INTERVIEW: New podcast is based off new Shanna Hogan book

Courtesy of Macmillan Podcasts / Provided with permission.

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Macmillan Podcasts recently launched a new true-crime series called Case Closed, and the inaugural season looks at a homicide case that is set in and around Joshua Tree National Park in California. The details surrounding the murder of 19-year-old Erin Corwin are the basis not only for Case Closed but also the book, Secrets of a Marine’s Wife by Shanna Hogan, which inspired the audio series.

Hogan spoke to many people involved in the case, including members of the Corwin family and friends from the town of Twentynine Palms, California. Eventually the police investigators turned their eye on the tight-knit community of Marine families in the local area, and that’s where the author’s gaze turned as well.

Season one of Case Closed features new episodes released on Tuesday mornings. Charles Spicer, vice president and executive editor at St. Martin’s Press, hosts the series.

Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Hogan about her book and the accompanying podcast. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.

How did you first hear about the story of Erin Corwin?

I first heard about Erin Corwin when she went missing in Joshua Tree National Park in the summer of 2014. I remember reading an article that explained how the Marines were out searching the park for her and featured a picture of Erin. She looked so young, sweet and innocent. At first I followed the case hopeful that she would be found alive. But the longer the search went on, and the more I read, it became more and more likely that she was dead.

Were you immediately convinced that a book could be written on the case?

At first I didn’t know if it would be a book. If Erin’s body was never found and her murderer never caught, it couldn’t be a story I could write an entire book about. Still, in my books I really focus on telling the life story of the victim, and I was immediately drawn to her story. In August 2014, after her body was found, and Chris Lee was arrested, I pitched it to my editor at St. Martin’s Press for the first time. I knew then this story was enthralling, and I wanted to be the one to tell it. In 2015, St. Martin’s Press then decided to contract with me for what would be my fourth book.

How much research went into the reporting?

I spent about two years working on the book, about a year of which was researching and writing. For this book I was able to interview Erin’s mother and several of her close friends who knew her on the military base and her best friend who ultimately revealed that Erin had been in Joshua Tree Park that day for a rendezvous with Chris Lee. That ultimately broke the case for police. True-crime books are a ton of work, and I spend hours checking and rechecking each and every detail to make sure everything in my book is 100 percent true.

How did the podcast project come about?

About a year after I finished the first draft while it was in the editing and production phase of the book process, my editor approached me about Macmillan Podcasts expressing interest in taking on my book as their first big true-crime podcast for Case Closed. I had recorded all of my interviews, and they were able to use that audio to help construct the podcast, along with interviews with me and narration by Charles Spicer, executive editor at St. Martin’s Press. From there it involved a lot of work by the podcast producers who really put the whole thing together.

Why do you believe so many people are interested in reading and hearing about true-crime stories?

I think it ties into people’s interest in reality TV. People like watching, reading and hearing about real, true-life stories. And true-crime stories are the most extreme and often the most interesting form of true-life tales. I personally enjoy stories where the bad guy is put away for life and the victim’s family finds justice. That’s what I like about what Case Closed is doing. By the end the listener is satisfied with the conclusion and not left to debate a mystery of who did it. The interesting part is how the people in the story ended up where they did.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

Case Closed is now available from Macmillan Podcasts, and Shanna Hogan’s book, Secrets of a Marine’s Wife, is also available. Click here for more information.