Lizzie Borden
by Elizabeth Engstrom
Genre: Historical Mystery, Thriller
Did she do it?
A hundred years ago, it was the Trial of the Century. A young woman
stood accused of brutally murdering her father and stepmother in a
crime so heinous that it became a benchmark in human tragedy.
A hundred years later, the Lizzie Borden case still resounds in the
imagination. There are those who staunchly defend Lizzie’s
innocence while others vehemently declare that she did it, and that
the murder was justified.
In Elizabeth Engstrom’s brilliant novel, the dark psychology of the
Borden household is laid bare. Lizzie, her sister Emma and their
parents Andrew and Abby Borden, are sharply illuminated—as are the
paranoia and concealed hatred that secretly ruled the family.
Domestic violence and dysfunctional families are not inventions of
modern times.
Every door in the Borden house is metaphorically locked, and each room holds
the terrible secrets of its occupant…Engstrom skillfully and subtly
builds a psychological plot, moving the reader inexorably toward the
anticipated savage denouement.” —Publishers Weekly
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~ Guest Post With Elizabeth ~

Do I get writer’s block?

No, but sometimes I have a “doing block”. I’m not writing, but then I’m not doing anything else, either. The laundry has piled up, the dishes need to be washed, etc. You know what I’m talking about. Or sometimes life has interfered in such a significant way that I can’t write because I’m too busy taking care of a sick friend or relative, or well, any number of emergencies. But I’m a professional, and when I need to get back to work, I will. The bills aren’t paid by me lounging around reading magazines and watching daytime television. When I’m actually sitting in the chair at the keyboard, I get writing done. It isn’t always the best; sometimes I’m distracted, but that’s the whole purpose of the draft process. I make progress, furthering the plot, every day, even when what I write isn’t particularly artful. At least two pages. I can almost always get two pages done. If I write only two pages a day, I’ll have a finished first draft in less than a year. There’s really no excuse not to write two pages a day.

I will, however, say that when I’ve told a lie in my fiction, my characters will go on strike. If I’ve forced them to do something that is contrary to their character, they will refuse to talk to me, they will refuse to move. I have to backtrack and find that place where I committed the offense, fix it, and then we’re back on track. There’s no manipulating a fully-formed character just to serve the plot. Characters will do what they do, and while I think I can manage them, I can’t make them do something that they don’t want to do.
Elizabeth (Liz) Engstrom grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois (a Chicago suburb
where she lived with her father) and Kaysville, Utah (north of Salt
Lake City, where she lived with her mother). After graduating from
high school in Illinois, she ventured west in a serious search for
acceptable weather, eventually settling in Honolulu. She attended
college and worked as an advertising copywriter.
After eight years on Oahu, she moved to Maui, found a business partner and
opened an advertising agency. One husband, two children and five
years later, she sold the agency to her partner and had enough seed
money to try her hand at full time fiction writing, her lifelong
dream. With the help of her mentor, science fiction great Theodore
Sturgeon, When Darkness Loves Us was published.
Engstrom moved to Eugene, Oregon in 1986, where she lives with her husband Al
Cratty, the legendary muskie fisherman, and their Duck Tolling
Retriever, Jook. Liz holds a BA in English Literature and Creative
Writing and a Master of Arts in Applied Theology, both from
Marylhurst University. A recluse at heart, she still emerges into
public occasionally to speak at a writers conference, or to teach a
class on various aspects of writing the novel, essay, article or
short story. An avid knitter and gardener, she is on faculty at the
University of Phoenix and is always working on the next book.
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