The Graveyard Shift Blog

Since 2008, Lee Lofland has written over 2000 articles on his blog, The Graveyard Shift. Topics such as police procedure, forensics, criminal behavior, and what it’s like to be a cop has helped countless numbers of popular and aspiring writers.

His life’s mission – to remind writers that cordite is dead and gone. Just say no to cordite in your books!

Christa M. Miller

Christa M. Miller: Getting Evidence… From Cell Phone Towers?

  Christa M. Miller is a Maine-based freelance writer specializing in public safety topics. Digital forensics is one of her particular areas of interest; this article was the result of a collaboration with one of her regular sources,…
Lucienne Diver

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

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,…

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…

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…
Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

Friday’s Heroes: Remembering the Fallen

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…
Wacky Police News

Police: Rumors, Scandals, and Scoops

  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…
Comparing Fingerprints

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…
Comparing Fingerprints

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…
The Smoky Mountains with Dr. Jason Odell

Weekend Road Trip: 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…
Comparing Fingerprints

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…
Lisa Provost: The Body

Lisa Provost: CSI In Training

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…
David Corbett

David Corbett: A Writer, a PI, and a Duck Walk into a Bar . . .

David Corbett is the author of three critically acclaimed novels: The Devil's Redhead, Done for a Dime (a New York Times Notable Book), and Blood of Paradise-which was nominated for numerous awards, and was named both one of the Top Ten Mysteries…
Comparing Fingerprints

Castle: Little Girl Lost

Little Girl Lost is the title assigned to this week's episode of Castle. Lost is also a fitting word to describe how I felt as I attempted to watch the snore fest that filled my TV screen from 10pm to 11pm.  The one thing that kept me awake…
Lee Child

Lee Child: On Trial

Recently, I had the pleasure of asking Lee Child a few nosy questions. Of course, Lee, being the gentleman that he is, answered in a way only the creator of Jack Reacher could. Lee, what time of day do you prefer to write? Nothing…
Mt. Saint Helens

Weekend Road Trip: Return to Mt. St. Helens

  I often think about our trip to Mt. St. Helens, an eerie, yet tranquil volcano that unleashed a firestorm of devastation back in 1980. The May 18, 1980 eruption sheared off approximately 1,300 feet of mountain top, killed over 50 people,…
Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen

Officer Dexter Hammond, 38 Headland Alabama Police Department Officer Dexter Hammond was shot and killed on April 24, 2009, when he responded to an officer down call. He had arrived at the scene to assist a deputy sheriff when the suspect…
DNA Testing

DNA: It Ain’t Perfect

  DNA is a very reliable science, but it does have its limitations. It also has its share of flaws. Don't believe me? Then you should ask Jerry Bellamy, a New Jersey man who was arrested and jailed for the decades old rape and murder…
Comparing Fingerprints

Comparing Fingerprints: What’s The Point?

  Fingerprints, simply put, are the impression of friction ridges located on the surface of the fingers. It is the duty of fingerprint examiners to compare certain characteristics of a suspect's fingerprint, known as points of identity,…