About Marcia

MYSTERY, SUSPENSE,
AND THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT

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Marcia Meara lives in central Florida, just north of Orlando, with her husband of close to forty years and four big cats.

When not writing or blogging, she spends her time gardening, and enjoying the surprising amount of wildlife that manages to make a home in her suburban yard. She enjoys nature. Really, really enjoys it. All of it! Well, almost all of it, anyway. From birds, to furry critters, to her very favorites, snakes. The exception would be spiders, which she truly loathes, convinced that anything with eight hairy legs is surely up to no good. She does not, however, kill spiders anymore, since she knows they have their place in the world. Besides, her husband now handles her Arachnid Catch and Release Program, and she’s good with that.

Spiders aside, the one thing Marcia would like to tell each of her readers is that it’s never too late to make your dreams come true. If, at the age of 69, she could write and publish a book (and thus fulfill 64 years of longing to do that very thing), you can make your own dreams a reality, too. Go for it! What have you got to lose?

marciameara16@gmail.com
Twitter: @marciameara

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MARCIA’S BOOKS

Marcia’s Amazon Author Page

Wake-Robin Ridge Book 1
A Boy Named Rabbit: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 2
Harbinger: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 3
The Light: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 4

Swamp Ghosts: A Riverbend Novel
Finding Hunter: Riverbend Book 2
That Darkest Place: Riverbend Book 3

The Emissary: A Riverbend Spinoff Novella
The Emissary 2: To Love Somebody 
The Emissary 3: Love Hurts

Summer Magic: Poems of Life & Love

 

 

59 thoughts on “About Marcia”

  2. Thanks, Ned. So nice to know you stopped by, and I hope you’re right. I think it has the potential to be fun and rewarding, both, so that’s what I’m aiming for. Anything you can do will be a help and a great contribution. Just emailed you back about an intro post. You can do your own, and email it to me, or I’ll do a basic one for you, and use pics & bio from your interview on Bookin’ It. Whatever you’d prefer. And welcome!

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    • Thank you so much, Sherry! I’ll be sure to check out your site. So glad you joined us, and hope you’ll find lots of interesting topics here. Please make yourself at home, and join in the discussions.

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    • So sorry I missed this post, Audrey! WordPress doesn’t always alert me, sadly. Thank you for such a nice comment, and I’m glad to have you on board. And Callum’s poetry is a super way to have connected. He’s just a brilliant guy!

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    • Thank you, Teagan. I’m so glad to meet you, too. Hope you’ll find lots of things to interest you here, and will enjoy taking part. Looking forward to getting to know you. Mega hugs back atcha! 🙂

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    • Hi, M.L.! Sorry I missed this one. (WordPress doesn’t alert me any more when there are pending comments! 😦 ) So glad you decided to follow me. This is a great group of writers, always willing to share ideas and resources. And of course, since you have dachshunds, you simply HAVE to be part of it all. 😀 Mine are getting older, now, and I doubt that I will replace them when they head off to that Great Lizard Hunting Ground in the Sky, but they’ve brought us a lot of laughter and love for a long time, and will always hold a special place in my heart.

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  16. Marcia–I ordered 5 books and expect them in a day or two. So excited to start reading these. I tried to order the newest but it’s not in print form yet. Yes some say I am old school but I love the feeling of holding the book.
    I’ll keep looking though for the 6th one.
    Again I can barely wait to plant myself in my favorite chair and read away.

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    • Thank you so much, OpenThoughts! That’s lovely, and I really hope you enjoy them. The latest one will be available in print format very soon. I’m finishing a couple more things in the formatting process, and will probably be submitting it tomorrow. If they approve it, they will print a Proof copy and mail to me, and when I approve that, it will go “live.” I’ll keep you posted.

