15 Grammar Goofs That Make You Look Silly

I’m taking a brief break this week from my usual factual posts because I recently stumbled across an infographic I thought hit on some really great points. Whether you write professionally, just for fun, or only for communication purposes, being grammatically correct is very important. Listed below are 15 common errors that can not only make you look silly, but can also sometimes totally change the meaning of what you’re trying to convey. Thanks to Copyblogger for allowing sharing of their material.

For me, it’s definitely ‘It’s/Its’ that tries to trip me up. What about you?

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop–All About My WIP

I’ve been doubly tagged to contribute to the Next Big Thing Blog Hop by two lovely and talented writers—Kate SeRine and Anna Simpson. Kate is the author of the Transplanted Tales series. Her first novel, RED, was released in August 2012, and the sequel, THE BETTER TO SEE YOU, is due out in February 2013. Anna is an aspiring novelist, currently hard at work on WHITE LIGHT.

Rules for The Next Big Thing Blog Hop:

***Use this format for your post

***Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (work in progress)

***Tag five other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.

Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:

What is your working title of your book?

My current WIP is A FLAME IN THE WIND OF DEATH, the sequel to DEAD, WITHOUT A STONE TO TELL IT. Currently, I’m working on the first set of revision notes from our editor.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I can’t say a lot about this without giving away too much, but the original idea came from one of our crit team members who saw something she thought would appeal to us (thanks, Lisa!). As soon as we looked into it, we knew we had the basis for a great story. We’ve been sitting on this idea since 2009.

What genre does your book fall under?

Where DEAD, WITHOUT A STONE TO TELL IT falls more in the forensic thriller category, A FLAME IN THE WIND OF DEATH is more of a classic forensic mystery.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

This question is easy because we based our characters right from the start on Dylan McDermott and Nicki Aycox. In some ways it’s funny that they were our visual inspiration because they once starred in a TV show together, but I never saw a single episode of it.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Our logline is actually two sentences long, so you're getting that instead...

At Halloween, Salem, Massachusetts is a hot spot for Witch and tourist alike. But when a murder spree begins, a cop and scientist must team up to find the killer before a media circus unleashes, panic ensues, and more victims are killed.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I’m represented by the fabulous Nicole Resciniti of The Seymour Agency.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

This manuscript definitely rolled out faster than usual because I wrote a lot of it while laid off from the lab after funding ran out. Once I’d done my job searching for the day, I used my free time to write, so a large portion of this book was written in about an 8-week period. But then I put it away while Ann and I worked on our biothriller project. Once it aged a little, we went back to revise it.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Kathy Reichs’ Temperance Brennan series is the obvious first comparison, simply because of the forensic anthropology angle of the science in the book. But from a male-female lead/group dynamic perspective, it’s much more like the ‘In Death’ series by J.D. Robb.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I used to write purely for fun in high school (waves at co-conspirator R.J. Anderson!), but I stopped when I went to University for my science degree. I got married, had two daughters and worked full time for years before the bug bit again. After working in the same lab for about 15 years, I found my interest drifting back to it again. I met Ann and we formed our partnership. After writing 5 novels for practice, we decided to give professional publication our best shot with a new series. This is the second book in that series.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Our specialty is the real scientific/forensic content that we build into the mystery plot. And for those that like a little romance with their mystery, A FLAME IN THE WIND OF DEATH gets pretty spicy as the male and female leads really move forward in their relationship.

I am now tagging the following fabulous writers:

Jen Blood: Indie author Jen has two fantastic novels out in her Erin Solomon series; her newest installment, SOUTHERN CROSS, is due to be released in March of 2013.

Barbara McCormick-Thomas: Dual novelist and screenwriter, Barbara can do it all!

Marisa Cleveland: Marisa is not only a romance writer, but she’s also The Seymour Agency’s newest agent.

Lea Nolan: Lea’s debut YA/MG crossover novel CONJURE released last month and she has just survived her first blog tour.

Lane Heymont: Fantasy author Lane’s debut novel, The FREEDMAN AND THE PHAROH’S STAFF, is soon to be released by Sunbury Press.

Photo credit: ~Brenda-Starr~

Forensics 101: Tool Marks in Bone

When skeletonized human remains are recovered, sometimes the only evidence police and scientists have to determine cause of death is the bones themselves. The bones are examined to identify any remnants of tool marks—also called kerf marks—that might indicate a traumatic injury. If the body has been dismembered, those kerf marks can lead directly to the tool(s) used postmortem, even if they might not directly suggest a cause of death.

Any sharp implement applied to bone with sufficient force will leave a distinctive imprint, be it scavenger teeth or a cutting tool. Examination of the bone both macroscopically (using the naked eye) and microscopically (using a light microscope/scanning electron microscope for magnification) can provide crucial information, since each tool leaves a characteristic mark that can assist in its identification.

Types of cutting tools:

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/02/11/1016212108

Knives: Knives are narrow bladed and leave a corresponding narrow ‘V’-shaped trough in the bone. They are single or double-bladed (double-bladed knives can leave an opposite ‘V’-shaped trough in surrounding bone) and tend to leave behind only microscopic striations.

http://symesforensics.com/documents/SawMarkManual_Symes.pdf

Saw: Saw blades come in many different form factors, but uniformly leave a wider, square-bottomed trough in bone. They tend to leave distinguishable striations that are easily seen by the naked eye. Individual blade and tooth size can be identified based on the striations, as can the blade type—ie. straight or rotary. Saw kerfs often have characteristic accessory marks, such as false start notches, especially when manual saws are used.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2009.01061.x/full

Axe: Like a knife, an axe leaves a smooth ‘V’-shaped trough in the bone, but the defect is very wide and is often significantly deeper due to the lever action of swinging an axe. These kerf marks are often accompanied by microscopic or macroscopic impact fractures and/or flaking surrounding the contact site.

Besides providing information about the type of tool used, kerf marks also provide contextual information, including the handedness of the attacker, the relative positions of attacker and victim, whether the wound was self-inflicted, and the motion of the blade (cut vs. stab). With this information, police can determine not only the most likely weapon used, but how the murder was committed, and these details can often be used to definitely identify the murderer.

Cover Reveal: DEAD, WITHOUT A STONE TO TELL IT

One of the most exciting moments in the career of a debut author is when her virtual book starts to become tangible—the digital product she’s spent so long working on slowly becomes ink and paper. Part of that journey is complete when an artistic team takes the author’s vision and turns it into graphic art for the cover.

Ann and I had that moment last week as we finally got a sneak peek at the cover for DEAD, WITHOUT A STONE TO TELL IT. For the longest time, we’ve had a vision of what we wanted to see on the cover, centering on the concepts of the coastal salt marshes in Essex, Massachusetts and the strong forensic/forensic anthropology angles involved in the story. When the cover was finally unveiled, we were both very pleased with the results. Our thanks to Five Star/Gale Cengage and ENC Graphics for all their hard work on this project.

So now, without further ado, we’re thrilled to release the cover for DEAD, WITHOUT A STONE TO TELL IT, releasing May 15, 2013:

So, what do you think?