If you appreciate content warnings, then this post is for you.
If you don’t care for them, or think they’re useless, or just don’t care, then this post is not for you.
As a trauma survivor, I’ve been caught unawares many times—reading or watching a film or show—and I want to mitigate that harm for others if I can, with a list of content notes for my novels and short stories.
Content notes help me choose whether or not I want to start a new book or show or film. It doesn’t mean, for me, that I’ll never watch or read that piece of media. As survivors know, every day is different. Our ability to handle potentially triggering media isn’t the same all the time. It changes, sometimes from hour to hour.
This is a living list. I’ll add further notes as I add publications to my body of work. This post is also cross-linked with each publication elsewhere on my site.
Please note that all of my crime writing includes violence. I believe that trauma is at the heart of crime writing, and I explore this through my writing.
NOVELS
Lola Starke series
DIE ON YOUR FEET: gun violence, death, murder, drug use, drug addiction
IN FOR A POUND: gun violence, physical assault, death, domestic abuse, murder
DEVIL TAKE THE HINDMOST: gun violence, knife violence, physical assault, murder, misogyny, racism
Standalone
IN THE DARK WE FORGET: parental death, domestic abuse, racism, death, amnesia, physical assault
SHORT STORIES
Crescent City series
The Fix (Sleuth Magazine): violence, murder, death, suicide
Movable Type (AB Negative): gun violence, misogyny, racism, suicide
Parting Shot (The Dame Was Trouble): domestic violence, murder, death
Survivors’ Pension (Vancouver Noir): knife violence, physical assault, ageism,
Pipe Dreams (Festive Mayhem): physical assault, murder, parental death
Other
Family Reunion (Land of 10,000 Thrills): gun violence, physical assault, racism, misogyny, murder, death