Sometimes, investigators have the unpleasant task of identifying a body that’s not in the best of conditions. Decomposition, animal scavengers, and even murderers can often alter a body’s condition so much that a visual ID is impossible. In those situations, fingerprinting the deceased may be the best method available for learning the victim’s name.

(Keep in mind, the following procedures and techniques are normally performed in the morgue by the coroner or medical examiner, not police detectives).

Occasionally, all that’s needed is a standard ink pad and ten-print card (above). Other times, the joints are rigid and unbendable, so investigators must use finger straighteners to help unclasp the digits.

Finger straightners

Horizontal ink rollers are easier to use on the fingers of the dead than the standard vertical ones.

Investigators use printing spoons and fingerprint card strips to print the fingers of the dead. (Photo – FBI)

Printing spoons

Single-digit, pre-inked pads are more convenient than the standard pads normally used where investigators roll ink onto a large, hand-size pad.

Print strip

Flesh is often decomposed, or too soft, to take a print; therefore, investigators inject a solution called tissue builder into the fingertips to make the skin firm enough to print.

Tissue building kit.

Sometimes, the fingers are too badly twisted, or they’re clasped too tightly together to take a print, so investigators remove them from the hand. To do this they use bone snips.

Bone snips

When all else fails, investigators cut off the stiff finger, strip the skin away from the bone, and place the fingertip skin over the end of their own finger. Then they apply ink to the tiny “glove” and press it to a fingerprint card. A perfect print!

To recover prints from the body of a murder victim, investigators can perform standard brushing techniques with magnetic or other powders. They can also place the entire body in a plastic tent and fume it with Superglue just like they would with any other piece of evidence.

* This is a repeat article. My wife’s 104-year-old grandmother fell on Mother’s Day and broke her hip/femur. As a result, she had surgery yesterday to help alleviate the pain. Since the break was so severe there’s no real fix. Anyway, we’ll be traveling most of the day today on our way to the hospital. We’ll be back on schedule soon. Thanks for your patience.

What truly matters in life? What’s the last thing on your mind before you die? When you know the end is near, what would be your last statement to the world?

One of the ways to reduce life down to what really matters is to be on your deathbed. And one of the most dramatic ways to be on your deathbed is to be executed on death row. We’ve been reading through the final statements of hundreds of inmates, and we’ve boiled it down to seven life lessons. Get back to basics; learn something about life from those who were put to death. Seven somethings, to be precise.

1. You Define Yourself By What You Choose

   When expressing yourself verbally one last time to the cruel, cruel world, it’s completely up to you to craft how best you’ll be remembered. Some people ask for forgiveness, some acknowledge their guilt, and others bid sweet farewells to their loved ones and have nothing but gratitude for the life they’ve lived. Whether in your last moments or just starting out, be who you want, and communicate what you will to the world.

2. Own It

   Everyone’s been falsely accused at some point. And several inmates had the guts to go to their deaths saying so. Standing up for what you know to be true until the bitter end could be the only thing that you have. The last words of Stephen K. Johns, executed in Missouri in October 2001 were, “I am innocent, but was not given the tools at trial, or on appeal, to make my innocence into a legal reality.” Additionally, when you are guilty of some wrongdoing (and especially if you get caught), it’s in your best interest to face the music. You never know — you might feel some personal absolution even if you’re, ahem, in the hot seat. Illinois inmate Charles Walker’s (executed in 1990) last words were those of acceptance. “I’m guilty. I can accept my punishment. I’m sorry I done it, yeah, but it’s done.”

3. Be Good

   One of the most primary lessons to learn from death row is simply this: there are consequences for your actions. Acting ethically will rarely, if ever, steer you wrong, and you’re bound to have more positive consequences than these inmates. And whether or not you’re taking the moral high road, it’s always in your best interest not to break the law. “I would suggest that when a person has a thought of doing anything serious against the law,” William George Bonin, a prisoner executed in California in 1996 said in his final statement, “that before they did, that they should go to a quiet place and think about it seriously.”

4. Forgive

   “Forgiveness: Giving up all hope for a better past.”— Robert Lee Massie, executed in California on March 27, 2001A supremely powerful practice, forgiveness (at any point in one’s life) can be a karma cleanser. And it doesn’t matter who you’re forgiving, either. Whether it’s yourself, someone who gravely wronged you, or even the guy who just cut you off in rush hour traffic, the artful practice of mindfully letting go of past hurts allows one to live in the present, and accept the inevitable future.

5. Love

   “As the ocean always returns to itself, love always returns to itself. So does consciousness, always returns to itself. And I do so with love on my lips. May God bless all mankind.” — James Ronald Meanes, executed in Texas on Dec. 15, 1998And if you don’t buy that his last statement generally translates to “love,” we can all at least agree that speaking like a Hindu mystic will always make one’s last words sound weighty and meaningful. Inmate James Ronald Meanes clearly grasped the ebbs and flows of life, and certainly realized some new-age sounding truths. But the prisoner, executed in 1998, also left this world speaking the plain truth of love: that it begets more love, awareness, and grace.

6. Puns Are Always Funny

   Thinking too long about the phrase “New York electric chair, 1928? conjures up scary-yet-cartoonish images of gloomy, Green Mile-style steel cages and lightning bolts to the head. But despite his grisly end, murderer George Appel was able to keep his wits about him. Literally. “Well, gentlemen,” his final words began, “you are about to see a baked Appel.”

7. Be Happy

   Go home, have fun, smile. I’m happy. Why should I lie now? I have no anger. I have no fear.— Willie Shannon, executed in Texas on Nov. 8, 2006. And this, the most important lesson of them all. Texas inmate Willie Shannon put it poignantly, especially knowing that a mere seven minutes later, he would be forever gone. If life sometimes feels like a prison, remember these words and their well-meaning call to action.

*Today’s article by the writers at onlinepsychologydegree

Before hunkering down and hammering out the agony and the ecstasy that will launch you to literary stardom (and probably a Nobel Prize), it might be a good idea to try and see what your predecessors have to teach about the craft. Not everything they share will necessarily stick, given the nature of writing, but opening yourself up to the possibility of inspiration can only improve your output. Explore some of the following quotes, and, of course, the context from which they hail, and see where they might take your art.

1. “…a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”  -Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

   Honestly, this advice could apply to authors across the gender and gender-identity spectrum. But when Virginia Woolf published her seminal book-length essay, it stood as a strong feminist statement empowering fiction-writing women who wanted to succeed despite the odds.

2. “If we can’t understand it, then it’s formidable. And we understand very little. We don’t understand the weak nuclear force, galaxy formation … so one should be humble.” – Martin Amis, interview with Prospect, Feb. 1, 2010

   The London Fields author considers his closed-minded and rigid peers, particularly those with absolute opinions regarding religion, “crabbed.” He advises a more all-embracing outlook and enough self-awareness and humility to admit that you might not always get your facts right.

3. “I’m not advocating disobedience to authority in general — because that doesn’t necessarily lead to anything  — but knowing the difference between your own intelligence and somebody handing you a set of things you should believe. It’s important to understand their motivations, their intentions, where those beliefs derive from and then having a set of questions to make sure that what they give to you is equally important and meaningful to you.” – Amy Tan, interview with Academy of Achievement, June 28, 1996

   Rebellion and questioning propels literature and other creative pursuits, but they ultimately yield empty results when only posed for posing’s sake. Bestselling brain behind The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan believes the best writers know how to make the distinction between genuine establishment challenging and its more self-congratulating counterpart.

4. “The artist is distinguished from all other responsible actors in society — the politicians, legislators, educators, and scientists — by the fact that he is his own test tube, his own laboratory, working according to very rigorous rules, however unstated these may be, and cannot allow any consideration to supersede his responsibility to reveal all that he can possibly discover concerning the mystery of the human being. Society must accept some things as real; but he must always know that visible reality hides a deeper one, and that all our action and achievement rest on things unseen.” – James Baldwin, “The Creative Process,” Creative America

   Both artists and writers, according to the celebrated author behind the revealing Go Tell It on the Mountain, are responsible for serving as mouthpieces for social commentary. Without them, the insight necessary for change cannot take place.

