For the past 15 years, Writers’ Police Academy has offered a plethora of specialized classes designed to help writers evoke a sense of hyperrealism in their stories. The event’s unique […] The post 2024 Killer Con Classes and Instructors – Part Two appeared first on Lee Lofland ..read more

For the past 15 years, Writers’ Police Academy has offered a plethora of specialized classes designed to help writers evoke a sense of hyperrealism in their stories. The event’s unique […] The post 2024 Killer Con Classes and Instructors – Part One appeared first on Lee Lofland ..read more

Does your book feature a crime, crime scene, coroner, crime scene investigator, or homicide detectives? Is it possible that you’ve never, not once in your entire lifetime, ventured into a […] The post Killer Con Registration and Exciting Event Details appeared first on Lee Lofland ..read more

Each year the Writers’ Police Academy hosts the Golden Donut Short Story Contest. It’s a fun contest with two major but simple rules—the focus of the story must be based […] The post Writers’ Police Academy Golden Donut Short Story Winners and Runners-Up appeared first on Lee Lofland ..read more

When the topic of identifying skeletal remains arises, two world-renowned renowned forensic anthropologists immediately come to mind—Dr. Elizabeth A. Murray and Dr. Kathy Reichs. Both experts are at the top […] The post Here’s How YOU Can Identify the Bones Found in Your Backyard appeared first on Lee Lofland ..read more

For years, comic book fans scanned the back pages to view ads telling them how they could, for a single dollar, receive a 7-foot-tall Frakenstein’s Monster with glowing eyes, or […] The post Cops to Receive X-Ray Vision: Amaze Their Friends and Suspected Criminals appeared first on Lee Lofland ..read more

Many of us had our first real look at a sheriff’s office back in 1960 when Andy Taylor and his fearless deputy, Barney Fife, patrolled the roads in and around Mayberry, N.C. Television took us inside the Mayberry jail, the courthouse, and it even allowed us to ride in the county patrol car. And, for […] The post Sheriffs: Who Are They and What Are Their Duties? appeared first on Lee Lofland ..read more

Here are just a few of the odd things that occurred during the past 15 years of the WPA. 14. Semi-Nude Presenter – Sometimes, we have someone famous announce the winner of the annual Golden Donut Short Story Contest, and they typically do so via video. One year the winner’s name was announced by actor Michael Cudlitz of Band […] The post A Top 14 List of Odd But True Things That Happened at the Writers’ Police Academy appeared first on Lee Lofland ..read more

Fictional characters aren’t always as savvy as they’d like us to believe. They’re not human. They make mistakes. And some of those errors, especially those made by characters in crime fiction, involve guns. For example, I’ve known a handful of make-believe cops and criminals who didn’t know the difference between smokeless powder and cordite, and […] The post Revolver v. Pistol: Do Your Characters Know the Difference? appeared first on Lee Lofland ..read more

Standing ankle deep in black, slimy swamp muck, Sgt. William “Billy” Franks paused to catch his breath and to look over his shoulder, for the umpteenth time. Nothing moving, not even a leaf. Good. The humid jungle was silent. Even better. They were still a ways behind him, he hoped. But they were coming. He knew so […] The post The Soldier: A Tale of Determination, Survival, and Imagination appeared first on Lee Lofland ..read more