Over the last decade, crime has been decreasing, yet the adults convicted of felonies have been increasing. This is an odd trend. In such a nonsensical situation, I would put forth that; perception may play a large part in massive conviction rates.
If an abundance of violent crime has taken place in months surrounding the trial, many times there is a backlash from the general public. The idea formulates that a change needs to be made.People are not going to tolerate crime any longer. It is at those points when we see Juries seeking out stronger convictions, sending messages and making points. When society is relatively calm, sentencing and Jury decisions seem to validate this trend by becoming less extreme.
Society is goal oriented in the criminal justice system, as they are with all things. Protect the family, provide and accumulate. If a criminal is out there in their midst, how can they protect the family? If their security is being stolen, how can they accumulate and provide? Cultural norms seem to always dictate what we view as criminal, how we convict and prosecute those crimes. The prevailing winds of change affect criminals as relentlessly as it affects us all.
Until tomorrow. Fortune favors the brave! Samantha Shu
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Sex and the Serial Killer
The question of sexuality in relation to a serial killer is a fascinating one. In the cases where a person deteriorates into an animalistic executioner, can they maintain a normal sexual relationship? In many of these instances, I would say without pause, the answer is no. And yet, there have been documented cases where this was not the case. In most of these situations the relationship manifests, eventually into something darker, but occasionally, a very compartmentalized mind, may be able to maintain the two personalities, lover and killer.
Serial Killers are Murderers who take the lives of three or more victims over a period of time. These notorious men and women always have some dark, sexual aspects to their grisly murders. Ted Bundy killed his victims by bludgeoning and strangulation, after which he had sex with their lifeless bodies. Jeffery Dahmer tried to create sex slaves by drilling holes into their heads and pouring acid into the open wounds. This macabre individual, wanted desperately to construct a zombie, a dark sexual fantasy that proved impossible. His bizarre acts led to the cannibalization of his victims. It is widely believed that he was so in love with these men and boys, that he felt the need to consume them.
Henry lee Lucas began molesting a nine year old girl and continued that relationship until her sixteenth birthday. While this behavior was ongoing he believed he was in a relationship. He spoke freely of how he “raised her up from nine years old.” He was also active during this period of time, mercilessly killing women. He maintained that he loved his girlfriend, right up until he stuck a knife in her stomach, killing her in a pitiless act of brutality.
Eileen Warnos killed her victims while approaching the sex act; later claiming all of her victims had tried to rape her. During her highly touted, man hating adventure, Eileen maintained an odd relationship with a young lesbian. She asserted in several interviews, that she sold her body to provide for her young lover. These desperate acts led to the murders that later consumed her life. Even after her girlfriend turned on her, the desperate woman maintained her righteous rational for taking the lives of the men she viciously slaughtered. Her relationship with her girlfriend was an enabling one, both women helping the other to maintain a dysfunction, while blaming the other.
Dennis Rader, the B.T.K killer, used torture as a sexual component in his crimes. Although in several cases he never actually had sex with his victims, especially in the beginning. In Ted Bundy’s case, early childhood, trauma was evident and could be a catalyst to his future behavior. At age ten he discovered in a chaotic turn of events, his sister was actually his mother and his parents were his grandparents. There is some evidence that his grandfather was also his father. Some experts believe, this biological disturbance could attest for his aberrant behavior. Development of Ted Bundy’s brain may have been severely damaged by his incestual ancestry. This is only speculation.
Shyness plagued Ted’s youth until he learned to hide behind a cocky, self-assured facade. Like many serial murderers, Ted’s personal life was riddled with insecurities. He courted his first love using poetry and his infamous charm. Initially, his good looks and intelligence served him well, but soon the object of his affection saw through his veneer and called him on his juvenile behavior. Ted was humiliated. Although he later gained her approval by attaining a better job and a sleeker look, Ted brushed her off in an act of revenge and then moved on. Interestingly, all of Bundy’s later victims looked remarkably like this young woman.
Ted’s next sexual relationship with his college lover was aggressive, though not violent. Whatever deviant needs and desires Ted Bundy had, they were not expressed outwardly with this woman. Later, one of his partners stated that Ted liked her to lie still and sometimes he would pretend to strangle her. In retrospect, she wondered if he secretly wanted to be with a dead woman. This apparently became a problem latter on, as he became unable to perform in normal sexual situations. Again, Ted’s issues seem to stem from his first serious girlfriend belittling him after several misunderstandings. She reportedly called him a boy and told him he wasn’t able to sexually satisfy her. This seemed to be a turning point. Although he seemed to enjoy sex and have real affection for this young woman, his need for dominance eventually overcame his ability to retain an erection during normal sexual activity. Ted was so addicted to this dominate behavior that when given the chance to rekindle his first true love, he chose an act of petty revenge instead. Subsequently, he focused his rage on her likeness. Was Ted punishing her for knowing how insignificant he was, through a series of surrogate victims?
In the case of the B.T. K. Strangler, Dennis Rader operated in the Wichita, Kansas area for more than thirty years. He was a member of the church during that period and was married to Paula Raider, all the while enjoying the debauchery of a diabolical killing spree. During these dark years, Dennis was going home to his wife and behaving quite normally. They lived in a quaint Kansas home. He managed to father and raised two children, even becoming a Boy Scout leader, while continually living out his darkest fantasies.
Dennis implied in many of his writings, that he maintained this relationship to foster a feeling of normalcy. Marrying Paula was another step in what Rader perceived as a normal existence, as was becoming a member of the church and having children. His wife has not spoken at length about Dennis, but it was clear that a possibility exists that she was aware of his actions. (BTK, Unholy Messenger, Stephen Singular. 2006, Simon & Schuster) Paula discovered a poem that was written about one of the earlier victims. When asked about it, Dennis told Paula that it was an assignment for one of his criminal classes. Because he was in school studying criminal justice Paula believed him and let the incident pass. Dennis kept pictures and an abundance of memorabilia from his crimes in the house, easily accessible to any member of the family.
