I’ve been enticed by the darker side of things since I was rather young, despite my bubbly personality. I guess that can be attributed to my family’s personal experience with the creepy, uncanny, and mysterious. And worst of all murder.

Before I was even a thought on this planet, both sides of my family experienced tragedies that honestly no family should have to bear. My aunt on my father’s side was murdered in her home, by someone we suspected she knew and had close relations with. He was brought to court, but there wasn’t sufficient enough evidence to convict him for murder. He threatened my father in court.

Just before or after my older brother was born, my great-grandmother was taken from us by a 19-year-old stranger, named James Rex Elam II, that had broken into her house in the middle of the night. He was convicted. He had actually escaped from prison with another inmate but they were later captured. Years later, my grandmother received a call from the State Justice Department notifying her that her mother’s murderer was killed by another inmate.

Now, I did not know these details as a young child. It wasn’t something my family talked about around a small child. How do you talk to a child about something like murder? But I somehow knew what had happened to Gran and Bitsy without them saying so. I had dreams where I had talked to them, and they had told me what had happened. And I cannot exactly explain it, but it’s almost like I can see what exactly happened to them in my head, images honestly that haunt me to this day. Maybe it was my overactive imagination. Rumors of children remembering life before life are all the rage, I know. But my mom still talks about this because I am pretty sure it freaked her out, as well as it should have. I would ask questions about the killer, like what did he look like? And what happened to him? I was five. I remember asking Mom to draw him while we were at my brother’s violin lesson. What kind of five-year-old asks that?! But I wanted to know. I needed to know. To confirm what I saw in my head was real, and not the first signs of a psychopath.

I didn’t ask Dad questions about Bitsy, mostly because I knew it was a sensitive topic for him, but he tells me all of the time how much I remind him of his sister. But I’ve gotten enough information from family and newspapers to know that this was a tough case. I wish I had gotten to know both of these wonderful women. Through my family, I feel as if I knew them.

In no way do I glorify murderers, rapists, murder, sexual assault, or any sort of violent crime or crime for that matter. I am more so interested in the psychology of what could make another person want to take another person’s life, or harm them physically, mentally, or emotionally. I consider myself a bit of a sociologist. I like to study people. The darker side of people. People in their natural and or vulnerable state of mind. And I like to reflect that in my writing.

I probably watch more True Crime tv than I should. I love shows like Criminal Minds, Forensic Files, Law & Order: SVU, etc.

I listen to True Crime podcasts on Spotify, and watch documentaries and videos on Youtube, like Mr. Ballen and of course Bailey Sarian. (I really need to subscribe to Investigation Discovery). I live in the True Crime and Mystery section at Barnes & Noble where I currently work as a bookseller).

I write mystery and suspense, not because I don’t enjoy fantasy or science fiction, but because I can relate most to the suspense, plus it is a lot of fun to write. So I hope you’re ready for a good ride. I will be posting the synopsis of Book 1 of my series in a few days!