Lucienne Diver: How I Do It All and Still Manage To Sleep

Lucienne Diver

Lucienne Diver is the author of Vamped, which Wondrous Reads called, “Mean Girls with fangs,” a May 2009 trade paperback release from Flux. She’s also a sixteen year veteran of the publishing business, representing over forty authors of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, suspense and romance. She’s a member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives (AAR), RWA, MWA and SFWA. Further information can be found on The Knight Agency website www.knightagency.net, her blog http://varkat.livejournal.com and her author page www.luciennediver.com.

How I do it all and still manage to sleep


I get the question all the time: “When do you relax?” I’ve heard this word, relax. I’m still trying to work out its relevance to my daily life. I’m an agent and author, wife and mother…in an ever-rotating order determined by the time and day of the week. Relaxation, well, that’s just time I’m not using to its fullest potential.

So when I hear authors say, “I need to develop a schedule” or “I need more hours in my day,” my answer to that is a resounding AMEN! Yes, the mighty schedule is all important. A schedule is sacred. And I don’t just say that because I’m a textbook type A personality with time urgency issues. They tell you in school that studying in the same time and place every day helps put your brain in the mindset to work and retain information. The same applies to writing. Personally, I’m up before the rest of my household every morning to write for an hour or so before my inner editor awakes and gets in the way of channeling my characters and story. I can plot and revise in the evenings when my logical, perfectionist self needs to be along for the ride, but I write in the mornings. Every morning. Same time (5:30 a.m., yeesh!), same place. I free hand. Unfortunately, my muse never took to typing. Until THE GIRL, THE GOLD WATCH AND EVERYTHING becomes reality (famous novel by John D. MacDonald – boy did I want that watch as a kid!), I can’t help you with the extra hours. I carve them out of sleep.

Once I’ve written until the pen stops, I go back to sleep for an hour or so. When I wake, I hug my son, greet my husband, shower, the whole nine yards. By the end of a hot shower and copious amounts of caffeine, my agent self has awoken. She has a schedule too. A list of things that need to be done and an idea of when each of these things will be slotted into a busy day. I have an agent of my own to handle the business side of my writing because during office hours, I’m focused on my own clients. Also, as an agent with sixteen years in the business, I’m confident in what I do; as an author with my first novel , VAMPED, out under my own name just this month, I’m…um, well…neurotic.

I’d be absolutely inclined to jump on anyone offering for my work and ask them if we can sign on the dotted line before they come to their senses. I wouldn’t be at all the woman of steel I need to be as an agent. I wouldn’t be a tough negotiator. For that I need someone much less emotionally invested in my work with wonderful acumen. Now, “less emotionally invested” doesn’t mean she doesn’t care, just that she can look at things a bit more dispassionately than I can regarding my own work. Also, my agent is a great editor and I know I’ve become a better writer for working with her.

Is it weird to have another agent agent me? Not as weird as you’d think. For one, I’ve known my agent for years and knew what I was doing going to her. She’s tough, someone I respect with a good work ethic. We have similar taste, but different approaches on some things, which is good, because it means that we can come at things from different angles and perhaps achieve more together than I could on my own or with someone just like me. In fact, all of this is probably a pretty good summation of what authors get generally (or should get anyway) out of the agent/author relationship. It’s a mutually beneficial partnership, where both sides bring different but vitally important skills to the table.

Check out Lucienne’s blog for a contest closing on May 22nd for a bag of swag featuring her novel, Vamped. Also, join Shooting Stars Magazine all month long [Link: http://shootingstarsmag.blogspot.com/2009/05/party-vampire-contest-with-lucienne.html] to test your Vampire IQ and win signed books by Rachel Caine, Lucienne Diver, Rosemary Clement-Moore and other goodies.

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Shirley Jump: On Writing, Research, and Chocolate

 

I’m very pleased to welcome my good friend, New York Times/USA Today bestselling author Shirley Jump, to The Graveyard Shift.  A few weeks ago, I asked Shirley if she’d mind sharing a few of her writing tips and she said yes without hesitating. In fact, she immediately put down her box of chocolates and answered my questions in a manner that was so…well, so Shirley Jumpish. You’ll see what I mean. Shirley will also be available today to answer your questions.

