This blog will be the proving ground and launch pad for my new True Crime thriller tentatively titled: “Mask of the Beast: the Life and Crimes of a Convicted Triple Murderer. “ I will also post my thoughts on writing as well as items of interest to writers and those who want to be. And, because of the subject matter of my new book, items pertaining to True Crime, forensics, and yes, even murder most foul, will also be fair game. It should be quite an interesting ride…
For those that are interested in the process…this is how Mask of the Beast came about.
One day in 1994, while still living in New Jersey, I was reading about Craig Francis Szemple who was on trial for one of three brutal murders he was accused of committing over a 16 year period. The first was the shooting death of a high school pal in 1975; the second the strangling death of a NYC prostitute in 1977; and the last, the murder of an aids infected NJ Turnpike toll collector to cover up a $500,000 Medicare scam. The article quoted part of a supposed confession made by Szemple. The confession was written so powerfully that I ripped it from the paper and stuck it in my wallet.
Some 12 years later and now living on the other side of the continent, I came across the news-clipping stuck in the bottom of a box of mementos. My curiosity was aroused and I searched the internet to see what I could find out about him. Had he been executed, had he died of natural causes, or was he living in some dark, dank prison cell in a god-forsaken part of the country? Googling his name I found, on an obscure religious website, postings that he had written (someone else posted them…he had no access to the internet) and at the bottom of the post was his contact info.
Now even though his last posting was in 2002, some four years earlier, I took a shot and wrote him a letter. I wrote of my fascination with his case, and especially of his written confession and with the words he used to write it. I had been looking for a new project and had been squeezing my muse so hard that she had begun to squeeze back.
And so I offered to write his story.
Weeks went by without an answer. I began to think that the address I had for him wasn’t valid, or that he had died, or that he just wasn’t interested.
On the fifth week I received his letter; he jumped at the idea, and the rest as they say, is history. We’ve been corresponding for the past nine months, he calls me (collect) ever Monday at 1:30 PST like clockwork for our 15 minute ‘monitored’ chat. I have reams of newspaper articles and clippings, trial transcripts from his attorneys, police reports, etc.
I have yet to meet him in person, however. We are waiting for 15 boxes of files to be delivered to him from the OPD (Office of the Public Defender). Once he receives them, I’ll fly back to New Jersey to interview him and others in person. There is so much I still need to know…
The proposal for this book has generated interest from publishers at Barricade Books and also from literary agents Dystel and Goderich of NYC. My muse is happy.
This, then, is his story…
3 responses so far ↓
Laurie // July 18, 2007 at 9:28 pm
And what a story it is. Please post more soon. I’m no fan of true crime stories but yours read like a good fiction novel. I actually felt like I was inside the head of the hunter.
Do you ever feel a little frightened about meeting your murderer or about offending him with what you write? Since he’s not dead does he have a say in what you write about him? I can’t imagine what it must be like to actually go inside a prison to talk to a murderer.
How long do you think it will take you to finish the book?
TheScrivener // July 19, 2007 at 10:03 am
Glad you liked what you read and thanks for the kind words. I’m not really a fan of True Crime either. This is my first foray into that genre, and I’m finding it very time consuming and constraining. Since it’s ‘True’ crime, I can’t embellish the story much even though there are parts of it that could use some decorating. As Jack Webb on the old Dragnet show used to say “just the facts, ma’am.” Quite frankly I prefer writing pure fiction…it’s MUCH easier, you just write what comes into your head…no cross-country interviews, fact checking, research, constraints…just imagination.
In answer to your questions, sure there are aspects of this project that cause concern. As comical as it sounds, I’ve been watching tons of CourtTV and MSMBC Investigates to immerse myself in his world. It is fascinating, however, and I find that It’s helped me to get inside Szemple’s mind.
No, he has no say in what I write, or how he’s portrayed in the story. I set the ground rules when I began communicating with him. His crimes are public record and he knows that I would write this with or without him. It’s much easier and more personal writing it with his insights, of course. He fills in the blanks. And because of the Son of Sam ruling, he understands that he will receive nothing from the publication of the book either.
I’m about half-way through the book. I still haven’t interviewed him personally, and there are many others that I need to speak to on the East Coast. The first part of the book details the murders of the three victims; Part Two, his life from childhood up until his incarceration; Part Three, the investigations and trials; Part Four details his life in prison leading up to the present time. To paraphrase an old saying ‘it will be finished when it’s finished, not sooner, not later.’ Actually, I would suspect it should be done by the first quarter or second quarter of 2008. It all depends on how the interviews go. I will be detailing the writing process here on this blog.
Check back often or add me to your RSS feed for updates. It should be quite interesting.
If you love ‘True Crime’ ya gotta check this out… « The Writer’s Life… // July 22, 2007 at 10:01 pm
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