When I Grow Up…. By Shannon Curtis
One thing I love about writing is the research involved. As an author, I get to contact people and ask them questions about how something works – or how they work!
My first experience with this was a friendly discussion with my sister-in-law (who is a police officer with NSW Police) about how police would respond to a death in a hospital. This was pretty interesting, and I learned how cops interact with hospitals and the coroner on cases such as this. But that then led to me contacting the Coroner’s Court and speaking with staff at the Dept of Forensic Medicine – I wanted to know what they would find if my hypothetic al murder victim turned up, how long testing takes (hint: not as quick as CSI would have you believe!) what would be red flags, how things could be disguised, etc.
Let’s just say those folks at the Dept of Forensic Medicine are very smart, very savvy, very helpful … and very twisted with suggestions on ‘how to kill a character’. Awesome folks, with fascinating information.
I’ve had the opportunity to tour a perfume factory, and find out how scents are made, the process a fragrance developer goes through to make a sunny-smelling laundry powder, or a pleasantly-scented cleaning agent… or a sinfully sensual killer fragrance.
For my first novel,
Viper’s Kiss , I needed information on how the Seattle Police Department would handle certain situations. I also needed to know information about the outstanding Special Forces, and
Bob Mayer was extremely generous and patient with supplying those details to me. I also got to research smoke bombs – and this is going to sound so juvenile, but that was a hell of a lot of fun. I also got to interview Elizabeth Saunders, a genuine Information Technology Services Librarian at the University of New South Wales, who gave me a considerable amount of material for my heroine, Maggie Kincaid.
For my second novel, Guarding Jess (due out from
Carina Press on May 14), I was very fortunate to contact
Ms Jacqueline Whitmore, who was so kind and generous with her time and expertise as I researched etiquette – which is a whole new level of fascination!
I guess, for me, this is what makes writing so much fun for an author. I get to talk to the most fascinating people, about the most interesting things – and they don’t realise how fascinating their lives are to me, or how interested I am in what they do and why.
When I was growing up, I wanted to be a federal police detective. I wanted to be involved with murder mysteries, drug and jewellery heists and secret agent stuff. Then I found out a) you have to be really smart, go to university, etc, b) it’s an idea to be fit, c) you can’t discuss cases with friends or family, and d) it’s really dangerous!
*****
You can find Shannon at:
www.shannoncurtis.com
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