Lavinia Thompson's Blog: Seeking reviewers! , page 8

Book Review: "Jack the Ripper: The Suspects" by the Whitechapel Society

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars

Something in the mysterious persona of Jack the Ripper intrigues most true crime lovers. This book offers a balanced, objective review of the most prominent Jack the Ripper suspects, offering arguments from both sides. What makes each a viable suspect in the infamous Whitechapel murders? What sinks the sometimes wild and bizarre theories surrounding some of these men? This book explores this in thoughtful contemplation.

Aside from a few aspects of each case I could argue and didn't fit, I enjoyed this book. That being said, opening discussion is a sign of a good book. It definitely made me think without it pointing to one suspect and trying to convince me of one or the other. I enjoyed that this is from the Whitechapel Society, so I knew a lot of time and dedication went into these theories. I checked out their website, and they seem like such an intriguing community. If only I lived in England!

There were only a few points on criminal psychology I felt were inaccurate or not thoroughly explained enough, hence the loss of a star.

Belladonna's Roots 7: The Music

My Spotify is out of control. Like, there are so many playlists. It’s endless. Music is my addiction, and it spills over into my writing. Actually, it floods my writing. I have “Writing Mood” playlists, genre playlists, ones named by the decade and most of all, I have book playlists. I set it up so I have a “master” playlist for the series, then a separate playlist for each book, and then one for each main character. Everything has a different vibe. Obsessive? Probably. But it’s fun.

I used to do this when I used Windows Media Player. I’d have separate playlists for everything. Spotify made that a hundred times easier. Everything gets saved online, instead of taking up computer memory. This 90s kid will forever marvel at how far technology has come in such a short time. Seems like only yesterday we were burning CDS, and before that, recording mixed cassette tapes off the radio. How the times have changed!

What hasn’t changed is the importance music has had on my writing process. Specifically, the “Beyond Dark” series. It provides inspiration for characters, scenes, storylines, and even specific serial killers. Such was the case for the Belladonna Killer.

There was the line from the Forensic Files episode I cannot for the life of me recall because I was half asleep, something about “dying for a new scene”, which sparked the idea for the case. But the killer herself? I needed some truly creepy woman vibes. Around the time I was starting this series, a song came out that started it all. Lana Del Ray’s “hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have – but I have it”. I knew the first time I heard it, it belonged on the “Belladonna” playlist. Paired with the “dying for a new scene” theme I wanted, I began building the Belladonna Killer around this tragic actress/model who never got anywhere in her career, desperate to be noticed. It has actually become one of my favourite songs – but I have also loved Lana Del Ray for many years.

From there, many of the songs became a mixture of the killer and Alyssa’s history, merging the tragic pieces of both stories. Christina Aguilara’s “Beautiful” touched on the pitfalls of women burdened with unattainable beauty standards society throws at us. Kelly Clarkson’s “Because of You” is also on Alyssa’s playlist, the heartbreaking story of how cycles of abuse or addiction carry on and impact the lives of those who come after and must carry on with the memories.

On of my personal favourites that also came out while working on “Belladonna” is “Dark Ballet” by Madonna. The creepy and dark vibes are abstract and truly remind me of Alyssa, with her history in dance, her bitter, anguished past with her estranged mother, and the confusion of her PTSD and disorder. “Wound Up” by LeAnn Rimes is another one that highlights Alyssa’s playlist, glimpsing the chaotic childhood she survived and how she felt about her mother’s domineering demands of a dance career. It comes from one of my favourite albums of all time, “Twisted Angel” from LeAnn Rimes. It was an album that got me through many rough spots in my life.

“In the End” by Linkin Park is one of my forever favourites. It’s no secret I have loved Linkin Park for years, and that Chester Bennington’s suicide hit me hard, as it did many fans. I listened to it lots towards and during the climactic scene of the book. “One More Light” was also on repeat often while writing.

Brand new off Lady Gaga’s “Chromatica” album this year is “Plastic Doll”, another song exploring the ridiculous beauty standards in the entertainment industry. A few other amazing songs came off that album that were fitting to Alyssa’s story, such as “Replay” and “Fun Tonight”.

And with that, this post wraps up my “Belladonna’s Roots” series. Thank you for following along.

What’s next on this blog? I did the recent revamp for a reason. I’ll be discussing my various research topics, serial killers, mobsters, and more topics as they relate to my books. Maybe share some excerpts, short stories, and so on. I haven’t decided exactly what content yet beyond that and the usual news.

Speaking of – for those of you missed my social media posts this week, I moved writerly homes again. I will no longer be updating my books on Wattpad. I am moving over to Booksie permanently. This means all further “Beyond Dark” and “Beyond Cover” updates will come from Booksie. Wattpad is no longer of much use to unknown authors such as myself, with the loss of forums and the newsfeed. This is not a decision I made lightly, as Wattpad has been a place where I met so many amazing people and rediscovered my love for writing. But at the end of the day, it isn’t going to further my writing career. Booksie has more opportunities with their Premium program and it caters more to making unknown authors successful, not on what is already popular. Wattpad has been an amazing starting point, but that is all it will remain – a starting point. As the Tom Petty song goes:

“It’s time to move on, it’s time to get going, what lies ahead, I have no way of knowing, but under my feet, baby, grass is growing. It’s time to move, it’s time to get going.”

