#TeaserTuesday

Tara has lost the one strong force she thought she could always rely on...

PRE-ORDER HERE: http://www.books2read.com/DTEE

PRE-ORDER SWAG: https://forms.gle/5tundLE6FUTGjAF67

[ID: A graphic with a background of a waterfall with the header Dying Thoughts - Eighth Ending and the release date just below as October 9th 2019. The excerpt reads:

“I’m sorry, Mr. Clifford died. We did everything we could, but we couldn’t get him back,” she replied.
The words kept playing over and over in my head and all I could focus on was that word: died. Mike was gone, there was no long recovery for him. There was no future where I’d witness his pride when I got my first job with the force.
There was nothing. Mike was dead, and I would never see him again.
END ID]

Killing Characters [CC]

Talking about killing characters today! #Authortube

BUY WALK A MILE: http://www.books2read.com/WAM
THE BOOK ROBIN HOODS: https://therobinhoods.wixsite.com/thebookrobinhoods
BUY MY BOOKS: http://www.joeypaulonline.com/p/aboutjoeys-books.html
BLOG: http://www.joeypaulonline.com/
TUMBLR: http://authorjoeypaul.tumblr.com
FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/JoeyPaulOnline
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/MsJoeyBug
INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/authorjoeypaul
GOODREADS: http://bit.ly/1UcS61E

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: Going To The Dark Side

THE TRIALS OF A CRIME WRITER: GOING TO THE DARK SIDE

Given that in less than a month I will be attending my first ever author signing. Aptly enough, it's the Darker Side Of Fiction 2017, so I thought it would be a good idea in the lead up to that event, to do a piece about both being a crime writer and what it's like to go to the dark side writing wise. I've been writing crime fiction the whole of my writing career, and it's always been something that's interested me. However, I didn't really cross over to the dark side completely until recently. It was a gradual process and something that I didn't really realise was happening until after it had passed.

As a crime writer you're usually dealing with the dark side of humanity as it is. The same can be said for a number of other genres, but for me it's crime so I'll stick with that. You're facing situations and creating characters who either go through some trauma or are the perpetrators of trauma and that's sometimes hard to wrap your head around. I once got told that I shouldn't write crime fiction, especially for young adults, because it can steer young people towards a criminal life. I'm not sure how that works since, well it doesn't work like that, but people have also asked me why do I focus so much on the bad and not write fluffy novels with romance, happiness and all the bright side of life.

I would argue that I do and have written books that deal with both the criminal genre but also with the fluff as well. In the Dying Thoughts series, Tara has a wonderful friend in Kaolin, and that continues throughout the series. In the Cramping Chronicles series, which has yet to be released, the main character, Jessie, has a bunch of friends and it's not all doom and gloom. I could name other books, but there's always a balance, in my eyes between the dark and dreary and the light and fluffy. I would say that my latest release - It's Not Always Rainbows - it not one that balances both of those. It is, and reviewers have agreed, my darkest book. It didn't start out like that, but as I grew closer to the end I realised that there was only really one way for it to continue and wrap up. That said, it does have a happy ending, or at least as happy as I could make it.

So why do authors like myself focus on the darker side of humanity? I was asked this in an interview which can be found here. The long and short of how I see it is that readers, writers and everyone in-between do have somewhat of a sense of the macabre. The example I used in the interview was that when you drive past an accident site. You hope and pray that no one is seriously, or even not seriously hurt, but you still can't help but glance at it as you go past. Reading, and writing, dark fiction does not mean that you're morbid (though I will admit, I very much am!), or that you are sick and twisted. It just means you want to be able to escape to a world where the people being hurt, killed, or whatnot, aren't real. Fiction is about an escape, both for the writer and for those who read. The dark side is welcoming with open arms people who want to escape into their worlds.

