The Trials Of A Crime Writer: Research Matters

THE TRIALS OF A CRIME WRITER: RESEARCH MATTERS

I've talked about research before as a crime writer (piece found here) but I wanted to touch on it again because it's something that I think bears repeating, and it's been a while since I wrote that piece and the way I approach things has changed slightly. So settle in and let me tell you a few things I've learned about research and why it matters to the crime writer.

#1 - FACTS ARE FACTS
I've read a lot of crime books over the years and one thing that has rung true about all of them, is that they needed facts that might not have been available from just Googling the info. I personally have a couple of people I know in the UK police force that I can go to, just to make sure that what I'm writing has a hint of realism to it. That's not just for my crime books, but for any book that involves an air of mystery. For example, in the Cramping Chronicles series, I needed to know more up to date stuff and different things than I did for the Dying Thoughts series. One heavily used the police force, the other doesn't really have much contact with them. But in both cases, I talked to my contacts and made sure that the facts I was using, were correct, and would stand up to the plot.

#2 - KNOW THE RULES, SO THEM YOU CAN TWIST THEM
This can be applied to a lot of things, writing rules included, but for the purpose of this piece, I'm talking about the actual rules that apply to things like collecting evidence, or moving a body, or what order the officers arrive in, or how cases are divided up. You get the picture. If you need a certain thing to happen in a certain order, then you need to be doing the research to know if there's a reason that can or can't happen. And if it can't, you might be able to work out a way it can, but just be careful with how far off procedure you go because readers will notice that.

#3 - HAVE A BACKUP PLAN
This isn't just about research, but it's also a good idea to have a backup plan just in case you find out that your original idea doesn't hold water, or doesn't execute the way you expected it to. This can be having an alternative way for the evidence to lead them to the killer, or it can be a different motive for the crime, whatever you can think of that keeps your story intact but also allows for some wriggle room. I know that when I was writing Dying Thoughts - Eighth Ending, I didn't have a backup plan for the way things went down, and as it turned out in edits, that was a huge mistake as things had to be rewritten and rechecked through my contacts to make sure it would end up working.

#4 - USE ALL THE TOOLS YOU HAVE
When it comes to research, you want to be making sure you're making the most of what you have at your disposal. Whether that's Google, or books, talking to people in the field, or making connections with other crime writers, or Facebook groups that deal with checking facts. I have used all of these as tools to make sure that I have what I need, and I can help other people when it comes to checking their own facts. You need to be sure that you have good contacts and that the utilise all the tools you have, otherwise you might find your story falling short and no one wants that.

And finally, #5 - REMEMBER TO DOUBLE CHECK
I can't tell you the amount of times that I've gone to write something, that I know from past experience is right, to only look or ask and find out that I'm wrong, or the information I was given is only part of the story. So even if you've got a really good contact and you're really sure that everything is correct, always just double check it. It's better to spend a little time doing that, than to find yourself with only part of the truth, or worse, out of date information especially for the time period of your story. It's saved me a number of times, and I know it could save you.

So there you have it, my five tips on why research matters and how to make sure that the research you do is up to date, is correct, and allows you for a little artistic license. Research is a vital part of the crime writing process, but it's also awesome in other types of fiction. Overall, the best thing to do is be diligent and make sure that you have what you need.

Lemme know in the comments your tips on research and the best places you've found for research!

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Research: Just The Facts [CC]

And it's all about the research on today's #Authortube video!

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Guest Blog - Toni Bolton

Hi Guys, thank you to Joey Paul for letting me make this post. I am Dawn Bolton. I live in Knowle in a restored pub near the canal with my husband and two mischievous Birman cats who rule the house.

I love swimming, skiing and yoga/bodybalance. I love plants and particularly succulents. 

I base many of my novels on cases and facts I read about during teaching law in HE. One of my novels Escape from fear was based on the stalking and murder of our secretary in the university where I worked. 

I would like to introduce you to my romantic suspense/crime series Men of valour, women of steel under the name of Toni Bolton. If you like stories about ex-military men who solve crimes and have to work hard to earn the love of their feisty independent ladies, this series is for you. These are intense, dark romances with adventures and spice.