An executioner who crossed borders as well as boundaries, was a man named Jack Unterweger. Jack was a convict. He originally went to prison for a vicious crime in the mid 1970’s. Jack began writing about life in prison and constructing poetry, among other prose, that led to his acclaim as an author. In a peculiar event, he was released in 1990 and soon after became a celebrity of sorts. In the eyes of the criminal justice system he was considered a model of rehabilitation. Around this time woman began to show up dead, brutalized and strangled with their own bras. Many of these women were prostitutes. Later, that fact and that the killers name was Jack, was not completely lost on the public’s fascination with this unusual case. Jack, using his notoriety inserted himself into the investigation. He began hosting a radio show and interviewed the police, discussing the details of these troubling murders. He traveled from Australia to America frequently using his job as a cover to commit horrendous crimes. During the violent escapades of this period, Jack was maintaining a relationship with a beautiful woman he met while in Los Angeles, a trip he took that culminated in several slayings.
The relationship started slowly, with romantic dates and long walks on the beach. They would discuss the cases of the murdered girls and eventually Jack convinced his new love to travel to Australia. Once in his home town, Jack began to display odd behaviors toward his lover. He would dump freezing water on her head and pretend it was funny. Occasionally, he would dunk her when she was taking a bath, from time to time, holding her under, just long enough to scare her. When she cried he would say, “Why are you so upset? It was just a joke.” Sex was normal initially, but slowly he began to choke her during their love making, eventually until she was unconscious. (Entering Hands, John Leake. 2007)
Like many serial murders before him, Jack felt abandoned by his mother and fostered a hate for all women. He was able to hide this behind a facade of over the top behavior and extravagant wardrobes choices. All of Jacks friends describe him as a charismatic gentleman. This is what his girlfriend believed in the beginning. It never occurred to her that she was falling in love with an ex- con who was still a psychopathic serial killer. Jack kept extensive diaries, expounding the daily events of his life. This allowed great insight into his broken mind.
The traits that this group all share seem to be the need to appear normal. This is especially true in the aspect of sexuality. As long as the partner believes they are experiencing a normal range of intimacy, they are able to continue this façade. This seems to change once the significant other catches a glimpse of the aberrant behavior their partner secretly desires. Once those cracks are witnessed, the house of cards begins to fall and what lies beneath is exposed. Few criminals of this magnitude are capable of sustaining a functional relationship during times where they are criminally active. The case of BTK is a rare one and is also suspect. As stated earlier, many doubt that Paula Rader was as unaware as she claimed.
All of the serial killers of the last few decades have maintained some sort of sexual relationship prior to, or during their killing sprees. While all of these killers have several characteristics in common, the need to rape, torture, and sometimes mutilate their victims, did they maintain a normal sex life outside of their insidious acts of violence? Were their relationships with others normal? Or, were they simply playing a game of cat and mouse, far darker than anyone ever realized? The most obvious answer to these questions is this: a murderer can only maintain a sexual relationship in the same distorted way they would maintain any other. It is a manipulation, rocketing down a pathway of inevitability and catastrophe.
Until tomorrow. Fortune favors the brave! Samantha Shu
Serial Killers are Murderers who take the lives of three or more victims over a period of time. These notorious men and women always have some dark, sexual aspects to their grisly murders. Ted Bundy killed his victims by bludgeoning and strangulation, after which he had sex with their lifeless bodies. Jeffery Dahmer tried to create sex slaves by drilling holes into their heads and pouring acid into the open wounds. This macabre individual, wanted desperately to construct a zombie, a dark sexual fantasy that proved impossible. His bizarre acts led to the cannibalization of his victims. It is widely believed that he was so in love with these men and boys, that he felt the need to consume them.
Henry lee Lucas began molesting a nine year old girl and continued that relationship until her sixteenth birthday. While this behavior was ongoing he believed he was in a relationship. He spoke freely of how he “raised her up from nine years old.” He was also active during this period of time, mercilessly killing women. He maintained that he loved his girlfriend, right up until he stuck a knife in her stomach, killing her in a pitiless act of brutality.
Eileen Warnos killed her victims while approaching the sex act; later claiming all of her victims had tried to rape her. During her highly touted, man hating adventure, Eileen maintained an odd relationship with a young lesbian. She asserted in several interviews, that she sold her body to provide for her young lover. These desperate acts led to the murders that later consumed her life. Even after her girlfriend turned on her, the desperate woman maintained her righteous rational for taking the lives of the men she viciously slaughtered. Her relationship with her girlfriend was an enabling one, both women helping the other to maintain a dysfunction, while blaming the other.
Dennis Rader, the B.T.K killer, used torture as a sexual component in his crimes. Although in several cases he never actually had sex with his victims, especially in the beginning. In Ted Bundy’s case, early childhood, trauma was evident and could be a catalyst to his future behavior. At age ten he discovered in a chaotic turn of events, his sister was actually his mother and his parents were his grandparents. There is some evidence that his grandfather was also his father. Some experts believe, this biological disturbance could attest for his aberrant behavior. Development of Ted Bundy’s brain may have been severely damaged by his incestual ancestry. This is only speculation.
Shyness plagued Ted’s youth until he learned to hide behind a cocky, self-assured facade. Like many serial murderers, Ted’s personal life was riddled with insecurities. He courted his first love using poetry and his infamous charm. Initially, his good looks and intelligence served him well, but soon the object of his affection saw through his veneer and called him on his juvenile behavior. Ted was humiliated. Although he later gained her approval by attaining a better job and a sleeker look, Ted brushed her off in an act of revenge and then moved on. Interestingly, all of Bundy’s later victims looked remarkably like this young woman.
