Jacqui Murray's Blog, page 139
February 26, 2015
Book Review: Endangered
by C.J. Box
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I’d never heard of C.J. Box, author of “Endangered (A Joe Pickett Novel)” (Putnam 2015) when this book appeared in my Amazon Vine list. I picked the book because it got good reviews and is the fifteenth in the Joe Pickett series. More importantly, Lee Child recommended it–‘one of today’s solid-gold, A-list, must-read writers.’ I wasn’t about to argue with Jack Reacher’s right hand man.
Now I have to read the rest, it was that good. I’m up to #11 out of #15 so far.
Joe Pickett is an easy-going, easy-to-know Wyoming game warden and family man. He takes his job seriously and has a reputation for solving mysteries rather than settling for the easy answer. Joe never is bigger than life, but he’s always true to life. In this story, he’s in the middle of mystery dealing with poachers who killed an entire lek (community) of sage grouse when his 18-year-old daughter is found unconscious in a ditch, beaten and left for dead by her assailant like so much trash. While Pickett tries to unravel this mystery while working on who killed the sage grouse, he finds himself at odds with one of the nastiest local families you’d ever want to meet. For them, anything is fair game if they can get away with it.
This is not a hard-charging, fast-paced thriller with a complex plot that constantly whips you around like a roller coaster. The wonder of this book is the author’s voice, through the character of Joe Pickett. He’s kind and non-judmental, but strong and firm in his beliefs. He’s natural and uncomplicated, the type of person you’d want for a friend. The power of his personality drives the story, tinges every action, and kept me turning pages. Through Box’s magnificent pen, I got to not only know Joe Pickett but understand his motivations. I’ve already ordered the rest of the series.
If you’d like to order this book, you can find it on Amazon:
Endangered (A Joe Pickett Novel)
For more about Joe Pickett, the character, visit his page on the author’s website. For an interview with the author, visit Mystery Scene.
More mystery reviews:
Book Review: A Cold and Lonely��Place
Book Review: The House at Sea���s��End
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter���s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today���s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher���s website, Structured Learning.��
Filed under: book reviews Tagged: mystery

February 24, 2015
How to Tell if Someone is Lying: Body Language
Over half of our communication is done with body language, not words. I study it so I can characterize the people in my books–their actions, hand gestures, facial expressions–and it has taught me a lot about reading people’s interior monologue–those ideas they don’t want to share, but inadvertently do. Even the best speakers have a difficult time preventing twitches, unconscious�� hesitations or muscle movements from giving away what they truly feel.
Here are some of the ‘tells’ (movements the person doesn’t realize they are doing) that someone is lying that you can incorporate into your writing:
Verbal Context and Content
A liar will use your words to answer a question. When asked, ���Did you eat the last cookie?��� The liar answers, ���No, I did not eat the last cookie.���
A statement with a contraction is more likely to be truthful: ���I didn’t do it��� instead of ���I did not do it���
Liars sometimes avoid “lying” by not making direct statements. They imply answers instead of denying something directly.

The guilty person may say too much, adding unnecessary details to convince you. they are uncomfortable with silence or pauses in the conversation.
A liar may leave out pronouns and speak in a monotonous tone. When a truthful statement is made, the pronoun is emphasized as much or more than the rest of the words in a statement.
Words may be garbled and spoken softly, and syntax and grammar may be off. In other words, his sentences will likely be muddled rather than emphasized.
Listen for a subtle delay in responses to questions. An honest answer comes quickly from memory. Lies require a quick mental review of what they have told others to avoid inconsistency.
Lowered heads indicate a reason to hide something. If it is after an explanation, s/he may be lying, unsure if what they said was correct.
Look into their eyes. Liars will consecutively look at you and look away a number of times.
Avoiding direct statements or answers
Leaving out pronouns (he, she, it, etc.)
Other signs of a lie:

Watch their throat. A person may be either trying to lubricate their throat when he/she lies OR swallowing to avoid the tension built up
Watch hands, arms and legs, which tend to be limited, stiff, and self-directed when the person is lying. The hands may touch or scratch their face, nose or behind an ear, but are not likely to touch their chest or heart
If you believe someone is lying, change subject quickly. A liar follows along willingly and becomes more relaxed. They want the subject changed. An innocent person may be confused by the sudden change in topics and will want to go back to the previous subject.