I also write historical romances under the name of Alexie Bolton. My inspiration was my history degree. Georgette Heyer inspired me to write the series Dreda’s men. Her Duke of Avon in ‘These old shades,’ is similar to my cynical detached Officer Francis Dreda in ‘The Spymaster’s redeemer’ who ruthlessly enforces the law in his civil war-torn state by the threat of imprisonment and the noose. He is blind-sided by a beautiful and defiant rebel’s daughter who he tries to save from the noose when he believes she has aided the rebels. The series is about the militia men who operate in a State security bureau after the Napoleonic war. Their ladies, are no ‘milk and water misses.’ They can shoot and fence and are a match for these ruthless ex-army men.

If you would like to contact me and receive my newsletter, please contact me on kixley@btinternet.com.

My Facebook page is Dawn Bolton’s author page at dawnpbolton@facebook.

Alexie Bolton’s books

The Spymaster’s redeemer

Love and the Law a romantic western in the anthology Streetlamps and starlight, edited by Tiffany Carby and Kathia Iblis, available now on Amazon and raising money for the American Cat Protection Society/

The Militia man’s lady

Toni Bolton’s books, series, Men of valour, women of steel.

Escape from fear, book one

Whisper softly or you’re dead, book two.

Saving baby Grace, to be released 7^th of July as a stand-alone novel but originally in the anthology Hey you, I think I love you edited by Cree Nations and Liberty Parker

You can follow Toni on Facebook.

Join Joey here on the blog on Fridays for interviews, reviews and guest bloggers. If you'd be interested in doing any of those, you can contact Joey here.

Info-Dumping & Why You Shouldn't Do It - The Creative Process

Info-Dumping & Why You Shouldn't Do It

As I've mentioned before in numerous posts, research is one of the many things a writer has to do when they're creating new worlds. Posts on this topic can be found here & here. It can be one of the more fun parts of writing, because even when a story is set in your own original world, you still need to carry out some world building and for that,  you get to use hard facts as well as your imagination. But the issue I'm talking about today is what is affectionately called "Info-Dumping", and it's something you really want to avoid at all costs.

Now, I can understand the attraction, and I've been guilty of doing it myself on occasion. When you've spent a good few hours, days or even weeks researching how a certain thing should be done (in my case, usually a murder or something equally grisly) then you want to be able to show off that you actually did do the research and include all that you can in the dialogue and exposition. However, nothing else will pull your readers out of the cosy world you've built faster than a fourteen page lecture on how forensics work, or how fast a certain car can actually go. It may be fun to include it for your own reference, but if there's no real need for a character to talk about it, or for the reader to know, then it shouldn't be there.

I am grateful to have my excellent editing team, who make sure that I don't go on for pages and pages about how DNA evidence is collected, tested and used to catch a suspect, but it wasn't always like that. Back in the early days of my writing career, I was very happy to include as much information as I could find on a certain subject and it wasn't until someone else read it and told me that it took away from the writing, that I began to see that it wasn't needed. I would spend hours reading about a certain forensic technique and would make copious notes, but would then find that actually I didn't need to write about x or y and while it was disappointing, you have to be firm with yourself and make sure that you're telling the story and not just giving people irrelevant facts that they could find on their own if they wanted.

I don't mean facts that are relevant, such as how your characters managed to track down a killer, or how they escaped from a bound chair when kidnapped: those things do need to be in your work. That becomes a case of showing and not just telling, which I'll discuss in another piece. A good way to think about the difference between the two is to think about what YOU would like to read if the story were written by someone else. Would you really want to know every detail of a contract that was signed and never mentioned again? Or would you prefer it be kept to a simple sentence or two? If you're using so much researched information that it becomes likely that you'll need to include a list of sources, then maybe it's about time to actually start thinking less is more.

I get why writers (myself included) want to include all that information. Like I said, it's an exciting prospect to have the facts to back up your fiction and to justify certain choices, but if it starts to look more like a piece of formal writing that you'd hand in to be marked by a teacher, then it's probably too much information. There is a certain level of pride that I know I have when I write something and know that it is as accurate as I could've made it, but sometimes as a writer you have to be happy to just know that you did your research and leave it at that. While something pivotal to the plot should be included, there really isn't any need to include what kind of toothpaste your character uses and their favourite flavour of ice cream. Just because you've thought of these things, it doesn't mean that your reader needs to know, or will even care. I mean, taking that example, unless the ice cream is going to be a clue that leads them to being rescued or if the toothpaste is actually poisoned, there's no need to tell your reader all the things you know about your main character.

