New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Heather Graham, majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write. Her first book was with Dell, and since then, she has written over two hundred novels and novellas including category, suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, sci-fi, young adult, and Christmas family fare.

She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty-five languages. She has written over 200 novels and has 60 million books in print. Heather has been honored with awards from booksellers and writers’ organizations for excellence in her work, and she is the proud to be a recipient of the Silver Bullet from Thriller Writers and was awarded the prestigious Thriller Master Award in 2016. She is also a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from RWA. Heather has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, Mystery Book Club, People and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including Today, Entertainment Tonight and local television.

Heather loves travel and anything that has to do with the water, and is a certified scuba diver. She also loves ballroom dancing. Each year she hosts a Vampire Ball and Dinner theater raising money for the Pediatric Aids Society and in 2006 she hosted the first Writers for New Orleans Workshop to benefit the stricken Gulf Region. She is also the founder of “The Slush Pile Players,” presenting something that’s “almost like entertainment” for various conferences and benefits. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.

https://www.theoriginalheathergraham.com/

Is It Harder To Write Crime Fiction Today?

Do modern forensic science and police investigative techniques make creating compelling crime fiction more difficult? Are there simply too many balls to keep in the air? Too much to consider? Or is now little different from then?

The Past, the present, and the future

Forensic Science timeline—-a fairly knew discipline

Basic Science, then Medicine, finally forensic science

Personal ID

Visual

Bertillon

West Case

Facial recognition

Behavioral Profiling

Prints, ABO type, DNA, DNA Phenotype

Fingerprints—-then and now

Vucetich—the Rojas case

Stella Nickell Case

Touch DNA

Touch Toxicology

Toxicology

From arsenic to GC/MS

Blood Typing

ABO can exclude but not ID

DNA

Nuclear

Mitochondrial

Familial—Grim Sleeper case

Phenotypic Analysis

Electronics—cell phones, computers, emails, texts, VMs

Coercion and Threat

Leverage

Trauma:

Trauma is time limited

Unconscious vs Pain/Fear of death

Drugs:

Drugs have variable timelines

Drugs don’t have timers

Alcohol and Mickey Finn

Narcotics and sedatives

Date Rape Drugs

Rohypnol

GHB—Gamma Hydroxybutyrate

E, Ecstasy, MDMA—3.4-Methylenedioxy Methamphetamine

Ketamine

Links:

Date Rape Drugs: http://www.dplylemd.com/articles/date-rape-drugs.html

ROHYPNOL: https://www.drugs.com/illicit/rohypnol.html

GHB: https://www.drugs.com/illicit/ghb.html

ECSTASY: https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/mdma-ecstasymolly

KETAMINE: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/302663.php

Andrew Luster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Luster

Dr. Grant Robicheaux: http://www.newser.com/story/264806/calif-surgeon-girlfriend-may-have-raped-hundreds.html

Boyd Morrison is an actor, engineer, Jeopardy! champion, and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of fourteen thrillers, including six collaborations with Clive Cussler in the Oregon Files series. His debut novel, THE ARK, was an Indie Next Notable pick and has been translated into over a dozen languages. Before becoming a writer, he worked at Johnson Space Center, RCA/Thomson, and Microsoft’s Xbox group. His latest thriller THE LAST TRUE TEMPLAR is the second book in the Tales of the Lawless Land series of historical adventures co-written with his sister, expert medievalist Beth Morrison.

https://boydmorrison.com

New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Allison Brennan believes that life is too short to be bored, so she had five kids and writes three books a year. She lives with her family in Arizona where she enjoys hiking, baseball Spring Training, and (of course) reading. Best known for her long-running Lucy Kincaid FBI series, Allison is currently writing the Quinn & Costa thrillers (Make It Out Alive, Jan 2026) and Angelhart Investigations (Don’t Say a Word, Sept 2025). Her first romantic mystery, Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds, will be out June 17, 2025

https://www.allisonbrennan.com/

POINT OF VIEW IN CRIME FICTION

Who is telling the story? Is he/she also the protagonist or an observer?

Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird

Nick in The Great Gatsby Is he/she reliable?

