A Writer's Guide to Fighting: Footwork

The next installment of the "Writer's Guide to Fighting" series is up on Righting Crime Fiction:

A Writer's Guide to Fighting: Footwork

First Author Interrogation: Susan Furlong, Author of PEACHES AND SCREAM

To read the very first Author Interrogation, which features Author Susan Furlong, go to the new Righting Crime Fiction website here: http://rightingcrimefiction.com/

Many thanks to all who have visited my blog over the past months. I hope y'all will migrate over to the new and improved site and see what we have to offer.

BJ Bourg

New Paying Market to be Associated with Righting Crime Fiction

Flash Bang Mysteries

I am pleased to announce some changes and additions to Righting Crime Fiction. First, I purchased the domain name www.rightingcrimefiction.com and am in the process of building a new home for this blog. It will have three main features, described as follows:

RIGHTING CRIME FICTION BLOG

I will continue to provide monthly posts similar to what has already been provided. The posts on this blog will remain here, and I will gradually copy them to the new blog and will begin directing viewers to the new site when it is live.

AUTHOR INTERROGATIONS

This is where I will interrogate authors who are suspected of writing great crime fiction. You might wonder why I am calling it "interrogations" instead of "interviews". Is it because my questions will be hard-hitting and brutal? Will I try to trip them up and get them to admit to something sinister? Will I use trickery and deceit to elicit a confession of some sort? No, no, and no. Quite simply, I'm calling it "interrogations" because "interviews" has been done to death. And "interrogation" sounds cooler.

In any event, this will be an opportunity for authors to share a little about themselves and a lot about their books, in the hopes that a million people will read the interrogation and rush out and buy a copy or ten.

I have the first author interrogation lined up and it will appear here next week. It will also appear on the new site when it is up and running.

BJ BOURG'S MYSTERY MAG E-ZINE

The third feature of my new website will be a flash fiction e-zine. I will pay $10 a piece for up to ten flash pieces each quarter ranging from 500 to 750 words. I plan to launch in October. The guidelines are below:

Fiction we seek:

• Mystery/suspense of all types (police procedural, private eye, amateur sleuth, cozies, hardboiled, etc.). Basically, if it involves a crime and it is within our guidelines, we would love to consider it.
• We want stories that feature believable characters who speak naturally, realistic situations that bleed conflict, and surprise endings that stay with us long after we reach the final period.
• We welcome new and established authors.

We publish four times per year:

• January / Winter
• April / Spring
• July / Summer
• October / Autumn

Submission periods are limited to the following dates:

• October 1st to October 31st for January Issue
• January 1st to January 31st for April Issue
• April 1st to April 30th for July Issue
• July 1st to July 31st for October Issue

How to submit:

• We accept submissions via e-mail only.
• Send as .rtf or .doc attachment.
• Include brief cover letter in body of e-mail
• We do not accept simultaneous submissions. If you have not received an answer by publication date, feel free to submit your story elsewhere.
• Please submit one story per author at a time.
• E-mail submissions/queries to
• Subject line must read: "Flash submission: [your title]"

Manuscript format:

• Margins: 1" all around
• Font: Times New Roman, 12-pt
• Center title in all caps at top of first page, skip line, insert byline, skip line, and begin story.
• Use single line spacing.
• Skip line between paragraphs and do not indent at the beginning of paragraphs.
• Single-space after periods.
• Use two hyphens instead of the em-dash.
• Use italics to indicate flashbacks and thoughts.
• Use three centered asterisks to indicate scene breaks.
• Please don’t rely solely on spell-check. Proof your work very carefully and send us only your best, as multiple errors may be cause for rejection.
• We reserve the right to edit for grammatical errors and such. However, we will not rewrite stories we receive.

Length:

• Flash fiction ONLY between 500 and 750 words

Pays on publication for first worldwide electronic rights, thirty-day exclusivity, archival rights, and the right to include it in a downloadable edition of the issue in which it appears, to possibly be made available on Amazon. Once the thirty-day exclusivity period has lapsed, you are free to submit your work elsewhere and all rights, other than those specified herein, revert back to you.

