tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62387644907868552742024-03-13T21:08:34.277-05:00D.A. ConfidentialD.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.comBlogger547125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-55924352860808894472023-09-15T16:10:00.001-05:002023-09-15T16:10:22.266-05:00I didn't realize it would be like this! (Or, Why I stopped drinking and am learning to be kinder )<p>I'm still learning this criminal defense stuff.</p><p>People often ask me how I like the switch, how it's going, and what I usually tell them is that I've been surprised by the many things I didn't know, or put more positively the many things I'm learning. In the early days, I meant by that the practical and procedural aspects of the job -- how to get someone out of jail, what motions to file and when, that kind of thing.</p><p>But these days I mean more that that, I'm talking about the biggest thing that I didn't know coming into this defense role: The emotional stress that the job entails.</p><p>When I was a felony prosecutor, people said all the time, "Wow, that must be stressful!" Sometimes it was, usually when I prepared for and tried a big case, or when I was dealing with a victim or their family who were not (in my view) exhibiting reasonable expectations. But most of the time it really wasn't. Once you know how to try a case, once you learn how to navigate the system as a prosecutor, the job is fairly straight-forward. Yeah, I know, sorry to burst that mystical balloon...!</p><p>But one thing's for sure, looking back, I can safely say that being a prosecutor was way less stressful for me than being a defense lawyer. Here are the main the reasons why:</p><p><b>(1) The lack of control:</b></p><p>As a prosecutor, the degree of discretion you're able to exercise is startlingly wide. A prosecutor has latitude to choose the path a case takes, from taking it to trial and seeking prison to dismissing it entirely, and everything in between.</p><p>A defense lawyer doesn't have any power. Well, the power of persuasion but if you're talking to someone who's not listening, that's no power at all. So if I have a case where it's clear the client is innocent, I have to rely on someone else (prosecutor or jury) to do the right thing. After 15 years being the one to wield that power and discretion, it's very stressful having to rely on others to do the right thing.</p><p><b>(2) The responsibility:</b></p><p>If a prosecutor screws up a case, everyone goes home to their own bed that night. If a defense lawyer screws up, someone can go to jail, prison, or otherwise have their life ruined by a criminal conviction. Every one of my 40+ clients looks to me to restore the natural order of their lives. Almost every single one of them has never had any trouble with the law before, and is facing a life-altering outcome unless I do good work. </p><p>And that responsibility doesn't disappear after 5pm. People call in the evenings and weekends wanting help, wanting answers, wanting reassurance. So I can't turn off the stress button come sundown, and almost every morning there's an email or voicemail from someone who needs me, stat.</p><p><b>(3) The things I'm not trained for:</b></p><p>It will be no surprise to anyone that some of our clients have mental health challenges. MH care in this country is hopeless and all too often acts born of mental illness dump a person into the criminal justice system. Some jurisdictions are getting better at recognizing that and providing a path for cases to be dismissed, which is great.</p><p>But others aren't, which means we're left dealing with individuals who have clear mental health problems and who are also facing the added albatross of a criminal conviction.</p><p>And guess who can be less than easy to deal with? Yep, someone with a mental health condition looking at a criminal conviction. Completely and utterly understandable. And very common. But I'm not trained in counseling or any facet of MH treatment so talking to, and sometimes just listening to, some folks in this situation is hard.</p><p>Recently a client sat in my office and talked for almost 90 minutes, haranguing me for not addressing their every need, some case related and some not. Raising their voice in anger at the lack of communication, when I've called and emailed and they've not checked voicemail or read their emails. I don't know how to deal with that, and so it's stressful and exhausting. I was lucky that my colleague Liz Duggan was in the room with me, her calming and kind responses to the client saved me from... I don't know what. Walking out? Melting down? Shouting back? Probably none of those because none of those are in my nature, but I suppose that's my point - I didn't know <b>what </b>or <b>how </b>to respond.</p><p>I had some wins this week, though. Some felony cases dismissed and some very happy clients as a result. I wish those moments would last a little longer, the victories, but the reality is (another stressor) that my win for one client doesn't help the next one, even a little bit. And so the battle continues.</p><p>And yes, I've stopped drinking altogether. I'm not making a big deal of it (except here!?) but the stress of the job has had a somewhat ironic result: I'm now 100 percent sober and just joined a gym. Maybe that's me reasserting power over the things I <b>can</b> control, proactively taking on the stress that comes with this job. </p><p>But it's not just my liver sand my muscles I'm tuning up, it's my empathy. I'm trying to be kinder, to understand the stress that my clients are under, and relieve that the best I can. Maybe by improving my body I can improve my mind and, Jupiter willing, provide a little more comfort to the people who are even more stressed than I am: my clients.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-24096785361492625832023-08-09T12:08:00.000-05:002023-08-09T12:08:04.832-05:00One allegation, two prosecutors - and a startling disparity.<p>How much does justice, or the outcome of a case, depend on what amounts to a roll of the dice?</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiVsqlo6a3T8-TL7dmAAQ6sA1BXYuJybOcYdOIL2XU6mCmOxeXRWSRBfdCtbI_kpoRIrB-e7ia6mzt5clTXjmkzw32lnWlmdWbnrinM_8wmHrpFWnCdHYOuGfTBGtYGbJS6nIu0J6JYkAwMeSjLPeduKEyiN5038oAiQ8sRC44P2SQrBobBUmb1SY8x9No" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="297" data-original-width="459" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiVsqlo6a3T8-TL7dmAAQ6sA1BXYuJybOcYdOIL2XU6mCmOxeXRWSRBfdCtbI_kpoRIrB-e7ia6mzt5clTXjmkzw32lnWlmdWbnrinM_8wmHrpFWnCdHYOuGfTBGtYGbJS6nIu0J6JYkAwMeSjLPeduKEyiN5038oAiQ8sRC44P2SQrBobBUmb1SY8x9No" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p>You see, the thing about being a prosecutor that some folks don't realize is the broad discretion assistant district and county attorneys have with their cases. Everyone's busy, everyone's overworked so generally speaking unless a line prosecutor screws up, their work doesn't get too much scrutiny.</p><p>That's especially true with the "smaller" cases - the ones that don't make the headlines, or maybe just the crimes that don't have a specific victim (I'm thinking drugs cases, possession of firearms etc).</p><p>I was always acutely aware of the power that this discretion vested in me, and lord knows I hope I used it wisely and with mercy and compassion. And I say that because I'm seeing that some prosecutors do not. </p><p>I know, I know, a horde of defense attorneys are welcome to pile on with "we know, you idiot," or "welcome to our world," but look - I always knew there was a disparity between the way I'd look at a case and the way a prosecutor in, say, Lubbock would. But it's worse than I realized, I'm more than willing to admit that.</p><p>Recently I found myself in a situation that made me wonder what kind of system we're working under. Here's what happened (names, unimportant details, and other minor facts changed to protect the innocent/guilty).</p><p>Facts of my case: young African American man pulled over for driving in the left (passing) lane. Not speeding, but he wasn't passing anyone so the cop decided to pull him over. I didn't like that, and the phrase "'driving while black" immediately rang in my head.</p><p>Cops smells marijuana, and searches the car. Finds a bag of MJ, some THC carts, and a gun.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>MJ = Class A misdemeanor; </li><li>Carts = Felony 2; </li><li>Gun (he was allowed to have it but not if committing another offense) = Class A misdemeanor.</li></ul><div>I ran this by one prosecutor who liked everything about the case, wanted him to plead to having the carts, and be on felony probation. Second degree felony probation, for five years. Pretty damn harsh.</div><div><br /></div><div>I ran this by a different prosecutor hoping for a different perspective, even wondering if I was missing something. She didn't like the stop, didn't much care that a kid had THC carts, but wasn't thrilled about the gun. However, she also wasn't thrilled about tagging a young kid with a criminal record for, essentially, having weed. She proposed some classes in exchange for a dismissal.</div><div><br /></div><div>The difference between these two prosecutors? One in Lubbock and one in Travis? Maybe one in Blanco and one in Hays?</div><div><br /></div><div>Nope. About four feet. Both in the same jurisdiction (which will remain nameless), working in the same court, just at different tables in the same room.</div><div><br /></div><div>Naturally, I did business with Prosecutor #2.</div><div><br /></div><div>I couldn't, and still can't, get my head around one ADA wanting the kid to have a felony record and the other wanting to dismiss. And the scary thing is, both can be right. Both have the power to be right. If Prosecutor #1 hadn't been out that week and I'd not spoken to Prosecutor #2, my client would be at risk of losing everything.</div><div><br /></div><div>And, of course, thank heavens for the level head, compassion, and decency of Prosecutor #2.</div><div><br /></div><div>What's to be done about this? Nothing. At all. I share this only to let you all see the minefield that is the criminal justice system, and how the whims of just one person can destroy or salvage someone's career, even life.</div><div><br /></div><div>Scary, huh?</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p>D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-53739556193205999932023-07-28T09:53:00.006-05:002023-07-28T12:07:07.093-05:00Thanks for the praise - maybe leave out the advice?!<p> With my thirteenth novel about to be published, and you know I'll be posting about that soon enough, I still enjoy hearing from readers of my other books. And, 95% of the time, when people email me it's either to say nice things or to ask when the next Hugo Marston book will be out. Or written. </p><p>You'll notice that if 95% of the emails are lovely, that leaves 5% that are... less so. And I'm endlessly fascinated by the psychology of the 5 percenters.</p><p>Let me start by reassuring you - I'm no snowflake and I'm well aware that not all books are for all people. I've put down books that others rave about, and so I know not everyone will enjoy all of mine.</p><p>But the person who <b>does</b> like them, yet wants me to know their very specific criticisms... what's that about? Let us break down the email I got this morning:</p><p>Here it is in full:</p><p><span face="gdsherpa, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I am an avid reader. Non-fiction, fiction and preferably mysteries. I am so pleased to have found your Hugo Marston series. All the elements I like—location specifics, “bloodless” murders, reasonably short chapters, interesting protagonists. Very enjoyable. But, here comes the but. With the thousands of names available to you, why, in The Book Artist for example, have detectives or characters named Marston and Marchand? Why two women named Camille and Claudia? Just to irritate readers who may get confused as to who is who? Please stop it. Everything else is great. Thanks</span></span></p><p>Right, now let's analyze this, shall we?</p><p><span face="gdsherpa, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I am an avid reader. Non-fiction, fiction and preferably mysteries. I am so pleased to have found your Hugo Marston series. </span></span></p><p>Lovely! Wonderful! I'm so pleased too!