Killer's Diary - author interview

The following is a shortened version of an interview that originally appeared on the web site The Literary World. I am interviewed by Lauretta Pierce.

Q. Who is Brian Pinkerton?

A. Brian Pinkerton is a guy who lives in my skin and steals my good name to write disturbing books about innocent people who get caught up in horrific crimes.

Q. How did you come about the idea to write KILLER'S DIARY?

A. I wrote up a list of potential concepts for my next novel and one of them was about a lonely woman in a coffee shop who finds a journal that might belong to a serial killer. I showed the list around and a lot of people liked that particular hook. I thought it had some interesting potential. What if the woman found the author and they entered into a romance? What if she realized the journal might hold clues to killings in her neighborhood? What if she had a vivid imagination from reading too many books? Would she be able to distinguish a real threat from paranoia? How well do any of us know the people we are close to?

I also thought it would be fun for readers to be reading the journal entries with the main character, Ellen, and feel the same anxiety and suspense.

Q. How did you come about Ellen's character?

A. I wanted to create someone who was sympathetic, isolated and desperately seeking intimacy. I wanted her decisions to be very difficult and her own. She's someone who has been timid and victimized in the past. She's forced to become a tougher person who questions her circumstances, initiates an investigation and ultimately must defend herself in ways she has never encountered.

Q. Why did you choose a book store as Ellen's place of employment?

A. During book signings for Vengeance, I asked a few book store managers what kind of character they would like to see in my next work. One of them replied, "A book store employee!" I thought, why not? For this novel, it seemed like the ideal occupation for a character who is a bookworm. Ellen loves the written word and falls in love with someone based on his passionate writing in a mysterious journal.

Q. How did you come about Charles' character?

A. I wanted to create someone Ellen could identify with - a troubled young adult with a traumatic childhood. It brings them together and they have a common bond. Will the relationship enable them to transcend their ugly past - or will it drive them into even darker depths?

Q. Will you give the readers a brief summary of KILLER'S DIARY?

A. Sure! Here's the trailer...

Killer's Diary is about a lonely young woman, reeling from a broken engagement, who works in a Chicago book store. On a cold winter morning, she stumbles on a personal journal that has been left behind in a coffee shop. She takes it home and falls in love with the intense voice of the writer.

After an obsessive search, she meets a man who might be the journal's owner and begins to date him. They enter into a passionate romance. She is drawn to him but can't bring herself to tell him about finding the journal. After each date, she rushes home to read another passage to uncover more about her boyfriend's troubled past and inner secrets.

But as the journal progresses, the tone becomes much darker. Then one night, she reads a passage that sounds like a murder confession...at the same time a serial killer is terrorizing her neighborhood.

Q. What message would you like readers to receive from reading KILLER'S DIARY?

A. Love conquers evil. But there may be a few casualties along the way.