Killing Off a Main Character?

My current project, Heir Apparent, is my first tale to reuse a character from a previous novel.

For that character to work properly in the story, I need an extensive set-up required.  He is, after all, a problem solver, not a direct participant in the crimes and misdeeds.

That left me with the question of how to move the story along prior to his arrival.  No problem.  I simply created a character -- a cop, in this case -- through whose eyes much of the early part of the story could be revealed.  Of course, there is also the antagonist.  But the antagonist is disguised, because I don't want the reader to know his/her identity until later in the novel.

So, I've been merrily writing along, using my cop to explore the first two murders.  I didn't want the cop to be boring, however, so I make her a Sherlock Holmes type, who is really good at seeing threads of evidence and weaving them together.  She's a former beat cop, whom the chief of police recognized as a diamond in the rough and decided to mentor.  Now she's on the homicide squad, and many of the senior guys there think it's only because of her friendship with the Chief.  She's a hard-working single parent who also cares for her aging mother.  And she's funny.  And she's going to fall for the protagonist, when he evantually shows up.

The only problem is, in the original design of the novel -- she gets killed.  Unfortuantely, I quite like the character, and now am having trouble with the murder idea.

Her death is true to the original design of the story, and consistent with my philosophy that these somewhat dark corporate thrillers absolutely can not end with a pretty pony party (my apologies to Lemony Snickett).

On the other hand, her character is fun, and might also be good for a future story.  And there's that emotional attachment I've developed...

Oh, what to do?  What to do?

Sometimes the Words Flow...

But, unfortunately, they don't necessarily add up to anything that moves the plot forward.

Today, I was in the zone this morning.

My fingers were flying across the keyboard.  I was making literary music -- or so I thought.  I continued working non-stop for a little over two hours.  Then I noticed my coffee cup was empty, so I went upstairs for a refill.

When I returned, I read what I'd written...

It was good.  But there was absolutely too much of it.

Let me be more specific.  My current project is a new novel, and I'm working on the first draft of it presently.  The project is called Heir Apparent.  A critical part of the plot involves two murders, which occurred around the same time.  The one that occurred first is important to spinning out the story.  But I needed the police to be uncertain which murder happened before the other.  To accomplish this I arranged for one of the murder victims to be tossed into the Missouri River, wrapped in a plastic tarp and weighted down by rocks.

I wanted the body to be cold, so the time of death would be uncertain.  But I also wanted the body to be discovered fairly soon -- well before the killer was hoping it would be found.  

So I got this cool idea -- I'd follow the body downstream in the narrative, and explain how it ends up washed up on a sandbar miles from where it was dumped.  Well, it sounded cool to me -- it features an old cottonwood tree which died, fell into the river, and which tore open the tarp, spilling out the rocks.  Then the body goes floating on its merry way.

Unfortunately, three thousand words on the death of a tree, springtime floods, and the sojurn of a tarp-wrapped corpse, was not what my story needed at that point.

After a bit of editing, it was down to a little over five hundred words, and more appropriate for the suspense stage of the novel.

Normally, I don't edit as I write, but in this case, I simply couldn't let this one go.

OutofCorporateLife.blogspot.com and TomSpears.com

Based on monitoring of my Blog and Website since their recent redesigns, I believe some my readers may be a little confused.  To wit, let me  make the new structure clear in this post, which I will place in all locations where I’m regularly blogging.

I am currently writing three blogs.

1.      Career Transition – this is my personal blog, and is hosted on Blogspot.  The intention of the blog is to chronicle my personal journey from being a high level company executive to my final career destination (whatever that may be).  A mid-career transition can be a hard one, and I’ve done quite a lot of research and soul-searching on the subject.  My hope is some of the insights I offer will make the process less painful and disorienting for others.

2.      About my Writing – on Tomspears.com.  This is a journal on some of my thoughts about the writing process and how I am learning, growing and maturing as a writer of fiction.  There are also occasional comments on current projects I am working on.