Payment:

• $10.00 one-time payment, US, via paper check (mailing address required for payment)
• NOTE: Due to budgetary constraints, we are limited to publishing no more than ten stories per issue.

What we won't print:

• Graphic sex, gratuitous violence or vulgarity. Swear words are okay, as long as they are not used gratuitously.
• Anything that seeks to promote hate or discrimination.

What to include in the cover letter:

• Name
• Byline (exactly as you want it to appear)
• Mailing address
• E-mail address
• Word count
• A brief description of story
• BIO (up to 50 words)
• A note certifying you are the creator of the work, you own the rights, and it has never appeared in any other venue in any form.
• Please let us know if it would be your first published story, because that would be cool.

Response time and method:

• You should receive a decision within four to eight weeks, but it may take longer depending on the amount of submissions.
• Acceptance and rejection notifications will be made via e-mail.
• We will not comment on rejected manuscripts.
• Once you receive a decision on your story, feel free to submit another.
• We reserve the right to reject any story for any reason.

NOTE:  If we reject your story, please understand it simply means it is not the right story for us at that time. It is certainly no reflection on the quality of your story and, by all means, continue submitting your story elsewhere until it finds a home. Above all else, I am a writer and--having had more than my share of rejections--I know how it feels to be rejected. As you might imagine, that will be the worst part of this whole endeavor. I like making people happy, not disappointing them.

Disclaimer:

• Authors are responsible for the content of their stories and BJ Bourg's Mystery Mag E-zine, its editors, creators, and/or affiliates accept no liability whatsoever for misuse of any kind.

BJ Bourg is the author of JAMES 516 (Amber Quill Press, 2014), THE SEVENTH TAKING (Amber Quill Press, 2015), and HOLLOW CRIB (Five Star-Gale-Cengage, 2016).

© 2015 BJ Bourg

A Writer's Guide to Fighting: The Fighting Stance

Welcome to the June 2015 edition of Righting Crime Fiction. In this month’s segment, I will discuss the keys to a proper fighting stance, the mechanics involved, and some tips to ensure your fighting stance is solid. It might be unnecessary to describe the exact position your character will be in during a fight, but if you, as a writer, can “see” it and “feel” it, you can convey your message more clearly.

Note: If there are no objections (and I don’t hear any:-), I will speak directly to your law enforcement characters, as this will help simplify the writing for me. Additionally, keep in mind that these techniques can be used in fight scenes between anyone (not just between a law enforcement officer and a suspect), and they can also be utilized in real life situations.

INTRODUCTION

Immediately upon recognizing that a physical confrontation is imminent, you should get into your fighting stance and prepare to defend yourself. Since physical confrontations often develop unexpectedly, it is imperative that this stance be as naturally a part of your everyday life as walking. You will not have time to think about proper body positioning. If you stop to think during a full-contact fight, you could get knocked out. If you stop to think during a fight with a suspect, you could “get dead”. Thus, you must spend hours upon hours in your fighting stance so your body will instinctively know what it “feels” like to be in the proper position. Developing this “muscle memory” is crucial to surviving a physical encounter. 

This fighting stance is derived from boxing, and it is the only stance you will need to utilize during an unarmed (or armed) confrontation. It offers a solid base and fluid mobility, enabling you to shift your body weight effortlessly from one technique to the other, while maintaining your balance and defensive posture. It is wider and more balanced than the ready stance, while providing optimum mobility.

KEYS TO FIGHTING STANCES

1. In life we usually begin and end our days at home. Similarly, your fighting stance should be considered “home” and everything you do in a fight should begin and end there. You will launch every technique from your fighting stance and, upon completing the technique, you must immediately return to your fighting stance, or your “home”.

