Deft Pacing and Well Drawn Characters Carry Complex Puzzle of a Plot

It's tough to build a really good thriller. If you concentrate too much on the technical stuff (thanks, Tom Clancy) you risk losing the folks who could care less whether the villain was armed with an FN 5.7 pistol carried in a Blackhawk Serpa holster or took out Air Force One with a shoulder mounted FIM 92 Stinger manufactured by Raytheon in 1981. But if you lean toward the gooey-kissy hop-into-bed-with-every-babe stuff, you'll find many of your readers deserting in droves. What works for me is when an author creates a good basic story by putting characters we've come to care about into extreme jeopardy...keeps it suspenseful as hell...and teaches us something along the way.

Paul McEuen mixes all of the ingredients of a good story effortlessly into Spiral, his first novel.

The plot is complex but boils down to: killer fungus that can wipe out humanity sought by bad people who want to blackmail the U.S. and get back at a really nasty Japanese businessman whose past includes World War II atrocities. The author is a scientist and professor (and CIA consultant)and it shows, but the cool thing is that he feeds us the technical/scientific stuff in such a way that even the adamantly non-geeks among us can understand and follow the intricacies. And he manages the action sequences as smoothly as a SEAL taking out a cadre of terrorists...putting the likeable good guys into peril that ramps up with every chapter. Inject geo-political drama and bam! a book that keeps its pacing on multiple levels.

One warning and it's sort of a spoiler. There are a couple of torture scenes that are absolutely terrifying, so much so that even I had to skip ahead (note to the author: I think they went on a tad too long) before I got queasy. Think Hannibal Lecter in a lab with some nano-gadgets small enough to put...well, you get the point. But speaking of the villain, she's really, really awful. Not one of those who have a little niceness to balance them out. Evil.

If you love audio books, I recommend that format for your read. I found Spiral because I've enjoyed narrator Rob Shapiro's other performances. He knows how to remain in the background and allow the writer to be the star.

A Brief Return to WGN Radio

Doug talks EASY EVIL on WGN Radio

How Absurd Have Some School Bureaucrats Become?

The folks who administer and teach in our schools have a tough job. No doubt about it. And those who do their jobs right, successfully juggling concerns for kids' education and their safety, deserve our support and as many attaboys as we can give them.

Then there are the petty, the foolish, the hysterical, and the absurd: the bureaucrats who value their image and the appearance of political correctness over everything else.

An example just this week would be the principal of a Mesa, Arizona elementary school who asked a police officer-parent to stop wearing his uniform and gun to pick up his children at school because it scared some of the other kids (http://www.lawofficer.com/video/news/arizona-officer-asked-not-come).

And the teachers at a middle school in Connecticut who call the Geico "hump day" commercial  "disruptive." (http://www.kctv5.com/story/23593314/some-teachers-say-geico-hump-day-commerical-is-disruptive-in-classrooms).

Match these examples with all of the others...every school district that has expelled children for pretending their hands are guns and going "bang" at another child. Or the district that fired a teacher because she revealed her husband threatened her.

Or the high school in my own backyard where administrators produced a list of "inappropriate words" that should not be used by those of us invited to speak at a school-wide creativity event. Among the banned words? "Gun," "gangs" and "murder." After all, if you don't talk about such things, they'll never become a problem, right?

 The Mesa school incident in particular has me shaking my head. A child reportedly told his parents a man with a gun was at school. The parents communicated that the principal. The principal called the officer. Considering that children discussing what they saw could have twisted the story any number of ways, and another child could have reported misinformation to already fearful parents who then overreacted...the principal's request is beyond absurd and borders on the hysterical.

Schools are supposed to be teaching students to think. To confront problems and come up with logical, reasoned solutions.

It appears some school administrators have flunked that lesson.

Definitely NOT For Kids or the Faint of Heart: Prisoners

Disturbing, dark, and too long at 2.5 hours, Prisoners is nevertheless a compelling film with standout performances. The basics: on Thanksgiving, two young girls go missing and, while a detective searches, the father of one of the girls takes the law into his own hands.

Hugh Jackman's theatre background shows in the preparation and depth he brings to his role as the survivalist father who swears he will get his daughter back. As Jackman rages, Jake Gyllenhaal quietly counterpoints as the detective assigned to the case and Paul Dano fits perfectly between them, his enormous sad eyes and pale, offbeat features making him every parents' nightmare of stranger-danger come to life. In fact, I found Dano the most fascinating of the characters to watch. He's so affective an actor that he can compel our fury in one scene and beg for sympathy in another...all without words...and then darn near disappear while still on screen. 

Director Denis Villeneuve uses weather elements and tight shots to create a cold, claustrophobic atmosphere that gives Prisoners a horror film feel right through the chilling climax and ending. 

