Death Surrounds Us — How One Writer Escapes
As a crime writer, a large part of my life is devoted to delving into murder, serial killers, death, and heartless, brutal crimes. With fiction, research is important for realism, but your mindset changes. The fiction writer concentrates more on the crime and investigation aspect while becoming almost desensitized to death. It’s how we cope while studying the body farm, autopsies, and forensics. Our goal is to learn what we need to create believable characters and a plot that makes sense. Fiction writers view death more like a detective… detached, logical, unimpeded by emotion.
Example: for SILENT MAYHEM I learned about decapitation. In order to do that I researched real decapitation cases, read profiles of power-control killers who took the head of their victims as a keepsake, researched which anatomical nerves, arteries, and muscles of the neck would be severed, etc., etc., etc.
When investigating these death cases, I need to know the victims on a personal level—their lives, their families, and their last minutes on earth. Real people who came face-to-face with evil, and lost. If I don’t feel what they went through, the reader won’t either. I also need to climb inside the heads of real killers and view the world through their eyes. Most killers think their actions are justified, even if their motive is to serve a sick fantasy.
For the true crime writer it’s important that we show all of it, not a PG version. Some parts are fascinating, some are heartbreaking. But it’s all true. And that’s key, in my opinion, to show the whole truth, no matter what that truth might be.
I’m telling you this for a reason.
Once again, I’ve received emails from many of you, wondering if I’m okay. First, thank you for thinking of me. I appreciate it more than words can express. Please don’t worry. I’m super. The long delay in between posts occurred due to my deadline. Per my contract, I had to submit the final manuscript of Pretty Evil New England to my publisher by February 1, 2020.
Between writing and/or researching, I’ve learned to shut out the outside world and just breathe… Most often, I turn to the beauty of nature and wildlife for self-preservation.
Is there nothing funnier than the mating rituals of birds? It’s impossible to dwell on death when watching the birds of paradise. Look at this little guy. He’s dancing his heart out!
Anyway, you might think I don’t enjoy writing true crime. Not true. I’m hooked! So, two days after I finished writing Pretty Evil New England, I searched for a new murder case. This time around, I’m narrowing my focus to one case rather than five. Why? The simple reason is length. All five of the female serial killers in Pretty Evil New England were worthy of an entire book, but I was only allowed 82K words for the entire manuscript (per my contract). Challenges are important for writers, so I wasn’t about to let that stop me from sending the reader on a visceral thrill ride. I’m also pleased with the way it turned out. Though, as usual, I’ll probably remain in a state of panic till the first reviews roll in. 😉
Amazon forced my hand and released the cover to my followers, so I had no choice but to share it on social media. Still, a proper cover reveal is in order. Meet my new book baby…
For four centuries, New England has been a cradle of crime and murder—from the Salem witch trials to the modern-day mafia. Nineteenth century New England was the hunting ground of five female serial killers: Jane Toppan, Lydia Sherman, Nellie Webb, Harriet E. Nason, and Sarah Jane Robinson.
Female killers are often portrayed as caricatures: Black Widows, Angels of Death, or Femme Fatales. But the real stories of these women are much more complex.
In Pretty Evil New England, true crime author Sue Coletta tells the story of these five women, from broken childhoods, to first brushes with death, and she examines the overwhelming urges that propelled these women to take the lives of a combined total of more than one-hundred innocent victims.
The murders, investigations, trials, and ultimate verdicts will stun and surprise readers as they live vicariously through the killers and the would-be victims that lived to tell their stories.
For now, the only preorder link I have is for the paperback on Amazon. It’s also up on Rowman & Littlefield’s website, which is very exciting. As we move closer to the release date (September 1, 2020), more formats will become available. I’ll let you know when that happens.
Once I found my new true crime case, I wrote up a 17-page book proposal. For those thinking of trying their hand at nonfiction, I wrote a step-by-step Kill Zone post on how to create a nonfiction book proposal and an article about the realities of writing true crime.
I submitted my new book proposal to the publisher on Saturday. Wish me luck! So far, the acquisitions editor’s response is encouraging, but nothing is etched in stone yet. While I wait to hear if the proposal is accepted, I’ve replaced my true crime hat with my fiction fedora. Before I dug in, I read a fabulous new thriller by Jordan Dane entitled The Curse She Wore. Here’s the teaser: They had Death in common. Two broken people will pay a price they never see coming.
And now, I’m reviewing Silent Mayhem while revamping my outline for Book 4. Before veering into true crime I’d written almost half the novel, but time brings a new perspective. Which means, I’ve decided to make life even harder for Shawnee, Mr. Mayhem, and Poe. 🙂
What’s happening in your life? Fill me in. What do you do to escape the real world?