Or, if you believe someone is lying, allow silence to enter the conversation. Observe how uncomfortable and restless the person becomes.
Liars more often use humor or sarcasm to avoid a subject.
Under the eyes, small pockets of flesh pop up when someone smiles, but only if the smile is genuine.
Deception–maybe they aren’t lying, but they’re hiding something
covering the mouth with the hands
rubbing the side of the nose
leaning away from you
micro shrug
voice pitch increases
Liars, he says, use more ���negative emotion��� words (hurt, ugly, nasty) and fewer first-person singulars.
Sound complicated? It isn’t. Watch this TEDTalk from Pamela Meyer. Here’s a fascinating infographic on body language from Dr. Nick Morgan. Psychology Today has a thorough discussion on body language and lying.
More on body language:
How Your Characters Might Recognize an Emotion Part��I
How Characters Show Emotion Part��III
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter���s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today���s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher���s website, Structured Learning.��
Filed under: characters, communication, descriptors, writers, writers resources Tagged: body language, communication

February 22, 2015
3 Desk Organizers You Need
I want to share three items I’ve discovered that help organize my desk-related items like nothing else I’ve tried. These are much more than a ‘pencil caddy’ or an eraser for ink. These three popped a light bulb over my head, significantly improving my ability to get the job done while sitting at my desk.
Computer Privacy Screen Protectors
For my teacher-writer efriends, have you ever gotten that prickle in the back of your neck that someone is reading over your shoulder? Maybe you’re working on a sensitive email while students are in the classroom (during lunch break, say) and when you turn, you see a student standing there, politely and quietly waiting to ask a question. Or your computer screen–like mine–can be seen through your classroom window, which means anyone walking by can see what you’re doing on your screen, even if it’s grading student work.
It’s not just at school, either. It’s easy to allow your private information to be viewed in public places–Starbucks, airplanes, subways, buses, or anywhere you take a few free minutes to check email, reply to instant messages, or see what’s happening in your Twittersphere. You may glance around to see if anyone is watching, or you may think no one’s interested. Why would they be?
To catch those first few seconds on video as you type in your password and log-in info. That’s why.
Privacy Screen Protectors solve that. They help block curious eyes from stealing sideways glances at your screen whether you’re using a monitor, laptop, tablet or smartphone. They provide one more level of protection against those who would steel your personal identity, private information, and whatever else you keep on your computer.
Privacy Screen Protectors are designed to fit your monitor perfectly (so be sure to get one that’s suited to your unique device). It attaches to the front, over the screen, with tabbies, or to the front. When you sit directly in front of your monitor, you see it exactly as it’s always looked–clear, sharp, unimpeded. When seen from an angle, it’s dark. How’s that happen? As 3M explains, “…Privacy Screen Protectors use an advanced technology that simulates tiny Venetian blinds shielding your screen from curious glances.”
They run between $20 and $50 so don’t get it wrong.
A Second Monitor
How many times have you been emailing someone and had to look up a document, find a file to attach, or needed to reference other material without leaving the message? Or you’re running a screencast, webinar, Google Hangout, Skype–something in real-time–and wanted to read from another document or share material without leaving the discussion? Or maybe you’re participating in a webinar or other online training that is visual and you want to check email during a slow point in the conversation or respond to an inquiry without anyone noticing? Or you are building a document out of parts–research and pictures you’ve collected–and want to drag-and-drop from a folder to the document? What if you’re a graphic artist and want to quickly determine the difference between an original picture and your modifications?
You could resize the windows, display them horizontally or vertically and hope they didn’t rearrange or move themselves. This is supposed to work well, but I’ve never had a lot of luck with it, especially when newer Windows versions tried to ‘help’ with the resizing by predicting what I wanted.
Better idea: Set up a second monitor.

