Well, this is my first post on the site! I’ll be writing every month on the 15th and I hope you will enjoy what I post.

Today I’d like to introduce myself and how I became a true crime writer:

I’m Jayne Hitchcock and back in 1996, when the Internet was in its infancy, I got involved in a cyberstalking situation, where I was the victim (see http://www.jahitchcock.com/cyberstalked/ for the sordid details). Because of what was happening with me, I co-founded Working to Halt Online Abuse (haltabuse.org) and Maryland, where I lived at the time, became the first state in the country to pass an internet-related law – I testified for it twice before it finally passed. After that, I helped get other laws passed in many states so that all 50 states now have applicable laws. I began teaching law enforcement how to track down cyber criminals and today I am considered a noted expert on cyber crime. I published Net Crimes & Misdemeanors in 2002, the 2nd edition in 2006, and my next book comes out on January 14, 2013 – just about a month from now. That one is titled True Crime Online: Shocking Stories of Scamming, Stalking, Murder and Mayhem.

Here’s something most people don’t know about me – before I got into the cyber crime field, I wrote short stories, human interest articles for newspapers and magazines and published eight books about Okinawa, Japan, three of which were fiction. So, when cyberstalking happened to me, my life did a complete 360 and here I am.

I’ve been writing since I was around eight years old – I still have one of the first things I wrote, a play that was a mystery with monsters and everything. Over the years, and many short stories later, I got into advertising as a copywriter. When my then husband got transferred to Okinawa, Japan in 1992, I went along and my “corporate” life was now over. I took a mail order writing course from Writer’s Digest and began selling articles. I even got a job as a reporter for an off base newspaper, Japan Update.

My writing expanded and when we moved back to the states in 1995, we ended up in Maryland. Thus, my online debacle happened and I was suddenly thrust into a world that not many people knew how to deal with. The police didn’t know anything about the Internet, the FBI agent sent to my house ended up getting a four hour lesson from me on how to trace emails back to the originating ISP, etc.

It truly is kind of funny how life can change in a heartbeat.

My true love is still short stories and fiction, but hey, true crime sells. If you’re interested in anything I wrote, there are ebook versions of several of my books and short stories – just look up Jayne Hitchcock on Amazon.com and bn.com. . .you’ll discover a whole different side of me.

Next month, I’ll give you an exclusive preview of my new book with a chapter that didn’t make it into the final edition. Questions? Ask! Comments? Please!