True Crime Can Make You An Author...

[Fishface]

It just struck me as I was reviewing Oswald that the author might never have published anything book-length if he had not been so close to the JFK assassination. He went on to publish many other books, ranging from Zenarchy to The Idle Warriors. The same might be said of Vincent Bugliosi, Melanie Thernstrom, our very own Andy Brown and probably even Ann Rule. And let's not forget Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs, who never attempted anything longer than a lyric poem until one of their fellow Beats murdered another, leading to their penning And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks.

Does anyone know of any other names of authors who got started writing true crime and became established as authors because of it? I can't say that of Truman Capote even though In Cold Blood is the book everyone thinks of when they hear his name. (Besides, he considered the book a novel, so...oh, maybe I'm just splitting hairs.)

[Koren]

Not going to say for sure, but I think Mark Fuhrman (of O.J. Simpson fame) mostly writes about cases he has been involved with.

[Fishface]

Oh, I would agree about Mark Fuhrman. If not for the OJ case he would never have set pen to paper, I suspect.

[Shelley]

Karen Kingsbury started out writing true crime and is now a best selling author of fiction. She is called a Christian novelist. I haven't read any of her stuff but I do have a copy of one of her true crime books. I haven't read it yet.

[Andy]

I would have never written a book if I had not been involved in a high profile crime. I would have preferred that the crime never occurred and I remain in obscurity, but I am proud of the book.
Warnings Unheeded
Most likely wont author any other books though.

[Fishface]

That's a shame, Andy! You're a refreshingly good writer.

[Andy]

Fishface wrote: "That's a shame, Andy! You're a refreshingly good writer."

Thank you!
It was an overall good experience, and I am excited to be published. However, with a full time job and a family, my wife would kill me if I started writing another book.
If that happened, maybe you could write a true-crime book about it.

[Fishface]

Andy wrote: "Fishface wrote: "That's a shame, Andy! You're a refreshingly good writer."

Thank you!
It was an overall good experience, and I am excited to be published. However, with a full time job and a famil..."

That would be my sorrowful honor. I always wonder about the authors who go on and on in their dedications to the constant support of their partners and children. Is it really that hard on everyone to have a member of the family write a book?

[Andy]

Fishface wrote: Is it really that hard on everyone to have a member of the family write a book?"

I haven't completely neglected my family or job as I wrote and researched the book, which is one reason it took me so long to complete. However, I do look forward to being able to focus more of my mind and time on my family now that it is completed. For a while, it was an all consuming project.

[Fishface]

Well, you can congratulate yourself on a job very well done. It was worth it.