A.A. Abbott

GREAT CRIME STORY WRITER

bright lies

Make Your Dreams Come True

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Make Your Dreams Come True by Writing A Book

Make Your Dreams Come True Day

Imagine you had a magic wand that could make all your dreams come true. Wouldn’t that be brilliant? Now, step back from fantasy to reality. There is a way to realise those dreams without magic or megabucks. It’s called setting goals. On Make Your Dreams Come True Day, why not take time out to do it? Even ten minutes can take you closer to achieving your desires.

Realistic Goals

It’s crucial to have realistic goals. That might mean breaking down a task into chunks, or setting less arduous goals as stepping stones. For example, if you want to write a novel but you haven’t even written a short story yet, set yourself the target of producing a short tale first. You’ll feel good when you achieve that first success and you’ll have developed skills that will help you in your ultimate aim.

We can learn from big corporations here. If you’ve ever worked for one, you’ll be used to agreeing SMART objectives with your manager – that is, you’ll agree on tasks which are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound. Employers do this for a reason. They know that SMART goals are likely to succeed.

A Case Study in SMART Objectives – The Vodka Trail

Looking back at my writing resolutions for 2016, #1 was to write a sequel to my British mystery thriller, The Bride’s Trail. This ticked all the SMART boxes – it was:

Specific – I would write another thriller about glamorous Kat, shy Amy and arrogant Ross.

Measurable – the objective would be met when the book was published.

Achievable – I’d already written and published one thriller a year from 2013 to 2015.

Relevant – I’m a writer, after all.

Time-bound – I announced to the world that I’d do it in 2016, but in my mind, I gave myself 6 months from mid-January.

The Vodka Trail, the twisting tale of Kat’s kidnap by terrorists, was published on 18 July 2016! The rest of the thrilling series – The Grass Trail, The Revenge Trail and The Final Trail – followed in 2017, 2018 and 2019. As with my latest novel, dark psychological thriller Bright Lies, I plotted each book in advance and planned chunks – chapters – before sitting at my laptop to write them.

My Top Tip

My Top Tip is: Share Your Goals! Just as I did when announcing my writing resolutions for 2016, tell others of your plans and they’ll help you to stay accountable for them.

Whether your dream is to change jobs, write that novel or make the world a better place, I wish you the very best of luck!

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Bright Lies, heralded by respected American review site Readers’ Favorite as “5 star compelling drama” had its origin in a dream 30 years ago. In that dark night-time fantasy, Emily emerged fleeing from danger and finding sanctuary with troubled nightclub DJ Jack in his Birmingham squat. It has taken many years to channel that dream into a book, but the great reviews prove it was worth it. Click on the book’s cover here to start reading.

A woman dreaming about psychological thriller BRIGHT LIES

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Book Review – Friend Indeed, by Katharine D’Souza

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Friendship, secrets & failed relationships

I was addicted from the very first moment I picked up one of Katharine D’Souza’s novels. Her intelligent women’s fiction is so easy to read that normal life takes a back seat until the book is finished. Fortunately, Friend Indeed is a short novella of 90-odd pages. You can zip through it in a few hours, although it will stay with you long afterwards. Leaving a sense of unease in its wake, the story studies friendship, secrets and failed relationships.

Jane, the narrator, shares her birthday with schoolfriends Maya and Sandra. As grammar school girls with the world at their feet, they swore they would meet up on their fiftieth birthday. That’s why Jane and Sandra travel from Birmingham to Maya’s flash party in London.

A unlikeable narrator

Maya is the only one of the trio to escape their hometown. She’s a respected journalist, her weekly columns read avidly by the other two. Sandra is pleased for her and thrilled to be included in her birthday plans. By contrast, Jane feels overshadowed and resentful of Maya’s success.

Jane is honest in revealing her thoughts to the reader: possibly too frank. She comes across as a reliable narrator, but not a likeable one. If I met her at a party, I’d avoid her like the plague. Ms D’Souza deals with her gently, however.  There is a hint that Jane is capable – perhaps – of  leaving envy behind.

Domestic noir

This is no crime thriller, but in its exploration of family drama and secrets, it verges on domestic noir. For a short book, Friend Indeed has a powerful, lingering effect. Don’t be surprised if old friends invade your nightmares once you’ve read it.

