C.J. Songer worked for several years behind the scenes with the Glendale, California, Police Department, and is married to a former Robbery/Homicide investigator from the same department.

Versed in weapons and self-defense, she's taken courses at Gunsite, "the Harvard of shooting schools" and with Yavapai Firearms Academy in Arizona, as well as at Thunder Ranch in Texas, G.S.G.I. and FrontSight in California, and a number of other venues. She's had training with current and ex-Navy SEALs, and has shot, by invitation, at tactical matches where street survival skills are measured.