There's not much fat to the plot but the brain can only comprehend what the butt can endure and two-and-a-half hours spent in a theatre seat was thirty minutes too long for mine. For that, and for the writers who gave in to the trite idea of detective-as-lone-wolf (any fan of Cops or Castle knows you never go by yourself to search an abandoned building or creepy church basement), I award Prisoners 4/5 stars with a special thumbs up to Melissa Leo(Homicide: Life on the Street) and Len Cariou (Blue Bloods), two of my favorite, and often overlooked, character actors.

Amanda Knox: The Italians Are Calling

The Italian courts, which earlier this year reversed Amanda Knox's acquittal in the 2007 murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher, are seeking her extradition to face a new trial. The U.S. State Department can refuse to grant extradition or they can accede to the Italians request. We have an extradition treaty with Italy. In most cases, it would be a routine matter to sign the papers and send her on her way.

If she is sent back, she will almost certainly spend more than twenty years in an Italian prison. The prosecutors in the case are adamant she is guilty and they convicted her once already. I suspect they will make certain she has the opportunity to resume writing in her diary and brushing up on her language skills.

What is the Obama Administration to do?

Should the State Department refuse to extradite Amanda Knox, some pundits argue, our relationship with the Italian government would suffer. Their fear is that the Italians would then be in a position to thumb their noses at us if, say, a terrorist fled to their country after committing a grievous act here in the states. I disagree. The Italians would certainly lodge a formal protest, the State Department would step in, some quiet offers of compensation would be made and bam! Amanda Knox? Chi è quello? (Amanda Knox? Who's that again?).

The question is...should the U.S. get involved? CNN legal analyst Paul Callan believes, it's an entirely political decision. If enough Americans think Knox should not be sent back, she won't be. Treaty be damned. I absolutely agree.

Has Knox helped her position with her TV appearances and writings? Many Americans believe her claims that she had nothing to do with Kercher's murder. I think she's a cold fish who's been expertly trained how to handle even the toughest reporter's questions and whose book was professionally written by someone else. Has she always been that frosty? I have no idea. There's a strong suggestion she seemed disinterested in the killing before she was arrested but four years behind foreign bars would leave most people pretty jaded.

However, I'm no longer sure she's guilty of murder. The evidence was so poorly handled and the prosecution so clearly inept if not criminally prejudiced, the Italian courts certainly did not meet the U.S. standard of "guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."  And, she's spent four years in an abysmal jail. Some convicted murderers in this country go free in far less time than that.

Were I a Roman, and she in the pit with the lions, I'd throw her a thumbs up.

Pines by Blake Crouch (A Review)

A Secret Service agent awakens and comes to realize he's either suffered a beating or been in a terrible accident. He remembers where he is and why eventually but, like walking up an incline that's constantly shifting, he's off balance and can never fully right himself. He can't contact his boss, his wife or anyone outside the town of Wayward Pines. And those within the community all seem a little odd, graduating to homicidal and then terrifying.

At least a dozen times during my reading of Pines I nearly gave up. It's not a relaxing journey and if you get annoyed by being thoroughly confused, you won't make it.

What kept me going was the realization that if I was having a weird trip, the main character, Ethan Burke, was going through three kinds of hell and it was fascinating to watch him cope.

This is pure action with a hard twist. Ethan is a resilient hero, perhaps a little more Superman than I'd prefer (eventually he begins to sound like Lee Child's Jack Reacher whose every punch has cataclysmic impact) but likable and, especially, sympathetic. I could relate to his struggle to comprehend what the hell was happening to him and why.

If you remember the iconic 1960's TV series The Prisoner, or even Twin Peaks in 1990, you'll be in familiar territory. Throw in some Planet of the Apes and you'll feel right at home.

Pines is the first book in the Wayward Pines series. The second, Wayward, was released this week. Now that I understand the author's concept, I'm curious to see where he takes it.

I gave this book a four out of five star rating on Amazon where the Kindle price is $4.99.

WILL by Dan Cardinal (A Review)

Truth be told, I figured I'd flip through Will because the author, Dan Cardinal, is the son of some old friends. I didn't expect to discover an irresistible main character on the first page and a compelling story that I put down only once (and reluctantly at that) before I finished reading.

Will Brown, mourning the death of his young wife and child in a traffic accident, gives up his engineering job and moves to his family's long-unused cabin in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. He plans to stay for ". . .maybe a week--maybe a little longer." Cardinal takes us along on Will's quest and shows us the landscape in deft bites that describe just what sorry shape the property is in ("Along the back wall of the cabin stood a row of firewood that bore the uniform blackish-gray color that came from years and years of weathering" and, even better, "There was nothing else that was not a part of the forest. Indeed, the timberland was making a nature-paced advance to reclaim the old cabin").

