Local police officer and sniper pens Ride The Darkness.

Well, you are watching the trailer for a gritty crime thriller set right here in the shadows of the Tampa Bay Gulf Coast. The book is called Ride the Darkness and the author doesn't have to do much research when it comes to police work because he lives it. Craig Michael Markell is a working local police officer with 24 years of service in Pinellas County, including a decade as a SWAT sniper. And he is joining me now on the Fox Local Book Club. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having me on, Linda. Gosh, so you've spent over two decades in law enforcement responding to real-life, high-stakes situations. So I guess my first question would be, why write fiction? Why not just write a memoir? Well, it really came from a desire to find something to do in retirement. I plan on retiring next year. And I was kind of sitting watching a movie with my wife and being overly critical of some kind of tactics. That wouldn't happen in real life, right? Never, never happened. And she said, well, why don't you just write something yourself? And I said, well, maybe I will. So I went and Googled how to write a book. I love that. And that's kind of where it came from. How long did it take you to write this book? It was probably eight months. I had a bunch of stories in mind and I just kind of let it go and it's been awesome. And I can't wait to finish my second one. So the book follows Detective Nicole Beamer who goes undercover to find a woman swallowed up by a local trafficking ring and when Beamer vanishes, her retired mentor gets pulled back in. How much of that storyline is drawn from what you've actually seen on the streets? Well, the characters are, most of the characters are actually very real. They're based on my friends and people that I currently work with. They know who they are. I'm sorry. But the plot is fiction, but the world that they live in is very real. As you know, trafficking doesn't always look like it does on TV. It can happen... In neighborhoods, it can happen in strip malls, all that kind of thing, and a lot of time the victim knows the suspect. So we try to pull from that, but the feelings that Beamer has while she's... Undercover and then how the mentor and a trainee relationship is very real. I was a field training officer for 10 years, and you always feel responsible for those officers in the future because you trained them. Of course. On that note, what else do TVs and movies consistently get wrong about the job, especially being a sniper? Well, snipers aren't lone wolves like you would see in TVs. We usually always work with a spotter. We always work with a team. Um, and uh, It's a lot of sitting around for many, many hours. You may sit around in uncomfortable positions for hours on end, just waiting for this one small opportunity to maybe stop a threat. But most of the time, it's a lot of waiting and paperwork. So you've adapted the novel into a screenplay. It looks like we're seeing some pictures of that now. How did that go? Are these your friends that are starring in this adaptation with you? These are all my friends. They work incredibly cheap. It's a leap. It's a leap. Right. They just saw something that I was passionate about, So. . . and I said, come out here and do this. And that was another thing. I don't know how to make a film, so I Googled how to film a movie. I love that. This is going to be your second chapter. See what I did there. It looks really exciting. Thank you very much. What's next for you? Your second book, you said? I have another book on the way. I've just been so busy with this. I need to retire so I can finish it. I also have another... book based that's non-fiction that'll be based on my actual experiences, which will be a little more serious. But the thriller seemed like the way to go to start out. How does it feel to be so close to retirement after doing something for so long? That is incredible. It's very exciting. And I'm actually looking forward to it. Everybody says you're going to miss it. I'm like, I don't know, maybe not. I think you're going to be making movies. I hope so. You know, that was not my It wasn't my intention when I started, But I decided to film the sizzle reel, which is a lot of what you see there, and it was just so much fun. And I'm like, ooh, this is... Bit by the bug, didn't you? It was fantastic, yes. Well, tell viewers where they can go to not only grab your book, but also see the movie, what do you call it, a scissor reel? Yes, you can go to my website, ridethedarkness.com. Also, we have a crowdfunding page to finish the short film, which you can click on the link right there on the website. You can also find links to get my book. And, um... Anything that you could do to help will help out. If you can't donate, just share and show it to your friends. Probably. Promote for you. Yes, ma'am. Thank you for your service. Thank you. Thanks for having me on. Yep. And we'll be back right after this.