Swing Shift: Riding with the Riverside Police, Part 1 of 2 parts

by Loni Emmert

Put up or shut up. That’s the order I gave to myself recently.

For years, I’d been threatening to go on a police ride-along. I’ll admit it: I’m addicted to watching "Cops" and "The First 48."

I emailed the Riverside Police Department (RPD) in my hometown, explained that I needed to get out on the mean streets as research for my writing. After a background check on me and a signed waiver protecting them if I was killed, they asked when I wanted to go.

I chose swing shift, wanting the opportunity to patrol during both day and night. I arrived early, along with a very nice young man who, as a sworn LAPD officer, was allowed to attend roll call, a privilege that I, as a humble mystery writer, was banned from experiencing.

Lucky me, I rode on Sergeant Rusty’s shift and we rolled Code Three — lights and sirens — to a man-beating-another-man-with-a-crowbar call.

Friends laughed when I told them that on my ride-along I wanted to be in the front car of the high speed chase so I could experience doing the pit maneuver in person. We didn’t have a high speed chase, but I bet Sgt. Rusty would have been the lead car — with me by his side, hanging on for dear life.

During my three-hour trip, we went to the crowbar call, left, and got called back — which led to my waiting in the car for 1 ¾ hours while Sgt. Rusty and his men arrested three parolees with guns and drugs in their possession. The crowbar guy got away.

Another call about a suspicious package came in next.

We drove to where a man said he found a suspicious device that seemed like a bomb on his porch. The street was dark so Rusty asked dispatch to call the man to meet him in his driveway.

Dispatch replied there was no answer at the house. Sgt. Rusty informed dispatch that we were leaving and would come back if the man made contact. We drove away.

I was perplexed.

In my job, I have to go above and beyond to help out my co-workers and clients. I can’t just leave.

But a policeman leads a different life. Rusty told dispatch he thought the call sounded like a “set-up.”

Wow. That never even occurred to me.

We finished my ride-along after scanning a mall parking lot that had been the target of car thieves and cruising bad neighborhoods slowly, staring at everyone with suspicious eyes and getting many nasty stares in return. While it made me nervous, Rusty seemed to enjoy it.

I asked a lot of questions, took a lot of notes and found myself wanting to schedule another ride real soon.

To be continued (tomorrow) ...

Loni Emmert is the co-author of Button Hollow Chronicles #1: The Leaf Peeper Murders and the author of Lights! Camera! Murder! A member of Sisters in Crime since 2006, she is currently working on her first thriller.

Milk It!

by Vicki Lane


Originally published Oct. 2, 2010
At: vickilanemysteries.blogspot.com


Every time I get back a line edit from my editor (the amazing Kate Miciak of Bantam Dell – a.k.a. Herself,) it's like attending a master class in writing fiction.

One of the things I've learned is how to 'milk it!'

I first saw this comment on the edit of “Signs in the Blood.” My protagonist, Elizabeth, was in a scary situation and needed to stop her car and get out. So that's what she did – in about two sentences.

In the margin, Herself penciled "Milk it!" – meaning that I should wring every last ounce of tension possible from the scene. So, in the rewrite there were sweaty palms and fumbling with seatbelt latch, yadda, yadda, till the escape was effected – maybe two pages later.

Here's a hypothetical example of a moment of high tension being prolonged. Suppose you have a character who is running away from someone, don't just write "She ran along the road and flagged down a passing car with friendly people who gave her a ride home."

That's way too brief to allow the tension to build - it's over before it's begun.

Instead, in this scene, the character should run, slip and fall, get up, run some more – always aware to the footsteps growing ever closer. She should try to flag down a car, only to have it zoom past her; she should keep running, slowing because of being out of breath or a stone in her shoe or something.

All the time, the pursuer is getting closer. Maybe she passes a house and sees someone in the front yard but when she calls to them, that person scurries inside and slams the door shut. And the pursuer is getting ever closer.

This could go on for quite a bit (I'm sure you could think of more stumbling blocks in her path) before the friendly car comes along. When it does, it could slow and she would think she was saved.

Then it could speed back up and go on. And she would despair. Then at last, she could see its brake lights go on and it would back up and the driver would ask if she wanted a ride.

That's milking it!


Vicki Lane is the author of “The Day of Small Things” and the Elizabeth Goodweather Appalachian mysteries.


Photo courtesy of Vicki Lane.

Things You Don't Know About Denise Swanson

SinC: What are your favorite shoes?

DS: Skechers.

SinC: Is there anything you'd never leave home without?

DS: My wallet. As long as I have that I can buy whatever I need.

SinC: What do you wish you had more time for?

DS: Traveling for pleasure.

SinC: Is there anyone from the past you would like to talk to for just 15 minutes?

DS: I'm pretty good about staying in touch with people, but I guess my Grandma Votta who died when I was three.

