DIXIE'S LAST STAND: WAS IT MURDER OR SELF-DEFENSE? Below is Carol Tilson's unedited FIVE STAR review of my true crime book, DIXIE'S LAST STAND, a soon-to-be newly published true crime feature-length book at WildBlue Press: Reviewer Carol Tilson says "I had a hard time putting the book down" Whenever I review a book, especially non-fiction, I always read it a second time to pick up whatever I missed. Before that second reading, I make a … [Read more...]
A crime of national news intrigue, a book for cops, mystery readers
In about ten days, true-crime readers from across the globe can become acclimated with a tiny western Iowa community that captured the national spotlight a decade ago: https://wildbluepress.com/dixies-last-stand-john-ferak-true-crime/ This was a murder case that ultimately generated incredible public awareness on hot-button topics such as domestic violence and murder in self-defense. How big a deal was the murder case involving Dixie … [Read more...]
Ron Franscell: Should crime writers profit from somebody else’s tragedy?
Every crime writer has heard this little heckling voice, usually from the cheap seats, but sometimes from inside his own head. It isn’t always loud, but it’s often piercing. My 2008 true crime, The Darkest Night, recently enjoyed a revival on bestseller lists when its long-awaited digital edition was released a couple weeks ago. It's an intimate story of a monstrous crime against two of my childhood friends in the small town where we grew up … [Read more...]
Tremendous input from true crime readers helps finalize our DIXIE’S LAST STAND cover
At WILDBLUE PRESS, we're a true-crime book publishing firm like nobody else. Why? Because we consider your input essential in our most vital work. It's a known fact that many readers of all shapes and sizes make a decision whether to buy a book based on the title and based on the cover. Over the past week, we've received hundreds of comments from TC readers all over North America as we posted several different dummy designs of … [Read more...]
True Crime Author Reflects On Cold Case
Woman's Powerful Courtroom Statement About Sister's Murder Shows Slow Justice Still Important To Families As I listened this afternoon to a weeping woman explain as best she could the impact the unsolved murder of her sister thirty-five years ago had on her and her family, I reflected once again on the fact that justice is not always about punishment. It is also about people such as that woman, and her family, having their day in court and … [Read more...]
BOGEYMAN’S Jackson covers another heartbreaking Cold Case
The idiom "got away with murder" has come to mean something other than its literal definition. Figuratively, it's used to describe someone who was allowed to do something that others would be criticized or punished for--such as "he gets away with murder just because he's so cute." But to a true crime writer, especially one who often delves into Cold Cases, the original definition takes back it's original meaning with all of its brutality, sorrow, … [Read more...]
VAMPIRE’S Sullivan Never Meant To Write About Bundy
Several days ago I wrote an article about real evidence, and how those personal items of murder can have an impact on the one holding and viewing such evidence. Mostly, the reaction will be positive, but there will be times when a sense of repulsion will surface based solely on what is confronting you. In the case of Richard Chase, there was one item that really turned me off. But most of it was interesting and contributed to my … [Read more...]
VAMPIRE Author Recounts Personal True Crime Story
“Follow that blood trail” I thought as I got out of my car. I was attempting to visit my brother in a downtown Louisville care facility (Ken had damaged his mind in the late 1960’s through the use of hallucinogenic drugs), but as soon as I pulled up to the curb of this three-story brick fortress-looking building, I spotted several small pools of blood, and a trail of blood leading inside. Being young and feeling invincible, I didn’t give it a … [Read more...]
Trailer for Ron Franscell’s new true crime EVIL AT THE FRONT DOOR
Louisiana – famous for its Mardi Gras, spicy cuisine, and Dixieland jazz – is also the scene of some of the most notorious crimes in the country. Bestsellers Ron Franscell (who wrote THE DEADLINE, a WildBlue classic mystery) and Rebecca Morris write about a sultry, Southern beauty who proved to be a deadly hitchhiker; the bloodiest day in New Orleans history captured on live TV; how life for a young woman changed just because she … [Read more...]
VAMPIRE Author Talks About “Why I Write True Crime”
Occasionally, folks will ask me why I write true crime. And without missing a beat, I always tell them that before I composed my first sentence describing the murder and mayhem that is such an ever-present reality on our planet, I’d been a student of these strange happenings for over three decades. You see, the first true crime book I ever read was Charles Franklin’s, The World’s Worst Murderers. It was 1965, I was ten years old, and I became … [Read more...]
