Clark County Coroner/Las Vegas
I am sitting here drinking tea out of a black mug that reads, on one side, Clark County Coroner/Las Vegas, and on the other side, "Our day begins, when your day ends." How cool is that? The mug was one of the items we came away with from the Clark County Coroner’s office. We also have a mandible (lower jaw) holder for business cards, several hats, and some cool pin/badges for the kids. The plural kids is for Shawn’s kids, plus Trinity. We also got musical albums from Skinner Rat, the band created by the Medical Examiner, Gary, who is the consultant for CSI. Other than the very nifty swag we also got my research questions answered. I’d like to thank the Coroner of Clark County for allowing me to come and visit.
We got shown around by Bill, Coroner Investigative Forensic Supervisor, Alane, Forensic Pathologist & Medical Examiner, Bill’s wife Nicole, admin staff, and their daughter, Rem.. Thanks to all of you for making the research not just informative, but fun. Jon took notes, and I absorbed the atmosphere. We’ve found that is the division of labor that works best. I’m gestalt and the feel of a thing, while Jon does the minute detail. I just can’t take notes and really pay attention to whoever I’m talking to, or even the room I’m going through. I can take short notes, but not he detail I need, so we divide and conqueror. Shawn described us as "the team." Accurate. He’d never seen us work together in straight business way. The one wolf howl he did security for us, Jon was AWOL because he was still on crutches after his knee operation, so this was Shawn’s first chance to see us at work.
I actually had the coroner scenes pretty close in the book, only a few cosmetic changes needed, except for one scene. There is this terrific scene with Olaf and Anita in the morgue looking at the murder victims, but I’m going to have to do a major rewrite of it because I had the protocols and equipment slightly wrong for bodies with potentially contagious diseases. I discussed it with Alane and Bill, and someone suggested that I just keep it the way it was, because it sounded nifty, but I can’t do it now that I know how far off I am. When you’re asking people to believe your victims have been done in by supernatural beings you have to get your real life details as accurate as possible, or the fantastic elements can break the back of the world and shatter the reader’s suspension of disbelief. So, I’ll have to rewrite it, and see how much of the dialogue I can save or move to latter. I’m a little pouty about loosing any of it, because it’s a really creepy scene because of Olaf’s reactions, but it’s wrong, and now I know it. Shoot.
We gave everyone the chance to ask questions about my work and characters, as we asked them questions about their work. One of the niftiest bits to me was the difference that digital technology has made in the x-rays. I’m so not a techie, so it just hadn’t occurred to me how the new technology might effect the coroner’s office. No more waiting and waiting for x-rays to develop, it’s just like the difference between film and digital in a camera, now you can see what you’re doing almost instantly. I realized that I should have revisited my research in this area sooner. I just hadn’t thought that tech would make a difference here, like it does everywhere. Again, just not a techie.
Thanks to Bill, Alane, Nicole, and Rem. for showing us such wonderful hospitality, and answering all of my questions, and helping make SKIN TRADE closer to reality.
Interestingly, Jon and I have both been wearing the hats that say, Clark County Coroner/Las Vegas around town, now that it’s cold. No one, not a single person, has remarked on the hats. We wore them because we liked them, but it just struck us both as a little odd that no one has asked about them, or why we’re wearing them. Maybe everyone else, besides Jon and I, are accustomed to seeing people on the street wearing hats with coroner on them. That must be it, though part of me wonders if they simply haven’t seen what the hat says. The old Sherlock Holmes line spoken to Watson, ". . . you see, but you do not observe." Or maybe coroner on your hat goes under the heading of things not polite to ask about? I spend a lot of my research asking questions that wouldn’t work as dinner table conversation at most houses. It would work at ours, but then that’s us. Your dinner table mileage may vary.
Here are some pictures that Bill and Jon took of our visit.
