For what it’s worth, here’s my rundown of the best of 2013. The only qualification was that I had to have experienced it in 2013. Nominees had to be related to the crime fiction genre somehow. Yeah, that’s pretty loose. No arguing about the rules, kids, that’s just how it’s going to go. Continue reading
On Writing Guns: .9mm or 9mm? .30-06 or 30.06?
I was reading an otherwise excellent crime novel (it will remain anonymous) that used “.9mm” to describe a handgun. It also called a rifle a “30.06.” Both stopped my eye as a reader and took me out of the story because both are incorrect. Continue reading
On Writing Guns: Do All Revolvers Hold Six Rounds?
The term “six shooter” is often used as shorthand for a revolver. But do all revolvers carry six rounds? Continue reading
Red Laser Sights vs. Red Dot Sights: Is There a Difference?
Nothing says “you’re screwed” like an electric viper pit of red lasers snaking across a character’s body in fiction. These beams of light preview right where a shot would hit, a reminder of the few seconds the character may have left to live.
It’s a nice effect for writing showdown scenes between the damned and double damned, but what exactly are these devices called? Continue reading
Magazine vs. Clip: What’s the Difference?
Magazine or clip? Many writers, and people in general, trip up on this area. They almost always reference the wrong one – “clip” – to describe that detachable rectangle that holds ammunition.
The Writer's Guide to Weapons 