Recapping the PSWA Conference - and Your Riddle Answers

I'm late getting this post...um, posted, but it's not my fault. I was going to write it last night but my beloved Red Sox were on ESPN. Against those dreaded Yankees. And the game went into extra innings. Well, I couldn't exactly stop watching, could I?

I know - excuses, excuses.

Most of you know I missed a couple posts recently while I was attending the Public Safety Writers Association conference in Las Vegas. If you're not familiar with the PSWA, its members "include police officers, civilian police personnel, firefighters, fire support personnel, emergency personnel, security personnel and others in the public safety field. [And then we have] those who write about public safety including mystery writers, magazine writers, journalists and those who are simply interested in the genre." (quote taken from the PSWA website). 

 I attended my first PSWA conference in 2011. In fact, it was my first writers' conference and it was a perfect choice. Smaller than some conferences (under 70 attendees), it gives a new author the chance to mingle and get to know everyone without being overwhelmed. That was the year I met the "friend" who shares my Facebook profile picture. Yes, those are bullet holes.

This year there were sessions you might find at any writing conference - on setting, building suspense, promotion, etc. - but there were also less common presentations such as: the culture of prostitution, the evolution of the detective, homeland security, and DNA. Since the conference is small, everyone can attend every session, no having to choose being two presentations when you want to see both.

Last year, they also created a crime scene, complete with murder victim, for the attendees to investigate. Unfortunately, no one informed the hotel cleaning staff and it sent a maid screaming for security, so no crime scene this year.

I want to share some pictures from this year's conference but I took them with my brand new smart phone (my dearly loved, ancient flip phone finally died) and I need to figure out how to get them from the phone to the computer, so I'll save them for the next few Mondays, along with some of the great information I gathered.

Here a piece of writing advice to hold you over - Dialogue should be believable, not realistic. There's nothing more boring the realistic dialogue.

And a tragic fact - 30% to 50% of prostitutes are juveniles (under 18) and the average age of a juvenile prostitute is 14.

Now to lighter things...here are the answers to last Wednesday's riddles. Many of you knew one or more and a few of you got them all.

1. In which battle did Napoleon die? - His last one.

(Several people pointed out that Napoleon died in his sleep, not in battle - which is historically correct - but to make the riddle work, I'm calling that his battle with old age. Still his last battle. *grin* )

2. Where was the Declaration of Independence signed? - At the bottom. 

3. How can you lift an elephant with one hand? - You can't. You'll never find a one-handed elephant. 

Thought for the Day: