Spend a Year in Cupid's Coffeeshop: Info for writers about serial publishing.

Fellow Kindle Scout winning author, Courtney Hunt, joins us ThrillWriters and ThrillReaders to talk about her year-long writing project, Cupid's Coffeeshop.

Fiona -
Welcome Courtney. Can you set the stage by telling us a little bit about your writing and your project?

Courtney - 
I prefer to write in the contemporary romance genre, though I'd like to eventually branch into women's fiction. I also have some paranormal and sci-fi ideas rattling around that I hope to get to before 2050.

As to how I became a writer, I've always enjoyed writing down the stories I created. I pursued traditional publishing for about 10 years before giving up after the birth of my son. In my day-job I'm an attorney for the federal government. When we furloughed in October 2013, I suddenly had the life I'd always dreamed about. My son was in school and my husband at work. I wrote 54k words in 17 days. I self-published my first novel in July 2015.

Fiona - 
You are working on what I would call an ambitious if not daunting adventure. Can you explain how you got this idea? And tell truth, was this a dare accepted over too many rum and Cokes?

Courtney - 

COURTNEY HUNT - author page

No, but there was some cough syrup with codeine involved. Like many writers, I often write in coffee shops and thought that a coffee shop would be a great "meet cute" place for a hero and heroine. But, I couldn't settle on one hero and heroine. Finally, while I was sick with bronchitis (that's where the cough syrup with codeine comes in) and lying in bed, I jotted down a list of 10 story ideas. From there, I got the idea to do one per month throughout 2016. Still on the cough syrup, I came up with the three core characters who own the coffee shop and the Cupid's Coffeeshop series was born.

Fiona -
Would you take us through your production process? Writing a first draft is simply a step on the path to a reader's hands.

Courtney -
When I structured the Cupid's Coffeeshop series, I based it more on episodic television writing than a traditional romance series. So, I had the three main characters, who each get their own "very special episode" in their own books. And then, from there, I branched out to the other stories.

I have a four stage process--Capture, Development, Drafting, and Production. I use Evernote to capture all my story ideas. I usually tend to think in series, probably because as a life-long romance reader, I enjoy reading romance series. Once I decide to develop an idea, I do some basic research and character work to build an outline. I have to limit myself on the character work because I'd spend months on it if I let myself. I usually work on it for about a week and have a few favorite character exercises, like Holly Lisle's the Shadow Room and the intimacy questions. Once I have an outline or a scene list, I draft from beginning to end. I usually write 2-5k words a day on my writing days. Once a first draft is done, I consider the book in production. It goes to my developmental editor, my copy-editor, my formatter, my cover designer, and it's up on Amazon.

Fiona - 
If someone else were to think this was an awesome idea, first they should download all of your books and see what you did and how with the stories, but second could you share some of your insights? What worked? What didn't? How would you change things if you were to do this again? And would you consider doing this again? Ha! I piled on this time.

Courtney -
First, yes, I absolutely would consider doing this again. In fact, I have ideas for two different year-long series that I'm seriously considering pursuing in the future. 

Having said that, yes, there are some things I'd do differently. I would have all the stories written before I published the first one: 

• I wouldn't be writing under so much pressure.
• I'd have had the same editors for the entire series. My copy-editor abruptly closed up shop over the summer which left me scrambling to find another. 
• I would make them longer so I could charge $2.99 per book. Right now, I have them at about 50 pages and 99 cents. The sales volume has been very good but the revenue is lower than what I'd prefer.

As to what worked, I had all the covers designed at one time so they are well-branded and look great together. I also released a boxed set of the first four which I had made into an audiobook that has sold really well.

I also think setting up a core story, with the three main characters that appear in each book, helped a great deal with writing it. It always comes back to the three owners. And, while two of the owners have already found their happily-ever-afters, the last one doesn't until the final book. Readers have been clamoring to know what happens to Patrick.

I also think I've built up a core of really loyal readers who love this series and that's been great too. So, overall, it's been great to get a lot of titles up on Amazon quickly (I've been published just over a year and have 12 titles for sale and 3 for pre-order).

