First Writer to be listed as both Police and Military

December 10, 2006 (San Dimas, CA) Police-Writers.com, a website dedicated to police officers turned authors added Chuck Chambers to the list of local police officers who have published a book. Additionally, Chuck was the first writer to be added to a new website that lists all U.S. Military personnel who have ever written a book – www.military-writers.com. Chuck’s status as a former Marine and police officer landed him on both lists.

A former police officer for the city of Palmetto (Florida), Chuck Chambers is the Chief investigator and owner of Chambers Investigations. In his book, “The Private Investigator Handbook: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Protect Yourself, Get Justice, or Get Even,” he shares his insider expertise, with true case histories from his files, tricks of the trade, and step-by-step advice to help readers be able to: catch a cheating spouse; uncover hidden assets, monetary malfeasance, and fraud; tail and track a mark; use the Internet to get information on anything and anyone; protect one's privacy; prepare an intelligence file on anyone-on and off line; and, find and preserve legal evidence.

Another NYPD alum also joined the list on Police-Writers. James Wagner retired from the New York Police Department in 1990 with the rank of Sergeant. He worked as a private detective for ten years. He has published two books, “My Life in the NYPD: Jimmy the Wags” and “Jimmy the Wags: Street Stories of a Private Eye.” Of Wagner’s first book, Linda Ligunvic, of New York City, Wrote, “James Wagner, nicknamed "Jimmy the Wags" is a retired New York City street cop who, with the help of writer Patrick Picciarelli, also a retired cop, describes his police experiences in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 60s, 70s and 80s. It's an authentic voice that rings with the cadence of the city and the job he worked day after day, dealing with the dregs of society and everyday crime, as well as some of the major social issues of the time.”

His second book was reviewed by James Madison, who said, “A tough former New York City cop turned private eye now turns himself into an author in this gritty (but often humorous) account of the armed and dangerous life. James Wagner ("Wags" to just about everybody, it appears) spent 22 years at the NYPD, but apparently felt like he hadn't had enough adventure in his life. After putting out word that "Wags is for hire," he gets his first job shepherding some jet-setting Arab princes around New York for a few days, and finds himself hooked as the money and perks start to roll in. The rest of the book details Wags's rise and fall as a big-time "security consultant," from voyaging to Denmark to return a kidnapped child to his father to his entanglement with the Mob at a fancy strip club. Not all of Wags's adventures are a matter of life or death: in one memorable passage, he plays bodyguard-valet to an eccentric woman ("heir to a computer software fortune") who travels everywhere with her pet parrot perched on her shoulder and has a penchant for disengaging her prosthetic hand at inopportune moments during meals.”

In another first, Police-Writers.com added the first Australian police author, Catherine Prattico, to the growing list of international police authors. “Into the Blue” is based on Catherine Prattico’s own early experiences in the Victorian Police Force. Catherine joined in 1997 at the age of twenty, she has worked at Brunswick and Moorabbin Police Stations and fulfilled temporary duties with the Behavioral Analysis Unit and Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Unit. She is currently a Leading Senior Constable at Moorabbin Police Station, working closely with recently graduated police officers. "Into The Blue" is her first novel.

According to the book description, "Natalie Winters is eighteen years old when she quits university and secretly applies to join the police force. She surprises everyone, including herself, when she's accepted into recruit training. Graduating from the police academy five months later, Natalie struggles to cope with the realities of life out on the beat and the inevitable change of lifestyle. An attraction to a co-worker creates more problems for Natalie, and after the events of a bad week add to her concerns, she questions her future in the police force.”

While Police-Writers.com hosts 221 police officers (representing over 70 police departments) and their 593 books in six categories, Military-Writers.com, a recently launched website only lists two U.S. Military personnel: one from the United States Marine Corps, and the other from the United States Coast Guard.