Research: Murder Mystery Style

When I made the decision to pursue writing my murder mystery story I’d been kicking around for a few years, I knew that I wanted to take the time to make sure everything was written correctly. I’ve spent so many hours watching detective procedurals on TV, but I’ve also heard about instances were said shows got things wrong or they were sped up in an effort to tie things up neatly in twenty-one or forty-two minutes. (No one really wants to watch a bunch of detectives sitting around and waiting for weeks for reports to come back.)

I am not an expert on being a detective or forensics science or any of that. But I do love research. My first step was to take an Intro to Investigation course through the college where I teach. (We only used the first part of the textbook, so I thankfully had access to info beyond the ‘intro’ class.) I’m also hoping to dip my toes into a Forensics course once it fits into my schedule.

One of the things I learned in that class is that there is literally something called the CSI effect – which refers to the impact these sorts of shows have on public perception regarding forensics evidence. Studies have been done on this – finding that jurors who watch these shows place a higher “emphasis on forensic science in case,” believing such evidence to be “100% and that it should be produced in every criminal case.” These jurors are often reluctant to convict without such evidence. (CSI Effect)

I also reached out to a kind detective in the South Madison precinct (Madison, WI, USA) to ask some questions – and, yes, I was a little terrified she might not believe I was a writer. She was kind enough to respond. Whether or not she put me on any sort of list has yet to be discovered. 👀

Another perk of teaching at a college is the access this affords me to databases like EBSCOhost because I do love a good research rabbit hole. (I don’t so much appreciate some of the photos I’ve had to endure in some of these studies – like when I was trying to discover if burns appear differently on skin pre- and post-mortem. They do. Also, I absolutely do not have the stomach to be an actual homicide detective.)

What’s your oddest research rabbit hole?

Research: Superhero Style

I love research. I love diving down a rabbit hole of information in search of that one specific detail I need. I could spend an entire day doing nothing but research and go to bed happy. (Of course, the need for a roof over my head and food on my table means my attention is usually required elsewhere.)

Then I decided to write a sci-fi/fantasy book, and I had to ask the question – how does one research something that doesn’t exist? 🤷🏻‍♀️🤣 Well, you get creative.

In my case, the story is considered low-concept sci-fi/fantasy. This is not a brand new world that I created from scratch. It’s practically magic realism. The fantasy stuff I wasn’t too worried about. It was the sci-fi side of things. There are weapons and technology involved, for which I have no prior knowledge.

Once again, I’m thankful for the internet (and hope that the powers that be that see me researching all these weapons also see how much time I spend on thesaurus.com looking for just the right word). I did what research I could, basing the tech and weapons around real things. (Whyyyyy did I make my MC an inventor….? 🤦🏻‍♀️) I wanted the world to feel grounded in ours – so a lot of the laws of physics and whatnot are the same. The sci-fi aspect just takes things a step further.

From Wiki

One such rabbit hole of research involved me looking up how much damage five pounds of TNT can do (which is how much power the Air Force’s Shiva Star can store up – and the answer is about ten million joules of energy, or about the size of a pipe bomb). In my created world, they’ve gotten the tech scaled to something you can hold in the palm of your hand. I did my best to alter the science and hopefully explain it in a way that still made sense for both worlds.

Bu again – this is NOT my area of expertise by any means.

Enter my dear friend Cody. I sent them a message asking if they would be willing to read over the manuscript and check out to make sure the science (especially my fictionalizing of it) made sense. Thankfully, they said sure and offered some really great feedback to ensure that the story would pass muster with readers who DO know about these sorts of things. (I also accidentally outed the fact that I had named one of the characters after them in homage to our friendship – I thought I had changed all of them, but I missed a couple things – and even with my ‘clever’ misspelling, they caught on. 😐😐😐😬)

I definitely spent a lot more time down those research rabbit holes, trying to make everything fit, and I indeed loved every minute of it. It just might be a bit before I try and tackle something like this again. 😂

(A Lack of) New Years’ Resolutions

I very rarely make resolutions mostly because I don’t view Jan 1 as a fresh start – it’s just the next day on the calendar to me. I am a goal setter – I just don’t typically wait for the ‘new year’ to start them.