3.     Corporate Politics- blog – also on Tomspears.com.  This blog provides expert insights into the world of corporate politics.  Several months ago, I wrote a lengthy article on the subject, and the blog is supportive of the concepts presented in the article.  The blog was started specifically to support my first novel, LEVERAGE, which revolves around the dynamics of corporate politics and cover-ups.

I offer the following suggestions to readers.

• If you like what you read, click on the Follow button.  You can then set up the blog to forward posts to whatever reader you’re using (my personal preference is Google Reader – if you’re not using a blog reader now, check it out).
• Post comments.  Comments make the blog posts more interesting.  Comments can be posted anonymously, and even if I can guess your identity, I won’t “out” you.  I get a lot of private emails after a post that would often times work better as a comment.
• If you are blogging yourself, or have your own website, I offer to exchange links.  I feature several links on my website – under the heading Great Links.  I pass and receive considerable traffic through these links.  Send me an email at tspears62@gmail.com to let me know you’re interested.

Happy reading and thank you for your interest in my work.

Hiding the Sex of a Character

While writing the opening scenes of HEIR APPARENT, I decided it would heightened the degree of mystery, to hide the sex of my killer.  The first two victims include a man and a woman, and two of the most likely murderers are a man and a woman.  And I hate to eliminate one or the other by simply referring to the killer as "he" or "she".

I must confess, however, to finding it somewhat difficult to keep the murderer genderless.  Constantly referring to that person as "the killer" or "the murderer" feels a bit awkward.  And there are some characteristically male and female actions that will tend to bend the reader's thoughts toward either a male or female killer.  I have to be particularly thoughtful about these.

I'm interested to know if any of my readers has read a novel where the sex of the killer is successfully hidden from the reader for a considerably portion of the book -- particularly if there are scenes written from the killer's point of view.  Anyone?  Anyone?

Juggling Multiple Projects

Maybe it's an experience thing, but I never have trouble juggling multiple projects at once.  I can be working on four different writing projects (as I am currently)in various stages of development all at the same time, and have no difficulty transitioning from one to another.  I don't forget where I was, or seem to have trouble restarting.  I just pick up, review the last day or so of work, and go.

I'm not sure why this is easy for me, but I have a theory.  Years of training in my day job.  In that environment, particularly in the last few years chained to the corporate desk, I seemed to have multiple disasters occurring at the same time.  I had to be able to gather little bits of information and integrate it into a coherent picture as I went along.  My theory is this experience trained me well to multi-task.

On the other hand, I find myself becoming bored with a subject much quicker than I did in my youth.  Then I would have no problem staying on task for hours on end.  Now, I seem to want to live in a sound-bite world -- putting in five minutes on this task, ten on another, and maybe fifteen on a third.  The thought of concentrating for a whole hour seems downright painful at times.

I find this temptation to be the worst when I'm on the computer, when the internet and all its lure is only a mouse click away.  How tempting it is to jump out of what I'm working on to check the news, the stock market, my email, and anything else distracting.  Amazing how much time you can waste doing that kind of thing.

So, my self-discipline surrounds staying on task until a chunk of work is complete -- that scene is written, those "x" pages are edited -- then I allow myself to check email.  Most of the time it works, but sometimes I just have to take a break.

Small Milestones Lead to Victories

Ten years ago, when I was out of shape and started running, I discovered a secret.  A secret that ultimately allowed me to complete eight marathons, improve my speed to the point where I was almost able to qualify for Boston (pretty good for a natural turtle), and somehow fit all the training in around my busy life.

I set small milestones along the path, and reveled in passing them.

With running, it was literal -- "I'm going to keep going until I get to that corner", and similar mental games to keep me going when I really wanted to stop.

I've used the same technique with writing.  People often ask me -- don't you have a hard time putting together a 100,000 word manuscript.  They question: my daily motivation, knowing where to take the story, how to develop the characters, and all kinds of other similar things.

The answer is -- not really.  I develop a plan, and execute that plan all the while setting little goals along the way.  And I try to mix things up enough to have some variety, just like I'd mix up my various running workouts (long run, recovery, hills, intervals, etc).  If I just finished editing a manuscript, next I'll do a first draft, followed by the plot and character design for a new project, and then another editing pass on the the first manuscript, etcetera.

