Wednesday, April 09, 2014

And Then There’s Great-Grandkids


Once again, it’s Wednesday and guest day at Judy’s Stew. Please welcome Marilyn Meredith, my guest for the week who took her clue from all my posts about grandchildren. She certainly leaves me behind in that department. F. M. Meredith aka Marilyn Meredith is the author of over 35 published books. She enjoys writing about police officers and their families and how what happens on the job affects the family and vice versa. Having several members of her own family involved in law enforcement, as well as many friends, she’s witnessed some of this first-hand. Tell us about your grands, your greats, and your new book, Marilyn.

After reading Judy’s blog and learning that grandkids are an important part of her life, I thought I’d expound a bit on the greats as I have a slew of them. Obviously I have the grands too—but the youngest is in her twenties now and the oldest has teenage kids.
My eldest great is the same age as the youngest grand. His big interest is martial arts, staying in shape and writing and performing Christian rap.

The youngest lives next door and I see her nearly every day. She’s one and a half and a true delight. So much fun to watch her grow and hear all the new words she learns each day. And since her mom is pregnant, we’ll soon have another baby around.
In between there is one great-grand daughter who loves to make You-tube videos, her sister is into Polynesian dancing, and her brother is great at baseball and basketball. In another family, a great-granddaughter is an expert Irish dancer and her dance team will be performing in London this year. Her brother loves racing in the soap box-derby.

Altogether, I have 18 greats and 13 grands. There is the potential for more as three of my grandsons recently married. (One of these I learned is also expecting this year.)
The big difference with greats is I don’t babysit when they are little. I can’t chase them around. Well, I could, I suppose, but I’d never catch them. It’s up to their grandparents to buy them the presents they want—I’d go broke if I tried.

I rely a lot on Facebook for pictures and news. Fortunately, the majority of them live in California and I do get to see them once in a while.
And to bring this around to writing, my family is proud of the fact that I’m a writer—though only certain ones actually read my books. With one of my granddaughters, at her request, I went to school and gave a talk to every one of her classes, first through eighth grade. Since the kids were the same, I had to come up with new ideas for each presentation.

I’ve spoken to other grandkids’ classes about writing, grammar school and high school. And this winter, I visited a great-grandson’s third grade class and we planned a story together. Great fun!
Of this whole bunch, so far, there is only one who is interested in writing.

And now a bit about my latest book:
Murder in the Worst Degree: The body that washes up on the beach leads Detectives Milligan and Zachary on a murder investigation that includes the victim’s family members, his housekeeper, three long-time friends, and a mystery woman.

Find Marilyn at these sites:
Webpage: http://fictionforyou.com/
Blog: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.meredith/

And enter to win a copy of her new book:
Once again I am offering the opportunity to have your name used as a character in a book if you comment on the most blogs during this tour for Murder in the Worst Degree.
Tomorrow you can find her at: http://patriciastoltey.blogspot.com/

 

14 comments:

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

Thank you, Judy, for hosting me today. had fun talking about my grandkids.

Gloria Alden said...

I thought I was the only one whose kids - all three of them - have never read one of the four books, counting the middle-grade books, too, I wrote. Neither have any of my grown grandkids - not even my step-granddaughter, who designs all my covers. My three sisters have read them, although I'm not sure about the one sister since she's never made any comments on any but the first. My brother hasn't read any of them, but my brother-in-law read all of them. My sister-in-law read the first, but none of the rest, however she's bought copies for both her daughters. Only the one daughter has read them. It's good we can keep a sense of humor about this and not feel hurt. Right, Marilyn?

Gloria Alden said...

Well, Marilyn, I left a long comment about how my three grown children and none of my grown grandchildren have read any of my books, either. Most of my sisters have, but not my brother, and only one of many nieces and no nephews. Not even my step-granddaughter, who designed my covers. It's a good think I can laugh about it. Hopefully, this time the blogger will accept this message.

judyalter said...

Marilyn, your teaching sessions for your grands remind me of the time my oldest grand was in first grade. Her mother and the teacher arranged for me to speak to the class, only there was a substitute there that day, who introduced me by saying, "Maddie's grandmother is here, because she's wrote some books.

Catherine DePino said...

Marilyn, I enjoyed reading about your grands! That's wonderful that you speak about your books in their classroom. I've never done that yet, but it's a great idea. When my grandson Chase saw my book for retired women (his mom got the copies first as we were away), he turned to the dedication page and was disappointed because I didn't dedicate it to him. I said since it's a book for senior women, it would be better to wait for a kids' book. I don't think he bought that! Best of luck with all your books, Marilyn. Catherine DePino www.catherinedepino.com

J. L. Greger said...

Doing teaching sessions in school classes is a wonderful activity. It must be rewarding.

JL Greger, author of medical thrillers - Inore the Pain & Coming Flu

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

Hi Gloria, thanks for both messages. My one and only sister reads my books, one daughter, and one granddaughter. Not such good odds with as many offspring as I have.

Judy, I heard that one of the little boys in my class is still talking about me (how old I am) and that he needs to finish his work like I do.

And Catherine, thanks so much for following me. Aren't kids great?

Janet, I love kids--probably should have been a teacher.

judyalter said...

Marilyn, I'm laughing about boys talking about your age. The other night at a dinner table full of neighbors at a local café my grandson announced my age to everyone! Good thing I don't try to hide it anyway!

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

I am proud of my age and the fact that I am still able to do what I can do. (There are some things I wish I could do that I can't--but at 80 one can't expect miracles.)

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