Monday, May 23, 2016

Mother Possum



http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_1?rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Amarja+mcgraw&keywords=marja+mcgraw&ie=UTF8&qid=1463866186

I’m so excited to tell you that Choosing One Moment – A Time Travel Mystery has been released. It’s available in both ebook and paperback format on Amazon.com. After the series I wrote about self-publishing, I’m happy to say I had a minimum of problems putting the book up. I only had to reload the manuscript about five times. I’m laughing as I say that. Once again, the issues I faced were created by me. (I have such a difficult time with Headers and Footers.)

What’s this book about?

“Mystery writer Carrie McFerrin has inherited an old family house and all of its contents from her Great Aunt Genny.

While taking inventory of the attic contents, she comes across an old wooden crank telephone. Thinking the old telephone would look perfect in her vintage kitchen, she hangs it on the wall by the back door, and an old, yellowed piece of paper asking for help falls to the floor.

The impossible happens when the disconnected old phone rings – three rings, a pause, and three more rings.

Carrie picks up the receiver, wondering what’s going on, and her life suddenly changes – forever.

Nothing will ever be the same.”

Carrie has to figure out a lot of things about life in general, and her place in the grand scheme of things, while visiting a time period she knows nothing about.

Now I’m sure you’re wondering about Mother Possum after reading my description. Her name is an unusual title for a post. Well, I needed an unusual character for this story, and my childhood provided her.

When I was young, an elderly woman lived down the street from my grandmother. When I say elderly, I mean in her nineties – maybe a hundred. I’m not sure. I often spent weekends with my grandparents, and Grandma walked down a hill to visit this elderly woman every day to see how she was doing. She’d take her snacks or a meal and straighten her bedroom and bed. The woman was bedridden for the most part. Yes, her name really was Mother Possum.

I’d go with my grandmother unless my grandfather and I were up to something.

I needed a character in the book, an elderly woman, who would sit out on her porch every day and watch the world go by. Mother Possum immediately came to mind, and in the book she smoked a pipe. She also knew a lot about the rest of the characters in the book. She was a great source of information, and let’s face it, her name is memorable.

A side note to this story is that my grandmother was in an industrial accident around 1915 and she lost her arm just below the elbow. She helped the elderly woman down the street, cleaned houses to earn a little extra money, and did everything that was humanly possible with only one arm. I grew up around an extraordinary woman.

Back to the book, I took a step away from my usual mysteries and tried my hand at a time travel mystery. Carrie McFerrin lives in the present, but something happens and she travels back to 1909 to solve a mystery. Interestingly, she’s a mystery writer and someone wants to use her expertise. Unfortunately for her, there’s a huge difference between putting a story on paper and actually living it.

I don’t know if I’ll ever write another time travel mystery or not, but this one was fun and I enjoyed bringing Mother Possum back to life, even though I didn’t truly know her. Her name stuck in my mind for all of these years and wouldn’t let go. I figured there was a reason, even if I wasn’t sure what it was. Now I know. She made a great character and she made me smile.

Doesn’t the title, Choosing One Moment, give you a feeling of time? Barring childbirth and the day you married, do you have an exciting moment in time that you’d choose to relive?

I do.

Until next time, I hope you have a week of special moments that will live on in your memory.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website
CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Note: If anyone is interested, my website will be completely rebuilt over the next couple of weeks. Hopefully I'll come up with something new and different.

16 comments:

  1. Marja,
    One moment in time I'd choose to relive? There are so many that I can't begin to narrow it down. But, I can't wait to read "Choosing One Moment." :)

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    1. I'm smiling as I say I'm glad you have so many moments, Pat. Those moments live for a lifetime. Thank you so much for commenting!

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  2. The new book sounds great, Marja. I look forward to reading it.

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    1. Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy it. And thank you for commenting today!

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  3. Mother Possum is an interesting character, Marja. This is a good example of the way a writer's mind works--using a half-remembered idea from the distant past like your knowledge of Mother Possum. I enjoyed reading about her and her role in your new book.

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    1. Thank you, Dorothy. I turned her into a much more interesting character than the woman I knew so little about. Thank you so much for commenting!

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  4. I'm currently enjoying, Choosing One Moment, but I haven't come across Mother Possum yet. When I do, the character will come to life for me because of your blog post about her. Thanks.

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    1. Thank you, Evelyn. I think you'll enjoy this woman (and her pipe). She's a sharp old woman. Thank you so much for commenting!

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  5. Good way to entice sales. Get the reader interested in one of the characters, and they just have to buy the book to find out more! Best wishes.

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    1. Thank you, Elaine. I just finished your Mrs. Odboddy book last night, and talk about characters! She entertained me with her antics. I truly enjoyed her hearing issues, too. Thank you so much for commenting!

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  6. I'm enjoying the book and love the characters, Marja.

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    1. Thank you, Jean! I hope it continues to entertain you. Thank you so much for commenting!

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  7. Marja, your book sounds fascinating! Then, back to 1909? That's the year my mother was born. (I'll be reading this for sure!)

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    1. Thank you, Norma! The grandmother I mentioned in my post was born in 1901. There's something about that time period that fascinates me. Thank you so much for commenting!

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  8. I can't think of any moment in time I would like to relive (well maybe Mexico City in the 1960s) but I love the idea of Mother Possum and the character you created from the name. What a marvelous idea for a book and a blog!

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    1. I can think of a lot of moments I'd rather NOT relive, Pat, but there are other that make up for that. I think you'll like Mother Possum, although she's not the main character. Thank you so much for commenting!

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