One day free book give-away! Last minute gift! Dec. 24. Ever wonder what it is like to train for the Olympics?

 One day free book give-away! Last minute gift! Dec. 24. Ever wonder what it is like to train for the Olympics? Click book for link:

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Ever wonder what it's like to train for the Olympics?

Ever wonder what it's like to train for the Olympics?  For the next three days (12/13-12/16), we will be giving away free copies of SWIMMING AMONG THE OLYMPIANS for all of our fans of the Olympic sport of competitive swimming along with great fiction about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.  Included with the short stories and the essay are a section of a novella, a long story, and a section from the book I am currently working on.

No obligation, no cost to you, a chance to discover some fresh and interesting writing!  What's not to like?  A fine present for a loved one involved in swimming or just a present with which you can indulge yourself.  Check out the link below!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088KY23C3/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i2

Pearl Harbor Day Special! Free WW II novel for the next five days on Amazon! See the link below. And if you like it, be sure to comment on Amazon or Goodreads.

 Pearl Harbor Day Special!  Free WW II novel for the next five days on Amazon!  See the link below.  And if you like it, be sure to comment on Amazon or Goodreads. Click book cover for link:

Blog #6, Kurt Russell’s view of craft, the role of the artist in society, the American literary scene

 

Recently, the actor Kurt Russell spoke out about his fellow actors and creative artists who are stridently vocal about their political views.  The veteran actor spoke about the craft of acting and how political grandstanding of creative artists diminishes what they create.  It comes down to, in this case, the actor’s role in society, and in the world of the arts and of cultivating our understanding of the human condition in an authentic way.

He makes a good point about the effect of an actor’s words off the soundstage, where in interviews and public comments, entertainment artists make statements that interfere with their craft.   Kurt Russell portrays characters, characters from various political and social backgrounds.   All actors should have such freedom.  That is part of what attracted me to writing.   I could explore characters very different from my own basic identity and portray them in a believable way.   Kurt Russell would be getting in the way of the success of his performances as a professional if he say, became a vocal liberal, or a strident conservative for that matter, in the public eye.  

In the arts, success depends on believable portrayals.  The artist concerned with creating the best, most moving art he or she can, cannot afford to be seen through a narrow political lens.  Society, and American society in particular, is the poorer artistically when creative people limit their public image to left or right and all the stereotypes they entail.  Better to focus on the act of creating.

I’ll give a case in point from my own life.  A man I know is perhaps one of the most talented fiction writers of his generation.   He has been widely published, and better still, he has written with heart and gusto.   But I find it hard to buy or read one of his books lately.   He was a mentor of mine at the writers’ conference at Bread Loaf.   He befriended me, embraced my prose, was mirthful and wise and quick to dispense practical advice to his students.   He was a very encouraging writer, and man.   I would frequent his Facebook site to see the latest inspiration he would dispense.   There were times when my very confidence in my abilities depended in large part on his words.

With the election of 2016, and maybe before, he began to write less encouragement to younger writers, and started writing political screeds that were obnoxious at best, insulting at worst.  If I didn’t agree with everything he said, like some “ditto head” of the 1980s, he told me to unfriend him.   He wanted nothing to do with anyone who didn’t exactly believe all the many things that he believed politically.   I was shocked, and hurt.  He was my mentor, and I looked up to him as a decent man in an industry known for its “me too” style of decadence.  Worse, I was deeply hurt and felt betrayed.  As a result of his many vitriolic Facebook posts, I have a very hard time appreciating his literary work.  I would rather have only known him as a writer, not a political activist.

And the literary world is now filled with “ditto heads” of the same stripe.   Now the trend of the industry runs decidedly stridently political and it is hard for me to find a good contemporary literary novel to catch my attention.   Standards of quality and literary achievement are hard to find.  I have to go to Elizabeth Bowen’s novels of the 60s or St. Euxpery’s novellas about flying.   If anyone has a good book to recommend, please let me know…

Free Kindle Novella Through December 5, 2020

Under Old Glory: A Novella of War, Love, and Faith FREE on Kindle through December 5, 2020. Click the image for FREE kindle version:

Blog #5 Happy Veterans’ Day!!

 

Happy Veterans’ Day to all the vets out there.   I am a vet myself, I served in the heart of the Cold War.  I was not in very long, and most of the time I don’t like to talk about it, but these stories about combat and trauma don’t just come out of thin air.  I’m not a combat vet, but I played a key role in helping those who were, and still are in combat for the Air Force.  You wouldn’t believe me if I told you what happened to me while in the Air Force, and I’m sure the USAF would not want me to talk about specifics, but suffice it to say I have suffered, greatly, for my service and that may explain why a story like Hyrum’s speaks to me so clearly and cries out to be heard.  

There are a lot of sacrifices for the USA that no one knows about.   All kinds of clandestine operations and things that the general public isn’t aware of.  Even right now, on 11/11/20, there are forces working for and against American, and even Global, freedom.   Pray for these people, if you pray, or at least send them your warm wishes.  They are putting their lives on the line for all of us.

New Blog #4, Oct. 25, 2020: Some thoughts about the afterlife and FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY of UNDER OLD GLORY on 10/26 and 10/27, 2020

So what happens when we die?  One of the big questions of life.  What is after life?   Are we merely “worm food” as Shakespeare implies, or do we truly go to a transcendent place?   Do we reconnect with God?  And Jesus?  I believed for a long time that heaven was just a given.  Then, in grad school, I questioned the Catholic beliefs I’d been raised with.  Ultimately, I believed that God was at a distance, benevolently watching over us but not directly involved in my day to day life.

Discovering the LDS church changed all that.   I believed from my first lesson as an investigator into that faith that God was real and very close to my spirit.   I physically felt it.   I could not turn my head away, could not deny God and his Son any longer.  They are real and alive in my life.   Unlike some LDS people, I can’t give you a firm, well-constructed logical defense of the Mormon faith.  My faith is based on that warm feeling in my chest, feeling the Spirit, when meeting with LDS people who have the Spirit in abundance.  I am very grateful for this.

And the LDS vision of the Afterlife rings true to me.   I always thought of hell as too ghastly a place, too cruel, for God to banish his beloved children to.    My vision of Heavenly Father was merciful and kind, and he would have us in one of three kingdoms that were of ascending degrees of glory.   I humbly hope, as I atone for sins and pray to be led on the right path, and not stray from the scriptural commandments, that I will be able to earn a place beside Heavenly Father with my spiritual Older Brother, even Jesus the Christ.

 

My first book with overtly Mormon themes came out last year.  It is called Under Old Glory and I am giving away copies for free Oct. 26 and Oct. 27, 2020.   Under Old Glory is a novella that is a prelude to the novel I am working on now.

 

Take care!

Link for Under Old Glory active 10/26-10/27