 

First, a little about Shirley Jump:

Award-winning New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shirley Jump spends her days writing romantic comedies (Doorstep Daddy, May 2009) to feed her shoe addiction and avoid cleaning the toilets. She cleverly finds writing time by feeding her kids junk food, allowing them to dress in the clothes they find on the floor and encouraging the dogs to double as vacuum cleaners. Visit her website at www.shirleyjump.com or read recipes and life adventures at www.shirleyjump.blogspot.com.

She also writes horror young adult under the pen name AJ Whitten with her teen daughter.

 

The first of these books, The Well, will be released in fall of 2009 under Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Graphia imprint. When Shirley’s daughter first read the premise for The Well, the story of a boy whose mother is trying to kill him, she asked her mother if there was anything she should know. Shirley claims it’s all fiction. Learn more about AJ Whitten at www.ajwhitten.com

The Interview:

Shirley, what time of day you prefer to write?

Whenever no one is going to bother me. But honestly, I have kids and just when I think I’m going to get two or three uninterrupted hours to write, someone calls home with a dire emergency, like a forgotten trombone or misplaced lunch money, and before I know it, my writing day is sucked into the ether. So I write whenever I can grab uninterrupted time 😉

Your daily word count?

Ha. Did you read the above? 😉 I don’t strive for any kind of daily word count. The pressure would mean I’d have some goal I’d have to meet, and then if I didn’t meet it, I’d feel like a failure, which would necessitate massive amounts of chocolate. Eventually, the sugar high would wear off and I’d need a nap, meaning more hours would be wasted…and I’d really be missing my goal. Back to the chocolate bowl again. It’s a vicious cycle. Better to not set a goal at all and reward myself with chocolate when I accomplish anything more than hit POWER.

Do you listen to music when you write (what kind)?

I’d love to tell you I’m so disciplined and intellectual that I throw some Bach into the CD player and hum along with a concerto, but honestly, I usually have the TV going because when you’re writing all day, you’re usually missing something good, so why not try and do both? ;-). I got used to writing with kids around, and actually missed the noise, which is why I turn on the TV-for company.

Do you conduct a lot of research before you write the first word?

I write the first three chapters before I start researching. I’d like to know what I need to know, if that makes sense, before I start digging for facts. Otherwise, I’ll spend all day reading and not a moment writing.

How long does it take you write a 100,000 word novel?

As long as they give me ;-). If I have a year to write it, it takes a year. If I have six months, it takes six months. I aim to please-and make my deadlines.

Finally, what is your favorite food and drink?

I have to pick one?

If I HAD to choose, my favorite food is macaroni and cheese (I know, but who said I had to eat healthy?) and my favorite drink is a mojito. Or a margarita. Or a martini. If it has alcohol in it, and it doesn’t taste like battery acid, it’s usually on my favorites list 😉

Shirley picks up a few forensics facts from Butler County Ohio coroner’s investigator, Andy Willis and Butler County coroner, Dr. Richard Burkhardt during the Writers Police Academy.

*Shirley’s latest book is The Well, which is scheduled for release in September 2009.

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Weekend Road Trip: Wacky Presidential Trivia

 

This week, instead of a trip to a physical location I thought it might be fun to visit with our former presidents. Maybe even learn a couple of their dirty little not-so-well-known secrets. Lets see how many of these you knew.

Were you aware that one of our former presidents regularly shed his clothing to skinny dip in the Potomac River behind the White House?

John Quicy Adams was quite fond of his early morning au natural swims. However, paddling around the brisk waters literally caught him with his pants down when reporter Anne Royal snatched the president’s clothing and refused to return them unless he gave her an interview. President Adams gladly granted her request.

Which president became penniless?

 

Ulysses S. Grant invested all his money into a brokerage firm that eventually went bankrupt. But even when he was flat broke the former president refused an offer of $100,000 from P.T. Barnum. The circus owner offered the large sum of cash for some of Grant’s personal items. He wanted to display them in a traveling exhibit.

Cow manure instead of a pistol.

That’s what President Abraham Lincoln chose for a weapon when challenged to a duel by James Shields, a democratic contender for the office of president. “Cow dung at twenty paces,” was Lincoln’s response to Shields’s duel challenge. The duel was called off.

Cheaper by the dozen…plus two.

 

President John Tyler raised fourteen children. Seven were by his first wife, Letitia. The other seven were by his second wife, Julia. His youngest daughter lived for more than a century after Tyler’s presidency ended.