My next update is that “Beyond Dark 1: Belladonna” is with my editor and ever closer to release time! I pushed the release date to early 2021 to allow time to make it the best it can be before it goes out into the world.

Have a great and safe week! Enjoy the music that accompanied me while writing!

Belladonna's Roots 5: Alyssa

Sometimes a character can reside in a writer’s mind long before they come to exist within pages. Such was the case when I created Alyssa. She remained nameless for many years.

The first stirrings of her character came from “Criminal Minds” season 6 with the Ashley Seaver character, the daughter of a serial killer. It was a backstory that intrigued me. It disappointed me when they never continued it and she only lasted a season. I decided I wanted to explore such a character idea. Only, I was working on “Edge of Glory” at the time and it still had my complete devotion. Then I got divorced and severely struggled with my depression for a couple of years after.

As “Edge of Glory” wasn’t working out for me, I slowly shelved it. I needed something new. A friend and I were co-writing a project at the time in which I introduced the initial character for Alyssa in January 2019. With my inspiration from “Criminal Minds”, I toyed with the serial killer’s daughter. I had no idea what I was getting myself into!

The collaboration project wound up changing, and I branched off to write “Beyond Dark” on my own. Here, it underwent its first rewrite. Originally, Alyssa was a profiler brilliant with capturing serial killers. With my addiction to watching “Deadly Women” and after reading Candice DeLong’s book, I wanted to experiment with a profiler who specialized in female serial killers. I wanted to see how weird, how gruesome would these cases get if these FSKs replicated some male serial killer cases? Back when I did journalism in college, we were always told to ask: “I wonder?” This also applies to novel writing. This is how Alyssa Rawkesby came to be a criminal psychologist who specializes in female serial killers.

Since I made Alyssa’s father, Greg, a serial killer, specifically a narcissistic psychopath, it left me to wonder about her mother. Should she be a willing accomplice in the murders? A doting mother clueless to what her husband was doing, another victim in some sense? Or should I make her a different antagonist altogether?

True to my pattern, I enjoy making things as hard for my characters as possible. So, I made Alyssa’s mother, Dawn, a narcissist. Two deadly tornadoes meeting in the same sky and an only child left in the middle to suffer through it all.

I wanted to start the series with a case that exposed Alyssa’s painful backstory and slowly show readers why she is the way she is. I didn’t want readers to go through the first few books of the series knowing nothing of why she can be an abrasive woman who pushes others away. There needed to be a glimpse beneath her tough exterior. The theme of mirroring Alyssa with a female serial killer really appealed to me. The slow, intricate unravelling of her mental stability, the pieces that slowly become exposed as the killer also escalates, and use the rest of the series to reveal more of her story. The focus in “Belladonna” narrows in on her toxic relationship with her mother. A future book in the series will focus on her father.

I felt it was important to start with Alyssa’s mother, because as previously discussed, it is that lack of maternal nurturing and being deprived of unconditional love that begins forming the roots of personality disorders. Since that is a foundational issue with many serial killers, I felt that first-hand glimpse through Alyssa’s point of view might give readers a unique perspective. To see the first FSK of the series through the eyes of someone who relates much too closely with her. Alyssa knows Belladonna is a monster, but can’t help that part of her that wants to relate. Because she grew up with two narcissists, Alyssa lacks empathy and doesn’t relate to people or the world like many of us do. She truly feels like she is looking from the outside in. Genuine human connection has been so minimal in her life. Alyssa relates more to the women she hunts down and apprehends than she does with normal people. So jaded and cynical she’s become, that she finds it easier to isolate herself from the world away from work than try to connect with others. This is part of her character arc she develops through the series as she learns to form genuine connections.

She isn’t likeable when we first meet her and witness her initial interactions with Thayer. This is meant to leave her development wide open for later on, to witness some of her healing at a vital time in her recovery. She is a brilliant profiler, but tormented and torn. Bitter. Her intelligence and ability to get into the heads of FSKs comes from years of psychological damage, living first-hand with the warped fantasy of a domineering mother.

As we’re going to find, however, Alyssa has come a long way from being a frantic 18-year-old fleeing home for a college a province away to pursue her law enforcement career against her mother’s demands. She made some hard mistakes along the way, but has learned some vital lessons, and will continue to learn and evolve. I am so excited to have you along for her journey!

I hope you’ve enjoyed a glimpse into how I created Alyssa. Something I also do for each of my characters is create a Spotify playlist for them, which I will share here! Next week, we look at Alyssa’s rookie sidekick, Thayer, and the interesting way in which he became a permanent fixture in the series.

Next part of this series focuses on Thayer!

