JACK'S BLOG
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2/21/2013 2 Comments Update: Parole denied for Lieutenant Michael Behenna, convicted murderer of TalibanArmy LifeThe latest email from the family and freinds of Lieutenant Michael Behenna brought bad news. Let's hope for a better outcome in his appeal to the Supreme Court. To the thousands of Michael supporters,
With heavy hearts we must inform you that all our efforts to get clemency for Michael this year were for naught. The Army Clemency and Parole Board listened to our family’s plea concerning the facts and circumstance’s surrounding Michael’s case and decided four years in prison was not enough. The Clemency Board did not question us about Michael’s case, character, or whether he was a threat to society, so we are left to wait another year for an opportunity to petition for his freedom. We truly thought this year would be different; that this year we would finally get our son back where he belongs. It is hard to convey the grief and despair we feel over this latest setback. It is only the love and support of all of you and our deep abiding faith in a Higher Power that sustains us through these dark days. I know all of you are equally disappointed and frustrated by the decision of the Parole Board. We still remain cautiously optimistic regarding Michael’s Supreme Court petition as we await the government’s response which the Supreme Court requested by February 27th. Please pursue requests to your Congressmen and Senators to contact Oklahoma Congressman James Lankford to seek a path to a Presidential commutation. To find your Congressional Delegation click on the following link: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml. Finally, please offer a prayer up for Michael and our family as you watch this Ballad written in his honor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMbytddDjWI. With you at our side we will continue this fight until our son is home. Respectfully, Scott & Vicki Behenna Proud parents of 1LT Michael Behenna http://www.defendmichael.com
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WritingPEOPLE HAVE BEEN ASKING about the actors I mentioned in an interview that has been appearing around the blogosphere. Why did I choose them to portray the characters from my novel, Rebels on the Mountain? It's a good question. Although there isn't any movie deal for Rebels on the Mountain in the works (someday hopefully), I liked the question because I think it helps potential readers get a feel for the characters they will meet when they read the story. I don't waste words in the novel describing the characters. Indeed, as a reader, I have been annoyed when authors try to describe theirs overmuch. I have a story to tell and would prefer that readers collaborate by supplying their own images. It is such a partnership between storytellers and their audiences that led Orson Welles to remark that, of all the productions he had participated in – stage, film, and radio drama – radio drama was his favorite. However, with so many book choices facing readers, maybe using the images of known actors will help them anticipate reading Rebels on the Mountain. Thus, I decided to go even further in this blog posting and explain my choices. Fictional CharactersNick Andrews: A U.S. Army Ranger and Korean War Veteran who has made a career of reconnaissance patrols behind the Iron Curtain – possibly portrayed by Stephen Amell I became familiar with Stephen Amell in his role as Oliver Queen on the CW TV production of Arrow. Like Oliver Queen, Nick Andrews is an exceptionally skilled warrior who must mask his capacity for mayhem while navigating the camps of his enemies. Amell has mastered this role magnificently in just the first few episodes of the series. Also, like Queen, Andrews is bedeviled by his past. My hero is the child of an abusive father and he is forever courting approval from the men in his life, his surrogate fathers, seeking their approval even if he must voluntarily submit to extraordinary risks if he thinks they expect it of him. Lucia Comas: An American-educated, island-born mulata, daughter of the second wife of don Carlos Comas, a Cuban sugar plantation owner, and love interest of Nick Andrews – possibly portrayed by Christina Milian No doubt about it. I was primarily driven by the obvious in selecting Christina Milian for the role of Lucia Comas. She is Cuban and she certainly looks the part. Any good singer has to be able to act to perform a song. She proved this in several films in which she has appeared. Although none of them is a serious action/adventure/romance like Rebels on the Mountain, I think she has the talent to play Lucia Comas if she is properly directed. Also, inasmuch as she appeared in one with Michael Douglas and Matthew McConaughy, she has proven that she can keep up with experienced actors. Emma Regan: An American socialite whose husband, a retired pediatrician operates a free clinic on the sugar plantation she inherited from her grandfather. Sigourney Weaver is a logical choice. Emma Regan, who acts as the surrogate mother of Nick Andrews, is a strong woman. She manipulates the men in her life with guile and intelligence. The highest ranking politicians and corporate executives accept her calls, and she can demand any favor. Her only visible flaw is that she is a high functioning alcoholic, which makes her fit company for Ernest Hemingway whose acquaintance she made by virtue of the fact that his first wife was her classmate at Bryn Mawr. There is no doubt that Sigourney Weaver can portray a strong, well-educated woman. I believe that she would actually enjoy playing the scene wherein she dresses down the American Ambassador to Cuba. Real CharactersFidel Castro: The charismatic leader of the revolution that overthrew the Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista – possibly portrayed by Jsu Garcia Fidel Castro the young, fiery revolutionary, is vastly different than the belligerent dictator. Unfortunately, his contemporary persona and image are so well known, that it may get in the way of readers accepting the character as I portray him in Rebels on the Mountain. Indeed, the man I observed on television and in the newspapers in the 1950s transformed almost