Guest Post – What Being a Psychiatrist Brings to Thrillers by Anne Buist, MBBS,MMed,MD,FRANZCP

I have a lot of initials after my name…18 years of study on top of what I did at school. And not one of the degrees is in English or Literature. So what the hell am I doing writing novels?

There is a myth that anyone can write a novel…but the truth is that not anyone can write a good novel/ one that people want to read. And if you want a mainstream publisher you have to be able to put a plot and a sentence together, hold people’s interest and (these days) have a point of difference. One of my selling points was the authenticity thirty years of work in psychiatry gave me. I’ll get to that in a moment.

First though, psychiatry (and being a Professor) taught me a bout hard work…10,000 hours to be good at anything (or 18 years to get to the top! This included some writing practice—over 100 journal articles and 100,000 word thesis). I did several writing courses, and then rolled up my sleeves—I have three full length unpublished manuscripts, three novels and seven novellas and a half a dozen short stories published under a pseudonym—my 10,000 hours before I got my first mainstream thriller published. The people that put that sort of effort in, tend to find a publisher. Doesn’t of course mean they will live off their earnings of course!

In addition, my work gave me something I was passionate writing about. One of my reviewers said “she makes unlikeable characters sympathetic” which I was thrilled to read. I care about my patients—and I work hard to understand why they are where they are and how they got there. Much of the sensationalist headlines about infanticide (broadly the basis for Medea’s Curse) are about vilifying the perpetrator. While psychopaths exist, these aren’t the women I see and manage. I leave these to the more superficial crime books about serial killers—there are more in books than in reality! As Helen Garner wrote about her (nonfiction) book House of Grief—if he (the father who killed his three sons) was a monster, I wouldn’t be interested in writing about it.

Being a psychiatrist means I have a number of frameworks for understanding people—and thirty years of hearing stories in ways that you never do as a friend. Being a psychiatrist gives me an enormously privileged position—I am trusted with deep fears and secrets that no one else will ever be told. Of course, I can’t tell them either—but it gives me inspiration for characters and events, and there are common themes from my work which can be pulled out; narcissistic love, fears of rejection and abandonment, the scars of child abuse that are carried throughout some people’s lives.

There is a fascination with psychiatry and the unconscious—this is what I can help open up for the reader. This comes through the depth of characters (including not just the villains but with my heroine, Natalie King who has bipolar disorder), their dilemmas, but also through showing some of our secrets. In Dangerous to Know I use some of the questions that help get through the layers of our memories, false beliefs and protective facades to understanding the true nature of the impact our childhood had on us. One of my girlfriends found she had to stop reading while she asked herself the same questions…and it opened a Pandora’s box, so be warned! She did get back to the book and enjoyed it…

Understanding fear also helps in thriller writing…because as we are tucked up by the fire reading…thriller readers want to be scared, knowing though that the hero will prevail…some writers of course try to get you into identifying with a character they later kill…but those seasoned readers will pick that and move with the survivor. Readers also like to have something to work out—and nothing is as intricate and complex than the human mind. What better driver for a thriller than a stalker (Medea’s Curse), where the protagonist knows about motives, and what it means when the stalking escalates? Or the extent a fragile narcissist might go to is crossed (Dangerous to Know); or the depth of parental love…and need to own their child/ retaliate if their own childhoods scarred them (This I Would Kill For)? All of these put into question mad versus bad…and these are forensic assessments I do every week.

My books are meant to be page turners… but if you want to look beneath the surface, deeper, there are themes here that are part of our everyday life, things we all might struggle with in certain circumstances. And that is the dilemma I throw you into…

Anne Buist is the author of Medea’s Curse and Dangerous to Know (Text publishing Australia, Legend Press UK). This I Would Kill For due out later this year.

Guest Post-MTW- The Continuing Fascination with Lizzie Borden by C.A Verstraete

 

Nearly 125 years have passed since 32-year-old spinster Lizzie Borden supposedly killed her father, Andrew Borden, and her stepmother, Abby Durfee Borden, yet the crime continues to be as fascinating as ever.

Countless books continue to be published offering various reasons for the crime. Was she insane? Was it a crime of passion? Was it a crime of opportunity or greed?

Or was it something else?

In writing my book, Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter, I took the unique approach that Lizzie did indeed commit the crime… because she had no other choice.

After looking at the autopsy reports and records, I realized that there was another plausible reason as to why she would have committed such a vicious crime. Why else would someone repeatedly hit the victims in the head—except that they had become zombies?

Crime, of course, is no laughing matter, but given the distance of the crime in the past, it does allow different interpretations. Then, like now, many find it hard to believe that a woman of her status—unmarried Sunday School teacher, daughter of an upstanding citizen—could or would do such a horrific thing. The crime was bloody and vicious. Could a woman do that? Possibly, but the jury of men declared her not guilty.

No evidence directly linking Lizzie to the crime was ever found or revealed. No forensic tests proved her guilt. Even today, no proof of her guilt has been uncovered.

It was a crime based on circumstantial evidence, with Lizzie being the only one home except for the maid, who claimed to be sleeping upstairs after washing windows. An uncle had been visiting, but had already left. Could he have snuck back into the house unseen? Maybe. A mysterious man had been heard arguing with Mr. Borden days before. A possible killer? Maybe.

Most likely it was a combination of the jurors being unable to believe that Lizzie could do such a thing, and the lack of evidence that allowed her to go free.

But even if Lizzie was declared not guilty, she served a lifetime sentence. By choosing to continue living in her hometown, she soon learned that society passed its own sentence. She became a social pariah, ending up living alone when even her sister, for whatever reason, moved out. They never reconciled.

In recent years, investigators have found traces of blood running down the walls of the former Borden home (now the Lizzie Borden B&B Museum)—and in the cellar. Evidence of her cleaning herself off as has been suggested?  Sadly, we may never know.

That mystery, however, is part of what has kept her name alive for generation after generation. And it has kept fiction and nonfiction writers continuing to find new solutions or reasons for the crime.

 

 

About Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter:

 

Every family has its secrets…
One hot August morning in 1892, Lizzie Borden picked up an axe and murdered her father and stepmother. Newspapers claim she did it for the oldest of reasons: family conflicts, jealousy and greed. But what if her parents were already dead? What if Lizzie slaughtered them because they’d become zombies?
Thrust into a horrific world where the walking dead are part of a shocking conspiracy to infect not only Fall River, Massachusetts, but also the world beyond, Lizzie battles to protect her sister, Emma, and her hometown from nightmarish ghouls and the evil forces controlling them.

 

Amazon: (Print, Kindle, Kindle Unlimited): http://getbook.at/LizzieBordenZombieHunter

Add it on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31553183-lizzie-borden-zombie-hunter

Website: http://cverstraete.com – Blog: http://girlzombieauthors.blogspot.com

 

Guest Post MTW – Women Are Ruling the Chicklit Scene by Zaheera Walker

Beyonce’s ‘Run The World’ keeps playing in my head as I sit down to write this. Well can you blame me considering women writers are on fire and chicklits are rocking it so fly.

The architecture of literature is evolving and we must be ready to embrace the evergrowing, ever exciting heroines. Gone are the days of Sherlock Holmes solving mysteries on the pages of our book. Today it is more about ‘anything a man can do I woman can do too.’ You see chicklits are ruling. From the Bridget Jone’s Diary to Gone Girl this genre is a real game changer in the literary world.

The exciting part is young women are becoming the sleuths. With fragile hearts and souls they are not afraid to explore the narrow limits. You see thrillers have always been around to keep readers turning the pages. And recently more and more women are sitting down to script the best nail biting stories – heroines at the forefront.

When I did the ground work for my debut novel DEADLINE I knew I wanted to write a story that I would enjoy reading. And through it I also wanted to encourage women to believe in their strengths. So the ink flowed and the words turned into chapters. I realised then that I created a young woman who was modern, ambitious yet she had an element of gentleness in her. This fiction story chronicled the trials and tribulations of my protagonist Feriyal Adam.

Chicklit protagonists are, at the onset, single white (Caucasian) women living in the city. These women are generally 20 to 30ish and we read about their issues with modern womanhood – from romance to friends and the workplace. But Feriyal is something else. She is a 20-something South African Indian living with her single mother in a low income part of Durban. She has her sights set on a lucrative position at a daily newspaper and one that will improve her standard of living.

