March 28 – As you can tell, my plan to provide panel updates on a daily basis has fallen by the wayside. I’ll try to get back on track as soon as I can. Following the two earlier panels today, I attended an early afternoon session titled Law Enforcement Professionals. The panelists, all former law enforcement professionals turned writers, were Mar Preston (moderator), Robin Burcell, R.T. Lawton, James L’Etoile, and T.K. Thome. The questions focused on the transition when becoming a writer, writing about their on-the-job experiences, being careful about what they’ve written, and whether they miss their former careers. I’ve listed highlights and suggestions provided by each panel member, but any errors or inconsistencies are due entirely to faulty notetaking and/or memory on my part.
Jim
- Didn’t write until after he left the California prison system and found writing to be therapeutic.
- He doesn’t usually worry about who or what he writes about, mostly because most of the criminals he worked with in the prison system don’t read.
- The central question in one of his books focuses on a main character who confronts the question, “if I had a sick kid who needed a transplant, would I care if the organs came from a really bad person?”
- Feels the writing flame flicker or (almost) die after every first draft (laughter).
- Most difficult for him to write is historical fiction. He is beginning a paranormal thriller that is totally divorced from the police procedural theme.
- His dad was a corrections officer, and he remembers meeting him at the San Quentin gate when he got off work.
- Was Director of Parole when he retired, got out because of the politics involved. He doesn’t miss the day-to-day stuff.
- Whistles, like at a sporting event, make his blood pressure pop, but holds on to less of it now.
- Prefers tear gas over pepper spray.
- Editors say it can’t happen, but you know it can.
T.K.
- All law enforcement professionals know how to be a criminal.
- Identified “the couple of boring hours before a terrifying experience” as the time when she thought about becoming a writer.
- Went from being a police captain to writing about a witch one morning while brushing her teeth. She said, “you’re a hero” to her protagonist as she looked in the mirror. That started everything.
- Misses the camaraderie of being on the police force, it stays with you forever.
- Be aware that different departments do different things. Explain that you’re a writer and go from there.
- Sometimes has a nightmare that she needs her gun but it doesn’t fire.
R.T.
- In his second year as a DEA agent, he was denied permission to have a second career (writing). He wrote anyway, using his undercover names, and cashed checks for two published short stories.
- His ideas usually come with rum and coke (laughter here). His stories deal with criminal protagonists who prey on other really bad criminals.
- Says he couldn’t write a cozy.
- At the Russian Vodka Room in New York City, with a couple of editors, one talked him into writing a nonfiction book. She offered a good contract and he wrote under one of his undercover aliases.
- Never writes about the DEA.
- Isn’t sure if writing is therapeutic, but he likes to relate history and write about what makes people tick and what keeps them going.
- Has visited several prisons and they are depressing, he is always happy to leave.
- Your job was your identity, when you retired you lost your identity.
- You have to reinvent yourself as a writer.
- Some things never go away, such as the “back to a wall” mentality, where you always sit with your back to the wall so you can watch what is going on around you.
- If you haven’t worked in law enforcement, contact local law enforcement public relations office and ask for help.
- “I can be at a party and tell a story, and my wife says “I haven’t heard that one before.” (much laughter)
Robin
- Everyone has a backstory, and that she often weaves a tale while listening to someone’s backstory.
- Reality, for her, was “way more boring” and writing fiction is wonderful because you can fix the backstory.
- Quit watching Criminal Minds on television because it seemed like they were always trying to out-gross themselves.
- Writing with Clive Cussler is great because “he pays better than I do.” Clive told her writing what he writes is different than writing mysteries, and Robin says she and Clive are very different kinds of writers.
- Toyed with writing a paranormal cop story, but her editor said no.
- Writing a police procedural was therapeutic and helped get her over the day-to-day work as an officer.
- She is “kind of” losing the cop persona now, but she still looks at people differently. She concentrates on their hands, not their face.
- Suggests ride-alongs as a good resource.
- Her nightmare is hoping her finger is loaded because her gun is missing.
- She worries that you know so much that you write yourself into a corner, but your knowledge will keep you from writing something because you know it.
- As an officer you get paid for the 10 percent of the time when the shit hits the fan,
- People think they know how it works, but they don’t.
Mar
- Has observed the ever more grisly ways for people to kill each other, and how she has to monitor more closely what her child hears and sees.
- Always has a passion to write the next book, because it’s a new adventure.
- When there is an emergency, I want to be the one to help.
- If you haven’t worked in law enforcement, check for possible ride-along programs with local agencies. Citizen’s Academies sponsored by law enforcement agencies are also good resources.
Resources discussed include the Writer’s Detective Agency, a podcast from California found on Facebook; the website roguewomenwriters.com (Robin is on this site), which lists the top ten worst cop mistakes in fiction; and the Writers Police Academy, run by Lee Lofland.