“The curtain rises on this collection of twisted tales, revealing the words of bestselling thriller author Lee Child. Child sets the stage for a series of mysterious and strange goings-on that occur between the hours of midnight and dawn … the graveyard shift.” 

I’m pleased to announce that the Writers’ Police Academy’s first anthology, AFTER MIDNIGHT: TALES FROM THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT, made its debut August 2, 2019 at MurderCon, in Raleigh, N.C.

Now with its second printing already underway, it’s time for you to grab a copy so that you can begin your own deliciously mysterious trek into the creative minds of some of the WPA staff members, instructors, speakers, and sponsors of the Writers’ Police Academy. It was this collection of talented authors who penned this wonderful collection of twisted tales, not only for your entertainment but in support of an event that’s designed to help writers.

For over a decade the Writers’ Police Academy has delivered thrilling presentations, from helicopter landings to police pursuits to attendees performing PIT maneuvers.

We’ve launched live-action scenarios such that include recreations of current events such as the Boston bombing and active school shooter situations. Why, we’ve even detonated C-4 charges during explosive building entries. Exciting? Absolutely!

Over the years, the WPA has donated well over $100,000 to various criminal justice educational programs, such as scholarships for students, funding Skills USA trips and events, and providing funds for police academy equipment, tools, and officer training.

It’s extremely expensive to produce the Writers’ Police Academy/MurderCon and to do so we, of course, charge a modest registration fee. But those dollars evaporate quickly once the bills start rolling in—charter buses, massive hotel expenses, reception costs, meeting spaces, facility and vehicle rentals, instructor fees, ammunition, travel expenses, attendee meals, equipment and training material, etc. Therefore, we depend heavily on raffle donations and sales, auction items, and the donations of generous sponsors, all to supplement financing the event.

This year, with the help of our wonderful publisher, Level Best Books, proceeds from the TALES OF THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT anthology will go toward helping fund future WPA events.

Contributing authors in this first anthology produced by the Writers’ Police Academy include Heather Graham, Phoef Sutton (Phoef currently writes Hallmark TV mysteries and previously wrote the hit TV series CHEERS and BOSTON LEGAL), Robin Burcell, Allison Brennan, Carrie Stuart Parks, Lisa Klink (Lisa wrote the  STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE television series), RJ Beam, Joe Bonsall of the Grammy-winning Nashville recording artists the Oak Ridge Boys, Katherine Ramsland, Denene Lofland, Michael A. Black, Mike Roche, Les Edgerton, Shawn Reilly Simmons, Rick McMahan, Marco Conelli, Cheryl Yeko, Howard Lewis, Linda Lovely, Ry Brooks, Emilya Naymark, and yours truly, Lee Lofland .

The foreword was written by Lee Child. Yes, THAT Lee Child! The book was edited by Phoef Sutton and Shawn Reilly Simmons.

So please do help us help you by purchasing a copy of this absolutely fantastic collection of short stories. It’s available, of course, on Amazon and Amazon Kindle, and through Barnes and Noble and directly through the publisher, Level Best Books.

Order today by clicking this link!

As always, thank you for your support.

Here’s a small snippet of what Lee Child had to say about AFTER MIDNIGHT and the Writers’ Police Academy.

Lee Child – Writers’ Police Academy

“I’m sure every year writers go home with more than the instructors thought they taught them. I think it’s a truly wonderful resource.

So do plenty of other writers. They put this book together, working for free, with all the money they would have earned for these stories going to fund the Academy into the future. Because it’s an expensive proposition. Any convention wants to be bigger and better every year, and the Academy started from a super-high level in the first place. So in buying this book you’re helping a vital resource keep going. You should come check it out. Tell them you’re writing a novel. They’ll believe you.

But most of all in buying this book, you’re getting some really good short stories, some by big names, some by soon-to-be names—and best of all, some by cops. Because there is a little reverse osmosis going on. What happens when a cop wants to know more about being a writer? They’re up close and personal for days. I’m sure every year plenty of them go home with more than we thought we told them. Some of them got to work. A couple have their first-ever professional publication right here. We say thanks for the welcome to your world, and now, welcome to ours.” ~ Lee Child