WE THE PEOPLE: OUR MILITARY OBLIGATIONS

  Please take a moment today to celebrate the men and women who placed their lives on the line to keep the rest of us free.  Many people died in combat for us; many more were wounded both physically and emotionally.  Families lost husbands, fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters.  Some families were broken forever while some grew stronger. 

            Our liberty has been fought for since the days of the Revolutionary War and the Civil War.  Our soldiers have fallen on foreign soil and sand helping to give this liberty, that we so many times take for granted, to others wishing to be free.

            Today is a day to give thanks to those in the military who are no longer with us. But, we also need to give thanks to those who have been there for us in the past and are now retired or otherwise no longer active duty and, for those personnel who are still serving. 

            Our freedom comes with a cost that we all must bear.  We have an obligation to support our military who through their commitment to OUR CONSTITUTION keep US free.  Let’s not let them suffer at the hands of bureaucrats and those who don’t give a damn.  Let them know that it is WE THE PEOPLE who appreciate their efforts and sacrifices for us and offer to them OUR respect and admiration.  They deserve the best care and respect that this country can bestow on them.  Let’s make sure that they get it.  Honor the memory of our peacekeepers that have died for this country and honor and support those and their families still with us.

Sharon

HOW DID WE WRITE THAT STUFF?

Dave left a comment recently asking how did we  schedule our writing.  This will probably take a few posts to explain but here is where I start.      

            Jerry and I had a somewhat unique writing schedule.  Many times we would be working on multiple projects simultaneously.  We might be gathering together and testing guns, holsters, knives, etc., for a magazine column or article and working on finishing up one of our over 80 novels while researching the next book and coming up with another story idea, all at the same time.  After a few near disasters we learned that multi-tasking was fine as long as we stuck to dissimilar projects. 

            Many writers hold down full time jobs and have to find time to write.  Writing was our full time job and we had to find other moments to fit in other necessary projects.  The majority of our books were written in our 1904 frame, 13 room house in Commerce, Georgia.  Think old.  Think wood.  Think handmade so nothing in the house was plumb.  Think nothing had been done to the place much since 1904 including heat and electricity.  Add five acres of untamed land, two young children and anybody’s guess as to pets at one time or another, etc....You get the picture.

            “Mom. Dad.  We need help!”

            “We’re trying to finish a scene.  What’s up?”

            “Well, the drainpipe musta broken again on the upstairs bathtub and water is running out of the light fixture in the bedroom ceiling down here.”

            “%%**###,” one person says.  “We’ll be right there.  Grab a bucket, turn off the light and get the @@%%## dog out of there! The cat too!”        

            Many of our stories were hashed out while driving nowhere in particular.  Usually we had a seed of an idea and nothing much else.  We would gas up the Suburban and take off in one direction or another, Jerry usually driving, me holding a legal pad and pencil.  We’d try to come up with a basic story line then let the characters take over as to what they would do in such a situation.  Occasionally we’d spend more time coming up with a character name than we took for an entire plot. 

            Once we were back in the office I would transcribe my notes – whilst I could still read my writing – and turn it into a workable outline.  While we’re on the subject of the office, this is the small room holding school and art supplies, camera equipment, a small part of our reference library, dogs, cats and sometimes a container of crickets for Jason’s tree frogs, two desks with computers and all their usual accompanying accoutrements and the two of us at those desks, facing each other.  Our office had large windows on three of the four walls which was an added distraction.  By the time I was through with framing up the outline, the phone had been ringing off the hook and/or the kids were home from school and we were now involved in something totally different.

            Series work such as THE SURVIVALIST, TRACK, THEY CALL ME THE MERCENARY, THE DEFENDER and THE TAKERS kept us busy because the publishers did have to keep up with scheduled releases.  We would faithfully promise in out contract to have such and such finished and in their hands by a certain date and we did try to keep to our promises.  Please keep in mind that not only did we have book commitments but we had articles and monthly columns in magazines and for a while a short radio segment that we wrote, produced and Jerry voiced at a local station.   We both had the attention span of a gnat.  

            I’ll tell you more next time.

Sharon

GRADUATION

           It’s that exiting, fun time of the year for a number of our young people.  School is winding down except for the dreaded final exams.  Proms are happening and graduations are being prepared for across the country.  Times of change.  Times of commitment.   