That said, not all crime novels are dark and grisly. Not all mystery books involve death, and the dark side isn't all torture and graphic violence. Part of being a crime writer means you will write about all manner of crimes. And while I have read a number of books of my fellow attending authors, there is a wide array of just how dark it gets. It's all about where the story goes, what the circumstances call for and all of that wrapped up in a delicious package. My earlier books, especially in the Dying Thoughts series, were a mix of dark and not. You have to remember that I write for young adults, and for that reason, some of my writing will be curbed so as not to get too dark. However, there are and always will be some level of the dark side in them. And there's nothing wrong with that.

While I do agree that young adults shouldn't be exposed to certain elements of the world, in fiction and real life, I think it has to be considered on a case by case basis. I am the guardian to an almost thirteen year old. She is very much ready to read all of my works even though she's on the younger side of the young adult spectrum. She has been ready since she was about eleven or so. I am also aware of other readers who started before the cut-off age at thirteen and have very much enjoyed, processed and been happy with where my books have gone. But there are other young adults, and younger readers who would not be okay with reading what I've written. And that's okay! It's something they have to decide, or their parents have to decide. In the past my advice has been, for parents unsure, to read the book before they let their child read it. If it's something they're not happy with sharing, no harm.

So, as a crime writer, and as someone who is very much happy writing the dark side of fiction into their works, I will leave you with the knowledge that entering the dark side is not a one-way ticket. You can dip your toe into the pond and you can leave at any time. Of course, you might find that you actually very much enjoy it, and in that case you'll probably never leave!

Follow Joey here on her blog, or on Facebook or Tumblr to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books. You can also sign up to her newsletter here.

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: Do I need to kill [Character]?

Do I need to kill [Character]?

So, you've gotten started on your novel. You have the scene set and your outline done, your characters doing whatever they're doing, and you're managing to get some writing done. Your plot is moving along, but if you're like me then you won't have every scene planned before you put fingers to keyboard or pen to paper. Everything is going smoothly and then you hit a bit of a pothole, and you realise that for the scene to make sense - either in your outline or in the moment of writing - someone has to die. And that's what today is about, asking yourself: Do I need to kill [character]?

In one of my current works in progress, I'm doing a lot of flying by the seat of my pants when it comes to planning. It's not the first time that this has happened to me and nor willl it be the last. I generally have a good idea of who I'd like to make it to the end of each book, and there are always characters who walk the edge between seeing the end of a scene or chapter to finally being alive still when the book itself ends. I have several of those characters right now. And since the book I'm talking about is a dystopian on the brink of a war, it kinda makes sense for some bloodshed.

However, one thing you have to be careful about is falling into the trap of killing just because you can. While there are many deaths I've been responsible for in my books, none of them have been killed just for shock value or because they don't serve a purpose. Every death in the Dying Thoughts series was done to serve a purpose. Either to aid Tara in solving the crime, or because it was a needed plot piece to move the story forward. That's the big thing you need to remember because just killing for the sake of killing, while possibly fun, doesn't really help the book and if anything puts the reader off.

So how do you know when it's time to kill your beloved character? I usually use two questions that help me decide whether or not the death is needed for the plot or if it's just something I'm doing because the story needs some angst. I'm gonna share them with you here.

#1. What does their death achieve?
If the answer to this isn't obvious, then you need to seriously think about whether or not it's a death that has to happen or if it's a death you're using to spice up the chapter. Ideally, a death should be part of the overreaching arc of the story. If it's not, then it might be that the death isn't needed for the story to stand. When I wrote the deaths in the Dying Thoughts series, while they weren't all personal deaths that would have an impact on Tara, they were needed to move the plot forward and they were necessary to the plot.

#2. Who does their death affect the most?
Normally when killing someone in fiction, their death will serve a purpose, as covered in point one. But sometimes it doesn't need to be a bloody murder, but just a death that happens off page and has an affect on one of the main characters. In the first book of the Lights Out series, I had to kill someone that I'd really grown attached to, but it was needed to drive the plot forward and to bring about the change for the protagonist. It was the driving point of why she took the path she did, and because of that I know that the character's death was a much needed plot point.

