Last Saturday the annual CrimeScene Convention was on. It was held at Curtin University and is a conference for crime writers. I know what you're thinking, but Claire, you don't write crime novels. That is true but seriously, there was no way I was going to miss out on the Science stream.
You see the conference isn't just about the craft of writing. There are experts there in forensics, science, law enforcement and they give talks about the reality of fighting crime. This year they talked about analytical chemistry, illicit drugs, clandestine labs, arson and explosions, document examination and trace evidence. It was fascinating.
I took copious notes, because really, you never know when you might need it. I've been thinking for a while that I'd like to do a series with scientists as protagonists. It's in the 'that could be fun to do one day' category at the moment, but Saturday's conference made me think that perhaps these scientists could be on the forensics side. The information about the clandestine drug labs was particularly interesting.
The other great part of the day was catching up with some of my romance author friends. We had lunch together and have potentially arranged a guns lesson with one of the presenters there. I think learning how to shoot different guns is always useful for any future story ideas. I imagine they are all quite different and have different safety features.
So all in all I would highly recommend the CrimeScene convention to anyone really, not just crime writers. I'm looking forward to next year already.
