Sheila Stephens

 

Sheila L. Stephens was the first female Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (ATF) special agent in the state of Alabama – one of the first in the nation.  Recruited by ATF while a police officer in Mountain Brook, Alabama, she has a unique platform from which to write and speak about the people and issues of law enforcement.

Stephens is a graduate of The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the Alabama State Trooper Academy and the University of Alabama, holding degrees in Deaf Education and in Criminal Justice.  In September 2007, she graduated from Boston University with a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice.   She is presently enrolled in a Clinical Psychology PhD program and will specialize in Forensic Psychology.

While a special agent with ATF, she was a member of the National Response Team, a select group of first responders to arson and explosives scenes.   Also chosen as a representative to the multi-agency, multi-state offensive against a deadly white supremacy group in Arkansas, she participated as a member of the entry team, the search team and the select interview team.

She holds certificates in the areas of Education, Interviewing/Interrogation, Hypnosis, and Street Survival.  She has taught at the Birmingham Police Academy, and is the owner and operator of a security and private investigative agency specializing in hidden camera technology for police departments, businesses, and the monitoring of care-givers.  She is presently an Adjunct Criminal Justice Professor at, the online, Andrew Jackson University.  In September 2008, she will begin her adjunct teaching position at Boston University’s online Criminal Justice program.

While on injury leave from ATF, she was poisoned with arsenic and mercury.   Although not expected to recover, she continued to write and study.  As she recovered, she began speaking, sharing the same information on law enforcement issues that she presents at organizations and conferences around the country today.  She recently presented The “CSI Effect” on Crime Labs at the New England School of Law, and wrote an article that appears in their Law Review.  As to her books, in August 2008, The Everything Private Investigation Book will be released, and The Book of Weapons, Technology and Surveillance is scheduled to be released by Writer’s Digest Books in 2009.

Prevented from returning to ATF by her injury, Stephens has incorporated her private investigation/security business and is working on a non-profit division.  A popular speaker on literacy, and an advocate for mandatory heavy metals testing at yearly physicals and in emergency rooms, she is also Associate Editor of The Agent, the newsletter of the National Association of Federal Agents (NAFA).  Finally, she is a member of the National Association of Investigative Specialists (NAIS), Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America and the author’s and speakers’ association, The Crime Lab Project.

Sheila Stephens:

Technology changes every day.  One area used by law enforcement and P.I.s alike is the covert, or hidden, camera.  Covert cameras have become smaller and are hidden in more inventive items than ever before. Prices have also been lowered. You can purchase a covert camera in almost anything – clocks, VCRs, air purifiers, sprinklers, exits signs, speakers, books, plants, and much more. Cameras in pens, eyeglasses, hats, briefcases, and the like can be carried on your person. Many companies will install cameras in anything you wish. The best improvement in decades is the availability of cameras and recorders, with batteries to power them, all contained in one unit.

In the past, investigators were forced to be very creative when installing stationary covert cameras because of the problem of hiding and powering a recording device. Now, many recorders power themselves and the camera to which they’re attached, so there are no wires to camouflage. Because of this, these cameras can be moved around easily.

Wireless Versus Wired

You might ask about wireless cameras, thinking they have the same capabilities as wired cameras. They do, but there have always been drawbacks to wireless transmission. Some of these follow:

  • Other wireless devices can and do interfere with wireless transmission. Devices such as portable phones, some cable connections, microwaves, and other items can render wireless cameras almost useless.
  • Wireless transmission depends, usually, on line of sight
  • Transmission is limited to a fixed distance between transmitter and camera receiver. Usually, the distance is very short. Only law enforcement personnel are allowed to use wireless transmission that extends far enough for a backup team to be inconspicuous.

Covert cameras can be placed in hospital rooms to monitor nursing personnel and in nurseries and other locations for checking on nannies and babysitters. They can also be used to prove spousal abuse. One woman contracted with my PI service to help prove that her husband had abused her.  The man’s behavior escalated and the client was afraid that the next beating would kill her. Worse, she was terrified that her children would be hurt. My investigators installed a covert camera inside a speaker in her living room where most of the incidents took place. Two days after, the man arrived home intoxicated and beat his wife with both fists until she passed out. She was admitted to the hospital, this time with internal bleeding, while an investigator retrieved the recording and delivered it to police. Because of evidence on the covert camera, the husband is in prison today. The client has returned to school and she and her children are in counseling.  This kind of case is so difficult to prove in court. For without video evidence it becomes a “he said/she said” situation which, unfortunately, can come down to who has the best attorney or court connections – it can come down to the makeup of the jury.

Mobile Covert Cameras

Only a few years ago, if investigators wanted to wear a covert body camera, it entailed finding a way to conceal a not-so-small video recorder on his person and inconspicuously run wires to a camera, such as a pen, pager, or glasses case, in the PI’s pocket. Because of this, every shirt, jacket, and pair of jeans or slacks contained a hole for threading a line to the covert camera. Things are different today; it’s much easier and less conspicuous to wear covert technology.  I still have a scar from wearing a “wire” in the late eighties when I was with ATF.  The wire malfunctioned and burned through to my skin.  I made the case but, before backup could arrive, everyone in the room sniffed around and made faces trying to find that unusual smell. That smell was me – roasting – plus the smell of the malfunctioning wire.