So yes, sometimes less is more, and info-dumping is something that should be avoided at all costs. You're writing a work of fiction and that means that some things are sometimes better left to the imagination. If you could see yourself having the conversation with the character in a relaxed setting, then maybe it needs to be there, if not, do yourself a favour and scale back on the researched information. It certainly makes life a lot easier in the editing process at least! Your mileage may, of course, vary.

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

Guest Blogger: Wendy Jones

I'm joined today by Wendy Jones, an indie author who has just released her début novel Killer's Countdown. She has written a piece on Forensics and research to share here, and after which I'll share my review of her book, as well as links to buy it!

Thank you for inviting me to take over the blog today at Joey Paul Online. It is a real honour and a pleasure to be here.

For those of your readers who don’t know me, I live in the Beautiful Scottish City of Dundee. Although I am originally from Dundee, I moved away when I was 18 and returned only 3 years ago. In the intervening years I was in both the Royal Navy and the British Army as a nurse. I am a passionate reader, especially of crime fiction, and had always wanted to write crime books. Two years ago I took the bull by the horns and wrote my first book, Killer’s Countdown. The book launch for this was the on 17th November 2014 at Waterstones Bookshop in Dundee.

As I say, it is an honour to be here as your blog is a great tool for writers. As a fellow crime writer, I appreciated your post on The Trials of a Crime Writer: When research becomes unhealthy. I agree that there is an inordinate amount of research that goes into writing crime books. I too do a lot of research for my books and have done several courses on Forensics. Killer’s Countdown is the first in the DI Shona McKenzie Mysteries. During this book, Shona is in Tayside Police. Whilst I was in the process of editing the book, all the Scottish Police Forces merged into one big force called Police Scotland. This organisation has been very helpful and promptly dispatched a Police Sergeant to my house to help me understand the changes. We spent a pleasant few hours drinking tea, eating biscuits and discussing the finer points of police work. He then advised me to pay absolutely no notice whatsoever to what the police actually did, in a broad sense, as this would bore the readers to an early grave. Val McDermid has also said a similar thing. So, whilst I make sure that on the whole everything is accurate, I then play fast and loose with anything I want. For example, the Scottish Police are not armed. However, DI Shona and her team are always running around the streets of Dundee carrying firearms. The local police have even tweeted about this very fact. So, whilst I agree with everything you say in your blog, my motto is never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Where fiction is concerned anyway.

Thank you once again, Joey. It has been a pleasure to come along today and meet your readers. I hope they enjoy the book. 

First Book in the DI Shona McKenzie Series
Dead Women
A Ruthless Killer
A Detective with something to prove
Newly promoted DI Shona McKenzie struggles to cope with her new job, the respect of her colleagues, and the need to solve the hardest case of her life.
Will she succeed?

My review of Killer's Countdown:

5/5 stars. Highly recommended and very much enjoyed!

This was on my TBR list for a while, but thankfully I finally found time to read it and loved it! DI Shona is faced with the enormity of having to solve one murder when another and then another keeps popping up.They all seem to be random but they also seem to be linked. Can she find that link between them and then catch up with a killer who's skilled in many different ways and almost seems to be a ghost? You'll have to read to find out. This was my first reading of a book by Wendy Jones and I am not disappointed at all. I loved the prose, and the way it was written seemed to pull you into its grip and I soon found that despite it being almost midnight, I *had* to finish this book and know exactly what motivated the killer to set out upon a life of crime. It deals with some serious issues such as child abuse, bullying and neglect, but does so in a way that makes you relate to all the characters on some level. The level of accuracy in the book is outstanding and I could picture myself following along with the investigation as a silent shadow because the story made it seem as if I were there myself.

As a debut novel, it is excellent and I will be reading the next in the series when it comes out. Wendy Jones is someone to keep a watch out for. She writes believable crime and allows you to follow the characters as if they were real. Highly recommended and I loved every page of it!

Her book can be brought on Amazon Kindle (UK - USA), as well as in paperback and other e-book sites.

If you're interested in Guest Blogging for Joey, please contact her at bugbooks@virginmedia.com or comment on this blog!