Jekyll and Hyde-like when he chased Fulgencio Batista from Cuba's Presidential Palace. Most people are not aware that Castro installed another as President and only came to the office through public acclamation after Batista's successor failed to address their grievances. The story of Rebels on the Mountains ends before the transformation takes place. I'll probably return one day to tell that story, too. If Jsu Garcia were to play Castro in my story, he wouldn't have to deliver tirades lasting many hours as Castro does. Film audiences wouldn't tolerate it. No, although I extracted most of Castro's dialog from actual quotes, I selected short ones that advanced the story. Che Guevara: The Argentinian doctor who became one of Castro's most notorious lieutenants and his executioner following Fidel's rise to power – possibly portrayed by Guillermo Diaz Readers of Rebels on the Mountain who know Che only through his carefully crafted public image are in for a shock. He was a murderous henchman who had no tolerance for people who thought or acted differently. This makes the famous Apple billboard – Think Different – wonderfully ironic. Furthermore, those who idolize Che are in for a rude awakening. Che hated most the very kinds of people who sing his praises the loudest: the rich and famous and homosexuals. Young people probably will be surprised the most. He distrusted the youth, and frequently complained that they were lazy and lacking direction. Guillermo Diaz will need courage to portray him as I envision Che in Rebels on the Mountain. A lot of people are going to be upset. Guillermo's portrayal of murderer, Bobby Sabo, on an episode of Law & Order particularly caught my attention. Anyone who attempts to play Che must be able to portray an almost superhuman amount of intensity. I think Guillermo can pull this off. Ernest Hemingway: Nobel Prize winning author and Havana resident who mingled freely in the halls of power in Havana and purportedly supported Castro's revolution – possibly portrayed by Kevin Spacey. I had mentioned William Hurt for this role in my interview. However, after watching Kevin Spacey perform in the Netflix series, House of Cards, there is no question that he is the man for the job. Hemingway had a peculiar lust for life that belied an underlying tragedy in the making, one that culminated in his suicide. Such a complex personality is difficult to adopt. Although Hurt is up for the job, Kevin Spacey already has it mastered.
Play casting director and let me know if you have any better ideas. PRESIDENTS DAY HAS been a great disappointment to me since its inception. We used to acknowledge Lincoln's Birthday, and celebrate Washington's with a day off. Then someone decided that we should celebrate all of our Presidents. Really? How many of them are worthy of celebration? I don't believe that any of the others equaled the accomplishments of Washington and Lincoln. Few even approached them. Yes, many were popular with some segment of the citizenry, but popularity is a poor test of greatness. George Washington wasn't just the first President. He defined the office. He could have been king, but refused the offer. As a military officer, Washington understood the value and importance of delegation. Thus, he invented the Cabinet. Go ahead and look in the Constitution. You won't find any mention of Secretaries of Defense, Treasury, Commerce, etc. Washington also established the precedent of limited terms of office. He understood that a perpetual president could easily become a tyrant no matter how well-intentioned that person might be. Thus, he limited himself to two four-year terms even though there is no question that he could have remained in office until he died.
Abraham Lincoln preserved the nation. He surrounded himself with the most capable Cabinet of advisors and administrators ever assembled in the Republic's history, largely chosen from his very own rivals for the presidency. Many of them had little respect for Lincoln when his administration began and assumed that they would govern the nation as a committee while Lincoln served only as a figurehead. He quickly disabused them of that notion. Although it was their considered opinion that the South should be allowed to secede, Lincoln chose otherwise, and he held the nation together through nothing more than the force of his character. There are still some who believe that the two halves would have been better off had they split, but the evidence shows that America became an economic and political powerhouse only because it remained united. A special day for celebrating Presidents is utterly unnecessary. We are celebrating our Presidents far too much all year long. We focus on them constantly. Their comings and goings are reported with breathless anticipation. They are rock stars, celebrities. Some have, in effect, elevated the President to the stature that Washington refused, a sovereign. Barack Obama epitomizes this danger. He openly threatens to take unilateral action by executive fiat if Congress refuses to enact the legislation that he wants. This is the action of a sovereign, a tyrant. No, I'm not happy with our government, especially our Presidents. I don't want to celebrate them. I believe its time to put an end to Presidents Day. I'll be happy to celebrate George Washington's and Abraham Lincoln's birthdays. They deserve such adulation. However, I will never be among those who blindly follow an American king. Besides, I would like to have a day off each year again, on my birthday, February 22nd. Oh Dark ThirtyMY FIRST SPOUSE was my guide during my first visit to Dante's Inferno. She led me to the Eighth Circle where frauds are punished. That was, after all, the substance of our marriage. However, my latest foray to the infernal regions took me to the Ninth Circle where demons tore and gnashed at my leg. They were named sciatica. A night in the emergency room and a visit to my physician provided me with a substantial stock of Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen for pain, and advice to find some sort of specialist to figure out what was wrong with me. Unfortunately, none agreed on which medical specialty I should consult to help relieve the underlying problem. My x-rays revealed no deformity or injury.
