Plucked From the Headlines

24.1.15

I have always found the plots for my novels in the headlines of newspapers (often from the much maligned but addictive New York Post). My first book Hungry Eyes was inspired by the kidnapping of 10-year old Katie Beers in 1992. She was kidnapped by a family friend and held captive in a bunker. When found she was removed from her mother’s care due to neglect. I followed the story to it’s conclusion. Katie was placed with a foster family and wasn’t heard of again until 2013 when her memoirs was published –well after I had written my novel. I took the Beers kidnapping and decided to write what she was up to thirteen years later when she was a young adult. Obviously everything that happened after the kidnapping was fictionalized. Shara Farris (who played the Beers role) not only appeared in my first novel but was the central figure in my six-book series.

Suffice it to say I found plenty of fodder for my other books in the headlines of the New York Post (my second book, Eyes of Prey was inspired by Bernhard Goetz the New York City subway vigilante). Blood Sacrifice was inspired by the Philadelphia media’s sensationalized reporting on the first openly gay graduate of the Philadelphia Police Academy. I couldn’t imagine the anguish he felt with his name and picture plastered all over Philly media (both in print and on television). Since all of my books are written from a female perspective I decided to write about the problems faced by the first openly lesbian graduate of the academy. For a plot I had she and her partner investigating a serial murder. There’s a delicate balance between the investigation to identify and capture the killer and Thea’s dealing with the bigotry, prejudice and hostility engendered by the publicity she received upon her graduation from the academy.

Headlines is more often than not how I choose the plot of my novels. What inspires you? After all, there is no one way authors receive their inspiration.