At the daily work level, I just plod along.  I might try to edit two chapters, write 3,000 words, or finish one of the steps in the Snowflake process (my preferred design tool) in a day.  If life gets in the way, I just say "Oh well", and take up the target the next day.  But more often than not, I hit my target -- why?  Because hitting those small milestones feels good, and I know it pushes me down the path to getting the big projects done.

Like today -- I finished the second draft of DELIVERABLES, my third novel.  I started on January 7th, and it took precisely 24 days to read the entire document, and then edit 31 chapters.  When I reflect back on it, I think it was completed pretty quickly, but I didn't feel rushed at all.

Publication Pause

When I talk to many former colleagues and friends about my writing efforts, the inevitable comment is: "Great!  I can't wait to read your novel.  When is it being published?"

That always sends me into a long explanation about the publishing industry that starts something like this: "Well, things in the publishing world happen slowly..."

A few years ago, I  thought the big task was getting the darned book written.  Little did I realize having a manuscript is only a step along the path towards publication.  Let me provide a real (and realistic, for those parts I haven't completed yet) timeline for LEVERAGE, my first novel.

Step #1:  Design the novel -- about three weeks (actually I didn't complete this step with LEVERAGE, but have for all the subsequent novels)

Rest the material for a minimum of one month, while working on other projects.

Step #2:  Write the first draft -- LEVERAGE took me about nine months while I was working full time.  The first draft of DELIVERABLES, which I wrote during NANOWRIMO this November, took about five weeks.

Rest the material for a minimum of one month, while working on other projects.

Step #3:  Revision and Editing cycles -- LEVERAGE took six of these, which consist of an end-to-end read through, followed by a detailed set of corrections and improvements.  Each cycle takes me about three to four weeks to complete, and I rest the material for a month after each one.  INCENTIVIZE took three cycles, and I believe DELIVERABLES will take three as well.

Step #4:  Find an agent to represent your novel -- with LEVERAGE, I did this in parallel with some of the editing work.  I thought it was finished a couple of times before it was really done-done.  This process could easily take a year or more.  For me it took about four months.

Step #5:  Agent finds a publisher -- This is where I'm at currently with LEVERAGE.  We've been chasing publishers for about five months now.  I believe a reasonable amount of time to complete this process is one to one and a half years.

Step #6:  Work with the publisher to get ready for launch -- This includes preparing cover art, completing additional editing, planning the launch, and getting the book printed and distributed (and several other things I'm certainly forgetting right now).  I haven't done this yet, but I hear eighteen months to two years is pretty common.

Total time from start of a project to books in the stores -- roughly sixty months or a whopping five years.  Perhaps four years, if you already have an agent, and three if you have a publisher.  That's a very long time.

There is a faster alternative -- self-publication.  Once the end of Step #3 is reached, you contract out cover art and (perhaps) copy proofing and formatting -- then publish electronically and set up a contract for print on demand books.  From what I've read, this appears to take about three months, although once you know what you're doing, it can probably be done faster.

Total time from start of a project to books available online -- roughly eleven months.  Quite a bit faster.

At this point, I'm focusing on the traditional publishing track -- knowing I have no established brand name, and I want my titles to be distributed through the bricks and mortar stores.  But the world of publishing is changing, and with electronic formats becoming a larger and larger portion of all books sold, the choice is no longer a no-brainer.

First Person - Third Person

Part my education as a fiction writer has been to gain a better appreciation for the craft itself.  I've always been a prolific reader, although nowhere approaching the level of my wife, but I was typically so into the story that the demonstration of craft (or lack thereof, as the case may be) was more less hidden.

For example, most novels are written in either third person (the way LEVERAGE, and INCENTIVIZE are written), or in first person (DELIVERABLES, although it has a twist, which I'll get to in a moment).  As a reader, I was generally aware of the difference between the two, but that was about it.

Novels written in first person have been easier for me to write -- you see the world through the eyes of one character.  You know what they know and see what they see, but no more.  I've really enjoyed writing DELIVERABLES that way -- its easy to imagine yourself as the protagonist, and spill out their thoughts, feelings and observations.  But there are limitations -- sometimes the reader needs to be aware of or know certain things that the protagonist doesn't or can't know.  Figuring out how to get these integrated into the story can be challenging.  

