#sleuthsayers

[earhartsease]

pitch for a show about a detective who can glimpse the future, title: The Sleuthsayer

and he's constantly chasing the criminal who always lies: The Soothslayer

and then of course the final battle is with the detective's archnemesis who can also glimpse the future: The Sleuthslayer

[kristinkisska]

Ale You Need is Love

Below is the transcript from my guest post on the crime fiction blog, Sleuthsayers. <You can read the original post here>

Confession time.

I’m not a beer drinker. Never have been. In my early days of enjoying spiked beverages, I reached for wine coolers (shoutout to my two college friends, Bartles and James). Then Scotch whiskey, both single malt and blends, took over as my libation of choice. These days, I favor crisp Italian white wines.

Which is a long way of saying, I was in store for some fun new-to-me research to help craft my short story of suspense, “Not Yo’ Mama’s IPA” in Murder, Neat, a SleuthSayers Anthology. I took Happy Hour fieldtrips to a few of Richmond, Virginia’s finest brew pubs. Tasted flights of beers. Studied the origins of IPAs, as well as the proper way to pour and serve. Did you know India Pale Ales (a.k.a. IPAs) have their own dedicated glassware? I didn’t when I started plotting my story idea.

Well, then if not beer, what inspired my story, you might wonder?  An insurance statement delivered by snail mail not so long ago. Sexy? Maybe not, but I found it pretty compelling.Kristin Kisska © Lindsey Pantele Photgraphy

As the beneficiary of my husband’s life insurance, I received what would be the final premium invoice for his term policy. That auspicious morning, I’d ripped open the envelope, looked up from the paystub to him, and joked that for one final year, he’d be worth more dead than alive—crime authors can be sensitive and thoughtful that way. It’s a good thing my husband shares my humor!

But my muse took my dark quip, noodled it for a while, and ultimately ran with it. What would it take for someone to cash in on a loved one’s expiring policy? How deep and dark would an injustice need be to give them motive?

Let me introduce you to Lynn and Jack, the unlucky-in-love, beer-drinking couple at the heart of my short story of suspense, “Not Yo’ Mama’s IPA”. Lynn finds out that ignorance can indeed be bliss…until the truth hits you like a sledgehammer.

Happy reading!

For the true crime enthusiast with an interest in insurance as motive for murder, I recommend reading the creative nonfiction, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, which dramatizes the chilling story of serial killer on the loose in Chicago at the turn of the twentieth century. The murderer, H.H. Holmes, mastered the art of convincing his many victims to take out insurance policies with him as the beneficiary. Spoiler alert ~ his prey had a very short life expectancy after signing on the dotted line.

Insurance fraud can be deadly.

At the end of the day, you may or may not find me savoring a fine IPA at happy hour. But one thing I’ll forever be preaching from my soapbox is, don’t let your life insurance policy be used as a weapon against you.

Note ~ No real-life husbands were harmed in the plotting of this short story. On the contrary, mine enjoyed being my plus one as I conducted my IPA and brewery research. I’m happy to report that we both survived the expiration of his insurance policy.

Cheers, y’all!

[thedurvin]

Make up ten things challenge: apps and online services you get ads for but never totally understand what it is they actually do

Twisp

Sweatbolt

EnLocker GC

Shouldr

Heedu

Pyx Online

Moonjack+

Sleuthsayer

CreditBudgie

Whichness

[overcoatundercover]

(psst the starlight sleuthsayer investigative consulting offices are currently on hiatus until the end of the perigee due to Some Fuckery)

[wrenderart]

Anyways here's some character design I've done for a story I'm gonna start working on! Meet Hazel Sharpe and Apollo Dame, a private investigator and her assistant in a noir type detective setting. Also Apollo is psychic.

(click for quality)

[overcoatunderwear]

Boo! OuO You're a sneaky little troll, aren't you?

(eep!! psst yes that is me, i am rather sneaky, as a sleuthsayer...)

[jackalgirl]

Also the peplos, which is basically the dorian chiton, which was worn in post-Roman Britain for hundreds of years.  There’s a really good article on Sleuthsayers (which I think I’ve posted before) about what really goes into a fully hand-made article of clothing that really hones in on why this style of clothing would be near-universal and also persist into modern days: https://www.sleuthsayers.org/2013/06/the-3500-shirt-history-lesson-in.html

With regard to Saris, I heartily recommend Chantal Boulanger’s Saris: An Illustrated Guide To The Indian Art Of Draping (Goodreads listing: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1020215.Saris).  So many options: dresses!  Skirts!  Pants!

