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I would strongly encourage anyone who reads this website and dreams of writing/publishing a novel to put yourself in front of your computer and try. There's a lot of satisfaction to gained from making the effort ... and even more when you first see a copy of that book in the bookstores with...

Sounds like you're back to the more time-consuming task of Googling a selection of the background terms and then making a selection from what pops up. BTW, I echo Dynamo1's comments: a manuscript filled with mis-spellings is extremely likely to be rejected as an 'unprofessional' submission...

Actually there's an even better source for character names: your local phone book. If you want to go completely random, you could blindly pick one page for the last name and another for the first name. And yes, I will, occasionally, use the name of a friend for a character ... but that option...

Definitely do not tell them your age! It's not relevant to their primary job of selling an author's manuscript. Note: if you utilize the standard 2-gage query letter [ideally using "professional-author-like" letterhead for the first page ... essentially your name and address printed in some...

Not a problem ... formality always has its place (I certainly have to alter my 'casual' demeanor when I enter a federal courtroom!). Have no idea what Pocket Books has in mind with future CSI publications, but you'd think they'd be open to considering opportunities to either publish marketable...

Be happy to offer what little I think I know about the publishing business. First, a few things that most of you who have been working to publish a story/novel/book probably already know: 1) you really do need a literary agent to represent your work because the publishers have long since been...

You might try the following web site: http://www.writers.net/agents.html Oh, and if you haven't done this before, be sure to (first) send out a not-more-than-2-pages query letter (just like you would do if you were contacting the publisher directly ... which you shouldn't!) that concisely...

Lots of things, depending upon the expertise and experience of the kit user. The basics, of course: evidence location tags/flags, permanent ink markers/pens, CSI report forms, chain of custody forms, evidence receipt forms, evidence (package) tags, vials, manila envelopes (coin-sized and...

Safety and security of the victim always comes first. There's nothing wrong with getting the victim clothed (ideally in clean clothes) or wrapped in a blanket. The victim should be transported to a hospital or medical facility ASAP, where the staff should have at least a basic understanding of...

Umm, not sure. We don't do human DNA profiling in our (wildlife) lab, so I'm not up on the latest technology or time frames.

Actually, the pencil in the beer bottle trick could have been a good example of a proper evidence collection technique ... IF the bottle was collected only for the possibility of latent prints deposited on the outer surface by a suspect or victim. And, ironically, it is possible to leave latent...

Umm, I made some comments about the characterizations of the CSIs in the Forensic Questions site (Nov 16), but hadn't addressed the technology. My 2-cents worth: the technologies are pretty much accurate as described, but everything in the way of forensic analysis on the show occurs MUCH faster...

Re: the future of CSI I think (hope) you're right. And, if nothing else, the TV CSI shows have certainly educated the public as a whole (and juries in particular) as to what should/could be done with evidence at a crime scene. As for myself, I would happily settle for the idea that suspects are...

Re: fibers/ washing the mouth Absolutely true. There's a huge variation amongst the international community in the way they approach crime scene investigations, forensic examinations of evidence, and presentation in court (I'm intermittently involved with Interpol, and get to see a lot of...

Re: fibers/ washing the mouth I've received numerous e-mails over the past few months directly related to this question; so I thought I'd share my take on the issue from the perspective of having spent the past 39 years as a forensic scientist, CSI, CSI trainer, and crime lab director: First...

Ah, finally managed to get my new web site designed and posted without frying my brains ... just in time for the publication of IN EXTREMIS today. :) The new site has info/photos on my coral reef CSI adventures as well as a section of anecdotes (at the CSI page) about how things went wrong at...

Yes, In EXTREMIS (like the other CSI/Las Vegas books by Max Collins) is based on the actual TV series characters (Gil, Catherine, Warrick, Sara, et al) and the CSI/Las Vegas 'stage sets'; but the story itself is new and not based on any aired episode. In essence, I came up with new...

Yeah, I might have to do something like that if new characters start appearing in subsequent episodes this year, or the old characters starting acting significantly different with the new characters or each other. I do, however, have the advantage of a real crime lab for reference. Everytime we...

:) That's quite all right. Plenty going on with the TV show and characters to keep you all on edge and distracted. BTW, I did include what I hope are some satisfying GRS moments in the IN EXTREMIS book, and I had some interesting ideas of how to put Gil & Sara in danger in the next book...

Dynamo1 is correct; it's difficult --- if not impossible --- for the novel-based-on-the-series writers to predict where the TV-script writers are going to do with (or to) the characters in the next episodes ... and they certainly aren't going to tell us ... so the best we can do is take the...