Both of these questions shouldn't be too hard to answer. If you find that you can't answer one or both of them, then it might be that you don't need to kill your character. Sometimes books will use a violent and unexpected death as a way to shock the reader, or to spice up the book itself. As I said, doing that can lead to the readers feeling a little off with the storyline. A death should only be used when it is moving the plot forward and even then, it doesn't have to be discussed in detail for it have the same affect on the protagonist and other characters.

So, I hope that helps you with working out when and where to kill a character. For me, killing them isn't hard, it's the aftermath that drives me forward. I've heard of writers who cry while killing certain beloved characters and while I've come close once I'm doing the editing, I'm usually fine with the death and other gruesome parts of being a crime writing. Your mileage may, of course, vary.

Follow Joey here on her blog or on Facebook or Tumblr to be kept up to date with all the latest news regarding Joey and her books.

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: Has This Been Done Before?

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: Has This Been Done Before?

Every writer, no matter whether they are published or not, is looking for the original idea. The one thing that hasn't been done before. A lot of the books I've read on the subject say that there simply aren't any original ideas anymore. They've all been used in one way or another, and that you just have to look at how to turn your unoriginal plot into something with a twist. I don't necessarily agree that there are no more original ideas, after all, history has changed the way things in the world work, and with all that history, there has to have been new things happening. The other bit that bugs me is that every single person is different, is unique and therefore the majority of us don't all act the same when placed in the exact same circumstances. I think that means that there are plenty of ways to turn a previously used plot into something original, or to think up something completely off the wall that hasn't been done before.

Of course though, this is more about my trials as a crime writer, and therefore what I'm mostly talking about is the central plot or theme that runs through each crime novel. When you're thinking up ways for people to break the law, the motives can be as unique as you want, but sometimes the crimes tend to repeat themselves. It's a fact of life that people kill each other in many different ways, but also that most police officers don't deal with serial killers, nor do they deal with unique crimes every single day. The motive may be something they haven't heard before, but the crime itself is usually the same no matter how different you try to make it.

Having said that, it doesn't stop me from trying to make sure that the motives behind each central crime - whether they be a serial rapist, murderer or petty thief - all have their own unique twist on them. Sometimes you can't do that because there are rarely convoluted reasons for why someone stole drugs from a drug dealer and then got murdered for it. As a crime writer, you have to be aware that by not repeating the crimes, by trying to make them all different and unique, you've already started to stretch the boundaries of what is and isn't believable. So while it's a good idea to not have every victim act, respond and/or die in the same way, there are patterns to crime and if you want your book to hold a reader's interest, you have to be sure that you follow some of the laws of the world.

Yet when I sit and write my chapter notes before I start a book, or read through what I think makes a good crime to talk about, I still try to make each case somewhat different. It's a difficult trap to avoid, but at the same time it's something you have to be flexible with. Outside of the pages of crime novels and the Hollywood movies, you have to realise that the majority of police officers will never really deal with a serial killer. They make for good fiction, but are not as common as fiction and the media would love to make out. That said, they are a great way to tell a story and have the characters work towards a common goal. After all, fiction is a way for the unimaginable to happen and although there are unimaginable things done to people by others, sometimes it's nice to believe that the only horrible crimes happen between the pages of books, where you can see that justice prevails and all ends well (hopefully!)

Usually I deal with multiple cases when writing a DYING THOUGHTS book, with Tara helping the police, and there needs to be some level of difficulty in the cases she's called in on. Otherwise it gets to the point where I, and the reader will be asking if her gift is really needed or if the police are just lazy. The joy of fiction is that there is some level of being able to suspend belief. The aim is to not push it so far that it snaps in two. So, as I sit here at 1am, writing a piece about believable and unique crimes, I find myself wondering if it is possible to achieve both those without breaking the believability of the scenes. To be honest, I'm not really sure, but that doesn't mean that I won't continue to try!