Costume. Chitons.

[sagewhite]

Uncomfortable In-Between

Human beings are the message of something greater. With the growth of the internet came the long awaited acceptance and love for our feline counterparts. The often assumed introvert with an even longer list of impossible feats made possible. All with the quiet and ease of a practiced professional. Cats are interesting when compared to our other more extroverted furry friend, the Dog. Dog’s were made to be stupid and humble, or made to need our constant praise and command. They live with the idea that you are the one thing outside of themselves that gives them meaning. Whereas the Cat might be more inward looking. They’ve long accepted that they are the best cat. The only cat. And they live like this the rest of their lives no matter where they may be coming from. They are all equally aware of themselves.

My standard issue cat, Celeste, is my companion and my shadow. She is a golden thread woven into the fabric of my life. She is my greatest inspiration and also the reason my wallet is always empty. When I look at her bumbling through life with confidence I wonder why I resort to standing still in fear of doing what it is she does. She might fall and bring a glass or two down with her or scream and wake everyone up because she is in pain but she is as pleasant a friend in equal measures. My Celeste is her own entity vibing in the sanctum of my home. Out of all the pets I have met in my life, I’m hoping she will be the most consistent.

I grew up a child without borders. Meaning I was a wild concentrate of potential. I could expand or shrink in any which way and without anyone's say-so. I was unadulterated in my youth and I went where the wind carried me. This meant that I made my home in the cozy comforts of old long since dead poets and among the literary few of whom life altered. Some might call my childhood perverse and treat me with contempt. People don’t like women who are argumentative and smart and they try very hard to destroy that very foundation in its infancy. I struggled to mask myself and make myself far more palpable for the growing world that I found demanded my attention with increasing vitriol. But with entering a world that was not designed for me, I found a cruel indulgence in needing to remind the world of my existence while also looking as good as I want to look. My biggest inspiration is Celeste.

Being in your 20’s, it’s like you can look behind you and see where you started. You can look ahead of you and see The End. And all around you is pitch black nothingness. You are in the middle of a long journey and suddenly you have become aware that the choices you have made along the way were made completely in the dark. And every choice ahead of you is also completely in the dark. Inside this void of nothingness you cannot see anyone else, but they cannot see you. Meaning that while you are bumping along in the nothingness so are other people. We are all aware how out in the cold we are on this rock that is zooming around a thing that you cannot touch or that it doesn’t even comprehend you that is dead set on blasting off into that ever looming nothingness. Human being’s have been gifted this awesome power of self-awareness in a world that probably shouldn’t be aware of itself. We are all cramped passengers in a delayed subway or bus wanting to forget where we came and hoping to like where we end up. In a whole, we are just the beginning of something amassed. We are the uncomfortable in between.

- sleuthsayer

[kristinkisska]

"Game On!"

Thank you to author Barb Goffman who featured my guest post, "Game On" on her Sleuthsayers Blog byline today.

As a former-finance professional, I find the use of Game Theory relevant in fiction, especially crime fiction and suspense.

You can see the full post <here>.

[overcoatundercover]

(whispering is a big part of being a sleuthsayer. never know who could be listening. you gotta master the art of saying things directionally loud enough for your audience, but too quiet to make out from peeping ears)

[kristinkisska]

Got Poe?

Below is my post on Sleuthsayers blog.  

'Tis the season for all things spooky and macabre. Which all-time classic author comes to mind this time of year?

For me, it's Edgar Allan Poe.

I have a few things in common with the Father of the Detective Story. We both have called Richmond, Virginia and New York City home. We both share an affinity for ravens. And we both studied at my alma mater, the University of Virginia.

If you aren't familiar with Poe's UVA college days, here are a few factoids you may enjoy:

Seventeen-year-old Poe enrolled at UVA on February 14, 1826--yes, Valentine's Day--and remained through the full academic year, which ended in December.

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, former US president, and founder of UVA passed away five months after Poe moved to Charlottesville. Though not confirmed, it is likely Poe met Jefferson at school functions and attended the memorial services held to honor the University's founder, including by wearing a black arm band.

Poe had an impressive athletic record while at UVA. He was a record-breaking swimmer, having swum six miles against the current on the James River. His running broad jump distance was 21' 6" with a running start of twenty yards.

Of the eight academic schools possible to enroll in at the time, Poe registered for two (modern and ancient languages). Of note, most students in those days enrolled in three schools, but Poe couldn't afford the extra fifty-dollar fee.

He was secretary of the University's Jefferson Debate Society.