2. The base of your fighting stance, which consists of your legs and hips, should remain centered at all times. You accomplish this by keeping your groin area centered between both feet. Even when you are moving, you should keep your groin area centered. You will shift your body weight while executing techniques, but your base should remain centered, except when you execute kicks.

3. To shift your body weight properly while maintaining your centered base, simply move your head slightly in the direction you want your weight to shift, while simultaneously bending or twisting at the waist. This shifting of your body weight is important to power striking and defense. Once the technique is completed, you must return your weight to center-line. You accomplish this by moving your head to its original position over your groin.

4. You must strive to always maintain your balance while in your fighting stance. This can be accomplished by focusing on proper foot position, which will be described in detail in the following section, keeping your knees bent, and supporting your body weight evenly on the balls of both feet. Also, remember to never turn your firearm side toward the suspect.

5. Keep your chin tucked and your hands up at all times. Additionally, if your suspect’s hands are up and in plain sight, focus on your suspect’s chest area. This will afford you a good peripheral view of his four primary personal weapons; his arms and both legs. If your suspect’s hands are hidden, it is imperative that you focus on them—while keeping track of his feet in your peripheral vision—because they could produce a deadly weapon.

FIGHTING STANCE

Step One: Begin by standing with your feet parallel and a little wider than shoulder-width apart (see Fig. 1.13). Remain relaxed with your head centered above your midsection. Imagine a suspect is directly in front of you and you are standing squared-up to him.

 

Step Two: Take a full step forward with your left leg (see Fig. 1.14). Your left leg has now become the lead leg, while your right leg has become the rear leg. The step will have turned your body at an approximate forty-five degree angle to your imaginary suspect, putting the lead leg closest to the suspect and the rear leg farthest. This simple maneuver places your right hip and firearm out of the suspect’s reach.

Step Three: Turn the toes of your right foot outward at an approximate forty-five degree angle, while keeping the toes of your left foot pointed at your suspect (see Fig. 1.15).

 

Step Four: Bend your knees slightly and distribute your weight evenly on the balls of both feet (see Fig. 1.16). Your heels should be raised ever slightly—they could remain in contact with the floor, but the contact must be “light”. This is important because you will be pushing off with the balls of your feet when you move and you will also be twisting on the balls of your feet when striking. If you bear your weight on the heels of your feet, you will limit your mobility.

 

Step Five: Tuck your chin by tilting your head forward in a bowed-head position, and lift your eyes to look directly forward at your suspect’s chest area (see Fig. 1.17). To assume the correct position, imagine you are looking down at a ticket book to write a citation. You merely need to lift your eyes to look directly in front of you. As long as you can see your eyebrows, your head will be tilted far enough. I call this “looking at life through your eyebrows”.

 

Step Six: Form a fist with your right hand (more on this later) and bring it up to the right side of your face, with your right elbow pointed directly downward and near the right side of your torso (see Fig. 1.18).

 

Step Seven: Form a fist with your left hand and bring it up to the left side of your face, with your left elbow pointed directly downward and near the left side of your torso (see Fig. 1.19). This hand and elbow positioning will provide protection against sudden and unexpected attacks, while keeping your arms in proper position for you to immediately defend yourself (see Fig. 1.20 and 1.21).

 

 

TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR FIGHTING STANCE

Tip One: A good drill to help you focus on keeping your chin down is to clamp a tennis ball between your chin and your neck (see Fig. 1.22). Next, perform fighting techniques in this position. If the tennis ball falls, you lifted your chin too far. (I have to constantly remind myself of this.)

 

Tip Two: I have always preferred to keep my right elbow pressed against my firearm when in my fighting stance (see Fig. 1.23 and 1.24). This serves as a second line of defense for weapon retention, with the first line being the distance between the suspect and my firearm.

 

 

Tip Three: The muscles in your arms and shoulders should be relaxed. Tense muscles hamper speed and accelerate fatigue, so you should always focus on staying relaxed.

