"Lizzette Martinez’s story embodies the fire energy that gives light and life to survivors all around her! Survivors need to see strength and perseverance despite opposition, and Lizzette models just that." - Melissa Schuman, actress and singer In January of 1995, 17-year-old Lizzette Martinez met Grammy-winning musician and record producer R. KELLY at Aventura Mall in Florida where he was performing. At first, it seemed that her hopes of … [Read more...]
Awaiting The Verdict: How Lizzette Martinez Survived The Weeks Before Justice In R. Kelly’s New York Trial
I am Lizzette Martinez, one of the many survivors who suffered abuse at the hands of famed singer R. Kelly. The relationship began when I was just seventeen and continued into my early twenties, but the effects of everything that happened have followed me my entire life. I was listed in the indictment for R. Kelly’s trial in New York, and this is my story—my life outtake—of what it was like to sit and wait for justice again after all this … [Read more...]
Lizzette Martinez and Keelin MacGregor
Lizzette Martinez is the survivor and silence-breaker featured in the Emmy-nominated documentary Surviving R. Kelly, Parts 1 & 2. She was one of the first women to come out about the singer publicly to Buzzfeed in 2018. Puerto Rican and from a music family, Lizzette, an aspiring vocalist, was seventeen when she met R. Kelly at a Miami mall. She began a working association with the star that quickly turned into an abusive relationship. Her … [Read more...]
WATCH ME DIE: Last Words From Ohio’s Death Row Inmates
Step inside the death chamber and behind the walls of Ohio’s death row. Bill Kimberlin, Psy.D, invites the reader on an extensive and unbiased journey inside Ohio’s death row in WATCH ME DIE: Last Words From Death Row. You will see how these inmates think as Kimberlin not only spends time interviewing them, but also eats meals with them and, in some cases, is the last person to speak with them before they are executed. From the moment they … [Read more...]
Bill Kimberlin, Psy. D.
Author Bill Kimberlin, Psy.D. has been researching and writing about death row and the execution process for well over a decade. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice, a Master of Arts degree in Counseling, and a Doctorate in Psychology. Kimberlin began a postdoctoral residency in psychology but was most interested in understanding the worst of the worst criminal minds. This led him to focus on the psychology of those on … [Read more...]
The Strange Case of Wilma Frances Minor and Cora Mickle-Hoffer
A key prosecution witness in the Fritzie Mann murder case of 1923 in San Diego was a woman named Wilma Minor, who five years later became the most famous person involved in the case due to her involvement in a bizarre hoax. Nobody in San Diego would’ve predicted this any more than they would’ve believed that Wilma had been involved in a very different but even more bizarre episode ten years before. Judging by the news coverage of the case, she … [Read more...]
James Stewart
I always wanted to be a writer. But the first time I attended college, in the 1970s at Louisiana State University, I chose a “practical” major that would’ve opened the door for certain jobs in my hometown. I should’ve followed my instincts and taken a step toward my ultimate goal—to become a professional writer—by majoring in English or Journalism. I didn’t follow those instincts and instead joined the Navy after college. I didn’t plan to make … [Read more...]
10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Jazz Age
1. Colleen Moore, Clara Bow, and Louise Brooks became famous for portraying flappers in silent films, but the first was Olive Thomas in the 1920 film “The Flapper.” Thomas died later that year in Paris after ingesting husband Jack Pickford’s syphilis medicine (mercury bichloride) in what was officially ruled an accident, though some believe it was suicide or murder. 2. Olive Thomas’s death was the first of five notorious Hollywood scandals … [Read more...]
How I Came To Write About The Mysterious Death Of Fritzie Mann
Like so many others, I got hooked on crime nonfiction back in the mid-70s when Helter Skelter came out. The best-selling true crime book of all time begins with a warning: “This book will scare the hell out of you”—the best introductory teaser for a book I’ve seen and absolutely true. Over the years I developed a fondness for narrative nonfiction books in the tradition of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, particularly those about vintage crimes such … [Read more...]
Reliving Emotions and Stumbling Upon My Sister’s Secret
On Writing The Book Writing the book brought back all kinds of memories and emotions. Some of those emotions were old and some were new. Things I thought I knew, I didn't. Things I didn't think I knew, I did. The passage of time, while seemingly unfortunate, brought with it maturity and another 25 years of life experience to a healing process I thought had already taken place. I cried tears I didn't even know were still possible to cry. I … [Read more...]
