Kiss Me, Kill Me – Improvised Weapons for Your Characters

KM FawcettOn today’s Kiss Me, Kill Me Tuesday we’ve got a very special guest – KM Fawcett who is a Nidan (2nd degree black belt) in Isshinryu Karate and co-owns The Tenchi Isshinryu Karate Dojo, located in Lebanon, NJ with her husband. She is also a certified women’s self-defense instructor with the FLAG (Fight Like a Girl) Program. KM writes sci-fi romantic thrillers and paranormal romances, and loves kick butt heroes and heroines. When not writing or teaching karate, you can find her blogging about martial arts and writing action at the Attacking the Page website.

Sit back as KM chats with us on how to improvise weapons for your characters!

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In a fight, anything can be used as a weapon. If you’ve seen a Jackie Chan Movie, you’ve seen many unique improvised weapons, from ladders to bicycles to jacket sleeves. So, why not make your fight scene unique too? Adding a little razzle-dazzle with an improvised weapon can make an ordinary fight scene exciting and memorable.

First, think about where your fight scene takes place. What are some common (and perhaps some not so common) items available in the area?

A really simple example is the good old bar brawl. What’s available? You’ve got all the old standbys: bottles, stools, chairs, tables and pool cues. Maybe a pinball machine or a jukebox or a window someone can get thrown into. These have all been done before. Now…think of some unique bar items a character can use as a weapon. The tip jar, a fist with a roll of coins taken from cash register. What about taking the cord to the Neon beer light to strangle someone? Think outside the box. Make your scene stand out.

But you’re setting isn’t a bar, it’s in a dark and spooky old mansion. What can your character use to protect himself from Miss Scarlet in the library with her deadly lead pipe? The old standbys are letter openers, heavy paper weights, ashtrays, figurines, statuettes, vases, an avalanche of books and wall sconces. Can you think of something more unique? Curtains, tiebacks, or drapery cords can be used for strangling, the settee pillow over the face can suffocate someone, break off the leg of a vintage ottoman for a hard hitting weapon, a shard of glass from a picture frame can be used to stab, cut or slit a throat. Make a list of what might be available and then choose something interesting. Or use an old standby weapon, but imagine a unique way your character can utilize it.

Try this brainstorming exercise for fun. What improvised weapons could your characters find in a parking lot? What improvised weapons could they find in a bathroom? Leave your answers in the comments section.

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So how did I improvise some weapons recently? In SINS OF THE FLESH, Mick Carrera walks into the office of one of the Wardwell scientists. As he’s walking in, he’s scoping out what he can use as a weapon and spies a heavy bookend. He decides that he can use it to either bash in someone’s head or break one of the large plate glass windows in order to escape.

On Being American…

Sometimes it’s hard to think about what to write on Thoughtful Thursdays. It’s such a mixed bag of info on days like today. But so many of you commented on my background the other day and expressed an interest in hearing more, that it occurred to me that I should share a little bit more about myself.

Maybe by doing so we’ll get to know each other better and you’ll understand the things about which I am passionate (LOL! as if you don’t know some of those already.)

For starters, I am an American born in Cuba.

I’m sure that’s raising eyebrows, but that’s the way I feel. I had the chance to hear Marco Rubio talk the other day on the radio and he mentioned being an American of Cuban descent. Of how grateful he was about all this Nation had given him and I realized that he was speaking much as my mother had spoken to me for all of my life.

That we were Americans now. That being American was a great gift. That we should not take that gift lightly and always honor it. In my mother’s mind that meant getting good grades, obeying the law, standing up for ourselves and those that were weaker and most of all, standing up for America.

So I can’t call myself an American of Cuban descent because I wasn’t born here, but I will call myself an American born in Cuba.

You might wonder why my mother was so vehement on that topic and the story is a long one which I’ll abbreviate into one word — Liberty.

My mom and dad on their wedding dayWhen my mother lived in Cuba under Batista, life was good for her, but not for others. But even as good as it was for her, she lacked the ability to speak out about wrongdoing or what she thought needed change in the government. It’s why she worked with Castro during the Revolution. Not that she ever really told us much about that as kids. It came in snippets at unexpected times. In reality, I learned more about my mother after her death than I had known throughout my life.

Of course the change that Castro had promised for Cuba turned out to be nothing like what my mother and father had expected or for which they had worked. Instead of a free republic, they soon came under the control of a government that was slowly robbing them of their short-lived Liberty as the government nationalized businesses and plantations they felt were necessary for the public good. Newspapers and individuals who spoke out against the government were either demonized or shut down. The government fomented class warfare as a way of justifying taking the labors of individuals for the good of all.

Just as my parents fought against Batista, they now decided to fight against Castro. Unfortunately those plans placed them in peril of imprisonment (or death) necessitating my parents’ hasty retreat from Cuba. In their minds there was only one Nation that could provide them the Liberty they sought – the United States.

But Castro wasn’t done with them. My parents had been forced to leave my sister and I behind along with my maternal grandparents. My parents thought we would join them shortly after their abrupt departure. I’m told that our Cuban passports were taken to prevent us from leaving Cuba. That for over a year my parents sought every way they could think of to get us out with no success while Castro would send his men to roust our house and threaten my grandparents to get my parents to return. Possibly he feared they would work against him in the United States. Who knows?

My sister was six months old when my mother left. I was three. Imagine leaving children that young behind, but they had no choice.

Eventually we got out and spent another six months wandering through Central America and Mexico until the immigration laws changed and my parents were able to get us into this country.

During that year and a half, my parents had not only been trying to get us out, they had been building a life here. Getting jobs and finding a home. It wasn’t necessarily easy. People didn’t want to rent to Cubans.

That never diminished my mother’s appreciation for the one gift that made all that hardship worthwhile – Liberty.

Her one response to all that negativity was simple — Succeed.

Succeed because to not do so was to dishonor the gift we had been given. Succeed because we did not want to shame other Cubans. Succeed because we wanted to prove that anything was possible in America. Succeed because success is the best revenge.

So why am I telling you all this today?

I guess because I want you to understand why I am passionate about America. Why my heart beats faster and emotion chokes me every time I hear the national anthem or see the flag. Why I take so seriously the gift of Liberty and why I honor it by reaching forward with one hand while reaching back with the other to help someone else.

So those are my thoughts on this Thoughtful Thursday. I hope you understand a little bit more about me. I’d like to get to know more about you if you care to leave a comment.