From there, the timberland becomes not only backdrop, but a supporting character.

Will is the name of this likeable protagonist as well as what the story explores. Will's resolve to survive even as he copes with his grief leaves us urging him to go the distance.

Cardinal describes the brutality of life in the UP, but also its beauty--and the rough but comradely kindness of its people. But this is far from a navel-gazing novel of sadness and despair. It's a story with plenty of action and plenty of heart, a tale as personal as one told in the back booth of a warm country tavern while a winter storm rages outside.

It is an exceptional piece of work.

Teachers, Guns, and Bulletproof Whiteboards

I absolutely believe schools at all levels need to take reasonable steps to protect students against the threat of violence.

But arming teachers? Volunteer armed security guards? Bulletproof whiteboards?

As school bells start to ring, all are either proposals or realities in various parts of the country. I don't agree with any of them.

Arming teachers is one of those "fine in concept" ideas that breaks down when closely examined.

What sort of skills are those teachers required to have? How much preparation? Confronting a gun-wielding assailant, particularly in a room or hallway filled with terrified students, requires far more aptitude than one acquires popping away at a silhouette on a target range once a month. SWAT and special operations personnel, even line cops faced with handling an active shooter situation, receive many hours of particularized training. Some of them even admit they haven't had enough.

And where are the guns going to be kept? In a drawer? In a closet? In a purse? If they are anywhere but on the teacher throughout the work day, they'll probably be too far away to do any good. And if the teacher plans to wear a gun all day, how are they going to carry it? Shoulder holster? Ankle? Or just strapped to the hip? Talk about added stress!

In my experience, if a firearm cannot be carried comfortably, it will likely not be carried for long.

And ask yourself this. How many teachers, those who are not veterans or ex-cops, will have the mindset to kill, even in self-defense?

I raise the same arguments about volunteer armed guards in schools. Where's the training? Where is the psychological preparation? Where is the liability if there’s an accident?

And from the Silly Ways to Drop Good Money Department, University of Maryland Eastern Shore announced earlier this month that it plans to spend $60,000 to supply faculty with bulletproof whiteboard tablets. Each tablet measures 18 by 20 inches and comes in a variety of colors.

Yeah, those are gonna be real useful, I’m sure.

Instead of teachers with guns and whiteboards, how about hiring some well-trained, off-duty cops?

Or better yet, how about hiring experienced security specialists to assess the unique risks of each building on each campus?

Immediate, cheap, feel good, scattershot approaches seldom provide long term solutions.

In cases of school violence, they could result in the deaths of those they were adopted to protect.

Take It Like a Man, Kid!

I really hate to be trendy. Sort of makes my teeth itch as my old squad car partner used to say. But these two stories just seem to be yanking the commentary out of me today.

Consider. A twelve-year-old boy on "Kids" week of that venerable show, Jeopardy, bets $3,000 of his $9,600 in winnings on his answer to: "Abraham Lincoln called this document, which took effect in 1863, "a fit and necessary war measure." His answer, spelled the way he spelled it, was "Emanciptation Proclamation."

It's spelled wrong, right? So the show busts his wallet. He winds up in second place...where he would have been anyway because the winner had amassed $66G.

But the kid hollers about it. And the media, and social media, pick it up. His father calls the show's producers and host Alex Trebek "smug" and says the poor child "hung his head," and "was barely holding it together..."

Tough beans, little guy. If you can't stand to lose, you shouldn't have gone on the show.

Though your teachers and parents may give you a pass, though it's not important on Twitter and Facebook and in texts and wherever else nowadays, spelling counts on Jeopardy. It's in the rules.

Your dad may help you whine about it, but here's the lesson. Just because you're a kid and came close,  suck it up. Sure we all knew what you meant.

That's not good enough.

Also not good enough...A-Rod's suspension from baseball for doping. Yeah, he's suspended but he's in the lineup tonight here in Chicago.

"Yes, kiddies, we've told you taking drugs is bad...unless a baseball team and league is depending on you to make money for them...then it's okay."

End of rants.

Praise It? Trash It? Write It!

Whether or not you like a book, the Internet offers a chance to express your opinion to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of potential buyers.

As I noted in my previous post, Point of Sale reviews on sites like Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and Goodreads (a subsidiary of Amazon where tons of readers gather to talk books) and others, are essential to book sales because they offer feedback from readers to potential customers.

