“Psycho-sexual satisfaction can be derived from the thrill of the kill, the thrill of getting over or perhaps wanting to torture. Sex crime is a power crime,” said criminal profiling specialist Dr. Julie Salzano, who was part of a fascinating panel discussion called THE EVIL MEN DO: Inside The Mind Of The Sexual Predator, at the Mid-Manhattan Library (NYPL), co-sponsored by the New York Public Library and the New York Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America on August 17, 2011.
Meredith Anthony, David Levien, Lyndsay Faye, Henry Chang and Dr. Julie Salzano at the Mid-Manhattan Library on August 17, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang/NYPL
Mystery fiction lovers came out in droves to hear
Dr. Salzano and authors
Henry Chang (
Chinatown Beat,
Year of The Dog,
Red Jade),
David Levien (
City of the Sun,
Where The Dead Lay,
Thirteen Million Dollar Pop,
Wormwood and
SWAGBELLY: A Novel for Today’s Gentleman and Lyndsay Faye (
The Gods of Gotham,
Dust and Shadow), share their inspiration for the characters they create, what their process of delving into the mind of the sexual predator is and how they choose to decompress.
Ladykiller co-author
Meredith Anthony moderated the panel at an entertaining and enlightening clip.
Henry Chang, a New York native who spent his formative years on the streets of Chinatown, drew inspiration for his first book in his CHINATOWN TRILOGY series chronicling the beat of NYPD Detective Jack Yu, from the people he knew.
“For my first book, Chinatown Beat, I based the predator, a child rapist of a 7-8 year old girl, on stories I had heard from the neighborhood,” said Chang. “While reading news articles in the Chinese press, I found it easy to fill in the grisly details. In my second book, Year of the Dog, gang members run roughshod over their groupies. And in Red Jade, the predator is an older man who is able to purchase girls who look young for his pleasure.”
Henry Chang, author of the Chinatown Trilogy, in the Mystery Fiction section of the Mid-Manhattan Library. Photo by Lia Chang/NYPL
In
Year of the Dog, Chang’s Chinese American detective Jack Yu recounts that in China, perpetrators of such heinous crimes would get a ‘Beijing Haircut’ – a single nine millimeter bullet to the head, followed by the government’s bill to the executed person’s family for the price of the bullet.
“Writing the Sex stuff, getting into the mind of the predator is not easy,” said Chang. “ I imagine the worst things, heap on the evil. Turning it off is not easy; it’s not like a light switch. It’s a dirty place. At the end of the day, my diversion is a glass of red wine.”
David Levien, author of the wildly popular Frank Behr Series: City of the Sun, Where the Dead Lay and Thirteen Million Dollar Pop, said,”my main character is a stand in for everything that is hopeful, and the bulk of my narrative is not in the head of the predator.”
Brimming with enthusiasm for the genre, Lyndsay Faye, whose historical thriller The Gods of Gotham comes out in March 2012, loves a good hero story and approaches her writing based on what she’d like to read. A former actress, Faye said, “Emotional investment is absolutely key. It is hard to get into the head space, but I find that the strongest choice is always the best one when done effectively.”
Levien brought up piquerism, a paraphilia and form of sadomasochism in which one finds sexual gratification through penetration of another person, most commonly by stabbing or cutting the body with sharp objects, and related that ‘stabbing is the stand-in for the sexual act.’
The panelists agreed that the mindset for sexual predators include people who can’t socialize, people who were weird as kids, but nobody addressed it, people with no connection to another human being as a child. There is no empathy in their makeup. It is the same type of mindset as a heroin addict.
While the jumping off point for the panel centered around male predators, Dr. Salzano, who was a member of the New York City Police Department and the first to be trained in criminal profiling, said that women were just as capable of committing horrible crimes; a common thread was they were all perpetrated during their cycles.
“Women’s victims are likely to be female children. Revenge and jealousy are often the motives, it’s not sexual,” said Salzano. “When a little girl is getting all of the attention, the woman views her as a competitive female for affection and attention of her husband or her boyfriend. In the case of jealousy, many have been abused, so their behavior is learned. If they’re insecure and needy, they have no self worth. The woman might want to get rid of children-by drowning, men-by shooting. As co-conspirators, they are aiding and abetting because they are usually scared to death.”
Asked to comment on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Dr. Salzano shared, “when coming across a horrific incident, those in law enforcement, the military, firefighters, nurses and doctors are trained not to emote. Memories surface and these horrific pictures are going to stay with me for a long time. I watch cartoons, nothing real, no politics. I watch them over and over again and I find that it relaxes me. The worst thing to do is drink. The more you drink, the more depressed you become. Let it run its course, it is important to talk it out.”
