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Offline Flyin6

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So, I'm writing another book
« on: April 18, 2018, 09:23:16 AM »
Yepper another book should be coming out someday.  :lipsrsealed:

I hope to presale a dozen copies if the market is big enough!  :facepalm:

Nothing like setting your sights low enough to ensure success  :cool:

And as if anyone in their right mind would read the mindless ramblings of this old crusty Warrant Officer.  :sad:

But, some do, and on the shoulders of those boneheads I hope to make my millions!

Yea, so I was thinking about Distant Thunder and how it talked about the experiences we have going off to war and living a military life, but I wanted to do more. I wanted to write about the Christian aspect or side to that story. Then one day I was talking with a long time friend, Jeremy who said I should do it. HE said write it up in such a way as to be a self-help book sold on the Christian market.

He is a bit of a wizard about such things, so we dove in a bit deeper. He just seemed to know how to promote the thing and steer its development, so i started writing.

Then one morning I awoke with the idea that he should become my agent and promo and market the whole thing. So I approached him with the idea, and he said of course, he would love to do it.

So he plans to create a web site where peeps (Not yous, none of you boneheads...I need thinkin' people)! Just kiddin! So he builds this web site where you can talk with the author, and news about the new book and Distant Thunder can be had. He would arrange for speaking engagements and interviews and all of that and I would pound my fingers to the bone whilst figurin' out how to get sarge unstuck or this darned turbo removed from my truck!

So I started some time ago and I now find us some 405 chapters deep and something over 23,000 words. I shoot for 70,000 words which makes for 240 or so pages and add or subtract as necessary to make my point

So the way this one lays out is that I first have a concept, like, say, "faith." That concept is supported by a story which occurs somewhere in my military experience. I develop the story and lace it with scripture and in the end one can see where God was present all the time.

Anyway, off we go to the races, we'll see where this one leads!
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Offline Nate

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Re: So, I'm writing another book
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2018, 09:44:23 AM »
Interesting
If you need the promise of eternity in the kingdom of heaven to be a good person … You were never a good person in the first place!

Offline KensAuto

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Re: So, I'm writing another book
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2018, 09:57:36 AM »
So, is this the thing you said you were working on?

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Offline stlaser

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Re: So, I'm writing another book
« Reply #3 on: April 18, 2018, 10:03:27 AM »
So it’s a self help book. This may be a little stretch but I’m a thinking here so hang on. Since we essentially (us DOT’s at least but not you Ken) via this website are a self helping you & this in turn allows you to write a book (which might be a paying gig, if u sell more then you give away) then maybe we, we’ll those of us self helping DOT’s get a pay raise here too?  :facepalm:  :popcorn:  :knucklehead:
Living in the remote north hoping Ken doesn’t bring H up here any time soon…..

Offline wyorunner

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Re: So, I'm writing another book
« Reply #4 on: April 18, 2018, 11:22:48 AM »
Hmm, this should be a good read. I’ve always liked faith based books!!

Offline Flyin6

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Re: So, I'm writing another book
« Reply #5 on: April 18, 2018, 11:01:16 PM »
So it’s a self help book. This may be a little stretch but I’m a thinking here so hang on. Since we essentially (us DOT’s at least but not you Ken) via this website are a self helping you & this in turn allows you to write a book (which might be a paying gig, if u sell more then you give away) then maybe we, we’ll those of us self helping DOT’s get a pay raise here too?  :facepalm:  :popcorn:  :knucklehead:
Yea, you're definitely over thinking it!
Site owner    Isaiah 6:8, Psalm 91 
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Offline stlaser

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Re: So, I'm writing another book
« Reply #6 on: April 18, 2018, 11:16:14 PM »
So it’s a self help book. This may be a little stretch but I’m a thinking here so hang on. Since we essentially (us DOT’s at least but not you Ken) via this website are a self helping you & this in turn allows you to write a book (which might be a paying gig, if u sell more then you give away) then maybe we, we’ll those of us self helping DOT’s get a pay raise here too?  :facepalm:  :popcorn:  :knucklehead:
Yea, you're definitely over thinking it!

Hey it was worth a shot.....
Living in the remote north hoping Ken doesn’t bring H up here any time soon…..

