Writers Police Academy 2018

Another Writers’ Police Academy is over.  Every time I go, I get something different.  A lot of the attendees seem most interested in the opportunities to shoot, and drive police cars.  Not me.  I am more interested in people. I’m curious about the personalities of first responders and killers.  This year I got insight on both along with learning how to put a tourniquet on me, how spaghetti can be deadly, how a prosecutor thinks, how to tell is a suspect is lying, and how to save some one with Narcan.

I also met a lot of great writers who do interesting things and who I may turn to for information.  I won a super raffle basket with NYPD stuff and some books by one of the presenters Marco Conelli.  He was an undercover detective and has fascinating stories.

This year the hotel was in downtown Green Bay which was nice.   There was a lot of excitement in town because the Green Bay Packers were playing a pre season game with the Titans. I think they come from Nashville, but not sure.  I also think they were staying at our hotel because I saw some guys who looked like football players and there were a lot of cops there protecting somebody.

And then it was on to Chicago where I was looking forward to a peaceful time to work on some ideas I have.  Wrong.  The first thing I noticed when I arrived was that the phone and Internet didn’t work.  Luckily I had my cell phone, but trying to get service on the phone was crazy.  I would get a message saying that any time I could speak to a human if I asked to speak to a live agent.  I asked for that service and got another recording telling me their office was closed and to call back when it was open and then I was cut off.  I did finally put in a request for service using their automated system and I was told they couldn’t come until Thursday from 4:00- 8:00.  It was silly but I felt like I was abandoned on a desert island.  Really silly because I did have my cell phone and this device that can get me online and even my cell phone can be a hotspot, though I have a feeling it costs a bunch.

My building is over 100 years old and they’re rehabbing the windows.  So I had people coming in to take out the storm windows and then men on ladders working on the windows making noise similar to fingernails on a chalkboard.   They have been very nice, but still…  They come early too, so no sitting around in my nightgown drinking coffee.

But the good news is the AT & T guy came four hours early and I’m back online with a functioning landline.  The window guys are close to finished and I have managed to work on stuff anyway.  I think the most important thing I noticed in all of it was not to let any of it get to me.  The older I get, the more of a “whatever” person I’ve become.

What's New

I left 80 degrees and sunshine in Southern California to come to Chicago and the prospect of snow. Of course, it’s not just snow these days. Now, the weather man first called it a winter storm warning, which was later downgraded to a winter storm advisory. He didn’t explain what either term meant, but the best I could tell was he were saying it was going to snow.

I know there is some weather that is threatening, but lately it seems like every weather forecast sounds like disaster is about to strike. But then news reporting in general has become like one big tabloid. Every night, one of the news station plays dramatic music and flashes a big sign on the screen that says Breaking News. Not exactly. Most of the time, whatever the story is, has long since ended.

Don’t even get me started on how they send reporters out to do a remote from a location where something happened in the past. How newsworthy is it to have a reporter standing on a street where hours or even days earlier a bank was robbed, and the cops and everyone else has left?

But back to my trip to Chicago. As I was unpacking my laptop, netbook and smart phone, I started thinking about my parents and what they would think about these devices. My father died in 1970, so he missed all of it. My mother died in 1996, and knew that I had some kind of phone in my purse and heard a neighbor talking about sending messages to her daughter on a computer. But nothing compared to now.

I held up my BlackBerry and tried to imagine explaining it to my father. Not so easy to understand for someone who last used a phone that weighted a ton and was wired into the wall.

As I turned on my laptop, I imagined my father looking at it. It is so far from what he was used to, how could I even explain it. I know when I got my first laptop, I thought it was so neat, like taking the world with me, but I was already used to a computer.

While these thoughts danced around in my head, I started working on Yarn2Go and a scene the involved a lighthouse. While it takes place in the fictitious town of Cadbury by the Sea, it bears more than a little resemblance to Pacific Grove where there happens to be a famous lighthouse. I couldn’t remember the exact details and wanted to check them.

I could just imagine if my father was watching how amazed he’d be as I with a few keystrokes, went online and got the whole history of the Los Pinos lighthouse. In case you’re interested - it dates from 1885 and is the longest continuous lighthouse on the west coast. Not only did I get facts, but photographs and a map that showed just where it sits. And then with a few more keystrokes, I was back in the middle of my manuscript, adding the details to my work in progress.

