Mystery Writers' Other Hats - CrimeSpace2024-03-28T12:03:00Zhttps://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/537324:Topic:117966?commentId=537324%3AComment%3A118243&feed=yes&xn_auth=noI'm a movie critic, do politi…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-02-12:537324:Comment:1236532008-02-12T00:06:40.589Zed goldberghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/edgbooks
I'm a movie critic, do political commentary and am a classical DJ. I also write essays for a monthly paper.<br />
And Fleur, fiction and reporting find common ground at Fox News.
I'm a movie critic, do political commentary and am a classical DJ. I also write essays for a monthly paper.<br />
And Fleur, fiction and reporting find common ground at Fox News. I'm a copyeditor for a newswi…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-26:537324:Comment:1197092008-01-26T15:22:43.760ZJohnny Ostentatioushttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnnyOstentatious
I'm a copyeditor for a newswire service. Works out well because the hours are noon to 8:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. The job doesn't wipe me out mentally, so I can write two hours each night.
I'm a copyeditor for a newswire service. Works out well because the hours are noon to 8:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. The job doesn't wipe me out mentally, so I can write two hours each night. In my second year of High Sch…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-25:537324:Comment:1193832008-01-25T21:31:00.531ZGeoff McGeachinhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/GeoffMcGeachin
In my second year of High School the English teacher said I had great potential as a writer. So I became a photographer. On the plus side I got to travel a lot, meet some incredible people and see some amazing places – inside submarines, inside volcanos, trekking through Java a couple of years after Sukarno’s ‘Year of Living Dangerously’ and watching Atlantic City on the Jersey shore magically transform itself from a rundown coastal resort to a run down coastal resort with…
In my second year of High School the English teacher said I had great potential as a writer. So I became a photographer. On the plus side I got to travel a lot, meet some incredible people and see some amazing places – inside submarines, inside volcanos, trekking through Java a couple of years after Sukarno’s ‘Year of Living Dangerously’ and watching Atlantic City on the Jersey shore magically transform itself from a rundown coastal resort to a run down coastal resort with casinos.<br />
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Photographers spend a lot of time waiting; waiting for makeup, waiting for weather, waiting for light, waiting for six hours while a traditional Chinese junk under sail tacks slowly up the harbour in Hong Kong so you can frame it against a luxury hotel – before Photoshop of course. This was great watching and listening time. Someone worked out over a 20+ year career a photographer might shoot 500,000 frames at an average 1/60th of a second which adds up to only a couple of hours in actual exposure time. That leaves a lot of time for watching and listening. And building that great mental storehouse of things that a writer can draw on.<br />
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Now I teach photography and write - finally. I’m on book 3 of a series where the protagonist is a spy working undercover as a globetrotting photographer – go figure. At least I know all the camera detail is 100% accurate. And a chance remark I overheard when I was a 19 year old shooting a wedding became the starting point for my most recently published book. Have you read Victor Gischler…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-25:537324:Comment:1192232008-01-25T13:18:10.490ZJohn McFetridgehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JohnMcF
Have you read Victor Gischler's <i>Pistol Poets</i>?
Have you read Victor Gischler's <i>Pistol Poets</i>? See, I think that people who…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-25:537324:Comment:1191152008-01-25T04:28:02.324ZKaryn J. Powershttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/karyning
See, I think that people who front these boring job titles are actually clandestine operators who don't want the rest of us to know that they have the power to determine the exact date and time when the average 45 year old smoker who drives a red sports car more than 10 kilometers to work will have a collision with the 17 year old unlicensed sus chef who is driving his girl friend's mom's car home from a 48 hour rave.<br />
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Start quoting average life spans to those white male, over-50, yawning hat…
See, I think that people who front these boring job titles are actually clandestine operators who don't want the rest of us to know that they have the power to determine the exact date and time when the average 45 year old smoker who drives a red sports car more than 10 kilometers to work will have a collision with the 17 year old unlicensed sus chef who is driving his girl friend's mom's car home from a 48 hour rave.<br />
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Start quoting average life spans to those white male, over-50, yawning hat racks and see how fast you get their attention. Of course it might not be the same kind of attention Christa's Career Day presentation receives. I am a consultant for the Fed…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-24:537324:Comment:1188532008-01-24T16:23:28.499ZDana Kinghttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DanaKing
I am a consultant for the Federal government. (Yes, one of those.) I was a musician in a previous life, and the detective in my as yet unpublished series has a musical background. I have also taught school, and I'm considering a sub-plot for a future work that involves a school. I think this is where "write what you know" is most useful, in the details.
