It’s no secret that I worked in urban high schools as a teacher, administrator, and consultant before becoming an author of fiction. So, when I wrote A MURDER OF PRINCIPAL, all of my close friends and colleagues couldn’t wait to see whether they would make an appearance in the book as a character.

The problem was, I had worked in lots of schools, so which one had I chosen for the setting of Lincoln High School? Which principal was the inspiration for R.J. Stoker? More intriguingly, who was the killer?

When people asked me, I gave my most enigmatic smile and said, “The book is purely fictional. Any resemblance to people, living or dead, is pure coincidence.”

Truthfully, when the story was just a glimmer in my mind’s eye, I called one of the principals I had worked with. I told him about the book’s premise. “People who know us may think that the principal is based on you. Are you okay with that?”

He said he’d be honored to be thought of as a character in my novel, even if said character were to be killed. I dedicated the book to him as a thank-you for being such a good sport.

Of course, the dedication fueled rumors that the book was not, after all, fiction, but a memoir of my time at that particular high school. When asked if character A was real-live teacher X, and character B was real-live administrator Y, I smiled enigmatically and said, “The book is purely fictional….”

And it is. Yes, there are scenarios in the book that occur in high schools, issues related to scheduling, discipline, curriculum, and instruction. That life is hard-wired into my brain after so many years.

Something amazing happened, however, when A MURDER OF PRINCIPAL was published. Readers began commenting that Lincoln High School was exactly like the school where they went, taught, worked. They could name real people for each of the characters in the book. And these readers hailed from all over the United States.

That spoke volumes about the universality of experience in high schools, something I had taken for granted and hadn’t considered.

Susan Van Kirk, another former English teacher and the author of Death in a Ghostly Hue, had this to say about the book:

“Ms. Richard was a school administrator in a large urban high school, so her story rings true at every turn. When Lincoln High School gets a new principal named RJ Stoker, it                                 also gets a new agenda designed to shake things up a bit. He creates a student/parent-oriented plan to change the atmosphere of the school and chooses Sally Pearce as his                                         assistant principal. Sally is like so many teachers I’ve known who are dedicated to the welfare of “their kids” and try to help them with far more than their English homework.

A fire in the school and the murder of Stoker starts this story off with multiple subjects of gangs, racial tensions, community grievances, and teacher-union politics. The kids are                               caught in the middle, especially the quarterback of the football team who’s resisting gang pressure and trying to protect his girlfriend. A second murder occurs, throwing Sally                                   Pearce into the uncomfortable position of next in line…as administrator and possible murder victim.

Ms. Richard has masterfully created a gritty urban school atmosphere with pressures in every direction. The assistant principal’s intentions are clear, the stakes are high, and her                             fears are real. The school community is also a huge part of the conflict. By the time a few murders occur, you suspect everyone. Beautifully written and filled with realistic                                           portrayals of urban school life.”

What book have you read that seemed more like true narratives than fiction? Did the parallels with real life increase your enjoyment of the novel?