Julie Kramer is a freelance television news producer for NBC's
Today Show,
Nightly News, and
Dateline. Prior to that, she was a national award-winning investigative producer for WCCO-TV in Minneapolis. Her novels are
Stalking Susan and the newly released
Missing Mark.
From her ITW Q & A with C.J. Lyons:
Stalking Susan tells of a serial killer targeting women named Susan. Do you have a vendetta against any particular Susan?
Absolutely not. My apologies to Susans everywhere. My inspiration for the premise came from two cold cases I covered a decade ago. They involved two women, both named Susan, killed exactly two years
apart. The murders had similarities, but I was never able to prove a connection. The story aired in hopes of bringing fresh tips. Nothing came in. But the cases always stayed with me (the unresolved ones often do) and when I sat down to write a novel, the Susans came to mind. I added a couple extra victims, changed the city of the murders, the dates, the ages and occupations of the women, their last names, and I considered changing their first names, too. But I really wanted to keep something of them in the story. So Susan stayed. Now I hear the St. Paul Police Cold Case Unit is looking at those homicides. So there's still a chance for justice.
The main character in Stalking Susan is a TV investigative reporter. Part of your career was spent as an award-wining investigative producer in local television. How is her job different in fiction than in real-life?
I believe I've...[read on]
Visit
Julie Kramer's website.
--Marshal Zeringue
