Wicked Inspiration Ripped from the Pages by Connie Cockrell

WICKED WEDNESDAY

Authors are always on the lookout for story ideas. Our books might be fiction, but they are usually pulled from the pages of real life. And we all know how wicked real life can be. Connie has great insight for you on just such a story. Take it away, Connie:

I sometimes write cozy mysteries so I’m always alert for strange events in the paper, the tv news, and so on, that I can use in my stories. A few years back, our local paper ran a news article that the police had found a car, overturned in a ditch just inside the town boundary. There was no driver around. The underside of the car had an unexploded IED attached to it. That certainly piqued my interest. There were so many questions! Who was the driver and where did he or she go? Who put an IED on the car and why? How did the car crash? Why didn’t the IED go off? None of my questions were answered in the article.

I tucked the idea in the back of my mind and went on about my business. Then months later, I was writing my second book in the JeanHays cozy mystery series, Mystery in the Woods, and the IED came back to mind when I needed to put my poor character into some danger. So I had Jean drive her car into a drainage ditch, (she was under attack at the time) and the police found an IED under her car.

Here’s a snippet.

"It's a bomb, Chief." The Explosive Ordinance Officer, dressed in full gear, held his helmet under his arm.

"Details?" Nick was pissed. In all the history of Greyson, no one had ever bombed anything. Now there was one attached to the bottom of a friend's car.

The EOO pulled off his bulky gloves. "It’s an IED. I saw plenty of them in Afghanistan. An explosive type as opposed to chemical or biological or some other type. This one had a cell phone trigger—safer for the bomber, as they can be anywhere when they call from the trigger device."

Nick took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair. "Damn. Why didn't it go off?"

The EOO shrugged. "The wire leading from the detonator to the charge was disconnected. Not sure if that was an error on the bomber's part or it came undone when the car flipped."

"Oh, for the love of God." Nick put his hat back on. "Anyway to figure out who did this?"

"Not really. I can make an IED pretty quick and from random parts. If we get lucky and the bomber was stupid, he left prints. I can try and track the explosive. It’s C4, so there's a taggant, generally chemical, that will let us know the origin of the stuff. But I can't guarantee that will be helpful. A lot of C4 is stolen every year. Just because we know where it was made won't really tell us where it's been since manufacture."

"That sucks."

"Yep." The EOO began to unbutton the protective suit jacket. Even with the cooler temperatures of October, his hair was plastered to his head. "I'll run the IED though the database. We may get lucky and have a serial bomber whose stuff has been documented. A pattern would be helpful to track him down."

"You keep saying he. Why is that?"

"Bombers tend to be men. There are a handful of women bombers but it's mostly men."

Nick nodded. "Thanks. Let me know, will ya?"

The EOO nodded and trudged back to his van.

Wicked, right? Have you ever read something in your local paper about something weird? I’ll bet you have. Feel free to share in the comments. 

Bio

A 20-year Air Force career, time as a manager at a computer operations company, wife, mother, sister and volunteer, provides a rich background for Connie Cockrell’s storytelling.

Cockrell grew up in upstate NY, just outside of Gloversville, NY before she joined the military at age 18. Having lived in Europe, Great Britain, and several places around the United States, she now lives in Payson, AZ with her husband: hiking, gardening, and playing bunko. She writes about whatever comes into her head so her books could be in any genre. She's published twenty books so far, has been included in five different anthologies and been published on EveryDayStories.com and FrontierTales.com. Connie's always on the lookout for a good story idea. Beware, you may be the next one. 

Mystery in the Woods Blurb

Welcome to Greyson AZ. Population: dropping fast. 

Once again uncovering secrets both old and new, Jean soon finds herself in a race against time—they planted what in her car?—to figure out who the mastermind is behind some dark and grimy things going on in the town. It’s a race she can’t afford to lose, but will she be able to figure out the answer before she goes one step too far? 

Links

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https://amazon.com/author/conniecockrell

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/connie-cockrell