Covert body cameras can be used to check someone’s mate and in mystery shopping, but there are other uses for these cameras. PIs who investigate childcare or eldercare facilities and treatment centers use them when interviewing. The camera records exactly what is in front of it. It can’t be accused of overstating the truth or omitting facts. The PI walks around filming, checking the cleanliness of the child’s or elder’s room, common areas, restrooms, and kitchens. The camera is unemotional when watching for the response of personnel – or lack of response – to a child’s or elder’s needs and requests. As in the case of the abused wife, recorded evidence in cases such as these are rarely challenged.  Stationary covert cameras can be left in the room to film what hapens long after the investigator is gone.

Covert Vs Visible Cameras

Many camera purchasers, and even investigators, believe that visible cameras are superior to hidden cameras. This may have been true in the past, but not any more. Visible cameras serve a purpose, but only when they are used correctly and in conjunction with covert cameras. Some security experts believe that because visible cameras are so prevalent, most people forget about them. However, the person who enters an office or retail store with the intention of stealing is keenly aware of these cameras. Potential shoplifters scope them out to ascertain location, distance apart, and possible blind spots between them. In the very misinformed businesses where the owner or operator displays the camera view to the public on a monitor or TV, he’s helping the thief locate those blind spots within which he can operate.

An example of the use of blind spots occurred in a parking garage at dusk. A young woman, Anne, walked through the dim garage toward her car, feeling safe because of visible security cameras spaced equal distances apart on concrete pillars. She waved at one of them. Suddenly, she was pulled into a corner of the deck and brutally raped. After crawling into the main area of the parking garage, Anne was rescued by a distraught security guard. When she was interviewed in the hospital, she reported looking up at all those cameras and wondering why no one came to her assistance. She’d been dragged into a blind spot where she and her attacker weren’t visible to even one of the cameras. The attacker had obviously scoped out the area ahead of time, knowing just where to commit his crime.

Owners and managers often purchase cameras thinking they will deter theft. Cameras may deter the basically honest soul who experiences a momentary temptation, but nothing really deters the serious criminal. Hidden cameras are the alternative for this person. If covert cameras were to be placed strategically among the visible ones, even if a sign were posted alerting the public of this fact, criminals may be deterred, not knowing where their actions could be documented. I prefer covert cameras alone, however. Hidden cameras catch people in the act of a crime, preventing loss from habitual shoplifters as well as employees.

There are laws governing how and where these cameras can be used – but that’s another blog!  Short story is that they cannot be used any where someone would have a LEGAL expectation of privacy.

You can visit Sheila at Website: www.SaferSecurityinc.com

Email Sheila at slstephens@mindspring.com

Lucienne Diver

 

Lucienne Diver has been an agent with Spectrum Literary Agency for over fifteen years, representing all kinds of commercial fiction, including fantasy, romance, mystery/suspense, science fiction, some mainstream and young adult.  Her authors include Marjorie M. Liu, Susan Krinard, Rachel Caine, P.N. Elrod, Roberta Gellis and many others.  A complete list can be seen on the website: www.spectrumliteraryagency.com.

 

She also maintains her own blog of agently, authorial and personal ramblings at http://varkat.livejournal.com.  (Since she’s often asked: “varkat” is short for “various Katherines” – Kate from The Taming of the Shrew, Kit from The Witch of Blackbird Pond, etc. – some of her favorite characters from literature.)

It’s all about the Buzz

One of the most constantly asked questions out there is “What can I do to promote my books?”  No one seems to have the magical answer, though there are a ton of ideas out there, some of which I’ll get into here.  The truth is that the biggest seller of books continues to be word of mouth, so the very most important thing an author can do is write a kick-butt book that will have everyone raving – to their friends, on-line, in reviews on Amazon and Barnesandnoble.com.

 

Of course, before you can get people raving, you have to get them to pick up the book.   There’s a whole lot that the publisher can do for you, like arrange coop advertising, which is basically the publisher paying for placement, whether on shelves or in special display stands in the front of stores.  A publisher may also arrange for book tours, radio and television interviews, magazine, newspaper and banner ads to get the word out.  Except for the coop advertising, these are things an author can do on his or her own, especially with the help of a publicist, though they can be very costly and must still be coordinated with the publisher to avoid stepping on any toes.

 

So, how can you get the most bang out of your marketing dollar? It’s pretty commonly accepted that a new author will put the advance for his or her first book back into promotion.  It makes sense; it’s an investment in the future.  Many established writers also put a lot of time and resources into publicity.  One of the most effective means of promotion is the web.  However, just having a site isn’t enough these days.  It’s great if people already know you and just want to check when your next book is coming out, but to draw readers in, you need good and changing content – contests, a blog, maybe helpful articles and links, book trailers, snippets of fiction or non-fiction free to your readers that they can’t find anywhere else.  Invite in guest bloggers.  The key is to give something, not just expect to get something with a “Hey, buy my book.”  It also helps to reach out rather than wait for folks to come to you.  Sites like MySpace, Facebook, Shelfari, Bebo (I could go on all day with the list) will introduce you to other readers and writers.  They can be fantastic networking tools, but can also be highly addictive, so be sure not to use the time you should spend writing!  The trick is that you get out of these sites what you put into them.  Interaction is key.

