Author Andrew Cofrin has revealed that the inspiration for his best-selling novel, Deadly Angel, was a young woman he had dated a few years ago. Smitten with her wit, beauty, and infectious laugh, Andrew was unconcerned at first with some of her strange behaviors. Such as eating strawberries straight out of the market stall, lecturing perfect strangers on colon health and anger management, and roller blading with complete disregard for startled pedestrians on crowded walkways.
This gal basically carried on as if the entire universe revolved around her.
Although his friends found her offensive, uncouth and mentally unhinged, Andrew was fascinated with this rare creature. She was a unique beauty with an unabashed joie de vive, someone bold and refreshing in a world of boring conformity.
So what if some her behaviors were erratic?
But then came the subject of medications. And the fact she was no longer taking them. Seemingly overnight, her strange behaviors morphed from captivating to disturbing. Like confiding dark secrets that her family was in league with bankers plotting to take over the world. She babbled on constantly, even while fixing him dinner, about topics various and nonsensical. Her paranoia became such that she would stay up all night, convinced she’d been targeted by a hit squad of assassins.
Andrew did his best to understand. Shouldn’t she be taking her medications? Maybe it wasn’t cool to be skating around town on roller blades at all hours of the night. Especially a hot babe in a skimpy workout outfit.
He’d learned the history of her erratic behaviors had included stays at various psychiatric institutions around the country. The sad fact remained that this gal, captivating in her unique way, was mentally ill. But the exact nature of her affliction remained a mystery. Was it bi-polar disorder, manic-depressive, paranoid-schizophrenia, dementia, delusions of grandeur, or some order of ultra-craziness yet to be determined?
But mitigating factors were at hand. Andrew consoled himself that at least she was a “good” sort of crazy. She never frothed at the mouth or writhed on the floor in a straight-jacket fit. And some of her erratic behaviors were actually quite erotic.
Then came news of troubles with the law. Turns out she’d been arrested for public disturbance after disrobing in a convenience store. That sounded innocent enough and even a little amusing. But not the wild goose chases on Los Angeles freeways which led to multiple convictions for drug possession and reckless endangerment.
Further legal violations and erratic behaviors convinced the judge that she posed a serious risk to public safety. He ordered her remanded to the custody of the Adolf Weber Institute for the Criminally Insane.
Last Andrew heard she was still at the “Happy Home” where regular treatments consisted of psycho-tropic drugs and electro-shock therapy. This remarkable beauty of infectious laughter and erratic behaviors would never be the same again.