Ted’s next sexual relationship with his college lover was aggressive, though not violent. Whatever deviant needs and desires Ted Bundy had, they were not expressed outwardly with this woman. Later, one of his partners stated that Ted liked her to lie still and sometimes he would pretend to strangle her. In retrospect, she wondered if he secretly wanted to be with a dead woman. This apparently became a problem latter on, as he became unable to perform in normal sexual situations. Again, Ted’s issues seem to stem from his first serious girlfriend belittling him after several misunderstandings. She reportedly called him a boy and told him he wasn’t able to sexually satisfy her. This seemed to be a turning point. Although he seemed to enjoy sex and have real affection for this young woman, his need for dominance eventually overcame his ability to retain an erection during normal sexual activity. Ted was so addicted to this dominate behavior that when given the chance to rekindle his first true love, he chose an act of petty revenge instead. Subsequently, he focused his rage on her likeness. Was Ted punishing her for knowing how insignificant he was, through a series of surrogate victims?
In the case of the B.T. K. Strangler, Dennis Rader operated in the Wichita, Kansas area for more than thirty years. He was a member of the church during that period and was married to Paula Raider, all the while enjoying the debauchery of a diabolical killing spree. During these dark years, Dennis was going home to his wife and behaving quite normally. They lived in a quaint Kansas home. He managed to father and raised two children, even becoming a Boy Scout leader, while continually living out his darkest fantasies.
Dennis implied in many of his writings, that he maintained this relationship to foster a feeling of normalcy. Marrying Paula was another step in what Rader perceived as a normal existence, as was becoming a member of the church and having children. His wife has not spoken at length about Dennis, but it was clear that a possibility exists that she was aware of his actions. (BTK, Unholy Messenger, Stephen Singular. 2006, Simon & Schuster) Paula discovered a poem that was written about one of the earlier victims. When asked about it, Dennis told Paula that it was an assignment for one of his criminal classes. Because he was in school studying criminal justice Paula believed him and let the incident pass. Dennis kept pictures and an abundance of memorabilia from his crimes in the house, easily accessible to any member of the family.
An executioner who crossed borders as well as boundaries, was a man named Jack Unterweger. Jack was a convict. He originally went to prison for a vicious crime in the mid 1970’s. Jack began writing about life in prison and constructing poetry, among other prose, that led to his acclaim as an author. In a peculiar event, he was released in 1990 and soon after became a celebrity of sorts. In the eyes of the criminal justice system he was considered a model of rehabilitation. Around this time woman began to show up dead, brutalized and strangled with their own bras. Many of these women were prostitutes. Later, that fact and that the killers name was Jack, was not completely lost on the public’s fascination with this unusual case. Jack, using his notoriety inserted himself into the investigation. He began hosting a radio show and interviewed the police, discussing the details of these troubling murders. He traveled from Australia to America frequently using his job as a cover to commit horrendous crimes. During the violent escapades of this period, Jack was maintaining a relationship with a beautiful woman he met while in Los Angeles, a trip he took that culminated in several slayings.
The relationship started slowly, with romantic dates and long walks on the beach. They would discuss the cases of the murdered girls and eventually Jack convinced his new love to travel to Australia. Once in his home town, Jack began to display odd behaviors toward his lover. He would dump freezing water on her head and pretend it was funny. Occasionally, he would dunk her when she was taking a bath, from time to time, holding her under, just long enough to scare her. When she cried he would say, “Why are you so upset? It was just a joke.” Sex was normal initially, but slowly he began to choke her during their love making, eventually until she was unconscious. (Entering Hands, John Leake. 2007)
Like many serial murders before him, Jack felt abandoned by his mother and fostered a hate for all women. He was able to hide this behind a facade of over the top behavior and extravagant wardrobes choices. All of Jacks friends describe him as a charismatic gentleman. This is what his girlfriend believed in the beginning. It never occurred to her that she was falling in love with an ex- con who was still a psychopathic serial killer. Jack kept extensive diaries, expounding the daily events of his life. This allowed great insight into his broken mind.
The traits that this group all share seem to be the need to appear normal. This is especially true in the aspect of sexuality. As long as the partner believes they are experiencing a normal range of intimacy, they are able to continue this façade. This seems to change once the significant other catches a glimpse of the aberrant behavior their partner secretly desires. Once those cracks are witnessed, the house of cards begins to fall and what lies beneath is exposed. Few criminals of this magnitude are capable of sustaining a functional relationship during times where they are criminally active. The case of BTK is a rare one and is also suspect. As stated earlier, many doubt that Paula Rader was as unaware as she claimed.
All of the serial killers of the last few decades have maintained some sort of sexual relationship prior to, or during their killing sprees. While all of these killers have several characteristics in common, the need to rape, torture, and sometimes mutilate their victims, did they maintain a normal sex life outside of their insidious acts of violence? Were their relationships with others normal? Or, were they simply playing a game of cat and mouse, far darker than anyone ever realized? The most obvious answer to these questions is this: a murderer can only maintain a sexual relationship in the same distorted way they would maintain any other. It is a manipulation, rocketing down a pathway of inevitability and catastrophe.
Until tomorrow. Fortune favors the brave! Samantha Shu
Friday, May 21, 2010
Recidivism , what the heck does that mean???
Recidivism is a term very few are familiar with but if you plan on writing any crime drama you need to know this term. It means simply the rate at with a criminal will reoffend.
The most recent Statistics for probation and parole available were completed for year-end 2007. At that time there were much higher numbers in probation than parole. While parolee’s numbers were rising at a much-increased rate over probationers, the overall numbers of the latter far exceed the former.
