“Books allow you to see the world through the eyes of others. Reading is an exercise in empathy; an exercise in walking in someone else’s shoes for a while.” –Malorie Blackman Empathy is a prerequisite for a psychologist. To listen without judgment. To show compassion for the human condition. To imagine oneself in the predicament […]
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Tell me a story. Whether it’s a ghost story told around the campfire, a family story passed down through generations, or an audiobook to fill the long hours of a commute, there’s something compelling, something magical, about hearing a story told aloud. And the right voice can make or break that magic. After listening to […]
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As you may already know, I’ve been hard at work on a brand new book, The Hanging Tree. It’s the second standalone novel in the Doctors of Darkness series. Like most of my writing, The Hanging Tree was inspired by my day job as a forensic psychologist, and I am thrilled to share a sneak peek […]
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Picture yourself at eighteen. Now picture yourself in prison at eighteen. For a heinous crime. Murder, let’s say. Years pass. Decades. You grow older. Wiser perhaps. You learn to adjust to your new life. After all, you’ve been incarcerated for longer now than you’ve been free. And then it’s time. Picture yourself at fifty now. […]
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Caryn Campbell. Lisa Levy. Kimberly Leach. Ted Bundy. Of these names, only one is likely familiar to you. Ted Bundy is arguably one of the most infamous serial killers of the 20th century. The others—Caryn, Lisa, Kimberly—are just three of the young women on his list of victims. After using one of Bundy’s quotes as […]
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Don’t judge a book by its cover. You probably just heard that line spoken in your mother’s voice. Or your favorite English teacher. And most times, it’s absolutely true. But, just for today, let’s make an exception. Shhh…I won’t tell if you won’t. Three years ago, when I first began writing the Legacy series, I […]
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Are you a plotter or a pantser? Did you know that the phrase “flies by the seat of his pants” originated in the 1930s with Douglas Corrigan’s flight from the United States to Ireland? An airplane mechanic described Corrigan this way, meaning that he flew without instruments, a radio, or other technology to guide him. […]
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As you may already know, I’ve been hard at work on a brand new book–an adult psychological thriller, Daddy Darkest. Like most of my writing, Daddy Darkest was inspired by my day job as a forensic psychologist, and I am thrilled to announce that it is coming very soon! Today, I’m sharing a sneak peek at the […]
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“It was something in his eyes … there was this remorse, sadness. I was attracted. I’m a woman, and I knew he was the one.” –Dagmar Polzin, on her love for death row inmate Bobby Lee Harris “I’m completely with him, and he’s completely with me. It’s what I was born for, you know. I don’t know […]
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They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. Andy Warhol The arrival of a new year usually signals a fresh start, a new beginning, and we meet it with optimism, with hopeful thoughts of change. With a blank slate of 365 days stretched out before us, it’s easy to […]
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I recently finished the first draft of my soon-to-be released thriller, Daddy Darkest. The novel takes place inside San Quentin State Prison, one of many prisons in California, and follows the lives of inmate, Clive “Cutthroat” Cullen, and his treating psychologist, Dr. Clare Keely. When I received my editor’s notes, I was particularly struck by […]
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Behind every murder is a murderer. Behind every murderer is a story. And inevitably the beginning of that story starts well before I meet them in prison in my capacity as a forensic psychologist. When I ask an inmate to tell me the story of the crime he committed, starting wherever he would like to […]
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