The Mystery Starts Here

Do you want to find out what kind of guns the local Sheriff’s Deputies carry? What the qualifications are to be a CSI? How you become a death investigator? Where to sign up to do a ride-along with a cop? Call and ask. Most law enforcement agencies have information offices and they are more than happy to answer your questions. They have staff trained as speakers and they love to give talks to groups.

For example, I belong to the San Diego RWA (Romance Writers of America). No, I don’t write romance, but the group is terrific at teaching writing. Hey, it’s their middle name. Anyhow, at the last meeting we had an FBI agent speak. He was funny, interesting and he answered all our questions. How can you not like a guy who named his gun Roscoe? How did we get him? The woman who books programs for our group, Linda, called the local FBI office and asked if they had a speaker who would talk to our group. They were happy to assist and told Linda that 50 percent of the calls they receive are from writers!

I belonged to Sisters in Crime for eight years, a fabulous group, and during that time I heard talks from: the medical examiner, a coroner’s investigator, harbor police, bomb and narcotic sniffing dogs and their handlers, as well as a cadaver dog, a SWAT team member, a man who brought guns and showed us the differences, and…well, I could go on and on. Suffice to say, if you don’t belong to a writing group – join one. None in your area? Start one of your own, then make that call and find some good speakers. It’s easier than you think.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 20th, 2008 at 2:26 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.