</p><p><span face="gdsherpa, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #2b00fe; font-size: 14px;">All the elements I like—location specifics, “bloodless” murders, reasonably short chapters, interesting protagonists. Very enjoyable. </span></p><p>Great - specific reasons he likes them, very rewarding!</p><p><span face="gdsherpa, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #2b00fe; font-size: 14px;">But, here comes the but. </span></p><p>😬</p><p><span face="gdsherpa, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #2b00fe; font-size: 14px;">With the thousands of names available to you, why, in The Book Artist for example, have detectives or characters named Marston and Marchand? Why two women named Camille and Claudia? Just to irritate readers who may get confused as to who is who? </span></p><p>Now, I will conceded that the names "Marston" and "Marchand" are quite similar in sound and appearance. I would, however, point out that "Marston" is the name of the protagonist, which means if you're confusing him with other characters after reading seven of the novels he stars in, well, the problem might not be the appearance of a character named "Marchand."</p><p>Similarly, if you are confusing Hugo's leading love interest (Claudia), with a black transgender detective (Camille), your bar for confusion might be unduly low.</p><p>And look at this line again: <span face="gdsherpa, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #2b00fe; font-size: 14px;">Just to irritate readers who may get confused as to who is who? </span></p><p>What? Obviously, no writer would intentionally irritate their readers. Even me, and I've been known to intentionally irritate pretty much anyone and everyone. So this line is asking me... what? It's not really a serious question at all, is it? It's pure snark. Snark, I might wonder, included... just to irritate me!</p><p>So what's next? This line: </p><p><span face="gdsherpa, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #2b00fe; font-size: 14px;">Please stop it.</span></p><p>Stop what? I mean, do you want me to go back in time and change characters' names? Or just not do the subjectively annoying thing (to you, not one of my other thousands, nay trillions, of readers has complained about) in the future? Maybe I can email you and run my name choices past you...?</p><p>Look, I know I'm the one being snarky now but to presume to tell an author to stop doing something that only you in the entire world don't like is... well, presumptuous at best. One might even venture to use the word "rude."</p><p>And so we end with:</p><p><span face="gdsherpa, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #2b00fe; font-size: 14px;">Everything else is great. Thanks</span></p><p>First, please know that he did not end with a "." I feel like I deserve a "." at the end of an email, just saying.</p><p>So here's what I'm wondering - how much of this would he say to my face at a book event? I would be chill if he did but I can imagine others cringing. I might politely dress him down, very politely, but I suspect he'd not say this to me directly. Maybe I'm wrong.</p><p>And here's the takeaway: this email will change nothing about my books, and it makes me want to not meet a human being who actually likes them. What did he achieve by taking the time to write to me? Irritation on my part? Indeed. A sense of disappointment that a nice start to an email was a disguise for his complaints? Definitely. It certainly won't result in a reply because I don't want to encourage this type of approach to an author. Anything else?</p><p>Well, this blog post I suppose. 💅</p><p>Thoughts?</p><p><br /></p><p>**Edited to add: he's now sent me the exact same email three times in 24 hours.</p>D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-90994573948480319172023-07-15T16:37:00.000-05:002023-07-15T16:37:05.648-05:00Think you could never be arrested? Oh, so wrong.<p>One thing that has really surprised me as a defense lawyer is the number of "normal" people who get arrested.</p><p>Let me back up a moment - yes, there are many people in the criminal justice system who are dropped into it (often by their own actions) and never get out. Their criminal histories are pages long, and any damage to their reputations or job opportunities has long since happened.</p><p>In fact, in some ways these cases are (I imagine) easier to handle, because another misdemeanor plea doesn't change the trajectory of that person's life much. </p><p>At Cofer & Connelly, where I work, we see very few of these folks indeed because we are lucky enough to be in a position where we don't need to take cases appointed to us by the courts (a whole other issue: how terrible the pay is for lawyers taking appointed cases).</p><p>So what does that mean? It means the vast majority of our clients have never been in trouble before.</p><p>I recently took a call from a prospective client who'd been arrested for a misdemeanor crime. He freely admitted to me that, before his arrest, he'd not cared much for the movement to improve jails and prisons. "You do bad," he said, "then you go to a bad place."</p><p>And then it happened to him. He spent two nights in the Travis County jail, where he said the guards treated the inmates like animals, where there was feces on the floor and walls, and where he saw literal rats running around. He was horrified, traumatized even, by that experience.</p><p>For his case, his main concern was that he never go back there, no matter the outcome, he could not go back. Fortunately, his alleged offense was such that I was able to give him a large degree of comfort that he would remain in the free.</p><p>The thing is, it doesn't take much to land a formerly law-abiding citizen behind bars. I had this conversation with my teenage son recently, because I wanted him to understand that actual innocence was no barrier to jail.</p><p>"But if I do nothing wrong, how can that be?" he insisted.</p><p>I sighed, because he's right. That's how it should be. And as a prosecutor the truth mattered more to me than almost anything. But as a defense lawyer, the truth doesn't enter the equation until long after you've been handcuff, stuffed into a police car, stripped naked at the jail, and sat in a cold, lonely (if you're lucky) cell in jail scrubs, fed undercooked fake chicken and baloney sandwiches.</p><p>"If someone tells a cop you hit them, or touched them without consent," I said. "You will go to jail."</p><p>"Even if I didn't?"</p><p>"Yes."</p><p>And that's the truth, as I'm seeing it. The fact is, and people will not like to hear this, but people call the police too often because they can't handle the situation they are in. They can't control it. And the way they reestablish control is to have the person they are in conflict with, they are angry with, arrested.</p><p>I realize that as a felony prosecutor I didn't get to witness this phenomenon, because it does mostly happen with allegations of assault, which is a misdemeanor. Or, in one case we got dismissed for a client, an allegation that she stole a dog. What she'd done was rescue a dog abandoned and abused by her ex, and when he saw how happy they were together he filed a theft complaint.</p><p>Yes, it's that easy.</p><p>So what's my point here? Maybe it's just to bring awareness where I can, to let people know that the criminal justice system is closer than they imagine. And, relatedly, to consider showing more empathy to those caught up in it. </p><p>Because not all of them are guilty. </p><p>Not by a long shot.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-69129325009266031782023-07-03T11:14:00.000-05:002023-07-03T11:14:04.295-05:00Jail v. Prison - writers, producers, and anyone else who uses words, please take note.<p>Here's a short post to address an issue (pet peeve?!) that I feel like I've discussed before. Somehow, shockingly, the entire world hasn't read and absorbed. </p><p>I constantly see the terms "jail" and "prison" used interchangeably. In books, TV shows, and in general conversation.</p><p>But they are different.</p><p>You don't want to be in jail, but you <b><i>definitely</i></b> don't want to be in prison.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>JAIL</u></b> : this is where you go for short periods of time, either after being arrested or as punishment for a misdemeanor crime. Jails are usually run by the county, operated by the sheriff's department. </p><p>There are exceptions, sure, some people spend years in jail waiting for trial or other case resolution, but <b><i>generally speaking</i></b> jail is for short-term incarceration.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>PRISON</u></b> : this is where you go after you've been convicted of a crime. These are state-run facilities and generally less pleasant places than your county jail.</p><p>Try to avoid prison, if you can.</p><p><br /></p>D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-87187655794329910092023-05-27T18:07:00.002-05:002023-05-27T18:18:00.439-05:00Why I changed hats: prosecutor to defense lawyer<p>I could never remember which side supposedly had the black hat or the white hat. </p><p>I suspect, whichever side you are on you purport to be white-hatted. I'm good with that, except it means I swapped a white hat for a... white hat?!</p><p>Enough about hats.</p><p>Just over a year ago, two mates took me out for dinner. Rick Cofer and Geoffrey Puryear, former prosecutors with me. Good people who I knew and who I liked, and who asked me to join their criminal defense firm and have a little fun trying cases and helping people.</p><p>Could I say no to all that?!</p><p>This is Rick, he puts the Cofer in <a href="https://www.coferconnelly.com/" target="_blank">Cofer & Connelly.</a> Some have said he looks like a giant man-baby, or an inflated infant, or a super-sized toddler, or a... anyway, I'd never say those things, I just report stuff.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuSmwj9LAdHuCgXxTEVDoKnck69GT73NvQUHtxS3UESb7vseHTQKZ21Q_6kYZD7zuzqAyHnpqiQTRHOx6RKjSPDQ0NbQHGrhQHbrKhQOspDFq8efw6CWuV6z6KhTVf2JcHpuHHJ88E-etG4LHhu9MkfmyDgtllBQlolsZprQmjwwyiSdmLcDgoRWpl/s4032/IMG_3435.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuSmwj9LAdHuCgXxTEVDoKnck69GT73NvQUHtxS3UESb7vseHTQKZ21Q_6kYZD7zuzqAyHnpqiQTRHOx6RKjSPDQ0NbQHGrhQHbrKhQOspDFq8efw6CWuV6z6KhTVf2JcHpuHHJ88E-etG4LHhu9MkfmyDgtllBQlolsZprQmjwwyiSdmLcDgoRWpl/s320/IMG_3435.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p>And this is Geoffrey - we tried a case together many years ago and stacked the jury with women, on the theory that with his looks and my accent we couldn't lose. We didn't lose.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNy4G_Sit4mXzYj21c_touVGo0PHTVFBSETr0r5a2oip06yCF9xw0HL3wkC36YIOu9SvEUUWCIASQdwC6mqJ45SboZoEkUHSehQz--2EOy_1Z5doBX3cTCbjjbEAa6DKUg_Z9QObWFd43_O2XZPS_hDziw8ybu5L79N-qlzNfS3uRCZZ_Rp-ucUuGK/s4032/IMG_3437.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNy4G_Sit4mXzYj21c_touVGo0PHTVFBSETr0r5a2oip06yCF9xw0HL3wkC36YIOu9SvEUUWCIASQdwC6mqJ45SboZoEkUHSehQz--2EOy_1Z5doBX3cTCbjjbEAa6DKUg_Z9QObWFd43_O2XZPS_hDziw8ybu5L79N-qlzNfS3uRCZZ_Rp-ucUuGK/s320/IMG_3437.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>On a hot day you could fry an egg on that chin, after he shaved it, of course. Magnificent. <p></p><p>Here I am now:</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFO6NAczUsPn67xG1Bnh7nFON7uyWzPO5fVlvf0XEFsVQXKOLfV0dkEUOIhfy9ogqCDHVCYnqlzs45GDEtDHk2apn3PebsuUMEqViGPHhGJW-bsjf10pDM-2FuoqbeDLdSuEYnzeeFXqvwKBCG1aWjub6IUulcEe_gpFawle_dhqsCmi8SI0q65mcC/s3121/70691949757__20E2ABB1-202F-4B3A-90D6-B5ED341BBD95.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3121" data-original-width="3006" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFO6NAczUsPn67xG1Bnh7nFON7uyWzPO5fVlvf0XEFsVQXKOLfV0dkEUOIhfy9ogqCDHVCYnqlzs45GDEtDHk2apn3PebsuUMEqViGPHhGJW-bsjf10pDM-2FuoqbeDLdSuEYnzeeFXqvwKBCG1aWjub6IUulcEe_gpFawle_dhqsCmi8SI0q65mcC/s320/70691949757__20E2ABB1-202F-4B3A-90D6-B5ED341BBD95.jpeg" width="308" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p>Anyway, the why of it.</p><p>As you may or may not know about me, I have always been somewhat defense-oriented. In those moments when ADAs are high-fiving each other after getting a 70-year prison sentence I used to cringe. I'm sure I've written before about how I hated sending people to prison, almost regardless of what they did, because.... well, it's prison. I got satisfaction for getting a verdict yes, but not so much from a prison sentence.