Life Experiences Translated to Fiction

People often ask me if I use any of my life experiences in my books. I do. I don't necessarily use exact experiences, but I do use the feelings and emotions from experiences that I have had. I have pulled from certain aspects in my life and used them, just like the experience I had with the stalker issues when I wrote DADDY'S HOME. When my next book COVERT REICH comes out next month under the A.K. Alexander name, I will blog about how I drew from the experience of having my first born in the inetnsive care unit for the first two weeks of his life. That event alone brought me back to my creative writing self, and has helped me write a thriller that I think will make readers happy (fingers crossed. And this one will be edited, copyedited and proof read tenfold!).

If you have read MOMMY, MAY I?, or plan to, and you read this blog, you might think to yourself that there is no way I could have drawn from personal experience on this one, because it contains some pretty disturbing scenes. Those of you who know me, may scratch their head, and think I didn't know Michele was so disturbed. I'm not. Well, maybe a tad, but not much. So, are you wondering what I might have drawn from experience wise to write a book about a sadistic serial killer who has more than just a couple of revolting and sick tendencies?

Well, first off, my heroine Helena Shea is a recovering alcoholic who has made a mess of her life. I am not a recovering alcoholic. I may joke around here about all the wine I drink, but that in part is because of The Wine Lover's series, and also because I do enjoy a glass of wine. But alcoholism is no joke to me. Addiction runs in my family. I think that is why I am a little bit paranoid if I do go for a second glass of wine. I don't like to feel out of control, ever. I've seen too many peole who I care about lose control due to alcohol, or drugs, or both, and it isn't pretty. In fact, it's down right uncomfortable all the way around. It is also painful as hell to watch an addict sink. However, I have also learned that sometimes it takes rock bottom to get them to help themselves, and sometimes even that doesn't work. In Helena's case, she has received help, but she's still kind of a mess. She is trying hard to rectify her past mistakes, and make her world right again. I can relate to her because she is a lot like someone who I love dearly, and who I have watched for years deal with her addictions. As you can see, I was able to pull from real  life when it came to my heroine.

But what about my villian, the evil Richard Shelton? When I started writing the book, I asked myself, "How is a serial killer created?" "Are they born that way?" "Is it their environment, etc?" I read some books on profiling and even interviewed a profiler. And then, my uncle dropped a bombshell on me. We actually have a serial killer in the family tree! His name is Edmund Kemper, and he is some kind of distant (very distant) cousin on my grandfather's side. The real irony is that when I had been reading a book on serial killers for research, his name had been mentioned. I knew that it was a family name, but it didn't connect for me at all. I won't go into details here as to what this guy did. You can google him, if you want. I did, however, research him and his crimes. Doing so was creepy and unsettling, but by doing so, I was able to write a book that I think hits the mark in the creep and unsettling factor. I will let readers give the final verdict on that.

As mentioned in the blog from a few days ago, if you have any interest in reading this book, or DADDY'S HOME, and would like a fifty page sample before purchasing the book(s), all you need to do is e-mail me at michele@michelescott.com.

I hope you will give them a try.

Thank You,
Michele