PSWA Newsletter
September 2015
CONTENTS:
- PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
- BREATHING A BIT EASIER
- THE PSWA LITERARY SOCIETY
- “HE’S GOT A GUN!”
- OPINIONS
- CREATING A FILM
- FORENSIC SCIENCE MYTHS
- ANONYMITY HAS ITS VIRTUE
- THE THREE-7 RULE
- MEMBER NEWS
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Fellow PSWA members,
No matter who we are or how old we may be, around this time of year, we can’t help but start thinking about the upcoming fall months the way we always did when we were kids and began looking forward to the new start the school year would bring. Here in the Pacific Northwest we’ve had an unseasonable amount of summer, starting with warmer winter temperatures and a disappointing snow pack in the mountains that took the “ski” out of our annual “ski to sea” relay race in June. The hot and dry weather that usually begins for us in July even came as early as mid-May. So I’m extra ready for cool nights and yes, rain.
Whatever the weather is like where you live, however, it’s time to get serious about that writing project you’ve been putting off all summer. So, no more excuses. Those of you who now have bright gold award winning author stickers on your books as a visible recognition of placing in the PSWA Writing Competition should now begin looking forward to another winning entry. Will it be a sequel to a book you just completed? The start of a new book with a new plot and characters? Will this be the year you decide to try writing in a different genre? Poetry? Flash Fiction? Non-fiction? More and more PSWA authors are beginning to take on this challenge and have enjoyed the experience.
Or maybe this is the year that you really WILL finish that manuscript that has been languishing in a folder on your computer, patiently awaiting your resolve to get on with it! Or maybe this is the year that you actually start that novel or biography or magazine article you’ve so far just been thinking about.
If the upcoming fall isn’t enough of an incentive for you, consider joining other PSWA members who find inspiration by becoming active on the list serve. Or, if you attended the 2015 conference, getting in touch with the people you enjoyed meeting there. One of the major goals of the conference is providing a networking opportunity for members, building relationships that continue on long after we eat that last yummy piece of chocolate cake at the awards ceremony.
Whatever you decide to do, or whatever inspires you, make this the time of year you get out those proverbial new crayons and create something new and wonderful for yourself and the readers out there eagerly awaiting your work of art.
We all look forward to reading it!
–Marilyn Olsen, President
BREATHING A BIT EASIER
Well, the 10th Anniversary PSWA Conference is now in the history books and I must say, I’m breathing a bit easier these days. To say that producing a conference of this size and quality was a daunting task is an understatement, but it was also a labor of love.
First of all, I‘d like to thank all of you who came and participated. By all indications, the conference was a big success, and everyone in attendance seemed to have had a good time.
I know I did. Second, I’d like to give a special thanks to my fellow board members, our Queen, Marilyn Olsen, alpha geek, Tim Dees, Newsletter Editor, Marilyn Meredith, Writing Contest Coordinator, Michelle Perin, Treasurer and book store manager, Nancy Farrar, and our man on the ground, PSWA Secretary, Keith Bettinger.
Thanks, too, to Madeline Gornell who worked so hard on the PSWA welcoming committee, only to have an unexpected health issue conflict with her attendance. Steve Scarborough also gave me a hand in organizing the radio play (mustache and all), and I’d like to express my appreciation to all of the PSWA Players who participated.
Believe me, a lot of work went on behind the scenes to keep things on track and running smoothly. We also had a fabulous line-up of speakers and panelists this time around. Kudos to all of them as well.
We did a preliminary examination of the conference evaluations, and once again, they were overwhelmingly favorable. While we strive to make it an outstanding conference and try to make everyone happy, it’s virtually an impossible task. Nevertheless, we’re always out to improve ourselves and do listen to all those comments, both positive and negative. So thanks for your feedback.