</p><p>Anyway, over martinis and a delicious steak these lads made me an attractive offer. At the time I was in the juvenile division at the DA's office, my second stint there and was feeling like I might be there a while. And guess what never happens in juvie? Jury trials. It felt like an endless loop of unchallenging hearings, low-level crime (mostly, although I did have five... yes FIVE murder cases on my plate). </p><p>Bottom line: I needed a change. A challenge. And these boys were offering me one.</p><p>I started May 1, 2022, and now I handle cases in Travis County and a fair few in Williamson County, everything from low-level drugs cases to murder. We take a team approach at C&C, especially on the bigger cases, and I think we have five or six clients charged with homicide, and several more with manslaughter. </p><p>One of those cases is quite famous, actually, but I can't talk about it here... </p><p>I plan to write a whole post about how jurisdictions, and prosecutors, are different depending on where they are. It's kind of crazy, to be honest, what's considered an easy dismissal one place is prosecuted to the max somewhere else. Anyway, more on that later.</p><p>For now, I'll tell you that I'm working harder than ever before, getting to know some very interesting people, and loving the folks I work with.</p><p>I've even become an occasional guest legal analyst on CourtTV!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGlLuYCW0ePHncwSFaLtqOVp5zpIDgxrTqrgkIKoFPQIHJU6KbTxlfv0cuzk3MIR3nw_1KOdC98Sq-jsa4_9kOrRUD2WeseBBBxaIhqfhFEL8hw32HpHE3Ei3OD3bYT0iiDOVLDKU8GrMGDd1nv9C4Si5M9SnnWHr6YCeRFaQggd2GC9Tt5rkA60D/s1024/Courttv.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="968" data-original-width="1024" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGlLuYCW0ePHncwSFaLtqOVp5zpIDgxrTqrgkIKoFPQIHJU6KbTxlfv0cuzk3MIR3nw_1KOdC98Sq-jsa4_9kOrRUD2WeseBBBxaIhqfhFEL8hw32HpHE3Ei3OD3bYT0iiDOVLDKU8GrMGDd1nv9C4Si5M9SnnWHr6YCeRFaQggd2GC9Tt5rkA60D/s320/Courttv.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>And hey, if you need a lawyer from the best criminal defense firm in Austin (facts, see below), let me know. We got you.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcpdE-xmaFNj9Cww7q7_yN2Nz5OYjWP_q2ddr4cyKBy9HyOL7Wv9GRa59Yjc9GTkxjDqeXn1XRWRdo8IrnWRYdO2VehnmaIlz_nuYRacP7IcrsyVgaXhkroPktEYwL2-29mDUzymLv3CncCduMLhCRoNOlgm36er7zzEyJ1pDC9Yop9Qoh3jEj5ha/s4032/70692143729__6F78DF0D-C1B8-4620-8BEE-3971B72A4D82.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcpdE-xmaFNj9Cww7q7_yN2Nz5OYjWP_q2ddr4cyKBy9HyOL7Wv9GRa59Yjc9GTkxjDqeXn1XRWRdo8IrnWRYdO2VehnmaIlz_nuYRacP7IcrsyVgaXhkroPktEYwL2-29mDUzymLv3CncCduMLhCRoNOlgm36er7zzEyJ1pDC9Yop9Qoh3jEj5ha/s320/70692143729__6F78DF0D-C1B8-4620-8BEE-3971B72A4D82.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p>D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-16360506042148061512023-05-25T07:00:00.001-05:002023-05-25T07:00:00.143-05:00Making a comeback!<p>I've been thinking about resurrecting the blog for a while now, I used to enjoy sharing my thoughts and experiences as a prosecutor and getting feedback from folks. So I'm back.</p><p>For those who don't know me outside of the blog, well, I'm now a criminal defense attorney - a partner with the fabulous law firm of <a href="https://www.coferconnelly.com/" target="_blank">Cofer & Connelly</a>. I'll write a post about why I made the change in a week or two, but I wanted this first one to be a brief catch-up.</p><p>So, what else is new with me? After all it's been almost <b>seven years</b> since I last posted here!</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Big job change, obvs.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I'm seven years older, which means a new author photo was needed. Obvs.</li></ul><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjem4eHRwGohqvAyQXJRg2Jz8iwlprfMHgNpHChZGw3Nmbd-0nRcUHBmS0RkqC88N4csmkLx9BcOfFxaZgcB6FGyWNvh7uafRkjMqOb3BRYiVc-NZr4kxNcctr3-fIVAOfczw81ThXH5vmkv5ZLDERaszhqAr0J6MWLfvVJ_jtACPaoPh5q-HMCdfwU/s6048/Mark%20Pryor-9502-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4024" data-original-width="6048" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjem4eHRwGohqvAyQXJRg2Jz8iwlprfMHgNpHChZGw3Nmbd-0nRcUHBmS0RkqC88N4csmkLx9BcOfFxaZgcB6FGyWNvh7uafRkjMqOb3BRYiVc-NZr4kxNcctr3-fIVAOfczw81ThXH5vmkv5ZLDERaszhqAr0J6MWLfvVJ_jtACPaoPh5q-HMCdfwU/s320/Mark%20Pryor-9502-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I now have <a href="http://www.markpryorbooks.com/books.html" target="_blank">12 published novels</a>!</li><ul><li>most excitingly, I have a new series and the first one is:</li></ul></ul><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdcZlbnpHHbiS3vyr7aanOS_b2377fbkbLAuuNYZC7er01nssWPmyr7aYWhUptRjT0Maa1MBNf4efYjMbE2vJVdmUNwTsbGFzAY_vUR3k1tFTANkeRlth87HXVfbvwUpdNJr8mdwY5mdPAHvfrst9bX5di406DxkUOzGHE_RDorPzXGJBkDIaNe-2u" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="448" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdcZlbnpHHbiS3vyr7aanOS_b2377fbkbLAuuNYZC7er01nssWPmyr7aYWhUptRjT0Maa1MBNf4efYjMbE2vJVdmUNwTsbGFzAY_vUR3k1tFTANkeRlth87HXVfbvwUpdNJr8mdwY5mdPAHvfrst9bX5di406DxkUOzGHE_RDorPzXGJBkDIaNe-2u" width="158" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>The second in the series is out in August but pre-orderable now:</li></ul></ul><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJT_sEwiKgsTaoDZB0Z5yplMS2CiLAxVyxdq-Ij-SyYw9A7qQ-aGiet7QNvLXACA3Xxs4VQVxbEMofmo6OTkXfOsQUaPNrJZvljX7GdHMEm_UgMDQMuUyx6RW4rQxwTpOLhsdZyx05ZEP7SkcFlzQcpZ0-f1OTuQp1glTlT0n4wRpBZrfk6GjFNyOF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="444" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhJT_sEwiKgsTaoDZB0Z5yplMS2CiLAxVyxdq-Ij-SyYw9A7qQ-aGiet7QNvLXACA3Xxs4VQVxbEMofmo6OTkXfOsQUaPNrJZvljX7GdHMEm_UgMDQMuUyx6RW4rQxwTpOLhsdZyx05ZEP7SkcFlzQcpZ0-f1OTuQp1glTlT0n4wRpBZrfk6GjFNyOF" width="157" /></a></div></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I have a son who's now stronger and faster than me. We've gone from this:</li></ul><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh0jG8Z6FqmbtnSQ1hEgsIt7_S_68VvUWQyeDrEFAgd1hjaJqcgAfm1xk5l6q1madHRxK4UXH_r8zj9Nvdq-1xhT7KAPfYVYuy_7-81ZV4hGJyrhEmmMJeDdUMPUvHODhx7QBwoywr8KhjEiqsdvgG1osHVyZa-ExkUsJGGhXFzhQQ1s1CbgVBEkWoF" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img alt="" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="926" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh0jG8Z6FqmbtnSQ1hEgsIt7_S_68VvUWQyeDrEFAgd1hjaJqcgAfm1xk5l6q1madHRxK4UXH_r8zj9Nvdq-1xhT7KAPfYVYuy_7-81ZV4hGJyrhEmmMJeDdUMPUvHODhx7QBwoywr8KhjEiqsdvgG1osHVyZa-ExkUsJGGhXFzhQQ1s1CbgVBEkWoF" width="210" /></a></div><br /></div></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>To this:</li></ul></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSzed0IpyJDmAsC0NPTMpQSccEXH39S2Qe0svlL8U5tupvJTDLZclJVCmZN-Gr5ChJkAcy4Pr_SDbx0ffAqHt7S1x-aNeg76i_SEACSiIs6jM0TZ34Qx_J217gig18qwbh7PJUlIeZaQC65FyrB2nioJoXFxR-LNJrIZpQJ8RUd1wwptW6qo8wk50H" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="876" data-original-width="688" height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSzed0IpyJDmAsC0NPTMpQSccEXH39S2Qe0svlL8U5tupvJTDLZclJVCmZN-Gr5ChJkAcy4Pr_SDbx0ffAqHt7S1x-aNeg76i_SEACSiIs6jM0TZ34Qx_J217gig18qwbh7PJUlIeZaQC65FyrB2nioJoXFxR-LNJrIZpQJ8RUd1wwptW6qo8wk50H=w282-h359" width="282" /></a></div><br /></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I have a writing companion:</li></ul><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcl-cGu32IvNixSVcA-_ETqiFLgAH6IssasFXXp2oGNspX4hhcKw6-CAFsVHKmPzucgpoW7OUrit9KdsoWkzIEZ3xrpubVuYpsyz5Le6i9V6XfcSoyt_8CYKyO5KoKSOnOrYZVt9JBilEqCvzG96nBJk7SEpm42rcS4EGm0j3HMI0azbl1GgCvXrYM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1182" data-original-width="1466" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcl-cGu32IvNixSVcA-_ETqiFLgAH6IssasFXXp2oGNspX4hhcKw6-CAFsVHKmPzucgpoW7OUrit9KdsoWkzIEZ3xrpubVuYpsyz5Le6i9V6XfcSoyt_8CYKyO5KoKSOnOrYZVt9JBilEqCvzG96nBJk7SEpm42rcS4EGm0j3HMI0azbl1GgCvXrYM" width="298" /></a> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgA5i9CJjQEkEDBW6CPJCBP4PYvewCN55kdXJNYSNJr3OukQ9XqapXxASbv0Tl7-Zux9H9MSKdI97FOX4I2dxjke4JKpfQdtrUgxtQBzaRX9eKa39ikxO5rBqdqtfcDcGSQjG8xPOxvT38xwGMdadVqkkUGef4wLkTUwfVCOT9gu5ZW-gidoTGdt4OK" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1190" data-original-width="962" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgA5i9CJjQEkEDBW6CPJCBP4PYvewCN55kdXJNYSNJr3OukQ9XqapXxASbv0Tl7-Zux9H9MSKdI97FOX4I2dxjke4JKpfQdtrUgxtQBzaRX9eKa39ikxO5rBqdqtfcDcGSQjG8xPOxvT38xwGMdadVqkkUGef4wLkTUwfVCOT9gu5ZW-gidoTGdt4OK=w289-h358" width="289" /></a></div><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>OK, those are the highlights. I don't think anything else important happened in the world between 2016 and now, or did I miss something?!</div><div><br /></div><div>Didn't think so.</div><div><br /></div><div>Stay tuned for upcoming posts, to include:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Why I Made the Change</b></li><ul><li>speaks for itself</li></ul><li><b>Who My Most Famous Client Is, And Why I Can't Tell You</b></li><ul><li>Google it, maybe?</li></ul><li><b>When It's Just A Slap</b></li><ul><li>about how differing jurisdictions... differ</li></ul><li><b>When Good People Do Bad Things</b></li><ul><li>speaks for itself</li></ul></ul></div><div>... and many many more to come!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p>D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-36575940903551368212016-08-25T07:00:00.000-05:002016-08-25T07:00:28.979-05:00The secrets of THE PARIS LIBRARIAN<span style="color: #20124d;">This post was first published on the fantastic <a href="http://www.jungleredwriters.com/" target="_blank">Jungle Red Writers blog</a>, yesterday August 24, 2016.</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d;">I wanted to post it here, too, since I think it's a good look behind the creation of THE PARIS LIBRARIAN, my latest novel in the Hugo Marston series.</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d;">Enjoy!</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There
are two stories that lie between the pages of <span style="color: red;">THE PARIS LIBRARIAN</span>. One makes me
cry, the other makes me laugh.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Shall
we start with the tears? Good, so let me present a nice photo of a gentleman
called Michael Harmuth. He’s with his daughter Sarah, who happens to be a book
seller in Wisconsin, and her daughter, Scout. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuxFCDpBBD2S-qtIEIDr-Q4g4EmsV4nOHhM2OAm-TCcbdDxqOcKtaXqPJrSwbJqx5sm_H9IyEZBYTFIhNKZGWF4I14y4RpfqDB63mGC9b710ufpg3JYWaKY8zqSkXRnjYF_354MlgpI3Q/s1600/Michael%252C+Sarah%252C+and+Scout+Harmuth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuxFCDpBBD2S-qtIEIDr-Q4g4EmsV4nOHhM2OAm-TCcbdDxqOcKtaXqPJrSwbJqx5sm_H9IyEZBYTFIhNKZGWF4I14y4RpfqDB63mGC9b710ufpg3JYWaKY8zqSkXRnjYF_354MlgpI3Q/s320/Michael%252C+Sarah%252C+and+Scout+Harmuth.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Well,
early last year Sarah wrote to me and said that her dad, Michael, was a fan of
the Hugo series. But she said Michael had cancer and was unlikely to live until
the next book in the series was released (<span style="color: red;">THE RELUCTANT MATADOR</span>) in June.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Was
there any way I could get an advanced copy to him? she wondered.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now,
my own father was taken by the pestilence that is cancer so, obviously, my
answer was heck yes. I asked my publisher to send me an ARC, and I wrote a wee
note in it, signed it, and sent it to Michael.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That
started a wee conversation between the two of us, and he kept me informed as to
his progress with the book. He said he was reading it slowly, so as not to get
to the end too fast. As you might imagine, that email had me reaching for the
tissues.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Turns
out Michael enjoyed the book, which I’d been hoping for desperately. And I didn’t
want the last page to be the end of Michael’s association with Hugo so I wrote
to him and asked, “How would you like to be a character in the next book?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He
loved the idea and, even though I’ve put the names of other people I know in
books, he’s the <b><i>only</i></b> one I’ve let choose his role. Good guy, bad,
guy, red herring, eye-witness… whatever he so desired. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
now, of course, I must remain tight-lipped for fear of giving anything away.
