Resource for writers of thrillers and murder mysteries: The writer’s medical and forensics lab, maintained by Dr. D.P. Lyle. You can submit simple forensics or medical questions and get his answers. Just reading his answers to previous questions is fascinating.
But don’t submit a list of questions as long as I did; I’m embarrassed to tell you how many. You’ll get a (very polite) note back saying that he charges for in-depth advising of that level. It’s $100 per hour with an upfront estimate before he begins. Very reasonable, but beyond my budget at the moment, unfortunately.
The site is well worth checking out, though!
In the meantime I am hopeful I’ll find an expert online who’ll be intrigued enough to answer some (or — maybe all?) of my questions for no charge. I posted a question at the Forensics and Crime Discussion Board, but I don’t know if anyone will be interested in responding on a fictional case. After all, I’m not a published author (yet!) and they’re not friends who already know I’m a decent person; for all they know, I’m some internet gore hound. So I’m hopeful but not overly optimistic. It feels kind of weird to ask people I don’t know this kind of thing, too. I’m just hoping I will get a nibble so I can e-mail back and forth with someone privately. Keep your fingers crossed for me! UPDATE: I wrote this last night and this morning I got a response. *Squee* I am trying not to gush. I sent him my questions this morning and am keeping my fingers crossed that he doesn’t mind getting 19 questions. (I am so greedy.) What a cool way to start the day, with high hopes like this. [Update: Although I would have been happy to get an answer to any one of my zillion questions, I found that the sheer volume of my data wish list was too much; I got back a cordial note offering to quote me a rate for providing a response of that magnitude.]
My best hope is that someone who offered to help me in the past is still available. She’s a published author with her own medical expertise, and I’ve sent her an e-mail asking if she’s still interested in my zillions of crime-scene questions. If she is still free, I would be thrilled. *Holding my breath*
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