On Rewriting Real-Life Tragedy: Part II

Write what you know. It’s every writer’s mantra, what we tell ourselves and each other.

But what’s a suspense writer to do when she had an idyllic childhood? My father has never been arrested for murder. My husband has never disappeared without a trace. Up until recently, the parts of me that made it into my stories have been much more benign, like my restless wanderlust or my favorite stretch of the Atlanta beltline.

And then: tragedy. A dear friend called me on an ordinary Friday to tell me her husband had beaten her. I’ve written about it plenty, and right here on this very website , so I won’t rehash all the details now, but suffice it to say there was enough drama in her story to write ten books.

So write about it I did. What happened to my friend became my main character’s backstory in Three Days Missing, and then I took it a step further with a woman pushed to the brink in Dear Wife. Any author will tell you that writing is an excellent way to process emotions, and that’s what I was doing, working through the trauma of standing helplessly by as my friend clawed her way out of that relationship. Fictionalizing her story was both an outlet and a balm, for both of us.

By the time I typed The End on Dear Wife, I’d said what I needed to say about the trail of suffering domestic abuse leaves behind long after the beatings have stopped. Seven years later, my friend has healed. Her divorce papers are crinkled and dusty and the bottom of a drawer somewhere, and she’s rebuilt her life, found new meaning and happiness.

Her real life abuser hasn’t fared so well. The demons he harbored during their marriage—substance abuse, mental illness, a mercurial temper—only grew in her absence, taking up the space she’d just vacated. Somehow, he managed to keep it in check long enough to fool another woman into moving in with him, into wearing his engagement ring. I ran into her once during those early days, and I didn’t sugarcoat. I said that he’d assaulted my friend, that he’d broken her bones and her heart, that he’s a master manipulator and to run run run. She didn’t listen.

He died recently, and in the days after his death, I learned he did it again. He assaulted that woman I once upon a time warned, spent another night in jail, and I don’t quite know how to feel about it. Should I feel vindicated? Is this the karma my friend and I kept saying the universe would provide? Honestly, I don’t think so. It just feels like a story with a really crappy plot twist.

The truth is, real life is messy and it’s erratic and it can’t be tied up in a pretty bow, no matter how hard I try. Sometimes villains are just sad, sorry characters who learn nothing, propelling a story where nobody wins. As for me, I’m done writing about him, which means his story ends here—in tragedy.

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Kimberly Belle is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of five novels, including the domestic suspense, Dear Wife (June 2019). Her third novel, The Marriage Lie, was a semifinalist in the 2017 Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Mystery & Thriller, and her work has been translated into a dozen languages. A graduate of Agnes Scott College, Belle divides her time between Atlanta and Amsterdam.

Keep up with Kimberly on Facebook (www.facebook.com/KimberlyBelleBooks), Twitter (@KimberlySBelle), Instagram (@KimberlySBelle) or via her website at www.kimberlybellebooks.com.

DEAR WIFE, Kimberly S Belle

From the bestselling author of The Marriage Lie and Three Days Missing comes a riveting new novel of suspense about a woman who, in a fight for survival, must decide just how far she’ll go to escape the person she once loved

Beth Murphy is on the run…

For nearly a year, Beth has been planning for this day. A day some people might call any other Wednesday, but Beth prefers to see it as her new beginning—one with a new look, new name and new city. Beth has given her plan significant thought, because one small slip and her violent husband will find her.

Sabine Hardison is missing…

A couple hundred miles away, Jeffrey returns home from a work trip to find his wife, Sabine, is missing. Wherever she is, she’s taken almost nothing with her. Her abandoned car is the only evidence the police have, and all signs point to foul play.

As the police search for leads, the case becomes more and more convoluted. Sabine’s carefully laid plans for her future indicate trouble at home, and a husband who would be better off with her gone. The detective on the case will stop at nothing to find out what happened and bring this missing woman home. Where is Sabine? And who is Beth? The only thing that’s certain is that someone is lying and the truth won’t stay buried for long.

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Category: On Writing