What would the most infamous female serial killer in history say on Twitter?

My lovely wife The Lovely Becky (aka the author Rebecca Johns) has a new novel, The Countess, which will be out October 12. It's about Countess Erzsébet Báthory, aka Elizabeth Bathory, aka The Blood Countess, a sixteenth-century Hungarian noblewoman who was convicted of murdering dozens of her servants. Over the centuries, the legends grew that Countess Bathory used these murders for black magic rituals, such as bathing in the blood of her victims to preserve her youth. Unfortunately, as the countess found out, that plan falls apart when you're caught and walled up inside your castle as punishment.

TLB's The Countess tells this story from Bathory's point of view. My wife told me that she wanted to find the human behind the historical monster, to get inside the head of someone who was an intelligent, charming, witty, powerful noblewoman (in an era dominated by men), while also diving into the dark, violent, brutal acts that made gave her The Blood Countess moniker.

So as the publication date approaches and TLB was discussing ways to use this new-fangled social media to get the word out, we came up with an idea:

The twitter feed of Countess Elizabeth Bathory

Where you can read the thoughts of the countess herself as she shares ideas on motivating one's servants (the secret ingredient is stinging insects), how to kick royal ass even while wearing dainty footware, and how even murderous noblewomen get the blues. Her first tweet:

The problem with bathing in blood is that it's hell on your towels.

You can follow Countess Bathory's Tweets at BathoryElizabet. Don't be fooled by the imitation Bathory's on Twitter. This one's as close to the real deal as you'll find.

TLB also has a good post about how you need to not be nice to characters if you want to write compelling fiction. Having read the book twice now, I can attest that while TLB's Bathory is enthralling and charismatic, she is most definitely not nice. In fact, after seeing what came out of my wife's imagination, I decided to be extra nice to her in real life. Just in case.