Therein lies the problem. Sciatica is not a diagnosis of a disease or condition. It merely describes symptoms of lower back and leg pain that are the result from some undetermined cause. In other words, all the doctors provided was a word to describe my pain, but no clue as to its cure. Thanks. Anyone watching me writhe on the floor could see that I was in pain. No word was needed. Actually, I don't believe that any word could describe it. I might have visited the specialists, one-at-a-time: orthopedist, neurologist, et al. (It was a safe bet that I could skip the Obstetrician-Gynecologist. I'm not pregnant, one of the common causes of sciatica.) However, my daughter insisted that I begin with her chiropractor. Really? I was skeptical. Like most people, I viewed chiropractic medicine as quackery, but my daughter can be extremely insistent. She had been injured while rowing for a collegiate team and none of the sports medicine specialists had helped. Thus, she swears by the chiropractor who ultimately alleviated her pain. She calls him a witch doctor. I made an appointment to keep peace in the family. You should go, at least once in your life. A visit to a chiropractor is like a visit to The Magic Castle, a Hollywood institution where dinners are served along with magical shows. In addition to diagnosing the root cause of my sciatica, the chiropractor treated me to several demonstrations of medical legerdemain. In addition to the pain, my left leg had lost its strength. No, the muscles hadn't withered. They simply weren't receiving the proper electrical cues from the nerves to perform as they were supposed to. The chiropractor had me wear a pair of magical colored glasses that restored strength to the afflicted leg. How? Beats me. I told you, it's magic! He could also weaken my good leg by simply touching a certain spot on my back. There wasn't any therapeutic benefit to that latter demonstration. I'm sure that he was just showing off. After just three visits with the chiropractor, the pain was relieved and strength was returning. I was able to put the pain medication aside for almost forty-eight hours. Then, one night, the demons returned with reinforcements. If my wife hadn't been at my side to encourage me, I might have blown my brains out. Even the pain pills were useless. I had an appointment with the chiropractor for the next morning but doubted he could help. I had lost the little faith I had acquired in his arts. My wife insisted that we go anyhow. She agreed to start calling the other specialists if he couldn't help. The problem was that chiropractors manipulate your body, especially the spine, and my pain encompassed every part of my back and leg. It included many types of pain including touch and pressure. It felt as though my leg was immersed in hot lava, tons of it. Even the ride to his office was excruciating. I became annoyed with my wife's driving convinced that she was swerving and jerking the car on purpose, and diving into every pothole as retribution for my many sins. When we arrived, the chiropractor went to work and the pain subsided with every adjustment. Within fifteen minutes, it ended. He then began asking questions trying to determine what had occurred to cause the flare up. He knows that I am a writer and speculated that something had happened with my chair. How did he know that? Yes, my office chair has a pneumatic piston that allows the user to adjust seat height. It began leaking air two days before and sank to its lowest setting as soon as I sat on it (no fat jokes please). Ah, there was the problem. Sitting with the knees elevated above the hips was causing my spine to pinch the sciatic nerves. That's when he gave me the magic wedge (no, not a wedgie). It's a simple foam wedge that I sit on to raise my hips above my knees. The wedge worked. I sat on it on the ride home and arrived there without any pain. The bucket seats in the car had been the culprit, not my wife's driving. (I know that she'll smile at this part as she proofs this for publication.) The chiropractor also instructed me to ice my back whenever the pain returns. Whereas the pain pill required about forty-five minutes to take effect, icing the lower back works almost immediately. Also, the pain pill only masks the pain. The cold pack alleviates the swelling that causes the pain. Now, I'm a believer. My wife and I are annoying everyone we know with this tale. Anyone who suffers pain is lectured on the reasons why they should hie themselves off to the chiropractor. See me next week, and I'll tell you about bats' wings and eye of newt. Army LifeI received the following email from the family and friends of Michael Behenna who is currently incarcerated at Fort Levinworth for murdering an Al Queda terrorist. I reported the circumstances of his case in an earlier posting. (See Who is more deserving of justice than the men & women who fight to defend our rights?) They appeared before the Army Clemency and Parole Board. The following is a report of that presentation as well as the continuing effort to have the case retried. Unfortunately, the Army panel can only release him from prison. They cannot clear his name. To the thousands of Michael supporters,
