Richard Munson's Blog

Casual Mention Publication

I am pleased to announce the publication of the first book in the Spulman County Mysteries series. The first book, Casual Mention, details the events surrounding the discovery of a dead man on an isolated seaside beach in the Pacific Northwest. Sheriff Carl Maclin and his team of detectives must make sense of the scant clues and conflicting information to discover why this man had to die.

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Spulman Mysteries Police Jargon

4311868 / Pixabay

The Spulman County Mysteries book series includes a fair amount of police jargon. Usually, the context for jargon usage is relatively clear, but there may be times when you have questions about what a specific phrase or term means. I offer, as an aid, the following list of jargon and terms commonly found in the novels.

Please keep in mind that police are often quite vulgar (especially with one another) and can be sarcastic and skeptical individuals. The list of terms below has been sanitized for public and age-appropriate viewing. Where a more vulgar form of a phrase might be used, you can be sure that’s the form officers are likely to employ amongst themselves and when dealing with a hostile or belligerent suspect.

Let me know if you find any terms in the novels that aren’t listed below.

Term
Meaning


10-4
I understand, gotcha


AC
Aircraft Crash


Adam Henry
Asshole


Affirmative
Yes


All About
Obsessed (“He was all about explaining why he was never there.”)


Amateur Night
Any holiday evening when people not used to drinking get drunk.


Ass Clown
Any person who is acting like a dumb ass


B&E
Breaking and Entering


Baby Cop
Rookie or newbie


Baby Dick
Juvenile Detective


Back Seat Diaper
Whatever is put on the back seat to protect against whatever a drunk might emit.


Back to the Barn
Going back to the station


Background
Noise in the background prevented hearing radio traffic (“I had background so I couldn’t copy that.”


Badge Bunny
Police Groupie – someone who loves to date cops.


Bags
Bean bag rounds


Bang Switch
Trigger. “Keep your booger hook off the bang switch.”


Barney
Small town cop


Batting Practice
Using a batton repeatedly, usually against a combative suspect


Be Advised
I’m telling you what’s going to happen


Beach Time
Being suspended


Beat Feet
Ran from police


Berries and Cherries
Lights on a patrol car


Bird
Helicopter – sometimes called a ghetto bird.


Black and White
A police vehicle painted black and white


Blacked Out
All lights on the vehicle are turned off


Blue Falcon
Someone who makes other cops look bad in front of others.


Blue Flamer
A rookie cop trying to prove themselves. An overeager newbie


BOLO
Be on the lookout


Boot
Rookie officer


Bottom Feeder
Defense Attorney


Brasshole
Any senior officer who is an asshole


Bravo Sierra
Bull Stuff


Brodie
High-speed u-turn (“I pulled a brodie when I saw him fly by.”)


Cage Kicker
Jailer


Call History
Request for information about the nature of prior calls to a given address. Allows officers to have some idea what they might be getting into at that address


Cap His/Her Ass
Shoot someone


CCW
Carrying Concealed Weapon


Cerebral Rectitus
Head up the ass (“he’s suffering from cerebral rectitus.”


Check Six
Watch your back


Checks
Please run warrant checks on these individuals


Chopper
Machine gun


CIR
Critical Incident Report


Close/Clear my last
I’ve finished my last stop. Usually followed by a disposition e.g.

– with a report

– with citation(s)

-HBO – responding officer handled it

-Unfounded – no justifiable cause

-ROA – Referred to an outside agency


Cluster F***
Poorly organized event


Cocktail Exit
Death due to using a mixture of drugs and alcohol


Cold Paper
A case report from an old crime


Copped to It
Admitted doing it


Copper Migraine
Bullet in the head. “Cause of death was a copper migraine.”


Copy
I understand, gotcha, or handle (copy a call)


County Mounty
County deputy


CP
Complaining Party


Crackatute
Prostitute on crack


Crack-ho
A prostitute who works for drugs


Creds
Credentials


Creeper
Peeping Tom


Crotch Rocket
Street Bike


CSU
Crime Scene Unit


DB
Dead Body


D-Dub
Driving while intoxicated


Dear Chief Letter
A note a cop has to write to his superior to account for a mistake he or she made.


Deck
Floor


Deep six it
Lose it.


