Not to brag or anything, but I think I achieved ‘expert’ level in procrastination this weekend. I know! I’m ready to accept my trophy. Have my speech ready and everything.

But what I didn’t do this weekend was piss anyone off by referring to the ‘safety’ on a Glock. Yeah, I’d never do that. But someone did. And the book was published by Little, Brown and Company. And it truly pissed me off. Twice. TWICE. FFS. You cannot switch the safety on or off on a Glock because they use Glock’s Safe Action system. There is no external safety switch.

It’s a weird book to start with, kinda out there, and hard to follow, and then the Glock incident. My gut reaction was “Nah, I’m out”. Two seconds on the internet and the author could’ve gotten that right and you know, perhaps the editor might’ve checked that out. No one did. They got it wrong and that opens up a can of worms because if they got something so fucking simple wrong what else have they taken giant liberties with??
Hence I probably won’t finish the book. If you make something hard work and then get shit wrong – do you even want people to read your work??

If you’ve had anything to do with me as a crime writing teacher over the last many years you’ll know the thing that pisses me off the most … yeah, it’s the Glock thing. That’s the example I always use, and clearly, people are still getting it wrong. Research isn’t the enemy. It makes you stronger as a writer. Just check things out. It doesn’t take long.

If you really wanted a pistol with an external safety then use something else! Please! 🙂
Try a Beretta 92FS / M9 which is standard with a manual safety, Sig Sauer P320 (M17 & M18) and Smith & Wesson M&P M2.0 can be ordered with or without manual safety switches … there are choices those are just a few.

In New Zealand our police use Glock pistols (Glock 17, I think), they are not usually carried but kept in a lock box in the car – although AOS and police officers responding to high-risk incidents carry sidearms on their person. And you’ll sometimes see armed police at our main airports. Our police also use Bushmaster M4 patrol rifles for tactical operations.

Righto, that’s it from me this evening. I think Doris wants me to watch a movie with her shortly.

Two more weeks of heavily discounted or free books in the Smashwords Winter/Summer Sale. << FBI-Byte Series either free or half price.
Don’t be late!

This series isn’t discounted but I’m not sure why, but they’re still cheaper than a coffee! Veronica Tracey Spy/PI Series

[Echo Mike Papa] launches next week!