Suffice to say, even though Michael is no longer with us, he lives on in
Hugo’s world, and in Paris no less!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now
for the laugh, which comes in the form of a “truth is stranger than fiction”
guffaw. As you might be able to tell from the title, Hugo’s latest adventure
takes place in and around the American Library in Paris. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Paris-Librarian-Marston-Novel-Novels/dp/1633881776/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472060991&sr=8-1&keywords=the+paris+librarian" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.amazon.com/Paris-Librarian-Marston-Novel-Novels/dp/1633881776/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472060991&sr=8-1&keywords=the+paris+librarian" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZSut6etOc3rI5XNWqwj3mAzqPaG3Rcbr1ZCaRKK0JPhh4vsgBz1Q_A0iKLpCaYMnltu-N_tDypxbF1a9O9nFtuOxSdw__1RSTrkoPlIDG6m7kvseLsucfZkJl6Am-Gmzk7XH4BJhnooA/s320/The+Paris+Librarian+%2528Landay%2529.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now, back in 2015, once I formulate the idea for the story, I email the good
people there and ask rather boldly: “Hello, do you mind if I kill someone in
your library?”</span>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Not
even hours later I receive a resounding “Yes!!” and an invitation to tour the
place. Now, I’m not one to turn down a visit to Paris, so my wife and I hop on
a plane to spend a week in our favorite city. And this is where the story gets
somewhat amusing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When
we show up to the library, librarians Audrey and Abigail are there to show us
around. They start with the front, the circulation area, then lead us through
the stacks. At the back of the building, they both stop and when I look past
them I see a set of stairs leading down, roped off.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“What’s
down there?” I ask.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Err,
the basement. We store books down there.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Can
I see?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Nervous
glances between them, and a hesitant response. “Well, I guess that’d be OK.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Oh,
is there a problem?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Umm,
no real problem. It’s just... a little creepy down there.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Which,
as you know, is precisely what a mystery author wants to hear.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So
we head down and it <b><i>is </i></b>creepy, slightly dim and musty. I tell
them about the book in progress, and explain that I’ll have a character who
dies early in a locked room. Audrey says, “Oh, that’s funny, we have a small
room down here. We call it the atelier, you can see it.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sure
enough, there’s the tiny little room for my poor, unsuspecting victim to die
in. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl1NUN-3YnbMn127Yc7No1h0uWJbe7LH61Z_y5cA6aEAwCTr9QFOyCkrTo4OofGOSgcBqbjHdOpP7Ain-spvYvVO5szgfxN66bjkxjTvZMExSRga1O36GQ8XD2eGCDrLwsSSYntCp5L24/s1600/AmericanLibraryFacade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl1NUN-3YnbMn127Yc7No1h0uWJbe7LH61Z_y5cA6aEAwCTr9QFOyCkrTo4OofGOSgcBqbjHdOpP7Ain-spvYvVO5szgfxN66bjkxjTvZMExSRga1O36GQ8XD2eGCDrLwsSSYntCp5L24/s320/AmericanLibraryFacade.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We
poke around downstairs a little more and I disappear down a short hallway near
the foot of the stairs. To my right is a small boiler room, but to my left is a
door. In the wall. It blends in and you could walk right by it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“What’s
this?” I ask.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Oh.”
That hesitation again. “It’s our secret door.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Are
you kidding me??</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
I thought that, didn’t say it. Not like that, anyway. Instead I ask mildly, “Oh,
do tell.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Turns
out it’s their door into the American University, which takes up the majority
of that block. A door they’re not allowed to use because, well, it’s kind of
their secret.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Do
you happen to have a key?” I ask.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">They
side-eye each other. “We do but we’re not allowed to....”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My
raised eyebrow stops them, and one of the women heads upstairs for the key. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now,
you know what I’m thinking. It’s a possible escape avenue for my killer, right?
But that requires lots of people to have access to the key, and what are the
odds of that given that it’s to a <b><i>secret </i></b>door? But I ask anyway.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Only
the library staff and volunteers can access the key,” they assure me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“And
how many...?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Maybe
ten staff and, in the course of a year,” Abigail thinks for a second, “maybe a
hundred volunteers.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I
grin like a chimpanzee. “Perfect.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Later,
as I wrapped the book up, it struck me that these coincidences might appear too
good to be true, too contrived. So I actually put an author’s note in the front
of the book pointing out that the library <b><i>does </i></b>have a secret
door!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
this made me wonder if my fellow writers ever came across situations like this,
when their research came up with something almost <b><i>too </i></b>perfect...
or if readers ever stumbled over something in a novel, not believing it at
first but then finding out it was true?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Oh,
and you’re probably wondering if I went through the secret door that afternoon.
I will tell you that had I done so and admitted it in writing, my librarian
friends might have got in trouble. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So
here I am, admitting nothing in writing...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
</div>
D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-56557429783416773492016-08-12T19:45:00.003-05:002016-08-12T19:45:40.585-05:00Now out: THE PARIS LIBRARIAN (the book and the trailer!)Just a short note to welcome into the my latest novel, the seventh in the Hugo Marston series: <b><i>The Paris Librarian</i></b>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Paris-Librarian-Marston-Novel-Novels/dp/1633881776/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471048818&sr=8-1&keywords=the+paris+librarian" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.amazon.com/Paris-Librarian-Marston-Novel-Novels/dp/1633881776/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471048818&sr=8-1&keywords=the+paris+librarian" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieeRvGEQVBDwH2YWUC9qlIdJqLzR9FYwDHYT5OTcU_VDOpzxxKmey4vj-mm4ALRsYfRFjB3IiqDbgjFMNzFctYOT7DRtfxwiEhJhb9rN8C-fbM4LHqXpit0TFpgxfcJ3-y-Nk0co5KHYk/s320/The+Paris+Librarian+Cover+Art+%2528April%2529.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
And also the book trailer, for more immediate gratification:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UB9ur3Vkols/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UB9ur3Vkols?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
Enjoy!D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-13792829756121804322016-06-09T06:00:00.000-05:002016-06-09T08:07:15.253-05:00DEAD WAKE - a book reviewWhen I started this blog I tried to review a book or two a month, I called it Thriller Thursday. Remember that? Go on, click on the label, you'll see.<br />
<br />
Well guess what? It's Thursday! Only now I'm doing something different in that I wanted to let you know about a non-fiction book I just read. In truth, it might just be the <i><b>best </b></i>non-fiction book I've ever read. Seriously.<br />
<br />
It's called: <b>DEAD WAKE, The Last Crossing Of The Lusitania</b>, by Erik Larson. Here's a cute girl holding my copy:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihe1FiWADgsSpBR_FhQXWbA5wPlT_xjUG71qCCfCfCS6S4wkNTuNIpUH50k7sfAIGOIAv5LOEseyBHnxYCPkdU_QV5fZSfSwCjGCJJaVMgZZsWJD7bxrf7SHVZzHhZE564hrdOpf1cLnU/s1600/LarsonBook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihe1FiWADgsSpBR_FhQXWbA5wPlT_xjUG71qCCfCfCS6S4wkNTuNIpUH50k7sfAIGOIAv5LOEseyBHnxYCPkdU_QV5fZSfSwCjGCJJaVMgZZsWJD7bxrf7SHVZzHhZE564hrdOpf1cLnU/s320/LarsonBook.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
The Lusitania is one of those things we learn about in history, and vaguely connect it to America's entrance into WW1. But what makes this book so incredible is that Larson tells the story from ground-level, from the perspectives of those involved. Sure, world events are wrapped around those tales but for goodness sake, we even see things from the view of the submarine that sank the ship! Not to mention the Lusitania's captain and numerous passengers and crew. <br />
<br />
Anyway, here's the Amazon summary:<br />
<br />
"On May 1st, 1915 the <i>Lusitania</i> set sail on its final voyage. That
it was sunk by a German U-boat will be news to few—and Larson’s
challenge is to craft a historical narrative leading up to the
thrilling, if known, conclusion, building anticipation in his readers
along the way. To his credit, he makes the task look easy. Focusing on
the politics of WWI, on nautical craftsmanship and strategy, and on key
players in the eventual attack and sinking of the “fast, comfortable,
and beloved” <i>Lusitania</i>, Larson once again illustrates his gift for seducing us with history and giving it a human face. <i>Dead Wake</i>
puts readers right aboard the famous Cunard liner and keeps them
turning the pages until the book’s final, breathless encounter."<br />
<br />
And look, you can go a million places to read reviews of it. I'm posting my own few words because I was so blown away by the book. Only twice in the past few years have I read an entire book in one weekend, and in fact DEAD WAKE took me slightly more than a day.<br />
<br />
Not only is it immaculately researched but it reads like an adventure novel. Which, in fact, does it a disservice because it's also emotionally compelling. When I finished reading about the sinking itself, the lives lost and the descriptions of those in the water, the portrayal of that horrible twenty or so minutes, I had to put the book down and walk away.<br />
<br />
Only for about ten minutes though, the story is so powerful I had to get back to it.<br />
<br />
So if you're looking for an amazing non-fiction read, heck even if you're not, get this book. You won't regret it. Bloody marvelous.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-87438815627637323962016-05-14T16:50:00.002-05:002016-05-14T16:50:41.862-05:00Throwing the Book at a Cop. (Actually, About Fifty of Them.)<div>
<div>
A month after Austin Police Officer Russell Smith was in a near-fatal car
crash on his way home from patrol, I reached out to a community of
people for help.<br />
</div>
<div>
People who, on an a normal day,
create the kind of mayhem and madness that Officer Smith deals
with on a daily basis. People with evil in their minds, people who deal
out death and destruction to the innocent and guilty, to the young and
the old. Ruthless, murderous people.<br />
</div>
<div>
People, quite frankly, who possess ginormously loving hearts and incredibly generous spirits. </div>
<div>
Oh, let me back a moment and introduce you to Russ. My family had lunch with him and his wife today and he let me take his pic, neck brace and all.</div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizSi5b84V7Xd98J8Bwoq17q0t78VQjvMVDs8XI0DlSdLIVPXWZH1pWEK1DILDH4HMWrLYOKdpMtnUv6OkWwBADVdCTezHSC3ZZPNCs3nNaxH8sXhpwqzRn8VmlPFLtdUeD6h2rvUmnOIE/s1600/Russ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizSi5b84V7Xd98J8Bwoq17q0t78VQjvMVDs8XI0DlSdLIVPXWZH1pWEK1DILDH4HMWrLYOKdpMtnUv6OkWwBADVdCTezHSC3ZZPNCs3nNaxH8sXhpwqzRn8VmlPFLtdUeD6h2rvUmnOIE/s320/Russ.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
</div>
<div>
I've had the pleasure of seeing Russ on the job and he's so
professional, so respectful when he deals with members of the public, and
I'm proud to call him a friend and colleague. You guys don't know him,
but trust me when I tell you the world needs more police officers like
Russell Smith, and whether he's back on patrol or behind a desk he'll make a difference to our community.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
One
other thing to know about Russ is that he's an avid reader. Fiction,
non-fiction, history, crime, he loves it all. I found that out over
several ride-outs in his patrol car, and over several meals we've
shared. Right now he's on a Hemmingway kick, just so ya know.<br />
</div>
<div>
Anyway,
it struck me that a reader who's facing a long lay-off and a lot of
rehab could almost certainly use a few more books. Just a few. So I put out one, solitary appeal on Facebook to see if a writer friend or two might be able
to sign and send a book.<br />
</div>
<div>
Yeah, well, this happened:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRMNChFkHLDvCkugYH0I1fd8HyS2V1w36fKyZenkAtjMY2HJgyfwQ-2T_Jt_-Hq2wr-mqakpeDUGwhLm2LOpp0mj35gUiP0pDtKnfSRHhRYGS5RTYdSVJC5XrLX0ZonsyYCj3xyux221k/s1600/Russ+Books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRMNChFkHLDvCkugYH0I1fd8HyS2V1w36fKyZenkAtjMY2HJgyfwQ-2T_Jt_-Hq2wr-mqakpeDUGwhLm2LOpp0mj35gUiP0pDtKnfSRHhRYGS5RTYdSVJC5XrLX0ZonsyYCj3xyux221k/s320/Russ+Books.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyphenhyphencqrEiI5LBlWkumGDgkr1qSVIuTZoU45h_do9q0D_LufW8r03h-iDruUOKoyL5yXxM_bbLT2XDiEyhgQTwikzunhohtsDj2t_VMPwmMhCALExiGHLMeqskAE8RYsoRKU7YbpuviKvnM/s1600/Russ+Books2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyphenhyphencqrEiI5LBlWkumGDgkr1qSVIuTZoU45h_do9q0D_LufW8r03h-iDruUOKoyL5yXxM_bbLT2XDiEyhgQTwikzunhohtsDj2t_VMPwmMhCALExiGHLMeqskAE8RYsoRKU7YbpuviKvnM/s320/Russ+Books2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div>
To
save you having to count, that's fifty-three novels, from more than
