Welcome again to Mysteries and Margaritas! We love having you stop by. This is a special place for writers to share information, enjoy a conversation with each other and push our craft yet farther than we would have done on our own. In that vein, I'd like to do something a little differently today. Rather than write about me, interview a fabulous person, or pick a topic that would get us all jumping around, today I'd like to collaborate on a resource file.
I find that a lot of my research happens on the Internet. I think that's true for most of us. I have a number of sites that are my "special" go-to's that always seem to be there. You know, the ones that can tell you whether it's "lay or lie," what gun would be best handled by a woman and still have stopping power, what the uniforms look like for police in San Francisco, how to set off a bomb without being nearby, what is the scoop on xyz publisher, which conference turned out to be the most bang for the buck...I could go on and on.
So, today I'm issuing a challenge. Post for us the sites you love or hate- the ones that you have bookmarked- the ones that we all should find out about. I'll list a few of my favorites and then add to it as the day goes on. Yup, we know about RWA, local chapters (unless you have an unusual one), and some of the other national orgs (MWA, for example). What I'm looking for are those that most of us might not find. YOU know what is out there. Don't forget to include the URL if it's not obvious. Spill. I'm going to only put out a few now. I'll add to it as the day goes on. This is a tease.
At the end of the day, I'll assemble the full list and post that so we all can use the information.
A few of Cassy's frequently visited sites:
CrimeSceneWriter www.crimescenewriter.com
Lots of great information from experts in any field you can imagine that has to do with criminal activity. Guns, bombs, crime scene info and so on. Really friendly people from backgrounds all over the spectrum.
Alexandra Sokoloff www.alexandrasokoloff.com
It doesn't matter if you write screen plays or not. Alex offers some great tips and processes for putting the story on the page and keep it moving. She is very generous on her web site to provide almost step by step techniques to keep the interest of the reader. She also has a book many have found useful. Click on the side bar that is about Screen Writing Tips.
Drugs and Poisons www.drugsandpoisons.com
Wanna know what's out there and what it can do to your poor victim?
Forensic information in a friendly format. http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/
This is a chatty but fun site that has lots of information
Doug Lyle, MD www.dplylemd.com
Doug is fantastic at offering all sorts of medical information on anything you can imagine related to the health care world. He is particularly good with the gruesome. He has published widely and is readily available for questions.
I have many others, but now it's your turn. Let's make our list fun. A romance writer? What do you use? A paranormal fan? Okay, what? YA? You know the question. Language use? Craft? Advice? Organizations that make a difference for you? Contracts (Jeff, join in here!)? Important sites for agents (Christine? Are there ones we might not know about?)?
Game on.
13 comments:
Great post, Cassy. Excellent sites! Here are several other sources I find helpful:
Lee Lofland's page, The Graveyard Shift is all about Police procedure and investigation and is aimed at writers.
A useful site if you're writing a PI is Guns, Gams and Gumshoes. It's hosted by two PIs who write, Colleen Collins and Shaun Kaufman, and they're always ready to answer questions.
On the publishing side, Pimp My Novel is very educational. Rather than the agent/editing end of things, Eric focuses on what happens after a book's been acquired. Very instructive for newbies like me.
Great suggestion! I'll start my list to post later. I do know those sites and totally agree with you that they are super. Thanks for offering them up.
Here are a few Cassy-
If you're looking for an agent or publisher http://www.querytracker.net/ is easy to use, free and you can set up an account easily to track your queries.
If you have a story set in Europe I've found these site helpful for foreign names-http://www.behindthename.com/
http://surnames.behindthename.com/
Great, Lindsay. Our list is growing. It will fun to see the range of interests by day's end. Thanks for posting that.
I love this idea! I'll be back with some -- when my laptop died, my "Favorites" got left on the old hard drive, but I'm going to see about getting them off there and onto the new computer today.
There are some great resources here already. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!
P.S. My code word is "epitat" -- that's a little spooky! LOL
Here are several other links I use, some more than others.
For research, even something weird or unusual I've found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
to be the best especially for the unusual.