Follow Joey on Facebook or here on her blog to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books.

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: When Your Friends Ask You About Murder

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: When Your Friends Ask You About Murder

It's a running joke between me and some of my friends that if they were ever to be driven to the point of committing a crime, such as murder, then I would be the best person to ask about how to get away with it. It's true that for a lot of crimes, I have done extensive research, I even own the "Forensics for Dummies" book which I have used in the past to help  me with plot lines. I also really recommend "The Crime Writer's Guide to Police Practice and Procedure" (link here) if you're in the UK and looking for down to earth and simple explanations of how the police force works. However, while I'd never claim to be an expert, and because the majority of my criminals get caught, I don't actually know the way to commit the perfect crime.

I would imagine that it would take a lot of forethought and planning. While getting ready to write a book about someone who works in a Forensics lab took a lot of research, I don't think I have the commitment, or the stomach for a life of crime. The added knowledge of watching shows such as NCIS or Castle, is that no matter how careful you are there is always going to be something you leave behind which will lead the cops right to your door. I have though, in the past, thought about the validity of so called unsolved crimes. On TV they usually get their guy...eventually, but in real life there are so many "cold cases" which may go unsolved for decades if not longer. So, how does one go about committing the perfect crime?

Well, I have some ideas, but feel the need to make it clear to everyone reading that I'm not planning to ever use these ideas in anything other than fiction. First you'd need to pick a victim who is, in no way connected to you. The first thing police will look for is an identification of the victim and then anyone who may have had a reason to want them dead. So, if you're desperate to commit a murder, then you need to make sure there is no way for the police to join the dots from them to you. The problem is that most people are not the kind of people to just randomly murder someone, which is why the perfect crime is so hard to achieve. Unless you're a psychopath or serial killer, you generally would need some kind of motive before you go around murdering random people. The motive is usually your downfall.

The second thing to remember is that if they can't identify your victim then they can't always connect the dots that will lead them to your door. This means you'll need to get rid of the hands, head and any other distinguishing marks that could leave a hint as to who the victim is. That's grisly work, I've never had to amputate or disfigure a body (and I don't think I ever will have need to) but I imagine that it takes a lot of strength and a strong stomach to deal with all the blood, guts and gore. You also need to cut through bone and remember that the CSI people will be able to tell what kind of instrument was used from the cut marks, so you'll have to be extra careful in your choice of hacking instrument.

After that comes the forensics, the human body sheds DNA through skin cells and hair. All it takes is one stray hair and if you're in the system, you're caught. Hell, even if you're  *not* in the system they have something to match you to that body should they catch up with you. All in all, I'm not really sure how you'd go about making sure that there was nothing incriminating left behind. You also have to take into account "Locard's Exchange Principle" that states that for every place you go you not only take something with you, but leave part of yourself behind. So, even if you manage to pick a random victim, remove their identity, the forensics are probably going to get you in the end.

So, while my friends and I joke about the perfect hiding place for a body, the chances are that we'll be caught before it's even cold. There is nothing like the perfect crime, and with my search history, I'd probably get the death penalty, if that was still around in the UK. For the time being, I'll stick to fictional murder, it's less messy and doesn't carry a life sentence!

Follow Joey on Facebook or here on her blog to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books.

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: How Violent Is Too Violent?

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: How Violent Is Too Violent?

As a young adult author, I sometimes find myself asking how violent is too violent? I mean, with adult books you can go into gory detail of what you do to a character and how badly they were injured, maimed or killed. You can describe the flow of blood and each individual cut you make to their body to drive home just how horrific their injuries or death are. However, when you're writing for a younger audience, there must be a line somewhere that states that the description of cutting someone's fingers off or burning them in acid are too much, right?