I also sometimes find the protagonists can be somewhat irritating because I, as a reader, can't believe how stupid or imperceptive they are.  I think it's easier to skate over those kinds of issues in third person.

DELIVERABLES is a little different in that it is actually two linked stories, both told in first person, but each with a different protagonist.  I've thought of it as "experimental", but I don't know if it's actually all that unusual.

Third person gives the writer much more flexibility.  The most enjoyable aspect from the author's standpoint is getting deeply into the reasoning and thoughts of several characters.  If you have some fun or particularly memorable non-protagonist characters -- like Falcon in LEVERAGE, for example -- this provides a way to give more depth to those characters.  Because the reader sits in their heads at times, they're much less two dimensional.

One of the biggest sins when using third person is known as "head hopping", where within the confines of a single scene, the author is pulling thoughts or feelings from more than one "point of view" character.  And yet, some well know works are guilty of head hopping.  Thus far, I've been sticking to the formula:  one scene - one point of view character.

The book I'm currently reading for pleasure:  The Boss by Stan Pottinger, is a curious hybrid.  There is one character who's scenes are written in first person, but the other scenes and characters are written in third person.  A few years ago, I probably wouldn't have noticed this, but now it bothers me.

I wonder if a better understanding of craft will ruin some otherwise pleasurable reads for me?

New Material

Originally posted 1/6/11

After a couple of weeks of hard work, I finished up the proposal for my latest fiction project "Heir Apparent - a novel".

A short synopsis of the high level concept follows:

When two prominent CEOs in the Kansas City area are killed, George Crawford, the leader of Sangreen Industries is scared.  He hires ex-CIA agent Joel Smith to help insure his security. But Smith finds little to go on as the murderer successfully kills yet another local CEO, leaving Crawford as the most likely next victim. Smith investigates a seemingly vast number of personal enemies, alienated business partners, and disgruntled employees, systematically narrowing the search for the killer to three associates of murdered Epic Graphics CEO, Stephen Arndt. As Smith closes in on the killer, he inadvertently tips his hand, becoming a target himself. When the two men come face to face, survival comes down to physical strength and the love and loyalty of a woman.

I also opened up a new blog site listing the first draft of my non-fiction work "Lessons Learned the Hard Way".

Either of these documents can be accessed through my Blog by clicking on the "Great Links" section on the right hand margin of this blog. If you want to read any of the novels or "Lessons Learned the Hard Way", you will need permission, which can be easily obtained by sending me an email at tspears62@gmail.com and requesting it.

Incentivize - a novel

Originally posted 12/26/10

I finished up the third, and hopefully final, draft of INCENTIVIZE this morning. I'm pretty pleased with the work, and have sent it off to my agent for review and comments. A short synopsis follows:

Julia McCoy a young female internal auditor, is sent to
Ethiopia to perform work at a copper mining company owned by
American materials conglomerate Matrix Corporation. Local
management at the EthioCupro mine is involved in a scheme to reprocess
mine tailings, extracting additional valuable minerals from them and
selling them for personal benefit. McCoy pretty quickly figures out
something is wrong at the mine, but doesn't grasp exactly what is
happening. After a confrontation with the senior manager at the site,
an accident is arranged for McCoy. But things don't go exactly as
planned, and a short time later she finds herself in Mogadishu, the
guest of a warlord with ties to al Qaeda.

Meanwhile, Randy Esteban a lawyer workings in the Matrix legal
department, becomes involved in investigating the Ethiopian copper
mine based on an email sent by McCoy prior to her disappearance. He
and McCoy's father travel to Ethiopia in an attempt to rescue the
young woman, and discover the motive behind her kidnapping. While
McCoy first struggles to survive, and then escape from her captors,
Esteban begins to unravel the secret EthioCupro management is willing
to kill to keep.

