It’s official! You asked for it and we delivered. The Mad Anthony Writers Conference and I have joined forces to present to first annual Writers Police Academy on April 17-18, 2009. Here’s a sneak preview of some of the workshps and faculty. There’s still more to come.

Friday – Police Department and Morgue Tours

Friday night – Murder, Mayhem, and the Macabre, a candlelight visit with Hamilton’s most infamous killers and their unfortunate victims. This night owl presentation offered by Lee Lofland is not for the faint of heart.

Saturday workshops will be taught by some of the nation’s top law enforcement experts. These police professionals are all authors, too!

The faculty (to date):
A police officer with the Matteson, Illinois Police Department for over 30 years, Sergeant Michael A. Black, has served in a variety of assignments including investigations, patrol supervisor, SWAT team leader, and plainclothes tactical officer. He is also the author of two different series and several thrillers. Out now is a re-release of Windy City Knights, the second in Mike’s award-winning Ron Shade private-eye series, and (in hardcover), Dead Ringer, the brand-new fourth adventure for Ron Shade. Mike’s newest series begins with Random Victim, introducing a male/female police detective team Francisco Leal and Olivia Hart. Mike has also co-written the recently released I Am Not A Cop with television star Richard Belzer.

 

Public Information Officer/Crime Prevention Officer Dave Crawford has worked in several areas within the Hamilton Police Department, including the Patrol Division, Traffic Division, as a Court Officer, Desk Officer and, as a member of the Honor Guard Unit. His current position is in the Public Affairs Section of the police department, which entails a multitude of assignments.

Officer Crawford is a member and board member of many local civic originations. He’s also a member of the Ohio Crime Prevention Association, National Public Officers Information Association, International Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Association, and MADD.

Dave proudly serves as a member of the board of directors for MADD of Southwestern Ohio Affiliate, Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc., Visitors and Convention Center, Accent Hamilton, Open Door Food Pantry Board Member, Dayton Lane Historical Society, Safe Kids Coalition, FOP Lodge 38, Washington Lodge Masons, and the High Twelve Club.

Verna Dreisbach of Dreisbach Literary Management offers professional representation for distinctive voices with a diverse range of both fiction and non-fiction interests. She is currently looking for emerging and experienced writers to build her list and desires books that present the possibility to affect change. The agency has a particular interest in books with a political, economic or social context. Verna’s first career as a law enforcement officer gives her a genuine interest and expertise in the genres of mystery, thriller and true crime. She believes in building an agency based on dedication, loyalty and trust, representing the voice behind the work, not just the writing. If you are accepted by Dreisbach Literary Management it is because Verna has faith in your abilities as a writer and feels a connection with your goals and aspirations.

Lee Lofland is the author of Police Procedure and Investigation, A Guide For Writers from Writers Digest Books, a 2008 Macavity Award nominee for best non-fiction mystery. Lee is a former police detective with nearly two decades of law-enforcement and crime-solving experience. He was in charge of major felony cases, including homicide, narcotics, rape, kidnapping, ritualistic and occult crimes, fraud, and robbery.

Lee is a nationally acclaimed expert on police procedure and crime-scene investigation and is a popular conference, workshop, and motivational speaker. He writes freelance articles for newspaper and magazine publications, such as The Writer and Slate magazine.

He has consulted for many bestselling authors, such as J.A. Jance, Lee Goldberg (Monk), PJ Parrish, Jeffery Deaver, Jan Burke, Stuart Kaminsky, and Allison Brennan. He’s also worked with television shows, such as Spike TV’s Murder, and a new major motion picture that’s currently in the development stages.

Lee has appeared as an expert on national television and radio shows, such as CNN’s Talk Back Live and NPR’s Talk of the Nation, and BBC Television. He writes and manages the popular blog site The Graveyard Shift.

The Graveyard Shift

https://leelofland.com/

His current works-in-progress are a mystery novel, a true crime book, and a children’s book co-authored with Becky Levine called Everything Kids: I Want To Be A Police Officer that’s scheduled for release in early 2009.

Lee and his wife, Dr. Denene Lofland, live in the Boston area, where he proudly serves on the board of directors for the New England Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. He’s also a member of Sisters in Crime.