twenty writers, readers, reviewers, and my own wonderful publisher,
Seventh Street Books. And that was in just two weeks, I know there are
more on the way. As well as books, people sent get-well cards, a coffee mug, and
several gift cards.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Oh, and a copy of Playboy. Seriously. My friend Steve Weddle has an article published in this issue so he kindly mailed it for the collection. Which will make Russ the first person to say, "I'm reading this for the articles," and not be a big, fat liar.<br />
</div>
<div>
Now, I have the pleasure of interacting
with my colleagues in the crime fiction community at a conference every
year, and sometimes our paths cross on the book-signing trail. Every
experience has been a wonder, their kindness and generosity has always
blown me away but never more so than in their rush to help Russ Smith.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
So,
to you all, my thanks. And to anyone who reads, especially crime
fiction, know that every time you buy a book your are supporting a
wonderful community of kind and generous people. So thanks to you, too.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There's a lot of bad news in the world these days. And I'm sitting in my local library while a storm rages outside, which should portend evil. But not today. Today I loaded three boxes of books into the trunk of a friend's car, books written by other friends.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A good day for everyone.</div>
D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-29704166830942027042016-04-17T17:18:00.000-05:002016-04-20T07:51:27.657-05:00The Eye-Witness Testimony of Children (aka, How To Turn Two Into Eleven)We had an interesting experience recently that made very real the problem with eye-witness testimony, and shows why I rarely rely on it as a prosecutor unless there's some very good corroborating evidence.<br />
<br />
One weekday evening, my son and three friends were in a nearby park (he and the two girls were eleven, and another boy was eight). They encountered two boys who identified themselves as 8th graders at a nearby middle school. Unfortunately, these boys began throwing rocks at the younger kids, and threatening to kill and rape them.<br />
<br />
Yeah, charming.<br />
<br />
My son is a tough lad but had no desire to stand his ground, so took off running. He fell and did this:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HoSmBApIQrgQWWFBWA0CAYCiE1RWLkHHklAPLEy9ec3Gz6DEUuBPnRR0p-Tzgv20oF3xgmREBoLG9xoxgG5bRAikUcv_2nu4MX6IswoJOLnIDq7KJUDpWj891qva5a_Z1zEzrIXubIw/s1600/leg+cut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HoSmBApIQrgQWWFBWA0CAYCiE1RWLkHHklAPLEy9ec3Gz6DEUuBPnRR0p-Tzgv20oF3xgmREBoLG9xoxgG5bRAikUcv_2nu4MX6IswoJOLnIDq7KJUDpWj891qva5a_Z1zEzrIXubIw/s320/leg+cut.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYmuj16pdcane5ocJh8WOyOoPfRvFlI0WfQCv5cCMJHUs7-zNrDyjkKFDQSKF3lmPUceie8Zh6AFwBctFZTrX9hsQDUmzPm56QCOjOpFkGS6Rm4GIOGN2MHOBElDdqwdEv9z8VwcnGUXE/s1600/IMG_1632.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYmuj16pdcane5ocJh8WOyOoPfRvFlI0WfQCv5cCMJHUs7-zNrDyjkKFDQSKF3lmPUceie8Zh6AFwBctFZTrX9hsQDUmzPm56QCOjOpFkGS6Rm4GIOGN2MHOBElDdqwdEv9z8VwcnGUXE/s320/IMG_1632.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
We reported the incident to the police, who can't do very much without an identification of those boys. So on Friday we rendezvous-ed at the elementary school to look at a yearbook from the middle school, to see if the kids could recognize the two boys. Actually, the kids <b>and </b>one parent, who'd gone to look for her daughter in the park and encountered them.<br />
<br />
So, four kids and one adult.<br />
<br />
They took turns leafing through the yearbook, so as not to influence each other. The photos weren't divided up by year, but by alphabet, so they had to look through several hundred pictures of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders to find the stone-throwers.<br />
<br />
How hard could it be?<br />
<br />
I'll tell you: very.<br />
<br />
By the end of an hour, we had <b>eleven </b>suspects. The identifications varied from fifty percent to eighty percent certainty, but the interesting thing to me (apart from the number eleven) was that we had zero crossover. In other words, none of the five people perusing the book had chosen the same kid.<br />
<br />
Pretty scary, eh?<br />
<br />
<br />
'D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-17570797744065106762016-04-13T10:32:00.001-05:002016-04-13T10:42:12.718-05:00Cover Reveal... And Quiet Places With BooksI'm delighted to be able to show off the cover art for my next Hugo Marston novel, <b><i>The Paris Librarian</i></b>. As you can see, it's a little different from the previous Hugo books and I absolutely love it.<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Paris-Librarian-Hugo-Marston-Novel/dp/1633881776/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/Paris-Librarian-Hugo-Marston-Novel/dp/1633881776/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjKvFEjnDv1k-US0-UB9g_9I7sT7_FOroCG6jZUweg88sGhyi25ohBt3Ur_i8jWSODOVQReaIk53LqITsL4o5f3VJZxBktLjbzGtVoB6YJXYFmG4bQbo9iT09Er5sIPhvTRvqYcaviU20/s320/The+Paris+Librarian.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
And it's especially appropriate that I get to reveal it this week of all weeks, simply because it's:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlXWIwaAG3UKRjOYUsVGFTBqbWEcvI9vD_lnNg-U6ryuEhNvTVVPEgiT5QZ3RKrLcDJMWsR9DbJH2qlF8frnDaPkGQYuWYCzVGaPW_F-m1tYHK_ojPDiM6YYIgkxwwEjPXZ_XJA_8lHVo/s1600/NationalLibraryWeek.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlXWIwaAG3UKRjOYUsVGFTBqbWEcvI9vD_lnNg-U6ryuEhNvTVVPEgiT5QZ3RKrLcDJMWsR9DbJH2qlF8frnDaPkGQYuWYCzVGaPW_F-m1tYHK_ojPDiM6YYIgkxwwEjPXZ_XJA_8lHVo/s320/NationalLibraryWeek.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
There are many people in my life who make it possible for me to write, people who have supported me in various ways and allowed me to act and feel like a real author.<br />
<br />
Well, thanks to them, that's what I am.<br />
<br />
There are the usual suspects, those I thank at every opportunity, like my wife and kids, my parents, my close friends. Folks like Scott Montgomery at BookPeople here in Austin, my agent and the great people at Seventh Street Books (Jill , Dan, and Jon, I'm looking at you...!).<br />
<br />
But what about the unusual suspects?<br />
<br />
In 2009, I started going to my local library, the Will Hampton Branch of the Austin Public Library system. Here she is:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRAadkFP31579qqLLHdwzvcjNGBF6q5gmj4KgOJ1FfwEkXThtw06IBOCRz3CoDxEW0yR85dZd85mqDBfChwooUUkuEPCx0rKG4QleP52MxIj_XR7v2u0rkLxk_dwXyrlf7upsrWSth6t4/s1600/Libraryentry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRAadkFP31579qqLLHdwzvcjNGBF6q5gmj4KgOJ1FfwEkXThtw06IBOCRz3CoDxEW0yR85dZd85mqDBfChwooUUkuEPCx0rKG4QleP52MxIj_XR7v2u0rkLxk_dwXyrlf7upsrWSth6t4/s320/Libraryentry.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I went there every weekend and some afternoons, whenever I could, to write <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bookseller-First-Hugo-Marston-Novel/dp/1616147083/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1460492710&sr=8-2&keywords=the+bookseller" target="_blank"><i>The Bookseller</i></a>. </b>Took me about eight months and all that time I'd stroll in, nod politely to whoever was at the circulation desk, find space at a table, and get on with it. When that novel was done, I started on the sequel at the library as I waited for my agent to find me a publisher.<br />
<br />
Then, in October of 2012, the book was published and one of the first things I did was take two copies to the library manager and hand them over.<br />
<br />
"This book was written right here," I told him. "Thank you for helping me get it done."<br />
<br />
He was delighted, and admitted that they'd wondered a little about the guy who came so regularly and typed so intently. So I made the rounds and introduced myself to the other staff who were there. Most of them have moved on since but I get to know the new folks who come in, and they are always thrilled that a real-life author wrote (so far) seven novels in their library.<br />
<br />
And I still do.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU7ElUzrng1B7b5f52xV_rOC56bvvcF85yxBSVlsJmOFdiuASupDmFBUq8gZLCCUL-GBNkUaZNZAHCu5uXD2_c3swfYB0_RdF9E1Tzo4lAC0zWO_vr9c02N-j2E79o7M9-4i2cFRVhmE8/s1600/Librarydesk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU7ElUzrng1B7b5f52xV_rOC56bvvcF85yxBSVlsJmOFdiuASupDmFBUq8gZLCCUL-GBNkUaZNZAHCu5uXD2_c3swfYB0_RdF9E1Tzo4lAC0zWO_vr9c02N-j2E79o7M9-4i2cFRVhmE8/s320/Librarydesk.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The current WIP is also being sweated over and thumped out amid the stacks. The staff are always happy to see me, to stop for a quick chat, but they also respect my time and are plainly hesitant to interrupt -- how perfect is that?<br />
<br />
Sometimes I get to give back a little. For example, the <a href="http://www.hooverlibrary.org/" target="_blank">Hoover Public Library</a> in Alabama invited me (and half a dozen other authors) to their Southern Voices Festival. Talk about an impressive library and staff... But there I was able to meet with and talk to hundreds of readers, tell them in person why I love (and need) libraries. They even filmed a chat between myself and fellow author Jamie Mason (of <i>Three Graves Full</i> and <i>Monday's Lie</i> fame). <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqUSKuSwqy4&index=4&list=PLLAnQTakKAb9r20Ph1eUN37TVHFG7h6ho&nohtml5=False" target="_blank">Check that out here</a>.<br />
<br />
I'm sometimes asked why I write at a library, and there are several reasons. For one thing, I'm surrounded by books, and there's nothing more inspiring than that. I also like the ambient noise of the place, people murmuring and browsing the shelves, the occasional too-loud kid who's excited about this book or that video.<br />
<br />
And now, of course, it's also about the people. I still have questions they can answer, usually something like: "Hey, Eric, what do you Americans call such-and-such?" But more than that, I enjoy having friendly and familiar faces around me as I work. (I know I have familiar and friendly faces at home, but they are much smaller and usually need things from me.) Here I am with some of my librarian friends:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9llTw2aXe7Jx6dtOzxrlYdahFcFgeCf-eOPi98pFOxoAdtS2T3hLEZtJ3l7WXSrWCQNkSZfIc0ZfbROVWiYtgboRaMoZEyF9ISSgtTpBgm3uwEJjPa0pPxkxIwF98N3-uGBcEAB_Q9B0/s1600/Libraryteam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9llTw2aXe7Jx6dtOzxrlYdahFcFgeCf-eOPi98pFOxoAdtS2T3hLEZtJ3l7WXSrWCQNkSZfIc0ZfbROVWiYtgboRaMoZEyF9ISSgtTpBgm3uwEJjPa0pPxkxIwF98N3-uGBcEAB_Q9B0/s320/Libraryteam.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The moment I pass through those sliding glass doors a kind of peace settles over me (unless I'm returning an overdue book, then I whistle innocently and point in the opposite direction as I drop it in the return slot).<br />
<br />
I'll be back there this Friday, on most Fridays in fact, it's as close to an office as this writer has. But it's not your usual office - the commute is five minutes, the welcome is genuine and warm, the hours are short, and I get a ton done.<br />
<br />
So thank you to my friends at the Hampton Library. And thank you to all the librarians out there, you probably have no idea how much we writers need and adore you.<br />
<br />
But we surely do.<br />
<br />D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-20052490338135127212016-04-01T06:56:00.000-05:002016-04-01T06:56:02.166-05:00The DWI Testimony of Donald TrumpThis hasn't been in the news for some reason, but now that the case is over I can publish the transcript of a trial in which presidential candidate Donald Trump played a small role, right here in Austin. This happened when he was campaigning in Texas -- as part of his pro-law enforcement platform he rode out with APD, in Nigel Sector.<br />
<br />
About halfway through the evening the officer he was with, Officer Dover, pulled over Christopher Paul Bacon for failing to maintain a single lane (aka weaving). Mr. Bacon took the case to trial, and because Mr. Trump was present he was called as a witness. He testified right after the officer, as the State's second, and final, witness. (The prosecutor was assistant county attorney Gowan Gether, the defense attorney was Susan Yoo.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Prosecutor: </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Let's begin with how the officer came to pull the defendant over that night. What happened?</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Trump:</div>
<div>
I'll tell you what happened. I was there and saw everything. Saw it all, and you better believe I can tell the heck out of what happened that night. The officer was terrific.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Prosecutor:</div>
<div>
Thank you. Please go on.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Trump:</div>
<div>
Oh, I will. See, I was in the police car. Super car, too, had great lights on
the top. Best police car I've ever seen, Officer Ben can drive as fast as he wants. It's
got lights. Sirens. The works. We could drive the wrong way down a street if we wanted, no one would say anything. Anyway, we see this guy, the drunk guy
who's sitting by that horse-faced lawyer over there. He's driving but he's also
drunk, so we arrest him.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Prosecutor:</div>
<div>
OK, but why did you guys pull him over? What was your probable cause for the stop? </div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Trump:</div>
<div>
Probable what?</div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Prosecutor:</div>
<div>
Cause. The reason for the stop. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Trump:</div>
<div>
What, are you kidding me? He was drunk. Look at the guy, he's probably drunk now. He looks drunk to me, sitting there like a loser. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Defense Atty:</div>
<div>
I object, Judge, this isn't evidence, it's insults.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Trump: </div>
<div>
Hey, I got evidence. The best evidence. Evidence like you've never seen.