A bank robber and drug dealer go into a… No, that’s not the opening line of a joke.

 

Bill Clinton’s half sister, Diane Dwire Welch served time in Virginia for bank robbery. The president’s half brother Roger spent time behind bars for selling drugs.

The East Room is the largest room in the White House.

 

First Lady Abigail Adams used the room to hang out her laundry on rainy days.

Abigail Adams

*UPDATE*

Three-year-old Briant Rodriguez who was kidnapped at gunpoint on May 3, 2009, has been located and returned to his mother. The two suspects are still at large.

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Friday’s Heroes: Remembering the Fallen

Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

Today is Peace Officers Memorial Day. In honor of the 18,661 police officers who have been killed in the line of duty, our nation’s flags will be flown at half-staff.

In 2008, 133 officers lost their lives while protecting the citizens of their communities.

Detective Justin Mullis, 48

French Lick Police Department

French Lick, Indiana

On April 29, 2009, Detective Justin Mullis was killed in an accident when he lost control of motorcycle.

Juvenile Corrections Officer William Hesson, 39

Ohio Department of Youth Services

Officer Willam Hesson died on April 29, 2009 from injuries he’d sustained during an altercation with a juvenile inmate. Officer Hesson is survived by his expectant wife, two daughters, an son.

Detective Robert Eugene Beane, 34

Beauregard Parrish Louisiana Sheriff’s Office

Detective Robert Parrish was killed in an automobile accident on May 5, 2009. The detective was on his way to a training exercise when a tractor trailer pulled out in front of his car causing the fatal collision. He leaves behind his wife and daughter.

Border Patrol Agent Intern Nathaniel A. Afolayan, 29

U.S. Department of Homeland Security – Customs and Border Protection – Border Patrol

Agent Nathaniel Afolayan passed away on May 1, 2009. He had collapsed the day before after completing the running portion of the physical techniques portion of the training academy exam. He had only been with the agency for 10 weeks. Agent Afolayan is survived by his wife, two daughters, his parents, and three siblings.

Officer James Manor, 28

Las Vegas Nevada Metropolitan Police Department

Officer James Manor was killed on May 7, 2009, when a drunk driver turned in front of his patrol car causing a head-on collision. Officer Manor had been enroute to a domestic violence call. He is survived by his wife and daughter.

*     *     *

The 28th Annual National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service begins at 12:00 noon today on the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The service is expected to run approximately 2 hours

Sponsored by the Grand Lodge Fraternal Order of Police and the Grand Lodge Fraternal Order of Police Auxiliary.

The Wreath Laying Ceremony will be held immediately following the Memorial Service at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, located in the 400 block of E Street, NW.

*Thanks to ODMP.

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Police: Rumors, Scandals, and Scoops

Wacky Police News

 

Christian Torres, a former New York transit officer, was sentenced on Monday to 10 years in prison for pulling a gun on three bank tellers, one of them nine months pregnant, during a Reading, Pa. bank robbery. Torres also faces charges in New York for two bank robberies there.

Christian Torres made off with $113,000, but was caught just a few blocks from the bank.

Two New Mexico state troopers narrowly escaped death when their patrol car became stuck in deep ruts on a train track in Valencia County. The officers were attempting to push the car off the tracks when they heard the oncoming train.

Police car was struck by a train after becoming stuck on railroad tracks.

Baltimore police officer Robert Cirello was charged with assault and reckless endangerment following a road rage incident where he flashed his gun during a disagreement with another driver. the dangerous display of temper took place while moving along city streets. The officer has been in trouble before for false arrest and use of a chemical spray and was the subject of a civil lawsuit. The plaintiffs, four young men, won the suit receiving nearly two million dollars as judgment.

 

Road rage.

Friday, May 15th is Peace Officer’s Memorial Day. It is one of two days when flags are to be flown at half staff. The other is Memorial Day. 133 police officers were killed in 2008.

 

The Parsippany, NJ Police Department is investigating a YouTube video showing one of their officers napping behind the wheel of his patrol car. The officer was caught snoozing while the emergency lights on the top of the car flashed. Parsippany is the home of the Deadly Ink Writers Conference.

 

Not the actual officer.

