Allan Duffin - Writer/Producer

Thanks for the downloads! History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police hits nearly 6,000

Thanks to everyone who downloaded an eBook copy of History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers during Kaplan Publishing's free eBook offer last month. Almost 6,000 people downloaded the book for their personal libraries! This includes the readers produced by Amazon.com, iTunes, Sony, and Barnes & Noble.

If you haven't checked out GoodReads.com yet, head on over and take a look. Lots of book lovers talking to each other and recommending titles. You can see the page for History in Blue at this link.

Get a FREE eBook version of History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police

If you have an eReader, take advantage of this limited offer from the publisher: a FREE eBook version of History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers!

The promotion runs through 10 January (update: just extended to 17 January!). Just click on the link below to go to the publisher's website:

http://www.freekaplanebooks.com/

Versions are available for the Barnes & Noble Nook, Apple iPad, and Sony eReader. A version for the Kindle will be released shortly. Happy reading, and Happy New Year!

Washington Post review of History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police

Many thanks to Dr. Elaine Showalter for reviewing History in Blue in the Washington Post last Sunday! Check out full the review by clicking here. Here's an excerpt:

In Washington, D.C., we have become quickly accustomed to seeing Chief of Police Cathy Lanier and other women police officers report on violent crimes on the nightly news, although only 13 percent of municipal police officers nationally are women. And while women serve in support roles in the armed forces, they are banned from combat. Many argue that women should not put themselves in harm's way on the mean streets and the fields of battle, facing injury, capture and death at the hands of criminals or enemies, and that their presence undermines crucial male camaraderie....

Police work and military service are complex case studies for debate about women and work. Both "History in Blue," by Allan T. Duffin, and "A Few Good Women," by Evelyn M. Monahan and Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee, document women's work history and provide fascinating individual stories. There have been women in police work since the beginning of the 20th century, initially as mother-figures "with a badge," who would stop juveniles from smoking, advise wayward girls and patrol saloons.... In 1943, the NYPD issued a "combination gun holster and makeup kit" to female officers. Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia told women cops to "use your gun as you would your lipstick. . . . Don't overdo either one." But in the 1970s, federal law, mass media and popular culture, including Angie Dickinson's hit TV series "Police Woman" and the police procedural novels of Dorothy Uhnak, made the female police officer a familiar and respected figure.

History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers is published by Kaplan Publishing (a division of the Washington Post Company) and distributed by Simon & Schuster. Visit your local bookstore,or order your copy from the Simon & Schuster website or from Amazon.com, Borders.com, or BarnesandNoble.com.

Dr. Katherine Ramsland reviews History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police

A big thanks to Dr. Katherine Ramsland for reviewing my new book, History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers. From the Graveyard Shift blog, run by Lee Lofland:

Dr. Katherine Ramsland has published 37 books, 16 short stories, and over 900 articles. She is professor of forensic psychology and criminal justice at DeSales University, and her latest books are Inside the Minds of Sexual Predators and The Forensic Psychology of Criminal Minds.

Check out the review here. Dr. Ramsland includes great archival photos to illustrate what she's talking about. You can see her website at www.katherineramsland.com.

History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers is published by Kaplan Publishing (a division of the Washington Post Company) and distributed by Simon & Schuster. Visit your local bookstore, or order your copy from the Simon & Schuster website or from Amazon.com, Borders.com, or BarnesandNoble.com.

Today I became a Kindle Warrior: TheatreBook and Tow Truck Kings

I enjoy writing about a variety of topics, and over the last several years I've been fortunate to work as a regular contributor to two terrific industry publications: DramaBiz Magazine (the business of theatre) and Towing & Recovery Footnotes (the towing & recovery industry).

I've collected a number of those pieces into two eBooks — TheatreBook and Tow Truck Kings — available exclusively for the Amazon Kindle reader.

There's a lot of entertaining and useful information in each eBook. Theatre managers looking for tips on how to light a production or repair a costume, vehicle owners curious about how first responders clear a traffic accident, towing company owners who want to boost business — there's a little something for everyone in these two eBooks, in a portable and easy-to-read format.

You can download a free preview to your Kindle. That way you can check out the table of contents for each eBook, plus the first chapter or so. I hope you enjoy reading about the people in these two worlds as much as I did writing about them. You can click on the links below to go to Amazon's Kindle store:

TheatreBook: A Compact Guide to Running Your Theatre

Tow Truck Kings: Stories of the Towing Industry's Best & Brightest

Policewomen On Patrol, New York City, 1974

March is Women's History Month! Celebrating the publication of my new book, History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers: Here's a clip from YouTube featuring rare black-and-white footage of New York policewomen on patrol in the Bronx, 1974. For more information, click on the clip to contact the filmmaker.