Writing a review is easy. Here are six ideas to get you started:

 (1) Your post doesn't have to be as long as the book!  Short, snappy assessments are more likely to catch the eye. Aim for two to three paragraphs at most.
(2)  It's helpful to briefly summarize what the book is about ("Joe the Robber  follows the exploits of a thief who steals from the rich to give to the poor in modern day New York City") but long explanations aren't necessary. Your opinion is what counts.
(3)  What's the first thing you'd say to a friend who's interested in buying the book?  No matter if it's good, bad or indifferent, write it down. That's your lead. ("Joe the Robber" may be fiction but it offers a fascinating look into the way modern armed robbers work, how they pick their targets, how they feel afterward and how they spend all that dough.").
(4) Give some specific examples. Were the action scenes exciting? Did the characters' conversations make it seem like you were listening to real people talking? Did the book move along, or drag in certain parts? ("I liked how Joe managed to get out of some really hairy situations by using his head rather than hurting people" or "After the first five stickups, it was pretty obvious the author doesn't like coffee shops because that's all he sent Joe to rob.").
(5) Reviewing a novel is different than reviewing a textbook. If you're a trauma doc reading a thriller about hospitals and the main character takes a risk you'd never in a million years take to save a patient . . . remember, it's  fiction, not fact!  The author may have written the scene that way to hype the suspense or help describe a character. On the other hand, if you find significant problems with the basic research revealed in the book, that may be fair reason for complaint.
(6) Know your audience. Most folks who consider buying a spy novel starring a stuffed panda appreciate fantasy. Just because you happened to pick up The Panda That Assassinated Putin by mistake, and you really prefer the James Bond approach, is no reason to trash the book.


Bottom line, keep it classy. Authors do their best to create a fun and informative experience for their readers.  Good reviewers do the same thing.

You Too Should Write A Review

My newest book, Easy Evil, will be out in a few weeks and already I'm trying to dream up ways to persuade my friends and fans to write reviews.

Reviews, you say? You mean those things in the New York Times?

I wish I could be reviewed by the Times. But no. There are professional reviews, written by journalists, and then there are the reviews written by everyday folk who like, or dislike, a book and then feel compelled to share their feelings about it.

My goal for Easy Evil is to collect so many reader reviews that potential buyers on Amazon and elsewhere, are stunned by the numbers. And, hopefully, motivated to purchase the book based on the good things people have to say.

Reader opinions shared on Amazon, on Barnes and Noble, Good Reads and other sites are called Point of Sale reviews. They can be critically important to the sales of a book because they reflect the way consumers feel about it.

Say I read a Twitter post about a book, click through to its Amazon page, and see dozens of five-star reviews and great commentary. A bunch of 5-stars. You can be darn sure I'll edge my finger ever closer to that button that will buy and send the thing to my e-reader.

Now here's the catch. A lot of ordinary readers don't understand that their reaction to a book is so important to the life-cycle of that author's work. But, frankly, it's the electronic equivalent of shouting from the rooftops.

You don't have to be a Pulitzer Prize winning writer to write a review. And what you write doesn't have to be more than a few sentences long. What's essential is that you make your opinion known...on Amazon, on Barnes and Noble...and even on your blog or Twitter page. Even on Facebook. Anywhere you have online friends...you have a ready audience.

A simple "I liked Easy Evil by Doug M Cummings because . . . will spread the good news.

Even a "I didn't like Easy Evil by Doug M. Cummings because . . . is useful. As someone once said, "all publicity is good publicity" or something like that.

Notice how I've gone from talking generally about reviews to casually suggesting you write one?

Give it some thought when the book comes out, will you? Maybe even go to Amazon and see how it's done. The process is easy and ... bottom line ... I will really appreciate your taking the time to do it.

Rolling Stone Gathers Some Flak

The latest edition of Rolling Stone magazine features the the surviving Boston bombing suspect on the cover.

At first glance, he could be one of  the scruffy-faced rock stars that usually inhabit that space. But no, he's just a run of the mill, scum-sucking dirtbag who killed and/or maimed a bunch of innocents in his quest for fame.

Regardless of the appropriateness of Rolling Stone's editorial decision, what fascinates me is the reaction from other media. Every outlet I follow on Facebook, from CNN and ABC to local stations in Chicago, Kansas City and other parts of the country, is asking how people feel about that RS cover.

Let's see if I have this right. The media (especially CNN...the network that darn near reported every time hospital officials changed his bed linen) that made the jerkwad a superstar by repeating his name and endlessly displaying his image in video and stills in the weeks after the bombings now wants to know our reaction to giving him even more attention? And by asking the question, they're undoubtedly jacking up sales of the issue far beyond what they would be otherwise.

Next will come the indignant, finger-shaking rebukes from the babbling heads who couldn't wait to get on the air to talk about him the first time.

And so...the cycle begins again.

Which is, I'm sure, just what Rolling Stone intended.