But the day comes when her contract ends and she is left without hope. The storms of life continue to lash out when he mother succumbs to cancer and life holds no hope. But we all know that a determined spirit never gives up. Yes? They grab every opportunity life hurls at them just to come out stronger. She gives love a chance when the gorgeous Shane Black reappears in her life but she takes on a dangerous assignment as well. Brave or stupid one can never really say when this chocolate biscuit, petite girl goes after a serial killer. It doesn’t end there though – she breaks the rules and lands in hot water when she walks right into the killer’s trap. Damn girl!

Time is against her and Feriyal knows she has to give it her all if she wishes to see the light of day again. Held captive in an abandoned building, the killer taunts her and beats her up. He confiscates her cellphone so there is no contact with the outside world. With her energy levels at an all time low she has to play him but does she have enough game left in her? Could she live with herself if he violated her? Maybe if she closed her eyes while he invaded her innocence it may be easier solution – atleast.

Police reports reminded Feriyal that the killer strangled his victims are raping them, then dumped their bodies in a dense sugarcane field. Is that how her life was going to end? He hated women – especially well groomed, beautiful Indian women. Feriyal had no choice – she had to turn on the charm to win him over but is that really possible with a man who has killed so many women?

When was this going to be the end? And who was going to emerge victorious?

Her bag of tricks was low and she had two options – lie there and wait for death or fight with everything left in her. She played brave but God knew she was terrified – she did not have a plan of action.

Time is running out. Tick tock.

 

About the author

Zaheera Walker holds Journalism and Communication Science degrees. Her debut novel DEADLINE is a chicklit/romantic suspense novel for adults. Born in Durban, South Africa Zaheera gained extensive experience in the court reporting and crime beats. Today she lives in the bustling city of Johannesburg aka the City of Gold and is working on her second novel due for release early March.

Check out her book on Amazon.

Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Deadline-Zaheera-Walker/dp/0620704462

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Deadline-Zaheera-Walker-ebook/dp/B01G24XXP6

EDITOR’S NOTE – APOLOGIES

I wanted to take this opportunity to apologize to all our readers and guests for our absence over the past week.  Internet troubles made us unable to post some of the amazing posts we had scheduled for Murder Thriller Week, as well as some guest posts and reviews by our own staff.  My sincere apologies.  Please know that I am working tirelessly to get them all up within the next few days.

I know that these authors worked very hard to provide all of us with quality content and I will not allow anything to derail sharing it with all of you.

Thank you for your continued readership.

-A.Fae

Guest Post – 30 Things About My Sleuth by Heather Weidner – MTW

30 Things about My Sleuth – Delanie Fitzgerald of Falcon Investigations

Thank you for letting be visit your blog! Secret Lives and Private Eyes is the first in my Delanie Fitzgerald mystery series. She is a private investigator who lives in Central Virginia. And I’m often asked about what my protagonist is really like. Here’s my top-thirty list about my spunky sleuth.