Friend Indeed by Katharine D'Souza - abook that explores secrets, lies and domestic noir

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Do you enjoy a really dark slice of domestic noir? My new psychological thriller, Bright Lies, delivers exactly that. Emily is only 13 when David becomes her stepfather, and she’s thrilled that the handsome artist wants to mentor her. She doesn’t know she’ll end up running for her life…
“Compelling drama – 5 stars” – Readers’ Favorite, USA.

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Guest Blog – Marie Wright, ex-Police Detective

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Building trust

Please introduce yourself in two sentences (no pressure!).

Hello, I am a retired Detective Superintendent from Avon and Somerset Constabulary, am a French speaker and have a Jack Russell called Lily. 

How does dealing with young victims of abuse differ from the way you would handle cases involving adults?

 Young victims can often be children under the age of 18, who may not understand what is right and wrong . You need to build trust and confidence with them to be able to uncover the abuse, and prioritise their safeguarding at all times. 

Abuse is about power and control

“Bright Lies” portrays the difficulty the police have in dealing with cases of abuse. What would you say are some of the biggest challenges facing the police in these types of cases?

Children are very innocent and if someone makes a fuss of them, buys them presents, makes them feel special, when they have a gap in their family around this issue, they may not want to tell you about the abuse. There is also the power and control element that the offender holds over the child, for example a threat to someone they love, or a secret that they cannot break or something bad will happen.

What are your views on David, who in the book abuses Emily through isolation and extremely controlling behaviour – would you say this pattern of behaviour is typical of abusers?

Yes sadly, in my experience I dealt with men like David who target lonely single women to abuse their children. Mostly, the victims are young girls, but let us not forget that boys are abused in this way too. 

Warning signs

Are there warning signs that we should look out for if we suspect ourselves or someone we know is suffering abuse or domestic violence?

Children who are withdrawn , bed wetting in smaller children, sexualised behaviour with other children – these can all be signs. With Domestic Abuse, injuries that are hidden, long sleeves, polo neck jumpers, also that are explained as falling down stairs, hitting a door and are frequent. Then there is financial and emotional abuse, which are harder to spot. 

As a country we are beginning to pay more attention to domestic violence and abuse, with the UK passing the Domestic Abuse Bill earlier this year, and services such as the Paladin National Stalking Advocacy supporting victims. How do you think this will change how the police and courts deal with abuse cases?

The more  national and media attention these issues get the better. There also need to be courts and juries that understand these issues together. In my opinion, we should be supporting victims more at court, allowing more video evidence so the victim does not see the offender.  People need to understand that abuse happens in homes and relationships, not always the stranger that jumps out from behind a bush!

Breaking the pattern

In the book, Jack comes from a broken home, and has witnessed horrific violence in his own family, which has a huge negative impact on his own behaviour. Would you say this is common for children who have suffered in this way?

Yes, sadly I do agree with this, particularly Domestic Abuse as there are no boundaries or healthy relationships seen as a model. The child knows no other way and thinks it is normal until someone says it is not.

Finally, now you have retired, you are also an avid reader. What kind of books do you like to read? Apart from “Bright Lies”, are there any that you’d like to recommend?

I love reading, mostly away from police dramas as I have dealt with it for 30 years!  I enjoy autobiographies, like Michelle Obama and the prime minister of New Zealand’s new book (I hope to get that for Christmas!) as well as Leanne Moriarty and Jodi Picoult’s fiction.

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If you have concerns about abuse or stalking, here are some useful services who provide help and support in the UK:

Report a stalker or seek advice – https://www.gov.uk/report-stalker

Advice for children – https://www.childline.org.uk/

If you are concerned about a child – https://www.nspcc.org.uk/about-us/contact-us/

Domestic abuse helpline – https://www.whiteribbon.org.uk/find-help

Meet Marie Wright at the online launch of psychological thriller “Bright Lies” on Monday, 23rd November.

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Guest Blog – Prudence S Thomas, Forensic Psychologist

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Forensic psychology, fantasy and mead

Please introduce yourself in two sentences (no pressure!).

I’m a forensic psychologist from the West Midlands. I also moonlight as a writer and occasionally make mead.

Forensic psychology is a popular topic for many movies and TV shows, with the accuracy of these depictions often varying and leading to misconceptions about this area of psychology. How would you define the field of forensic psychology and the role it plays?