Along those lines, I’ve already started to make plans for next year and have received some ideas and proposals. I’d like to encourage everyone to send me your suggestions at DocAtlas108@aol.com. I’ve been toying around with a few new ideas for the conference including the possibility of doing a special writer’s workshop session next year.
Immediately following the PSWA Conference I had to travel to Gunnison, Colorado to the Writing in the Rockies conference. It was hosted by Western Colorado University, and I was the keynote speaker. Between the thin air and exhausting schedule, I was practically a basket case by the time July was finishing up. Plus, I have a September 1st deadline for my latest Executioner novel (working title, Cold Wars) and I’ve been working non-stop on that since I returned. I even managed to write in the various airports and hotel rooms. (That’s the definition of real desperation.)
Anyway, thanks again to everyone for making our 10th anniversary conference so memorable. Next year will be “lucky eleven,” which fits our Las Vegas location. In the meantime, like old Dean Martin used to say, “Keep those cards and letters coming, cause I read every one.”
—Mike Black, Conference Chair
THE PSWA LITERARY SOCIETY
We used to be a “club.” Now we’re an “association.” But if you ask me, the Public Safety Writers Association feels more like a literary society. The diversity of its members, their individual passions and publications expand one’s literary horizons. When you see the extent of experience represented therein you cannot help to feel inspired, and without a doubt, come away from the annual conferences with a renewed sense of what it means to be a writer.
There is no need to feel anxious, or threatened. True; many PSWA members are successfully published authors with a gift for prose that is on one hand inspiring and on the other, intimidating; however you can relax; you’re among friends—socialize—discuss contemporary concepts of public safety, or learn about developing dialog from the many presenters. You won’t be bombarded with monolithic egos and you won’t be dismissed at the expense of self-serving promoters. You’ll be among friends. You’ll be supported and valued.
Come on out—be inspired. Be a part of the 2016 PSWA conference and learn what took me twelve years to discover—be a part of the PSWA literary society, you won’t regret it.
–David Cropp, an award winning writer and contributor to several law enforcement anthologies, and to Police One News
David’s first novel Valley Heat—will be coming out in summer of 2016:www.oaktreebooks.com,
Visit David at http://www.themidnitewriter.com/home.html, or at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dave-Cropp/e/B00EBUL90A.
“HE’S GOT A GUN!”
The late Elmore Leonard advised budding crime-writers, “when your story starts to drag, have someone pull out a gun.” Maybe too many of us have been following that advice, because several recent books aim to inject more accuracy into the portrayal of guns (and other weaponry). Errors make some readers swear off a writer and, as the introduction to Benjamin Sobieck’s The Writer’s Guide to Weapons explains, “no wrath is greater than that of firearms enthusiasts.”
According to a recent post in Jane Friedman’s excellent “Resources for Writers” blog, written by Sobieck, here are key points about guns that writers should keep in mind to avoid those credibility-shattering results:
- Clip and magazine are not the same. A clip holds cartridges that go into a magazine. Most modern firearms don’t require a clip. But it sounds good, no? Clip: Manly. Magazine: Better Homes & Gardens
- Bullet is not the same as shell, round, or cartridge. You never find empty bullets on the ground after a shooting. Casings, yes.
- The whole pumping of a shotgun or cocking the hammer of a handgun is a sound cue from the movies, intended for intimidation, but, as Sobieck says, “less to do with looking tough and more to do with being stupid.” These extra and in most cases unnecessary pumps/cocks just “dump unfired ammunition onto the ground.” Why would anyone intimidate another person with a firearm, if it weren’t ready to fire? Good question. Ask your author.
- While this would seem to be an “it goes without saying” kind of thing, a character should never look down the barrel of a gun to see whether it’s loaded. Who’d be that stupid? I had a clip showing a TV character actually doing this, but it has disappeared. Sorry!
- And, perhaps the most pervasive of all gun errors in both news and entertainment media currently, the term “assault weapon.” This actually is meaningless. ANY weapon can be used for assault. The industry doesn’t use it. Sobieck says “tactical rifle (or shotgun), machine gun, submachine gun, fully automatic rifle,” or even “gun” are more meaningful than “assault weapon.”