 

Another great and relatively inexpensive way to go is to kind of create your own celebrity status.  Humbly and informatively (no bragging allowed), let your college, high school or local paper know about your upcoming release or your recent award nomination.  Even before your book comes out, you should be working on a list of contacts – places, people, communities to which you have ties and some local or other cachet.  Prep your pitch, press release or postcards to go out to these venues.  Local book stores, libraries – sure, put them on the mailing list and make sure that it goes out early enough (a few months before publication with maybe a second mailing just as the book hits shelves) for them to place orders.  At the very least, it’s not a terribly expensive way to get the word out.  At the most, you’ll generate more orders and interest.

 

Do you go to conventions?  Can you think of something beyond the standard bookmarks and postcards to put on the take-tables that people will keep and think of you with each use?  Have you come up with an intriguing tagline or catch-phrase?  Maybe you can even send your novelty item out with your mailings.

 

Signings – the trick with signings is that it really helps if you have a) a really strong following or b) a gimmick to bring people over to the table.  Otherwise, it might look a lot like that book signing at the beginning of the recent movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets.  Maybe give a talk or reading to go along with the signing.  Have a friend along, maybe, who’s standing, approachable and shilling (pleasantly and chattily), have a candy dish out and a poster or something else outsized to draw the eye.  Try to make it an event rather than just you with the barrier of a table separating you from your target audience.  Offer to sign stock of whatever doesn’t sell so the store can put your books up front with “Autographed” stickers attached.  In fact, whenever you step into a bookstore and find your books, offer to sign stock.  Some bookstores are, surprisingly, less open to this than others, but persevere.

 

Always, but always, have your business cards with you.  You never know when a networking opportunity will arise.  I was just on a pub crawl in London and ended up “selling” my books to everyone in sight.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have a single card on hand to help folks remember.

 

In summary – write the best darned book you can and then get the word out.  If someone lets you know how much they enjoy your book, ask them to share the excitement.  Get a buzz going and then keep up the momentum by writing your next great work!

***

Tomorrow –  Author/former ATF Special Agent Sheila Stephens talks about hidden cameras

 

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* Tomorrow – Literary Agent Lucienne Diver On Creating Buzz

Capitola California

 

Capitola, California is located in Santa Cruz County on Monterey Bay. In the early 1960s, a large group of normally passive birds began attacking Capitola residents and tourists.

Nearby Santa Cruz was a favorite vacation spot for a well-known movie director. He’d read about the bird attacks and decided to make a movie about it. The director’s name was Alfred Hitchcock. The movie…The Birds.

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One of my favorite spots in the world…

Lt. David Swords: Precinct 7-11

 

Lieutenant David Swords (ret.) is a thrity year veteran of the Springfield, Ohio Police Department. Nearly half of Lt. Swords’ police career was spent as an investigator, working on cases ranging from simple vandalisms to armed robberies and murders.

David is the author of a novel, “Shadows on the Soul.” He and his family live near Springfield.

The Miranda Warning

You have the right to read this blog. If you give up that right – you’ll be sorry!

Anyone who has watched American television for the past forty years can probably recitethe Miranda warning as well as most veteran police officers. You know the routine. Sgt. Joe Friday facing down a wisenheimer suspect, little white card in hand, and spewing out the warning most cops, and half the sixth graders in this country, can say in their sleep.

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in court.

You have the right to speak with an attorney and have an attorney present with you during questioning.

If you can not afford to hire an attorney, one will be appointed to represent you before any questioning, if you wish

Now, for those who might be interested, I typed the above warning from memory, and it’s been over four years since I’ve given it to anyone. It is nice to know my brain hasn’t completely atrophied.

So, where did the Miranda warning come from?

Contrary to what some may believe, Miranda’s first name was not Carmen. No, no, that was the hootchy-kootchy girl with the fruit salad on her head.

The Miranda referred to in the famous Miranda warning was Ernesto Miranda, who was arrested in Arizona in 1963 for rape and kidnapping. He was convicted, based mostly on his confession, but subsequent appeals went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court overturned his conviction in 1966 and issued the now well-known Miranda decision, which basically said that persons being questioned by the police should be advised of their Constitutional right against self-incrimination and their right to speak with a lawyer. They must also be told that, if they are indigent, they can have a lawyer appointed to represent them at no cost to themselves.

Miranda was retried and convicted using other evidence that the police had, and was returned to prison. He was paroled in 1972, but his freedom was short lived. Miranda was knifed to death in a barroom cutting scrape in 1976. In what some might call poetic justice, the man taken into custody as a suspect in Miranda’s killing was given his Miranda warning, decided not to answer questions, and was eventually released. It is my understanding the case remains unsolved to his day. Oh, well.

Are all Miranda warnings the same from state to state?

Not exactly.

 

As I mentioned before, the 1966 Miranda decision was primarily concerned with the right to remain silent, the right to a lawyer, and the right to a government appointed lawyer for indigent persons. The court did not dictate how these rights must be conveyed to a suspect, but only that the person be so advised prior to questioning.

I won’t get into where the familiar word-for-word Joe Friday recitation came from, but suffice it to say that at one point it was all standardized in the familiar warning.

States and agencies can add to, or try to simplify, the warning, as long as the basic warnings are in place. Many agencies add something to the effect of “having these rights in mind, are you willing to talk with me now?”

As for what warning the detective may use in your story, you may wish to call a police agency in the jurisdiction in which your story takes place to find out how they do it. One good way to do research in that area might be to get yourself arrested and see what the police say (just kidding!)

When must the Miranda warning be given?

