I'm not sure whay I've been drawn to this subject, except that murder is a subject that has always drawn people for as long as people have been telling stories.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Well, I think storytellers have always found murder a fascinating device.
The why of murder always fascinates me so much more than the how.
Murder is born of love, and love attains the greatest intensity in murder.
Punitive murder by the police and by vigilantes has existed in all societies at some point, and probably still exists in most.
I want my books to explore motives which make people think, 'Wow! Imagine the psychological state you'd have to be in for that to be your motive!' Whereas things like blackmail, jealousy - they're rational reasons for committing murder.
Good writers know that crime is an entre into telling a greater story about character. Good crime writing holds up a mirror to the readers and reflects in a darker light the world in which they live.
When you kill somebody in the movies, it matters, whereas in literature it can be allegorical.
I wrote my first real murder story as a journalist for the Daytona Beach News Journal in 1980. It was about a body found in the woods. Later, the murder was linked to a serial killer who was later caught and executed for his crimes.
In everything I've written, the crime has always just been an occasion to write about other things. I don't have a picture of myself as writing crime novels. I like fairly strong narratives, but it's a way of getting a plot moving.
Murder is not the crime of criminals, but that of law-abiding citizens.