Look at any city’s crime stats and you have all the evidence you need for the reason behind this week’s celebration. Every town has experienced crime on some level, making the jobs of the community’s police force that much more important. Welcome to National Police Week!

Consider these facts:

• Seattle posed decreases in major crimes for four out of five precincts in 2011.
• Homicides declined 19 percent in 2011 compared to 2007 in Philadelphia.
• Homicides in Nashville dropped 25 percent in 2010 compared to 2009 figures.

This is only a sampling of the strides that law enforcement has made to keep America safe. They do the job that no one else wants to do.

National Police Week is a post from: Mysterious Issues

Unlike a lot of so-called national days, this one is for real. Today is the day to honor the men and women who work faithfully and ceaselessly to protect the masses. Welcome to National Police Officers’ Memorial Day!

These are the people who put their jobs first. They do the nasty work that many would never consider. Because of them, we are a safer nation. With the recent negative press about the police, it is fitting that this day comes to pass now as a reminder of their service. Let’s put this in perspective. We are not the wild west anymore because of these individuals. They deserve our undying, unadulterated gratitude. Period.

Honor the Men in Blue for National Police Officers’ Memorial Day is a post from: Mysterious Issues

When you are at a loss for ideas, sometimes, you needn’t look further than real life for a virtual treasure trove of plots, characters and starting points. Real time copycat stories may be topical, but may come off as trite. That’s where history comes into play. Take the story of French surgeon, Dr. Serge Voronoff.

The Monkey Gland Technique

Dr. Voronoff’s claim to fame was an outlandish-sounding surgical procedure implemented in the 1920s. The gist of it was this. Voronoff took pieces of monkey testicles and implanted them into a human’s scrotum–willingly. The idea was that it may restore your sexual drive and vitality, with a bit of longevity thrown into the mix.

What is more disturbing is the fact that the initial procedures used tissue from criminals until the supply could not keep up the demand. You read that right. Over 500 people consented to this procedure.

Back in the day, he was the talk of the town, understandably so. He was praised and revered. Mention of him made it into songs and movies. There was even a drink created in the procedure’s honor called the Monkey Gland. The drink is actually quite tasty, though a bit heavy with the anise flavor.

As quickly as he rose to flame, his star burned out, causing him to languish in ridicule and shame. Just goes to show how fleeting those 15 minutes can be. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle loosely based one of his Sherlock Holmes on him. Here is the lesson.

Free Material

Of course, the first rule is not to draw the picture too realistic, even though it happened so long ago. There is such as thing as showing some respect for the dead. However, Dr. Voronoff’s story is great. It has fame, failure, genius (taken in context) and originality. I mean, come on, who would have thought of the elements of this one coming together? We’re so used to the stringent controls of prison and prisoner rights that exist today. Men being used for scientific experimentation? Get real!

What I find even more amazing about this whole story is its obscurity. Even by today’s standards, it certainly would raise an eyebrow or 20. Why has it died out? Why is someone who even warranted mention in a Marx brothers movie unknown today? What’s funny is that there probably is a drink today of a similar nature with a very different name.

History is full of Dr. Voronoff stories and ones of other individuals who tried and failed. It’s up to you to uncover the tales and give them new light.

Writing Tip: As Strange As Real Life is a post from: Mysterious Issues

Write what you love, not what you know.

The conventional wisdom is to write what you know. That’s good advice, if just because it’s more efficient. Research takes lots of time. My take on it is that you should write what you love. Think of the advantages:

• Bonus energy to fight through the hard times
• Passion that will come through in your writing
• It won’t feel like work

For my mystery, I tapped into several things that really mean a lot to me: family vacations, Wisconsin and supper clubs. I also drew from my own life. During the course of the book, my main character, Jack Hunter, experiences what he refers to as “curious incidences.” Indeed, that is what we have experienced in our house, as recently as last night. I liked the bit of unknown that it added, plus the romance.

Real life offers a fabulous palette.

When thing that I noticed from painting was that my sense of sight was keener. I saw more. I saw multiple shades of green when looking around me. It’s natural as an artist who mixes colors to notice the nuances. It’s the same thing when you write fiction.

You notice how people speak and act. You automatically notice the silent communication between couples. It’s marvelous! How wonderful to be able to see more around you simply because you pay attention to the signs. Those little things you observe can pepper the personalities of your characters and the quirks of your plots.

Draw on the favorites.

My book has a Midwest feel, with leaning toward growing up in the suburbs of Chicago. There are a lot of references that insiders would recognize, such as FIB. In that sense, my book is deeply personal. It offers a glimpse into what that lifestyle was like. That’s an advantage that you can use for your work as well.

There certainly is a place that you know so very well. Don’t fret and think it’s boring. It’s not! There are a lot of stories there that could be fodder for your own works–with the proper mixing of details.

With these three things, you have the makings of a personal and interesting work. All you have to do is sit down and write. Let your passion fuel the process.