FYI – What many people don’t realize is that police officers who work the night shifts must also appear in court during the day. These court appearances can result in the officer testifying in several cases that requires their presence for many hours, if not all day, which leaves little time to sleep before their next shift. And this is not a one day event. In some areas, misdemeanor cases are heard on one day, felonies and juvenile cases also have their own day of the week. This doesn’t include grand jury hearings or traffic court, which are held on separate days. If a trial lasts for several days, or weeks, the officer may be required to attend each of those days until his testimony is complete. Sleep then becomes almost nonexistent.

A Palmdale, Ca. police officer shot a boy for pointing a toy gun at him. The child’s toy was not properly marked with the traditional red or orange barrel tip.

 

Toy guns should be clearly marked with orange or red markings on the barrel.

The officer received a call about someone riding a bicycle and brandishing a handgun. The officer ordered the boy to drop the weapon, but the youth instead pointed the faux weapon directly toward the police officer. The child is expected to live.

A Seattle man who ran from two sheriff’s deputies is now in a coma after one of the deputies tackled him, forcing his head into a wall. The critically injured man, Christopher Harris, had done nothing wrong. The deputies had mistaken him for a criminal suspect.

 

Christopher Harris has been in a coma since he was tackled by 270 lb. Deputy Matthew Paul. Deputy Paul is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation. KOMO news photo.

There are conflicting reports from witnesses as to when, or if, the deputies who were dressed in all black identified themselves to Harris as police officers. One witness stated the officers did not identify themselves, but when the fleeing man realized the two were police officers, he stopped running and held his hands in the air. The report then states that the victim was blindsided by a sickening, bone-crushing hit. Other witnesses say they heard the deputies yell, “Police,” before running after Harris. A camera at a nearby business captured the event on film. The video has not been released due to the pending investigation by a neutral police agency.

Update – 2:47pm (11:47am in Seattle). Deputy Matthew Paul has officially been temporarily re-assigned pending the outcome of the investigation.

* Take a moment to visit DP Lyle’s new blog The Writers Forensic Blog.

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Castle: A Death in the Family

A Death in the Family is the title assigned to the season finale of Castle. Well, much to my dismay, the medical examiner was back this week. Back, and in pure idiotic form. Her horrible nonsensical forensic ramblings were worse than ever. She’d have made a great fourth Stooge this week. But we’ll get to that in a minute.

It took me an entire season to figure out what is so wrong with this medical examiner character. I finally came to the realization that she’s a total wimp. A real pushover. She’s not tough and strong-willed like the female doctors I know – Marcella Fierro, the former chief  M.E. in Richmond, Virginia (the real-life Kay Scarpetta), or Sally Aiken, the chief medical examiner in Spokane, Washington.  Those two women are two tough customers. Shoot, my personal physician (a female doctor) here in the Boston area is very petite, but she’s got spunk. Yep, backbone is what’s missing in this character played by Tamala Jones.  She’d have been much better off on a show like Baywatch.

Tamala Jones as Lanie Parrish

Tamala Jones on the cover of Smooth magazine. You don’t see Kay Scarpetta doing cover shoots, so Tamala Jones should leave doctoring alone. Fair trade.

Okay, now for the show. The story opens with the usual dead body. This time the victim is found in a car with a plastic bag duct-taped over his head.

The body had been inside the hot car for approximately a week. Now, you and I both know what would happen to a piece of meat – pork chops, chicken, steak – if we left it out in the New York summer sunshine for a week, right? Yep, it would decompose. It would be covered in maggots, flies, and other creepy crawly bugs. And the smell would be so awful you’d have to wear a mask over your mask coated in perfume just to get to the box of masks.

To make this scene even worse, the dead guy was inside a hot, black car – a real-life Easy Bake Oven that would enhance odor-producing decomposition. But (cue the superhero music) psychic super-M.E. is sitting inside the car with the victim (face and nose unprotected) along with Beckett, who, incidentally is nose to nose with what should be a rotting human body in advance stages of decay. The other detective sidekicks are leaning into the car discussing the case and waiting anxiously for the pearls of wisdom that’ll soon be slipping from the lips of the medical examiner. Her first words? “From the state of decay, I’d say he’s been dead about a week.” WAIT a minute. This guy’s body is in great shape. No decomp whatsoever. In fact, his suit is still neatly pressed. This guy was a real sharp dressed man.

The M.E.’s next words were, “The preliminary cause of death is asphyxiation. I’ll run a tox just to make sure.” Well, I’m assuming she was assuming that the plastic bag over the face caused the death of this poor guy, but there was no way to make this early diagnosis without an autopsy.