            A lot of these young people will be looking at their last summer of freedom to spend with friends they’ve known since they were but single digit ages.  Others will struggle with how to keep relationships of a more romantic leaning alive over the distances some of them may travel to continue their education.  Life can get complicated.

            Scores of these graduates will be entering the work force for either the first time or will be moving from a part time position to a full time slot,  hoping to make enough dough to support themselves in “the real world.”

            I remember when Jerry and I were at that point in our lives.  The Viet Nam War shadowed so many choices that had to be made.  The draft was in full swing and young men in college were easy pickings as well as those in non-essential jobs.  Some were able to change their career choices to try to avoid the draft, some were drafted and were given the option to learn other skills and some, well, some just never made it back home.  For most of us, if we really wanted one, a job was out there for us.  I came home each week with my take home pay of about $40.00 and feeling like I was rich.

            A lot of us did manage to get through school if we could find a way of affording it which for many, were those jobs we had.  Some who went right into the job market found that there was the opportunity available to succeed if one tried.  Technology opened up new prospects that we had never dreamed of, giving us many new career choices for both men and women.  We started families, settled down, hoped for the future, just like our parents did before us.

            Today’s young people will face the burden of a poor economy, high unemployment and staggering tuition costs.   Leaving high school will not be analogous to “spreading your wings;” it will be more like “throwing you to the wolves.”  I believe each generation has had obstacles to overcome in order to make it in this world but that doesn’t make it any easier for the next one coming up.  They have their own tough decisions to make.  Being realistic is a hard road for ones so young.  Let’s remember what roads we took and the consequences we suffered and give them some slack.  Life has never been about just black and white reality; there’s gotta be a rainbow of dreaming and hope tagging along.

            All the best to those of you who are starting this new road in your life and a special thanks to your parents and family members who have and will continue to encourage you to keep trying.  Learning never stops; we do it until the moment we stop breathing.  Do both for a long, long time!

Sharon

SPRING: A TIME OF CHANGE

            I guess it’s safe to say that spring has finally sprung over most of the United States.  We’ve progressed from a horrible, rotten, stinkin, cold winter (did I say enough) to above normal temperatures so rapidly that most of us can’t even remember yet where we stashed our hot weather clothing.  Cool weather gardens couldn’t be planted when they should because even they don’t like hard freezes and hail.  Now these crops think they’ve been transported to the middle of the Sahara Desert.  Not a lot we can do with some things, I guess.

            Winter set some us back in terms of our lifestyle.  Excuses were abundant for not going out for walks or for playing outside with the kids.  Healthy foods were easily replaced by comfort foods. “Salads too cold but pasta warmmmm.  Chocolate my friend!  Fuzzy, warm blanket just right to wear in front of television while snacking.” 

            OK, some of us have been bad; some of us have just been perfect, yeah.  Now is the chance for us imperfect ones to get in gear and make some positive changes.  I promise I will as soon as I think about it some more.  You go first.

            Seriously, one thing I’m going to start doing is spending more time on this website.  I’m sure you notice the date of my last blog.  I’m going to try to put something up at least once a week and if I start lagging, please let me know.  Even if you don’t want to read what I write you’ll at least have the satisfaction of keeping me to task.  I’ve got lots of things to say and writing it down is easier than talking to myself about it.  Maybe then, people will stop staring at me.

            Another thing I’m going to establish is putting stuff on the WHAT’S NEW page instead of pretending that we’ve seen it all.  If you followed Jerry’s writings in outdoor/gun magazines, you know that he usually had a column about neat stuff that had just come onto the market or deserved a second look or books; both fiction and non fiction that he thought deserved your attention.  He started this way back in the mid 1970s with a column called Terrain and Situation which appeared in Soldier of Fortune magazine and he had similar columns in both Dillon’s Blue Press and Gun World magazines until his death.  Help me out here.  I’ll be looking for stuff that I want to share with all of you but, if you know of something cool, let me know about it and we can all share information.  Get in touch with me through the website.

            I’m thinking about some other changes too but too much thinking all at once can give anyone a headache.  Right now I think I’ll go out for a walk and maybe water the garden if there’s anything that hasn’t burned to a crisp.