History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers is published by Kaplan Publishing (a division of the Washington Post Company) and distributed by Simon & Schuster. Visit your local bookstore, or order your copy from the Simon & Schuster website or from Amazon.com, Borders.com, or BarnesandNoble.com.

Comic books, Charlton Comics, and how the job gets done

If you're a fan of comic books, head on over to Diversions of the Groovy Kind for lots of info and even scanned artwork to enjoy. I've always loved comic books, and it's nice to be able to look at issues online, appreciating the stories and art that provided fun diversions when I was a kid -- and still do today. Two of my favorite artists, Russ Heath and Pete Morisi , are featured in Diversions. (Morisi, by the way, was an officer with the NYPD who moonlighted as a comic book artist. How's that for variety?)

Diversions of the Groovy Kind includes material from the big companies like Marvel and DC, but also takes the time to feature smaller publishers (many of them defunct) like Charlton Comics, one of my favorites. Charlton was never known for quality printing, but they published a lot of fun books with material by big names in the comics industry, including John Byrne, Mike Zeck, Dick Giordano, Sam Glanzman, Tom Sutton, Steve Ditko, Joe Staton, and others. Many of these luminaries were new to comics and had their early work published by Charlton.

As a kid I visited the Charlton plant in Derby, Connecticut. It was my first real exposure to how the publishing world worked, and it was fascinating -- especially since Charlton was vertically integrated. All functions, from layout to printing to distribution, were under one roof. My visit was a crash course in the publishing process. Later on I worked in a printing plant for awhile. All of this occurred before I became a writer, but I'm grateful that I learned about -- and learned to appreciate -- the industry at such an early age.

(Graphic: A gorgeous Mike Zeck cover for Charlton Comics' Scary Tales. Click here for a closer look.)

Women in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Celebrating the publication of my new book, History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers: Here's a clip from YouTube featuring women of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers is published by Kaplan Publishing (a division of the Washington Post Company) and distributed by Simon & Schuster. Visit your local bookstore, or order your copy from the Simon & Schuster website or from Amazon.com, Borders.com, or BarnesandNoble.com.

Official publication date for History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers

It's February 2, 2010 — the official publication date for History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers. Check your local bookstore today!

— We're #1 in Australia! History in Blue is listed as the #1 title at Borders.com in Australia (under "Police & Security Services Books"). Check it out here.

— Our publisher, Kaplan Publishing, is generously supporting charity events like the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association's Black Tie Gala on February 25, 2010. Five copies of History in Blue will be auctioned off, with proceeds going to the Association's college scholarship program, the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Foundation, and the Minnesota Special Olympics.

I want to thank a bunch of people for making this happen: Jane Dystel, my agent; Don Fehr, editorial director at Kaplan Publishing; Rachel Bergmann, my editor on the book; Kim Bowers, production editor; Tim Brazier, director of marketing at Kaplan Publishing; Janet Renard, copyeditor; Nancy Gillan, proofreader; Adina Kahn, who sold the original concept; and everyone else who helped turn a pretty cool idea into a real, honest-to-goodness book. (I've missed a few people who were part of the process and will update my thank-you's to include them soon.) Thanks so much!

History in Blue: 160 Years of Women Police, Sheriffs, Detectives, and State Troopers is published by Kaplan Publishing (a division of the Washington Post Company) and distributed by Simon & Schuster. Visit your local bookstore, or order your copy from the Simon & Schuster website or from Amazon.com, Borders.com, or BarnesandNoble.com.

Many thanks to BearManor Media and Ben Ohmart

With History in Blue about to come out, I wanted to take a moment to thank the publisher of my first book — The "12 O'Clock High" Logbook — for believing in me during that first go-round, and generously publicizing History in Blue on his website and blog.

Ben Ohmart founded BearManor Media to publish unique books about "classic cinema, retro radio, and timeless television." Hey, why don't I stop explaining and let him tell you about it? From his website:

Ben Ohmart here, and I started this publishing company in 2001, as a writer. I learned how hard it was to tap into the mainstream market with what is essentially nostalgia fodder. So I published The Great Gildersleeve myself. Then I learned something important. I seemed to enjoy the publishing side more than the writing side, so, when I began to get offers to publish other people's work (Jane Kean was one of the first), I began doing what I love full time. It still doesn't seem like work. And I know now that that's the greatest life of all.

Back in 2004, when co-writer Paul Matheis and I were shopping The "12 O'Clock High" Logbook to publishers, we were fortunate to meet Ben, because the book was a perfect fit for his catalog and his company's interests. And because Ben was so generous with his time and expertise, he made the process of creating my first book a terrific experience. He taught me a lot, and for that I am forever grateful.

So Ben, though I've said it before, many, many thanks to you. You made a huge difference in my life. And I hope you enjoy the new book!