When I first set mine up, I simply had a spare monitor and too much time on my hands so I hooked it up, not really knowing what I’d use
it for. Sure, I typically have lots of windows open at one time–email, word processing, spreadsheets, multiple web tabs, graphics editing–but I was used to jumping between them, accommodating the difficulties as part of the job. That became more challenging and I less patient when I started doing a lot of online training. As soon as the second monitor was active, I found endless reasons to love it: I immediately found it useful in all those times when I otherwise would have had to print out a paper as reference. I could:
display a page I wanted to use in the webinar rather than print it
keep my notes on one screen while talking to the camera on the other
drag a relevant screen onto my active window, share it, and then drag it back to the second monitor–not closing it, just hiding it from the audience
type from notes on one screen to a text box on the other
Does this surprise you? Maybe you think it’s just me, working in my bubble? Actually, data supporting the benefits of a two-monitor set-up has been around for a long time:
Jon Peddie Research found that adding a second monitor can boost productivity by 20-30%
Microsoft Research found a second monitor can increase productivity by 9-50%
an NEC-sponsored University of Utah report found that dual monitors allowed users to complete their work as much as 52% faster
Once you are accustomed to the vast real estate available on two monitors (or three–why not?), you’ll never go back. It would be like giving you a desk sized for a single sheet of paper and asking you to shuffle work.
Hot Spot
Today, our ‘desk’ is anywhere. It can be in our home, place of employment, our car, or even the beach where we’re vacationing. To make this sort of ‘remote desktop’ (see my article here on remote working), requires some moving parts. The one I’ll talk about today is a ‘hot spot’.
A ‘hot spot’ is a hub that provides you WiFi access through a particular internet connection. Usually people think of the WiFi they access at Starbucks or the library, or that their school offers parents while they’re on campus. These are convenient, seem private because they require a password to log-in, and have become ubiquitous, which connotes to ‘safe’. Right?
Wrong. In fact, I try not to use any of them because I’ve read too many horrifying articles like this one discussing how easy it is to hack these hotspots–especially the public ones that don’t require a log-in (think of your favorite Starbucks or the hotel that allows log-in with your room number).
Lots of wireless hotspots these days are completely unencrypted, usually so they’re easier to connect to (baristas don’t need to be giving out the internet password to everyone that walks in). However, this leaves you unprotected against malicious users in the same coffee shop,
This quote is from Lifehacker, and they go on to explain how to beef up your free access to make it safe. The article is from 2010; today, there are better ways to get wifi than free public places every hacker–white hat and black hat–can access. How? Get your own personal hot spot.

I have two, one connects directly from my Verizon iPhone 5 and the other is a Verizon portable hot spot. AT&T and Sprint may have comparable products (I know Android phones have a downloadable app that serves as a hot spot), but I’ll speak about those I’ve used.
My Verizon IPhone 5 comes with a built-in hotspot that will run one portable device, using the data plan on my phone. The password is long and complicated. I could make it simple, but why would I? As with a phone, if someone needs to borrow my internet connection, I’ll lend them my phone or iPad rather than add their device to my bill. Once I’ve connected, say, my iPad once, it remembers the password. I often run my phone and iPad simultaneously at conferences, meetings, and PD because I like my iPad’s internet display better than the tiny phone screen, but I like the extended features of my phone.
I also purchased a Verizon hotspot at a time I thought I’d want to run multiple devices off my phone. It’ll handle up to ten. It’s about the size of my hand, making it quite portable, but I rarely use it because I haven’t needed its extended capabilities.
The cost of a personal hotspot starts as low as $0.00 if you have an underused internet plan. In my case, because of the portable hotspot, it pushed my bill up $20 a month. Either price tag is well worth the protection I get against hackers cracking my accounts and stealing my information. For a frightening look at what Eric Greer over at PCWorld ‘vacuumed up’ in a few minutes at a public wifi location, click here. Lest you think Eric’s experience is an anomaly, check out Ana Garcia’s article Hacking is Easy at Free Public Wifi Spots.
What creative ideas do you have for organizing your desktop for productivity?
Three more posts on organizing your life:
5 Must-have tools for Ed Conferences
10 Passwords Everyone Uses (And You Shouldn���t)
Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. She is the editor/author of dozens of tech ed resources including a K-8 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum, and dozens of books on how to integrate technology into education. She is webmaster for six blogs, CSG Master Teacher, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, CAEP reviewer, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, a tech ed columnist for Examiner.com, and a weekly contributor to TeachHUB. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.
Filed under: bloggers resources, writers resources

February 19, 2015
Book Review: Gray Retribution
by Alan McDermott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Gray Retribution: A Tom Gray Novel Book 4 (Thomas Mercer 2014) by Alan McDermott is the fourth in the Tom Gray series, about an ex-SAS warrior who’s created a career out of teaching vulnerable countries to defend themselves against attacks. After losing his wife and child to a vicious murderer, he has surprisingly gotten a second chance at life and wants to bury himself in a world that includes his new wife and child and no murder or mayhem. When his wife’s uncle runs into trouble with local hoods, Gray tries to help him with disastrous results. Compounding that, soldier friends are stuck in the middle of a civil war in Africa and Gray needs to effect a rescue.