Poe lived in a section of UVA's original academical village called The Range. His single dorm room, coincidentally and ominously No. 13, is now referred to as The Raven Room.

Mary Stuart Smith described Poe's dorm room (May 17, 1899) ~ There was one window, and opposite it, a door, both furnished with green blinds. There were two closets, one on each side of the open fireplace, with a book shelf, a single bedstead, a table, a wash stand, and a small travelling trunk. The walls were whitewashed, and adorned with quantities of spirited sketches in charcoal, drawn by the skilled fingers of the two-fold artist who was its occupant.

While living in 13 West Range, Poe etched a verse on the glass pane of his window:

Oh Though timid one, do not let thy

Form slumber within these

Unhallowed walls,

For herein lies

The ghost of an awful crime.

His nickname was Gaffy, the hero of a short story he wrote and read allowed to several classmates who had gathered in his room one night. According to legend, Poe flung the pages into the fire, destroying the only copy, after a friend noted it had repeated too often.

Poe wrote Tamerlane while at UVA. Later the University influenced two of his short stories, "William Wilson" and "A Tale of the Ragged Mountains."

Poe had a strained relationship with his uncle, John Allan, who was his guardian at the time and limited Poe's funding. By the end of the 1826 academic year in December, Poe had resorted to burning his furniture to keep warm. When he left for winter break, Poe had every intention of returning to UVA the following February, but . . .

Allan refused to continue financially supporting Poe at school, so he never returned to the University. Thus, he never graduated from college.Poe left behind many personal debts, which Allan refused to settle. Worth noting, a century later, the University's librarian, Harry Clemmons, paid Poe's outstanding library fines.

UVA commissioned the sculptor George Julian Zolnay to create a bronze bust of Poe to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of his death.  The bust was displayed in Alderman Library before the renovations commenced this autumn.

If you ever visit Charlottesville, Virginia, stop by No. 13 West Range. UVA restored and furnished Poe's old dorm room to its period-appropriate spartan glory, though I suspect the  raven statuette was added later.

...Evermore.

Sources: The University of Virginia, Albert and Shirly Small Special Collections Library, The Raven Society, Bookman by C. W. Kent (1917), and Edgar Poe and the University of Virginia by F. Stovall (1969).

You can read the entire post online here. 

[kristinkisska]

Travel Bug

Fifty-two years ago today on August 21, 1968, the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the loosening of communism known as Prague Spring. With that as a setting, I wrote a short story of historical suspense, “Czech Mate.”

You can read it at the link within today’s SleuthSayers’ blog post, Travel Bug. Below is the text from my post:

You always want what you can't have.

When it comes to this old adage, I'm no exception. There's a lot that we can't have right now:

Hugs.

A morning spent writing in a cafe surrounded by the cheerful din of other coffee-drinking patrons.

The concert-on-the-lawn that I had tickets to attend tonight, but is now rescheduled for August 2021.

Browsing the book collection inside my local library.

Even a day so normal, that before last March I would've found it downright boring. Now, I'd consider it blissful.

I'm guessing I'm not the only one missing the old ways. Am I right? But, do you know what I really miss most?

Travelling abroad.

Back in my take-on-the-world twenties, I was bitten by the travel bug. Big time. There was something about wandering unknown-to-me streets, meeting new people, eating exotic meals, and exploring a country with my backpack, a map, colorful currency notes, and my dogeared multi-language translation dictionary that gave me a rush. I thrived on the adventure.

Four continents, thirty-seven countries, and countless foreign cities, towns, and villages later, I'd collected so many border-control stamps, the American Embassy in Prague added pages to my passport. Those were heady days.

Then came grad school back across The Pond, a mortgage, and kids...you know the story. My urban-trekking days became a thing of the past. I'd traded schlepping my backpack for a diaper bag.

Until...I started writing suspense fiction.

While I didn't fully resurrect my globe-trotting days again (I wish!), I've learned to virtually immerse myself in a new culture without leaving my town. I nerd-out on combing through satellite images of foreign cities, watching subtitled/dubbed movies, checking out documentaries, eating--and sometimes even attempting to cook--the traditional foods, reading travel books, blogs,  fiction written by local authors, and regional history books to learn historical context and evolution. I've listened to language-on-tape lessons and interviewed people from there and friends who recently traveled to my setting.