Of course, I'm also indignantly writing about him. And you're reading about him.

What's that say about us?


 

"No Comment" is Not an Acceptable Answer

I once had a TV boss with no tolerance for the police department and especially none for the police chief. When the cops refused to talk to us about a case, Ken insisted we find someone, anyone, who could, "Stick it to 'em!"

One of his favorite sayings: "No Comment is not an acceptable answer." 

That's true for news reporters, but it's also true for crime fiction writers. A number of young or first-time novelists have approached me at conferences and elsewhere to ask how they can get information from unwilling local police departments. Apparently it's common nowadays for law enforcement agencies to refuse to answer even the most harmless questions from any civilian...not just the news media.

Here are a couple of work-arounds I've used that you might find helpful.

Approach the police chief, not the guy on the front desk. Explain that you're a fiction writer, not a journalist, and that you're looking for basic, procedural information, not asking about specific cases. Offer to share what you've written before its published (a good idea in any case to make sure you have the sometimes arcane information correct). If you still get push-back, offer to give the town you're writing about a different name (Ed McBain did so and look up his sales numbers sometime).

If the police chief won't help you,  the local union that represents the police or sheriff's officers in your area may very well agree to answer your questions. Police unions often have a much different take on what information can be discussed. Union officials can also point you to retired officers eager to share their experiences and discuss the way the agency works.

If you still find yourself banging your head against a wall of silence, a call to the mayor or a council representative may unlock some lips. Politicians love to see their names in print (and on an acknowledgements page of a crime novel may work for them). Remember, no matter how "independent" a police agency is, the chief always reports to the mayor or city/village manager and town council.
 
Here are a couple of other thoughts. Social media, especially Facebook and Twitter, is full of all sorts of people, including cops. Many towns have their own social media contact person. Link up, follow, and make friends.

If you can afford it, buy a police radio scanner. I started freelancing for the local paper after buying my first scanner in high school. It's a good way to learn the sorts of calls that your town handles. Some jurisdictions have made their police communications very difficult to monitor but most places don't go to that extreme. Ask at your local Radio Shack (Ask as well if there is a radio hobby group in the area. They may have police officer or retired police officer members.) One caution: after listening for awhile, you may be tempted to chase the police calls. While that can be exciting, you're probably not going to get close enough see much, you risk injury,  and you may annoy the very officers whose help you're seeking. On the other hand, if you're cautious and responsible about your chasing, you might meet some good sources.

They key to getting information from anyone is to be quietly, respectfully persistent. Eventually, even some of the toughest of the tough will eventually realize you're a willing listener...and there's nothing most cops like more than sharing war stories.

A Baby Faced Killer in a Batman Shirt

She's 21, has two kids and a husband she wanted murdered.

That's the allegation against a Muskegon, Michigan woman, caught on tape telling an undercover police detective posing as a hit man that she thought having her husband killed would be "easier than getting a divorce" and she wouldn't have to "worry about breaking his heart."

All that coming from a baby-faced young woman with dyed red hair wearing a batman shirt and carrying a batman-stickered phone.

It's one of the coldest conversations I've ever heard.

According to news accounts, the suspect has pleaded guilty to Solicitation to Murder and is scheduled for sentencing later this month. She could go to prison for life, though her husband has reportedly asked that she not spend any time behind bars.

Somehow I doubt the judge will agree.

She doesn't appear angry in the video. She claims she and her husband aren't having problems. She just wants a "clean getaway" from the marriage and doesn't want to worry about her her "family's judgement." When the phony hitman tells her he's going to shoot her husband twice in the face to kill him, she responds, "It makes me sad," though I can't hear a lot of regret in her words.  Earlier in the conversation, however,  she stresses she doesn't want him hurt, even suggesting that perhaps the killer, "could do it painlessly, breaking his neck."

Her breezy manner is what's so terrifying. It suggests nothing more sinister than if she were planning a birthday surprise or a trip to the mall.

Take note, all of you who think evil wears a monster's face.

Sometimes it appears in the person of a smiley-faced girl-next-door with apple cheeks and a bad outfit.

Of George Zimmerman, Concealed Carry and Not Being a Cop

George Zimmerman went on trial this week in the Trayvon Martin case in Florida.

I don't have an opinion about his guilt or innocence but I do wonder what prompted him to get out of his car that night. You'll remember he called police, reported a suspicious individual, and was advised, "We don't need you to do that," when he told a dispatcher he would follow Martin on foot.

I wonder if he would have been so bold had he not been carrying a pistol. 

I bring the subject up because I've heard a couple of opinions expressed by people who say they intend to apply for concealed weapons permits, if the law allowing them to do so ever gets passed in Illinois.

