Biography

JC CLARK

I grew up and continue to live in Connecticut, but spent a number of years in Massachusetts, first at Merrimack College in North Andover, and then working for a technology company in Waltham. It was during this latter period I became enthralled with our country’s history and its beginnings in Boston, Concord, Sudbury and the sea coast areas of Marblehead, Nahant and Revere, all of which contribute to the settings for my novels.

After a semester abroad in Barcelona, Spain, and completing my BA in English from Fairfield University, my professional life started in the General Electric News Bureau as a publicist. From there I moved to public relations management positions and then broader marketing communications roles. Growing up with the Internet, I watched as it evolved into its current state of social media madness.

After a lengthy career in marketing, where I extolled the virtues of various forms of technology from factory computers to software to radio frequency tracking devices, transitioning to crime fiction and psychological thrillers has been a rewarding and challenging change. Crafting plots and timelines has pushed my creative writing, imagination and organizational skills to the max in order to deliver a believable, intelligent story with a credible twist.

Research into drug-enabled sexual assaults and the recently solved Gilgo Beach, LI, murders of more than ten prostitutes, informed The Incident, a fictionalized mash-up of actual events. My Westport Writers Workshop, where I studied Advanced Fiction, was invaluable, as was the assistance of a Westchester County, NY, detective, during the course of writing this novel.

The advice and council of a former city court judge, also serving Westchester, has been enormously helpful in assuring the legal and criminal credibility of my books. He generously completes the first read-throughs of my novels with encouraging feedback:

“Joyce, I finished reading last night, too late to contact you. The Incident is fantastic! I wasn't prepared for such a well written book. The story unfolds nicely. I couldn't put it down and although I knew of the twist at the end, it still was a shocker.”

My second novel, Sanctuary, picks up where The Incident left off. Pickering Wharf in Salem, Massachusetts provides the backdrop for what first appears to be a tragic accident when a fire nearly destroys the 40 foot Bristol sailboat known as Sanctuary; that is, until a body with a crushed skull is found in the main salon. Salem's history, with its witch trials and maritime past, add intrigue to the plot.

While no one was murdered at a friend's three-day wedding, that occasion was the inspiration for my third Hannah Hart novel. In Vengeful Heart, the morning after the reception in Concord's Colonial Inn, the groom's body, his wrists tied to the bedposts, is found in the room used as the morgue during the American Revolution. The bride, Hannah's former college roommate, is accused of killing her new husband. She turns to Hannah to prove her innocence despite evidence to the contrary.  

Continuing with this series, a fourth crime novel is underway. The working title is The Sullen Bell, inspired by Shakespeare's Sonnet 71: No longer mourn for me when I am dead. 

I live with my family in Redding, Connecticut.