I'm a real straight-arrow so I never meet the "nose-picking, booger-eatin' morons" Sgt Derek Pacifico talked about in his Homicide Investigation school for Crime Writers last weekend in Covina, California.
For a long time I've been collecting "stupid criminal stories", but Derek topped them all. I just never meet AHs (figure it out) who shoot somebody in the face and think they don't die.
A group of us at the California Crime Writers' Conference in June 2011 heard him give a 4-hour presentation on Interview and Interrogation techniques and were spellbound. We wanted more and he dished it up for us.
Pacifico was funny, serious, thoughtful and thought-provoking. As a law enforcement trainer he's travelled the country teaching the same material to cops. He's worked Homicide Detail as well as all the other facets of police work and now is a Sergeant with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office.
He liked us because we wanted to learn and didn't sit there, arms crossed, giving off testosterone fumes, and the attitude of "Yeah, dude, go ahead. Teach me something I don't know." He was honest and forth-coming about what really lies behind the crime scene tape.
We liked him because he's just plain likeable. From video clips we saw he's got a line of jokey, rapport-building bullshit with criminals in the interrogation room that got him a lot of confessions. I can see why.
The case studies were particularly interesting because they provided a reconstruction of what first just looked like confusion--and probably was. We learned the tedium of stringing a scene and blood, bugs and graves. It's not exciting the way it is on TV.
He's talking about setting up a conference of some length just for crime writers bringing in experts he teaches and works with. Where? To be decided.
I can't wait.
Check him out at Global Training Institute. http://www.crimewriters.globaltraininginstitute.com/HOMICIDE_SCHOOL.html See also Jude McGee's write-up for Ransom Notes. http://judemcgee.com/2010/05/homicide-or-murder-sgt-pacifico-tells-it-like-it-is/comment-page-1/#comment-37
PS Sorry I can't figure out how to link in this software.
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Monday, 29 August 2011
Saved by a quarter hour
It’s been a long hot, humid summer and the crisp fall air can’t come soon enough.
As one of those individuals who suffers in torrid atmospheric conditions – my brain turns to mush – I admit my resolve to finish to my writing project by the autumn has suffered tremendously: from ennui, sluggish holiday recovery, family crises, procrastination and laziness. Should I give it up? It certainly feels like it.
They say familiarity breeds contempt. I’ve been carrying a host of characters around in my head, trying to finish this MS for what seems like eons. Life keeps breaking out around me, throwing up challenges and problems, hassles and calamities. I’m getting a bit tired of these make-believe creatures. They clamor to set about and do things, make pronouncements and go off on tangents. And as prepared as I am to bow to their wishes, I’m supposed to be somewhere else - in real time - in fifteen minutes, or half an hour. And so they wait, impatient, and displaying characteristics I have not yet assigned to them.
What to do? Karen Blake-Hall, our fearless writing group leader, is a firm believer in the fifteen-minutes-a-day regime, especially if you’re on the run. But I write in chunks, I say. What on earth could I achieve in fifteen minutes?
Well, Karen, I’m a convert. You can achieve a lot in fifteen minutes. And the best accomplishment is regaining your momentum. It doesn’t take much. Fifteen stretches to a half hour; a half hour is suddenly an hour. And if tomorrow is busy?
Fifteen minutes will do. You stay in touch with your work. You quiet those characters for a bit and seize control once more.
Mired. Stuck. Blocked. Whatever it is, it seems to just take a nudge – fifteen minutes at a time. At least for now.
Bring on the cool air. My head needs clearing.
Killing is Murder
The coming theme of the National Crime Writing Month Blog is "50 Ways to Kill Your Lover".
At the risk of jumping the gun, committing murder on paper isn't as easy as it looks. Here are 7 ways NOT to kill your lover.
- Shoot your lover point blank - GSR is a bitch to get out of your clothes.
- Shoot your lover at a distance with a hand gun - unless you have practice, chances are you'll miss.