      As for print vs Kindle, I have never seen it as an “either/or” thing. I read on Kindle most of the time because I can control the fonts. For my old eyes, that’s a great thing. BUT. I collect print books, as well, and have floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in nearly every room. I love cover art, and I love the look and feel of the books. Sometimes I actually READ them, too. Ha! But I’m greedy and want ALL the options. I can carry an entire library in my purse with the Kindle, too. I love that, because any time I have to wait, I want something to read, and with the Kindle, I’ve got my choice. (Almost every book on my shelves is also on my Kindle, but don’t tell my husband I said that! I’ll swear you made it up! 😀 😀 😀 )

      Hope you enjoy the books! IF so, hope you’ll consider leaving a review on Amazon for me. It will help others find my work. But either way, thanks for ordering, and happy reading! 🙂

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  19. Read “Swamp…” and left a review. Hope you’re not too disappointed. 🙂
    I know that you and your husband are going to be 10-6 for a long while. However, i now absolutely know that both of you will enjoy my “Ocala Spring”! Figure out a way to get me a POBOX and I will send you a paperback version from Amazon. The primary setting is Astor (along with Grand Canyon, Montreal, Washington, D.C., and Lookout Mt. Tenn/Ga. Or, I will get Hunter in paperback for a trade. You’re call, either way. But I’d really like to hear your opinion(s). Enjoyed Maggie!!! And Big Blue!
    Be advised, all of my books have a Conservative Judeo-Christian bias, although no Christian publisher is going to take them–except maybe for my recent. My bad guys are bad(!) but there is certain level of pure evil that I cannot and will not write. I’ll shut up now.
    Hope you can save the Magic Bus et al!!!

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    • Not disappointed at all. Four stars is great, thank you. And while I find a surprising number of men come to see me when I do presentations around central Florida, my target audience is definitely women 35 and up. So I fully understand the romance part not being your favorite thing. Yes, Gunn was near-about perfect, because in most of my other books, it’s the guy who’s a wreck. I started thinking it would be nice (for a change) to write about an unbelievably good-looking man who was a genuinely nice guy. (Those are pretty scarce, you know. I have a theory on that, but not the time to develop it here.) So that was a choice I made, to let HIM be the normal, well adjusted one, good looks and all, and Maggie to be the damaged one.

      Also, I started out to write Romantic Suspense, which is hard to do without a romance. 🙂 My first books in each series were aimed at that genre, but have morphed into things quite different as I’ve written more. I do still like to have romance there somewhere. Even when I’m reading full on epic fantasy, I like it better when there’s a love story entwined. But Finding Hunter (Riverbend Book 2) deals with a dysfunctional family, PTSD, and agoraphobia. Hunter Painter is my favorite of all my characters, but he’s not very well equipped for life in today’s world. And Willow Greene is definitely the strongest of all my female characters, in spite of her flower child persona. Just what a quirky, off-beat, and angsty guy like Hunter needs.

      The one consistent thing in all my stories is the redemptive power of love, and there is usually a person of faith woven in somewhere, though nothing too specific, because I want to appeal to a wide audience.

      I will be checking out Ocala Spring as soon as possible, but Mark does not read fiction. At all. Not even mine, if he can help it. He’s into history, has a very large collection of Civil War books, & as a Viet Nam vet, quite a few from that era, too. But anything historical interests him. Fiction doesn’t. Sorry. 🙂

      Glad you liked Big Blue. I dearly love that big gator. You might have noticed, nature factors into a lot of my stories, though probably more so in Swamp Ghosts than anywhere else. Lots of years of birding, hiking, canoeing, and volunteering with Florida Audubon and the Central Florida Zoo.

      I will be happy to buy Ocala Spring, so Amazon will show it as a verified purchase and put the review up front.

      Off to bed with a book now. I’m bone-tired from cleaning up hurricane mess. It’s going to go on for WEEKS. But I’m very thankful I don’t live in Puerto Rico. So sad to see what they are dealing with. We were blessed. 🙂 Good night.