- The term “automatic weapon” is often elided to mean either a semi-automatic weapon (which shoots one time with each trigger pull) or a “fully automatic weapon” which fires many times with a single pull. The idea of “automatic” weapons needs to be well defined. Fully automatic weapons are not very accurate after the first few shots because of recoil, so long, Rambo-inspired bursts of fire are actually useless if the goal is to hit anything.
Finally, in his book, Sobieck includes “Ten Golden Tips for Writing about Weapons,” which includes this advice: “If it’s in a movie or on television, it’s probably inaccurate.”
—Vicki Weisfeld
PSWA member Vicki Weisfeld writes mysteries and thrillers and has an active website with writing tips, book & movie reviews, and other good stuff. Visit her at http://vweisfeld.com/
OPINIONS
We seem to live in a society that is more interested in celebrity than principles. Demonstrating your opinion is easier when you’re deciding who the winner is on “American Idol” or “Dancing with the Stars”. I understand that these shows are an escape from reality and don’t require much thought in decision making, but if these are the only incidences in which a person votes or expresses an opinion then our country is doomed. It doesn’t matter if you are a Democrat or a Republican or if you choose to be neither. Having a general knowledge of what is happening with your Government directly affects your future and the future of your family.
Different shows have had on the street interviews with various people. The questions asked of these people were related either to history, current events or in recognizing various political figures or celebrities. The answers these people gave were sadly incredible and demonstrated a total lack of knowledge or concern for the actions of their Government. I think most people take the position that there is really nothing they can do to alter or prevent the actions of the Government, so they would rather put their efforts in enjoying themselves with entertainment or as spectators to sporting events. Too many of our teenagers and young adults are completely addicted to video games. Spending most of their time in front of computers or their phones, searching for fun. In my day television was our outlet from the rest of the world. Technology has always provided ways for us humans to escape.
Today technology provides us with news in real time, but too many times that news has done more to depress us or wishing that we lived in a better world. Again, we feel helpless. What can we do about what’s happening? How can we make the world a better place? Those questions are rarely answered. Instead, we go about our lives and think this won’t happen to me or my family.
For a country to be strong, its citizens must be educated and support its Government. Whose responsibility is it for us to be educated? The Government, whether it be State or Federal? How do we support our Government? Paying taxes or voting for our representatives to run the Government? Education should be easy, we have required schooling from first to twelve grade. We have many colleges and universities to further that education strictly on a volunteer basis, if you have the money or the time. But, education is not just about academics, its learning how to survive. Getting a job, supporting yourself or a family, having a place of your own. Shouldn’t learning to survive also include educating yourself about your Government? After all, who makes the laws, who decides what taxes we pay and doesn’t our Government also supply the means by which it protects the citizens? Are these things important towards our survival?
Our Government representatives make the laws, determine our taxes and maintain the armies and law enforcement that protect us. These Government representatives are elected to their positions by the citizens. How do the citizens know which person to vote for? Unfortunately it is usually based on celebrity rather than the character or achievements of the candidate. Sometimes it is based on what particular political party the candidate represents, again, disregarding their character or achievements. In Maryland, signs were posted at polling stations and along highways that said vote democrat. No candidate’s name was mentioned, it just said vote democrat. I thought that was an insult to voters. Don’t concern yourself with integrity or achievement, just vote for the person because he or she is a democrat.