Last week we traveled to Washington DC to present Michael’s case before the Army Clemency and Parole Board. Michael’s younger brother Brett, two years out of law school and a county prosecutor in Oklahoma, made the main presentation to the Board. Brett opened his presentation with a video of the latest recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor Dakota Meyer receiving his medal. He pointed out that Dakota disobeyed four direct orders to stay at his post while his platoon was in a firefight in a nearby Afghan village. But as Dakota Meyer would later explain, one has to be guided by principle and that more important than following orders is your brotherhood. Brett told the Board that both Dakota and Michael violated orders, but both men did so to protect their fellow soldiers. No one knows the outcome of a decision they make, but when Soldiers/Marines are guided by the principle of protecting their troops, the outcome of a decision should not determine if one will be praised as a hero and the other branded a criminal. Brett told the Board that the four years Michael had already spent in prison was enough given the facts of the case: 1) Ali Mansur was a member of an Al Qaida cell, known to be involved in planting roadside IED’s, 2) that Michael did not kill Mansur out of anger or hatred, but because Mansur lunged for his gun, and 3) that the reason Michael was interrogating Mansur in the first place was he wanted to prevent another IED attack on his men by questioning the very person he believed was responsible for an IED attack that killed two of his soldiers. Brett then walked the Board through the tenants of corrections (Incapacitation, Rehabilitation, Deterrence, and Retribution or Punishment) and stated that Michael had satisfied each of these tenants and that neither society, the Army nor Michael would benefit from further incarceration. He asked the Board to commute the rest of Michael’s sentence to time served. The Parole Board, which was comprised of Colonel’s and civilians, was very complimentary of Brett’s presentation. One Board member even commented that ‘he had done his brother proud.’ He most certainly made his parents proud! Amazingly the Board also told Brett to thank Michael for his service to his country and how he had conducted himself over these last four difficult years in prison. That thank you was a first in four years of fighting for Michael’s freedom in the military justice system. Here is a link to a video interview Brett did after leaving the hearing. It is worth watching and only takes a minute to load: http://newsok.com/multimedia/video/2149647165001 Also, here is a copy of a letter from the entire Oklahoma Congressional Delegation in support of Michael: http://s3.amazonaws.com/content.newsok.com/documents/behennaf7.pdf And finally, here is a copy of a news article about the Clemency Hearing: http://newsok.com/mercy-justice-overdue-in-michael-behenna-case/article/3752205/?page=1 We should get an answer from the Parole Board in the next two weeks so please keep Michael in your thoughts and prayers. As always, thank you for all your support of a young man we are proud to call our son. Respectfully, Scott & Vicki Behenna Proud parents of 1LT Michael Behenna http://www.defendmichael.com Good ReadFEW CAN WRITE a good story until they've lived one. It's impossible to describe pain and pleasure, success and failure, joy and angst, without having lived them. Thus, it is no surprise after reading The Year The Music Changed, that the author, Diane Thomas, has lived an interesting story of her own. Debilitated by an unexpected infection that nearly cost her life, Diane was forced to abandon her journalistic career and her home in Georgia, and relocate with her family to healthier climes in New Mexico. There, she began to vent her creative forces on fiction. We are the beneficiaries of her journey. What is the one book you want us to read (title, genre, and availability). My debut novel, THE YEAR THE MUSIC CHANGED, published by The Toby Press in 2005. Give us a one sentence synopsis. Set in 1955, it is told as a year-long correspondence between a shy teenage girl who wants to be a poet and a young country singer on the way up, whose name is Elvis. Who are the main characters and who would you like to see portray them in a movie? The main characters are Achsa McEachern, a 14-year-old Atlanta girl whose mouth is disfigured by a scar from an operation to correct her congenital hare lip, and Elvis, a young Mississippi singer on the way up whose name is Elvis. Yes, that Elvis. I would like them to be played by two unknowns in a small, independent film. Tell us about the story, but please don't reveal too much. The year is 1955. Isolated at school by her intelligence and a disfiguring facial scar, troubled at home by disturbing undercurrents in her parents' marriage, 14-year-old Achsa McEachern seeks solace in the tunes and rhythms on her radio. After hearing a record by an unknown 20-year-old country singer named Elvis Presley, she fires off a deceptively self-assured fan letter, probably his first, telling him he is going to be a star. Insecure in the world he is entering and burning with a desire to succeed, Elvis answers her and enlists her to teach him how to "talk good." The ensuing correspondence chronicles their coming of age as artists (she wants to be a poet) and individuals. Able to confide in no one else, they share with each other their most private dreams and fears. Elvis becomes Achsa's sounding board as she watches her beautiful, emotionally distant mother and her sternly religious father lurch toward tragedy, confronts her own scarred mouth and faces a shattering loss. The young singer's responses reveal his fierce, aching innocence in the year before his star burst forth and offer a glimpse into the grassroots history of the early days of rock and roll. What inspired you to write this book and how long did it take? The novel was inspired by my parents, although they are mostly not like the parents in the book, except that my mother was heartstoppingly beautiful and my father was deeply religious. Obviously I exaggerated these characteristics in the book, and invented the difficulties in their relationship. What other books have you written?
