We put legal thriller writer Marti Green “on the stand” to talk about Unintended Consequences, special needs kids, and the writing life.
1. When did you start writing fiction?
My first attempt at fiction was a short story I wrote when I was 9, involving a creature from outer space visiting my home.
2. Your book is based on a lawyer who works for a nonprofit group in New York City, the Help Innocent Prisoners Project, that’s dedicated to working with inmates who have been wrongly accused. Did you base the legal group on any specific organization?
Of course, the original Innocence Project was founded by attorneys Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld and is located in New York City. Since then, many lawyers from many states have started such projects devoted to freeing the wrongly convicted. Most such organizations, however, including the original Innocence Project, will only take cases in which DNA evidence is available to exonerate the prisoner. My fictional Help Innocent Prisoners Project will take select cases where DNA evidence is unavailable.
3. How often are the sentences of convicted prisoners overturned? Are there a lot of innocent people in prison today?
As of October, 2012, there have been 300 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the US. For more interesting facts on post-conviction exonerations, click here. The various projects that operate throughout the US have limited staff and budgets and so cannot take on all the requests they receive from prisoners, even where DNA is available and could potentially clear them. And there are an untold number of prisoners who claim innocence but don’t contact the various innocence projects. It’s impossible to estimate how many current prisoners are actually innocent. Of course, many crimes don’t involve DNA which adds to the difficulty in estimating how many prisoners remain wrongly incarcerated.
4. What did you learn in the process of researching for Unintended Consequences that surprised you?
I was surprised to learn that police-induced false confessions are among the leading causes of wrongful convictions. In fact, a 2003 study found them to be the single leading cause. In more than two-thirds of the DNA-cleared homicide cases documented by the Innocence Project, convictions were based on false confessions.
5. You spent many years working as a lawyer. How similar were your experiences to Dani Trumball’s?
Not at all similar. I worked as a corporate attorney, handling contract matters and regulatory issues. It was interesting, fulfilling work, but a long way from the emotional pressures that Dani faces with the death penalty.
6. Your protagonist, Dani Trumball, is a working mother of a child with special needs. What can you tell us about Williams syndrome?
Williams syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that causes mild to moderate mental retardation. Children with this disorder have unique facial characteristics that are sometimes described as “pixie” like. They often have a strong vocabulary, but tend to be slightly off on their use of words. Many Williams syndrome children have exceptional musical ability and may be musical prodigies. Children tend to be overly friendly. There are a variety of medical problems, particularly with the heart or blood vessels, that are common with the syndrome. For more information on Williams syndrome, see http://www.williams-syndrome.org/
7. Who are some of your favorite legal suspense authors?
Scott Turow tops the list. I also enjoyed John Lescroart’s Dismas Hardy series and Michael Connolly’s Lincoln Lawyer series, as well as David Ellis’s legal thrillers.
8. You recently moved to Florida from New York. What’s been the biggest adjustment?
The heat! No, seriously, after my kids and grandkids, I miss the mountains most. I lived in upstate New York and hiked in the Catskill Mountains regularly (even earning a patch for climbing all 35 peaks over 3500 feet, of which about one-third are trail-less).
9. When did you know you wanted to be a novelist?
After I retired from law, I decided to see if I had it in me to write a novel. I started out with the barest idea of a plot and then was amazed at how the characters took on a life of their own. It hooked me on writing.
10. What’s next for you as a writer? Any other projects planned or underway?
I’m working on another Dani Trumball novel, this one about a seventeen year old girl who was convicted of murdering both parents.
And a bonus question: What advice do you have for other writers who are making their way toward publication?
- If possible, join a writers group and be open to their feedback. Be willing to shed paragraphs or scenes that you love. If several people are telling you it doesn’t work, listen to them.
- Develop a thick skin and be persistent. Don’t let rejections from agents and/or editors stop you. Many successful authors have desks filled with rejections. If you’re lucky to get feedback along with the rejections, use it.
- Edit, edit, edit. And then stop. Every time I pick up my manuscript, I find things to change. There comes a point though when it’s time to step back and say it’s done.