Real life forensic psychology is very different from the majority of depictions in fiction. Our work in the real world most often involves assessing the risk posed by people who have committed offences and working to help them to reduce their risk and live safe and healthy lives. It’s a varied profession, but most depictions of forensic psychology in the media focus on profiling, which only a handful of people in the UK work in full time. Most of us work in prisons, secure hospitals or in making assessments and writing reports for the different courts, etc. This means that when we work with people who have committed offences, we are most often working with them after a crime has been committed and they’ve been charged or sentenced, rather than profiling, detecting and generally getting stuck into all of that fun investigative stuff that TV forensic psychologists do!

What do you think of the way shows like Criminal Minds or Law and Order portray forensic psychology?

They are great fun to watch, although it means that lots of people expect my job to be much sexier and more exciting than it really is. It often bothers me that depictions of offenders aren’t very nuanced, though. I don’t like to see people depicted as monsters. Real life is much more complicated and rich. Often we prefer to see criminals as monsters because it enables us to “other” them- to see them as very different to us, to our friends, family and neighbours, because to realise that there is often less difference and less distance between “them” and “us” is uncomfortable.

Psychopaths – a controversial subject

Your work involves dealing with psychopaths. How is psychopathy diagnosed, and how does it differ from other personality disorders like narcissistic personality disorder or sociopathy?

Psychopathy, like most disorders, is usually assessed with the help of a structured assessment tool that takes into account the information about someone’s history and current presentation from a variety of sources such as court reports, police records of previous convictions, information from family, etc, and information gathered through interviewing the person.

Psychopathy and other personality disorders are a very controversial topic. Some clinicians, academics and experts by experience (people who have been through the mental health or criminal justice system), believe that making these sorts of diagnoses is problematic. There is a lot of overlap between diagnoses like psychopathy and narcissistic personality disorder, which can make diagnosis challenging. There are also concerns about the stigma attached to the diagnosis and how this can impact on people. However other clinicians and academics feel that exploring the facets of an individuals personality is helpful in understanding their treatment needs and risk.

How do you deal with working with people who have, in some cases, done terrible things?

When I was a child, when we would see homeless people, my mum would say that each person we saw came into the world full of promise and innocence and that we should never forget that child within each person. I’ve carried that with me with the work that I do. Every person I’ve worked with who has committed a serious crime has had experiences, often tragic, that have shaped their journey through life and their actions. My job is to help them to live a safe, meaningful and pro-social life. I consider their risk carefully and have a responsibility to try to work to reduce their risk of harm, but the best way of doing that is through supporting people to rebuild their lives and contribute to society.

Do you believe psychopaths can be rehabilitated? Are there treatments for psychopathy?

As I’ve mentioned above, the diagnosis of psychopathy is in itself controversial and complex. Generally speaking, people who have strong traits of psychopathy, such as a lack of regard for others, can make changes to their lives, but sometimes they may need more support for a longer period of time to do so. There are some people who will find it harder to change or who may not be motivated to change and some people who will need monitoring and support for a long time to manage their risk.

Are all psychopaths dangerous?

There are lots of people in everyday life who present with some degree of traits of psychopathy. Sometimes those traits, like a lack of regard for the feelings of others, superficial charm, etc, can allow people to become successful in fields where these sorts of facets are beneficial.

In Bright Lies, David is highly deceptive and manipulative; do you think he qualifies as a psychopath?

If David was a real person, he’d be likely to have traits that would be common in people with a higher level of psychopathy.

What is the process of carrying out a clinical assessment?

Generally clinical assessment pulls on a variety of sources – information from medical records, court reports, psychological or psychiatric reports, information from family or people who know the person being assessed well and information from face to face interview/s with the person.

Fantasy – the Cunning Folk Mysteries

Finally, you are also a fantasy writer. Tell us about your books.

I’ve written two books in a historical fantasy series called the Cunning Folk Mysteries. They are set in 17th century Lancashire in the era of the witch trials, but in an alternate timeline where Christianity hasn’t become the dominant religion in England. The idea came from thinking about what the lives of the women who were the subject of the witch trials would have been like if witchcraft wasn’t viewed as bad or dangerous. The elevator pitch for the series would probably be “Cadfael, but with magic.”

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Meet Prudence S Thomas at the online launch of Bright Lies on Monday, 23rd November.

Prudence S Thomas, guest at AA Abbott's Bright Lies book launch, has written two fantasy novels. She also makes mead.

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