Defective
Incompetent detective


Deuce
Driving under the influence


Dirt Bag
Bad guy


Dirty Bite
When a K-9


Disregard
Ignore what I just said


Disturbance
Fight


DNA
Do Not Approach


DOC
Disorderly Conduct


DRE
Drug Recognition Experts – Someone who can judge if someone is hight on drugs.


Drop Mag.
Eject magazine from your pistol


DRT
Dead Right There (not normally used over radio)


Dump Light
Shine light (“dump some light on the door.”


DWHUA
Driving with your head up your ass


En Route
On the way


ETA
Estimated Time of Arrival


Expedite
Get something done quickly (Expedite response)


FIDO
Forget it, Drive On – At the end of a shift, why stop to work longer on a minor incident


Flip
One suspect confesses and implicates another.


Flying Colors
Exhibiting gang colors


Flying/Screaming
Something moves very fast (“He came screaming around the corner…”)


Four Fingers
Code 4 (no further assistance needed)


FTP
Failure to pay (usually a fine).


Full Boat
Entire shift showed up for work


Get a meet
Meet with a coworker


Get Small
Runaway or hide. “Get small before the sergeant sees you.”


Good
Bad. A good accident is a particularly nasty one. Same with sex assault and brawls. Nobody wants to work a fender bender, so that’s not a good accident.


Good For
The suspect probably committed the crime (He’s good for it.)


GSR
Gun Shot Residue


GSW
Gunshot wound


GTA
Grand Theft Auto


Hanging Paper
Writing multiple citations


Hard Striper
An officially promoted (not acting) corporal or sergeant


Hog Tie
Put a person in 4-point restraints


Hook
Tow truck, Arrest Someone


Hookem and Bookem
Handcuff and book


Hose Dragger
Firefighter


Hots and a cot
Jail (three hot meals and a bed)


House Mouse
An officer who doesn’t go out on patrol.


In-Service
Beginning or returning to service


Irish Pendant
Dangling Thread (uniform problem)


Juvie
Juvenile suspect. Juvenile detention center


Keyholder
The person who is responsible for dealing with an alarm at a building.


Land Shark
Large and vicious dog, usually a guard dog.


Light Up
Initiate a stop by turning on emergency lights


Lot Lizard
A prostitute who works truck stops


LVNR
Lateral Vascular Neck Restraint (Bare naked chokehold)


Mag.
Pistol magazine


ME
Medical Examiner


Mirandize
Read a person his or her rights.


Mope
An unsavory person who wanders or sulks around.


Nasty Gram
Written reprimand


Negative Contact
Couldn’t find the person in question


Night Dick
A detective assigned to night duty. Responds to whatever patrol officers can’t handle.


OD
Overdose


Onboard
Carrying something (He’s got meth onboard)


Open Beat
The shift is one officer short (Beats Plus 2 means two officers short)


Open Mic.
Inadvertently keying the microphone for long periods of time.


OT
Overtime


P&P
Probation and Parole


P.O.V.
Personally Owned Vehicle


Paper
Report (I spent two hours writing paper last night)


Party
Person


PI
Personal Injury


Pimping Out
Suckering a suspect into striking an officer


Pled Out
Accepted a plea bargain


Power Up
Shine line in suspects eyes to disorient them


Prelim
Preliminary Hearing in court


Put a rush on the bus
Hurry up with the ambulance, there is a critical need.


PV
Patrol Violation


Rabbit
Someone who runs from the police. Someone who always runs when the police show up.


Reality Challenged
Mentally challenged or irrational person


Respond to
Go to


Richard
A Dick


Richard Cranium
Dick Head


Riding the Lightning
Tazed (He went down hard after riding the lightening)


Roller
Moving stolen vehicle with occupants


RP
Reporting Party. The person who reported a crime (Who’s the RP?)


Rush
Request for priority on radio traffic


Sam Browne
Utility Belt


Screen Test
When a suspect in the back of the car is an Adam Henry and officer might speed up then slam on the brakes, causing the suspect to face plant into the wire screen behind the front streets. Also called “A dog ran in front of my car” which is what the officer might say if the suspect complained of brutality.


Script
Prescription (“got a script for those pills?”)


Shanked
Someone forced me to be do something I shouldn’t have to do.


Show me in.
In service and available


SID
Scientific Investigation Division


Skated
Acquitted of criminal charges, especially over a technicality.


Slick-top
Supervisor patrol vehicle without a light bar


Sosh
SSN (the o is pronounced like a long o)


Squirrelly
Acting strange, nervous, fidgety


Squirrel Bait
Someone who is nuts


Stable
The standard response to a Status request.


Standby
Hold in place


Status
Request for officer to provide status. If status is not provided after several attempts, other offices will be dispatched to the scene.


Stick
Batton


STOLO
Stolen Vehicle


Street Justice
Striking a suspect more times than necessary


Street Lawyer
Someone who professes to know the law but doesn’t


Summons
Ticket


Suspect
Bad Guy (most cops don’t call them perps).


SWAG
Scientific Wild Ass Guess


Swivel Head
People looking around when they spot a cop or are afraid one may be nearby


T & L Report
Time and Location. Alibi Sheet for a possible suspect.


Tango
Thank You


TC (TC’d)
Traffic Collision (The vehicle crashed)


The Log
Responsible officer. The office with the log writes the original police report.


Throw Down
Fistfight (“these two guys were throwing down in the steps”)


Thunderstick
Shotgun or any long gun


Toad
Someone who is frequently arrested


TOD
Time of Death


Torque Off
Go Ballistic, become enraged


Trey Eight
.38 pistol


Trip Zeros/Eggs
Blood alcohol level of 0.00. (He blew eggs on his breath test.”)


Trout Trooper
Office assigned to enforce fish and game laws


Twenty
Subject’s Home. Location. “What’s your twenty?”


Twist-Off
Go Ballistic, become enraged


UNSUB
Unknown Subject (Unknown Suspect)


Walked On
Talked over, especially on the radio (“He walked on my 10-20)


Wants on
Please run warrant checks on these individuals


Whiskey Tango
White Trash.


Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
WTF


WOFF
Written Off. Usually refers to property an insurance copy has written off.

 

Starting a Work of Fiction

mohamed_hassan / Pixabay

A question that I see frequently on writing forums is how does one start writing a work of fiction. The question often comes from an aspiring writer overwhelmed or confused by the challenges associated with writing a complex and compelling novel or short story.

Writing something like a novel is not nearly as daunting as many people fear. As long as you are reasonably organized, have experience with or are willing to research and verify the topics discussed in the book, and satisfied to continually work on grammar and character development, then you are perfectly capable of writing a novel, short story, or other fiction product.

I will explain how I go about writing fiction in a moment but let me first make a simple confession. I’m a liar. Not only am I liar, but I’m also a professional liar. I lie all the time. I tell two-hundred or three-hundred lies a day. They’re convincing lies, too. When I’m on a tare I might tell five hundred lies in a single twenty-four hour period. That’s about 21 lies an hour, or one satisfying falsehood ever three minutes. But of course, I don’t work 24 hours a day. I need to eat, sleep, sail in my yacht, drive my Ferrari to the grocery store, and chat with my friend Bill Gates. So I have to pack all of this lying into a scant eight to twelve hours. It’s a wonder I’m able to maintain such a tight grip on my sanity.

When I’m writing a fiction novel the very first thing I do is tell a lie. Sometimes the lie is a whopper. Frequently the lie is subtle and mischevious. At other times it is merely a prelude to a more substantial invention.

That first lie must meet two criteria. It must be believable, and it must be compelling. If you fib and say it’s raining outside, another person will likely believe your lie but they won’t care. Alternately, you might say an overnight storm was exceptionally ominous and so severe that the thunder shook your entire house while you feared the wind would actually rip the clapboard from your exterior walls. Now people have no reason to doubt the veracity of your claim and your story is compelling.

You must forgive me for I have lied again. I never start a story by talking about the weather, but I hope you get my point. Sorry, falsehoods have become something of a habit.

After I have told my first convincing lie and made it as succinct, believable, and compelling as possible, I tell another lie. The purpose of this lie is to lead the reader seamlessly and inexorably to a third lie.

And so it goes. One deception precedes another. As one fabrication ends, another lie begins. The purpose of each falsehood is to build the foundation and scaffolding on which future lies can be supported.

When I write, I tell one lie after another after yet another until I hopefully arrive at a fundamental truth. After all, if a book has no fundamental underlying purpose then who will believe any of its lies. I had a stepfather who lied about everything. There was never any purpose to his lies so nobody ever believed anything he said. If he said that water was good for you, nobody in the house would drink it. It’s taken years of therapy and multiple treatments for dehydration to get over that little misconception.