103,000 people entered the system by the end of 2007. Only 12% were women. The largest numbers of parolees were white men. This was surprising to me initially. My opinion changed when I compared the populous rate for white men, to the ethic diversity. After that, the numbers made quite a bit more sense.
The recidivism rate was expected to be high by the end of the year. The expectations were met. The system saw 16% of prisoners return to prison by years end.
for more information Check out the link below
.
Until tomorrow. Fortune favors the brave! Samantha Shu
The most recent Statistics for probation and parole available were completed for year-end 2007. At that time there were much higher numbers in probation than parole. While parolee’s numbers were rising at a much-increased rate over probationers, the overall numbers of the latter far exceed the former.
103,000 people entered the system by the end of 2007. Only 12% were women. The largest numbers of parolees were white men. This was surprising to me initially. My opinion changed when I compared the populous rate for white men, to the ethic diversity. After that, the numbers made quite a bit more sense.
The recidivism rate was expected to be high by the end of the year. The expectations were met. The system saw 16% of prisoners return to prison by years end.
for more information Check out the link below
Until tomorrow. Fortune favors the brave! Samantha Shu
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Know the Basics
In order to create believable crime drama one of the first things you need to do is know your way around the elements related to the crime you are focusing on. For example, If you want to write a crime drama with a computer element, know the basic terms.
Here are a few to get you started
Hacker- a person that brakes into another person’s computer or network without permission to alter its contents.
Black hat- a person that violates the computer or network of another with the intent of producing negative results or to acheive personal gain.
White hat- these people provide security for major companies using their hacking abilities. Providing protection from illegal access.
Gray hats- people who gain illegal access to computers then admit to the crime and offer assistance in making sure the problem doesn’t occur again.
Script kiddies- these are people that surf the web in search of programs that they can launch and they don’t know what will happen.
Hactivist- these people break into computer systems make changes for political reasons.
Cyber Terrorist – these people hack into secure systems to cause damage or death the cause loss of services that cause severe negative affects.
Password grabbers and loggers- programs running on a person’s computer without their knowledge. Steeling passwords is their end game.
In any endeavor you undertake research is key. Know your audience and keep a clear idea of the message you want to express. Have fun and good luck!
Until tomorrow. Fortune favors the brave! Samantha Shu
Here are a few to get you started
Hacker- a person that brakes into another person’s computer or network without permission to alter its contents.
Black hat- a person that violates the computer or network of another with the intent of producing negative results or to acheive personal gain.
White hat- these people provide security for major companies using their hacking abilities. Providing protection from illegal access.
Gray hats- people who gain illegal access to computers then admit to the crime and offer assistance in making sure the problem doesn’t occur again.
Script kiddies- these are people that surf the web in search of programs that they can launch and they don’t know what will happen.
Hactivist- these people break into computer systems make changes for political reasons.
Cyber Terrorist – these people hack into secure systems to cause damage or death the cause loss of services that cause severe negative affects.
Password grabbers and loggers- programs running on a person’s computer without their knowledge. Steeling passwords is their end game.
In any endeavor you undertake research is key. Know your audience and keep a clear idea of the message you want to express. Have fun and good luck!
Until tomorrow. Fortune favors the brave! Samantha Shu
Friday, April 23, 2010
A Taste of Blood
All the words worthy of being used have been written. They languish on the pages of dusty books in amber lit rooms, unread and weeping from the loneliness of their plight. How can I save the words and utilize their brilliance, without treading on the fingers of their creators?
Sammy Shu '09
Below is a scene from “Bloodthirsty” my newest release, it may seem as if I am giving somthing away by choosing such a scene but trust me all is not as it seems.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=samantha++shu++bollodthirsty&x=15&y=16
A soft ecited murmur came from the members of the students still in attendance.
Leo shook his head, “of course, I cannot discuss my findings with our group until I have updated the task force, I’m calling the lead Detective as soon as I leave here and will be cleared to share by the time our group meets.”
Katie spoke up "How can that be? Don’t you have to wait to share theory and information until the case is closed.”
“That is correct” Leo smiled confidently “With what I have that shouldn’t be a problem.”
Another student spoke up and Leo waived his question away.” Nothing else today, save your inquiries until our meeting. Have a good night.” He began packing up his brief case. The students filed out, talking excitedly amongst themselves.
Katie remained seated until all of the other students had left and the door swung shut behind them. She stood, placing her hands on her desk for support.
“Leo, I’ve been working on a paper for my psychology class on this serial murder and I was wondering if you could give me an opinion on my theories.”
He was clearly irritated. “Katie, I told you, I can’t discuss this now.”
‘I know that, but you can talk about my paper.” She quipped, her heart still lodged in her throat.
“Isn’t your paper on the case?” he asked, a sharp point to his tone.
“Yes” she needed him to be a little irritated. She wanted answers. She needed to take him by surprise, if the answers didn’t calm her.
“Well then, I can’t discuss it,” He stated flatly.
“Oh… well, I was just gonna tell you, I think it’s a CJ student.” She watched his reaction to her statement.
“What?” Stricken
Shit, she thought, this is bad. She pressed, testing her theory further “And I think the differences in the crimes aren’t because they’re confused or trying to find their grove. I think it’s intentional to throw off the cops” she rushed on, watching his expression “And they know how to do it, because they study criminals” She chanted inside her head, tell me I’m crazy! Tell me I’m crazy! She liked Leo. Really liked him, sadness moved in her somewhere as she considered the inevitability of this moment.
