Showing posts with label Champagne Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Champagne Books. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The Dark Side of Writing Dark

Today my guest is Mary Eason who writes contemporary romance and dark romantic suspense. Please welcome her to Terry's Place while I continue to deal with packing and moving and getting ready for SleuthFest.

Do you ever wonder what it would be like to look into the mind of a killer?

What would you do if a killer were hunting you? What if you’re child was the target? What if the killer was someone you knew?


Ask any author who writes dark romantic suspense and they’ll tell you, it ain’t no walk in the park at times.

I think even for writers who create fictitious killers it’s still disturbing to consider that there are really such depraved people living in the world amongst us. To make a believable killer you have to do your homework.

For me, I love to watch Forensic Files and 48 Hours Mystery on TV. You can gain a great deal of knowledge simply by studying old case files. So why do people kill? Well, most psychologists will tell you there are two fundamental reasons someone will take another life. Love and money.

Both truly are the root of all evil. But there is another type of killer that is far more evil and cunning than all others. He’s extremely intelligent, he can blend into society well enough to be the neighbor next door, and he lacks anything resembling a conscience. He’s a sociopath known as the serial killer. He kills for the thrill of it.

The FBI estimates that today there are some 50 active serial killers working among us in the US alone. That’s a frightening statistic to consider.

For me, writing about the dark side of romance is both rewarding and challenging. The characters leave their mark on you and make it hard to move on to the next story. And if they’re really chilling, they make it hard to sleep with the lights off at night.

All the best.

For more about Mary, visit her website at www.maryeason.com or her blog, www.maryeason.blogspot.com. Her latest release, Shadow Games, is available through Champagne Books.