This is a fast-moving action thriller that rarely lets the reader catch his/her breath. Gray is an interesting character, maybe a tad flat, maybe defined a bit too often by cliche emotions and expected reactions rather than what would catapult him to a fascinating character. But the plot never stops, always leaves readers guessing, right up to the surprise ending. Definitely give it a try if you like action thrillers.
If you would like to buy this book from Amazon, click the link below:
Gray Retribution (A Tom Gray Novel Book 4)
More Book Reviews:
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter���s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today���s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher���s website, Structured Learning.��
Filed under: book reviews Tagged: thriller

February 17, 2015
(Re)Starting a Novel–What are the Hurdles
In the fall, I ‘restarted’ a book I first wrote about ten years ago. It was my second full-length novel. The first was an arcane topic I knew would interest few, so wasn’t surprised at the lackluster greeting my queries received.
Undeterred and on the advise of a publisher who liked my writing but not my topic, I wrote my second book–a present-day military thriller–and wove my first book in as a sub plot.
I loved how it came out and was excited about its prospects, but again got zilch from agents. I put a lot of time into fixing it–so much, the story became stale. The only option I had was to move on.
Which I did. I wrote the sequel. This was the magic third book–the one lots of experts say is required to Make It. In fact, this third book did garner interest from a New York agent, but eventually that also didn’t work out.
I don’t have to tell you-all–it takes a lot to write a 400-page novel. There’s research, plotting, character development, understanding setting, weaving plots and subplots, wordsmithing, beta readers, blood, sweat and tears. Have I missed anything? I still felt good about all three of my completed novels, so decided to ‘fix them’ rather than start fresh. I picked Book #2–To Hunt a Sub, the first in the Delamagente-Rowe series.
If you’ve ever tried to return to a fully-fleshed novel and prepare it for publication, you know the typhoon I stepped into. Here’s how it went:
I made a slew of changes in the novel. Some were minor (instead of telling readers what the character is wearing, use clothing to build interest in the character); some were structural (move this piece to there; weave a new thread throughout the story). I didn’t bother to perfectly blend these changes in, just got their flavor inserted, figuring I’d smooth the rough edges when I did the first read-through. Time required: over two weeks (5-10 hour days).
I did a quick read-through (say, 100 pages a week) to see how the changes worked. I found lots of problems–timelines out of whack, details that no longer fit, information the characters should (or shouldn’t) know because I moved a fundamental piece. There were parts I didn’t like in their new spot and moved them again or back. Time required: a month.
As I went through the entire novel this first time, I paid attention to pacing (is the action moving quickly enough for a thriller?), characters (are they likeable? Will readers want to spend 400 pages with them?), showing not telling (this sounds easier than it is. I really had to pay attention not to miss these), active not passive voice, and those sorts of basics.
Before I started wordsmithing, I wanted to check for the kind of mistakes a line editor would catch, not a copy editor. I have a subscription to a program called AutoCrit that checks a lot of details for me–dialogue, pacing, momentum, strength of writing, sentence length, word choice, repetition. It even compares my writing to my genre to see how all these details compare. Each hundred pages takes me about five hours because of the level of detail the program includes and my insistence on fixing problems. Time required: about twenty hours, spread out through the first few months.
With the skeleton in place, I’ll wordsmith–make sure I’m saying what I mean, drawing the reader in, not using more words than necessary (which slows the pace down–a killer in thrillers), that I have constant crises that are solved only to have new ones arise, that chaos takes over at times. This is where I am now. This could necessitate one full read-through, or more. Time required: over six weeks.
When I think it’s perfect, I’ll do a final read-through before engaging beta readers. At this point, I know from experience it will be almost impossible for me to tell if the book is any good. I’ll have been with it too long. But still, I’ll try. Time required: a few weeks.
Before sending to beta readers, I’ll confirm a title. I believe a title comes after a book is written (I know–lots of people have the title before they write. I like the story to tell me its name). For example, though my current WIP has a working title of To Hunt a Sub, it’s had other names, like A Girl, Her Dog and a Rogue Submarine.
