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The things that we experience in our short lives lend themselves to our stories. Even fiction tends to have the life experience creep into our words. I wonder if Stephen King ever sleeps?
I grew up on a hay and cattle ranch where life was busy and money tight. We always ate well because we raised most of our own food, but if I wanted money to take a girl out on a date I had to find outside work. It was a challenging life at times, but I would not trade those years for anything.
Because of my life style I thought it would be a challenge to be a rodeo star, so I took up the sport much to the great worry and chagrin of my mother. I never earned stardom, but later went on to ride a few bulls and even fought bulls for a spell until my brain caught up with my intelligence.
Before I could really learn if I had any talent the sport was interrupted by the Vietnam War. Confused and not sure what to do I got up one morning and drove to town and joined the marines. As I mentioned I was in need of my brains catching up with my intelligence.
My first serious attempt at writing took on the painful and sometimes humorous events of my time in Vietnam as a young marine grunt and subsequent time as a team member and later a team leader in the 3rd Recon Battalion 3rd Marines. That task was a visit back in time where old wounds had not been dealt with, old angers not discussed and old war stories not told to my children or my friends.
Bury Me With Soldiers, One Grunt’s Honest Story was difficult to write without a generous and robust smattering of cuss words that were part of our daily language. My goal was to tell the story so anyone could read it and hopefully the reader would learn from the heart of another man who wrote a blank check to his country. Everyone who enters the military service of this nation whether it be at peacetime or wartime does write a blank check; we do not know what the future of our lives will be when we enter that dangerous occupation.
After I was discharged I started taking flying lessons, mostly because I had fallen in love with those machines. Choppering into our recon mission zones and choppering out always gave me a thrill. Choppering out in one piece was of course the better experience, but I decided then and there I wanted to fly.
I have had a rich and sometimes painful life that has included events that are not strangers to many folks. Those events and my desire to write have lead me down several paths as I explore what type of writing might suite me best. My second book Trail of Bones is a fictional work that does have some of my core experiences and beliefs showing up in the story. Trail of Bones is a young adult action adventure book that should appeal to most young readers. It contains some science fiction, lots of action and addresses topics such as love, duty, courage, and honor.
After completing Trail of Bones I moved into the survival and prepper niche because most Americans are not ready for any kind of disaster. This concerns me because if the event is large enough a lot of folks will needlessly suffer and could cause a serious upheaval in our civil order. I continue to write in that genre and also have written some nature books, humor books and educational books.
I will continue to write on topics that are interesting, educational, or just for entertainment. Maybe someday soon I will find my exact calling, but until then I will take on each project with the thought of learning something new and work hard to pass on something of value or if nothing else a laugh or two at this crazy experience we call life.
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