For all she knew, the man could have been shot, stabbed, or poisoned. And if he had been poisoned she’d have needed some sort of idea what kind of poison in order to detect it in a tox screen. Toxicology screens are not catch all tests.

The victim’s hands weren’t bound, but his fingers appeared to be broken. The good doctor (I use both terms quite loosely) states that the fingers were broken prior to death. How could she possibly know that by looking at the hands of a man who’d supposedly been dead for a week. Of course, the hand she held up was still swollen from the injuries he’d received 7 or 8 days earlier.

I’ve grown weary of discussing this character. Let’s move on. Oh, one more thing. Castle TV execs – Please, please, please hire a consultant for the next season, or you just may be the cause of a Castleside. That’s right, if I have to stomach this crap for one more episode I just may hold a TV remote to my head and press fast forward until my credits roll.

– Beckett and crew discuss their lack of success in finding information about the victim (a plastic surgeon) in the hospital where he performed his surgeries. Castle suggested checking with the people who work in billing, because they know everything about a patient. Castle was right. This is first place to go when conducting an investigation regarding a patient.

– The victim was the lucky recipient of a mob hit, because he’d performed plastic surgery on a federally protected witness who was to testify against his former Sopranoish buddies. The surgery was paid for by the federal government who was also guarding their star witness. Here’s where the police procedure in this story gets riddled with bullet holes. Once the feds learned about this hit on the doctor they’d have started an all out effort – FBI and US Marshals – to find the killer. Organized crime falls under the jurisdiction of the FBI. It would be their case, not the NYPD. In fact, conducting a parallel investigation would have jeopardized the FBI’s case.

– Beckett demands to question the FBI’s witness (who is in the witness protection program and is under heavy federal guard). No way. The FBI would never allow it. IT”S NO LONGER HER CASE!

– Mob assasins shoot through the FBI agent’s Suburban doors with cop killer bullets (according to one of Becket’s Abbott and Costello partners).

True, that could happen. That’s what the bullets were designed to do. However, Abbot (or Costello) stated the vehicle was armored. If so, the doors would have been heavily plated, which would have prevented the bullets from passing through.

Finally, (Yes! This pain-inducing show was finally over!) Beckett storms the hospital room to arrest the killer, a mob hit-woman. She does this with an army of federal agents standing at her back. NO FREAKIN’ WAY! The FBI would have made the arrest.

The show ended with Castle getting the nerve to tell Beckett that he’d been secretly investigating the murder of her mother. He was about to reveal a new development in the case when the screen went dark. The only thing missing here was Journey playing Don’t Stop Believing and Beckett’s goofy partners trying to parallel park outside the hospital.

Well, Graveyard Shifters, what do we do on Tuesdays while Castle is on break?

Save

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Carolyn Haines: On Writing, Jack Daniels, and Flatulent Dogs

 

I first met Carolyn Haines at a conference in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, which is also the same event where I met publisher Benjamin Leroy (Bleak House Books), and literary agent/author Lucienne Diver. The four of us quickly became friends and to this day we still stay in touch.

Carolyn’s innate ability to tell a story kept us all laughing until the wee hours of the morning. Her way with words also shines through on every page of each of her books (over 60 to date). And, when I have questions or problems with my own writing Carolyn is the first to hear my screams. So far, she’s been much to kind to say no.

Recently, I turned to Carolyn again, asking if she’d share a few of her writing secrets with us. Here’s what she had to say.

What time of day you prefer to write?

 

I live at the whim of my pets, so I write whenever they say I can. First priority, of course, is opening and closing the door from them to come and go. They like to go in and out in 15-second shifts. In between, they like to break anything of value, hurl themselves into the window screens, steal jewelry, and other activities which keep me alert. So while I prefer to write in the mornings when my brain is fresh, I have learned to write at any time.

Your daily word count?

 

I don’t set a daily word count, but I try to write until I have a sense of accomplishment, even if I know I may have to throw it away the next day. I’m goal driven, and if I feel I’ve “worked hard” one day, then then next day it’s easier to work again. If I have several days where I feel I haven’t accomplished anything, then it’s doubly hard to face the blank screen. One trick I use is to write two things simultaneously. If I get stuck in one story, I can generally make progress in the second one.

Do you listen to music when you write (what kind)?