And for business cards, custom t-shirts and the like Vistaprint can't be beat. For that link you'll have to Google the name since when I go there it comes up with my account. And no you can't use my account.
If the links I've listed there is one that I use daily. As a matter of fact after checking my emails I go to. That is after at least one cup of coffee.
There.
My day isn't complete without checking you ladies out
Thanks, Lindsay! That's a wonderful thing to say. I'll compile the list just a little later, giving our west coast friends a chance to chime in.
Donna: Your in the hot spot. Let us know your list when you can. Boy do I hate it when my computer poops out on me. It's like losing your right arm. Chime in any time it works for you.
Great idea, Cassy. Here's mine:
For free translations:
http://www.freetranslation.com/
To find out what words you repeat:
http://www.wordcounter.com/
For help writing a blurb:
http://www.leighbale.com/extras.html
To find out what publishers are paying:
http://www.brendahiatt.com/id2.html
Okay, I've cheated a little here by cutting and pasting what has already been posted. But everyone was so generous with bits of explanation, I couldn't bear leaving that out.
I'm happy to make a master file if folks want to continue to send in entries. We can update it on some irregularly planned time frame. Not to worry if a posting is off topic of the particular posting for that day. We'll "get" it and try and keep on top of it.
Thanks everyone. I'll check back in the morning to see if there are more to add. Until then, here is our beginning list:
Lee Lofland's page, The Graveyard Shift is all about Police procedure and investigation and is aimed at writers.
A useful site if you're writing a PI is Guns, Gams and Gumshoes. It's hosted by two PIs who write, Colleen Collins and Shaun Kaufman, and they're always ready to answer questions.
On the publishing side, Pimp My Novel is very educational. Rather than the agent/editing end of things, Eric focuses on what happens after a book's been acquired. Very instructive for newbies like me.
http://www.querytracker.net/ is easy to use, free and you can set up an account easily to track your queries.
If you have a story set in Europe I've found these site helpful for foreign names-http://www.behindthename.com/
http://surnames.behindthename.com/
For research, even something weird or unusual I've found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
to be the best especially for the unusual.
And for business cards, custom t-shirts and the like Vistaprint can't be best.
For free translations:
http://www.freetranslation.com/
To find out what words you repeat:
http://www.wordcounter.com/
For help writing a blurb:
http://www.leighbale.com/extras.html
To find out what publishers are paying:
http://www.brendahiatt.com/id2.html
Okay, I've cheated a little here by cutting and pasting what has already been posted. But everyone was so generous with bits of explanation, I couldn't bear leaving that out.
I'm happy to make a master file if folks want to continue to send in entries. We can update it on some irregularly planned time frame. Not to worry if a posting is off topic of the particular posting for that day. We'll "get" it and try and keep on top of it.
Thanks everyone. I'll check back in the morning to see if there are more to add. Until then, here is our beginning list:
Lee Lofland's page, The Graveyard Shift is all about Police procedure and investigation and is aimed at writers.
A useful site if you're writing a PI is Guns, Gams and Gumshoes. It's hosted by two PIs who write, Colleen Collins and Shaun Kaufman, and they're always ready to answer questions.
On the publishing side, Pimp My Novel is very educational. Rather than the agent/editing end of things, Eric focuses on what happens after a book's been acquired. Very instructive for newbies like me.
http://www.querytracker.net/ is easy to use, free and you can set up an account easily to track your queries.
If you have a story set in Europe I've found these site helpful for foreign names-http://www.behindthename.com/
http://surnames.behindthename.com/
For research, even something weird or unusual I've found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
to be the best especially for the unusual.
To be continued.
The list over ran the allotted words of this blog. So it's in two parts, hence the look of confusion. Or maybe that's from me... Anyway, here's the rest of the submissions.
And for business cards, custom t-shirts and the like Vistaprint can't be best.
For free translations:
http://www.freetranslation.com/
To find out what words you repeat:
http://www.wordcounter.com/
For help writing a blurb:
http://www.leighbale.com/extras.html
To find out what publishers are paying:
http://www.brendahiatt.com/id2.html
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