5. “It never gets easier; it’s always hard, it’s always a test. I’ve reached a point in my life where if a sentence seems easy, I distrust it.” – Amitav Gosh, The Wall Street Journal, November 13, 2009

   Acclaimed authors always seem to make the whole penning and publishing thing seem effortless, but in reality the process is painfully, sometimes cripplingly, grueling. Amitav Gosh of The Glass Palace and Sea of Poppies fame thinks readers and writers should realize just how grueling the literary arts can be — and that they’re really in for a nasty shock if they think hammering out manuscripts will get better with experience.

6. “The scariest moment is always just before you start.” – Stephen King, On Writing

   Quite possibly the most intense anxiety an author in any medium, any genre will face is his or her own anxiety about launching a brand new project.

7. “… I kind of look around and see what’s going on and take it a few steps further.” – Octavia Butler, “‘Devil Girl From Mars’: Why I Write Science Fiction”

   One of the most groundbreaking writers in the science fiction genre considers an openness to education (formal or not) and the ability to synthesize ideas from real-life scenarios essential to the creative process. This advice quite obviously transcends the science fiction and fantasy genres.

8. “Out of the neglected riches of this dream the poet fetches his wares. He dips into the chaos that underlies the rational shell of the world and brings up some superfluous image, some emotion dropped by the way, and reattaches it to the present object; he reinstates things unnecessary, he emphasizes things ignored, be paints in again into the landscape the tints which the intellect has allowed to fade from it. If he seems sometimes to obscure a fact, it is only because he is restoring an experience.” – George Santayana, “The Elements and Function of Poetry”

   Poetic types will no doubt find this lyrical distillation of their craft an at once romantic and realistic depiction — and one they might very well find inspiring when the words just don’t seem to properly flow.

9. “Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.” – Kurt Vonnegut, “8 Rules for Writing Fiction,” Bagombo Snuff Box

   All of Kurt Vonnegut’s straightforward bits of writerly advice offer something to the reader, but they obviously lean more towards the fictitious end. His very first tip, however, applies to pretty much every medium and genre out there.

10. “I think the philosophy training, four years of reading really dense, difficult things, where the statements, the information packed within these words is not so obviously stated, but it’s available if you know how to dissect it…that’s been very useful in doing the type of comedy that I find myself doing and doing the type of writing that I find myself doing, which is reinterpreting the world and restating some things that people may be loosely aware of but with your own additional twist and perspective and joke.” - Baratunde Thurston, interview with Stay Out of School, April 18, 2011

    What makes comedian, political commentator, and of course writer Baratunde Thurston so piquant doesn’t exclusively come from a terrifically enjoyable philosophy class. But it still led him to realize that the most effective works come when tweaking and perceiving the world in some interesting, insightful new ways.

11. “Writing fiction is like being a god.” – Sharnush Parsipur, interview with Pars Arts, Jan. 2, 2008

    God complexes are never not gauche, but this controversial Iranian author certainly makes a point about the role fiction writers play in their own imagined worlds. Just keep the deity play to the page and not real life.

12. “If you try hard to listen, to like them, to love them, then their stories become interesting. Everyone has his own story.” – Haruki Murakami, University of California at Berkeley, Oct.10, 2008

    Despite stemming from a discussion of the nonfiction work Underground, this soundbite from one of the world’s preeminent postmodernists encourages writers to pay close attention to the people around them; they just might inspire all kinds of interesting tales.

13. “I mean, if I’m not writing for the audience, if I’m not writing to make it easier for them, then who the hell am I doing it for? And the way you make it easier is by following those tenets: cutting, building to a climax, leaving out exposition, and always progressing toward the single goal of the protagonist. They’re very stringent rules, but they are, in my estimation and experience, what makes it easier for the audience.” – David Mamet, interview with The Art of Theater, Spring 1997

    Whether whipping up plays, screenplays, or something else entirely, writers should always keep asking themselves what they want readers and viewers to carry away from their works.

14. “I like a certain amount of randomness. The truth, in my opinion, is unavoidably strange.” – Zadie Smith, Tufts University, March 27, 2012

    All of Zadie Smith’s novels, from White Teeth to On Beauty, stay firmly grounded in reality. She doesn’t feel the need to include anything fantastic, as she thinks the world as we know it is crammed with enough oddities.

15. “You read what you have written and, as you always stop when you know what is going to happen next, you go on from there. You write until you come to a place where you still have your juice and know what will happen next and you stop and try to live through until the next day when you hit it again…When you stop you are as empty, and at the same time never empty but filling, as when you have made love to someone you love.” – Ernest Hemingway, interview with The Paris Review, Spring 1958

    This famous discussion with one of America’s most beloved writers yielded numerous points of advice for aspirant authors. One of the more useful snippets warns against using up too much creativity and ideas in a single sitting.

16. “And though the rewriting — and the rereading — sound like effort, they are actually the most pleasurable parts of writing. Sometimes the only pleasurable parts. Setting out to write, if you have the idea of ‘literature’ in your head, is formidable, intimidating. A plunge in an icy lake. Then comes the warm part: when you already have something to work with, upgrade, edit.” – Susan Sontag, “Directions: Write, Read, Rewrite. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 as Needed.” The New York Times, Dec. 18, 2000

    Reframing the often nerve-shattering process of editing manuscripts and pieces as a wholly refreshing — even invigorating — necessity certainly makes it far more palatable! Keep Susan Sontag’s words in mind when painstakingly changing your work starts growing a little too overwhelming.

17. “… what I have read is far more important than what I have written. For one reads what one likes — yet one writes not what one would like to write but what one is able to write.” – Jorge Luis Borges, This Craft of Verse

    Long-standing writing advice posits reading as a fundamental activity for anyone hoping to see their work land on the shelves, and one of the most celebrated Argentine writers of all time eloquently summarizes why.

18. “Be ambitious for the work and not for the reward.” – Jeanette Winterson, “Ten Rules for Writing Fiction.” The Guardian, Feb. 19, 2010

    Don’t jump into a writing project expecting to wind up on bestseller lists and showering in Pulitzers and Bookers and Nobels. Write because you have something to say and want to share with the world; you’ll be a whole lot happier keeping that in mind as the end.

19. “Keep human! See people; go places, drink if you feel like it.” – Henry Miller, Henry Miller on Writing

    Work hard, but don’t allow it to completely swallow up your entire existence. Considering how notoriously difficult creative industries are to break into, getting entirely lost in a project proves far too easy sometimes.

20. “Most writers have certain things that they decide quite consciously, and other things they decide less consciously. In my case, the choice of narrator and setting are deliberate. You do have to choose a setting with great care, because with a setting come all kinds of emotional and historical reverberations. But I leave quite a large area for improvisation after that.” – Kazuo Ishiguro, interview with The Paris Review, Spring 2008

    The details may change, but most writers’ processes typically follow the structure Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day author Kazuo Ishiguro outlines and subsequently illustrates, using himself as an example.

21. “As for writing, most people secretly believe they themselves have a book in them, which they would write if they could only find the time. And there’s some truth to this notion. A lot of people do have a book in them — that is, they have had an experience that other people might want to read about. But this is not the same thing as ‘being a writer.’ Or, to put it in a more sinister way: everyone can dig a hole in a cemetery, but not everyone is a grave-digger.” – Margaret Atwood, Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing

    In keeping with the importance of humility, wannabe writers need to know their limits — some might just not work out in a commercial or literary sense, and they have to face that possibility and try anyways. Alternately, this quote makes an excellent rebuttal when your parents start complaining (and if they aren’t complaining, they’re thinking about complaining) about how you shouldn’t even bother because the industry is flooded with others just like you.

