The first book in this series, Murder and Mayhem: A Doctor Answers Medical and Forensic Questions for Mystery Writers, appeared in 2003, and the second, Forensics and Fiction: Clever, Intriguing, and Downright Odd Questions from Crime Writers, in 2007. Once again I’ve attributed each question to its author, if he or she chose to be identified. Some preferred to remain anonymous, and others I simply could not reach because their contact information was no longer valid.
You will see questions from professional, multipublished, award-winning authors alongside those submitted by writers who are still searching for a home for their stories. What do these disparate groups of writers have in common? Each is a storyteller. Each possesses the same driving curiosity and the desire to get it right. Each settles before that annoying blinking cursor with the same questions. Can I write a believable and publishable story? Can I transfer the images in my head to paper in a coherent manner? Can I make the reader turn the page?
Many of the questioners have books in publication and personal websites. Visit their sites and read their books. Your effort will be rewarded.
This book is intended to inform and entertain not only writers but anyone who enjoys books, movies, or a good story. The questions and answers inside will offer some insight into how writers think and how they construct their stories. I am confident that readers will find many interesting, educational, humorous, and downright odd things in these pages.
As was the case with the earlier books in the series, this book is not solely mine. It belongs to many people. To each writer who submitted a question, I thank you for your curiosity, your imagination, and your dedication to accuracy. I have learned as much from researching and answering your questions as I hope you have from my answers.
To all the readers out there, I hope this book answers some of your own questions, raises your level of understanding of medical and forensic issues, causes new questions to sprout within your own mind, and, most of all, stirs your creative juices. Maybe you’ll ask yourself the question that starts every writer’s journey into a new story: What if? Maybe you’ll pick up pen and paper and join us in this often maddening—but always rewarding—profession.
In answering each question, I have attempted to give enough background to add context to the particular medical or forensic issue at hand as well as to address the nuances of the specific scenario. The goal is to allow the writer to use this newly gained understanding to craft a more believable scene or story. I have tried to make each question and answer stand alone, while minimizing unnecessary repetition of information contained in other questions.
What this book is not:
In no way should the material contained in this publication be used for diagnosis or treatment of any medical disorder. Even the simplest question and answer would require decades of education and experience before it could be applied in a real-life situation.
Although I have endeavored to make the information accurate and scientifically correct, many subjects are too complex to explain in detail while addressing the nuances and controversies of modern medical knowledge. Such is the art of medicine. The answers are provided for use in the context of fiction writing and storytelling and should not be used for any other purpose.
This book is not to be used for any criminal activity or to bring harm to anyone.