He didn’t tell her she was crazy, as she knew he wouldn’t. His eyes were slits now and Katie knew, she wasn’t wrong. He was too close. Her heart regained is normal pace as calmness washed over her. Her gaze was sharp and the air inside the room became thick. She could feel the atmosphere thicken, as it always did in these moments. She heard Leo ask, “How did you come to these conclusions?” He demanded to know
“Why? Are they the same as yours?” She tilted her head demurely and winked at him
“Close, very close.” He replied slowly. She could see his brain, tick, tick, ticking away, trying to find a solution to this bizarre situation. Somehow a student had come to the same conclusions that he had labored over, paced the floor and lost hours of steep over. She could see it all on his face, etched into the lines around his eyes. She squinted at him, looking deeper seeing what only she could see.
“But you have something else, something that will blow the case open?” with his next action Katie knew she was correct. Knew with a certainty that if she didn’t act quickly this man, this lousy retired profiler, would be her undoing.
Leo opened his briefcase and began searching inside
While his attention was diverted, She slipped her hand into the backpack and slid out the long pearl handled knife. This had been a present from her grandmother ten years ago; a gift meant to hang on the wall in celebration of another mans victories. She griped it tight and wondered how many men’s blood had slipped down its long blade only to end in the palm of their killer.
She saw his deep exhalation as he located his paperwork on the case. She giggled. The sound was close to hysterical, harsh and shrill.
His head came up at the sound ” I didn’t steel your papers.” she said, and took a few quick steps in his direction. “I would never do that” he hadn’t noticed the knife. She could see him trying to evaluate the situation, to gage its magnitude.
“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what you have but I can’t risk it leading to me.”
He moved his head as if to shake it, then stopped and looked directly into her eyes. “Why would…” he stopped and his eyes grew wide as he obviously realized the full brevity of the situation.
Katie lunged forward plunging the pearl handled blade deep into his mid section.
Eye widening, teeth gritting, Leo grabbed her shoulders and pushed, as he did this, he stomped down hard on her left foot. She felt and heard the bones fracture in several quick snaps, like twigs from a brittle tree. She bit back a startled scream, held tight to the handle and fell back, landing firmly on her ass. Katie watched as Leo fell back against the wall and opened his mouth to yell out. She jumped from the floor and shrieked as pain; fire and ice, tore into her injured foot.
Immediately she dropped back to the floor, a moment before his boot landed under her chin. Her teeth slammed together and copper filled her mouth. Still conscious, she wondered how she had mad such a terrible, obvious mistake.
Leo may be a professor, a profiler, but he had also been, Detective Marks, a decorated, police officer. He wasn’t one of the ashen, soft, useless men she’d dealt with in the past. This one was trained and accustomed to pain. He’d taken a thick heavy blade to the stomach and still, he moved toward her. As blood pooled and streamed, still he stood, no, not stood, walked. Fear and pain, a universal motivator, stirred in her. she rolled onto her stomach. As the tip of the leather boot came into view, Katie reared up and plunged the blade into the top of his boot, through the skin and bone, slamming it into the floor beneath. A guttural scream filled the room, like a siren waking Katie to the danger she was in, which had nothing to do with the battle she was currently waging.
She moved across the floor on her stomach, rolled over and pulled herself onto her shaking knees. The sight she saw shocked her enough to make her choke on the blood in her mouth. Head bent forward; balancing on her knees, she spat a mouthful of crimson onto the tile. As her eyes came up she looked into the gaze of a madman. Blood dripping from her blade he now held. His teeth were showing, in a wide snarl. As he moved, blood trailed under his injured foot. He was dragging his foot a little and as he spoke, she realized they were the first words he’d spoken since she’d stabbed him an hour ago. Wait… it wasn’t an hour, it was seconds, only seconds, and now she was about to loose it all. A stupid mistake.
The dripping bleeding madman said, “You’re the one. Why?” as the last word still echoed in the small classroom, streams of slick, dark, blood, fell from his open mouth.
His eyes widened and as she watched, it seemed as if the bones had been extracted from his muscle tissue in one fluid movement. He fell only a few feet from her, the blade clattering onto the ceramic tile and spinning away. She watched in shocked fascination as it came to a stop an inch from her fingertips. Streaks of the professor’s life force accompanied its journey.
Katie turned her head left and then right, trying to establish where the loud keening noise was coming from. Had the fan in the central ac unit collapsed? Her nerves were raw and the sound was excruciating. Her jaw hurt where he had slammed his oversized boot into her face. She could feel the swelling already beginning.
She pushed off of the floor and leaned her back against the wall. What was that noise? When the noise changed to a whimper then a gasp, Katie realized that it was coming from her. Blood spattered the walls and covered her clothing. She knew her DNA was everywhere. She remembered spitting blood on the floor. The keening began again. Think think!
She crawled toward Leo and began searching his pockets. He had fallen into a contorted bloody mass on the floor. She had a hard time getting her fingers into his pockets. Front jeans nothing she turned him and was started when his head fell to the side and smacked against the floor. His red-rimmed eyes stared at her. Stopping she leaned in and looked at him his glasses had fallen off during the fight. Funny, she hadn’t noticed. His eyes were brown, like honey. Some people would call them amber but Katie liked honey. Whenever she heard the word amber she thought of misscitos trapped in that hardened stone waiting for the collection of dinosaur DNA.
So stupid, how a crazy movie could change someone’s view of something so easily. She reached out and pressed her index finger against the soft skin beneath his left eye. So soft. She marveled at how she had never noticed his lovely honey colored eyes. The left one had a tiny fleck in it and she leaned in closer. Rings of gold and almost brown but not quite, captivated her. She could see he was no longer there. No life waited to re-ignite within the honey whirls. The same finger that rested on his face reached up slowly and rested against the surface of his open beautiful eye. As her skin met the surface she was surprised at how dry it felt. She expected it to be slick and moist with tears. It was also harder than she had imagined. The surface firm and not spongy as she had somehow been led to believe. She pressed against the eye and was surprised again by how it moved as a whole and didn’t indent under her finger. She wondered if more pressure would do the trick. Would the eye pop? What did the inside of an eye look like?
