A few months
ago, I had a good girlfriend read the draft of “Every Breath You Take,” (being
copyedited as we speak!). The first question out of her mouth when we got on
the phone to discuss her feedback?
I’ve blogged before about some of the suspense novels that have influenced my writing, but like so many writers, my influences have come from a diverse pool of interests and experiences stretching back to childhood. While many of my influences are quite dark, I’m actually quite fun to be around. In fact, my close friends who are just now starting to read my books are looking at me a little funny.
I can still remember being on the edge of my seat when a presumed-dead Eden plotted her escape from the unhinged Cain to wing her way home to true love Cruz (Would Cain recapture her??!) (“Santa Barbara”). Or when megalomaniac Adam Chandler tried to gaslight the naïf Dixie, so he could get his hands on the baby she was carrying (it was his, but no one knew) so he and his wife, Brooke, could raise it together (Would Brooke discover Adam’s betrayal? Would Tad be able to save Dixie from Adam??!) (“All My Children”). Or when Marlena fell off a ledge and RoJohn kept vigil by her
bedside for weeks (would TODAY be the day she woke up? Would she remember her husband? Would she DIE??!) (“Days of our Lives.”). The late Bill Bell and his brand of character-driven drama (still on display on “The Young and the Restless,” which he created), is considered a master class in intelligent, dramatic, absorbing writing.
Agnes Nixon, who created “One Life to Live” and “All My Children,” (and hence, Erica Kane) practiced the mantra, "Make them laugh, make them cry, and make them
As my author crush, Joy Fielding says, “If you want the facts, read non-fiction. If you want the truth, read fiction.” Indeed, “The Twilight Zone” shines a harsh light on the truth.
“How do you
sleep at night?”
I could only
laugh. “Very well,” I said. I’ve blogged before about some of the suspense novels that have influenced my writing, but like so many writers, my influences have come from a diverse pool of interests and experiences stretching back to childhood. While many of my influences are quite dark, I’m actually quite fun to be around. In fact, my close friends who are just now starting to read my books are looking at me a little funny.
So, here are
the nine things that inspire the words I put on the page:
True
Crime Books
For whatever reason (a
harbinger of things to come, I suppose), around the age of twelve or thirteen,
I really got into true crime stories, starting with the Tate-LaBianca murders. This
led to reading a spate of true crime books as a pre-teen, among them “Lust
Killer,” by Ann Rule (the Queen of True Crime) “Perfect
Victim: The True Story of the Girl in the Box,” by Christine McGuire and Carla Norton and “Unveiling Claudia,” by Daniel
Keyes (I read this one in one night and slept the entire next day. Good thing
it was summer vacation.) The psychology behind what drives people to extremes
is fascinating to me and is a theme I like to explore in my work.
One of the first true crime books I ever read
Chicago
While I wasn’t born here, I’ve lived
here longer than any place, so it is officially home. I love the vibrancy,
international sensibilities and the surprises that this city elicits. People
who’ve never been here are SHOCKED at the great restaurants, the green space,
the culture, the neighborhoods, the PEOPLE and so much more. I love incorporating
little bits and pieces of this city and its suburbs into my stories.
Image from chicagocrystalball.com
Diabolique
This classic French film made me a fan
of the “twist” ending, or to be more apt, the ending that smacks you in the
face and makes you question everything that came before it. I first saw this in
high school and it was one of those movies that left me slack-jawed and reeling
and wanting to immediately watch it again. Masterful.
Soaps
Soaps get a bad rap for being
melodramatic and unrealistic, and while at times the razzing is justified, by
and large, they are a fantastic model for how to craft a cliffhanger, build
compelling characters and wring out as much drama, drama, drama as possible.
After all, those are the hallmarks of a good story, no matter what the genre.