I don't always agree that that's true. After all, young adults probably see more violent things in video games and on the big screen than are written in some books. But I was doing a scene in one of my current works in progress the other day and it revolved around torture. While I wanted to hammer home just how bad the pain would have been for my characters, as well as how deranged my killer was, I was struck with the thought that maybe it was a tad too violent.

The same can be said with some of the DYING THOUGHTS books. Tara's gift allows her to watch someone die over and over. The whole idea is that she is able to see things that the police may have missed because they didn't get to witness the death and despite their best efforts, they can not talk to the dead. I have dealt with the murder of children, people being raped and abused, tortured and killed in the most violent of ways and sometimes as I write, I find myself wondering if it's too much. My editor is great and is of the same belief as me, that sometimes you need to show that gore and violence to really give the reader the feeling that they are watching and experiencing it as well.

I guess the difficulty is for me that while some things would be seen as too little in an adult crime book, they can be seen as too much in a young adult book. It's about finding the balance between the two because young adults are generally within the ages of thirteen and twenty-five, and at the higher end of the scale they can see eighteen rated films and see violence in the media. So, why shouldn't they be able to see it in books? I get that for some people they are of the belief that children and young adults should be shielded from the violence out in the world, but by toning down the scenes in my books,  I'm not giving them the full story.

So, yes, sometimes there is a line between how much violence and description to use when dealing with these matters, but at other times, it's the job of the writer to cross over these lines and show the reader the realities of life. When Tara is dealing with a grisly case, I try to make sure that I don't write things that will give the readers nightmares, but at the same time I want it to be as honest as possible, which means including some forms of violence. It's just about knowing where to draw the line, but that seems to be the case with the majority of writing. You need to know the rules so that when you break them, you know you're doing so in good faith. It's all a learning curve and I know I, for one, have a lot more learning to do.

Follow Joey on Facebook or here on her blog to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books.

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: How Many Ways Can You Kill Someone?

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: How Many Ways Can You Kill Someone?

I was thinking about this today as I wrote one of Tara's many visions. I was also thinking about it as I wrote the piece about my search history (found here) and the one about the things I really shouldn't know (found here). As a crime writer, there are some things that cross both of those subjects and then there's others than come into their own little bubble. Working out a myriad of different ways to kill someone is one of those things.

I wasn't always someone who would look at a case on TV and wonder how to describe that kind of murder. I was always someone who liked crime and mystery media - both books and TV shows - but I like to think that I didn't always wonder about death and destruction and the many different ways you could inflict harm upon a person. Of course, my parents would probably disagree as I was always kinda fascinated by death. I would probably have called it childhood intrigue, but it was rather unhealthy.

So, I decided that when it came to writing my own books, I would delve into the dark recesses of my mind and exploit my own little "hobby" and start to put fictional characters through these things. I know that makes it sound like I'm both a psychopath and a sociopath in that I'm admitting that I enjoy putting people through pain and eventually killing them. I'm not, and I can assure you that I'd never actually do this to a living soul.

My biggest problem now is not that I can't get creative with death, murder and all other kinds of grisly things, more that while I am creative, I have my limits. There is only so much torment a human body can bear and bringing someone to the brink of death and then pulling them back is something that you can only do a handful of times before it starts to get a bit ridiculous. I know that when writing the DYING THOUGHTS series, I have sometimes found myself struggling to make Tara's cases both unique yet believable. I don't like to repeat myself too much, but at the same time, these are generally cases that I'm saying regular people in the police force would see and sometimes, let's face it, murder repeats.

For me it's not just about finding a new way to kill someone, but it's also about the killer's motives behind choosing that manner of death. Is it revenge? Spur of the moment? Are they actually a serial killer who has chosen their own mode of operations and stuck to it? How much forensic evidence are they leaving? Why is Mike calling on Tara? Is there another way it could have happened? What would the victim feel and see at this point? These are all valid questions that I have to answer on a case by case basis and sometimes, it's hard to know the answers until you're actually writing the story.