Their feeling was that Zimmerman did absolutely nothing wrong. He was Neighborhood Watch. He had a gun permit. He was suspicious of Martin. He had the right to check him out "as any Watch member would."

I kept my mouth shut, but they were mistaken on a couple of major points. One, the Neighborhood Watch program policy encourages only the observation and reporting of suspicious circumstances. It prohibits taking action. Two, a concealed weapons permit doesn't grant an individual police powers any more than a drivers' license gives the right to race on the track at Indy.

I think more than a few folks don't understand those limitations. They're like my former shooting range buddy who talked wistfully about packing heat at malls and movie theaters, "just in case there's a guy who goes berserk and I have to step up and save everybody!"

In my opinion, that's a dangerous way to think.

A concealed weapons permit allows the carrying of a handgun for self defense in the most extreme and life-threatening circumstances. 

It's not a badge. It doesn't come with a cape, or place a red "S" on the chest.

A fact I suspect George Zimmerman may now sadly realize.

 

Who Was Wallenda Walking With?

Lots of stories today about high-wire walker Nic Wallenda's death-defying stroll across part of the Grand Canyon last evening.

I missed the actual broadcast. Many of my Facebook friends say it was exciting but tough to watch at the same time. From the news coverage, I bet it was. I'm encouraged by the bits I've seen, however. Especially encouraged by his words as he stepped out on the wire.

"Thank you, Jesus, for this beautiful view."

Wow. That's impressive. Praise in a situation like that. Praise and thanks as he moves along ("Thank you Lord. Thank you for calming that cable, God," CBS quotes him as saying about 13 minutes into the walk)!

Not:  "It was really stupid of me to do this, Jesus, but save me anyway 'cause, you know, IMHO, my life is really important, and by the way if you let me do this without screwing up, I'll make a BIG donation to the nearest church as soon as you let me get off this wire safely!"

Which is what I have said after climbing on the wire of my own choosing MANY times!

Praise and thanks. Hmmm. Wonder if he read Psalm 148, for example:  "Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights. . ."

Just some pondering on a Monday morning. 

The Old Days

If you're writing crime novels, it helps to know a little something about crooks and cops, prosecutors and defense attorneys, guns, bullets, red lights and sirens, two-way radio traffic, crime scene investigation and about a hundred other things you pick up on naturally if you've been a cop or spent time as a journalist covering the police beat.

Fortunately, I've done both. I started listening to scanners in high school,  then graduated to freelancing still photos to the newspaper and a TV station in the town where I grew up. I followed that with a television internship, a television reporter's job when I was nineteen, and joined the sheriff's department at 21. The media drew me back a number of years later and I spent the next twenty-some years chasing crime stories.

I haven't constructed an entire plot based on a past experience but that's likely to happen. I often think about how I might concoct a book from  . . . well, you'll read it when I write it.

More often it's a scene (old newspapers piled to chest height in the kitchen of a woman who died in a house fire), a bit of characterization (a vice cop who carries an Uzi under the seat of his car . . .and writes poetry in his spare time), a street-term ("mope" is a favorite) , or the chatter I've heard from street criminals trying to convince you they had nothing to do with the incident you're asking them about ("Aw man, I was in the bat'room! I didn't see/do nuthin.'")

In my second book, Every Secret Crime, I used the traumatic memory of a double-fatal car crash and mixed it with the recollection of another case where police searched under a bridge for the bodies of two children to create a scene where a murder victim and her car are "hooked," or dragged from a river by a heavy-duty tow-truck.

 A chase sequence in my new book, Easy Evil, picks up on some of the thrills that came from cranking on lights and siren and pursuing folks who chose not to pull over for traffic stops. Frankly, that was one of the best parts of wearing a badge, as well as one of the most terrifying. Some drivers react in the darnedest, most unpredictable ways when they see red lights coming up behind them.


Rewriting history isn't all fun and games. Much of what I saw as a cop and reporter was emotionally scarring. Perhaps the worst part was talking to victims, or the families and friends of victims, or the witnesses to a vicious crime or disaster.

Never have I seen so many stunned, terrified and, at the same time, grieving teenagers than in the hours immediately after the shootings at Columbine High School in April of 1999.

One of the most heart wrenching interviews : a nurse who tried to save the life of a young boy trapped in a school bus struck by a commuter train. Her words, "Just tell his mother, he was a brave boy . . ." bring a lump to my throat even as I write them.

Covering the case of a woman who poisoned, and then smothered, her children to get back at her estranged husband was very nearly the catalyst that caused me to leave the news business.

So when fans ask, as they inevitably do, "Where do you get your ideas?" I have a well-prepared answer for them.

I just remember the old days.

