Philip Fairbanks on The Challenge of Plotting a True Crime Thriller

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. 

Today’s guest for the WHAT is Philip Fairbanks, author of Smash, Smash, Smash: The True Story of Kai the Hitchhiker

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?

That is generally not the case, but is definitely so here. In 2017 I was doing news features and op-eds for Inquisitr. My friend Rachel Cochran sent me a message saying I should look into this Kai the Hitchhiker case. I remembered the viral incident, but not sure if I’d heard about what happened in New Jersey. I reached out to Kai while he was still in the jail at Elizabeth where he was held for over 4 years in isolation and 6 years before his trial would begin.

I recorded a few interviews over the phone, but we’ve kept in touch via Jpay messages over the years. When I heard from RAW TV Ltd. in London that they wanted to license some interview material for me I started to compile my previous articles and plan an attack strategy for a book. 

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

The book is non-fiction, but I was incredibly heartened to hear that it read like a thriller in a review from Fiona Dodwell. Obviously, having compelling, true material to cull from was a benefit, but still one of the most challenging things initially was figuring out how to tell Kai’s story, but also give it universality: show that it’s not just Kai at stake here. How municipal, police and prosecutorial misconduct is a systemic issue within Union County, New Jersey but also across the country.

I start out with the “two fateful rides” that catapulted Kai to beloved fame and spun his life into a nightmare that persists to this day after being allegedly drugged and raped by a wealthy and well-connected lawyer who picked him up in Times Square. From those two viral rides, we skip back to give some brief histories of surfing, hitchhiking and New Jersey’s culture of corruption. Cults, cop gangs, conflicts of interests, cover-up, mafia ties, and a conspiracy to deprive Kai of his due process that has been “sufficiently alleged” as per a federal judge last July. 

From there we go into issues specific to New Jersey and Union County, talk about a disturbing precedent in the New Jersey court system that shields predators from being disbarred and go into the “code of silence” that allows for such police corruption and carceral abuse to continue. 

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

Just like a fiction thriller, the story itself and my journey into it was full of surprising twists and turns. I had an outline by early 2022, but by Summer I ended up having to add additional chapters. The racist cop gang in Union County, “The Family,” led to the discovery that the cult Kai’s mother was affiliated was the well-known child abuse cult “The Family” (formerly the Children of God). Looking into the waterfront connection led me to the story of Union County prosecutor’s covering for family friends who happened to be associated with the Genovese crime family. An off the record source gave me a tip that I wasn’t able to fully verify or corroborate as of yet, but it did lead me on to a rabbit hole related to the importance of the Port of Elizabeth in Union County to cocaine trafficking from South America through the east coast and on throughout the rest of the US. 

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

I get story ideas from surprising sources. I try to read as much as possible, have diverse research interests and often receive story tips from random people in DMs and emails.

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

That’s always a difficult choice, I usually leave it up to factors outside mere personal interest (though that obviously plays a part). For instance,  I have a project I had been researching and outlining since 2020 that I had to put on the back burner because there’s an archive in Buffalo I’ll have to visit before I can finish it. Several work projects have tangential connections as well though, so often researching a specific topic or making notes on a book or document could do double (or even triple) duty. 

I have 6 cats and a Dalmatian (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?

I currently don’t have any pets, but I used to have a little rat named Erasmus. I think rodents get an unnecessarily bad name personally. Obviously not wild rats, but any pet rats or hamsters I’ve ever owned or known were sweet and intelligent animals. I’m living a bit out of the way at the moment, so it’s nice to watch the squirrels (another of my favorite rodents!) hop around. 

Philip Fairbanks is a writer with over 20 years publishing experience covering news and entertainment. His work has appeared in the peer-reviewed journal of art Afterimage, CUNY's graduate newspaper The Advocate, UK's Morning Star newspaper, Australia's New Dawn magazine, Ghettoblaster magazine, New Noise magazine and several other print and online publications. His second non-fiction book, Smash, Smash, Smash: The True Story of Kai the Hitchhiker should be available for sale at major retailers in February. 

Check out The True Story of Kai

Kristen Loesch on Ideas, Inspiration, and "The Last Russian Doll"

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. 

Today’s guest for the WHAT is Kristen Loesch, author of The Last Russian Doll, a haunting, epic novel about betrayal, revenge, and redemption that follows three generations of Russian women, from the 1917 revolution to the last days of the Soviet Union, and the enduring love story at the center. The Last Russian Doll releases March 14.

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?

I wouldn’t say there was one specific origin point, but when I started to burn out during my PhD in Slavonic Studies, I enrolled on a two-week creative writing course to get my mind onto something else. During that course, I wrote the first few scenes of a novel set in Russia. I think it was at that point that I realized that it wasn’t my love of research, reading, writing, or Russian history and culture that had diminished, not in the slightest; it just wasn’t going to the right place. I withdrew from my PhD eventually and it would be several years before I attempted a novel, but that was a wake-up call.

