Interview with Crime Writer Ellen Kirschman — S. 4, Ep. 19

Debbi Mack interviews crime writer Ellen Kirschman on the Crime Cafe podcast. Check out the show notes below. Or, if you’re in a rush, click here to download the transcript! Debbi: [00:00:13] Hi everyone. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense, and thriller writing. I'm your host, Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I'll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two ebooks for sale: the nine-book boxed set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy links for both on my website debbimack.com, under the "Crime Cafe" link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You'll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing. Debbi: [00:01:04] Hi, everyone. It's my pleasure to have as my guest today a crime fiction and nonfiction author who calls herself "A Shrink with Ink", and I don't think that's a reference to tattoos, although we could always find out. It's crime writer and psychologist Ellen Kirschman. Hey, Ellen, I'm so glad to have you on the show today. Ellen: [00:01:29] Thank you. Debbi. I'm glad, finally, at last to be here. Debbi: [00:01:35] Awesome. Okay. In your bio, you mentioned being born in New York City, but say you were born on the wrong coast. And I've often had that same feeling, because I love the West Coast. And you mentioned that you live in San Francisco. Ellen: [00:01:49] Right. I live in the Bay Area. Debbi: [00:01:51] Is that not the most awesome city ever? Ellen: [00:01:54] Yes, it is. I love it. Debbi: [00:01:57] I just adore it. What's your favorite part of living in San Francisco? Ellen: [00:02:02] Well, I live about 40 minutes south, so my favorite part is that I can get up to San Francisco in just 40 minutes in my car or on a train. So I have one of the world's most beloved cities right there at my back door. I love a lot of things about the Bay area. The weather even though we have peculiar four seasons out here: flood, fire, earthquake, and landslides, usually. But most of the time it's temperate and wonderful, and I love the vibe out here. I know many parts of the country see us as being pretty ... a little on the "too far to the left" side, but that suits me just fine. Debbi: [00:02:57] I know where you're coming from. It is a beautiful area, and I love the cable cars in San Francisco. That's one thing I love about it, and actually I used to live in Petaluma. Ellen: [00:03:08] Did you? Debbi: [00:03:09] That's about 40 miles north. Ellen: [00:03:13] Right. Also a lovely community. Debbi: [00:03:16] It is. It is very, very nice. Your first books were non-fiction. Can you tell us about them? Ellen: [00:03:23] Sure. My first book, which just what came out, the third edition came out last May is called I LOVE A COP: WHAT POLICE FAMILIES NEED TO KNOW. And I'd been thinking about writing that book for almost 20 years, if you can believe it. It was just knocking on the inside of my head. We do so much training for police officers, but it was so clear to me as someone who worked primarily with police officers that this job just spilled over to their family life and their home in not always a very positive way, because the paradoxes, the kind of skills that make you a good street cop don't make you a very good parent, spouse, friend. You've got to really learn how to shift gears. So I really wanted to write something that would help police families navigate what it's like to be married to this job that they didn't select most of the time. So the book has been, it's been very gratifying. It's sold well over one hundred and fifty thousand copies. It's kind of, as people have said, the Bible for police families, and it's gratifying to know that I've been able to reach that many people and the help that many people. "I really wanted to write something that would help police families navigate what it's like to be marr...