Special Agent Rick McMahan has worked in federal law enforcement for over sixteen years. During the first six years of his career, Rick worked as a civilian Special Agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations where he worked a wide range of person and property crimes. For the last ten years, as a Special Agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) Rick has investigated federal firearms and explosives violations, including conducting investigations into violent street gangs and outlaw motorcycle gangs. He has served as an on-the-job trainer for new agents and is firearms instructor. Rick’s short stories have appeared in anthologies such as Techno Noire, Low Down & Derby, and the Mystery Writer’s of America Death Do Us Part, edited by Harlan Coben.

Sheila L. Stephens was the first female Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (ATF) special agent in the state of Alabama and one of the first in the nation. She recently graduated from Boston University with a master’s degree in criminal justice. After leaving the ATF due to injury, Ms. Stephens opened a private investigation/security business. She is a criminal justice professor at Andrew Jackson University and a contributing writer and associate editor of The Agent, the newsletter of the National Association of Federal Agents (NAFA). Ms. Stephens lives in Bessemer, AL.

Sheila is the author of Everything Private Investigation Book from Adams Media.

Lieutenant David Swords (ret.) is a thirty 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.

Saturday sessions. Many of these workshops are hands-on classes.

Writing Realistic Fight Scenes	Interview & Interogation
Rick McMahan & Staff	David Swords
Arrest Tech & Handcuffs	Writing Compeling Villians
Rick McMahan & Staff	Lee Lofland
Police Tools & Equipment	Technology & Crime
Dave Crawford & Rick McMahan	Sheila Stephens
SWAT I	Primer of Handguns
Mike Black	Rick McMahan
Nonlethal Weapons	Hostage Negotiations
Sheila Stephens	Mike Black
Prison & Jail, Slang & Gangs	Fingerprinting
til 5:10 Verna Dreisbach	Crawford, McMahan, & Swords
5:20-6pm High Rish Traffic Stop	Kenesics: Human Lie Detecting
Crawford & Staff	Lee Lofland

 

 

We’ll be back on schedule on Tuesday. Stay tuned for a surprise for writers later in the week!

 

Each day, either by email or telephone, I talk to lots of law enforcement officers from all over the country. I like to stay abreast with what’s current in the world of cop and robbers so I can pass along that information to my friends in the world of books, radio, television, and film.

I provide this information in various ways. I write articles for an assortment of newspapers, magazines, and newsletters. I manage and write The Graveyard Shift. I speak at several writers conferences each year. And I receive, and answer, hundreds of emails each and every day, seven days a week.

My life is usually a whirlwind of travel, conferences, library and school talks, consulting, writing and managing this blog (The Graveyard Shift has indeed become somewhat of a monster, receiving well over 22,000 hits each day from 120 countries) and writing books (in my spare time).

I currently have two works-in-progress, along with a kids book that’s scheduled for release next spring. I partnered with Becky Levine to write that one. One of my current projects is a novel I’ve just completed that’s now in the proofreading stage. The other is a true-crime book that my hard working agent, Scott Hoffman of Folio Literary Management, is shopping around to various publishers.

One of the publications I write for on a regular basis is InSinC, the national newsletter of Sisters in Crime. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Sisters in Crime you should be. It’s a wonderful organization. In fact, SinC president, Roberta Isleib, will be a guest blogger on The Graveyard Shift in a couple weeks.

 

Anyway, last month I wrote an article for the Sisters in Crime newsletter called Maybe The Grass Isn’t Greener Over There.

That little story has such an important meaning to me (only me) that I’d like to share it here on the blog. Here goes:

Maybe The Grass Isn’t Greener Over There

I’ve recently put together a proposal for a true-crime book about a grisly homicide that occurred in the Midwest. The story is exceptionally fascinating. It’s a convoluted and compelling tale with enough twists to make it seem fictional. A real imagination stretcher.

I knew that researching a true crime would be a daunting task. It was not something I was looking forward to, especially since I had made a promise to myself to never again write nonfiction. I must be a glutton for punishment because I sharpened a couple of pencils, grabbed a handful of notepads and my camera, and traveled to the city where the crime took place.