Getting Snookered

Writing a book is a great way to attract those who are eager to snooker.

My first self-publishing experience was terrific, primarily due to an open-minded staff of sincere individuals who all wanted me to succeed. They never tried to up-sell me anything they could not legitimately provide and actually helped me create a way they could allow returns of unsold books ordered by booksellers, something not done at that point by self-publishers.

And then . . . another company acquired my publisher.

Some of that company's recent efforts to rope me into add-on marketing programs have been laughable.

A typical call from them goes like this:

(broadly accented voice, suggesting a call center in another country): "Dough (like in cookie) Cummings? Is this Dough Cummings? This is Geeoorge Potterrr at _____. I'm very concerned about the lack of recent sales of your book "Deeder by the Lake" (real title: "Deader"). We have a number of programs that could assist you . . ."

One of those programs plays to every author's inherent desire to see their work on the big screen. For a mere twenty-grand, I'm told, I could have my book (Deeder) turned into a script and "potentially" considered by Hollywood. Of course, it would have to pass muster of an un-named in-house reviewer first, then be considered by a film agent, who "might" accept me as a client so that I "potentially" could get that movie deal. 

All for around twenty-THOUSAND dollars. I have visions of their "reviewer" being the guy on the phone and their "studio executive" contact a guy in the mail room at Some Big Studios.

I've listened to other pitches offering full-page ads in the New York Times, outrageously priced internet marketing deals . . . the list goes on.

If you're considering self-publishing as an option or if you have other questions about companies or individuals in the publishing realm, take a look at http://pred-ed.com/ first. 

You may be surprised to discover who is snookering who these days.
 

Who's Listening?

Although President Obama and the National Security Agency assure us they aren't listening in to our telephone conversations or reading our email or text messages, they have admitted to using various monitoring programs designed to fight terrorism. Programs that the ACLU types and others are objecting to most strenuously.

In reply, government officials, including the president, have replied to criticism by saying, essentially, "No pain, no gain." 

According to the president, "It's important to recognize that you can't have 100% security and also then have 100% privacy and zero inconvenience," Obama said. "We're going to have to make some choices as a society. And what I can say is that in evaluating these programs, they make a difference in our capacity to anticipate and prevent possible terrorist activity."

 The most recent revelations about the program come from a 29-year-old NSA contractor and former CIA employee who has identified himself as the source of the leak and tells reporters he spoke out because he realized he was part of a program that was doing more harm than good. In his opinion.

So, on the one hand, we have a guy who, presumably, was sworn to secrecy but decided that, since he disagreed with the government, he would speak out anyway. And on the other we have a government that is spying on its citizens but assures us that it's really for our own good.

It's an interesting dilemma.

Is the private contractor who spoke up a whistle blower? Or, as some have suggested, is he a spy for the Chinese government? Should he be lauded or prosecuted...or both?

In the broadcasting business, there's a saying: "Every camera is live; every microphone is on." It's designed to remind those of us who sometimes speak out of turn that our words may be heard by many, many more folks than we intended...sometimes with disastrous results.

So let's change it up a bit for these more challenging times:

"Every camera is live; every microphone is on. Every email, text, post to Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest and Tumblr, and every picture of our children (and our critters, God bless them) , can be intercepted, analyzed, recorded, and filed as a classified document which can then be used against us in a court of law or when we want to take an overseas cruise or go fishing in Canada."

And, frankly, if my government feels that to protect me from a terrorist attack, it has to assign someone to read about my cat's diarrhea,I hope they choose a well-vetted, trusted employee who won't go running off at the mouth.

Is It Gay Bashing...or the Law...or Both?

I'm confused.

In Florida, an eighteen-year-old high school student is charged with two felonies for having a sexual relationship with a fourteen-year-old. Both claim it was a consensual relationship, despite the fact that Florida law says children fourteen and under cannot consent to sexual activity.

We've all heard of cases like this before. Perhaps some of us in our wild youth even worried a bit about the statutory requirements when we wanted to date someone younger.  I seem to recall learning the phrase, "age of consent" when I was about seventeen or so.

While it seems clear that what happened in Florida was a violation of law, and no one should be surprised that a prosecutor filed the heavy charges, what has me wondering is the fact that thousands of people have either joined a Facebook page, or signed a Change.org petition, asking the State Attorney to drop the charges.The term "gay bashing" has been thrown around quite a bit and the GLBT community and the ACLU have also come on board.

But does the fact that defendant and victim are both girls really matter? It doesn't to me. Sure, it's heart wrenching to see the very innocent looking eighteen-year-old sobbing in front of news cameras and worrying that her life is ruined...but she undoubtedly knew the consequences of her actions. And, she yesterday turned down a plea agreement that would have, the prosecutor says, eventually left her with only a misdemeanor conviction on her record.

