Zoom Link | Goth Book Club

We'll be discussing Dear Dawn: Aileen Wuornos' Letters from Prison

wuornos in 1993.

I’m fresh off the train from Aberdeen after attending Aberdeen’s international crime writing festival, Granite Noir. I was on a lovely panel titled Myth, Murder and Mayhem with authors Kirsty Logan and Sarah Maria Griffin, both who had such enlightening things to say about why people become so obsessed with true crime, serial killers, and why we explore topics like desire and disaster in writing. The event was chaired by Eris Young, writer and editor at Shoreline of Infinity. They asked some great, pointed questions. I learned Sarah’s newest novel, Eat The Ones You Love, features a terrifyingly coercive and controlling orchid in love with a beautiful florist, who will stop at nothing to have her. We both laughed at the fact that Deliver Me’s controlling antagonist is named Daddy, and Eat The Ones You Love’s coercive antagonist is named Baby…. make of that what you will. It looks fascinating and I was lucky enough to grab an advanced copy. It’s out in April.

it’s us! from left to right: kirsty, sarah, eris and me

Kirsty also discussed her newest release, NO, which is a collection of dark love stories, including a girl preyed upon by an older vampire who lives on her period blood. There’s a lot more to dig in to, and I particularly love the idea of “no” as a declaration of love. We talked, also, about “no” as one of the first instances in a child’s life when they get to exert control over the world.

Today we’ll be discussing Aileen Wuornos’ collection of letters she wrote to her childhood friend Dawn Botkins. I’ve been finishing it up on the train and just enthralled by the rhythm of her voice on the page, feeling tense as I near the end. The letters span ten years, from 1992 to 2002, and detail her frustrations with her trial, the justice system, the cops who put her away, and talk a lot about her travels beginning from when she ran away from home and was on the road as a sex worker. It’s fascinating to follow her changing relationship with god, her thoughts on national events that might be familiar to us, that she watched unfold on national television, like the O.J. Simpson trial, the Jon Benet Ramsey case, and also the upcoming executions of the other women she stayed with while on death row.

Looking forward to talking with you all. Link is below. Let me know if you have trouble logging in! xx