22. “i. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.ii. Never use a long word where a short one will do.iii. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
    iv. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
    v. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
    vi. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.”

    - George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”

    Like all of the arts, writing’s core tenets are often far more flexible than composition teachers will admit without a few drinks in them. No less than George Orwell himself stuck to this tenet when crafting classics such as Animal Farm and 1984.

23. “… the rhythm thing is important, that you have to just get into the rhythm of it and not get out of it. Because you can’t just jump back in — it will take you several days if you break the stride.” – Salman Rushdie, interview with About.com, March 3, 2009

    Every writer’s rhythm differs, but the consequences of letting it fall away remain pretty much the same across the board. Try to work in an environment conducive to keeping up the pace as long as possible.

24. “As a teacher I realize that what one learns in school doesn’t serve for very much at all, that the only thing one can really learn is self understanding and this is something that can’t be taught.” – Laura Esquivel, interview with Salon, Oct. 4, 1996

    Through novels such as Like Water for Chocolate and The Law of Love, Laura Esquivel hopes her readers will learn a little something about the tenderer emotions out there and slough off “social rules that do not pertain to them.”

25. “I perceived that to express those impressions, to write that essential book, which is the only true one, a great writer does not, in the current meaning of the word, invent it, but, since it exists already in each one of us, interprets it. The duty and the task of a writer are those of an interpreter.” – attributed to Marcel Proust

    Michelangelo often considered his lush sculptures as already sitting inside blocks of marble — all he had to do was free them from their rocky prisons. Centuries later, the reclusive, celebrated author of In Search of Lost Time is said something similar about the art of novel writing.

26. “The successful novel, on the other hand, has a shape much like a bell. We begin at the top of the bell, its tight curve. Every detail has purpose here: the way a woman tilts her head, the slant of light as one exits the subway, the repetition of a phrase. As soon as we have gained our bearings, we notice things beginning to open up, flaring outward the way a bell does.” – Chitra Divakaruni, “New Insights Into the Novel? Try Reading 300.” The New York Times, Feb. 12, 2001

    After downing 300 books while sitting on the National Book Awards judging committee, poet and novelist Chitra Divakaruni took painstaking notes on what makes a great read great. Keeping this particular form in mind might help current and future writers better plan their literary output.

27. “… in all my books, [every single line] has a starting point in reality. I provide a magnifying glass so readers can understand reality better.” – Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Conversations with Gabriel Garcia Marquez, ed. Gene H. Bell-Villada

    Regardless of whether or not a writer hopes to utilize this Nobel recipient’s signature magic realist style, he or she might benefit immensely from keeping with his advice about staying grounded in familiar concepts. Giving readers something to relate to maintains their interest and attention.

28. “I try to change my superstitions with each project. Working in fountain pen is good because it slows me down just enough to keep my handwriting legible. Often I use two pens with different coloured ink, so I can tell visually how much I did each day.” – Neil Gaiman, interview with Time Out London, Oct. 5, 2006

    Sometimes, even established writers like to experiment and mix things up in their own writing processes — so never fear experimenting with new strategies!

29. “If something is on my mind, writing-wise, I have do it and do it in the instant. I have to at least put down a first draft. Otherwise, I am so afraid I will lose it … Writing is also the way I process things and when I am done with a piece I feel a lot closer to understanding the subject.” – Edwidge Dandicat, “Junot Diaz.” BOMB, Fall 2007

    Ideas almost always prove so fleeting and immediate that writing them down as soon as they materialize is a very popular bit of advice.

30. “Still, in the very fact that people will recognize me wherever I go, and know all about my life, as far as its follies go, I can discern something good for me. It will force on me the necessity of again asserting myself as an artist, and as soon as I possibly can. If I can produce only one beautiful work of art I shall be able to rob malice of its venom, and cowardice of its sneer, and to pluck out the tongue of scorn by the roots.” – Oscar Wilde, “De Profundis”

    The great Irish wit had plenty of to say of writing (and pretty much everything else) but his essay-length letter from his stint in Reading Gaol reflected a renewed sense of urgency. He considered success a way to take revenge on his critics and a way to refresh himself after incarceration.

31. “Much of contemporary art today is about branding. You see this a lot in visual art, where the painter will create many works of art that look the same. It’s because they know that kind of work sells. In fiction you see this happening a lot as well. But that can be a death trap for writers, just putting out what they think readers want to read. I could never do that. I need to make sure I’m always engaging my reader as well as engaging myself with new material. Think of it this way. My kids want candy for breakfast, but I know it’s not good for them, so I don’t give it to them. When I write, I know I have to write for a reader, but it’s important for any writer to also write for themselves. Will I write about some of the same themes? Sure, but I won’t do it in the same way.” – Mat Johnson, interview with TINGE Magazine, Spring 2011

    Never fear repeating concepts, but make sure to tweak them each appearance to make them fresher and offer up a different perspective. And, of course, make sure to do so in a manner that pleases you in addition to your audience; many writers do not find pandering a satisfactory strategy.

32. “I would say that the main favor I ask of the serious critic is sufficient perceptiveness to understand that whatever term or trope I use, my purpose is not to be facetiously flashy or grotesquely obscure but to express what I feel and think with the utmost truthfulness and perception.” – Vladimir Nabokov, interview with The New York Times, April 23, 1971

    For the Pale Fire, Lolita, and Pnin scribe, veracity reigned as far more important than ostentatiousness and shock tactics common to far too many writers. Strive for authenticity and honesty in your work. The words will probably flow easier that way, too!

33. “Quality is always more important than quantity. This is true for everything. Even if you write only one line in your life, if it stays in someone’s mind forever, it is satisfactory.” – Banana Yoshimoto, interview with Bookslut, August 2005

    We so often mistake prolificacy and verbosity as indicative of talent, so it’s important to always keep this age-old maxim of simplicity and conservation in mind when starting a new literary project.

34. “Delay is natural to a writer. He is like a surfer — he bides his time, waits for the perfect wave on which to ride in. Delay is instinctive with him. He waits for the surge (of emotion? of strength? of courage?) that will carry him along.” – E.B. White, interview with The Paris Review, Fall 1969

    Yes, you’re going to experience your lazy moments when you’d rather be “straightening pictures on the wall, rugs on the floor” than sitting down to that poem, essay, novel, short story, or play. Don’t let minor distractions completely override productivity, but don’t chastise yourself when they happen, either.

35. “At the end of the day I feel like the office should be a battlefield with my blood splashed across the keyboard, dripping from the monitor.” – Laurell K. Hamilton, “Bleeding on my Keyboard”

    Like a method actress, Laurell K. Hamilton of Anita Blake fame throws a piece of herself into every one of her popular protagonist’s adventures. Not every writer will necessarily forge this deep empathic connection with their characters, which isn’t a good or bad thing, but rather a matter of personal preference — although those who do should know they aren’t alone.

36. “… I still remember the exact moment when I first understood, with a sudden clarity, the purpose of a paragraph. I didn’t have the vocabulary to say ‘paragraph,’ but I realized that a paragraph was a fence that held words. The words inside a paragraph worked together for a common purpose. They had some specific reason for being inside the same fence. This knowledge delighted me.” – Sherman Alexie, “Superman and Me.” The Most Wonderful Books: Writers on Discovering the Pleasures of Reading, ed. Michael Dorris

    Reading and writing come inextricably intertwined, and harkening back to the magic and wonder of experiencing words for the very first time might prove a fertile starting point when seeking inspiration.

