The first time someone vandalized my car, I called the cops, certain I'd soon have a crime scene team checking things out, searching for fingerprints, going over everything. Instead they gave me a case number I could use with my insurance company. It's not the kind of crime-fighting you read about in mysteries. Today, I went to the local sub-chapter meeting of Mystery Writers of America and attended a really interesting workshop on doing fingerprints. The powder really is nasty, the fingerprints do shape nicely with these cute little brushes. For paper, they use powder that includes magnetic material. They brush a magnetic wand over the paper, leaving just a touch of powder behind and bringing out the fingerprints nicely. The fingerprint kit comes with little folders for fingerprints once they're lifted (once you develop a fingerprint on, say, a plastic cup, you use the sticky-tape side of the folder to pull the fingerprint off the object.

I suppose everyone reading this now wants to become a fingerprint expert. Well, I can help with that. Because I have here the URL for the FBI fingerprint book (admittedly this is an older edition, but I don't think fingerprinting has changed that much). Ready? Here it is:

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/19022

It's FREE.

After the meeting, we always stay for lunch (the meeting room is free but they want us to buy lunch so we do, being good doobies). So we didn't get home until mid-afternoon. I then put on my artist hat (I only make Karen do front covers) and created the spine and back cover for the paperback version of  CARPATHIAN SHADOWS. I sent it out to the team and uploaded it to the printer. Unless I get objections (or someone spots a typo), I'll pull the trigger on this paperback tomorrow.

I edited 56 pages of DEADLY TRADE. Was hoping for 100. Will try to finish tomorrow.

Pretty busy.

Thanks for the positive feedback on my first video review, Vita. Karen suggests I actually write a script. It's old-fashioned but I'll try it. And I'll have the same problem with your books as I did with Karen's--Amazon only lets you do one review and I've already done text reviews of your books. Bummer. I'll figure something out, though.

I'm going to make A CRY AT MIDNIGHT by Victoria Chancellor the www.BooksForABuck.com book of the day. A baby's cry seems to be coming from a dollhouse. When museum cleaner Randi Galloway investigates, she's drawn into the past--where the model of that long-lost ante-bellum house is a reality rather than a toy. But Randi knows something no one else does--the Missouri River is about to flood. Unfortunately, everyone thinks she's crazy. Romance, adventure, and a sensitive look at the ante-bellum south. Only $3.99. Learn more, read the excerpt, or buy the entire eNovel here: www.booksforabuck.com/rompages/rom_2004/cry_midnight.html. Here's the cover (cover design by Jane Graves):

rob