Outliers Writing University Podcast Series
OUR SHOWS: GET TO KNOW-Interviews With the Authors You Love CRIMINAL MISCHIEF--The Art and Science of Crime Fiction BOOK TALK--Casual Chats on All Things Books and Writing
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6 days ago
6 days ago
Linwood Barclay, a New York Times bestselling author with twenty novels to his credit, spent three decades in newspapers before turning full time to writing thrillers. His books have been translated into more than two dozen languages, sold millions of copies, and he counts Stephen King among his fans. Many of his books have been optioned for film and TV, a series has been made in France, and he wrote the screenplay for the film based on his novel Never Saw it Coming. Born in the US, his parents moved to Canada just as he was turning four, and he’s lived there ever since. He lives near Toronto with his wife, Neetha. They have two grown children.
https://www.linwoodbarclay.com/
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Zoë Sharp was born in the East Midlands, but spent most of her formative years living aboard a catamaran on the northwest coast of England. She opted out of mainstream education at the age of twelve, and wrote her first novel at fifteen. She began her highly acclaimed series featuring no-nonsense ex-Special Forces trainee turned bodyguard heroine, Charlie Fox, after receiving death-threats in the course of her work as a photojournalist. Her work has been nominated for numerous awards, been used in a Danish school text book, inspired an original song and music video, and been optioned for TV and film. When not working on her novels or short stories, Zoë can be found improvising weapons out of everyday objects, renovating houses, or international pet-sitting. She is currently writing a new mystery thriller series for Bookouture, the second of which is The Girl In The Dark, published in March 2024.
https://www.zoesharp.com/
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For fifteen years, David worked for the San Francisco private investigation firm of Palladino & Sutherland, and played a significant part in a number of high-profile criminal and civil litigations, including the Lincoln Savings & Loan Case, the DeLorean Trial, the Coronado Company marijuana indictments, the Cotton Club Murder Case, the People’s Temple Trial, the first Michael Jackson child molestation case, and a RICO civil litigation brought by the Teamsters against former union leaders associated with organized crime—as well as numerous other drug, murder, and fraud cases. (David has been interviewed by journalist Ronan Farrow concerning his work for Palladino & Sutherland for a New Yorker article and an HBO Max documentary miniseries about the firm, both of which are scheduled to appear in 2023.)
In 1995, David eased out of private investigation work to serve as “Man Friday” for his wife, Terri, as she launched her own law practice, specializing in probate litigation, estate planning, and small business law. Sadly, Terri was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in September 2000, and in January 2001, passed away at age 46.
Six weeks before Terri’s death, Ballantine purchased David’s first novel, The Devil’s Redhead. Widely praised, it was nominated for both the Anthony and Barry Awards for Best First Novel of 2002.
His follow-up, Done for a Dime, was also broadly acclaimed (“the best in contemporary crime fiction … one of the three or four best American crime novels I’ve ever read.”—The Washington Post), was named a New York Times Notable Book, and was nominated for the Macavity Award for Best Novel of 2003.
His third novel, 2007’s Blood of Paradise, which George Pelecanos compared to the work of Graham Greene and Robert Stone, was chosen by Admiral James Stavridis, then Commander of the US Southern Command, for the SOUTHCOM reading list. It was also selected one of the Top Ten Mysteries and Thrillers of 2007 by The Washington Post and was nominated for an Edgar® Award.
His fourth novel, 2010’s Do They Know I’m Running?, also garnered widespread praise (“a rich, hard-hitting epic” —Publishers Weekly, starred review), was named one of the top ten crime fiction books of 2010 by January Magazine, and was selected as Best Novel—Rising Star Category for the Spinetingler Award.
In 2013 he turned to non-fiction with the acclaimed writing guide The Art of Character, described as a “writer’s bible that will lead to your character’s soul” by bestselling author Elizabeth Brundage, selected by Barnes & Noble as one of the five craft guides every writer must have, and chosen one of the 13 Top Picks for Writing Guides for 2013 by The Writer Magazine.
In 2015 he returned to fiction with both The Mercy of the Night (” Superlative hard-boiled crime fiction with a strong emotional center.” —Booklist, starred review) and the novella The Devil Prayed and Darkness Fell (“As always with Corbett, it’s tough, compassionate, and powerfully written.” —Vince Keenan, Noir City), both featuring Phelan Tierney, “the St. Jude of the justice system.”