And as promised, the Spotify playlist!

Belladonna's Roots 4: Deadly Nightshade

The ominous, droopy, bell-shaped flower that becomes a purple star is an enticing sight, growing on branches that reach out, almost beckon for one to approach. Shining amongst the flowers and deep green leaves are the black berries, so poisonous, only one or two will kill a grown human being.

To be honest, I don’t know where I got the idea to pair this poison with a female serial killer. My fascination with Atropa Belladonna goes back to my days of writing fantasy as a teenager and in college. Someone I know once called it “good poison, bad medicine” and I think that truly sums up the aesthetic of the plant. In Italian, “Belladonna” also translates to “pretty woman.” In the 16th century, Italian women took the berry juice to make their pupils more enhanced, as they believed it made a woman more alluring.

Image by u_3heuehh9 on Pixabay

The leaves and roots were commonly used in medicine despite being toxic and unsafe. It has been a sedative to stop bronchial spasms in asthma and whooping cough, and a remedy for the common cold and hay fever. Parkinson’s disease, colic, joint pain, and nerve pain have also seen the medicinal effects of Belladonna. However, it is vital to note that you should not use unless prescribed by your doctor, and it is probably best to avoid altogether. It is definitely more dangerous than helpful. They used it back in a time when there weren’t many medicinal options, unlike today.

What attracted me to using Deadly Nightshade as a murder method for this killer, I think, was the notion of something being used to enhance beauty, while being poisonous. Beauty standards being toxic is something that has stood the test of time and is more relevant now than ever, both for men and women. We are bombarded by expectations of how our bodies should look, which diets we should be on, and how to attain this illusion of unattainable perfection. Basically, I took this and paired it with the personality it matched with: Narcissism. Beauty kills. It is something we as humans have always thrived to reach, have put our bodies and souls through torture trying to attain, and it consumes our society. Most advertising targeting women pertains to beauty, while marketing campaigns simultaneously tell men how to be more masculine.

It is poison.

I read in one of my research books that narcissists are attracted to three career types: entertainment, law enforcement and politics. Sometimes inspiration is nothing more than a few pieces falling into the right place at the right time.

Despite being such a lovely flower, the side effects and resulting death from ingestion is anything but. Atropine is the poisonous compound found in the plant. It doesn’t show up on a typical toxicology test, requiring a further test to trace its presence in a body. A dose as small as 10 mg will kill a human adult within six to 24 hours, depending on the dose. A victim’s hair can also be tested for atropine and to find how long they were being dosed for prior to death. Atropine crosses the blood-brain barrier to cause sedation, disorientation, short-term memory loss, and death. It blocks functions of the body’s nervous system. The death itself results from respiratory failure. Other side effects can include dry mouth, enlarged pupils, blurred vision, red dry skin, fever, fast heart rate, hallucinations, mental problems, convulsions and loss of voice.

Image by ,DerWeg from ,Pixabay

Death can be slow or quick. Like any poison, it has that element of control over when death happens and how torturous it will be. It is one reason poison is a common weapon for female serial killers. Not only is it a murder method that involves little cleanup (let the person die where they are, let the ambulance or coroner take them away), it includes that ability to adjust to whichever level of sadism the killer wants to use.

Accessibility is another factor for women who kill with poison. Arsenic was easy to buy in the form of rat poison and commonly kept in homes years ago. Anti-freeze is still a choice of poison for some women. Deadly Nightshade is legal to grow and cultivate. It is also a native plant to many parts of Europe. Some Nightshade species are native to North America. One of my online American friends found Black Nightshade randomly growing in her mother’s garden recently. It is Belladonna’s slightly less toxic cousin and has white flowers instead of purple. Potato and tomato plants are also part of the Nightshade family. The leaves and flowers of potato plants are highly toxic. Tomato plants are less so, but one should still take care when handling them. The veggies from both plants, once ripe, however, are safe.

I think that wraps up the research portion of my “Belladonna’s Roots” series. Next week, we’ll delve into the characters: Alyssa and Thayer. We’ll take an up-close look into Alyssa’s character profile and what inspired me to create her and write her story. I hope you’re enjoying this series! Is there something else you’d like to hear about from within this story? Let me know!

The next installment of this blog series carries on here.

Book Review: "Mary Ann Cotton: Dark Angel" by Martin Connolly

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(4/5 stars)

Not all serial killer cases are black and white. Especially in the late 1800s, when there was no DNA and nothing of the technology which arms law enforcement nowadays to take down these cold-hearted people.

I heard it once said that the Jack the Ripper case was the first to use what is now called “criminal profiling”, but truly, analyzing killer behaviour was once all detectives had. It’s why I find cases from that era so fascinating. Before Jack the Ripper terrorized Whitechapel in 1888, another suspected serial killer left behind a long string of rumours that would finally catch up to her.

