Moon Games by Shelly Frome

At the outset, Miranda Davis has nothing much going for her. The tourists are long gone by October in the quaint Carolina town of Black Mountain, her realty business is at a standstill, and her weekend stint managing the local tavern offers little to pull her out of the doldrums. When prominent church lady Cloris Raintree offers a stipend to look into the whereabouts of a missing girl hiker on the Q.T, Miranda, along with her partner Harry (an unemployed features writer) agree.

But then it all backfires. A burly figure shambles down a mountain slope with a semi-conscious girl draped over his shoulder. Miranda’s attempts to uncover Cloris Raintree’s true motives become near impossible as she puts up one smokescreen after another, including a slip of the tongue regarding an incident in Havana. The local police keep stonewalling and Harry is of little help.

Tarot cards left on Cloris’ doorstep and arcane prompts on her e-mail only exacerbate the situation. Growing more desperate over the captive girl’s fate, Miranda comes across a link to a cold case of arson and murder. With the advent of the dark of the moon, she is summoned to “Tower Time” as this twisty tale continues to run its course.

Guest Post

“Notes to My Younger Self”

Every now and then, my publisher’s publicist gives us a little writerly assignment consisting of coming up with a short blurb. She calls the latest “Advice to your younger self.”

For openers, admittedly I was part of the silent generation. Our task was to choose a safe and predictable profession from a rather short, approved list. Following your heart or your bliss was unheard of. The inner had nothing to do with it. It was always a matter of external expectations. Though some part of me was aware that I was an incurable storyteller, that option was simply  not on the table.

Segue to the time I was trying my hand at law school at the University of Arizona. My professors became exasperated every time I attempted to make law interesting. “Just the rule of law” they would counter. “Stick to the rule of law.” Because I wouldn’t quit, my classmates became so agitated that they took up a collection to send me to Greenwich Village to finally get rid of me.

But even a stint as a starving actor wasn’t the answer. My old pal Joan Rivers (whose real name was Joan Molinsky) would allow a certain top notch agent to chase her around the desk, emerge disheveled and crying but assure me, “No worries, pal, I got us a reading.” Once on stage, I was a helluva actor, but I was never as desperate as Joan and my other fellow aspirants. I kept drawing the line.

Segue once more to my beginnings as a college instructor in theater. I enjoyed directing my freshmen students and teaching acting, but there was something limiting about trying to cast the shows and making do. There was also something confining about the space. No matter how hard you tried, you were still stuck in that little theater and reliant on the audience’s response to the material and your performers who may or may not be absolutely convincing.

Writing my own plays after being prodded by one of my friends again only took me so far. When I tried novel writing, I found I could move hither and yon and, needless to say, the characters were perfect for their roles and I wasn’t reliant on audience response every moment. Although I was just beginning to understand the form, Norman Mailer’s iconic agent Scott Meredith wrote to me, said I had narrative gifts but had a lot to learn. He also said the key was a character-driven story centering on someone who had a life or death assignment that, on the face of it, couldn’t possibly be carried out. Advice that to this day stuck with me as I eventually turned to crime fiction.

And so, all and all and given my circumstances sans a mentor or any parental guidance, I’d have to tell my younger self “You did good, kiddo. There’s a lot to be said for learning the hard way. Besides, as Nietzsche always said, ‘That which doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.’”    

 

TOUR PARTICIPANTS

January 14 – Books Direct – GUEST POST

January 14 – The Power of Words – REVIEW

January 15 – The Editing Pen – GUEST POST

January 15 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

January 16 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – SPOTLIGHT

January 17 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT

January 18 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

January 19 – FUONLYKNEW – REVIEW*

January 20 – Mallory Heart’s Cozies – REVIEW

January 21 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

January 22 – The Book’s the Thing – REVIEW

January 23 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT  

January 24 – Laura`s Interests – SPOTLIGHT

January 24 – MJB Reviewers – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

January 25 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – GUEST POST

January 26 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW

January 27 – Varietats – REVIEW, GUEST POST

Comments

[Kay Garrett]

Thank you for being part of the book tour for "Moon Games" by Shelly Frome. I would love the opportunity to read this great sounding book.

Enjoyed reading the author's guest post. Totally agree with her ending statement.