Babylon Tales | Nathan Weaver, author

This is partly for myself, so that I remember to read this article later, but also for other crime writing folks like myself. And as a side note, the author of the article, Joe Giacalone, offers himself out to authors as a resource on Google+. Happy writing.



There Are No Shortcuts in Death Investigations: Documenting the Body
I've said this many times, you don't get a second chance to do it right the first time. Investigators have a tough enough job when investigating a death scene, so doing more is never popular. They must control the scene, prevent unauthorized access, avoid contamination, keep the bosses happy and create an investigative plan to capture the suspect.

This is partly for myself, so that I remember to read this article later, but also for other crime writing folks like myself. And as a side note, the author of the article, Joe Giacalone, offers himself out to authors as a resource on Google+. Happy writing.

There Are No Shortcuts in Death Investigations: Documenting the BodyI've said this many times, you don't get a second chance to do it right the first time. Investigators have a tough enough job when investigating a death scene, so doing more is never popular. They must control the scene, prevent unauthorized access, avoid contamination, keep the bosses happy and create an investigative plan to capture the suspect.

Twitter / babylontales: My dad on #contentment at age ... from babylontales

Twitter / babylontales: My dad on #contentment at age ... from babylontales

Chapter One
All three of the McKay boys were out tending the ranch, as was there custom, when they received the news. Their little sister, Johanna, came running out to them from the woods that stood between the field they were in and the homestead.  She was badly beaten and her clothes were torn, she was trying to keep a shawl across her torn dress as she limped along.  She raised her hands, letting go of the shawl and screeched, “They’re killin’ us!”  

And that was all she got out.

A rider, his face hidden behind a yellow bandanna, came riding out of the woods and shot her quick in the back of the head.  The bullet came straight through the nose and whisked by the boys.  She flailed forward with her arms drawn upward and collapsed to the ground as dead weight.  The rider stopped and looked on the boys for a moment, then reared his black stallion back and galloped back into the woods and towards the house.

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Chapter One All three of the McKay boys were out tending the ranch, as was there custom, when they received the news. Their little sister, Johanna, came running out to them from the woods that stood between the field they were in and the homestead.  She was badly beaten and her clothes were torn, she was trying to keep a shawl across her torn dress as she limped along.  She raised her hands, letting go of the shawl and screeched, “They’re killin’ us!”  
And that was all she got out.
A rider, his face hidden behind a yellow bandanna, came riding out of the woods and shot her quick in the back of the head.  The bullet came straight through the nose and whisked by the boys.  She flailed forward with her arms drawn upward and collapsed to the ground as dead weight.  The rider stopped and looked on the boys for a moment, then reared his black stallion back and galloped back into the woods and towards the house.
Jonathon, the eldest brother of the three, lept on his horse and rode…

So we decided to go out west this summer (2013), on a long vacation. Trekking from Missouri out to Seattle, Washington by car (actually, a Jeep Liberty). While the trip served many purposes, it also was an interesting journey into Babylon for myself and opened up all sorts of new possibilities for my Babylonian chronicles.

So we decided to go out west this summer, on a long vacation. Trekking from Missouri out to Seattle, Washington by car (actually, a Jeep Liberty). While the trip served many purposes, it also was an interesting journey into Babylon for myself and opened up all sorts of new possibilities for my Babylonian chronicles.

You see, for years I've been writing stories in or around Babylon, a fictional city I created that is sort of in another reality/universe, but not all that different from our own. I've always been a little hazy on the details with my readers, not daring say exactly where Babylon was located in the United States, but still building up details as I go.

The fact of the matter is that the location of Babylon grew out of a host of different elements. Let me run you down the gauntlet, and then I'll finally spill the beans a bit more about my city Babylon. You'll be able to pinpoint it on a map by the time I'm done.

In the beginning, there was noir...
My first …