WildBlue eZine Vol. 1 No. 3 NO STONE UNTURNED RELEASE

Upcoming Releases

THE OBITUARY by Ron Franscell will be released May 15th. Pre-order today.

Featured Blog Posts

Beach House Writing Salon II: A Unique, Intimate and Intense Experience for Everyone by Caitlin Rother
NO STONE UNTURNED Prologue Sets the Stage for The True Story of NecroSearch International by Steve Jackson

Ask an Author

The WildBlue “Ask an Author” series provides readers with the opportunity to ask their favorite authors questions about a particular case, or the writing process in general

This week we have selected a question directed at author Ron Franscell from Marlene Fabregas. Ron Franscell is the bestselling true-crime author of “The Darkest Night” and “Delivered from Evil,” which established him as one of the most provocative new voices in narrative nonfiction. His beautiful literary jaunts in “The Sourtoe Cocktail Club” and “Angel Fire” have made him one of America’s most entertaining storytellers.

Marlene: “Since you knew the two girls in your book “The Darkest Night,” was this the toughest book you have ever written, or has there been another story which has affected you more or just as much?”

Ron:

“This monstrous, small-town abduction of two young sisters in 1973 — my next-door neighbors and friends at the time — ended in rape and murder at a towering steel bridge over a deep, dark canyon.
Both girls were thrown from the bridge. One plummeted into oblivion, the other into an even darker life that became a kind of corrosive purgatory for her.
So the crime itself involved a fall that still twists my gut. It’s an extremely intimate book.

There were difficult moments—opening the old box of physical evidence was jolting—but I was shielded by my journalistic training.
While the abduction, rape and murder of two young friends certainly churned inside, I was able to take one step back from it to tell the story.
On the other hand, it was important to explore my memories and emotions to make the book something more than a dispassionate account of a horrible crime.

Probably the most difficult part of writing the book was my series of interviews with the killer Ron Kennedy. He was the most important piece of this story to me. He was my mirror. I wanted to know if my deep-set feelings about this man — or rather what he represented and did — were stronger than my passion to be a conscientious journalist.
If I couldn’t take a step back from my feelings to allow him to tell his own story in his own voice, I wouldn’t be the journalist I thought I was … and he would have raped me of that, too.

That intimacy is what made it tough. The only one of my other books that approaches the intimacy of “The Darkest Night” would be “The Sourtoe Cocktail Club,” a memoir about an extraordinary journey with my then-teenage son to the edge of the earth.”

We want to hear your questions! Send in questions for either our ask a detective or ask an author series.
Email: mackenzie@dev.wildbluepress.com

Special Events

1. Author Steve Jackson will be hosting a live online Q&A event on Monday May 11th to discuss NO STONE UNTURNED. This session will be hosted on WildBluePress.com. Stay tuned for more details.

2.NO STONE UNTURNED release

If you enjoy Forensic Files, CSI shows and the very best in true crime stories, you’ll love NO STONE UNTURNED by Steve Jackson. An updated version of this true crime classic will be released for the first time as an eBook on April 28, with audio book soon to follow. Only one day left to pre-order.

THE OBITUARY by Ron Franscell coming soon

3. THE OBITUARY Release

The thrill-packed mystery sequel to THE DEADLINE by Ron Franscell will be released on May 15. THE OBITUARY is on pre-order now. Catch up on the adventures of Jefferson Morgan first by reading THE DEADLINE.

Media Appearances

The killer from Steve Jackson’s BOGEYMAN was featured on Investigation Discovery’s Most Evil series. The show features interviews with Steve and Gary Sweet, the detective from this case. Find the link to watch this episode here

Bradley Nickell will be a featured guest on Darkness Radio with host Dave Schrader Tuesday evening 04/28/15 from 10 PM to Midnight CST as part of the “True Crime Tuesday” series. The show is broadcast live on Fox Radio AM 1130, Twin Cities News Talk, out of Minneapolis and simulcast over the Internet at the Darkness Radio website. Go to the DR website and click on the link that says “Click to Listen Live.”

WildBlue Press Author Series on Shattered Lives Radio with Donna “Lady Justice” Gore. Saturdays at 5pm.

True Crime 101

True Crime 101 is a new series that covers different topics in forensics, criminology and sociology as they pertain to solving criminal cases. We will survey important scientific trends and techniques, as well as take a closer look at crime statistics.

This week’s topic is forensic anthropology. Forensic anthropology draws upon concepts from physical or biological anthropology for application in medicolegal contexts. These concepts include human skeletal morphology, a nuanced understanding of physical development over the lifespan and human diversity across time and space.

Forensic anthropologists can help to identify human remains, even when they are incomplete or badly decomposed. Once the remains are identified as human, anthropologists can begin to create a profile based on skeletal traits including characteristics like: age, sex, ancestry and stature of the person. Forensic anthropologists also look for indicators of trauma in the skeleton. They can read features on the bones that divulge histories of endured abuse and help to identify the ultimate cause of death.

In honor of the release of NO STONE UNTURNED we have focused on the work of Diane France, forensic anthropologist of NecroSearch International and founder of the Human Identification Laboratory of Colorado. In addition to holding many distinguished positions in the field of forensic anthropology including professor at Colorado State University, France has a casting company that makes skeletal molds for researchers and educators. France has examined remains thought to belong to Anastasia Romanov and the skull of Jesse James. She was one of the scientists helping to identify remains on site in the devastating aftermath of the September 11th 2001

The Romanov grave site

World Trade Center attacks.

Stay tuned next week to learn more about how forensic anthropologists conduct research and “read” human skeletal remains to draw out the stories of the people they belonged to.