Blog
How Long Do Forensic DNA Results Take?
Are you using forensic DNA in your crime fiction book, but aren't sure how long it takes to get the results back from the crime lab? On TV, the characters get the forensic DNA results back in an hour. You've also heard about backlogs in the news where the results take...
How to Use Luminol in Your Crime Fiction Novel
You’ve probably seen luminol used on crime shows on TV, and you’re thinking about using it in your crime fiction novel. Luminol is a great tool to use at crime scenes and in crime labs to look for blood. If you use luminol in your book, you want to make sure it’s...
5 Self-Help Books for Skeptics
From 2014 to 2017, I lived in China and the Marshall Islands and taught science to high school and community college students. One of the things I missed the most about living in the US was having access to my local library. Sarah, one of my oldest friends, borrowed...
How to Format Numbers in Your Fiction Novels
You’re sitting at your desk doing your favorite thing ever: writing. Your characters are coming alive and going on their adventures. Your amateur sleuth is following your cleverly laid out clues (and those tricky red herrings) to figure out whodunit. Maybe she had to...
What Do Forensic Scientists Do?
TV shows mainly portray forensic scientists in an investigative role, where they follow clues based on the lab results to solve a crime. In each episode, there’s a little bit of lab work, they conveniently get the results they need, and then they’re off to catch the...
I Loved to Read So Much I Accidentally Set the House on Fire
I was recently trying to figure out many books I’ve read in my lifetime. I’ve been reading as long as I can remember, so I’m pretty sure the final total is well into the thousands by now. I started reading in earnest in the fourth grade (in large part due to The...
My Top 8 Editing Tips for Self-Publishing Authors
You’ve just written “The End” on the first draft of your book. Congratulations! Writing a book is on my bucket list, and I am always so impressed by people who actually accomplish it. You should be proud that you finally got the rough draft out of your head and onto...
Can Forensic DNA Tell Identical Twins Apart?
Have you ever thought of using identical twins in your next crime fiction novel as a plot twist? What if your suspect had an identical twin that no one knew about? What if one twin deliberately framed the other? Or what if they were in it together? Could they get away...
What It’s Like to Date a Police Officer
I’m going to do something a little different for this post. I’m going to talk about my love life. My romantic relationships are not something I normally put out on the internet for all to read. In fact, only my sisters and some close friends know what goes on in that...
How Working in a Crime Lab Changed Me
I’ve had many jobs in my lifetime. My part-time jobs have included detassling (bonus points if you know what this is), waitressing, mail room clerk at college, science tutor, and meat and cheese tray maker. After college, I worked as a lab tech in a parasite lab and...
How to Refer to Crime Lab Employees in Your Crime Fiction Novel
Criminalist. Forensic scientist. Forensic investigator. Crime lab scientist. Are these titles referring to the same job? Are they different? What do you actually call people who work in crime labs and process crime scenes? What are their actual job titles? Are they...
How to Use Touch DNA as Forensic Evidence in Your Crime Fiction Novel
You’ve probably heard of touch DNA in forensic cases in the news or on your favorite crime drama, and now you’re thinking that maybe you could use it in your crime fiction novel. But first, do you know what touch DNA is? Is it different than “regular” forensic DNA?...