The Week The Jacklighter Came Home
June 4, 2026Something Shifted This Week For years, I’ve been researching, reporting, and writing The Jacklighter, a narrative true crime book about the 1976 murder of Montrose attorney Martin Dillon and the decades-long quest for justice that followed. (Set for publication this fall.) For 30 years, I’ve kept boxes of newspaper clippings in my basement. Decades ago, I ...IndieReader True Crime winner Carla Conti interview: behind the scenes of Chained Birds
June 13, 2025
In this whirlwind year of a book launch, conferences, and awards, I’m trying to appreciate each milestone, and that includes a new author interview posted by IndieReader Discovery Awards, which named Chained Birds its 2025 True Crime category winner. I was delighted when IndieReader reached out for the interview, and told editor Amy Edelman that I ...Carla Conti on writing true crime, author self-promotion, and her next book
June 11, 2025
One of the key benefits of attending writers’ conferences is the people you meet, and this interview with a fellow author and blogger is a lovely example of one of those spinoffs. I had the great pleasure of meeting Christina Boyd at the April Chanticleer Authors’ Conference in Bellingham, Wash., where we both won book awards. ...Philadelphia’s Carla Conti dishes to WriteNowPhilly.com about her debut Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir
November 25, 2024
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’m especially thankful and pleased to share a lovely, hometown interview I had with WriteNowPhilly.com, which posted on its website today. Drexel computer science major Tahsin Ahmed had the assignment of reading my debut, Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir, and his deep, introspective interview questions are still serving as ...Author Q-A covers prison abuse and why she writes under a pen name
November 14, 2024
Literary Titan has posted an author Q-A on their home page, which sheds light on the Lewisburg, PA, experimental prison program at the heart of Chained Birds and the safety issues I faced while writing it. Here’s a sample of the interview: What is one thing you found in your research that surprised you? I mentioned NPR and ...Author Carla Conti Q-A hints at next book project
September 26, 2024
Anyone curious about an upcoming book project of mine (Spoiler! It involves true crime!) can check out my first Author Interview on a book blog hosted by author and book promoter Vinny O’Hare. I discovered Vinny in my Goodreads Mysteries & Thrillers group, where he helps promote new authors writing in the genre. As a new author ...
Carla Conti is a journalist and the award-winning author of Chained Birds: A Crimemoir. Her next true crime book, The Jacklighter, is set for release in 2026. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, who supports her true crime habit.