Fear of the End of the World

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Many people have forgotten—or never heard about—some of the most powerful and long-lasting earthquakes to ever hit North America. One reason is the epicenter was on the frontier, on the west side of the Mississippi River only a few years after the Louisiana Purchase. Even so, the quakes and severe aftershocks shook most of the country east of the Mississippi and southern Canada. When the New Madrid earthquakes began on December 16, 1811, the destruction on land and the Mississippi convinced many of the people living in or near the little river port that they signaled the end of the world. Just … Continue reading →

Show Me the Ashes Released

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You won’t find Show Me the Ashes in stores or libraries for a few days, but Five Star/Gale, Cengage shipped hardbacks to distributors March 16. The e-book went up immediately on Amazon. In this fourth book in the series, former covert operative Phoenix Smith divides her attention between a cold case and a hot one. Now running a foundation to assist crime victims, Phoenix listens to a desperately ill woman’s plea to prove her daughter was sent to prison because of a coerced false confession to manslaughter and arson. The sheriff then was the adored husband of Phoenix’s best friend, … Continue reading →

Goodreads.com: Giveaways and More

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Wondering what to read next? Want ideas for books to consider for your book club or for a gift? Like to get a free copy of a new book even before it comes out? Check out GoodReads, the giant website for book lovers. Today and tomorrow you can sign up for a chance to win both of my new books—Thunder Beneath My Feet (just out) and Show Me the Ashes (out in three weeks). The giveaway of the advance reading copy of Ashes continues until March 12. Go to http://www. goodreads.com and search by title. That will take you to a … Continue reading →

New Novel Portrays New Madrid Earthquakes

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For immediate release Thunder Beneath My Feet By Carolyn Mulford Portrays 1811-1812 New Madrid Earthquakes    The first earthquake struck about 2:30 a.m. on December 16, 1811. In New Madrid, Missouri Territory, brick houses and chimneys turned into rubble. Log cabins caught fire. Tall trees split up the middle. The Mississippi River reversed its flow. Lakes formed. Many residents feared the end of the world. In coastal cities, church bells rang. In the White House, the motion woke President Madison. That was just the beginning. Quakes and aftershocks persisted for months. In Thunder Beneath My Feet, a historical novel for tweens, … Continue reading →

Thunder Beneath My Feet Is Out

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Sometimes ideas for book evolve for a long time. That’s certainly true of Thunder Beneath My Feet, my newly published historical adventure for tweens and teens and anyone who enjoys history. The New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-1812 have fascinated me for 30 years. That’s when, as a freelancer, I wrote a short description of the quakes for a textbook. Although I’d grown up in northeast Missouri, I hadn’t realized that some of the most powerful and long-lasting earthquakes on the continent had taken place in southeast Missouri. And may come again. After moving back to Missouri in 2007, I started … Continue reading →

Interview on OmniMysteryNews.com

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How have your characters developed over time? What’s your writing process? How true are you to the settings in your books? I answered these and other questions in an online interview conducted by Lance Wright, editor of OmniMysteryNews.com. Here’s part of my answer about the setting of the Show Me series: “I created a county in northern Missouri that resembles the one where I grew up. In a fictional place, no one can complain that a business was portrayed as a crime scene or a street runs the wrong direction. In made-up Vandiver County, real regional expressions and attitudes reveal … Continue reading →

From Headlines to Short Story

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In December local media reported that a couple of customers in Walmarts here (Columbia, Missouri) and in three nearby towns bought out the pre-paid cell phones. No one knew what the buyers wanted with dozens of burner phones. So the media and the audience (including me) speculated. Terrorists hiding their communications from NSA? Drug dealers foiling police trying to trace their calls? Entrepreneurs planning to resell the phones at a profit to shady characters? We received no answers. I was on deadline to come up with “A Day in the Life of Phoenix Smith” for a great mystery lovers’ blog, … Continue reading →

Looking Ahead to 2016

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A year ago I worried that aging would decrease the speed and quality of my writing. I wondered if I had the stamina and sharpness to complete a solid 90,000-word mystery. Over 2015 I found that I wrote more slowly—partly because I don’t always work a full day anymore—and spent more time rewriting and editing. Even so, I finished my fifth mystery, Show Me the Sinister Snowman, and began rewriting an earlier mystery while new Phoenix the Spy ideas jell. In short, going into 2016, my pleasure in writing fiction endures, and my output remains satisfactory. The truth is that … Continue reading →

Looking Back at 2015

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The publishing industry continued to change this year. Large publishers still stumble to find a new path, small publishers struggle to survive, and self-publishers thrive (a few), hang on (many), and give up (countless). One trend I’ve noticed is the proliferation of hybrid authors—those who get their work to the public through both traditional and independent publishing. Whatever works. Like most people, I’m guessing about trends in the industry. What I know is what I, one writer among millions, did last year. Here are some highlights. The year began with my working on the first draft of Show Me the … Continue reading →

Reviewer: Achilles Steals the Show

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“Phoenix’s dog Achilles plays a star role in the whole series, and with each book, he steals more of the show,” wrote blogger Judy Hogan in her pre-publication review of Show Me the Ashes. The review is posted at http://postmenopausalzest.blogspot.com/2015/12/review-carolyn-mulfords-show-me-ashes.html. The reviewer liked the other characters, too, ending the review with this: “One fiction teacher I had years ago said that the sign of a good book was its memorability.  Did it stick in your mind?  Carolyn Mulford’s characters stick in my mind.” A poet, novelist, and activist, Judy’s latest books are The Sands of Gower: The First Penny Weaver … Continue reading →

Release of Show Me the Ashes Delayed

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Show Me the Ashes won’t be in anyone’s stocking this Christmas. The publisher, Five Star, notified me a few days ago that the release is being delayed three months, until March 16, 2016. Ho, ho, ho became no, no, no. The late notification inconvenienced not only me but also others, and I’m sorry for that. I had sent out review copies to my own list weeks ago and scheduled guest blogs for early January. A few people have already posted reviews of the book. As the publisher told me and several other authors, publishers change schedules all the time. Unfortunately, … Continue reading →

Giveaway of Show Me the Ashes

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Show Me the Ashes comes out in a month. If you’d like a chance to read the uncorrected copy reviewers receive, sign up for the giveway at GoodReads.com by December 2. The direct link is https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27009695. You can also get to the giveaway by typing in the title on the site’s homepage. In this book, the fourth in the series, the three main characters’ lives are changing. Phoenix is running the new foundation that she set up to give Annalynn a good job when she finishes her term as sheriff. An applicant begs Phoenix to take on a cold case … Continue reading →