Author behind 'Madison McKenzie Files' discusses writing

Editor's Note: Author Bev Freeman will be at The Erwin Record for a book signing from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Oct. 3, the first day of the Apple Festival. She will also have copies of her books available for purchase. •••Local author Bev Freeman admits she took her time getting started as a writer, but once she got going, she hasn't stopped.Freeman describes herself as a writer of Appalachian mysteries and has a four-volume series of such works under her belt. She visited with The Erwin Record to speak about writing and the four titles that make up the books in her popular "The Madison McKenzie Files."The author lives in Unicoi with her husband, Bill. "I moved here 32 years ago," Freeman said. "It happened to be the first of October."The date coincided with the annual Unicoi County Apple Festival, as well as her birthday. "I thought it was nice that there was a festival at the same time as my birthday," she said.She followed members of her family to the Volunteer State from Florida."Both my brothers were here," she said.Her brother, Michael Clay, moved to the area, followed by their parents, as well as another brother, Greg Clay, who relocated from Cleveland, Tennessee.Her family moved often during her childhood. "I went to many different schools," she said. "I took up reading because you don't have to make friends with a book."Her call to write began about that time. "All my life I've wanted to write," she said.But she also wanted to take the right approach, which took her awhile due to various influences. "I tell people it took me 15 years to get started," Freeman shared. "I was busy trying to learn the right way to write."The first book she wrote is also the second book in the "Madison McKenzie Files" series.Titled "Where Lady Slippers Grow," the book was initially written as a romance novel.Freeman said she never wanted to write a work in the romance genre and decided to change the work into the second installment in her series.She lost most of that book's chapters in a computer crash, but that simply gave her added incentive to rewrite the book as a mystery.All the different books in the "Madison McKenzie Files" are based around a mystery, or in some cases, multiple mysteries."Silence of the Bones," the first book in the series, came out in 2016. Her revision of "Where Lady Slippers Grow" got released in 2017 followed by "Return to Walkers' Mountain" in 2018.A significant hiatus took place between the third and fourth books in the series.She had originally envisioned the series as a trilogy, but she felt the need to revisit the series for her fourth entry, "Cabin in the Cove."Real life also contributed to the gap between the works as Freeman devoted some time to becoming the primary caregiver for her mother."Cabin in the Woods" came out in 2024, just before Christmas. All of her books in the series have drawn on real-life places and experiences."When I first moved here, I loved that I was close to the Appalachian Trail," Freeman said. "My husband and I hiked a lot. It got me to thinking about what we have here – gorgeous mountains and history."All that gets woven into the four books in her "Madison McKenzie Files" series.Readers meet the title character on her 21st birthday, according to Freeman."The books feature lots of characters," she added. "And they go on through the books along with Madison."Freeman noted that the book also features a dog named Bud, a blue heeler, a breed also known as Australian cattle dog.Bud also kicks off the mystery in the first book by digging up a human skull. The dog, according to the author, is a favorite with fans of the series."That's the mystery's beginning," Freeman said of Bud's excavation of the skull. As the books progress through Madison's life, other mysteries surface."She begins to believe she is getting messages from the dead," Freeman said. "And she continues to get more and more into investigations of these mysteries."Eventually Madison becomes sheriff in her home town of Cold Creek.Erwin and Unicoi County provide inspiration for the settings of some of the book, but as the story progresses it also venture farther afield to place like Knoxville."Readers tell me that that Madison is unpredictable," Freeman said. "There's never a dull moment with her."Freeman describes her main character as a "strong Appalachian woman."The third book in the series is titled "Return to Walkers' Mountain" and involves a true story that provided some trauma in Freeman's childhood."I knew the two Walker sisters," Freeman said. "I was about 12 years old when they told me their story."That story is both horrific and graphic.The two sisters, according to Freeman, lived with their parents, a younger brother and their grandmother. An escaped convict crossed their path and the sisters witnessed the murder of their father at the convict's hands. The killer also went on to murder their mother and their grandmother."Their grandmother, armed with a gun, told the kids to go upstairs and hide under her bed, which is how they survived," Freeman said.Freeman said she had nightmares after the sisters shared their story with her. She also noted that one of the sisters was never "right" after the horrendous encounter with the escaped convict.The man was eventually arrested for the killings, but another jurisdiction had first claim on him for other criminal actions."The sisters never knew what happened to him," Freeman said.As she looked into the history of the slayings, Freeman also had trouble uncovering the murderer's eventual fate."As a writer, you can use the truth, but it gets changed in the details," she said.Her blossoming into a full-fledged author took place after she joined the Lost State Writers Group and met fellow author Steven James. With encouragement and guidance from James, she said she finally learned her way as a writer."I liked the way he explained things," Freeman said.Her husband also provided a source of support."At first, I asked him to look every time I wrote a paragraph," she said.Freeman said that her husband declined, noting that she would write the way she wanted anyway, but he did promise to look at the finished work. He kept his word."It was a proud moment when he read it," she said. "He really liked it."Freeman's books are available for purchase online from Amazon or from the Historic Jonesborough Visitors Center. For more information, call Freeman at (423) 483-2742 or email her at bevfreeman.novilist@gmail.com.