In this book, Martin Connolly diligently traces the life, tragedy, and suspected crimes of Mary Ann Cotton. Connolly, through old census, birth, marriage and death records, takes us back to a time when the only way women could move up in life, financially and in status, was through marriage. With attention to detail and a keen eye for what was clearly a flawed trial, Connolly takes us through Mary Ann Cotton’s multiple marriages and the trail of death that seemed to follow her. She is suspected of killing over 20 people, including her own mother, her children and husbands. She was convicted of the murder of her stepson, accused of poisoning him with arsenic. This is not uncommon in female serial killers – many kill their own family members in their own homes, often posing as caregiver or loving wife or mother, many even using poison.

The evidence produced in this book sheds light on how unfair and ludicrous Cotton’s trial was, but also leaves you asking… did she do it? In a mystery as enigmatic as Jack the Ripper would be 15 years after Cotton’s execution, behaviour analysis becomes critical while still showing a conflict in evidence. While justice was, in the eyes of the law, served, this book leaves the reader wondering if it was, indeed, justice, or if Cotton was a victim of circumstance and the cruelty of rumours.

Normally, when I finish a true crime book, I have a solid stance on the verdict handed down. But this time? I can’t even say. Mary Ann Cotton was mysterious; either a cold, sadistic psychopath, or a woman plagued by tragedy and stigma. While this book was a bit of a dry read at times, I commend the author on his research, attention to detail and objectivity in writing this book. He comes at it from a balanced, journalistic standpoint, leaving it open to whatever opinion the reader might form. A brilliant read for true-crime fanatics who are intrigued by this era of murder.

A Research Dump: the Pink Panthers

This blog has been full recently of discussing “Beyond Dark” and the upcoming launch of “Belladonna” (it’s coming, I promise! I want to release the best damn quality book I can!). This week, I want to turn attention to something I haven’t discussed much here: The spinoff series.

I started “Beyond Cover” back in May upon being laid off work. I had the extra time to experiment with some writing. Exploring certain characters and their stories had been on my mind for some months prior. I did not expect it to be as successful as it has, or for my Booksie readers to love the characters like they do.

“Beyond Cover” is in the same fictional world as “Beyond Dark” but it delves deeper into the criminal underworld with the stories of Agents Dwayne MacMorris and Emily Abbett, both undercover agents in the Russian mafia. Dwayne is a grouchy, angry veteran agent who lost his wife and kids tragically six years ago. As a rookie, Emily is trying to prove herself to the International Crime Bureau that she can also be a prolific woman in the agency. She’s a little lost and not sure which direction her life might take once her undercover mission is done, but the mission itself leads her down an expected path. While Dwayne throws his weight around with tough mobsters, Emily slowly infiltrates an international jewel thief group – the Ruby Spiders.

My research on jewel thieves has been fascinating. It took some time to find, but the documentary “Smash and Grab: The Story of the Pink Panthers” was incredibly insightful. The Pink Panthers are an organization of about 200-220 people who perform jewel heists around the world. The 2007 heist in the Wafi shopping mall in Dubai is famously credited to the Pink Panthers. They stole over $4 million worth of jewelry. It was in 2007 that Interpol began seeing links between heists and realizing that they all were likely connected to the same thieves.

This wasn’t even their largest job, by far. Through 371 jobs in 35 countries, they have taken in heists worth a total of $500 million. In London, England, 2003, they robbed a high-end jewelry store and took off with over $40 million worth of diamonds. This was the largest jewel heist in British history. Then in Copenhagen, Denmark, 2007, a million dollars in jewels were stolen from a jewelry store in a hotel lobby in front of guests.

My research focus is typically on serial killers. That’s my point of fascination, but the Pink Panthers story has stolen my intrigue. Wrapped up in mystery, shrouded in stories of quick, efficient smash and grabs in high end jewelry stores around the world, the level of organization could put a typical mafia to shame. They’re guys who can crack a safe in under two minutes. Bypass any alarm system, or simply break them. And they are non-violent. There has only been one serious injury in the years the organization has been active. They scout out the locations for months beforehand. A man who was a former Pink Panther, interviewed in the “Smash and Grab” documentary said it takes about four months to plan the whole thing. The women of the Pink Panthers go into the locations, memorize the layout, when staff come and go, and every detail possible, before going back to a sketch artist to have it all drawn out. Dressed in expensive designer clothes, requesting a ring resizing or something, it seems innocent enough for her to go in. The woman interviewed, also a former Pink Panther, told her personal story of how she came to enter and leave the organization and how she scouted out locations before the heists took place.

Jewel thieves are mesmerizing, whether they are speeding through the doors of a mall, smashing glass cases in real life or slipping into museums or cracking safes as time ticks down across movie screens. They capture imaginations because they are simply so elusive. And yet, as mentioned in the documentary, one heist can provide a nice life for about ten years.