Image from ShockingNews.org
I can still remember being on the edge of my seat when a presumed-dead Eden plotted her escape from the unhinged Cain to wing her way home to true love Cruz (Would Cain recapture her??!) (“Santa Barbara”). Or when megalomaniac Adam Chandler tried to gaslight the naïf Dixie, so he could get his hands on the baby she was carrying (it was his, but no one knew) so he and his wife, Brooke, could raise it together (Would Brooke discover Adam’s betrayal? Would Tad be able to save Dixie from Adam??!) (“All My Children”). Or when Marlena fell off a ledge and RoJohn kept vigil by her
bedside for weeks (would TODAY be the day she woke up? Would she remember her husband? Would she DIE??!) (“Days of our Lives.”). The late Bill Bell and his brand of character-driven drama (still on display on “The Young and the Restless,” which he created), is considered a master class in intelligent, dramatic, absorbing writing.
Agnes Nixon, who created “One Life to Live” and “All My Children,” (and hence, Erica Kane) practiced the mantra, "Make them laugh, make them cry, and make them
wait...”
The Twilight Zone
While I don’t write science fiction (or
even read much of it – or any, if I’m being honest) “The Twilight Zone” is a
show I never, ever, get tired of watching. The chilling parables, the
microcosms of society, the deft, intelligent writing, the cool detachment of
host Rod Serling. While on the surface, “The Twilight Zone” is a “science
fiction show,” it’s really about “the truth” of the human condition. What IF
you went to sleep one night and woke up somewhere and couldn’t remember how you
got there (“Stopover in a Quiet Town”)? What IF all your neighbors turned on
you the minute their own self-preservation was on the line (“The Monsters are
Due on Maple Street”)? What IF our notions of beauty are horribly skewed (“Eye
of the Beholder”)?As my author crush, Joy Fielding says, “If you want the facts, read non-fiction. If you want the truth, read fiction.” Indeed, “The Twilight Zone” shines a harsh light on the truth.
Alfred
Hitchcock
Of course, of course, of course! I mean,
he’s just brilliant. No two ways about it. “Psycho,” “The Birds,” “Suspicion,” –
the episode of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” when the woman kills her husband
with a leg of lamb (“Lamb to the Slaughter,” itself based on a short story by
Roald Dahl), cooks and serves it to the officers who’ve come to investigate her
husband’s murder?! I mean, I just slurp this stuff up with a straw.
Law
and Order: Criminal Intent
The genius
of the Law and Order franchise lies not only in its ripped from the headlines
formula, but that each entry in the franchise offers something for everyone.
For me, “Criminal Intent” is my favorite, particularly the pairing of Goren and
Eames. A modern-day Holmes and Watson, watching the twitchy, intense Goren
unspool the minds of the criminals he’s hunting, alongside the steady presence
of Eames is Must See-TV for me when I need a good dose of psychological
suspense – Dick Wolf style.
Goren and Eames are the only "Criminal Intent" duo that matter
Pop
Music
Given my book titles (which are
song titles,) I’m clearly influenced by music – and I’m quite partial to 80’s
pop (yes, I’m one of those souls who pines for the days of Cyndi vs. Madonna
and when Christie Brinkley popped up in all of Billy Joel’s videos.)
Sometimes, the lyrics of a song really
captures the essence of a story idea for me “Every Breath You Take,” is a prime
example. I always knew that would be the title of my book). I love creating playlists
for all of my books (movies have soundtracks – why can’t books?). While many
writers are influenced by songs their listening to while their writing the
book, that’s not really how I do it (my go-to music while I’m writing? Lately,
it’s been the soundtrack to the TV miniseries, “War and Remembrance.” No,
really. It’s dramatic, yet unobtrusive. Stirring, yet unsettling.).
80's Pop Music is EVERYTHING. And a little more.
TV
Movies
I grew up in the era of the ABC
Sunday Night Movie, the NBC Monday Night Movie (remember those?) and later the
Tuesday Night Movie on CBS, so I will always have a fondness for the suspenseful
and dramatic tales from those bygone days that featured THE top stars. If there had been Twitter back when Farrah
Fawcett starred in “The Burning Bed,” she would have trended for weeks. “Rage
of Angels,” “A Death in California,” “Blood Vows: Story of a Mafia Wife,” and
on and on and on - check out my homage to 80's TV Movies and Miniseries on Pinterest. I also love a Lifetime movie and whenever someone compares
one of my books to one, I do a little happy dance.
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