Inside the Idea: A Glimpse Into A Crusty Writer’s Mind

Posted on by
Reply

A Fascination With History

When I was a kid I was blessed to have parents who encouraged my interest in history. My folks took me to countless forts, battlefields and museums. There is something special about seeing things in person rather than just hearing about them in school. I remember standing on the battlefield at Antietam when I was twelve and trying to imagine what those boys who had died there might have felt as they faced a charge. I recall closing my eyes and seeing the flash of bayonets and there was the smell of gunpowder and the screams of the wounded and dying. Inside the farmhouse there were pictures of dead soldiers sprawled over the very ground where I stood.

I visited many revolutionary war battlefields and was privileged to explore the Smithsonian. History came alive for me. I recall being blown away by the fact that I was looking at George Washington’s sword, the one he had worn into battle. And then seeing the sword that he accepted in surrender from General Cornwallis at Yorktown. The connection between where we had come from as a nation and where we’d ended up seemed to be a tangible thing that mostly made sense to me. It gave me a deep sense of appreciation for those who’d sacrificed everything for America.

During those same years, I was devouring science fiction like a starving man at a Golden Corral, eagerly immersing myself in futuristic worlds and complex narratives. The imaginative universes created by authors like Asimov, Heinlein, and Herbert made a huge impact on me, each story weaving intricate themes of humanity, technology, and moral dilemmas that challenged my perspectives. I found myself pondering the ethical implications of artificial intelligence in Asimov’s tales, the gritty social commentary within Heinlein’s works, and the rich, intricate political landscapes of Herbert’s Dune series. Each book opened a new door to possibilities, fueling my curiosity about the universe and igniting a passion for storytelling that has stayed with me ever since.

I think my books reflect my love of history expressed through the “what if?” lens of science fiction.

A Fresh Twist on Old Themes

With the Wrath series, I explored what the aftermath of World War Three might look like. In Tears of Abraham I delved into the horrific destruction that a second Civil War would bring to the country. The Fortress America will ultimately combine those two Themes.

I am hard at work on the next novel in the series, Anvil of War. This one is centered around the defense of Taiwan against the Chinese invasion, and it picks up right after the events of Forge of Freedom. The third novel is as yet untitled but will take place probably twenty-five years in the future and will revolve a second American Revolution in the wake of the Bates authoritarian presidency.

Some Tidbits

The title Forge of Freedom was my publishers’ idea. The brothers John and Dean must endure tremendous pressure from their father. The title is meant to evoke that heat and pressure and that hardened resolve.

Fortress America is the name of a military board game I used to play with my old buddy Arthur back in high school. The premise of the game is that the United States has become extremely isolationist and is invaded. As of this writing, the global opinion of the United States has plummeted. 74% of people in Germany and 65% in the UK and Canada have unfavorable opinions of the United States. This, following the Greenland embarrassment, when Germany and France sent troops to Greenland to defend against America. If something does not change, NATO will fall apart.

I had planned and written the assassination plot line a year before Trump ran for office again. After the attempt happened, I was so discouraged by how close it felt to my novel that I quit writing.

Please leave an honest review!

I hope you enjoy my work, and will leave me an honest review on Amazon. Your thoughts and feedback are incredibly valuable not just to me but also to potential readers who are deciding whether or not to explore my writing. Reviews are really hard to come by, and they make a huge difference in helping my work reach a wider audience. A few kind words can inspire others to pick up my books and delve into the stories I’ve crafted. It would mean the world to me if you could take a moment to share your experience!

America’s Temporary Insanity

Posted on by
Reply

I have to keep reminding myself that it’s not going to last forever. What would have once been unthinkable headlines that might have been shouted by a subway lunatic or Walmart parking lot megaphone preacher have now become a daily reality. “The US Threatens Military Force Against Greenland.” That was from two days ago, preceded by “NATO to send troops to Greenland in show of force against the United States.” Throw ICE agents shooting people in the face in Minnesota and sprinkle in some Epstein files, and the news is clearly unhinged and crazy.

It Will End

Donald Trump is like that crazy-maker ex that everyone has in their past. That one who did crazy stuff and then blamed you and the rest of the world for their bad behavior. When they keyed your car they said “look what you made me do!”

This week The President said “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.” 

We wake up and the news jumps out and smacks us in the face in the way of Will Smith’s famous slap at the Oscars. The stories assault our peace and destroy our calm as we realize that the preposterous has become possible. NATO going to war with itself.

It feels like there has been a recent shift in the energy of the universe, as cracks form in what was homogenous red MAGA wall. Marjorie Taylor Green, once a staunch Trump ally is now publicly at odds with the president. Seventeen House Republicans sided with Democrats to extend Obamacare. I have conservative friends who voted for the president twice that are appalled by recent events.

