This is the third post which briefly summarises one of the tricks our memories play, inspired by my latest novel THE EXPERT WITNESS.

Doubled exposed images were common in the days when we had to be manually wind on the film between taking each photo. The 2^nd image used to be superimposed on the 1^st creating a blurred combined photo.

The same process of overlaying can happen with memories.

Have you ever reminisced about an event with someone else who had been there?  It can be surprising to find how different your recall can be. You were both there and lived the same experience, but one of you remembers differently to the other – about who else was present, when the event happened, who said or did what. In discussion you explore different angles, maybe you try to imagine it playing out how they describe. Next time you recall the event you may have adapted the original, borrowing some of the other person’s version inadvertently.

And, unless there is corroborating evidence – a third party, a video or photo, a diary entry – it’s impossible to know which version is ‘correct’.

Without realising we blend our memories, adding and revising each time we revisit a past experience; subconsciously editing to make the story into a coherent narrative which fits with our beliefs about the past, the people, the place, etc.

Think you can trust your own memories? Think again!

News on upcoming events for readers, writers and those interested in mental wellbeing

October is going to be a busy month. Aside from popping in for informal chats with the members of Acton Book Club and Sudbury Writing Group, I’m also to be found at a number of book-related events.

If you’re in the area join me on the following dates:

• 10^th October – CityLit, London where I will take part in a panel discussion on loss and identity.
  https://www.citylit.ac.uk/when-life-changes-so-do-we-loss-and-the-shaping-of-identity
  
• 12^th October – Sudbury Arts Centre, Suffolk, join me for a workshop on Writing for Wellbeing.
  https://sudburyartscentre.com/event/writing-for-wellbeing-workshop-2/
  
• 17^th October – Suffolk Literary Luncheon at Hintlesham Hall a chance to meet Suffolk-based authors and find our more about a fabulous charity Suffolk Dance Days. Tickets on Eventbrite.
  
• 18^th October – Meet the Author with other writers of Essex at Kelvedon Labour Club 10am – 3pm.

This mid-month mail out is for two reasons:

Firstly, to thank those of you who were able to join me to celebrate the (slightly belated) launch of The Expert Witness at The Strand last week. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Secondly, to highlight two events I’m involved in, both of which are happening this coming weekend.

Saturday 13^th September, 2025 – There’s a meet the authors and book sale event at Kelvedon Labour Club from 10am to 3pm.  The address is 74 High Street, CO5 9AE.

Sunday 14^th September, 2025  – I’m running a ‘Writing for Wellbeing’ workshop at Sudbury Arts Centre from 1pm to 3pm.  You can find more information and book a place here https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/sudburyartscentre/t-yarenxq

At the book launch last week, guests had the opportunity to complete a simple character profile. Working with personality profiles has been part of my day job as a psychologist – they are frequently used to help with selection, personal development and team building. And I’ve found them incredibly helpful for my novel writing too.

Once I have the outline idea for a story, I create a personality profile for my main characters before I start writing. Dr Amanda Dunstan in The Expert Witness has the ‘INTJ’ preference – she is an introvert who values knowledge and competence, sets high standards for herself and others, and can be highly sceptical. While far from a scientific sample at the book launch party, it was interesting to see that this personality profile was shared by only one person at the event. Research in the US suggests that the INTJ profile is found in about 2% of the population – and is even rarer in women.

If you find personality profiling interesting, the simple exercise I used was based on Myers Briggs Type Indicator and more information about the questionnaire and your four letter preference code can easily be found online or in this post here on my website.

Finally, for those of you who are new to my readers club, I usually send an email once a month with news on upcoming events, musings on writing/books and occasional psychological insights. So, I’ll be in touch again at the end of September. ‘Til then!

My latest psychological suspense novel – THE EXPERT WITNESS – was published 14^th July 2025. The story delves into the mind and experiences of an expert in memory, as she tries to atone for an event in her past – an event she’s elected to forget.

For the next few month’s my posts will briefly summarises a few of the tricks our memories play. Here’s the first.

TRICKS OF MEMORY #1 Filling gaps

Our brains like things to make sense and will ‘helpfully’ interpret and fill in the gaps using prior experience and information gleaned from all the senses. This allows us to understand the partial words in the accompanying photo, and to see a white triangle on the image even though it has an incomplete outline. To make sense of the world, the brain looks for patterns and makes assumptions. Without this talent it would be hard to operate in the world.

