Sing me a story, laugh me a lullaby

Just discovered this by Googling, and thought it might be useful to fellow detail-oriented folks:

The New York Public Library has a data base of menus they've collected, searchable by decade and then year, which lists the dishes on the menu, and their prices. Totally awesome if you're writing historical stuff and don't know what might have been eaten or how much it might have cost to eat it.

You can also click on a dish within a menu and see what other menus featured than dish, and when it first started appearing as a dish in menus.

I wish I knew about it when I was trying to figure out how much a cocktail would have cost someone in 1946, but at least I'll know what a hotel might have offered my characters in 1947.

As anyone who has followed this journal for any length of time probably knows, I am a person who likes making characters, developing characters, and coming up with details and backstories for characters. As a result, I have a lot of resources I use. I thought it might be helpful to my fellow writers if I make a resource list for them. Also make it easier for me to find them when I need them.

CHARACTER CREATION AND DEVELOPMENT LINK LIST

( Names )
( Quizzes and Tests )
( Generators and randomizers )
( Memes and Questionnaires )

I've had a sort of weird flu/cold thing since I went to the wedding a couple of weeks ago. Many of the guests have gotten ill, apparently. We suspect a groomsman who flew in from Calgary with a cold is the source.

First I had a very sore throat, and then that resolved a bit and I started coughing instead. Last night, I coughed so hard that I'm pretty sure I've ruptured my left ear drum. It's been ruptured in the past, when I had a very, very bad URI about...ten years ago. So, it's probably a bit weak. I couldn't hear at all last night, this morning I have a sort of echoing, tinny sound in it, like I'm hearing things through a glitched computer. My mother, the Kindly but Reasonable Nurse, told me to just go to bed, so I did. There's nothing a doctor can do about it unless it doesn't heal on it's own, so there's no point in seeing anyone.

I'm writing cute stories and listening to British panel shows to cheer myself up.

Also, I was going to share this at some point, and since I'm here... Someone on tumblr linked to this website: Fake Name Generator. It not only generates fake names, it gives you an address, telephone number, occupation, birthdate, vehicle, Visa Card number, all sorts of things. You can identify a nationality for the person and the country they're living in, to get appropriate results. It basically generates a random character, which might be useful if you need a background character for a story and don't want to spend time coming up with all this stuff. I'm thinking it would be useful for a list of suspects for a murder story.

Probably the last of my daemon nattering posts. I never did explain my Sherlock choices, and I had half a file left from ages ago, and time at the cottage, so I've fleshed it out. And I'll shut up soon. Probably.

There are a few characters missing, as I never bothered to give them daemons, or they appeared later than my headcanon went. I have my OCs, though, and the Trio verse muses.

Sometime soon I'll do something contructive with all this headcanon, and write a proper story. Probably.

( Please send help. )

The best days are when new character development memes arrive! Stolen from joonscribble

Toss me some numbers and a character (OCs and AU versions welcome) and I'll answer the questions. Multiple characters welcome as well:

1. What is one thing others might find intolerable about them?
2. Do they have any annoying quirks? If so, what are they?
3. Name one or more of their bad habits.
4. Any addictions? (Food, sex, drugs/alcohol, shopping, power/control, etc.)
5. What is one thing they do that can negatively affect their relationship with friends?
6. Their romantic relationships?
7. What is the biggest mistake they’ve ever made?
8. What mistake(s) do they continue to make/have not learned from?
9. Name some of their major physical shortcomings.
10. Some of their emotional shortcomings?
11. What are their intellectual shortcomings?
12. At least one thing that they tend to overreact to.
13. In what ways might they be overly negative and/or pessimistic?
14. Is there anything they are too optimistic about?
15. How might they be ignorant or prejudiced?
16. Do they have any behaviors and/or beliefs that cannot be adequately justified?
17. When would they be too judgmental of someone or something?
18. Are they ever a pushover about something? If so, how?
19. Is there anything they refuse to budge on? What are they stubborn about?
20. What is a self-inflicted misery of theirs? (i.e. something they perpetuate themselves)

I saw a tip for writers on Pinterest yesterday, and discovered that it is actually very useful, so I am passing it along in case it helps others.

When you're done writing your story (or essay or paper or whatever), run it through a text-to-speech programme (the tip suggested Google Translate, which will read what you paste into it aloud if you press the speaker button, though make sure you're on English). You will definitely hear the mistakes, as, because you know what it's supposed to say, your mind fills in the gaps when you read it to yourself, but hearing it read aloud by something that doesn't know what it's supposed to say makes you pick up on all the missing words or wrong tenses, which is something I have a lot of trouble with.

It's also hilarious to hear a computer try to suss out your character names. My favourite was one UK Speech Programme which for some reason registered 'Siger' as something closer to 'Sigula'. And hearing the unemotional computer voice reading out your characters being emotional is also quite entertaining.

ETA: OMG, I got an extra birthday present today, Rainbow Dancing Water Speakers, and I just hooked them up and OMG, they are the best thing I have ever seen. Seriously. My speakers are dancing.

I am so easily entertained.

Anyone around here know anything about motorcycles? I need my dynamic French spy to be riding one, and I know even less about them than I do about cars.

I need it to be fairly badass and sleek. Price is no object. Character is a bit flashy, and likes to go fast. In his late 30's, and an experienced rider, so able to handle something trickier to ride. He uses it mainly to get around Paris, so I want a standard, street bike, but he'll also want something for longer trips, so maybe something in the sport touring range in addition to the naked bike.

I've taught myself the general terms, but am clueless about brands and models.

Turns out I haven't memed in nearly two months. This must be remedied immediately! Especially since I've been battling migraines all month. I need a little memage in my life. My brain hurts. Yesterday I used the word 'drawned' in a story, and it took me quite awhile to realize why this wasn't a proper past tense.

Give me the name of a character I write or have written and I'll tell you:
-What they smell like
-How they sleep (sleeping position, schedule, etc)
-What music they enjoy
-How much time they spend getting ready every morning
-Their favourite thing to collect
-Their family (siblings, parents, extended, etc.)
-A weird/obscure fear they have
-A secret skill

OCS and AUs welcome, as always.

Putting this here to make it easier to respond from my iPad if necessary:

<b>What they smell like:</b> <b>How they sleep:</b> <b>What music they enjoy:</b> <b>How much time they spend getting ready every morning:</b> <b>Their favourite thing to collect:</b> <b>Their family:</b> <b>A weird/obscure fear they have:</b> <b>A secret skill:</b>

In the past I have done: Anderson, Mummy Holmes, Arthur Shappey, Kevin Ryan, Molly Hooper, Sarah Sawyer, Abby Watson, and Sherlock Holmes.

I had a lot of time on my hands when I was sick where all I could really do was click and stare open mouthed at a computer screen. So, I used this time to work on the Holmes Mansion in Lincolnshire, as seen in 'Pox', 'Carry On', and 'No Rest'. Actually, just the first floor, because the ground floor rooms I've mostly found visual references for. You can see them on my Trio Pinboard.

( Bedrooms! )

Asking this on my f-list before I venture into Little Details, as I don't particularly know how to Google for this.

Does anyone know if a person who has been convicted of a crime has any right to see the evidence used against him? As is, lab reports, autopsy results, etc. And if those are available to him, would the names of people composing them be redacted, or does he have a right to know them, as well?

It's not terribly important what the answer is, as I can have him acquire the information by illegal means, but I just want to know whether I have to state that the means were illegal, or if I can just write it out as something available to that person.

This is in the UK, if that makes a difference.