Like A Fever Dream

I believe that a few years from now the nation will have regained its senses and we will look back on this time as we would recall a breakdown on the interstate while suffering from a delirious high fever. We know the experience was awful, but it is so surreal it’s almost like it never happened. The memory is a disjointed, jagged cacophony of blasting horns and streaking headlights.

, , , , , , , ,
, , , , , , , ,

I hope that our leaders learn some lessons from our collective descent into madness. I hope that we the people learned some things, too. When someone tries to tell you who they are, believe them. The President has not done anything that he didn’t say he was going to do. We just didn’t think he was crazy enough to do it.

Coming soon!

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve been working on this series for a few years now, and just recently signed a contract with a new publisher for a trilogy. This book should come out in February 2026.

One viral act of battlefield defiance ignites a chain of events that will reshape a family—and a nation. Burt Freeman became an American legend the day footage surfaced of him fighting off a Taliban assault wearing nothing but his boxers and raw fury. Years later, back in rural north Florida, Burt is convinced a far greater storm is coming. He raises his two sons to be relentless, disciplined, and unbreakable—never imagining how brutally those lessons will be tested when the world begins to fracture.

As global tensions explode into open conflict, the Freeman brothers are hurled into the front lines of history. Dean becomes a naval aviator aboard America’s newest carrier. John earns his Green Beret. Across the ocean, a feared Russian sniper known as the Red Death and a beautiful, lethal sleeper agent are unleashed inside the United States, tasked with manipulating an American presidential election.

Great powers do not care who is crushed beneath them in their quest for power. Brothers are separated, loyalties are tested, and the world Burt tried to prepare them for is every bit as dangerous as he feared. Blistering with action, grounded in chilling plausibility, and driven by unforgettable characters, Fortress America: Book One – Forge of Freedom is a pulse-pounding political and military thriller about how heroes are made—and what happens when the war finally comes home

Coming Soon!

Posted on by
Reply

The Angel’s Last War has found a home with World Castle Publishing! This will be released soon, probably in the summer of 2025.

What if you could live forever—but never escape the battle between good and evil?

Malak’s first memory is of the Crucifixion. From that moment, he is cursed—or perhaps chosen—to die and rise again, century after century, witnessing the rise and fall of empires, the birth of religions, and the unrelenting cycle of human suffering. From the burning of Rome to the Crusades, from the Inquisition to the Black Death, from the battlefields of the American Revolution to the war-torn present, Malak searches for meaning, haunted by a beautiful and enigmatic woman who seems to follow him across time.

Now, in the modern world, Malak leads a clandestine organization dedicated to preventing humanity from spiraling into chaos. But his latest mission—assassinating a Saudi prince funding global terror—has put him in the crosshairs of the CIA. Worse, a greater enemy lurks in the shadows. Lucifer himself has been waiting for Malak, and at Megiddo, the prophesied site of Armageddon, he will offer him an agonizing choice.

Spanning two thousand years of history, faith, and violence, The Angel’s Last War is an electrifying, thought-provoking epic that will keep you riveted until the final, fateful choice.

This is the best book I’ve written thus far, I think. It took me years to write and I did a tremendous amount of research. Because it spans two thousand years, there was a lot to learn that wasn’t covered in my history classes!

While this is not a specifically Christian book, it is written from a place of faith, and I tried very hard not to directly contradict anything in the Bible or what we know of history. My personal belief is that God exists, but he’s so far beyond human comprehension that we cannot adequately describe Him. There is certainly a difference between religion and faith, and great evil has been perpetrated by organized religion through the ages, as men subvert goodness to their own desires. The Crusades and the Inquisition were a nasty bit of business.

A side note that some readers may find interesting:

I’ve never seen a demon or anything supernatural, but, while researching one particular demon for this book, I experienced a migraine headache, the only one I’ve ever had in my life, and I had to leave the house. There was a palpable sense of evil around me, a heavy, sticky weight that lasted for hours. It was bad enough that I tabled the book for a while.

The cover art depicted here is not final, just conceptual. I’ll have a final cover reveal when my publisher approves it.

Rediscovering Love After 50: A Gentle Journey

Posted on by
Reply

The sun hangs low over the water, casting long shadows across the bar. She laughs at one of my bad jokes and Buffet plays on the Bluetooth. We are talking about the wedding, and she catches me grinning like a sly old fox. Admiring her, appreciating her. It wasn’t a firecracker kind of love anymore. Not the kind that explodes and leaves you wondering where all the noise came from. This love was steady, like the tide rolling in, quiet but certain.

You don’t chase it when you’re older. You don’t run after it with wild eyes and a pounding heart. Love, after fifty, is something you recognize when it’s there, like the smell of rain or the way a good whiskey feels going down. You know it because you’ve known what it isn’t. You’ve been through the wars—divorces, funerals, long nights when the bed was too big and too cold.

