The Killer in Me by Keith Julius

Posted on February 11, 2019 by Jeyran Main

The Killer in Me by Keith Julius

I love to kill people.

Now that I have your attention, allow me to add some information to the previous disclaimer. Within the pages of the stories I write, I love to kill people. It’s a feeling of extreme power, this ability to control people’s destinies. I enjoy many aspects of writing, but what draws me in more than anything else is the ability to manipulate lives. I take this ultimate authority I hold very seriously. Once I have created the characters that people my novels, endowed them with attributes and abilities and beliefs and all the many traits that make us who we are, I try my best not to force them into situations that don’t ring true.

A young college student could be a sadistic killer, and I’m sure many stories could be written revolving around this premise, but I prefer to think that’s too far out of the norm. It stretches believability in a direction I choose not to follow. If it feels like too outrageous of a premise how can I expect my readers to accept it? However, a young college student could certainly be a victim of a sadistic killer. This I find not only plausible but fodder for a dramatic moment in any novel.

Because death, though commonplace and something we all have to learn to accept in our lives, shouldn’t be regarded as just another random act while we move onto the rest of the story. Every death in a novel should mean something. I’ve written characters that I fell in love with, journeying with them as they struggle through the hurdles I’ve set before them, that I subsequently killed because I felt it was crucial to the storyline. But it was almost like losing a close friend. That’s what I hope the reader feels as well. If I’ve done my job properly they too have become attached and will feel the sorrow and grief I attempt to bring out in my story.

I’ve had other characters that the reader barely gets to know before the grim reaper claims another victim. But even then, I feel their death has to stand for something. It has to be part of the story, fulfill a pivotal moment in the book, or what’s the sense of the deed? Two of my books have had a character die within the first chapter. And while we haven’t learned much about these people, and certainly haven’t gotten attached to them in any way, their deaths were the agents responsible for moving the stories the direction I chose to go. The books could not have been written without someone making the extreme sacrifice.

Written by Keith Julius

*****

Please visit www.keithjulius.com to learn more about me and my writing. Here you’ll find links to buying my books as well as sample chapters of each of my novels.

If you would like a book review click here

If you would like your book edited click here

Need help getting your book published? Contact Me.