Welcome to From the Genius Bookshelf, a new series where we’ll highlight books we think deserve a closer look and share what makes each one worth reading.

Today we are exploring Living is Easy With Closed by Andrea Thorfinson

Why We Chose This Book

Have you ever tried meditating, only to find yourself thinking about everything except meditation? Or been told to picture a peaceful beach when you can’t picture anything at all?

If so, Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed by Andrea Thorfinson might be just the book you’ve been looking for.

What we love about this book is that it takes away so much of the pressure people put on themselves when trying to meditate.

Andrea knows that frustration firsthand. After discovering she had aphantasia, meaning she couldn’t create mental images, she began exploring ways to meditate that didn’t depend on visualization. And what she discovered was that there are so many different ways to find stillness.

From breathing and gratitude to sound, movement, art, and connecting with nature, Andrea invites readers to experiment and discover what works for them. She also shares her own experiences with difficult emotions, healing, and the unexpected ways meditation can change our lives.

There’s no expectation of perfection here. No insisting that you empty your mind or sit perfectly still. Just practical ideas, personal stories, and plenty of encouragement to find your own way.

Whether you’ve never meditated before or have tried a dozen times and given up, this book offers a wonderfully simple reminder: Meditation isn’t about making your mind work differently. It’s about discovering what works for the mind you have.

Discover “Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed”

You don’t need a quiet mind, a perfect posture, or the ability to visualize a beautiful sunset to begin.

You just need a place to start.

Explore “Living Is Easy with Eyes Closed” at Genius Books

For Will Johns, it was a childhood filled with extraordinary experiences, but also some very real challenges behind the scenes.

In this podcast conversation, Will opens up about his upbringing, family, music career, and his new book, Bluesdaddy.

Give it a listen!

Will John's Podcast

Want to hear more of Will’s story?

In Bluesdaddy, Will Johns shares his remarkable journey through music, family, and life alongside some of rock and blues’ most legendary figures.

Get your copy of “Bluesdaddy” directly from Will Johns

In December 1968, 17-year-old Marina Habe returned home from college for Christmas break. A night out with friends at one of Hollywood’s most famous clubs should have been nothing more than a fun evening.

Instead, Marina vanished just steps from her front door.

What happened next would become one of Hollywood’s haunting unsolved mysteries, with questions that linger more than half a century later.

WEST HOLLYWOOD

“.... That was Hollywood nights, in those Hollywood hills. It was looking so right, It was giving him chills. In those big city nights, in those high rolling hills, above all the lights, with a passion that kills...”

The Troubadour in West Hollywood was the place to be seen in the ‘60s. You could drop in and see Bob Dylan simply stand up and walk on stage, or watch the Byrds play “Tambourine Man” for the first time. Joni Mitchell and Neil Young and James Taylor and Buffalo Springsteen and Gordon Lightfoot were all debuting. There were young comedians on stage named Richard Pryor and Steve Martin.

When 17 year old Marina Habe came back home for Christmas break from the University of Hawaii in 1968, she excitedly drove out to meet some friends and see the show, which on this night featured comedian Larry Hankin. She was a well-to-do daughter of an accomplished novelist and a B-list actress. At 4:30 p.m. on December 29, she left her home and drove to Sunset Boulevard in Brentwood to pick up her longtime friend, John Hornburg. The pair had dinner, then arrived at the Troubadour around 8:30 p.m., meeting a pair of other couples.

By 11:30 p.m., Habe and Hornburg were back at his house. She left there around 3:15 a.m. the following morning and drove back to her home, arriving at 3:30 a.m. That is when her mother said she heard noises outside her house, looked out the window, and saw Marina pull into the driveway. She told police she then watched a black sedan with two people inside pull up beside Marina’s car. When the sedan car pulled away, Marina was nowhere to be found. She had been taken in front of her own home.

Because of her family’s wealth, police at first believed Marina had been kidnapped, and they waited for a ransom demand. But none ever came. Then two days later, as the calendar flipped to 1969, Marina’s fully clothed body was found in the brush of Hollywood Hills, just four miles from her home, her throat cut. She had been stabbed six times. She had also been punched in the face several times. There was no evidence of rape or robbery. Her purse with cash was nearby. There was no trace of DNA at the scene.

Police believed that more than one person was involved in Marina’s murder. And the public was soon believing something else; Charles Manson was about to headline the news. His murder spree swept not just through Los Angeles, but the entire country, and West Hollywood residents lived not just in fear, but wondered if all homicides, like Marina Habe’s, were somehow related to the Manson family. To make matters worse, John Hornburg and the Manson family both lived on Sunset Boulevard. Meanwhile, the Habe family lived next to Whiskey a Go Go, a dance club the Manson group frequented. And Marina had once dated a friend of the Manson group.

Los Angeles police then released a bombshell, speculating that Habe may have been killed with the same long bladed knives used to kill Sharon Tate and six others. More than 25 police officers worked the case. Then nothing.

Marina Habe is buried in the same cemetery as Sharon Tate.

Behind California’s sunshine and Hollywood glamour, some very dark stories are waiting to be told.

Marina Habe’s murder is just one of the chilling cases explored in California: Surf, Sand & Murder.

From Hollywood’s famous streets to quiet California communities, discover the crimes, mysteries, and secrets that reveal a very different side of the Golden State.

Explore “California: Surf, Sand & Murder”

Welcome to From the Genius Bookshelf, a new series where we’ll highlight books we think deserve a closer look and share what makes each one worth reading.

We’re kicking things off with a true crime collection from veteran journalist Bob Cyphers, 25 Frozen, 1 Thawed: Murder and Mayhem in the Midwest.

Why We Chose This Book

If you love true crime stories that leave you questioning everything you thought you knew, “25 Frozen, 1 Thawed” belongs on your reading list.

Veteran journalist Bob Cyphers takes you through 25 unresolved cases and 1that finally found answers. You’ll encounter baffling disappearances, troubling investigations, unexpected twists, and mysteries that have haunted families and communities for decades.

But what makes this book particularly compelling is that these aren’t just cases to be solved. They’re real people whose stories deserve to be told. Cyphers brings you close to the lives behind the headlines, balancing the intrigue of each mystery with the very human consequences of crimes that remain unanswered.

If you’re the kind of reader who finds yourself still thinking about a case long after you’ve closed the book, this one’s for you.

Discover 25 Frozen, 1 Thawed

Twenty-five unresolved cases. One that finally found answers. And stories that deserve to be remembered.

Ready to take a closer look?

Explore 25 Frozen, 1 Thawed at Genius Books

And stay tuned! We’ll be sharing more of our favorites from the Genius Bookshelf, covering everything from true crime and history to fiction, memoirs, and more.

From true crime and American history to music nostalgia and literary mysteries, there’s something for everyone on the Genius Bookshelf!

We’ve been busy at Genius Books, and we’re excited to share six new releases that cover quite a bit of ground.

Whether you’re fascinated by real-life mysteries, love the history of America’s favorite pastime, grew up watching The Monkees, or can’t resist another trip into the world of Sherlock Holmes, we have something worth exploring.

And the best part? All six books are available now!

Better Angels: The Firefighters of 9/11

By Dawn Howkinson Siebel

We remember the number 343. But behind every number was a person, a family, and a life.

Artist Dawn Howkinson Siebel spent more than 3,000 hours over six years creating individual portraits of the FDNY firefighters who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.

“Better Angels: The Firefighters of 9/11” brings those portraits together with stories of the people behind the faces. It’s a moving tribute to ordinary individuals who demonstrated extraordinary courage and service.

Explore “Better Angels”

Baseball’s Greatest Generation

By T.S. O’Connell

Baseball has always been more than a game. It’s a reflection of American history, culture, and change.

“Baseball’s Greatest Generation” explores a remarkable era in the sport, including the players, the integration of baseball, and the baseball cards that helped preserve its history.

For baseball enthusiasts, history buffs, and collectors alike, this is a chance to revisit a generation that helped shape America’s pastime.

Explore “Baseball’s Greatest Generation”

Dead Girls Do Talk

By LaDonna Humphrey

What can the personal writings of victims reveal long after their voices have been silenced?

In “Dead Girls Do Talk,” true crime author LaDonna Humphrey examines how diaries and other personal writings can provide important insights and evidence.

It’s a compelling look at the stories left behind and the importance of listening to voices that still have something to tell us.

Explore “Dead Girls Do Talk”

The Monkees Comic Book Book

By Mark Arnold and Charles F. Rosenay!!!

Calling all Monkees fans!

If you remember the music, the television show, and the wonderfully chaotic world of Monkeemania, here’s something to add to your collection.

“The Monkees Comic Book Book” celebrates the band’s comic book history, bringing restored comic material and a healthy dose of nostalgia to fans and collectors.

Whether you’ve been a fan since the 1960s or discovered The Monkees decades later, this one is a fun trip down memory lane.

Explore “The Monkees Comic Book Book”

Uncommon Mysteries

By Michael Cohen

Think you’ve explored every corner of mystery fiction? Think again.

