AT LEAST I DIDN’T WAKE UP IN CHINA

I had a strange dream a few nights ago. A really strange dream—unlike any I’d ever had before. Up until that particular night, the dreams I had always involved people I knew or had known. And they usually took place in locations with which I was familiar. But on the night of my bizarre fantasy,…

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WORLD WAR II AND THE ROCK GROUP “KISS”

It’s surprising, amazing even, the links to today that can snake unexpectedly out of the past. One such connection revealed itself to me as I worked on my new novel DOWN A DARK ROAD. The focus of the novel is based on true events—the discovery of a Nazi death camp, Gunskirchen Lager, in Austria near…

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JUDAS GOATS AND GERMAN JETS

While my forthcoming novel, Down a Dark Road, isn’t, strictly speaking, part of the When Heroes Flew series, that doesn’t mean it will be devoid of aviation action. Quite the contrary, besides slogging along with a U.S. infantry platoon through Germany and Austria during the closing days of WWII in Europe, you’re going to encounter…

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THE “BALLOON BLOWERS” OF WWII

For those of you familiar with my background, it shouldn’t surprise you that there’s an element of weather history in my newest novel, WHEN HEROES FLEW: THE ROOF OF THE WORLD. In addition to telling the WWII tale of the men who flew the India-China flight path over the Himalaya Mountains in the worst weather…

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A REAL-LIFE FAIRY TALE: THE EPILOGUE

I don’t know if fairy tales are supposed to have epilogues. But since it’s my fairy tale, I get to make the rules. Epilogues allowed. Exactly one year ago today, as I stumbled into my ninth decade of drawing breaths on this planet, I wrote a blog with my views on growing old. I allowed…

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THE SHANGRI-LA RAIDERS, APRIL 2, 1942

Today, April 2, 2021, marks the 79th anniversary of the beginning of one of the most remarkable adventures in U.S. military history: the bombing raid on Tokyo, Japan, led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle. The attack, battling horrendous odds against its success, became legendary in the annals of WWII history. Bombs were not actually dropped…

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“THE END” IS JUST THE BEGINNING

In a previous blog, I mentioned that I had a new work-in-progress (WIP) with a tentative title of The Shangri-La Raiders. I thought the title might not stick. But it has. My publisher, Severn River, decided the new book would be a nice follow-on to When Heroes Flew. Thus, the “official” title of the WIP…

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WHEN I GROW TOO OLD TO DREAM

As I trudge down the road of life, passing through the Geezerhood Gates onto a shorter, steeper trail, I find myself more often glancing behind me as opposed to looking ahead. I say this not to be maudlin—for I’m sure it is a view all of us of a certain age hold—but as a mere…

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WAFS and WASPs

WASPs in training

I have to admit, while I was writing When Heroes Flew  (nee Oregon Grinder) I was apprehensive over whether a female character flying a combat mission with U.S. Army Air Forces in WWII would be well received.  In reality, that kind of thing just didn’t happen.  At least in our army.  Purists, I feared, might…

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GRINDING OUT OREGON GRINDER

Last October, I wrote a blog about why, as an author, I was switching genres, summing up the reason with the statement “because I want to.” That’s true.  But there’s also a hidden story behind the reason.  It deals with weather, the framework for three of my five previous novels.  (As many of you may recall,…

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