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: When Research Becomes Unhealthy

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: When Research Becomes Unhealthy

One of the things that I don't like about my job, is the research that goes hand in hand with writing fiction. Some people say that you should only write what you know, but for me that seems to limit the imagination to only what you're sure about. With the need for more writers to expand their circle of characters to be more inclusive, it seems to be that writing is always going to include things that the writer themselves have not experienced. That of course, goes double for situations I write about that include crime.

I have never actually murdered someone, though like many other people, I have thought about what would be the "perfect crime". I have read various reference books in regards to crime, punishment and forensics, but that just makes sense to me given what my chosen genre is. In fact, I'm writing this piece just after completing some work on an introduction to forensics course that I took to give me more information about the process of catching a criminal. Of course, there are many crimes that you can research by talking to people who have been through the system, such as petty theft and possibly even some drug related crimes. Other more violent crimes tend to be hard to experience through talking with the convicted perpetrators and even if it  was possible, I'm not sure I'd want to go that far for authenticity.

One thing I have learnt in my forensic course is that there is pretty much no such thing as a perfect crime. Locard's principle sticks in my mind and essentially boils down to "every contact leaves a trace". Some of these traces are not even visible to the naked eye and unless you want to start carrying around a microscope and other heavy equipment, you're not likely to realise it's there. My main issue when writing a new book, or writing about a case Tara has been called to work on, is knowing whether or not it's something that the police would have picked up. Obviously, scientific discoveries have allowed the crime scene experts to know what to look for, and in that regard the police are pretty well versed in how to run a crime scene. The whole idea of some of my books is to think up something that they may have missed (such as during some of Tara's cases) or things that the killer has thought of and produced counter measures to make sure the police are lead in the wrong direction (as is the case with a couple of my books)

However, as I've mentioned before, there are only so many things you can learn from a course or a book and it's not unheard of for crime writers to act out, as much as they can, the exact scenarios they want their characters to go through. Although it's a work of fiction, a good example would be the ways in which Richard Castle in the TV series CASTLE, tests the strength and ways to break out of a zip tie. I've done similar things myself, and for the record, those bits of research I actually do like! For me it's the going through books and websites and videos to find the information I need that drive me up the wall. It's a necessary evil, but it has to be done if you want your reader to be able to believe that it's possible that the chosen scenario happened.

Yet, there is a line, I feel, for when you have to realise that all the research (and I mean book more than practical) in the world is not going to give you the information you want and therefore, you're either going to have to change the scene and use something else or you're going to have to find some hands-on evidence that backs up your story line. Research is all well and good so long as it actually helps you move on with the story. I do believe however, that eventually you have to stop reading the books and making everything perfect (or info dumping, which is something I'll discuss another time) and allow the story to unfold on its own. There is such a thing as too much research. While it is possible that knowing exactly how a DNA sample will be processed and the sheer number of statistics on your side as to whether or not the sample is individualised enough, there is also the possibility that your book will go from being a work of fiction, to almost like an essay on how wonderfully good forensics are. If you're going to keep the reader from feeling like they are doing research, you have to allow for some imperfection. After all, knowing how it should be done, doesn't mean that it is always done that way. Some of the best "mistakes" can make the most riveting reading!

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

Livin' The Indie Life Round-up for December 3rd 2014

#livintheindielife Round-up for December 3rd 2014

As an experiment yesterday I did a day in the life of an indie author on Twitter, Instagram and my Facebook. The idea was to use the tag #livintheindielife and do updates as to what I was doing. It worked quite well and I got some positive feedback. I'm hoping to do it again at some point and may even pair up with some other indie authors so we can all tweet, blog and all the rest on the same day to give our readers an idea of what it's like being an Indie Author.

Below is the roundup of each tweet, the two instagram posts and the one Facebook status I made. If you're interested in taking part in this in the future, you can as always email me at bugbooks@viginmedia.com. 

09:34 bit of an earlier start than planned, but Miss D is at school and I'm doing my morning stuff before writing #livintheindielife

10:40 had some tea, now time to catch up with @tumblr then I plan to do some #writing #livintheindielife

10:53 need to do some #research for a blog post so will be foregoing the start of #writing to get that done! #livintheindielife

11:44 still doing #research but getting ready to #write #livintheindielife #wordnerd #whyiwrite #beingawriter

12:17 I'm almost to the point where I can start #writing and doing more with my chapters. #livintheindielife

12:18 Just a reminder that I'm doing a day in the life of an indie author today on Twitter, Instagram and here. Keep an eye on the tag #livintheindielife to see how it goes!

