JJ Slate-The IAN Interview

JJ Slate is a bestselling true crime author and blogger. Born in Massachusetts, she has always been fascinated with true crime stories, especially those dealing with missing persons and cold cases. A self-proclaimed “trial junkie” and “forensic science nerd,” JJ currently lives in New England with her husband. When she isn’t writing or researching her next book, she is usually blogging about current cases in the media.

Independent Author Network: Please tell us about your latest book.

JJ Slate: My debut true crime book, Missing Wives, Missing Lives, a compilation of true cases about wives that have gone missing, published in June of 2014 and quickly became an Amazon bestseller in several categories. I teamed up with award-winning and bestselling true crime author RJ Parker to write my second book, Social Media Monsters: Internet Killers, a collection of chilling stories about killers who have used the internet to locate, lure, stalk, or exploit their victims.

IAN. Is your book published in print, e-book or both?

JJ Slate: Both of my books are published in paperback, eBook, and Audiobook!

IAN: Where can we go to buy your book?

JJ Slate:  Visit these Amazon links. Missing Wives, Missing Lives   Social Media Monsters: Internet Killers

IAN: What inspired you to write the book? 

JJ Slate: I have long been consumed with the cases that make up Missing Wives, Missing Lives. It is unfathomable to me how cases like this even come to be in the first place. But I think the saddest part of these types of stories (where a wife goes missing and the husband is the prime suspect in her disappearance) is how quickly they fade from the media when the leads begin to go cold. Writing this book was just my way of hoping to keep these women’s stories alive.

IAN: How long did it take to write the book?

JJ Slate: It took me a few months to write Missing Wives. I was already incredibly familiar with most of the cases, so I had the meat of the book in my head already. I just needed to get it out onto paper.

IAN: What do you hope your readers come away with after reading your book?

JJ Slate: I hope people come away with the understanding that this sort of thing happens more than they realize and perhaps might see some warning signs in some of these women’s stories that will give them the courage to escape a similar relationship or help a friend who is facing similar circumstances.

IAN: Do you see writing as a career?

JJ Slate: I would love to write full-time one day. That’s my dream! I’m not there yet, but I know I’ve made some great strides in this past year and I’m excited for what is coming next.

IAN: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

JJ Slate: I’ve been reading and writing for as long as I can remember. I always had my nose in a book or a journal growing up, and not much has changed since.

IAN: Do you have any advice for other writers?

JJ Slate:  I think that if you really want to write for a living someday, you should just keep writing whenever you can and make that dream happen. I’m not there yet, but this is what I am pushing for and hopefully we’ll get there some day!

IAN: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

JJ Slate: I really would love to thank each and every person who has purchased my book and reached out to me to tell me how much they enjoyed it. Those words have encouraged me to keep writing and following my dream.

IAN: Tell us about your next book or a work in progress. Is it a sequel or a stand-alone?

JJ Slate: I am currently working on my next book, due out early 2015, a compilation of cases on newlywed killers—spouses that have killed their partners shortly after taking their wedding vows.