A nice review by Dawn Roberto:
http://loveromancesandmore.blogspot.com/2013/02/unleavened-dead-by-ilene-schneider.html
Another 4.5 star review, this one on Night Owl Reviews:
http://www.nightowlreviews.com/v5/Reviews/Trekie-reviews-Unleavened-Dead-by-Ilene-Schneider
Want to know how I avoid (and plan to avoid) the “Cabot Cove Sydrome” and other pitfalls of writing a book series? Check out my guest blog for Oak Tree Press at http://otpblog.blogspot.com/
I am very pleased today to introduce you to Marilyn Meredith, the author of the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series. As F.M. Meredith, she is on a blog tour to promote her newest book, DANGEROUS IMPULSES, the ninth in the Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series (http://tinyurl.com/byxomtk). Why the different names? Keep reading for her answer. And then keep reading to find out how you can win the chance to have a character named after you in a future book.
Why I Use a Pen Name
When I wrote the first book in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series (about 20 years ago) many female authors who were writing mysteries with male protagonists were using their initials with their last name. I guessed and also heard a couple of these authors speak, and the reason was so that male readers would read their books.
A good enough reason for me to use F. M. Meredith, rather than Marilyn Meredith, right? All was fine until the first publisher decided to pluck my photo off my webpage and put it on the back cover. That totally blew my subterfuge. By this time, the publisher had picked up the second book also written by F.M.—and stuck the same photo on the back cover. 
I figured, what the heck, I might as well continue to use F. M. Meredith for the Rocky Bluff P.D. series. Besides, when I make an appearance anywhere, people don’t expect me to be a man.
Actually, it’s worked out fine. For my Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, I’m Marilyn Meredith. Since that one is totally different, the story always told from a single female viewpoint, using Marilyn works.
The brand for the Rocky Bluff P.D. series is totally different. These crime novels are told from multiple points of view—some male, some female. The series has ongoing characters whose personal lives are featured as well as their efforts in solving whatever crimes are going on. And because my police officer son-in-law reminded me, there are always many crimes happening, not just one at a time.
In 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.
How has using the name F. M. Meredith worked out for me? There are some drawbacks, such as when I’m promoting a book in the series, I have to make sure to point out that it is written by F. M. Meredith. Otherwise, after all this time, most of my followers know that I’m F. M. Meredith aka as Marilyn Meredith.
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.
Webpage: http://fictionforyou.com/
Blog: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/
And I’m on Facebook and Twitter as MarilynMeredith
Tomorrow you can find me here: http://mysteriouswriters.blogspot.com/
Thanks to Davida Chazan for a terrific review of UNLEAVENED DEAD at: http://voices.yahoo.com/rabbi-aviva-cohen-solving-murders-again-12030723.html
Hope to see you!
Feb. 21, 12:30 PM: Literary Club, Ocean County College, Bookstore, Conference Rm. A&B, College Drive, Toms River, NJ
Feb. 27, 7:00 PM: Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Chestnut Hill Hotel, 8229 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118.
March 6, 7:30 PM: Book Club, Congregation Beth Tikvah, 115 Evesboro-Medford Rd, Marlton, NJ
March 7, 7:00 PM: moderating panel discussion with members of the NJ Authors Network, on the topic “I’ve finished my manuscript; now what?” at the Evesham Township Library, 984 Tuckerton Rd., Marlton, NJ
March 10, all day: vendor’s table at Lines on the Pines, Frog Rock Country Club, Hammonton, NJ
I’m planning to attend quite a few writers conferences this year. If you are, too, I hope to see you at one or more of them. If you’re not attending, but live nearby, let me know and maybe we can get together.
The dates are those of the conferences; I may be arriving a few says earlier and/or staying a few extra days, depending on the distance I have to travel and the birding opportunities.
MALICE DOMESTIC – May 3-5, Bethesda, MD
PUBLIC SAFETY WRITERS – July 11-14, Las Vegas, NV
DEADLY INK – Aug. 2-4, New Brunswick NJ
KILLER NASHVILLE – Aug. 22-25, Nashville, TN
MAGNA CUM MURDER – Oct. 25-27, Indianapolis, IN
CRIME BAKE – Nov. 8-10, Dedham, MA
Can’t get votes if I don’t advertise I’m in the running. Please go to http://booktown.ning.com/ and scroll down to the box with the nominees for Book of the Month and click on UNLEAVENED DEAD. Vote early and often!
Well, the “it” being “me.” An article about me and my writing,by Sally Friedman, is in the Jewish Voice: http://m.jewishvoicesnj.org/node/32117
You can hear my remarks at the Jewish Writers’ Conference at Beth El Hebrew
Congregation in Alexandria, VA, on youtube at: http://youtu.be/rpruPrOLeIo Go to approximately 45:00 on the time
scale to find me.
rabbi.author 