Gregg Olsen, friend of The True Crime Weblog and co-author of the popular true crime blog CrimeRant.com, has published his second novel, A COLD DARK PLACE.
After several best-selling true crime books, this is Gregg's second entry into the suspense/thriller genre (his first, A WICKED SNOW, was published in March, 2007).
A COLD DARK PLACE is a haunting tale of serial murder that ranges across decades. I've read the book and it's hard to put down. Gregg tells a riveting story and his protagonist, Emily Kenyon, is a vividly-rendered, vulnerable and believable heroine. Here's a quote from the Amazon listing for the book:
TRUE CRIME WEBLOG: I don't assume that inspiration comes straight out of the headlines. I know inspiration can come from anywhere. But how often is your fiction influenced by true crime stories? Any examples of true stories that played a role in building your novels?
GREGG OLSEN: There's a spark of reality, that is, real crimes, in all of the novels I've done thus far (I just turned in thriller number three -- HEART OF ICE). If you think about it, almost every great fictional crime story has sprung from real life. The classic of the last generation, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, most surely came from the story of Ed Gein (Yup, he skinned his victims). I'm sure you can think of a dozen others. I guess, I'm guilty of 'ripping from the headlines' just as much as the next guy. My first book had a Belle Gunness tale spun into modern times (I talk about that on Clews today) and there are threads of other crimes worked into the narrative of both A COLD DARK PLACE and the next one coming in 2009.
What I find most interesting is that I'm finding out ways to deal with the things that were done to me as a boy and that stuff is finding its way into my fiction. So in a way, I'm ripping off my own life, not the headlines, per se. I bet novelists across America are guilty of that one. You write what you know, correct?
Right now, I'm working on book four and I can assure you that I was inspired by Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo, who raped and murdered young women in Canada. I am fascinated by the idea of people drawing another person into their evil madness, as Paul did with Karla. Or was it Karla who spun a web around Paul? Hard to say.
And since you brought it up, I loathe the idea of TV eating up good stories and good concepts for stories (fiction or true crime) as they fill all the Law & Order slots with the crime of the week. I've seen so many ripped from the headlines, that I feel my eyes are in shreds. Seems like a lot of good books aren't being written because we've been teased with the essence of a story over and over -- without really digging in.
The next question for Gregg came from true crime writer Corey Mitchell.
Corey asked Gregg, "How has the transition from true crime author to mystery author worked out for you, from the writing perspective and from the marketing perspective?"
To read Gregg's answer, just go here: "Gregg Olsen: From True Crime Writer to Mystery Man."
To purchase the novel, click below.
After several best-selling true crime books, this is Gregg's second entry into the suspense/thriller genre (his first, A WICKED SNOW, was published in March, 2007).
A COLD DARK PLACE is a haunting tale of serial murder that ranges across decades. I've read the book and it's hard to put down. Gregg tells a riveting story and his protagonist, Emily Kenyon, is a vividly-rendered, vulnerable and believable heroine. Here's a quote from the Amazon listing for the book:
When a powerful twister hits the little town of Cherrystone, Wash., former Seattle homicide detective Emily Kenyon checks in on the Martins: she finds their home demolished by the storm, and three of the four family members murdered by a demented killer. Suspiciously missing from the carnage is older son Nick, but is he a witness or the murderer? And Emily soon finds that her teenage daughter, Jenna, has run off with Nick in order to help him clear his name. What Emily doesn't know is that the Martin family deaths are connected to a series of murders going back two decades, and are linked to a case from her own past whose tragic outcome ultimately drove her out of the Seattle police force...To get the word out about A COLD DARK PLACE, Gregg is doing a progressive interview, where he answers questions across several blogs about his work.
TRUE CRIME WEBLOG: I don't assume that inspiration comes straight out of the headlines. I know inspiration can come from anywhere. But how often is your fiction influenced by true crime stories? Any examples of true stories that played a role in building your novels?
GREGG OLSEN: There's a spark of reality, that is, real crimes, in all of the novels I've done thus far (I just turned in thriller number three -- HEART OF ICE). If you think about it, almost every great fictional crime story has sprung from real life. The classic of the last generation, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, most surely came from the story of Ed Gein (Yup, he skinned his victims). I'm sure you can think of a dozen others. I guess, I'm guilty of 'ripping from the headlines' just as much as the next guy. My first book had a Belle Gunness tale spun into modern times (I talk about that on Clews today) and there are threads of other crimes worked into the narrative of both A COLD DARK PLACE and the next one coming in 2009.
What I find most interesting is that I'm finding out ways to deal with the things that were done to me as a boy and that stuff is finding its way into my fiction. So in a way, I'm ripping off my own life, not the headlines, per se. I bet novelists across America are guilty of that one. You write what you know, correct?
Right now, I'm working on book four and I can assure you that I was inspired by Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo, who raped and murdered young women in Canada. I am fascinated by the idea of people drawing another person into their evil madness, as Paul did with Karla. Or was it Karla who spun a web around Paul? Hard to say.
And since you brought it up, I loathe the idea of TV eating up good stories and good concepts for stories (fiction or true crime) as they fill all the Law & Order slots with the crime of the week. I've seen so many ripped from the headlines, that I feel my eyes are in shreds. Seems like a lot of good books aren't being written because we've been teased with the essence of a story over and over -- without really digging in.
*****
The next question for Gregg came from true crime writer Corey Mitchell.
Corey asked Gregg, "How has the transition from true crime author to mystery author worked out for you, from the writing perspective and from the marketing perspective?"
To read Gregg's answer, just go here: "Gregg Olsen: From True Crime Writer to Mystery Man."
To purchase the novel, click below.