And for an update, managed to get some research done, plan to get a blog post up soon and then go on with some review emails as well as trying to get my chapters done!

12:43 Biting down my anxiety and emailing three book blogs for reviews. I've been putting it off for too long #livintheindielife

13:13 Review emails have been sent, as well as a couple of requests for author spotlights. The work never ends! #livingtheindielife

13:14 With the admin work done though, I can now focus on #writing. I plan to finish this chapter before getting Miss D #livintheindielife
 
13:53 One chapter down and another in the works. Gonna have to take a break soon to do the school run, oh bother! #livintheindielife

14:17 laying the groundwork for Tara's first case in this book. Trying to stay out of the "zone" so I can leave soon #livintheindielife

14:25 Taking a break since I have to get Miss D soon, so looking for new books to add to my TBR list #livintheindielife #readingisgreat

15:35 Home for a bit after school run, but off out w/ Miss D for dinner in town so a break from #writing #livintheindielife

15:58 Off out to McD's for dinner w/ Miss D, after which I'll have all evening to do more #writing #livintheindielife

15:59 I want to try and finish this chapter and then tomorrow I can start bonus chapters! #livintheindielife

 

16:27 dinner out with Miss D means time away from the books but so worth it #selfie #livintheindielife #writing #whyiwrite

17:16 Just getting a blog post queued up ready and then back to #writing my chapter. Time to hit the zone #livintheindielife #amwriting

18:22 A full day of work time to relax, read and have a catch up w/ a friend #livintheindielife

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

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: Sometimes Book Research Isn't Enough

 

The Trials Of A Crime Writer: Sometimes Book Research Isn't Enough

If there's one thing I've learnt from my years as a crime writer, it's that research is the key to all the wonders of the book world. You need to know exactly how certain things work and sometimes there comes a time when looking a subject up online or reading about it in a book just isn't precise enough for you to find the words to convey what you mean and leave no doubt in the reader's mind. So, sometimes you have to think outside the box and do a little practical research.

Now, before you get worried, I'm not suggesting that you commit a crime of any kind to check and see how it would work. Nor do I suggest kidnapping someone to play out your nefarious plot. Yes, there are some things that you will just have to use the internet and books to find out about - like murder, rape and other inhumane crimes. What I'm talking about is when you get to the point in the book where you plan to have someone escape from capture, or link the killer via some kind of forensic evidence or other such plot device.

I know it's pretty hard to work out forensic evidence transfer and there are other options which I'll cover shortly, but for the moment I'll focus on the rescue from capture because I can speak from personal experience. When you have your character tied up and trying to look for a way to flee you can find that some hands on experience will work best. You can look at how the criminal mastermind would tie them up, get a friend to do the same to you and work out what is possible to do from that situation whilst bound. You can do the same with breaking the bonds of a zip-tie - it is possible, but it does take some know how and it's not something that easily explained so may require you delving into your own little practice session.

You also have to be careful to be clear how your character knows this stuff. If you've got a teenager who has never come into contact with zip ties in that way before, then it's unlikely that they'll be able to break them apart in minutes and escape. The same can be said for anything with a lock such as handcuffs. Sure if they're the crappy ones from the Pound store then it's likely that they'll be easy to get out of, but you still need to have some experience with how easy, and how obvious it would be to the captor. After all, why would they be using something that is obviously easy to escape from?

Now, back to the forensic evidence that provides the very clue that will link your perpetrator to the victim and the crime. Whether it's something like a stray hair, or a fingerprint lifted from what was thought to have been a wiped down surface, or even DNA from a drop of blood. Whatever you choose to be the smoking gun, the procedure needed to link it back to your criminal may not be as straight-forward as you think. After all, while there are some centralised DNA databases, there isn't just one for everything, and not everyone will have their fingerprints/DNA/etc on file. While the internet is handy for those little facts that you need, sometimes you need to be sure that what you're writing is correct and that's when your next piece of research comes into play. Real life experience.