David’s short fiction has also been widely praised, with stories appearing twice in Best American Mystery Stories, and another, “It Can Happen” from San Francisco Noir, nominated for the Macavity Award for Best Short Story of 2005. Those stories and others have been compiled in the 2016 short story collection Thirteen Confessions.
In 2018, David produced the most ambitious novel of his career, The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday, a tour de force mixture of epistolary novel, historical romance, courtroom drama, and action thriller.
David has also contributed chapters to The Chopin Manuscript and The Copper Bracelet, serial audio thrillers that now have been combined in a single hard cover version titled Watchlist.
He teaches and gives seminars and workshops at conferences throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico; he’s a regular contributor to the writers’ blog Writer Unboxed; and his articles on craft and theory have appeared in the New York Times, Narrative, Writer’s Digest, The Writer, Zyzzyva, MovieMaker, Bright Ideas, Crimespree, Mystery Scene, and other outlets.
In October 2014 he remarried, and he and his wife, Mette, currently divide their time between upstate New York and coastal Norway.
https://davidcorbett.com/
6 days ago
6 days ago
Anthony Horowitz
Anthony is one of the most prolific and successful writers working in the UK – and is unique for working across so many media. Anthony is a born polymath; juggling writing books, TV series, films, plays and journalism. Anthony has written over 50 books including the bestselling teen spy series Alex Rider, which is estimated to have sold 21 million copies worldwide and has been turned into a hugely successful TV series by Amazon Freevee. A third series has just been filmed and the fourteenth Alex Rider novel, Nightshade: Revenge will be published in 2023.
Anthony is also an acclaimed writer for adults and was commissioned to write two new Sherlock Holmes novels The House of Silk and Moriarty. He was commissioned by the Ian Fleming Estate to write continuation novels for James Bond with Trigger Mortis and Forever and Day, published in 2015 and 2018 respectively. A third novel in the series With a Mind to Kill was published in May 2022.
Anthony’s award-winning novel Magpie Murders was published in October 2016 to critical acclaim and was serialised on BritBox at the beginning of 2022 with Lesley Manville in the lead role. It will be televised on the BBC in 2023. The sequel, Moonflower Murders, will begin filming in September 2023. His new series featuring Detective Hawthorne and a sidekick called Anthony Horowitz has four books so far: The Word is Murder, The Sentence is Death, A Line to Kill and the recently published The Twist of a Knife. Anthony has just started work on a fifth: Close to Death.
Anthony is responsible for creating and writing some of the UK’s most beloved and successful television series, producing the first seven episodes (and the title) of Midsomer Murders. He is the writer and creator of award-winning drama series Foyle’s War, which was the Winner of the Lew Grade Audience award for BAFTA. DCS Foyle was voted the nation’s favorite detective in 2011. Anthony has also written other original complex dramas for ITV, particularly thrillers. Collision, a major five part “state of the nation” piece was transmitted on ITV1 in November 2009 to seven million viewers a night. He followed this with the equally successful legal thriller Injustice, also for ITV 1 - transmitted in June 2011. Foyle’s War returned in March 2013 as a Cold War thriller and was greeted with such critical acclaim and demands for more that he wrote one final series, bringing the show to an end in January 2015. Anthony's series, New Blood, premiered on the BBC in 2016.
In 2019 Anthony became a Patron to Home-Start in Suffolk, a small local family support charity working with families across the Suffolk county, as they navigate through challenging circumstances such as mental health issues, bereavement, long term or terminal illness, isolation, domestic abuse, poverty and so much more. The valuable work the organization does right in the heart of the community – bringing together trained volunteers into families lives to support them both practically and emotionally, helping them to grow in confidence and empowering them with the skills to raise their children to flourish – is why Anthony chose to support this dedicated and hardworking charity.
https://www.anthonyhorowitz.com/
6 days ago
6 days ago
Crime fiction invariably deals with dark and serious matters. Dead bodies will do that. Though other crimes may enter the picture, even be the focus of the story, murder is by far the most common driving event. Its finality makes it the most heinous crime.
The villain is usually nasty and deadly and only rarely likable
The story a mano a mano joust between good and evil.
How can this be funny?
Humor in crime fiction deepens characters, breaks the constant tension so readers can catch their breath, and adds fun to the story. It can’t be simply adding a joke here and there but must be weaved into the fabric of the story. Be part of the character and the story, and not a distraction.
