Kathryn Casey

I slept well last night. Perhaps because yesterday I sent off my latest manuscript to my editor at HarperCollins, my new true crime book on the Matt Baker case. Matt was a Baptist minister in Waco, TX, who's been convicted of murdering his wife, Kari, and staging it to look like a suicide. It's a heartbreaking case.

I admit it: there were times I thought I'd never finish! I've spent 17 months on this book, and it's one of the most difficult I've written. There were so many setbacks! At first hardly anyone wanted me to write the book. I found out later that they had their reasons, and I understood. Eventually, I think they realized that someone was going to write a book on this case and that I would work hard and do my best.

By the end, nearly everyone on all sides of the case talked to me. A few months back, I even drove north to Livingston, TX, and interviewed Matt Baker in prison.

It's been a long Read More

10 Comments

Comments

May 03, 2011 6:18 AM EDT

Can not wait to read this latest of true crime written by you!!!!!!

- Jane Turley

May 03, 2011 6:27 AM EDT

I'm anxious to read the Matt Baker story. Until I read some of your true crime books, I usually shied away from that genre, now I know your books are tastefully done. Warm wishes for your work on a fiction book to entertain us.

- bev martin

May 03, 2011 7:20 AM EDT

I can't wait for The Matt Baker book!! When will it be released! I love your true crime!!

- Bobbie McKeefry

May 04, 2011 5:05 AM EDT

Thanks, everyone. Not sure when the new book will be out yet, but sign up for the Web site newsletter. I'll announce it here!

- Kathryn Casey

May 04, 2011 8:39 PM EDT

Good job! Been enjoying your books lately since I found you. Being from TX knowing the setting and perspective helps for me. Enjoy your break!

- Ec

May 08, 2011 8:14 PM EDT

You definitely deserve a wonderful vacation and just in time for Mother's Day. Hoping that some day you may have a book signing in my area of Texas.

- Joni

May 09, 2011 10:47 AM EDT

Thanks, EC and Joni! I'm enjoying the break. Then...back to work!

- kC

Aug 29, 2012 12:21 PM EDT

Not sure I want to read the book, since my husbands name is in it as first responder, but would like to see what it says about him. Would have thought you would have to have the ok from him, before you could publish names.

- K

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True Crime Writing 101 -- Part One

March 31, 2011

Tags: true crime authors, true crime, Kathryn Casey, Matt Baker, crime author, Crime Writer, mystery author, mystery writer, writing, Crime writing

I get a lot of emails from people who want to become true crime authors. Since I've been covering sensational cases for a quarter of a century - boy does that make me sound old - I've had quite a few experiences. As you may suspect, I can't answer everyone's questions in depth individually, so I've decided to tackle the subject here.

From here on out, I have my true crime not my mystery hat on, and I'm addressing those of you who want to write true crime.

First: Let's be honest; is this what you truly want? True crime writing isn't for the most part booksignings and giving interviews. Most of it's not particularly glamorous. And it's not easy. It's not simply a matter of showing up at a trial and writing a synopsis of the events, not if you want to do it well.

Many jobs are tough, and I don't mean to minimize how hard we all work at our professions. I truly don't. But I'm under the impression that some believe true crime writing is a piece of cake. Maybe I'm a bit slow, but that's not my experience.

I do go to the trials, and that's part of it, but for each book, I interview Read More

11 Comments

Comments

Mar 31, 2011 8:35 AM EDT

My personal belief it that,some folks are readers,some are writers.I wish I could be both,and have written some very fine home studies and love research,but I just don't think I could devote the time,space and energy to write for publication.I think I'd like to be a proof reader,or editor.
In the meantime ,I will audit Crime Writing 101,with enthusiasm! Thank You!

- Scarlett Horsburgh

Mar 31, 2011 1:26 PM EDT

You're welcome, Scarlett. My sense is that many people would like to write, and I'm hoping this is helpful. By the way, I LOVE readers. Without you, why would any of us write?

- KC

Mar 31, 2011 4:07 PM EDT

Kathryn,

Thanks for sharing your expertize. Because of my keen interest in true crime(can't make this stuff up...noone would believe it)and how our judicial system works, I started a blog to cover the first murder trial of Nicholas Sheley, accused spree killer of 8 people (2 women,4 men and a 2 year old boy) in 2 states.

It will be three years in July since Sheley's week long "alleged" killing spree and arrest. The first trial(one victim killed near where I live) has yet to begin but I have been attending pre-trial hearings and a trial/conviction for attacking officers in the county jail.

