Clare’s post yesterday about historical research got me thinking about the topic of research in general.
Last week, I was interviewed by the delightful Megan Willingham of
Advice.com Radio, and she asked me how I researched the topic of women’s shelters for a scene in A Killer Workout. For that particular scene, I created a composite from my experience as a reporter. In my former professional life, I’ve visited a men’s prison, attended county fairs, even chased down stray dogs to get a story.Nowadays, my research is mostly relegated to the Internet and phone. And nothing makes me happier than finding new places to discover new sources of useful information about murder and mayhem.
Here are a few of my current bookmarks:
Cold cases LA Times HomicidesThe Murder Book – NYC homicides
Crime scene investigation articles
Update October, 2015: http://justicedegrees.com/
How about you? What are your go-to Internet sources for updates and information about crime?
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Coming up on our Kill Zone Guest Sundays, watch for blogs from Paul Levine, Tim Maleeny, Oline Cogdill, James Scott Bell, and more.
I have: sedition and treason UK; Foresnic Criminal Poisoning; and Police Detectives in History -Just to name a few!
I often look for quirky things to center my plots around – lunch box collecting, corn mazes, drag queen bingo – just to name a few. The research is fun and often leads me to some pretty odd websites and other interesting topics. But my favorite place for general legal and criminal research is the law firm where I work. Who says lawyers aren’t good for anything?
I just hang out in alleys late at night wait…my research comes to me on its own.
Some helpful links can be found here
Sue Ann, drag queen bingo? I have got to get that link! James, that link of useful links has now been added to my favorite links, thanks! Thanks everyone for your comments!