Remember, if your story takes place prior to 1966, you need not include the Miranda warning. It did not exist prior to that year.

The basic rule of thumb for when Miranda must be used is when a person is suspected of a crime and being questioned while in custody. Usually, custody means at the police station, but a person can be in custody anywhere, even in their own home. What the court will consider is what the police said or did that may have made the person believe they were not free to leave. A person may even feel free to leave from the station house. It’s all in the details.

 

What happens if a suspect invokes his right to remain silent or wants to talk to a lawyer?

Very simple – you’re done.

If a suspect decides to invoke their right to remain silent, usually by saying something to the effect of, “I ain’t got to talk to you, and you can’t make me,” then you may not continue questioning. You may never re-attempt questioning. The suspect must be the one to reinstitute contact.

When do the police NOT give Miranda?

Have you ever seen a TV show where two uniformed cops chase down a suspect, tackle him, cuff him, and as they are leading him away, one starts reciting Miranda? When you see that, know that officers all over the country are reaching for the remote and switching to “Dancing with the Stars.” You only read Miranda if you are going to question a person concerning a crime. If you see the crime committed, what’s to ask? And you will certainly wait until things calm down if you do wish to question the person.

I can’t tell you how many times I arrested someone and before they were booked into jail, they complained, “You never read me my rights.” To which I answered, “No, and I’m not going to either.” That always made them happy.

Also, any statement a person makes without being prompted by a question, a spontaneous outburst, if you will, is admissible without Miranda. This is a fact lost on some inexperienced officers. Often I have heard officers stop a person that has started to make such a statement to read them Miranda. You feel like choking someone in that situation, and that could make a nice little aggravating episode for your protagonist investigator.

As with all matters of law, I have covered about a tenth of what I could concerning the Miranda warning. In a nutshell, it must be read before custodial questioning of a suspect. If it is not, any statements could be inadmissible in court. Of course, that could put a mad killer back on the street for your detective to hunt down.

Martha Alderson

 

 

Martha Alderson, M.A. is an international plot consultant for writers. Her clients include best-selling authors, screenwriters, writing teachers and fiction editors. Her own fiction writing has won attention in several literary writing contests, including a finalist in the Heekin Foundation Prize and a semi-finalist in the William Faulkner Writing Contest.

Five years ago, Alderson began teaching plot workshops incorporating sensory feedback for full discovery and ease in learning. With the help of this communications leader, children and adult writers of all skill levels now grasp the elusive concept of plot and are able to use it effectively in their own works of fiction. She takes readers and writers alike beyond the words and into the very heart of a story.

As the founder of Blockbuster Plots for Writers, Alderson created a unique line of plot tools for writers, including the Mystery Writers Plot Planner Workshop DVD. She teaches scene development and plot workshops privately and at writing conferences.

Martha Alderson:

I’m thrilled at this opportunity to share the page with so many outstanding resources and creative people. This new offering of yours, Lee, inviting all of us to post on your blog is such a reflection of you and your generous spirit. You are an amazing person. Thank you so much. If you’d ever like a free plot consultation, just say the word. My pleasure…….

Recently, I produced the first plot workshop DVD for a two-DVD set for mystery writers. The mystery novel I used as an example was Folly, by Laurie R. King. I chose this book not only because of all the mystery subplots involved in the story, but also because it’s a fine example of a character-driven (as opposed to action-driven and/or theme-driven) story.

Folly involves two major characters – Rae and Desmond. As the book jacket describes:

At fifty-two, Rae Newborn is a woman on the edge: on the edge of sanity, on the edge of tragedy, and now on the edge of the world. A celebrated artist, she has moved to an island at the far reaches of the continent into the house she inherited form her mysterious great-uncle. Isolated from the outside world, Rae will finally come face-to-face with the feelings that have long torments her-panic, melancholy, and the haunting sense that someone is watching her. Before she came to Folly Island. Rae believed most of things she heard existed only her in mind. Now, as she rebuilds her life as well as the house, she finds her story and that of her dead uncle beginning to intertwine.

The mystery plot lines in this example are many: who killed Rae’s great-uncle, who is on the island with her, who raped her, and who killed her husband and daughter. The character development plot line starts with a woman on the edge of sanity and, because of everything she experiences throughout the book, ends with a woman transformed at depth.

Mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels usually rely more heavily on action-driven plot rather than character-driven. Yet, the definition of any truly great story involves, at its core, character transformation.

Folly has several plotlines beyond the character emotional development plot lines for Rae and for her great-uncle, each of which creates an exciting character study with lots of mystery and suspense, conflict and tension. The two major mystery subplots keep the reader guessing. Because of the deaths that take place in Folly, the protagonist often interacts with the police.

Sam Escobar is the sheriff back home in Santa Cruz. Jerry Carmichael is the San Juan County sheriff Rae deals with on her great-uncle’s island in the Pacific Northwest. Both of these characters employ police procedures, which at the times of my first, second, and third readings of the book read flawlessly. Not having any experience with police procedures, police firearms, police reports, police lineups, and the like, I now wonder how King came up with the authentic details she used in her book, many of which provided essential plot points throughout the story. If she were writing the story now, she could turn to Lee’s amazing blog. But, the book was written six years ago and leads me to believe she must have had to rely on her imagination and/or lots of research.