“Uncommon Mysteries” takes readers beyond the usual suspects, examining more than 150 unusual works of mystery fiction.

For readers who enjoy discovering overlooked books, unexpected literary treasures, and the many different directions mystery writing can take, this is an intriguing addition to the bookshelf.

Explore “Uncommon Mysteries”

Sherlock Adjacent Casebook

By Paul Bishop

Sherlock Holmes may have begun on the pages of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, but his influence certainly didn’t end there.

“Sherlock Adjacent Casebook” explores the wider world that grew around the legendary detective, including the culture and creative fascination that have kept Holmes relevant for generations.

For devoted Sherlockians and curious readers alike, there’s always another mystery waiting just beyond Baker Street.

Explore “Sherlock Adjacent Casebook”

Find Your Next Great Read

Six books. Six very different journeys.

Whether you’re drawn to history, true crime, pop culture, or the fascinating world of literary mysteries, we hope you’ll discover something that sparks your curiosity.

All six titles are available now and ready to ship.

Explore the Genius Books collection

Happy reading!

The Genius Books Team

We remember the number. But behind every one of those 343 were people with families, friends, dreams, and stories worth remembering.

In “Better Angels: The Firefighters of 9/11,” artist and author Dawn Howkinson Siebel honors those lives through an extraordinary collection of portraits and personal stories, reminding us that behind every face was a life that mattered.

We remember the number: 343. This book remembers the people.

On September 11, 2001, 343 members of the FDNY lost their lives. In the years since, the number itself has become part of American memory. But every number had a name, a family, a firehouse, a history, a personality, and a life already in progress.

Better Angels: The Firefighters of 9/11 brings those lives forward again.

Artist Dawn Howkinson Siebel spent more than three thousand hours over six years creating individual portraits of the fallen firefighters on burned blocks of wood. In partnership with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, the completed Better Angels exhibition traveled across the United States, including a presentation at the World Financial Center overlooking the World Trade Center site.

Now the portraits are gathered with some of the stories behind the faces.

Here are legendary chiefs and young probationary firefighters. Fathers whose children had not yet been born. Brothers who entered the fire service together. Coaches, musicians, veterans, carpenters, cooks, practical jokers, marathoners, and men who had spent years waiting for the chance to join the FDNY. Some were off duty and went anyway. Some were preparing to retire. Some were still climbing when others were coming down.

In this book, their stories unfold alongside the events of September 11, the experiences of survivors, the other first responders who died that day, and the continuing toll of 9/11-related illness.

Abraham Lincoln called upon “the better angels of our nature.” For Dawn Siebel, these firefighters embodied that ideal: ordinary human beings capable of extraordinary service to others.

Three hundred forty-three is a number. Better Angels remembers 343 lives.

Remember the lives behind the number.

“Better Angels: The Firefighters of 9/11” is more than a tribute. It’s a lasting reminder of the humanity, courage, and sacrifice of 343 individuals whose stories deserve to be remembered.

Explore the book and help keep their stories alive.

Discover “Better Angels: The Firefighters of 9/11”

David Foster is very much the latter.

In Baker Street: The Curious Case Files of Sherlock Holmes, David takes readers far beyond a simple introduction to the world’s most famous consulting detective. This is a sprawling exploration of Sherlock Holmes, beginning with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the original stories and following Holmes and Watson as they move through more than a century of books, pastiches, films, television adaptations, parodies, and reimaginings.

Because Sherlock Holmes has never really stayed put.

Conan Doyle may have created him in the late nineteenth century, but Holmes quickly became something much bigger than one author or one collection of stories. Every generation seems to find its own version of Baker Street, whether through Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, Jeremy Brett and David Burke, or more contemporary interpretations such as Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.

And David follows those trails wherever they go.

That includes the familiar figures surrounding Holmes: Dr. Watson, Irene Adler, Professor Moriarty, Mycroft Holmes, Mrs. Hudson, the Baker Street Irregulars, and the detectives of Scotland Yard. But Baker Street also wanders into some of the stranger corners of Holmes history and the life of the man who created him.

There’s Conan Doyle’s complicated relationship with his enormously popular detective, whom he famously killed off only to resurrect years later after public demand. There’s Doyle’s deep interest in spiritualism. There are the Cottingley Fairies photographs he publicly defended as genuine. And there’s even the enduring speculation surrounding his possible connection to the infamous Piltdown Man hoax.

Then there are all the places Sherlock himself has traveled since leaving Conan Doyle’s pen.

Holmes has appeared in comedy, romance, horror, dark fantasy, science fiction, espionage, children’s stories, and even zombie narratives. Writers and filmmakers have reinvented him endlessly while somehow keeping enough of the original detective intact that we still recognize the man from 221B Baker Street.

That enduring fascination is at the heart of David’s book.

At 284 full-color pages, Baker Street: The Curious Case Files of Sherlock Holmes is the kind of book made for browsing as much as reading straight through. You can follow Holmes chronologically across generations or simply open it and tumble down whichever Baker Street rabbit hole catches your attention.

For longtime Sherlockians, there is plenty here to revisit and discover. And for readers who know Holmes mostly through a favorite film or television adaptation, David offers a doorway into just how enormous—and wonderfully strange—the world surrounding the Great Detective has become.

More than 130 years after Sherlock Holmes first began examining clues and noticing what everyone else overlooked, we’re apparently still not finished following him.

Fortunately, neither is David Foster.

CTA

The Game Is Afoot!

Ready to venture deeper into the world of Sherlock Holmes?

Baker Street: The Curious Case Files of Sherlock Holmes explores the original Conan Doyle tales, more than a century of pastiches, and Holmes’ long journey across film, television, and popular culture—all in a 284-page, full-color celebration of the Great Detective.

Baker Street: The Curious Case Files of Sherlock Holmes

More than five decades after the Manson murders, the fight for victims’ voices continues.

In this guest piece, Anthony DiMaria, nephew of Jay Sebring, shares what happened when Brie Tate—the niece of Sharon Tate and granddaughter of victims’ rights advocate Doris Tate—was prevented from having her victim impact statement read at Patricia Krenwinkel’s October 6 parole hearing.

Doris Tate Championed Victims’ Voices. Why Was Her Granddaughter Silenced?

By Anthony Di Maria

At 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, October 6, 2026, a parole hearing for Manson family killer Patricia Krenwinkel was scheduled to begin. As I sat at a table with my victim impact statement and laptop at hand (since COVID, parole hearings are conducted electronically), I received a phone call from the Board of Parole Hearings in Sacramento, California … literally moments before a parole hearing for one of the most notorious killers in United States history. The purpose of the call was to inform me that I was prohibited from delivering the impact statement of Brie Tate (Sharon Tate’s niece) at the parole hearing for Krenwinkel, convicted on seven counts of first-degree murder.

Inmate Krenwinkel is directly responsible for the killings of my uncle Jay Sebring, Sharon Tate, Steven Parent, Abigail Folger and Wojciech Frykowski in what has commonly been referred to in the media for decades as the “Manson murders.” Two nights later, August 10, 1969, inmate Krenwinkel butchered Rosemary and Leno LaBianca with the couple’s carving fork and butcher knife.

A little context is necessary as to the developments that precipitated this particular phone call from California state authorities. This is not only outrageous but an attempt to thwart justice for the murders of eight souls.

This is empirical insight from several decades of experience…

On June 1, 2005, I met Brie Tate (daughter of Patricia Tate, niece of Sharon Tate and granddaughter of Doris Tate) at the California Women’s Correctional Facility during a parole hearing for Manson family murderer Susan Atkins.

We remained in contact sporadically throughout the years.

Before Patricia Krenwinkel’s last hearing in 2025, Brie asked if I might deliver her victim impact statement as she was unable to attend the hearing. Of course, I would. It was an honor. Our families are bound on several levels.

In July 2026, our families were notified by the BPH of inmate Krenwinkel’s upcoming parole hearing on October 6 of this year at 8:30 a.m. On July 2, 2026, Brie was personally informed by the BPH that “You have been identified as a registered victim’s next of kin, victim’s family member, or a designated representative (designated in writing to the Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Services) by the victim’s next of kin. As such, you have the right to appear at the hearing.”

Again, due to circumstances, Brie asked if I might read her impact statement at the hearing. Of course, I would! In the months leading up to the hearing, it was confirmed numerous times by the BPH and CDCR that Brie’s request was received and APPROVED by the authorities. It was directly confirmed to me several times in telephone communications.

But then BPH’s last-minute blindside. This obstruction of Brie’s right to express her impact statement was outrageous. I discovered during the call that Brie Tate was completely disregarded and not even informed that her statement was being prohibited! And yet, BPH went out of its way to stop me out of the blue at the last minute from delivering Brie’s impact statement! There is no doubt—this was not an oversight. This was a series of twists and maneuvers.

I immediately informed Brie and DA Ingalls of BPH’s rejection via email. Brie expressed dismay and confusion over the controversy and asked DA Ingalls if she might deliver her statement, to which the DA responded that she would if “the Board allows me.” DA Ingalls was denied by BPH Commissioners William Muniz and Timothy Kelly, prohibiting Brie Tate’s victim impact statement from being included in the parole hearing. They provided no law or definitive authority for their decision.

The extraordinary mishandling and timing, which caused the censorship of Brie Tate, reveal intentional efforts by several individuals…

How could this be? And by whom?

On Thursday, October 8, I contacted the appropriate authorities regarding these improprieties:

“Dear authorities from the BPH, CDCR, Los Angeles district attorney’s office, and Governor Newsom’s office,

My name is Anthony DiMaria, nephew of Jay Sebring, who met his untimely demise at the hands of Patricia Krenwinkel and the Manson family on Friday night, August 8, 1969.

I have been involved in many Manson family hearings as a victim’s next of kin and as a representative for the Hinman and LaBianca families.

I bring to your attention a serious matter that occurred Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at Patricia Krenwinkel’s parole hearing—the denial of Brie Tate’s victim rights and censorship of her victim impact statement from inmate Krenwinkel’s parole hearing.

I first met Brie (niece of Sharon Tate, daughter of Patricia Tate, granddaughter of Doris Tate) on June 1, 2005, at Susan Atkins’ parole hearing. We’ve remained in touch, and due to her situation (living outside the United States and managing challenging issues), she has asked me to share her victim impact statement at Patricia Krenwinkel’s past two hearings on May 30, 2025, (which I read to the BPH), and on October 6, 2026—which was prohibited and censored by the BPH at the last minute. I literally was phoned five minutes before the hearing was to begin at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday morning!

For context, the CDCR and Board of Parole Hearings APPROVED and CONFIRMED Brie’s request that I deliver her impact statement at the hearing for SEVERAL WEEKS BEFORE that phone call Tuesday morning.

After the call, I immediately informed Brie and Los Angeles district attorney Anne Ingalls via email and sent the file of Brie’s statement to DA Ingalls. As a result, Brie asked DA Ingalls to read her statement in the hearing.

During the hearing, after all victim impact statements were concluded, DA Ingalls kindly asked to include and read Brie’s statement to the Board. The DA was prohibited by BPH Commissioner William Muniz (might have been Commissioner Timothy Kelly, but I’m pretty sure it was denied by Muniz). DA Ingalls respectfully asked on what grounds he determined that Brie’s rights/request were refused, but the commissioner failed to provide a clear, definitive answer.

This is reflected in the record.

Brie was never informed or contacted about BPH’s last-minute “decision,” yet I was called and told (moments before the hearing) that I was forbidden from delivering Brie’s statement.

I’ve attended dozens of these parole hearings for nearly two and a half decades—I’ve never witnessed or experienced anything of this sort.

The negligence and timing of this matter are appalling. It definitely appears someone was, or some individuals were, pulling strings to prevent Brie’s impact statement from being expressed in Ms. Krenwinkel’s parole hearing.

Imagine this:

Brie Tate—the granddaughter of Doris Tate, who pioneered victims’ rights to deliver impact statements at lifer parole hearings—was censored from delivering her victim impact statement at the parole hearing of her aunt Sharon Tate’s killer, Patricia Krenwinkel.

I addressed this, in part, in my impact statement:

‘First, I must express immense respect and gratitude to Doris Gwen Tate, who pioneered the right of victims and our families to share victim impact statements in these parole hearings.

I thank you, Commissioners, for your service and for considering all victim family members who wish to be heard here today. I was going to continue to say, “At the conclusion of my statement, I will share an impact statement on behalf of Brie Tate per her request. Brie is unable to attend today’s hearing.” But I was called by the Board of Parole Hearings just four minutes before this hearing—just now—informing me that I am prohibited from delivering Brie Tate’s victim statement even though Brie’s request was approved and confirmed (numerous times) for several weeks by the BPH and CDCR. This is yet another glaring example of how victims’ rights are disregarded as secondary or incidental while violent criminals are provided “special considerations” and coddled by the CDCR and BPH. I bring this to your attention also so that future victims are not treated with similar disregard or otherwise treated inappropriately in future hearings.’

I leave you with my message to Brie after Patricia Krenwinkel’s hearing:

Dear Brie,

I am so sorry on several levels…

The Board has granted a parole decision in favor of Patricia Krenwinkel.

I am deeply sorry that I was not able to deliver your impact statement even though BPH and CDCR approved your request several weeks ago. I was prohibited by the BPH. The fact that you were not notified ASAP (and I was notified four minutes before the hearing) is appalling. A total disregard for your victim rights.

DA Anne Ingalls did her best to deliver your impact statement, but Commissioners William Muniz and Timothy Kelly also denied her request and prohibited your impact statement from the hearing.

It’s a travesty that your statement was prohibited from today’s hearing. Your words are profoundly poignant, compelling, and moving…

I am so sorry to say—you were censored from the parole hearing today.

Please know that Sharon’s, your mother’s, and your Nanna’s spirits embrace you lovingly and smile on you.

I look forward to learning the next steps forward in this serious matter.

Sincerely,

Anthony DiMaria”

After years of blood, sweat and tears, Doris Tate fought heroically through her grief to become a pioneer for victims’ rights, resulting in legislation that allows victims of violent crime the right to deliver victim impact statements at parole hearings involving rape, molestation and murder.

On October 6, 2026, Doris Tate’s granddaughter, Brie Tate, would have her victims’ rights violated by the Board of Parole Hearings after several decisions censoring Brie’s impact statement from Patricia Krenwinkel’s parole hearing.

What does this reveal about the BPH? What does this reveal about the decisions of Commissioners William Muniz and Timothy Kelly?

This matter extends well beyond my personal experience or feelings—these improprieties perniciously impact the very foundations of law, order, justice and civil society.

Discover the Story Behind Jay Sebring

In Jay Sebring: Cutting to the Truth, Anthony DiMaria shares the life and legacy of his uncle, the pioneering Hollywood hairstylist whose life was tragically cut short by the Manson Family murders.

Go beyond the headlines and discover the man behind the name.

Explore Jay Sebring: Cutting to the Truth

Then he ordered a pizza.

An undercover LAPD officer posing as a waiter collected Franklin’s discarded pizza crust, giving investigators the DNA sample they needed to connect him to a string of murders stretching back decades.

Sometimes the break that finally cracks a cold case doesn’t come from a dramatic confession or a brilliant interrogation. Sometimes it’s sitting on a plate, waiting to be cleared from the table.

This story of how one of Los Angeles’ most notorious serial killers was finally identified is featured in California Surf, Sand & Murder.

“What would you like on your pizza, sir?”

Lonnie Franklin looked over the menu while the waiter poured him more water and collected his appetizer dish. Lonnie ordered, ate his pizza, and the waiter carried off his leftover pizza crusts. Lonnie paid his bill and left.

“Thank you for your DNA,” the undercover police officer turned waiter mumbled to himself.

For the 57 year old Franklin, the gig was up. He had been arrested more than 15 times over 40 years for burglary, car theft, firearms and assaults, but never went to prison. The pizza crust proved to be the end of the line.

Lonnie David Franklin was better known as “The Grim Sleeper,” a notorious serial killer who ravaged the Los Angeles area for nearly 25 years from 1985-2007. And then he stopped, hence the “Sleeper.”

Los Angeles Police began suspecting they had a serial killer on their hands when black women who were drug users and street sex workers began turning up dead. They first dubbed the cases “The Southside Slayer” after 13 women were found murdered in the 1980s. Then the cases became known as “The Strawberry Murders,” a street name for women who exchanged sex for drugs.

When the murders continued into another century, then stopped, the cases turned into “The Grim Sleeper.”

Detectives took Franklin’s pizza crust DNA and looked for a family match. They found it through his son, Christopher. And it matched the homicide victims. For police, it was a game changer.

“This will change the way policing is done in the United States,” Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said.

In 2016, Franklin would be charged with murdering 10 women, but police suspect the number may be well over 100. At his trial, which took three months, the evidence was so overwhelming that his defense attorney threw his hands up and screamed “I rest my case. I have no defense. I cannot represent this man any further!”

The jury, after a short break for lunch, came back with the death penalty. But “The Grim Sleeper” never made it that far. He was found dead in his San Quentin prison cell in 2020.

Want more true crime from beneath California’s sunny surface?

California Surf, Sand & Murder explores the killers, crimes, investigations, and strange twists that reveal a much darker side of the Golden State.

Read California Surf, Sand & Murder and discover the stories hiding behind the California sunshine.

Some true crime books are written by authors who research a case years later. The Parking Lot Rapist comes from someone who was there.

Lee DeVore spent more than thirty years with the Fullerton Police Department in California, working throughout the department but spending much of his career in the Detective Division—as an investigator, supervisor, detective lieutenant, and eventually captain of the division.

It was during those years that DeVore became involved in the investigation at the heart of The Parking Lot Rapist: A Detective’s Account of How a Police Department Brought Down a Killer.