Wait, I don't mean you, I mean people who work in the field. I know that there are numerous associations you can join once you've been traditionally published (and some for Indie authors as well) that will give you live access to people in your chosen field to help you with those pesky titbits of information that will make your story all the more credible. After all, it may not be obvious to the average reader, but it will be to those who have some knowledge of the inner workings of the forensics lab. For me, not having access to those sites, I have used real people who have worked in real labs and had real experience with similar cases. I have been lucky to have been able to track down sources through people I've met online. It's not just what evidence you will need to solve your case, but also how you get a sample to compare the two. For that you will usually need a warrant of some kind and depending on how things work in your own country (as it will vary from town to town, state to state and country to country) will depend on how much information you need to be able to get one of those lovely pieces of papers that will allow you to take blood, samples or fingerprints to compare to the ones you have.

Basically, try to branch out. Not everything can be found online, and not all options are available to all writers. A lot of the writer's guilds for crime writers I've come across have excellent resources, but unless you're traditionally published or making x amount of sales a month/year, you won't be allowed full membership and access to their information. Make connections in the writing community and you'll find yourself with real life people to compare information with, and that's the easiest way to solve a riddle that isn't covered in reference books.

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

Why Is Representation Important? - The Creative Process

(Image Source)

Why is Representation Important?

If I'm only able to achieve one thing with my writing, I would be happy for it to be the opportunity to show people that they can see themselves in my characters. One thing that's important for all forms of media is that they portray everyday people. Whether they are disabled or able bodied; black or white; religious or not; gay, straight, transgendered or bisexual; man, woman or gender-queer; from all different ethnicities. It's important for people of all ages to be able to read, watch and play media that allows them to see themselves in the story. Representation in the media is important for everyone.

There has been a lot of discussion in recent years about how few female characters there are that are anything but white. Of how many disabled people are equally represented in the films they see, the games they play and the books they read. I could go on and list all the minorities in the world who face oppression and erasure from these platforms, but I think you can tell who I'm talking about. As a white, bisexual, disabled female, I have experienced some of that erasure. While I cannot and will not talk for those who are not me, I can say that in general terms, there is a need to be recognised as a person. That means that there is a need for people reading books to be able to see their own struggles and achievements shown in their genre of choice.

I recently wrote a piece on being a disabled writer (found here) and have spoken somewhat about how young disabled adults and children need to see that just because you have a disability, it doesn't mean your life is over and that you will never amount to anything. As a young adult author, it is important to me that I am able to share characters who have disabilities. As a bisexual woman, I need to be able to do the same there as well. Diversity in fiction is not a bad thing. Why should the default character be a white man or woman? A young black teenager should be able to read a book and not have to accept that they will always be a background character, nor should a gender-queer teenager, or a disabled teenager. I'm not saying that all my characters are from minority groups, but I like to think that there is a mixture of them. I know that one of the books I am working on at the moment has people from a whole array of different ethnicities, religions, and sexual orientations. I can't speak for people from ethnic minorities using my own voice, as that is not my story to tell, but that doesn't mean I should ignore their oppression when I write about these characters and so there has been a lot of research involved, including a large amount of discussion with people from minority groups.

I am disabled though, and I do see a minor amount of disabled characters who don't fit a certain stereotype. I can think of three or four of my books that either have a major character who has a disability of some kind and I know that I will continue to write those characters because I feel that it is my duty to show the young disabled people of this generation that there are people like them who achieve greatness and that with a disability, you are not always condemned to living in the background, out of the limelight. I'm not saying all of this to toot my own horn and collect my trophy for making some of my characters deal with disability. I'm saying this because it's high time that the number of main characters in fiction reflect the number of disabled people in real life. The same goes for those who are a part of any other minority.

Representation matters and it's down to people in charge of the flow of media, such as writers, artists, record labels, toy companies, game designers and so on to start realising that it's no longer acceptable to push people from minority groups into the background, to make them 'redshirts', loveless extras, or the butt of jokes. The young people growing up now need to be able to see a character on the screen at the cinema or on the TV or in their favourite book or even simply in magazine adverts and think "that person's just like me!"

It is 2014, the twenty-first century, and racism is still rampant, gay rights are still being fought for, transgendered and gender-queer people are still scared for their lives, are still abused and ignored, and there is still a wage gap between men and woman. Isn't it time we took a step back and thought about all of this? Realised what we are telling the next generation? That unless they are a white, Western man, then they don't matter. Their needs are not important. They don't need role models because they're always going to be "background" characters. Is that really what we should be telling our children? I, for one, don't think so.

