Poisons Basic Overview - Writers and poisons

I recently saw a mug on Pinterest that said "this may contain Iocaine powder", but is Iocaine an actual poison? Inconceivable! It is completely fictional.

Fellow writers, pick your poison. This is a basic overview of poisons, some of them we see every day and use in smaller-than-fatal doses. It's all about dosage, frankly, especially in drugs (which can always be a poison). Plenty of suicides have been done by overdosing on drugs. Most of the poisons we hear about in mystery novels are actually natural substances being misused in larger dosages and being used incorrectly. Was it deliberate? Depends on the poison itself. Also, some of these are and were used medicinally, again all about how much you breathe in, consume, and soak into your skin.

I'm going to talk about the most common poisons in mystery genre novels. Those include ricin, arsenic, and Strychnine. The most fatal will be first and least fatal last, but all are fatal. 

Ricin

Ricin comes from a castor bean plant, a natural substance that needs deliberate poisoning attempts to actually kill. There is no cure. It prevents the body from making needed proteins, thus killing cells. Killing cells then kills a person, simply put. Small doses can kill an adult.

When ingested, symptoms appear in less than 10 hours. When inhaled they appear in 4 to 24 hours. To be poisoned you have to inject, ingest, or inhale it deliberately. It can be in the form of powder, mist, pellet, or can be dissolved in water. Be sure to do your research on your fictional situation because there may be a few jobs that could expose you to ricin poisoning. The only way to accidentally poison yourself, according to my research, is to eat castor beans, and even then no promise that you'd die of this poison. 

When inhaled it causes:   - trouble breathing - fever  - cough - nausea  - tight chest -heavy sweating 

 - blue skin - low blood pressure and can't breathe leading to death

When ingested it causes:  -bloody diarrhea and vomiting  - severe dehydration leading to low blood pressure  -seizures -bloody urine - liver, spleen, kidneys disfunction leading to death

In the 1940s it was experimented with as a warfare agent. Terrorists and political assassins have used it. Today it is being experimented with as a way to kill cancer cells, much like another poison I'm going to talk about. 

Strychnine

Strychnine, a white, odorless crystalline powder can cause severe harm in small doses. You ingest, inhale, and inject it into someone. It can also be absorbed into the body.  It comes from a plant, Strychnos nux-vomica. It used to be medicinal in pill form. Now it kills pests and may be found in street drugs, in some cases. 

This poison messes with nerve function, causing severe and painful spasms. The mind is not affected early, but eventually, the body tires and breathing becomes impossible. After swallowing, symptoms appear in 15 minutes to an hour. If severely affected by this you are unlikely to survive. 

Arsenic

Mystery fans have heard about Arsenic and Old Lace (a play and a movie), and if you haven't look it up. It's an excellent one. That play was based on a real-life crime, but I'll save that for another post. Point being, most mystery writers and fans know the word "Arsenic" as a poison. Did you know that this is a natural substance in well water? Like I said, it's all about dosage. It only becomes dangerous when you ingest too much of it, leading to cancer, liver disease, coma, and death. This is currently being used to battle cancer (even though I just said it causes cancer in too high of a dose). 

A person shows symptoms within 30 minutes. Inhaling means they take longer to show up. These include:

-drowsiness  -headaches  -confusion  -severe diarrhea 

Severe symptoms: 

 -metallic taste/garlicky breath  -excess saliva -problems swallowing  - cramps  -hair loss  -convulsions  - excessive sweating  -vomiting   -diarrhea  -(final stage) seizures and shock

A fatal dose kills rapidly. When in smaller amounts over time, serious illness and prolonged death happens. The main cause of this type of poisoning is contaminated well water. (So, worried? Test your well water.) Fellow writers, you could easily have a prolonged death situation caused by a family member, but have it be blamed on well water. 

Can you create immunity to poison?

There is a practice called Mithridatism that has the aim of making yourself immune to poison. One gives themselves nonlethal doses in an effort to do so. It's been said that Rasputin survived being poisoned because of this, but no evidence has been shown of this. Many people who feared being poisoned have attempted this immunity to poison.

The real question is whether it works or not. Apparently, it depends on biology and your original immunity to illness and toxins. My opinion? Don't try it. If you do you could, and probably will, cause your own slow, painful death. 

