Learning the Tricks of Other People's Trades

Write what you know, they say. So I decided to write about a woman who inherits a gun shop that caters to Civil War reenactors. And I decided that her partner in both romance and crime solving should be a former SWAT sniper who lives in a Buckhead high-rise and drives a Ferrari.

In other words, things I know nothing about.

It might not have been the smartest decision writer-wise, but it did require me to get very good at research very quickly. And I discovered that unlike the research I accomplished using books and the internet, to truly understand my protagonists, I needed to get out of my office.

In other words, right out of my comfort zone and into the fire.

To write someone familiar with a variety of firearms, I had to get myself to the gun range. As it turns out, I’m a pretty good shot—I passed my basic handgun safety course with flying colors. My experience in the Firearms Training Simulator, however, was a different story. I signed up for a session through the Writers Police Academy, a three-day immersive experience at an actual police training facility. My instructor explained very well what was going to happen—the lights would dim, and a scenario would be projected on the screen in front of me. I would be playing the role of a police officer responding to the call, and my Bluetooth-rigged pneumatic firearm would track where I “shot.”

Simple enough, right? So I thought. Sixty seconds later, my trigger-happy, over-adrenalized self had shot up a virtual airport terminal trying to subdue one active shooter. I “killed” the bad guy…and a TSA agent, a businessman, and a honeymoon couple. I learned that this is typical, that people untrained in managing the endocrine overload of such a high-stress situation lose their targeting ability. Their hands shake, and their vision tunnels. It even happens to good shots like me, and it meant that in a real-world situation, I would have been a menace, not a hero. Being a “good guy with a gun” takes an immense amount of regular, hands-on training. I am grateful to the law enforcement officers and other professionals who take on that task.

I performed better in the Academy’s mock SWAT raid. My profile photo here at Writers Who Kill was taken right before my workshop on dynamic entries—that’s me over there on the left in my all-black running outfit and my bright orange plastic rifle. We learned how to clear rooms in a building using two-person teams, breaking off from the stack, working corner to corner to minimize blind spots. I was doing pretty well too…but then I turned my back on what I thought was a neutralized threat, and I ended up dead. Doornail dead.

(Side note: this is the incident that inspired the opening scene of Necessary Ends, my latest book in the Tai Randolph series—you can read that first chapter here). 

In other workshops, I practiced proper handcuffing techniques, wore a fully tricked-out duty belt, and watched a fire and rescue team work a simulated car crash with multiple casualties. I learned about mantracking, underwater crime scene evidence recovery, and canine units. Not only have I come away smarter, I’ve developed a deep appreciation for the first responders whose job it is to run toward danger. I heard one police chief say of making such calls, “We’re meeting people on what is probably the worst day of their lives. But for us, it’s just another Wednesday.”

I remember this every time I sit down to the page, that one of our duties as mystery writers is to be true to the real world. It’s why we research, so that our fictional prose rings with authenticity. But our stories should also illuminate the real-life stories of the people who live those Wednesdays, in all their mundanity and horror and complexity. Our fiction may not always be factual, but it should always be true. And so…. back to the research I go.

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Tina Whittle writes the Tai Randolph mysteries for Poisoned Pen Press. The sixth book in this Atlanta-based series—Necessary Ends—is scheduled for release April 3rd. Tina is a proud member of Sisters in Crime and serves as both a chapter officer and national board member. Visit her website to follow her on social media, sign up for her newsletter, or read additional scenes and short stories: www.tinawhittle.com.