I believe everyone should vote, but they should vote based on their knowledge of the person running for office. Whether that person is white, black, Latino or Asian, male or female, democrat or republican should not be the reason you vote. What are the issues in your county, state or country? Determine their positions from various sources; newspapers, television, or the internet. Talk to other voters or citizens. There are always biases. Learn the facts. If they previously held an elected office, how did they vote on issues you have an interest. During the presidential election in 2008 a black reporter went to Harlem and interviewed several black citizens about the upcoming election. He purposely lead people to believe that Barrack Obama was supporting certain policies or changes to policies. Every person he interviewed agreed that these policies were good or that the changes Obama wanted to make were sound. All of these policies and changes to policies were espoused by Sarah Palin not Barrack Obama. This is not meant to belittle President Obama or his campaign, but rather to demonstrate that the people this reporter interviewed were basing their opinion on celebrity not substance.
The information put out about a candidate may be true or it may be false. If it is something you find offensive, dig deeper, attempt to find out the truth. Everyone has heard something about a candidate, if they listen, but was it based on prejudice or propaganda. There is saying that opinions are like assholes everyone has one, but what is that opinion based on? I believe everyone should have an opinion, but that opinion should be based on information they gathered however it obtained. To be apathetic or to have no opinion is worse than having the wrong opinion.
Obviously, this is my opinion, but will respect and appreciate yours.
—Joseph B. Haggerty Sr.
Author of the novels: Shame: The Story of a Pimp and An Ocean in the Desert
Contributor to the PSWA anthology: Felons, Flames and Ambulance Rides
Award winning poet and lecturer on the sexual exploitation of women and children in prostitution and pornography
CREATING A FILM
Not having enough to do with trying to finish my third book (which I’m been trying to finish for four years now), I decided a few months ago to put my writing skills to the test by entering my first film contest.
For full disclosure, I’ve been writing screenplays for about as long as I’ve been a published author. In fact, in 2008, when the publication of my first novel, Gumbo Justice, was put on hold while I recovered from a head-on collision with a drunk driver, I decided to try my hand at screenwriting. I was immobile for months with a broken left femur, a broken right tibia and fibula, and a shattered left elbow. The one thing I could do was peck at my laptop from my bed.
So I wrote my first screenplay, a big budget science fiction named Angel Trap that did relatively well in the contest circuit and prompted me to keep writing screenplays. This past year, however, I decided to go a step further and write and produce a short film for a local film festival, Timecode Nola. My husband Julio has previously acted for other producers in the festival, but this would be the first time we would be completely in charge of a production.
Timecode Nola is unique in that the films must be five minutes or shorter, and the top fifteen films are selected to be a part of a feature film that Timecode Nola submits to different film festivals around the world. They have a different requirement each year; this year, it was time of day. We drew three o’clock a.m., so we had to create a five minute film showing something that could happen in New Orleans at three in the morning, and we had two weeks to get it done.
First, we began assembling our team. I was amazed at the number of talented people who will work for free just to be involved in a production. We were also lucky that Julio has made friends with a cameraman/editor for one of the local news channels who is nothing short of genius.
We next found a location, a bar owned by one of our friends, and worked out the details. In the meantime, I wrote the script, edited, and sent it out via email to our cast and crew.
When it was time to shoot, we had a few issues, such as the bar was still packed with last night’s drunk crowd at 6:00 a.m. We ultimately had to kick them out because the owner had to close the bar so my daughters, who are both underage and were involved in the production, could legally go inside. We ended up getting signed waivers and writing three or four of them into the script because they wouldn’t leave. We shot from 7:00 a.m. until around 4:00 p.m. Our bar scene included a big shoot out with prop guns, which was really loud and smoky. The New Orleans Police Department never showed up to check it out. Kind of scary, but not totally unexpected in the neighborhood we were in.
Our camera guy started editing that night. The following Saturday night we shot all of the exterior scenes and night scenes. By the following day, the film was edited, had the sound cleaned up and a soundtrack added to it–Julio’s brother is a local music producer– and we turned The Shylock’s Daughter in on time. The following week it was screened and seeing that short, five minute movie was amazing. At the end, we learned that ours was chosen to be one of the fifteen, so it will premiere in other festivals this year as well, which is really exciting.
