Bernadette Calonego's Blog: Eventful - Posts Tagged "thrill"

One of my three brothers will not read my mystery thrillers because they would keep him awake at night. I totally accept this (I have two more brothers who make up for it, they read my mystery thrillers even before they are published). I can get scared, too. Recently I listened to a true crime podcast. In the night, I woke up and was afraid of the dark!
On the other hand, my translator said to me that I should have more dead people in my books (is three bodies not enough?). Translating my novels, he obviously acquired a taste for dark thrills. In my personal life, I`m not always ready for them. When I watch a movie and it gets too violent I close my eyes. I cannot bear it. How much gore and horror can you tolerate, dear reader?
When my mother wanted to tell me stories about ghosts knocking on windows and lost souls wandering through a house at night, I fled. As a child, my imagination was too vivid to enjoy these tales.
Being a crime writer doesn't mean I'm not frightened in the face of danger. But it is almost impossible to predict how we will react in the face of somebody or something threatening us. Maybe we stay calmer than we think. Or people who seem to be strong break down.
I relish in building up suspense and reinforcing the mystery in my books but I don't have fun describing a bloody scene, a mutilated body or torture. Like with romance, the most intensive things that can happen are in our imagination. Once it is described in detail, it can lose its impact.
Does this mean I won`t listen to another true crime podcast anymore? Of course not. The thrill is addictive.