Step by Step: Choosing a Knife for Santa Claus

/ Ben / 3 Comments
This is what happens when you don't tip your mall Santa. (Photo by Thomas Ricks via sxc.hu)

This is what happens when you don’t tip your mall Santa. (Photo by Thomas Ricks via sxc.hu)

I don’t know about you, but this Christmas I’ll be getting the shotgun out and leaning it against the wall next to my pillow. Call me paranoid, but ever since I became a father, there’s something exceptionally unsavory about some random creep coming down the chimney. I used to leave out a jug of whole milk and a bale of lard cookies to tempt the oaf into an slow diabetic death, but I don’t have the time to wait around for a case of the sugars any more.

That means Santa Claus needs to go in armed with more than candy canes and reindeer jerky this year. But with what?

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Where Should Characters Store Ammunition When They’re Not Using Their Guns?

/ Ben / 9 Comments
Where should these go when a character isn't using them? (Photo by Krzysztof Szkurlatowski via sxc.hu)

Where should these go when a character isn’t using them? (Photo by Krzysztof Szkurlatowski via sxc.hu)

Apparently, there’s some confusion out there about characters storing ammunition when they’re not using their firearms. Over at my guest post at Jane Friedman’s place, Writing About Guns: 10 Errors to Avoid in Your Novel, user marcydyer670919403 (whew) commented on an instance “when a character sticks the bullets in her pocket instead of loading the gun because it might shoot her” in something she read.

Hrmmm, I say. Hrmmm.

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Shotguns Used by the U.S. Navy & Other Military Branches

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(Image by Margan Zajdowicz via sxc.hu)

(Image by Margan Zajdowicz via sxc.hu)

I meet a ton of great people through my position at Gun Digest, and recently one of them happened to be a U.S. Navy veteran. Part of this person’s role involved using shotguns to breach rooms (note that he wasn’t a SEAL, or at least didn’t tell me he was). I’ll pass along the models this person used here.

This information may not apply to every manuscript out there, but I think it’s interesting anyway. The Navy isn’t all about ships, just like the Air Force isn’t exclusively the domain of aircraft.

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Firearms and Knives My Fictional Characters Use

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Winchester Model 37

A Winchester Model 37 single-shot shotgun makes an appearance in The Invisible Hand. (image by Gurpreetsihota via Wikimedia)

Despite writing something like The Writer’s Guide to Weapons: A Practical Reference for Using Firearms and Knives in Fiction (Writer’s Digest Books), I don’t put a ton of detail into the guns and blades that make appearances in my fiction.

That’s mostly to do with the story. If it needs some extra detail, I’ll stick it in there. But if it’s just another part readers will skip over, I’ll leave it out, as the late Elmore Leonard would say. Boiling firearms and knives down to their most necessary features is something I talk about extensively in the webinar I did for The Writers Store.

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FACT or FICTION: Forensics and Crime Scene Investigation Portrayed in Entertainment

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The CSI Effect

Skilled investigators work to unravel crime scenes, but it doesn’t always follow the process portrayed in pop culture. For example, in this photo, it’s clear that someone spilled white paint on himself/herself, then tripped while doing a Wile E. Coyote impression. ~Ben (Image by Nate Nolting via sxc.hu)

If you’re not already reading crime writer/criminologist Jennifer Chase’s blog and Emily Stone series of novels, you’re missing out. In addition to those great reads, Chase cranks out posts on her website worthy of a college course in criminal justice. I’m privileged to host another fantastic post from her here. Enjoy!

~Ben

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