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Author of ten mysteries.
Cops 'n Writers -- Don't Leave Home Without 'Em
One of the first things I do when I’m starting a new novel is ink a fresh contract with Cops 'n Writers.
When I'm planning a book, I visit primary sources, try for a couple of ride-alongs, read a lot of books and talk to everybody who'll answer my questions. But then, for the week-in, week-out slog of writing a police procedural, all the little details that wake me up in the middle of the night asking, "Did I get that right?", Cops ‘n Writers is the group that guards my mental health.
Josh and Maria are working police officers, so their information is as fresh as this morning. Maria speaks Spanish, too, so she helps me with the language and customs, the feel for the immigrant experience, that are so important when I'm writing about Tucson. John's retired from police work now, but he's had law enforcement experience at several municipal levels, so he's good at reminding me how it all fits together.
They're all patient about answering my biggest need, for access to small spurts of information in a timely manner. Often a one-line e-mail is all it takes, but it makes my day and lets me move along.
Another thing John is supremely good at: sometimes he corrects my procedure, saying this officer can't do what you're having him do here, and I get all dismal and say, "Yeah, but see, I need him to do that because…blah blah blah." My brilliant plot blown to smithereens. Then John, the storyteller, will rock back in his chair and say, "Well, what you could do…" and we weave a new story line a few degrees east of where I was headed, and I can go on. Authenticity saved, story still cooking.
That kind of help is so hard to find, and simply priceless. |
