Yesterday was the official release of Corey Mitchell's latest book, Pure Murder. It was also the beginning of his 15-date Virtual Book Tour and word scramble contest.
At the bottom of every interview will be a "Word of the Day." Participants will need to follow the tour to collect all fifteen words, which they will then need to unscramble to form a quote. The first person to submit the exact quote, along with the name of the original person who said it, will win signed and personalized copies of all five of Corey's Kensington/Pinnacle books.
The tour and interviews began yesterday at In Cold Blog and continues here today. For my interview with Corey I chose to focus on his life as a crime writer.
How did you get started in true crime?
When I lived in Los Angeles during the late 90's/early 00's, I went to the L.A. Times Book Fair to see an author by the name of Dennis McDougal. He writes Hollywood biographies and true crime books and I was a huge fan of his writing. I brought of all his books with me, had him sign them all, and then stood around chatting with him about his work. I asked him if he ever needed a research assistant that I would be more than happy to help him out. Three weeks later he called to tell me he had just signed a contract with a major publishing house to write a book on The Yosemite Park serial killer, Cary Stayner and he needed some help with research. Of course, we did not know it was Stayner at the time because the killer was still out there while we were researching in the park. In fact, just a couple of weeks after we went up to Yosemite, Stayner decapitated Joie Armstrong inside the park.
I helped Dennis with most of his research and took photographs for his book, The Yosemite Murders. At the same time, I had already written the book proposal for what would become my first book, Hollywood Death Scenes. I asked Dennis if he would be interested in writing the introduction to the book. He agreed, and the rest is history.
What authors do you like to read and which book would you consider your all-time favorite?
For the past several years I have been mainly interested in liberal-based political books by such noted authors as Robert Reich, Al Franken, David Sirota, Eric Alterman, and George Lakoff. I have always been a political junkie and the current administration has provided plenty of fodder, both serious and humorous, to ponder.
For my personal enjoyment, I love, and have always loved, the horror genre. Clive Barker, Poppy Z. Brite, Joe Lansdale, Brian Keene, Richard Laymon, Caitlin Kiernan, Lucy Taylor, Phil Nutman, Tim Lucas, Dennis Etchison, John Skipp and Craig Spector, H.P. Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood, Edgar Allen Poe, Shirley Jackson, and Ed Gorman are just a few of the many brilliant horror novelists I admire.
I actually don't read much true crime any more now that I write it for a living. I am, however, a huge fan of Dennis McDougal, Gary Lavergne, and Darcy O'Brien.
As for my favorite books, Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry takes the non-fiction prize. I read this book when I was nine years old and have been corrupted ever since. Despite the fact that I now realize it is a bit of a prosecutorial puff-piece, the storytelling, organization, and humanization of both the victims and the perpetrators is impressive and obviously influential on all of my work.
For fiction, Throat Sprockets by Tim Lucas. It is the most bizarre horror novel I have ever read that has never left my senses. Plus, it covers all of the things in life I find entertaining: sex, cinema, and psychosis.
