"I’m Not A Forensic Anthropologist… But I Play One In Fiction"

Jacqueline Seewald:

Hi, I previously interviewed Jen J. Danna for Author Expressions when her first mystery novel was published. Today, she is our guest blogger. As a scientist specializing in infectious diseases, Jen is part of a dynamic research group at a  Canadian university. Her true passion, however, is indulging her love of the mysterious through her writing. Together with her partner Ann Vanderlaan, she crafts suspenseful crime fiction with a realistic scientific edge. Her Skeleton Keys blog at www.jenjdanna.com has been listed by ITSGOV and BestCriminalJustice.com as one of the top forensic blogs on the web. Jen lives near Toronto, Ontario with her husband and two daughters, and is a member of the Crime Writers of Canada. You can reach her at jenjdanna@gmail.com. As a mystery author myself, I find her writing fascinating. Okay—here’s Jen!

Everyone wants to have their own angle when they write a novel—something unique to interest readers. But when constantly told there are only a handful of constantly recycled universal storylines, writers need to find their own take on those stories. Be it a background in law, an interest in quilting, or a love of military history, a great way to pull readers into your story is to share your love of the topic with them.

In my case, it’s science. I’m a scientific researcher in my day job at the same university that awarded me my Bachelor of Science degree. And while I have 20 years (or maybe more *cough cough*) in the business of infectious diseases, it’s the science of forensics that really caught my attention.

So, for fun, I taught myself the field of forensic anthropology (yes, I hear you cry, that’s fun? Actually, it is for me…). I’ve always found it fascinating how experts can tell the story of a murder victim given nothing more than their skeletal remains. The idea of someone who speaks for the dead like this fascinates me. Thus Dr. Matt Lowell, forensic anthropologist, was born. Matt is paired with Trooper Leigh Abbott of the Massachusetts State Police because someone who speaks for the dead needs someone to stand for them. From a burial ground of torture victims in DEAD, WITHOUT A STONE TO TELL IT, to the remains of a young woman, tossed away at a landfill in NO ONE SEES ME ‘TIL I FALL, to arson victims in A FLAME IN THE WIND OF DEATH, or the discovery of a victim in a long forgotten Prohibition-era speakeasy in the upcoming TWO PARTS BLOODY MURDER, Matt and Leigh are a formidable team, dealing with what can be the messiest of the dead in their relentless drive to find justice for their victims.

As part of learning this background material, I’ve blogged on the topic of forensic anthropology and forensics on my Skeleton Keys blog for more than three years. Every week we cover a new topic (note—I say ‘we’ because my writing partner, Ann Vanderlaan, stands as editor for all my blog posts) around the basics of forensic anthropology, forensics, or the discovery of historic remains.

The Forensics 101 series of blog posts may occasionally have been unintentionally misleading. I’ve been called by the CBC here in Canada, when they were looking to interview a forensic anthropologist. Recently I was contacted by a gentleman who acquired a real human skull and was looking for someone to examine it for age, sex and race. In both cases, I was very honest about my background—I’m not a real forensic anthropologist, I just play one in fiction. In the case of the skull identification, the gentleman was aware of my background, but allowed me to take a stab at it anyway (for those who are interested, it was a male, of American white heritage, between the ages of ­­40 and 45, based solely on pictures of the skull and without any of the post cranial skeleton for confirmation). So sometimes, the role you play in fiction can become the roll you play in real life.

Whatever your passion, find a way to embed it naturally into your writing. The readers who share that love will find you and will stay with you for the long haul.

Thanks, Jen for providing us with this wonderful discussion. Comments and questions are most welcome!

Interview With Author Jen J. Danna by Jacqueline Seewald

As a scientist specializing in infectious diseases, Jen J. Danna works as part of a dynamic research group at a cutting-edge Canadian university. Her true passion, however, is indulging her love of the mysterious through her writing. Together with her partner Ann Vanderlaan, she crafts suspenseful crime fiction with a realistic scientific edge. Her Skeleton Keys blog at www.jenjdanna.com has been listed by ITSGOV and BestCriminalJustice.com as one of the top forensic blogs on the web. Jen lives near Toronto, Ontario with her husband and two daughters, and is a member of the Crime Writers of Canada. You can reach her at jenjdanna@gmail.com.

First, Jen, congrats on the great review your novel received from Kirkus.

Question: What is the title and genre of your novel?  Why did you select them?

Answer: DEAD, WITHOUT A STONE TO TELL IT is a forensic mystery.

The title is a line from the poem "Across the Lines", written by Ethel Lynn Eliot Beers in 1865. Composed during the American Civil War, the poem tells of a Union soldier, fallen on the battlefield and on the brink of death, who fears being buried in an unmarked grave without a headstone to tell the world of his passing. It was a perfect fit for the main theme of the novel:

Dead? and here — where yonder banner
Flaunts its scanty group of stars,
And that rebel emblem binds me
Close within those bloody bars.
Dead? without a stone to tell it,
Nor a flower above my breast!
Dead? where none will whisper softly,
"Here a brave man lies at rest!"

Question:   What inspired this novel? How did it come about?

Answer: Both my partner and I are scientists (lucky Ann, she’s retired!) so our combined scientific backgrounds play heavily into the direction of our writing. I’ve always thought forensic anthropology is fascinating—how the study of decomposed or skeletal remains can tell the story of a victim’s death when they can no longer speak for themselves. So when we started writing crime fiction, it was natural for us to incorporate a strong and realistic science angle into our storytelling.

Question:  Could you tell us a little bit about the heroine and/or hero of your novel?

Answer:  The Abbott and Lowell Forensic Mysteries series features dual protagonists.  Leigh Abbott is a murder cop with the Massachusetts State Police. As the only woman in the unit, she is on the fringe of her own department and is constantly fighting to fit in. Her partner is Dr. Matt Lowell, a forensic anthropologist at Boston University. Matt’s years as a Marine medic in Afghanistan still haunt him, but are directly responsible for pushing him into his current career in science. Together, Matt and Leigh solve the hardest mysteries—those with so little evidence that only the sharpest eye and the strongest intuition can solve them.

Question:   Can you tell us about some of your other published novels or work?

Answer:  My partner and I have written the second full length novel in this series (A FLAME IN THE WIND OF DEATH) which will release in May 2014, and a novella to bridge the two books (NO ONE SEES ME ‘TILL I FALL) in the fall of 2013.

Question:   What are you working on now?

Answer:  We’ve just starting outlining the third book in the series and hope to have it drafted by early fall for 2015 publication.

Question:   What made you start writing?

Answer: I used to write just for fun as a pre-teen, but then gave it up in high school when I got involved in a number of extra-curricular activities. Then came university, marriage, kids, and I didn’t think about writing again for almost 25 years. But then about 6 years ago the bug bit again. I’d been in the same job for about 16 years and my kids were older and suddenly I had time to dabble again. Shortly thereafter I met Ann. We wrote 5 practice novels together before we decided to take a stab at traditional publishing. DEAD, WITHOUT A STONE TO TELL IT is the product of that attempt.

Question:   What advice would you offer to those who are currently writing novels?

Answer: Be persistent. If it's something you really want to do, give it your all. I always thought that it was better to try and fail than to lack the courage to try and then look back in 20 years and wonder 'what if...?'. Failure was preferable to regret.

Question:  Where and when will readers be able to obtain your novel?

Answer: DEAD, WITHOUT A STONE TO TELL IT is available now through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Chapters and independent booksellers. For those who would like to preview the first three chapters of the novel, it is available here on my website: DEAD, WITHOUT A STONE TO TELL IT, CHAPTERS 1 - 3

Readers, now is the time to comment, welcome Jen, and ask any questions you might have regarding her work.