Fiona -
You brought up the idea of branding through your cover art. Who is your audience, and how did you develop your branding to appeal to them?

Courtney - 
The books are small-town contemporary romance. I was really going for a Gilmore Girls vibe with the books. However, writing such a long series, I've been able to have an older couple (Cherry Blossom Cappuccino features a couple in their 70s) as well as a high school couple (in November's Thanksgiving Dream). I've also had some college-aged heroes and heroines. So, even within the small town vibe, I've had young adult, new adult, and--what do we call older adults? Hen lit?-- opportunities. The books also vary in their heat levels from sweet to mainstream steamy. So, by varying the ages and the heat level, I've attracted a wide swath of contemporary romance readers.

As for the branding part, I've used the same cover designer for all my books (Kim Killion) and she also designed my Cupid's Coffeeshop logo. I've used Fivver.com to get some great promotional photos to use.

Fiona - 
Let's talk about the big author time suck, marketing. You have a great story to tell, you've wrapped it up in a pretty package, and now you need to get it out into the world. Can you take us through your strategy?

Courtney - 
Marketing has been a challenge for this series because many of the popular sites, like Bookbub, don't advertise novellas. I spent a good amount of December setting up promos for the first book, Java Frost. 

To celebrate each new release, I've put the prior month's book up for free for 5 days. I have a newsletter and send that out each month. I'm also just starting to use Facebook ads after Mark Dawson's class. 

I think having each book up for pre-order for 90 days helps too. I had just 29 pre-orders of the first one and the more recent ones are in the 150 range. So, that's been better. I have a review crew too that has helped spread the word. But, like with all author promos, it's never enough, and I have to limit it or I'll never get new words on the page.

Fiona - 
What do you wish I had asked you but didn't know enough to ask?

Courtney -
How difficult it is to change course with a series like this. For example, I realized in the spring that 99 cents was just too low to be very profitable. But I had 8 more months, and I didn't want to triple the price because I felt I'd already set reader expectations. 

Also, when I got sick in April and got behind on my writing schedule, I'd spend the next few months frantically working to catch up. When I do this again, I'll have all 12 books done before I start publishing. 

But for the next few series, I think I'll stick to the trilogies and quartet model for a bit.

Fiona - 
As always, ThrillWriting would love to hear about your favorite scar.

Courtney - 
My c-section scar because it gave me my beautiful son.
Fiona -  
You can stay in touch with Courtney here:
twitter at @courtneyhunt71 
Website

Facebook

Courtney's current new-release is Apple Cider:

The boxed set of the first one is here: Cupid's Coffeeshop boxed set

And here is Courtney's Kindle Scout winner! Lost Art of Second 
Chances

As always, a big thank you ThrillWriters and readers for stopping by. Thank you, too, for your support. When you buy my books, you make it possible for me to continue to bring you helpful articles and keep ThrillWriting free and accessible to all.

The Changing Spy Game with Guest Blogger Eric J. Gates

Eric J. Gates

Historical Deception


There was a time, long, long ago, in a galaxy not too far from where you’re sitting, when spies did more than sit at a desk in some underground bunker and punch a keyboard. There are still a few who do otherwise today, but in the main, they are in the minority. Yes, for younger readers, I am talking about the [hushed voice, looks furtively around] pre-Internet times of global espionage.

If you ask most spy novel reader about ‘classic’ books in their preferred genre they will immediately jump to Le Carré and particularly George Smiley. His adventures in a time when the Cold War was at its chilliest and the Cambridge Five (Philby, MacLean, Blunt, Burgess and Cairncross) were the trending topic of the day. For our American readers, and people born in this century, these were a group of Soviet spies recruited in Cambridge University in the 1930’s, who were active especially during WWII and after, as late as the 1960s, while also working for British Intelligence. Le Carré used them as the inspiration for his own novels ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ and ‘A Perfect Spy’, as did playwright and novelist Alan Bennet for three of his works. And I’m sure many recall the 1987 movie ‘The Fourth Protocol’, based on an earlier novel by Frederick Forsyth, which makes use of Philby as the instigator of the plot to smuggle a nuclear bomb into the UK.

