Donis here. To start the New Year off right, last night I watched an episode of American Experience on PBS entitled "Lie Detector", about the development and limitations of the polygraph, or "lie detector", and how United States law enforcement, government, and even businesses came to rely on an unreliable technology. It was a very interesting episode, especially for a crime writer whose books are set in the early 20th century.
So I'm watching along, all engrossed, when lo and behold, Dr. Frankie Y. Bailey, Type M's own mystery author and professor in the School of Criminal Justice University at Albany (SUNY) pops up as one of their expert commentators. I was wildly impressed and happy to see one of our own nationally recognized for her expertise. ESPECIALLY since at this very moment Frankie's Tell Me Your Story article is up on my own website. Tell Me Your Story is feature I run every month in which I invite authors to share with us how their backgrounds and life experiences have contributed to their writing. Frankie's story is an absolutely fascinating tale of history, mystery, and multiculturalism.
“Like a butterfly pinned to a board,” she begins. "That’s the first line I can remember writing."
Oh, that's good!
I highly recommend reading Frankie's story at www.doniscasey.com. The article will be up on the first page of my site for another week, after which you can find all the Tell Me Your Story entries in the site Archives. You'll be enlightened and edified!
I also recommend watching the PBS episode of Lie Detector, an excellent resource for mystery writers. By the way, many years ago, shortly after I was married, my mother told me she could always tell when one of my sisters was lying because "her eyes always flick off to the left." I never forgot that telling piece of information. It brought home to me that the greatest lie detectors ever created are our own mothers.
Happy New Year to all you Dear Readers, and may 2023 bring nothing but good things to you and yours.
