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Yes, I'm the Ken Goddard who wrote 3 books for Tor/Forge. Typical author activity: we cheerfully migrate to whichever publishing company is willing to publish our next book ... and always hope that there will be a next one. :)

I agree with Dynamo1: Your age isn't an issue. You'll need the appropriate education for CSI or forensics lab work ... and you'd have to adjust to never smoking in the lab or at a crime scene.

This is really a question that a medical doctor or pathologist should answer (and I'm not); but in general, if you get bruising around a wound, its because the heart was actively pumping blood into damaged capillaries/tissues ... whereas you wouldn't see bruising if a cut was made on a dead body.

Really can't ... I haven't read any of his books and I never did run across him when I was writing for TOR.

It really doesn't matter where you start working at a crime scene. Ideally, if you're aware of what appears to be the suspect's entry point, you start there by placing numbered evidence location tags next to apparent items of evidence (footprints, tire tracks, pry marks, broken windows, spots...

Hi hmetter, xfcanadian is correct, while the show writers are perfectly capable of putting together a CSI script using the basic tools and technologies and techniques used by real crime scene investigators, they do consult 'outside experts' for information on specific topics. I've been one of...

You're welcome. The whole idea, of course, is to entertain. I'm getting a lot of entertainment (and insight into the shows) from Talk CSI, so fair is fair. :) Fact is, engaging with you folks almost makes me want to go back to working crime scenes. Almost. :rolleyes:

The basic rule (for writing these books) is that all of the main characters must stay in voice ... and in character ... and must survive 'intact.' So I can tell you that Greg did survive 'intact' to the very end of IN EXTREMIS. Did I 'harm' him in the process? Well, let's just say that he had...

Fair enough ... if they let me write a second book, Greg finds himself engaged in a serious gunfight. :)

You've very welcome.

Glad you enjoyed the 'lost' segment. And yes, the editing process --- done almost entirely by the publisher/editors, not the authors! --- tends to be painful at times. Kinda like the obstetrician telling you that your newborn child came out mostly okay, but the right ear just doesn't match ...

Yes, relatively easy ... and kind of you to say so. :)

Forgot to add that the issue gets more complicated when you examine samples from a sexual assault kit and have to take into account the victim's DNA (epithelial and white cell sources).

You don't need me on this one. As everyone seems to understand, the DNA strands are in the heads of the sperm cells.

Depending upon the agency (salaries for city, county, state and federal law enforcement personnel vary greatly), it's very possible that a CSI who is also a sworn police officer would make more than the 'bench-level' forensic scientist. The difference probably occurs (again, depending on the...

Ah, very good! Exactly the reaction --- curiosity --- us fiction writers love to generate. :) And the answer is yes, as promised, here's the (partial) chapter that was ultimately deleted from the story: The graveyard-shift range master, a patrol sergeant who’d been severely injured in a...

Elsie has it exactly correct. Unlike what you see on TV, a CSI responds to crime scenes, processes/documents the scene, collects the evidence, and then turns it over to the crime lab where forensic scientists (some days/weeks/months later) will examine, identify and compare that evidence. On...

A sworn officer actually working CSI (personally conducting crime scene investigations) in the US would almost certainly hold the rank of "officer" or "deputy" or at the very most "detective." You might have a sergeant in charge of a team of sworn CSI officers; but I really doubt that there...

Ummm, I suppose that could be an issue if the author took a major plot line from a website discussion; but (and I'm not a lawyer!) it would probably be tough for the suing party to claim theft of 'personal' material that was freely posted on the site. As a 'pending' author: if you've got a good...

Glad to be of help ... and it was very nice to hear that you enjoyed the story. Not sure what my current status is with PocketBooks and the CSI novels. I imagine they want to wait and see how the first one sells before signing me up for another one ... which is probably a good thing for me...