Regina court reporter quits journalism to embrace fictional crime writing with a ghostly twist
Heather Polischuk has published 17 crime fiction novels under pen name H.P. Bayne
Heather Polischuk still spends her days writing about homicides, but now the former court reporter makes up the crimes.
"I just love making up worlds. I love creating characters. I love putting them out into a book and seeing what they're going to do," she said.
Polischuk, 46, covered crime stories in Saskatchewan for more than 20 years, first for the Prince Albert Daily Herald and then for the Regina Leader-Post before stepping away in May to concentrate on crime fiction.
One of the few reporters in the province to cover the courts full-time, she understands the inner workings of the criminal justice system and has born witness to some of the best and worst of humanity.
"If I had to cover a child abuse case, I knew I was going to be absolutely angry for two weeks after," she said. "If I was covering a really horrific murder trial, I knew I was going to be really unable to sleep. I would close my eyes and see those autopsy photos in my brain."
Sense of escape in writing
During the tough cases, she would often turn to creative writing in her spare time to cope with the distressing details of her day job.
"I actually find writing crime fiction is sort of cathartic. There's something healing about it, because it's a sense of escape," she told CBC News.
Polischuk's fictional stories don't mirror any real cases that she's covered, but she does find inspiration in "the feelings attached to those crimes."
"Those are very real for me. Sometimes it could be hard to get my head around, and my heart around, frankly, and I would take those feelings, take those thoughts, and give them to a character," she said.
In 2018, she self-published her first crime fiction novel, Black Candle. And, it had a twist.
Polischuk, who grew up on a farm with a cemetery across the road, had always been fascinated by ghost stories.
"And I thought, 'Hey, that would be fun. Ya know, I'll throw some ghosts into my crime fiction and see what happens,'" she said with a laugh.
Bestsellers on Amazon
Her seven-book Sullivan Gray Series follows a private investigator named "Sully" who sees the ghosts of homicide victims.
Now, Polischuk, who honed her abilities to write on deadline as a journalist, is churning out four paranormal mystery books a year. She has published 17 books already on Amazon — they are often listed there as bestsellers — with another set for release on Halloween.
WATCH | Former court reporter Heather Polischuk applies writing skills to fictional crime
Polischuk discovered that as her love of fiction writing grew stronger, her desire to work as a journalist began to dim, due in part to newsroom staffing cuts, heavier demands and what she found to be a more hostile environment for journalists.
"As a crime reporter, I was used to dealing with threats, nasty comments, nasty emails, people in my face, occasionally even feeling a little physically threatened by somebody." she recalled. "You just deal with that. It rolls off your back in court, a little bit. But it felt like that was happening more and more outside of court, and so that was starting to start of weigh on me as well."
She also came to the realization that she could earn a living as a published author.
In May, she decided that it was time to quit her journalism job and focus on her writing career. She's spending more time on her parents' farm near Meacham and enjoying the freedom of self-imposed deadlines.
She says she's grateful to her supportive and loyal readers who keep buying her books.
"As long as they're reading, I'm happy to keep writing."
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