Getting Good Ink

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: So, handwriting. I am always afraid to send notes to people They email me back and write things like," Uh, Hank? I got your note. Thank you, but what did it say?"

My handwriting is astonishingly bad. Truly. Sometimes I can't even read my own book notes. And it's always the crucial word that's incomprehensible. Like: Idea! Make sure Jane and Jake shlowign.  Huh? And I bet it was such a good idea..

Anyway. So when I invited Sheila Lowe today, I knew enough to email her. She's a forensic handwritng examiner (and mystery author)--and I knew enough NOT to let her see my wriitng. 

And then, whew.She decided to tell us about tattoos.  

For Sheila, whoselife is about ink, tattoos opened a whole new world. And a whole new meaning for Ink.

INK

  by Sheila Lowe 

In my life, “ink” is a word with a variety of meanings. As a handwriting analyst I study the trail of ink on paper, often to determine whether a signature is genuine or forged. In other cases I follow the trail to develop a personality profile based on the lines and curves the writer leaves as s/he moves across the page.

In my other life, as a mystery writer, ink represents the ideas I scribble on their way to a story. And in Inkslingers Ball, the fifth entry in my forensic handwriting mysteries, I’ve added another dimension—skin ink.

After Poison Pen, Written in Blood, Dead Write, and Last Writes, I was running out of non-cozy “write” puns for titles. Then, while ordering supplies online for my tattoo artist son, I came across an ad for a long-past convention called the Inkslingers Ball. If I’d been a cartoon character, a lightbulb would have flashed above my head, as in that instant I knew I had the title for my next book. I just had to build a story around it.

Body art is a lot more acceptable these days than it was in the days when only nefarious individuals and sailors wore an anchor emblazoned with “Mother” on their biceps.

Erik, the aforementioned son, has many female clients, some of whom choose to mark the occasion of their fiftieth birthday with their first tat, usually a dainty flower on an ankle or a dolphin on a shoulder. Most, though, are in their late teens or twenties and want something more elaborate, something that makes a statement.

One of my continuing characters, Annabelle Giordano, a troubled young teen who suffers from PTSD, provided the perfect segue into a story about tattoos.

 

 

When I told Erik what I was thinking, and asked what kind of tat might attract a girl like Annabelle, he immediately replied, “a sugar skull,” and drew one of the glam variety, which I used in the book.

He also offered to give me a tattoo of my very own, which I politely (or not) declined. I don’t even have pierced ears. His next offer was more acceptable—he would take me to the next tattoo expo being held at the Pomona Fairgrounds. And he did.

The sight of mostly naked people lying prone on tables out in the open, getting inked; the thunderous sounds of Aztec drumming; sweaty Pomona in midsummer—my first tattoo convention made it into the book.

Inkslingers Ball is an experiment. It’s the first book in the series not told strictly from the point of view of handwriting analyst Claudia Rose. This time, much of the story is seen through the eyes of her LAPD detective lover, Joel Jovanic, and also Annabelle. It will be interesting to see how my readers react to the change. So far, I’m getting good ink.

 

HANK: Hmm. Would you ever get a tattoo? Do you have one? We'll never tell..unless you want us to!

 

Inkslingers Ball

 

A teenage girl, brutally murdered and left in a trash dumpster; a young man, killed in a firebombing attack; a soccer mom, shot in the living room of her home; vicious thugs whose job is to protect a suspected criminal. Just another week on rotation for LAPD detective Joel Jovanic...until he uncovers a connection between the disturbing series of vicious crimes and Annabelle Giordano, who is in the temporary custody of his soulmate, Claudia Rose. 

 

 

 

Sheila Lowe

Like her fictional character Claudia Rose in the award-winning Forensic Handwriting Mysteries series, Sheila is a real-life forensic handwriting expert who testifies in handwriting-related cases. She holds a Master of Science in psychology and is licensed to provide continuing education for marriage and family therapists. Author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Handwriting Analysis and Handwriting of the Famous & Infamous, as well as the Handwriting Analyzer software, she lectures around the country and is often seen in the media.

 

www.sheilalowe.com

www.superceu.com

www.claudiaroseseries.com INKSLINGERS BALL – on sale now

 

Comments

[Sandi]

I like the idea of tattoos but I don't have one myself. A cousin and a couple of aunts (both in their fifties) each have one significant tattoo, and another cousin uses them to mark important events in her life. She has a dozen or so. Everyone has their own reason, but if I were to get one of want it to be original and significant. I just don't know what that is yet.

[Hank Phillippi Ryan]

Really Sandi? It's such a mindset, I guess..some people think it's fabulous, and others not so much. My beautiful niece is covered with them, and they are absolute works of art.

I keep picturing her, though, at my age...how are those going to look? But I admit to potential fuddy-duddy status..

[Mary S.]

We can't help it, we were raised in the Fuddy-Duddy Age. :)

Sandi, I agree with you. If I were to get one, I'd want it to show something significant in my life. Once I saw a guy who had a whole Irish scene on his arm, with cottage, hills and fields, horses. His whole arm was green but it was beautiful artwork.

Sheila, this sounds like a fantastic book! It's good to switch things around, like viewpoint, every now and then. Look forward to it!

[Sandi]

I figure ugly tattoos will look ugly no matter the wearer's age, and beautiful ones will always be beautiful. If I knew I'd look like this: http://editorial.designtaxi.com/news-tattooedold15042014/2.jpg at sixty ish, I'd certainly decorate like she did! One of my aunts has a tiger on her hip (long family story, but the tiger is significant to her). The other aunt has a running shoe and "26.2" on the back of her shoulder commemorating her first marathon.

[Hank Phillippi Ryan]

Huh. That's a good way of looking at it..!

And aw, that's nice Sandi..I can sort of see (!) getting a marathon tattoo. That's a huge success. I bet she's happy every time she looks at it. xoo

[catriona]

So interesting. I'm puting Inkslinger's Ball on my TBR list right now. I don't have any tattoos and can't see one coming but other people's meaningful tattoos can make me fill up - my nephew has my parents' signatures tattooed on his back. And when your hairdresser has scissors and comb tattooed on her arm you know you're in dedicated hands. Then there's the guy in the thrift store in town who has a gun tattooed on his neck ... that's a very definite decision about your future, right?

[Sheila Lowe]

I bought a book called Permanence, which is a series of photos of tattooed people, along with their handwriting explanation of why they got that particular tatt. Perfect for me!

[Hank Phillippi Ryan]

Permanence. SO interesting. And amazingly perfect for you!
xoox and thank you for being here today! HOpe our paths cross in person soon..

[Sheila Lowe]

Thanks for hosting me, Hank. Hopefully, we'll have that face-to-face at Boucheron. Finally, a convention in my neighborhood (sort-of--about 80 miles south).