The true crime genre, which includes stories about actual crimes and the real people involved, is not a popular choice for writers, says author Carla Norton. Most true crime writers happen upon a story that is personal in some way or so compelling that they must write about the crime. Norton was working as a journalist in Japan when the story broke about a kidnap victim in her hometown in the U.S. She felt compelled to write about the crime and spent a great deal of time and effort researching the story, which resulted in her New York Times bestselling book Perfect Victim. Norton went on to write a second true crime book before exploring the crime fiction genre. Her experiences with writing and researching true crime definitely influenced her crime fiction writing. It was the Jaycee Dugard kidnap story that finally pushed her to write her award-winning novel The Edge of Normal, which is now a series.