No. I can’t listen to music and work. I like quiet, accompanied by the gentle snore of a cat or a flatulent dog.

Do you conduct a lot of research before you write the first word?

Depends on the book. Some books require lots of research, others not so much. Sometimes I’m in the middle of the story when I realize I need to research an angle that I thought I understood, but the application of it has changed.

How long does it take you write a 100,000 word novel?

 

It takes me about a year to write a novel.

Finally, what is your favorite food and drink?

 

I am a huge advocate of the group of foods known as Brown Foods. Chocolate, Jack Daniels, and coffee. That covers all of the basic human needs.

Please visit Carolyn Haines here.

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Weekend Road Trip: The Smoky Mountains with Dr. Jason Odell

The Smoky Mountains with Dr. Jason Odell


 

Jason P. Odell began photography as a childhood hobby. He grew up in Florida, where there were always interesting creatures to photograph. His interest in nature drove him to pursue a degree in biology from UCLA. Continuing his education as a graduate student at UC Riverside, he traveled to California’s Sierra Mountains and Trinidad in the West Indies to work on his doctoral dissertation. Jason’s faculty adviser was also an avid nature photographer; and they often went on photo shoots during their time off, looking for shorebirds. Jason received his Ph.D. in biology in 2002 and subsequently moved to Colorado Springs. Since then, he has been expanding his photo collection photographing the landscapes and fauna of Colorado’s Front Range.

In 2006, Jason authored “The Photographer’s Guide to Capture NX”, an eBook on using Nikon’s image editor and raw converter software. He followed up that release in 2008 with “The Photographer’s Guide to Capture NX2, dedicated to explaining Capture NX 2.0”.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park

I traveled to Knoxville, Tennessee and spent four days dodging the rain in the small town of Townsend. Townsend is a 25- minute drive from one of the most interesting areas in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cades Cove. In Cades Cove, you will not only find lots of wildlife (we saw deer, turkey, and black bears), but also several old cabins and single-room churches from the 1800’s.

My goal at Cades Cove was shooting the trees and landscapes with mountains and fog as the backdrop. Unfortunately, the weather did not yield any spectacular sunrises or sunsets.

Fortunately, I also brought my macro lens. Along the streams were gobs of mushrooms, mosses, and wildflowers.

We drove to Gatlinburg, the “big city” compared to Townsend, and from there we headed up to the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. The overcast light was perfect for macro photography and also for some absolutely dreamy shots of the streams themselves.

I spent nearly three hours along a stream in a small area no bigger than 50×50 feet just taking detailed shots of moving water, leaves, and mossy rocks.

The entire scene was quite serene– just me, a friend, and our tripods, quietly working on ways to express our creative visions through photography and hoping it didn’t start to pour! The real trick to these dreamy scenes is using a tripod and taking long exposures.

Some of my exposures were nearly thirty seconds long, which gives the water an ethereal quality not possible in shorter exposures.

More photos of my trip to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park can be found here.

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Identify The Evidence and Help Us Solve a Real Crime!

Boston, a city rich in history, is known for events such as the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre, and the Battle of Bunker Hill. The largest city in New England is also known for several firsts, such as the first public school in the country, the first college (Harvard in neighboring Cambridge), and the first subway system.

However, there’s another event in Boston history that has piqued the investigative interest of The Graveyard Shift. The event is not one of Boston’s happiest memories. It’s a true crime that, when set to page, reads like a well-plotted work of fiction. In fact, it’s a convoluted story with many characters, plot twists, and tons of suspense that would fit comfortably between the covers of a Lawrence Block novel – a real Bernie Rhodenbarr kind of story.

On March 18, 1990, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was robbed of art worth $500,000,000.00. That’s half a billion dollars worth of paint, canvas, and talent that cannot be reproduced. Included in the treasured collection were paintings by Rembrandt and Manet.

The two men who supposedly broke into the museum were able to beat the elaborate security system, outfox and overpower two security guards, and take the prized artwork, all without leaving a trace. The two security guards working the graveyard shift say the robbers were dressed as Boston Police officers. According to one of the security guards known only as Richard A., the museum’s alarm system had sounded a couple times during the night. Two of the alarms were fire alarms, but there was no fire. After the alarms sounded, Richard A. went to the basement to reset the main control panel. A few minutes later, according to the alarm records, Richard A. set off a motion detector on the first floor of the museum.