The case began in January 1976 with the murder of nineteen-year-old newlywed Gina Marie Tisher. What followed was an investigation into a series of kidnappings, sexual assaults, and murder that would lead Fullerton investigators to Kenneth Richard Hulbert AKA the Parking Lot Rapist.

For DeVore, this isn’t a case reconstructed solely from old newspaper clippings or court records. It is part of his own history.

And remarkably, that history resurfaced decades later.

While serving as Chief of Police in Twin Falls, Idaho, DeVore received a phone call from David Lee—a man he remembered as a little boy connected to the 1976 investigation. David was now thirty-six and wanted to speak with the former detective about the past and another murder he believed could be connected to Hulbert. The call brought DeVore back to a case he had never forgotten.

DeVore’s law-enforcement career continued long after the original investigation. After retiring from the Fullerton Police Department in 1994, he became Chief of Police in Twin Falls, where he served for another ten years. He also served as president of the Idaho Police Chiefs Association and held leadership positions in other law-enforcement organizations. He holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration from California State University, Long Beach, and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Redlands.

Now, in The Parking Lot Rapist, DeVore takes readers inside one of the cases that stayed with him.

Read The Parking Lot Rapist

The Parking Lot Rapist: A Detective’s Account of How a Police Department Brought Down a Killer takes readers inside the investigation from the perspective of one of the law-enforcement officers who lived it.

Beginning with the murder of Gina Marie Tisher, DeVore follows the investigation through additional attacks, the hunt for a suspect, Hulbert’s arrest, the building of the case, and the trial—while also examining the lives forever changed by the crimes.

For readers of true crime who want to understand not only what happened, but how investigators actually worked to uncover the truth, this is a story told from inside the investigation.

Get your copy of The Parking Lot Rapist from Genius Books.

Opened in Los Angeles nearly a century ago, the once-grand hotel would eventually become associated with a disturbing string of deaths, bizarre tragedies, and even two notorious serial killers who called it home.

In this excerpt from Bob Cyphers’ California: Surf, Sand & Murder, we step inside one of the most infamous hotels in America.

If we are delving into bizarre Los Angeles murders, there is no better place to start than the Cecil Hotel, home to unexplained deaths and serial killers.

The hotel in 1924 in what is now the Skid Row neighborhood of Los Angeles, is surrounded by palm trees. Inside, visitors walked into a 700 room building, looked out stained glass windows, and walked on marble floors.

And then, well, things began happening.

In 1931, W. K. Norton checked in from New York. He was found dead in his room, a victim of poison capsules.

Unaware that she was pregnant, 19 year old Dorothy Purcell was a guest in 1944. When she gave birth to a baby boy in the bathroom, she thought he was dead. He soon would be, after she threw him out the hotel window. She was found guilty, but insane.

Then in 1962, Pauline Otten decided, after arguing with her husband, she could not take life anymore, and threw herself out the hotel window. A 65 year old man named George Gianinni just happened to be walking down the street at the time Pauline came flying through the air, landing on top of George.

Wrong place, wrong time for George.

In total, there were 16 unexplained deaths at the Cecil. But there was more. It was also the home to serial killers.

Richard Ramirez, the ”Night Stalker,” stayed at The Cecil Hotel during his killing spree. Hotel records show he paid $14 a night for a room on the top floor. He was a notorious guest, known for parading through the lobby in his underwear and later tossing his bloody murder clothes into the hotel dumpster.

And then another serial killer checked in, this one who left his mark worldwide. Jack Unterweger killed up to 15 people, leaving bodies behind in Austria, Germany, Czechoslovakia, and the United States.

The Cecil was finally shut down and the building was eventually sold in 2024.

More Dark Stories from the Golden State

The Cecil Hotel is only one stop on Bob Cyphers’ journey through California’s darker history.

In California: Surf, Sand & Murder, Cyphers travels from Los Angeles and the infamous Black Dahlia murder to small towns, highways, beaches, neighborhoods, and forgotten crime scenes across the state—revisiting serial killers, disappearances, unsolved murders, cold cases, and victims whose stories deserve to be remembered.

California may be famous for sunshine, beaches, and Hollywood dreams. But beneath the postcard-perfect surface lies another California entirely.

Get your copy of California: Surf, Sand & Murder from Genius Books.

On October 9, Diane will join author Marshall Terrill at Bullion Plaza Museum to share her extraordinary story—and talk about the marriage, the murders, and the truth she was forced to confront when the man she loved was revealed as the “Pied Piper of Tucson.”

Read the full story and event details from Copper Area News: Bullion Plaza’s October program is a truly scary story

Read Diane’s Story in Smitty

In Smitty: My Marriage to Serial Killer Charles Schmid, the Pied Piper of Tucson, Diane Schmid tells the story from inside the nightmare—how a teenage romance became a marriage to a killer, and what happened when the truth finally came crashing through.

Written with Marshall Terrill, Smitty offers a deeply personal perspective on a notorious true crime case, told by the woman who lived beside the man at its center.

Get your copy from Genius Books → Smitty

They were tucked into memories and handwritten journals, gathered through grief and healing, unexpected detours and extraordinary adventures. Patricia says she felt a “nudge from God” to record them, eventually recognizing that they weren’t meant to form one neat, chronological story. They were moments—experiences that had changed her, challenged her, frightened her, healed her, or led her somewhere she never expected to go.

Those stories became Pivotal Moments: Stories of Surviving, Surrendering, and Saying Yes Anyway.

And if there is one thing you should know about the woman who wrote it, it may be this:

Patricia Peck knows how to say yes to life.

A Life Bigger Than a Bio

How do you sum up a woman who decided, after her husband died, to fulfill a dream she’d been carrying since she was fourteen—and jumped out of an airplane?

Patricia was 64 and had never lived or traveled alone. Her husband of more than forty years had been afraid of flying and had refused to allow her to skydive. After his death, Patricia realized that the dream she’d tucked away for fifty years was still there.

So before she turned 65, she went tandem skydiving.

Her family came to watch. Her granddaughters cheered, “You go Granny!” And Patricia finally discovered what it felt like to fly without fear.

That wasn’t the end of her adventures.

At 70, Patricia flew to Europe and walked 500 miles over 44 days on the Camino de Santiago, carrying a backpack and meeting people from around the world along the way.

Her book also takes readers to Rome, Greece, London, Sedona, Florida, Detroit, a sweat lodge, a zipline, and yes—eventually even into water with crocodiles.

But Pivotal Moments isn’t simply a collection of adventures.

Some of Patricia’s most important journeys happened much closer to home.

Surviving, Healing, and Telling the Truth

Patricia writes openly about a childhood marked by poverty, dysfunction, and abuse. She writes about a forty-year marriage in which she gradually surrendered much of her independence. She writes about caring for others, losing people she loved, confronting old wounds, and continuing to discover pieces of herself well into her eighties.

And she doesn’t shy away from subjects people often keep hidden.

At 80, she wrote candidly about living with incontinence—not because she had an easy answer for it, but because she had learned that shame grows in secrecy. Her conclusion was beautifully simple: what mattered was telling her truth and allowing other people the same freedom.

That willingness to tell the truth runs throughout Pivotal Moments.

So does Patricia’s refusal to believe that we’re ever too old to change.

At 81, after decades of struggling with her body and food, she wrote about learning to look in the mirror differently—to see not someone she needed to fix, but “a lovely, older woman” who was grateful to be alive, able to walk, travel, and continue meeting new people.

Following the Nudge

There is another thread woven through nearly every part of Patricia’s story: faith.

Not necessarily faith that life will go according to plan.

Quite the opposite.

Patricia writes about learning to release the plan.

Her spirituality is deeply personal—she frequently refers to “the God of my understanding”—and much of her life seems to have become an experiment in asking for direction and then paying attention to what happens next.

Sometimes that leads to profound experiences.

Sometimes it leads to an unexpected exit off the highway.

In one story, Patricia was driving home through Michigan when she inexplicably took an exit into Saginaw. She didn’t know anyone there or why she’d turned off the highway. Rather than panic, she decided to follow the feeling. Turn by turn, she eventually found herself handing $20 to a stranger standing alone in a parking lot.

When he asked why, she could only tell him:

“I don’t know, but I follow what God tells me to do.”

He cried.

Patricia drove away grateful simply to have been the messenger.

That may be as good an introduction to Patricia Peck as any formal author biography could provide.

She has lived through things she never would have chosen. She has survived things that could have stopped her. She has learned to listen, to change course, to trust, to laugh, to heal—and, whenever possible, to turn toward the next adventure.

About Pivotal Moments

Pivotal Moments: Stories of Surviving, Surrendering, and Saying Yes Anyway isn’t a story about a perfect life.

It’s about a fully lived one.

Patricia writes about childhood and aging, marriage and widowhood, fear and freedom, trauma and healing, strangers and angels, ordinary moments and experiences she can only describe as divine guidance.

Most of all, she writes about what can happen when we stop believing our story is finished.

