VBT + #Giveaway: THE DEVIL'S FLOOD by Pearl R. Meaker @GoddessFish

THE DEVIL'S FLOOD

by Pearl R. Meaker

GENRE: Cozy Mystery

BLURB:

Can a house vanish without a trace? What is the "super booze" that's available at clandestine drinking parties in Golden County? When mummified bodies show up at an archeological dig and a young man gets shot in a duel at a party, can Emory and Madison find the answers in the midst of a flood year?

Excerpt:

“Okay.” Kate said, pulling her phone out of a pocket as Jairus and the crew gathered around me where I stood watching the rescue team go in after my husband. “Here’s a shot of Dr. Crawford.” She held the phone in front of me. “He’s still conscious and managed a little wave, but I’m glad the rescue team is heading in.”

I glanced at the photo. Jebbin lay in a pool of light on what looked like a pile of bedding heaped on a rough wooden floor. His glasses had fallen off. He never looks quite right without them, and

I could tell he was hurting. Probably feeling a bit nauseous as well. In spite of it all he wore a wan grin and had lifted a hand in greeting.

Kate swiped the screen.

In the sharp glare of her phone’s flash a mummified man sat on the floor, his back against a wall. There was a dark stain spilling down his chest from a hole near where his heart would be.

“There’s one part of the company Dr. Crawford mentioned he had.”

She swiped again. “Here’s the other.”

This mummy lay on its back. The flash showed a stain that flowed from his chest and down his side to form a hardened puddle on the floor.

“Which one’s my Grandpa?” Melva gasped.

An Interview with Pearl R. Meaker

Thank you, Nancy, for hosting my book and me! 

What inspired you to write The Devil’s Flood?

A comment my hubby made in 2015, while our area was having a flood year, that maybe I should write a book about a flood was what started it. Then talking to local people about other flood years they remembered. Finding out there used to be a house with farm buildings in a place west of town where there’s now a man-made lake and that that whole area is flood plain because two large creeks converge there.

The final touch was reading about a record flood year in 1844 in that area, actually, it affected the area for several miles around because of the courses of the creeks. The floods happening down through the years pulled everything together.

When or at what age did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Not until my late forties. I’d always loved reading and I’d made up fan-fiction stories in my head for years. But doing all that writing had no appeal until home computers were affordable.

There was no way I was going to write that all out by hand or type it on a typewriter. ;-)

What is the earliest age you remember reading your first book?

Oh gosh! I’ve no idea. My mother was an early elementary school teacher and we always had books at home.

I do remember when I became addicted to reading. It was in fourth grade when I was nine years old. By then my vocabulary had grown to the point where I could read older level books without having to look up words as often. I took off like crazy reading Agatha Christie, Edgar Allen Poe, some science fiction, older level kids books – all sorts of stuff.

What genre of books do you enjoy reading?

My favorite genre is the one I write in – cozy mysteries. But I do read other genres. I like well written history, some biographies, true crime that isn’t sensationalized, informative books, fantasy, paranormal and some science fiction.

What is your favorite book?

My all time favorite book is The Lord of the Rings. I first read it when I was twelve.

You know I think we all have a favorite author. Who is your favorite author and why?

J.R.R.Tolkien. His world of Middle Earth is so real, so well developed. It never felt childish to be reading about elves and dwarves, hobbits and wizards. Middle Earth is thoroughly believable.

If you could travel back in time here on earth to any place or time. Where would you go and why?

I think I’d go to the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. Although, as in any time period, there were a lot of problems it was also a time of phenomenal growth and inventiveness. The world’s fairs were where all the latest inventions were showcased, so that would be really interesting.  

When writing a book do you find that writing comes easy for you or is it a difficult task?

It changes all the time. Some days the words just flow out of my mind, through my fingers and into the computer. Other days I have to haul them out with a winch.

I rarely know what causes the difference and it rarely seems to affect the outcome. Great days can produce great writing and bad – terrible days the same. I’ve learned to just keep writing and deal with the rest in the editing.

Do you have any little fuzzy friends? Like a dog or a cat? Or any pets?

My hubby and I are companions to four cat-people. Our oldest is Millie, a twenty-year-old black kitty. Then there’s Goldie who is a female orange tabby and is sixteen. After a big jump in years, we have Flaming Chi To. He’s a red color-point Siamese (or shorthair) who has cerebellar hypoplasia which make him wobbly, he’s deaf and has some eye problems too – but we love him dearly. He’s been with us for four years. His buddy, Mr. Midnight (guess what color he is) joined us three years ago. He’s missing his left front leg.

All of them were from shelters except Goldie and I found her under a pile of brush.

What is your "to die for", favorite food/foods to eat?

I have a lot of those, that’s why I’m pudgy. Hahaha. Dark chocolate. Lobster. Filet mignon. A really good hamburger. Potato chips. Spicy food. Chinese food. And many more.

Do you have any advice for anyone that would like to be an author?

Be prepared to work hard. Even with the big publishers, authors are now expected to do more and more of their own marketing and promotional work. The writing is only the beginning of the job.

But it is a wonderful feeling when you start hearing from people who really enjoy your work. When you know you’ve touched their lives, entertained them and given them a break from the everyday.

AUTHOR BIO:

Slightly quirky, always creative, Pearl R. Meaker has been an artist, singer and craftsperson her whole life. Although she's always had stories in her head, they didn't come out to play with others until the advent of home computers with their ease of making corrections and moving bits around.

After several years of writing fanfiction in the world of Tolkien's Middle-Earth, she took a couple of writing courses and dove into writing original works of fiction, and The Emory Crawford Mysteries were born.

When not playing with story ideas you can find Pearl playing with yarn either knitting or crocheting, doing other arts and crafts, bird watching and photographing nature, playing bluegrass fiddle (her husband plays banjo) or relaxing with her hubby on the sofa watching mystery shows on Netflix.

Oh - and reading all sorts of books, but especially cozy and other types of mysteries!

The books in The Emory Crawford Mysteries Series are reminiscent of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple mysteries, which is why Pearl has chosen to characterize her stories as "murder genteel."

Links:

Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Pinterest

Buy Links:

Amazon ~ B&N ~ Indigo

Giveaway:

Signed copy of Loving a Lawman and a Cowboy themed gift bag $25 Amazon/BN GC
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning.