WOW!! How time flies. It has been quite a while since today’s guest was here, back in July of 2010, but am delighted that she is visiting again today. A very warm welcome back to Ms. Jackie Fullerton!
JACKIE FULLERTON
Jackie Fullerton is a successful businesswoman and attorney who grew up in rural Ohio.
A mother of five, Fullerton returned to college when her last child was in grade school. She graduated summa cum laude from both Franklin University, where she earned her BS degree in business, and Dayton University, where she earned her MBA. Fullerton later attended Capital Law School, where she graduated cum laude. She was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1993, the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, in 1995, and the Supreme Court of the United States in 1996. Although she is not in active practice, Fullerton volunteers her legal services at a local homeless shelter.
An active member of the Columbus, Ohio, community, Fullerton has served on several boards and commissions, including the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Abuse; Franklin County ADAMH (Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health) Board; Community Shelter Board; Habitat for Humanity Board; and Court Appointed Special Advocates of Franklin County, Ohio (CASA).
Fullerton divides her time between Ohio and Florida, with her husband, Tom, and their dog, Flash.
Connect with Jackie at these sites:
GUEST POST
Creating Anne Marshall
For me, creating my characters is the easiest part, or at least the most fun. Since I write fiction, I can be as creative and outlandish as I want. However, my basic characters do tend to come from personal experiences. People I know, either intimately such as friends and family, or casually like the lunatic who works in the pod next to me. I might change the color of hair, or even the sex, but the basic personality is the same.
My protagonist, Anne Marshall, is me—or my alter ego. Alright, Anne is young and I’m in my 60s; Anne is slim and in shape while I am overweight and find exercise hazardous to my health; Anne has dark hair and dark eyes where I am a blond with blue eyes. Other than those minor differences, we are one in the same. We shared the same experiences of balancing work, school and relationships while attending law school at night. We have the same deep friendships with study group members, and the same need to continually fix other people’s problems. And, most importantly, neither of us has the good sense to avoid danger.
For Anne’s trusty sidekick, it made sense that it should be her father. Their relationship was unique and extraordinary; I just didn’t realize he was dead until I was halfway through the first book, Piercing the Veil. This was one of those 3:00 in the morning realizations I seem to have more often than not. By making Anne’s father a ghost, I was able to give Anne the superhuman qualities an amateur sleuth needs, while exploring the father-daughter relationship in a way I could not if he were alive. I could also pull on my relationship with my own father. Many of the conversations between Anne and James are ones I know my father and I would have.
During the writing of my second Anne Marshall book, Revenge Served Cold, I realized I had the wrong killer. In fact the real killer had not even been introduced yet. So I had to create a woman from the suspect’s past. A sultry and vengeful woman who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. That was fun. Then I had to create and weave in the back story. Don’t be afraid to go back and rewrite your book, no matter how far you are in the process.
Since Anne Marshall is the same character throughout my books, the most challenging aspect was to continually create Anne. Readers expect to see growth in the characters, otherwise they will become stale. Conflict is a good way to show growth, so I introduced a handsome sexy detective in Ring Around the Rosy to test Anne’s relationship with Jason. That was more fun than it should have been.
Don’t be afraid to characters. You will find if you just jump in, they have a way of developing on their own.
Jackie Fullerton is now retired and living in Florida with her husband, Tom, and dog, Flash. Flash makes his debut in Ring Around the Rosy, the third book in the Anne Marshall mysteries.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Law student and amateur sleuth Anne Marshall and her attorney fiance Jason Perry leave their Midwestern town for a Florida vacation at the home of Jason’s parents. When they land in Florida, they find that Jason’s father has discovered the murdered body of his wife’s best friend, Maude. The only clue left behind is a note pinned to her that is the second verse of the nursery rhyme Ring Around the Rosy.
Unable to pass up the opportunity to investigate a juicy murder, Anne soon discovers that Maude’s brother was killed in a hit-and run accident several months before. The first verse of Ring Around the Rosy was pinned to his chest. Anne thinks the perp is a serial killer who will strike again.
When Maude’s son, Ron, is brutally attacked and left for dead, Anne knows his work is just beginning. Racing against the clock, Anne soon finds herself in a serial killer’s crosshairs while battling an untimely attraction to homicide detective Don Reynolds.
Ring Around the Rosy takes you on an adventure from present to past and back again as Anne and her crime-solving partners shift in to high gear to stop a killer before he strikes again!
BOOK DETAILS:
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Thomas House Publishing (December 14, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 098438152X
ISBN-13: 978-0984381524
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