 

I spent time with the detectives who worked the case, the attorney who prosecuted the killer, and the coroner who performed the autopsy. I visited the crime scenes and interviewed the family and friends of the victim and killer. I even spent a few minutes at the victim’s grave site.

I became more and more interested in the case as details unfolded. I even began to feel a strange connection to the victim, a young woman I’d never met. It didn’t take long for the case to become a part of me, consuming my energy and thoughts. At the end of each day, though, something always seemed to be missing. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what, so I shrugged it off and moved on.

It’s been over a decade since I’ve investigated a murder, but as soon as I set foot in the Ohio police department for my initial meeting with the lead homicide detective, I felt it again. I don’t know if it found me because I was again surrounded by patrol officers with all their creaking leather gun belts and jingling, jangling keys, or if sitting in a briefing room listening in on secret meetings allowed it to return. The cause might have been the familiar smell of Hoppes gun oil, or maybe it was the behind-the-scenes joking and kidding that’s never seen by the general public. I don’t know what brought it back into my life, but one thing was certain, it was back.

Sure, I felt comfortable inside the police department. After all, I’d been in the business for over twenty years, solving crimes and arresting bad guys. I’d ten-foured with the best of them. I knew the case I was researching was closed and that the killer had been found guilty of his crimes and was now safely tucked away in a maximum security prison. Still, I couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that an important element was missing in this case, and I was going crazy trying to figure out what, or who, eluded me.

During my trip, I spent hour after hour riding in police cars, pushing my way through overgrown brush, wading through mud and water, sorting through and reading court documents, pawing through newspaper archives, examining evidence, and taking notes and photos. I also ate quick, on-the-run meals with law-enforcement officials in tiny, greasy-spoon diners.

I got very little sleep and felt really overworked. Just like the good old days. Still, lurking around in the back of my mind was the sense that something was missing. The feeling was beginning to really nag me, like a relentless mosquito that buzzes around your ear. The feeling grew worse with each passing day. Man, was it ever annoying!

By the last day of my research trip I was totally exhausted, but I sensed a fulfillment I hadn’t felt in a long, long time. I’d discovered things in the case that had never before been uncovered, and I’d found out things about the killer and the victim that the police hadn’t discovered during the initial investigation. It was exciting.

At midnight of the last night of my research trip, I was sitting in front of my laptop, transferring notes to my computer, when I finally realized what had been bothering me for so long. I knew what was missing in the case, what the mosquito was in my ear. It was me. I was the missing piece of the puzzle.

 

Twelve years after I left police work, and I’d just learned that I actually missed it. I missed grabbing meals on the run, working long hours, falling asleep at my desk after a marathon work session, the lonely, solitary working conditions, and tons of pressure to succeed.

After sitting and thinking for a while, missing my old police car with its seat molded to fit my rear and my suit coats with their linings torn from rubbing against the hammer on my service weapon, another stark realization hit me. All the things I missed could be found in my new life as a writer. The only real difference was that, as an investigator, I started a case with a puzzle to unravel. As a writer I begin my work with the solution and then work in reverse to develop the mystery.

After carefully weighing the two options, I think I’ll stick with the latter profession. It’s much safer. Haven’t had to dodge a single bullet since I started writing.

 

 

JANE FRIEDMAN
Jane Friedman is editorial director at F+W Media in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she oversees the publication of more than 50 nonfiction titles each year, under the imprints of Writer’s Digest Books, HOW Books, Betterway Books, and TOW Books. Writer’s Digest Books is the world’s #1 reference publisher for writers, and for more than 85 years has published the bestselling reference guide Writer’s Market. Stop by her blog, There Are No Rules, at blog.writersdigest.com/norules.

—

Being a Savvy Author Who Impresses Editors and Agents

One of the fastest ways that a potential (or current) author can impress me is through their knowledge of what’s happening in the industry. Very few authors take time to stay current on how the industry is changing and what challenges it faces. In turn, this often results in authors who have the wrong expectations about publication or make the wrong kinds of demands from their agent or editor.

