(Honor, Enforced Project Overview here)

Why My First Book Project Failed

Problem Set 1: Deciding on a single narrative/too much information/getting oriented in an unfamiliar world

In the end, I:

-Rejected my first story structure of telling three overlapping stories at once, each with a different outcome

-Struggled with interpreters, biased interpreters and financial resources

-Needed to tame my own ambitions about getting a project of this size done in my spare time

 

Problem Set 2: An uncooperative killer, lawyers in jail, access to court records, hot-button topic: Islam in Germany

In the end:

-I landed an interview with the killer in jail, with my recorder

-The killer changed his mind on cooperating with me after giving the interview

-I dealt with lies, lies, lies and psychology

 

Problem Set 3: Accuracy, failures of memory, biased sources, German privacy laws

In the end:

-Other books put Islam on trial and heated up the clash of cultures

-I struggled with how to write a book that tells this story with all its intricacies without criminalizing a family/sub culture

-I brought in an excellent co-author, but we still did not make it