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      • You will be amazed at the similarities between your Swamp and my Spring. Vietnam vet, St. Johns River, Lake County, Elvis(!), and Astor, Deland.
        My first novel, River spoirits, was meant to be a male-genre suspense cop vs. drug gangs, but fell in love with my female protagonist. And noticed that she was chewing up the scenery. So, I ended up with a freaking Romance. Ha! But Monica and Travis have really made writing easy-er.
        Good luck. In a year or so things will be normal again, maybe.

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  20. I appreciate your offer for an email convo sometime. When you get round to Ocala, I want to hear your opinions and advice–good, bad, and ugly. I’. confident you will find plenty of good. It is nice to finally be able to speak to a multi-published author. I have L. Todd Wood and Susanne Lakin on my LinkedIn, but it’s not like they really give a hoot about my projects.
    Secondly, I do have one presumptuous suggestion for you. I’ll hold it until you’re ready.
    Lastly (again), I’m glad you know how to edit these comments. You can do so when you get this one–not that I worry about any of your fans. I’m one of them. (Maybe I can steal one or two from you. 🙂 )
    btw, I decided not to watch (blank). Heh!
    btw II, a friend is coming over Tuesday night to help me cull some of the big(sunfish/bream, and talapias from my lake, and have a fish fry. They are getting out of control. Might even harvest a gar, although my family of ten or so are my favorites. They are so meek that small fish, bass, and turtles knock them out of the way when I’m trying to feed everybody. I’ve taken two in the past 10 years.
    crusoe65@gmail.com

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    • Hi, and thanks so much! On both counts. It will be months before our home is repaired, and so far, we can’t get to our cars, but we are still standing, so there’s that to be grateful for!

      I’m glad you enjoyed WRR. It was my very first effort, and I threw everything I had into it, never expecting to write another. Just finished #7, so go figger. I like to think I’ve grown as a writer with each book, as that’s what I’m aiming for. The 2nd in the series, A Boy Named Rabbit, is probably the one I get the most feedback on, because Rabbit is a pretty endearing little guy. In fact, he has taken over the whole series, and I’m getting ready to start on #4.

      If you enjoyed WRR, I hope you’ll consider leaving a review on Amazon. I’ve been stuck on 100 for several weeks, and would love to see that start moving up again. 🙂 If that’s not your thing, that’s okay, but I figured it never hurts to ask. 😉

      Thanks for touching base and for letting me know you enjoyed WRR. 🙂

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  23. Finished Hunter. You are good! You sure don’t make any mistakes. (I found one missing quotation mark in Swamp.) Purely descriptive passages are eloquent and artistic. Compelling characters, as usual. Willow is awesome. So are Maggie and Gunn. I would have Baker Act-ed Hunter in a heartbeat—and his mother! And the whole Hoover dam family, for that matter! Ha!
    I probably won’t do a review, because I’m not qualified. I’m not in your targeted audience. Too many nit-pick items bug me. But remember: I’m still a guy!!  I have only two critical (meaning “critique,” not life threatening!) comments. No big deals!! I will email them, if you first give me permission.

    However, be advised, if I do email them, I might just add another rant about those darned mushy/sappy/kissy scenes. YUCK!!!!!! 🙂

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    • I’m glad you found things to enjoy, even in a total Romantic Drama. I try not to make mistakes, and I would never work without an editor. Still, some things slip by. I just updated the eBook version of Swamp Ghosts when I found a double “had,” and will be fixing that in the print version soon. (Listening to Word’s “Read Aloud” feature is the BEST way to find those kinds of errors I’ve ever seen.

      You will probably feel differently about the Hoover dam Painter family when you read That Darkest Place. It’s Jackson and Forrest’s book, and my readers (who ended up hating Jackson after FH) felt very differently after they read TDP. It deals with survivor’s guilt, physical trauma, and a whole lot more, including a subject that is very near to my heart, which I won’t mention here because it would be a spoiler. But it explains another reason their lives started unraveling.