37. “I don’t have any theory of rhetoric, but what I have in the back of my mind is that one should not try to persuade; rather, you should try to layout the territory as best you can so that other people can use their own intellectual powers to work out for themselves what they think is right or wrong. For example, I try, particularly in political writing, to make it extremely clear in advance exactly where I stand. In my view, the idea of neutral objectivity is largely fraudulent.” – Noam Chomsky, “Language, Politics, and Composition.” Interview in Journal of Advanced Composition, 1991

    Never talk down to your audience, in other words, and don’t use political writing as persuasive writing. Assume nonfiction readers are smart enough to glean your meaning and be straightforward about your beliefs so they don’t assume you’re trying to subtly brainwash them.

38. “Different books arrive in different ways and require different strategies. Most of the books that I have written have been questions that I can’t answer. In order to actually put down the first word — I don’t really have a plan — I sometimes have a character, but I can’t do anything with it until the language arrives.” – Toni Morrison, interview in Time, May 7, 2008

    Practice flexibility in your writing process, as rigidity might hinder progress; going with what feels natural earned Toni Morrison both a Pulitzer and a Nobel Prize in Literature, after all.

39. “The point is getting it all down, even if it’s crap or incomprehensible to anyone but you, so you can see it outside your own head. And then you can start adding to it. Expanding it, putting new layers on it, winding a new plotline around it, moving bits of it around. Just get it down.” – Warren Ellis, “Rough Work”

    Editing exists for a reason. What matters more than immediate coherence is making sure ideas hit the paper or screen as quickly as possible.

40. “This me that is you, for I cannot bear to be simply me, I need others in order to stand up, giddy and awkward as I am, for what can one do except meditate in order to plunge into that total void which can only be attained through meditation…What troubles my existence is writing.” – Clarice Lispector, The Hour of the Star

    In the preface to one of her most well-received modernist novels, Clarice Lispector attributed her literary success to the classical composers whose music placed her in the calm, reflective state necessary to get writing done. Plenty of writers, famous and nonfamous, find this technique an absolute essential.

41. “I never could get too much out of classes except discipline. I had to have papers in on time, but with my fiction, I just sort of did it. I couldn’t just change one section because then the whole thing would unravel.” – Leslie Marmon Silko, “Stories and Their Tellers – A Conversation with Leslie Marmon Silko.” The Third Woman: Minority Women Writers of the United States, ed. Dexter Fisher. Reprinted in Conversations with Leslie Marmon Silko, ed. Ellen L. Arnold

    You don’t have to major in English or creative writing in order to pen and publish great literary works. Just get your ideas out there and weave together intricate stories from them, which each word building off the ones that came before.

42. “Even if I work very little, I work every day. It’s not work: it’s a style of life.” – Marjane Satrapi, interview with The Telegraph, Dec. 12, 2004

    Make writing part of your daily routine and, over time, it’ll become easier and easier to sit down and get productive.

43. “Good writers are often amazing actors, I think, because they’re very good at dialogue … One good way for — and I always tell this to my students — is to read it out loud after you’ve written something.” – Gary Shteyngart, interview with NY1.com, Aug. 30, 2010

    Many a famous and obscure writer consider reading out loud an excellent way to check for flow as well as spelling and punctuation errors. For even more input, wrangle in a trusted friend to help out.

44. “And the nice thing about writing a novel is you take your time, you sit with the character sometimes nine years, you look very deeply at a situation, unlike in real life when we just kind of snap something out. And it allowed me to be more generous than me the person. The author is always much more compassionate than Sandra Cisneros the human being.” – Sandra Cisneros, interview with News Hour with Jim Lehrer, Oct. 15, 2002

    Poet and novelist Sandra Cisneros explains how her writing process nurtures far more empathy for characters than she experiences in real life. She believes this phenomenon results from being able to chew over fiction for years and years and years rather than forced into improvisational situations.

45. “When I first met Joyce, I didn’t intend to be a writer. That only came later when I found out that I was no good at all at teaching. When I found I simply couldn’t teach. But I do remember speaking about Joyce’s heroic achievement. I had a great admiration for him. That’s what it was: epic, heroic, what he achieved. I realized that I couldn’t go down that same road.” – Samuel Beckett, interview in Beckett Remembering/Remembering Beckett: A Centenary Celebration, ed. James and Elizabeth Knowlson

    While not necessarily explicitly about the writing process, one of Ireland’s most celebrated playwrights notes how integral inspirational people and mentors can be when launching a literary career.

46. “In the writing of novels there is the problem of how to shape a narrative. And though the search for new ways of telling goes on – I’ve written about this at terrible length – I don’t think there are going to be any new discoveries. For one thing, literature is not a science. There is no new formula.” – Gore Vidal, interview with The Paris Review, Fall 1974

    Literary experiments are grand, but writers will just have to understand that it’s entirely likely that what they try may have already been tried before. Just relax. You might not write anything groundbreaking, but you can still write something great.

47. “Our salvation, to the extent that we have one, will come out of people realizing the crisis of our species and of the planet and offering their deepest dream of what’s possible.” – Alice Walker, interview with Writer’s Digest, Aug. 31, 2010

    This beloved Pulitzer recipient is another proponent of the writing arts as a window into reality, encouraging authors to push humanity towards positive change.

48. “The way I write is, I listen to things in my head and then I copy them down. I memorize conversations and things like that; I seem to be able to do that pretty well. I suppose in that respect there’s some improvisation, although I work over the stuff after I’ve got it down on paper.” – Harvey Pekar, interview with Random House

    Slice-of-life underground comics form the bulk of Harvey Pekar’s most popular writings, but he actually enjoyed quite a career as a jazz critic as well. Here, he analyzes the role music may have played in shaping his writing process and style.

49. “Write something every day. Sit for a few minutes, and write the word of the day.” – Maxine Hong Kingston, interview with Sonshi.com

    Another quote from the enormous cadre of respected authors who swear by dedicating at least part of the day to writing — although she goes so far as to suggest that only one word still equates to productivity. Many a fellow practitioner of the literary arts will obviously quite appreciate this sentiment!

50. “You have to get to a very quiet place inside yourself. And that doesn’t mean that you can’t have noise outside. I know some people who put jazz on, loudly, to write. I think each writer has her or his secret path to the muse.” – Maya Angelou, interview with O: The Oprah Magazine, April 2011

    Maya Angelou sums up the writing process better than anyone — in most ways, it’s completely subjective and reliant on the comfort levels and creativity of the writers themselves. Amazing snippets of advice no doubt exist, of course, but in the end there is no genuinely “one size fits all” strategy.

* Today’s article by www.onlinephdprograms.com

To paraphrase the immortal words of Truman Capote, there’s a difference between writing and typing. And, to put it gently, we can say with a good amount of confidence that most self-published books were typed, not written. Because communicating with letters assembled into words is a skill most learn by the age of 5, and because written communication has become so ubiquitous in American life, everyone now thinks he’s a writer. Until recently, the publishing industry had been our sea wall, protecting us from a tidal wave of boring life stories and dreadful novels. But now, the ease of self-publishing threatens to drown us all in mediocrity. Here are nine signs the situation is out of control.

1.    The estimated 700,000 self-publishing authors around the world

In a world of 6.8 billion people, 700,000 trying to make it big by self-publishing may not seem very significant. But compare it to the number of books traditionally published in America each year: 80,000. Of those, one author says, “most of them [are] not needed, not wanted, not in any way remotely necessary.” Assuming the U.S. makes up just one-tenth of the market (almost certainly a low estimate), AND assuming each author has the decency to self-publish only one title, that means self-publishers stand to nearly double the number of books published in the world every year.

2.    The 20,000 titles Lulu adds each month

Lulu is a self-publishing company that has been in business since 2002 and is generally regarded as the leader in the field. One need look no further for proof that self-publishing is getting out of hand than the Lulu web site that reveals the company publishes 20,000 titles for unpublished authors every single month. The site shows no signs of slowing, as 12,000 new “creators” sign up every week, and the number of titles is growing about 10% each month. But as the founder of the company says, the average run is “less than two.”