For the most part, I've conducted my travel research with a potential crime story in mind, usually contemporary. A few years ago, though, I wanted to write a story depicting the intoxicating days of Prague Spring, which restored freedoms to an oppressed people. It didn't last long. At midnight on August 21, 1968 (exactly fifty-two years ago today!), 5,000 Soviet tanks rolled across the borders to occupy then-Czechoslovakia and reinstate hard-line communism. The Czechoslovakians took to the streets to protest. Unsuccessfully. It would take another twenty-three years before they would finally free themselves from Soviet rule.

Despite having lived in Prague for three years and cultivating an understanding of a people who had suffered generations of oppression, I had much to learn about the circumstances surrounding Prague Spring. I'd only been an infant that summer of 1968, so even my Czech peers didn't have a living memory of the invasion or the soul-crushing aftermath.  So, I dug in hard to learn as much as I could. In all of my Prague Spring research, two videos I found online were particularly influential in helping me shape my story:

A three-minute montage of video clips of live footage from the invasion protests, which was used in the film, Unbearable Lightness of Being (based on the novel by Czech author, Milan Kundera).

A Prague Spring documentary, which includes a moving vignette (minutes 30-34) about the Czech radio workers who risked their lives to continue broadcasting from underground hideouts after the main station was occupied by Soviet soldiers.

Thus, my short story of historical suspense was born. It was Romeo and Juliet set amid the crushing events that ended Prague Spring.  "Czech Mate" was published in Malice Domestic's MYSTERY MOST GEOGRAPHICAL (Wildside Press, 2018).  

You can read my story here

.My current crime fiction research is taking me to Italy and Russia.  Where would you like to visit (virtually or in real life)?

[kristinkisska]

Instant Expert

Prevailing advice to writers--be they newbie or seasoned-- is to write what they know. So, what's a crime writer to do?

Let's be honest, when was the last time you held up a bank? Shot someone at point blank? Solved an arsonist's attack? Tested the effects of poison? Foiled a villain hellbent on world domination?

Well, it's 2020, so I guess anything could be possible in our current state of crazy, but for most of us, I'm guessing the answer is never.

Me, too.

But--in my humble opinion--not being an expert in something is no excuse to not to write about it. Here are a few ways to get a leg up on experience:

Become a method author.

 Want to know what would happen if a character ran out of a police precinct at full tilt?  Give it a try. Want to know about shoulder kickback from firing a certain gun? Mosey on down to your local firing range and reserve a lane. Want to do donuts in your car? Find an empty parking lot, throw on a helmet, and skid your heart out. You get the idea. If the activity is legal, go for it.

Caveat ~ consider giving someone a heads up before you try something even a little bit sketchy.

Location, location, location. Does your setting exist? Consider (re)visiting it. The best way to get a place's sensory vibe is to visit it, ideally during the time of day/year when you plan to feature it in your fiction. My (unpublished) contemporary suspense novel is set at the University of Virginia during the deathly quiet of spring break. I'd planned to write a chase scene through Alderman Library's stacks, so when I visited UVA's grounds, I videoed myself running the exact path my main character would run around the floors crammed with shelves of old books, restocking carts, wooden carrels, and mini-stairs to access other half-floors. I figured out how my main character would encounter and use certain obstacles to her advantage to escape the antagonist's clutches. Bonus ~ ask a local to give you a tour. If you're lucky, you'll find out out unique lore or details that will surprise (in a good way) even readers who know the setting well. In Alderman Library, my guide  took me to see a massive boulder that had been preserved in a tucked-away basement utility room.  Who knew? Not me, and I'd frequented the library during my four years as an undergrad student at UVA. Interview an expert. Chances are, if you ask around, you can bank on six-degrees-of-separation to find those in the know. Make connections to build a resource network that includes an approachable police officer (though they might be preoccupied these days), a lawyer, a medical professional, a mechanic, a journalist, and a psychologist. Check in withe fellow crime writers to see if they'll share relevant experts to add your virtual Rolodex whenever you can. And when you tap into their knowledge, don't forget to thank them with a beverage of their choice and a mention in the acknowledgements section of your book.

Read primary sources. When I wrote my short story of suspense, "Czech Mate," I was at a distinct timing disadvantage as the historical event I was depicting--Prague Spring--occurred while I was an infant. But I found some invaluable journal posts on international blogs with moment-by-moment accounts of how the Soviet invasion progressed and shared the authors' personal experiences as the tanks rolled in and the Czechs took to the streets to protest. This boots-on-the-ground insight was both personal and relevant, and I was able to use it to craft the emotional and historically accurate feel of the game-changing political event. When in doubt, Google it. Writing a street car chase? Check out google maps using their satellite view to see what landmarks and details your character will zoom by. Have a character who is a medical patient? WebMD.com offers symptoms of a wide range of medical disorders, diseases, and injuries. Need help analyzing the blood spatter your novel's victim left behind? Check out this Introduction to Forensic Science YouTube video <here> before engineering your crime scene. Or need technical details so your novel's forensic pathologist can determine your victim's time of death? This tutorial <here> itemizes how a body decomposes after death can help you accurately set the stage. In the age of information, the answers are out there somewhere. But be sure to vet your sources before relying too heavily on them. How do you become an instant expert when you write crime?

