I was going to write about characters tonight, but the husband and I are in sync at the moment, which means he just came and got the character books. So now, if I write about characters, he’ll think it’s some telling message for him. Not at all, but since I can’t prove it, I decided to write about my crime shelf.
I have the typical how-to writing books like every other writer, but I do have one entire shelf (should be two, but I’m short on space) devoted to how to catch and get away with crimes. The husband said it made him nervous, at first. I think he was joking.
Not all of the books are ones written specifically for writers:
- The People’s Guide to Deadly Drug Interactions is meant as an overall household guide, but coupled with The Essential Guide to Prescription Drugs, you can find all sorts of common ways to cause injury and death. Of course, Deadly Doses: A Writer’s Guide to Poisons is a lot more straightforward about it.
- Then there’s The Serial Killer Files, Criminal Shadows, and The Anatomy of Motive. These are some of the scariest people ever to live. Really cool to read about.
Just so it’s clear I’m not completely morbid, I have twice as many books about how to identify and catch criminals, including such classics as:
- Never Be Lied To Again, How to Read a Person Like a Book, How to Spot a Liar
- The Crime Scene: How Forensic Science Works, Crime Science, Amateur Detectives, Policie Procedural, etc.
- Find Anyone Fast, Get the Facts on Anyone, and How to Create a New Identity.
These are just a few of the many books on my crime shelf. Have I read them all? Not from cover to cover. But there are gems in each of them, and when I get into a bind, the books come down to help me brainstorm a creative but realistic way out of it.
I don’t buy as many research books these days. The internet is such a vast, rich source of boundless information–some of it even true–that it is often easier to throw some search terms out and see what rolls in. This is especially helpful if I have an idea, but I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for and am having difficulty categorizing it.
So what’s the moral of today’s post?
There isn’t one. I wrote about my crime shelf because I like looking at it.
Now, back to writing. Have a great Friday.
Categories: Writing
MOMENT by MOMENT 