Tip Four: From the ready stance (described in the May 2015 segment of Righting Crime Fiction), you are halfway into the fighting stance and would only need to take a half step forward with your left leg to assume the fighting stance.

CONCLUSION

That will wrap up the June segment of Righting Crime Fiction. If any of you have any questions or comments or suggested topics, feel free to contact me and I will reply as soon as I can.

Until next time, write, rewrite, and get it right!

BJ Bourg is the author of JAMES 516 (Amber Quill Press, 2014), THE SEVENTH TAKING (Amber Quill Press, 2015), and HOLLOW CRIB (Five Star-Gale-Cengage, 2016).

© 2015 BJ Bourg

A Writer's Guide to Fighting: The Ready Stance

Welcome to the May 2015 edition of Righting Crime Fiction. This month begins a series of blog posts about self-defense—one of my favorite subjects. In order for writers to create characters who can fight, they must learn how to fight.

INTRODUCTION

I’m a self-made fighter. At the age of about twelve, I began researching and studying every martial arts and full-contact fighting system/style I could find. I learned the techniques, perfected them, and then applied them in full-contact sparring sessions. I retained what worked and discarded what didn’t, developing my own fighting style using the best of each system I studied. Basically, I was mixing martial arts long before it became cool. Along the way, I joined a karate school so I could have regular sparring partners and even competed in several open karate tournaments, taking first place in all of them. The point system structure of tournament karate does little to prepare someone for brutal combat, and I eventually quit doing it. When a boxing gym opened up near where I lived, I joined and became a professional boxer (2002 through 2005) at the age of 31. I hung up my gloves in late 2005, because training at the boxing gym every night took me away from my children too much, and they were my priority. Currently, I continue to remain in fighting condition and I train my son, who is an amateur boxer, and my daughter, whose interest in fighting can be traced back to watching Ronda Rousey fight (she practically begged me to preorder Rousey’s MY FIGHT / YOUR FIGHT).

In 1990, I embarked upon a career in law enforcement and went through the police academy, where I was exposed to law enforcement’s defensive tactics. I found many of the techniques to be impractical. During my career, I’ve been attacked by many suspects while trying to arrest them. I’ve found myself facing individual suspects of various skill levels, multiple suspects at one time, and suspects armed with various types of weapons (firearms, knives, bats, etc.), and I’ve succeeded in apprehending all of these subjects with very minor or no injuries. Unfortunately, my success can’t be attributed to my training in the police academy. Rather, I survived those encounters because I’d made a lifestyle choice as a child—and that was to train everyday as a full-contact fighter in order to defend myself and those I loved from anyone who might try to do us harm.

Later, in 2003, I went to work as a fulltime police academy instructor and became certified as a defensive tactics instructor and instructor-trainer. I quickly realized they were teaching the same techniques I’d learned in 1990, many of which were impractical and some even dangerous to employ. When I started teaching law enforcement officers how to defend themselves, I taught them how to survive a full-contact fight, because law enforcement is a full-contact profession. Through those teachings, I coined the phrase “The Full-Contact Officer”, and I subsequently wrote a series of related articles that appeared in Law and Order Magazine.

In the upcoming series of blog posts—which will be based upon applied knowledge and not supposition or mere training—I’m going to share some of these fighting techniques and principles to help writers 1) develop characters who can take care of themselves and 2) write convincing fight scenes. Additionally, writers can use the information provided to develop their own self-defense skills

BALANCE

Balance is an essential component of self-defense. Whether interviewing subjects or making arrests, your cop characters must always maintain a position of balance while keeping their firearms away from the suspects. When cops lose their balance, bad things happen. Some of those bad things could include them being slammed to the ground, knocked out or disarmed, none of which are conducive to a long and healthy lifestyle.

