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

The Saturday Slash

Don't be afraid to ask for help with the most critical first step of your writing journey - the query.

I’ve been blogging since 2011 and have critiqued over 200 queries here on the blog using my Hatchet of Death. This is how I edit myself, it is how I edit others. If you think you want to play with me and my hatchet, shoot me an email.

If the Saturday Slash has been helpful to you in the past, or if you’d like for me to take a look at your query please consider making a donation, if you are able.

If you’re ready to take the next step, I also offer editing services.

My thoughts are in blue, words to delete are in red, suggested rephrasing is in orange.

Ten years ago Lucie Elsayed died and returned to life, saved by a bargain between her father and a Persian deity. Really great hook! One minor detail would be to include a slight indication her age, perhaps rephrasing this slightly so that it refers to the father taking the action in order to "save his child" Marked only by her silver hair, Lucie is ignorant of the origins of her rebirth and instead occupied with practicing ballet and attending parties. This is the first indication that the setting is actually the contemporary world. Maybe mention Paris setting sooner. But when a god of wind splits the sky and abducts her father as payment for the deal he made a decade ago, Lucie is plunged into a world of supernatural intrigue lurking beneath the streets of Paris.

Enter Wyatt, a boy with incandescent tattoos and a mandate to safeguard mortals from demons, who recognizes Lucie for what she truly is: an Immortal, a descendent of the same venerable Persian deities who have taken her father. Imbued with superhuman speed and endurance, Lucie must rely on Wyatt’s guidance to master her gifts, though he may be more insufferable than he is charming. Were the powers unknown to her before? Is she shocked? Scared? Feeling blessed? As Lucie delves deeper into the secrets of her family’s past, she suspects that defeat is not an option. If she cannot reclaim her father and unveil her buried heritage, she will lose everything she cares for as Paris is consumed by the forces her family has been bound to for generations. I think we need just a nudge here as to how they are bound. Is she like Wyatt, fighting the demons? Or is her family history tied in a different way?

EMPIRE OF IMMORTALS is the first book in a young adult urban fantasy series set in contemporary Paris and interwoven with Persian mythology. Complete at 89,000 words, it blends the evocative magic of Hafsah Faizal’s We Hunt the Flame with the wit of Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn.

As a Middle Eastern American author with a background in marketing and international relations, I am passionate about sharing the fables of my Persian ancestors. Given your interest in personalization for agent, I believe my manuscript would be a great fit for your list.

Really, really fantastic query here, including the last two paras with the personalization. I think it needs some very minor tweaks, and I would also find a way to make this a standalone with series potential, if at all possible.

Julie Carrick Dalton’s Lessons on Writing the Sophomore Novel

We all like to hear about the journey to publication, and hopefully other people's success stories help bolster the confidence of those still slogging through the query trenches. But what happens after that first book deal? When the honeymoon is over, you end up back where you were - sitting in front of a blank Word document with shaky hands. Except this time, there are expectations hanging over you. With this in mind, I’ve created the SNOB (Second Novel Omnipresent Blues) interview.

Today’s guest for the SNOB is Julie Carrick Dalton, author of The Last Beekeeper which releases today!

Whether you’re under contract or trying to snag another deal, you’re a professional now, with the pressures of a published novelist compounded with the still-present nagging self-doubt of the noobie. How to deal?

I had a two-book deal right out of the gate, which was wonderful. And horrible. I had the security of knowing there would definitely be another book, but I also had to deal with a tight deadline to write it while launching my debut. It took me thirteen years to write the first book. I had less than two years to write the second. My debut novel, Waiting for the Night Song, came out in January 2021, right in the middle of the pandemic. I found myself locked down at home with loads of time – but I couldn’t write. I panicked. What if the new book wasn’t as good? What if I couldn’t finish it? I don’t remember what flipped the switch, but shortly after Night Song’s launch, I was able to relax a little and write again. From that point on, having my manuscript waiting for me every day helped me cope with the anxiety of living through the pandemic. It became my retreat, my escape. In the end, having that deadline hanging over me was a good thing. It pushed me. I know some authors don’t like multi-book deals because of the pressure it creates, but for me, it works. In fact, I recently signed another two-book contract for books three and four. So now, as I’m launching The Last Beekeeper, once again, I’m facing a tight deadline. Yes, I’m panicking again, but underneath that panic is a wee bit of confidence. I’ve done this before, and I can do it again.

Is it hard to leave behind the first novel and focus on the second?