There are a few exceptions. One year, I decided I was going to write a hundred poems (drafts, of course) in a year. I repeated it the next year because I found it to be a fun endeavor. But as someone that teaches goal setting (as part of a study skills course housed in the English department at my college), I know the stress that such large goals can create – this is why we break them down. So I tend to focus on smaller goals. Plus, life is unpredictable – and I don’t want a major life event to sideline an entire year-long goal.

That being said, I wanted to get into a better habit of mindfulness last year, so I set a goal of 6069 mindful minutes (2023×3). I had been on track to reach that a month or so early – but then September happened (a series of major life events). Thankfully, I was able to get back on track, and I hit the goal on Dec 30, then went over on Dec 31. I plan to continue with the habit of mindfulness, but not necessarily as a year-long goal.

A lot of friends have been posting on Facebook and Instagram this last week about their book reading goals – whether they reached them or not. Aside from the story-a-day year-long reading challenge, I’ve never set a specific number of books to try and read in a year – mostly because I never know how much time I will actually have to read. Thus, before last year, I hadn’t ever bothered tracking what I read, and I honestly don’t know why I started tracking. Curiosity, I guess. 🤷🏻‍♀️ This year, a woman at my local book shop told me about Storygraph, and I have to admit I enjoy the app. If only because it demonstrates that, yes, I indeed don’t get to read much when the semester is in session. One quick look, and you can see when my breaks are. 😂

I also enjoy the other data it provides – such as the moods of the books (it can even recommend books for your based on what you have read and what mood you are in). (My top five moods in 2023 were reflective, emotional, informative, funny, and adventurous.)

I also joined two book clubs through my local shop, which helped to make reading more of a requirement (though the lengthy sci-fi/fantasy books have made it a bit tricky). Reading brings me joy, but it’s not always easy to sit down at the end a day after grading papers and staring at screens and want to read – even for pleasure.

Do you create resolutions? Have you ever attempted 52 books in a year? (A friend of mine posted that she gave up TV last year – and read instead. She hit 92 books. 😮)

Goode versus Melville: Editing

Back in September, I received the edits back from my editor, Elizabeth Buege (who is fantastic!), for GvM. The semester had started, though, and it took me a bit before I was able to start working on it. Knowing my emotions for this process, I did read over the editor letter right away, so I could let my feelings do their thing. I knew by the time I would get to work on it, I would be able to be far more objective about everything. (But, honestly, there was very little emotional romping this time around. [awkward happy dance])

Starting the last Friday in Oct, I gave myself a goal of twenty-five pages a week, hoping that I’d be able to fit that in around teaching and grading. (I somehow managed to finish two weeks ahead of schedule.)

One of the things I was looking for feedback on was specifically any place I could/needed to expand the story. Coming in at just over 55K (55,178 to be exact; 204 pages) when I handed it over, I knew the manuscript was on the short end of the range for the genre (YA low sci-fi/fantasy). I didn’t count every single word changed, but whenever I opted to delete a large section, I copied it into another doc (just in case) – which ended up totaling 5,892 words. By the end, the manuscript totaled 60,369 words, meaning 11,083 new words created in revision. *wipes sweat off forehead*

In other, well, words, there were some major overhauls to sections of the story, and I’m left with something I’m really excited about, and it’s a much better story for it. There is still work to do, of course. I’m letting it sit for a month, then I’ll tackle another round of edits before typesetting.

This will be the third time I’ve gone through this with a manuscript (though the first one is with a publisher, so it’s a bit different), and I’m feeling good about the process I’ve created. Would be curious to hear about what your process is like. 🙂

Books to Be Buried With, Part Two

Here are the answers to the second six questions Goldstein asks on his podcast. To read the first six, see last week’s post.

What is the sexiest book? — I guess I would have to say Bittersweet by Lavyrle Spencer. My mother gave it to me read when I was eleven years old because it took place where we lived (and the author had come to the area for research), even mentioning the intersection just up the road from us. Let’s just say that I was too young for this book, and I learned a lot of new words. For a long time, I thought this was her way of having “the talk” with me.