My second novel, IN WILDERNESS, involves a doomed relationship in an isolated mountain setting between a 20-year-old boy who was a soldier in Vietnam and is suffering from what would be diagnosed today as PTSD and a 38-year-old professional woman with a mysterious and devastating illness, which would be recognized today as pesticide poisoning, who has fled to the mountains to die. It is currently with an agent. My novel-in-progress, FINGER COVE, takes place in a mountain resort/retirement community that is running out of water. Which authors inspired you, your style? Books that inspired THE YEAR THE MUSIC CHANGED included To Kill a Mockingbird, for tone and atmosphere; The Diary of Anne Frank, for depth of character; and Catcher in the Rye, for teenage angst. Where can we learn more about you and your books? You can find out more about me and my books at www.dianethomas.net How can we follow you? Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc. I am on Twitter @dianethomaswrit and also on Facebook and LinkedIn Is there anything else you would like us to know? My writing is like meditation. I value it for the process of doing it and would continue to do it even if I knew I would never again get published in my lifetime. I am so pleased to have found it. 2/6/2013 7 Comments Why do some people believe that guns can keep us safe? That ordinary citizens need superior firepower?AmericaHISTORY IS FULL of examples of people struggling to solve the same problems that we face today. Some of their efforts were successful, some not. It's unfortunate that history is so poorly taught that most are unaware of valuable insights that might help us better react to the issues that confound us today. Take, for example, the right to bear arms. I cringe whenever I hear someone declare that it's time for a national debate on the Second Amendment. Seriously? We've been debating the Second Amendment ever since the founding of the United States, and there is ample evidence to show us how we can best employ our right to bear arms to promote peace and safety. One of the great adventures of all times provides some insight, the Lewis & Clark Expedition. Expedition diaries recount an extraordinary trek across the undiscovered expanse of the North American continent from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. In many cases, Lewis and Clark and their men were the first new Americans that native Americans ever met. Although the natives had a long history of xenophobia and tribal warfare to protect their claims to territory and resources, the Expedition journeyed among them without losing one person, an amazing achievement. Like most Americans, I was exposed as a schoolchild to a rough outline of the expedition and its historical significance; however, I did not learn more of it except through my own efforts. I was greatly assisted in this by reading Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. Unfortunately, the book itself appears to be out of print but still may be found in used bookstores and on library shelves. Studying the expedition diaries is a daunting task. If you are interested, you can obtain a copy free-of-charge from various sources on the Internet. Also, a Summary and Study Guide for Undaunted Courage is available from Amazon. Like much of history, the real story of the Lewis & Clark Expedition is shrouded in the mists of controversy and propaganda. For example, many argue that it blazed the trail for pioneers who stole the land from its rightful heirs. Those on the other side of the ideological divide find arguments to defend the settling of the continent by a new breed of Americans. Although it is highly unlikely (and that's putting it mildly) that the land will revert to the heirs of its original inhabitants, people seem to enjoy investing boundless energies into the continuing debate. Like most students of history, I was taught that Lewis and Clark successfully completed their mission without losing a single member of their expedition by virtue of the diplomatic skills of the leaders and their native guide, Sacajawea. However, no rational analysis could support any such conclusion. When in all of history has anyone or any group so confounded potential enemies with only their words? Lewis and Clark had to convince potential enemies that their firepower was sufficient to withstand any attack. Of course, they carried a variety of firearms on their journey. They needed to hunt. The men needed thousands of calories of wild game every day. Such meat is extremely lean, and many pounds are needed to provide the energy equivalent of a much smaller cut of beef. Unfortunately, the weapons they carried were not sufficient to withstand a determined attack. Lacking modern, cartridge-fed, repeating rifles, their small force could be overwhelmed in minutes by a mass attack. Rather than defend themselves in combat, Meriwether Lewis contrived a ruse which seems to have dissuaded the natives from even attempting to attack. The ruse employed by the Expedition centered on an unusual weapon, a Girandoni air rifle. Yes, an air rifle, such as a BB gun or pellet rifle. It shot a large projectile (.42 inch caliber) with sufficient force to drill through a one inch pine board at 100 yards. A compressed air reservoir in the weapon's stock could power almost 50 rounds without recharging (pumping it up with compressed air). A tubular chamber held twenty-two balls that could be discharged in less than thirty seconds. Reloading took a few seconds more, and another twenty-two rounds could be shot, again, in less than thirty seconds. Thus, if every member of the Expedition of thirty-eight men was armed with a Girandoni air rifle, they could fire almost 1,700 rounds with deadly accuracy in one minute. Meriwether's strategy was to demonstrate this firepower to induce “shock and awe” in the natives. Upon meeting a native tribe for the first time, the Expedition members dressed in their best uniforms, uncased their flags, and approached the council playing drums and fifes. In addition to presenting the natives with gifts to solicit their friendship, Lewis conducted demonstrations of his air rifle. Inasmuch as the barrel of the weapon was rifled (that is, it had grooves to spin the projectile thus insuring the stability of its flight), he could fire all twenty rounds with deadly accuracy. The natives must have been suitably impressed. Expedition diaries record the wonderment expressed by the natives at every demonstration. The Expedition members never allowed anyone outside their small group to know that they only carried one Girandoni air rifle. The story of the Lewis & Clark Expedition is but one that clearly demonstrates how just the threat of superior firepower can help promote peace and safety in our homes, our community, and our nation. Its lessons have been reaffirmed repeatedly over the decades that followed. For example, the Japanese weren't dissuaded from invading America following their successful attack on Pearl Harbor by our armed forces. Not the Army. We had none. Not the Navy. It was lying on the bottom of Pearl Harbor. Not any militia. No, they feared America's ordinary citizens armed with weapons comparable to those that their soldiers carried. They were turned away by their fear of our armed citizenry or, as they said it, “a gun behind every blade of grass”.