- Stab your lover through the heart - again, not as easy as it looks. You have to get past the ribs and actually find the heart.
- Stab your lover anywhere without making a mess. While inflicting a mortal wound isn't too difficult. It's much harder to stab without causing a long and noisy death.
- Bludgeon your lover anywhere without making a mess. It isn't just that blood splatter. It's the negative images where parts of your body gets in the way of the blood splatter. You can get rid of your clothes, but its hard to get rid of walls.
- Strangle, smother, or any other method that requires brute strength unless your murderer is very strong or your victim is very weak or incapacitated. (There's a reason women traditionally use poison except...)
- Drug overdose - if you want an instant death. Drugs and ingested poisons take time to work. They're also messy because the body tries to purge the toxins. I found a way around this in my next book, but first I had to be lectured by a medical friend of mine who read an early draft. (More about that when I write for the NCWM blog.)
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Honouring A Reading Companion
Like many avid book lovers, I do not often read alone. My life has been rich with cats, from Snooker in Ottawa, to Smudge and Tart through high school, to Manon, Syzygy, and Synergy. Manon passed away last week, but only after being the centre of a number of legendary stories. This is the story of how she spent her twilight days.
My elderly cat, Manon, has decided to spend her remaining days as Manon, Queen of the Balcony.
On the July long weekend, I took her out to soak in the sun. I get direct light from 7-9 a.m. We’ve done this for years.
But this time, when I brought her in, she hopped down, and like a kitten, scooted between my legs to go back out before I could close the door!
It was warm, I was home, and she wasn’t going to have heatstroke as the sun had passed, so I let her stay out. About noon, she started crying by the sliding door.
I went to check on her. She gave me a Look, and moved into Attitude Meowing.
I finally got the message: “Oh, useless Servant, bring me my repast!”
So she ate out there, napped, eliminated, napped. At dusk I brought her in and she vaguely remembered that her previous favourite pastime was sitting on me while I read.
But the next morning, after having her Iam’s with a side of yogurt, she was at the door, donning her Regal Ways. I let her out, and hours later had to drag her in so I could do errands. As soon as I returned, she went back out.
By the Monday night, when I brought her in, she did a sit-in by the screen door, wailing. I had to turn off the AC, and have the maximum screen door in use (with a temp litter box handy) so she could sleep by her Queendom.
Tuesday, I had to go to work. She belligerently threatened to have the SPCA called for animal cruelty if I didn’t let her out for the day.
She’s 19, diagnosed with oral cancer (the vet agreed we’ll just do hospice, with no intervention), so who am I to say she can’t spend her last days how she pleases? She does let me bring her in for the odd hour of reading, and a couple of nights she’s agreed to sleep with me. She is one happily retired kitty!
However, her Queendom and powers of persuasion are expanding. I think she has cowed the Weather Gods, as it has not rained ONE DROP since she took up her new residence. (3 weeks!)
My elderly cat, Manon, has decided to spend her remaining days as Manon, Queen of the Balcony.
On the July long weekend, I took her out to soak in the sun. I get direct light from 7-9 a.m. We’ve done this for years.
But this time, when I brought her in, she hopped down, and like a kitten, scooted between my legs to go back out before I could close the door!
It was warm, I was home, and she wasn’t going to have heatstroke as the sun had passed, so I let her stay out. About noon, she started crying by the sliding door.
I went to check on her. She gave me a Look, and moved into Attitude Meowing.
I finally got the message: “Oh, useless Servant, bring me my repast!”
So she ate out there, napped, eliminated, napped. At dusk I brought her in and she vaguely remembered that her previous favourite pastime was sitting on me while I read.
But the next morning, after having her Iam’s with a side of yogurt, she was at the door, donning her Regal Ways. I let her out, and hours later had to drag her in so I could do errands. As soon as I returned, she went back out.