I am a consultant for the Federal government. (Yes, one of those.) I was a musician in a previous life, and the detective in my as yet unpublished series has a musical background. I have also taught school, and I'm considering a sub-plot for a future work that involves a school. I think this is where "write what you know" is most useful, in the details. Great story, Jeff. I may have…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-24:537324:Comment:1188472008-01-24T16:05:35.889ZElizabeth Zelvinhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/lizzelvin
Great story, Jeff. I may have to change strategies from DPM ("Don't pick me!") to BSP. ;)
Great story, Jeff. I may have to change strategies from DPM ("Don't pick me!") to BSP. ;) When I was asked, during voir…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-24:537324:Comment:1188102008-01-24T14:31:43.316ZJeff Markowitzhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JeffMa
When I was asked, during voir dire, what I do, I told the judge that I run a non-profit community agency and also write murder mysteries. It didn't get me off the jury and, in retrospect, I'm glad it didn't. Because, as I was leaving the courtroom a week later, after the trial had come to an end, the court clerk asked me if I was willing to be contacted by the plaintiff's wife. It turned out that the plaintiff's wife was the President of the Friends of her local library. She had gone to the…
When I was asked, during voir dire, what I do, I told the judge that I run a non-profit community agency and also write murder mysteries. It didn't get me off the jury and, in retrospect, I'm glad it didn't. Because, as I was leaving the courtroom a week later, after the trial had come to an end, the court clerk asked me if I was willing to be contacted by the plaintiff's wife. It turned out that the plaintiff's wife was the President of the Friends of her local library. She had gone to the store that first night and bought my book. By the end of the trial, she'd finished the book, and apparently, she enjoyed it. Several months later, the library purchased multiple copies of both of my books and invited me to do a book talk. The library paid me a very respectable fee for my appearance. And I sold more books at the appearance. Jury duty was, quite possibly, my single most lucrative book event last year (and that's before I add in the $5 a day that the county paid me for jury duty). I'm a lawyer - I represent ki…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-24:537324:Comment:1187432008-01-24T11:21:19.433Zhelen blackhttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/helenblack
I'm a lawyer - I represent kids going through the care system.<br />
Neglect, abuse, violence...crime writing is kind of light relief.<br />
HB x
I'm a lawyer - I represent kids going through the care system.<br />
Neglect, abuse, violence...crime writing is kind of light relief.<br />
HB x I'm a gaming industry program…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-24:537324:Comment:1186502008-01-24T04:40:04.806ZDaniel Hatadihttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/danielhatadi
I'm a gaming industry programmer by day and by gaming I mean poker machines. At parties, conversations usually go like this:<br />
<br />
Partygoer: So, are they rigged?<br />
Me: No, but they're highly regulated. The probabilities are designed to give a strict return to the player, etc. etc. (This works well if I want their eyes to glaze over and have them move on)<br />
<br />
Partygoer: Can you fix them? Then we can share the profits.<br />
Me: If I was going to, I wouldn't be telling you.<br />
<br />
Partygoer: How do you win?<br />
Me: Just…
I'm a gaming industry programmer by day and by gaming I mean poker machines. At parties, conversations usually go like this:<br />
<br />
Partygoer: So, are they rigged?<br />
Me: No, but they're highly regulated. The probabilities are designed to give a strict return to the player, etc. etc. (This works well if I want their eyes to glaze over and have them move on)<br />
<br />
Partygoer: Can you fix them? Then we can share the profits.<br />
Me: If I was going to, I wouldn't be telling you.<br />
<br />
Partygoer: How do you win?<br />
Me: Just don't gamble.<br />
<br />
My favourite was when I met an Irish girl in a pub and she put her fingers up in the shape of a cross and called me Satan. Us programmers, we're such party animals.