3.    The many seriously considering whether self-publishing is a bubble on the verge of popping

Basically, an economic bubble is created when a good is bought and sold at a much higher price than it is really worth. For example, the dot-com bubble burst when traders realized Internet companies had no way to justify the hundreds of millions of dollars at which their worth was being valued. Pundits are now looking hard at the massive popularity of self-publishing and asking: How long until self-publishers realize tens of thousands of them have grossly overvalued their products and the market crashes?

4.    The huge influx of companies to the industry

The dilemma of finding a publisher is no more; say hello to the dilemma of choosing which publisher is right for you. From Author Solutions to Author House, from Booktango to BookSurge, there is a plenitude of publishers from which to choose to help you produce your book. But there’s also an entire sub-industry that has sprung into being from the self-publishing movement: the “how to self-publish” manual industry. Like any “get-rich-quick“-style book, these books will always sell better than the vast majority of the books they encourage people to self-publish.

5.    The giant number of ebooks available for free

Millions of titles are available for free download in various formats. The average price of a self-published Kindle ebook for titles in the Top 100 on Amazon was $1.40, and this price is trending downward. Although many of the free titles hosted by companies like Amazon are books in the public domain, a huge mass of them are self-published titles that first-time authors are giving away for free in the hopes of receiving exposure. This means that deserving works are buried in the pile, and there is just too much for customers to sort through.

6. The respected voices advising everyone to self-publish

As if self-publishers needed any more encouragement, many visible commentators are using their platforms to breathlessly urge everyone who considers themselves a writer (which is basically everyone) to self-publish. On Dec. 13, 2011, USA Today featured a story about self-publishing success story Michael Prescott, who is “threatening to change the face of publishing” with his enormous success. “It’s a gold rush out there,” Prescott proclaims in the article. Over at Techcrunch.com six weeks later, traditionally-published and self-published author, blogger, and investment guru James Altucher was advising every entrepreneur to self-publish a book, basically anointing books the new business cards in the process.

7. The 4.2 billion words published by Smashwords

As one of the first comers to the new self-publisher industry, Smashwords alone has published more than 80,000 books since being created in 2008. It took one company less than four years to match the annual total of traditionally-published books in the U.S. To date, authors have smashed a whopping 4,242,989,557 words into their self-published books.

8. The number of copies of self-published books that are selling

On average, authors who self-publish sell 100-150 copies of their book. Considering the average Facebook user has 130 friends, this is right in the wheelhouse for explaining who is buying most self-published books: friends and family of the author. Of course, as this is an average, there are a handful of breakout self-publishing authors who are keeping the number elevated and making up for the thousands of writers who sell 50 or 25 copies, or worse.

9. The eight out of 10 people who think they have a book in them

If there’s any doubt self-publishing is already out of control, millions of books could potentially be in the pipeline for self-publishing in the near future. The New York Times has reported that 81% of Americans think they have the makings of a book in their brains, and that they should publish that book. An estimated 25 million novels and how-to books have already been written by Internet users in the U.S. but have yet to be published. If just 1% of those authors self-publish, the country’s annual book publishing by traditional means would be instantly tripled.

*Today’s article was written and brought to you by the staff at www.accreditedonlinecolleges.com

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So, writers, what’s your take on the topic? Do you agree with the author of this article? Is self-publishing really out of control?

Note – Today’s article does not necessarily reflect the views of The Graveyard Shift. However, we do believe in giving all sides of any topic a fair shot at having their voice(s) heard…within reason.

We often post guest articles written by experts. And, normally I check the content for accuracy before posting. However, today one slipped past me. Fortunately, my pal Rick Helms was quick to step in to make sure our readers receive only the best information available. So, here’s the original article as submitted. Please read Rick’s comments below to see how things are really done.

The original article…

You’ve seen them on TV crime dramas. A potential suspect is wired to a machine via a series of sensors attached to his body while he is grilled by an expert operator with a series of probing questions. Eventually, a needle goes haywire, and the lie is revealed. Well, not so fast. There are some serious misconceptions about the lie detector test, and we’re going to discuss ten of them below:

1. The Name Itself– The first misconception to address is the very name lie detector test. It is more correctly known as a polygraph, and can be more accurately considered to be a truth verifier test, because …
2. They Don’t Detect Lies – Polygraphs can confirm that a person is responding truthfully to a question; however, the body functions that are monitored in a polygraph test will not specifically identify a lie, simply an abnormal physiological reaction.
3. They Are 100% Accurate – When administered by an experienced professional examiner, a polygraph test can be very accurate in establishing truth or indicating deception, but there are many factors that can alter their reliability.
4. They Are Not Admissible In Court – Contrary to the belief even among some lawyers, this is no longer universally true. There have been cases where polygraph results have been entered as evidence in trials.
5. You Can “Beat” A Polygraph Test – A professional examiner will conduct a polygraph in three phases – the pre-exam interview, the polygraph exam, and the post-exam interview – over the course of several hours. The exam will include control questions, which are designed to confirm the truthfulness of the responses.
6. Drugs Can Help You Beat The Exam – Drugs or medications won’t aid in defeating a polygraph. Part of the pre-exam phase is for the examiner to ensure that the subject is fit to take the exam, and verify if any medications have been taken.
7. Nerves Can Affect The Results Of A Test – Nervousness does not register in the same way the physiological response of the nervous system does during a polygraph. Also, the examiner will work with the subject throughout the process to ensure that they are as relaxed as possible.
8. Polygraphs Include Trick Questions Intended to Elicit A Response – In fact, the respondent will be made aware in advance, of every question he will be asked in the polygraph exam. There are no surprise questions.
9. Control Questions Are Standard Questions With Standard Responses – Not exactly. A control question is not something like “Is your last name Lipschitz”. The purpose of a control question is to induce the subject into giving a deceptive answer, so that the examiner can have reliable measurements of what a deceptive response will look like.
10. You Only Fail If You Lie – While polygraphs do have a high percentage of accuracy when administered by a well-trained and qualified examiner, it’s quite possible to be completely truthful and still “fail” a polygraph exam.

*Today’s article brought to you by www.nannybackgroundcheck.com

Now, for Rick Helms’ response to the above article. Remember, Rick is the expert, and his comments are spot on.

I was a practicing forensic psychologist for almost a quarter century, and I now teach college psychology, including a course on Forensic Psychology.

This article was written by a company that has a vested interest in the polygraph as part of their investigative processes. It is also erroneous in several different areas.

The polygraph has an error rate between 25-75%, mostly because–while it absolutely DOES measure physiological arousal on three different domains (blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration, and galvanic skin response)– it is impossible to know the reason for that arousal. Arousal is controlled by a system in the body called the Sympatho-Adreno-Medullary process, and it is entirely autonomic. We have no control over it whatsoever,and sometimes (such as in panic attacks) the SAM system activates for no determinable reason. If a doctor used a test that was wrong 25-75% of the time, he’d be sued out of business within a week.

Nervousness, unlike the statement in the article, is PRECISELY the type of arousal measured by the polygraph. Nervousness refers to a set of physiological responses involving elevated heart rate, increased blood pressure, increased sweating (galvanic skin response), and increase respiration, and is the result of the activation of the SAM system in response to an environmental threat–such as, say, being hooked up to a lie detector with your job or freedom on the line.

You absolutely CAN manipulate the results using drugs, such as beta blockers. Propranolol,for instance, in addition to slowing heart rate and reducing blood pressure, also appears to ‘turn off’ the SAM response, which would produce–at worst–an inconclusive polygraph result. This is one reason researchers are exploring the use of propranolol as a prophylactic to help prevent post-traumatic stress disorder. By stopping the extreme arousal and anxiety associated with the trauma, the drug prevents the formation of the classically-conditioned intrusive flashbacks and dreams and phobic responses symptomatic of PTSD. Propranolol cannot be detected during “pretest verifications” by polygraphers, mostly because they aren’t qualified to do such tests.

