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AOTW: Several authors mix true crime into their fiction. For example, James Ellroy, in his book Black Dahlia, wrote about a real murder but fictionalized the characters involved in the investigation. How do you view the relationship between the true crime and mystery genres? Would you ever consider writing fiction?
Susan Kelly: I started out writing crime fiction. And my fiction, in some cases, was inspired by fact. My first novel, The Gemini Man, and my sixth, Out of the Darkness, were about serial killers. And my research for those books led me to write the Strangler book. So it's pretty symbiotic.
Gretchen Brinck: A lot of mysteries were inspired by actual crimes. I don’t see anything wrong with this, though I would like the writer to make it clear what case inspired the book and how much has the story been fictionalized. Such books always make me want to learn the actual events. For example, I didn't realize till I was researching the politics of missing children for The Boy Next Door that Beth McGutcheon’s excellent novel Still Missing was drawn from the disappearance of Etan Patz in, I think, 1981.
Many creative nonfiction writers hold extremely high standards of truth, demanding that every detail in the work be true, that no characters be composites, no dialogue invented. Following that standard, probably some true crime books are more fictional than we realize.
I’m writing fiction now. Amaranthe’s Child, a work in progress, is intended to launch a mystery series. The research for The Boy Next Door gave me good foundation for mystery writing, but I am doing additional research for the novel. I want my fiction to be as accurate as the nonfiction about criminal psychology, police procedure and the culture of its locale, in this case, the Santa Cruz Mountains in California.
Michael Fleeman: I'm writing a novel now that fictionalizes one of the most famous murder cases in Hollywood history, a director's murder in the 1920s. The suspects were a who's-who of the stars of the day. I'm relying on old coroner's inquest transcripts, police reports and other real documents to bring a sense of authenticity to the story, even though I'm using fictional characters and situations.
Brian J. Karem: As to the first part of the question, true crime is based upon reality while a mystery is fiction. As for the second part of that question, Spin Control Brookeville Press, 2000 contained short stories and essays. My favorite story among those I wrote in that book was the title story which has James Carville and Mary Matalin arguing before God and Satan. Some say that's a story which has two fictional characters arguing with two real live beings, but I say that's being way too harsh on James and Mary.
Burl Barer: I do write fiction and this is where it gets WEIRD! --- Chet Rogers is a good friend of mine. He is an award winning broadcast journalist who now runs an advertising agency in Seattle. I used him as a newscaster in The Saint, my novelization of the film’s screenplay. I used him again in my private eye novel, Headlock, where I cast him as a segment producer of the tabloid TV show, "Hot Copy." Also in Headlock is my buddy Travis Webb, who I cast as…well, himself, Travis Webb. After Headlock came out, Travis called me and told me about his uncle Andrew Webb, currently serving a life sentence for murder. The Andrew Webb case was so bizarre that I wrote a book about it. Travis Webb is in the book because it is nonfiction and he is part of the story. Chet Rogers, at the time of the original homicide and the subsequent high-profile trials, was the top news commentator in the very broadcast market where this all took place. So Travis and Chet are both in my new nonfiction true crime book, Head Shot, and they are also in Headlock, my first fiction mystery in my new “Jeff Reynolds” series.
Wait, it gets worse: In fiction, Jeff Reynolds is a true crime writer in Walla Walla who used to be a psychic distance reader. In real life, I used to be a psychic distance reader. I was living in Walla Walla when I wrote the book. During that time, I was approached by a relative of Sunny Oster, a victim of the Spokane Serial Killer, to do a “reading” on that case --- which I did. A couple years later, I was contracted to write a book about the Spokane killer, entitled Body Count. When we reach the part where the relative of Sunny Oster visits the ex-psychic distance reader true crime author in Walla Walla, I have to give myself a fake name. Guess what it is? Jeff Reynolds. Right now, I don’t know if I’m a real person or a work of fiction.
Don Lasseter: I was inspired to write T/C partly by Meyer Levin's book Compulsion which told of the Loeb-Leopold case but changed all the names and places, probably to avoid legal problems. It was sold as a fiction book based on fact. When I write nonfiction, I stick entirely to the facts. I've read a few T/C books in which I knew the facts and could see the author tended to embellish for dramatic effect. I think that's deplorable. Yes, I have thought about writing fiction. It seems so much easier to sit at my word processor and make up everything instead of laboriously researching and verifying every single fact and trying to present them in a palatable manner with suspense and tension and all the techniques fiction writers get to use.
Irene Pence: I would like to write fiction one day. However, combining the two is impossible if I'm writing true crime. The publisher's lawyers want proof that every fact I relate is 100% true.
Sue Russell: In true crime, you're working to fit together all the pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, and you'll likely be left with some blank spaces. In the mystery genre, your imagination can fill in those blanks which seems like a real freedom and sounds like fun. I'd certainly like to take a crack at fiction one day. It seems a fairly natural progression.
Robert Scott: I think to mix the genres of true-crime and fiction, you need someone of James Ellroy's stature. Otherwise, leave it alone. True crime really demands that you be honest and back up everything you write with facts. I always keep all of my notes, copies of court documents and police reports so that I can verify what I've put into print. True crime is just that --- it's the truth. And time after time I've discovered that truth can be stranger than fiction.
Carlton Smith: I’ve heard, in fact, that some true crime authors mix fiction into their true crime, by making up quotes or even entire scenes! Truman Capote leaps instantly to mind, as well as some more recent authors. In my view, this is not only dishonest, but unnecessary. Good research generates sufficient dramatic content out of real life, particularly when properly handled by the author. I try to let the reader know where all of my information came from, because I expect that the reader of a true crime book deserves the true facts, not the product of my imagination. Nevertheless, every true crime writer should study the techniques of fiction, particularly as they apply to pacing and structure.
Dina Temple-Raston: Yes, I have several ideas for possible fiction books, but I don't think I would do true crime fiction. I think I'd do something a little lighter. When I first went to Jasper my original intention was to write something like Truman Capote's In Cold Blood which was a mixture of fiction and fact. I was thinking I'd write a Faulknerian southern novel based loosely on the killing. That changed when I met Bill King's father, Ronald King. He insisted he didn't want to give any interviews but did say that he had a statement from Bill and would meet me in a local parking lot. He burst into tears when I met him. He spoke and wept for 40 minutes, never taking his foot off the brake pedal and never taking the car out of drive. I noticed his hands --- there were nubs where fingers had been --- and there was an oxygen canister connected to him in the front seat. When he finally drove away I thought I couldn't possibly make this stuff up. So the book became nonfiction.
Carlton Stowers: Haven't ever had the urge to write fiction, partially because of a lack of confidence, partially because the realities of life interest me more. That said, most of the pleasure reading I do is fiction. I see no kinship between writing true crime and mysteries and would hope that the genres don't mingle. In the real world, all things can't be neatly tied together, all lingering questions can't be answered as they are in a novel. So, with all due respect to fiction writers, I suggest that there are things about nonfiction writing that are more difficult.
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