Offline Farmer Jon

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Re: So, I'm writing another book
« Reply #7 on: April 19, 2018, 07:30:12 AM »
You are a busy man. I don't know how you find time to do everything you do.
Father, husband, farmer, trucker, mechanic, equipment operator, ect

Offline Flyin6

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Re: So, I'm writing another book
« Reply #8 on: April 19, 2018, 10:03:39 AM »
You are a busy man. I don't know how you find time to do everything you do.
If you only knew...

But you're a farmer! You're the one who is 24/7/365!
Site owner    Isaiah 6:8, Psalm 91 
NSDQ      Author of the books: Distant Thunder and Thoren

Offline Farmer Jon

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Re: So, I'm writing another book
« Reply #9 on: April 20, 2018, 01:15:00 PM »
You are a busy man. I don't know how you find time to do everything you do.
If you only knew...

But you're a farmer! You're the one who is 24/7/365!
Yea no time to do anything but somehow it all gets done.

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Offline KensAuto

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Re: So, I'm writing another book
« Reply #10 on: December 15, 2018, 10:56:58 AM »
Bump just for my selfishness.
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: So, I'm writing another book
« Reply #11 on: December 15, 2018, 11:04:29 AM »
What cha want, Kenneth???

Teaser???
Site owner    Isaiah 6:8, Psalm 91 
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Offline KensAuto

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Re: So, I'm writing another book
« Reply #12 on: December 15, 2018, 01:01:51 PM »
You gotten any farther with it?

Yeah, teaser would be great, and possibly uplifting for my Real Man brethren, and myself.
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Offline JR

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Re: So, I'm writing another book
« Reply #13 on: December 15, 2018, 01:54:17 PM »
The Green Machine, to be continued,,,,,,,,,
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: So, I'm writing another book
« Reply #14 on: December 15, 2018, 03:52:25 PM »
OK...Because Ken asked, for all of you:


A Glimpse into Military Life
Duty, Honor, Country

Folks, please allow me to give you a glimpse into military life:
Right in the middle of what has become your life, big change is always just around the corner for the military family. You are making friends, you like your church and pastor. You’ve just figured out where the best local camping spot is which has a great bass hole nearby. You've made friends throughout the area, Life is just great, and then you get a letter.

It has a copy of a set of orders. You are being transferred to Fairbanks Alaska from your assignment in Savannah, Georgia. But first you will need to go to some school for three months to learn something the higher-ups think is career enhancing. So you uproot your wife who absolutely hates the cold and flip her life on its head as well. She just got a spot she worked for in the choir and finally enjoys decent pay and position at the job she has. That special girlfriend she made last year is no more and she goes into limbo for 5-6 months. You go off to Ft. Where-in-the-heck to learn this thing you will need for your Alaskan adventure.

You go to school, and the wife moves back with her folks with your two babies. They somehow sort all of that out with the loving help of her folks and some old friends. Meanwhile you have to show up every day at some class and try hard to learn just like nothing's wrong.

Then you pack up again and load up your 100,000 Plus mile Ford truck and drive three thousand miles by yourself to "Report" to your next duty station. You have to work hard to fit in and try to find out what's going on. Dividing your attention makes things difficult because along with all the new you constantly wonder how "They" are doing so far away. Maybe your new job is a hostile environment. The Colonel is a jerk and all about himself and his next promotion, a phenomena you are finding more and more common in this “New Army.” You start to really dislike being forced in the name of fitting in to become something you were never meant to be, a yes man.

Places to live are scarce up there, and the base housing people tell you then can probably get you into on base housing maybe 4 months. Off post you can't afford much and your home search is really more cost driven than location oriented. You make compromises to live in a crowded neighborhood because with your meager salary stretched to breaking by having to maintain two households, you can’t afford all that much. You nervously sign a lease agreement and give the "Good" news to your wife. Your youngest baby started walking two months ago but you missed all that because, since you were the "New guy," you were tagged for something no one else wanted to do. The Commander sent you on a month long field training exercise that you have yet to really recover from. Cell phones weren’t allowed or didn’t work out there.

Finally you arrange to get her up with you. She is happy to see you but the look on her face when she looks around her new home is not one of joy. So your new life begins. She gets the kids registered in day care or school or whatever and tries to find a job. It bugs her that she is smart and has a communications degree, but employers up there are not keen on hiring military spouses because they know she really is only temporary help. The best she can do is a part time secretarial job which may lead to a management position later on.