Potential tyrants balk at the threat of armed citizens. Every socialist leader including Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Mao, and others, delayed their assault on their own citizens until they first disarmed them. Death tolls rose by millions, second only in all of history to death by disease. Arguments that such a thing couldn't happen in America are echoes of the same statement heard in homes and meeting halls of Germany, Italy, the Soviet Union, and China as well as every other socialist state that ever hosted a holocaust. Ultimately, these mass murders could have been prevented not only by weapons but also the fear of them. Similarly, criminals may be dissuaded from victimizing us without ever firing a shot. The threat that victims may be carrying weapons, even though they are not, has been proven to deter crime. Jurisdictions that responsibly issue concealed-carry permits enjoy far lower rates of crimes than those that don't. Read the story of the Lewis & Clark Expedition for yourself. Read the testimony of Japanese warlords who cowered before the threat of free American citizens bearing arms. Read the stories of holocausts. Read the statistics on crime in America as compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, not the inflated propaganda of organizations seeking to ban guns. Then ask yourself, why would anyone want to deny us the right to protect ourselves? Good ReadClaude Nougat is an excellent writer with a mission. I don't think that she became aware of it until well along its path and recognized that her work had a theme: transitions, especially the transition from middle age to retirement. When she looked around her, she discovered a whole generation accompanying her into it. In fact, this generation, the Baby Boomers, is a significant bubble in the population metric. Now, Claude's transition has taken her into a new role, that of a generational leader. Claude writes intelligently of the challenges of surviving a transition and she has gathered a following of authors who now share her vision. I was happy to have this opportunity to have Claude join us and talk about her watershed book, A Hook In The Sky. What is the one book you want us to read (title, genre, and availability). A HOOK IN THE SKY! It’s in a fast rising new genre: Boomer lit. It features a [baby] boomer as a main character but it’s not limited to a mature audience, the book tells an inter-generational story, with young people in there too! Sub-genre: a slice of life, romance, suspense and more! Available on Amazon exclusively (KDP Select), at least for the moment – both as an ebook and paperback. Give us a one sentence synopsis. A dashing retiree tries to become an artist to the dismay of his much younger wife and that’s only the beginning of his troubles… Who are the main characters and who would you like to see portray them in a movie? George Clooney is the dashing retiree (who else?) and Julia Roberts, with her cool smile, his much younger wife. Tell us about the story, but please don't reveal too much. Robert, the protagonist, is a top level manager, just retired from the United Nations. He is French, his wife is American. She runs a chic contemporary art gallery in Chelsea and when he turns to painting, she is appalled by his artwork…so conventional and academic! They fight over art but what is at stake is their marriage. Soon they separate, other women appear in Robert’s life, including a sexy young thing, deeply troubled. He paints her passionately but…No spoilers! There are many “buts” in this story: let me just say that Robert’s world collapses around him before he can rebuild it! What inspired you to write this book and how long did it take? My own life experience! Yes, I know, I’m not a man and my marriage is fine…but I went through many of the same experiences: I reached a top level in the UN Agency where I was working and when I retired I decided I wanted to paint. Like Robert, my mother was a professional painter, I learned the techniques from her and I wanted to renew with a childhood dream. Believe me, I love to paint, you step into another world! Painting is a little like poetry – I think different parts of the brain are solicited, it’s more deconstructed than writing a novel that requires structure. And just like Robert in the novel, I hit the brick wall of contemporary art: either you go into conceptual art or you’re left on the outside, ignored, a non-entity. Of course, I knew a lot about the contemporary art world because my daughter is one of the managing directors of a major art gallery in London. What I learned about that very difficult, closed world I applied to my novel. What other books have you written?