Which book do you most relate to? — Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain. I wish I knew back in college (and, honestly, before that) the term introvert and what it meant. I literally felt (and was quite often made to feel) that I was somehow broken for many reasons. I was, as the title indicates, quiet in certain settings. I would have a hard time coming up with things to say to new people. I’d be called a buzzkill when I’d ‘what if’ about a proposed situation. And on and on. My first ex in college said I ruined their good time when we were around their friends because it seemed like I wasn’t having a good time (I was – I just didn’t know what to say to all these people I didn’t know). Turns out – I’m an introvert, and there’s NOTHING wrong with me. I’m just wired differently. Now, I know that I don’t like small talk and prefer to get to the deep conversations (which new folks don’t always like). Now, I know that I like to be prepared for all the ‘what if’s because I need to know how much energy to conserve (and I know that energy is something I need to conserve). Now, I know that my brain is wired to be an internal processor rather than talking something out, so when I’m struggling to answer something, I can verbalize that I just need a second to think it through. This book was full of SO MANY (science-backed) “ah ha” moments for me. I just wish it had landed in my lap about a decade earlier.

Which book is objectively the greatest ever? — Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Also, The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe. I’ve only read this in translation (by Lilit Thwaites), but it was beautifully done.

Which book is the one you’ve read the most? — Practice Magic by Alice Hoffman. I first read this book not long after it was published and LOVED it. I read it every single year, and I was so excited when Hoffman wrote three new books in the series. I love the relationships, the magic, the writing itself. All of it.

What’s the worst book you’ve ever read? — I don’t really have an answer for this one. This isn’t me taking the easy way out – just that I have a crappy memory, so if I’ve read crappy books, I don’t remember them. The only thing I can say is that there is one book I’ve never finished, which was Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It was assigned in high school, and I just couldn’t get through it. I’ve been meaning to give it another try now that I’m an adult, but I haven’t yet. It just feels like it’s hanging out there – the ONE book I’ve never finished reading. (Ok, I’ll add the Twilight series to this, too. I think it could have been much better if it hadn’t been so rushed. Definitely need a few more rounds of revision.)

What is the book that’s literally made you laugh out loud the most? — I don’t really read ‘funny’ books, meaning those that are advertised as such, so it’s generally the little jokes that are snuck in that get me. I remember chuckling a bit through Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (and I certainly laughed a whole lot when I saw him read in town this last spring). I’d also include Christmas Bitch by Jack Lelko because I appreciate the snarky sass of the narrator and MC.

At the end of the podcast, Goldstein tells his guest that there is only enough room in the casket to take one film with them into the afterlife – so which one would they take? This is probably the hardest one because there are so many lovely books out in the world. So I’m going to take the cop out and say my own, Wherever Would I Be, simply so I can show it to my nana and papa.

Books to Be Buried With, Part One

Previously, I’ve answered the questions Brett Goldstein poses on his podcast Films to Be Buried With. First, I kept to the premise – movies. Then I answered the questions about TV shows. This time, my answers will all be books.

What was the first-ever book you read? — I don’t know the answer for sure, but I have a copy of Rosie by Cindy Wheeler, a children’s book I checked out of the library so often that my mother eventually bought it for me. I also know I had a fondness for the Clifford the Big Red Dog series, as well as Charlotte’s Web. I read anything and everything as a kid, so it’s hard to know what was first.

What was the book that scared you the most? — I honestly don’t have an answer for this. I don’t read scary books. [strained smile] My dreams are vivid enough without the help.

What was the book that made you cry the most? — I had to keep coming back to this because no one book is coming to mind as making me cry. I don’t often cry while reading, even for sad books. But there are a couple moments in the Anne of Green Gables series that got me to shed a tear or two. The first is when Matthew dies, for which I will never forgive L.M. Montgomery. The second is when Gilbert proposes and she turns him down – I always want to reach through the pages and shake Anne by the shoulders. LET YOURSELF BE HAPPY!

What book is TERRIBLE but you love it? — OK – read the whole response before tar and feathering me – but Outlander. It’s not terrible. I do enjoy reading it – I love the historical fiction and the Scotland of it all (my enthusiasm waned when they landed in the colonies). But it does suffer from what I call the Grey’s Anatomy effect. I remember distinctly while reading the fifth book that I cursed the skies wondering why these people couldn’t even walk through the woods without someone getting bitten by a poisonous snake. 😐 It didn’t feel like it moved the story along – it felt like it was just supposed to mess with my emotions – and I don’t enjoy that.

