Benjamin Sobieck's Blog, page 11
August 13, 2015
Do Revolvers Have Safeties?
TLDR: Assume that revolvers don’t use safeties unless you can prove otherwise through research. Mention that specific model in the story. Here’s an easy one. The short answer is no, revolvers do not have safeties in the same way some semi-automatic pistols do. There isn’t a switch or other device to press before the revolver can be […]
August 11, 2015
The Day a Crime Writer Met the Inventor of the AK-47
Today I’m honored to host journalist and crime writer BJ Wolf, author of the forthcoming Karen Yellowtail books (don’t miss it). Wolf had the good fortune to meet with Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the AK-47, before he died in 2013. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to invite Wolf here to share the experience. Despite creating what’s arguably […]
August 6, 2015
Guns on Book Covers: Does Accuracy Matter?
Stay Off My Lawn? Despite how I might come across on this blog and in my book, The Writer’s Guide to Weapons: A Practical Reference for Using Firearms and Knives in Fiction, I am not the guy with the shotgun growling at pedestrians to “stay off my lawn.” I’m also not interested in calling out […]
July 30, 2015
Writing Fiction: Handguns for Criminal Characters
This is the second of two posts from “Adam,” an active duty law enforcement detective in California. Adam offers writers advice about depicting police work on his Writer’s Detective website and Twitter handle. You may want to read Adam’s first post about handguns for detective characters here. Enjoy! ~Ben How Criminal Characters Get Their Guns Determines What […]
July 23, 2015
Best Handguns for Detectives in Fiction
It’s my pleasure to host the first of two posts from “Adam” of Writer’s Detective. He’s an active law enforcement detective in California, hence the quotation marks. When he’s not on duty, Adam offers advice to writers about police work on his website and Twitter handle. He graciously accepted my invitation to talk about the […]
July 16, 2015
On Writing Explosives: How to Blow Up a Boat in 1889
Today’s guest blog post comes from Stephen Childs, author of the forthcoming On Track for Murder. It hits shelves on Sept. 1, 2015, and from the description it sounds pretty cool. With her father stabbed to death, her brother caught with the bloody murder weapon, and her stepmother suspiciously missing, 18-year-old Abigail Sergeant is forced into a dangerous […]
July 9, 2015
Infographic: Gunshot Wounds
I found this infographic over at True Forensics, and it’s incredible how much information about gunshot injuries is crammed into it. I especially like the bit about penetration patterns of different cartridges. This is one to bookmark, pin or download. Filed under: On Writing Guns Tagged: On Writing Guns
July 8, 2015
Gripes About Guns in Movies from a Retired Law Enforcement Officer
This guest blog post is by Joe Hefferon, the author of Scattergun: A Reckoning in Two Acts, the forthcoming Alice and other crime fiction works you can check out here. He also served 25 years in law enforcement, which flavors his fiction with a heavy dose of realism. Hefferon originally commented on my post about guns over […]
June 30, 2015
Bra Holsters for Female Characters
Choosing a handgun for a female character (or a knife) doesn’t need to be entirely different from selecting one for a male. I think some writers get too caught up on how a female’s firearm should look and not on the basics, such as the character’s hand size and firearms experience. But there’s one area where […]
June 25, 2015
Smith & Wesson Model 52: An Unusual Pick for a Character’s Pistol
Type: Semi-automatic pistol Caliber: .38 Ammunition capacity: 5 in a detachable magazine (not clip) Year introduced: 1961 Effective range: 25 yards (greater for more experienced shooters) Harold Courtright picked up a copy of The Writer’s Guide to Weapons and recently wrote to me about the Smith & Wesson Model 52 he selected for a character. This semi-automatic pistol sports […]