IMPORTANCE OF A PROPER FIGHTING STANCE            

Before a house can be built, a sound foundation must be constructed. Similarly, before your characters can learn other aspects of fighting, they must first develop a solid fighting stance from which to launch their attacks and from which to thwart the attacks of their suspects. While a wider and deeper stance offers greater balance, it restricts mobility; and while a narrow stance offers greater mobility, it doesn’t provide sufficient balance. A solid fighting stance is one that offers an even blend of balance and mobility.

While the stances of most law enforcement self-defense systems are based upon traditional martial arts, the fighting stance I recommend derives from boxing. As a student of both, traditional martial arts and boxing, I learned very early in my life/law enforcement career that the boxing stance is more applicable to law enforcement work than those of the traditional martial arts.

The various martial arts stances, such as the front stance, back stance, straddle stance, and cat stance all lack the even mixture of balance and mobility that are necessary for your characters to survive a physical confrontation. By virtue of body positioning, they’re static and limit options, thus they’re not effective for real-world situations. They might be fine for performing kata or point sparring, where there are specific rules that all participants must follow, but they’re not appropriate for realistic combat.

Here are some of the reasons these stances aren’t suitable for practical law enforcement defense:

Back Stance:   The back stance requires officers to place about two-thirds of their body weight on their rear leg by positioning their hips over the leg (see Fig. 1.1). This greatly hampers mobility and leaves them vulnerable to a number of attacks, especially takedowns. It also inhibits them from delivering effective power kicks with the rear leg.

Cat Stance:   The cat stance is similar to the back stance, but there is more weight on the rear leg and the legs are closer together (see Fig. 1.2). The problems are also similar to those of the back stance.

Front Stance:   The front stance requires officers to place the majority of their body weight on the lead leg by positioning their hips forward, while the rear leg is straight and extends behind their body (see Fig. 1.3). This also hampers mobility, and makes it difficult for them to quickly defend against a kick to the lead leg.

Straddle Stance:   The straddle stance calls for an unnaturally wide stance (see Fig. 1.4). If the suspect is to one side of them, officers wouldn't be able to launch an effective attack with the rear leg and arm from that stance, because the rear leg and arm would be positioned too far to the rear, and the stance would greatly hamper their mobility and prevent them from being able to launch kicking attacks. Also, the lead leg could easily be swept or broken with a roundhouse kick to the lower leg. If the suspect is in front of them, the "squared-up" position would leave them vulnerable to being easily knocked backward or taken to the ground.

STANCES FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT

I advocate two stances for law enforcement officers: the ready stance and the fighting stance (I’ll detail the fighting stance in the June segment of Righting Crime Fiction). Officers will perform most of their duties in the ready stance. I call it the ready stance because officers must constantly remain vigilant as they perform their duties—always ready for the unexpected. When a suspect becomes aggressive, your officer would then switch to the fighting stance. Some law enforcement trainers and administrators prefer to refrain from using the term “fighting” as it relates to an officer’s stance, choosing to call it a “defensive” stance instead. While I understand the logic behind this, I unapologetically call it a fighting stance. I want officers to realize that when they drop into the fighting stance, they are absolutely in a fight—potentially a fight for their lives.

READY STANCE

Whether writing citations, interviewing witnesses, or ordering a hamburger, your officers should always remain in the ready stance. They should never stand flatfooted and squared-up to anyone while performing their duties—especially when wearing their firearm—as it would place their gun closer to the suspect’s reach (see Fig. 1.5). Standing flatfooted will also make them susceptible to being pushed backwards (see Fig. 1.6) or taken to the ground (see Fig. 1.7).

 

 

Note:   For the purposes of this blog, I will explain and demonstrate each technique for right-handed officers facing right-handed suspects, as most people are right-handed. If you’re writing a left-handed character (commonly referred to as the “southpaw” position in fighting), simply reverse the hand/foot/body positions.

Step 1: To assume the ready stance, officers begin by standing with their feet parallel and shoulder-width apart (see Fig. 1.8). They should remain relaxed with their head centered above their midsection.