You can read more about this novel and my other projects at my website. I have an older version of the novel posted on another blog, which I will replace with this new version over the next few days. It can be accessed at Incentivize - a novel, but requires prior permission to view. To obtain permission, simply send me an email at tspears62@gmail.com and request it. Very soon afterward, you will be able to read INCENTIVIZE on line.

Deliverables

Originally published 12/6/10

Whew! After five crazy weeks, I now have a completed first draft of DELIVERABLES. This is the novel I completed the outline and proposal for in early September. Much work still remains, but getting the first draft down is usually the biggest chunk of work in any novel writing exercise.

This novel was a bit different from it's predecessors -- LEVERAGE and INCENTIVIZE, in that it was written in first person, and from the point of view of two different characters. The first character is the victim of a crime of deception -- Roger Follansbee, who is seduced into helping a private security company masquerading as the CIA. Follansbee is helped by the second principle character -- Joel Smith, a retired CIA agent with a conscience, who walks into the mess with built-in insights and understanding that poor Roger never had.

The fun in the story surrounds the technology that is being stolen, understanding who is behind the thefts, and the what the ultimate motive for the deception really is. On top of this is the on-again off-again romance between Smith and Follansbee's attorney, Carol Hitchcock.

This novel was a departure for me in another way -- I used it as my project for National Novel Writing Month, and made an audible on the design at the last minute. My normal practice would have been to painstakingly go through the original design documents, but in this case, I decided to Pants it (in writer lingo, this means to fix it by the seat of my pants). While there will be a number of problems to straighten out in the first half of the novel, I'm pretty pleased with the storyline of the first draft.

In the next few days, I will post the individual chapters on my blog site. Those who are brave enough to wade through a first draft, please send an email request to me, and I will give you access to the chapters. As always, all I ask for is some thoughtful critique after you're finished.

The Future of Books

Originally published 10/6/10

I've spent a lot of time recently reading about the future of books, and have come to the following conclusions:

1. Book sales are on a slow decline. This is because of competition from other forms of entertainment, many of them on-line. Paula is a good example -- today she spends some of her time playing webkinz, doing geography quizzes, or reading/writing blog posts. A few years ago, some of that time would have been spent reading.
2. eBooks are capturing increasing share from print books. The most recent statistics I've heard suggest 6-10% of current book sales are electronic. Everyone agrees it's going up, the only question is how far and how fast. A recent article titled Where will bookstores be five years from now suggests it could be 50% of the market by 2015. Another industry person I talked to said it will still be under 50% in 2025. I tend to believe the first analysis is closer to the truth.
3. eReaders -- Kindle, Nook, Sony and iPad, are all coming down in price. You can get a basic reader right now for $139. If the entry price drops below $99, watch out. One will be in nearly everybody's Christmas stocking. And the technology is good -- almost everyone I know with a dedicated eReader, loves it.
4. The share eBooks are capturing is mainly coming from bricks & mortar bookstores. How long they can hold on in a declining market with declining share is anybody's guess. I know from experience in other businesses, it's tough to survive a 20% drop in sales, and you do it typically by closing less profitable outlets. Look for bookstores to start closing soon. That will drive more of the print market to on-line vendors like Amazon, continuing to drive a death spiral for the brick & mortar stores.
5. Publishers are in a tight spot in this environment. The primary value they add, the one that can't easily be replaced, is access to shelf space in brick & mortar bookstores. They do other things as well, namely: cover art, editing, printing, packaging and, to some degree for new authors, marketing. All those things can be purchased from other sources. As bookstores become less relevant in the equation, then so do publishers.
6. It isn't easy, but even today, a new author can experience success by ePublishing for the Nook and Kindle, and contracting a print on demand service for the physical books. It is still my guess that a new author will sell more copies, and earn more with a traditional publishing contract, but I suspect we may not be all that far from the cross-over point.
7. The ability to market your books, or get someone to market them for you, will be as important as craft when it comes to success. A poorly crafted book will not succeed with a great marketing strategy. A excellently crafted book will not succeed with a poor market strategy. It takes both.

So in this evolving environment, what is the best strategy for a new author, like your's truly? For now, I'm trying to enter using the traditional method -- a publisher. But I can't afford to be infinitely patient either. In both environments, it helps to have a number of titles, rather than just one. For now, I'm going to continue working with my agent to try to land that elusive publishing deal, while I work hard to produce additional work. Who knows where I'll be in a year?

Incentivize

Originally published 9/29/10

I just posted the rest of the second draft of Incentivize to it's blog site. As before, it is available to be read and critiqued. To gain access, simply send me an email at tspears62@gmail.com and request permission.

All I ask in return is that you keep track of mistakes, sections that don't make sense, or character behavior that seems wrong, and let me know verbally or in writing once you've completed your reading.

Incentivize -- second draft

Originally published 9/22/10

I just updated the first thirteen chapters of Incentivize to the second draft revision -- it should be much more readable, although not perfect.

Will try to get the next thirteen chapters posted by Monday of next week, and the balance by Friday.

As always, if you would like to read it, just send me an email at tspears62@gmail.com asking for permission. The only thing I ask is that you offer some critique after you're done!

After Fermenting for one Month...

Originally published 9/13/10

Just finished the read-through of Incentivize last night.

A read-through is a clean straight reading (without fixing anything, just making a few notes) of a manuscript -- at least that's my definition, and I doubt any one will disagree! I completed this one in three days.

I finished the first draft of the novel about a month ago, and let it sit for a month while I sorted through the design and proposal for Deliverables.

After the read-through, I've got to say -- its pretty good! I'm more and more excited about this particular project. Once I get the first draft corrections in there (yeah, there still are quite a few -- at least a month to get it done.), I think it will be better than Leverage, which I'm also pretty pleased with.

Another Chunk of Work

Originally published 9/9/10

I'm pleased to report that I finished the novel design and proposal development for Deliverables - a novel earlier in the day today. You can email me for permission to view the proposal at tspears62@gmail.com

In super-short summary, Deliverables is the story of a well-meaning corporate manager who is convinced to spy on his employer by a government agency, only later to learn he has been duped and faces severe consequences for his mistake.

The concept is loosely based on the story of Guy Enright, an employee of KPMG, who was convinced to provide sensitive documents to a private security firm that had led Enright to believe they worked for MI-6.

I look forward to working up the first draft, but next on the agenda is the second draft of Incentivize.

Was that the Positive Reinforcement I was Looking for?

Originally published 8/23/10

Received my first offer of representation from a literary agent today for LEVERAGE. Got to admit, it felt pretty good.

Having read a few things in blogland about agent agreements, there will be some added work in this -- it sounds like most agents will request some revisions to the manuscript. I hope they aren't extensive, however, as I could end up with three projects all progressing simultaneously if they are! I'm bracing myself.

On a separate note, I posted part of the first draft of INCENTIVIZE on my blog this week. I'll get the rest of it out there over the next few days. It takes extra time, as I can't just copy and paste from Word -- needs some formatting. Rules for INCENTIVIZE are the same as for LEVERAGE -- if you want to read it, send me an email requesting access, and I'll give you permission, but be warned: INCENTIVIZE is in first draft only, and there are a number of plot errors that will need to be corrected in the next draft (not to mention loads of spelling, grammatical and other errors).

Now I'm just beginning to design a new novel -- DELIVERABLES (tentative title). More on that later, as it takes shape.

I'm just short of six months into my Sabbatical, and the writing direction is taking off. It will take off even more if I can get LEVERAGE published.

But I'm also going to have an opportunity to try my hand at management consulting. I've got a trip planned for early September. Hopefully I will get a taste of the consulting world as well, and be able to measure the pluses and minuses of each.

Leverage - a novel

Originally posted 8/17/10

I finally figured out how to post my entire first novel, chapter by chapter, on Blogger! I'm quite excited about this feature, as it should allow me to easily share a copy of my work with friends or other interested readers.

Leverage is set up as a new blog. The URL is http://leverage-anovel.blogspot.com/, or you can get there by clicking on Leverage here.