How to add humor to crime fiction:
1—Create Funny Characters
2—Comedy Is Situational
3—Add Funny/Quirky Side Characters
4—Use A Humorous Narrative Voice
5—Timing and Rhythm Are Everything
6—Don’t Forget Dark/Gallows Humor
Check out Jake Longly, my humorous thriller series:
https://www.dplylemd.com/books/jakelongly
6 days ago
6 days ago
What Medical Treatments for Pain and Injury Were Available in Ancient Egypt?
Q: What were the most common medicinal herbs available in Egypt around 80 A.D. I am particularly interested in wound healing/protection and pain relief medications, preferably topically applied and acceptable to both humans and animals.
A: As with other ancient civilizations, Egyptian medicine was a combination of spiritual beliefs, social conventions, and empiric observations (learning via trial and error). They also inherited a strong belief in astrology from the Babylonians. Also, as with others, the Egyptians possessed a certain materia medica, literally the materials of medicine.
These included various potions, oils, salves, and ointments usually derived from plant and animal products. They were often applied and/or taken with great ceremony, which was designed to appease an angry god or attract one with healing powers. Imhotep was the Egyptian god of health and healing and most incantations were addressed to him. He was actually a mortal who served as vizer under King Zoser, who reigned during the Third Dynasty around 2980 BC. Imhotep was a gifted healer and was later deified as the god of medicine.
What we know of Egyptian medical treatment predominantly comes from several papyri that were discovered centuries later. These tend to be named for the person who discovered them. The most important are the Kahun Papyrus (c. 1850 BC), the Edwin Smith Papyrus (c. 1600 BC), the Ebers Papyrus (c. 1550 BC), and the London Papyrus (c. 1350 BC). Several sections of these documents deal with various medical and surgical issues. For example, the Ebers Papyrus lists 700 to 800 medical formulas.
Myrrh, frankincense, and manna were thought to help heal wounds and other illnesses. Antimony, copper, and other metals were mixed with herbs and believed to aid wound healing when used as a cleaning astringent. Often animal organs such as pig brain and ox spleen were mixed with animal fat and honey and taken orally or smeared over wounds. Sometimes tortoise shells and even crushed lapis lazuli were added. Purgatives came from plant extracts made from senna, colocynth, and castor oil. Garlic, onion, tamarisk, honey, opium, cannabis, hellebore, and even animal excrement (crocodile dung held special power) were mixed and applied as ointments and poultices, or compacted into pills and swallowed, or mixed with liquids for gargling, or given as suppositories, or heated and used as fumigants.
Humans and animals received similar treatments.
What other substances did the Ancient Egyptians use:
Aloe Vera: They called it the “plant of immortality” and used it in embalming and for wounds.
Black Pepper: Used in embalming. Also mixed with various oils and and applied to wounds and to arthritic joints.
Cannabis: Used to treat pain, including that from arthritis and gout. It was also felt to help with cataracts. Ingestion after it was added to foods or steeped into a tea was most common, but it was also added to a liquid to make an ointment for topical application.
Garlic: Believed to help the unsettled stomach and to make the heart stronger as well as increase strength and endurance.
Honey: Applied to wounds to prevent infections and help healing.
Peppermint: To settle the stomach, treat a cough, and help heal wounds and bruises. Usually brewed as a tea or the extract was directly applies to wounds.
Sage: Helped improve fertility and, when applied directly, could stop bleeding.
6 days ago
6 days ago
Victimology:
The perpetrator isn’t the only one profiled. Evaluating the victim can add to the offender profile and might offer valuable information to narrow the search for the killer. The study of victim characteristics, called victimology, is basically an assessment of the person’s risk of becoming a victim as a result of his personal, professional, and social life. A detailed understanding of the victim’s lifestyle and habits provides clues as to why this particular victim was selected at this location and time. This information can divide victims into high-, medium-, and low-risk.
High-risk victims are those who are frequently in high-risk situations. Prostitutes, particularly those who “walk the streets,” obviously fall into this category. They typically work at night, interact with strangers on a regular basis, willingly get into cars with strangers, and, in short, are easy targets. Other high-risk behaviors include drug use, a promiscuous lifestyle, nighttime employment, and associating with people who possess criminal personalities.
Low-risk victims are those who stay close to work and home, don’t visit areas unfamiliar to them, have a steady job and many friends, don’t use drugs, and lock their doors at night.
Medium-risk victims fall between these two.
Why the offender selects a particular victim is determined by both the perpetrator’s fantasy needs and the victim’s vulnerability. Some victims are merely grabbed as a victim of opportunity. High-risk victims place themselves in vulnerable positions much more often than do low-risk victims, but either could simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Other victims are taken because they fit the starring role in the perpetrator’s fantasy. The offender might spend days or weeks “cruising” for just the right victim, the one who most closely matches his fantasy. He ignores other potentially easy victims because they are not “right.”