But this ability to fill in gaps can have an impact on our memories. Not everyone interprets a shared experience in the same way. We each interpret events in line with our self-perception, beliefs, past experience, culture, etc. This can lead to our brains misinterpreting what we heard or saw: filling gaps, imagining things that didn’t happen, or overlooking aspects if they don’t fit with expectations. When we form a memory, recall an event, or recount a past experience to others, we edit and add in order to create a cohesive narrative. We like to tell ourselves (and others) a story that makes sense, changing our recall to fit.

Think you can trust your own memories? Think again.

If you are interested in purchasing THE EXPERT WITNESS you can buy it here

Before I sign off for this month, I’m thrilled to share that I’m now the Author in Residence at Sudbury Arts Centre, where I will be organising a range of events for readers and writers over the coming months. If you’re interested in finding out more details of the schedule, do sign up to receive emails from the venue here https://sudburyartscentre.com/

If you’d like to continue to receive emails with insights into books, psychology and writing-related themes, let’s stay in touch. You can also follow me on Instagram @Julia.Stone.Writer and Facebook @JuliaStoneWriter

If you no longer want to receive these emails, sorry to see you go, but just send me an email to advise me that you wish to unsubscribe by clicking here.

Welcome to new readers and hallo again to those who’ve been signed up for some time. It’s been a while since I’ve been in touch, because I’ve been focused on two exciting writing-related projects:

• Creating my third psychological suspense novel – The Expert Witness – to be published this month; and
• My new role as Author in Residence at Sudbury Arts Centre, where I recently hosted the first Anglian Authors Book Fair for readers and writers.

If you enjoyed my first two novels, Her Little Secret and the Accident, you can pre-order the Kindle version of The Expert Witness here now , or buy the paperback from 14^th July, 2025 when the book is published.

So what’s the book about?

The lead character, Dr Amanda Dunstan, is an expert in memory. She specialises in researching witness testimony and its interpretation in a court of law; an occasion when accurate recall of what happened is vital.

Many people belief that our memories are a good reflection of events,  but this isn’t always the case. Our recall can be corrupted by many things. For example:

• We may misinterpret our experience – like mishearing a song lyric or what was said;  or
• After speaking to someone, we may adopt their version of events, assuming their recall is better than our own; or
• We can overlay one memory with another, combining two unrelated events into one new memory that never actually happened.

Despite being an expert in memory, my lead character, Amanda, has the same flaws in her recall as everyone else. When a friend from her past reappears, she is forced to confront a memory she’d chosen to forget  – an incident with life-changing consequences for her friend. Driven by her need to atone for her past behaviour, Amanda moves into a world far removed from her middle-class existence, ultimately breaking the laws she previously upheld in order to help her friend. But whose memory can she trust?

If you’d like to continue to receive emails with insights into books, psychology and writing-related themes, let’s stay in touch. You can also follow me on Instagram: Julia.Stone.Writer and Facebook: JuliaStoneWriter

If you no longer want to receive these emails, sorry to see you go, but just unsubscribe.

They’re both ways to experience an element of fear and thrill without risk!

Photo by Chris Slupski on Unsplash

Crime is a wide genre as it encompasses psychological suspense, spy thrillers, police procedurals, amateur detectives, true lcrime and noir. The main elements these subgenres have in common is not the body count, but the ability of the authors to create suspense and mystery. This leads to a level of uncertainty – we’re not sure what to expect – and tension increases. Our curiosity is aroused and we to try to predict the outcome. Who will win out, the good guys or their enemies, and at what cost?

At their best, crime novels are truly interactive, like solving a cryptic crossword clue. Readers love being able to spot the red herrings, predict twists and work out ‘who dunnit’. We’re thrilled with the dopamine hit we have when we get it right (or when we survive the rollercoaster ride!). And we’re impressed when the author surprises us with something unpredictable – our brains responding more strongly to the shock of the unexpected.

The characters who stalk the pages of these novels are usually complex, sometimes dark and dangerous. And the most memorable and engaging are often those written by psychologists. I asked five other psychologists who are crime writers how their professional expertise informs what they write. The article appeared in The Psychologist and if you’re interested to find out more the interviews can be found here: https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/safely-living-darker-side-life

P.S. It’s been a busy month! Rosie Sandler, David Evans, Michael Heath and me have toured Essex libraries with our panel event Behind the Covers of Crime. I was also interviewed by Rob Jelly of BBC Essex as part of National Crime Reading Month; ran a workshop for Essex Book Festival; and was Author for the Day for the Global Girls Online Book Club. Phew! It’s been great fun and my thanks to everyone involved and all the fabulous writers and readers I’ve met. ’Til next month.