Soon, at 1:24am Richard A. opened a side door to allow two men dressed as Boston police officers to enter the otherwise locked building. Opening the door to anyone was not standard procedure.

The security guards claim the two “police officers” placed them under arrest for outstanding warrants and then handcuffed them. It’s not clear if there were actually warrants on file for the two guards. If not, why were they so cooperative? Once the phony officers had the two guards handcuffed one of the intruders said, “Gentlemen, this is a robbery.”

The two guards were led to the basement, about 120 feet apart, and handcuffed to pipes. The robbers also wrapped duct tape around Richard A’s. head. Once the two guards were restrained the robbers then carried out their plan of stealing the artwork.

Neither the robbers nor the artwork have been found.

Now, the museum’s security director, Anthony Amore (Mr. Amore used to be with TSA. You may remember him from the Richard Reid “shoe bomber” case. Mr. Amore was the lead investigator on the case), has asked The Graveyard Shift and its readers for help. We hope to identify what could be a key piece of evidence in the case.

Mr. Armore and I are asking you, the readers of The Graveyard Shift, if you’d please take a look at the photo below. The image is of two keys that were found in the possession of a person of interest in the case. Do any of you know what type lock these keys fit? Have you ever seen keys like them? Perhaps they fit a storage building or locker? A public storage facility?

If you have any ideas or suggestions please post them in the comments section of this blog. If you’d rather remain anonymous feel free to contact me at lofland32@msn.com. I’ll forward all comments to Mr. Amore. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Do you have any knowledge of, or information about this case? Have you seen any of the missing the art? If so, please contact the Boston FBI office at 1-617-642-5533.

Unknown Suspect Number One
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: Late 20’s to mid 30’s
Height: 5’7″ to 5’10”
Weight: Unknown
Build: Medium
Eyes: Dark
Hair: Black, short cropped
Complexion: Fair to medium
Facial Structure: Narrow
Facial Hair: Wearing a dark, shiny mustache, appearing to be false
Glasses: Wearing square-shaped, gold framed glasses
Clothing: Fully ornamented dark blue police uniform and hat, and dark shoes, with patch on left shoulder, possibly with wording “Boston Police.”
Equipment: Carrying a square black radio (with 5″ to 6″ antenna) on belt
Accent: Possibly Boston

Unknown Suspect Number Two
Race: White
Sex: Male
Age: Early to mid 30’s
Height: 6’0″ to 6’1″
Weight: 180 to 200 pounds
Build: Fairly broad shoulders, lanky from the waist down
Eyes: Dark
Hair: Black, medium length, puffy with additional length in back, rounded off just over the collar
Complexion: Fair to medium
Facial Structure: Round
Facial Hair: Black shiny mustache appearing to be false
Glasses: None
Clothing: Same as Unknown Subject Number One
Equipment: Same as Unknown Subject Number One
Accent:

Persons with information regarding the Gardner Museum theft should contact the Boston F.B.I. office at 1-617-742-5533. Callers will be assured confidentiality by use of a code name. REWARD

A FIVE MILLION DOLLAR Reward is offered for the safe recovery of all stolen items in good condition. The recovery of an individual object will result in a portion of the reward, based upon the object’s market value.

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Lisa Provost: CSI In Training

Lisa Provost: The Body

Born in August 1974, in Brooklyn, NY., Lisa Provost grew up in the Catskill and Adirondack mountains of upstate N.Y. where, from the time she was 12 – 16-years-old, she raised dairy goats.

Lisa studied Biology at RIT in Rochester, N.Y. from 1992-1994. Later, in 1998, Lisa married and moved to the Midwest when her husband enlisted in the US Air Force. The couple moved to N.C. in 2003 when his enlistment term was done. In August 2007, Lisa began studying Forensic Biology at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC. Lisa is an avid knitter and lover of four legged mammals.

My First Day as an Intern

In August 2007 I became a college student again at the age of 32. I’m majoring in Forensic Biology with a minor in Criminal Justice at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC.