I’ll turn the book over to beta readers. I don’t know how long beta readers take. I have other writing projects I’ll work on while I wait, but they won’t be fiction. I don’t want to mix up my plots.
When I get the comments back, I’ll necessary changes. Time required: a couple of week.
When I send it out to beta readers, I’ll start developing a cover and marketing the upcoming book release. I’ve been collecting ideas from writers I respect who do exactly that. I’ll shamelessly steal their ideas (with credit) as I prepare my release.
I’ll have a professional line edit for me before publishing. I don’t want input on structural pieces like pacing. I just want to have spelling and grammar fixed.
If you’re curious how other people write their novels, check out Joseph Finder’s post. Joseph is one of my favorite thriller authors. He’s written at least eleven books that I’ve read. He knows what he’s doing.
–Published first on Today’s Author
More writing a novel:
8 Steps All Writers Follow When They��Edit
15 Traits Critical to a Successful��Writer
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter���s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today���s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher���s website, Structured Learning.��
Filed under: writing Tagged: to hunt a sub

February 15, 2015
55 Interesting Intel Devices
Often in my novels, I use digital devices to create havoc in my plot. There are so many ways to do that–electronic eavesdropping, cloning smartphones, stealing wifi signals–that I now keep a list of the devices and purposes. See if any of these motivate–or frighten–you.
A note: These are all from novels I’ve read and therefore for inspiration only. They can’t be copied because they’ve been pulled directly from an author’s copyrighted manuscript (intellectual property is immediately copyrighted when published).
Computers
Each keystroke made a distinct sound, as individual as a fingerprint. As the strings of keystroke clacks and clatters were beamed across the Atlantic, they were processed and stored at the Tordella Supercomputer Facility on the grounds of Fort Meade. Space bars, for example, made a very different sound when struck than regular keys. So did the return key, and it was always struck at the end of a string of characters representing a command. Certain strokes–the numbers 1 and 2 and the letters e and a, for instance–were statistically more common than others. Over the course of an afternoon, the NSA’s powerful description algorithms could with fair to high reliability assign an ASCII code to each distinct keystroke click, producing a transcript of Lockwood’s typing that would be almost as clear as it would have been… with a camera peering over her shoulder.
Keylogger, wireless���simple device inserted between the USB port and the USB plug of the keyboard, transmit keystrokes and screen shots to a collection device just outside the office
A carefully crafted bit of software would graft itself to the operating system running Syria’s military and government computer networks, creating an invisible back door through which the CIA and NSA would have complete and untraceable access.
A USB thumb drive from the NSA’s technical support center. A tiny 40-gig external drive, it looked and acted like a 10-gig drive, with the extra memory invisible behind a virtual wall.
A flash drive that had beamed the entire contents of Joe���s flash drive to Martin.
Facial recognition software
The UV light revealed Martin���s latent fingerprints on the pad.
handheld Bearcat scanner
A RAMCAM, the little fingerprint reader that makes a thermal picture of the print, and the CRIMCON, which is hooked up to a video monitor.
a second numeric touch pad, his own alarm, a motion detection system
FaceIt���a sophisticated and rapidly evolving biometric software program manufactured by the Indentikit Corp. Would pick out all visible faces
SIGINT–monitored radio broadcasts, phone and satellite communications, and internet connections worldwide
Flex-8 ���F-Bird���, the latest, most sophisticated digital recording device used by OCTF. Battery powered, smaller than a quarter
FLIR–forward looking infrared
Conducted a series of surveillance detection routes (SDRs) to make sure he wasn���t being followed, like getting off a bus two stops early
a spark plug, often referred to as a ghetto glassbreaker
Perimeter
Perimeter security was all microwave trip wires and heat sensors and miniature cameras.
Intel kits
cash, sterile SIM cards, cell phones, lock-picking tools, a condensed trauma kit, tracking bugs, Tuff Ties, a Taser, folding knife, multitool, IR laser designator, infrared strobe, night vision monocular, compact weapon with high-end ammo
A small screwdriver set, needle-nose pliers, wire cutters, electrical tape, a small roll of wire, an electrical meter, some alligator clips, two tiny flashlights and lithium batteries and of course, a roll of duct tape.. (to defeat a house alarm, the security box and back-up batteries)
They contained all of the hard-to-acquire items an operative might need in a foreign country: cash, sterile SIM cards, cell phones, lockpicking tools, a small trauma kit, tracking bugs, Tuff-Ties, Taser, OC figgers, folding knife, multitool, an infrared and lasser designator strobe, a compact firearm, suppressor, loaded magazines, and extra ammunition, and a handful of other items.