Image by Briam Cute on Pixabay

What else fascinated me was the thieves' attitude towards diamonds. They are merely valuable things they are taking from the rich to enrich themselves. The thief interviewed in the documentary said he doesn't know why people spend money on diamonds, and it does make one wonder. The only real reason diamonds or jewels have any value at all is because human beings gave them that monetary value. We saw shiny things and decided they were worth something, and now they are things rich people willingly drop millions of dollars on. Hell, in 2015, the "Blue Moon" diamond sold for an astonishing $48.5 million dollars. $48.5 million. Someone had this money hanging around they dropped every last fucking cent on a rock. Wrap your head around that! The second-most expensive diamond in the world is currently set on the crown of the Queen of England. The "Cullinan" Diamond is worth up to $2 billion. At the top of the most expensive diamonds in the world, according to Google, is the "Koh-I-Noor" Diamond, though the value is listed online as "unknown" - but to be worth more than $2 billion?? Madness. Complete God damn madness. Anyone else want to cringe with me at the amount of money some people have and will willingly drop on diamonds? Sickening, really. No wonder the Pink Panthers live nicely for a decade after a heist. As the woman interviewed said, it was a life of luxury. (I consulted this list of diamonds for these numbers.)

Anyway! I was a bit unsure of where Emily’s story was heading, but this gave me some ideas for her. Not much else is known on the Pink Panthers, so I will be using creativity for the fictional jewel thief group I created. Emily encounters the Ruby Spiders near the end of “Beyond Cover 1: Diamond Gamble” after she and Dwayne lose track of some agency diamonds. Whoops! Upon that encounter, one of the Ruby Spiders leaders asks Emily if she’d like to join them. If Emily does this, she’d be the first undercover agent to infiltrate the group. It would be an amazing move for her career, but going deep undercover is no light business.

A typical undercover job means one is home at night. It’s short term. Deep undercover is the Donnie Brasco of undercover work. You move out of your home, change your entire identity and you become that identity full time, no stop. This means Emily would be sacrificing her entire personal life, contact with her family and everything for this job. It’s not an easy choice. Does she do it? We’ll have to find out.

One of my favourite parts of writing is where research can take me, and what it can bring to my writing. Sometimes real life is indeed stranger than fiction. Reading about these heists makes one marvel at how alike to action movies they are. It’s exciting to be able to weave it into my own books. This experimental spinoff is becoming its own story, and I am looking forward to writing more on it. I wasn’t initially sure whether I was going to self-publish this series or not, but I think I will. I read an article recently on how publishing a series is one of the more profitable ways to make a living on books, and how writing within that same fictional universe can be profitable since readers are already accustomed to that world and some of the characters.

In the meantime, I am posting the first drafts of “Beyond Cover” on Booksie, alongside “Beyond Dark”. Feel free to check it out and let me know what you think! I also have some articles about the Pink Panthers to share:

The Guardian in the UK featured the filmmaker behind the "Smash and Grab" documentary, Havana Marking. This is a great article as a preview of the documentary. While I had a hard time finding anywhere to stream (especially in Canada) I did find the DVD on Amazon.

This 2014 CBS article also gives great insight into the Pink Panthers and some of their heists.

And for that article of publishing a series, for my fellow authors.

A Halloween Special

This was a piece I submitted to a contest. It didn't win, but I wanted to share it regardless in spirit of Halloween. Enjoy!

Something Lives Out There

Something lives out there. In the shadows of this town not touched by the full moon.

They linger like scarecrows, eyes piercing through skin and bones into your soul. In the pitch-black nothingness, where coyotes howl in aching drones.

Prairies sprawl into fields hued yellow and emerald. In midday, I swear the sun touches everything as though no spirit realm opens; no dark entities exist.

But they do. Beneath one Halloween blood moon, the living and spirit worlds were as close as possible. It was the night I fell to the wrong side.

I stood at my window, watching skeletal trees bending to demands of hurricane-class winds, leaves swirling along the dirt road. I did this often. Standing. Wondering. Waiting. Something lives out there. I thought I was safe in the confines of home, despite walls moaning like old bones.

There they were. Yellow eyes that visited every full moon. It approached my window, not blinking as it retreated then returned several times. My stomach churned, the instinct to join it ever stronger.

My bare feet followed it to the edge of town before I knew it. I stopped. I hated this darkness, sauntering blindly into nowhere. I didn’t want to become a local who walked away from home, lights still on, and vanished. It happened each Halloween.

The eyes dissipated. I stepped forward into the sensation of falling. The wind whipping. Snapping at bushes. Whistling in my ears, crashing around me. Screeching. Screaming. Was that still the wind? Where was the moon?

Hands reached out – cold, no skin, no physical being. Fingers clenched my arms, pulling me forward against the wind. I resisted amidst blood-chilling screams.

I don’t know how long I walked. My legs were numb. Frigid. Skin raw from anguished gales. Exhausted from resisting.

My feet, cut up and bleeding, stepped onto something hard and cold. My arms fell free. My eyes snapped up when crimson moonlight trickled down, giving a glimpse of what lay before me. The train bridge. I teetered over 300 feet above the rushing river. Panic immobilized me; my feet unsteady. I shouldn’t have come.

