidentally swallowed before she was ready and it was going down sideways.

Second chances… if only she could go back a second time. She would know now. But, there were no second chances, not in the real world—not with Ramón and the terror he brought to her life. Was he still part of what she was feeling now, the not knowing what or why she was running away? The timer ticked away loud seconds as she and her students tried to outwit the clock. Bodach, man or ghost. Were her fears her own bodach or her past? Was the threat this time all in her imagination? And what is a threat anyway but fear, self-imposed fright of an imagined situation or person? Get over it!

Judy wrapped herself around the task of grading papers in front of her. These students were good. She enjoyed reading their work. If only she could put up a wall in her subconscious mind to block the thoughts the students’ penned words evoked.

As she finished Don’s paper, a thought replaced her task-oriented perusal of his paper with an idea, a purpose for the class to pursue. She could enlist their help. As long as she couldn’t remember who she was or where she came from, the fear that hung over her head—the dread that consumed her day and night—would rule her life. The sharp creative minds of this class may find her and drag her back from the abyss that offered no comfort or solace. She quickly organized the thought she had into a perfect plan.

~ * ~

The timer signaled that she and the students had a new path to pursue. “Please pass your papers to the front. Make sure your names are on them.” Some with pens racing across the page were reluctant to let go of their story. “A story is really never finished, even after it’s published.” Judy wanted them to know this. She wanted them to know it was okay to stop and go back to it another time, or, as in most cases, move on to something new.

Read reviews from other books by Billie Williams!

"Billie A. Williams has breathed life into a believable set of characters you'll love or love to hate. The story is packed with enthralling plot twists that keep the reader glued to the page as the dark dynamics of relationships and crime unfold. Death by Candlelight holds rare delights in store for the murder mystery lover."

--Susan J. Letham, http://www.Inspired2Write.com  

Fire At Thunder Ridge: “Bloody footprints in the snow--the most puzzling fire I’ve ever heard about--once wasn’t enough for this book. I had to go back & read it a second time to admire Billie Williams’ inventiveness & vivid imagery all over again.”

--Fran Keighley, Golden Wings Award winning author.

"Kudos to Ms. Williams. THE PINK LADY SLIPPER is a book that I could not put down. It is a page-turner from the first page to the last. This book is filled with spellbinding excitement with twists and turns at every corner. I can hardly wait to read Ms. Williams next book! She is an excellent storyteller!"

-- Linda Lattimer, author of Skeletons Too Close to Home

PURCHASE JULY HEAT AT WINGS EPRESS OR AMAZON. ALSO AVAILABLE IN A KINDLE EDITION.

Best-Selling, Award winning Mystery/Suspense author Billie A Williams is a fiction, non-fiction and poetry author and has won numerous contests for her short/flash fiction stories, essays, and poetry with over two dozen works published. She is published in various magazines such as the literary magazine Thema; Guide, a Magazine for Children, Novel Advice.com, Writing Etc. WritingNow.com, and Women In The Arts newsletter as well as Sister’s in Crime, to list but a few.



Williams is currently a member of The Wisconsin Regional Writers Association (WRWA) Upper Peninsula Writers Association (UPWA)National Association of Women Writers (NAWW) Sister’s in Crime, Women in the Arts Program, Electronically Published Internet Connection (EPIC), Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. (SCBWI) and Children’s Book Insider, and the Children Writers Coaching Club. Visit her at her website www.billiewilliams.com and sign up for her Newsletter Word Mage or visit her blog at http://printedwords.blogspot.com/.


She lives with her husband, Tom, and two kittens in Amberg, a small Northern Wisconsin community where the winters are cold and long, but the people are warm and friendly.

Mystery Special Feature: Invisible Path by Marilyn Meredith

To kick off my Mystery and Crime Fiction Special Feature, I am spotlighting Invisible Path by Marilyn Meredith. This is a 2010 release in Meredith's Deputy Tempe Crabtree series. She'll have a new book in this series (Bears With Us) coming out soon, so I felt it was the perfect time to mention this one, which is one of my favorites from the series of those books I've read.

While Tempe’s son, Blair is home from Christmas break, he and his roommate from college do a bit of snooping to find out about the para-military group who’ve been seen driving through town. When a young popular Indian is found dead near the recovery center on the reservation, Tempe is called in to help with the investigation. Another Native American but a newcomer to the rez, Jesus Running Bear, is the only suspect. A hidden pregnancy, a quest to find the Hairy Man, and a visit to the pseudo soldiers’ compound put Jesus and Tempe in jeopardy.


Read an excerpt!

“Jesus, I need to talk to you.”

My grandma was the only one who could get away with pronouncing my name like Jesus in the Bible. My friends say it like “Hay-soos.” Grandma didn’t like it when she heard someone say my name like that. She usually corrected whoever it was by saying, “My grandson is not Mexican, he is Indian. His name is Jesus Running Bear.”

I don’t know what inspired my mother to give me such a name, and she wasn’t around to ask.

Grandma fixed her small dark eyes on me. When she smiled her eyes became crescent moons. She wasn’t smiling now. Whatever it was she wanted to say, it had to be important.

I put down the bowl I’d gotten out of the cupboard. Breakfast would have to wait.

“You’ve been thinking about something a lot. Something that’s going to give you problems.” Grandmother’s face was round, weathered, and brown as a nut. Her gray hair was pulled straight back and arranged in a bun. Wiry strands escaped and poked out around her ears and the nape of her neck. She wore a man’s red plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, over a pair of faded blue jeans. Beneath the baggy clothes, she was slim and muscled. Her toes peeked out from a pair of worn leather sandals.

I loved my grandma; after all she was the one who raised me after my mother left me alone while she went on a three day drunk. My uncle found me and brought me to grandmother’s house where I’ve been ever since. No, I don’t miss my mother because I don’t even remember her. I only know what I’ve been told about her—not much of it good.