National Crime Reading month and Essex Book Festival!

As readers we often latch onto one type of crime novel – police procedural like Ian Rankins’ Rebus, cosy crime like Agatha Christie, or thriller/suspense like Gone Girl, The Talented Mr Ripley or Rebecca. National Crime Reading month is an annual event designed to encourage readers to find out more about the range of crime novels and broaden their reading within the genre. Events are happening all around the country and information can be found here.

To help introduce readers to other subgenres of crime, I’ve got together with three other authors to run an event called Behind the Covers of Crime. We’ll be visiting Essex libraries to explore our very different approaches in a series of events through June. If you live in Essex check out your local library for details – posters will be going up soon. Booking information will also be available on Eventbrite in the coming week.

12^th June 2023 at 4.30-6.30 entry £2 – Rayleigh            

16^th June 2023 at 3pm-5pm entry free  – Southend Forum

19^th June 2023 at 4.30-6.30 entry £2 – Braintree

26^th June 2023 at 4.30-6.30 entry £2– Great Parndon

28^th June 2023 at 4.30-6.30 entry £2 – Clacton

June’s a busy month as I’m also taking part in Essex Book Festival where I’m running a workshop to explain the process of getting your book traditionally published. I’ll cover topics like the roles of agents, editors and publishers, and the pros & cons of traditional publishing versus self-publishing. The workshop will be held at Chelmsford Library on Saturday 24^th 10.00-11.30am. Tickets are £6 and can be booked here: Essex Writers Day

Hope to see you at one of these events!

(Or in novels!)

Photo by David von Diemar on Unsplash

Do you ever find yourself shouting at the screen in frustration when watching a police programme on the TV? My own pet hate is those episodes where the police call out the suspects name when they are standing 20 yards away from them, then the suspect drops whatever their doing and runs, resulting in the predictable chase scene. Second to this is the detective who keeps whiskey in the bottom drawer of their desk. I suspect HR would have something to say about that.

Last week I attended the Crime Writers Association (CWA) conference in York and we had some fascinating speakers. Retired Detective Inspector Steven Keogh shared his experience of investigating murders and I learned several other things that happen on TV but not in real life.

Firstly, police don’t have those photo evidence display boards on the wall, much as programme makers love them. Keogh said that the investigators work on many cases at once and there wouldn’t be the space. These days there are far more detailed documents available on computer which link people to each other, to evidence and to places, amongst other things. However, this would not be so visually engaging in a TV programme.

Secondly, everybody who goes to a murder scene would wear a full white suit and protective footwear, along with two pairs of gloves in case the top pair gets ripped. So Vera would not be stomping around in just a pair of shoe covers.

Thirdly, and in some ways most shocking, was forensic evidence. Due to lack of resourcing the detectives have to prioritise what is sent off for analysis, selecting just 4 items to be ‘rushed’ through. They will usually get these results two days later. However, they have to wait up to six months for the rest to be processed.

While TV shows and films often ignore reality in order to maximise drama, novelists are held to higher standards. Most authors research thoroughly to ensure they get their facts right and would be held to account by their editor and readers for twisting the truth too much. If you want to find out more about what really happens in a murder investigation DI Steven Keogh has written a book: Murder Investigation Team: How Scotland Yard Really Catches Killers

P.S. If you are a writer and interested in finding out more about the psychology of character in novels, I will be running a workshop at the I Am Writing Festival in Bristol later this month. It’s not too late to buy tickets! Hopefully see you there.

Why do we interpret the same text differently?

My novel THE ACCIDENT was on a blog tour this month, which means it was reviewed online by a number of book bloggers. Knowing that my lead character Janice is a bit of a Marmite character, I was intrigued to see how the bloggers would react to her.

Bearing in mind everyone was reading the same book, it was interesting to see the range of reactions to Janice’s personality and behaviour.

Some saw her as a ‘bad’ person, deceiving others and manipulating emotions –

•  ‘She became absolutely relentless in her search for answers; not only that, she started to become downright deceitful and fabricated the most enormously twisted lies.’
• ‘It was a great read that kept me hooked but the obsession she had over the young woman creeped me out a little and some parts were a little uncomfortable.’
• ‘The main character Janice, and several of the other supporting cast are creepy and their behaviour most definitely strange.’
• ‘Janice’s behaviour goes to the extreme ends and she becomes obsessed.’