The last time shed dealt with this she had just scooped the eyes out she hadn’t touched them. But this was different. She knew him she liked him. Yes this was different. She grabbed his eye lid pulled and watched as it popped down over the violated eye. She fell back so that she was sitting on her heels and looked at him. Leo marks was winking at her. She laughed. He had been a funny guy she liked it. Plus she knew it made a sort of sense he dies with a secret. Wink. Wink. Now she just had to find the secret.
What had she been doing when his eyes distracted her? She grasped for it in her mind what, what, what! Keys! Ok she began the search again. After checking the body several times she decided to look in the brief case and there they were two sets of keys. Katie knew he looked up for the faculty some nights. Sometimes he even let class out early so he could take care of the chore.
Ok first cultivate a plan. She turned off the light and locked the inside door just in case. Pulling off her jacket she used it to mop the blood from her mouth and hands the best she could. Her hair was long so that should obscure any security guards from taking a closed look at her swollen face.
She grabbed her book bag off the desk, emptied all of the professor’s paperwork and laptop into it. Removing the small penlight and jump drive from around his neck and draped them around hers. Back pack in place she peeked out the door. The hallway was empty, she slipped through, locking the door behind her.
As Katie drove she contemplated how she would move forward. There were ten hour before the campus opened and the room that had become a slaughterhouse was found. The body would have to be moved. But how? And even if she moved the body they would know where he was killed the minute they saw the room. Everyone in his last class would become a suspect.
Ok there’s nothing to be done about the mess, she thought, but I can at least get rid of all of the evidence. She dropped her car off in the parking lot of a gas station. Went to the restroom and looked at her reflection. Surprisingly she didn’t look frightened. She looked exhilarated. Washing her hands and face she giggled as an idea struck her.
Until tomorrow. Fortune favors the brave! Samantha Shu
Sammy Shu '09
Below is a scene from “Bloodthirsty” my newest release, it may seem as if I am giving somthing away by choosing such a scene but trust me all is not as it seems.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=samantha++shu++bollodthirsty&x=15&y=16
A soft ecited murmur came from the members of the students still in attendance.
Leo shook his head, “of course, I cannot discuss my findings with our group until I have updated the task force, I’m calling the lead Detective as soon as I leave here and will be cleared to share by the time our group meets.”
Katie spoke up "How can that be? Don’t you have to wait to share theory and information until the case is closed.”
“That is correct” Leo smiled confidently “With what I have that shouldn’t be a problem.”
Another student spoke up and Leo waived his question away.” Nothing else today, save your inquiries until our meeting. Have a good night.” He began packing up his brief case. The students filed out, talking excitedly amongst themselves.
Katie remained seated until all of the other students had left and the door swung shut behind them. She stood, placing her hands on her desk for support.
“Leo, I’ve been working on a paper for my psychology class on this serial murder and I was wondering if you could give me an opinion on my theories.”
He was clearly irritated. “Katie, I told you, I can’t discuss this now.”
‘I know that, but you can talk about my paper.” She quipped, her heart still lodged in her throat.
“Isn’t your paper on the case?” he asked, a sharp point to his tone.
“Yes” she needed him to be a little irritated. She wanted answers. She needed to take him by surprise, if the answers didn’t calm her.
“Well then, I can’t discuss it,” He stated flatly.
“Oh… well, I was just gonna tell you, I think it’s a CJ student.” She watched his reaction to her statement.
“What?” Stricken
Shit, she thought, this is bad. She pressed, testing her theory further “And I think the differences in the crimes aren’t because they’re confused or trying to find their grove. I think it’s intentional to throw off the cops” she rushed on, watching his expression “And they know how to do it, because they study criminals” She chanted inside her head, tell me I’m crazy! Tell me I’m crazy! She liked Leo. Really liked him, sadness moved in her somewhere as she considered the inevitability of this moment.
He didn’t tell her she was crazy, as she knew he wouldn’t. His eyes were slits now and Katie knew, she wasn’t wrong. He was too close. Her heart regained is normal pace as calmness washed over her. Her gaze was sharp and the air inside the room became thick. She could feel the atmosphere thicken, as it always did in these moments. She heard Leo ask, “How did you come to these conclusions?” He demanded to know
“Why? Are they the same as yours?” She tilted her head demurely and winked at him
“Close, very close.” He replied slowly. She could see his brain, tick, tick, ticking away, trying to find a solution to this bizarre situation. Somehow a student had come to the same conclusions that he had labored over, paced the floor and lost hours of steep over. She could see it all on his face, etched into the lines around his eyes. She squinted at him, looking deeper seeing what only she could see.
“But you have something else, something that will blow the case open?” with his next action Katie knew she was correct. Knew with a certainty that if she didn’t act quickly this man, this lousy retired profiler, would be her undoing.
Leo opened his briefcase and began searching inside
While his attention was diverted, She slipped her hand into the backpack and slid out the long pearl handled knife. This had been a present from her grandmother ten years ago; a gift meant to hang on the wall in celebration of another mans victories. She griped it tight and wondered how many men’s blood had slipped down its long blade only to end in the palm of their killer.
She saw his deep exhalation as he located his paperwork on the case. She giggled. The sound was close to hysterical, harsh and shrill.
His head came up at the sound ” I didn’t steel your papers.” she said, and took a few quick steps in his direction. “I would never do that” he hadn’t noticed the knife. She could see him trying to evaluate the situation, to gage its magnitude.
“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what you have but I can’t risk it leading to me.”
He moved his head as if to shake it, then stopped and looked directly into her eyes. “Why would…” he stopped and his eyes grew wide as he obviously realized the full brevity of the situation.
Katie lunged forward plunging the pearl handled blade deep into his mid section.
