What is success?

by Stacy Green, author of psychological suspense with a dash of romance

What is success?

That is a question I’ve been asking myself a lot lately. My second novel, TIN GOD, recently became an Amazon bestseller. It was a wonderful, euphoric feeling, but I shun the idea of being called a bestselling author. Thanks to great advertising, I simply sold a lot of copies at a sale price. It’s been great for visibility, but I don’t think it’s fair to call myself a bestseller. Sales are steady now, and it’s a wonderful feeling, but I’m still new at this gig. I don’t expect to have massive numbers thanks to amazing readers telling all their friends about the book.

And to me, that’s what a true bestseller is. A book that is so good (or at least has so much reader buzz) that you just have to try it out yourself.

I’m not there yet. But I’m working on it. 

But the experience has raised the question: what is success, and how do I measure it?

As an indie author, I invested a lot in the editing and cover of my book, and I’m finally crossing into the green side of the investment spectrum. So yes, there’s financial success. Like the majority of us, money has to be a major factor in my decision making. 

But there’s also critical success. Reviewers have loved the book in a way I never expected. Talk about the warm fuzzies! Nothing like praise to make a person want to work harder. 

And then there are the plain old numbers–the ones any business obsesses over. And in the publishing world, numbers mean bragging rights. 

But you know what? None of that truly equates to success. It’s a hard lesson to learn, but what success really means (or SHOULD mean) is that we are happy with the product and effort. Whether we are writers or engineers or executives or salespeople, at the end of the day, happiness in our career is more than money and accolades. It is feeling like we are doing something we truly love and something we’re meant to do. 

Not everyone is lucky enough to say that, but I am.

So I’m calling today a success. 

What about you? Have you been lucky enough to be able to pursue your dreams?

TIN GOD
**Semi-Finalist in The Best Indie Book Awards for Mystery/Suspense 

**A Kindle Bestseller in Mystery and Suspense.

Trapped by poverty and without many allies, Jaymee Ballard is determined to reunite with the daughter she believes was stolen from her. But when the one person willing to help Jaymee ends up murdered in one of the historic mansions in Roselea, Mississippi, she realizes the secret of her past has come back to haunt her.

Now any hope Jaymee has of making things right rests in a man she barely knows and is afraid to trust, a man with his own demons to fight. Up against years of deception, they rush to identify the killer before the evidence-and Jaymee's daughter-are lost.

TIN GOD is an action-packed romantic suspense/psychological thriller featuring a strong woman determined to find a demented serial killer and find justice for her child.

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About the author :

Born in Indiana and raised in Iowa, Stacy Green earned degrees in journalism and sociology from Drake University. After a successful advertising career, Stacy became a proud stay-at-home mom to her miracle child. Now a full-time author, Stacy juggles her time between her demanding characters and supportive family. She loves reading, cooking, and the occasional gardening excursion. Stacy lives in Marion, Iowa with her husband Rob, their daughter Grace, and the family’s three obnoxious but lovable canine children.

Website: www.stacygreen.net

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Forensic Psychologists in Fiction

Guest post by Stacy Green

Forensic psychologists aren’t profilers.                     

According to the forensic psychologist I recently interviewed, forensic psychologists as profilers is the biggest misconception the general public has of their profession.

These people are essential to our legal system. They make crucial decisions about offenders every day, but are usually grossly misrepresented in both fiction and television. I’ve spent several weeks researching forensic psychology for a trilogy I’m working on, and I wanted to share some of what I’ve learned with the readers of Crime Fiction Collective.

Forensic psychologists don’t visit crime scenes or consult with detectives in search of a serial killer. They work within the court system, and in most states, they have two primary functions: to ascertain if a defendant was insane when he/she committed the crime, and if the offender is competent to stand trial. Their testimony is vital in deciding how a criminal will be tried, and if deemed incompetent to stand trial, they will advise a course of treatment so the offender can recover to competency. 

So what’s the process? Once a forensic psychologist is contacted by the judge or an attorney, they collect all collateral data pertaining to the case: previous interviews, crime scene photos, police video and reports, etc. In other words, a pile of paperwork big enough to make the eyes bleed. But it’s a key part of their process. 

Then it’s time to talk to the offender. Depending on the age and type of crime, the interview consists of risk assessment and various psychological tests. One of the biggest problems forensic psychologists have is defendants who malinger – the psychological term for faking insanity. 

The McNaughton Rule is the highest standard for determining the insanity plea, and the vast majority of defendants don’t qualify. An individual must be so deeply psychotic they truly don’t know what they did was wrong, and that’s rare. 

The three types of most skilled malingers are those who have taken hallucinogens in the past, ex-cons who’ve been to prison and observed mental illness first-hand, and individuals with genuine mental illness, such as schizophrenics taking their meds. 

Experts know true mentally disturbed people don’t jump in and share information about their psychoses. It’s often hard to get them to engage and even more difficult to get them to discuss what’s going on in their heads. Fakers, on the other hand, love to talk about the voices in their heads and the various conspiracy theories they “believe” in. 

Fortunately, a forensic psychologist can rely on more than just gut instinct and observation to figure out who’s malingering. They can turn to the offender’s prior records. Is there a history of mental problems? Have other professionals suspected malingering? By combing through the paperwork, a forensic psychologist can get a pretty good idea of what’s going on. 

Structured testing also helps. There are questions designed to trick the fakers, and my favorite is: We only hear voices in one ear – do you hear voices in your left or right ear? Of course this isn’t true, but the malingerer doesn’t know that. The ones who are faking pick an ear and give themselves away.

So what can we take from this? Forensic psychologists aren’t profilers. They are soldiers, working diligently in the trenches to sort out the bad from the worse and making sure the offender gets the treatment and/or punishment they need. 

As Indie writers, we’re under a microscope, and creating realistic portrayals of popular professions will go a long way in gaining credibility. 

Writers, what do you think? Are mental health professionals and law enforcement often misrepresented in fiction? What are the biggest misconceptions you see?


Stacy Green has degrees in sociology and journalism and uses her fascination of the criminal mind to explore true crime on her popular Thriller Thursday posts at her blog, Turning the Page. When she's not writing, she spends her time with her precocious daughter and supportive husband.

Stacy's debut suspense novel, INTO THE DARK, releases from MuseItUp Publishing on November 30th.

INTO THE DARK: 

He sees her when she's sleeping. He knows when she's awake. Her life he’s determined to take. Featuring a heroine on the edge of disaster, a tormented villain, and Las Vegas’s infamous storm drains, Into the Dark mixes suspense with a dash of romance.

Stacy's blog, www.stacygreenauthor.com
Twitter: @StacyGreen26
Facebook: Stacy Green, Author
Website: www.stacygreen.net