This time last year, I was in a tizzy because I'd read about Lee Lofland's Writers' Police Academy and thought it sounded fun, so I gathered up my courage and paid my money. I felt a lot of guilt for spending that kind of money on something I'd never been to, in a state I'd never been to, not knowing if I would enjoy it or not.
Turns out, I loved every second of it. From check-in to debrief, we were moving the whole time. I have pages and pages of notes from the sessions I attended; sessions on profiling, autopsies, what makes killers tick, how bad guys get guns, FATS training, arson investigation. We even had a (mock) school shooting so that we could see how the police, fire, and EMS would respond in that situation.You name it, WPA has it. The only problem was that I didn't have enough time to do all of the sessions I wanted to. I missed jail searches, handcuffing, taking down bad guys.
Heck, I even ran into Sophie Littlefield, whose book, A BAD DAY FOR PRETTY, I reviewed and became a die-hard Stella Hardesty fan. Terry Odell, a romance author who had just re-located to Colorado, was there with her husband. I'd guest posted for Terry and have followed her blog for a couple of years.
Since I had such a great time last year, when registration opened up this year, I jumped right in and don't feel the least bit guilty about it. I'll again be doing the FATS training, as Jerry Cooper, the head FATS guru, has promised me that I'll get to shoot the M4 rifle that Jeffery Deaver got to shoot instead of the Glock I shot last year. There will definitely be pics (or video) of that. I do believe, though, that I'm going to spend some time learning to shoot a carbine before September so I don't make a fool of myself.
I should stress that this is NOT a writing conference; there won't be any agents to pitch ideas to or writing seminars. It's a gathering of writers who want to participate in a Police/EMS/Fire Academy to gain experiences that will make their writing come to life. This event really is a Must Attend event for any writer who wants to write accurately and not make glaring errors in their manuscript.
If you're interested in attending, click the WPA badge in our sidebar. And tell 'em GunDiva sent you!
Way cool! Didn't know about this. Are you going to get all famous on us with your book?
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