We’ve since produced another short film, titled Famiglia, this one for the New Orleans 48-Hour Film Project last month. For that one, each team had to draw a genre at the Kick Off event, and had to write, film, edit, sound design, and turn in the film in 48 hours. There was also an assigned prop, character, and line of dialogue that had to be included in the film. Unfortunately, we were twelve minutes late turning our film in. This meant that we were not eligible to compete in the individual prize categories, but our film was still screened in the Solomon Victory Theater at the World War II museum, which was a big deal.
Seeing a film you’ve written and directed on the big screen is a lot like seeing your book published for the first time, except with a film, there are a lot more people involved and a lot more people counting on you to be successful. Fortunately, I think our team has been happy with what we’ve created with them, and all of them have said they will work with us again when we do something else.
And while we were working on these films, I learned that a TV. pilot I wrote and another pilot I wrote with Julio, both made the quarter finals of the Page International Screenwriting Awards, and a feature I wrote, Proclivity, won first place at the PSWA writer’s conference. It definitely took a little of the sting out of not having our film judged because of being late.
Now we are thinking of starting our own contest, where people would submit short screenplays and we would choose a winner, with the prize being we produce the short and give the writer the reel so he or she would have a produced film.
But first I have to finish writing my third book.
—Holli Castillo
FORENSIC SCIENCE MYTHS
CSI’s wise-cracking investigators, expensive cars, and sexy co-workers with great hair? High on the drama scale, low on reality. Crime and mystery writers striving for drama and accuracy have to get past such exaggerated expectations. Deborah Cole, a forensic scientist with the New Jersey State Police, spoke to a recent meeting of the Liberty States Fiction Writers Group about forensic science myths.
The first is how television has primed people to believe that forensic science is infallible. The reality is that it cannot always provide definitive answers. Nor is it true that scientists never make mistakes or mess up the chain of custody. Sometimes “a good defense attorney can find holes,” she said. (Interestingly, criminals have become aware of the power of forensics and have learned from TV how to cover their tracks more effectively.)
Response is not as fast as people expect. Some states have only one crime laboratory, and crime labs are often small and outfitted with, well, not-the-latest equipment. As a result, they may have a backlog of testing to do, which adds to the time needed to complete tests (or whether they are ever completed at all, with unexamined rape test kits a prime example). Some tests themselves take a long time to produce results. Tests for different toxic substances must be conducted individually, and all this may take a month or more to complete.
Forensic scientists do not interrogate suspects and witnesses, regardless of what TV suggests. Not their skill set. And they certainly don’t make arrests. They may be called to a high-profile crime scene, but they aren’t there first (unlike in the UK’s Midsomer Murders TV series where the ME and crime scene team is always working away—with findings!—by the time the investigating detectives arrive). When they do visit a scene, they collect evidence to bring to the lab for analysis by someone else.
One scientist cannot handle an entire case. Forensic scientists are specialized (in the lab, their focus may be toxicology, chemical analysis, ballistics, and so on), which means that the evidence from a single case may be tested by a number of different scientists. The New Jersey State Police lab employs 130 scientists in different disciplines, and they are involved in some 35,000 cases a year.
Another reason one person can’t do it all relates to the Locard exchange principle: “whenever two objects come in contact with each other, there is always an exchange of material.” The practical application of this principle is that material from the clothing, floor, furniture, car, or other environs of the crime, which is gathered from the scene, from the victim, and from the suspected perpetrator (if there is one) must all be processed in different rooms and even by different people, in order to avoid cross-contamination.
Finally, Cole said (and she laughed when she said this), tv gives the impression that every day is exciting!
