Mistaken and false identity aren’t new topics in the mystery fiction realm. One of my favorite authors, Ross Macdonald, often explored the complications that arise over identity issues. Macdonald’s wife, Margaret Millar, based the solution to the mystery in How Like an Angel on mistaken identity, revealed in a stunning twist in the very last line of the book. Since false or mistaken identity is a great device to use in mystery novels, it … [Read more...]
IDENTITY CRISIS Author Debbi Mack on The Loneliness of the Long-Form Writer
"This is why we tell fictional stories. To connect with others at some level by creating worlds that express truths that facts alone cannot." Like many work-where-you-want professions, writing can have an isolating effect on one’s life. Many people may assume that being free of annoying bosses/co-workers and able to set your own hours would be a perfect way to live. The truth is that people are social animals. This is why we tell … [Read more...]
Q & A Session With Sin City Cop And Author Bradley Nickell
Lifelong cop and WildBlue Press author Bradley Nickell will be periodically doing a Q & A session, speaking about his wildly popular true crime thriller, REPEAT OFFENDER, police work in Las Vegas, writing in general, and anything else you're interested in knowing. Check out the first installment of the series, right here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C52k-d0dHC0 Bradley is asking you to come up with more questions. Please submit … [Read more...]
John Ferak in Dixie’s Hometown: New Video Interview with Iowa Sheriff Gene Cavenaugh
As Dixie Shanahan, central figure in John Ferak's true crime, DIXIE'S LAST STAND: Was in Murder or Self-Defense? anticipates the possibility of being released from prison, John is in Iowa corresponding from Dixie Shanahan's hometown, Defiance, and the prison where she has been held since 2003 for the murder of her husband, Scott Shanahan. Here John interviews sheriff Gene Cavenaugh about Shanahan's upcoming appeal hearing and what he thinks … [Read more...]
Dixie Shanahan’s release from prison is nearing: Author Ferak predicts
HARLAN, Iowa -- Months after the release of my best-selling book, DIXIE's LAST STAND: WAS IT MURDER OR SELF-DEFENSE? I visited the hometown of Dixie and Scott Shanahan and gave a pair of PowerPoint book presentations in the same community where Dixie's momentous 2004 murder trial occurred. wildbluepress.dixie Thursday's presentations at the Harlan Community Library was a trip down memory lane. Back in 2003 and 2004, I covered the criminal … [Read more...]
John Ferak’s New Video Series from the Hometown of Dixie Shanahan
John Ferak, author of hot new release BODY OF PROOF, is in Iowa corresponding from outside the prison where Dixie Shanahan lives since she was convicted for the murder of her abusive husband. John documented her story in DIXIE'S LAST STAND: WAS IT MURDER OR SELF-DEFENSE and now he returns to her hometown of Defiance Iowa to document the latest chapter in DIXIE'S story. Will the court hear Dixie's appeal? Will she remain in prison? Was it … [Read more...]
Who’s the popular Omaha news commentator featured in BODY OF PROOF?
Tom Becka of Omaha's FOX 42 Midway through writing my draft of BODY OF PROOF: Tainted Evidence in the Murder of Jessica O'Grady? an idea popped in my head. Why not interview a journalist with strong familiarity with the tragedy? Sure, I lived in Omaha, Nebraska, for nine years, but I don't have the same pulse in the community as I did from 2003 through 2012. Nowadays, I live in Appleton, Wisconsin. For BLOODY LIES, I interviewed Nebraska … [Read more...]
Blame it on Nancy Drew
I’ve been a book lover for as long as I could read. When I was a girl, at around age nine or ten, my mother introduced me to the Nancy Drew mystery series. From the moment I began reading them, I was hooked. What could be cooler to a young girl than to solve mysteries with her friends and have a really awesome blue convertible (or was it a coupe of another color?) to solve them in? From my start with Nancy Drew, I moved on to other mystery … [Read more...]
Sheriff Dunning tells BODY OF PROOF author he suspects there’s an accomplice still out there
He's a Republican politician and the City of Omaha's most visible law enforcement official. Tim Dunning began his career as a small suburban police officer during the early 1970s. Soon afterward, he joined the big-city Omaha Police Department. He worked there for more than 20 years. By 1994, he ran for sheriff of Douglas County (the same county where Omaha's located) and he defeated the incumbent sheriff. And Tim Dunning's remained the … [Read more...]
Behind the Book Video: John Ferak on BODY OF PROOF
John Ferak's latest true crime, BODY OF PROOF: Tainted Evidence in the Murder of Jessica O'Grady, is not his first book featuring fallen CSI commander David Kofoed. BODY OF PROOF was written as a sequel to Ferak's BLOODY LIES: A CSI Scandal in the Heartland. In this Behind the Book video, Ferak describes how the two books are related. BODY OF PROOF has been shaking up the Amazon bestsellers lists for true crime categories! … [Read more...]
Join our email list