When the bird was launched, the owner had no idea it carried extra circuitry they didn���t pay for, certly embedded military data relay links the Allies wouldn���t try to shoot down or jam, because they wouldn���t know
algorithm
alias
anomaly
assets on the ground
automated indexer
back-hack
blip
bot
bricks and clicks
bricks and mortar
broadcast storm
cipher
clandestine
console
covert, trawler
cryptanalysis
disinformation
flooding
formulae
hacker/cracker
hive mind
Infobahn
keylogger
line eater
malfunction
neophile
network meltdown
Operative
Personnel databases���Accurint, AutoTrack, LexisNexis
real time
script
soft targets
subroutine
technopreneur
techspeak
traffic analysis
Trojan Horse
web agent
web crawler
web spider
Personal
Panic button���looked like a cheap, plastic garage-door opener, bright red, size of a quarter, hung around the neck
RFID���radio frequency identification device���a miniature transponder in a credit card that gave off a return signal when it received a recognized interrogation signal.
VaporLock-recordless electronic communication. Once you open it, the sender���s name disappears, then the message disappears
Iris capture
Drive-by upload–send an email in HTML format to a targeted computer. Get someone with access to that email to open it and click on a hypertext line. The result was an influx of code into the target computer–a carefully crafted virus, in fact–that took over that computer and gave the sender administrative control.
Rooms
SpyFinder Personal
Battery-powered lens will detect any micro camera planted in a room, lighting up the camera���s lens with a red dot even if the camera is powered off at the time. Uses refracted light, only instead of using it to capture an image, it shoots beams of concentrated light that are refracted by the camera’s lens to reveal its position
Trick the system into thinking a breach hasn���t occurred or hijack the signal before it gets to whoever���s looking���either a human or a mechanical device designed to start squealing.
Spread-spectrum scanner���isolated the nearest signal, which should be the door sensor. He identified the frequency and dialed it into a small device the size of a billiard ball. He attached it to the wall and pressed a button. It softly chirped, then apparently did nothing, but I knew it was now blasting out a signal on the same frequency the door sensor used, overriding its ability to communicate with the control panel.
Drugs
2 milligrams of Arivan, 5 of Haldol, and 50 of Benadryl, injected intramuscularly. Emergency room psychiatrists called the combo a B-52 and used it to restrain psychotic patients. Haldol caused extreme sedation and reduced muscle control.���essentially temporary paralysis. Benadryl acted as another sedative a counter to the nastier side effects of the Haldo. Ativan was more pleasant, a tranquilizer that reduced anxiety.
Devices
Used his cell phone and an RSA key to access the restricted URL of the NSAs Whois database of classified IP addresses worldwide
Used cell phones to assassinate enemies for decades (call them and it blows up in their ear)
Replayed the code in his mind again, sound by sound, and as each sound rang in his memory, he pushed its corresponding number on the keypad. Six tones then a click
Knew how to turn on the OnStar microphone even if I���m not on it.
I place an audio transmitter the size of a grain of salt under his media console and another in his bedrooma
GSM A5.1 Real Time Cell Phone Interceptor���can handle twenty phones in quad band and four base stations and is undetectable
Phones
trap and trace
software inserted into the device���s operating system gave the team rel-time access to Khaddam���s emails, text messages, contacts, photos, voice calls. It also turned the device into a full-time transmitter
made a Skype call from his laptop���you can���t trace those with towers
An NNR GlobalEye, for the geosynchronous satellite, and then the LEO
encrypted, unlocked, quad-band GSM cell phones
He hacked my phone, did it electronically. Installed some form of data logger software. All he needed to do was to stand within a few feet of me. I keep the Bluetooth option switched on all the time. He could have simply uploaded it from his phone to mine in a matter of seconds.
In the absence of a secure line, Skype was a spies first port of call; near impossible to bug, tricky to trace.