Patricia explains in the introduction that her hope is for people who are struggling to find their way to discover through these stories that life can still be amazing when we become willing to surrender some of our own direction.

And perhaps that’s the heart of Pivotal Moments:

You can survive what happened before.
You can surrender what you cannot control.
And you can still say yes to whatever comes next.

Read Pivotal Moments

Patricia Peck’s story is proof that a life can hold heartbreak and healing, fear and adventure, loss and unexpected joy—and that there is always room for another chapter.

In Pivotal Moments: Stories of Surviving, Surrendering, and Saying Yes Anyway, Patricia shares the experiences that shaped her life and the faith that helped her keep moving forward, even when she had no idea where the path would lead.

Discover Pivotal Moments and meet a woman who learned that sometimes the most extraordinary parts of life begin when we’re willing to say yes anyway.

Recently, while reading about another person’s experience with aphantasia, I found myself nodding along at first with little yeps, I totally get that. But the more I read, the more I started thinking about how easy it can be, especially when we first discover aphantasia, to attribute almost everything about the way our minds work to that one difference.

Having aphantasia myself, I know firsthand how jarring it can be to discover that other people can actually see pictures in their minds when you’ve spent your entire life assuming “picture this” was just a figure of speech. Learning I had aphantasia explained a LOT. There have been so many moments since discovering aphantasia when I’ve thought, Ohhhh. THAT explains it.

At first, it brought on a kind of sadness. I am unable to close my eyes and see the face of someone I love. I can’t visually revisit places I’ve been or replay some of my favorite memories like a movie. I can’t picture my children when they were little or call up an image of someone I’ve lost. I can know exactly what a place or person looked like, but I can’t bring that image back and see it again. There was a period when realizing that other people could do those things made me genuinely sad.

But discovering aphantasia also explained so much. Like why I struggled with certain “visual” assignments in school, why I could never “count sheep” during bouts of insomnia, why my memories don’t play like movies, and why visual meditations not only never made sense to me but could be downright frustrating. Eventually I began to wonder about other things, like my difficulty recognizing faces or my terrible sense of direction. Were those connected too? What about the way I approach writing and creativity?

As I continued reading, though, I kept thinking, Wait, does aphantasia really explain that? Or that? It definitely doesn’t explain THAT! And it made me think more seriously about how easily our individual experiences can become explanations for aphantasia as a whole.

Dreaming is a good example. Aphantasia does not mean you cannot dream. Many people with aphantasia report having visual dreams, and while research suggests there may be differences in dream frequency or vividness for some aphants, that’s very different from assuming aphantasia automatically means someone cannot dream.

I have very vivid dreams. They’re not always “visual,” but sometimes they are, and visual or not, I dream regularly. My husband, on the other hand, CAN visualize. Yet he claims he rarely dreams. Every once in a while he’ll remember one, which makes me think it’s probably more accurate to say he rarely remembers his dreams. Either way, here I am, the aphant, regularly remembering mine while the visualizer sleeping next to me rarely remembers his.

Don’t get me wrong, I freely admit that I understand how easy it is to start attributing things to aphantasia, because when I first discovered it, I did the same thing. That kind of discovery can send you down a rabbit hole analyzing your entire life. I started looking at other things I’d struggled with. Difficulty recognizing faces, or my terrible sense of direction—were those aphantasia?

I’ve never been good at doing math in my head. In school, I counted on my fingers or had to write everything down. It was a source of embarrassment for me then, and honestly, I still do it today. So when I discovered aphantasia, I thought, Well, there you go, that’s why. My struggles with visual meditation? Definitely aphantasia! My difficulties with storytelling? I loved that one honestly, I thought I found the answer to why I wasn’t the grand storyteller I’d always dreamed of being.

Except, as time went on, I started questioning some of those assumptions. Starting with the easiest, meditation. If someone is telling me to close my eyes and visualize something I literally cannot visualize, then yes, aphantasia is obviously affecting my experience. But I eventually learned that meditation itself wasn’t the problem. I just needed approaches that didn’t depend on mental imagery, and guess what? There are a lot of them!

Storytelling took me a little longer to concede, because I really, really wanted to be able to blame this one on aphantasia! But eventually I had to say no, aphantasia is not to blame. Storytelling relies not on visuals, but on imagination, the ability to bring the listener or reader into the scene. I CAN do that, I did write a children’s book, after all! It’s just not an especially strong skill of mine, sad to say.

So, no, writing my Mouse book wasn’t a breeze for me. I had to create the visual scenes slowly, and sometimes I pulled out pictures as aids. But I’ve talked to enough writers to realize that even people who can visualize aren’t necessarily sitting there watching a perfectly formed movie in their heads and simply writing down what they “see.” Aphantasia may stop me from being able to “see” the story I’m telling, but it doesn’t stop me from being able to tell one!

I’m sure there are still things I blame on aphantasia that may or may not truly be affected by that. There has been research showing connections between aphantasia and things like face recognition and certain kinds of navigation, so maybe those really are part of the picture for me. But math, for example, do I struggle because I can’t “see” the numbers? Or am I just better with, say… words? Give me something to write, and I’m happy. Give me numbers and expect me to manipulate them in my head and... yeah, not going to happen.

My son, on the other hand, who is also an aphant, is the exact opposite. Words, reading, and spelling have always been harder for him, while numbers and calculations come easily. So maybe aphantasia affects how we do certain things without determining whether we’re actually going to be good at them. Or maybe I’m just bad at math, both things are entirely possible. And shhh... don’t tell my boss I’m bad at math. I work as a bookkeeper!

The point is, I could label everything as aphantasia, just like I chalk every emotional and physical symptom up to menopause these days. 😂 But the truth is, sometimes I’m just moody, not hormonal. Sometimes I forget where I left my phone because I’m thinking about a thousand different things, not because I can’t visually see it in my mind.

I belong to a couple of Facebook groups for aphantasia and have read many stories from different people describing their experiences. A lot of us have overlapping experiences, and I absolutely think there are similarities. Clearly, aphantasia is the inability to create mental images, so that’s naturally going to lead to difficulties in certain areas. But that doesn’t necessarily mean aphantasia causes every difficulty we experience.

That’s actually what I love about the groups. We discuss and question, and sometimes we argue! Often we discover that a lot of us have the same struggle. Other times, we discover that maybe the thing we thought was aphantasia is just one of our own personality traits or quirks.

One example that made me stop and think was drawing. It seems logical that someone with aphantasia might struggle to draw something like a horse because they can’t visualize one. If I can’t picture a horse in my mind, how am I supposed to draw one from memory? Except... how many people who can visualize can accurately draw a horse?

I’m going to use my husband as an example here. As I said above, he rarely dreams, but he CAN visualize. And here’s the funny part. He’s actually a pretty decent artist. But ask him to draw a horse, and it might look more like a brown hippopotamus!

Drawing is a skill that some people have great talent for, while others, like myself, can barely draw a straight line. I don’t think being able to see a horse in your mind is necessarily going to translate into a beautiful replica on paper unless you also have the skill or talent to draw it. Aphantasia can affect drawing from memory. That makes sense, and research supports it. But that’s different from saying that if I’m bad at drawing something, it’s because I’m an aphant.

Memory is another area where this gets complicated very quickly. Aphantasia can affect the way we experience memory. I don’t visually replay my past. If I think about a childhood home, I don’t suddenly see myself standing in the kitchen or watch scenes from my childhood unfold like a movie. But I can recall things that happened, even strange little details, even though I don’t see the memory. I can remember information and the emotions that I may have felt.

And honestly, I think emotion plays a big part in how I remember. Emotions don’t exist only in our heads. We experience them in our bodies too. So often when I’m trying to remember something from childhood, or even an experience that happened last year on vacation, the emotion is the first thing that comes back. I don’t necessarily see the memory, but I can sometimes feel my way back into it.

So, no, I don’t see the memory, and that absolutely has something to do with my aphantasia. But does every forgotten birthday, misplaced object, fuzzy childhood memory, or inability to remember exactly what someone was wearing twenty years ago come from aphantasia? Probably not. People with perfectly vivid mental imagery forget things too. Just ask my husband where his keys are!

Which leads me to SDAM, Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memory. Aphantasia and SDAM can occur together, but they aren’t the same thing. You can have aphantasia without having SDAM, and this is discussed in the Facebook groups frequently. People can have one or the other, or even both, but having one doesn’t automatically mean you have the other.

The more I thought about all of this, the more I wondered about someone who had only recently discovered they had aphantasia. What if one of the first things they encountered focused primarily on everything aphantasia supposedly takes away?

There ARE things I would love to experience. I would love to close my eyes and see the faces of people I love. I’d love to understand what it’s like to replay a memory visually.

There are things about having aphantasia that genuinely suck. But I also don’t want to walk through my life feeling like something is terribly wrong with me. For most of my life, I didn’t even know anything was different. My mind worked the way my mind worked, and I was still able to imagine, dream, create, remember, love, and grieve. I could still make up stories and draw brown horsepotomuses, and I did all of those things without knowing I was missing those “pictures” in my mind.

