Dear Dr. So-and-So,
My wife needs some research help. She wants to know how to poison someone and make their death look natural. Can you give me specific drug and dosing instructions on how this might work?
Thanks,
Writer-husband
Okay, I don't know why the above email would cause problems. All I did was ask the DH to use some of his medical connections to get the research questions answered that I need for the wip. This was the dr's reply:
Dear Writer-husband,
Get a lawyer.
Dr. So-and So
I kid you not. This happened. And Dr. So-and-So is a big doc in my hubby's territory. Needless to say, hubby's scrambling to clarify the situation. Surprisingly, though, this isn't the first reaction I've gotten to my poison murder question. When I asked the brother of a close friend (the brother is a PA in Gresham, btw), his response was, "Can I have your hubby's cell number? I think he needs to know what you're asking here." When I contacted an ME with the same question, she hedged in her response, then never got back to me with specifics. When I asked a cop friend, his mind suddenly went blank. I mean, come on people. Do I look like a psycho murdering woman?????
Okay, maybe the above photo is a bad one to post with this blog. Really. I'm a nice person. I just need to know the details of how to kill someone by poisoning and make it look like natural causes. Is that so much to ask????Ever had any research questions that got you weird looks (or people running for the hills)?????
12 comments:
Eli, this happens all the time! Once, Steve went to a book store to buy me a gift book. He couldn't find it, and finally asked the clerk where he could find DEADLY DOSES, the one about poisons.
(Writer's Digest Books - if you don't have it, go get it, it will answer your questions).
After they gave him "the look" he tried to clarify.
"No, really. It's a gift. For my wife."
Another look.
"Seriously. I consider ir a show of faith."
He got the book, too!
Chris York
THis has happened to me numerous times, usually because I forget to clarify exactly who and what I am that makes it okay to ask such a question. My doctor now knows me well and I can ask her, but the last time I had a have to know right now moment it was a Saturday morning, so I bebopped into the local pharmacy and there was a substitute pharmacist I'd never seen before. She acted very suspicious as I asked the way to kill someone who is a diabetic. She answered the questions finally, but when the last thing she said was, "No one would ever know," she looked 1.) worried, 2.) alarmed and 3.) What have I done, I've just helped this woman kill someone!
Chris, I love Steve's answer to the book store person!
Eli -- Psycho picture!
BTW, is it just me or has the print on everyone's blog answer sheet gotten tinier and harder to read in the last couple of days?
LOL, Eli!
Fortunately, I discovered DEADLY DOSES from Writers Digest Books quite a few years ago.
I also heard warnings from other writers not to go to terrorist Web sites to do research because of the mindset of the current administration. Seems there were a number of writers being "watched" because of the Web sites they visited.
Sooo...guess I'm really glad I can't add a story to your "weird looks" question.
Alice, my comment font is smaller also. I figured I had unwittingly pushed a wrong button and hadn't had time to check it out yet.
LOL, Eli! I had this same problem a few books ago. I was able to find a doctor online to converse with and he helped a lot. He was a writer, too, so he knew the score and I didn't have to explain myself. I had this brilliant idea to inject my victim with alcohol, which would indeed kill her, but he set me straight that it would have to be intravenously with a lot of alcohol and the room would smell like a booze distillery.
I ended up going with an overdose of a chemotherapy drug that stopped the heart and left no tell-tale trace behind. It worked. Uh, hypothetically, that is.
I have the book Deadly Doses. It really is a fun book in kind of a morbid sense. How do you want to off your poor vic? There's a whole section on poisonous plants. There's a chapter on making up your own poison like the writer did for the movie D.O.A. Remember the one where the guy had something like 24 hours to solve his own murder before he kicked?
I hope your husband doesn't get arrested. 8^)
Ha! I thought for certain you deleted that photo! I get photo credit.
DOA--Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan. Good movie. He glues her hand to his with superglue. I can't remember if he actually dies in the end.
LOL- I first started out writing books to kill off a person in my life. (Not a family member) The physician, who brought all my kids into this world listened, smiled, and politely said, "With all these children you might want to keep Gerrit around." I didn't want to know how to kill someone. I wanted to know how long it took for someone to die when they are strangled and what their face would look like. He just smiled indulgently.
Now my brother who works on bronze statues sent me a pic of an Indian sitting on a stump holding a spear. He told me the spear head came off and would make a great murder weapon as you could put it back on the bronze hiding the weapon in plain sight. And he told me of some of the chemicals he uses to patina the statues. But until I write a contemporary mystery, those things are in the back of my mind.
And even for my historicals at times I'm looking up what plants and things might be fatal. You never know when someone needs to be offed. LOL
Laughing. Too funny. Poor your DH.
Clearly my mind is not as devious as the rest of you as I don't have any funny research stories :)
LOL! I love this story. And that picture is a classic. :-)
I, too, have the book Deadly Doses. My husband has joked for awhile now that he feels safe because he figures he can't suddenly turn up dead -- I've got too many books in my library that would point the finger at me!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh this cracks me up. What about that poison lady you were talking about? Or was that from a class Kendra took? I don't remember.
Hey girls, sorry I'm late in responding. I left for the holiday weekend right after posting and the internet access at the motel (dive!) we stayed in had sporadic connection.
Chris - I have Deadly Doses. Great book! I broke down and bought it after I realized people were giving me zilch on the info front. Spent the drive to the coast rereading it this weekend. Fascinating stuff in there.
Alice - funny story!!! One of the girls I went camping with this weekend is a pharmacist. She and I were chatting about my dilemma. Luckily, she understood where I was coming from, but she said she doesn't really have a sinister mind so she'd have to look up specifics. I just don't get these people who don't have twisted minds!!!
Genene - True. *sigh* Considering my last book was about a terrorist organization in Egypt, I'm sure I have some FBI watch on me right now.
Karen - loved DOA!!! (I love Dennis Quaid!) The chapter in Deadly Doses which deals with writer-designed poisons is really cool. I actually got a lot from it, even though I'm using a real poison in my book.
Kendra - yes, you get credit for the psycho-woman picture. LOLOL. Love your new sig pic, too.
Paty - ooooh...I may be emailing you. My current wip centers around six bronze sculptures. Hmmm...now that I know you have connections my mind is twirling...
Oh, come on, Wavy. I'm sure you have something. ;)
Debbie - that's probably very true. I have lots of books on murder weapons. I suppose if something did happen to my DH I'd be suspect numero-uno. LOL
Lisa - yes, the "poison" lady was a big help, and I just finally heard from her this week, which is why I have murder by poison on my mind once again. That, combined with my research books *I think* solved my problem.
Thanks for all the comments!!! Great responses.
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