How many POV characters is too few/too many? Which characters know too little to drive the story/or know too much and might spoil the story?

TYPES: FIRST PERSON POV: The “I” Character Advantages: Close tie to reader Narrator is the “Star”

Good for mysteries-reader learns as the I character does

Disadvantages: I character must be present Can lead to

awkward plotting

Can’t supply suspenseful information to reader Not good for

thrillers

SECOND PERSON POV: The “You” character—very tricky to use

THIRD PERSON POV: The “He/She” Character

SINGLE: Similar to First person except he/she is used Similar Advantages/Disadvantages as First Person

MULTIPLE: Jumping from head to head Allows reader to get inside several characters Allows reader to have “Superior Knowledge”--Suspense Great for thrillers

CLOSE: Camera in character’s head DISTANT: Camera external and watching the action These distances aren’t either/or but rather a continuum. The “camera” can shift along a line from far behind or above the character to inside the character’s head.

OMNISCIENT POV: The AUTHOR as GOD Jump from head to head at will Can be confusing Requires more writing skill than seems apparent

MIX & MATCH: Can combine POVs if you are good and careful

JON LAND is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over 60 books, including his Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong series. Jon has also taken over two of the most iconic legacy brands in mystery-thriller fiction, penning six titles in the Murder, She Wrote and two in the Capital Crimes series. Additionally, Jon has teamed with multiple New York Times bestselling author Heather Graham on a bestselling sci-fi series that includes THE RISING and BLOOD MOON. His next thriller series, written with fellow author Jeff Ayers under the pseudonym A. J. Landau, debuts in February of 2024 with Leave No Trace from Minotaur. The author of numerous, similarly acclaimed nonfiction titles, Jon has more recently turned his talents to ghostwriting with his first effort in that arena, WHITE ROBES AND BROKEN BADGES coming from Harper Collins in August of 2024.

DETERMINATION OF THE TIME OF DEATH

Determining TOD is critical Both an art and a science The sooner after death the more accurate the estimate Changes death variable and unpredictable.

Physiologic TOD, Estimated TOD, Legal TOD

Always a best guess None of the methods are very accurate Body temperature Rigor mortis Livor mortis (lividity) Degree of putrefaction Stomach contents Insect activity Scene markers

BODY TEMPERATURE

Normal body temperature is 98.6F Body loses or gains heat until it equilibrates with that of the surrounding medium. The formula is: Hours since death = 98.6 - corpse core temperature / 1.5 Cold/wind/water increase heat loss Obesity, heavy clothing, warm still air, exposure to direct sunlight, and an enclosed environment slow heat loss.

RIGOR MORTIS

Spasm due to chemical reactions within the muscle cells after death. Loss of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to adenosine diphosphate (ADP) causes the muscles to contract and stiffen. Later loss of rigidity from the putrefaction process. Rigor begins throughout the body at the same time Appears first in smaller muscles- face, neck, and hands Relaxes in same pattern General rule for rigor mortis is 12-12-12 Changes due to: activity, body temp, ambient temp, Cadaveric spasm

LIVOR MORTIS (Lividity)

Purplish—exceptions for CO (carboxyhemoglobin), Cyanide (cyanohemoglobin), Freezing Dependent areas—lying, sitting, hanging Pale support areas Gravity, then leaking into tissues Shifting vs Fixed—Onset 1/2 to 2 hours/fixed by 8 hours Mismatch of pattern and body position

THE RATE OF BODY DECAY

Time Since Death Putrefaction—ambient temp/humidity Internal bacteria—sepsis hastens Water X2/BurialX4 Ultimately skeletonize Floaters Mummification Adipocere-from chemical process called saponification-reaction between certain bacteria and the body’s adipose (fatty) tissues.

Stomach Contents

Stomach empties in 2-3 hours—protein, fatty meals Intestine transient @ 24 hours

Insect Activity Forensic entomologist Insects help in two basic ways: Predictable developmental stages (blowfly); succession of insect species Changed by body location, weather, season, night

SCENE MARKERS Includes information at the scene or from witnesses or family and friends. Missed appointments, uncollected mail or newspapers, and dated sales receipts Victim’s clothing—dressed for work, or morning jog