Writers are often told to “write what you know.” But I’ve always preferred to write what I want to know.
I’ve never been an FBI profiler or moved to a remote Alaskan town to escape memories of losing my Army unit. I’ve never negotiated with a mass shooter or been held hostage in the heavily guarded compound of a cult. But I’ve written characters who’ve had all of these experiences.
I believe in writing with as much realism as possible (with certain exceptions, like not detailing exactly how to build a bomb when my explosives expert is defusing one). And since I can’t write these experiences directly from what I already know, or my own lived experiences, I need to do a lot of research.
But the research is half the fun. Quite often, my stories are born from what fascinates me. One of my most popular characters, FBI profiler Evelyn Baine, was created because I wanted to create a character who could tell you a lot about who committed a crime not from the physical evidence, but from the behavioral evidence (think of that as what a crime scene can tell you about who a person is, just from the actions they took). So, I read dozens of books on profiling and started profiling cases I read about to see if I could describe the suspect accurately before I had Evelyn do any profiling in HUNTED.
Of course, I still mine from my own experiences when I write, especially my own emotional experiences. I may not know what it’s like to face off against a serial killer, but I do know what it is to be terrified someone is about to hurt you. I may not have gone to war, but I’ve lived through loss and grief. I pull from my own experiences constantly, then filter them through the characters, because the way I experience and react to something isn’t the same as how my characters will react. That’s because my characters grew up differently than me, they have different personalities, different training, and different triggers. And that fascinates me too.
Why people behave the way they do has connections to profiling, even if it’s not about a crime at all. The psychology behind behavior? More research. That way, police training is intended to make particular responses almost like muscle memory. More research.
And then when all of the research is finished, the characters and the plot just move, my fingers racing across the keyboard as if I am writing what I know. Because I guess by then, I do.
The Profiler #1
Terror stalks a small Virginia town.
FBI rising star, criminal profiler Evelyn Baine, knows how to think like a serial killer. But she's never chased anyone like the Bakersville Burier, who hunts young women and displays them, half-buried, deep in the woods. As the body count climbs, Evelyn's relentless pursuit of the killer puts her career—and her life—at risk. And the evil lurking in the Burier's mind may be more than even she can unravel.
Terror is closer than she thinks…
The Bakersville Burier knows he's got an FBI profiler on his trail. He knows who she is and where to find her. And he's biding his time, because he's planned a special punishment for Evelyn. She may have tracked other killers, but he vows to make this her last chase. This time it's her turn to be hunted!
Romance Suspense | Thriller [MIRA, On Sale: December 31, 2013, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780778315841 / eISBN: 9781460323755]
Fast paced & thrilling start to a new series
HUNTED offers a thrill ride introduction to Evelyn Baine, FBI profiler extraordinaire.
AN UNDER THE COVERS SUSPENSE THRILLER!
Publishers Weekly bestselling author ELIZABETH HEITER likes her suspense to feature strong heroines, chilling villains, psychological twists, and a little bit (or a lot!) of romance. Her research has taken her into the minds of serial killers, through murder investigations, and onto the FBI Academy’s shooting range. Her novels have been published in more than a dozen countries and translated into eight languages; they've also been shortlisted for the HOLT Medallion, the Daphne Du Maurier award, the National Readers' Choice award and the Booksellers' Best award and won the RT Reviewers' Choice award.
The heroine of Elizabeth's Profiler novels was called "one of the most amazing characters created in print" by Fresh Fiction. Her novels have received praise from Lee Child, J.T. Ellison, Jeffery Deaver, Tess Gerritsen, R.L. Stine, Allison Brennan, Laura Griffin, Suzanne Brockmann, Hank Phillippi Ryan and Zoë Sharp.
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