Further Information:
- Useful for writers: http://www.forensicsciencesimplified.org/
- Conducting Forensic Research: A Tutorial for Mystery Writers: http://www.writing-world.com/mystery/forensics.shtml
- Forensic workshops, including “TV v. Reality”: http://www.crimemuseum.org/forensic-workshops
- Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell Us about Crime, by Val McDermid (2015)
—Victoria D. Weisfeld
My writing website: www.vweisfeld.com
ANOMYMITY HAS ITS VIRTUE
I was all set to reveal my identity at the tenth PSWA Conference this past July, but at the last minutes I decided against it. For one thing, there was so much going on that the opportunity never seemed to present itself. I came away feeling that perhaps this was indeed a stroke of luck. In one of my more ribald moments, I once composed an aphorism that the definition of a gratifying experience was to be able to fart in a crowded bus or elevator and remain anonymous. Not that I am comparing the writing of my various commentaries to the act of passing gas, but there are certain similarities.
Let us dispense without further ado to this edition’s grammatical reflections. By examining the title, it seems apropos to an examination of the use of the possessive apostrophe. Basically stated, the possessive apostrophe is used to form the possessive case for nouns and indefinite pronouns. Thus, a pen belonging to John, is John’s pen. Possessive pronouns also are used in various degrees of designation. John’s pen is in his pocket. Mary’s keys are in her purse. When gender is non-specific of unspecified, an indefinite pronoun is used: This must be someone’s pen. Really? It could be anyone’s pen as well.
Forming the possessive of singular nouns ending in s is formed by adding ‘s. Thus, that looks like the boss’s pen. Elvis’s home was called Graceland. Now sometimes, the sound of a pronunciation is taken into account, and the s following the apostrophe is omitted: The men listened to James’ speech.
Another bit of confusion can result in forming the possessive for plural words. Add only the apostrophe after the s: The girls’ soccer team is in first place.
Don’t use the possessive apostrophe with possessive pronouns (his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs, and whose). The bird is in its nest. Many people confuse the contraction, it’s with the possessive pronoun, thereby erroneously writing, The bird is in it’s nest. No, no, no… This is totally incorrect. And never write, Who’s responsibility is it? By this time, it should be clear whose responsibility it is.
In way of review, a contraction is the combination of two words; in the aforementioned case these two words are pronoun and verb, “it” and “is.” This turns up on the list of bugaboos for many writers, and since they’re actually words, and not grammatical aberrations (such as “irregardless”), they often slip by the computer’s spell check process.
Use the ‘s to form the plural of letters and words used as words in the context of the sentence.
Jim got all A’s and B’s on his report card.
A polished speaker will not use words or phrases like you know’s, huh’s, and well’s. (Note the proper use of italics.)
All right, I’m feeling refreshed and ready to keep doing columns for another year, and next time, I promise to reveal my identity at the eleventh anniversary of the PSWA Conference. Until we meet again…
—Professor X
THE THREE-7 RULE
In this year’s April newsletter, I discussed some basic tenets of CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design). One vital element of this crime prevention concept and philosophy was “natural surveillance.” So now I’d like to continue with a little more discussion on this aspect.
One of the common threads about crime is that “no criminal, vandal, or mischievous person likes to be seen committing their illegal act or dirty deed.” There are a lot of security measures designed to reduce crime; CCTV systems, audible alarms, locks, fencing, lighting, just to name a few general categories. Yet the lucrativeness of the target for theft or ego bypasses the risk element, and the “bad guys” will still take a chance of not getting caught. That’s why there really is no such thing as “crime prevention techniques,” only crime reduction methods.
Convenience stores are robbed, even though typically there are video recording devices installed within the stores. Sophisticated alarms, cameras, and vaults help prevent bank robberies, but the underlying need for secreting identities is why bank robbers wear disguises; so facial recognition is difficult for federal investigators. It’s why residential burglars break-and-enter when nobody is home; to eliminate a witness’ identification. And it’s why graffiti taggers opt to vandalize someone else’s property in the wee-morning hours and darkness of night … to prevent being seen.