Sharon

Update on Tuesday, May 6, 2014 at 12:04PM by Jerry

I just want to add something some of you may have not heard about.  Harlequin/Gold Eagle/etc. was bought recently by News Corp. which is part of Harper Collins.  With the entire book publishing world standing on shaky ground, I do hope that all the authors who have contributed so much to our reading enjoyment come out of this new deal unscathed.  We did a few books for them ourselves such as the TRACK series and two TAKERS novels.  Let's try and keep an eye on what happens.

Sharon

THE ATLANTA BLAME GAME

As some of you may have heard, the South got hit with a major catastrophic snow storm Tuesday.  I know what some of you are thinking.  “How can that little snow cause so much trouble?  Don’t those people know how to drive?”   Yes, we do know how to drive.  Haven’t you ever watched THE DUKES OF HAZZARD? 

Seriously, when you only encounter the white stuff every few years, your snow driving skills may get a little rusty and the southern states and cities try to spend their money on more necessary items than snow plows and anti-icing mixtures that may sit in warehouses for many seasons to come.  But when we know that the snow is coming our way, we do expect those in charge of such weather related incidents to have a plan and then to implement said plan.  Unfortunately this did not happen in Atlanta.

State and city officials, once the snow was already seriously coming down, put out the word that businesses should close down and schools, which many say should have never been open in the first place Tuesday, should dismiss early.  If aliens decide to invade Atlanta and its citizens try to evacuate, I know what it will look like – GRIDLOCK.    The aliens can just hover over the interstate and scoop us up.

By 1:00pm this Wednesday afternoon I heard on the local news that there had been over 800 accidents reported.  How many more accidents occurred that were not reported by then or, that never will be, is anyone’s guess.  School buses could not get to some schools to pick up children and hundreds of kids were forced to spend the night camped out.  Some Atlanta school buses carrying children home couldn’t safely navigate the hilly streets or they got stuck behind 18 wheelers that were having similar problems and waited for long hours until they could have the children rescued and brought to safety.  The interstates became parking lots. Drivers were in some cases stuck in their cars for 12 to 18 hours!  Vehicles were piled up on the medium strips because they ran out of gas; some that couldn’t get that far just parked on the side of the road.  National Guardsmen were out in force this morning checking to see if some of these stranded vehicles were still occupied and to offer assistance.

Both the governor and the mayor of Atlanta are under attack for not handling the situation better.  People feel that the root of the traffic problems stem from the fact that there was no staggering of the shut downs; everyone, schools, government workers and Atlanta business were all told to shut down at basically the same time.  This caused way too many motorists out there traveling the always busy roads.  In perfect weather, this would have overloaded the city’s streets. Also, the officials had promised that they were ready for the potential storm and had equipment and de-icing trucks in place. They said this on television and you don’t lie on tv!  They then proceeded to wait on clearing until the congestion on the highways made it impossible for the roads to be cleared.

The blame then shifted to the truckers who couldn’t get enough speed up to manage the steep inclines associated with Atlanta’s bridges and exit ramps.  They were stuck and had no particular place to go, blocking those behind them.  The truckers turned the blame back on the government officials who had held off too long on clearing the roads.

Then I heard the most creative blame of all.  The meteorologists were the ones to blame because they said the major path of the storm would not affect Atlanta much and would drop the greatest amounts further away.  Local meteorologists stood up and defended themselves, pointing out that on Monday, almost 24 hours before the snow started to fall, they had given the city fair warning that snow was on the way and could be several inches in accumulation.  Even weather man Al Roker from the TODAY show defended them and their forecasts.

The only one not getting blamed for this mess is the snow!  We can’t stop it from falling but maybe with a little common sense we can learn to live with it, know when to stay home and off the streets and throw some snowballs before it all melts away.  And now is the time that those in charge make promises as to how things will be done better next time - just like they did last time.

PS  As some of you know, I don’t live in Atlanta.  I live in a town in Georgia far enough away from the big city that we don’t deal with traffic jams unless you count the Fourth of July or Christmas parades.  It snowed here.  The sun came out.  Snow is melting.  A simple life for sure.

 Sharon

FYI  A little girl was born on I-285.  Her parents couldn't get to the hospital in time.  Her name is Grace.