I wasn’t sure what kind of problem Grandma meant. Sure, I’d been going down to the beer joints with my cousin and friends even though I knew she didn’t want me drinking. Maybe that’s what this was about. I respected my grandmother, but I hadn’t obeyed her warning about never touching alcohol. She hated alcohol. Grandfather had died from drinking too much. Maybe my mother was dead too. No one had heard from her in years.

“Come. Sit down.” She motioned to the chair where I usually sat. In front of her was a cup of tea. “We’re going to find out exactly what is going on with you.”

I sat on the edge of the seat. She was going to do some weird Indian stuff. We were Miwok—though we didn’t live on or near a reservation. We lived in a small town in the foothills above Modesto which is in the Central Valley of California. Frankly, I didn’t know much about my heritage except what my grandma told me.


She was an amazing woman, and could do so many things. I was proud of most of what she did. She knew how to gather herbs that could cure most sicknesses. She wove beautiful baskets that she sold at Pow Wows and to tourists in gift shops in Yosemite and other places.

When I was a kid, she took me on camping trips into the back country. She could out hike me even today. But I wasn’t crazy about all the Indian stuff she did that I didn’t understand.

Grandma stared into the cup and began speaking in her native language. That’s what she always did when she was concentrating on something.

She lifted her head and fixed her eyes on me again. “You’re looking for a girlfriend. That’s it, isn’t it?”

Well, sure. What young guy isn’t trying to find a girl? But for once I was smart enough to keep my mouth shut.

Again, she peered into the cup. “I see all kinds of women. Be careful not to choose the wrong one. If you do, you’ll be miserable.”

She stared and her eyes looked funny, like she was seeing something far, far away.

I squirmed, wondering where this was leading. Maybe she already had someone picked out for me.

“I see a pretty girl with a nice figure. She has long straight hair, clear down to her waist. She’ll wiggle her plump bottom and you won’t be able to think. Women have power–especially young pretty ones. Don’t you so much as give her more than a passing glance. If you do, you’ll be miserable your whole life.” Grandma didn’t look up.

In my mind I could see the pretty girl walking down the street, her shiny black hair swinging back and forth like her hips.

After a few minutes my day dream ended when Grandma said, “There’s another one. Short and skinny like I was when I was young. But beware, she’s nothing like me. This one is sneaky. She’ll act like she cares for you when she has lots of other men.”

Interesting. This was more fun than I’d expected.

“I see another one, curly headed and laughing. She’ll welcome you to her bed.”

This was sounding better and better, and I risked a smile.

“Take my warning, grandson. Don’t marry her. She knows nothing about being a wife or taking care of children. She only knows how to have fun. She only wants to party, party, party. She’s not for you.”

I was beginning to wonder if there was anyone Grandma would see in that teacup who was good enough for me.

“Ah, there’s the one you must look for. She’s a sweet girl, with dark brown wavy hair and a dimple in one cheek. She knows and respects the old ways.”

“Where is she? Does she live around here?” I was ready to introduce myself to this wonderful woman.

“No, she lives far away. It may take a long, long while before you meet her.”

That wasn’t such good news. “How will I find her?”

“The path lies straight ahead. Sometimes it will be invisible, but it’s always there.”

Grandma’s discussion about my future seemed to be over.

She picked up the cup and dumped the dregs in the sink. Wiping her hands on a tea towel that had been draped through the handle of the old refrigerator, she asked, “Are you ready to eat?”

* * *

I almost forgot about Grandma’s predictions, because I started drinking more and more with my buddies. I became an embarrassment to her and my other relatives, and I didn’t care.

Read the reviews!

"Invisible Path is phenomenal!"

--The Book Connection

"The novel is in the classic traditional mystery mode with a lot of emphasis on character development and setting. Relations between members of different races and religious beliefs are very well handled with insight and care. This is another enjoyable and satisfying adventure with Deputy Tempe Crabtree."

--Carl Brookins, Crime Writers

"Author Marilyn Meredith's infusion of Native American legends and traditions into the story elevates Invisible Path to something more than just a police procedural. The reader truly gets a feel for the balancing act Tempe engages in every day between her job as a law enforcement officer and her Native American heritage. If you like murder mysteries / police procedurals but are looking for a change of pace from yet another one set in a big city, Invisible Path is a nice alternative with believable, well developed, sympathetic characters and a fascinating setting."

--All Purpose Monkey

"What I like best about Meredith's books is that they are all family friendly and yet, they lose none of their edginess in the process. She takes you to the scene of a murder but it doesn't turn into the detailed CSI gore that we are getting hit with in most all crime books. Readers will like the interplay between her deputy and her family as well as the criminals in the story. In this book she doesn't let on to what is really going on until she has woven you completely in the mystery of it all. The story takes several twists and turns and will keep you on the edge of your seat while you try to sort things out.

This is a must read. I fully recommend this book without any hesitation!"

--W.H. McDonald Jr, author of A Spiritual Warrior's Journey

PURCHASE INVISIBLE PATH AT:

AMAZON.COM
MUNDANIAPRESS.COM OR FROM THE AUTHOR'S WEBSITE AT
http://fictionforyou.com/.

ALSO AVAILABLE IN A KINDLE EDITION!

Marilyn Meredith is the author of over thirty published novels, many award winning, including the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series. Writing as F. M. Meredith, her latest Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel is Angel Lost, the third from Oak Tree Press. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, Four chapters of Sisters in Crime, including the Central Coast chapter, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. She’s also a been an instructor at many writing conferences including the Maui Writers Retreat, Central Coast Writing Conference and many others.


Visit Marilyn online at http://fictionforyou.com and her blog at http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com.