My first book was in Italian, a book for children in the Roald Dahl manner, published 20 years ago by a small press in Rome. The next one, still in Italian, was a paranormal/historical romance published in 2007. Then, once I had set aside my painting, I jumped into self-publishing in 2011, starting with a New Adult series called The Phoenix Heritage (3 books so far), plus two collections of short stories (Death on Facebook and Twisted) and a participation in a poetry anthology, Freeze Frame, edited by British poet Oscar Sparrow and published by Gallo Romano in 2012. I’m in there along with five other poets, two British and three Americans. Imagine, I’m the only continental European and not even a native English speaker! I tell you, those poets are awesome, I feel a little like the ugly duckling among them but I was very pleased, I felt honoured that they would have me in their fold and that they liked my poems! FREEZE FRAME is available on Amazon and it comes with a free audio book. Oscar feels that the digital revolution gives readers a unique opportunity to hear the poets say their poems. That was a little scary for me because I have a slight French accent in English… Which authors inspired you, your style? Roald Dahl, I mentioned him already. Then I love the Russians: Tolstoy, Dostoievsky, Bulgakov, Solgenytsin and especially Gogol. Dead Souls is my favourite! I’m also very fond of the French from Voltaire to Proust and I love authors who straddle several languages like Nabokov or Graham Greene – I guess I feel a certain empathy because I also function like them in many languages (French, Italian, English, Spanish…) Where can we learn more about you and your books? Amazon, the Big Zon hosts my author page Then I have three blogs, one for my views on current affairs, publishing and art. That’s inching up to 20,000 page views/week…From there you can hop over to the blog I maintain to present my books and to share my tricks in cooking (yes I love to cook, especially Italian and Belgian cuisine!) Also check out my book trailer, it was done by a talented Polish film maker Magda Olchawska and it contains some of my paintings: It’s got a very catchy tune, I love it (I picked it – yes, that’s my kind of music!) How can we follow you? Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc. Twitter @claudenougat Google+ Is there anything else you would like us to know? Yes! I’m knee-deep into Boomer lit and it’s not just all about my boomer novel, far from it! There’s a super-active Goodreads Group discussing this hot new genre (I’m the moderator) and we got over 200 members, really nice people, many very talented authors, in less than 3 months. We’ve just started a Facebook fan page that’s meant to be an information page – I hope it becomes the go-to page for those curious about Boomer lit – and of course we’re on Twitter (@BoomerLit), who isn’t? Our Group is busy reading one boomer book/month, exploring the confines of boomer lit – we’re finding that it’s extremely varied, it ranges from comedy to dark, noir stuff. Interested? Here’s the link to the Group. Do come over and tell us what you think of Boomer lit! I’m saying that to your readers, Jack, because I know you already came over! Oh, by the way, the Group read A Hook in the Sky last month and it was hotly debated. Not everyone liked my protagonist but I don’t mind, it means he’s very real! And that makes me very happy! And since I’m still talking, I’d like to take this opportunity Jack to thank you for having me on your fun Blog Hop! Good ReadThe entertainment industry has been mining the works of Tolkien, Anderson, Swift, Shelly, and countless other great writers of fantasy for inspiration to produce films and games in recent years. In the process, they have inspired a new generation of writers to turn their hands to this popular genre. Steven Vincent joins their ranks with Dawn of the Knight I. Join me as we meet this young author and learn what he has in store for us. What is the one book you want us to read (title, genre, and availability). "I'd love for you to check out Dawn of the Knight I - Xeltian Invitation. It's a 560 page fantasy novel available on the Kindle, and hopefully it will be in print soon!" Give us a one sentence synopsis. "As a heart-twisting plague washes across the three regions, Egon Skysong becomes the only one willing to oppose the immortal Xeltian Knight." Who are the main characters and who would you like to see portray them in a movie? "The main characters are Egon, Aewulf, and Adela. To describe them briefly, Egon is a boy who leaves the remote fishing nation of Catalene in search of the knight's title; the only way he can fulfil the final promise he made to his father. He struggles to fit in, and this forms the core of his sometimes comical struggles. Aewulf may seem like a foolish Elf, and that's because he is; but deep inside he struggles with a past he cannot recall. Finally, Adela is the princess of Hemford, but she is forced to abandon this life early on and learn to relax her stubborn, quick-tempered personality. As far as who they would be portrayed by, I really wouldn't know! I would prefer new talent so the viewers would see the character for who they are, rather than actors pretending to be them. Of course, I'm a big fan of Scarlett Johansson, so if she was willing to play Adela I wouldn't complain!" Tell us about the story, but please don't reveal too much. "You learn early on that the Xeltian Knight has been attacking humankind for generations, but now he's spreading a heart-twisting plague that corrupts the ideals and nations of even the purest kings. Egon is the only one willing to stand against this ancient war master and his mysterious goals, but he must first learn to walk his own path and draw strength from those he vows to protect. So as you see, the story is a lot about change, for better or for worse, in oneself or in others." What inspired you to write this book and how long did it take? "I just wanted to write a story about knights! The first draft was finished in a month, but I didn't like it and set it aside for a year. I finally came back to it with all new ideas, and took another year to edit and revise it. The book turned out so much better, and had so many hidden lessons that I hadn't even planned on." What other books have you written?