She broke the law. Whatever the motivations of the parents of the younger girl in bringing the case to law-enforcement, they and the state have the statutes on their side. As the sheriff who investigated the complaint points out, had this been a case of boyfriend/girlfriend, it wouldn't have gotten near the attention.

So why all the noise? Why are so many people ready to turn this into a matter of sex...when what it really is...is a matter of law?

"Hold My Hat and Gloves?" Oh Please!

I've been having a great time watching the historic Inauguration, or Inaugurabama, ceremonies. The media, everyone involved, seems to be enjoying the moment, particularly the parade and now "the walk." The respect they have all shown the President, and their excitement at being a part of history, is evident.

But Don Lemon, once the bad boy of Chicago media, has dsiplayed some incredible arrogance.

Standing with a couple of members of the Pennsylvania National Guard and doing his live shot, he actually had the temerity and rudeness to ask, on camera, the Guardsmen to, "Hold my hat and gloves, will you?"

C'mon, Don. You're a tiny twig in the media maelstrom surrounding the Presidential Inauguration, and about as far down the ladder as anyone could be from members of the armed services who volunteered to help provide security.

What were you thinking, you arrogant ass?

What's Innit for Us?

Chicago politicians, particularly the Rahmster, should be vibrating with rage.

Anytime Washington passes anything the pols of the Windy City are sure to ask, "What's innit for us?"

But not a single one of President Obama's executive orders on gun control does a damn thing to help control Chicago's murder rate.

To be sure, there's plenty of paper shuffling ahead for the federal bureaucrats and even a bit to pass along to the mental health and medical communities. There are opportunities for industrial filmmakers, too. What do you think, "Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign." actually means? It's gonna be a video and a few posters.

Where's the executive order on creating, at federal expense, a federal/state/city/county gun task force pilot project to combat gun violence in Chicago? An effort that would bring together all levels of law enforcement from BATFE, to Homeland Security, to U.S. Marshals, to city and Cook County officers, to cops from the collar suburbs where straw man gun purchases are often made? A street tough gun squad, call them the New Untouchables if you like, backed by federal prosecutors flexing the muscle of federal laws to lock up the more serious gun offenders and federal judges to make certain they can't I-bond their way to freedom. Where's that Executive Order?

Where's the order that says pull in federal resources from outside the state as needed to provide even heavier manpower for such a task force? Put those new faces undercover in targeted areas to locate the sources of illegal weapons and organize heavy felony gun buys.

The President may talk the talk, and shed a crocodile tear about Newtown, but as far as kids and other innocents getting shot on their porches in Chicago neighborhoods, as far as his street cred on his own block is concerned, he didn't do squat.

Want an Assault Rifle? Let's Find Out How Easy It Is To Get One

Will Congress ban the so-called semi-automatic assault weapon?

I doubt it. The Biden Commission's report is due out this week, hastily pulled together in the wake of the Newtown shootings. It may call for such a ban but I don't read about much enthusiasm for it from either side of the aisle.

To support such legislation would mean fighting one of the most powerful lobbies in the United States. Some legislators are willing to do so. Most are not willing to antogonize the National Rifle Association.

Would such a ban keep assault rifles out of the hands of those determined to kill innocents? Highly unlikely.

If a nutjob wants one, he doesn't have to go to a store to buy it. I think there are plenty of private sellers, legal and illegal, who are looking to turn a buck off the rifles already in their closets.

Don't believe it?  Consider doing some easy research to discover if I'm right.

Whether you believe in owning firearms or not, you undoubtedly know people who do. First, see if they personally have, say, an AR-15 style semi-automatic assault rifle they'd like to sell you. If they don't, ask if they know anyone who does. Don't consider cost. Don't consider the logistics of acquisition: it doesn't matter if you're in Chicago and the would-be seller is in Phoenix. See if the item is available to you, regardless of easily hurdled obstacles.

I bet you'll quickly discover how easy it would be for a run of the mill person on the street to acquire such a deadly weapon without ever going to a gun store and without enduring a background check.

Can't find a rifle? Take your research a step further. Follow the same instructions as above but settle for a semi-automatic handgun capable of accomodating a magazine (sometimes called a "clip) of at least fifteen or, preferably, thirty rounds. Handguns, after all, are blamed for far more deaths in this country than assault rifles.

Of course, I am not suggesting that you follow through and buy any of the weapons you're researching, especially if you don't have the requisite credentials from a bureaucratic and a safety standpoint (ie: if you are not legally allowed to own a firearm and if you have never taken a firearm safety training course).

Let me know what your philosophical visit to the "dark side" reveals and how you feel about it.