Confessions of an Author

Researching a Psychopath (and how to avoid being killed). 1 Do you know how to stay safe from a serial killer? I have spent the last year discovering as much as I can about psychopathy. This was mainly as background for my books, so they are authentic. However, I did also learn a few things that might be useful in real life. You probably know a psychopath. Have a think, do you know someone who’s fun to listen to, but tends to be a bit ‘glib’ – they’ll move on if someone more interesting comes along? Someone who might have been in trouble as a child – perhaps stealing or vandalising? Someone who sometimes speaks in quite a muddled manner, so if you ask them a question, you’re not always sure what their answer was? Someone who is mainly concerned with themselves – so they rarely comment, or ‘like’ other people’s posts on Facebook, unless it will benefit themselves. They won’t let you know whether or not they’ll be attending an event – and are very likely to not show up at...

Do you know a psychopath? Do you think your boss has psychopathic traits? Are you related to someone who you've always wondered about...?  Here's a quick quiz to find out!  It is an inherited disorder, and you might know someone who meets the criteria. Most psychopaths are not killers, or ever convicted of any crime, though they will be difficult people to be around. Robert D Hare MD, put together a checklist of traits to help psychologists diagnose psychopaths. He warns against laymen using this list to diagnose themselves or those they know, as psychopaths. Psychopathy is a syndrome - it is a cluster of several traits, and most non-psychopaths will have at least some. However, just in case you are interested (and just for fun) I have listed the main symptoms below: A person is scored 0 if the trait is not present, 1 if the trait is sometimes or partially present, and 2 if the trait is definitely present. A score of more than 30 would indicate someone is likely to b...

Was St. Paul a Psychopath? When I was researching JOANNA, I discovered what it meant to be a psychopath. Born with an under-developed frontal lobe in the brain, a psychopath was destined to live their lives unable to experience emotional empathy, unable to feel guilt, unable to love. I listened for many hours to psychopaths talking, I read copious studies by neuroscientists, and I even managed to find two mothers of psychopaths who were prepared to talk to me. By the time I came to write JOANNA, I knew how a psychopath would think and behave, and I could imagine what it would be like to live with one. However, the whole time I was writing JOANNA, striving to make an interesting story that would also show the reader everything I had learnt, I had a nagging doubt. If someone was born a psychopath, were they doomed? What did the disorder mean from a spiritual point of view? Psychopathy is a mental disorder, not an illness. It cannot be cured. It is a genetic condition, it cannot ...

The Launch of CLARA – A Good Psychopath? Hello, how are you? My weekend was dominated by the launch of  CLARA . It has all been very exciting, and began a few week’s ago, so I’ll tell you about it (because one day, you might be having a book launch of your own). CLARA  is the second book which I have been brave enough to have a launch party for. You have to be brave, because writing a book involves hours living inside your own head, and a book launch involves talking about the book to other people – which does not come very naturally to most authors. However, as I discovered with my previous books, if you opt to not have a launch, then some of the friends who would buy your books, find that local shops have sold out, or they never actually get round to ordering a copy, so you lose sales. After 18 months writing and rewriting and editing a book, you want people to read it. (Plus it’s nice to start paying off some of your debt!) The first decision is time. I w...

Hare’s Checklist Most psychopaths are not killers, or ever convicted of any crime. It is an inherited disorder, and you might know someone who meets the criteria. Robert D Hare MD, put together a checklist of traits to help psychologists diagnose psychopaths. He warns against laymen using this list to diagnose themselves or those they know, as psychopaths. Psychopathy is a syndrome - it is a cluster of several traits, and most non-psychopaths will have at least some. However, just in case you are interested, (and just for fun) I have listed the main symptoms below: A person is scored 0 if the trait is not present, 1 if the trait is sometimes or partially present, and 2 if the trait is definitely present. A score of more than 30 would indicate someone is likely to be a psychopath. •  glib and superficial charm •  grandiose (exaggeratedly high) estimation of self / egocentric   •  need for stimulation •  pathological lying/ deceitful •...

Feeling Excited… (Cover photo by Chloe Hughes) I am very excited.  CLARA  has arrived from the printer, and all looks fine (books are never exactly how I envision them beforehand, due to the restrictions with ink colours, plus when I’m writing, I have no awareness of the thickness of the book). Now comes the scary bit, which is persuading people to actually read it! I do have a sense of urgency with Clara, it is a book which almost demanded to be written. I began, over a year ago, by writing the  Introduction , which was actually a point midway through the story. As I wrote it (originally so I could include it in the back of  JOANNA ) I had no idea who the characters would be, or how the story would unfold, or if it would even make sense in the wider context of the completed book. I figured it didn’t matter; if the story took off in a different direction, no one would care, and I have read ‘tasters’ in the back of books by famous authors which bear no res...

Exciting news, CLARA is now available on Amazon! I will tell you more later, but you can snaffle an early copy if you're quick. It's just the thing to curl up with on a Winter's day. Enjoy... https://www.amazon.co.uk/CLARA-Good-Psychopath-Anne-Thompson/dp/0995463255/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1518097646&sr=8-1&keywords=clara+by+anne+e+thompson

Speaking on the Radio (very exciting and slightly terrifying…) 1 I was invited to speak on Meridian FM, which was very exciting (and rather terrifying!) I’ve never been on the radio before, so had no idea what to expect. I arrived about half an hour too early, because I was stressing about being late or not being able to park anywhere. I ended up going for a walk, so it was lucky the weather was warm. Then I went inside. Meridian FM is based at the Jubilee Centre in East Grinstead, which is a large building (with a big carpark) in an industrial estate. The downstairs rooms are used for a playgroup and community events. I was told to go up to the first floor. At the top of the stairs was a door, with signs warning me to be quiet if the red light was lit as they would be on air. How exciting is that! I then went in to an extremely hot room (they seriously need some air conditioning) and I waited until Samantha Day, whose show I was speaking on, was ready. One of the loc...

Researching a Psychopath (and how to avoid being killed). 1 Do you know how to stay safe from a serial killer? I have spent the last year discovering as much as I can about psychopathy. This was mainly as background for my books, so they are authentic. However, I did also learn a few things that might be useful in real life. The thing that shocked me most when watching video clips of Ted Bundy speaking, was how nice he was. A psychopath does not come with a label written on their foreheads! You probably know a psychopath. Have a think, do you know someone who’s fun to listen to, but tends to be a bit ‘glib’ – they’ll move on if someone more interesting comes along? Someone who might have been in trouble as a child – perhaps stealing or vandalising? Someone who sometimes speaks in quite a muddled manner, so if you ask them a question, you’re not always sure what their answer was? Someone who is mainly concerned with themselves – so they rarely comment, or ‘like’ other pe...