My passion is to help writers with plot. I have analyzed the plot and structure of countless books, ranging from children’s picture books, to young adult novels, memoirs, mysteries, romance novels, suspense and thrillers, mainstream, and the classics. With such a narrow focus and obsession, I am known by my students as the plot queen and, in the blogisphere, as the plot whisperer. By plot, I mean a series of scenes that are deliberately arranged by cause and effect to create dramatic action filled with conflict, tension, suspense and/or curiosity, to further the character emotional development and provide thematic significance.

Mystery writers have an advantage over other writers in that conflict, tension, suspense, and curiosity are inherent in the genre. Writing mystery has another advantage. The overall story goal is a given to solve the mystery. Classic right-brained writers are often “spoken to by the muse” through the character development. Right-brained learners can struggle creating concrete goals for the character. Goal setting for classic dramatic action writers, on the other hand, is a breeze.

Most writers have a preference for one style of writing over another. Some writers are more adept at developing complex, interesting, and quirky characters. Others excel at page-turning action. The lucky writers are good at creating both the Character Emotional Development plotline and the Dramatic Action plotline. Become aware of your strengths and learn to address your weaknesses, and you, too, can become one of the lucky ones.

Action-Driven

Broadly speaking, writers who prefer writing action-driven stories focus on logical thinking, rational analysis, and accuracy. Action-driven writers tend to rely more on the left side of their brain. These writers approach writing as a linear function and see the story in its parts. Action-driven writers like structure. They usually pre-plot or create an outline before writing. Action-driven writers have little trouble expressing themselves in words.

Character-Driven

Writers who write character-driven stories tend to focus on aesthetics and feelings, creativity and imagination. These writers access the right side of their brains and enjoy playing with the beauty of language. They are intuitive, and like to work things out on the page. Character-driven writers are holistic and subjective. They can synthesize new information, but are somewhat (or more) disorganized and random. They see the story as the whole. Right brain writers may know what they mean, but often have trouble finding the right words.

The Test

Take the test to see whether you are stronger at developing Character Emotional Development plot lines or Dramatic Action plot lines.

Fill in the Character Emotional Development Plot Profile below for your protagonist (the character who is most changed by the dramatic action), any other major viewpoint characters and, if there is one, the character who represents the major human antagonist for the protagonist:

1)  Protagonist’s overall story goal (this goal often changes because of the event that triggers the End of the Beginning-around the ¼ mark of the overall page count-and catapults the protagonist into the heart of the story world itself – The Middle. If so, list both story goals and answer #2 & 3 for each goal):

2)  What stands in his/her way of achieving this goal:

3)  What does he/she stand to lose, if not successful:

4)  Flaw or greatest fault:

5)  Greatest strength:

6)  Hates:

7)  Loves:

8)  Fear:

9)  Secret:

10) Dream:

Results

A) Writers who filled out 1-3 with ease often prefer writing Dramatic Action.

B) Writers who filled in 4- 10 with ease often prefer Character Emotional Development.

C) Writers who filled in everything with ease are often adept at creating both the Dramatic Action and the Character Emotional Development plot lines.

Analysis

Without a firm understanding of points 1-3, you have no front story. The Dramatic Action plotline is what gets the reader to turn the pages. Without dramatic action there is no excitement on the page. Most mystery writers fall into this category.

Without a firm understanding of points 4-10, you are more likely to line up the action pieces of your story, arrange them in a logical order and then draw conclusions. Yet, no matter how exciting the action, this presentation lacks the human element. Such an omission could increase your chances of losing your audience’s interest.

Yes, at the heart of every good mystery is a protagonist strong enough to stand in the midst of chaos and death, fear and uncertainty, and stay with the case until the mystery has been solved. Still, the more a character is moved and changed, at the least, or transformed, at the most, by the dramatic action, the stronger the readers’ identification with the story.

For more plot tips, go to http://www.blockbusterplots.com/. My blog: http://www.plotwhisperer.blogspot.com/ has not only my plot tips, but other writers’ comments lend an added benefit for more well rounded input and advice. Happy plotting.

 

For more plot tips, visit her website at: www.blockbusterplots.com and her blog at: http://plotwhisperer.blogspot.com. Sign up for her free monthly Plot Tips eZine, at: http://www.blockbusterplots.com/contact.html

Becky Levine

 

Becky Levine is a writer, freelance manuscript editor, and book reviewer. Her first children’s mystery is currently doing the agent hunt, and she is the co-author, with Lee Lofland (yes, that Lee Lofland) of The Everything Kids I Want to Be a Police Officer Book, for Adams Media. As an editor, Becky helps other writers with their projects, critiquing and copyediting both fiction and nonfiction works. Becky lives in California’s Santa Cruz mountains with her husband and son. You can read more about her at her website, http://www.beckylevine.com/, and her blog, http://beckylevine.livejournal.com/.

Becky Levine:

“I…do not approve of murder,” says Hercule Poirot.

In that one line, you have Poirot’s motive, his reason for investigating and solving any murder that comes his way. Yes, he was a police officer, and he is now a private detective, but his real reason for catching killers is that they offend him.

For Agatha Christie, and for her hundreds of thousands of readers, that has always been enough. We don’t need anything else; murder is Poirot’s, and Miss Marple’s, job, and we’ll follow them through any number of pages with pleasure.

