Can you trust a colleague more than a friend? Both will betray you. You have to watch the language of eyelids flickering, eyes averted at a crucial moment, or too-steady eye contact. As for fidgeting, it depends what their habits are when they’re telling the truth.

I find myself dispassionately running experiments: ask them about something to which I know the answer. Watch how they react. I’m surprised at the people I’ve caught out as liars. And of course they think I know nothing of human nature because I work back in the lab.

***

As I begin revisions on The Shape-shifter’s Tale, I will be posting character interview excerpts for the main cast of the novel. This week’s excerpt comes from the interview with Emma, a forensic pathologist who returns from excavating mass graves abroad to find witch hunts unfolding at home.

Weekend Writing Warriors offers eight-sentence excerpts from a variety of writers; see the other excerpts here.

Publication Update: The Vampire Variations challenge story, now titled In the Laboratory of the Night, will be released on July 15 from Glass Knife Press.