Something lives out here. Where many took a leap. Where others drowned. I don’t want to be part of it. Why did I follow? Why did being consumed by shadows feel so oddly liberating?

I stepped backwards. There was grass somewhere. I never reach it. I tremble. An ice-cold chill goes over me. Yellow eyes appear.

“I don’t want to come,” I holler before it yanks me over the edge. I scream. A never-ending shriek of terror. Falling. Wind screeching. I don’t know when it ends but it must.

I awoke standing over my body. The wind dead. A train squealed across the bridge, a bright headlight above. The steel shook. Then it was gone. The moon shimmered white.

I look over at the yellow eyes, waiting patiently.

“But why?”

“You live out here now.”

“But I didn’t want to.”

“No. I wanted you to.”

Happy Halloween!

Image below by jplenio on ,Pixabay

Belladonna's Roots 2: a glimpse at the profile

Research, research, research. Knowledge becomes central to a story. Much of what a writer studies to make a story realistic never makes it into the book, or gets cut in the editing stage because info dumps are a thing. Like many authors, I am guilty of lengthy info dumps in my first drafts. I simply love sharing what I learned! As my beta reader told me, my first draft of “Belladonna” read like a psychology textbook. Whoops?

I enjoy constantly expanding my field of knowledge. “Beyond Dark 1: Belladonna” gave me two major research points to dive into: female serial killers and the use of the plant, Atropa Belladonna, also known as Deadly Nightshade.

Image by TheOtherKev from Pixabay

As with their male counterparts, the psychology of female serial killers (FSK) is detailed and not a one-size-fits-all. So, I will break this down as it pertains to the Belladonna Killer’s profile (without giving away spoilers) in the book. I will discuss other types of FSKs in as the future books of the series come out. Otherwise, we’ll be here for eternity.

Criminal profiling is broken down into three things:

MO and Signature: MO (modus operandi) is how the criminal operates in order to complete what they need to do. This is the aspect of a profile and behaviour that can adapt as needed in order to avoid arrest. Signature is an impulsive routine that will not change with the serial killer perfects the act of murder. It pertains to the fantasy in their minds that drives them to kill repeatedly. This difference is important.

Geographic Profile: Where were the victims killed? Why did the killer choose that area? Are they familiar with it, or is it of sentimental value? Were the victims killed the same place as the body disposal site or were there two locations, hence two crime scenes?

Victimology: What do we know about the victims, their lives, family and friends? Physical appearance? Routines and habits? What made them a target, or did the killer select them at random?

This all ties together to form the profile. The definition of a serial killer, as classified by the FBI, is someone who kills three or more people with a cooling-off period in between. This differentiates from a mass murderer: one who kills four or more people within the time span of one incident.

But a serial killer is not as simple as that definition. The psychology is personal to each one. We hear plenty about male serial killers. John Wayne Gacy. Jeffery Dahmer. Jack the Ripper. These are names far more prominent than the women who kill. However, women are still profiled using those three things. It is when we dissect the details of MO/Signature, Geographic Profiling, and Victimology that we see the differences between the two.

My stats and info for this post come from Peter Vronsky’s highly informative book, “Female Serial Killers: How and Why Women Become Monsters”. I will note if the source for other info differs. As I said, we will focus primarily on the profile for Belladonna as it pertains to the book, without giving away spoilers.

As far as FSKs go, the Belladonna Killer is an oddity. While women are mostly like to kill using poison, often they use arsenic, antifreeze or something more readily available than a highly toxic plant not even native to Canada. FSKs are more likely to kill people they know, instead of strangers. They prey on husbands, children, parents, patients; people in their own homes and lives. People they supposedly love. That’s the frightening part. Male serial killers tend to seek sexual gratification, an outlet to a demented fantasy. I applied a non-sexual fantasy element to Belladonna for an added twist–I didn’t want the first case of the series to be a typical FSK. So, let’s break it down.

MO and Signature: The Belladonna Killer poisons her victims using the plant, Atropa Belladonna, which kills in small doses. She doesn’t need much to render her victims dead. It is an effective poison which also ties into her fantasy. She has some knowledge of forensics, how to avoid apprehension and cameras, as displayed by the fact little to no evidence is left at the body disposal sites. Her knowledge of using Deadly Nightshade is detailed. She is familiar with the plant, its history and which dose will kill.

The plant, Deadly Nightshade, has a history we will discuss in length in a future post. It was used by Italian women to dilate their pupils, as they thought it made them more attractive to men. It was also used as a medicine for various things. But beauty is what pertains to this unsub’s fantasy, as outlined in the letters she starts sending. Her overdosing of the victims is a sign of her emotional state during the murders. Angry, yearning vengeance, and wanting to watch someone else suffer. Overdosing, ritualistic posing at the disposal sites, and her choice of poison as symbolism all weave into what becomes her signature.