Here in Las Vegas, it’s common for casino gamblers wanting to get lucky and see those “Three 7s” roll-up and stop center-line on their slot machines. Three 7s usually means some large winning for the gambler. So when it comes to CPTED and a natural surveillance technique for your home, I want to introduce you to what I refer to as my “THREE-7 RULE”.
Based on the obvious understanding that a burglar doesn’t want to be seen by neighbors when he breaks into your house, what should you do to help deter this criminal act? Look at the front of your house. Can the front door and all windows be seen while standing across the street? Does any of your front yard landscaping or tree foliage block the view? What about the sides of your house? Are there bushes or shrubs overgrown to the point that they block windows?
A clear zone of surveillance should be visible to all entry points into your house; from side and rear neighbors, as well as from across the street or those people driving in front of your house. To ensure this, implement my Three-7 Rule. Cut all low-hanging limbs and branches from trees so that they are 7-feet or higher. Trim bushes and shrubs so that they are three feet or lower, especially around windows. This creates a visible space of three to seven feet for your house and eliminates any hiding space for burglars trying to gain entry via windows or doors. Could they still break-in? Certainly, but this Three-7 practice becomes a deterrent.
So the next time you come to Las Vegas, I hope your houses will be safe and secure by the Three-7 Rule, and that you have “Slots of Fun” winning Three-7s.
For comment on this subject or viewing more crime prevention tips, go to my Website at
and meanwhile… Stay Safe!
—Ron Corbin
(Six-time PSWA Award Winning Author)
MEMBER NEWS
The Right Wrong Thing will be launched on October 6 and is available for pre-order now.
Oceanview has bought the rights to Burying Ben. It’s being re-issued soon.
Ellen Kirschman, Ph.D.
www.ellenkirschman.com
Not as it Seems
The latest Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery, Not as it Seems, is now available in all the usual places and formats. Blurb: Tempe and Hutch travel to Morro Bay for son Blair’s wedding, but when the maid-of-honor disappears, Tempe tries to find her. The search is complicated by ghosts and Native spirits.
The blog tour for Not as it Seems begins on September when I visit Madeline Gornell and answer how do real people figure into my books? http://mmgornell.wordpress.com
Marilyn Meredith
http://fictionforyou.com
From Diana Sprain:
On the Trail to Yesterday’s Rose: Greycliff’s Chronicles, book one
Not all dreams lead to a happily-ever-after.
21rst century Gaelynn Blackwood dreams of being a knight. As long as her family could remember, Gaelynn has been obsessed with the medieval period. She claims she was born in the wrong time. Martial arts, archery, and survival skills are her focus as she grows to adulthood. When Gaelynn casts a traveling spell, she is sent to Thaelia’s World where she comes across a band of knights. Seeking answers to her purpose, Gaelynn must set aside her beliefs and earn the knight’s trust but enemies lurk in the darkness and secrets threaten to destroy her. Will Gaelynn make the ultimate sacrifice for the man she loves?
Sir Braeden du Faucione yearns to leave the desert Firelands of Livanya and return to his home in Greycliff. His brother, Gregory, will do all he can to stop Braeden from riding through the gates of Faucione and taking his place as heir. Braeden expects intrigues, assassins, and the rigors of the journey to stand in his way. What he didn’t expect was to fall in love with Gaelynn.
Despite the odds, can Gaelynn and Braeden survive to make a life together?
In the King’s Shadow: Greycliff’s Chronicles, book two
Four years have gone by since Gaelynn Blackwood was sent from Vallejo, California to Livanya in Thaelia’s World. She can’t catch a break. Fitting in as a medieval wife was never in her plans, neither was having a bastard daughter sired by Greycliff’s King Arken. Her husband Braeden is not the man she fell in love with. He has multiple lovers and wants to keep his wife in a gilded cage. He is quick to enforce his will with his fists. Unhappy, Gaelynn desperately searches for happiness. She finds her soul mate in Braeden’s best friend & second-in-command, Sir Ranulf de Corbeau. The two lovers struggle to keep their affair a secret.
