My intention was to start at the beginning of my process as a writer, but I'm in the middle of the first draft of the second book which has opened up an unsettling Pandora's box of personal history. Without getting too deep into the details at this point, 26 years ago I was the victim in a felony assault that caused a great deal of grief and chaos in my life that still affects who I am today. It is this incident and the aftermath that I'm currently writing about; there is a character based on myself, and the fictional cop who's a lead character of the novel I recently finished. It had been an easy transition from fact to fiction until I began researching my assailant's status for the story and found out he will be up for parole in July.
This person is a menace to society in general and to me in particular, since my name and address are in the court documents which he has access to as the defendant. I spent Tuesday afternoon on the phone with various members of the legal system, including the warden at the maximum security prison he is currently incarcerated in. I have a number of options; I can register to be notified if he is released, or I can submit a victim's impact statement to the parole board and even speak to their commissioner before they meet.
On Wednesday, I was in the DA's office speaking to a counselor. I feel compelled to do what I can to help keep this man in jail. I spent most of yesterday on my victim's impact statement, but it's interesting that before I could start writing it, I needed to set up this new blog. And by the way, my favorite option, suggested by this DA counselor, is to consider relocating. Finally, a justifiable reason to move to Cape Cod.