Liars and Lawyers

Liars and Lawyers

By,

Jennifer E. Miller

G’s class has been assigned a school project. They are to decorate their Valentines card boxes in an unusual way by adorning them with a 3D model of a community building of their choice. At the dinner table we throw around ideas. She isn’t interested in stores or coffee shops because many of her classmates have already decided to use those. She wants something original. We talk about the hospital or the library. She sets her sights on the fire station.

Say what? Obviously, we suggest the police station instead. That’s not interesting, she tells us. Finally, I propose the courthouse. “It looks like a castle,” I say.

“Really? Lemme see,” G demands.

I promptly pull up an internet photo on my iPhone.

“Ooooo! It does look like a castle!” Her eyes are big and wide.

“One side can be the front of the courthouse. The other side can show the inside with the courtrooms and the people working in them like the liars, I mean lawyers,” I say.

“What?” G asks.

“Liar, lawyer, they sound alike.”

G looks at her dad. “What’s mom talking about?”

“Mom just misspoke.” T shoots me an evil eye.

“Ok ok. I’ll rephrase. Defense attorney and liar sound the same.”

T throws his hands on top of his head.

“What’s a defense attorney?” G asks.

T answers before I do anymore damage. “It’s a lawyer hired to defend a bad guy when he or she goes to trial. They want the bad guy to be found not guilty.”

“But what if the bad guy is guilty? How could they say he’s not guilty when he is?”

“They try to prove the bad guy isn’t guilty by keeping certain information, or evidence, out of court.”

“If the information is important, isn’t that truth? Everyone is supposed to tell the truth in court!” exclaims G.

“Yes, but sometimes the court has wrong information and the liar’s—defense attorney’s—job is to fix it. They aren’t all truth twisters,” T explains.

“What’s a truth twister?” G asks confused.

“When someone doesn’t tell all the truth, or only part of their story is truthful, we sometimes say they bend, or twist, the truth. And once in a while, lawyers do this to win cases,” I say. I thought this to be a rational explanation.

“That’s not very nice,” she says.

“Not all lawyers are liars. Not all defense attorneys are truth twisters. Some are respectful and do their job fairly,” T says.

T’s work involves a fair amount of trials and courtroom time with prosecutors. Sometimes they are up against private defense attorneys, other times public defenders. I thought of the countless cases he’s complained about, where the public defender has concocted some ridiculous notion and presented it as ‘reasonable doubt.’ This becomes frustrating because they twist the truth or take things out of context in order to get their client off the hook, or even mock the prosecution side. However, that's the legal game; it’s no secret it works this way.

“Public defender and liar sound similar; don’t you think?” I say blankly.

“No, they sound noth—” T pauses in thought for a moment. Then he turns to G. “Mom’s right. Public defender and liar do sound alike.”

Copyright 2017 by Jennifer E. Miller

January Deep Thought: Listening to the Inauguration

Listening to the Inauguration

by,

Jennifer E. Miller

Today we have a new president. A big change for sure. Whether or not it is believed Donald Trump is suited for the job is no longer of concern, because he is the president now. There is no other option but move forward.

I chose to listen to the inauguration via the radio. To report: experiencing it in this fashion felt refreshing. Listening to a radio broadcast, versus watching it on my television screen, allowed me to only focus on the words spoken. I tuned in just as our new president began his speech. There were no distractions filling the sides of the frame. Reading additional snippets of mindless information scrolling across my screen was no bother to me. I didn’t feel compelled to interpret body language since I was unable to see it. That goes for the speaker’s body language as well as the audience’s. I had no idea if it was sunny or cloudy day; pleasant or frigid temperatures. Removing the live picture brought forth the raw words where I applied their effect on myself; without reporters, supporters, protestors, or other personal agendas attempting to sway my thoughts on the inaugural address.

Radio is how people received news before there were a dozen televisions in every home. I think it is possible that the introduction of TV has depleted the crucial communication skill of listening, by providing our brains with visual reactions before our own thoughtful consideration can take place. Any picture presents the tempting option to pass judgement; think of first impressions. Of course, this theory can go the other way, too. I can’t see what is happening in the background when I tune in to the radio. For all I know, the Obama administration could’ve been sticking their tongues out as Trump spoke of promises and visions. I doubt that was the case, but physically possible, nonetheless. A message without a picture is certainly a different, although traditional, way to absorb it.

Before the widespread use of cameras (or ability to print images), newspapers entirely consisted of words. Now, it’s near impossible to find a page in the local paper without a photograph. Image is tricky. It’s possible to print facts only using words, but present something entirely different when a photo is introduced. A picture can be photo-shopped, altered, or the frame simply doesn’t include all of the scene. Or someone can say one thing while a photograph shows differently; assuming the photograph is the truthful instance this time. A former employer once said to me, “A photograph never lies; but lies are often photographed.” Take Sasquatch photographs. The picture isn’t lying, per se, but it's possible a hoax was caught on camera. Image use has the possibility to sway a reader’s view towards truth or untruths.