Phone cached the video images, transmitting them to the DVR on Wherever when the cache reached capacity. Interchangeable lenses provided ultraviolet and infrared vision
Tracking
Dime-size tracked devices that slide into purses or pockets and the ability to activate webcams on computers without the users��� knowledge
More technology in writing:
Metamaterials and an invisibility��cloak
When does technical become��boring
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter���s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today���s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher���s website, Structured Learning.��
Filed under: descriptors, To Hunt a Sub Tagged: mystery, thrillers, to hunt a sub

February 12, 2015
Book Review: The Forgers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Bradford Morrow’s “The Forgers“ was a bit of a leap for me. I don’t read a lot of literary fiction because it usually includes long-winding sentences that preach about important subjects that I may not be important to me. But this one was marketed as a combination of literary and thriller so I gave it a try. It was worth it, starting with the first line:
“They never found his hands.”
Great opener. This kicked off the gruesome murder of Adam Diehl, a reclusive book collector-sometimes forger. The story isn’t as much about his murder as it is about how his death affect the people around him. The plot starts with his agonizing torture and ultimate expiration, sputters through the police inability to find the murderer, covers Diehl’s sister Meghan’s agony and eventual moving on, all through the eyes of a convicted forger, a man Diehl may or may not have liked or trusted (no spoilers). To complicate matters, a blackmailer uses Diehl’s death to exhort money from Meghan’s boyfriend.
“The Forgers” conveys events with substantial narrative, consummate wordsmithing, and the emotional impact on those close to Diehl subsequent to his death. There’s lots of circumspection and a tendency for the characters to be bystanders to the plot rather than active participants–as though they’re riding a train someone else is driving.
That is, until, all the pieces start connecting.
One part I especially liked was the exquisite detail on how forgers work, what is required to succeed at that craft, and how to identify authentic (or not) work. The only difficulty I had with the book was during the first third, when the author was providing backstory as well as present-time. The timeline wasn’t always clear.
Overall, a good read by a man who is well-respected for his storytelling skills.
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter���s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today���s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher���s website, Structured Learning.��
Filed under: book reviews Tagged: literary fiction

February 10, 2015
What are You Doing for Valentine’s Day?
After thirty years of marriage, Valentine’s Day has changed in my house. I’m fine with that. I have no interest fighting the crowds, receiving chocolate I can’t eat, or spending too much money on a restaurant when my husband is a better cook than most chefs. If you’re like me and want to stay home, here are a few websites that will help you feel like Valentine’s Day is different from all other days in February:
Here’s Valentine history, according to Wikipedia. Who knew it all started with Geoffrey Chaucer?
Three great Valentine love poems from efriend, Chris Wood. You can also drop by St. Valentine’s Day website for an entire list of heart-jerkers
Are you looking for pithy, concise Valentine sayings? Try Creating Really Awesome Free Things. Be forewarned: They belong on candy hearts. These are a bit longer, but still saccharin.
Not a mushy sort of lover? Click here for quotes with a sense of humor.
Forgot a card? Print a Valentine Scrabble gram here
Or try American Greeting’s free Valentine card creator (or 123 Greeting has a darling bear card)
Drop by Quote Garden for a romantic quote or two (“Loving is not just looking at each other, it’s looking in the same direction.”�� ~Antoine de Saint-Exup��ry, Wind, Sand, and Stars, 1939)
No time at all? Need an entire message? I got you covered with St. Valentine’s Day website.
What are you-all doing for Valentine Day? Maybe I’ll change my plans.
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter���s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today���s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher���s website, Structured Learning.��
Filed under: culture Tagged: lists, valentine day

February 8, 2015
How to Write About Love
Because, if you’re a writer, you must. It doesn’t have to be sex but it has to take readers that direction, right to the edge of the cliff. Yes, you can leave the lurid details out, but let readers peek over the edge.
How do you do that? Start with a few decisions:
Is it platonic?
Is it unrequited?
Is there conflict?
Is it lust disguised as love?
Is it serial love? Or one-of-a-kind?
Is it kinky or traditional?
Does love bring joy or sadness–or misery?
Is the manifestation of love baby-ish or mature–goo-goo eyes and saccharin words or Paris vacations?
Is love verbal or silent?
Is this love constructive or destructive? Flowery or brutal?
what part does the spiritual play in the emotion–or is it uninvolved?
Is it a subplot or a cameo?
Is it an inciting incident or a throw-away?
Is it violent or passive?
How did it start? Online or physical world?
Are children involved?