Now what you have just seen are three, and by no means the only three, instances of real historic spies being used as inspiration for best-selling novels and plays. Yet there’s more, much more. Have you heard of a guy called Ian Fleming?

The Bond movies are still drawing big crowds at the cinemas and speculation runs rife as to who will become the next incarnation of the mythical super spy. All this sixty-three years AFTER the first appearance of Fleming’s sophisticated secret agent who always presented himself with his surname first. Was Bond, James Bond based upon a real agent, you may ask at this juncture. As far as we know, the answer is no… but… Ian Lancaster Fleming did serve in British Naval Intelligence during WWII although apparently he was considered too valuable as Admiral John Godfrey’s assistant (the supposed inspiration for ‘M’) to be sent in person on dangerous wartime missions.

Today, we are inundated with the techno-spy who is far more at home behind a keyboard while some hapless associate, maybe on the other end of a satellite-linked earwig (that’s what they are called, people), is running the gamut of all the bad stuff the enemy can throw at them (think Chloe O’Brian and Jack Bauer for example).

Yet between these two were the grey areas (dare I say it again?) pre-Internet when the quantity of secret information grew exponentially and the need to analyze this was still centralized (in the case of the British Intelligence services, in London). No, you could not encrypt it into a .zip file and dump it into Dropbox! Someone, a real live human being, had to travel physically to where the information was, collect it safely, then courier it to its destination. And, yes, the traffic was two-way. Imagine a small horde of clandestine custodians running around the world like so many stealthy ants, each the concierge of some covert crumb which must be delivered with haste to their final objective while at the same time dodging ‘the opposition’ (friendly and not-so-friendly intelligence agents). Exciting times, and ripe for a book or two, you might think.

When fellow writer Mark Fine approached me to contribute a short story to a new anthology he was compiling, ‘Crooked Tales’, the premise of an abbreviated tale with a twist aimed at catching the reader out was like music to my ears. I had just finished writing a techno-laden novel where prime numbers were used by hackers to steal government secrets (‘Primed’, the sequel to ‘Outsourced’) and so I decided to seek inspiration in less-computerized times. Thus was born ‘Death of a Sparrowman’ (yes the title does kinda sound familiar, right – the deceit started right there) where I tell the story of one such covert messenger and how he is still rolling with the punches in our times still doing a job which was born many centuries ago. Inspiration can be found for intriguing and original storytelling by turning the pages of history back and examining, in this case, the evolution of the second oldest profession. If you are a writer, whatever genre, you might like to take a look at history as a starting point for your next novel. There’s an old saying about those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it, so why not do so on the pages of an original novel?

A huge thank you to Eric Gates. His story (and one of mine) can be found in  our new anthology.

You can download your copy HERE.
Read it for FREE if you KU!

As always, a big thank you ThrillWriters and readers for stopping by. Thank you, too, for your support. When you buy my books, you make it possible for me to continue to bring you helpful articles and keep ThrillWriting free and accessible to all.

Predators 101: Info for Writers

(Photo credit: Wikipedia) 

How a Predator Courts His Victim and How to Save Your Heroine



DISCLAIMER - This is a non-political site that is geared to help writers write it right. I am presenting information to help develop fictional characters and fictional scenes. In no way am I advocating any position or personal decision.




Your heroine was distracted. Who could blame her? You've written all kinds of drama into the poor girl's life. Amazing that her head didn't explode. At least you were nice enough to write in a bar of chocolate; and right now, that's where her focus is. Chocolate. Not Predator.


The predator approaches -


Did you know that various statistics show that 3/4 of all attacks on women are performed after verbal threat alone? Women are often socialized to not cause a scene.


One way a heroine falls victim is the Blitz. The predator jumps out of nowhere and tries to overwhelm her. This kind of attack is rare. The response of your heroine would be to SCREAM!!!! and fight. And that is not what the predator wants. The predator wants to assert control over the situations. He's picked his victim and now he moves in to confront her. After a victim is sized up, she is courted. Here’s how:


Teammates - using the word “we.” "We’re in this together." "We’re on the same team." If the heroine doesn't know someone, and they are suddenly using the “we” word? She should focus!