Geographic Profile: She kills within the city of Ottawa, displaying a detailed knowledge of the layout. It lends itself to the conclusion she must be a local. This also means that her life in that city could be a partial stressor to why she kills. What is in her background that drives her? What is it about this place that contributes to her behaviour? Why does she dump the bodies in alleys? It could be convenience, pertaining to MO, or it could indicate how she feels about her victims, giving insight into her signature. Geographic profiling is helpful for indicating whether an unsub is local, or a travelling killer, and where she is finding her victims.

Victimology: This is where the Belladonna Killer stands out. She kills women she doesn’t know, 20- 25 years old who work in the entertainment industry. They are models, actresses and musicians, all blond and what society deems to be exquisite, even perfect. Slender, with immaculate fashion taste and seemingly carefree lives. Her selection of victims could indicate a resentment towards the industry, or to the women in particular. The association of Deadly Nightshade with beauty could be why she chose it as a poison method, linking back to what makes it part of a signature. Her victims being in the entertainment industry could mean she may work somewhere in it, or once did. There is something about the victims that pushes her over the homicidal edge into a spiral of jealousy, rage and self-pity.

Conclusion: All of that circles back to one another, which is how Alyssa concludes the profile: The Belladonna Killer is a covert narcissist with a history of prolonged trauma. The elements of jealousy and rage make Belladonna a beta female killer personality. According to Peter Vronksy’s book, “Female Serial Killers”, jealousy, rage or hatred drive this type of woman to kill, driven by an element of self-victimization. Covert narcissists also display these traits, along with passive-aggressive behaviour, quiet yet smug superiority, envy of others, and a lack of empathy.

(The rest I will leave for readers to explore in the book, as this portion of the profile becomes detailed with spoilers.)

Female serial killers. They’re cold, conniving, calculating. Their sadism is a reserved monster waiting to be awakened. According to Vronsky’s book, one in six serial killers in the US is a woman. They are more common than we think, due to their quiet nature. Male killers, like BTK or the Zodiac, feel the need to brag about their activity. We rarely see this with FSKs. They don’t crave the validation their male counterparts do.

One like the Belladonna Killer embodies the fantasy element and the need for attention more common to males, yet her MO and Signature is a combination of a typical FSK and something purely personal to the madness in her head. Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) isn’t as common in women. Men make up 50-75% of those diagnosed with NPD (according to the American Psychiatric Association). It has similar traits to other personality disorders, which makes the disorders in general difficult to diagnose. And to be fair, the stats may not be accurate – most narcissists never seek help, never get diagnosed, as they don’t believe anything is wrong with them. That would mean having self-accountability and empathy, which are both behaviours that can be learned with tons of therapy, yet most narcissists don’t perceive therapy as something they need.

I will explore NPD in the next post – it is detailed and fascinating how these minds work, and I could go on about psychology and serial killers for days.

I must note, though, that not all people with personality disorders become killers, and not all killers have personality disorders. One does not mean the other will happen. It would be discriminative to assume otherwise. As someone who suffers from mental illnesses (not a PD), I feel it is important to make this distinction. With proper therapy and support, one can live a managed and functional life with a personality disorder. Nothing I’ve written is meant to apply generically to everyone.

Thanks for coming along this journey with me. We’ll delve more into the psychology of narcissism and Anti-Social Personality disorder next time.

Take of yourselves – and each other.

"Beyond Dark 1: Belladonna" can be pre-ordered here!

Belladonna's Roots 3: Narcissism

Narcissist: “an extremely self-centered person who has an exaggerated sense of self-importance”, and also: “a person affected with ‘Narcissistic Personality Disorder.’” (Merriam-Webster)

“Narcissist” is a term thrown around a lot. It could be heard commonly throughout the years “Criminal Minds” aired and is used casually to describe someone arrogant and cocky, or obsessed with their appearance. The true psychology behind narcissism goes much deeper–which is what we’re discussing this week in my inspirations for “Beyond Dark 1: Belladonna”. For this post, my use of the term “narcissist” will refer to one who has the personality disorder.

It is important to note early on that not all narcissists are serial killers or criminals. The disorder can be managed, should the one affected want to do so. According to the Mayo Clinic website:

“A personality disorder is a type of mental disorder in which you have a rigid and unhealthy pattern of thinking, functioning and behaving. A person with a personality disorder has trouble perceiving and relating to situations and people. This causes significant problems in relationships, social activities, work and school.”

Image by ,Mylene2401 from ,Pixabay

Personality disorders are believed to result from both genetics and environment. A child’s heaviest influence comes from their parents. They learn what they know. So, the traits we inherit from our parents combine with the environment in which we grow up, forming our views of the world. Those who grew up in chaotic or abusive homes, who had unstable childhoods, are more likely to form personality disorders. A family history of personality disorders or mental illness could contribute to a child forming one.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) falls under Cluster B disorders, which include dramatic, highly emotional and unpredictable behaviour or ways of thinking. NPD is often associated with severe selfishness and ridiculous cockiness. Men are more likely to be diagnosed with NPD (50-75% of those diagnosed are men, according to the American Psychiatric Association). Women are more likely to be diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), which is also a Cluster B disorder.