Agathie Christie's Miss Marple - The Moving Finger / At Bertram's Hotel

So, of course, what works for Christie can work for us, right? Wrong. First, Christie was a genius. Most of us aren’t. Second, she started producing books over fifty years ago, gathering her first fans from a very different set of readers than the ones we’re writing for.

Today’s readers and, I’m guessing, today’s agents and editors, want a stronger motive for crime-solving than an abstract sense of justice. They want a specific reason why a detective gets involved in a case.

Okay, let’s back up a minute. I can hear you now. “I’m not writing about an amateur detective. My protagonist is a police detective. She has to solve crimes.

Sure she does. She’s collecting a salary, she’s wearing a badge–when her boss says to go investigate, she goes.

It’s not enough.

These days, your readers want a second story thread. They want a detective, whether he’s a professional or the curious boy next door, to have a concrete, personal motive for stepping in. They want the detective to have something at stake.

So what do you do? Well, there are the standards: The victim is a personal friend of the detective. The detective’s brother is the primary suspect. There’s a child involved. And you can use these. I firmly believe there are few, if any, new plots, but the most familiar plot can be made new by individual details and captivating specifics.

Why not push yourself, though? Sure, it’s possible every idea has been used once, but you haven’t read them all. Go for something you haven’t seen on another page, a problem you haven’t watched a hundred times on the big screen. Maybe the murder was committed with an historical artifact that was stolen from a museum where your detective is the guard. Maybe the killer left a “treasure” map leading to another body, and the “X” is marked on your detective’s great-grandmother’s farm.

 

Maybe your detective’s prime suspect is her own chief-of-police, and she wants to be the one to a) prove him innocent or b) hang his badge from the nearest yardarm. Maybe, as my son would surely suggest, you throw in a space alien or two!

Just make sure you pick something. Set up your hero with a strong, solid goal, one that is his alone, and help him pursue it. Throw up obstacle after obstacle, so he’s tested, and give him the tools to push through all the barriers and get there in the end. Weave this personal thread in with the professional, mystery-solving one, and you’ll keep your reader hooked. He’ll read the book cover to cover and, when the story is finished, he’ll get to see your detective solve the crime.

Does that detective solve her personal problem, too? That’s up to you. Maybe it’s time to write that sequel!

Comment away-I’ll be checking in all day and will get back to you. For more thoughts on writing, books, and life, check out my blog at http://beckylevine.livejournal.com/. Come on over this week, and enter my first blog contest http://beckylevine.livejournal.com/37253.html: a chance to win a signed copy of Terri Thayer’s mystery, Wild Goose Chase.

A refugee from the world of politics, Scott Hoffman is one of the founding partners of Folio Literary Management, LLC. Prior to starting Folio, Scott was at PMA Literary and Film Management, Inc.

He has served as Vice-chairman of the Board of Directors of SEARAC (the only nationwide advocacy agency for Southeast Asian-Americans), a Board Member of Fill Their Shelves, Inc. (a charitable foundation that provides books to children in sub-Saharan Africa) and a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Young Associates Steering Committee.

Before entering the world of publishing, he was one of the founding partners of Janus-Merritt Strategies, a Washington, DC strategic consulting firm. He holds an MBA from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business, and a BA from the College of William and Mary.

Scott Hoffman:

When Lee asked me if I would do a guest blog entry for him and this fabulous site, I jumped at the opportunity. I figured that not only would it be a lot of fun, it would also be an opportunity to give readers a little bit of an insight into the mind of a publishing industry insider, and in the process, maybe pass along a little useful advice.

As a literary agent who represents a fair amount of both fiction and nonfiction that often deals with police procedure, crime scene investigation, and forensics– and as a reader obsessed with the genre– I often find fairly glaring errors in writers’ descriptions of the way things happen in the real world.

Here’s the question—Does it matter? Is it going to harm your chances of getting your book published if you don’t dot every “I” and cross every “T” when it comes to ensuring the accuracy of your work?

The answer: yeah, probably.

Here’s why. Publishing, to a large extent is a gigantic numbers game. Top literary agents get besieged by submissions. I would say that, on average, great agents get anywhere between 250 and 500 query letters a week. That’s a lot of letters. 500 query letters a week times four weeks in a month equals 2000 queries in a month. 2000 queries in a month times 12 months in a year equals 24,000 queries in a year.

And remember—it’s not a literary agent’s job to read query letters. An agent’s job is to sell books for his or her clients. To the extent we read query letters at all, it’s only when we have extra time, and there’s room on our client lists. Some agents like me will only sign one or two new clients a year. So when we’re looking for a needle in a haystack, we don’t have much time to spend on writers who aren’t experts in their subject.

Here’s a dirty little secret about the way I (and most of the other people in the publishing industry) read material from people we don’t have a preexisting professional relationship with, whether it’s query letters, sample chapters, or an entire manuscript from a client we’re considering taking on.

Basically, we read until we CAN stop—and then we do.

So, if your initial letter to us has a typo in the first line, that’s easy. Pass. And onto query number 12,467.

The same goes for technical details. I can’t tell you how many writers have their studly main characters using their thumb to “flip the safety off” on their Glock 17 before wasting a bad guy or “breaking open” a “Mossberg pump-action” shotgun to reload it.

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These are just the mistakes that *I* catch. I’m hardly a firearms expert; I shudder to think how many errors I *don’t* see that people who read this blog shake their heads over.

So how can you use this phenomenon to your advantage?

