"I’ve never held a gun, but I still shoot people."

I'd like to welcome Canadian thriller author Russell Brooks to Criminal Minds at Work. As soon as I read the title of Russell's post, I knew it would be perfect for this blog. He's got the same warped sense of humor as the rest of us. Plus he's holding a contest. Russell, take it away! ~Cheryl

A question that I often get about Pandora’s Succession was how I managed to be so detailed about the guns that were used throughout the story. I can relate. I’ve never owned a gun, or fired one for that matter. I tried to get my brother to hook me up since he’s in the Canadian army, but he reminded me that I’d need a permit. After all, this is Canada. However, I knew that it was important to be as descriptive as possible when it came to writing about weapons because I knew that my audience would be composed of current and former military officers, government agents and even police officers. Contrary to popular belief, readers are the most important critics, not book reviewers. You want proof? How many times have critics blasted a movie that you enjoyed. In fact, despite what the critics said, you still recommended it to your friends, correct? So I knew that being as accurate about sidearms or weapons was important if I expected to win back readers for future novels.

As we know, there are several varieties of guns—the Ruger, the Hechler and Koch, the Magnum, and many more. So why was it important for my protagonist, Ridley Fox, to use the Hechler and Koch rather than a Ruger? Why not have Fox use any gun? They’re all the same, right? Wrong. Allow me to let you in on a secret. In a previous draft, Fox used a Ruger in the opening chapter until a buddy of mine—who knows more about guns than I do—advised me that the Ruger would be too large a sidearm for Fox to use—and that he’d never be able to conceal it in the seat of his pants as described in the novel. He suggested that Fox use the Heckler and Koch (HK) instead because it is lighter, smaller, and yields a more powerful punch than the Ruger. I verified the info that he sent me and saw that he was right. I thanked him immediately and replaced Fox’s weapon.

Another matter of importance was that Fox used a noise suppressor—or silencer—in some situations. It was equally important to know that I’d need to arm Fox with a weapon where one can attach a noise suppressor—because not all sidearms accommodate one. In addition the sidearm would have to be small enough for him to conceal. The HK, thankfully, was still the perfect weapon for Fox.

Furthermore, since this is an international thriller, one must expect that in different areas of the world, people would be using different kind of guns. For example, when Fox was in Darfur confronting the Janjaweed, Fox noticed that they were using Chinese-made assault rifles. I read in the news about the immorality of China selling weapons to Sudan since they were being used against innocent Darfurians. Although the situation in Darfur has changed, one could expect the same weapons to still be present in that region.

As illustrated, although I’m not a big gun enthusiast or firearms expert, I had no choice but to learn as much as I can about guns in order to add to the realism of the story. By the way, when I mentioned earlier that I wanted my brother to hook me up with a gun, it was simply for the experience of holding one. That way I can be more descriptive when I write. I’d never think of shooting anyone that gets in my way. Ridley can do that for me.

PS. Thanks Jimmy G. for helping me out again.

I’d like to thank bestselling author, Cheryl Kaye Tardif, for hosting me during this tour.

(You're very welcome, Russell.)

CONTEST:
Everyone that leaves a comment with their email address (in the body of your message) will win an autographed book cover. After the blog tour, 10 commentors from all of the blogs will be drawn to win free autographed ebook copies of Pandora's Succession.

Pandora's Succession is available at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.  

You can learn more about Russell at: http://www.russellparkway.com