A story is written when many pieces and layers of inspiration weave together. It starts with something – a phrase, an image, a song, something we see. It starts with roots that slowly become a tree of character arcs, storylines, conflict and little details. Slowly, a writer builds characters, playlists, settings, and worlds revolving around one idea. Every writer is different for inspirations and the writing process.
I began writing “Beyond Dark 1: Belladonna” in January 2019. But the roots go back so much further into my life. Back in high school, I wrote a short story called “Frantic”, a mystery about a magician who was a serial killer. I drew the cover art, and I was so proud of it when I handed it in as an assignment, complete with my hand-drawn cover art. I still have it tucked in the back of my “Beyond Dark” binder as a reminder of where all this started. It is dated June 2002 and I assure you, it is as cringe-worthy as early writing can be. We all start somewhere!
My English teacher truly nurtured my love for writing. Pair that with a childhood of growing up with a mother who religiously watched “Law and Order” (we’re talking the original series from the 90s with Chris Noth - even before he was on “Sex and the City”). I read Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes, and all 36 Ann Rule books. Ann Rule was my introduction to serial killers like Ted Bundy and Gary Ridgway (“Green River, Running Red” is still one of my favourite books), and the tragic cases like Cinnamon Brown and Susan Powell. I have been exposed to true crime my entire life. I still remember when news about Robert Pickton broke. When Ridgway was arrested. When Dennis Rader was finally named as BTK. So, despite spending my early writing years delving into fantasy, poetry and horror, that one short story was a step into the world of crime fiction I would revisit later.
On my own, I became obsessed with “Criminal Minds”. All 15 seasons. Hopelessly hooked on criminal psychology; studying it, reading, watching documentaries and soaking in any information I could. I learned a lot about character building and arcs from the series too. I still re-watch episodes to dissect it with a writer’s perspective. The storyline that had me from the start was Ashley Seaver, the serial killer’s daughter. I was sad it only lasted a season, as the character concept fascinated me. I wanted to explore it more. It lingered in my mind for many years after season 6, though it became a story I never seemed to get around to. This would be the basis on which I brought Alyssa to life. More on her in a future post.
I began toying with the series as a spinoff from something a friend and I were working on, though it didn’t remain part of that project. I branched off and began working on it solo. It required a total rewrite, but “Belladonna” remained the first book of the series, with the opportunity to explore it in depth without the other storylines convoluting what I wanted it to be. After years of studying male serial killers, I began watching “Deadly Women” and ventured into the demented minds of women who kill. Here in Canada, of course, we have our own claim to female killer infamy in Karla Homolka and the teenager from Medicine Hat publicly deemed “the Runaway Devil” (she and her older boyfriend murdered her parents and younger brother in a horrific massacre. She was 12-years old). The irony in discovering a killer named Lavinia Fisher years after taking the name Lavinia as a pen name, after one of my ancestors, never ceases to amuse me.
I knew I wanted to start with a female serial killer, and I wanted her to be bizarre and intriguing and tragic. I wanted the psychological element. But weirdly enough, it was one small sentence from a “Forensic Files” episode I was listening to as I fell asleep that brought Belladonna to life in my mind:
“Come on. You always say you’re dying for a new scene.”
Thanks for joining me. If you have any suggestions or want to ask about anything within these posts, feel free! Follow the rest of this blog series here.
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