So, yes, representation is very important. The internet is full of places to research and opportunities to talk to people from minority groups, and while it is not their job to educate us just because we demand they do, there are still numerous resources to access to be able to write these characters realistically and give the next generation a chance to realise that yes, they are different, but they are not any less important or any less awesome. That's why representation matters to me.

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Questions from Readers - Part Five

A few weeks ago, Joey asked on her Facebook page for anyone with questions to email her about her books, being a writer, being disabled and anything else. This is the second batch of answers, feel free to send your own questions to Joey via email to bugbooks@virginmedia.com and she'll include them in the next post she does.

How much planning do you put into one book? How much research do you do?

It really does depend on each book. Some plots are ones that I can work out with little research needed. Others are outside of my own comfort zone and I rely a lot on information from people, websites and books. I like to be as accurate as I can be, but I also don't want to info dump into a book when it's not needed so I have to be careful not to add too much information than necessary. For the DYING THOUGHTS books, I am usually only using information that I already know. There is some research needed, but not all that much. For other books, such as my seventh which is due out next year, I had to do a bit more research and planning to make sure that I had all the information I needed. As far as planning goes, I am a meticulous planner. I make sure I have chapter plans and character note cards (for every character, even very minor ones) so that I can look back and make sure that as I write the book there are no continuity errors. Of course, sometimes they do happen, but I have a great editor who is good at not only spotting them, but also knowing what I meant to happen.

Who's your favourite character to write?

That's a hard one. By far, Tara is the character that I write about the most. I'm working on the sixth book in the series right now and it feels like I have grown up with her in regards to my writing career. However, I do like and love some of the characters I have created for standalone books. I don't think I've ever really written a character that I don't feel a connection with as a write. I also love the secondary characters, such as Kaolin or Tara's Dad. I guess though, that because of the amount of time I have spent with her, I do have a bias towards Tara. She's been there since almost the beginning and she's still there now.

What do you prefer, writer or author?

In terms of what I call myself,  I will prefer to use the term "writer", but I would class my job title as "author" so I don't really have that much of a preference. I figure they both mean the same thing, except that author is usually only used for people who have been published. I would say that the term author denotes more a profession than a pastime, but personally, I like both and I use them interchangeably. 

Why do you write so many books in advance? Why not just release all the ones you have finished straight away?
When I started writing, I was full of ideas and never really wanted to wait for a publisher to sign me up before I wrote another book or two. I also was very aware of my health conditions and the limitations they had over my life. Although I am now an indie author and have a lot more control over when and how often I publish, I do prefer to keep some books "in reserve" so to speak. I like the idea that I am able to wait and then if I do not finish another book as quickly as I would have liked, I still have one ready to be published. It would take a lot of work for both myself, my graphic artist and my editor to get all the books I've written out and published ASAP. It could be done, but I do not work well under pressure and do not want to be worried about how long it takes me to finish a book, or how long the editing and after process takes. My way works for me and I'm happy with it.

How easy is it to be an indie writer?

That really does depend on how you look at it. As I have said in the past, there are pros and cons of both routes. When you are signed on by a traditional publisher, you have a lot of the behind the scenes work done for you. They will help you with editing, cover design, promotion and all those things that you don't realise you'll need until you're faced with doing it yourself. That said, being an indie author is not that hard. With the age of e-books upon us, it is low cost to publish under your own label or with a smaller publishing house. There are sites like Amazon, and Smashwords that will take care of the distribution of your books and other sites like Createspace that do that for hard copies. However, you need to find a proof reader or if you want a more detailed breakdown, an editor. There are lots of them out there who are independent and who work only with indie authors. I follow more than a few on my Facebook page. Alongside that, you need to find someone, or have the skills yourself, to design a cover and any promotional graphics. You need a Facebook page and you need to get it noticed - again, not as hard as it may seem when you use some of the pages dedicated to helping indie authors. You need to have some idea about where to start, when to run promotions or coupons and how to market your book, and yourself to the general public. It's hard work and it's not all free. You need to set a budget and be realistic about it. You can't just expect other people to work for free and you can't expect to press "publish" and then have the royalties roll in. If people don't know that your book is out there, how are you going to make money? It's not easy, but it's also not impossible, there are an abundance of resources for indie authors and you need to find some connections to make the most of those resources. I've been under the Bug Books label since 2005 and I'm still learning the ropes!

