Modern true crime writers are like vultures scouring the terrain in search of a body. When they find one, they pounce on it to devour it. The main drive for this is financial gain, using the tragedies of others to achieve it. Finding bodies is a good tool to use when you don’t have the creative imagination to write from within and jumping on board a current trend makes sense.

Whether this is a good or bad approach to writing is an open question, as one must find one’s own means of paying bills and eating. Some families want their stories told, either in memory of their lost family member or as a way to use this harsh lesson to inform, alert and instill caution in those who may find themselves facing a similar situation.

These crime writers become experts, so to speak, on the particular case they are researching for their book. They want to be on the bestseller list and are whitewashed by the publicity and notoriety that this achievement brings. Jumping on dead bones gives them a sense of accomplishment. The more prominent the crime, the more they get into it, and usually because they don’t have the slightest interest in the victim, but because they know how to get the blood out of the body before it heats up.

True crime stories on television are currently popular and this popularity has led many vultures to come out of their nests to capitalize on this trend. Like vampires, they go for the juggler who drains adversity for every drop they can get out of it. They pride themselves on being experts in all aspects of the case. They glide the vapors of a decomposing body with visions of a paycheck placed in their hands. They use the pain and grief of family members to add that emotional element to their book. They are rarely of any help to law enforcement in solving the case.

This is not a blow to these people because they all have to live and eat. And as they say, you are what you eat, and if you choose to eat the dead, then you are a cannibal with putrid blood dripping from your teeth. But your book has been published, so what does this matter to you as you scour the morgue for your next writing inspiration?