The panelists favorite reads include: James Ellroy’s Black Dahlia, Ann Rule’s Green River, Running Red: The Real Story of the Green River Killer—America’s Deadliest Serial Murder, Eric Larson’s Devil in the White City, Caleb Carr’s The Alienist, Tana French’s In the Woods, Dennis Lehane’s Gone Baby Gone, and Chevy Stephens’ Still Missing.
Why are we so fascinated?
Chang said, “Lots of people have dark thoughts, but we as readers, viewers can see it from a safe distance, it’s happening to somebody else, it’s not us.”
Click here to buy Henry Chang’s Chinatown Trilogy.
Henry Chang www.chinatowntrilogy.com
Meredith Anthony www.MeredithAnthony.com
Lyndsay Faye www.LyndsayFaye.com
David Levien www.cityofthesunbook.com
Dr. Julie Salzano www.JulieSalzano.com
nytimes.com: Author Henry Chang Raises the Veil on Crime in Chinatown
Other Articles by Lia Chang
Author Henry Chang on Mid-Manhattan Library Panel- THE EVIL MEN DO: Inside The Mind Of The Sexual Predator on 8/17
Photos: On the town with Rick Shiomi, Co-Editor of “Asian American Plays for a New Generation”, in D.C. & NY
Extended through 8/23- “In Rehearsal” Lia Chang Theater Portfolio at Library of Congress Featuring Robert Lee and Leon Ko’s Heading East Starring BD Wong, Thom Sesma as Scar in The Lion King Las Vegas
OCA Awards Gala Photos: David Henry Hwang, Tamlyn Tomita, BD Wong, Dr. Bobby Fong & Tammy Duckworth
Coming to America through The Angel Island Immigration Station
H I R O S H I M A in Benefit Concert for Japan on 9/21 at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in NY
Mu Performing Arts 2011-2012 20th Anniversary Season: Four Destinies, Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them, Into the Woods, & Mu Daiko 15th Anniversary Concert
David Henry Hwang to Receive 2012 William Inge Distinguished Achievement in the American Theatre Award
Rick Shiomi Checks out Performing Arts Playwrights Series in the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection of Library of Congress; Attends “Asian American Plays for a New Generation” Book Signing in NY on 7/29
Broadwayworld.com Photo Flash: Library of Congress’ IN REHEARSAL Exhibit
Lia Chang Theater Portfolio at Library of Congress Features Photos of Thom Sesma’s Makeup Transformation as Scar in Disney’s The Lion King Las Vegas, Robert Lee and Leon Ko’s Heading East Starring BD Wong, David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish, and Samrat Chakrabarti and Sanjiv Jhaveri’s Bakwas Bumbug! on View Through August 2
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.
Lia Chang Photo by Brianne Michelle Photography
As a photographer and videographer, Lia collaborates with artists, organizations and companies in establishing their documentary photo archive and social media presence. She has been documenting her colleagues and contemporaries in the arts, fashion and journalism since making her stage debut as Liat in the National Tour of South Pacific, with Robert Goulet and Barbara Eden. Lia currently plays Nurse Lia on “One Life to Live”. She has appeared in Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and “New York Undercover”.
Selections of Lia’s archive of Asian Pacific Americans in the arts, fashion, journalism, politics and space are now in the newly created LIA CHANG THEATER PORTFOLIO in the ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTION housed in the Library of Congress Asian Division’s Asian American Pacific Islander Collection.
Lia’s portraits and performance photos have appeared in Vanity Fair, Gourmet, German Elle, Women’s Wear Daily, The Paris Review, TV Guide, Daily Variety, Interior Design, American Theatre, Broadwayworld.com, Life & Style, OUT, New York Magazine, InStyle, Timeout.com, Villagevoice.com, Playbill.com, Theatermania.com, thelmagazine.com, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, USA Today, The Boston Globe, New York Times and Washington Post. A former syndicated arts and entertainment columnist for KYODO News, Lia is the New York Bureau Chief for AsianConnections.com. She writes about culture, style and Asian American issues for a variety of publications and this Backstage Pass with Lia Chang blog.
All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2011 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachangpr@gmail.com.
August 18, 2011
Categories: Asian American Artists, Asian American Issues, Asian American Pioneers, Chinese American History, Entertainment, Literature, New York, Portrait Photography . Tags: Backstage Pass with Lia Chang, Chinatown Beat, Chinatown Trilogy, David Levien, Detective Jack Yu, Dr. Julie Salzano, Henry Chang, Lia Chang, Lyndsay Faye, Meredith Anthony, Mid-Manhattan Library, Mystery Writers of America, mystery/crime, NYPD, Red Jade, Rick Shiomi, THE EVIL MEN DO: Inside The Mind Of The Sexual Predator, Year of the Dog . Author: Lia Chang . Comments: Leave a Comment
Lia Chang