Step 2: They would then take a half step directly forward with their left leg, maintaining the shoulder-width distance between their feet (see Fig. 1.9). Their left leg would become the lead leg, while their right leg would be the rear leg. The step will have turned their body at a slight angle to their imaginary suspect, putting the lead leg closest to the suspect and the rear leg farthest. This simple maneuver places their right hip, which is where their firearm is located, farther from the suspect’s reach.

Step 3: They would then turn the toes of their right foot slightly outward, while keeping the toes of their left foot pointed at their suspect (see Fig. 1.10).

Step 4: They should keep their knees “soft” and loose while distributing their weight evenly on both feet. They shouldn’t bear their weight on their heels, as this would greatly limit their mobility.

Step 5: They would raise their hands above their waist, at chest-level, and keep them out in front of their body (see Fig. 1.11). This will enable them to more readily defend a sudden and unexpected attack. It is also a natural position for their hands to be while taking notes, writing citations, or merely motioning while talking.

Tip 1: Don’t have your officers clasp their hands together or interlock their fingers, as the suspect could grab and trap both of their hands with one of his, allowing him to pound on your officers with the other (see Fig. 1.12).

NOTE:   I heard one law enforcement officer tell a group of writers that real cops use “teepee” hands when talking to people—um, only if they want to get knocked into next week and wake up not knowing their name. If you’re describing an interview scene and you want your officer to be tactically proficient, don’t have her interlock her fingers or use “teepee” hands. She can simply gesture with her hands as she talks, keeping them above her waist.

Tip 2: Your officers can distribute their weight evenly on both feet by simply keeping their head above centerline (centered above their groin area).

CONCLUSION

Well, that will wrap up the May segment of Righting Crime Fiction. If any of you have any questions or comments or suggested topics, feel free to contact me and I will reply as soon as I can.

Until next time, write, rewrite, and get it right!

BJ Bourg is the author of JAMES 516 (Amber Quill Press, 2014), THE SEVENTH TAKING (Amber Quill Press, 2015), and HOLLOW CRIB (Five Star-Gale-Cengage, 2016).

©BJ Bourg 2015

Interviewing: Witnesses and Victims Who Lie

Welcome to the April 2015 edition of Righting Crime Fiction. Before I get started, I want to mention how much fun I had at the Jambalaya Writers’ Conference in Houma, LA earlier this month. I presented a session on interrogating suspects called “Two Routes to the Truth” that relates closely to what I’ve been discussing here for the last couple of months. In the session, I talked about lying suspects and how to obtain admissible confessions from them. Today, I’ll discuss lying witnesses and victims.

INTRODUCTION

While most witnesses and victims are usually willing to speak to investigators, there will be times when your fictional detectives encounter witnesses who lie or who will refuse to speak with them. There are many reasons why witnesses and victims lie, and the sooner your sleuth can discover the reason behind the lie, the sooner s/he will be able to get to the truth.

WHY VICTIMS LIE OR REFUSE TO TALK

Some of the reasons victims refuse to talk to investigators include embarrassment, fear of retaliation, or they want to protect someone. If the crime is of a sensitive or private nature, such as sex offenses, the victim may deny it ever happened out of embarrassment. If it is a crime involving spousal abuse, victims may refuse to talk to authorities because they feel they will be punished more severely when their spouse bonds out of jail. If the crime is of a sexual nature and involves an immediate family member, victims may refuse to speak because they don’t want their loved one to go to jail.

Victims may lie to investigators for the very same reasons they refuse to talk, but there is another very common reason they lie; because they are covering up their own crime. Some of these situations might include lying about being the victim of a burglary to cover-up abusing or selling their prescription medication, or lying about being the victim of a rape to cover-up having consensual sex with a minor.