If you enjoyed this post, please share. Thank you!
Sue Coletta
Sue Coletta is an award-winning crime writer and an active member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. Feedspot and Expertido.org named her Murder Blog as “Best 100 Crime Blogs on the Net.” She also blogs on the Kill Zone (Writer's Digest "101 Best Websites for Writers"), Writers Helping Writers, and StoryEmpire. Sue lives with her husband in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Her backlist includes psychological thrillers, the Mayhem Series (books 1-3) and Grafton County Series, and true crime/narrative nonfiction. Now, she exclusively writes eco-thrillers, Mayhem Series (books 4-9 and continuing). Sue's appeared on the Emmy award-winning true crime series, Storm of Suspicion, and three episodes of A Time to Kill on Investigation Discovery. When she's not writing, she loves spending time with her murder of crows, who live free but come when called by name. And nature feeds her soul.
16 Comments
Diane
That wooing bird was great. From above, though, was all I could think of was a really fancy Roomba! LOL
I’m glad you are well and starting another book. I cannot wait to read your new one!
I just love gross and deadly. And true only makes it better.
Sue Coletta
Hahaha. It did look like a rumba! Thanks, Diane! I can hardly wait for the release.
Sue Coletta recently posted…Death Surrounds Us — How One Writer Escapes
June Lorraine Roberts
Sue, you are accomplishing so much. So very proud for you!
June xxoxoxo
Sue Coletta
Aww, thank you, June. Means a lot. xoxo 😘
Traci Kenworth
I would be terrified to research some of these killers, Sue. Give me a monster in the woods of the non-human kind, lol. The true things is too much for my poor heart to handle. My abusive past doesn’t help.
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Sue Coletta
Aw, I’m so sorry violence found its way into your life, Traci. {{{hugs}}}
The non-human monsters scare me more, because logic flies right out the window. You cannot fight (even mentally) what you cannot understand. Brrr… Chilling.
Carolyn McBride
My escape from too much life is fan fiction. There, I’ve said it, LOL. It’s just a bit of an escape, a palette cleanser. Then I take a walk in our Northern woods, and I can (usually) face life again.
Sue Coletta
A walk in the woods sounds wonderful about now, Carolyn. We have too much snow. Though, I did see a chippie on the wood pile the other day, so that’s encouraging. I can hardly wait till spring to get back outside. 😁
sherry fundin
that bird worked really hard and it was fascinating to watch him woo her. awesome cover! i was hoping you weren’t around because of writing.
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Sue Coletta
Right? The birds of paradise never disappoint! So cute.
Thank you, Sherry! <3
Sue Coletta recently posted…Death Surrounds Us — How One Writer Escapes
Margot Kinberg
What an exciting time for you, Sue! And that is a fabulous cover! I can’t wait to read it. You make some really interesting points, too, about the difference between writing fiction and writing true crime. They are different beasties, aren’t they? I’m hope you’re doing some self-care, what with all of this activity going on! And I wish you much success with the new release!
Sue Coletta
Different beasts indeed, Margot. Fiction has much more freedom than true crime, which acts as a nice reprieve in between projects. I do take breaks for self-care, albeit probably not as often as I should. Hence why my social media has been so spotty. I am finally past the point of feeling guilty about it, though. Social media can be a blast, as you know, but some days I’d rather curl up with a good book or snuggle with my honey than be social. All writers can relate, I’m sure.
Thank you! xo
Sue Coletta recently posted…Death Surrounds Us — How One Writer Escapes
nancy
Thank you for convincing me that I am not evil! I research techniques, add them to my manuscript, and still remain surprised at readers’ reactions. My last Beta reader said, “Ew. Well, I guess that was necessary.”
Now I am awaiting spring to once again enjoy the grebes’ mating dance. Beautiful partners running together on top of the water, off to…well, you know. Guess there’s a nest in the future. Nothing more inspirational.
Sue Coletta
Haha. Some reader’s reactions are hilarious, aren’t they, Nancy? We forget sometimes that many aren’t as curious as writers.
Aww, I’d love to see the mating ritual IRL. David Attenborough featured grebes in one of his documentaries (my favorite) and the dance was so beautiful. Inspirational indeed.
Garry Rodgers
So thrilled for Pretty Evil to be shipped and on its way to the shelves. That’s a big chunk of true crime you chewed off, Sue. Big chunk. It’s fascinating to watch your writing career evolve from series fiction to commissioned non-fiction. My take – you’re only gaining stride and I’ll hold your beer.
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Sue Coletta
It was a huge project, but I loved every step of the journey. Thanks, buddy. ❤ Haha! You can hold my beer anytime. 😉