There’s a very easy way to become savvy and knowledgeable. Set aside an hour or two every week to read blogs and articles from the thought leaders in the book publishing industry. I’m not talking about those editors, agents, or published authors who give advice on how to get published or what’s “hot” and selling well today. I’m talking about blogs that monitor the state of the industry.

Here are four I recommend.

Tools of Change or Publishing (O’Reilly)
http://toc.oreilly.com/
O’Reilly is one of the most progressive publishers on the scene as far as using new technologies to reach and serve their audience. When you visit this blog, you’ll notice the tag line, “Connect With Publishing Innovation.” Their analysis and opinion is always thoughtful and insightful, and usually accessible to even the most stubborn Luddite.

PersonaNonData
http://personanondata.blogspot.com/
This blog can be very business-focused (at least from a writer’s perspective), with probably more analysis than you care to read about how retailers and companies are performing on a financial level. But it always covers important trends and strategies related to publishing. Even if you don’t care about the financial performance of B&N, it’s helpful to know what direction the wind is blowing.

The Digtalist (Pan Macmillan)
http://thedigitalist.net/
This is a blog by the digital team at Pan Macmillan in the UK. As they say on their opening page, it’s a place to debate books, publishing, the web, and the future, with posts such as “10 Reasons Not to Write Off Reading From a Screen” or “Short Fiction in the Age of the Ebook.”

Chris Brogan
www.chrisbrogan.com
I get tons of questions from writers asking about social networking. What is it? Is it important? How do you use it? And so on. Social networking and community marketing does play a role in publishing now, even if we’re not sure yet how to make it profitable. Chris Brogan is the one expert I’ve seen in social networking/marketing that consistently delivers accessible and useful information that can help writers (and, well, everyone) sort through the mess.

 

Plum Island is located in the northeast corner of Massachusetts, near the New Hampshire border. The island got its name because of the large number of beach-plum bushes that grow abundantly, all over. Local folks make jellies and jam from the tiny plums.

The Parker River, at the mouth of the Merrimack River (one of our favorite kayaking spots), separates the island from the mainland.

A thirteen mile bike ride through the Parker River National Wildlife Reserve provides for some wonderful scenery and bird watching. Some of the birds that can be found hanging out in the salt marshes are: plovers, redwing blackbirds and kildeer to egrets, gulls, great blue herons, and occasional snowy owls or ospreys.

The refuge is truly a peaceful place.

A short walk over the dunes takes you to the ocean.

* * *

Yesterday, I was interviewed by publisher Ben Leroy of Bleak House Books.

You can listen to the Podcast here:

http://thefutureisbleak.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=370795

Clinton R. Van Zandt is the Founder and President of Van Zandt Associates Inc. During his 25-year career in the FBI, Mr. Van Zandt was a Supervisor in the FBI’s internationally renowned Behavioral Science Unit at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. He was also the FBI’s Chief Hostage Negotiator and in his current position, was the leader of the analytical team recognized with identifying the “Unabomber.” Mr. Van Zandt accurately profiled Oklahoma City Federal Building Bomber Timothy McVeigh on the day of that fateful bombing. He is a recognized expert on many topics including the review of written and oral communications, workplace violence issues, hostage and kidnap negotiations and survival techniques, international and domestic terrorism, personality assessments and behavioral profiling, and authorship identification techniques.

Bounty Hunter: “Casey will talk once released and has her nails done…”

Where are the Clowns

Leonard Padilla, the convicted felon turned bounty hunter turned television personality, “I’m already famous” as he stated on television, believes that he can get 22-year-old Casey Anthony to tell what happened to her missing 3-year-old daughter Caylee once he secures her release from the Orange County, Florida, jail. Padilla, a Kinky Friedman look-alike who describes himself as “a media whore,” continues to work with his nephew Tony, a California bail bondsman; as well as with a local Florida bondsman to put up the cash needed to meet Casey’s one-half million dollar bail. Their efforts in this matter have failed so far to gain the release of the woman described by friends as a “pathological liar,” someone who investigators believe holds the only key to what happened to young Caylee, a key she won’t give up.

