The rumblings before the storm - once your book is released... what happens next?

As an author, I obviously enjoy writing. Granted it is extremely lonely.  No-one else is on the journey with you except for your characters, or as in the book I am about to release, the ghosts of those I am writing about. But once that is all finished, once you have signed the final release, then the journey takes on a very different mood.

Earlier this week, I received the email from my publicist, Lucia. I have worked with her on the past three books I released. She is incredible and I enjoy working with her. Yet the email from her signals the next part of the writing journey - the publicity tour. Gone is the pyjamas-clad slob of an author who sits in her darkened room with copious amounts of coffee and wine (depending on the time of the day), madly bashing away at the keyboard. In her place is someone primed and polished, all smiles for the camera ready to be charming and witty on the publicity trail.

Even after 17 books, I forget that this part comes with the book's release. As I said at the beginning, I love to write, I write because it is part of my essence, but the publicity trail always makes me tremble with dread. I worry about the curve ball questions, the interviewer who has no interest in my book and so fumbles over questions, or worse those who love true crime just a little too much.

Over the years I have learnt to manage the publicity tour a little better. I have done many live to air radio and television interviews as well as pre-recorded segments and newspaper articles. I used to be so sick with terror and nerves, I liked the comfort of my writing room, not the bright lights of the television studio but I have learned that they come hand in hand if your work is good enough.  I know it's an absolute honour to be involved in such segments. Very few authors get to experience what I've been lucky to have experienced and so I now know to enjoy myself and have as much fun as I can - when talking about executions, murder and serial killers.

So, I wait with bated breath to see what Lucia has in store when Rope: A History of the Hanged is released in June, 2016. So far I have a few speaking engagements as well as a newspaper article to come but I know that over the next few months there will be radio and newspaper interviews and if I am very lucky a few more television spots.

Wish me luck!

Amanda

The Man Behind The Serial Killer

It was in 1989 that my life collided with the world of the serial killer.

At the time I was in high school, dreaming of performing on the world's stage as a dancer and singer. I was a lot smaller then compared to now but then my life was one of adrenalin and music. Every waking moment was spent dancing, singing, playing instruments, or anything that came under the umbrella of performing.

Dance, drama and performance would remain part of my life for another four years, but it was slowly consumed by a darker world, I guess you could call it the world behind the curtain.  I lived in Sydney. One of the most beautiful places on earth and a place that will always be home, but in 1989 it was also the home to a serial killer.

In early 1989 an elderly lady was found bludgeoned to death. Her murder was reported in the media, as most cases of murder in Sydney are, but she was the first of at least six women who fell prey to the killer known as The Granny Killer. At the time, criminal profiling in Australia was in its infancy and an attempt was made to profile the serial killer. The profile claimed that the killer would be a young man, probably a skateboarder. However when the killer, a 50 year old man, was captured, my whole world seemed to circle in around me.

The idea that the serial killer was a genial older gentleman was incredulous. I could not believe it, he looked like my own father. He actually was a father, to two teenage girls.  I was hooked at that very moment. No more did I believe that killers were the Freddy Kruegers of this world. They were the fathers, the brothers, the uncles and even the mothers that walked among us.

This was how my 'life of crime' commenced. Gone went the dancing costumes and performance ideas, and instead, in their place were criminology exams and interviews with serial killers.

Since my new career path started I have interviewed dozens of serial killers, but nothing I have done will ever compare to that done by the serial killer expert himself Robert Ressler.  Along with another hero of mine, John Douglas, Ressler has interviewed the most infamous serial killers in America. He has, as he put it, looked into the abyss.  His numerous books taught me more than my university degree ever could regarding the criminal mind and the way it worked.

I have had some pretty exhilarating experiences with serial killers over the years, including death threats and recipes where I was one of the ingredients, but had it not been for Ressler, Douglas and their co-horts, would I be looking into the abyss now? Would my life be the one it is  with eight books on true crime published and many more to come? Serial killers have always been a part of history, and always will, but it was the need and ability to understand the mind of a killer that has compelled many of us to peer over that edge and to see what stares back.

Ressler passed away earlier this year, but for those who walk in the shadow of serial killers, he will forever live on.

Photo credit: criminalminds.wikia.com

A Killer in the Family - Cover Art

After emailing the publishers today with an update on how the book was coming along and I soon got a response from them with several cover art options. It is always my favourite part of writing. That is, seeing how my work translate in someone else's imagination.

I was quite thrilled with what they had done for me and the various different ideas. It certainly gives a boost to the poor old writer sitting alone away from the world. It shows that others are working on the same project.

I can't wait to show everyone the final artwork once it's all final.

Cheers

Amanda

A Killer in the Family - My next book

It is with great excitement that I received news from a publisher, New Holland, with a commission to write a book for them regarding how killers become killers. The book will examiner what makes a killer, whether that be a sexually motivated killer, a serial killer, a bomber, or a homicidal cult leader.

So far my investigation has shown some interesting points and clues as to what makes a killer.

A Killer in the Family (working title), will be released in time for Christmas.

Signing off,

Amanda

Serial Killers - Have they lost their Fame?

I have been researching serial killers for twenty years. I have spoken to some of the most heinous humans across the world. There was a time when serial murder was a main focus of pop culture.  With killers such as Dahmer, Gacy and Bundy taking up news space, many people could not get enough of hearing the gruesome details of murder. Yet I am finding that slowly, the interest has waned. Yes there are prime television shows such as Dexter and The Following that still propagate the serial killer genre, but killers themselves have fallen from the news.

Serial killers are being recognised and/or caught often, yet the interest in such cases is no longer there. Recently the next big thing in crime circles has been the locked away woman, taken as children by their fathers or strangers they were hidden from the world and raped for decades.

Serial murder is not what it once was. Of course this is a good thing, but one has to wonder about what else is happening out there when a multiple murderer no longer shocks.