One of the many delights of the writing life is meeting authors from around the world. Today’s guest, Stephen B. King, writes crime and suspense stories from Perth, Australia. His latest release from The Wild Rose Press is Glimpse: The Beautiful Deaths. Let’s have a look at both books in the Deadly Glimpses series.

In 1999 Australia, Sergeant Rick McCoy investigates the murder of a woman found packed inside a suitcase.

The Killer abducts another victim and threatens to dismember her slowly. His life is further complicated by a marriage in tatters. Frustrated at every turn, he is paired with glamorous Criminal Psychologist and profiler, Patricia Holmes.

While trying to rebuild his marriage, he finds himself in a desperate race against time to free the victim and fight his desire for his new partner. 

 Rick McCoy of the Major Crime Squad is trying to repair his marriage when he is sent to the South of Western Australia. A young girl’s body has been found in a cave, with flowers on her chest. A search finds five more bodies. 

Beautiful criminal psychologist, Patricia Holmes, has recovered from her stab wounds inflicted by the serial killer PPP, and is brought in. Pat believes they are hunting a man who is addicted to beauty. When another school girl goes missing, they have only days before she too will die. 

As their desire for each other grows and the pressure on their marriages increase, they close in on the man responsible for the beautiful deaths. Meanwhile, in the high-security wing of the mental health hospital, PPP plans his revenge on Rick. 

Excerpt:

She smiled, “Oh Tyler, I do so love a challenge when it’s thrown down. Here goes: Our man has led a sheltered life. Loving, not cruel, but he had overbearing parents, and one, or both, are probably still alive. He visits them often. I would think because by doing so it anchors him in his past, and he likes being there. He has always been on the submissive side, and one or both of his parents have used that side of him forever. I do not mean sexually submissive, I mean he is malleable, and a stronger personality will use that. His life changed, when he grew up and he moved on, but sometimes he hates the way that it has changed. I think he is married to someone who is, or was once, beautiful, but who also has a quite domineering personality. Submissive men are generally drawn to strong personalities, because they feel better when decisions are made for them. From time to time though, he would rebel against that dominance. It could be in small ways, but occasionally he needs to re-assert himself, to remind himself he is a man, and not a mouse, if that makes sense.”

Rick was fascinated, but Tyler appeared less so. He seemed to Rick to be bored. If Pat noticed, she ignored it.

“Our man likes beautiful things, in fact, it’s more than like. He is drawn to beauty like a moth to the light. Flower arranging is one of the ways he does this. I think he makes the wreaths himself, I’d say he is a keen gardener, and his flower beds will be stunning, and when you visit his home, as I am sure you will, you will find arrangements displayed predominantly. I think he has also been a collector, it would be something like stunning African butterflies, exotic postage stamps, or porcelain china dolls, something like that, things that look exquisite. I can’t stress this enough, beauty is his thing, but in an obsessive-compulsive way. So, he loves beauty and in a way, his wife, and parents before her, stopped him from enjoying all the beautiful things that he craves. His day to day, mundane life gets in the way, if you like, so he lives in a bit of a fantasy land dreaming of all the beautiful things he could possess, if only he were allowed.”

“Pat, are you saying he wanted to collect these girls because they were beautiful?” Rick asked, incredulously.

Tell us about your inspiration for this story, Steve.

I met a woman who when she found out I was an author of thrillers said to me, I have an idea you can use: When is a Serial Killer, not a Serial Killer? The answer to that riddle forms the basis of this book. Glimpse 1, Glimpse, Memoir of a Serial Killer was in the early editing rounds at that time, and I had the plan for a trilogy, but not the murderer for book 2. A man who was addicted to beauty because his real life is the complete opposite to that. From that point, the story flowed like no other before it. Right now Book 3, the finale of the trilogy (the best trilogy’s come in threes) is in the early editing stages, so it’s come full circle and that seems so appropriate.

Do you write in other genres?

I believe a good writer should be able to write in any genre. That said I’m not criticising authors who stick to one genre, that’s their choice, mine is to tell stories, whatever story takes my fancy at the time. I have a memory stick with ideas on it, hehehe, you should see some of them that I may, or may not get around to writing. While my passion is in the thriller/suspense/police procedural mould, I write where my heart and inspiration leads me. I’ve written romantic suspense, horror, erotic thriller, several short stories, twenty-seven poems and numerous songs when I was in a rock band playing guitar. At the moment I’m 40000 words into a romantic thriller set in 1952 on a remote lighthouse – and I love it.

What’s your favorite part of the writing life?

When I get lost ‘in the zone’ a bomb could go off next door and I’m so deep into the story I wouldn’t hear it. It is a joy to be able to tell stories, and for people to enjoy them. Sometimes, and often they are the best times, I will read back what I’ve written and say: “Oh my God, where did that come from?” I rarely write to a plan, but start from one point and move forward. I find that I want to know what’s going to happen next as I’m writing it. So writing is as exciting for me to create, as it is for a reader who really enjoys the final product. My famous namesake said in his book On Writing, an author must write first for his enjoyment, I passionately believe that to be true.

Authors always seem to have a teetering To Be Read pile. What’s in yours?

I have little time to read these days, and that is agony because I love a good un-put-downable book. So, what I’ve done is discovered audio books. Two of mine have been turned into audio with the third in production now so I got into the habit. I have a forty-five-minute drive to work, so that’s an hour and a half I can enjoy other people’s books. I am a sucker for Scandinavian crime thrillers, dark, moody and full of character. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy is the best stuff I’ve ever read, and at the moment, I’m working my way through Henning Mankell’s Wallander series – love it.

I love all sorts of fiction and nonfiction, but I can’t abide a protagonist who keeps making dumb, self-destructive decisions. What makes you put down a book without finishing?

I hear you and agree. For me a story is all about the characters and if I can’t relate to them I don’t care what happens to them. In my stories, I like taking normal people who are flawed – as we all are, and putting them in extraordinary situations. But I agree with you, who cares what happens to dumb people who make the same stupid decisions over an over?

But if an author can hook me, make me feel for the protagonist, make me care, and then suddenly they are put in harm’s way, I want to cheer for them, cry for them, even fight for them and want them to survive.

Which authors have inspired you?

Here’s quite an eclectic list:

Michael Crichton, fantastic thriller writer, sadly no longer with us, who wrote such incredible tales as The Andromeda Strain, Airplane, Disclosure and of course, Jurrasic Park.

Stieg Larsson, what a tragic story that was: He delivered his trilogy to his publisher, and then died so never got to see the success his Dragon Tattoo trilogy brought.

Lastly for the finest character developer I’ve ever read, I cannot go past my famous namesake the other Stephen King. Even if you don’t like his genre, read Stand by me (originally called The Body) or Shawshank Redemption, or It, Rose Madder, or my favourite, Duma Key for making you cry, scream and laugh for his characters.

Thank you for asking such great thought provoking questions, I’ve had a blast, and learnt some things about myself.

Visit Stephen B. King here:

www.stephen-b-king.com
email: stephenk8@me.com
Twitter: @StephenBKing1
Facebook: @stephenbkingauthor

Also by Stephen B. King:

Forever Night
Domin8
The Vigilante Taxi
Burial Ground
Repo
Published by The Wild Rose Press:
Thirty-Three Days