Literary Classics Book Awards & Reviews

Always reblog the Real Life Disney Prince. Pay attention boys, this is how it’s done.

Medicine

A Study In Physical Injury

Comas

Medical Facts And Tips For Your Writing Needs

Broken Bones

Burns

Unconsciousness & Head Trauma

Blood Loss

Stab Wounds

Pain & Shock

All About Mechanical Injuries (Injuries Caused By Violence)

Writing Specific Characters

Portraying a kleptomaniac.

Playing a character with cancer.

How to portray a power driven character.

Playing the manipulative character.

Portraying a character with borderline personality disorder.

Playing a character with Orthorexia Nervosa.

Writing a character who lost someone important.

Playing the bullies.

Portraying the drug dealer.

Playing a rebellious character.

How to portray a sociopath.

How to write characters with PTSD.

Playing characters with memory loss.

Playing a pyromaniac.

How to write a mute character.

How to write a character with an OCD.

How to play a stoner.

Playing a character with an eating disorder.

Portraying a character who is anti-social.

Portraying a character who is depressed.

How to portray someone with dyslexia.

How to portray a character with bipolar disorder.

Portraying a character with severe depression.

How to play a serial killer.

Writing insane characters.

Playing a character under the influence of marijuana.

Tips on writing a drug addict.

How to write a character with HPD.

Writing a character with Nymphomania.

Writing a character with schizophrenia.

Writing a character with Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Writing a character with depression.

Writing a character who suffers from night terrors.

Writing a character with paranoid personality disorder.

How to play a victim of rape.

How to play a mentally ill/insane character.

Writing a character who self-harms.

Writing a character who is high on amphetamines.

How to play the stalker.

How to portray a character high on cocaine.

Playing a character with ADHD.

How to play a sexual assault victim.

Writing a compulsive gambler.

Playing a character who is faking a disorder.

Playing a prisoner.

Portraying an emotionally detached character.

How to play a character with social anxiety.

Portraying a character who is high.

Portraying characters who have secrets.

Portraying a recovering alcoholic.

Portraying a sex addict.

How to play someone creepy.

Portraying sexually/emotionally abused characters.

Playing a character under the influence of drugs.

Playing a character who struggles with Bulimia.

Illegal Activity

Examining Mob Mentality

How Street Gangs Work

Domestic Abuse

Torture

Assault

Murder

Terrorism

Internet Fraud

Cyberwarfare

Computer Viruses

Corporate Crime

Political Corruption

Drug Trafficking

Human Trafficking

Sex Trafficking

Illegal Immigration

Contemporary Slavery 

Black Market Prices & Profits

AK-47 prices on the black market

Bribes

Computer Hackers and Online Fraud

Contract Killing

Exotic Animals

Fake Diplomas

Fake ID Cards, Passports and Other Identity Documents

Human Smuggling Fees

Human Traffickers Prices

Kidney and Organ Trafficking Prices

Prostitution Prices

Cocaine Prices

Ecstasy Pills Prices

Heroin Prices

Marijuana Prices

Meth Prices

Earnings From Illegal Jobs

Countries In Order Of Largest To Smallest Risk

Forensics

arson

Asphyxia

Blood Analysis

Book Review

Cause & Manner of Death

Chemistry/Physics

Computers/Cell Phones/Electronics

Cool & Odd-Mostly Odd

Corpse Identification

Corpse Location

Crime and Science Radio

crime lab

Crime Scene

Cults and Religions

DNA

Document Examination

Fingerprints/Patterned Evidence

Firearms Analysis

Forensic Anthropology

Forensic Art

Forensic Dentistry

Forensic History

Forensic Psychiatry

General Forensics

Guest Blogger

High Tech Forensics

Interesting Cases

Interesting Places

Interviews

Medical History

Medical Issues

Misc

Multiple Murderers

On This Day

Poisons & Drugs

Police Procedure

Q&A

serial killers

Space Program

Stupid Criminals

Theft

Time of Death

Toxicology

me: 

myself: did what update

me: that story i was reading

myself: you mean the one we’re writing

me:

Well, this is called a “flanken cut” and was actually unheard of in traditional Korean cooking. In traditional galbi, the bone is cut about two inches long, separated into individual bones, and the meat is butterflied into a long, thin ribbon, like this:

In fact, the style of galbi with the bones cut short across the length is called “LA Galbi,” as in “Los Angeles-style.” So the “traditional Korean barbecue” is actually a Korean-American dish.

Now, here’s where things get interesting. You see, flanken-cut ribs aren’t actually all that popular in American cooking either. Where they are often used however, is in Mexican cooking, for tablitas.

So you have to imagine these Korean-American immigrants in 1970s Los Angeles getting a hankering for their traditional barbecue. Perhaps they end up going to a corner butcher shop to buy short ribs. Perhaps that butcher shop is owned by a Mexican family. Perhaps they end up buying flanken-cut short ribs for tablitas because that’s what’s available. Perhaps they get slightly weirded out by the way the bones are cut so short, but give it a chance anyway. “Holy crap this is delicious, and you can use the bones as a little handle too, so now galbi is finger food!” Soon, they actually come to prefer the flanken cut over the traditional cut: it’s easier to cook, easier to serve, and delicious, to boot! 

Time goes on, Asian fusion becomes popular, and suddenly the flanken cut short rib becomes better known as “Korean BBQ,” when it actually originated as a Korean-Mexican fusion dish!

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/is-corned-beef-really-irish-2839144/

The Irish immigrants almost solely bought their meat from kosher butchers. And what we think of today as Irish corned beef is actually Jewish corned beef thrown into a pot with cabbage and potatoes. The Jewish population in New York City at the time were relatively new immigrants from Eastern and Central Europe. The corned beef they made was from brisket, a kosher cut of meat from the front of the cow. Since brisket is a tougher cut, the salting and cooking processes transformed the meat into the extremely tender, flavorful corned beef we know of today.