[Quotes from: herreadingroom, @bookblogHannah, staceywh_17, stratospherekawaiigirl]

Others had empathy for her. Acknowledging her background and some of her past experiences, they saw her as ‘sad’ –

•  ‘Our main character is troubled, that has made me feel for her even more.’
•  ‘Janice is a character that I felt a deep empathy for, she’s a kind woman who’s always felt inferior to her mother’s high maintenance …Her life was put on hold when her father passed away…’
• ‘I felt sorry for Janice as you learn her story, she is lonely, but she doesn’t like big crowds, she is quite a caring person in her own way.’
• ‘I pitied her, while not actually managing to like her.’
• ‘I felt tremendous empathy for Janice. What she does may seem inexplicable to an outsider, but thanks to the intimate insights we gain from her internal dialogue, we relate to her very strongly and wish for a happy ending.’

[Quotes from: @Littlemiss book6, handwrittengirl.com, @jackiesreading, @AngiPlant, rachelReadIt]

And some thought she was completely ‘mad’:

•  ‘I was incredulous about her audacity and the lengths that she was going to to get to the truth but the woman was so bat-sh*t crazy that it made for pretty compelling reading.’
•  ‘…obsessed to the point of compulsion, you can’t help but be hooked by her madness.’
• ‘The Accident is definitely a page turner which is no mean feat when the main character is slowly becoming more unhinged’

[Quotes from: herreadingroom, @MiriamLSmith3, @TheBroadbean]

One reviewer, libcreads, summed it up: ‘I spent most of the book trying to figure out Janice – clearly obsessed, was she evil, bonkers or simply sad and lonely and desperate for a family of her own? Or a bit of all of the above? I was kept guessing and it was this that kept me turning the pages, keen to see what happened next.’

So why do we all interpret what we read so differently? There is a branch of social science called hermeneutics which studies the ways we interpret information. In a nutshell, it comes back to our own character, values and experiences – our inherent biases shaped by our upbringing and our culture. The Janice that I wrote will be interpreted completely differently by each reader. Just as she would if she were a real person, your neighbour or acquaintance – some would like her for her kind heart, some feel sorry for her in her loneliness, and others avoid her obsessive personality. As an author I have to accept that not everyone will see her, or her story, the way I envisioned them. They’re on their own now out in the wider world…

My thanks to all the bloggers and to @Tr4cyF3nt0n and Orion Books for organising the blog tour.

Loss of control and our perception of time

If you’ve ever been to Disney you’ll have experienced their queue management process. Signs warn you of the likely wait time from any given point: ‘60 minutes’, or alarmingly ‘300 minutes’. They give you the information so you know whether you want to wait or not: you are in control of the decision and know what you’re letting yourself in for. Secondly, the times they post are the worst case scenario. They deliberately overestimate, so when you get to the ride in 50 minutes you think ‘that wasn’t so bad, quicker than we expected’. Finally, they keep you entertained while you wait with video screens showing trailers of the ride or event along the way. They understand how to manage the waiting in a positive way.

This highlights two elements that lead to our frustration while waiting: our lack of control and our perception of time. So, how can we use this to help manage our mood when we are waiting for something?

Distraction techniques: If you know you will have a long wait, plan for it. Line up other things you can do while waiting so you focus on those rather than the time it is taking. How can I constructively use this hour/two weeks/month? Do your emails while on hold to the call centre, listen to a podcast while waiting for the bus. Start another project while you wait for a response from the builder. Or in the case of an author, start writing the next novel while waiting weeks for the edits on the previous book!

Diarise: If you are waiting for a response from a person or organisation, you can feel out of control of the situation. It may also be nagging at the back of your mind as you can’t close the loop and move on, but dwelling and fretting doesn’t help. In these circumstances we typically overestimate how long we’ve waited. To regain a feeling of control, keep a note of the dates: when was the issue first raised? Don’t automatically assume you are being ignored, there may be other factors, so consider how long could (rather than should) a response take? When is appropriate to chase it up and how best should you raise your needs or concerns? Diarise what you plan to do and when, then set it on one side and focus on something else.

I ponder this now as a writer’s life is full of waiting. Currently I’m waiting to hear back on no less that six different writing-related things, (including the sales figures which I only receive twice a year and then three months in arrears). It’s taken me a while, but I’ve now learnt to manage my expectations, plan for the worst case timescales, diarise so I know when to follow up – and meanwhile crack on with the next book ideas!