The bloodstains are what captured my imagination. You just have no idea how much fluid the human body holds until you see most of it spilled in one spot.

Especially when it happens four times.

That’s what I found myself staring at – four bloody patches of dirt – one cold morning in December a few years back when, as a reporter with The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger, I had been assigned to cover a quadruple homicide. The bodies had been left in the back of a vacant lot not far from Newark Airport in the city’s South Ward. And I can remember looking around at this desolate place, with its waist-high weeds, wind-blown litter and stray police tape, wondering: How did four people come to die here?

That question turned out to be the inspiration for my debut novel, Faces of the Gone (St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books). It also marked a turning point in my life as a writer.

Up until then in my journalism career, I had been a sportswriter, starting out as a 14-year-old stringer covering girls’ basketball for my hometown paper in Connecticut. I wrote all through my four years at Dartmouth College, landed a job at The Washington Post and then skipped to The Star-Ledger, which gave me the opportunity to attend every major event a sportswriter could want to cover: The Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA Finals, the Masters, you name it.

I loved it. From a narrative standpoint, sports are fantastic – the familiar-yet-ever-changing cast of characters, the gripping human drama, the full range of emotion every time you go to the stadium. Plus, there’s a final score. By the time the game is over, you know who the winners and losers are. You know how the story ends.

Then I turned 30, got married and grew tired of spending 100 nights a year as a guest of Mr. Marriott. It was time to settle down and, just maybe, move onto something a little more substantive than sports, known as the Toy Department at most newspapers. I shifted to news side and suddenly there I was, in this desolate place, staring at bloodstains.

It was a long way from the Toy Department. And, unlike all those games I covered, I didn’t know how the story ended. Neither did anyone else. The police had no immediate suspects. The streets were devoid of the usual buzz. The victims, obviously, weren’t talking.

I found it vaguely unsatisfying – what? no stats? no postgame analysis? – and yet incredibly intriguing at the same time. As a kid, I read (and loved) mysteries and thrillers. And I had always thought about writing one… someday.

Now, suddenly, here was a real-life mystery, playing out right in front of me. So I started writing, using the vacant lot as the opening scene. I invented this newspaper reporter protagonist named Carter Ross – this sometimes-dashing, sometimes-bumbling WASP who wears starched shirts and pleated pants – then took him for a spin in some of Newark’s darkest alleys. Then I gave him a gay Cuban intern sidekick (Tommy Hernandez), a peripatetic love interest (Tina Thompson), a grumpy editor (Sal Szanto), and let them go from there.

As for where they ended up? Well, you’ll have to read Faces of the Gone to find out, of course. But Carter’s journey has taken me on one of my own. I’ve now left journalism and am pursuing the dream of being a full-time novelist.

So far it’s been a charmed existence. Released in December, Faces of the Gone sold out its initial print run in nine days, then landed on several prominent critics lists as being among the best debuts of 2009. Earlier this week, I learned it was nominated for a Nero Award.

I’ve written two more Carter Ross books, both of which are under contract – including Eyes of the Innocent, which comes out next February. And what started as me taking Carter out for a spin now sometimes feels like it’s the other way around. But I’m sure enjoying the ride.

For more, visit BradParksBooks.com, become a fan of Brad Parks Books on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Brad-Parks-Books/137190195628?ref=ts), or follow Brad_Parks on Twitter (www.twitter.com/Brad_Parks).

ENTER TO WIN A COPY OF FACES OF THE GONE ON TODAY’S THRILL-A-DAY GIVEAWAY!