That said, when it comes to the regular cases that Tara works, I usually have them all planned out before I even put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard in my case). I'm a meticulous planner as mentioned before (a piece about my planning can be found here) and so once I've done the chapter plan and know exactly how many "normal" cases she'll work, I make a note card with all the details about it there ready to be used when I come to that point in the story. However, like I said, some details about it all don't come to me until I've got to the point writing where she's about to have the vision (and sometimes it's WHILE she has the vision) and for those things, it's back to my old friend - Google.

Of course though, there are only a limited number of ways to kill someone even when you do get creative. Shooting, stabbing, poisoning, bludgeoning and suffocation are just a small selection of the ways a person can be killed, but if you're going to do all of those things, pretty soon you'll have a dead person with whom you're just going through the motions. As Tara's gift only works until the person expires, I find that there is little need for me to work out all the details of the crime. Mike's job is to find all of that and mine is to plant the seed, which I have to admit is one of the perks of the job.

When it comes to the overall plot and "case of the book" as it were, that's when things can start to get creative. It's not always a murder that runs through the book and sometimes it's not even a crime that Tara can solve on her own with her visions. As she's developed as a character, I've found other ways to keep her focused on what matters - catching the bad guy without getting killed herself. If you look at some of my other books, BLACKOUT or LYNNE & HOPE for example, they both have crimes that would have been outside of Tara's purview and so while I like to give Tara a good murder or two to work through, I also enjoy putting other characters in situations that don't involve blood and gore.

I think it was a friend of mine who said that one of the perks of being a crime writer is getting to kill people for a living...I don't disagree, it's just that with me writing young adult fiction, people kinda look at you sideways when you say you enjoy torturing teenagers! Can you really blame them?

Follow Joey on Facebook or here on her blog to be kept up to date on the latest news regarding Joey and her books.

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: Things I Shouldn't Know

The Trials of a Cirme Writer: Things I Shouldn't Know

As with my last piece on this subject about my internet search history (found here), there are things about certain topics that I shouldn't have any knowledge of. I mean, the average crime reader these days has some idea about Forensics - even someone who casually watches something like CSI or NCIS knows that too. People often say that criminals are getting smarter, but I think it has more to do with the fact that there is often a play book on the TV or online that shows how to do certain things and not get caught.

Now the majority of my books that deal with crime have a murder plot. It's rare that I deal with any other kinds of crime, other than in passing. My latest book, WAITING ON YOU, is one of the exceptions to that rule. While I wouldn't class it as a crime or mystery book at all, it does include some aspects of criminal behaviour, which of course means that you have to either have watched enough of CASTLE or THE BILL to have some idea about what the police would do in those circumstances. It's not all blood, guts and gore.

However, there are some things that I have no business knowing. I touched on it slightly when writing the other piece in this series about search histories. I shouldn't know that there may not be something called the "perfect" crime, but there are possibilities that come pretty damn close. I am an avid consumer of procedural crime show - I love NCIS and CASTLE and will pretty much give anything a watch a few times if it's crime related and has piqued my interest. I also have numerous books on the subject - both fact and fiction and use those to plot murders (I'll have another piece talking about that) as well as what kind of things police look for when they arrive at the scene of a crime.

Due to the fact that the DYING THOUGHTS series focuses on Tara's ability to see the last moments of someone's life, I do deal a lot with the grisly details of death. I have a pretty good idea how long it would take to alert passers-by to a body on a hot summer day. I know the various stages of decomp, and while I'm nowhere near ready to start separating DNA samples and comparing them to suspects, I also have some idea how a crime lab works from my book, LYNNE & HOPE. These are all things that interest me, and are relevant to my job, but still, I wonder how much of it I just shouldn't know!