Writers, whether you want to create a Princess Bride masked man or a murder victim, I hope I helped you. I wrote about the most commonly used poisons in mystery novels, so if you want to know more about another toxin or poison (or drugs, for that matter) comment. 

I aim to provide truth, so if I'm wrong on anything let me know. 

Pictures: sideshow.com 

USA Today

www.chm.bris.ac.uk

wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridatism

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241860.php

https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/strychnine/basics/facts.asp

https://www.medicinenet.com/ricin/article.htm

Gender in Films Part 2- Men onscreen

If I had to say one word about men in movies it would be dominance. While there are plenty of exceptions out there (for every stereotype there is usually an exception out there somewhere), I'd say Hollywood and the film industry show men as leaders and main characters, unless it's a sitcom. In the case of some sitcoms, men are shown as incompetent (think Simpsons or Everybody Loves Raymond).

Just like Part One of my Gender in Films blog, I'm going to break down the stereotypes out there for you before I begin. After that I'm going to be showing you examples of both stereotype-supporting movies and the exceptions out there.

The Stereotypes 

1. All humor  - This character is a constant joke machine. An example of this would be Hawkeye Pierce from M*A*S*H. He used it to mask his emotions, as well as deal with the war. Other characters who do this may use it as a mask, too, but to deal with other things of a less serious nature. If the only lines in the whole movie or TV show are jokes for a male character, this is the stereotype portrayed. 

2. Jocks - You have seen this in every sports movie ever advertised or shown, including TV shows like Friday Night Lights. I don't think I have to explain this one quite as much. Bottom line, if it is a sports film or TV show, or even a high school drama, and there are tough, masculine, aggressive football players in it, you have an example of this in front of you. 

3. Silent and Strong - This one can be explained using Woodrow from the series Lonesome Dove.

He doesn't show his emotions, looks stoic the whole time (until his friend dies), and doesn't know how to deal with his emotions at all. He is also a strong main character. He is a man of few words and expresses himself with action. This kind of character is afraid to look weak by dealing with emotions, most times because of the concept of toxic masculinity (which boils down to emotion = weakness).

4. Mr. Success -  This one also explains itself. If a male character is a complete and perfect success, this is what you're looking at. He may be wearing a suit and watch that cost more than you want to think about, in some cases. This shows up in movies like Wolf of Wall Street or the musical Chicago (remember Billy Flynn?). 

5. Action and violence - You know these people as superheroes and most of the cast of Fast and Furious. Lots of violence, sweaty men not wearing shirts, and sex, and did I mention car chases and violence? You get the idea on this one, so I'm going to move on.

6. The hunk -  This one is close to the one above, but not quite there. Yes, there are shirtless men and sex in most cases, but this is actually the objectification of men. Think teen romances such as Twilight and rom-coms. This is men who are there to look at (mostly shirtless ones with abs to die). Magic Mike is one example of this, too.

7. the bumbling idiot -  This is a sitcom favorite. Raymond from Everybody Love Raymond, a man who messes up often in his family life, is an example of this. The father figure is often the target of this stereotype.  If the women have to fix things in the sitcom and the main man can't do anything right, you have this stereotype.

8. Geek/nerd - This one shows up in sitcoms and dramas, as well as superhero movies. Look up Scorpion, Big Bang Theory, and Marvel anything to find this. This is an emerging one that is becoming more popular since Marvel took over the movie universe. Usually the nerd/geek is smart, socially awkward, be gamers, may still live in their parents basement, and isn't popular. They may be easily bullied, in the case of high school dramas. Marvel makes them heros later on, in most cases. They may get the girl by being themselves. Think Scott Pilgrim vs The World. 

Onward to Current Films

After looking through that list, you may notice that violence is a theme, as well as not showing emotion and toxic masculinity. Toxic Masculinity is a term that means teaching men to not deal with their emotions, and that leads to PTSD (see my past blogs for more on PTSD). 

As always, there are exceptions. One of the exceptions in film is also one of the stereotypes, strangely enough. Lonesome Dove involves one main character who deals with and expresses emotion well (Gus) and one man who is the silent strong one (Woodrow). Both are tough. Gus loves the ladies and also treats them well. Woodrow is isolated and can't tell his son that he's his father out loud (he tried),  and instead he is saying it by his actions towards his son. He both does and doesn't show emotion. 

One example of stereotypes 3 and 5 is any John Wayne movie that you can find. He's tough, quiet, and speaks with actions, but doesn't break down like Woodrow did at the end of Lonesome Dove. 

Weirdly, most male-centered movies go into one or more stereotypes and not many exceptions exist. Female film representation has more exceptions out there. I'm going to wrap up with that thought. Toxic masculinity sunk its teeth into Hollywood early on and didn't change very much. 

Without further ado, comment any exceptions you can think of and topics you want to hear about. God bless!

sources:
http://mediasmarts.ca/gender-representation/men-and-masculinity/common-stereotypes-men-media 

Pictures
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0638274/
https://sharetv.com/shows/lonesome_dove/cast/woodrow_f_call
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/281475045439294179/?lp=true
https://www.inverse.com/article/44043-netfli-fast-and-furious-animated-series

gender in films part 1 - women onscreen

Male and female roles have changed throughout history. These roles are reflected in films and media. Writers as a whole have to remember this when we write anything, whether it be movie scripts or novels. What we believe or see in our society gets reflected in our writing, whether we know it's happening or not. 

Today I'm diving into how female characters are portrayed in films (next blog tackles the male side of things). There are, of course, stereotypes out there about what it means to be female, and I need to explain those before I describe characters. We have all seen several of these film stereotypes and you may recognize several of them. 

Stereotypes of Women

1. The "perfect" wife -  We see this in several sitcoms from the 50s. Women are serving, cooking, and being primarily domestic in this stereotype. Men would be doing almost no domestic work compared to the women in their lives, so if you're searching for an example in your head look for who's doing the most domestic work. Look up Bewitched or I Dream of Genie if you're stumped.

2. All about the man - In this stereotype you see a woman focusing her whole life on having a happy ending with one man. Think Cinderella and Grease and you have the perfect picture of this. They may even change to please the man, especially in the case of Grease. 

3. The strong independent type - This is more common now than it used to be. Think Alita Battle Angel or Captain Marvel. These women don't need a man at all because they are sometimes stronger or as strong as the men. They may end up with a romance, but it doesn't cause them to change themselves or their drive to go for their goals. 

4. Pretty face/everyone loves a blonde - There are several movies that focus on what women wear and give them a grand total of two infuriatingly stupid lines in the script. They are there to be "decorative". They could be cut out of the plot entirely and the movie would still make perfect sense. Several blonde actresses with great bodies (Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, etc...) have been cast in these roles in several films, mostly in the early days of Hollywood.

Today's Films

Today we still see all of these, sometimes intermixed together. What has been trending, with all of the superhero movies we see put out year after year, is stereotype 3. We are seeing more and more examples of princesses that don't need men, female action heroes that lose their men and continue on with their lives, and intelligent women that don't depend on men for their worth. 

Sadly, we also see all of the other ones mixed with it in some of the reruns of old sitcoms and film classics. Watch anything involving Marilyn Monroe and you will see her objectified and made sexual by her clothing. I dream of Genie is a clear example of one who only serves her man (mind you, she's a genie, but still...). Westerns do every stereotype, sometimes all in one film. 

I am not saying classic film and sitcom shows are evil (They Arent!). What I'm saying is that old ideas of female roles exist in every classic film because they were made in a time where that was what society expected. Today women are in the workforce and have fought (and still fight) for film and minority representation. There are always films that break the mold and go against the grain, but most films (and novels) represent the society that made them. 

Wrapping it up

Next blog will take on the male stereotypes and film representation, and much like the stereotypes above, not all of them are good. Keep in mind that when we write our novels, or read our favorite authors, we need to understand what society the author is pulling from. Be careful writing historical novels with a 2019 outlook on life, because I guarantee you they didn't treat women's rights the same in the roaring twenties. 

As always, let me know what you want to hear about. I want to inform my fellow writers well. 

        

Pictures:

https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/6/7/15740202/wonder-woman-origin-story-amazons-marston-explained

https://thedigitalbits.com/columns/history-legacy--showmanship/jeannie-50th-anniv

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a26860987/grace-kelly-death-true-story/

https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2019/02/18/alita-battle-angel-movie-box-office-figures-budget-success/

Old Hollywood - a writer's snapshot of Hollywood and stardom

We've all (well, some of us anyway) seen old Hollywood films of many different genres. Stardom began with becoming famous, and if you were female, being sexualized in front of a camera. The sexualized role of women both has, and hasn't, changed in today's movie business (based on what movies and directors you watch), but Hollywood itself has changed.

First I need to clarify that the 'golden age' of Hollywood is what I mean when I say 'old Hollywood'. This was 1915 to 1963. This includes the silent movies and "talkies" of any genre. The term "t
alkies" was used when sound in movies first became possible, and many actors had to get with the change or find another career. In that time period film provided an escape from reality (mostly an escape from the reality of the great depression and several wars)  and people fixated on entertainment.

Because of the focus on entertainment actors and actresses got the spotlight and lots of money, as well as scandal, large homes, and parties. This is probably the origin of celebrity status and tabloids. If you look up "old Hollywood" on google you'll find no end to the scandal references. Every move they made was public.

Being an actor/actress in the golden age

From here on I'm going to focus on the lives of a few hand-picked, well-known people and how they lived. I could talk about gender differences in film, but I'd be writing forever, so I'm saving that for another time. That subject may be touched on here and there, but the next blog will explore it far more.

Marilyn Monroe is sexualized to the max in every film I've seen her in. She is known for her body and her hair color. She was a very good actress, and like some actresses and actors today, she died young (36) of an overdose and had several husbands. Those husbands included Jimmy Dougherty, Joe Dimaggio, and Arthur Miller. She had a rough childhood, to say the least, and was in the foster system. Her real name was Norma Jeane Mortenson.

John Wayne is a name anyone who watches Encore Westerns knows well. He's known mostly for western genre films and being a masculine, tough hero with a good heart.  He battled lung cancer, survived, then died of stomach cancer. He's nicknamed the "duke" because that was the name of his dog and he spent so much time with that dog. Unlike Marilyn, he had a nice childhood. His real name was Marion Robert Morrison. 

These two famous people are just two examples of the golden age of Hollywood lifestyles. I didn't go into detail, but I can do a complete blog on anyone, so comment if you want to see that. 

In summary, celebrity status has not changed, but the way films are produced has. Television ended this era because nobody wanted to go to theatres as much, especially when you can see the film from your living room. Celebrity lifestyle, as crazy as this sounds, hasn't changed much based on looking at the stars of the golden age. They still have big homes, money, several marriages, and parties. 

As always, comment what you want to read about and God bless!

John wayne picture - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne

Marilyn Monroe picture - https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Travel/suite-marilyn-monroe-lived-us-smile/story?id=60752810

Main picture -  https://www.tes.com/lessons/N1nShoeX7__Zzg/the-golden-age-of-hollywood

www.biography.com

http://www.american-historama.org/1929-1945-depression-ww2-era/golden-age-of-hollywood.htm

prohibition and speakeasies - a writer's snapshot of the 1920's and alcohol

Prohibition, the 18th amendment, created bootlegging and speakeasies. As most everyone familiar with the roaring 20s knows, it was a time where everyone drank, despite the 18th amendment, and bootleggers made millions. Prohibition was repealed, obviously, since we can sell alcohol with a proper license.

In truth, prohibition laws had too many holes in them to work. These gaping holes included selling alcohol to pharmacies and priests. These holes were abused frequently. If you read The Great Gatzby you will see a shining example of this, because Gatzby was a pharmacist who sold these "prescriptions" (according to the law, that's what he was doing). Believe it or not, some priests did share with their congregations. The holes were there because the law wouldn't pass without these holes. Frankly, prohibition shouldn't have passed at all because all it did was make drinking go underground and become fashionable.

Now, we're onto the topic of speakeasies. If you've heard of the Stork Club or Cotton Club, you know the name of a speakeasy that survived until after the 18th amendment was repealed. Major celebrities went to speakeasies to drink and party, including Babe Ruth (who drank quite a lot). Most of what people there drank was bathtub gin.

To make bathtub gin (don't do this at home!) you ferment a mash of potatoes, corn sugar, fruit, or beets in a still, which produces 200 percent alcohol. You mix that with glycerin and a touch of juniper oil for taste. You then water this down by half, using your bathtub ( a sink was too small). I repeat, Do Not Do This At Home! For some to even tolerate this, it was mixed with pops, juices, and fruits. You couldn't, or shouldn't drink that straight.

After I just gave you that recipe, I feel the need to say it again. Don't Make Bathtub Gin! Cocktails were necessary because it tasted so bad and you'll kill your stomach trying to. You can buy good stuff from a store and drink responsibly and legally, instead, so do that.

Law enforcement had a nightmare dealing with what I just explained above, and so did anyone who sold alcohol of any kind (rubbing, paint thinner, etc.). The US government would add wood alcohol to make products including alcohol in the ingredients impossible to use for bootlegging. Gangsters tried to boil it out, but it wasn't completely successful. 50,000 people died of tainted alcohol during prohibition. To deter drinkers, the US government also added more of this chemical, kerosene, and pyridine.

Moral of this story, drink responsibly and enjoy your freedom to drink. And, in case you forgot, Don't Make Bathtub Gin!

Comment about what you want to hear about and God bless!

http://www.heartlandbrewery.com/inside-the-speakeasies-of-the-1920s/

http://prohibition.themobmuseum.org/the-history/the-prohibition-underworld/bootleggers-and-bathtub-gin/

The 1800s - a basic snapshot

The 1800s was a time when, to put it bluntly, you had to do everything yourself. Factories and buying your clothes and food wasn't an option (for most of the time period). Towards the 1900s clothes in factories were an option, but early 1800s you made them yourself.

Usually, my blog posts involve detective work and laws, with some exceptions, but today I am branching out into time periods because some writers write historical novels. You could, most definitely, create a detective from the early or late 1800s. I'm going to give you a basic snapshot of what 1800s life was like.


In my research, I have found that early and late 1800s are different situations. I am going to be talking about the early 1800s. According to iamcountryside.com, it is suggested that you ask the Amish about their homesteading life if you want to know more about the late 1800s.

Daily Life

The first paragraph said it all: you do everything yourself, unless you were rich. If you were wealthy, you paid someone else to do it. Your kids worked alongside you and most were only educated to 8th grade. If you had money, they could be educated further. Handmade was the standard and when factories came around, some of these people lost their living (in the late 1800s, I mean). 

Homes were heated with fireplaces. The wealthy had bed curtains, and brick houses with floors and windows (think Scrooge's bed, but in a brick house with less fancy linen), but others had cabins with dirt floors. "Cabin Fever" is carbon dioxide poisoning because the door wasn't open enough and you had no windows. 

Gender differences were huge in this era. Women were married off via courtship, most were only educated to the 8th grade, and they were taught mostly homemaking. They were not encouraged to work, but homemaking was so different then that homemaking alone was work. Courtship was a time of freedom because they could reject and accept whomever they wanted and didn't have the responsibilities of running a household. After courtship, that power was over. 

Men, on the other hand, were taught to be breadwinners and support the household with their income. They looked for a woman who could take care of the home while they worked all day. Also, someone who could give them children. They courted in their late teens, same as women.

 I say this as a summary of the society standard, but I'm sure there were some out there who broke the mold, on both male and female standards. Men had simple expectations. I'd say, for this time period, that women did, too, because everyone was working constantly wherever they were. Life was hard in the early 1800s. 

One last thing I'll touch on in this section is self-care and hygiene. Take away the modern medicines, vaccines, showers, bathing daily, and extra hair and body care products we have today. Make opium legal again and make herbs the main medicines to cure ailments. Make it common to take one bath per 1 month and make your bathtub a wooden tub with all the family's bathwater still in it (if you aren't the head of the family). Also, you'd be using homemade lye soap and making it yourself with animal fat. You only wash your hands and face daily, in a small bowl of water. Are you there in your imagination? Do you feel disgusting and want to shower with your bath and body works shower gel and wash your hair with silky conditioner? Yeah, me too. 

What happened in this time period?

This was the time period of railroads, politics and presidents, and many other exciting events. Here are just a handful that happened (see http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1800s.html for more). 

-the invention of the battery (1800) -library of congress  (1800) -West Point Military Academy (1802)

-ultraviolet radiation discovered (1801) -Ohio became the 17th state in the union (1803)  

-New Jersey abolishes slavery (1804)  -first working locomotive (1804)  -first Oktoberfest (1810)

-Pride and Prejudice (1813)  -Battle of waterloo (1815)  -the rosetta stone (1822) 

-first photographs (1826)

There's so much more on the link above. It was hard to pick just a handful. A lot of inventions and discoveries happened in this era. 

Religious and societal beliefs of the time

Last, but not least, I'd like to introduce you to what the hot topics were of the 1800s. 

Mormons began in 1830 and headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. We know them now as people that have more than one spouse and come to your door with pamphlets. That isn't true of all of them, but that's the expectation we get from the musical The Book of Mormon, a musical that makes comedic relief of Mormon beliefs. 

The 1800s hot topics included abolition (opposing slavery), temperance (best explained as alcohol = evil), and social reform. Many names were connected with abolition, like William Lloyd Garrison,  the Grimke Sisters, and Frederick Douglas. At this time, some of the women's movements were beginning, as well, and these women also supported abolition. Other reforms involved school systems, headed by Horace Mann, and treatment of the mentally ill, headed by Dorothea Dix.  

I hope this has been informative and useful. If you want more information, I'm putting the rest of my sources below. This topic is also explored by many historical villages, such as Roscoe Village, which is where I picked up some of this. As always, check my facts and keep me accountable, writers. I aim to write truth. 

https://sites.google.com/site/ibcinthe1800sandhowtheychanged/

https://www.history.org/history/teaching/enewsletter/volume7/mar09/courtship.cfm

https://morsesociety.org/cpage.php?pt=11

https://www.mnn.com/green-tech/transportation/stories/how-fast-could-you-travel-across-the-us-in-the-1800s (the picture)

Saint Olga of Kiev - intelligence and power

Saint Olga of Kiev is a name few know. I only heard about this woman, the patron saint of widows and converts, last week.

Olga of Kiev was widowed after her husband, Igor I of Kiev, was assassinated by the Drevlians in a terribly gruesome way. The tribe that killed him then sent a marriage proposal to her and she accepted- or so it seemed.

(I'm sure you're wondering why this is important to writers and mystery/suspense fans about now. Well, here comes the violent part, so you can stop wondering.)

She sent for a party of men from the proposing tribe to celebrate the marriage with her, then buried them alive in a pre-dug ditch while she asked them loudly whether this was honorable enough for them. If this wasn't violent enough, she then set up a bathhouse and invited a party to join her there. She locked them in and burned them alive. 

About now you're probably wondering if this can get worse for the tribe who assassinated her husband, and it can. 

She declared that she wanted a banquet to honor her fallen husband and grieve for him just once more before she wed the other tribe's prince. Once there, she did grieve for her husband. During the meal, she got the tribe drunk and ordered her men to kill everyone there, egging her men on as they did so. 

Even after she had done all this, it wasn't enough. She held their village under siege, then offered them a way out: a few pigeons and a dove. They were delighted, gave her exactly that, and went on their way thinking everything was going to be okay. She had sulphur tied to the birds, lit the sulphur, and set the whole place on fire by sending the birds home. She took survivors as slaves. 

She continued to avoid remarrying to save the throne for her son, and she was successful in this. When her husband had died, her son had been three years old, thus wasn't ready to rule. 

Why was this woman a saint?

After what you just read, the question above must be somewhere in your thoughts. Believe it or not, this woman brought Christianity to Russia and the Constantine Empire. She successfully converted a great many of her subjects to Christianity, but wasn't so successful with her son. 

She had great intelligence and wit in avoiding proposals, and great power that, once she accepted Christ, was used for good. What she did before her conversion may have been anything but Christ-like, but she genuinely accepted Christ and became a saint. 

Why is she important to readers and writers out there? For one thing, as a Christian, it comforts me to know that if God can forgive this woman, he has plenty of grace to offer us. 

For another thing, it's good to remember that your characters are not static and should not remain static, if you want them to appear realistically in the readers' minds. It isn't impossible for real people, like Olga of Kiev, to make an abrupt change in their lives. This simply illustrates that it can be realistic for a character to be ruthless in one part of the book and change as the book goes on.

What do you want to hear about, fellow writers and readers? I aim to please, so comment below.