A special form of victim profiling is the psychological autopsy. It is per- formed when the manner of a victim’s death is not clear. Was the victim’s death an accident, suicide, or homicide? To help make this determination, the forensic psychiatrist will look into the victim’s medical, school, work, and military history; interview family, friends, and associates; and evaluate autopsy, police, and witness reports. The goal is to assess whether the victim was in a stressful enough situation and the type of person to take his own life. Or was his lifestyle such that he was an easy target for a killer?
Geographic Profiling
In nature shows on television, the narrators often discuss a certain predator’s domain or hunting range. Game wardens use these boundaries to narrow their search for an illusive lion or tiger. Profilers do the same with serial killers.
An analysis of the pattern of the perpetrator’s assaults can yield valuable information that might ultimately lead to his apprehension. This analysis is known as geographic profiling. It is based on the premise that serial offenders, like lions and tigers, have a certain “comfort zone” within which they feel free to carry out their crimes. The geographic profiler would like to know where the victim was abducted, where the actual assault or murder took place, and where the body was dumped. If several assaults have occurred, the profiler has several such locations to work with. He can then locate these points on a map and define the killer’s domain.
This might show that the murders are clustered in a small area, which would indicate that the killer is not very mobile and might not possess a car or have a job. Or the range could be broad, indicating that the perpetrator is highly mobile and may possess a vehicle with high mileage that he uses to troll for victims. Whether the range is narrow or broad, the perpetrator likely resides or works within or near this comfort zone.
It is important for investigators to determine which victim was killed first. This is often straightforward if the victims are found shortly after the crime. But, if the victims are street dwellers or prostitutes, whose disappearance might go unnoticed, the date of their abduction might not be known. And if the bodies are dumped in remote places, the order in which the victims were killed might not be the order in which the bodies are found. In such cases, a forensic anthropologist is brought in to assess the approximate time of death (see Chapter Five: Time of Death). Why is this important? The comfort zone for most serial killers usually begins small and grows with each killing. This means that the first victim was probably abducted close to the killer’s home or workplace, and this knowledge can be crucial to identifying the killer.
6 days ago
6 days ago
How Could My Time-traveling Physician Save the Life of My 15th Century Heroine With a Blood Transfusion?
Q: I am writing a time travel where one of the characters is a modern doctor who is sent back in time (15th century) with his family. I want to have him do something medical to save the life of the heroine (I was thinking heroine needs blood transfusion which would require a blood typing system) Any idea how it could be accomplished? I was also thinking that the heroine has rare blood type. Would that be Type B?
A: This is an interesting scenario in that you have someone with modern knowledge transported back to medieval times. This means he would have all the medical knowledge of transfusions––which of course did not exist then––but no scientific equipment to help. Not to mention that merely bringing it up might get him killed by the church––but that’s another issue.
The first human transfusion took place in France in 1667 when Jean-Baptiste Denis successfully transfused sheep blood into a fifteen year old boy. The first human to human transfusion was in 1818 and was performed by James Blundell on a patient suffering from postpartum bleeding. Even he had no way of matching the blood and, in fact, didn’t understand that there were blood proteins that made transfusions incompatible between many people and successful between others. It wasn’t until 1901 that Karl Landsteiner discovered the ABO blood groups and begin to understand the nature of transfusions and transfusion reactions. In 1939, the Rh factor was discovered, also by Landsteiner along with several other physicians, thus refining the process further.
So your time-traveling doctor would know all of this and would also know that transfusions are only successful if the donor and recipient match one another as far as blood type is concerned. But he would have no way of testing the donor and recipient for blood type and compatibility, which of course is essential to avoid harming or killing the recipient. But, there is a way around this. He would know that two compatible bloods could be mixed and no reaction would occur while if they were not compatible clumps would form. We call this agglutination and it is the basis of a transfusion reaction. He could simply mix the blood of the donor with that of the recipient––which is more or less the way it’s done today––and look for this reaction. The problem? This agglutination can only be seen microscopically and there were no microscopes in the 15th century.