Beyond all absolutely reasonable doubt, that's how good my evidence is. It's terrific.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Defense Atty:</div>
<div>
Then let's hear it. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Trump: </div>
</div>
<div>
Be quiet. I bet you paid for his drinks that night, didn't you? In fact, I
bet you're probably hammered right now, too, aren't you? Who else is a drunk gonna hire for a lawyer? Like for like. You're both losers.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Judge:</div>
<div>
Officer, stick to the facts please.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Trump: </div>
<div>
Fine. You want the facts? You better believe I'll show you facts. Big ones. Huge
facts, ones you won't even believe exist until I tell you about them. [Pointing]
Drunk. This guy, while he was driving. Shocking, I don't know what this
country's coming to. But here I am, testifying. My testimony, it's great.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Prosecutor:</div>
</div>
Perhaps we could hear some of the specifics.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Trump: </div>
</div>
<div>
You did. I said it. And just for you, so we're clear, I'll say
it again. That guy was drunk while he was driving. Drunk like a skunk,
and believe you me I know my skunks. Especially the ones who are drunk.
And driving.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Prosecutor:</div>
</div>
<div>
Did the officer you were with perform any SFSTs?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Trump: </div>
</div>
<div>
Any what, now?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Prosecutor:</div>
Standardized field sobriety tests.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Trump: </div>
</div>
<div>
That's a great question. A fine question. And yes he did. All of
them. He performed all of the tests that we know about, that you're
talking about. Great tests, super ones. Every single test that there is,
those are the ones he did.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Prosecutor:</div>
<div>
Were they passed or failed?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Trump:</div>
<div>
I've
never failed a test in my life. Any test. Never. You can go back and
look, Donald Trump hasn't failed a single test, it's right there you
just have to look. Quite clear.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Prosecutor:</div>
What about blood or breath? Did the defendant give up any of those?<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Trump: </div>
</div>
<div>
Are you kidding? I could smell his breath a mile away. No test
needed. Clear and unequivocal. Drunk. That's the problem with policing
these days, people like you expect all their fancy-shmancy scientific
tests when some common sense will do. I'm a businessman,
successful, millionaire businessman. Billionaire, even. I know wasted
when I smell it, even if you don't. That's your problem, right there. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Prosecutor:</div>
What about a blood test?<br />
<br />
<div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Trump:</div>
What? Of course not. No one's taking his blood. I'm not taking anyone's blood. That's disgusting. Who would do that? Where
are you from that you'd do that? Disgusting. I bet you're not even from
here, are you? In fact, why don't you who us your birth certificate? See, you probably don't have one. Not even born yet.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Prosecutor:</div>
<div>
Err, thank you. I pass the witness. And abandon the case.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Trump:</div>
</div>
<div>
Abandon? No, I'm not done, loser. You know what I'm gonna do? When I'm president I'm gonna keep arresting drunks, and make them prosecute themselves. Next one I catch, just you watch. Take him to jail and make him prosecute himself. I'm just saying. Too many of them in this town. Now, I'm sure they're not all bad, some are probably good people. But yeah. Just you watch.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Judge:</div>
<div>
You're excused. Case dismissed.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Trump:</div>
<div>
No it isn't. Does this case look dismissed to you? All these people, this yuge courtroom. I'll tell you this, there's no problem with this case. It's solid. The best evidence, not dismissed. No problem at all.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Hey, where's everyone going?</div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
[End of Transcript]</div>
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D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-60379247835545441412015-04-01T05:00:00.000-05:002015-04-01T05:00:03.955-05:00I'm doing it: Me for political office (the only one worth my attention).I'm running for President of the United States of America.<br />
<br />
I need to begin with an admission: I had believed that you need to be born on U.S. soil to be eligible but I now know that's not true. If Ted Cruz is eligible, as a Cuban/Canadian/American, I realize that I am, too.<br />
<br />
Also, if Ted Cruz is a viable candidate, I can be, too. I mean, seriously.<br />
<br />
<u><b>My qualifications: </b></u><br />
<br />
As a <b>prosecutor </b>I have years of public service under my belt, and have accepted and executed the demands of this office with diligence and determination. Not executed literally, you understand, that's not my job.<br />
<br />
As a former <b>journalist </b>I am up-to-date on current events and will be able to step into the White House and know what I'm talking about, be it the Russian invasion of Ukraine (and I know enough not to call it "the Ukraine"), climate change (and I know enough about science to accept this as fact), or the Keystone pipeline (ok, I don't know so much about that one).<br />
<br />
As an <b>author </b>I wear tweed jackets and smoke a pipe occasionally. That is the perfect visual image of a President.<br />
<br />
As an <b>Englishman </b>I will be able to take tea and play cricket with the English and Indian Prime Ministers. And continue to not take Australia seriously as a nation.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>My political platforms:</b></u><br />
<br />
<b>Healthcare </b>-- single payer system. I say make the Australians pay.<br />
<br />
<b>Gay marriage</b> -- my wife would be most upset if I was in one. Kids would be kind of shocked, too. That said, I've noticed no detriment to my own vows or the fabric of society resulting from other people gay-marrying, so I'm all for it.<br />
<br />
<b>Military action overseas</b> -- not really working out too well, so I say either (a) pull back the troops and reallocate money to make our own society more equal and just, or (b) invade a sleepy unprepared, and ultimately easy-to-conquer nation. May I suggest New Zealand? I know, you thought I was going to say Australia but that place is full of snakes, spiders, crocodiles, and wombats. And Australians. New Zealand is like the Canada of Australia, but warmer. And not as combative. An easy invasion followed by gentle walks in the sheep meadows. That's some foreign policy for you.<br />
<br />
<b>Climate change</b> -- as a former ski instructor I'm a little miffed about this turn of events. And I hate the way sand gets in your sandwiches and crotch at the beach, so don't try and tell me that's a benefit. Consequently, I'm opposed to climate change. Plus, I feel bad for the penguins.<br />
<br />
<b>Taxes </b>-- more. Locally and nationally. Although I'm in favor of alternatives like Uber. Oh, wait, you said "taxes" not "taxis." In that case, fewer taxes. And fewer tax dodgings (I'm looking at you, rich people; caveat: if I become rich, I will revisit this policy).<br />
<br />
That's enough to get started on.<br />
<br />
Oh, you're wondering which party I'm running with, Democrat or Republican. Answer: neither, which tells you that I have more self-respect and dignity than the vast majority of my opponents. <br />
<br />
Vote for me?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-87339756612917236572015-03-23T11:49:00.000-05:002015-03-23T11:49:55.870-05:00All books can matter. All of them.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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A woman wrote to me recently, asking for a favor for her
dying father. She told me that he’s a fan of my books but is unlikely to be
around by the time the next one comes out, in June of this year. Her father,
Michael, is dying of liver cancer, and she hoped I might be able to get him an
early, pre-release copy of the book.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For those who don’t know, publishers do print advanced
review copies (ARCs), which are not fully edited but look pretty much like the
finished version. They are not usually handed out to readers, for obvious
reasons, but as you can imagine I was deeply touched by this request, and
immediately asked my publisher to send me an<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>ARC so I could sign it and send it to him. And a few days after mailing it
off, I received messages of thanks from Michael himself, his son, and two of his
daughters, just for doing this small thing. Oh and this photo.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1MiRZLKyubKhS-98ijM5IzcdexEiF6xYUiLLVAkNK6UKpbKadNWjzS5d2rjVZ1mTTtrsBGHEXhibmGXU9vz0b6_nq_oW1nLauiokHkt4hL-6ujh2gPonHv8QTYrxsvoUBFSWNyWNswYw/s1600/Michael,+Sarah,+and+Scout+Harmuth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1MiRZLKyubKhS-98ijM5IzcdexEiF6xYUiLLVAkNK6UKpbKadNWjzS5d2rjVZ1mTTtrsBGHEXhibmGXU9vz0b6_nq_oW1nLauiokHkt4hL-6ujh2gPonHv8QTYrxsvoUBFSWNyWNswYw/s1600/Michael,+Sarah,+and+Scout+Harmuth.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
(Michael, his daughter Sarah, and his grand-daughter Scout with an ARC of <i>The Reluctant Matador</i>.)<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What they didn’t know, couldn’t know, is that my own father
was taken by cancer not so long ago. He died just a few months before my first
book was published and so he never got to see it in print, hold it in his
hands. As result, I strongly disapprove of cancer, never more so than when it
separates parents from children and, in our shared circumstance, readers from
authors. This, then, was a small favor for me but a huge honor. And it set me
thinking about the way our books impact people in ways we can’t possibly know.
I write mystery novels, a series with an old-fashioned hero who operates in
London, Barcelona, and Paris. I don’t pretend to tackle important issues with
the books, I just try to tell a good tale and bring a few characters to life to
entertain my readers. And every week I hear from a reader or two, kind people
who take the time and trouble to write to me, either to say nice things or to
ask questions about the books. But I’ve never had a request like the one from
Michael Harmuth’s daughter.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You may know that there is forever a rumble in the world of
books, as authors and readers (but usually authors) take positions on the
relative merits of literary fiction versus genre fiction (which would include
crime, romance, sci-fi, horror, western, erotica, etc.). I don’t plan to rehash
those debates here—they aren’t hard to find elsewhere—but the basic argument is
that literary fiction tackles important ideas with beautiful and moving
language whereas genre fiction is more about what happens, about entertainment.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My own view is that there is no real distinction, just a
large palette of a thousand colors that includes all writers, styles, and
subjects. Within my own genre, crime fiction, we have Tana French, Jamie Mason,
Laura Lippman, and a host of others writing novels that are literary in tone
and style, and are still crime novels. They spatter blood over those literary
v. genre distinctions and stuff them into body bags. I recently saw, and
endorse, the opinion that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pride and
Prejudice</i> is a romance and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lonesome
Dove</i> is a western. That <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Time
Traveler’s Wife</i> is science fiction and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i> is horror. And isn’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Kill a Mockingbird</i> a crime novel?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But here’s the thing. Even if someone more articulate is
able to make a case for a line between literary and genre fiction, the truth is
that I’m happy to have pitched my tent where it now sits, in the genre camp.