Do you ever get confused whilst writing two books at once? 
A lot of people ask me this, but what I do is not something that's unusual for many writers. I am by no means the first or the last writer that has more than one project going at once. I may be in the minority of writers who write full length novels at once, but it's not as strange as it may sound. I plan a lot and I always go through the previous two chapters before checking my chapter plan and carrying on with the story. I can honestly say that I have never gotten confused. I think it's because usually I'm writing both a standalone and a DYING THOUGHTS book, so they are both very different. 

Do you ever feel like writing more than two chapters of one book and not switch to the other? 
Sometimes, if I'm fully in the plot and know that I'm about to do a big reveal and then end the chapter and switch over to the other book I do feel like just carrying on. I don't because if I did that, I would probably never get the other book done! I have never been so stuck with one that I have given up and written more of the other. I like setting things up in previous chapters and then coming back and thinking "Oh yes, now I get to tell/show the reader this!" and it excites me and off I go.

How long have you been disabled?
That depends on how you define "disabled". If you mean how long have I been sick, most of my life. If you mean how long have I used a wheelchair, since I was twenty.

Do you ever get so stuck with a book that you stop writing it and leave it unfinished? 
Yes, a couple of times I have started a book, written a couple of chapters and realised that I am just not able to finish it. Both times I have come back at a later date, switched a few things around - like the whole plot, but keeping the characters - and started again. One of those times was with the original story of LYNNE & HOPE I had planned for Hope to be disabled, but I didn't plan for Lynne to be her sister, or even alive. She was going to be a ghost that haunted Hope's house and wanted her to solve her murder. The second time, I changed everything but the religious aspect and that has turned into one of the books I'm writing now.

Have you ever based a character on yourself?

I think in a way, a little part of me ends up in every character I write. Whether it's my use of sarcasm or the my view on certain things. I infuse myself into every character. However, I have not based any characters completely on myself. People don't want to read about one person over and over, they want new people and so I try to keep the characters unique and as unlike me as possible.

Do you have any pets?
I do, I have two cats. Miss Penne, who's a black, white and ginger cat and Miss Spaghetti (also called Hetti) who's a black and white cat. I named them both after types of pasta. It's a tradition that started with a kitten I was given when I was fifteen. My mum wanted me to call her something "different" and since my favourite dish at the time was Macaroni Cheese, she was called Macaroni, after her came Tagliatelle and now the two I have at the moment.

Why did you choose to write in the young adult genre?
When I started writing my first book, I was part of the young adult genre. I was nineteen and I felt it was easier to write for people my own age. Since then I have found that I prefer to write for young adults because you can get away with things like psychic powers and seeing ghosts.

Do you ever intend to write books for adults?
I have no plans to at the moment, but that's not to say that I won't ever write for adults. I read mostly adult crime fiction as well as some "chick lit" and romance, but I can't imagine myself being able to write stories that would appeal to older people. Having said that, I do know that there are some older readers of my books, but I don't see myself writing about Tara when she reaches her twenties.

Where do you get the ideas for your titles? 
Usually the same place that I get the ideas for the stories. They just come to me. Sometimes they arrive before the book idea does, other times they don't become clear until I've already started the book. 

Do you ever intend to release your books as paperbacks? 
I do, I am waiting on the new front covers from my graphic artist so that they can be released with the updated covers. Once that is done, she'll make them into a book format and the books currently released will come out as paperbacks too.

Do you play any musical instruments? 
I do, I play both the Ukulele and the Oboe. I actually sing in a band called "The Rocking Dodars". I write the songs and my band mates do the music and then I add a vocal track. 

What do you do to relax and have fun?
I read, I watch TV, I play online and I play Ukulele. I don't have as much spare time as I used to with university and such, but I try to have a few hours in the evening to unwind and do something fun.

If you could spend a day with anyone living or dead, who would it be and why?

If it had to be someone I knew personally, I was spend it with a friend of mine who died in 2008. her name was Lynn Gilderdale, but I knew her as Jessie Oliver. I would talk to her, catch up and just spend time being with her. If it was someone I didn't know then it would probably be someone like Harlan Coben or Sue Grafton who are both writers that I admire greatly.

What are you studying at uni?
I am a few days from starting my fifth and final year for a BA/BSc (Hons) in Health and Social Care. 

Follow Joey on her Facebook page or here on her blog to be kept up to date with everything Joey related. If you have a question for Joey, you can email her at bugbooks@virginmedia.com.