I have found I very much enjoy writing and even more so researching. Many have suggested I write a book about this case. Doing so would be a huge undertaking. There will be at least 4 trials before this case is over and spans from North central IL down to St. Louis, MO.

I don't know if I will ever do a book....my head starts spinning just trying to think from what or whose perspective to write. LOL! At any rate, I'm looking forward to your second installment of Crime Writing 101.Thanks for sharing!

- Kathy Fisher

Mar 31, 2011 4:49 PM EDT

You're welcome, Kathy. Next week, I'm going to talk about how to pick cases and write a proposal. The following week, I'm not sure yet, to be honest. Maybe on what I want to see in a true crime book, the ones that set a book apart from the pack! Glad you're enjoying it!

- KC

Apr 01, 2011 12:22 PM EDT

Thank you for your insights, Kathryn. They seem very reasonable.

I particularly like the one about starting small. There's a case in Austin, Texas that has caught my interest, and my thought is to write some articles on it. If there's enough material to warrant a book, and I have the propensity for it, then so be it. If not, I've still learned something.

- Brian Combs

Apr 01, 2011 5:25 PM EDT

That's a great plan, Brian. Check next week for insight into writing a proposal!

- KC

Apr 27, 2011 9:24 AM EDT

Lots of great advice, especially about starting small. I'm working on historical true crime, and I think more current true crime would be much more difficult. Sounds like a lot of interviewing, sitting through court proceedings, etc. Truly fascinating stuff, though. Thanks!

- April Moore

May 02, 2011 7:11 PM EDT

You're welcome! Hope it helps.

- Kathryn Casey

Aug 29, 2011 9:26 AM EDT

My firt visit to your web site. The "classes" in crime writing are interesting so I will probably be back. I have an immediate need to know (doesn't everyone?) about liability if one writes about a crime. I know you are familiar with the Price Daniel, Jr. murder in about 1985 in Liberty (OOooops, another from Liberty County) and my Mom attended every day of every hearing and child custody trial as Vickie never really stood trial for the murder. I wrote a story called "The Court Reporter Wore Tennis Shoes" which recorded the events using her interest as a reason to tell the story. I was afraid to try to publish it due what the Daniel could cause me in litigation for slander, etc. All I have written was either documented somewhere in the media or I personally have knowledge of the events and people involved. I had in my possession newspapers and court records for a long time and lost them in a flood, but I had already used them. A somewhat accurate account was written by Steve Salerno called Deadly Blessing but much of the local stuff he did not know. Can you offer me some direction. Why have you not written about this case? I worked for the radio station in Liberty or the newspaper during your Fontenot-Fleming days, and know Hurley F. because I am a school teacher and locally that was the buzz.

- Patricia Hasson

May 22, 2018 2:04 AM EDT

Confused re how to do old crime-everybody dead now, also about combining required imaginary embellishments with documented facts

- Laurie

Jun 02, 2020 11:23 PM EDT

Great article! The authors commonly examine actual crimes and detail the actions of real people when creating their narratives.
Please read my blog: 3 Things Authors Need to Know About True Crime Literature
Hope this will also help, Thank you!

- Wanda Draper - The Witness

Why Sarah Armstrong Hates Me

December 10, 2010

Tags: Kathryn Casey, Crime Writer, crime fiction, Sarah Armstrong Series, True Crime Author, true crime, Mysteries, Mystery books

Okay, writing fiction isn’t a popularity contest. That’s true. So this shouldn’t matter, right? Especially since, it’s not really possible for a character in a novel to hate anyone, including the author, right? Still, I’m beginning to wonder.

You see, Sarah’s my heroine. I’ve written three books featuring this Texas Ranger/profiler, a woman I invented sitting at my computer one afternoon after deciding against a host of other protagonists, including a crocheting grandmother and a junior league hostess. I’d been thinking about Sarah for a long time, whittling away at the block of marble trying to uncover the statue inside. Maybe, since my books are set in Texas, instead of a Michelangelo analogy, I should have said, taking a chain saw to the trunk of a fallen live oak to reveal the roughly hewn armadillo? No, that’s all just bad. Let’s just move on.

Anyway, to her delight or dismay, Lieutenant Sarah Armstrong has become my heroine, the center of my fictional world, and since 2007, I’ve literally tormented this poor woman’s life. But then she’s not alive. I know that. But to write about her, she has to be real to me and, to some extent (I’m sincerely not delusional), she is. The result is that I drive through Tomball, Texas, where I’ve planted the Rocking Horse, the ranch Sarah lives on with her mother and daughter, and I sometimes surprise myself by looking Read More

2 Comments