I have a great appreciation for law enforcement, the justice system and the law. My ties to the field go back to high school, when I did an internship with the local Commonwealth's Attorney's office, and continues to this day. My quest for justice and in helping others is a part of me.
With such insight comes also responsibility, whereby I seek to infuse my writing with truths (and topics of research) personal to me. In voicing my love for law enforcement, while attending the Citizen's Police Academy, I made a faux pas.
For months, I’ve been telling everyone that will listen how I am a “badge bunny,” but it wasn’t until I sought out Urban Dictionary that I discovered exactly what I was proclaiming myself to be. But before you decide that I’m a holster sniffer, I’ve introduced myself numerous times as such; shaken hands with people and smiled; and, then never understood the look of awe mixed with a little shock that my proclamation received.
Not too long ago, while signing books, and interacting with potential readers, I sought to condense the description of my “personality” by using a short phrase to describe myself. “I’m a badge bunny,” I said, speaking to the gentleman who had stopped. And when given the chance to speak, he paused. With a smile plastered across my face, I was making good idea contact, waiting for a response – for that is what conversation requires – an exchange, but his pause sent my mind into a whirlwind. I sought to solve the quandary, searching for clues – verbal and non-verbal- like it was the solution to keep the ticking bomb from exploding in my face.
Suddenly, his welcoming smile broadened, and he leaned in a little too close, until I was able to catch a whiff of his cologne. In a matter of seconds the conversation drifted to his connection with law enforcement. Still the pieces of the puzzle didn’t quite click together until things became too personal.
During personal appearances, I’ve been hugged; people have taken pictures with me, I’ve been given a kiss, and I’ve even had fortuitous luck sprinkled over me through networking, but when the professional slid towards the personal and the desire for a love connection, I paused. But it wasn’t him, but me. I’d been talking and not knowing what the hell I was saying.
If I could have had a magic button to press pause and look up what I was calling myself, I would have done it. I never knew that what I was pronouncing to the world that “I like to sleep with cops and only cops because they have badges, guns and training.”
Imagine my embarrassment!
So, there will be no more forums for me, no more of me telling everyone that I indeed love law enforcement and the justice system (where now, I’m sure images of me twerking with a copy of the Constitution is floating around in people’s head – if it wasn’t, it is now). No, for now on, I will make my elevator pitch into a long spill, without the need for much interpretation.
TINA GLASNECK loves great stories. She is currently working on completing the next mystery titled, Deadly Numbers, book three in her Spark Before Dying series, as well as her first fantasy-romance, A DRAGON'S DESTINY. Join Tina's newsletter and become a VIP.