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.

Jeannie Walker The IAN Interview

Jeannie Walker is an Award Winning Author, Award Winning Songwriter and freelance writer. She studied creative writing in New York and Connecticut and is a member of the International Association of Writers. She is an avid reader of mystery novels.

Walker's debut novel, the true crime story, "Fighting the Devil" is a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Finalist in the True Crime genre.

Walker became a real-life Sherlock Holmes sleuth to help solve her ex-husband's murder.

IAN. Please tell us about Fighting the Devil.

JW. "Fighting the Devil" - A True Story of Consuming Passion, Deadly Poison, and Murder is a true crime story, depicted the way it really happened with factual accounts, information and recollections.

I wrote the book to speak for my ex-husband who no longer has a voice. He was poisoned to death and died a slow, painful death.

Book Description: In the midst of Texas ranch country, on a quiet and peaceful spring day in 1990, a 49-year-old millionaire rancher sat down to lunch with his wife and bookkeeper, as he often did. Less than half an hour later, he was deathly ill, with stomach pains, severe vomiting and intense intestinal distress. Three weeks later, he was dead from a mysterious illness. His wife seemed to show no emotion when she learned of his death. However, his bookkeeper became very nervous and upset upon hearing the news, and ran through the hospital corridor to the elevator.

The Texas millionaire rancher discovered his wife and bookkeeper had stolen thousands of dollars from him. After he demanded the money back, he started getting sick. While in the hospital, doctors were mystified as to how an otherwise healthy, energetic man could become so deathly ill. The dying man told everyone within earshot that his wife and bookkeeper were killing him. The man's wife said her husband was hallucinating from drugs the doctors were giving him. The millionaire rancher succumbed in the hospital while strapped down to his bed with restraints on his hands and feet and tubes in every orifice. After the rancher died, an anonymous caller tipped off the police. The widow was the sole beneficiary of the estate and a $350,000 life insurance policy. A week before the man's death, a teenager visited the rancher's home and became deathly ill after he drank juice that was in the rancher's refrigerator. Two years after the millionaire's death, a bottle of arsenic was found in a storage locker rented by a woman under an assumed name. The millionaire's ex-wife, the mother of his children, became a sleuth to help solve the murder. No one could have predicted the aftermath with its strange twists and unexpected results.

IAN. How long did it take to write Fighting the Devil?

JW. It took me almost 20 years to write the book.

IAN. What inspired you to write the book?

JW. The horrific murder of my ex-husband and father of my children.

IAN. Talk about the writing process.

JW. I mostly write 3 - 4 hours in the morning. However, I have gotten up in the middle of the night to write down thoughts that I feel are important.

IAN. Did you use an outline or do you just wing the first draft?

JW. I used an outline.

IAN. How is your book different from others in your genre?

JW. My book is different from other true crime stories in that this is a story that I lived through and is very personal to me.

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

JW. My book is available in paperback, hardcover and e-book.

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

JW. It is my hope that anyone who reads my book will come to the realization that they are not alone in their struggles, no matter how big or small. And that they have the ability to overcome and the right to be their loved one's advocate and if necessary to become their own, real-life Sherlock Holmes.

IAN. Where can we go to buy Fighting the Devil?

JW. My book can be bought online at my website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders or other online book sites. It is not currently available in bookstores.

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

JW. The murder case I wrote about is still an open murder case. There is another suspect that has not been brought to justice. I am hoping to have a sequel, but it depends on whether or not we get additional evidence. Additionally, I want fans of crime stories to realize that if their lives are ever touched by anything as horrific as a murder, "they have the ability and right to become their loved one's advocate, and to become their own, real-life Sherlock Holmes.

IAN. Any other links or info you'd like to share?

JW. The murder case I wrote about in my book is still an open murder case. I have an online petition asking the Governor of Texas and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to fully investigate the 1990 arsenic murder of Jerry Sternadel, a Texas millionaire, who was my ex-husband. I would appreciate it if people would go there and sign the petition. (The widow, who walked away with a million dollar estate and half a million dollars in life insurance is a suspect and has yet to be arrested or tried for her part in the murder conspiracy of Jerry Sternadel.) The link for the petition is: http://www.petitiononline.com/jwbs218/petition.html

Fighting the Devil: A True Story of Consuming Passion, Deadly Poison, and Murder

By Jeannie Walker

Page count: 336

Genre: True Crime

iUniverse

Excerpt.

