Tag: PIs

Writing the Private Investigator

Presented by: Steve Pease
Date: April 1 – 30, 2021
Pricing: A2P Member fee: $15
Non-A2P Member fee: $30

About the Workshop:

Television and movies do not reflect real life. Surprised? The Private Eye’s image in the mind of most Americans (and elsewhere) was formed on the screen and in pulpy mystery novels, and it’s mostly wrong. We don’t pull guns, beat up thugs, drink whiskey with a straw or take dirty photos thru motel Venetian blinds. We’re in a tough business, and we need insurance, permits, equipment and coffee. Oh, and good shoes and a comfy chair.

This 12 Lesson course will present a very practical view of the single-person PI business based on my experience as a licensed PI2 in Colorado. I’ll cover the main duties of the investigator, the effort needed to run a sustaining business and a few anecdotes to illustrate points. I’ll recommend resources, steer you away from a few, and suggest a couple things you can do to experience the PI life, AND, get some real-life details into your stories.

So your Hero is over 35, and maybe over 55. And they want to make a career change? What the hell do they bring to this? EXPERIENCE. And maturity from those hard lessons earned and learned during a working life. The punk kid hasn’t learned yet. You have. Most PIs aren’t life-long PIs, but they have been curious forever. Most have done something else, reporter, librarian, civil servant, cop, military, nurses. Their minds have discipline. They’ve been people watchers. They know an opportunity when they see it, so here they go. And they will succeed at THE core PI task: Find Out About. My Lessons aren’t simple Conference handouts. They’re writing resources. You can lurk. And you can imagine and ask. My two main mystery characters are late life PIs. Let’s see how this works.

About the Presenter:

Steve Pease is a licensed Private Investigator in Colorado. He is retired from a career in Intelligence and space engineering. He also teaches a course in writing against the intelligence cliché. He has published military history and SF/mystery/horror fiction as Michael Chandos. He is working on a romantic-suspense novel featuring an elegant lady who runs a lacey tea shop – and who knocked off her abusive husband with some lethal tea and put him in the rose bed.

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