Eye widening, teeth gritting, Leo grabbed her shoulders and pushed, as he did this, he stomped down hard on her left foot. She felt and heard the bones fracture in several quick snaps, like twigs from a brittle tree. She bit back a startled scream, held tight to the handle and fell back, landing firmly on her ass. Katie watched as Leo fell back against the wall and opened his mouth to yell out. She jumped from the floor and shrieked as pain; fire and ice, tore into her injured foot.
Immediately she dropped back to the floor, a moment before his boot landed under her chin. Her teeth slammed together and copper filled her mouth. Still conscious, she wondered how she had mad such a terrible, obvious mistake.
Leo may be a professor, a profiler, but he had also been, Detective Marks, a decorated, police officer. He wasn’t one of the ashen, soft, useless men she’d dealt with in the past. This one was trained and accustomed to pain. He’d taken a thick heavy blade to the stomach and still, he moved toward her. As blood pooled and streamed, still he stood, no, not stood, walked. Fear and pain, a universal motivator, stirred in her. she rolled onto her stomach. As the tip of the leather boot came into view, Katie reared up and plunged the blade into the top of his boot, through the skin and bone, slamming it into the floor beneath. A guttural scream filled the room, like a siren waking Katie to the danger she was in, which had nothing to do with the battle she was currently waging.
She moved across the floor on her stomach, rolled over and pulled herself onto her shaking knees. The sight she saw shocked her enough to make her choke on the blood in her mouth. Head bent forward; balancing on her knees, she spat a mouthful of crimson onto the tile. As her eyes came up she looked into the gaze of a madman. Blood dripping from her blade he now held. His teeth were showing, in a wide snarl. As he moved, blood trailed under his injured foot. He was dragging his foot a little and as he spoke, she realized they were the first words he’d spoken since she’d stabbed him an hour ago. Wait… it wasn’t an hour, it was seconds, only seconds, and now she was about to loose it all. A stupid mistake.
The dripping bleeding madman said, “You’re the one. Why?” as the last word still echoed in the small classroom, streams of slick, dark, blood, fell from his open mouth.
His eyes widened and as she watched, it seemed as if the bones had been extracted from his muscle tissue in one fluid movement. He fell only a few feet from her, the blade clattering onto the ceramic tile and spinning away. She watched in shocked fascination as it came to a stop an inch from her fingertips. Streaks of the professor’s life force accompanied its journey.
Katie turned her head left and then right, trying to establish where the loud keening noise was coming from. Had the fan in the central ac unit collapsed? Her nerves were raw and the sound was excruciating. Her jaw hurt where he had slammed his oversized boot into her face. She could feel the swelling already beginning.
She pushed off of the floor and leaned her back against the wall. What was that noise? When the noise changed to a whimper then a gasp, Katie realized that it was coming from her. Blood spattered the walls and covered her clothing. She knew her DNA was everywhere. She remembered spitting blood on the floor. The keening began again. Think think!
She crawled toward Leo and began searching his pockets. He had fallen into a contorted bloody mass on the floor. She had a hard time getting her fingers into his pockets. Front jeans nothing she turned him and was started when his head fell to the side and smacked against the floor. His red-rimmed eyes stared at her. Stopping she leaned in and looked at him his glasses had fallen off during the fight. Funny, she hadn’t noticed. His eyes were brown, like honey. Some people would call them amber but Katie liked honey. Whenever she heard the word amber she thought of misscitos trapped in that hardened stone waiting for the collection of dinosaur DNA.
So stupid, how a crazy movie could change someone’s view of something so easily. She reached out and pressed her index finger against the soft skin beneath his left eye. So soft. She marveled at how she had never noticed his lovely honey colored eyes. The left one had a tiny fleck in it and she leaned in closer. Rings of gold and almost brown but not quite, captivated her. She could see he was no longer there. No life waited to re-ignite within the honey whirls. The same finger that rested on his face reached up slowly and rested against the surface of his open beautiful eye. As her skin met the surface she was surprised at how dry it felt. She expected it to be slick and moist with tears. It was also harder than she had imagined. The surface firm and not spongy as she had somehow been led to believe. She pressed against the eye and was surprised again by how it moved as a whole and didn’t indent under her finger. She wondered if more pressure would do the trick. Would the eye pop? What did the inside of an eye look like?
The last time shed dealt with this she had just scooped the eyes out she hadn’t touched them. But this was different. She knew him she liked him. Yes this was different. She grabbed his eye lid pulled and watched as it popped down over the violated eye. She fell back so that she was sitting on her heels and looked at him. Leo marks was winking at her. She laughed. He had been a funny guy she liked it. Plus she knew it made a sort of sense he dies with a secret. Wink. Wink. Now she just had to find the secret.
What had she been doing when his eyes distracted her? She grasped for it in her mind what, what, what! Keys! Ok she began the search again. After checking the body several times she decided to look in the brief case and there they were two sets of keys. Katie knew he looked up for the faculty some nights. Sometimes he even let class out early so he could take care of the chore.
Ok first cultivate a plan. She turned off the light and locked the inside door just in case. Pulling off her jacket she used it to mop the blood from her mouth and hands the best she could. Her hair was long so that should obscure any security guards from taking a closed look at her swollen face.
She grabbed her book bag off the desk, emptied all of the professor’s paperwork and laptop into it. Removing the small penlight and jump drive from around his neck and draped them around hers. Back pack in place she peeked out the door. The hallway was empty, she slipped through, locking the door behind her.
As Katie drove she contemplated how she would move forward. There were ten hour before the campus opened and the room that had become a slaughterhouse was found. The body would have to be moved. But how? And even if she moved the body they would know where he was killed the minute they saw the room. Everyone in his last class would become a suspect.