SinC: What word do you absolutely hate?

DS: Whatever.

SinC: Do you dream in color or black and white?

DS: Color.

SinC: If the F.B.I. had to give you a new identity, what name would you choose?

DS: Paige Turner.

SinC: Favorite food?

DS: Birthday cake.

SinC: Favorite drink?

DS: Caffeine Free Diet Coke.

SinC: Most embarrassing moment?

DS: Bursting in to save my college roommate (who had been screaming) -- only to find they weren't screams of terror.

SinC: First job?

DS: Pharmacy assistant.

SinC: Worst job?

DS: Paper feeder at a factory.

SinC: Favorite dessert?

DS: Creme brule.

SinC: If you weren't a published author, what would you be?

DS: A school psychologist.

SinC: If you could be one of your characters, who would it be and why?

DS: Trixie. She's happy-go-lucky and everyone likes her.


Denise Swanson is the award-winning author of the Scumble River mystery series featuring school psychologist Skye Denison. The 12th and most recent title in the series is "Murder of a Wedding Belle." You can find more things you don't know about Denise at www.deniseswanson.com.


Photo courtesy of Denise Swanson.

Shelf Check

By Kathie Felix


In my little corner of the world (northern Virginia), the local library system recently instituted a policy of charging fines for overdue materials. As I understand it, the county’s residents lived without overdue penalties all these years because, up until recently, this was essentially a rural county where folks had to travel long distances (with no opportunity for public transport) to visit a library. The powers that be considered overdue books to be a matter of course in such a situation and didn’t want to impose an economic burden on an already-stretched community.

Things have changed here these days. The suburbs have taken over the fields – and I’m not sure if there’s a dairy farmer left in the county. At the same time, the local tax base is shrinking due to losses in the real estate and business communities.

Lately, the county budget is being stretched like taffy in a candy shop window at the beach. Every local agency and system is under the order to “do more with less” and, I guess, this fine-collecting idea is a way to ease some burden somewhere.

I’m not sure what I think about the new fines – or the kiosk-based method of collecting them. I do know that I’m very glad that, up until recently, I lived in a community that considered access to library materials more important than economic sanctions.

This brings me to a couple of questions for the weekend:

Have you returned all those books you’ve been meaning to get back to the library?

and

What treasures did you find in the library this week?

A Sharp Right Turn in the Middle of Writing a Novel

By Judy Alter

Originally published online on August 9, 2010
At: judys-stew.blogspot.com

Not many people remember Dorothy Johnson these days, but she was the master of the short story, most often about the American West, and the author of such stories as "A Man Called Horse" and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance."

Years ago I was privileged to call her my friend and to correspond with her. In her later years (she hated the term octogenarian, which she said sounded like a scaly reptile with a skin disease), she was writing about New York City during WW II and the constant alert for fear of the bombing attack that never came. She titled it "The Unbombed," and I suspect she never finished it before she died.

One day she wrote me that she'd just had a terrible shock. She'd found out that the man she thought was going to be the hero of her book was going to be killed in the war. Who told her? Her muse. Dorothy was a firm believer in listening to your muse as you write.

Something similar happened to me today. When I woke up this morning, I lay in bed a long time, plotting in my head the end of the novel I'm about halfway through. I never was really comfortable about the murderer -- he's a nice guy, and I hated to turn him into a villain.

I finally made it to my computer to write down all the stuff in my head and happened to read an old file called "rough ideas" or something like that. In it, the villain was a totally different person and had a much more believable motive. So now I'm doing an abrupt right turn.

I hadn't gotten far enough into the end that this is a serious problem, but it does call for minor revision. I feel a lot better about the whole thing now. There are a lot of possible suspects, but now I know who really did it.

Most writers will tell you to listen to your characters and they'll tell you what's going to happen, and I've had that experience more than once.

I remember a writer who taught a seminar at TCU (Texas Christian University) who said, "What is this nonsense about listening to your characters? I'm the author. I tell them what to do."

I didn't much like his books.

My mystery of the day: how can you put four pillow cases in the laundry and only get three back? There's a poltergeist in my house!


Judy Alter is an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. She is presently working on finding a publisher for her first mystery and completing a rough draft of her third.


Photo courtesy of Judy Alter.

A Salute to Veterans

Two real-life American heroes: Serena and Michael Bowen, on Michael’s first night at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. While working as a medic in Iraq, Michael was severely injured by an unknown chemical. He now works as a nurse in Leesburg, Va., where he was named Inova Nurse of the Year. Despite the honors and accolades, Michael and Serena still deal daily with the medical consequences of Michael’s war-related injury. Photo courtesy of the Bowen family.

