Hello and welcome to my website. The first question I'm often asked is why I write about such dark characters, especially vigilantes and serial killers. I write about them because I enjoy reading about them. There is something cathartic about being safe, seated in the benign glow of my reading lamp, while I read about mayhem and murder. A chill runs down my spine as I empathize with the protagonist's fear, and a rush of triumph follows when the monster is defeated. Dean Burnett, a neuroscientist and lecturer in psychiatry at Cardiff University, has several theories to explain why we crave the macabre like addicts of human misery. According to him, one possibility is that reading about serial killers may cause the release of cortisol, a pre-cursor to adrenaline, into the body. “If you’re really tense and feel threatened,” says Burnett, “and then you stop feeling threatened, the brain recognizes that and says, ‘Well, you were scared a minute ago and now you’re not, so whatever you did was good, so have some pleasure.’ When you read a scary book and then you stop, you have a come down and your brain goes, ‘OK, that was good, whatever you did, that was good.’ That’s why we end up being so hooked on scares and thrills.” Whatever the reason, I know I'm hooked on being scared, and the scariest thing I can imagine are serial killers. Serial killers appeal to the most basic of all instincts, survival. Their utter disregard for life is a terrifying thing and bringing them to justice is definitely a thrill. I hope you enjoy my thrillers and my dark characters. They are the monster under the bed for adults. Not real, just scary fun. |
|
Biography: Pamela Cowan
Pamela Cowan is an award winning, Pacific Northwest author, best known for her psychological thrillers. Cowan is the author of the Storm Series which includes Storm Justice, Storm Vengeance, and Storm Retribution, books which follow Probation Officer Storm McKenzie on her single-minded quest for justice. She is also the author of two stand-alone novels based in fictional Eulalona County, Oregon, Something In The Dark and Cold Kill. Her short stories have been published in Alien Skin, Argus, Visions, and Space and Time Magazine, in numerous anthologies and collections and have been read on radio. An army brat, she was born in Germany and moved with her family 17 times before her father retired to Oregon, where she has steadfastly remained. She has two grown children and lives with her remarkably patient husband and various four-legged roommates. |
