Welcome To Our Blogspot

I'm Candice. I write cozy mysteries. I'm happy to be a part of Keep Me In Suspense.

We want to be your one-stop resource for everything suspense/mystery/thriller in the CBA. We have wonderful things planned for you. In the next few months, you’ll hear from some fantastic CBA suspense, mystery, and thriller authors and editors. We’ll also have regular posts from the Keep Me In Suspense team members.

Our website will be growing, as well, to include information about publishers, resources, and a list of mystery/suspense/thriller books published by month.

The Keep Me In Suspense blog and website is a combination of the visions of two good friends. Me and Wanda. I saw the need for a CBA suspense author blog. Wanda saw a bigger picture—the need for a place where inspirational writers could go to find the resources they need to write mystery and suspense. And a place where CBA suspense and mystery authors could go to discuss what they’re doing, reveal their latest books, and share their thoughts. So a marriage of our two ideas was perfect.

We are joined by Lynette Sowell, who is a long time member of ACFW. She served on the ACFW board, is multi-published, and has recently contracted a cozy series. Lisa Harris, along with her husband and family, are missionaries in Africa. She’s another long time ACFW member. She has a lengthy publishing record and recently sold a cozy series. She’s presently teaching a class for ACFW about writing cozy mysteries. (She’ll be sharing some of that with us on the blog.)

One of the things I will blog about is basic police procedure for writers. When I started writing mysteries, I was stumped by questions like, what kind of gun does a police officer carry? (Hey, I'm a girl. What do I know about things like that?) What happens in what order at a crime scene? Is it really like CSI? (In a word? No.) Anyway, I realized I was in over my head and needed somewhere to learn stuff. I heard about the Citizens Police Academy and looked into that at my local city police, then at the county sheriff's office. I took both. (I heartily encourage every writer to ask your local police department or sheriff's office if they have this program. Many do. It's awesome. You even get ride-alongs. How cool is that?)

Last fall, during the sheriff's office CPA, I inquired about volunteering. When I mentioned that I had lots of secretarial skills, the police academy coordinator jumped at my offer to help. After a background investigation and drug screening, I began working at the academy office. I've been there for almost five months. The things I've learned are invaluable to my writing. I even get to participate in training scenarios for the recruits and the deputies. (I've been arrested seven times in one day. I can personally attest to the fact that handcuffs are not comfortable. Neither is lying face down on the floor.) I love every minute I spend there.

So without talking about my sheriff's office specifically (which I can't do), I'd be glad to share some of the basic police information that I've learned. Your questions are welcome. Ask in the Blogger comment feature. Because I'm not an expert and don't have all the answers, I hope that other people with expertise will also reply to questions in the comments. If answers aren't immediately forthcoming, I will be using your questions as topics for future blogs. The whole point of Keep Me In Suspense is to pool our resources.

So, come back. The Keep Me In Suspense blog will begin to get active this week.

Candice