Authors

Published on: August 30, 2012

Verisimilitude: Cops, Crooks, & Fictional Lawyers: Just the Facts, Ma’am

By Laura Orr

Writers: if you are not a cop, a lawyer, or a librarian (to name only 3 professions that appear a lot in fiction), please do your homework. There are lots of cops, lawyers, and librarians who would be happy as clams to advise you on whether or not your character meets the verisimilitude test.

1) An NPR Saturday Edition (8/25/12) interview “For Writers, The School Of Hard Cops” with Crime Writers Consultation made me wonder if real police officers “learn” how to be cops from TV cops the way some ordinary folks think one can learn court civil and criminal procedure from watching TV

2) While wandering the Multnomah Central Library shelves one cold, rainy afternoon not long ago, I came across this book: “Just the facts, ma’am : a writer’s guide to investigators and investigation techniques,” by Greg Fallis, Writer’s Digest Books, c1998.

Continue reading →

Published on: November 7, 2011

Sherman Alexie on Honesty and Trust and Young Readers

By Laura Orr

This article is making the rounds of the librarian community and I thought it might interest some of my readers, many of whom are parents or writers.

June 2011 article by Sherman Alexie, in the Wall Street Journal:

Why the Best Kids Books are Written in Blood

Published on: May 11, 2007

What Would Nero Wolf and Archie Goodwin Charge for their Services?

By Laura Orr

How much and for what services should the state pay private investigators in capital cases?

The May 10th Willamette Week has a very interesting story about how the state is or is not paying for adequate legal defense services in capital cases, specifically in this case with defendant Ricardo Serrano. The WW blog posting’s comments have additional information.

May 11th postscript: If the information I received today is correct, the decision was made in this particular case to pay the private investigator standard rate.

Continue reading →