Monday, October 18, 2010

What's It Like To Look Into The Mind Of A Killer? Guest Post by Mary Eason

Mary Eason
Please welcome our guest, Mary Eason, to the blog. Mary, I'm turning the blog over to you.
Caroline, thank you for allowing me to share this time with you.


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

What’s it like to look into the mind of a killer?

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 a little 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.

To quote Friedrich Nietzsche:

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.


For me, I love to watch Forensic Files and 48 Hours Mystery on TV. You can gain a great deal of knowledge into the mind of a killer simply by studying old case files. I know it’s certainly been insightful for me.

Available from Champagne Books
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 things evil.

In SHADOW GAMES, my latest release from Champagne Books, the killer was someone who the heroine considered a father figure. His motives for killing were all about money.

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 your co-worker, your high school English teacher. Your neighbor next door. He lacks anything resembling a conscience. He’s a sociopath known as the serial killer.

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.


From Cerridwen Press
In ROOT OF ALL EVIL, my release from Cerridwen Press, my heroine, Anna Sorenson comes face to face with a serial killer like none other. Anna tries to escape his deadly trap. She walks away from everything to gain redemption. But she doesn’t quite leave the past behind and as Anna soon learns, even in paradise evil still exists.

For me, writing about the dark side of romance is both rewarding and challenging. The characters I create leave their mark on you and make it hard to move on to the next story.

And if they’re really chilling, like in ROOT OF ALL EVIL, they make it hard to sleep with the lights off at night.

All the best…

Mary Eason
www.maryeason.com
Root Of All Evil – Available now at Cerridwen Press
Shadow Games – Available now at Champagne Books


Fifty serial killers in the U.S.? Shades of Ted Bundy! Shiver. If reading Mary's post hasn't frightened you too much, take a minute to sign up for my newsletter in which I offer FREE reads, recipes, and news. See the spaces on the sidebar beneath my photo.  

3 comments:

Stephanie Suesan Smith, Ph.D. said...

I wanted to be a forensic psychologist when I went to school, but there was only one school at the time and they took 6-8 students a year. Looking at the fate of those graduates, I am glad I didn't make it. Most of them looked into the abyss too long and went mad or became as bad as those they studied. A perilous undertaking indeed.

Maeve Greyson said...

Hmm...I think I might have bad dreams tonight after reading this post! But Mary's books look wonderful. Best of luck.

Lilly Gayle said...

Great post. And I love your quotes. I like Snapped and Criminal Minds. All those eerie shows that show us the darker side of human nature.