What I would have wanted when I first discovered aphantasia was hope. I would have wanted someone to tell me that even if there were things my mind couldn’t do in the traditional way, there might be other ways to approach them. Yes, visually guided meditations are out for me, BUT there are so many other options!

The truth is, when I discovered aphantasia, some of it felt like a gut punch. It felt like I was missing out on something everyone else had. If one of the first things I’d encountered had focused only on everything I apparently couldn’t do, without giving me hope or alternative ways to work with my mind, I probably would have felt defeated. I might not have even bothered trying to discover if there was another way.

And yes, in the beginning, just like with menopause, I wanted to blame all my little quirks on aphantasia. But the more I explored and talked to others, the more I began to understand what areas it legitimately affects and what areas are just... me.

So, yes, aphantasia can explain why you can’t see your mother’s face when you close your eyes, but I’m willing to bet it doesn’t explain why you hate wool sweaters. It can change the way you recall your childhood memories, but it’s doubtful that it’s responsible for you walking into the kitchen and forgetting why you’re there. It might change the way you approach drawing, writing, reading, meditation, or creativity, but it doesn’t mean you’re incapable of any of those things.

Discovering and learning about aphantasia has helped me understand myself enormously. Sometimes a trait really is connected to aphantasia, sometimes it’s something else. And sometimes... it’s just me.

What If You Just Need a Different Way?

That realization, that struggling with visualization doesn’t mean you’re bad at meditation, is ultimately what led me to write Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed.

I have aphantasia, and for a long time I thought meditation simply wasn’t something I could do. So many practices began with some version of close your eyes and picture... and I couldn’t. What I eventually discovered was that meditation wasn’t the problem. I was simply being taught methods that relied on a mental ability I don’t have.

Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed explores meditation without depending on visualization, using approaches such as breath, sound, movement, mantra, touch, gratitude, and other anchors that don’t require you to see anything in your mind.

If you have aphantasia, or you’ve simply struggled with traditional visualization-based meditation, you don’t have to force your mind to work differently. You can learn to meditate with the mind you already have.

Explore Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed.

In this candid conversation, Johns talks about growing up in the shadows of legendary musicians, the complicated family legacy behind his famous name, and how the blues became more than music. It became a way through.

Will Johns on Bluesdaddy, rock-and-roll shadows, and finding salvation in the blues

Will Johns was born close enough to rock-and-roll history to hear it through the walls, but Bluesdaddy: Born Into Noise, Raised on Chaos, Saved by the Blues (Genius Book Publishing, Oct. 1, 2026) is not a book about glamour. It is about what happens after the myth fades, when the names on the record sleeves become family, absence, pressure, disappointment, rescue, and memory.

The son of legendary producer Andy Johns and nephew of Glyn Johns, Will grew up with a last name that carried both weight and expectation. Around him were figures who helped define modern music: Eric Clapton, George Harrison, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and the Boyd family. But as Johns makes clear, proximity to fame did not mean protection from chaos.

In Bluesdaddy, Johns writes with humor, bruising honesty, and a survivor’s instinct for turning pain into rhythm. The blues, for him, became more than a genre. It became a language for grief, endurance, family wreckage, hard-won self-knowledge, and the strange grace of being saved by sound.

In this conversation, Johns reflects on his childhood, his complicated inheritance, the recognition that helped crystallize his identity as a contemporary blues artist, and the full-circle honor of being inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame.

Q: You describe Bluesdaddy as a story about being “born into noise, raised on chaos, and saved by the blues.” When did the blues first become more than music for you and start becoming a way to survive?

A: Well, I would have to say that in 2011, when I was contacted by Clive Rawlings from Blues Matters magazine in the UK, the subsequent article generated a lot of interest from the UK blues scene. Up until that point, I had always considered myself a rock, blues, and funk player/artist. From that point on, due to the recognition of my song “On My Back” and its nomination for Best Blues Song in the UK Blues Awards, this crystallized my creative vision as a contemporary blues artist, and everything seemed to make more sense... and cents! The moral of the story seemed to be: Keep It Simple, Stupid. The blues was always there inside and just needed to be recognized and nurtured.

Q: Many people would assume growing up around Eric Clapton, George Harrison, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and the Boyd family was glamorous. What do you think people misunderstand most about being raised in the shadow of rock-and-roll mythology?

A: Well, in my case, I was raised by my mum, who had her own set of difficulties she was dealing with. We were relatively poor and relied heavily on support from her sister Pattie and others most of the time. I would spend weekends and occasional holidays at Pattie and Eric’s and be a part of that world for fleeting moments, but then I would be returned to my normal life, which was sometimes very difficult. My mum left my dad in L.A. when I was very young, so I didn’t get to grow up with the rock-and-roll lifestyle that most people assume I enjoyed. I had to parent my mum a lot of the time, as she was overly fond of getting out of it in any way she could, and as often as she could.

Q: Your father, Andy Johns, and uncle Glyn Johns helped shape some of the most important records in rock history. How did that legacy inspire you, and how did it complicate your search for your own identity as an artist?

A: Honestly, Glyn was not an inspiration to me at all. I only ever knew him as a mean and dour man who discouraged my initial attempts at songwriting and performance. I remember him saying to me when I was about 20, “If you haven’t made it by now, you should give up.” I also remember he always had the worst halitosis, the worst bad breath imaginable. I’m pretty sure no one was ever bold enough to tell him. Andy, like his brother, could also be very disparaging about my singing, saying, “It’s better when you don’t sing.” Only because Jack Bruce had told me that I could sing well was I able to ignore those negative comments, which usually came when Andy was hungover from a bender. Still, coming from such a well-known musical family, of course these days I can appreciate the drum sounds and recording techniques of both the Johns brothers. But the personal relationship dynamics were less than inspirational for me.

Q: The book suggests that celebrity is the setting, but not the story. What was the deeper human story you most wanted readers to understand about your life?

A: I wanted to get across to readers that music saved me from a life of pain and misery. We know music is a healing phenomenon that brings people of all walks of life and all nationalities together with love. I also wanted readers to understand that devotion to mastering an instrument requires a certain amount of discipline and ruthless relentlessness. The main motivation for me to complete the book was to record some of the absurdities of my life’s reality, which even I still struggle to comprehend, for my two sons, Charlie and Eddie. I wanted to help them understand some of the challenges I faced and explain a little bit about where they came from. Sometimes a father figure can come unexpectedly as a friend, and the kindness of strangers can sometimes outweigh one’s own family’s capacity to give.

Q: You write about chaos, addiction, family instability, love, loss, and road-life absurdity with humor and candor. Was there a particular story or chapter that was hardest for you to revisit?

A: One of the hardest chapters of my life to revisit was when the dark times of the pandemic hit. It literally was so life-changing. From performing with Eric Clapton at the Ginger Baker tribute concert, to the world shutting down during the tour, to getting so ill I nearly died, it was a lot. Then the breakup of my marriage and the dissolution of the family home fueled the release of Bluesdaddy, the album. Of course, now I would not change a thing. Some of the things that happened subsequently while finishing the book all combined to make for an incredibly emotional and transformational experience.

Q: Your induction into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2025 seems like a powerful full-circle moment. What did that recognition mean to you after spending so much of your life trying to become more than a famous last name?

A: The induction into the Blues Hall of Fame was such an honor and the greatest accolade I could have ever dreamed of. To then have Buddy Guy actually say of my playing, “Now that’s what you call the blues,” was immeasurably fantastic. My mum always used to say, “Some people play the blues and some people play the blouse.” It was meant humorously, but within that anecdote was a lesson that, to me, meant you have to really mean it. You can’t fake it. For the longest time in my life, I wondered if I was playing the blouse, so Buddy’s words meant everything to me.

Read Bluesdaddy

In Bluesdaddy: Born Into Noise, Raised on Chaos, Saved by the Blues, Will Johns steps beyond the mythology of his rock-and-roll upbringing to tell the much more personal story underneath it—one of family, addiction, loss, survival, and the music that helped carry him through.

Bluesdaddy releases October 1, 2026, from Genius Book Publishing.

Order Bluesdaddy today and discover the story behind the music.

What do we inherit from our fathers besides a name?

In this conversation, author and journalist Marshall Terrill explores the stories fathers leave behind—the memories, histories, and pieces of themselves that continue long after they’re gone.

Watch “The Stories Our Fathers Leave Behind: Marshall Terrill on Dust, Copper and Curveballs” below.

Discover More from Marshall Terrill

Marshall Terrill has spent his career telling the stories behind remarkable lives, from cultural icons and Hollywood figures to people whose experiences intersect with crime, fame, history, and family.

Explore Marshall Terrill’s books and learn more about his work → Marshall Terrill Author

For more than twenty years, everyone believed 14-year-old Jimmy Gilmore had simply run away.

Then, during renovations to his former family home in Baldwin Park, California, a worker spotted a shoe sticking out of the ground.

Jimmy had never run away at all.