WHY WITNESSES LIE OR REFUSE TO TALK

Witnesses withhold information for various reasons. They may think the information they possess is insignificant, may be afraid of retaliation, may distrust the police, or may be afraid of subsequent publicity. I have interviewed many witnesses who saw things but did not fully recognize the importance of what they saw. Had I not asked probing questions, I might never have gathered the information. I have also interviewed many witnesses after they had already been interviewed by other officers and learned new information. Some of the information was crucial to the cases I was working and, early in my career, I would ask them why they had not divulged that information to the previous officers. Many of them had similar answers: “They never asked the question.”

Witnesses lie for different reasons, such as trying to cover-up for a friend or family member, trying to cover-up for their own criminal activity, not wanting to reveal a moral indiscretion, or they feel they may be implicated in the offense if they talk. I worked a case once where a kid was the passenger in a car wherein the driver was murdered. During the interview, the kid provided details about what happened in the car that only a passenger or the driver would know, but he claimed to have witnessed it from across the street. As I interviewed him, he continued to deny being in the car, and I realized he was afraid of going to jail for accessory to murder. I explained that he could not be charged with murder if he had no involvement in the commission of the offense. I also told him that, as a passenger in the car, he was also a victim. Since he had earlier stated the passenger had tried to steer the car to safety, I also told him he was a hero for trying to save his friend under the threat of gunfire. He nodded and said, “I am a hero.” He then began telling the truth about everything. He was not a bad kid or a lied for some sinister reason—he was simply scared.

TRANSFERRING TO FICTION

Witnesses and victims lie or withhold information every day during real police investigations, and writers can use this to their advantage when trying to create compelling and believable crime stories. It would not be realistic for every witness and victim to tell the truth about everything in crime fiction, so writers should definitely sprinkle in some lies here and there and offer credible reasons for the lie.

Here is an example of how a witness from one of my short stories (MUDDY WATERS, Futures Mysterious Anthology Magazine, Summer 2004) lied to detectives because he was having an affair with the victim and he did not want his wife to find out:

When we were seated in the interview room, I offered Andrew a cigarette. He took it.

“Tell me about your relationship with Cynthia Coleman,” I said.

His brow furrowed. “Who?”

I propped my elbows on the desk and leaned close to him. “Don't play stupid. You know who.”

Andrew licked his lips and shifted in his chair. “I don't know anyone by that name.” He fumbled in his pocket for a lighter.

“Andy, you're fixing to cause yourself a world of grief. Tell me about your relationship with—”

“I don't know who you're talking about. And if I did, what business is it of yours?”

Rick jerked a Polaroid of Cynthia Coleman's body from his pocket. I winced when he threw it on the desk. Andrew recoiled in horror. His cigarette spat from his mouth and fell to the floor.

“It became our business when we pulled her out the bayou.” Rick’s voice was loud. “If this doesn't refresh your memory, a punch in the head will!”

I put my hand on Rick's outstretched arm. He jerked it from me and stormed out the room.

Andrew's face was ashen. “Is that really her?”

I nodded. He buried his face in his hands and it was then that I noticed the gold band around his ring finger. I collected his cigarette from the floor, handed it to him. He stuffed it in his mouth and I held the lighter for him. He nodded his thanks. A couple of drags later he was calm.

“Want to tell me about your relationship with Cynthia?”

“I'm married with three kids. If my wife finds out about this...”

CONCLUSION

As a writer, you have the power to pick and choose who lies and why they lie. Whatever you do, make sure the lie is well placed, it is believable, and it advances the story or widens the suspect pool. Your detectives must work to determine the reason for every lie, and you can use this to lead them to the actual evidence that solves the case and closes out the story.

Well, that will wrap up the April 2015 segment of Righting Crime Fiction. If any of you have any questions or comments or suggested topics, feel free to contact me and I will reply as soon as I can.

Until next time, write, rewrite, and get it right!

BJ Bourg is the author of JAMES 516 (Amber Quill Press, 2014), THE SEVENTH TAKING (Amber Quill Press, 2015), and HOLLOW CRIB (Five Star-Gale-Cengage, 2016).

 
©BJ Bourg 2015