Charm - This person is charming. This person is so kind. FOCUS. Why would the guy come over and help your heroine put her groceries into her car? That’s not a normal behavior. A normal guy would go about his business and let her go about hers. A guy whose attention she attracted will help her put your groceries in the car - don’t let it flatter the heroine. This guy wants something. Say “No. Thank you.” and stick to it (see discounted “no” below).



Details - Someone who is telling the truth believes that the truth speaks for itself. When the heroine starts getting too many details, she should FOCUS. The nice guy says something pleasant as he goes up the stairs. "I’m going to the same floor as you - let me help you with the groceries. I’m going to your floor because I have to feed my best friend's dog." Cons use words to distract us. Too many words - too many details.

Pigeonholing - A con who makes your heroine feel badly for a perception she gave off needs her focus. An example: “You’re probably too snobbish to talk to me.” The answer? None. Don’t let your heroine get sucked in. Or she could say, “I don’t talk to strangers.” And then don’t let your heroine engage when the predator keeps trying to push her off the point. If she doesn't talk to strangers, she should not let him prove otherwise by goading her into saying something - anything to him or he has gained control. (see Discounted No, below)


Debt - When someone does something for her and that puts her in his debt. “Let me carry that bag for you.” He’s nice. He didn't take no for an answer. And now she owes him. Hmmmn.

Promises - “I’ll just walk you to your car and make sure you're safe. I promise.” If she hears an unsolicited, “I promise,” it’s probably a lie, and your heroine's probably in trouble. She needs to come up with an exit strategy - now!

Blog Link to LIARS

Discounting the word “no.” - She said, “No, thank you,” and the con still pushes her on the point? “It’s no trouble - I’m glad to help.”


Video Quick Study (2:24)

• First scenario is a blitz.
• Second scenario shows: "Pigeonholing," "Charm," "Discounting No".

So what is happening for your heroine?


A victim will respond to very little intensity with a rush of adrenaline. One of the effects of adrenaline is for the victim to stop breathing. Having your heroine speak gets her breathing and allows her to function under high stress. So if you want your heroine to move through the scene, get her talking (not screaming).


When your heroine experiences a rush of adrenaline, she will generally respond passively or aggressively. Her reaction will depend on personality traits and acculturation. A woman growing up in a rough neighborhood will respond differently than a woman who grew up sheltered and in a male dominant household.



PASSIVE - 

The Heroine - will beta stance - cave her shoulders, lower her head, turn to an angle. The Predator - will be thrilled! He will increase his aggression, escalating his controlling/abusive behaviors. A passive respondent means he has found his victim and can control her with his voice and body language alone.


Blog Link LIMBIC SYSTEM



AGGRESSIVE

The Heroine - responds with an alpha stance, loud voice, aggressive body language.


Blog Link:Trouble! Body Language 101 for WritersWriters

The Predator -

The response of most aggressors to aggression is fire on gasoline. An aggressive predator will not de-escalate, so now you have a fight on your hands.Was that your plot line all along? Good - because they are going at each other's throats.



Assertive Behavior - 

Will signal the predator that your heroine is not an easy mark. It will help the aggressor to make other behavior decisions. But it will NOT guarantee that violence is not imminent.

If the body language (see above link) shows aggressive body language ramping up, she should be prepared to defend herself and risk serious injury to prevent herself from being taken to a secondary location.


Blog Link - A Heroine's Plan to Escape Car abduction

The Assertive Heroine - Maintains distance, has a neutral stance with hands up (She is prepared to move into a defensive stance if things escalate but will not tip her hand that she knows how to defend herself. She needs to maintain the element of surprise).

As much as is possible the heroine would maintain neutral eye contact, facial expression and voice tone (to begin with).

“I said no. And I mean no!” Use her stern "I take no shit" voice.
She is no longer polite. Let nothing change that “no” or the guy
has power and knows he can manipulate you. I liken this one to
my kids whining at me, whining, and whining until finally I say,
“FINE! Just take the darned cookie and be quiet.” What did I just
train my kid to do? Hang in there and whine obnoxiously because
soon I will give in. What did I train the con to do? - Push me and
push and push and I’ll give in. "NO!" and stick to it.