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

In the most painful way possible. I took the initial idea and I ran with it and abruptly discovered, in the middle of that first draft, that I had no idea what was supposed to happen next; I had no idea where the story was going. It’s like that moment when you’re swimming off a beach and the ocean floor drops out from under your feet. It’s swift and brutal and weird, because you’re still swimming, nothing has really changed, but you know it. You’ve above the abyss. That’s what that discovery felt like. I scraped my way to the end, but I’ll never forget that feeling. 

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

Over several drafts, the story exploded out of the initial vision for it that I had and took on a life of its own (if you know that famous ‘chestburster’ scene from the film Alien? It was kind of like that…!). Nowadays I tend to think it helps to have a plot outline, even if you don’t necessarily stick to it, and even if you already expect the story to change along the way. I like to have something to fall back on!

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

Great question. The story ideas come fast and furious. Especially while I’m driving, taking a shower, or trying to fall asleep. In a way this is great, because it keeps me excited and motivated. At the same time it can be frustrating, because there’s not enough time to turn every idea, or even most ideas, into something concrete. I have to choose between them, which leads neatly to your next question…

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

I usually go by gut instinct. Novel writing is such a marathon that it really helps to start out with peak enthusiasm, energy, and passion, and often there will be one particular idea, however unformed, that makes me think ‘ooh, that’s the one’. Otherwise, I’ll start out by writing a pitch or a few paragraphs expanding on the initial story idea; some ideas sound good in your head but once they’re on paper you’re like, OK, nobody ever needs to know this crossed my mind, ever.  

I have 6 cats and a Dalmatian (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?

I checked your feed and I’m jealous! I grew up with dogs; my parents still have one, and while I do often claim him as my own, in my household we don’t have any. My children have been clamoring for a pet, though, and they’re finally reaching an age where they could handle some caretaking responsibilities, so all that remains is to convince my husband…stay tuned!

Kristen Loesch grew up in San Francisco. She holds a BA in History, as well as a Master’s degree in Slavonic Studies from the University of Cambridge. Her debut historical novel, The Last Russian Doll, was shortlisted for the Caledonia Novel Award and longlisted for the Bath Novel Award under a different title. After a decade living in Europe, she now resides in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and children.

Lynn Cullen on the Inspiration for "The Woman With The Cure"

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. 

Today’s guest for the WHAT is Lynn Cullen, author of The Woman With The Cure, a riveting novel based on the true story of the woman who stopped a pandemic. The Woman With The Cure releases February 21.

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?

Oh, yes, I have a specific origin point for The Woman With The Cure…that lasted for five years. Every Friday since our now-grown kids were little, I’ve gone on long walks with my friend Karen Torghele. While we always had great conversations, they hit new highs during the years she was an oral historian for the Centers for Disease Control, when she would tell me stories about public health pioneers. But it was when she talked about the race for the polio vaccine between Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin that my That’s-a-Book alarm went off, raising the hair on my arms (my sure-fire sign that I have to get writing.) 

Yet, I couldn’t get started. Week after week, month after month, Karen dropped choice tidbits about these two friends-turned-archenemies, told from the viewpoint of their former colleagues. I felt the urgency of the two battling time and each other to end the disease which was paralyzing or killing thousands of children and young adults every summer. But the whole time I wondered, what about the women in the race for the vaccine? I had to do some digging—women in science in mid-century America are truly hidden figures—but in time leading women emerged in every aspect of the race. Once I found Dr. Dorothy Horstmann, the story burst into bloom.

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

The real-life race to beat polio, which was permanently disabling or killing more children every summer, provided a harrowing plotline. The stories of the women who battled polio had to be told, in addition to that of Dorothy Horstmann, whose difficult personal life had to be reckoned with as she fought to reveal how polio worked so that a vaccine could be made. History—or in this case “herstory”—provided a handy framework. 

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

Always. I lost count of how many revisions The Woman With The Cure took. Only two chapters survived somewhat intact from my original first draft. But I love revising. For me, one of the great pleasures of writing is when something that should have been obvious suddenly comes to light, shining the way to a new understanding of the story. I live for those eureka moments. 

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

Oh, ideas come often. It’s whether they still stand after exposing them to the light of reason that’s the hard part.

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

The story that needs to be told makes itself pretty clear. It’s the one I can’t stop thinking about, day and night, and that seems to want to write itself.

I have 6 cats and a Dalmatian (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?

Nice crew you have there! Personally, I don’t know how to write—or live—without the company of my buddies. My German shepherd, Rosie, and my cat, Baby, are snoozing nearby as I write this. We send greetings to you and yours this rainy morning, and a big thank you for this interview!

Lynn Cullen is the bestselling author of historical novels The Sisters of Summit Avenue, Twain’s End, Mrs. Poe, Reign of Madness, and I Am Rembrandt’s Daughter. Her novel, Mrs. Poe, was named a Book of the Week by People Magazine, a Target Book Club Pick, an NPR 2013 Great Read, an Indie Next List selection. It was also a book of the month at Costco, an Oprah Book of the Week, and Atlanta magazine named it one of the Best Books of 2013.