By the Monday night, when I brought her in, she did a sit-in by the screen door, wailing. I had to turn off the AC, and have the maximum screen door in use (with a temp litter box handy) so she could sleep by her Queendom.
Tuesday, I had to go to work. She belligerently threatened to have the SPCA called for animal cruelty if I didn’t let her out for the day.
She’s 19, diagnosed with oral cancer (the vet agreed we’ll just do hospice, with no intervention), so who am I to say she can’t spend her last days how she pleases? She does let me bring her in for the odd hour of reading, and a couple of nights she’s agreed to sleep with me. She is one happily retired kitty!
However, her Queendom and powers of persuasion are expanding. I think she has cowed the Weather Gods, as it has not rained ONE DROP since she took up her new residence. (3 weeks!)
Thursday, 18 August 2011
NaNoWriMo from a writer's viewpoint
I've done NaNo a couple of times. As a writer, I discovered a lot about myself and my story. You discover if you have endurance or not. Yes, endurance, not how long you can run before you succumb to muscle fatigue but how long can you sit in a chair before you become numb from the waist down?
The next thing you discover is whether you prefer M & M's or Reese's pieces and cola or coffee? Remember you are pushing to write as many words as you can each day so stopping for food slows you down.
The hardest thing for me to discover was that the family could actually operate without Mommy. This is both a blessing and a curse. It's great that I've raised the kids to be self-sufficient but it hurts my feelings that they are.
So Jill, here are some other questions to ask the authors of your panel.
- M & M's or Reese's Pieces, cola or coffee?
- Are you prepared for your characters to veer off your storyboard and go their own way?
- Food, do you have your freezer full of quick to cook meals?
Have fun and good luck to all participating in this year's NaNo.
The next thing you discover is whether you prefer M & M's or Reese's pieces and cola or coffee? Remember you are pushing to write as many words as you can each day so stopping for food slows you down.
The hardest thing for me to discover was that the family could actually operate without Mommy. This is both a blessing and a curse. It's great that I've raised the kids to be self-sufficient but it hurts my feelings that they are.
So Jill, here are some other questions to ask the authors of your panel.
- M & M's or Reese's Pieces, cola or coffee?
- Are you prepared for your characters to veer off your storyboard and go their own way?
- Food, do you have your freezer full of quick to cook meals?
Have fun and good luck to all participating in this year's NaNo.
Friday, 12 August 2011
Don't Lecture Me! It's all about Entertainment
The other day, an American interviewer challenged me about the purpose of fiction; should it always contain a moral message? Specifically, should crime fiction?
My instant answer: No No No! The purpose of crime fiction should be to Entertain, and nothing should come before that.
Why? We have countless other venues that preach morality. Religions seek to teach us how to behave. Every day we are bombarded by newspapers, radio and other nonfiction outlets, that expose us to the ‘evil’ of greedy politicians, nasty world despots and out of control celebrities.
If fiction – and crime fiction in particular – was required to follow a moral code, we would miss so much. If the good guy always won – if the bad guy always got caught – wouldn’t that make crime fiction lamentably predictable?
Does that mean crime fiction can’t teach us something? Of course it can! Put me in the mind of a serial killer for a few hours. Let me know what it feels like to experience the overwhelming greed of a con artist. Dress me up as a torch singer, with a black heart and a gun in her stocking.
Let me discover something about how other people think, if only for a little while. But above all else, entertain me. Don’t preach at me, even from a distance. I don’t want it from my fiction.
Just tell me a damn good story, thank you. Take me out of the real world for a few hours.
That’s the purpose of crime fiction.
Follow Melodie’s comic blog at
thttp://funnygirlmelodie.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html
View trailer and read opening scene at http://www.melodiecampbell.com/
View trailer and read opening scene at http://www.melodiecampbell.com/
Rowena Through the Wall (Imajin Books) is available at Amazon.ca, Amazon.uk, Amazon.com, Smashwords and Barnes and Noble..
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/65519
Thursday, 11 August 2011
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