A Volkswagon Radiator Hose

There's nothing sexier to male(and probably some female) mystery fans than a woman firing a gun. (Ok, other than maybe a naked woman firing a gun.) Anyway, I digress.

Years ago, as a teen, I attended an automobile mechanic's class. During the first week of class, the teacher sent me to the local auto parts store to pick up a radiator hose for a 1970 Volkswagon Beetle.

The joke, on me and every new student that fell for it, was there is no such thing as a VW Beetle radiator hose. It doesn't exist. The VW Bug is air cooled. There is no radiator. Everyone laughed. I felt like an ass.

Anyway, though fiction writing is "fiction", it is important that the factual information used; gun descriptions, location descriptions, forensic and investigative techniques must ring true. Any author that avoids verifying or checking the facts risks pissing off readers, loosing credibility, or at the very least, diminishing some readers pleasure in reading the story.

I recently finished a short mystery story and submitted it to my critique group for comments. A big critique was that the main location was the Detroit Police Station but I had not researched the layout and some of the investigative processes. I have since contacted the Detroit Public Affairs Officer and am seeking clarification of layout and processes involved in my story.

There are two good articles on this subject on Writing World's website. One specifically about guns, and the other about general research and fact checking. The uninformed can easily step on their proverbial dick; by racking the slide on a revolver (revolvers do not have a slide), by slapping a clip in a revolver (revolvers do not have clips), by switching the safety off a Glock(Glock is famous for making pistols without external safety latches).

So, before you send off a manuscript make sure the facts are correct . . . lest you get sent for a Volkswagon radiator hose...