Corey Mitchell's Pure Murder Virtual Book Tour

June 04, 2008

Yesterday was the official release of Corey Mitchell's latest book, Pure Murder. It was also the beginning of his 15-date Virtual Book Tour and word scramble contest.

At the bottom of every interview will be a "Word of the Day." Participants will need to follow the tour to collect all fifteen words, which they will then need to unscramble to form a quote. The first person to submit the exact quote, along with the name of the original person who said it, will win signed and personalized copies of all five of Corey's Kensington/Pinnacle books.

The tour and interviews began yesterday at In Cold Blog and continues here today. For my interview with Corey I chose to focus on his life as a crime writer.

How did you get started in true crime?

When I lived in Los Angeles during the late 90's/early 00's, I went to the L.A. Times Book Fair to see an author by the name of Dennis McDougal. He writes Hollywood biographies and true crime books and I was a huge fan of his writing. I brought of all his books with me, had him sign them all, and then stood around chatting with him about his work. I asked him if he ever needed a research assistant that I would be more than happy to help him out. Three weeks later he called to tell me he had just signed a contract with a major publishing house to write a book on The Yosemite Park serial killer, Cary Stayner and he needed some help with research. Of course, we did not know it was Stayner at the time because the killer was still out there while we were researching in the park. In fact, just a couple of weeks after we went up to Yosemite, Stayner decapitated Joie Armstrong inside the park.

I helped Dennis with most of his research and took photographs for his book, The Yosemite Murders. At the same time, I had already written the book proposal for what would become my first book, Hollywood Death Scenes. I asked Dennis if he would be interested in writing the introduction to the book. He agreed, and the rest is history.

What authors do you like to read and which book would you consider your all-time favorite?

For the past several years I have been mainly interested in liberal-based political books by such noted authors as Robert Reich, Al Franken, David Sirota, Eric Alterman, and George Lakoff. I have always been a political junkie and the current administration has provided plenty of fodder, both serious and humorous, to ponder.

For my personal enjoyment, I love, and have always loved, the horror genre. Clive Barker, Poppy Z. Brite, Joe Lansdale, Brian Keene, Richard Laymon, Caitlin Kiernan, Lucy Taylor, Phil Nutman, Tim Lucas, Dennis Etchison, John Skipp and Craig Spector, H.P. Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood, Edgar Allen Poe, Shirley Jackson, and Ed Gorman are just a few of the many brilliant horror novelists I admire.

I actually don't read much true crime any more now that I write it for a living. I am, however, a huge fan of...

Continue Reading Corey Mitchell's Interview

Comments

[Jeanne Tutt]

I had to laugh at the homeless tossing an orange. It flashed me back to when my family was walking around NYC and we were at the main library. We were walking down the front steps and this homeless woman started hitting my dad and telling him (at 6'4" and she was 5'0" maybe) to get out of her house!

You have a fan for life :) keep writing I'll keep reading:)

[Corey Mitchell]

Thank you, Jeanne. I appreciate your support and am glad you have enjoyed my books. And be sure to come back here often to read David Lohr's excellent reporting.

[ingrid coker]

hi corey,i read the new book pure murder,and it made me sick.then i checked the death row list and joe medellin is scheduled for execution aug,5,08,i think.then i put efrain perez into google and found out that he got a website.you got to be kidding,i thought.you really have to read what he puts down.he acts like he is the victim.i cant wait til he gets executed for what he has done to those girls.

[Martha]

Hello, Mr. Mitchell :-)

I am reading Pure Murder. How on earth did you obtain the details of the crime?

Thank you,

Martha