Do you know any real life criminals?
I recently received a letter from a friend about a certain Madam X.
This is an acquaintance of ours.
Of course, I can’t go into specifics, but I can say this.
After reading through a long list of court documents, arrest records, and police reports, I was, frankly, overwhelmed.
You see, I’m no stranger to crime and criminals.
I grew up in a neighborhood where half the kids became professionals, and the other half wound up in jail, or dead.
I was one of the lucky ones. As soon as I was able, I got out.
Karma rides a slow horse
The years went by, and some of those men who did their time returned to the old neighborhood.
Now and then, when I’m there, I’ll see them on the street. They are broken down old criminals, but I still see in them the kids they used to be.
I see guys who tried to take the fast track and realized they were not as sharp as they thought they were.
Some of them show up in my stories.
I don’t excuse what they did. They were wrong, and they hurt people, one way or another.
But here’s the thing.
Madam X
I never saw in them the raging malice, the sheer delight in cruelty, I see in Madam X.
Like most authors, I take my clues from real life when I write my novels. Some are based on true stories, and some of my characters are villains.
My acquaintance with Madam X, however, is the closest I have come to a real monster.
Why she is the way she is, I don’t know, but she’s real, and she’s still free as a bird.
Monsters walk among us. If you want to see the stories I write, the stories my experiences inspire, look at Justice Delayed.
And be careful out there.