His remains had been beneath the house—directly under his parents’ bedroom—for decades.

What followed was a mystery almost as disturbing as the discovery itself: How did Jimmy get there, and who buried him?

BALDWIN PARK

“.... Well, if you want to be a movie star, I can take you to Hollywood. But if you want to stay just like you are, You know, I think you really should….”

Just About a half hour east of Los Angeles, in the San Gabriel Valley, is the community of Baldwin Park. It is famous for being the first location of the In-N-Out Burger, California’s first drive thru, where a combo of a burger, fries, and a cold drink would cost a whopping 50 cents when it opened in 1948. 50 cents then is $6.55 today. And years later Baldwin Park would be known for something much more sinister: having one of the most notorious homes in town in the 12700 block of Bess Avenue.

On January 7, 1962, 14 year old Jimmy Gilmore was at home watching television with his sister Linda and brother Wayne. His parents were not at home. When there was a knock on the door, Jimmy got up to answer it. He then returned, got dressed and told Linda and Wayne he had to go out.

He never came back, and nobody really was worried about him.

His mother Donna thought very little of it; the two had not gotten along, and Jimmy had always been getting in trouble. When he didn’t show up for three days, his mother finally called the police, but she was convinced that he had probably just run off. Police were all too familiar with the Gilmore residence, having been called there numerous times over the years to break up violent family arguments. It seems the parents took to firing gunshots at each other. They always missed.

The police investigation as to where Jimmy was did not get far after his mother told them he was vicious, his brother described him as crazy, and neighbors called him “a pain in the butt.” Everyone in the family agreed on one thing: Jimmy did not get along with anybody. They said it was a relief when he was not around.

Police soon discovered that other neighborhood boys had run away around the same time. It was obvious to all involved that Jimmy had most likely joined them.

Then In 1973, more than ten years after Jimmy vanished, the Gilmores decided to sell their home and move away. New owners moved in, lived there for more than 10 years, and then they sold the home. In 1985, while doing renovations to the home, a worker found a shoe sticking out of the ground. When he went to get a closer look, he discovered Jimmy’s skeleton in a shallow grave under the home, buried face down in a foot of sand, directly under his parents bedroom.

Police tracked the Gilmore family down with the news. Had they never smelled in anything, in all those years? No, they said. Police then located the man who lived there from 1973 to 1984 with the shocking news. Did he ever smell anything? No, he said.

Incredibly, Jimmy’s body lay there for more than 20 years, under the noses of both the Gilmores and the next owner. Nobody ever complained of a smell. The home had sat vacant for years, and was surrounded by livestock. Police could not determine a cause of death, but they knew one thing: Dead people cannot bury themselves. They kept asking themselves another question: “Who buries a person under their own house?” If the killer or killers murdered Jimmy elsewhere, why would they risk bringing him back to his and trying to bury him where his family was living?

Without calling them suspects, the police investigation would take them back to Jimmy’s dysfunctional family. They discovered his older sister had been stabbed to death by her boyfriend in 1979. Other family members gave conflicting stories about their memories. His father James pointed the finger at other family members. Detectives said James Gilmore believes his son never left the house that night.

They were all given polygraphs, and all passed. No substantial leads have ever emerged.

California Has a Darker Side

Behind California’s sunshine, beaches, and Hollywood mythology are stories that rarely make the postcards.

In California: Surf, Sand & Murder, veteran journalist Bob Cyphers explores crimes and mysteries from across the Golden State—including the baffling case of Jimmy Gilmore.

Explore California: Surf, Sand & Murder

Few films are as closely tied to Steve McQueen’s “King of Cool” legacy as 1968’s Bullitt—from the streets of San Francisco to one of the most famous car chases in movie history.

McQueen biographer and Genius Books author Marshall Terrill recently joined Kristen Lopez on the Ticklish Business podcast to talk about the film, its impact on McQueen’s career, and the story behind a movie that remains a cultural touchstone nearly six decades later.

And for readers following Marshall’s work, there’s another reason to tune in: the conversation includes a teaser for his upcoming book, Nothing in Common.

Watch the full conversation below.

More from Marshall Terrill

Marshall Terrill has spent decades chronicling the lives of cultural icons, including Steve McQueen, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jay Sebring, and others whose stories extend far beyond the headlines.

While we wait to share more about Nothing in Common, explore Marshall’s books currently available from Genius Books.

Explore Marshall Terrill’s books at Genius Books

As an author who works for a book publishing company, has self-published, has been traditionally published, and has watched many writers struggle to figure out which path is best for them, I wanted to share a bit of what I’ve learned.

My own publishing path started with a children’s book based on my little dog, Mouse. I had always dreamed of becoming a published author, but at the time, I had no real idea how the publishing world worked. I submitted the book and proposal to several children’s publishers, received more than a few rejections, and heard nothing at all from others.

Instead of giving up, I started looking into self-publishing. That’s how Mouse the Pretty Bird came to life and became available on Amazon.

When I came close to finishing my meditation book, I learned how to write a proper proposal and submitted it once again. This time the rejections… were still rejections, but much more positive. Many said they saw promise in the book but were not currently accepting manuscripts in that genre, and some even suggested alternative publishers to submit to.

And then I got a yes! I signed a contract and became a traditionally published author.

So, Which Is Better?

What I’ve learned is that traditional publishing is not automatically more “legitimate,” and self-publishing is not automatically a fallback. They are different business models with different tradeoffs.

Publishing is not just about getting a book into the world. It’s also about understanding what you’re signing, what you’re giving up, what you’re gaining, and where the money is actually going.

I wish I had understood the differences between these paths earlier. Not because I made terrible choices, but because publishing can be confusing when you’re new to it. The language sounds official, the promises can sound exciting, and when you want your book in the world badly enough, it can be hard to tell the difference between an opportunity and a warning sign.

Start Here: What Do You Actually Want From This Book?

Before comparing options, ask yourself:

• Do I want bookstore/library distribution, industry recognition, or mainstream media attention?

• Do I want creative control?

• Do I want speed?

• Do I want to keep more royalties?

• Do I want someone else handling editing, design, production, and distribution?

• Do I have money to invest upfront?

• Do I want this book to support a business, speaking career, coaching work, or personal legacy?

• Am I prepared to market the book either way?

Your answers matter because there really isn’t one publishing path that is right for every author or every book.

Traditional Publishing: What It Is

Traditional publishing usually means a publishing house acquires your book, pays for production, and offers royalties. Some authors also receive an advance, though advances vary widely and are not guaranteed, especially with smaller presses or debut authors.

The publisher typically handles editing, cover design, interior layout, printing, distribution, and some level of marketing/publicity.

For most major publishers, including the “Big Five,” authors generally need a literary agent, especially for fiction, memoir, narrative nonfiction, and commercial nonfiction. Most major publishers and many of their imprints do not accept unsolicited submissions, although there are occasional exceptions and open submission periods.

Many reputable smaller publishing companies, however, will accept submissions without an agent.

Pros of Traditional Publishing

• No author-funded production costs.

• Potential advance payment.

• Professional editing, cover design, layout, and production.

• Better access to bookstore placement, libraries, trade reviews, and industry distribution.

• A team is involved, so the author is not doing everything alone.

• For some genres, especially commercial fiction and big nonfiction, this is still the clearest route to major national reach.

Cons of Traditional Publishing

• Very slow timeline.

• Hard to break into.

• Rejection is part of the process.

• Less creative control over title, cover, pricing, release timing, and sometimes marketing direction.

• Royalties are generally lower than self-publishing.

• The publisher may not provide as much marketing support as authors expect.

• Contracts matter: rights, options, non-competes, royalty terms, and reversion clauses should be understood carefully.

What Surprised Me Most

One thing that surprised me was realizing that traditional publishing does not remove the author from the marketing process.

I think many of us imagine that once a publisher says yes, the machine takes over. And sometimes there is support, of course. But the author still matters. Your audience, your willingness to talk about the book, your platform, your energy, your connections—all of that still matters.

This is a BIG one to consider. Many authors assume that if they are traditionally published, all marketing will fall into the lap of the publisher.

That is not the case.

Traditional publishing does not mean you get to simply write the book and disappear. Most authors are still expected to help build an audience and promote their work.

Do You Need an Agent?

If your goal is one of the major traditional publishers or many of their larger imprints, you will generally need a literary agent.

Agents can help with:

• Pitching your manuscript or proposal.

• Knowing which editors might be a fit.

• Negotiating contracts.

• Protecting rights.

• Understanding subsidiary rights, audio rights, foreign rights, film/TV rights, etc.

When You Might Not Need an Agent

You may not need one if:

• You are submitting to small presses that accept direct submissions.

• You are publishing poetry, regional nonfiction, academic work, or niche nonfiction through smaller publishers.

• You are self-publishing.

• You are working with a reputable hybrid publisher or publishing service and understand the contract.

