Private Investigators Help Writers Craft Sleuths

Writers, researchers and the curious can explore the world of private investigations in the book "How to Write a D.I.C.K.: A Guide to Writing Fictional Sleuths from a Couple of Real-Life Sleuths"

1 2 3

Private Investigators Help Writers Craft Sleuths

Welcome visit Our WebSite:

http://howtowriteadick.wordpress.com/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Denver, Colorado, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) July 5, 2011 --The 21st century has opened up a brave new world of investigative technology, tools and Internet resources that would have made Sherlock Holmes weep with joy.

Unfortunately, most writers are not aware of these state-of-the-art developments that shape today’s private eye, which sometimes leave writers floundering with impossible and antiquated devices, characters and methods in stories. To fill this gap, Colleen Collins and Shaun Kaufman wrote How to Write a D.I.C.K.: A Guide for Writing Fictional Sleuths from a Couple of Real-Life Sleuths , using material culled from their combined 14 years background as private investigators plus decades of courtroom and writing experience. How to Write a D.I.C.K. isn’t about how to write fiction, but what writers need to know to write authentic, compelling 21st-century sleuth characters or stories.

Readers, researchers, investigators and publishing professionals can also use How to Write a D.I.C.K. as an aid for:
- Understanding the real-world of PIs and their fictional counterparts
- Writing articles
- Researching investigative strategies
- Analyzing the techniques, tools and legalities used by their favorite private eyes in film, books and other media

Authors’ Backgrounds
Colleen Collins is a co-owner of Highlands Investigations in Denver, Colorado. Her articles on private investigations have appeared in PI Magazine, Pursuit Magazine, PInow.com and other publications. She is an active member of the Private Eye Writers of America and the Mystery Writers of America. Along with a background as a technical writer and editor developing non-fiction publications, she has written 20 novels for Harlequin and Dorchester, several of which have placed in the finals for national competitions, including the prestigious Holt Medallion and RITA awards.

Shaun Kaufman, co-owner of Highlands Investigations, has worked in and around the criminal justice field for more than 30 years as a former trial attorney and a current senior legal investigator. He has published articles in PI magazine, the Denver Law Review, and other publications. Prior to opening his investigations firm, he hired and managed private investigators, training them on such issues as ethics, death penalty litigation, homicide and gang evidence, and search and seizure techniques.

How to Write a D.I.C.K.: 2011 Book Blog Tour
Collins and Kaufman will be guests at various mystery and crime professionals' blogs throughout July and August 2011. At each blog stop, they will post new investigative articles and answer readers' questions. To check out the dates and links to these blog sites, click here.

Praise for How to Write a D.I.C.K.
“Forget Google and Bing. When you need to research PI work, go to the experts, Colleen Collins and Shaun Kaufman: they live it, they teach it, they write it. How to Write a Dick is the best work of its kind I’ve ever come across because it covers the whole spectrum in an entertaining style that will appeal to layman and lawmen alike. This will be the industry standard for years to come.” - Reed Farrel Coleman, three-time Shamus Award winner for Best PI Novel of the Year and author of Hurt Machine

“If you want authenticity in creating a fictional private investigator for your stories, then this is a must-have reference book. Its authors, Colleen and Shaun, are living breathing PIs with years of actual experience in the PI game.”- R.T. Lawton, 25 years on the street as a federal special agent and author of 4 series in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine

Excerpt from How to Write a D.I.C.K.
To read an excerpt, click here

Buy the Book
To buy the Kindle version, click here
Nook version to be available July 2011

More information can be found online at http://howtowriteadick.wordpress.com/

creating characters     how to books     mystery books     nonfiction book     PI genre     private investigator     writers     writing books