Well, readers of crime fiction like to feel smart. To the extent that you can debunk closely-held myths in the course of your writing, agents, editors, and ultimately readers will love it. If you can tell readers how things REALLY happen—as opposed to the way they look on TV, it will give your work a feeling of authenticity that’s often missing in crime fiction (and nonfiction.)

So—here’s my challenge to you, faithful blog readers. When you read crime fiction, what are your pet peeves? What do writers get wrong? What are the most glaring errors you’ve seen? Who are the most egregious offenders?

I’ll even sweeten the pot. Whoever comes up with the best response will get a copy of the galley for Brent Ghelfi’s amazing thriller, VOLK’S SHADOW. Ghelfi’s first book, VOLK’S GAME, was nominated for the best debut thriller of 2007 by the International Thriller Writers. The winner is going to be announced this summer at ThrillerFest.

 

Bring it on.

Scott Hoffman

FOLIO Literary Management, LLC

www.foliolit.com

***

Tomorrow – Freelance editor/author Becky Levine

Set handcuffs

 

New York Times Bestselling Author Allison Brennan is a former consultant in the California State Legislature and lives in Northern California with her husband and five children. Her eighth romantic thriller, TEMPTING EVIL, is on sale 5/20/08.

Truthful Fiction

I make-up stories. My books are fiction and I’m an expert at nothing. I know a little bit about a lot of stuff, which is both a blessing and a curse.

I’m keenly aware that I don’t know everything (please, do not tell my children this fact!) I did a bit of research for my first three books-just enough, frankly, to realize that I had become dangerous-to myself.

There are two mistakes beginning writers-many of whom are published-make. The first is to not do any research and make up everything, stretching credibility. I’m willing to suspend disbelief if the story and writing is good enough, but some things I have a hard time forgiving. The other extreme is putting in too much information. You learn something new, become an “expert” on-for example-how internet feeds can hide their location. Then you show-off your knowledge to your readers, often resulting in long, boring passages. And unless you ARE a computer expert, you’re going to get something wrong.

I received some great advice from two published author friends of mine. The first is married to a retired cop. She laughs at errors in books related to law enforcement. She told me, “Less is more.” Don’t over-explain because unless you’ve walked the beat, you really don’t know much about being a cop. My other friend, a retired FBI Agent, said, “You’re writing fiction. You can make it work.”

Yes, I write fiction and therefore I can break and bend a lot of rules. But because I really want my stories to have a flavor of reality, I want them to be as accurate as possible. I’ve become addicted to research.

Right now, I’m in the middle of the FBI’s Citizen’s Academy. This is the most fun I’ve ever had learning something new. The reason I wanted to do this was because I’m launching an FBI series in early 2009, but in my current “Prison Break” trilogy I have FBI agents as either major or secondary characters.

Tempting Evil (Prison Break, Book 2)

The premise of my series is the “best of the best” Evidence Response Team members form a unit at Quantico to handle high-profile and complex cases, like multi-jurisdictional serial killers, mass murderers, and kidnappings. I’ve done a lot of research on ERT and am fascinated by their dedication and training. ERT members train and specialize in different areas, like firearms, bombs, forensic anthropology, etc. They are full Special Agents, but have an added skill or talent and are sent out to crime scenes to collect and process evidence like a traditional local criminalist would do. One high-profile case they worked near where I live was the Yosemite murders. The ERT unit processed the burned car where two of the victims were found. They are used on federal cases or when local law enforcement requests help-particularly helpful in smaller districts who can’t afford their own crime scene team.

 

I was very happy with my premise, until I talked to the PR guy at my local FBI office and learned that the beauty of the ERT program was that each of the 56 regional offices has an ERT and the purpose is to be able to respond quickly to a crime scene. Having a national unit sort of defeats the purpose of the program.

I was a bit upset learning this. But, because this is fiction, I figured I would just go with my original plan. I’ll admit, I’d lost a little love I had for the series and was considering coming up with a completely different idea.

My first night at the citizen’s academy, we learned the priorities for the FBI. After 9/11, the number one priority is counterterrorism. No brainer there. Protecting our country from another terrorist attack, foreign or domestic, is crucial to the health and safety of the public.

 

The second priority is counterintelligence. Then Cyber crimes (which includes online child pornography.) Then public corruption. Followed by civil rights, criminal enterprises (RICO), white collar crime, and finally . . . violent crime.

 

Violent crime was at the bottom of the list. This doesn’t mean that the FBI won’t get involved in a case when asked by local law enforcement-they will. But it means that the violent crime squad has fewer staff and resources than the other units. This is largely because violent crime generally stays within local law enforcement jurisdiction, and local cops are well trained to handle robberies and homicides and other such crimes. If a life is in immediate danger-such as the kidnapping of a child-the FBI will make that the number one priority. But for all intents and purposes, violent crime is no longer a priority.

This actually works very well for my FBI series premise. Why? Because if violent crime is not a priority of the bureau, then having an elite team focused on violent crimes has merit. To be honest, I highly doubt that the FBI in this current global climate would create a national ERT unit to focus on violent crime. BUT I can make it work for my story-which is fiction.

In my book FEAR NO EVIL, a very small sub-plot revolved around the disappearance of Monique Paxton. We (the readers) know that she was murdered by the villain. What we learn near the end of the book is that her family never knew her fate. When one of the villains reveals the information about her murder and how her body was disposed, her father finally has closure. In one paragraph I created the backstory for my entire new premise without intending to do so. Jonathon Paxton, Monique’s father, ran for public office on an anti-crime platform after Monique disappeared. Over the years, he worked himself up into higher and higher offices, and is now a US Senator, all on a strong anti-crime platform.

