Blog
Check out a series of posts over the months since Mary first sought publication of her novel, TANGLED DARKNESS. Because TANGLED DARKNESS includes themes of severe mental illness, alcoholism, and opioid addiction, the earliest post gives information about these issues, including access to treatment and getting help.
Have any comments on the posts? Send me a note from the CONTACT page! I’d love to start a conversation with you.
On The Underlying theme of tangled Darkness
Addiction Recovery and opioid crisis suspense Originally posted by @darciahelle on Instagram as part of my Virtual Book Tour. The core theme of TANGLED DARKNESS explores how buried shame and unresolved trauma can destroy lives — even years into recovery. As a former addiction psychiatrist, I witnessed countless alcoholics and addicts whose past mistakes haunted…
Inside the Author of Tangled Darkness
This interview was original posted on the Hott Books blog as part of my Virtual Book Tour. What inspired you to write your first book? After leaving a long career in psychiatry, I wanted a creative outlet to explore new territory. During the journaling associated with Caroline Myss’s book, Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential, I…
The Books That Made Me a Writer
Originally posted on the Archeolibrarian blog as part of my Virtual Book Tour. I’ve loved literature since I was a child, and my fondness has only grown over the years. Every stage of my reading life has added significant elements to my writing, changing not only my style but also how I think about what…
When I First Met Shakespeare
Originally published on Story Circle Network‘s Her Stories Substack, in the True Words by Real Women section. At six years old, I met Shakespeare in my grandmother’s bedroom at 11:47 p.m. on a sweltering Nebraska night. I know the exact time because I’d been staring at her alarm clock for two hours, my stomach churning…
I’ve Seen So Much
Originally published on Story Circle Network‘s Her Stories Substack, in the True Words by Real Women section. After I made my Saturday trek over to the senior living facility where my parents lived, I found myself in an unexpected conversation with my almost 90-year-old father. They’d moved into “the Big House” ten years earlier. I’d…
Unraveling the mind: Why We Love Psychological Thrillers
The psychological thriller genre, known for its unique blend of suspense, mystery, and elements of horror, has a special place in the hearts of many book lovers. I’d like to explore some reasons behind the enduring popularity of psychological thrillers and why fans like me can’t get enough of these mind-bending stories.
Unpacking LGBTQ Characters in Thriller Fiction
A deep dive into the LGBTQ Mystery genre As an LGBTQ author with a queer-lead psychological thriller novel debuting soon—TANGLED DARKNESS (July 2025)—I’m grateful to have a role in the progression of authentic, nuanced LGBTQ characterization in popular thriller fiction. I’ve recently looked back on the history of LGBTQ representation in thrillers since the 1960s….
Making Some Progess
I’m thrilled to share that the revisions I made earlier this year to TANGLED DARKNESS might be propelling me closer to publication. In all honesty, I hadn’t anticipated the domino effect that would result from a professional manuscript edit. The process entailed several thorough read-throughs of the entire story, but it didn’t stop there. Every…
ADDICTION AND CORRUPTION IN Tangled Darkness
Addiction is a chronic, recurring condition defined by compulsive behavior, such as the persistent seeking and use of alcohol in the case of alcoholism, despite the negative repercussions. In my work, TANGLED DARKNESS, addiction is a prevalent theme, with various characters grappling with different forms of addiction, including pathological gambling, severe opiate use disorder, alcoholism,…
The Road to Redemption
Thoughts on Themes from Tangled Darkness In TANGLED DARKNESS, an 87,000-word psychological thriller, various characters grapple with challenging pasts. These include early losses that shape their inner narratives, early exposure to authority figures marred by narcissism and corruption, and the impact of parental substance abuse on child development. Numerous factors contribute to shaping an individual’s…
Polish Your Pitch
Twitter may be a controversial platform lately, but it’s still a place where numerous pitch eventsoccur — opportunities to try your hand at gaining an agent or editor’s attention. There are several Pitch events happening on the internet, and I recently learned not all of them are onTwitter.Checkout this site: https://savvyauthors.com/community/classes/2023-autumn-pitchfest.1987/ Right — from October…
The Story Arc; SinC Class
I’ve been a member of Sisters in Crime for nearly three years. It’s a national organization withmany local chapters. Their mission is “to promote the advancement, recognition, andprofessional development of women crime writers.” They’ve been so useful, generous, andhelpful in my ‘learning to write’ effort. It’s difficult to cover all the benefits of membership.Recently, I…
The Setup: Agent Feedback
There’s an interesting resource known as The Manuscript Academy that offered a SubmissionStrategy workshop a few months ago. I posted some thoughts about having attended that,including some of the ‘lessons learned’ in my first newsletter.’Another service this group offers is project review and feedback from an agent or editor (or asmany as you’d like) on…
Musings of a Retired Psychiatrist | Episode 1
Where Have I Been? I pulled up a chair, facing the client with no obstacle between us. Okay, she’s not a client. Let’s call her a ‘friend’ who’s here again for another supportive session. She’s been taking the road less traveled lately. One that’s usually unknown to those millennials and gen-Xers. It’s filled with twists…
Update on TANGLED DARKNESS Revisions:
Some of you may be aware that I took a first ten pages ‘bootcamp’ seminar at the turn of the year. It dovetailed quite nicely with another Manuscript Academy Submission Strategy workshop that taught me a lot about the querying process. Beyond learning how to interpret agent responses to queries, I finished with a new…
Learning From Rejections
Out of the ten rejections, I had two agents generously respond with feedback that (especially inone of them) explained why they took a pass. Maybe it’s not surprising that the feedback I gotin ‘bootcamp’ had many similarities. Listen. Two or three years ago, when I was starting thiswhole project, I heard repeatedly: “Writing is rewriting.”…
First Ten Pages Bootcamp
During late October and November 2022, I sent out 17 queries. By the time most agencies, agents, and editors were closed down for the Holidays (around Thanksgiving to mid-December), I had 10 rejections filed away. From what I’ve learned from social media sites, receiving a rash of rejections is a good time (especially if you’ve…
SIX STEPS FOR NEWBIES APPROACHING THE QUERY TRENCHES
If you’re anything like I was, nearing the query process with a debut novel having no ‘business of writing’ experience, it’s difficult to know where to start. I recently emailed a fellow writer facing this daunting task and detailed some things I wish I had known two months earlier. If I could roll back the…
Resources for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders
Tangled Darkness includes themes of alcoholism, the opioid addiction epidemic, and severe mental illness. In the United States, now more than two years into the pandemic, rates of substance abuse and mental health distress have escalated beyond their pre-pandemic high levels. This entry is designed to provide resources for those who are experiencing problems in…