And I know with certainty that my novels have had the kind of impact on at
least one person that any artist or writer could hope for. A kind, funny,
decent man wants to read just one more of them before he makes his way on to
his next adventure.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And there’s one more thing I can, and will, do for my new
friend and his family. He has in his hands book five in the series, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Reluctant Matador</i>, which is set in
Barcelona. Most of the novels are set in Paris, so I know Michael has enjoyed
his visits there with my characters. The next in the series will again be in
the City of Light—and Michael will be there, too. With his blessing, Michael
Harmuth will be a character in my next book, maybe plotting mischief or perhaps
providing clues to the good guys. Either way, the next novel in the series will
be as important to him and his family as the others because every time they
pick it up, Michael’s children will be able to read about, and picture, their
father on the streets of Paris, as alive in their minds as he is today, and
having a damn good time with a few of the literary characters who have meant
something to him. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As a writer, I don’t set out to change the world or impart
large truths. But I’m more aware now that our books, all of them, have the
power to bring a little light into the lives of strangers, to give them
something to look forward to, and maybe hold on to. And, in at least one
instance, a chance to live on in a way that may be different, but a way that
means something to him and to me. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(Michael has his own blog, where he’s talked about his
“journey with cancer.” He calls it “<a href="https://incurableme2013.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Incurableme</a>,” which tells you a lot about his strength
and sense of humor).</div>
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<![endif]-->D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-53332566141266110692014-11-19T15:16:00.000-06:002014-11-19T16:05:38.034-06:00Death panels in California (the fun kind).Don't worry, the death panels are over. You and your loved ones are safe now.<br />
<br />
Actually, you always were because the death panels I'm referring to only kill pretend people, in books. Here's a picture of one, snapped this past weekend at the huge mystery conference called <a href="http://www.bouchercon2014.com/" target="_blank">Bouchercon</a>, in Long Beach. Look how harmless they are (I'll identify them in a moment):<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3w-ae3UhfsPhEyH-v9EZ4_sIdbCUBhSZmKKyg6cfjcIvhqyi42YEj-AAFzIgPCrB0T7xliIbJPN_RZhB2wWJU9edKoOqkp2P7xc-X4zaY5ZIEC1hIUDHp7sVeScjPOpUfkLysZu16s6E/s1600/Panel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3w-ae3UhfsPhEyH-v9EZ4_sIdbCUBhSZmKKyg6cfjcIvhqyi42YEj-AAFzIgPCrB0T7xliIbJPN_RZhB2wWJU9edKoOqkp2P7xc-X4zaY5ZIEC1hIUDHp7sVeScjPOpUfkLysZu16s6E/s1600/Panel.jpg" height="278" width="320" /></a></div>
Naturally, I don't approve of bunny ears in a photo, that's just silliness, very juvenile. Never do it myself, frightful behavior. But my point is, not only are these people harmless, they are very, very nice. That's why I'm posting this because most people don't get to know the authors of the books they love. It's funny, and I've had this discussion with many an author -- a lot of avid readers could walk right past their favorite writers and not recognize them. I imagine that's because we're not performance-based artists, like actors or musicians, so our faces aren't integral to our work (thank goodness, right?!). It may also be true that many writers are reclusive by nature (not me!), and so for those reasons it's understandable that our readers have no clue what we look like.<br />
<br />
But it's also a shame. Writers are some of the nicest, friendliest, and most humble people I know. (Granted, I hang out with lawyers a lot so maybe that lowers the bar a little...) but the people in the photo above are NY Times bestsellers and multiple award winners, and also sweeter than pecan pie. There's no "I'm more famous than you," at these get-togethers, and even though I felt a little pressure at appearing amongst these guys, it was nothing but fun.<br />
<br />
Ah yes, who they are -- from left to right: <a href="http://johnconnollybooks.com/" target="_blank">John Connolly</a>, <a href="http://www.tammykaehler.com/" target="_blank">Tammy Kaehler,</a> <a href="http://www.williamkentkrueger.com/" target="_blank">William Kent Krueger</a>, and me. Taking the photo was <a href="http://www.juliaspencerfleming.com/" target="_blank">Julia Spencer-Fleming</a>.<br />
<br />
The bar is a frequent hang-out spot at these conferences, which is a little bizarre. Not because writers don't drink, hell yes we do, but because hotel bars charge $16 for a scotch. Now there's a crime for you. Fortunately, I'm at the point where I know enough people that I can often find someone mid-order and force them, out of politeness, to ask what I'm having. I suckered<a href="http://jameswziskin.com/" target="_blank"> James Ziskin</a> a couple of times over the weekend, although I did buy him a small coffee on Sunday morning to make up for it. He seemed grateful.<br />
<br />
Another plus: these aren't sexist conferences, like some. I was able to mooch a martini from <a href="http://www.jamie-mason.com/" target="_blank">Jamie Mason</a>, too. Here's proof:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5RIPZhq0qQapt3H-hhNWAckseXYezowjSnOZRUgFwxfLZxtcc6wHGMKbXydK-mrl9yIWeiWiDclnZafHx6X66v-t8TCsbi478EnVKZC7YOycbrWq0xmkoO9VfcM1fM6TOl7Miq6U8aT8/s1600/Mason.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5RIPZhq0qQapt3H-hhNWAckseXYezowjSnOZRUgFwxfLZxtcc6wHGMKbXydK-mrl9yIWeiWiDclnZafHx6X66v-t8TCsbi478EnVKZC7YOycbrWq0xmkoO9VfcM1fM6TOl7Miq6U8aT8/s1600/Mason.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
See how she's holding onto her drink with both hands in a bar full of writers?? Smart woman.<br />
<br />
Where was I? Ah yes, nice authors. So there I am, mixing and mingling, and the super-star <a href="http://carablack.com/" target="_blank">Cara Black</a> comes up to me and tells me how she saw my books for sale at a store in Paris (France, not Texas). She apologized that her phone battery was dead and so she couldn't take a pic, but she wanted me to know, because she knew I'd be excited. Heck yes, my books being sold in Paris? <i><b>Love </b></i>that. And there she is, a woman who's sold more books than Shakespeare getting excited with me, taking the time to share that. Heck, even noticing my book there in the first place.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrM0gP0rvjM12U6UfCRVkg-17yspJWEddRN0dw8BV4ZTufbRaroCREMDn-41zjTgKwYNL-mZStpVYZlcQ2eQxz-CmVbpr0z56Oxk7QmsA_Jtr8X4qmi1nBERKt_jCvzqVR6Kxjz5QQ7_Y/s1600/Black.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrM0gP0rvjM12U6UfCRVkg-17yspJWEddRN0dw8BV4ZTufbRaroCREMDn-41zjTgKwYNL-mZStpVYZlcQ2eQxz-CmVbpr0z56Oxk7QmsA_Jtr8X4qmi1nBERKt_jCvzqVR6Kxjz5QQ7_Y/s1600/Black.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Right after talking with Cara, I spent more time with the man of the hour, Kent Krueger. I told him what I told several people that weekend - I read one of his books because it was getting good reviews and I was going to be on a panel with him. Now I recommend it to everyone I can because it's brilliant (and is picking up awards like an 18th century sailor picks up communicable diseases). Lucky for him he didn't try the bunny ears on me, I guess he knows I'm much too serious of a person for that nonsense...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qwArpLQ1jWeCY-yPWEwUlmrPAG-9pyE_GNsy1LtMxNnWPYseZdjmvqwMzsVewdBM2IQUt4J9eGSVggF4bLTfPZ-oH5GnikNnoqPx-LV-GfB_6kGf9ctotAcyeTpM28ISfSogmvbhQ28/s1600/Krueger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qwArpLQ1jWeCY-yPWEwUlmrPAG-9pyE_GNsy1LtMxNnWPYseZdjmvqwMzsVewdBM2IQUt4J9eGSVggF4bLTfPZ-oH5GnikNnoqPx-LV-GfB_6kGf9ctotAcyeTpM28ISfSogmvbhQ28/s1600/Krueger.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
His book, by the way, is called <i>Ordinary Grace</i>. <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ordinary-grace-william-kent-krueger/1112033244?ean=9781451645859" target="_blank">Check it out</a>.<br />
<br />
One other person who's a must-see at these deals is <a href="http://terryshames.com/" target="_blank">Terry Shames</a>. She's with my publisher, <a href="http://www.seventhstreetbooks.com/" target="_blank">Seventh Street Books</a>, and I love her mystery series, set here in Texas. Turns out, by the way, I'm not the only one who loves it because she won the Macavity Award for best first novel this year! Here's a pic of Terry and me at the pub the night she won.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoa5wiLovfhjUOQwyrcCePUbjRXCphkOn8pY9YGNVjNvFgofzg15_DQ0xMV1DH0aZqJlEdDiSOBPosVwBiXSocXMXaJIZ544_5E7Ya-YfKY9K91NRH-SURwUyZyceiUTtkCTWHBhTq0Rg/s1600/Terry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoa5wiLovfhjUOQwyrcCePUbjRXCphkOn8pY9YGNVjNvFgofzg15_DQ0xMV1DH0aZqJlEdDiSOBPosVwBiXSocXMXaJIZ544_5E7Ya-YfKY9K91NRH-SURwUyZyceiUTtkCTWHBhTq0Rg/s1600/Terry.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
Obviously, photo bombing with a thumbs-up is <i>way </i>more mature than bunny ears.<br />
<br />
One more picture I want to share. And this exemplifies what's best about writing conferences because here you have (from left to right) aspiring author Jonas Paterno, B&N mystery guru Jules Herbert, and authors James Ziskin & me. Tall, handsome men. What else could a conference need?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjljyvsKR4P_e_dtO5mG9ktRa5oRoEu8bi2Uj-SAALvqkJOhyphenhyphenEyI5no3Wcc6A8etaVzXmGywg6zq1-5VgCcYsr2k3hld6aRtrQHn_E9UXXxse7Ad10eSPz3D08yrp7kEuO5jfWtCJRP288/s1600/Jules.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjljyvsKR4P_e_dtO5mG9ktRa5oRoEu8bi2Uj-SAALvqkJOhyphenhyphenEyI5no3Wcc6A8etaVzXmGywg6zq1-5VgCcYsr2k3hld6aRtrQHn_E9UXXxse7Ad10eSPz3D08yrp7kEuO5jfWtCJRP288/s1600/Jules.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I suppose conferences are self-selecting by nature, the rude and boorish (or boring) probably don't go. But when I stand at the bar and see <a href="http://www.michaelconnelly.com/" target="_blank">Michael Connelly</a> chatting with his agent, or <a href="http://www.leechild.com/" target="_blank">Lee Child</a> laughing with a bunch of people I don't recognize, it warms the cockles of my heart. I have seen first hand how welcoming established authors are to the new guys, and now that I'm not such a new guy any more, I look forward to mooching drinks off the latest batch of mystery writers. The least I can do, right?<br />
<br />
But here's a challenge. Think of the last couple of books that you read and try to picture the author in your mind (if it's me, Krueger, Black, or Mason, stop cheating!). I wonder if you can.<br />
<br />
But rest assured, he or she is probably extremely nice and feels very lucky, just like I do, to be published and to have the chance to hang out with other writers and hordes of readers at book conferences. I may be tired this week, but I'm already looking forward to the next Bouchercon, in Raleigh, North Carolina. If you have a free weekend and like mysteries, come along. You can meet and chat with your favorite authors, hear their words of wisdom, and maybe even buy them a drink. Although at $16 a pop, you might want to bring a hip flask and a couple of plastic beakers...<br />
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<br />D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-12174497090738319662014-09-22T09:54:00.000-05:002014-09-22T09:54:56.079-05:00Book Trailer for THE BUTTON MAN !Not your average trailer, this one previews the fourth novel in my Hugo Marston mystery series by showing how the books are created.<br /><br />But let's not dwell on who forces whose kids to write what.<br /><br />A prequel to the series, THE BUTTON MAN is set in London, England, where Hugo Marston is head of security at the US Embassy. He's assigned to protect a couple of movie stars, who've received death threats. But before he even meets them, one turns up dead in a graveyard.... Enjoy!<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Zu-ChOZ56Cg" width="560"></iframe><br />D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-89138504691315459242014-06-05T16:42:00.001-05:002014-06-05T16:42:48.905-05:00A book recommendation: DANTE'S WOOD, by Lynne RaimondoTime to dust this place off and give you some useful information. Like, for when you're headed to the pool and plan to drink 'ritas and read something awesome.<br />
<br />
Try this: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dantes-Wood-Angelotti-Novel-Novels/dp/1616147180/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402003820&sr=8-1&keywords=dantes+wood" target="_blank">DANTE'S WOOD</a>, by <a href="http://lynneraimondo.com/" target="_blank">Lynne Raimondo</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>Booklist summarizes the plot thusly:</b><br />
<br />
"Still reeling from a late-onset genetic disorder that’s left him blind,
Windy City psychiatrist Mark Angelotti is assigned to assess Charlie
Dickerson, a developmentally disabled youth allegedly molested by a
teacher.<br />
<br />
"Just days after dismissing the allegation, Angelotti is shocked
to learn that Charlie has confessed to the teacher’s murder. When the
defense hires him to testify on Charlie’s behalf, Angelotti’s colossal
ego rears itself in a sparring match with the prosecution that gravely
wounds the case.<br />
<br />
"Motivated by guilt, barely acknowledged curiosity about
the world of the disabled, and the aforementioned ego, Angelotti begins
his own hunt for the killer."<br />
<br />
<b>The cover:</b><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkGuhr5Zim1Xoq-dVZkN5BSIPv7kcvyEroUM3csEz_bjnydSTYLW5AO81PdWhWmMzhiRvzRnClgWNIDt7XOXHlCgAS4TBX9j3XCn1Q7Gfl2xfFCO7lTbMudMgND1qLhZyr31zVyCiUe9o/s1600/book-cover-dantes-wood.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkGuhr5Zim1Xoq-dVZkN5BSIPv7kcvyEroUM3csEz_bjnydSTYLW5AO81PdWhWmMzhiRvzRnClgWNIDt7XOXHlCgAS4TBX9j3XCn1Q7Gfl2xfFCO7lTbMudMgND1qLhZyr31zVyCiUe9o/s1600/book-cover-dantes-wood.png" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<b>My opinion:</b><br />
<br />
I was amazed to see a main character who's blind. Honestly, I didn't think Raimondo would be able to pull it off and so I was enthralled to see if she could. (I mean, your reader normally sees the world through your MC's eyes, so how the heck...?!?) And a murder-mystery blind MC????<br />
<br />
Well, I was wrong, she was right. The characterization, actually, was one of the best things for me. The MC has just the right balance of bitterness, anger, hope, and resolve to really make him real. I was truly impressed. The plot, too, never let go of you. It's one of those where, part way through, you think to yourself, "Oh, wait, I think I know who..." and then ten pages further on you realize you were wrong, but think it all over again.<br />
<br />
As someone who tries to put a little of the location in my books, I also really appreciated some good glimpses of Chicago in the novel. Another thing that stood out to me, so well done. <br />
<br />