Although many suspect that Padilla’s efforts are more related to his own continued fame, e.g., a reality TV show based upon his bounty hunter activities, than ultraistic in nature, as a former FBI Agent I always looked at a missing persons case, especially one related to a child, as a search for a live victim unless evidence suggested otherwise. Padilla, for example, has speculated that Caylee could be held by unknown persons due to a drug deal gone bad. In a television appearance with Padilla, I suggested that should this be the case, the existence of a $225,000 reward for the child’s return could support a scenario where the “kidnappers” could come forward to claim the reward, this by indicating that Casey had given them the child almost three months ago, told them to keep her for 90 days and then returned the child to her grandparents. The “kidnappers” could then claim the reward and rid themselves of the burden of caring for Caylee, something Padilla quickly agreed with and then used as his own idea on a subsequent TV talk show.

 

Caylee was Kidnapped

Statistically speaking, Padilla’s kidnap scenario has little support among investigators, noting that Padilla himself has suggested that Casey only drank alcohol and smoked marijuana, “vices” unlikely to have facilitated a child kidnapping, especially by a baby sitter that police believe to be non-existent. A more likely scenario to explain the child’s missing status and Casey’s many lies to investigators could include Caylee’s accidental death, this due either to neglect or some other action on the part of Casey. It has been reported that when Casey and Caylee left the residence they shared with Casey’s parents, this apparently to move in with Casey’s new boy friend, that neither the boy friend or their friends had any contact with Caylee during the 30 days she was away from her grandparents, nor did anyone report that Casey appeared to be conducting her own frantic search for her “missing” daughter. Most have seen the salacious pictures allegedly taken of Casey partying in bars during the month she said she was looking for her daughter, hardly reflecting the actions of a parent desperately looking for her missing child.

 

The CSI Investigation

Forensic evidence is usually the “gold standard” in high profile cases, and this case could be no different. It’s been reported that forensic investigators seized approximately 30 items of potential evidentiary value from the vehicle driven and abandoned by Casey Anthony around the time her daughter allegedly disappeared, including suspected bodily fluid, strands of hair and dirt. DNA analysis will determine if the suspect fluid or the strands of hair are genetically identical to the DNA of Casey as well as the possible origin of the dirt from the car’s trunk. On July 17 cadaver dogs allegedly “hit” on the trunk, indicating the possibility that a dead body had been transported in the car, something that Casey’s mother had originally reported herself. The dirt could be related to the time period including June 18-20 when Casey allegedly borrowed a shovel from a neighbor and was seen backing her car into her parents garage. While the media waits with bated breath for the results of the forensic tests, investigators are obviously under no obligation to report such results and may believe that public knowledge of the test results could be counterproductive for their investigation.

I doubt that Padilla’s theory that once released from jail and after having her nails done that Casey will dig herself out from under the mountain of lies she has told and tell Padilla, perhaps in some type of “Perry Mason moment” what she has so far refused to tell investigators; the location of her daughter. Should Casey be released on August 21^st, she will be confined to her parent’s residence and required to wear “Martha Steward ankle jewelry,” i.e., an electronic device that will alert authorities if she leaves her home in violation of the terms of her release from jail. Padilla also advises that he or an associate will reside in the Anthony home to monitor Casey’s compliance with her bail, something that’s hard to believe that the Anthony’s, or their attorney, will allow to happen.

What’s more Important…

In the meantime Padilla’s insertion of himself into this matter has changed it from a two-ring to a three-ring circus, and once again places attention on someone other than the missing child. Casey has questioned why people are more concerned with her missing daughter than with her; this while some believe that her mother has gone out of her way to seek her own form of personal attention. While it appears unlikely that Casey will eventually get “the mother of the year award” as suggested by her mother Cindy, and the likelihood that Casey has reportedly kept her silence to protect her daughter and family further diminishes, investigators are left expending hundreds of hours searching for a child simply because the mother won’t talk. And when Casey’s attorney says he has advised Casey not to talk, this in the face of a missing child investigation, we are all left to question the tattered state of a criminal justice system that places the narcissism of adults above the life of a child.

Meanwhile, the investigation continues…

Clint Van Zandt