A Sequel to Embrace

How many good movie sequels have you seen? How many were disappointing? And, how many were left unmade?

Part of being a fiction writer is being vigilant, looking for story lines, weaving and interweaving lives that never were into characters that readers enjoy. It isn't something that can be turned off, then on again. It is a presence.

Before this gets too weird, let me go a little Andy Rooney on you. For many, that reference is obscure. I'll be right here after Google or Bing is through with you.

Okay. Did you ever wonder what happened to Zack Mayo? He was the lead in An Officer and a Gentleman, a Naval aviation officer candidate who falls for one of the "townies." The plot gets dark for a while, and there is tension between Zack and their senior instructor, Marine Gunnery Sergeant Foley. Foley thinks Zack is going to defect with an F-14. Zack is doing the things that have always worked for him - when Foley labels him a "slick little hustler" it's not far off the mark.

Zack makes it, graduates with his class and becomes an officer in the US Navy. His career path includes basic flight school and then... What?

An adorable WWII movie, made more so because of the cast, is Operation Petticoat. Cary Grant plays a sub captain whose boat is caught up in the first days of the war. It is damaged and sinks at anchorage. He enlists (after a fashion) the talents of another "slick little hustler" - Lt. (jg) Nick Holden - played by Tony Curtis. Holden joined the USNR because a uniform gets a person into all the right clubs. The film ends with... Well, it's now Commander Holden, whose next command is a nuke boat.

Is it like that? Does Zack Mayo win his wings? Does he fly the F-14 in combat, maybe become CAG on a carrier? Does he lead his pilots into war on 16 January 1991? Was Mayo pulling Pentagon duty on 9/11?

Or, does he fail, wash out? Did he lack the delicate touch and nimble mind necessary to fly a military aircraft? Maybe he said the wrong thing to the wrong person and, to quote Top Gun's Commander "Stinger" Jardian, ended up "flying rubber dog shit out of Hong Kong." 

Maybe there was a night when his Tomcat was acting up, the weather sucked and he was bingo fuel, that he and his RIO never made it back to the ship. Wife Paula was left with a folded flag, and kids to raise.

Zack had that "slick hustler" side that would have come in handy when all of the book answers failed. When the airplane was having a day, when things looked bad, when there was somebody out there who needed a bomb put in exactly the right place... When a Marine who sounded a lot like Gunny Foley was on the radio saying things like "danger close" and only Lt. Commander "Mayonnaise" Mayo had the balls to do what had to be done, because he'd once been the man with no place else to go. A Marine had given him the chance to prove what he had, when no one else believed in him.

We have a start, don't we? This is one of the reasons I love being a writer. 

A Small Fortune

 "To make a small fortune owning a bike shop, first start with a big fortune..." Anonymous.

The Austin Police Department - according to reports in their local paper - is looking for a new bike shop to service their gear. Mellow Johnny's, an outfit that once was (or, maybe still is) owned by Lance Armstrong, terminated the contract early. They left a substantial amount of cash on the table in the interest of expressing some kind of principle. That makes me think Lance does not still own the shop.

I'll pause here, and draw a distinction between me and actual journalists. An actual journalist would probably have investigated Lance's interest in Mellow Johnny's. An actual journalist would have said how much money the shop gave up. An actual journalist would have written that Mellow Johnny's is/was owned by Disgraced former bike racer stripped of his mellow johnnies Lance Armstrong.

But, as has been said by Kings and Queens, I am not an actual journalist.

The article describes that the activities of the Austin Police Department during recent nocturnal festivities there were not in keeping with the sensibilities of Mellow Johnny's wrench-turners and goo-slingers. Something about community policing, or something.

Huh.

There is no better way to get cops out of their cars and interacting with the community than on a bike. Readers of these pages don't have to be told that. Hell, if you've gotten this far, you're probably aware of that.

Mellow Johnny's can do what they want - they are a private business free to make these decisions for themselves. Austin PD will just have to muddle along and give someone else hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But, if Mellow Johnny's thinks a meaningless, transparent, futile gesture like that is a way to improve law enforcement, they are wrong.

Oh, Mellow Johnny is a play on maillot jaune, the yellow jersey, awarded after each stage to the race leader (and then, to the ultimate race winner) in the Tour de France. That Lance, what a clever guy.