      It’s my most ambitious book so far, but having done it, I’m now moving on from the Painter family. The next Riverbend book is going to be about a new character, and will possibly include a murder mystery. You just can’t have one of those in every book, in a town the size of Riverbend. Everyone would move away! And btw, my new stand alone novella, The Emissary, explores exactly who Gabe Angelino really is. Every event I do, people ask me if he’s really an angel as Willow believes, or just a kind-hearted man, so I decided to tell them. 🙂

      My email/contact info is on the site so that writers can do just that. And I pretty much ignore your kissy/sappy rants because I know my target audience would like even more of it. Any other types of critiques, I decide how I feel about with input from my editor and team. 🙂

      You don’t have to do a detailed review, btw. You can give only a star rating, or stars and a brief comment. “I like the author’s descriptive passages,” or something short like that. But if you don’t think you can restrain yourself, don’t worry about it. 😀 Believe it or not, I have some men who are pretty vocal about my Riverbend series, and in a very good way. But for sure, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, especially if you are of the male persuasion. (My husband couldn’t stand Hunter, where I think he’s such a beautiful, perceptive soul. But I agree, without Willow, he would never survive in today’s world. Good thing he has her, and that she’s as strong as she is.)

      As for Baker Act issues, only certain people can do that, and in this case, it would have fallen to Big Jack, who was not about to. Hunter could not have done it on his own, and his brothers were less than supportive. Those two had a lot of growing up to do in That Darkest Place, but thankfully, Forrest had already started to learn a few life lessons in Finding Hunter. He had made substantial progress, though he needed to have his own HEA. Fans demand it, even if SOME guys don’t. 😀 😉 I’d like to see what you think of TDP, if you get a chance.

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      • My daughter is a PhD Neuro-psychologist (proud papa). She threatens to Baker Act me twice a year, especially since I retired.
        I’d like to email a couple of comments–just because, as you know by now, I’m obnoxious. 🙂 !!!!!
        yeah, I could do a short review, with half a star. I’m kidding!!! (and obnoxious)
        it’s your genre, and you do it well! Maybe 3 1/2 this time. I don’t want to be too obnoxious until you’ve gotten round to Ocala. Heh!
        Out.

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        • Good idea. 🙂

          Your daughter has qualifications the Painters lacked, and as sons, if the boys wanted to overrule the father, they’d have to gang up on him. It was only Hunter. And Hunter was fighting his own demons. His opinion or fears would not have carried much weight against the other three. As her (presumably sane) husband, Jack’s opinion would have been given much more credence, and if he refused to have anyone even take a look at her, or diagnose her condition, not a lot was going to get done.

          You should read the mountain series. I think you’d probably like Little Rabbit a lot. Of course, book one was my first book, VERY romantic, but also full of some dark, spooky stuff, too. But first, read TDP so you can see how everything ties together, and the “why’s” of what happened, especially to Jackson.

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  31. I am and have always been a member of the Arachnid Catch-and-Release program, so kudos to your husband. My thought is that they just do what they do, like any other living thing. And each time I see them, I can’t help but hear poor Charlotte singing her last song followed by her little babies greeting Wilbur. And, well, enough said!

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    • Oh, I stopped killing spiders long ago. I give wildlife talks twice a month at two local venues here in Central Florida, and I can’t very well tell my audiences to stop automatically bashing every snake they see if I’m going to smash every spider I find, just because of all those hairy legs. Snakes have important jobs to do, and so do the spidey guys. I used to sweep them out the door as carefully as I could, even though my heart was crying out for a 55-gallon drum of RAID. But now, as I say, hubby sees to it that they don’t linger in the corners of the bedroom or bathroom, and are carefully returned to where they belong. Works for me. 😀

      Glad you see it the same way, Erik, and nice to meet you! Hope you’ll enjoy checking out The Write Stuff now and then. 😊

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