MUSE MONDAY
Some of our best inspiration for our stories come from real life situations. Jodi Rath is my guest today, and she knows how true this is. Her mystery series are enriched by her life. Read on...
My series, The Cast Iron Skillet Mystery Series, is
a lot of fun to write. I use personal experiences from my life that come from
many places. I taught high school
English for close to two decades and I have so many funny stories from being a
teacher that I use for small scenes here and there. Not to mention, my family
is a huge inspiration.
Grandma Opal’s character is developed from my
Grandma Evelyn who is just as much as a hoot in real life as fictional Grandma
Opal. For example, my husband and I have eight cats—so we have eight litter
boxes with little close-lid trash cans by each box. We use the grocery bags to
line the trash cans throughout our house. I don’t want to have to spend money
on the small trash bags. I found I didn’t have enough grocery bags, so I told
my grandma and my mom to save their bags for me. One day, I get a bag full of
what looks like used bags except when I pull them out there is a HUGE stack of
brand-new bags that my grandma pulled off the hooks at the store. I was like,
“Grandma, I didn’t ask you to steal a stack of bags for me!” Her reply was a
slitted-eyed glare in a snarky tone, “I can’t steal something that is free to
the public, Jodi Lynn!” I knew I was in trouble when she used my middle name,
so I quietly held my tongue and shook my head in desperation. Yep, you guessed it—this scene shows up in
book two coming out June 21, 2019 of my series, Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread
Murder. That’s only one of many
examples. Trust me when I tell you I can’t make some of this stuff up!
With that said, yes, it is fun to write this series
as well as therapeutic.
JALAPENO CHEDDAR CORNBREAD MURDER
Welcome to Leavensport, Ohio where DEATH
takes a delicious turn!
Financial fraud of elderly villagers in
Leavensport, an urban sprawl threat to the community, disastrous dates,
cross-sell marketing gone wrong, and another murder?
Jolie Tucker
is ready to try dating again. Well, she has no choice—since her family
auctioned her off to the highest bidder. Her best friend, Ava, has agreed to a
double date, but both friends find out hidden secrets about their partners as
well as deception by one of the village’s own, who will soon be found dead.
This plot is sure to be spicy!
EXCERPT:
We
both jumped as we heard a hard knock on our front door.
I
saw Bradley’s boss, Lou, standing outside the door. I unlocked and opened the
door briefly, “Sorry Lou; we had an
unfortunate incident a few moments ago. I had to close briefly to clean up.
I’ll open up soon.”
“Where
is Bradley? He wanted me to meet him here, and
here I am. Why we can’t talk at the workplace is beyond me. This is ridiculous. He could at least be
outside regardless of what “incident” you’ve had,” he said making air quotes
with his fingers.
“Bradley
was part of the incident. He probably ran to change his clothes. I would assume
he’ll be back soon,” I said.
“Figures,
I’ll call him,” he said grabbing his phone and storming off.
I
went to close and lock up again when Mr. and Mrs. Seevers came storming up to
Lou.
“You
no good son of a gun; I oughta take that phone and shove it up your . . .”
“Earl!”
Mrs. Seevers exclaimed. “No need for that kind of talk ever, regardless of how
much of a creep this guy is.”
“What
are you two talking about?” Lou demanded.
“We
know what you did, and you won’t get away
with it!” Mr. Seevers seethed.
“You
two old bats need to mind your own business; I’m out of here,” Lou protested
stomping off with his phone to his ear probably calling poor Bradley to chew
him out.
“Rude,”
Mirabelle stated as I closed and locked the door again.
“Agreed,”
I said wondering what was going on with the Seevers, a typically nice retired
couple, and Lou.
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Jodi Rath
B.A. English Literature; M.A. Education
Author of The Cast Iron Skillet Mystery Series
Entrepreneur MYS ED LLC
Thanks so much for having me here. I truly appreciate the opportunity!
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome. It was a little quiet but there were plenty of views. Come any time!
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