Welcome to the All New Graveyard Shift!

Thanks for stopping by, and yes, do come in and have a nice stroll along the newly renovated hallways. Please watch your step and use caution, though, because as you can see in the above image we’re in the process of launching our new website and we certainly don’t want any accidents on the first day.

There are no guides to lead you so feel free to peek and poke and prod and explore on your own. Along the way, you may see a few buttons that aren’t yet operational, while others lead to nowhere. Those items are still under construction but will be ready in the very near future.

At this stage in this massive site overhaul, we’re sort of like the 160 room Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, Ca.—the project is ongoing and will be for quite some time. Not quite like Sarah Winchester, though, who kept her construction workers busy for 38 years, 24 hours a day, building 161 rooms, including 40 bedrooms, 2 ballrooms, 47 fireplaces, over 10,000 panes of glass, 17 chimneys and possibly two others that are no longer standing, two basements and three elevators, we now see daylight at the end of our corridors. In fact, our wonderful site designer is nearly ready to drive the last few nails.

This website has come a long way since the day I first had the idea to begin writing a blog. Actually, the inspiration for this site came when a writer asked me about the handcuffs carried by police officers. Specifically, her question was, “Do all cops use the same type of handcuffs?” I sent her my response along with a photo of the two most common types of cuffs. Then it hit me—it would be wonderful if I could reach a lot of writers at the same time. And, I thought, a blog would be a wonderful compliment to my book about police procedure and investigation.

Police Procedure & Investigation: A Guide for WritersSo here we are, nearly a decade after that post of a single photo and barely over 200 words. Of course, other projects have arisen along the way, such as the Writers’ Police Academy, additional publications, appearances on TV and radio and more.

In the coming days and weeks I’ll be announcing a couple of exciting new projects currently in the works. Believe me, when I say exciting I mean exciting. Hey, you’ve been to the Writers’ Police Academy, right? Yeah, that kind of exciting! And, as they say on TV … But WAIT!! Yes, there’s more and I’m bursting at the seams to tell you …

In the meantime, I’d like to introduce you to the genius behind this brand new website. I know you can’t see all the cool dials, knobs, switches that I see behind the scenes, but this site is lean and mean, let me tell you.

Anyway, Shelly Haffly (pictured below), owner of Rusti Boot Creative, has spent the past several weeks immersed inside the walls of this site. She and her team basically demolished over nine years of termite-infested and water-damaged blog posts and images. And they ripped up and shredded the old design and then started fresh.

At the beginning of the project, Shelly and I discussed at length my goals for the site (and the WPA website). She asked a lot of tough questions, digging ideas and thoughts from my twisted mind until she had a clear vision for this new site. It was a police interrogation times ten. She really knows her business!

About Shelly Haffly and Rusti Boot Creative:

  • Shelly is the owner of Rusti Boot Creative.
  • Her mission is to help small businesses build business.
  • Rusti Boot Creative is a digital marketing consulting firm.
  • They provide web development, SEO and Google Analytics, digital and social media marketing.
  • Shelly says, “We are almoooooooost Google Adwords certified.”
  • And, “We can build the site, market the site, and keep your social media engine running.” Shelly enjoys marketing and building business, and she’s quite good at it.

I asked Shelly to tell us something personal about herself. Here’s what she had to say.

“I live on a farm with lots of critters, including 12 dogs. I’m a certified pistol and rifle instructor and range officer, a NASP Archery instructor, and I’ve taught lots of ladies how to shoot well.” ~ Shelly Haffly

Yes, Shelly Haffly is a good fit for this site, for writers, and for the WPA.

So there you have it. Thanks so much for being a part of the launch, and I thank each of you for your continued support as we strive to bring you the best and most accurate information possible.

You guys are the best!

 

 

 

8 replies
  1. mcclellanelias
    mcclellanelias says:

    Nice, I’m a recent lurker and the old site was problematic for me. Love the new look and the fast-loading pages.

  2. Ann Parker
    Ann Parker says:

    Wow! I love it! (I loved the old site too, but this one is very spiffy. Kudos to Shelly and her crew!) — BTW, since I write historical mysteries, I can still say YES to cordite, right? 😉

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