Act of Valor

Go see Act of Valor today. We went yesterday afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Before I go any further, I need to insert a disclaimer:  I was never a SEAL.  I never went to BUDS, I never had a trident on my chest, I was never in their league. I was a nearsighted (totally correctable) egg-head who didn’t have the physical stamina to make it through the first week of BUDS. I was a slow runner who couldn’t do pull-ups if you aimed a pistol at my head.  I was good with a gun, physically tough and had some law-enforcement and martial arts experience which made me formidable as an opponent to little old ladies, drunks and the normal run of bullies you run into in life. I didn’t back away from a fight, but I was never in the same class as “The Men with Green Faces.”

There. That’s out of the way. I don’t want any special warfare types hunting me down as a “wannabee,” or fraud, which is the worst sort of insect in my opinion.

But when we were sitting on the couch last night my wife, also a Navy vet, turned to me and said, “We were in two totally different navies.” It was a stunning admission from her. We were both CTI2 in our rate (Cryptologic Techician Interpretive, Second Class) and both had gone through some of the same schools. But when we got to our duty station that’s where our paths diverged pretty wildly.

My wife was a shore-based analyst. That’s because in the 1984-1989 time frame women were prohibited from “combat” slots in the service. I was a 9126/9124/9134 *(That last one is iffy. The actual NEC isn’t listed on the website and I’m not 100% sure they used it when I was on active duty*) .

What brings this all up is that while we watched the movie I saw my old hangouts. Our little group of merry pirates frequently traveled with the guys from the teams. We rode in the same helicopters, did the zodiac shuffle to the submarine, exited the well-deck of an amphib in that same zodiac, screamed into the battle space on a submarine with a “garage” affixed or available. We ate meals together, went on liberty together, went to some of the same schools, and on more than a few occasions got royally trashed together.

I won’t claim the guys from the SEALS as my blood brothers, but they were like friendly cousins I got to see a couple of times a year at family reunions. And watching the movie my wife saw on the big screen some of the things I had described to her over the years. Al Stewart has a song that strikes a chord for me, “Old Admirals.” I often wonder if I’ve become that “Old Admiral” and taken to boring and annoying my family and friends. I hope not. I hope that I’m on the way to producing the stories that I can tell in a positive way. I’ll never break OPSEC on my past. It will always be generic or totally fictional when it comes to what we did and where we did it, but the human drama of the stories are amazing. I couldn’t have asked for a better past as  an author. I have enough material to keep me going for years of writing. And, yesterday, my number one fan got a glimpse into the world I used to live in on the big screen.

So, my thanks to the people who made the movie, Act of Valor . You did an amazing job. And to the Teams… you guys are still my heroes. How about a coffee and we reminisce about old times?

 

 

75K 75K 75K 75K 75K & Genesis

It has been a long week of reworking things on the book.  It’s now at the 75K mark and closing in on the finale. After a great deal of kind feedback from a respected agent I’m taking a new tack on the book. The story remains unchanged but I’ve been given the green light to harden edges and let out my inner savage by someone who knows far better than the humble author.

I’d tried to scale the violence, meanness, dialogue acidity, and gore in the book to what I thought were market sensibilities in the Christian book world. I didn’t want to offend anyone, and it meant taking the rough corners off of some characters and softening dialogue. He said that’s a waste of a good story and potentially good characters. So, I have been writing with an eye on behavior. The real people I’d originally envisioned are coming out now and I like them much better. Conflict is good. (It’s true!  I read that in “Writing the Breakout Novel” by Donald Maass, and if it’s in a book it must be valid.)

I’m not going back to change anything I’ve already written until I’m done with the story. But since this week was spent polishing up my entry for the ACFW Genesis Contest. I added some missing detail to the first few chapters and thinned out some prose that was redundant. Again, things suggested by the agent. He was right. It does read better the way he described it to me.  I’m not saying that I need to bow and scrape, but it’s obvious that he’s got a lot more experience than I do and if I can avoid being bullheaded it will make for a better book. He saw what I originally envisioned but softened. Thanks to him I’m back following my instincts. Come to think of it, maybe I’d better bow and scrape – he has great insight.

Tonight will be the last part of the story arc before the final big kablooie. I’m loving the fact that this is just flowing like water when I sit down to write. The stumbling of years gone by hasn’t come back. I like what I’m doing and think the reader will like it as well. If you’ve got a few minutes, say a prayer for that Genesis entry of mine.  I’d like to make it past the waste bin this year.

 

Facebook Civility.

I don’t “Facebook” much (yes, another instaverb, compliments of modern society) because it bores me. I’m a spectator in that realm. I don’t have much to say to most of my friends but I do enjoy keeping up with the stuff they do on occasion.

That may change. I’m seriously considering turning off the feeds for a number of them due to the vitriolic ranting about politics. It’s no secret that I’m a conservative. Proud of it, glad to claim it, living the life. It’s been my experience that conservatives usually have a sense of humor about themselves and take some kidding pretty well. We’re often the first to let ourselves know the boundary layer is approaching.

I honestly can’t say that for some of my liberal friends of late. I posted about anti-Semitic hate a while back and how disgusting I found it to be in it’s casual use on Facebook and other sites. Well, in light of the Planned Parenthood/Susan G. Komen controversy and the Obamacare/Catholic/religious freedom issues the past few weeks I’m feeling even more shocked at the level of hatred and vile behavior from my “friends.”

I’m flawed. We all are in some way. But the assumption that it’s acceptable to villainize people and ascribe evil intent because of their political and social framework is just wrong. I’ve been called more names (as a conservative Christian) in the last few weeks than I ever imagined. And I found out that I’m a racist and a homophobe as well. I’m going to have to turn myself in at church tomorrow and get right with God on that whole deal.

Why?  Because I honestly believe that abortion is murder of an infant. I believe that our constitution prohibits the government from imposing a healthcare system that forces you to participate. Because I believe that forcing anyone to violate their religious principles in pursuit of that unconstitutional mandate is criminal and would cause George Washington to take up arms against the current government if he were here today.

Do conservatives ever group people up and demean them?  Sure. That’s human nature, Us versus Them. But to  point out that the Occupy crowd is unwashed, lives in filth and need to get a job is more an observation than a condemnation. Saying that all liberals are miserable killers of babies and tormentors of puppies is just plain a lie. They aren’t. No more than conservatives all want to kill gays and … well, you get the point.

So, to my Facebook “friends” – dial it back. I want to hear about your kids, the trip you took to Cancun, the new job, the backache you had last night and the new car. I do not want to hear you tear down others and their political/social/religious beliefs in such a mean spirited and cruel way. Every time you start to post that drivel I’d like to have you take a moment and think about me. Unless what you’re writing can honestly be said to be true about me, don’t tar and feather a whole segment of the population with that brush. Put my face on your strawman and then revisit your post before you hit the button. It may just increase civility on the pages of Facebook.

If not, I’m sorry that I missed the invite to your 30th anniversary party or the kid’s play. But it hurts too much to read your hate filled posts about me and my kind every day.