A Salute to Veterans

By Kathie Felix

We can read -- and write -- in peace, quiet and freedom, thanks to the countless sacrifices made by the members of our military and their loved ones. Today’s Veterans Day observance provides the perfect opportunity to thank the veterans in our communities – and their families and caregivers. The day also offers a good reason to celebrate the key role of war veterans in our favorite genre.

Many of us may have encountered our first veteran-related mystery in “Cherry Ames: Veterans’ Nurse,” by Helen Wells, now reissued and available in ebook editions for devices such as the Kindle and Nook.

Those early reading days also most likely brought John H. Watson, M.D. into our world view. Dr. Watson, the first-person narrator of nearly all of the Sherlock Holmes stories, was an Army surgeon and veteran of military campaigns in India and Afghanistan.

And, of course, many of us soon encountered Hercule Poirot’s associate, Captain Arthur Hastings, a veteran World War I British Army officer, as we explored Agatha Christie’s work.

Turning toward more recent escapades in reading, any list of veteran-related mystery and crime fiction might include:

The Joe Sandilands series by Barbara Cleverly, featuring World War I veteran Joe Sandilands.

The Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear, featuring Maisie Dobbs, who enlists for overseas nursing duties in World War I and works as an investigator in the post-war world.

The Bulldog Drummond series by Sapper/H.C. McNeile, featuring Hugh “Bulldog” Drummond, a World War I veteran.

The Jack Haldean series by Dolores Gordon-Smith featuring mystery writer and former World War I Royal Flying Corps pilot Jack Haldean.

The Easy Rawlins series by Walter Mosley featuring World War II veteran Easy Rawlins.

The Mike Hammer series by Mickey Spillane featuring WWII veteran Mike Hammer. The television series starring Stacy Keach “updated” Mike to a Vietnam veteran.

The Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald featuring Korean War veteran Travis McGee.

The John Marshall Tanner series by Stephen Greenleaf featuring John Marshall Tanner, originally a Korean War veteran, who was “updated” to become a Vietnam veteran.

The Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke featuring Vietnam veteran Dave Robicheaux.

The Harry Bosch series by Michael Connelly featuring Vietnam veteran Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch.

The Sam Blackman series by Mark de Castrique, featuring Sam Blackman, a veteran of the current war in Iraq.

Among the recent single-title veteran-related releases:

“All Things Undying,” by Marcia Talley, the latest entry in the Hannah Ives series, finds Hannah lending a hand to locate the grave of a World War II serviceman.

“Murder to Mil-Spec,” edited by Tony Burton, a 12-story anthology with a focus on veterans or those still in the service. The publisher, Wolfmont Press, is donating all profits to Homes for our Troops, a nonprofit organization that retrofits existing homes or builds new homes for disabled veterans.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of veteran-related mystery and crime fiction. What’s on your Veterans Day reading list?

The contributors to this list include David E. Autry, Deputy National Director of Communications, Disabled American Veterans; Kathie Felix, SinC BlogSister and C. Ellett Logan, SinC/Chesapeake Chapter President.

Chapter Check-in

I’m into lists this week. The incoming chapter news has left me thinking about two questions:

1) What’s the name of your chapter’s most recently-published anthology?

and

2) What did you call your most recent writing workshop?

And, now, the news:

Central Coast: Call for entries

Victoria Heckman reports that the SinC/Central Coast Chapter is seeking submissions for a historical mystery anthology currently scheduled for release by the end of 2011. Other genres may be included. Stories should be between 1,500 to 5,000 words. There is no entry fee and no pay for publication. A free copy of the anthology will be provided to the published authors. Any member of Sisters in Crime is welcome to submit work. The entry deadline is Jan. 31, 2011. Send entries to Sue McGinty at suemcginty@aol.com.


Round-up: The Desert Sleuths

Roni Olson provided the latest news from Arizona, with photos:

The Desert Sleuths have been making the rounds of bookstores and libraries to promote Sisters in Crime and the chapter's anthology, How NOT to Survive a Vacation.



Pictured above: The Desert Sleuths wine and dine Jamie Freveletti and Avery Aames after joining them for their signing session at the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale.



Pictured, from left: Desert Sleuths President Roni Olson, WriteNow! Keynote Speaker James O. Born and WriteNow! Guest of Honor Lesa Holstine.

This year, the Desert Sleuths held their annual WriteNow! writer’s conference at the Wrigley mansion in Phoenix. The conference featured author and court-qualified graphology expert Sheila Lowe; forensic and clinical psychologist Dr. Erin Nelson; author, detective and hostage negotiator Robin Burcell; editor and ghostwriter Allen Kates and author, publisher and bookstore owner Barbara Peters. The keynote speaker was James O. Born, the author of the Alex Duarte and Bill Tasker series and a special agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The conference celebrated its first Fan Guest of Honor, Lesa Holstine, a library professional and contributing book reviewer for Library Journal, Mystery News, Mystery Readers Journal and multiple websites.