Ok there’s nothing to be done about the mess, she thought, but I can at least get rid of all of the evidence. She dropped her car off in the parking lot of a gas station. Went to the restroom and looked at her reflection. Surprisingly she didn’t look frightened. She looked exhilarated. Washing her hands and face she giggled as an idea struck her.
Until tomorrow. Fortune favors the brave! Samantha Shu
Thursday, April 22, 2010
The Big Question
The most common questions I am asked are “How did you get published?” or the always exciting “How long did it take you to get published?” in both cases the questions are so highly individual that I can’t imagine my answer doing much to advance anyone’s faltering career. That said, I feel the need to answer the question in the most honest way possible. The only help is to motivate and try to keep that dreadful discouragement out of my tone. ‘Cause the truth is, it’s a serious exercise in dedication and mental stamina to keep the faith. I have stacks and stacks of rejection letters. If I decided one fine day to wall paper my bedroom in the letters of dismissal, I could cover every inch of the large room.
There were moments on my path, heck even days leading to months, where I was so discouraged I quit writing. I would stare at the stacks of written material and curse the hours spent producing such prolific arrays of work, never to be read by anyone but me. I spiraled down into that sad head space called writers block. Invariably, I would pull myself from this place and put pen to paper, mostly because this is what I do. I write. If this is you, if you find that the only thing that keeps you going is to create, then never stop. Don’t let anyone criticize your zeal. Make something great and share it with the world. Keep those rejection letters as a sign that you are moving forward. Every failure takes you one step closer to that golden place called success. Make connections, talk to people, but most importantly write, write, write and send something out, somewhere at least once a week. Do that and things may change. Good luck on your journey. And that my dear friends is how I got published.
Until tomorrow.
Fortune favors the brave!
Samantha Shu
There were moments on my path, heck even days leading to months, where I was so discouraged I quit writing. I would stare at the stacks of written material and curse the hours spent producing such prolific arrays of work, never to be read by anyone but me. I spiraled down into that sad head space called writers block. Invariably, I would pull myself from this place and put pen to paper, mostly because this is what I do. I write. If this is you, if you find that the only thing that keeps you going is to create, then never stop. Don’t let anyone criticize your zeal. Make something great and share it with the world. Keep those rejection letters as a sign that you are moving forward. Every failure takes you one step closer to that golden place called success. Make connections, talk to people, but most importantly write, write, write and send something out, somewhere at least once a week. Do that and things may change. Good luck on your journey. And that my dear friends is how I got published.
Until tomorrow.
Fortune favors the brave!
Samantha Shu
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Okay, so I am having a sort of strange feeling about what an author is suppose to blog about. Do we simply talk about what we write about? Do we go on and on about the way we try to promote ourselves or do we simply talk about what we are doing in our day to day life. Who the heck knows? Part of my issue is that I am a really, really private person so I have some issue with telling all about my life in a serious of broken up paragraphs. Honestly the real issue is that I know that the people I write about may read this and so I know I cannot be completely forth coming about all of my thoughts, but who wants that anyway?
I will start with a story about what is up with me and then maybe add one of my pieces of literary genius.
My publisher just made a face book page I was pretty excited to get on and get involved. After doing Starfest and getting involved with Odd Child Underground I feel like I am making leaps and bounds toward moving my work into the mainstream. Below are my bio and a list of my current novels.
Until tomorrow.
Fortune favors the brave!
Samantha Shu
Samantha’s most recent published work is a mystery, fiction, serial killer drama titled Bloodthirsty released this year. Samantha’s other works include Blood Line released in October 2009 a prequel to Whispered Dreams released in November of 2008. She is currently working on a romantic, fantasy fiction titled Soul Purpose. To read the first few chapters and find out a few of her daily thought processes visit samanthashu.blogspot.com
Samantha Shu has completed three mystery novels, seven children books and several short stories. Her prolific writing style crosses genres successfully and enthusiastically, from mystery thrillers to children’s picture books. Recently, Samantha completed her bachelor’s degree. Her major, Criminal Justice was chosen to do research for her books Bloodline and Bloodthirsty Samantha hones her craft with a regimented four hours each day and focuses her attentions between her first love, the written word, and her education. Samantha’s love of writing is evident in her detailed and vivid style.
In her spare time Samantha enjoys swimming, skiing and martial arts.
To discover more about Samantha visit her at whoisshu.com
Samantha lives in the beautiful mountainside city of Denver Colorado
I will start with a story about what is up with me and then maybe add one of my pieces of literary genius.
My publisher just made a face book page I was pretty excited to get on and get involved. After doing Starfest and getting involved with Odd Child Underground I feel like I am making leaps and bounds toward moving my work into the mainstream. Below are my bio and a list of my current novels.
Until tomorrow.
Fortune favors the brave!
Samantha Shu
Samantha’s most recent published work is a mystery, fiction, serial killer drama titled Bloodthirsty released this year. Samantha’s other works include Blood Line released in October 2009 a prequel to Whispered Dreams released in November of 2008. She is currently working on a romantic, fantasy fiction titled Soul Purpose. To read the first few chapters and find out a few of her daily thought processes visit samanthashu.blogspot.com
Samantha Shu has completed three mystery novels, seven children books and several short stories. Her prolific writing style crosses genres successfully and enthusiastically, from mystery thrillers to children’s picture books. Recently, Samantha completed her bachelor’s degree. Her major, Criminal Justice was chosen to do research for her books Bloodline and Bloodthirsty Samantha hones her craft with a regimented four hours each day and focuses her attentions between her first love, the written word, and her education. Samantha’s love of writing is evident in her detailed and vivid style.
In her spare time Samantha enjoys swimming, skiing and martial arts.
To discover more about Samantha visit her at whoisshu.com
Samantha lives in the beautiful mountainside city of Denver Colorado
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