My father would have loved to be able to follow his curiosity without leaving the house.

Sometimes I think about what it was like before we had all this information for the asking. My curiosity likes now better.

What is your favorite thing you’ve found out on the Internet?

10 Worst Craigslist Transactions

NOTE: To our readers, we found this so fascinating we had to share it with you. This post will kick off a week of "Murder Online" topics at Killer Hobbies.



Dubbed the “Craigslist Killer” in April 2009, Phillip Markoff, 24 was indicted on charges of First Degree Murder and armed robbery, amongst other charges. After responding to several different ads on the erotic services of Craigslist, Markoff allegedly met up with 3 different women in Boston and Rhode Island area hotels and robbed them at gunpoint; one of the women fought back and was murdered. After following up on hundreds of leads Markoff was arrested and despite the alarming amount of evidence against him has entered a not guilty plea; he is set to go to trial in June 2010.

In March of 2009, 50 year old radio reporter, George Weber was found dead in his apartment after being stabbed at least 50 times in the neck and upper body. After responding to a S & M sex Craigslist ad posted by 16 year old John Katehis, the two agreed to meet up and exchange sex for money. Katehis describes himself on his MySpace profile as “Extremist, an Anarchist, a Sadomasochist” and originally told police he killed him after Weber tried to stab him first.

In April 2010, a Washington couple agreed to meet a couple that responded to their Craigslist ad selling a ring for $1050. The two people who were posing as a couple interested in buying the ring for their mother-in-law, entered the home of James Sanders and tied up Sanders, his wife, and their two children. Two others then entered the home and began to beat one of the children and the father was shot and killed while trying to protect his son. All four people were arrested within a couple of days.

A Vancouver couple was arrested in May of 2008 after allegedly posting an ad on Craigslist to sell their 7 day old baby for $10,000 because they “can’t afford” her. After being alerted to the post, Vancouver police tracked the post to an apartment in Vancouver’s West End where the couple was arrested and the child placed in Child Protective Services. The couple has since told authorities that the posting was a joke.

Kennith Goodwin, a 51 year old U.S. Postmaster from Washington was arrested in May 2010 after he allegedly tried to solicit sex on Craigslist with detectives posing as a 13 year old girl. Federal investigators said that the computer he had been using to correspond with the detectives, while he was at work at the Winlock Post Office had been seized. Goodwin was later charged with patronizing prostitution.

Kissimmee Police arrested 24 year old Braves pitcher, Deunte Heath on March 26, 2010 for solicitation of prostitution and entering a dwelling for prostitution. The Braves pitcher who was in Florida for spring training agreed to pay $75 for a “sex act” he had found on Craigslist and was arrested as he entered the townhouse where it was supposed to take place. He was released from the Osceola County Jail after posting a $2000 bond that same day.

A “group sex” ad posted on Craigslist in April 2010 as a joke landed a 29 year old Connecticut man in jail charged with misdemeanor sexual assault and burglary, amongst other charges. The Craigslist ad stated that there was a soccer mom there ready to have sex with as many men as possible; however, Richard Zeh showed up at the wrong address and was told to leave. When he showed up at the correct address listed on the ad he was again turned away. Thinking the 18 year old woman in the first house was playing hard to get, he went back and sexually assaulted her and was arrested soon after.

Brandon and Amber Herbert, an Oregon couple were arrested in April 2008 for posting a fake ad on Craigslist to cover up a burglary that they had committed. After burglarizing a ranch they knew was unattended for a couple of days, they attempted to cover it up by posting an ad on Craigslist pretending to be the owner of the house saying that he had to leave town on an emergency and couldn’t get rid of all his stuff, therefore it was all up for grabs. The man returned to his home to see about 30 people taking off with loads of stuff from his home and it took officers about a week to track down the couple that had posted the ad.

In November 2005, a 22 year old California woman was taken into custody after posting an ad on Craigslist offering her 4 year old daughter for sex in exchange for $500. After someone responded to an ad posted by Shannon Nicole Woods they agreed to meet for sex and when the person brought up the sexual encounter with her 4 year old daughter Woods did not object. The person, who was not involved with law enforcement, alerted authorities and a warrant was issued to search Woods’ house and police confiscated her laptop along with several CD’s and placed her under arrest for suspicion of lewd conduct.