My original Sleuthsayers.org blog post as published on June 19, 2020 can be found here.

[kristinkisska]

Zero Dark Thirty

Today on SleuthSayers blog, I posted the following (you can read the original post here):

I have a confession to make. Eleven weeks into our weird safe-at-home reality, and I've barely scratched the surface of my (admittedly) ambitious quarantine To Do list. Way back in mid-March, I had such grand plans with all the extra time on my hands.   ~ Finish revising my WIP novel.   ~ Draft a short story for an upcoming anthology   ~ Read the TBR books that threatens to overtake my nightstand. You may even remember my debut SleuthSayers post <here> wherein I suggested several productive writerly activities. Did I listen to myself?  Nope. As March blended into April, my day job commitments dwindled along with the tanking economy. I found myself with even more unstructured time available for writing. Did I tick anything off my To Do list?  Double-nope. Processing the pandemic seemed all-consuming. Instead of revising, I devoured a constant stream of COVID-10 news updates. I watched in horror as New York hospitals overflowed with patients. Instead of writing, I sewed masks to donate to frontline staff who were desperate for PPE. Instead of reading, I helped my kiddos with their online schooling.  Don't even get me started on Zoom-fatigue or strategizing about our family's once-per-week stealth grocery shopping adventures. Honestly, I didn't think fiction--even the dark kind we crime-hounds write about--could get any weirder than our post-apocalyptic reality. Then came the murder hornets.

Something weighed heavily on me, beyond the underlying anxiety from our crazy new normal. About a month into our quarantine, I had an ah-ha moment. I missed writing. For me, not only has writing always been my link to sanity, but it can be an escape from my day-to-day worries. Without it, I felt a little lost. But since my quarantine time seemed to be occupied from sunrise to way past sunset, how would I carve out a routine dedicated to writing?

The answer hit me in the form of my good ol' writerly friends at #5amWritersClub (a.k.a. my writing tribe). In case you're not familiar with #5amWritersClub, it's an informal support group of early-riser writers on Twitter. If these pre-dawn writers could be stereotyped, I'd say they tend to be self-deprecating coffee-aholics who cheer each other on through missed alarm clocks, writers block, life's hiccups,and of course, chasing words. How does one join #5amWritersClub?

Fortunately, it's easier than hitting snooze when your alarm goes off.  This informal group works on a drop-in-when-you-can basis. Over the years, I've participated when my daily writing time vanished, usually when my kids' schools were on summer or winter breaks.  Here's how:

Join Twitter. Have an account?  If yes, then you're all set to roll.  No? Just go ahead and setup your free account and Twitter handle. Don't forget to upload a profile photo.  Need help? Step-by-step instructions can be found <here>.

Tweet. Sometime between 5am and 6am in your time zone, Tweet a check-in note.  You can wish people good morning, mention your project, something motivational, or even complain about accidentally sleeping through your third alarm.  No pressure, just be sure to include the hashtag #5amWritersClub in the Tweet so other group members can find you.  Bonus points - add a humorous or coffee-related gif video clip to your Tweet.

Write. Log those words. This is your golden hour.

Like. Once or twice during the hour, hop back on Twitter to like other #5amWritersClub Tweets from that morning.  Pro tip -- if you're new to Twitter, this is how you will find lots of other writers to follow.

Friday donuts. The group's tradition is to celebrate T.G.I.F. by sharing virtual donuts. Since the pandemic started, some members have even met virtually on Zoom on an occasional Friday.

Done. At the end of your hour, there's no need to report back or check out, but fee free to like a few more #5amWritersClub Tweets to support others in your same trenches.  And don't forget, the next time zone to the West's members will be checking in behind you.

Since rejoining #5amWritersClub, I've gotten my writing mojo back. With even a few new words on the page each day, endorphins would rush through my psyche in a feel-good wave. In a world that was getting weirder by the day, writing was something I could control. I was creating again. I've even checked off one of my To Do items, drafting the new short story. Progress on several fronts! What have you been doing in our New Normal to bolster your writing?