Since this is about “Belladonna”, covert narcissists will be the focus. Much of my information about narcissists, and specifically, maternal narcissism, comes from the book by Karyl McBride, “Will I Ever Be Good Enough?”. I use this book extensively for reference and research throughout the “Beyond Dark” series.

When I first began working on Alyssa’s character profile, I knew from the start she would be a serial killer’s daughter, and the parent in question would be her father. But what about her mother? As I read further into NPD, the question lingered on my mind: What if both of her parents were narcissists? Are there different types? It then led me to questioning whether NPD is hereditary. Given what I learned about NPD, it was logical to have Alyssa struggle with the disorder while wanting to be the opposite of her parents. Her natural personality of being quiet and serious is more aligned with covert narcissism.

NPD is a spectrum disorder, which means there are varying degrees to the traits it can display. Malignant Narcissism is that larger than life, loud, outspoken personality, bursting with the appearance of confidence and being high on oneself. It is the outwardly brazen side of the disorder.

Covert narcissism, also called “vulnerable narcissism”, is where women tend to fall in the subtypes of NPD. This personality is more reserved, self-deprecating, and the superiority that trademarks NPD is quieter. Instead of being loud and belligerent, the covert narcissist will judge a situation or person quickly and tune everything out when they are disinterested. They appear to listen, but don’t take in anything. They find said person or situation boring or below them and don’t find it necessary to pay further attention. It is in their body language and sense of detachment one finds this narcissist’s judgemental and condescending ways. Eye rolls, glares, dismissive waves, turning away, sighs or scoffs, general inattentiveness and impolite behaviour. This quiet smugness, like any narcissist, is covering for a deep sense of vulnerability, incompetence and insecurity. A hardened front makes it easy to pretend one isn’t as detached from other humans as they really are.

They may also exhibit passive aggressive behaviour, be extremely sensitive to criticism (damage to that ego), responding to with fight or flight. They’ll either get defensive and smugger, or withdraw in a pouting manner, being aloof once more about their superiority. They have a complex of being special and misunderstood. If parents set their children up on a pedestal while there is nothing to back up that complexion, the child may go into adulthood with a superiority that has a foundation of arrogance instead of actual skill or personality. The complexion then becomes a front for the feelings of incompetence or shame.

We see a lot of this behaviour with Alyssa in “Belladonna” as the killer gets further into her head, undoing years of therapy and triggering the disorder. Alyssa fluctuates between her professional exterior, where she listens, usually when she’s dealing with victims’ family and friends. With co-workers, though, she is more likely to tune them out. She is between still immersed in the disorder and learning how to connect to people around her meaningfully.

And this is where empathy comes in–the foundation of all human relationships. It is a learned behaviour in which we connect to others and learn how to care, relate and engage. A child first learns empathy from its parents, specifically their mother. When stripped of a mother’s nurturing, or of love from any maternal figure, a child is less likely to form empathy for others. It’s hard to do that when the chaos of unstable parents made it hard to form attachments to anyone, or to relate.

While I don’t have a personality disorder, I can say from experience that living through an abusive childhood to become an adult often feels like looking from the outside in. There’s a detachment from normalcy. When all you know is chaos and deep pain, there is no normal. When you can’t relate to normalcy, it’s harder to form empathy, which makes it hard to form relationships of any kind. A personality disorder forms to create a front for that inability to connect to others. Children mimic what they know.

Alyssa struggles to make these connections while trying to break out of her glass house of isolation she’s put herself in to avoid hurting anyone else in her life. She will never rid of the disorder completely, but her character conflict is finding a place in her life where she can connect with others as friends and be a genuine version of herself, not what her mother dictated she be. (I’ll touch on maternal narcissism more in the future post about Alyssa’s profile.)

That concludes this week’s installment of “Belladonna” inspirations. Below is a list of research resources I used to accumulate information, if you are interested in learning more. Next week, we take a deeper look at the plant, Deadly Nightshade, and its fascinating history as both medicine and poison, and what led me to applying it to a fictional female serial killer. Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any thoughts or feedback!

If you haven't yet, "Beyond Dark 1: Belladonna" can be pre-ordered here!

Resources

Book:

“Will I Ever Be Good Enough?” by Karyl McBride

Websites:

Psychology Today:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/communication-success/201601/7-signs-covert-introvert-narcissist

Good Therapy:
https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/covert-narcissism-the-quiet-counterpart-to-narcissistic-personality-0822197

Belladonna's Roots

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. I will post “Belladonna” inspirations throughout September and October as part of the ongoing book launch leading up to the release date of Nov. 1.

If you have any suggestions or want to ask about anything within these posts, feel free! In the meantime, feel free to pre-order “Beyond Dark 1: Belladonna”. For now, pre-orders are only for eBooks. Print will be available to pre-order in October. Next time, we’ll delve into fun facts from my research for the book!