Blog Link The Man Had His Penis In His Hand; How NOT to Leave Dance Class


Aggressor - An aggressor will respond to assertiveness by extracting themselves from the situation.



A Predator will continue to push back and try to intimidate the
heroine using the above scenarios. This is where the heroine
escalates to protective mode. Remember, once your heroine
engages, she's committed. She must stay in the fight until she can
escape.


Blog Link - How to Dress Your Characters so She Has a Fighting Chance



Ideas developed in this blog are an extension of a book review that I did on Gift of Fear by DeBecker. 

As always, a big thank you ThrillWriters and readers for stopping by. Thank you, too, for your support. When you buy my books, you make it possible for me to continue to bring you 

helpful articles and keep ThrillWriting free and accessible to all.

I Spy: Words Thriller Writers Should Know

Seal of the C.I.A. - Central Intelligence Agency of the United States Government (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Have you been watching a lot of spy movies for research? Do  you have your pad handy so you can accumulate a fabulous spook vocab? 

From ThrillWriting friends who come to this blog to share their expertise, I have learned one very important lesson (well, no, I've learned a TON of lessons, but this is the overarching take-away), don't believe anything you learn in the movies unless it was recommended as authentic by someone who spends their careers in that situation. For example, last night I watched PROOF OF LIFE after it was recommended to me by Rock Higgins. Wonderful movie. Lots to learn. 

But this article is about words. If you are writing espionage, (which I am working on right now) here's a short list that might be helpful. First, a word of caution, if you pepper your work too heavily with spy words, readers may get slowed down trying to understand the new vocabulary; a word here and there gives authenticity. Also, if you're using a new term like "cut out" go ahead and define it for the reader through dialogue or action. Secret words make people feel that they're "in the know", and then they're included and invested in the private world you're creating.