At fifty, you’ve made mistakes. Too many, maybe. You’ve said things you regret and left things unsaid that still hang in the air, decades later. But love now isn’t about regrets. It’s about knowing the weight of them and choosing to stay anyway and not repeat the same mistakes. Now love is about making the very most of the finite time you’ve got left together.

When you’re twenty and in love, the world is an open road with seemingly limitless entrances and exit ramps. The future is wide open and you haven’t been wrecked by bad lane changes. You haven’t had to make those broad detours from your plan where you wind up in a shithole town you never meant to go. There’s an innocence to it. Most of us squander it.

You’ve played the dating game, and even if you got good at it, you know it was never for you. The online chats, the fake profiles, deceptions and illusion of limitless choice gave way to the understanding of just how polluted the dating pool is.

She doesn’t wear perfume. Not like the others. Before, it was all jasmine and rose, too much of it sprayed on wrists and necks. Now, it was soap and clean skin and the faint scent of coffee. It was better this way. Real. No illusions, no pretending to be something you’re not.

You don’t need grand gestures at this age. A shared silence can say everything. The way her hand lingers on yours when she passes you the glass. The way he still looks at you, even when your hair is gray and your laugh lines run deep.

It isn’t the love of poets and songs. It’s the love of mornings spent lounging in bed, the love of knowing how they like their coffee, the love of enduring things together: losses, small triumphs, the soft rhythm of days that blend into years.

It different now because we appreciate it more. It’s precious, fleeting, rare, and not to be squandered. This is the person, your person, that you want to spend the rest of your time on the road with. You want to make them happy and you do everything in your power to make it so and it’s mutual, reciprocated. It’s easy when it’s like that, but you don’t take it for granted.

Love after fifty doesn’t hit like a thunderstorm. It’s a slow rain that waters the roots. It’s the kind of love you can stand under and feel whole.

Christian Beliefs vs. Trump’s Actions

Posted on by
Reply
LAS VEGAS, NV – APRIL 28: Chairman and President of the Trump Organization Donald Trump yells ‘you’re fired’ after speaking to several GOP women’s group at the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino April 28,

What are Christians supposed to believe?

Being Christian means following the teachings of Jesus Christ, who emphasized love, compassion, humility, and forgiveness. It involves faith in Christ as the Son of God and Savior, a commitment to live according to His example, and adherence to the principles of the Bible. Central to Christianity is the belief in salvation through grace, the call to love God and neighbors, and the pursuit of a life marked by integrity, service, and the hope of eternal life.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

What Does Donald Trump Believe?

Let’s cut right to the point. Donald Trump embodies the opposite of what Christ taught. Jesus taught love. The only thing Trump seems to love is power. Compassion, humility and forgiveness? Trump has made fun of everyone from veterans, POWs, and handicapped people to essentially all women.

Jesus taught humility, while Trump is perhaps the most arrogant person in the world today. Forgiveness is certainly not in his wheelhouse, either, as he has promised to seek prosecution for those that disagreed with him; he is vengeful in the way of a child.

Trump’s lack of integrity has been on display to the world since the eighties, as he plundered New York with multiple bankruptcies, refused to pay contractors, cheated on multiple wives and paid for sex with a porn star.

So why do Christians support Trump?

I really cannot understand the mental gymnastics behind the overwhelming support for a man who appears to contradict everything that Jesus taught. It appears that Supreme Court nominations play a big role in the decision-making process, as Trump latched onto the abortion issue, which was essentially manufactured by the Falwell crew back in the 70’s as a way to snatch Dixiecrats into the Republican fold. How this singular issue is enough to overcome his other flaws is beyond me.

What’s the point of it all?

Posted on by
Reply

I don’t know, but I’m going to guess. Please forgive my pontification….

We are born into this world shiny and new, without prejudice, malice, or expectations of what life will bring. Infants are untapped potential, and children are inquisitive, joyful, and creative, left to their own devices. Our parents, the world of expectation and reality, destroyed us, as surely as we will destroy our own children.

Boys are told to “walk it off” and “man up,” and “don’t be a pussy.”

We teach girls to “act like a lady,” and “don’t be a slut,”

Foundational stuff that I have preached to my kids, for right or wrong. Stong men attract strong women, perpetuating the cycle.

But the goal is happiness

How are we teaching our children how to be happy, when we ourselves are often not? Conformity is the enemy of creatives, and in many ways, to living. If happiness is living in a cookie-cutter neighborhood, filled with the same boring neighbors with the same cars, living mediocrity disguised as “middle class,” then it is readily attainable. There’s more to life than that.

We get one shot

We only get one shot at life… We’d better make the most of it. It’s over before we know it.

