Interview with Emory Crawford – Femme Fatale! The Devil’s Music by Pearl R. Meaker @GoddessFish
E.C. No! No, that’s not right. I’m not a femme fatale, I’m a wife, for goodness
sake. Over thirty years with the same great hubby. Not that some wives
haven’t killed . . . but no, try again.
Interview with Emory Crawford – Wanton Wife!
E.C. No. Still not right. I’m a romantic not a nympho. Try again.
Interview with Emory Crawford – She Loves Her Man!
E.C. Yes! That’s got it! Thanks.
Okay, we can get started now.
P.R.M. Hi friends from Pearl R. Meaker. Today on “Character Interviews” I
welcome Emory Crawford from Twombly, IL, USA. She is the main
character in the newly released book “The Devil’s Music,” the first book
in the Emory Crawford Mysteries Series.
Hi Emory.
E.C. Hi Pearl.
P.R.M. Well, I don’t normally include attempts at a title in my finished interview,
but I think my readers might get a chuckle out of it. Why were you so
picky?
E.C. I am glad you asked that. Although readers of “Devil’s Music” will get
some romantic moments between my husband, Jebbin, and me, they won’t
get a ringside seat to our bed. We’re a “fade to black” couple. They will
see us hugging, kissing, cuddling, having loving couple type conversations,
but they don’t get to watch us . . . Ah . . . nope, they just don’t. What he
and I wanted to have shine through is that we are very much in love. We
have great sex but we don’t care to show that part of our marriage to the
world at large. We have great chemistry.
P.R.M. Ok. Now you’re laughing mischievously.
E.C. Yes. An inside joke? A pun? I’m not sure which. Jebbin is Dr. Jebbin
Crawford, PhD. He’s a professor of chemistry and forensic science at
Twombly College. Get it? Chem prof – great chemistry?
P.R.M. I got it. Let’s go on. How did you and Jebbin meet?
E.C. We were both students at College of Charleston in Charleston, South
Carolina. I was a twenty year old freshman and Jebbin was a twenty-four
year old senior. We met at a twice-a-month bluegrass jam on the campus.
My college classes weren’t going as I’d hoped. I realized I really wanted
to be a wife, mother and homemaker. So we got married the summer
between his graduation and the start of his masters degree studies.
P.R.M. Wasn’t that a little fast?
E.C. Like I said . . .
P.R.M. I know, I know. You’ve got good chemistry.
E.C. Exactly! Not that we didn’t have rough times at first in part because we
did know each other such a short time. But, we really did, and still do,
love each other – and love cares enough to do its best to work things out.
Then we had our son, Lanthanum – we call him Lanthan – and
Molybdenum – who we call Molly. We both loved children and so, for us,
having the kids helped pull us together.
Just that. We loved each other, we both loved our kids, plus both
of us being Methodists and loving bluegrass music gave us enough
common ground when things got touchy.
P.R.M. Great! I’m glad it all worked out well for you both.
How’d you get involved as an amateur sleuth?
E.C. There was this murder on Twombly’s campus. Jebbin teaches forensic
science and is fully accredited to work as a forensic scientist. The college
lab is the official lab for law enforcement in all of Golden County. The
suspect pool was at Twombly attending a conference so there was pressure
to solve the murder before they all left at the end of the conference.
I’d met several attendees while volunteering at the Twombly College
Welcome Table when they registered. I figured – I’m not a scary person,
and I’ve been told I’m easy to talk to, I’ve always loved mysteries and
solving puzzles – so why not help my husband out?
P.R.M. Interesting reasoning, Emory.
And readers, we’ve reached the end of our time. You’ll just have to read
“The Devil’s Music” to find out how the story ends.
Till next time – keep reading!
Emory Crawford doesn’t do martial arts nor is she an athletic, leggy woman who is built like a model. She’s a wife, grandmother, and empty nest lover of crafts, reading, birding and bluegrass music.
When an acclaimed scholar, best-selling author and fellow bluegrass musician is found murdered on the Twombly College campus where her husband teaches chemistry and forensics, Emory takes up her knitting caddy, to help her channel the spirit of Miss Marple, and heads off to help solve the crime.
Excerpt:
Stars shone in a sky hazed with moonlight from a half- moon. The fountain played its merry music. The smell of late spring flowers wafted on the cooling air. Soft lights in the fountain made the area cozy while keeping it from being scary-dark. But our playful mood faded as we saw the silhouette of someone sleeping on one of the backless benches near the fountain.
“Drat! I was looking forward to some romance.” At forty-seven I still sound like a
sulky child when I’m disappointed.
“So was I.” Jebbin didn’t sound it though. He was too busy squinting at the figure on the bench. He nodded his head toward the figure. “Something’s odd there, Emory.”
I looked closer. The figure’s arms both dangled down, hands resting on the ground. The legs were straight, hanging off either side of the bench in an uncomfortable looking position. We edged closer until we could see, lit by the light of the fountain, the body of a man splayed lengthwise on the bench. Several pouches and odd amulets rested on his chest. On the ground, the hand nearest us was holding a fiddle with no strings.
Jebbin grabbed my shoulders, turning me toward the fountain and away from the bench.
“He’s been strangled.” Jebbin’s body was tight, his voice tense. “It’s Archie and he’s
been strangled.”
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Pearl R. Meaker is an upper-middle-aged, short, pudgy homemaker, mother, and grandmother who in 2002 became a writer. Initially writing fanfiction she soon tried original fiction at the encouragement of her regular readers. She has been a life-long lover of mystery stories and automatically went to that genre for her first book, The Devil’s Music. She and her husband of nearly 40 years live in central Illinois. They both love bluegrass music, playing fiddle and banjo and singing. Pearl also does many crafts – when she’s not reading or writing – knitting, crochet, origami, needlepoint, and cross-stitch among them. She also enjoys birding and photography and is a former fencer.
Visit Pearl here:
https://www.facebook.com/PearlRMeaker
Twitter link: https://twitter.com/PearlRMeaker
https://www.pinterest.com/PearlRMeaker/
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