[kristinkisska]

Hack This

Did you catch my Hack This post on SleuthSayers.org last Friday (April 17, 2020)? 

If not, here you go:

Manipulating time, space, characters, and settings are several of the logistical elements fiction writers juggle while revealing their story. A story's minutia may not be as challenging to manage when an author writes chronologically. However, when the structure is more complicated, such as bouncing back and forth in time or by telling the story through multiple point of view characters, keeping track of details such as who did what, when and where can be tricky. How did the crime unfold? At what point did which character know which clue?

If you're lucky, any mix-up made will be passed off as a red herring. If not, you risk unwanted confusion, killing suspense, drawing the reader out of the story, or potentially spoiling a twist.  Savvy readers will call you out on your goofs every time.  Ouch. What's a detail-challenged mystery writer to do? Whether you are embarking on a new project or already revising, here are a few hacks that have helped me keep my writerly ducks in a row.

Write chronologically. I'm a chronic Plotter (except for the one novel I attempted to Pantster my way through, but I'll save that fiasco for another post). No matter how I envision the structure unfolding, I always write my first draft of any story chronologically. By doing so, each character--by default-- will never know more than what I've already revealed in the story/backstory. It also helps to keep my insider plotting information from seeping out too soon.

Color-coded sticky notes. I've written two (not yet published) novels and several short stories, which all utilized a time-hopping before/after narrative. Before and after what, you may ask? Usually some traumatic event.  In on particular novel, I braided three point-of-view characters on this before/after sequence and quickly learned I was juggling more than just a story-line. As you can imagine, each character's emotions, voice, and perspective, changed substantially before and after said event. Only a few chapters in, I soon realized that keeping track of six different voices was chaotic ambitious.

What did I do? I resurrected a favorite time-honored analog technique--sticky notes and a long piece of yarn. In this image of my dining room table, the horizontal blue yarn represented the novel's traumatic event (in this case, the death of one of the POV characters), all the notes above the yarn represent chapters occurring after said event, and all the notes beneath the yarn occurred before.  No surprise, each POV character has their own color (blue, orange, or yellow), and on the face of each note, I list the chapter's primary plot developments.  Here's my hack: I numbered each sticky note in their alternating before/after chapter sequence that I expected for the final draft, but then reordered them chronologically (all the *before* sticky notes followed by all the *after* ones) to finish writing my first draft.  Voila! Graph Paper Timeline. In my work in progress thriller novel, the historical narrative spanned four generations of Slovak women surviving world wars, German occupation, and communist oppression. Even though I wrote the scenes chronologically, setting a fictional family among the first world atrocities of the twentieth century, I needed to be extra careful remembering which character had a living memory of current and past events. This time, my dining room table wasn't long enough for all the sticky notes I'd need for a one hundred year guide.

Instead, I taped together several pieces of graph paper. Each square represented one year, segmented off in five-year intervals. Below my horizontal black timeline are all the European historical events I felt relevant enough to impact my characters' (fictional) lives. Above the line are the lifespans of my novel's primary characters (each is assigned a different color), which identified their major milestones (birth, marriage, children, death). Finally, I drew vertical black lines intersecting my fictional and non-fiction events, one per historical chapter. This way, I was able to keep track of what current and historical details my characters would have known at any give chapter. Anything to the right hadn't happened yet. I found my timeline hack to be especially helpful during my not-so-linear revision process. While nothing beats a good editor, fact-checker, or critique partner, creating scaffolding for your story can help you manage the unwieldy business of building a fictional world. What writer hacks do you lean on to keep track of details?

[overcoatundercover]

Whenever I see you, I look into your eyes and wonder, “what deep secrets hide behind those observant eyes?” I wonder who you’ve met, and what you’ve seen. I wonder who you will meet, and what you have yet to see. In you, I see experience and potential. I see deep wisdom and boundless curiosity. And yet, there are things I do not see. I do not see where you have been or what you have experienced. Your eyes hide much, but in doing so, they show who you are. My message to you is this: The eyes are the windows to the soul. Hide them when you wish to hide who you are. -The Heartseer.

(psst this is very poetic of you, whoever this may happen to be)

(the lookstubs are certainly a reasonable indicator of certain things about a person, the fatigue or hope or whatnot visible in their expressions and visible level of fatigue)

(that said i cant resist a bit of a snarky response, as its befitting of a sleuthsayer like me:)

(what do you think my wide-brimmed hat is for, if not to shade my stubs from the world around me)