Meanwhile, King Arken can’t get Gaelynn out of his mind. Arken wants to possess the woman who showed up at his castle dressed as a squire. Before the King can have Gaelynn, there is the matter of her husband. How can the King of Greycliff get the woman he is obsessed with?
Can Gaelynn find hope and true love in a world full of deceit, intrigues, and violence?
On September 22nd, Dave Freedland will be one of several featured presenters at the California Association of Tactical Officers (CATO) annual conference in Anaheim, CA. He will be de-briefing a barricade / hostage / homicide event that occurred in Irvine, CA in 2009, which is set for trial this coming November. He will also be giving away copies of his book, Lincoln 9 , for promotion.
Mike Black was the keynote speaker at the Writing in the Rockies Conference in Colorado July 24-26. He also did two panels and a reading.
He did a CSI presentation at the Schaumburg, Illinois Library on August 12 with his buddy, Dave Case (CPD).
He also taught two classes at the Police Writers Academy in Appleton, WI. (August 20-23).
His new Executioner novel, Uncut Terror is due out in October. His previous novel, Desert Falcons, debuted in June and was featured at the PSWA Conference.
Next month he’s headed to the C3 Conference in Maryland and hope to do some sight seeing,
Bob Doerr recently announced the release of the sixth book in his award winning Jim West mystery series, titled Caffeine Can Kill.
This Jim West mystery/thriller finds Jim traveling to the Texas Hill Country to attend the grand opening of a friend’s winery and vineyard. Upon arriving in Fredericksburg, Jim witnesses a brutal kidnapping at a local coffee shop. The next morning while driving down an unpaved country road to the grand opening, he comes across an active crime scene barely a quarter mile from his friend’s winery.
A Fredericksburg policeman, who talked to Jim the day before at the kidnapping scene, recognizes Jim and asks him to identify the body of a dead young woman as the woman who was kidnapped. Jim does, and as a result of this unwelcome relationship with the police is asked the next morning to identify the body of another murdered person as the man who had kidnapped the young woman. A third murder throws Jim’s vacation into complete disarray and draws Jim and a female friend into the sights of one of the killers.
“FBI DIARY: HOME GROWN TERROR”
(Inside the Investigation and Greatest Manhunt in the West)
May, 1998 – Three heavily-armed, survivalist, para-military men steal a commercial water truck and ambush Cortez, Colorado Police Officer Dale Claxton. This is the complete inside story of that cold-blooded murder, decade-long investigation and search as only a few can tell it. And until now, no one involved in the case has.
Pete Klismet was one of the original FBI Special Agents to arrive in the hours after the death of Officer Claxton, which was followed by a wild, bullet-riddled chase through Cortez, rivaling anything seen in an action movie. Three officers were seriously wounded, seven police cars were put out of commission, and an entire community and region of the west was terrorized.
Award-winning author Klismet captivated readers with his books FBI DIARY: PROFILES OF EVIL and FBI ANIMAL HOUSE. He has done it again with his latest release by Global Publishing Group. Readers will step into the shoes of an FBI Agent as he works with many others to put together the pieces and uncover the clues the killers have left behind. FBI DIARY: HOME GROWN TERROR is spine-tingling suspense that heightens the senses and creates awareness of what really happened behind the scenes. It is a meticulously-researched book, with every chapter ending in a cliff-hanger that drives the reader on to the next.
Information on Available in print and Ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. the Author and his latest release can be found at: www.GlobalPublishingGroupLLC.com.
Contact the author via eMail at crimeprof@yahoo.com to schedule an interview about this riveting book.
From Thonie Hevron:
Unpublished With Malice Aforethought has been selected as the third place winner in the East Texas Writers Guild First Chapter Book Awards, Category II, for 2015.
Here is the link to the official announcement on Venture Galleries.
Director Caleb Pirtle said, “We were honored that you entered the contest with such fine writing.”