The microscope was discovered in 1590 by two Dutch spectacle makers–Zacharias Janssen and his son Hans. They employed the glass lenses they used in their spectacle making, which had been around since the 13th century. When they placed these lenses in tubes, they discovered that they magnified any image viewed through the tube. This was the precursor of the true microscope which was developed nearly 70 years later (1660s) by Anton van Leeuwenhoek. So, your modern physician would know this and could perhaps fashion his own crude microscope from spectacle lenses. This would allow him to see any agglutination that might occur. He could then simply take the recipient’s blood and test it against several potential donors and see which one had the least reaction. This would be crude cross matching but it could work. He would then know whose blood to use in the transfusion process.
6 days ago
6 days ago
Types of Trace Evidence
Hair
Structure:
Medulla:
None, Continuous, Interrupted, Fragmented
Humans: None or fragmented
Thickness: Humans 1/3
Cortex:Largest part in humans
Contains pigment
Contains air pockets and ovoid bodies
Cuticle: Like fish scales
Coronal-crown-like—rare in humans
Spinous—petal-like—cats but not humans
Imbricate—flat—found in humans
Race/Sex/Age—difficult/impossible to determine
Site of Origin
Manner of Removal
Chemical Analysis
DNA—Nuclear vs Mitochondrial
Snowball The Cat Case
Shirley Duguay-victim
Douglas Beamish—perpetrator
Fibers
Classification:
Natural: cotton, wool, silk, hemp, etc.
Manufactured: from cotton or wood-Rayon, acetate
Synthetic: polymers—nylon, polyester
Wayne Williams Atlanta Child Killer Case
Examination:diameter/shape/color/shine/crimps/curls’=
Refractive Index
Birefringence
Glass
Physical Exam: color/thickness/shape/pattern/opacity
Optical: transmit/reflect/refract
Chemical: boron/lead/pigments
Fracture Patterns
Paint
Basic Parts: binders/pigments/extenders/modifiers
Cars: Electroplate Primer/Primer/Basecoat/Clear coat
Layers and repainting
Fracture Patterns
Soil/Plants
Place of origin
DNA
6 days ago
6 days ago
An autopsy is a scientific procedure. Its purpose is to examine the corpse for evidence of the cause and manner of death. This is done through a gross and microscopic examination of the body as well as toxicological (drugs and poisons), serology (blood), and any other ancillary testing the ME deems necessary.
The timing of the autopsy depends upon many factors. It may be done immediately or several days after the body is collected. Weekends and holidays, excessive workload, and the need to ship the body to a larger lab may each cause a delay. During this time period, the body is stored in a refrigerated vault. Storage of up to 4 or 5 days results in little noticeable deterioration of the corpse.
Clinical vs Forensic Pathology:
A clinical pathologist performs medical autopsies, which are designed to determine the cause of death and to search for the presence of any other diseases.
A forensic pathologist is concerned with the interface of pathology and the law. He performs forensic autopsies, which help determine the cause, manner, and time of death.
The forensic autopsy is performed to answer 4 questions.
1-What is the cause of death? (What illness or injury led to the death?)
2-What is the mechanism of death? (What physiological derangement actually resulted in death?)
3-What is the manner of death? (Was the death natural, accidental, suicidal, or homicidal?)
4-What was the time of death?
Who Gets Autopsied?
Violent deaths (accidents, homicides, suicides).
Deaths at the workplace, either traumatic or from poison or toxin exposure.
Deaths that are suspicious, sudden, or unexpected.
Deaths that occur while incarcerated or in police custody.
Deaths that are unattended by a physician, that occur within 24 hours of admission to a hospital, or that occur in any situation where the victim is admitted while unconscious and never regains consciousness prior to death.
Deaths that occur during medical or surgical procedures.
Deaths that occur during an abortion, whether medical, self, or illegal.
A found body, whether known or unidentified.
Before a body can be cremated or buried at sea.
At the request of the court.
Typical Steps in a Forensic Autopsy:
Identification of the deceased
Photography of the body, clothed and unclothed
Removal of any trace evidence
Measuring and weighing the body
X-raying all or parts of the body
External examination of the body
Dissection of the body
Microscopic examination of any tissues removed during the examination
Toxicological and other laboratory examinations
The Autopsy Report:
Each pathologist has his own method and style of preparing the final report, but certain information must be included. A typical format would be:
External Examination
Evidence of Injury
Central Nervous System (brain and spinal cord)
Internal examination of Chest, Abdomen, and Pelvis
Toxicological Examinations
Other Laboratory Tests
Opinion, which will include his assessment of the cause, mechanism, and manner of death.
For More Information pick up one of my Forensic Science Books:
https://www.dplylemd.com/books/forensicscience