We’re now getting into an area I know something about. After 13 years working in the California State Legislature, I know that lots of legislators come in with pet projects. If it’s something we don’t like or it only benefits their individual district, we call it pork. If it’s something we do like, we call it desperately needed legislation. So in my first FBI book, SUDDEN DEATH (4/09) I’m using Senator Paxton as the vehicle to get funding for a special FBI squad that focuses on violent crime-serial killers, mass murderers, missing and exploited children, and kidnappings.

My premise holds. Likely? Probably not. Plausible? Absolutely. I can sell the idea because Senator Paxton believes strongly in this, so strongly he’s willing to put his political future on the line to fund the program through a budget trailer bill. If his character is strong enough, I think all my readers will believe in not only the program, but that it could be done in real life.

There are a lot of misconceptions about the FBI and what they do (and don’t do.) Before 9/11, the FBI was a reactionary agency. A crime occurred, they investigated. Now, the FBI is proactive, hence the focus on counterterrorism and counterintelligence. They want to stop disasters before they happen.

 

Most of the successes of the FBI and the other national agencies are classified. We’re not going to read about them in the newspaper. Sleeper cells destroyed, terrorists taken out over seas, stopping an attack by having a strong presence at a major event. People become complacent when there’s nothing big or sexy being reported. They think, wrongfully, that terrorism isn’t a threat any more, or the terrorists who attacked on 9/11 were a few crazy idiots. But the threat is there, and it’s not going away, and our diligence and strength is keeping them at bay.

There’s so much more I could write about! I’ve had three classes (and a day at the gun range) and each day I came up with an idea for a book. One of them I’m really excited about because it centered around an informant whose motivations and conflicts were so clear in my mind that I could see her as a fully-developed character.

I’m going to wrap this up and visit again in a couple of weeks with more details about how the FBI operates and how to use it-or not-in fiction. But I thought I’d go on my bully pulpit for a moment and discuss the other night’s final presentation on cybercrimes against children.

The SSA in charge of this unit takes his job seriously. Child pornography is a widespread and devastating crime. We’re not talking about naked kids in a bathtub; we’re talking about violent and abusive sexual assault against children-the majority of them infants and toddlers. Yes, babies and small boys and girls. There’s a threshold that the FBI looks into-the child has to be 12 or under. Prepubescent. This isn’t to say that the FBI won’t get involved in a violent crime against a teenager, but because the breadth of this problem, they have to prioritize their resources to protecting and rescuing the youngest of the victims.

Those who prey on the most innocent of the innocent should be dealt with harshly, but unfortunately, as the SSA said: “There is not enough law enforcement in the country to combat this problem.”

If every cop in America focused on child pornography, they’d make only a dent in the distribution of these hideous videos. A recent law enforcement operation discovered 20,000 computers in Virginia alone with downloaded child pornography videos. Yes-videos of sex with young children that are downloaded off the Internet every minute of every day. Over 20,000 sick perverts who watched sexual violence against children.

One case study showed that it doesn’t take long for a adult porn addict to turn to child pornography. A 60-year-old-man was arrested for enticing a 15-year-old girl to commit sexual acts over a webcam. He’d been a legal adult porn addict his entire life, and in one chat room had an exposure to child porn. At first he rejected it, disgusted. But over a few months, he’d become desensitized to the adult porn that had satisfied his addiction for decades. He started looking at more violent porn, then child porn, then violent child porn, then he reached out to victims. This downfall took eight months. Eight months from exposure to child porn to attempted sexual assault.

These men and women who spend countless hours chatting with these men online in order to stop them, viewing child porn videos in the hopes of identifying the child in order to rescue him/her, need to be commended for their dedication and commitment. It is not easy to view the hideous and disturbing videos that are available online. Each child in these videos is a victim of violent, sexual abuse. Most of the law enforcement officers and support staff use their own time to track these predators, in addition to their regular jobs. Truly unsung heroes.

I’m happy to answer questions if anyone has them. I’ll post in a couple of weeks more information about the academy and how to use crime research in novels.

Lee, thanks so much for having me today!

You can visit Allison on her website http://www.allisonbrennan.com/

Allison also writes a weekly blog over  at Murder She Writes

http://www.murdershewrites.com/

***

Tomorrow – Scott Hoffman, Owner/Agent of Folio Literary Management

Winslow Arizona

 

Turn up the A/C because this week we’re headed to Arizona’s Painted Desert. First stop, Meteor Crater.

 

Meteor Crater is located just off Interstate 40 near Flagstaff. Drive twenty miles to the east and you can stand on a corner in Winslow, Arizona (You have to be an Eagles fan to get that one).

 

Fifty-thousand years ago, a 150 foot wide meteorite struck the earth at 40,000 miles per hour. The result – a 700 foot deep crater (it’s 550 feet deep today) that’s 4,000 feet across and 2.4 miles in circumference.  In the photo above you can see an observation platform in the lower right corner. That tiny yellowish speck at the end of the platform is a full-grown man.

 

The Painted Desert stretches from the Grand Canyon to the Petrified Forest, covering nearly 94,000 acres.

 

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Petrified tree bridge