"I actually have two other high fantasy series, plus a science fiction novel I want to self-publish later this year." Which authors inspired you, your style? "I really wasn't ever inspired by books, but movies like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings (I read the book after the movie), and video games like Legend of Zelda helped shape the way I tell stories." Where can we learn more about you and your books? "You can check out my writing blog, where I post updates about my work and also interview other great authors. Or, you can head over to Amazon and check out Dawn of the Knight for yourself. True Knights Blog How can we follow you? Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc. I'm always on Twitter, I try to keep up with Facebook, and I'm on Goodreads, too! I'm always up for a conversation. Steven Vincent's Twitter Steven Vincent's Facebook: Steven Vincent on Goodreads: Is there anything else you would like us to know? "Well, it's my hope that Dawn of the Knight will be available in print in the coming months, but that all hinges on the success of a Kickstarter project for it. I'm hoping with so many great people out there, I'll have the help I need to meet my goal. That's still a while away though." Oh Dark ThirtyI'M ON SHAKY GROUND this year. My hometown team isn't playing in the Super Bowl. The truth is that my hometown doesn't have a team in the National Football League despite being the second largest television market in the United States. Yes, I'm talking about L.A. Los Angeles. The town that the NFL forgot. So, technically, I don't have any vested interest in the game's outcome. Or so you would think. I believe that most Southern Californians (excluding San Diego – they don't have a team either – well, at least not one with a coach) have adopted teams to cheer for. Since most of us come from somewhere else, it's easy to cheer for a team from somewhere else where we used to live.
I'm from Baltimore originally. (Excuse me – “Balmur”.) Unfortunately, my team left Baltimore too. They moved to Indianapolis. So, I have a choice: Cheer for Baltimore or cheer for the Colts. One's in the Super Bowl. The other isn't. I don't like the Colts. Our respective departures were vastly different. I left Baltimore to fight for my nation. They stole away in the night, taking Baltimore's football trophies with them, much like the Clintons tried to exit the White House with the silverware and china. Neither the Clintons nor the Colts are a class act, at least not as evinced on those occasions. I like the Ravens, but I'm afraid to root for them. I'm a jinx. Seriously. A genuine jinx. Let me explain. I left Baltimore in 1966 to join the Army. The Colts had won a few championships while I lived there by virtue of the fact that I never attended any of their games. Football wasn't the great sport then that it is today. Baseball was America's pastime and I rooted for the Orioles. They never won a game, at least, not while I was watching. No, not one. They also never rose from the cellar – the bottom of the league standings. I see you. You're Googling it, aren't you? Yes, Baltimore won the World Series in 1966. Why? I wasn't there to jinx them. I was an Officer Candidate at the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, at the time. I asked one of my classmates if he had heard who was playing in the World Series. We didn't have much time to follow sports while attending Infantry School. He told me Baltimore won it. I laughed. He didn't. He was serious. That's when I began to suspect that I was a jinx. Not only did the Orioles win the World Series, but also they won it in four consecutive games against the dominant Los Angeles Dodgers. During the intervening years, after serving a tour of duty in Vietnam, I lived in Hawaii and then Colorado. There weren't any professional sports teams in Hawaii for me to hobble, and when the Broncos arrived in Denver, I was encouraged to leave the state. (They must have heard something.) I moved to Los Angeles. I never saw the Dodgers or the Rams win a game. Oh, they won quite a few, but not while I was watching. Not from the stands or on television or radio. I had the same effect on the Lakers. They lost the one game that I was allowed to attend. My nephew and I arrived late. The Lakers were ahead. My nephew found our seats while I picked up some hot dogs and drinks. He watched me as I approached our seats. The Laker's lead evaporated with every step I took towards him. His eyes never left me. My nephew played sports. He even played some college basketball. His mother was under strict orders. I was not even supposed to know when he was playing. Attend one of his games? Out of the question. So, that brings me to Super Bowl XLVII. Do you want to know who I'm going to cheer for? Better yet, do you want to know who I'm betting on? It'll cost you. |
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