Since I don't want to open the novel up to the entire world yet (Hey, I'm trying to sell the darned thing to a publisher), I've made access pretty restrictive. You will need to get on my "approved reader" list in order to view the blog. To do that, send me an email at tspears62@gmail.com saying that you'd like to see Leverage. I will put you on the approved list, and send back an email to you. From then on you should have free, and unencumbered access.

All I ask is -- if you have any comments or observations (or see any errors), please comment on those after the appropriate chapter. And please don't copy or otherwise remove any of the material without asking.

Happy reading.

Crossing a Finish Line, of Sorts

Originally published 8/16/10

Finished the first draft of my new novel today, and am currently celebrating with a tropical cocktail.

The cocktail, which I learned how to make in a cocktail mixology class on our recent vacation, is called a sunken treasure. It's coconut rum, midori melon liquor, cointreau, orange juice, pineapple juice, a splash of sprite and some blue curaco to make it look nice. Mix with ice in a shaker. Shake and strain, then add the sprite and blue curaco. I highly recommend it!

The name of the novel is Incentivize. Yes it is that "word", which isn't really a word, but is used daily in companies all over the nation. In this case "Incentivize" refers to Incentivize LLC, a company set up by four managers in Matrix Corporation to allow the diversion of profits.

In the story a young geologist attached to the corporate audit department discovers something is amiss at a remote mining site in east Africa. When she pushes too hard, the managers involved in Incentivize decide to make her go away. The novel is about her struggle to escape back to civilization and bring down the corrupt managers involved in Incentivize LLC.

In the novel are: a terrorist bombing, a Navy SEALs raid, a Somali warlord, modern-day nomads, and government officials who collude with the bad guys. All of this is primarily set in Ethiopia and Somalia.

The novel is a bit rough right now (Hey, its a first draft), but I'm pretty excited about it. If I can find a way to do it, I'll post a chapter or two and provide a link.

Some Tough Hombres

Originally posted 5/26/10

I haven't written yet about my trip to San Diego a couple of weeks ago yet, and a few words on the subject are overdue. I was able to visit the Navy SEALs training facility while there, and get a better sense of what it takes to be a SEAL, and what they do for our country.

Let me start by saying that I was woefully uninformed about the SEALs before making the trip -- most of my information came from watching Demi Moore in the movie "G.I. Jane", which I discovered, did illustrate some of the early training activity pretty well. The part about there being female SEALs, however, is pure fiction. None have ever been admitted to the training program, and after seeing what the men have to do, I can't imagine how any woman could pass the physical requirements.

Our group organizer handed each of us a copy of "The Finishing School", by Dick Couch. Anyone interested in getting a better understanding of the SEALs, beyond than the few comments I can present here, should buy a copy and read it.

I always considered myself to be made of a fairly stuff. While I was not the strongest, the fastest or the most nimble person, I've always had a strong ability to persevere. I could not, however, even in my best days, have ever even passed the entrance requirements for the SEALs program -- 100 push ups in 2 minutes, 100 sit-ups in 2 minutes, 20 pull ups, and a three mile run in 18 minutes (I certainly would have failed the last one!). From those standards, the SEAL candidates are expected to reimprove their physical fitness regularly throughout the program.

The BUD/S program has been extensively written about -- this is the one where they have "hell week" a five day period of team exercises and training where the candidates get to sleep a total of four hours. They told me that 70%-80% of the candidates fail to make it as SEALs, and of that 80% opt out on their own (the rest are injuries, or a few that don't have the capability to meet the standards, despite having the will). "hell week" is the time when the drop-out rate is at its greatest.

Beyond BUD/S the guys go through a series of schools that teach them land warfare, combat swimming, marksmanship, diving, and all kinds of other skills. Once they finish those schools (the 'Finishing School'), the are assigned to teams who deploy on a two year cycle. Each six month deployment is preceded by eighteen months of training. I get the impression that they train -- at full throttle -- continuously from the day they enroll in BUD/S until the day they retire.

We had dinner with a group of SEALs one of the evenings. These were experienced guys, who had been on deployment several times, and who had undoubtedly seen some action when deployed. At my table was a SEAL with a sniper rating, who had the following conversation with one of my friends.

"So, why did you decide to become a sniper?" asked the Nebraska guy.