with Kate Moretti
We are delighted to welcome suspense novelist Kate Moretti to Omnimystery News, courtesy of Red Adept Publishing, which is coordinating her current book tour.
Kate's new book is Binds That Tie (Red Adept Publishing; March 2014 trade paperback and ebook formats) with the intriguing subtitle of "Love ties. Murder binds."
Her guest post for us today is titled "Writing a Courtroom Drama: Research Will Take You Anywhere."
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Photo provided courtesy of
Kate Moretti
My latest novel, Binds That Tie, has five chapters of courtroom drama. I have a secret. I've never been in a courtroom. Ever.
Four years ago, I was called for jury duty and I had just had my oldest daughter three weeks prior. I felt good. But I was breastfeeding, so I showed up, conspicuous heavy black bag in tow, and asked discreetly if there was a "nurture space" available. They should have told me to just go home right then. I don't know for sure if that's why I was dismissed so quickly, but it's always been my hunch. I've never been called back.
When I decided I wanted to write a legal thriller, I thought I was crazy. I didn't know if I could do it. Although, I'd spent a lifetime reading Richard North Patterson and John Grisham and I loved Law and Order, that truly didn't seem like enough background knowledge to write a novel.
I sketched out my outline and knew I wanted the majority of the drama to come in the preliminary trial. The original ending had my main character being dismissed due to lack of evidence (this is not the current ending). I wanted the prelim to last four days (which I knew was overly long), and had complicating factors such as spousal privilege and a murder indictment without a body. I didn't know if bail was possible in a capital case. I outlined a novel that I'm not even sure had a feasible plot.
I took to the internet of course. Spent hours researching the law, courtroom procedure and etiquette, read up on case studies about convictions without a body. When I was pretty sure it all wove together, I called the Pennsylvania Bar Association and was referred to a media friendly defense attorney. The PBA sent me to Gary Asteak, of Easton, Pennsylvania. I called and left a message.
It's always hard to cold call someone and tell them you're a writer and ask them to talk about their job. I've done this a few times and it's always awkward at first. Mr. Asteak's assistant called me back a few days later and said he would see me, for free, for an hour. I was shocked.
His lobby was nothing like the movies. It was sparsely decorated with functional office carpeting. His assistant led me upstairs to his office, a good-sized, triangular room with the largest desk I've ever seen in the corner. The room was dimly lit and covered wall-to-wall in art. A cigar store Indian. A giant canvas of what looked to be a Montana sunset. Feathers and beads everywhere. Dreamcatchers. Paperwork so high that when he sat, all you could see was the top of his Stetson.
He stood up to shake my hand. "A writer!" he said, excited. He wore jeans, cowboy boots, and a long gray braid down his back. He pushed files off to either side so we could talk. The next thing he said to me was, "I have a plot idea for you." I hit record on my phone voice recorder and we talked for two hours. Quite possibly the most fascinating two hours of my writing career.
I firmly believe that Binds That Tie would not exist without Mr. Asteak. He pointed out plot holes and general impossibilities. He suggested I introduce some element of forensic science because of the interest factor. Without introducing spoilers to this article, there's a legal cat and mouse that goes on toward the end of the novel between Maggie and Chris. This was entirely Mr. Asteak's idea. Spousal privilege is complicated and can be easily manipulated, which was fun to play with.
When the novel was complete, I found a second defense attorney, Matt Banks, out of Reading, PA. Matt (amazingly) agreed to read the novel in its entirety and generously sent me several pages of feedback. I was blown away. (As a side note, he objected to a four-day preliminary hearing and I ignored him for the sake of drama. Blame me, not him.) He gave me authentic vernacular and corrected some of my usage. Overall, he proclaimed the courtroom scenes to be true-to-life. Honestly, you could have knocked me over with a feather.
I know the old adage: write what you know. I suspect it might be bullshit. I think you should write what you want, learn what you don't know. I've always loved the law. I suspect that the skills required to be a good defense attorney are similar to those of being a good writer: a command and love of the manipulation of language. Research will take you anywhere you want to go, provided you're open to learning, and your plot and characters are flexible. If you write whole scenes and are unwilling to change them based on what you later learn, you'll never achieve any measure of authenticity.
My next novel involves an inside look at a high-end event florist out of New York City. Considering I have never successfully kept cut roses alive for more than three days, this is what I call intimidating. Challenge accepted.
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Kate Moretti lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, two kids, and a dog. She’s worked in the pharmaceutical industry for ten years as a scientist, and has been an avid fiction reader her entire life.
She enjoys traveling and cooking, although with two kids, a day job, and writing, she doesn’t get to do those things as much as she’d like.
Her lifelong dream is to buy an old house with a secret passageway.
For more information about the author, please visit her website at KateMoretti.com or find her on Facebook.
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Binds That Tie
Kate Moretti
A Novel of Suspense
Love ties. Murder binds.