Imagery is helpful to prove or deny statements or claims. I could falsely tell people over the telephone I have blonde hair. When they see a photograph of me (assuming the image is of me) it is clear I have brown hair. But what if I had colored my hair blonde? Is that photo a lie? If I have naturally brown hair, colored blonde, the hair follicles underneath the blonde sections are still brown. Which is true? I suppose I could state that yesterday I had brown hair and today it’s blonde. I changed my “truth.” That would be the epitome of a politician’s standpoint on nearly anything; it’s rarely constant, and constantly changing. In any case, truthfulness should be of utmost importance, and an image should accurately portray that. It can be relentlessly argued whether any person’s image matches their intents. This element will be questioned forever.

I hope I have thoughtfully presented, by way of the 2017 inauguration, that while images are useful, they can also easily influence opinions. The same goes for writing words, of course, but that’s a topic for another day. I thought it was interesting how differently I reacted to a subject when listening to a broadcast versus watching a TV news broadcast. It confirmed my suspicion: “read” images with caution. Cheers to a new presidency.

January Deep Thought: My (short story) eBook

This week, I'm excite to announce I self-published my first short story as an eBook on Amazon,com. It's titled "Raccoon Ransack." There are five main character raccoons: Mitch, Willis, Chloe, Trixie, and Madge. They must avoid obstacles, distractions, and perhaps even predators to get what they want. But will they be successful? You must read to find out; no plot spoilers here!

It is based on our most recent camping trip at Heyburn State Park, Idaho. We left food out (yes, yes Camping 101 fail, I know) and during the night raccoons woke us as they snatched our food. I wrote this from the critters' point of view so it is fiction, but based on actual events. Isn't that how stories emerge anyway? For me, it is. I gave the animals there own personalities, mannerisms, and attitudes. It was actually a lot of fun to write and I may write a couple more Raccoon Ransack adventures.

I supposed some of you are wondering how and why I decided to venture into the self-publishing market. That is a good question and the answer is simply this: peer pressure. I attended two different writers group, and at one I met a successful self-published author, Erik Schubach. (Check out his stuff on Amazon, too.) He began hosting his own workshops to help others learn about the realm of self-publishing. He encouraged his "students" to write a short story to publish on Amazon in order to get a sense of the process. Okay, it really wasn't peer pressure but more like peer encouragement, but most of you know how much I enjoy sarcasm.

There's a lot more to self publishing than I thought. First thing's first: write something. Second thing: what now? Erik explained that the document (usually a Word file) should be formatted with special indentations and spacing, headers, no page number, etc. etc. I won't bore you with the details, unless you're interested. Make a copyright page, create cover art, story summary/description, and choosing keywords are all things to consider. Selecting keywords was not what I expected. Keywords place the story in specific categories. It's important to choose carefully. I had help setting up all of these extra factors; otherwise, I would've been lost. There are many little things, some not listed here, that must be accomplished based on what the author wishes to achieve through self-publishing.

Traditional publication operates similarly, but with people doing much of the grunt work for you. The author not only requires a publisher, but usually an agent. The author writes their book then spends a large amount of time hunting down an agent who pitches the story to a publishing agency. From what I understand, finding an agent is the biggest struggle, unless you have connections. (I heard from one local author who was turned down around 50 times before she found an agent.)  Once the agent finds a publisher, the author has little say in the cover art, layout content, and possibly even editing. As you can probably imagine, the process can take a very long time. It gets even more complicated with you start talking about royalties, advances, agent cuts, price points, etc. Self-publishing is a bit more straight forward as far as pricing goes. There's a trade-off here: DIY with self-publishing quickly, or take more time to get someone to professionally do it for you. There are pros and cons to both.

Aggressive marketing is needed in both tradition and self-publishing. This is an area I haven't learned enough about. (Perhaps I will in another workshop.) I'm just happy to get my story(ies) out to people. I'm not expecting widespread stardom or notoriety anytime soon. If I write stuff that even just my friends and family enjoy that's good enough for me. Writing anything takes time. A lot of time. Editing feels like it can go to the 100th degree, and it never seems to end. So if a reader takes their time to read my stuff, that makes me feel good. Bonus points if the story struck an emotional chord for them.

I'm glad I took a risk and learned how self-publishing worked. Not sure what this means for the future, but I'll keep writing. Hopefully, a few people keep reading.

January Deep Thought

I admit I've been busy with other things and have been neglecting to find proper themes for my blog. For this week I'd simply like to share a quote that has been sticking to by brain lately:

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. ~Michelangelo

(This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0)

(Please note, I am unsure the angel depicted above is the sculpture in reference to the quote.) 

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. What did Michelangelo mean by this, and how can it be applied to the present day? Anyone can certainly imagine the artist staring, at what would otherwise be a block of stone, and envisioning something else. Something nagged his creative mind and he worked until the angel was "set free." In present day, this artistic mindset can easily be applied. I set characters, emotions, and events free when I write stories. A sketch artist frees their vision on paper. Architects design buildings. A marketing employee puts together a power point presentation. Film, music, toy manufacturing, medical research: the possibilities go on an on. Michelangelo saw something in the marble and didn't give up until he found it. I think this quote is an artistic approach to say go after something that calls to you. Carving stone must've been extremely time consuming. Apply this to present day: take your time; don't rush. Work little by little and your angel(s), whatever they may be, will also be set free.