22 year old Corey Jackson was arrested in Philadelphia for robbery and aggravated assault in September 2009. A 51 year old man from New Hope posted a Craigslist ad selling a $14,500 diamond ring. After corresponding and meeting, Jackson informed the man that he needed a ride to get the money and when they got there Jackson maced the man in the face and stole the ring. Determined to find him, the man placed phony ads on Craigslist hoping Jackson would try to sell the ring. It worked and when both men showed the police were ready to arrest him.


Reprinted with permission from: Forensic Colleges

What Did We Ever Do Without the Internet?

I admit it. I grew up without the Internet. Now, though, I can’t imagine living without it. I may not understand much about social networking, but I’m an Internet addict of sorts. I have to check e-mail, and Killer Hobbies, and other sites every day.

Even more, I’m addicted to being able to research anything in an instant.

Example: My husband and I own a refrigerator that’s about two years old. It has a really nice ice maker and water dispenser. Earlier this week, the ice maker stopped dispensing ice right in the middle of my preparing the drink of water I always take to bed with me.

My husband, bless him, is a very handy guy. He disassembled the ice maker the next morning and believed that the motor had just stopped working. He considered buying a new one online, but first did some Internet research to try to ensure that the motor was, indeed, the problem--and found a whole discussion by people who owned the same model refrigerator who’d had the exact same issue when the refrigerator was about the same age. Some even used the term I’d suggested before he came across it there: planned obsolescence. That gave him the confirmation he needed to order a new motor. It hasn’t arrived yet, of course, and there’s no guarantee that it’ll solve the problem--but it sure sounds as if it will.

What about the old days before the Internet? How could we have found other people with the same refrigerator model who’d had the same problem so we could compare notes? Maybe via a repair shop, but they’re unlikely to give out that kind of information. Maybe their technicians would tell us of similar problems they’d repaired... or not.

Then there’s my younger Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Mystie. She’s had a tummy problem all her young life, and she had a more severe recurrence of the symptoms last week. We took her to the specialist vet who’d diagnosed and treated her problem before. When I got home, I looked at the problem on the Internet. Unsurprisingly, the vet had prescribed the same kind of treatment as is standard for the problem. I found the confirmation reassuring. Without it, and the Internet? I’d certainly have taken this vet’s word for it. But the extra corroboration still felt good.

And of course I always research aspects of whatever I’m writing on the Internet. Even look up words, and word origins, if I wonder if there’s a better way to say whatever I’m thinking than the first way that comes to mind.

How about you--do you love the Internet? What’s your favorite aspect of research?

More Pets and the Internet

Sometimes I’m unhappy about all the junk mail I get. I’m on all sorts of e-mail lists.

But then there are some communications that really make me happy. For one thing, I receive a nearly daily newsletter from Dr. Jon--a veterinarian who sells pet insurance and pet toys and other pet-related things on a website called petplace.com. I haven’t bought anything from him yet, but his newsletter is full of interesting things about pets--a lot of them holiday related these days. Recently, the posts have included warnings about bad things dogs can get into during holidays, like coffee and chocolate. They can kill dogs if ingested in sufficient quantities.

Then there are unique gifts for dogs. I expect my dogs will receive the same stuff they have before, since it works for them and I’m not overly concerned about how they might hurt themselves with them. But Dr. Jon had some suggestions--along with links to places they could be bought.

I recently received an e-mail from the Hallmark Channel, telling me that the best dog movie ever was going to be on Hallmark last Sunday. I’ve recorded it but haven’t had a chance to watch it yet, so I can’t say whether I think it’s the best ever, but I’m glad Hallmark reminded me about it. I’d seen trailers on it but wasn’t sure when it was playing. I might have missed it otherwise.

Of course I’m on the e-mail lists for Petco, PetSmart, PetRx and others, too. I’m always scanning for bargains on things I want for my pups, but seldom see anything helpful.

I also received a link I had to peruse--photos of some celebrities and their dogs. I don’t pay much attention to the celebrity hype online or on TV, but it was fun to see some notables and their best friends.

BTW, one of my best friends, Mystie, acted very cute this week, showing possible canine reasoning. We have our TV pulled out from the wall for some work being done behind it. Mystie was watching a dog on the TV one day and went behind the screen to see if she could find it. Not seeing it, she returned to watch the doggy on the TV, acting interested but a little frustrated.

