How I Choose Historical Themes to Create My Mysteries

I have two passions behind my writing: history and forensics. How do I bring the two together, when forensics is relatively new and history, well, relatively old. When scouting out time periods that are of interest to me, several things come into play. I get ideas from books, movies, television, current events, the world at large, and just chatting with people. As all writers do.

In the case of my newly released book, TIME EXPOSURE, I got the idea from a surprising source. Some years ago when I was a director at a science museum in world-renowned Balboa Park, I worked with the Smithsonian to bring a lecture series to town. Speakers from various Smithsonian museums gave lectures at the museums in Balboa Park. In our “theater” we hosted a speaker from the National Air & Space Museum to talk about space missions.

But in our smaller lecture hall, we sponsored a guest speaker from The National Museum of American History. His name was Will Stapp and he did an illustrated program on Civil War photography. It transformed my life. I was so taken with the images of the mid-nineteenth century that I knew I had to do something about it.

At the same time, I was working with my staff to develop programs around forensic science, since CSI was a household word and teachers, students and the general public hungered for more. I, too, being an avid mystery reader, loved the science of forensics and learned a great deal from the local police and law enforcement agencies that helped us design the programs.

Now, how did I blend these two loves together?

I created a mystery/conspiracy that revolved around the Civil War but is solved today with digital photography. Two birds, one book.

TIME EXPOSURE was the first novel I ever wrote, and has been re-written at least 20 times since the first draft. But the theme is the same, and carries over to my other novels. A mystery that takes place in the past but is solved today by modern technology.

It’s not easy. You have two parallel stories and myriad characters to keep track of. You have gobs of research to do (and get right!), you have forensic details to include, and you have to come up with a satisfying ending in the modern story (we all know how it ends historically.) After all, there has to be a credible reason why your modern character would be in mortal danger today from a murder or conspiracy that took place a long time ago.

I’m always looking for new ways to blend history, mystery and forensics. I’d be very interested in learning how other fiction writers get their ideas so please write and let me know!