When I entered my sophomore year (Fall 2008) I decided to give an internship a try because I was starting to doubt myself. Surrounded by other adult students, I was still the “odd man out” because of my major and interests. No I don’t watch CSI on TV, but I am training to be a real one. When asked if I watch CSI I tell them “no” and when they seem to ignore that answer and ask if it’s just like on TV I say “no.” The first time I answered that question I was asked “Well if you’re not doing the job right now how do you know it’s not like on TV?” I hated to admit it but she had a point. How did I know? Common sense told me TV was not like real life but hey, I couldn’t answer her completely and truthfully. Then she asked me “Are you sure you could even do that? I mean… it all seems so gross!” The only way to be sure that I could do it was to actually do the job, so for one semester I interned with a local police department’s crime lab. Every Saturday I was in the lab waiting for a call from 3 pm to 1 am.

Lisa had been fingerprinting bags of cocaine for hours when this photo was taken.

My very first day at the lab we got called to a double shooting. It was an intensely sunny August day in North Carolina. There was no wind, the air was thick, heavy, and hard to breathe. It was approximately 6:30pm when we arrived on the scene and just my luck it was actually two scenes, in total approximately 200 yards long. The first was where the victims were initially shot and one was run over by a car. The other scene was where the vehicle, with the injured driver, had come to rest.

At first I was not allowed into the scene because we were unsure if the victims had survived their injuries. When we arrived EMS was leaving with the victims and officers were putting up crime scene tape. The only information we had was a male and female had been shot and that the female had been run over by the male with the vehicle in his attempt to get away from the shooter(s). So until I got the all clear to enter the scene, I stood on the edges and made some sketches of the scene along with notes of what I wanted to ask Shannon (the technician I was with). About ten minutes after our arrival I was waved into the scene. Thankfully the victims would live and my first day as a CSI truly began. An hour later I was on one knee, holding one end of a measuring tape in my hand and calling out measurements. An hour after that, I was jotting down information in a logbook regarding the pictures that were being taken. An hour after that, I was jogging back to the truck for more evidence bags and swabs.

At approximately 9:30 pm we arrived at the hospital to photograph the victim’s injuries and perform GSR (gunshot residue) tests on the victim’s hands. When we walked into the emergency room it looked like complete chaos even though I knew everything was under control. I’ve never liked emergency rooms. They are a location of pain. The only time people are in there is when they, or someone they care about, are in pain. I’ve had my fair share of time on that side of the emergency room so it was a very enlightening experience to be on the other side of it. Both victims readily agreed to being photographed and having GSR tests performed on them. Shannon was swift, professional, polite, and to the numbers. Even though she knew the procedure to perform a GSR test backwards and forwards, she referred to the instructions on the kit because it was part of her procedure when performing the test. She reminded me that the job is all about procedure. “Remember to follow procedure like your life depends on it, because someone else’s life very well might.” I have since burned that phrase into my memory.

When we left the hospital at approximately 11:30 pm Shannon turned to me in the truck and asked “Are you hungry?” It was only then I realized just how hungry I actually was. Before I could answer her my stomach did with a resounding growl. “Wendy’s Drive-thru it is” she said and off we went. I had eaten my first Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger before we even made it out of the drive-thru. She laughed and told me that I was destined for the field of Forensics since I could eat fast food that fast.

On our way back to the PD she told me stories of scenes she had worked as we drove past the locations. One of them was truly tragic; a restaurant owner beaten to brain death with his body on a life support machine over $30 worth of food. It appeared that the suspects had been bored and wanted something to do so they called and ordered some food to be delivered. When the man arrived they attacked him with their bare hands, feet, and whatever else they had on hand. They never even ate the food. My fries no longer garnered as much attention as they had in just the previous moment. She told me she would show me those photos when we got back to the PD. She said she wanted me to see them because it was a good example of why she does the job.

When we arrived at the PD it was nearly midnight. Shannon pulled up the photographs and I sipped my soda as I looked through them. I remember foremost the anger building up in me as I scrolled through them on the computer screen. I spun around in my chair and said “You do the job because you know you can, and thus you must. It’s not the blood or the gore. It’s because of the inhumanity isn’t it? You want the people that could do that out of our communities am I right?” She smiled, nodded and said “Remind me to show you some more when you are done with that batch.” I nodded and before I could turn back to the computer an officer walked in the room and said something that I know now to be a 10-code. At the time I had no idea what it signified. I know now that it meant he had taken one person into custody from the very crime scene I was viewing and he needed her to take his mugshots and fingerprints. He was a very polite, clean cut young man of 18. I held his crucifix while they took his photograph. Watching him sign his arrest warrant I knew I had made the right decision.

I can’t wait until I am in the field.

 

 

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