What are your favorite pet-related Internet sites? Your favorite non-pet-related sites?

On-Line Research

My post today is taking a slightly different turn from what I had originally anticipated.

I saw a news clip on TV a couple of nights ago night about a cat who’d been up in a tree for quite a while, and no one had been able to coax her down or rescue her in any other way. I thought I’d blog about that stubborn and scared cat, using her as an analogy to our lives these days. Many people, these days, are up proverbial trees economically--aware of how they got in perilous positions but unsure of the best ways to get out of them. The news commentator finished up the story by saying that the cat would probably find her own way down in the next few of days, since rain is expected in the L.A. area. Will she make it safely? Let’s hope we all do!

I wanted to view the clip again on the Internet, but I haven’t been able to locate it. I checked the websites for the TV stations on which I watched the news that night but couldn’t find it there, either.

I’d imagine I’ll run into the story again, probably after I get this posted. But I also want to express frustration that is born of our technological lives today.

Yesterday morning, when I turned on my computer, my Internet access wasn’t there. I did the usual rebooting, unplugging and plugging my modem back in. Nothing. We’ve had problems now and then with the company we use for our Internet service, so I called them. I’m still not exactly certain what the problem was, but the very nice lady at the other end (in some foreign country, I’d imagine, although her accented English was quite good) put up with my grumping, checked whatever she was able to check, gave me some additional instructions for turning things on and off, and--voila! It came back.

But I didn’t find the story I sought. Also, yesterday, I tried to look up the name of a particular employee at a government agency to confirm the spelling of his name and couldn’t find it on the agency’s website. Years ago, I wouldn’t have even considered trying to watch a TV news story again, unless it was rerun on the same channel. And I’d have looked up the government agency in the phone book, called its number and asked my questions about the employee. All potentially time-consuming.

My conclusion: The Internet is spoiling us! We get so much from it that we expect even more.

I saw this week that Google Earth is now launching Google Ocean, so we’ll not only be able to zero in on even small buildings at most locations on this planet, but also see undersea mountains and formations and sealife as well.

Talk about being spoiled!

What are your favorite things about the Internet? Your least favorite?

--Linda

Intermittent Internet

How many of you reading this are addicted to the Internet? I certainly am. And when my Internet Service Provider goes bonkers, so do I.



These days, the Internet is a necessity of life, both personal and professional. It's how I keep in touch with family and friends. How I find out what is going on in the multiple fiction genres in which I write. How I learn some of the news, and what the weather is going to be like, and what any medical symptoms shown by my pups or other family members, or even myself, might mean.



How I do a heck of a lot of the research I need for my Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries, including locating people who can help me find answers... such as potbellied pig people who were wonderful about helping me research the next Kendra mystery, NEVER SAY STY. I also use it to research supernatural legends and other lore I incorporate into my Silhouette Nocturnes.



So when it¢s not working, my temper rises to boil.



We¢ve tried different providers over the years. Right now, ours is a nice, fast cable-related system. Or at least it's fast when it's working. But lately, it's been ornery enough to work intermittently, much too often.



I¢m the kind of person who hollers at the computer, now and then, when the system is down. My husband is a lot calmer than I... except recently, he, too, has taken to swearing at the computer. We started complaining by calling the customer service number and were routed to some very nice, but unhelpful, people whose accents suggested they were possibly in India or another foreign country. This was after waiting for a while. Then, ascertaining we had followed all of the recorded instructions such as turning things off and rebooting, that customer service person would route us to a technician in the U.S.--who was also very nice but not extremely helpful. However, now and then they would schedule us for a service call--and the problem still wasn't fixed. We did this procedure often over the course of months, keeping a journal about when the Internet went out... usually daily, at least for a while.



Finally, one of the technicians gave us the name and number of a supervisor, who has really taken an interest in our problem. It's not just us, by the way, but at least one other household on our street, and sometimes the whole system goes out area-wide. Anyway, we¢ve seen some trucks with the company's name parked around here lately. And... dare I say it without knocking on wood, or cursing myself--today the system seems to be okay.



But who knows what it¢ll be like tomorrow?



Is anyone else out there as frustrated with their Internet service as I sometimes get? And before you ask, we¢ve looked into other services and, when this one's working, it's the best for our area.





--Linda