What are the personal flaws that attracted each to the other?
You may not know any of these answers, but by the end of the book, these questions will drive the actions of the characters.
Another important questions is: What’s your genre? If you’re writing romance, you’ll have to delve into this subject much more than if you write mystery/thrillers. Romance readers buy books as much for the love lost lust as the plot. But not thriller readers. There, if the love interest is secondary to the plot, they’ll be fine. If it’s only alluded to, you will likely still satisfy them. What about literary fiction? Emotion is good. Introspective questioning is better. Romance is secondary.
Love is about emotion. That’s where you write it. How do the character’s feel? Are they distracted at the scent his love interest wears, even when worn by another woman? Or does he barely notice? The reaction of your characters must be in-character. Are they Sheldon (from Big Bang Theory) or Lolita?
When you’ve thought through the emotion, write the backstory. How did your characters meet and fall in love? See if you can answer most of the questions listed above. You may never use this detail in your novel, but it will fill out your understanding of your characters and their motivations.
Still unsure? Read books in your genre. See how your favorite authors wrote about love (because there’s rarely a novel that doesn’t at least touch on it). Take note of what seems particularly effective for you. Borrow the technique, not the words. Ask friends about love. Most people are eager to talk about new hook-ups. Pick their brains.
One final point: A bit of humor is fine. Perfect People and their Riveting Romances are boring–and unrealistic. Who among us hasn’t been stupid in love? Understanding that it is part of the human condition, that we shouldn’t take ourselves as seriously as romeo and Juliet did, got us through it. Granted, if the plot requires a psychological meltdown because of the love interest, forget the humor. It won’t work.
For more about writing love, check out Peter Murphy over at Storyplant (he calls it a dangerous business).
More help with writing emotions:
Setting is Not a Place, it���s an��Emotion
How do you get readers to trust��you?
How Characters Show Emotion Part��III
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter���s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today���s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher���s website, Structured Learning.��
Filed under: business, writers resources Tagged: emotions, love

February 5, 2015
Book Review: The Kill Order
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Robin Burcell’s The Kill Order (Sidney Fitzpatrick–Harper 2015) is the fifth in the FBI Special Agent Sydney and forensic artist Fitzpatrick series (the second series created by Burcell). Sydney becomes embroiled with a powerful computer code called the Devil’s Key. It’s repercussions are so extensive, it is considered a danger to national security and anyone in its possession is ordered to be killed–the Kill Order.
The problem starts when a deep-cover American agency asks Sydney to draw a profile picture of a man who twenty-year-old pickpocket (Piper) saw kill her boyfriend. Because Piper has an eidetic memory, she remembers minute details and quickly identifies the man as a powerful government official. To make things worse, Piper saw the Devil’s Key and now has it stuck in her brain, which means she must be killed. Sydney, with the help of the specialized government agency, decide to unravel why the code is so lethal and hopefully in that way, save the girl’s life. What they don’t expect is that doing this puts all of them in mortal danger.
The characters are interesting and clever and the plot fast-moving–in fact, it never slows down. The importance of the Devil’s Key is explained, but to me, not believably enough. I get that it’s a backdoor into sensitive computers. What I don’t get is why that isn’t solvable since it is a known problem. I found myself bogged down by the plot. At times, it seemed to be going in circles albeit at full speed, as the author tried to figure out where it was really headed.
I was disappoint that Sydney’s skills as a forensic artist didn’t show up more in the book. I know they’re spotlighted more in other volumes in the series (i.e., “Black List”), so Burcell might have wanted to broaden the foundation for the plot by delving into other areas. One other point that didn’t detract from the book’s score: I think this book would have been easier to understand if I’d read the previous books in the series. Characterizations were a bit sketchy and there were references to earlier cases that I assume were from prior books. I think if I’d read the books in order, I would have felt much closer to the characters.
Overall, a great read from a talented author. I will be reading the rest of the series–starting with Book 1.
If you’d like to purchase this book from Amazon, it’s available here:
The Kill Order (Sidney Fitzpatrick)
More books about FBI agents:
Book Review: Before Cain��Strikes
Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter���s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is the author/editor of dozens of books on integrating tech into education, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com and TeachHUB, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, monthly contributor to Today���s Author and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her book at her publisher���s website, Structured Learning.��
Filed under: book reviews Tagged: fbi, murder mystery