Writing Tip: The Story Behind the Story is a post from: Mysterious Issues

1. Don’t worry about font size, background color or font family.

With an e-book, the reader has control of the reading experience. She controls the font size and background in her Kindle or reading app. Your job is to provide the canvas, namely, your book. I know that us creative types like to play around with fonts and colors. Go ahead and use italics, bold and bullet points to make everything look neat and organized. Don’t fret over the fine details.

2. Write to replicate the book experience, i.e., serif fonts.

You should also forget about fonts. When you upload an  e-book to Amazon, they render it in their font of choice, which is a serif font. This may seem contrary. Conventional wisdom says that sans-serif fonts are best for reading on a computer. That is true, however, Amazon and others like them realize that one of the barrier to e-books is that it is not, well, a book. It’s a psychological thing. If the e-book looks like a book, then, you’ll equate with a book. It’s one way to overcome the obstacle of price.

3. Work from one master copy of your e-book if you’re going to print publish as well.

This is a biggie if you want to save yourself a lot of hair pulling and hassle. Keeping one copy up-to-date is a chore, let alone two. Your master copy should be a text file that you can bring into an HTML editor or other program of choice to update your e-book. It is also the copy you use to update the DOC file or PDF you’re using for a print edition. 

I like to name the working file book-draft.txt. When I get to the final copy, I change the name to book.txt and make it read-only. That way, I won’t inadvertently copy over it. When it comes times to make changes, I make a copy of it because the read-only status won’t let me save it as is. I then have a copy that I’m editing plus the master should something go wrong. I can change names later, if necessary.

Writing an e-book is a challenge, but a very rewarding one. Nothing beats seeing your name on a book. With a bit of organization, you can make the journey as wonderful as the outcome.

Three Lessons I Learned Writing E-Books is a post from: Mysterious Issues

The UI is fantastic and very pleasing. It opens up nicely in landscape orientation like a day planner. You have your yearly calendar on the left and the close-up on the right. There are tabs for the day, tasks and events. It’s a very visual app, which makes it a great choice for doing a quick scan of your agenda for the day.

You can use the yearly calendar to navigate. One feature I really like is the accuracy of tapping on the yearly calendar to bring up a date. A lot of apps, namely, Fox News, do this so horribly.

The interface for adding events and tasks is clean and well thought out. Entry is easy and fast. You can integrate your Google calendar and tasks or Toodledo if you use that site. The fact that it works with Toodledo is especially nice since a good app for using it is lacking.

I use Pocket Informant to plan my day the night before. I add the few tasks that I want to get done that day. The reminders on my tablet make sure I don’t forget. It is a little more spendy that other apps. The visual appeal of the app really is a strong selling point for a well-designed app.

Review: Pocket Informant for Android Tablets is a post from: Mysterious Issues

If you write non-fiction, you probably have a ton of go-to resources and links. Hopefully, you’re well organized. You can’t be an effective writer if you have to re-research all of your references. Fortunately, there is a fantastic tool to help you with the job, Zotero.

Zotero is a free web app for compiling your references. It has a standalone version, which I love, as well as a FireFox extension. You can group references into collections. I write about conservation and health topics. I have collections for just about any dietary supplement you can name. I also have collections for environmental topics, such as climate change, organic farming and nonpoint source pollution.

You can set up each reference so that citations are just a matter of a couple clicks. It has numerous styles you can use for formatting them, including the main ones like AP. You can also add notes, either to a reference or as a standalone note. You get 100 mb free storage. After that, you’ll need to lay down the cash. It costs $20 for 1 gb, which is way more than enough for most people.

There is an Android app for tablet users, though it is a third-party app. I was anxious to find one to use with my Transformer Prime. A look at the reviews shows that it’s not quite there yet, though the developer seems responsive. I’m going to monitor the reviews on this one. If the developer turns things around, I’ll be one of the first to recommend it here, that is, unless Zotero develops one of its own.

Zotero can’t be beat as an effective way to organize your sources, get that bibliography done and keep your notes together. If you write non-fiction articles, you really need to check this out.

Writing Tip: Streamlining Your Research is a post from: Mysterious Issues

I’ve started the e-book on my laptop. Evernote has been an invaluable tool for organizing my notes. Another great tool is Box.net. I keep the latest version of my e-book on the site. Then, when I work with my tablet, I can access it and update it as necessary. I can work on my e-book wherever ideas come to mind. I like the added security of knowing that I have a safe copy available. Though I’ve never had a computer fail on me (knock on wood!), I’ve helped others who have.

After trying several word processors for my tablet, I finally settled on Office Suite Pro. Other than the great interface, Office Suite Pro supports Box.net. I can set up my app to access and save files to my account to make using it on my tablet seamless. Talk about a user-friendly solution!

Remember the old days of external hard drives, network drives or even USB sticks? Who needs them when you can use a cloud solution? I got in on Box.net with the free 50 gig promo, not that I’ll ever write that much content. With using my laptop, tablet and Box.net, I have a solution that fits the way I write, while providing convenience and security. With so many other things to concern yourself with, having a solid plan for writing can help streamline the process.

Using Box to Write Your E-Book is a post from: Mysterious Issues