Agent Red Flags

A reputable literary agent typically works on commission rather than charging an author upfront. Around 15 percent of what the author earns from a domestic publishing deal is standard. For foreign rights or other subsidiary rights involving subagents, the percentage may be closer to 20 percent.

Be cautious if:

• An agent charges a reading fee to evaluate your work for possible representation.

• An “agent” pushes you toward paid editing, paid publishing, or paid marketing services they profit from.

• Someone guarantees publication.

• Someone approaches you out of nowhere with excessive flattery.

• You cannot verify the agent’s sales history.

• You cannot find real clients, real books, real publishers, or other evidence of professional experience.

Self-Publishing: What It Is

Self-publishing was the first path I took, and honestly, I’m glad I did. I learned a lot by having to figure things out myself.

But I also learned that “easy to upload” does not mean “easy to publish well.”

Self-publishing means the author acts as the publisher. You control the project and either do the work yourself or hire professionals to help.

This can include:

• Editing.

• Proofreading.

• Cover design.

• Interior formatting.

• ISBN setup.

• Uploading to platforms.

• Distribution.

• Marketing.

• Advertising.

• Launch strategy.

Pros of Self-Publishing

• Full creative control.

• Faster timeline.

• Higher royalty percentage.

• You keep more rights.

• You can update the book later.

• You control pricing and promotions.

• It can work especially well for niche books, memoirs, workbooks, business books, poetry, and books tied to an existing audience.

• You are not waiting for permission.

Cons of Self-Publishing

• You pay upfront for professional services.

• You are responsible for quality control.

• You must learn the business side.

• Bookstore placement is harder.

• Media/trade review access can be harder.

• There is no built-in publishing team unless you hire one.

• Marketing is entirely on you.

• Poor editing, poor covers, or rushed production can hurt the book.

Self-publishing gives you freedom, but freedom also means responsibility.

You are not just the author. You are the publisher. You pay the production costs.

Hybrid Publishing and Vanity Publishing: The Confusing Middle

First off, I personally don’t love the term “vanity publishing,” but if you’re looking into publishing options, you’ll likely come across it.

Hybrid publishing can mean different things, and the term is not always used consistently. In general, a legitimate hybrid publisher asks the author to invest financially but should still provide professional editing, design, production, distribution support, transparent contracts, and some level of selectivity.

The Independent Book Publishers Association has established criteria for what it considers a reputable hybrid publisher, including transparency, professional standards, selective submissions, quality production, distribution, and clearly defined rights and royalties.

Hybrid publishing and vanity publishing are not exactly the same thing, though the terms can overlap in confusing ways.

A legitimate hybrid publisher should still care about the quality of the book and its potential readership. Vanity publishing, on the other hand, tends to make its money primarily from the author’s desire to be published rather than from selling books to readers.

That is why the question is not just:

“Is this hybrid?”

But:

“What am I paying for? What am I getting? Who owns the rights? And how does this company make its money?”

Vanity Publishing Warning

Vanity publishers often make money primarily from the author, not from selling books to readers.

Red flags can include:

• They tell every author their book is amazing.

• They claim to be selective but appear to accept almost everyone.

• They charge thousands of dollars without clear deliverables.

• They pressure you to sign quickly.

• They promise bestseller status.

• They guarantee bookstore placement.

• They aggressively upsell marketing packages after you sign.

• They use vague language like “global exposure” or “Hollywood potential.”

• They cannot clearly explain their distribution.

• They produce poor-quality covers, editing, or interiors.

• They keep rights they do not appear to need.

• They are unclear about royalties.

• They make it difficult to leave or get your files or rights back.

One confusing area for authors is that some hybrid publishers may look or sound traditional.

For example, She Writes Press is a hybrid publisher whose books are distributed to the trade through Simon & Schuster. That does not mean Simon & Schuster is publishing those books; it means Simon & Schuster provides trade distribution.

This distinction matters.

If you submit to a publisher that appears traditional and they respond with an acceptance letter that includes upfront fees, pause.

That is not a traditional publishing contract.

It may be a hybrid offer, a paid publishing package, or something closer to vanity publishing. Whatever they call it, make sure you understand the model before signing.

Who Is Paying Whom?

This may be one of the simplest questions an author can ask.

Who is paying whom?

In traditional publishing, money flows from the publisher to the author through royalties and, sometimes, an advance. The author does not pay the publisher to produce the book.

In hybrid publishing, the author usually contributes financially upfront.

That does not automatically make it a scam, but it does mean the author needs to read the contract carefully and understand exactly what they are buying.

This is the part I wish every new author would read before signing anything, because writers are hopeful people.

We have to be.

But that hope can make us vulnerable when someone knows exactly what we want to hear.

Questions to Ask Before Signing Anything

• Who is paying whom?

• Who owns the rights?

• Can I get my rights back?

• What exactly is included?

• What costs extra?

• Who controls the cover, title, price, and release date?

• Who receives royalties, and how often are they paid?

• Can I buy author copies, and at what cost?

• What happens if the book does not sell?

• Am I being promised something realistic, or something emotionally tempting?

Scams to Watch Out For

Author scams have become increasingly sophisticated. Scammers may impersonate legitimate agents, editors, publishers, or production companies. They may create convincing websites and staff profiles or contact writers with highly personalized praise and promises of publishing, marketing, or film opportunities.

That makes verification more important than ever.

Traditional Publishing Scam Red Flags

• A publisher asks you to pay to be traditionally published.

• A supposed agent charges reading fees.

• Someone guarantees acceptance by a publisher.

• A company says they can “refer” you to a major publisher for a fee.

• An agent or publisher requires you to buy editing services from a specific person or company in which they have a financial interest.

• A publisher contacts you out of nowhere and acts as if your book has already been chosen.

• They are vague about who they are, where they are located, or what books they have actually published.

Self-Publishing Scam Red Flags

• Expensive packages with unclear services.

• Fake or exaggerated marketing promises.

• Guaranteed Amazon bestseller status.

• Guaranteed reviews.

• Paid “book-to-film” offers making unrealistic promises.

• Fake agents, fake publishers, cloned websites, AI-generated or stolen staff profiles, or companies impersonating legitimate publishing houses.

• High-pressure phone calls or emails.

• Promises of bookstore placement without a realistic plan.

And honestly, that’s what makes these scams so awful.

They aren’t just selling services.

They’re preying on hope.

So Which Path Should You Choose?

Traditional publishing might be right for you if:

• You want a shot at major bookstore distribution.

• You are willing to wait.

• You are comfortable querying agents.

• You want an established team.

• You are okay giving up some control.

• You do not want to fund production yourself.

• Your book fits a category publishers are currently looking for.

Self-publishing might be right for you if:

• You want control.

• You already have or want to build a direct audience.

• You are writing for a specific niche.

• You want the book out sooner.

• You are willing to invest in quality.

• You are comfortable learning business and marketing.

• You want to retain rights.

Hybrid publishing might be right for you if:

• You want help but also more control.

• You have money to invest.

• You understand exactly what you are paying for.

• The publisher is transparent, selective, reputable, and contractually fair.

• You have checked them carefully.

Hybrid is the area where I’d urge authors to be the most cautious, because the language can sound traditional while the money flows like vanity publishing.

Final Thoughts: Know What You Are Signing

No publishing path is perfect.

Traditional publishing can open doors, but it can also be slow and discouraging. Self-publishing can be empowering, but it requires work, money, and business sense. Hybrid publishing can be helpful in the right hands, but costly in the wrong ones.

And yes, there is a certain irony in reading an article from someone who works for a traditional publisher telling you that traditional publishing might not be the right choice for you.

But I believe authors deserve to understand their options.

The most important thing is to understand the model before you sign anything. Ask who is paying whom. Ask who owns the rights. Ask what happens if the book does not sell. Ask what services are actually included. Ask whether the promises being made are realistic.

Your book matters. So does your time, your money, your creative control, and your peace of mind.

A book isn’t automatically more legitimate because of the path it took to publication. What matters is the care, craft, honesty, and professionalism behind it.

If Self-Publishing Is the Right Path for You

Choosing to self-publish doesn’t mean you have to do every part of it yourself.

Genius Book Services works with authors who want professional help bringing a book into the world, from evaluating how the finished book will meet its readers to cover design, print layout, ebook formatting, and editing.

The goal is to figure out what your book actually needs before you spend more money fixing the wrong thing. In fact, the philosophy behind Genius Book Services is to figure out what your book actually needs before you spend more money fixing the wrong thing.

If self-publishing feels like the right path for your book, you can learn more about the services available through Genius Book Services.

Alexandra Kitty joined True Murder to discuss Murder in a Sundown Town and the haunting 1968 murder of Carol Jenkins—a case that remained unsolved for decades and still raises difficult questions about racism, injustice, and the walls of silence that surrounded her death.

Listen to the episode below.

Want to go deeper into Carol Jenkins’s story?

In Murder in a Sundown Town, Alexandra Kitty examines the crime, investigation, cultural context, and decades-long search for answers in a case whose significance reaches far beyond 1968.

Get your copy of Murder in a Sundown Town from Genius Books