Inspiration for writing fiction Pt. 2
As I prepare for the launch of my second full-length novel War With Black Iris, I wanted to share some more insights. I get ideas at the most unusual times. I rarely able to write them down because I’m doing things that make that impractical, but that doesn’t matter since if the idea is big enough, it will stay within until the next time I’m in the writing chair. Since I write fictional situations involving cybersecurity, I often get ideas about real situations that have happened but are so generic, and I need to breathe life into them as I write. An example of this is evidence contamination. For anyone that hasn’t worked on a digital forensics case, I will explain what that is. When an examiner seizes a piece of digital evidence, he should make an identical copy of it before performing an examination. The investigator should work from the copy (never the original). However, less experienced people in a hurry may forgo this step to their detriment. Some even know better and do it anyway, thinking it’s a calculated risk. Since I never wanted to explain to a judge why I didn’t take these steps, I would often work late into the night waiting for the forensic image to complete. I mention this because I fictionalized a similar situation in my first novel, White Hat Black Heart.