• Agent - This is a person who is unofficially employed by an intelligence service, often as a source of information. This one caught me by surprise; I thought that the official employee was an agent, but this word is a synonym for asset. My fear is that using agent instead of asset would confuse a reader.
• Agent-in-Place - This is an asset who works for a foreign government but provides intelligence to us. They get their regular paycheck from their government, and they get a paycheck from Uncle Sam. 
• Agent of influence - This is someone working for a foreign government who is a decision maker and who can help manipulate their policy to be pro-America. (Paul Manafort's influencing the Republican party to change their Russian platform is an example - only not in our favor)
• Asset - This is the same as agent. They provide info to our spooks usually in exchange for something that they want - be it money or visas or get out of jail free cards.
• Babysitter - is the person set up to protect an asset - the bodyguard or close protection detail. Related article HERE. In my LYNX books, I call them "watchdogs" because the Strike Force men needed a more active/dangerous name than babysitter.
• Bagman - The guy with the bags of money. He's the one who pays the assets and bribes authorities. I'd think these people would have to be of extraordinary moral fortitude. They're handling a lot of money, often untraceable, and giving it to people who don't write receipts. Lives are on the line if this person should suddenly decide that they'd like to go live on an island somewhere and drink mai tais  under an alias.
• Bang and Burn - Sounds like a bad date. Ew! Sorry for the visual. This is the spook who does the demolition and sabotage operations. In my LYNX books this is Axel White. Related article HERE
• Black Bag Job - when a spook goes into a building to get hold of materials either by taking them or copying them.
• Black Ops - A spook goes into an operation disavowed. If they get caught, then their mothership will deny any knowledge.
• Black Propaganda -  Is basically disinformation that can't be traced to a source. Sort of the ultimate rumor mill.
• Blown - Whoops, someone's true identity is revealed. A spook might be outed or an agent's secret work is exposed. Blown is bad.
• Bona Fides - this is proof that you are who you say you are.
• Bridge Agent - This person takes information from a case officer and delivers it to an agent (asset) in areas where deniability is required.
• Brush Pass - the person who is walking out in public and something is passed from one case officer to another. They might be walking and simply hand it over, or they could sit at a bench and put a bag by their feet, someone else comes and sits beside them then picks up the bag. It's a public clandestine exchange.
• Burned - A case officer or agent is compromised.
• Camp Swampy - A synonym for "The Farm" where they train CIA employees.
• Case Officer - runs the operations and manages assets.
• Chief of Station - the officer in charge of a foreign (for the most part) CIA station.
• Clean - Unknown to enemy intelligence; the antonym of blown
• Cobbler - A spook who creates false passports, visas, diplomas and other documents Related article HERE
• Compromised -Syn blown
• Controller - syn handler. It's an officer who is in charge of an asset.
• Cover - The persona taken on so the officer can infiltrate. It is imperative that the officer has background in this area. A language major couldn't use a bio-medical engineering cover, they'd be blown the first time they had to have a conversation on the subject. 
• Cut-out - It's a way of passing information or materials securely. This could be an actual physical  compartment, or it could be a procedure between those on an operation. It is also the term used for an asset who works as an intermediary between two people.
• Dangle - A person who wants to be a double agent. A foreign intelligence agency sends their operative to America in the hopes that they'll be recruited as a spy. If that works, then they can gather intelligence or they can spread disinformation. Remind your spook to be careful whom they trust.
• Dead Drop - A clandestine location where materials can be left by one person and retrieved by another.
• Discard - If your character has been tagged a discard,  they're in for trouble! This is an asset that their handler will allow to be detected and arrested in order to keep a more important asset safe. Similar to "throw away".
• Dry Clean - countersurveillance - the things that operators do to make sure they aren't under surveillance.
• Escort - The person who leads a defector down their an escape route.
• Exfiltration Operation - Is a rescue, bringing those affected out of harm's way. This could be, for example, a defector, a refugee, an operative. 
• Floater - Someone used only one time, occasionally, or even unknowingly for an operation
• Handler - A case officer who is responsible for an asset (controller)
• Honey Trap - those using sex for the greater good to intimidate or "trap" someone. See "raven" and "swallow".
• Infiltration - clandestine movement of an operative in an area.
• L-Pill - A suicide pill.
• Legend - A spy's background or biography, usually supported by documents and memorized details. Gives new meaning to someone who is legendary, doesn't it?
• Mole - Someone sent to penetrate a specific intelligence agency by gaining employment. Another reason for your character to be paranoid. The idea of a mole is a theme in my book CUFF LYNX. It was interesting to explore the idea of a mole at Headquarters and how just the possibility could affect morale and inhibit work output. Remember, a mole acts like your character's best friend, everyone is suspect and everyone is trying to watch their backs.
• Naked - an operative with no cover or backup. Yikes!
• Paroles - A french word meaning word, speech, lyrics. They are the passwords to identify intelligence personnel to each other
• Plaintext - The original message. A message that hasn't been encrypted
• Playback - When a spy provides false information to the enemy but gets accurate information from him or her.
• Pocket Litter - This is an important writing detail. For a related article go HERE. These are the items in a spook's pocket placed there purposely to add authenticity to his or her identity. It might be a receipt, or a prescription, or an domestic item. For example a woman with a mom cover might have some crayons in her purse and a container of goldfish.
• Provocateur - Someone sent in to rile up a target group. The end goal is to entrap or embarrass them.
• Raven - A male agent who seduces people for intelligence. The female counterpart is "swallow". Yeah, they went there.
• Rolled-up - when an asset is arrested. This might have been planned/optimal see "discard" and "throw away".
• Sanitize - When specific material is removed from a document so that the identification of intelligence sources and collection methods can't be detected/followed.
• Shoe - is a false passport or visa. This gives a whole new meaning to "I bought a pair of cute shoes today."
• Spymaster - The leader of espionage activities. The spook with the kick ass trade craft.
• Station - a location from which an operation functions. 
• Steganography - Ways to  conceal the fact that a message even exists (secret inks or microdots) Steganography tools
• Swallow - A female agent employed to seduce people so they can be used to for intelligence in some form or another. Who the heck came up with this term. :/
• The Take - Is the information that was gathered.
• Throwaway - is an asset that is considered expendable. Your character doesn't want to end up on that list.
• Timed Drop - is a dead drop that where the materials will be picked up at within a certain window of time.
• Tradecraft - Methods used by operatives to get their job done. This includes surveillance techniques, running assets, ability to done and keep a cover, data gathering, and sure, if need be, fighting skills, among others.
• Traffic Analysis - intelligence gained from the patterns and volumes of messages of communications that they are intercepting. You might hear in the news where the FBI identified an increase in traffic on certain sites before an event. Intelligence is trying to keep an eye on traffic to spot the patterns and thwart the outcome.
• Uncle - Spy service Headquarters. 
• Walk-in - Someone who wishes to defect and goes to an official installation to ask for political asylum or sometimes they volunteer to work in-place
• Window Dressing - That's all of the extra information included in a cover story or deception operation that are in place to help convince others that what they see is what they get. Window dressing rounds out the character they're playing. So a spy might have a tennis racket and sports bag in their trunk if the perona they're portraying does that as a hobby. If they said that they're married with two kids, they might put fake pictures on their desk with kids art on their cork board.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF INT (Intelligence)