The absolute best way to beat the polygraph, of course, is to be born a psychopath. Because of structural differences in their brains (mostly surrounding areas in the limbic system associated with the SAM arousal process), they don’t experience physiological arousal when doing things like stealing or lying. Their test results will be–at worst–inconclusive. In some cases, they will be exculpatory.

Polygraph results may, as mentioned, be entered into evidence in court, but only by defense attorneys as exculpatory evidence, and any attorney who tries to do it is asking to have his ass handed to him because the prosecutor will pull in expert after expert to discredit the evidence.

The only people who truly endorse the polygraph as a method to differentiate between truth and mendacity are…surprise!…polygraphers. The polygraph is SO unreliable and imperfect that the United States Congress was compelled to pass the Polygraph Protection Act, which forbids businesses from using the polygraph as a hiring tool, mostly because it was found to be discriminatory and a poor indicator of lying.

Every article touting the ‘effectiveness’ of the polygraph also notes that it should be administered by “a well-trained and qualified examiner”. This is a psychological trick called the ‘halo effect’, and may actually be one of the few benefits of the polygraph. By establishing your own expertise, you endow a scientifically useless machine with powers it doesn’t have.

You could (and I have) hook a person up to a stereo receiver, claim it is a polygraph, and then tell the person–forcefully and confidently–that he is lying when he denies his guilt. On the majority of occasions, that person will break down after repeated confrontation and admit their culpability, mostly because they come to believe that the machine has ‘found them out’ due to the ‘polygrapher’s strong endorsement of it. Unfortunately, like many interrogation processes, the potential for false confessions is always there.

Like eyewitness testimony, which is notoriously unreliable, the polygraph has severe limitations and faults, and I have repeatedly told my students to refuse it, if offered, simply because it has no validity or true ability to differentiate between truth or lies.

In fact, the only completely accurate statement in the article is #10. You absolutely can fail this test even when you are telling the truth. In fact, that can happen as much as 25-75% of the time. As a result, I would suggest that, as a forensic tool, the polygraph is essentially useless. It does, however, make a lot of money for polygraphers, so it shouldn’t be surprising that they enthusiastically endorse it and promote it–erroneously–as a valid and reliable assessment tool.

Richard Helms

richardhelms.net

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Want to learn more about polygraph exams? How would you like to see the equipment in action? Well, the 2012 Writers’ Police Academy is featuring a detailed, hands-on polygraph workshop just for you! And, we’ve just secured more workshop and classroom space so we have a few open slots. Please hurry. Register today!

If you want to learn more about the history of your city, explore the history of corruption within the city’s police department. Police corruption, which can include kickbacks, shakedowns, and protection of or even direct participation in illegal activities, has been around since the creation of the country’s first police force. Initially, the police were not asked to “serve and protect,” but to mediate between criminal and political kingpins as they fought each other for power. Some may say, the more things change, the more they stay the same. But perhaps understanding the history of city and police corruption can help to provide the vision and leadership for a better future. Here are nine police departments with well-documented corrupt pasts.

1. New York Police Department

   Since its establishment in 1844, corruption has been a fact of police life in New York City. From the very beginning, New York’s underpaid and overworked police officers were expected to serve the needs of the city’s political leaders while collecting money from gang leaders, gamblers, and pimps for the privilege of operating relatively unmolested. Back in 1895, officer Alexander S. Williams, took advantage of his appointment as captain of the city’s 21st Precinct, which included the Tenderloin and Gas House districts, to collect money from criminals, including the madams of several brothels, and make a fortune as a result. Williams, who earned his nickname “Clubber,” once said, “There is more law in the end of a policeman’s nightstick than in a decision of the Supreme Court.” After investigation by two committees, Williams resigned, went into the insurance business, and died a multimillionaire. Who says crime doesn’t pay?

2. New Orleans Police Department

   New Orleans Mayor Landrieu released a hopeful, conciliatory statement in the wake of the sentencing of five New Orleans police officers to several years in prison for their roles in shooting unarmed citizens in the chaotic days that followed Hurricane Katrina. “We now have an opportunity to turn the page and to heal,” Landrieu said. “It is my commitment to the people of New Orleans to rebuild and reform the NOPD.” The first police force in the then-French New Orleans was established in 1803, only to be disbanded due to countless complaints from civilians. Given the history of the NOPD, Landrieu definitely has his work cut out for him.

3. Chicago Police Department

   By the end of the 19th century, the city of Chicago enjoyed the dubious reputation of being a haven for “dangerous classes;” a city that was more like an out-of-control frontier town “with an absence of moral virtue.” The Chicago Police department went without large-scale reform until 1960 when eight police officers from the city’s North Side or Summerdale district were charged with running a large-scale burglary ring. Known as the Summerdale Scandal, the case generated unprecedented media attention, and prompted the creation of a much-needed police superintendent role to oversee and enforce rules and regulations within the department.

4. Los Angeles Police Department

   The 1951 Bloody Christmas Scandal, a real-life scandal that appears in author James Ellroy’s book L.A. Confidential and its film version, involved as many as 50, mostly drunk, police officers who took time out from a Christmas party to beat six prisoners for more than 90 minutes. Since more than 100 people either witnessed or knew of the beatings, the incident became public, and prompted the city’s Mexican community to come forward with more charges of police brutality against citizens. In 1952, a grand jury succeeded in convicting only five of the officers involved, and none of them received a sentence amounting to more than a year in prison. And then there was the Rampart scandal and the Rodney King beating.

5. Miami Police Department

   Miami in the ’80s experienced an “epidemic” of police corruption due in part to the enormous amount of cocaine being smuggled into South Florida from Latin America. A cheap, deadly derivative of the drug known as “crack” would infiltrate other cities throughout the U.S., and transform many once relatively peaceful working class neighborhoods into war zones. Police corruption in Miami reached its height in 1986 when, as a result of an inquiry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, more than a dozen officers from the police department faced charges that ranged from drug dealing to murder.

6. Sheriff’s Department, Dallas County, Alabama

   Students of Civil Rights history know that Selma, Ala. was the location of a brutal assault on a group of peaceful marchers led by John Lewis of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and Reverend Hosea Williams of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference by the Selma Police Department led by Sheriff Jim Clark, as well as state troopers, and recently deputized members of the community. Law enforcement officers used nightsticks, horses, and tear gas to indiscriminately attack the peaceful demonstrators. Televised images of the attack inspired even more support for the Civil Rights movement. Sheriff Clark later lost his bid for reelection, went on to sell mobile homes for a while, and in 1978, was busted for conspiracy to import marijuana.

7. Ahome Municipal Police Force

   Ahome is a municipality in the Mexican state of Sinaola. Just last November, Ahome’s entire Police Department, 32 officers and commanders, were arrested by state police for the department’s connection to two powerful drug cartels. Amazingly, the director of the state police who carried out the arrest, “Chuytoño” Aguilar Iniguez, was at one time one of Mexico’s Attorney General’s most wanted men for his connections to kingpins within the Sinaloa drug cartel. After having fled to Cuba in 2004 while undergoing investigation for corruption, Iniguez was granted a sort of immunity in 2009 by a federal court, and returned to Mexico to profit from, er, whoops, we mean “fight” crime.

8. Philadelphia Police Department

   You know you’ve got a corrupt police department when it comes under the scrutiny of Human Rights Watch. HRW has stated that, “the Philadelphia police department (in terms of) corruption and brutality … has one of the worst reputations of big city police departments in the United States.” In the early 1990s, a group of PPD officers, some known throughout the city as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, conducted a series of unreported raids on crack houses where officers would steal from suspects. The arrest of Mumia Abu-Jamal for the murder of a police officer, and the public outcry at his being sentenced to death (this sentence was recently overturned), brought national attention to the PPD’s reputation for brutality and corruption.