What is the book you once loved but reading it now you realise it’s terrible? — Eat, Pray, Love. I mean no disrespect to Gilbert, who is a phenomenal writer. But. I reread it recently, and it was really hard to ignore the tone and the privilege that is never addressed.

What is the book that means the most to you? Not because of the book it’s self, but because of the memories, you have of it. –Much like my film answer, my book answer is the Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery. It reminds me of my nana, makes me feel closer to her since she passed away.

To be continued next week!

GvM – What’s in a name?

For the first time probably ever (at least that I can remember), I had the title first – Goode versus Melville. It would be a superhero story about warring families – heroes versus villains. Get it? (Hey, it’s my first attempt at a pun. All the other puns in the story came from my punny friend, Matt.)

I’m honestly not sure when I named my MC/narrator Antony. I knew he would be Italian. In retrospect, the name fit well – it means worthy of praise, of value. Which is exactly what Antony wishes to strive for – he wants to be good, worthy. (Normally, when I pick a name, I go for meaning first – this was a happy accident.)

My other MC/narrator is Terrell – there are a lot of claims about the meaning of this name, but I honestly just liked the sound of it – Terrell Goode.

Antony’s parents are Finlay and Noemi. Finlay is Scottish origin, and it means ‘fair-haired hero.’ It was mean to be ironic. Noemi means ‘my delight’ – which is exactly how Finlay saw her. She was the light of his world, and he would have done anything for her. Literally. Thus, his path of revenge to avenge what he believes is her murder.

As for Terrell’s parents – his mother is Mekena (means abundance) Okoye (means just) (she’s a modern woman and kept her maiden name), and his father is Alamini (means trustworthy) Goode. They are THE good couple of the city, the leaders in the effort to make their city a better place, to rid Stirling of any bit of villainy.

Naming is one of my favorite things to do when I’m creating characters, getting to know who they are and trying to find something that will fit. It’s rare that I change a name, but that shouldn’t be surprising given how much time I spend up front looking for just the right fit.

The Bookworm Pills

The image below came through my Instagram feed recently, and it caught my attention as a fun writing/reading question. Often, my writing buddy and I talk about our characters as though they are living, breathing people – when you put so much time and energy into something, someone, it’s hard to think of them as only existing on the page sometimes. So what if…

I think I’d take the Life Pill first, bring Kya to life. She’s the best friend of Alice, the MC from my first book. She’s bright and energetic and philosophical – and I think we would have some really fun conversations.

Then I’d take the Body Pill and walk around in Sally Owens’ (from Practical Magic) shoes for a little while – preferably after they have vanquished Jimmy Angelov back to the world of the dead.

Which ones would you choose?

My Life with Donald Duck

When I was a toddler, my parents found a stuffed Donald Duck toy at a garage sale for twenty-five cents. I don’t know the details of the story – if I found it and begged for it, or if they just thought I’d like it. Regardless, it would become my favorite of all my toys. (Which I heard about later in life: “All the toys you ever got, and that twenty-five cent stuffed duck was your favorite.” I have a similar sentiment when I buy my cats toys, and they prefer Q-Tips or a bit of yarn.)

Apparently, it wasn’t long before I infused enough life into that stuffed duck that my family started treating him like he was indeed a living, breathing thing – another member of the family. My mother has a story where she was washing him and couldn’t bring herself to put his head under the water. I also have a series of photos (below) where I was sick, and my parents, in an effort to cheer me up, tucked him in on the couch with his own throw up bucket (a plastic measuring cup) and captured a moment where he was being sick over the toilet bowl.

When we got a dog, I had a stern conversation with him about leaving my duck alone (which apparently worked because he never once went after him). The only time Donald and I were apart was when my dad had to have surgery, and I sent Donald to the hospital with him so that he wouldn’t be lonely. And it was my dream as a child to go to Disney and meet said Duck (something that wouldn’t happen well into adulthood – though I am still holding out for the O.G. sailor Donald).

During my bookstore crawl a few months ago, I stumbled upon a book I’d never seen before – a ‘biography’ of Donald Duck. This was at the vintage shop – the spine was covered in painters tape, and they wanted fifty bucks for it. Me being me, with my love for the cranky duck (the original angry bird, if you will), went home and hopped online. I found a copy on eBay for twelve bucks plus shipping – the hardcover was still in tact, and they even had the dust jacket, which had some wear and tear. I couldn’t resist.