Oh, no! I’ve done it again. I’ve implicitly lied to you this time. I’ve suggested a work of fiction is nothing but a pack of lies (please excuse the accidental cliche). That’s not the whole truth (oops).

You can make your lies more believable by sprinkling in a bit of truth here and there. When a reader encounters something they know to be true then they are more likely to believe even your most flagrant fabrications.

Unfortunately, truths are seldom an integral part of a fictional work. You might explain the proper way to paddle a canoe or describe a fast and easy way to make a sumptuous meal, but these truths will seldom be germane to your story. These tidbits of reality are provided to offer complexity, character, and to make the reader accept the deceptive parts of your fiction as unadulterated truth.

In reality, these truths are merely an integral part of a higher-level class of falsehoods. As any great liar will tell you (if you get him or her sufficiently drunk) the key to any good lie is to infuse it with an ample supply of superfluous and verifiable truths.

And there you have it. It’s short and sweet. If you want to write a good fictional piece, lie; a lot. Craft your lies to be both believable and compelling. Add ample truth to the mix to make your lies more convincing. Ensure every lie is designed to support and nourish the lies yet to come. Allow your largest and most salient fabrications to point directly or discreetly to some fundamental truth.

To make your work even more compelling, add two cups of flour, two whole eggs, a cup and a half of cayenne, and a cup of milk. No, wait—

Casual Mention Update

Status

I’m slightly over 15,000 words into the first novel in the continuing mystery series, The Spulman County Murders. I expect the novel to finish at about 100,000 words and things are progressing nicely toward the planned publication of Casual Mention by the last day in October. The full title of the book will be The Spulman County Mysteries-Casual Mention.

I have devised a working book cover (at left) which I like so far. Let me know what you think.

As I get further into the book I will also begin to work on inside and back cover text and a little blurb for Amazon Kindle readers. That won’t happen until the story is fleshed out a bit further, though.

Background

Here is a little background information on the Spulman County Mysteries novels.

Spulman county is a fictitious county in the Pacific Northwest. It borders the Pacific Ocean to the west and rugged mountains along its eastern expanse. Within its borders are pristine lakes, rugged mountains, rushing streams, meandering rivers, ocean resorts, and quaint fishing villages. Along the central corridor of the county are farms, golf courses, camping sites, and several small towns and cities. Spulman County is rural with extensive wilderness areas providing ample opportunities for adventurous recreation, and plenty of places to hide a body.

The people of Spulman County are generous, courteous, and practical, but the county is not devoid of greed, jealousy, hate, anger, and deceit. You know, the kind of things that make interesting reading.

Sheriff Carl Maclin is the primary law enforcement officer in the county. His department patrols the county and provides contract police services for the larger cities in the county. The medical examiner, county jail, and detective services are all part of the Spulman County Sheriff’s Department. His department also has fledgling airborne, marine, SWAT, bomb, and K9 Units to help patrol the vast and remote areas within the county.

The detectives investigate all crimes within the county but rely heavily on state and federal agencies for forensic analysis, toxicology reports, and other clinical and investigative services. When you are a small county with limited resources you learn to be creative and expect delays.

The sheriff is a stickler for procedure and discipline. Deputies who are lax in their duties, disrespectful, or irresponsible quickly regret their behavior. Sheriff Maclin is equally quick to reward those who work hard and produce good results.

This first book challenges the sheriff and detective team to solve a murder in which little makes sense. It seems the more the sheriff and his team learn, the less they know. Join them as they strive to unravel the clues surrounding a mysterious death at the base of a tall seaside cliff.

Plans

I expect to publish Casual Mention by the end of October. I will then make a quick detour to publish a book I have already written about starting and managing a martial arts studio. Once that is complete, I plan to return to produce the third book in the series The Enigma Chronicles. That book will be subtitled The Dormant Time and I hope to publish it by the end of the year. After that, I’ll return to the Spulman Mysteries with the publication of The Spulman County Mysteries-Breakfast Encounter early in 2020. I will then essentially alternate between the publication of books in both The Enigma Chronicles and The Spulman County Murders.

Wish me luck.