Somehow you manage to get along, but it's a hollow life. Devoid of real long term friends and always with a sense that "all this will end shortly." You know down deep inside that this will pass along with the memories of Savannah and every other place you have ever been. This is not your chosen home, just another place to work and serve for a time, then all too soon, to put in the rear view mirror just like every other duty station.

All the normal things of life continue to happen whether you are there as a couple to experience and work through, or not. Wives and kids still get sick, parents pass away, diseases come and go and car accidents happen at all the wrong times. I took a call once in Baghdad from my wife. While trying to hold it all together she explained that my step daughter was in the middle of a mangled car being cut out by rescue people. The helicopter was already there, and the paramedic had just told my wife, he is not sure... And with hearing that, I had to get in a helicopter 20 minutes later and fly an escort mission to protect a convoy crossing through that war torn city.

So our hypothetical soldier presses on, now a respected member of this Infantry brigade he comes home one night with a solemn expression. She senses something is wrong, but he waits until the kids go to bed to explain. His unit was notified today that they will be shipping out to Afghanistan in 6 months. It's a short straw thing, the unit slated to do the deployment had fudged the readiness reports and the truth is that they were really nowhere near ready to deploy. Their commander has been fired and some general somewhere tagged your outfit to do the heavy lifting.

The news is actually worse. You won't be leaving in six months, but in a month and a half. You have to go to Ft. Erwin in California to get some last minute desert warfare training and you will be there a couple months all total.

Folks, this stuff really happens...Been there and did that a few times.

Well she doesn't know what to think. She is scared both for you and for herself and the not-so baby girls. She barely has a job, is 3,000 miles away from her parents and this is all coming on pretty fast.

Those months pass like a whirlwind. The Army is gracious enough to allow her to stay up in the frozen north of Fairbanks while you go off to war. He tries to memorize everything about her and the kids and finally turns to walk away and board the contract 747 on the day he leaves.

That's tough to do folks! So hard, that I'll bet a lot of you couldn't do it. Our soldier here doesn't have to do this either, you know. He could do something outlandish and get out of the combat assignment, but that is not the way of the warrior. He is a man of his word, a man of honor, so very rare today... No, he walks up the steps, the stairway leading inside some big civilian or military jet, turns to catche one last look of her then turns away and goes inside the plane.

She doesn't know she will never see him alive again. Not many months later she gets startled by the knock on the front door. The TV set in the back ground switched to Fox news is going on about some attack overseas against an Army convoy, names being withheld until notification of next of kin. A young Captain and a Major is standing outside the doorway. She recognizes the ranking one as the base chaplain. They scarcely say a word as the door opens and their eyes meet. She can't hear it anyway because deep down inside she knows already that he is gone and then for a while she just checks out, this is beyond anything she can handle. No reality she ever really considered matches what she feels at this moment.

It was a roadside bomb in a place without a name. All four in the HMMV were killed, and the Army is very sorry. But in that moment and the several million moments that always follow, that "Sorry" doesn't do much to fill the void. She has no husband. The girls grow up without their dad. He is eternally young to them, the picture mom has out on the dresser, of a young twenty something captain with crossed rifles on his uniform is somewhat yellowed now. It calls from the past ever whispering of a promise of a life that was not kept.

This is the life for some of those who serve in the military and of those who love them. This is a reality for an ever increasing number of good people. Men and women and children who try to make create a "Normal existence" out of all that craziness. The whirlwind of military life.

God watch over and bless them all. Keep them in grace and the protection of angels. They are much better than those who lead them!
« Last Edit: December 15, 2018, 03:53:24 PM by Flyin6 »
Site owner    Isaiah 6:8, Psalm 91 
NSDQ      Author of the books: Distant Thunder and Thoren

Offline KensAuto

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Re: So, I'm writing another book
« Reply #15 on: December 15, 2018, 09:34:03 PM »
Thank you sir....for more than just the words you write.
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Offline JR

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Re: So, I'm writing another book
« Reply #16 on: December 15, 2018, 10:39:13 PM »
I can relate as a 20yr marine brat.

Want a copy already.
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