Donald is still hanging around, sitting on a shelf with a couple other treasures from my childhood, like my baby blanket my great-grandmother knitted for me.

TV Shows to Be Buried With, Part Two

Here are the answers to the second six questions Goldstein asks on his podcast. To read the first six, see last week’s post.

What is the sexiest TV Show? — Queer as Folk (the 1999-2005 Showtime series). And not just because there is sex in the show (which there is quite a lot – I swear it does calm down from the pilot/first season). But more so because this was a show where folks got to be themselves. It was not a world (like Schitt’s Creek) where homophobia didn’t exist – it did, and it did play into the plot. This show got to be sexy because people were unapologetically themselves – while they evolved and grew. And no matter the content/context, that is a sexy thing.

Which TV Show do you most relate to? — I spent a lot of time on this question, and I think I’ve landed on Superstore. I spent a good chunk of my life working customer service jobs (in a tourist area, ugh), so I can relate to a lot of issues and can recognize a lot of the customers these characters encounter. I also relate to the notion of work friends – how you can lift each other up and make even a shitty job bearable.

Which TV Show is objectively the greatest ever? — The Americans. Matthew Rhys. Keri Russel. Do I need to say more? The acting is superb. The plot ripe with tension. It’s a show about family, about marriage. It’s about friendship. All with the backdrop of the Cold War during the 1980s – because, if you didn’t know, Rhys and Russel play KGB spies (THIS is how you thwart expectations with the tiny blonde woman who can kick @$$). The intricacies and complications of developing and maintaining spies, of planning missions and questioning orders – even rewatching it and knowing what’s coming, the tension persists. It’s SO good.

I have to give a second answer, which is Ted Lasso. I initially had no interest in watching it because I know nothing about soccer (due to not really have access to it as a kid, either playing or watching). But a friend thankfully encouraged me to watch, and I was HOOKED after the first episode. It’s so much more than soccer. It’s about friendship and becoming the best version of yourself and mental health and just life. The story is character-driven (which I LOVE). I know there was a lot of hate for the series finale, and while some storylines didn’t wrap up how I would have liked them, I still thought it was great and satisfying. If you’ve neglected watching thus far because you don’t care about soccer, just watch it. Trust me.

And for a third answer because I just can’t choose – The West Wing. Sorkin is just such a great writer, and the actors are all superb. I wasn’t able to watch this when it aired live, but I have seen it so many times thanks to streaming services. It never gets old.

Which TV Show is the one you’ve watched the most? — Will & Grace. Gilmore Girls. NCIS. White Collar. Rizzoli & Isles. Bones. Lucifer. (I have a thing for detective procedurals.) The Good Place. Schitt’s Creek. Ted Lasso. I like noise when I work, so there are shows that I’ll play over and over because I don’t need to watch closely. When I need a moment away from grading, I’ll tune in to the show. Because I’ve seen it enough times, I can just jump in and out of the plot.

What’s the worst TV Show you’ve ever seen? — Like I said last week, if I find a show to be terrible, I tend to turn it off after a couple episodes. I guess I can say that I have a love/hate relationship with Grey’s Anatomy. I got hooked early on with the original group of interns, but after a while, I had to stop watching because it just became too far fetched with the number of things they put those characters through. I actually stopped watching after Derek died. Not because he died, but because you knew going in he would die, and the episode was just an entire hour of playing with our emotions – back to back to back incidents that all almost killed him but didn’t. It felt more for ratings than for the sake of storytelling. I’ve caught up and stopped watching and caught up and stopped watching a few times now. I have a similar relationship with NCIS, though not quite as extreme. Just a feeling that both of these shows need to end already. I’m watching only because I have invested so much of my life to them both.

What is the TV Show that’s literally made you laugh out loud the most? — Ted Lasso. There are so many one-liners that catch me off guard, even on a rewatch. There are also so many gut-wrenching moments, but they all balance out so well. Also love to laugh during The Good Place, Superstore, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Schitt’s Creek, The Big Bang Theory, Will & Grace. I hate that The Chair didn’t get another season.

At the end of the podcast, Goldstein tells his guest that there is only enough room in the casket to take one film with them into the afterlife – so which one would they take? This is a hard one for this TV show version – there are so many I wish I could take. I think I would have to flip a coin and either take The Americans or The West Wing.