  1. Delanie is a redhead like 1-2% of the human population (and me). She has determination, grit, and a spunky spirit.
  2. She drives a Mustang, and she calls it “Black Beauty.”
  3. My private investigator graduated from VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) with a degree in business.
  4. She lives in a Sears catalog home from 1939. Back then, people ordered kits from the catalog, and all of the pieces arrived by rail, ready to assemble.
  5. Delanie’s Sears catalog home is the Yates model. Many of the boards in her bungalow still have the Sears catalog number stamped on them. There are Sears catalog homes still standing in Central Virginia, but I took the liberty of moving one to western Chesterfield for Delanie’s home.
  6. Delanie’s bungalow has an upstairs. Her bedroom and living space are on the first floor. She may have a remodeling project in her future.
  7. Her partner is computer guru (and hacker), Duncan Reynolds.
  8. She shares her office space with Duncan and his English bulldog Margaret.
  9. Margaret follows her guy Duncan everywhere. And she thinks she’s queen of Delanie’s office. Margaret also rides in the front seat of Duncan’s canary yellow Camaro.
  10. One of Delanie’s guilty pleasures is her junk food habit. She also orders a lot of take-out from the nearby restaurants.
  11. When she’s not sleuthing or trailing a suspect, she likes to stay home in her comfy jammies and watch reality TV.
  12. Growing up, Delanie had a major crush on ‘80s rock star, Johnny Velvet from The Vibes.
  13. Her middle name is Lynn.
  14. Delanie has two older brothers. Steve, the eldest, is a Chesterfield County police lieutenant, and Robbie is a bouncer at a club in downtown Richmond. Robbie used to play minor league baseball until he destroyed his knee.
  15. She used her share of the money from her father’s estate to open Falcon Investigations.
  16. Delanie chose the name for her company in honor of Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon.
  17. Her client, Chaz Wellington Smith, owns a strip club in the downtown area near where Edgar Allan Poe worked in Richmond.
  18. Delanie had never seen an alpaca up close until she encountered Myrtle on John Bailey’s farm in Amelia County.
  19. Delanie’s best friend from school is hair stylist, Paisley Ford.
  20. Though she prefers the comfort of jeans and T-shirts, Delanie has a wardrobe full of outfits and shoes to create just the right look when she’s sleuthing.
  21. Her favorite drink is iced coffee, and her go-to treat is always chocolate.
  22. Delanie and Duncan usually investigate cheating spouses. She is thrilled when she lands an assignment from tell-all author, Tish Taylor, to track down leads on rocker Johnny Velvet, who purportedly died in a fiery car crash in the ‘80s.
  23. While the story is fiction, many of the locales that Delanie visits are real. Some of these include: Amelia County, Belle Island, Byrd Park, Church Hill, The Diamond (Home of the Richmond Flying Squirrels), Kanawha Canal, Library of Virginia, Main Street Station, Shockoe Slip, Tredegar Iron Works, and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Readers who have been to Central Virginia will recognize some of the street and place names.
  24. Delanie got her first name from my niece’s friend, and her last name is in honor of F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of my favorite writers.
  25. Delanie’s home and office are in Chesterfield County, Virginia. I liked the location because it’s close to the city and rural parts of the state. It’s also within driving distance to the beach, mountains, and Washington, D.C.
  26. She loves a variety of music, but rock ‘n’ roll is her favorite. A great escape is to blast the radio with the windows down.
  27. While she has enough culinary skills to survive, cooking is not her forte, and she often forgets to keep the pantry and fridge stocked.
  28. Delanie is a “cop’s kid.” Her father was a Chesterfield County police officer, and her brother Steve now serves the county as a lieutenant.
  29. While sleuthing, Delanie often creates aliases or cover stories. I often name the aliases after friends.
  30. Many of the waiters, police, and other minor characters that Delanie encounters are named after family and friends. If you look carefully, you’ll see homage to pop culture icons and my favorite authors.

 

 

Secret Lives and Private Eyes –  Heather Weidner

Secret Lives and Private Eyes is a fast-paced mystery that will appeal to readers who like a strong, female private investigator who has a knack for getting herself in and out of humorous situations. Business has been slow for PI, Delanie Fitzgerald, but her luck seems to change when a tell-all author hires her to find rock star, Johnny Velvet. Could the singer whose life was purportedly cut short in a fiery car crash still be alive? And as if sifting through dead ends in a cold case isn’t bad enough, Chaz Wellington Smith, III, a loud-mouthed strip club owner, hires Delanie to uncover information on the mayor’s secret life. When the mayor is murdered, Chaz is the key suspect. Now Delanie must clear his name and figure out the connection between the two cases before another murder – probably her own – takes place.

 

Author Biography:

Heather Weidner’s short stories appear in Virginia is for Mysteries and Virginia is for Mysteries Volume II. She is a member of Sisters in Crime – Central Virginia, Guppies, and James River Writers, and Lethal Ladies Write. Secret Lives and Private Eyes is her debut novel.

Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby Doo and Nancy Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a pair of Jack Russell terriers.

Through the years, she has been a technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager. Visit Heather at www.heatherweidner.com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Goodreads.

 

Author Links:

Website and Blog: www.heatherweidner.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeatherWeidnerAuthor

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/HeatherWeidner1

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heather_mystery_writer/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/crazyforwords13/

Book Link: http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Lives-Private-Heather-Weidner/dp/1633932567