That meal came about either in London or the North of England where Jewish immigrant fried fish venders decided to team up with the Irish cooked potato sellers to produce the meal everyone associates with the UK.

White

also: pale; blanched; sallow; pallid; waxen; spectral; translucent; albino; 

Grey

also: dust; stone; pepper;  

Black

also:  coal; slate; dusky; ebon; shadow; murky; 

Tan

also: flesh; khaki; cream; tawny; 

Brown

also:  henna; russet; sepia; chestnut; cocoa; drab; bronze; 

Red

also: terracotta ; rouge; carmine;  fire-engine; ruddy

Orange

also:  pumpkin ; rust ; 

Yellow

also: sunny; amber; saffron; hay; straw; platinum; 

Green

also: viridescent; grass; jade; forest; 

Blue

also: turquoise; cyan; ultramarine; royal; aqua; aquamarine;

Purple

also: berry;  amaranthine;

Pink

also: flushed; candy; cherry blossom; petal pink ; 

—– source: http://ingridsundberg.com/

In 2016, I self-published my first Theonite book on Amazon in the interest of retaining total creative control over the series (I’m egotistical like that), and I have self-published two books since.

Now, the act of self-publishing itself is easy thanks to the magic of digital distribution (literally, all you need is a .docx file of your story and an image with text on it to serve as your cover). Making a career out of it in a sea of indie and traditionally published books? Not so easy.

I’ve boiled my words of wisdom down to three things I SHOULD have done before publishing but only got good at later on. 

While I’m most familiar with indie publishing, I’m confident that the following advice holds true for writers looking into traditional publishing as well. Leigh Bardugo uses the same email marketing service I do, R.F. Kuang’s website is built from the same template as mine; it’s pretty general stuff. So, here we go…

Three things to do BEFORE publishing your book:

1. Build a Newsletter

Much as we all love our social media followers, newsletter subscribers have a far better track record when it comes to actually buying books and engaging with your work. I recommend starting a newsletter with Mailchimp, a free service that lets you curate mailing lists, customize sign-up forms for your different platforms, set up automated emails, basically everything under the sun you might need. 

Since I started my newsletter, it has been my most valuable tool for selling books, sharing news, and building meaningful relationships with readers who like my work. There are three ways I would go about growing your mailing list prior to having anything published:

The obvious: Pitch the book. “Hey guys, I’ve got this awesome book coming out about these things, and this is the awesome cover/concept art, [with maybe a quote or tagline]. Subscribe to be the first to receive updates if you like f/f romance / Japanese fairytale retellings / LitRPG fantasy / quirky space opera / idk, whatever the genre is!”

The generally more effective one: Offer free content. “Like this writing sample that I have posted on Tumblr / Ao3 / whatever? Subscribe to my author newsletter to get a free short story or novella or something!” You can use whatever piece of writing you’ve got handy, so long as you think it will attract the kind of readers who will eventually be interested in your book.

Good if you’ve got the money or books to spare: Run a giveaway of a popular book in the same genre as yours. “Subscribe to my author newsletter to win a paperback / hardback / signed copy of [insert title here]!” Writing a high fantasy? Give away a Stormlight Archives boxset. Publishing an Asian-inspired fantasy, like I did this past winter? Run an Asian fantasy book giveaway (like this).

The more newsletter followers you can amass before a book comes out - and the more you engage with them - the better it will launch.

2. Use Social Media

Yeah, I know I just said that social media followers aren’t as receptive to an author’s books as newsletter subscribers. But you know a great way to get newsletter subscribers without dropping hundreds of dollars on ads? Tumblr. Facebook. Instagram. Youtube. I’ve had the best engagement on Twitter (despite a pretty small following), but your mileage may vary, depending on your genre and type of content you post.

You’ll have the best luck if you use your social media accounts to post content related to the kind of books you want to publish. For instance, I wouldn’t try to push your thriller novel on your baking blog… I mean, you could try? Let me know how that goes.

3. Have a Website! 

Nothing fancy necessary, just an aesthetically-pleasing well-organized place potential readers can get more information about you and your work (NOT your Tumblr. Seriously, unless you have the user-friendliest theme in the world, this is not a nice thing to do to prospective readers). I used a Wordpress blog, which I then upgraded to its own domain when my budget allowed, but there are like a dozen free website-building options nowadays. 

While I have been terrible about this, it also never hurts to use your website to blog about things that might interest your intended readership - even something as simple as the list of Asian fantasy books I mentioned above. This helps drive organic traffic to your books and your newsletter without you having to spend a cent on social media ads (which are their own can of worms entirely).

And a fourth thing that I’m separating out because it’s technically part of the publishing process and only applicable to self-published authors:

4. Get a Good Cover Design

I’ve designed all my own covers (the earliest of which can unfortunately still be seen on the Goodreads pages for my first and second books) out of a fondness for Photoshop and a compulsive need to control every creative aspect of my books. 

While those early covers aren’t disasters (I hope), I do wish that I had done more research into the kind of covers that were actually selling in my genre or outsourced the design work to someone who did. Sales increased dramatically after I revamped the covers in 2018 to be more in-line with the modern YA fantasy scene, but it took me two years to figure it out, so…

If you want your first book to launch strong, make sure you have a cover that will sell!

For more detailed guidelines from someone MUCH more successful in indie publishing than myself, I would refer you to Derek Murphy on creativeindie.com & Youtube. While his brand and genre are different from mine (paranormal romance lol), I’ve taken my best book marketing lessons from his videos.