 

The Trying Time Published

I am pleased to announce the publication of my newest novel, The Enigma Chronicles-The Trying Time. This is the second novel in the Enigma Chronicles series and begins immediately after the events in the first book.

This book in the series about an extraterrestrial visitor and the turmoil it creates covers a world struggling to recover its economy and get into space before more of these hideous aliens arrive. Competing forces try to sway events in their favor while a secretive plot threatens to doom the entire planet.

Work will soon begin on the next book in the series, The Enigma Chronicles-The Dormant Time. The expected release for that novel is December of 2019.

But first, my next book will be the first novel in the Spulman County Mysteries series. That should be a fun and interesting read. Look for it in October.

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Enigma Chronicles Fan Page

Visit the Enigma Chronicles Fan Page to discuss the books with other fans.

The Trying Time Draws Near

Today I finished the final major edits of my next book, The Enigma Chronicles-TheTrying Time. I previously completed several rounds of grammar checks using three different grammar checkers (which often disagree). Now I’ll make one more full pass through the book, do a final check of grammar and spelling, rework the cover art, write synopsis information for the back cover and inside flap, convert the book to an eBook format, double-check everything, and finally publish the book. It sounds like a lot of work, but things should progress fairly smoothly from here.

It looks like I remain on track for publication in August. This will be the second book in the series The Enigma Chronicles. The third book in the series is tentatively scheduled for publication in December of 2019. That book will be titled The Enigma Chronicles-The Dormant Time.

I’ve also been researching, diagramming the plot, and doing some writing for my next book. This next book (which I will publish prior to The Enigma Chronicles-The Dormant Time) will be the first book in an entirely different series. That series should debut in October of 2019 (if all goes well). It is not a science fiction series.

I will also publish an additional martial arts book in late November of this year. That will not represent a major undertaking since I have a complete draft already. It simply needs review, some editing, and of course, grammar checking.

Between now and the end of the year I hope to publish four books (including The Enigma Chronicles-TheTrying Time). It’s an aggressive schedule, but I think it can be done. Wish me luck.

 

Enigma Chronicles Fan Page

Visit the Engima Chronicles Fan Page to initiate discussions, provide comments, and share your perceptions about this book series.

Enigma Chronicles Update

I am busily editing the draft of the second book in the Enigma Chronicles Series. This second book, The Enigma Chronicles – The Trying Time, continues immediately after the conclusion of the first book, The Enigma Chronicles – The Down Time. This series is about an ongoing close encounter of the fifth kind. The aliens in this series are, well, not what you’d expect.

I have completed the first full draft of The Trying Time and I am in the process of updating, supplying additional details where relevant, cleaning up the language, checking for punctuation and spelling errors and all of the other tasks associated with turning a draft into an actual book.

I already have a tentative book cover (which may change before release) and I currently don’t see a need for any other materials beyond those I already have in place, with the exception of updates to web pages related to the book as it nears release. Now it’s simply a matter of keeping my head down and working to produce the strongest and most compelling work I can. I am pleased with what is emerging and I think you will be as well.

Everything is still on schedule to make the book available in August of 2019. Once that occurs I’ll begin work on the third installment of the Enigma Chronicles series. The third book will be titled The Enigma Chronicles – The Dormant Time. I’ll post more information about that book as it begins to take shape. There are several additional books planned beyond the third book in the series, so you should have plenty to read about the exploits of Vicki, Jonathan, EONE, the human race, and these bizarre and troubling aliens and their mysterious spacecraft.

I have also begun work on another book series. This time it’s a mystery series rather than a science fiction series. Stay tuned for more information on an upcoming new series devoted to major crimes in a fictitious small county. Here’s a not so subtle hint.

 

 

 

 

Finally, I also plan to release a new martial arts book this autumn. The book should prove vitally useful to anyone interested in starting their own martial arts business.

Well, there’s plenty to do, so I’d better get back to work. I hope you’re having a great day.

Publication of The Enigma Chronicles – The Down Time

I am pleased to announce the publication of the book The Enigma Chronicles – The Down Time. The book is available via pre-order until May 28, 2019, when it will be available for purchase. Any orders placed prior to May 28th will be delivered on May 28th.

This first book in the series covers the first contact with an alien race and how we, as a planet, might react to such an event. Future books will discuss ongoing interactions between our two civilizations.

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