Yes! I lived in the world of Waiting for the Night Song for thirteen years. I knew what was under every rock, in every medicine cabinet. I knew those characters like old friends because they were old friends. Waiting for the Night Song is set in the mountains and forests of New Hampshire, which I know well in real life. The Last Beekeeper is set in the near future. Not only did I struggle to leave the woods of New Hampshire, but it took a while to find my footing in the imagined world of Beekeeper. In fact, after the first draft, I completely relocated the setting of one of the timelines because it wasn’t working. After I got the setting right, the characters began showing themselves to me, and oh my gosh, do I love these characters now! I’m still firmly grounded in The Last Beekeeper as I launch it into the world, but I’m also easing myself into my new book and new characters. I’m finding the transition less jarring this time.

At what point do you start diverting your energies from promoting your debut and writing / polishing / editing your second?

I never stopped promoting my debut. Most of my energy right now is focused on doing interviews, recording podcasts, and supporting the launch of The Last Beekeeper, but I still get requests to talk or write about Waiting for the Night Song. And I'm working on Book Three. I’m in deep on all fronts! Waiting for the Night Song is still out there. Folks are still reading it. I still see it on the shelves in airports and bookstores. It’s easy to get caught up in the publicity and social media, which is important. But I often need to remind myself to get back to the writing. Supporting a backlist book, promoting a launch, and writing a new book all at the same time requires focus and organization, neither of which are my strengths. I tend to throw myself into one thing for a week or two. I’ll spend all day writing for weeks and ignore social media and publicity. Or vice versa. My goal for 2023 is to be more balanced and intentional in my approach to all three books. (If anyone has any great strategies, please reach out! I have not mastered this part yet!)

Your first book landed an agent and an editor, and hopefully some fans. Who are you writing the second one for? Them, or yourself?

I love this question because no one has ever asked me this. I definitely wrote the first book for myself. I was exploring childhood memories, friendships, and agricultural issues I dealt with as a farmer. I didn’t have any expectations that it would make it into print. I just had fun with it. During the editing process, I made changes for my agent and editor, but it was still a book I’d written for myself. When I started drafting The Last Beekeeper, I definitely had my editor in mind. I thought about the feedback she had given me on Waiting for the Night Song and tried to apply it to Beekeeper preemptively. The result was a disjointed, dysfunctional first draft. My editor nudged me to change the setting to a place that would feel more natural to me, where I would be more comfortable. So I rewrote half of the book and set it in a place I love – a farm. In essence, I went back and rewrote it for myself. I hope my readers love it too!

Is there a new balance of time management to address once you’re a professional author? 

Time management is NOT my strength! I feel like I have so many jobs now. All of a sudden, I was a novelist, a publicist, a public speaker, and a writing instructor. I’m also a mother of four humans and two dogs, and I ran a 100-acre farm. Shortly after my debut launched I was struggling to keep up with all of it. I had four main things to juggle: running my farm, parenting, being an author, and maintaining my sanity. It became clear one of these things had to go. I certainly wanted to maintain my mental health, I love my family, and I had finally achieved my dream of being a writer. So, sadly, last year, I sold my farm. Fifteen years ago I rescued that tract of land from being developed and I established a successful farm I’m proud of. I hated letting it go. But I sold it to someone who loves it as much as I do. It was a difficult decision, but I’m proud of myself for recognizing I couldn’t do it all. I have no regrets. And, just for the record, even without the farm, I’m still struggling to balance the demands of being an author, a speaker, and a parent. But I think I’m getting a little bit better.

What did you do differently the second time around, with the perspective of a published author?

I’m more willing to say no to requests if I feel overburdened. I also have a lot more confidence in myself as a public speaker. As I approached the launch of The Last Beekeeper, I didn’t hesitate to speak up and pitch myself to conferences, bookstores, libraries, or podcasts. I also have a different perspective on what success means. I used to gauge success in book sales and Amazon ratings. Now I judge myself on the quality of my writing. In the end, I want to be proud of the work I put out into the world.

Julie Carrick Dalton is the Boston-based author of The Last Beekeeper and Waiting for the Night Song, named a Most Anticipated 2021 novel by CNN, Newsweek, USA Today, Parade, and others, and an Amazon Editor’s pick for Best Books of the Month. A Bread Loaf, Tin House, and GrubStreet Novel Incubator alum, Julie is a frequent speaker on the topic of Fiction in the Age of Climate Crisis at universities, conferences, libraries, and museums. Her writing has appeared in Chicago Review of Books, Orion, Newsweek, The Boston Globe, Electric Literature, Lit Hub, and other publications. When she isn’t writing, you can usually find Julie digging in her garden, skiing, kayaking, or walking her dogs.