9. Baltimore Police Department

   In March 2012, a Baltimore police officer was sentenced for his part in what is known as the Towing Scandal, a criminal ring that included more than 50 other members of the Baltimore Police Department. Vehicles were towed from accident scenes by a towing and repair company owned by two police officers. Other officers were paid to participate in the scam, which generated hundreds to thousands of dollars for those involved. Accident victims were even encouraged by officers not to talk to their insurance companies.

*Today’s article brought to you by www.onlineclasses.org

Well, it happened. They’re together. And if what we saw last night was any indication of the intensity…well, they’re probably still together as you read this review (and I don’t mean they’re together having coffee either).

But, how it all plays out now remains to be seen, because it’s just not cool, or safe, to have your romantic partner at your side while you’re serving a high-risk search warrant (I know, Beckett and crew never bother with obtaining search warrants) or shooting it out with evil villains. Still, I’m thinking…no, I know, there are thousands of fans all over the country who are extremely happy this morning. And Melanie is one of those giggling, gushing shippers. So take it away, Mel, before you explode…

Melanie Atkins 

The episode title says it all. The Beckett-Castle catch word. Always. Never mind the angst, the pain, Beckett’s fruitless fight for justice. Marlowe and company promised satisfaction for us shippers, and they finally delivered. Did they ever!

For starters, Rick invited Kate for a movie date to help him survive the sadness/joy of Alexis’ graduation night — and she said yes. Was he shocked? Yes! Shocked… and breathless. Then she took his hand after the case broke, and he told her she wouldn’t fight alone this time. I loved that scene. So sweet, so heartfelt. So Kate and Rick. Then more came out about the murder, and who had done it, and they grew positive it was connected to Kate’s shooting/her mother’s case.

Rick tried to talk Kate down, tried to get her to step away. Nathan rocked that scene. Wow. I had tears in my eyes, too. Rick’s desperate I love yous broke my heart, because Kate, feeling betrayed by his secret and still so fixated on her mother’s case, refused to heed his warnings. Refused to back down, even though he begged her to choose him. To choose life.

So he walked away. That had to be the hardest thing he’d ever done, but he just couldn’t take it anymore… and I don’t blame him. At that point, I wanted to walk away, too. What an idiot Kate was to face that guy on that rooftop alone. Even with Esposito’s help, she was no match for that well trained assassin. If not for Ryan defying Kate and Esposito’s wishes and going to Gates, she would have died.

Gates was right to suspend them. I knew Kate was going to resign, because I’d seen the sneak peeks, but it still hit me in the gut. Didn’t seem like a Beckett thing to do. Then I saw the scene in Castle’s loft, against the door, and it all made sense. Will she try to get her job back next season? I’m betting on it. Still, the symbolism in that scene, with her staring at her badge but ultimately choosing Rick over the job, was so powerful.

I loved the juxtaposition of Alexis’ graduation speech about endings with Kate and Esposito leaving the precinct and Rick and Martha in the audience at her ceremony. Then came the swings. The same swings where Kate and Rick talked in Rise, the first episode of this season. The swings where Kate promised Rick she was going to get better. Kudos for Andrew Marlowe for having her return there… even though the rain was pouring down and sadness reigned. The symbolism here? She’d come full circle, and made an important choice.

She chose Rick. The next to last scene, when she showed up at the loft, blew me away. Talk about intensity and heat and chemistry… Nathan and Stana brought it in spades. Wow. Kisses, apologies, gentle touches… “What happened?” Rick asked after Kate apologized. “He got away, and I didn’t care,” she said. “I almost died… and all I could think about was you. I just want you.” Holy moly! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched that part already, because I’ve lost count. You can laugh at me, but I’ve been craving that for four long years. Finally! Kate and Rick are together… and I love it.

I did not expect the last scene, however, and the looming threat still hanging over Kate’s head. Yet I choose to believe Rick will protect her and things will work out in the end. They have to, because Marlowe declared long ago that his plan was for Castle to be “a great romance”… and all true romances end in happily ever after.

Thank you, Andrew and Terri (Andrew’s wife, Terri Edda Miller, who co-wrote the episode with him) for a stellar finale despite Beckett’s stubbornness. I already can’t wait for season five, and we have over four months to wait. Aarrgghh!

Okay, you know what’s coming. But I have no choice…the show opens with Lanie. Before I start in on her nonsensical babble, though, I want to thank those of you who sent all the absolutely marvelous hate mail last week. After reading some of those messages, well, you’d think I’m the person who writes Lanie’s crappy lines. But I’m not! So don’t blame me for the ridiculous garbage we hear spilling from her lips. However, I, too, wonder why they write this stuff for Lanie but not for the others who play similar parts.

Anyway, it was Lanie and her X-ray specs and crystal ball that we were forced to endure this week. Starting with…

“He was hit in the shoulder with what looks like a .357, but the kill shot was point blank, execution style with a 9mm.”

Well, you know, you can’t tell the caliber of bullet merely by looking at an entrance or exit wound. And that’s especially true when the shot is fired from a distance and/or from an angle. Even the close contact wound to the forehead would be difficult to narrow down to a specific round (9mm’s and .38′s are pretty close to the same size). For example, what size (caliber) rounds (bullets) made the holes in the door of the LAPD police car in the photo below? How many different weapons were fired? What calibers?

LAPD Museum image

Give up? The holes were all produced by the same weapon and same rounds. So you can see how difficult it is to make a determination by sight alone. And, at times, it can be a bit more difficult when the holes are in human flesh because flesh is pliant and can close in around the wound. Or, the flesh can tear, making the wound much larger than the object that penetrated it (like the metal around the bullet holes in the car door above).

Unfortunately, Lanie didn’t stop there. “Grooves in the shoulder indicate that he was carrying something heavy…” Okay, I’ll go along with that, but she couldn’t leave well enough alone. “…I’d say at least 30 lbs.” Why not 20lbs.? Or 70, or 43, or…?

Anyway, after all her psychic predictions she finally said, “But I’ll know a lot more when I get him back to the morgue.” Bravo, Lanie. That’s what you should’ve said in the first place.

Actually, the conversation should’ve been more like, “Well, the cause of death was more than likely the gunshot wound to the forehead. But I won’t know know for sure until I get him back to the morgue. After all, he could’ve bled out from the shoulder wound. It looks pretty nasty…probably a large caliber weapon. Maybe a .357 or .44.”

Okay, enough of Lanie. Now for the entry into the gang guy’s apartment. First of all, homicide detectives aren’t the officers who normally suit up in SWAT-type gear and then use explosives… Hey, wait a minute. Why did they use explosives to take out half the wall? Why not a battering ram? After all, the charge was so large that it certainly would have harmed the officers who were standing beside the door. Definitely overkill for dramatic TV. No, it’s not like that in real life. However, explosive charges are sometimes (rarely) used when entry absolutely cannot be made any other way, such as when attempting to breach fortified buildings. But not for thin wooden apartment doors, and especially not when there are other people living in close proximity.

- Did anyone else notice the words used by the super-tough gang leader during his interview with Beckett? Sounded like something straight from Guy Noir. ...”caught a glimpse before the night swallowed him whole.” What gang leader hood/thug talks like that? The night swallowed him whole…puhleeze.

- Castle trying to stop Beckett’s harsh interview tactics was a little off for me, unless he was playing the part of the good cop. Oh, wait a minute…HE’S NOT A COP! But now neither is Beckett, for the summer anyway.

You know, I’m not going to get into the relationship aspect of the episode. I think Melanie has that covered nicely (and boy are the two of us butting heads over this stuff!). I will say, though, that I’ve grown a little weary of Alexis acting like a 12-year-old. You’re going to college. Get over it. Grow up. And stop whining!

