By Mary Stoudt
Lana Whited, English professor and director of the Boone Honors Program at Ferrum College, presented her new book “Murder, In Fact: Disillusionment and Death in the American True Crime Novel” at the virtual signing event on Mar. 12, 2020.
(English Professor and Director of the Boone Honors Program at Ferrum College Lana Whited with her new book "Murder, In Fact: Disillusionment and Death in the American True Crime Novel." Photo courtesy of Ferrum College.)
It took Whited over 35 years to officially publish this book.
In 1984 when Whited was a doctoral student at University of Carolina at Greensboro, she browsed in a bookstore for Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and its Consequences.” Whited came up empty-handed, after she swept through the crime and nonfiction sections in the bookstore. Totally unexpectedly, she then found the book in the fiction section.
Her confusion as to why this book was in the fiction section - not the crime and nonfiction section - inspired her to begin her study on murder narratives. As this study advanced, it eventually led to the publishing of Whited’s book in November 2020.
“A book project is always like running a marathon (instead of a sprint), but this one required special endurance, as I got the idea in Fall 1984 during a graduate school class, then got sidetracked for about two decades by Harry Potter work,” Whited said. “This project has taught me that if you have a good idea, you should stick with it.”
The School of Arts and Sciences hosted a virtual book signing event for Whited on Mar. 12 to celebrate her thrilling achievement. Dean Jason Powell welcomed everyone to the signing and gave away six signed copies of Whited’s book throughout the event.
“It was really fun for me to be able to talk about the book with such a diverse group, which included students, colleagues, administrators, alumni, a Ferrum colleague from 25 years ago, my sister-in-law, and members of my church family. And as much as I would have liked to have the event in person, Zoom allowed us to include participants from Colombia and Brazil,” Whited said.
During the signing event, Whited read two excerpts from her book and gave a presentation going over key concepts and ideas she addressed in her book. She also discussed 17 novels ranging from 1899 to 2008 that were closely scrutinized in her book.
At the end of the signing event, Whited closed with a question and answer section where students, faculty, staff, and friends of Ferrum were able to direct their questions to Whited.
Whited’s writing journey is not concluded with this book.
“I’m currently working on a second round of essays based mostly on the writing of J.K. Rowling,” Whited said.
Whited’s book is available at almost every online book vendor. You can also visit https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/murder-in-fact/ to get more information about this book.