Her second book just came out, called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dantes-Poison-Mark-Angelotti-Novel/dp/1616148799/ref=la_B00B9ZSA7K_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1402004171&sr=1-1" target="_blank">DANTE'S POISON</a>. That allows me to pay the author the best compliment I pay any series, which is to say that based on the excellentness of the first, I'm buying the new one. I suggest you do the same.D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-25985354558086904832014-04-14T18:17:00.000-05:002014-04-14T18:17:05.017-05:00The Best Advice Ever (and how it helped me learn to swim)Naturally, the best advice I ever received came from a sprightly, white-haired old lady. She was my grandmother and I lived with her in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for quite a while when I first came to America. It's her birthday this week, she'd be 105 (hey, she made it to 96, which ain't bad).<br />
<br />
This was in the mid 1990s. I'd been a newspaper reporter in the UK, and was freelancing for local papers in the Chapel Hill area. But I wasn't happy - the stories I was being assigned were fluff and the pay was pathetic. I was 27 years old and wanting more.<br />
<br />
I was thinking seriously about law school, but discovered very quickly I needed a U.S. bachelor's degree for that (my English journalism diploma wasn't enough). So I went to meet with admin people at UNC, to see how many hours of credit they'd give me for my professional qualification and the three years experience working at a newspaper.<br />
<br />
They said: "Out of 120 hours needed to graduate, we'll credit you with seven hours."<br />
<br />
Seven.<br />
<br />
So I went home and, as we did most days, I made tea while Granny made cinnamon toast. She could tell I was disgruntled (because I told her) and she asked what was wrong.<br />
<br />
I explained: "Well, I'm 27 years old and I want to get my law degree. But to do that, I'd have to do three years of undergrad, taking an overload of classes, and then there's three years more of law school after that."<br />
<br />
"Okay," she said. "And what's bothering you?"<br />
<br />
"To do all that, it'll take me six years. Six years! I'll be 33 by the time I'm done."<br />
<br />
"I see." A little smile appeared on her face. "Tell me, how old will you be in six years if you <i><b>don't</b></i> do all that?" <br />
<br />
It was a light-bulb moment for me. I could be 33 with a law degree and my bachelor's, or I could just be 33. Brilliant.<br />
<br />
But what does it have to do with swimming? Well, this is me at the beginning of the year, doing a lap.<br />
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<br />
Okay, not quite doing one.<br />
<br />
The thing is, I've always been active, my whole life. Even now I play on two competitive soccer teams, play squash at least once a week, and lift weights. But I've always been a horrible swimmer. Maybe I'm too big, too lazy, too... something. I don't know. For whatever reason, I could swim one length (not lap) of the pool before spluttering and gasping for breath, holding onto the edge like it was my only salvation. Which it pretty much was.<br />
<br />
I didn't like that. It didn't suit the image I had of myself - as someone who is generally active and reasonably good at sports. I also didn't like that terrifying feeling of running out of air, a feeling I got every time I swam more than about ten yards.<br />
<br />
So I took lessons. Signed up for swimming lessons at the age of forty-noneofyourbusiness. I wanted to make sure my technique was decent (it wasn't, but now is) and then after that I just swam. Twice a week. It started with the successful completion of one lap (not length!). Then I managed to sew two laps together without pausing. Then three...<br />
<br />
That was in January.<br />
<br />
Today I swam a mile. <b>A mile</b>. Such a thing was a pipe dream to me six months ago. Even four months ago. But I did it because I kept plugging away, adding lap after lap. And I've reached the point where I can swim a mile because I knew, back in January, that even though it was a pipe dream, it was a possibility. I knew that in four, six, or nine months I'd be able to swim without that terrifying feeling of suffocation.<br />
<br />
The bottom line is that back in January, I told myself I could be forty-noneofyourbusiness and be able to swim a mile, or I could just be forty-noneofyourbusiness.<br />
<br />
Thank you, Granny.<br />
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<br />D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-14464729791987601822014-04-01T08:27:00.000-05:002014-04-01T08:27:22.380-05:00Hooligangsters and MeI got word last week that my work here at the DA's office may slowly come to a halt in about a year. A new position has opened up with the city of Austin and they've asked me to consider it. I've already agreed to sit down with some of the city's council members to hammer out the details, but the job relates to the new soccer stadium that will be built here.<br />
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The Austin Chronicle covered the story a few days ago:<i><b> <a href="http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2014-03-28/all-aboard-the-soccer-train/" target="_blank">All Aboard the Soccer Train!</a> Major League Soccer and urban rail take Austin by storm. </b></i><br />
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In a nut shell: "the construction of a new soccer stadium in the middle of the Colorado
River – a project which will also provide the missing link in a new
urban rail line serving the entire Central Texas area. The train will
cross the river between Congress Avenue and I-35, stopping mid-river at a
new, landfill-constructed and designed 'Fantasy Island.'"<br />
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My new job? Well, it suits me perfectly because it combines my legal knowledge, my criminal law experience, and my knowledge and love of soccer. The job doesn't have a formal title yet but basically I'll be taking lead on ensuring the minimum of hoologanism before, during, and after the games.<br />
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It's kind of a quasi-lega, quasi-law enforcement, quasi-looking cool job, so here's a pic of me in what they've asked me to wear: <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhEdPRuPWKXjEM0PUrRPPJq8UzzlMXYlZ6X1fUHBDJp7xGHPw57gERh9ubYPtV3HKwaBsxZQKPel5AXfdvWiolLaB-cXH4OoI8NFJoNmYJm4qpVw3XVAi3oovv-Oz4C9WZUJVtS03WdY/s1600/3476-19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhEdPRuPWKXjEM0PUrRPPJq8UzzlMXYlZ6X1fUHBDJp7xGHPw57gERh9ubYPtV3HKwaBsxZQKPel5AXfdvWiolLaB-cXH4OoI8NFJoNmYJm4qpVw3XVAi3oovv-Oz4C9WZUJVtS03WdY/s1600/3476-19.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
<br />The need for someone to do this job is based on a significant fear is that outside groups will use the rail system and soccer matches to bring crime into the city -- drugs and prostitution mainly. There's also a concern that the gangs from south of the border will end up waging turf wars here against the established Bloods and Crips. Fighting on the terraces is bad enough when it's over soccer, but we simply can't have hooligangsters roaming the streets of Austin and causing trouble for innocent citizens.<br />
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One initial thought, and I welcome feedback, is that we should try and make the game itself a force against evil. I'm not sure how, but one possibility might be to make the goals a little larger (others are already proposing this, like <a href="http://fatherdesouza.ca/?p=346" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://hkroshan.blogspot.com/2010/07/making-soccer-more-interesting.html" target="_blank">here</a>). I know, it sounds weird even when I write it, but it seems to me that if more goals are scored then the game is more interesting, and maybe the people who are in the stands to make trouble will actually become enthralled with the Beautiful Game.<br />
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The other thought rolling around in my head is to require everyone going to a game to bring a child. It's a clever idea, I think, because this will result in less violence (who wants to start a fight in front of a kid?!) but has side benefits: (1) more income for the stadium because it's two tickets instead of one; (2) ice cream vendors as well as beer vendors can make a buck; (3) more kids will get into soccer and in ten years maybe the U.S. national team will suck less. Probably other benefits, too, but I just had the idea so they're not coming to me just yet.<br />
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The last thought I'll share is about cheerleaders. A foreign concept for soccer, right? Well, in case you forgot what they are, here's one:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVgHaHqdztr3IHRPcgBa9BDW2Xgfhcz6EHUOWLloP50BtUFK4I9CY2llHBEP3GQsdeHwjwMSWBg6Ula9O79VB9bwIhd3NTeWu9AC5b63HegsmPHhmqx0Bt45stquDcwXpBZX6L8bv98VM/s1600/cheerleader+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVgHaHqdztr3IHRPcgBa9BDW2Xgfhcz6EHUOWLloP50BtUFK4I9CY2llHBEP3GQsdeHwjwMSWBg6Ula9O79VB9bwIhd3NTeWu9AC5b63HegsmPHhmqx0Bt45stquDcwXpBZX6L8bv98VM/s1600/cheerleader+pic.jpg" /></a></div>
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Wait, now I forgot my idea.<br />
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Anyway, I'll keep you updated. I won't give up my novel-writing, never fear, and maybe I'll even get a few ideas from the new position.<br />
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"Hooli-Czar." How's that for a job title?D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-81907473456198993422014-03-10T04:50:00.000-05:002014-03-10T04:50:00.033-05:00Good-bye Charlie, hello David.After roughly two years riding in Charlie Sector, it's time for a move. I went with the sector I live in, known as David. In the map below, Charlie is the pink patch on the east side of Austin. David is in yellow, the south west part of the city.<br />
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I rode with Mario on Thursday, an officer new to APD but who'd been a cop in the mid-west for a few years. Super nice chap, we had a good time though it was a pretty quiet night. At one point I took a pic of an incoming call, which I thought might be interesting to readers. As you'll see, it's not about catching speeders and chasing bad guys.<br />
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Yep, someone wanted an officer to come out and shoot a cat caught in a fence. It wasn't our district so we didn't get a chance to respond, and my night ended before I could find out what happened. But it gives you an idea of the variety of calls they get. Actually, I think I'll do this in the future, take snaps of the holding calls. Hopefully no more cats in pain...<br /><br />
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<br />D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-47359951131959267632014-03-06T09:25:00.002-06:002014-03-06T09:25:25.131-06:00Honesty in courtIn court recently, a teenage boy sat quietly while his probation officer, people from CPS and other social services spoke to the judge about him. The lad was having a hard time in school, subjects not holding his interest, no clue what he wants to do with his life, a few behavioral problems.<br />
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Eventually, the judge got around to asking the young man about his hopes and plans, his goals and dreams.<br />
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"What in school are you most interested in, Brian?"<br />
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Pause, wry smile. "Honestly. Girls."<br />
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Love the honesty, I hope it bodes well for him.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Brian is not his real name, of course. His real name is Mike.)</span>D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-54373179051910151152014-03-04T05:30:00.000-06:002014-03-04T05:30:07.766-06:00Cats out of bags, and inclom... inclom...In sad news, this will be my last in the "disarming reviews" series for a while.<br />
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First, I don't actually have many bad reviews to choose from (I know, tempting fate, right?!), and second, I'd hate to give the impression that I <i><b>do </b></i>have a bunch of bad reviews. As if.<br />
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But this one is high on the adorable stakes, very high.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/q41YL4s8I6Q" width="560"></iframe><br />
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In case you're wondering, this little lady has expressed a desire to be a vet, an airline pilot, and an actress. Working on the third, right now, obviously.D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6238764490786855274.post-20655559249166801822014-02-27T13:39:00.001-06:002014-02-27T13:39:51.473-06:00Me and J.K. in a literary stormI had a hard time coming up with a title for this post, and you can see what I picked. Not because it's an awesome title but because it made me smile. I picture tweed-jacketed authors tutting extra loudly, indignantly overfilling their pipes. And no one outside the book world caring much...<br />
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But this little storm involves me (a little bit) and JK Rowling who has, oh, twenty three billionty fans. Including my kids.<br />
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Here's what happened. An English author wrote an editorial for the Huffington Post suggesting that J.K. Rowling shouldn't publish more books, because doing so ruins everything else for the rest of us. Her article was not well received. (A lot of the backlash is described on the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-26331650" target="_blank">BBC web site here.</a>) <br />
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Read it <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/lynn-shepherd/jk-rowling-should-stop-writing_b_4829648.html" target="_blank">here for yourself</a>.<br />
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And this is where I came in. I wrote my second ever HuffPo article, which was published last night, as a rebuttal. It's in the form of a letter to J.K. Rowling, urging her not to quit the writing gig. You know, because she listens to my advice on a regular basis. In the editorial, I argue that Rowling makes like <i><b>easier </b></i>for other writers, not harder.<br />
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You can <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-pryor/an-open-letter-to-jk-rowl_b_4861009.html" target="_blank">read my reply here</a>.<br />
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I feel a little sorry for the author of the first piece, Lynn Shepherd. I'm sure she didn't expect the trashing she's received, and I'm also pretty sure she's a nice person who wouldn't really want any author to stop writing. I expect, too, she's learned that if you write an editorial for an international news service, you better have some solid evidence or reasoning behind your work. The writing game is tough, and this little episode demonstrates quite well that the best way to the top isn't by climbing all over your fellow writers.<br />
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Especially the ones who live in castles.D.A. Confidentialhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445074681227492215noreply@blogger.com0