Adults

Crime writer and forensics maven, Jennifer offers these exciting seminars to help crime scribes write authentically.

Pick your poison:

Writing the Killer Procedural
Pour Me a Stiff One.... The 10 Essential Steps in Death Investigation
Decoding Blood Spatter - What Spatter Says About Your Victim, Suspect & Crime
Crime Scene 101 - 10 Steps, 10 Myths, 10 CSI Tools
A Crime Show For Everyone - How to Choose the Crime Show That's Write For You
Building Convincing Clues - 10 Things You Need to Know About Leaving Evidence

Writing the Killer Procedural

Procedural shows crowd TV airwaves. Flip through the guide on your Direct TV and you will find a crime show any hour of the day or night. There truly is a crime show out there for every personality. In this workshop learn the top ten types of procedurals (and which one's right for you), how to structure a procedural, the three things you need to create a captivating crime, five key characters in every crime show, how to develop compelling B, C, and D stories, how to make the most out of research, and secret story fillers that the professionals use.

View a sample course outline here! Download the PDF

Pour Me a Stiff One.... The 10 Essential Steps in Death Investigation

As the daughter of a Medical Examiner whose office was in our home, I've spent two decades around death investigation. The case of the day was a commonly discussed around our family dinner table. I've been at countless death scenes, processed case files, and helped transport bodies in our family Suburban.

Come with me as I open the doors of a Real Life Medical Examiner's (M.E.) office and compare it to a Reel story example. You will gain access to the 10 crucial investigative techniques M.E.'s use to determine manner, and cause of death that can make your stories croon with credibility.

In this seminar you will learn:

  • What happens to a body once it leaves the scene of death
  • The proper way to process a body and retain evidence
  • Where the body goes and when
  • When does a body have to be autopsied
  • What is the chain of custody
  • When are autopsies required
  • How cause of death determined
  • The difference between a M.E. and a croener
  • What the difference is between a M.E. and a Coroner
  • How a body decomposes
  • What happens to a body after it leaves the scene of death
  • How can we tell if someone is really dead
  • How grief plays a part our stories

    • Decoding Blood Spatter - What Spatter Says About Your Victim, Crime & Suspect

    In this seminar you will come to understand the art & science of interpreting blood spatter and how to use it to sharpen your fictional investigations.
  • Know the difference between spatter and splatter
  • Learn how to identify and interpret the 6 basic blood stain patterns
  • Be able to read spatter and what it says about the victim, the crime and the criminal
  • Real life limitations regarding blood spatter analysis
  • Learn how to do your own blood spatter experiment
  • Receive blood spatter resources & TV/film example

    • Crime Scene 101 - 10 Steps, 10 Myths, 10 CSI Tools

    In this seminar writers will learn the ins and outs of processing a crime scene so they can make their crime writing smarter and more authentic.

    Seminar will cover:

  • 10 steps to investigating a crime scene
  • What happens from 911 call to court room trial
  • Who does what on the scene and when.
  • Who's in charge?
  • The importance of keeping chain of custody
  • 10 most common CSI myths seen on TV
  • 10 tools of the trade, how their used, and how you can use them in your writing

    • A Crime Show For Everyone - How to Choose the Crime Show That's Write For You.

    Procedural shows crowd TV airwaves. Flip through the guide on your Direct TV and I guarantee you will find a crime show any hour of the day or night. There truly is a crime show out there for every personality. Writers will learn about the 10 types of crime shows (procedurals) out there today and how to go about choosing which one is best for them to write.

    Building Convincing Clues - 10 Things You Need to Know About Leaving Evidence

    Mysteries, thrillers, procedurals are built around evidence. Learn the 8 types of evidence and how to use them in your storytelling. Discover what chain of custody means and how to break it or keep it for dramatic purposes. And learn how real CSIs treat evidence, test evidence, and use evidence in court so you can sharpen your fictional crime.

    Contact Jennifer to schedule a presentation