There was a time when the millionaire rancher, Jerry Sternadel, gave all the orders. No one dared to tell him times were a-changin'. When he discovered in May of 1990 that his wife, Lou Ann, and his bookkeeper, Debbie Baker, had stolen thousands of dollars from him, he demanded the money back by Memorial Day, threatening to have them arrested for embezzlement if they did not. He also told his wife he was going to divorce her.

A week before Memorial Day, Jerry ate lunch with Lou Ann and Debbie as he often did. Soon after consuming his taco salad, he became violently ill, with nausea, vomiting, and severe diarrhea. He was admitted to the hospital on three different occasions between May 23 and June 12.

Doctors were mystified as to what was causing this otherwise healthy forty-nine-year-old man to become so deathly ill. Jerry did not smoke or drink and he exercised daily. During his final stay in the hospital, toxicology tests showed 4,895 mcg of arsenic in his system. Even while he was a patient in the hospital, the arsenic levels had continued to climb!

Jerry told nurses and anyone within earshot that his wife and bookkeeper were killing him.

From "Fighting the Devil"

Amazon.com

Jeannie Walker on BLOGTALK RADIO

Join me Friday, June 3, 2011 9:00 A.M Pacific Daylight Time-11:00 A.M. CDT/ 10:00 A.M.MDT/ 12:00/Noon EDT for a blogtalkradio program that will have you riveted to the show as I talk about the unexplained phenomena and supernatural elements that permeate this TRUE crime drama.

Call 347-994-1903 to listen or press 1 to join the conversation and talk to the author. The chat room will be open on theblogtalkradio website where you can listen to the show and ask questions in the chat room. Carra Riley - http://cosmiccowpie.com/

"Fighting The Devil" is a True Crime story of consuming passion, deadly poison and murder written by Jeannie Walker.

Jeannie Walker is an Award Winning Author -

• Walker's Debut Novel is the 2011 NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARDS TRUE CRIME FINALIST and

• 2010 FOREWORD MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE YEAR TRUE CRIME FINALIST

The Indie Excellence Awards are reserved for the “best of the best” in books published in various genres. The criteria for recognition are stringent and include overall excellence in presentation. This award celebrates the highest achievements in independent press and self-publishing, a sector of the industry that has grown exponentially in recent years.

"Fighting the Devil" is a saga of murder, abuse, embezzlement, poison, and premonitions. Readers who enjoy suspense, strong female leads, and crime drama, will cling to every word.

Jeannie Walker is a real-life Sherlock Holmes. She follows the evidence to "Fight The Devil."

Jerry Sternadel, a self-made Texas millionaire, Jeannie's ex-husband was poisoned to death in 1990. While hospitalized, he told nurses and doctors alike that he was being poisoned. The staff did not heed his frantic pleas, allowing the suspects continued access to him as he lay dying in the hospital.

No arrests were made for three years. Read about the woman ultimately convicted of first-degree murder and then sentenced with only a fine and a lengthy probation. The convicted murder was finally sent to prison a full 13 years after she committed the murder because she violated her probation.

To this day, a main suspect has yet to be brought to justice. There is a twisted triangle "hate" that will chill you to the bones.

Walker, who played a key role in helping law enforcement investigate many aspects of the murder, says she felt compelled to write the book. "I owe my ex-husband a voice, as he no longer has one," she says, adding that "when I see injustice, I want to fight it." She continues that fight now by raising new awareness of her ex-husband's case. The ex-wife-turned sleuth and author says that she hopes fans of crime stories have an appreciation of the pain, trauma, and grueling battle for justice that the family and friends of real-life victims experience. Additionally, she wants them to realize that if their lives are ever touched by anything as horrific as a murder, "they have the ability and right to become their loved one's advocate, and to become their own, real-life Sherlock Holmes."

This is a must listen to show as some day you might be seeing the story on the BIG SCREEN!

Jeannie Walker's story aired on TV as a segment of The True Crime Story on "Current Affair" and "SNAPPED" Season 1, Episode 12:

Twenty years after the murder, Jeannie Walker penned "Fighting the Devil". Walker had fought the devil even before her ex-husband was murdered, but was she prepared for the unexplained phenomena of the evil supernatural being from the belly of hell?

Connect with the Author of "Fighting The Devil," Jeannie Walker:

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twitter @JeannieWalker1

buy the book on Amazon

Jeannie Walker website

Video book trailer