In one of the books I'm working on now, there have been a string of violent assaults and deaths. While the deaths are pretty straight forward, the beatings and violence have needed a creative mind. I didn't want the attackers to have a plan. I wanted them to try new things and use different weapons, so at one point they will have used bleach to blind and chemically burn someone, another time they will have just kicked, hit and slashed until they were happy with the damage caused. In another work in progress, I am dealing with a series of violent sexual assaults and murders. Whilst I did want an MO for these attacks, I also wanted them to escalate, starting with just kidnappings, moving onto violent rape, and then onto murder.

These are subjects that require a lot of creative thought and I don't know whether to be proud or horrified that I haven't really struggled to think up new scenarios for each of these pieces. There are some parts of the job that make me question the state of my own mind and staring at bodies in different states of decomposition is one of them. I guess you could say that I've always been rather morbid and at least I'm only killing people in print. Still, you do have to wonder. As they say in CASTLE, there are two kinds of people who sit around thinking up ways to kill people: Mystery writers and psychopaths. I think to think I'm the first.

Follow Joey on Facebook or here on her blog to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books.

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: Search History

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: Search History

I often wonder what would happen if I were to be suspected of a crime, and the police were to seize my computer and check what I'd been looking at. Is the fact that I'm a crime writer really going to answer to their queries as to why I was wondering how much damage industrial strength bleach could do to a person? What about when they discover the pages I looked at telling me what happens in the moments after death? Or the ones about how much acid would be needing to dissolve a body? Or even the ones looking for answers as to whether there is such as thing as a perfect murder?

Sure, I write YA fiction, but that doesn't mean the facts have to be any less accurate! I do wonder though, if I became famous, would I get away with killing a few people and claiming my search history was research? I'm not a psychopath, officer, I was just checking for my latest novel! I also wonder about the times that I've tested a theory. I'm sure those who have written their own crime novels have done something similar. They've handcuffed themselves and worked out how easy it would be to pick the lock, or they've put a tight zip tie binding their wrists and have to stay sat down whilst they slowly saw their way out with a pen knife...or is that just me?

It's all part of the learning curve and while it does take some time, you eventually start to realise that if you were to go on a murder spree, you would probably have a better idea about what to do with the body or bodies than the average person. I won't give you my perfect murder because I might need to use it one day and I find that putting these things online make the lawyers start the throw around the word "premeditated"!

Then again, it's not just the grisly crime stuff that litters my bookmarked pages and recently viewed history. I also have a pretty good idea about how an autopsy is performed, the manner of a corner's inquest in the UK and the pecking order in the CID branch of a police station. I also know, after years of wondering, what CID actually stands for: Criminal Investigative Division, though technically, isn't that the job of every police
officer?

I know where to hide a body to aid decomp, I know how to estimate time of death and I know various other tests to work out drug levels and other interesting facts once someone has died. I know how to hide the taste of certain poisons, or how to make a murder look accidental and I also know that if I keep going, then one day I may end up regretting posting this piece on the internet for all the world to see.

So, let's be honest. I could probably pick my way out of handcuffs and I know how a lock works, but at the same time, it's purely research. I don't intend to break into someone's house and commit the perfect crime. For one, I think it would be a lot more effort than just writing about it. I've seen a lot of quotes about crime writers and their search histories. One that springs to mind is this: "I became a writer because kidnapping people and forcing them to act out your plots is technically illegal". Only technically because if done right, no one would ever have to know!

I've killed a lot of people, all in print, all in various different ways. I have another piece planned about how many different ways you can kill someone. It's rather interesting when I'm writing the case details for Tara in the DYING THOUGHTS series because I don't like to repeat too many scenarios, I like to keep people guessing, which means that I have to go on the internet and search - or at least I do for the ones I haven't already thought of. Be warned though, I may not be a danger in person, but in print? My keyboard is loaded
and I'm not afraid to use it.

Follow Joey on Facebook or here on her blog to be kept up to date with the latests news regarding Joey and her books.