Well, I was never physically abused, but I’ve known people who were, both physically and sexually. Abuse is a terrible thing. But I think what’s probably the most tragic is the type that gets completely ignored. People shout out about physical and sexual abuse, but ignore verbal abuse entirely. It can shred a child’s psyche without a bruise to speak evidence of it. It can do so much more damage, and yet no one cares. Have you seen what happens to people with that type of background? It isn’t their bones that get broken, but their minds.

History Sleuth’s Milk Carton Murders

And I love writing characters with flaws. Maybe a little too much, really. I have another story in the works where the MC has PTSD and was sexually abused as a child. In yet another, she was neglected as a child, and tried to commit suicide by walking in front of an SUV…

I’m a sucker for details. In fact, I have been known to goof off by researching. Once, I spent a ridiculous amount of time on WedMD reading patient comments on the side effects of Haldol. I found it annoying that all the sites I went to listed all the side effects possible, but nobody’s going to get all the side effects.

Thanks. That was my master plan. Mwahahaha!