So, what’s the point?

Be grateful that you woke up on the right side of the dirt. Be kind and generous to others. Find a purpose outside of yourself, whether it’s God or simply goodness, and act on it daily

Embrace the present and savor those sunsets, taste your lover’s kiss, feel the sun warm on your skin. Love hard and true. Forge meaningful connections with others and surround yourself with joyful souls and discard the ones who bring drama and discontent to your table.

Live, and teach your children to live. Swim naked! Go to the beach, the river, the lake. Call an old friend and make plans to hike the Appalachian Trail or dive on a reef. Teach your children what it is to live and the difference between living and merely being alive. The point of life is that journey, and if you never take it, you’ll be pointless.

Finding Your Soul Mate: A Journey of Love and Fulfillment

Posted on by
Reply

“If music be the fruit of love, play on!”

Shakespeare wrote that line in Twelfth Night, and being a nerd raised on The Bard, that kind of unfettered romanticism was wired into my soul from a young age. As a kid, I believed that following your dreams and your heart would be rewarded by rainbows, unicorns, and everlasting love. I was a child– give me a break!

Reality

I chased my dreams, wore my heart on my sleeve, and got kicked in the teeth. I know that much of the heartbreak was my own damn fault; my penchant for beaches, beer and writing and arguing are not everyone’s cup of tea. I am not the easiest guy to live with. Something was always missing, though. It took me a long damn time to figure it out.

I’m well versed in the idea that one must slay their own demons before they should be in a relationship, that we’ve got to be centered and whole before we can truly give and accept the love we need. There’s truth in that, but not the whole truth.

The truth is that most of us spend our lives trying to smash a square peg into a round hole, and wind up divorced and sad, or remain married and miserable. We justify this existence because it’s better for the kids, or career, or the finances; maybe that person will miraculously change. I’m not advocating casual divorce by any means. Fix it if its fixable! But life is short.

Most of us settle down, settle for less, and live lives of quiet desperation, seething in silence because some things that are broken can not be fixed and some relationships were never meant to be.

Soul Mates

But if you’re really lucky..

Lightning strikes and you find the one who you were supposed to be with. Finally. And it really is like lightning, with the energy and randomness and the way it rocks your world. That person who brings serenity, fire, dreams, motivation, joy, and kindness into your life all at the same time and makes you wonder how it took so long to find them. When you wake up in the morning, you thank God that she is there and when you close your eyes at night, they are your last thought.

Your soul mate fits you like your favorite pair of old Jeans did back when you rocked them, and she makes you feel like you rock ’em again. Your soul mate is a true companion, sharing the toil and trouble and shouldering the boulder up the hill with you. And in that unified effort, there is a certain joy, a profound bond forged in the swirling maelstrom of hope, trust, love, and work. Because you can’t wait to get up and do it again with them the next day. That’s how you make a good life, I think.

I know I’ve had one hell of a ride, and it got better after I met my soul mate.

Swimming Against the Tide

Posted on by
Reply

More than thirty years ago, one of my oldest friends saw what I did not, and he told me some hard truths. It’s taken me longer than it should have to really understand what he tried to tell me. We were fishing offshore in south Florida on a perfectly hot sun burned kind of day, and the fish weren’t biting.

At the time, he was working his ass off, putting in 16 hour days banging nails and investing in properties to sell. I was writing songs in Nashville and dreaming big dreams.

He tried his best to tell me and make me listen, as he did throughout the years. I listened without understanding, without hearing. He probably wanted to shake me.

“You’re swimming against the tide,” he said. The waves rocked the boat in easy, predictable fashion and the beer in the cooler was cold and perfect and we were in our mid-twenties . “Why would you choose to do that? Why make things harder than they should be?” He chuckled at me. I remember that. “You can’t beat the tide.”

Life was going to be long, glorious, and deeply fulfilling. Somewhere in me, I thought that my goals dwarfed his, believing he was settling for less, I think.

He’s made a fantastic life for himself and his family. Consistent, full of joy and opportunity for his kids, married to the same woman. Meanwhile,, Ive wasted time on relationships that were wrong, years on a dead-end job, tens of thousands of hours on creative endeavors that never paid off on the investment

The disparity is humbling.

I’ll keep writing because it’s fun and good for my sanity, and I’m truly glad that I’m writing again. But I chose partners that were always an outgoing tide and I was too foolish to see it. I never swam with the current.

I’ve experienced a deep paradigm shift recently, one born from joy, pain, love, and experience. I know what I want, and what I don’t want. I am aware of what I need and things I can’t tolerate. I’m lucky, blessed, and thankful, and filled with optimism. There’s an odd sense of peace in me that I’ve never known.

For the first time that I can remember, I’m not swimming against the tide,