Looking Back, Looking Forward

As we approach the end of December, it’s natural to look back at the closing year and reflect on all we’ve accomplished. 2012 has certainly been a busy year full of notable moments for Ann and I on our writing journey, including:

• In March, we sold DEAD, WITHOUT A STONE TO TELL IT for publication in May 2013. When Ann and I set out in 2009 to start a new series with an eye to professional publication, we really had no idea what we were getting into. So to culminate that effort with successfully selling our book and launching our series was a huge moment for us.

• We outlined, wrote and revised the second book in our series, A FLAME IN THE WIND OF DEATH. That book has been turned into our editor and we are hopeful of a publication date early in 2014.

• We wrote a proposal for standalone biothriller, BLOWBACK. We’re currently on submission with that proposal.

• We got to see cover art for DEAD, WITHOUT A STONE TO TELL IT for the first time. It’s funny how the instant your book gets a cover, it suddenly gets real.

• I attended Bloody Words 2012 in Toronto, where I not only got to reconnect with old writing friends and make new ones, but I got to finally meet my agent Nicole Resciniti in person. Nic was every bit as wonderful as I suspected she’d be from our email and phone conversations, and it was great to connect with her on a personal level. Granted, when you compare meeting Nic to how long it took to finally meet Ann in person (3 years and 5 novels later!), 18 months doesn’t seem so bad.

• We continued to blog regularly, expanding on our author brand of forensic anthropology and forensic sciences as they apply to current criminal investigations and historical whodunits.

• Skeleton Keys was named one of the top forensic blogs on the web for the second time.

• On a personal note, 2012 had its ups and downs: For me, the year marked the end of a nearly twenty-year career in HIV research, six months of unemployment and then a move into Dengue fever research. For Ann, everyday life became an unforeseen challenge after breaking her ankle and the associated surgery and recovery.

Looking ahead, there are many possibilities on our horizon:

• We’re starting a new Leigh Abbott/Matt Lowell novella to bridge the gap between DEAD, WITHOUT A STONE TO TELL IT and A FLAME IN THE WIND OF DEATH. Mystery series can be very nicely set up for the occasional shorter installment, and ours is no exception. We’re looking forward to moving our characters into some new situations.

• Planning and writing the third book in the series.

• Having the opportunity to expand on our proposal for BLOWBACK, turning it into a full-fledged novel and maybe a second series.

• Brainstorming for new non-series projects.

• I’ll be attending at least two mystery conferences. At this point I’m looking at Bouchercon in September, and New England Crime Bake in November.

• And, of course, our release for DEAD, WITHOUT A STONE TO TELL IT in May, which will be very exciting. We’ll have more information on that for you all in the coming months.

2012 has been a very good year overall, and we’re very much looking forward to what 2013 holds for us.

Ann and I are going to be taking a few well-deserved weeks off from blogging as we enjoy the holidays. The very best of the season to you and yours, and we’ll see you on our return on January 8, 2013.

Photo credit: hpaich

Sex in Crime Fiction

I’ve had a few discussions around the topic of sex in crime fiction lately. There seems to be a general feeling that sex—as it relates to the protagonist—doesn’t belong anywhere in this genre, and I have to admit that I’m not sure why.

Some crime fiction can be fairly dark. Many crime writers don’t shy away from describing the most terrible of slayings, and Ann and I are among them. One way to convey the horror of a life being taken is to describe the sheer brutality of the violation as seen through the protagonist's eyes. For us, this savagery segues directly to the unforgiving forensics of the investigation, so that type of descriptive storytelling is an important component of our writing. It sets the scene and the atmosphere, and allows the reader to experience the same horror that drives our protagonists.

So the question is—why do some crime writers, who describe death to the nth degree, consider sex to be a taboo subject, especially within the bounds of a relationship? Many of these writers are more likely to ‘close the door’, leaving that aspect of the protagonist’s life to the readers imagination, but this feels like a cop out to me. If you're delving into a multi-faceted character's life, doesn't that also include his or her personal life? As a reader, don't you want to know what drives the characters in all ways?

To be honest, writing a death scene is easier than writing a good sex scene. And it’s interesting that while no one assumes you’ve murdered someone and are drawing on the experience to write a slaying, everyone assumes that they’re looking directly into your personal life when you write a sex scene. This is a bigger issue for erotica writers, but it still applies to anyone writing this kind of material. And then there’s always the fear you might get laughed at for making the attempt in the first place.

In our series, we took that step and gave our characters a scene like this in A FLAME IN THE WIND OF DEATH. There was a definite lead up to it in the first book and another moment earlier in the second book, so it didn’t feel right to suddenly close the door on them at that point. Would it have been easier to? Absolutely. I always find sex scenes are a struggle to get right; they need to be an emotional moment, not a tab-A-into-slot-B mechanical description. But would it be fair to a reader who is emotionally invested in the characters and their relationship to suddenly have to imagine their big moment? I didn’t think so.

Even though we write crime fiction, it’s not one-note storytelling. The relationship between the male and female leads is crucial to work of the team and the over-arcing storyline, and it deserved a little time and attention.

So what do you think about mixing sex and genre fiction? Do you feel that it belongs only in the romance genre and you’re doing your readers a disservice if you mix genres? Or do you feel that readers like a complex story with different areas of the protagonists’ lives fully fleshed out? I’d love to hear your opinions, so please share!

Photo credit: madcowk

Forensics 101: Cadaver Dogs

Police and search and rescue units are sometimes assisted by service dogs—animals that are specifically trained to search out the source of very specific smells like explosives, drugs, paper money, firearms, or people. Cadaver dogs are specially trained to identify the smell of decomposition, and they can be paramount in determining the location of missing human remains, even when those remains are scattered by scavengers.

When a body decomposes, a host of very aromatic sulfur- and nitrogen-based organic compounds are produced. While they may smell putrid to a human in close quarters, the human nose is simply not sensitive enough to detect this smell at great distances or if the body is buried or covered by running water. A dog’s nose is, on average, 1,000 times more sensitive than a human’s, and some breeds are even more so. Some of the more popular breeds used in police or search and rescue units due to their extra-sensitive noses are German Shepherds, basset hounds, blood hounds, beagles, Labrador retrievers, and spaniels.

Dogs and their handlers are trained using decomposing animal sources, autopsy samples, and desiccated human bones, as well as simulated decomposition compounds. One of the challenges of cadaver dog training is training detection across the spectrum of decay scents from putrefaction to skeletonization so the animal can identify a body at any stage postmortem.

The animals are trained to be both trailing and air scent dogs. Trailing scents are useful if a body has been moved and bodily fluids have fallen to the ground; the dog will follow the scent along the ground until it can find the source of the trail. Air scent dogs will follow an odor in the breeze that is blown outwards in a widening cone shape from the source. The smell will become stronger the closer the dog comes to the source, and the dog is trained to follow that more concentrated scent.

When a cadaver dog locates the source of the compound it is trained to recognize, it will ‘alert’. The alert is specific to each animal or trainer and is instantly recognizable to that trainer—a bark, or the animal sitting or lying down to indicate recognition of the smell in that particular location.

With the help of handlers and fully trained cadaver dogs, human remains can be found following clandestine burials, natural disasters or missing persons searches. Once the remains are found, then the process of identification and determining the cause of death can begin, allowing closure for the family, and, perhaps, justice for the dead.

Photo credit: Canadian Search Dog Association