I almost forgot…what was up with the evil villain guy? He’s on a relentless mission to kill Kate Beckett, a single woman who lives alone in an apartment. She goes to work everyday, in the same place during the same hours. Her only partner riding in the car with her is an unarmed, goofy writer. How difficult would it be to take her out? Instead, this pitiful excuse for a hit man employs tactics like another famous villain…Wile E. Coyote. Yep, the similarities are uncanny. As simple as the task at hand should be, Wile E. orders weapon after weapon from ACME—non-exploding bombs, fake holes in mountainside, uphill-rolling boulders. And our super villain is no different. He had his own roadrunner (Beckett) hanging from a ledge by the tips of three or four fingers, when the ACME ledge-falling device backfires and Kate survives, and I think I know how she did it.

See you next season…

Today’s writers benefit from an incredible assortment of digital tools from which they can draw inspiration and productivity. Although some writers prefer to stick to old-fashioned pen and paper or even typewriters, there’s a vast population of others that are happy to take advantage of all the new tools out there. Some of the brightest of these tools can be found on the Apple iPad, and we’ve highlighted 32 of them here. Whether you’re looking for a place to scribble ideas, organize plotlines, or just find your zen before sitting down to write, these apps have got you covered.

1. Adobe Ideas

   Keep this app handy for moments of inspiration. You can scribble notes, write on images, and create sketches to make your vision come to life.

2. Manuscript

   This app will walk you through the steps of writing to create a publication-ready document. You’ll flesh out your pitch synopsis, chapter outlines, and finally, the content. The app also offers the option to create storyboards, organize your blog, track page and word count, and more.

3. Clockwork Notebook

   This super simple doodling app is great for typing notes, doodles, and more, with stickers and even an option to paste photos from your photo library. Notes can be exported as PDFs.

4. MaxJournal

   Write a daily diary, write down notes, and create outlines with this iPad journaling app. You can attach tags for easy organization, as well as attach a few photos. Then, bring it all together on your computer by exporting entries as a PDF, text, or email.

5. Chapters

   In this app, you can simply organize your chapters, journal entries, notes, and more. Chapters allows you to search, autosave, and even protect private notebooks with a passcode.

6. Pages

   Although this app comes with a high price tag, writers say it’s worth every penny for all of its useful features. You’ll find formatting options, printing support, and the ability to save your document in a number of different formats.

7. iZen Garden

   Go to your happy place and allow inspiration to find you with this tabletop zen garden for the iPad.

8. My Writing Spot

   For a distraction-free writing environment, this app can’t be beat. But this app isn’t bare bones: it offers word count, password protection, dictionary lookup, spellcheck, and more.

9. PrintCentral

   Get your notes and writing off your iPad and physically into your hands with this app. Find the best printer, and print via Wi-Fi, 3G, or even EDGE.

10. Clean Writer

    Created for writing minimalists, Clean Writer has a zen interface with precious few features to distract you from the task at hand.

11. Kindle

    Although this app is not for writing, reading is an important task for any writer. Find free classics, download new favorites, and sync it all up with this app.

12. Dragon Dictation

    If inspiration strikes, but you can’t stop to type it all out, this dictation app will come in extremely handy. Turn your words into text lightning fast, and you’ll be amazed by its accuracy.

13. Due

    Use this timer app to encourage short bursts of intense writing and get your book written in no time.

14. Writers App

    Get your ideas out and organized with the help of this app. You can use it to collect your plot, chapters, characters, and more, all in one handy spot.

15. GoodReader

    This app is perfect for annotating PDF documents on your iPad. Highlight, comment, and make notes all over to get your thoughts in order.

16. QuickVoice Recorder

    If you need a quick fix for getting your ideas down in spoken word, this app will do it for you. Record audio clips, email them to yourself, and use them to remember all of your great ideas and inspirations.

17. Chronicle

    Find a home for your stories, life events, and ideas in this journal. The app offers password protection, cloud backups, and event the option to export your journal as a website.

18. miTypewriter

    If you’re longing for the old days of typewriters, this app can help you reminisce. It’s simply an easy way to use a typewriter interface for writing on the iPad.

19. iA Writer

    This super simple text writer can help you get your ideas out onto paper with minimal distractions and plenty of ease of use.

20. Advanced English Dictionary and Thesaurus

    This app combines the power of a dictionary and thesaurus, both available offline any time you need help finding the right words.

21. Whiteboard HD

    Capture your brainstorming sessions in style with this app. You can write notes, sketch charts, and even make simple freeform drawings.

22. Grammar App HD

    Find tips, rules, and other great resources for cleaning up your grammar right on the iPad with this app.

23. Colorful Aquarium

    Find relaxation and entertainment in this colorful aquarium. You don’t even have to clean it!

24. Wikihood

    For doing quick research on settings, Wikihood is a great option. The app will show you all of the Wikipedia entries for any given area, sharing the history, politics, and culture that can be reflected in your work.

25. Dropbox

    Make your novel available to you anytime, anywhere by putting it on Dropbox. Access your photos, documents, and notes easily with this app that saves them all automatically to all of your devices.

26. Notepiler 9

    Using N9, you can capture media-rich notes, with an easy to find visual catalog. Record audio notes, annotate photos, map points of interest, and more, all in one app.

27. Todo for iPad

    Stay on top of your to-do list with this app, which keeps your tasks up to date and synched between all of your devices. You can even take advantage of the app’s GPS capability to get reminders based on where you are.

28. Index Card

    TV writers love this app for thinking through and organizing scripts. It has an easy to use, attractive interface that makes writing more fun.

29. Fancy Pages

    Using this app, you can create graphics-rich documents including presentations or even a children’s book.

30. Infinote Pinboard

    Similar to Index Card, Infinote Pinboard allow you to create note cards to pin to your message board. You can share them, print them, and order them by date, color, or even deadline.

31. Evernote

    Evernote is a super capable writing app that pretty much goes everywhere. You can update notes and documents on your iPad, then have them synched up to work on your iPhone, computer, and more.

32. SimpleNote

    A lot like Evernote, SimpleNote syncs your notes online for access anywhere. This app also allows you to go back and recycle pieces of text from previous drafts, and shows the word count of your document.

*Today’s article brought to you by www.accreditedonlinecolleges.com

Life on the islands is never boring. Why, just yesterday we sat in our kayaks a mere twenty feet away from a huge blue heron as it fished for its lunch. The big bird took a few glances at us before deciding that food was more important than flying away. It was an amazing sight to see, especially at such a close distance.

Earlier, hermit crabs shuffled along the banks, dragging their seashell homes as they passed two feet from my boat. Thousands of scurrying fiddler crabs moved along the shoreline, like soldiers storming a foreign beach. Pelicans dove into the water, oyster beds jutted up and out of the water, and I got sunburned. But it was a wonderful day.

And late Thursday afternoon proved to be just as spectacular, when we took a several-mile-long bike ride along the Bull River across the marsh from our house. So hop on your two-wheeler and join us. I think you’ll be glad you did. By the way, Writers’ Police Academy t-shirts are great for bike riding…

After riding for a few miles we stopped beside a rickety old dock that had pulled away from the shoreline. But, not wanting to pass up the views, we simply had to explore.

A lone pelican was scanning the water for dinner. We were lucky enough to see it catch a few appetizers.

Yep, we live on the other side of that marsh. Made me realize just how far the trip back would be. Unfortunately, there’s no road or path across, so its back the way you came…all the way around.

This shot was accidental. There was a four- or five-foot space from dock to land, and I guess I hit the camera button as I jumped. My movement at the time of the shot caused the illusion of the curved boards. They are actually straight.

You never know what sort of wildlife you’ll see in and around these waters.

Don’t forget, tonight the moon will be at its closest point to the earth. The “super moon” occurs at 11:35 p. m., but the best time to observe is during its rise and set. It will appear extremely large against the horizon.

And we say goodbye to another day in paradise…