• COMINT - intercepted communications that provide intelligence
• ELINT - electronic intelligence
• HUMINT - from a human
• IMINT - is "imagery intelligence" 
• PHOTINT - Photographic intelligence. This is often gathered from spy satellites or aircraft
• RADINT - radar
• TECHINT - technical intelligence. 
• SIGINT - Signals intelligence includes COMINT (communications intelligence) and ELINT (electronic intelligence) Related article go HERE
  
  As I was writing this article, I consulted the Spy Museum's website and learned about "raven" and "swallow" for the first time. They have some great historical terms there too. Check out their list HERE
  
  
  As always, a big thank you ThrillWriters and readers for stopping by. Thank you, too, for your support. When you buy my books, you make it possible for me to continue to bring you 
  helpful articles and keep ThrillWriting free and accessible to all.

What I Found When I Went on a Manhunt: Information for Writers.

Manhunting - sounds like something I did in my earlier days before I found Hubby. But that's not what I was up to this particular weekend. I took part in a three-day training in tracking humans.

So perhaps some plotting fodder if your character suddenly goes MIA in your storyline.

When your missing character is reported to 911, the police will come out and start to put the basic pieces of the puzzle together. 

The police are usually not trained in search and rescue techniques. This is a specialization, and it is performed by volunteers. Search and Rescue volunteers go through a great deal of training and practice because the skill sets need to be built upon and these skills are perishable - that is "use it or lose it." 

But within the search and rescue community there are specializations. 

• If your missing character was in a plane they'll call CAP - Civil Air Patrol (my character Lexi Sobado in Missing Lynx depends on this training as she escapes the bad guys) 
• The Coast Guard searches for people missing on waterways. 
• If your character is in the mountains or treacherous terrain, they may need a technical crew.
• There's the search and rescue people who do land navigation and terrain searches
• Trackers - or manhunters follow human tracks to try to find the subject or at least give a direction of travel
• Equine team
• K-9  - is a broad group where the dogs train in their own specialization.

This particular weekend, I was training with Search and Rescue Tracking Institute. It was a three day hunt/training. 98 degree heat, high humidity, little to no breeze. If someone went missing in that kind of weather they would be in dire straits. The chances for heat stroke were high especially if they weren't properly equipped or didn't have a good water source.

Here are some myths that were debunked over the weekend:

• You must wait 24 hours to report a missing adult. There are amber alerts for children, and silver alerts (for the elderly and those with dementia) but if your character is supposed to come home at six, and they aren't there, then her love interest calls honey bun's work, and they never showed up that day, there's no need to wait until 7:30 the next morning. Certainly, if they were supposed to exit a trail at 4pm and now it's dark, your character's BFF should be alerting the rangers ASAP.
• You can't search at night. Actually, I thought it was much easier to search at night with a flashlight. The trail was much more obvious.
• It's easier to search with the bright sunlight. The sun overhead made finding tracks really difficult. We'd use our hats to try to shade areas where we thought we might find a footprint. We'd also use our flashlights during the day to try to get the angle of the light to show the ridges in the footwear.
• You can tell by the size of the shoe or the length of the gait how tall the person was, their sex, how heavy, that they were right handed. . .  You can't tell anything about the physical characteristics of a person from their shoe print. All you can say is, "that is a shoe print."
• A tracker knows which shoe prints to follow. No, they don't. They need help. Did your hiker do the right thing and leave aluminum foil prints? (See video just below) Does the family know what kind of boots the hiker likes to wear? Did they run away barefooted? The tracker looks at ALL the tracks and tries to decide which is the most likely. As we passed people on the trails, we'd stop them and ask if they'd mind if we took a picture of their soles. This gave us a library of shoe prints that we could eliminate.

• A tracker can tell how long ago a person walked down the path. Sometimes they can give it a good guess and sometimes they can't tell at all. As a matter of fact, I was testing my "aging" skills on Sunday next to a master tracker. There were five sets of tracks, each track was set up at a different time within 72 hours. What time was each track made? To be honest, there wasn't much of a difference at all between the five, and I was pulling random numbers from the air. I was glad to learn that I wasn't the only one thwarted by this task. The master tracker said he couldn't find the differences either. Weather conditions, sun exposure, and type of terrain all impact one's ability to make good judgment calls on whether this track was just laid or it had been there for days and days.
• You can just send out a drone to search and area.  Drones are impractical in most wilderness search areas because of the tree canopy. Also, there are a TON of regulations which make it impractical in other areas, too, such as, you can't fly over anyone. They are coming up with regulations so searchers can eventually use them but that will be another specialty and require basically a pilot to work the apparatus. But for now, know that writing the use of drones for search and rescue in America would be writing it wrong.

One of the days we were tracking, they also had K-9 involved so the manhunters and the K-9 handlers could discuss ways the different teams could best work a task together. These particular K-9s were air scenters and HRD (human remains detection).

I wanted to see an HRD K-9 in action so his handler hid a tooth in the rocks at a campfire. Once he was in the area, the K-9 walked right over to the fire pit and looked like he was thinking about it, walked a circle around the pit once, then sat down right beside the tooth. It was invisible to the naked eye.

This is a picture of the handler giving the dog his green light to search the area as she released his leash. You can see right from the get-go that K-9's nose was pointing toward the fire pit. (far left of the photo).

And here he is getting his reward, which for this K-9 was high pitched vocal praise and lots of rubbing and petting.


Next, I got to be the lost person to show an air-scenting dog in action.

Can you see me in the log? I'm laying on my red poncho.  On this task the dog started, oh I'd say about a football field away. I thought that I'd have a chance to take a little nap. . . but in short order, I heard him coming toward me. 

Now, let me stop and tell you what this is like to be on your back without a visual field in the woods and have an animal coming at you at full speed. I knew it was a dog, but still everything in me said "stand up and get big." It was incredibly vulnerable feeling to hear the leaves crunch and the galloping feet. And then out of nowhere a furry face was peering down at me. He didn't stop and give me a lick or interact with me at all. He moved in for verification, and then took off again. I'm told that this interaction depends on the dog. The lab in their group likes to stay and get pet and give kisses before he goes to report his find. One thing I can say was that when I was found the K-9 radiated joy. His whole body felt like a great big "WHOOP! I win!"

This is a picture of the K-9 reporting back to his handler that he found someone.

After the K-9 brought his handler to me, he was rewarded with play; he got to have a tug of war with his ball. 

If your character goes missing because they were injured, lost, or abducted, Search and Rescue will work the case until your character is found. There's one open case in our area that the teams have been working for over five years. It bothers every one of the people on the team that they haven't been able to bring this person's remains home to their family. They keep sending teams out to look. So when you write your plot, even if the case goes cold, SAR will keep at it. But also, remember as you write that these are volunteers, and they show up as they can from their daily lives. 

Related article:
Heat Stroke info for writers an article by Patti Phillips HERE
Hug a Tree - surviving lost in the woods HERE
Cadaver dogs HERE


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