How to make your book Authentic: Ask the experts.

If I can give just one tip to fellow writers on making their book more authentic, it would be––ask for an expert to proof your pages, in order to create believable dialogue, plot, and scenes.

In my second novel, I required two specialists, an interventional radiologist, and a forensic DNA anthropologist. As an anesthesiologist, I know a delightful interventionalist, and I peppered him with questions in the physicians’ lounge. I did not, however, know a forensic DNA pathologist. It required more... digging. (Forgive the pun, I couldn’t help myself)

I asked google while my helpful husband searched Spotify. He found a podcast featuring an anthropologist who impressed me with her depth of knowledge. I located her email address on her university platform and wrote:

“Dear Doctor, I am a novelist researching for my second book, Grave Intervention...”

I explained my needs in three concise sentences and pressed send.

She responded within two days with a kind email and recommended a Forensic DNA Specialist to read through it, since –

“although it involves bone, DNA analysts are the ones prepping it all. We just hand a section of the bone over to them.”

I (profusely) thanked her for the contact and wrote the recommended specialist using her email as a starting reference. BINGO. The recommended specialist not only accepted my pages, but was “honored to be asked.”

Within a week of starting my search, the three pages of my novel concerning bone analysis were edited by a specialist I had never met.

Although I offered an hourly rate, neither Ph.D., would accept money for their assistance.

For book three, Wicked Child, I made it even harder for myself. I needed a criminal lawyer, and oh, they needed to be British. Googling “British Criminal lawyer,” I came upon one who was also a blogger, writer, and dog lover. I emailed him via his company website on a long shot ––4000 miles away.

I kid you not, he responded in twenty minutes with an email that made me laugh aloud.

“…Judges are always keen that I make my own Court Documents more authentic as well.”

We are planning a zoom call this week. He also refuses to be paid.

It really can be that fun and simple to find an expert. Be polite. Be succinct. Always offer money for their time, and most likely, they will be honored to share their expertise for free. Just be sure to thank them in your Best-Seller Acknowledgments.