A Moment of Weakness

 "Build up your weaknesses until they become your strengths." Knute Rockne.

I love to write. No kidding, huh? I often write just for the pure joy of creating scenes, characters, situations. I like nothing better than to take a long bike ride, think about a writing project (often with the help of my cycling friends) and then sit in front of a laptop for several hours.

I suck at marketing. 

It isn't that my writing sucks - it doesn't (I say that in all humility). It's just that when it comes to telling other people that they should buy one of my books, read it, and enjoy the ride, finding the words is a chore.

I took a class. It helped - a little.

I've had other people write things. It helped - a little.

I've "boosted" things on line. It helped - a little.

I thought maybe I'd look around, see who I could copy. I discovered a guy who plays guitar. Maybe...him?

His name is Joe Bonamassa. He's a blues guitarist of some repute, a guys who's won awards, played with some people I've actually heard of (as though that's the gold standard?) and appears at Red Rocks during years the 'Rona hasn't kept us all inside. He does brief videos, has voiceovers from that drag race guy ("Sunnnnddaaaayyy...") and generally makes a big deal out of his own music. Fine.

Torn from today's headlines, police procedural titan James A Greer's pithy new novel "A Guardian's Promise" combines grit, determination and sacrifice into a stunning web of fast-paced action and mystery. Enter the searing world of a policewoman whose femininity is often masked by the hardened, street-smart beat cop she has had to become. 

I dunno... Too much?

I actually think you'd like it, especially if you've ever wondered what really goes on inside a police department. I guess I'm something of an authority on that.

A little.

Letting Go

“If we can just let go and trust that things will work out they way they're supposed to, without trying to control the outcome, then we can begin to enjoy the moment more fully. The joy of the freedom it brings becomes more pleasurable than the experience itself.”
― Goldie Hawn

Release Day for "A Guardian's Promise."

My first release day was in the fall of 2007. A small-imprint publisher had agreed to market a short story called "A Parasol in a Hurricane." Pat and I were in Mexico, at a resort near Playa del Carmen. We excitedly got onto the computer in their clubhouse - it being pre-readily available Wi-Fi - and awaited the announcement. And... There it was, my first published fiction work.

Release day means a lot of things. It means income. It means seeing a book cover with my name on it. And, it means - gasp - that it no longer truly belongs to me. I've let it go, given it to those who open the cover and begin to read. The book is now about wherever the reader's mind takes them.

Since then, I've seen the release of five full-length novels featuring three distinct characters - Sergeant Amy Painter, Detective Karen Sorenson and Deputy Cecilia (Cici) Onofrio. Each release day has been filled with feelings of accomplishment, anticipation and joy.

I don't write because I think it will make us rich - good thing. I don't write because I think I'm making a contribution to great literature - police novels are stories.

I write because I had an interesting job, and I think others would love to see what some of it entailed. "Guardian" is more of a classic police procedural - cops doing law enforcement like cops. But, it is also a cautionary tale, something being born out in headlines, in nightly news and via online video links from streets across the country.

Policing is a noble profession, and anyone who works as an officer has made a solemn pledge - that they will deal with the needs of their community, come what may. They have pledged to uphold the law, to risk their own lives to save others, and to do it day in-day out, for years. In spite of the stress, the ambiguities and the drama - day in-day out.

No human endeavor is perfect. What "Guardian" also represents is how imperfect people can sometimes forget who they serve, and why they are invested with the awesome power to deprive another citizen of their rights to life, liberty and property.

In that case, who stands up and says "No more?"

A Guardian's Promise

“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”

― Toni Morrison

 

I’ve written several blogs about the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and the immediate aftermath of unrest and political opportunism. That’s not why we’re here, today.

In about two weeks, I’ll be announcing the release of a book that sat dormant for almost a decade, as others took shape and were published. 

I’ve had the benefit of a number of great editors, and a writing instructor who has read thousands of rough draft pages. Friends have helped shape characters, suggested plots and helped smooth out ragged writing. Family members – my wife especially – have supported what is, in essence, a solitary pursuit.

I loved being a police officer. It was a difficult job. I was surrounded by some of the best people, anywhere, individuals committed to risking their lives to save others. My experiences have given me all the material a writer could ever ask for, while I was serving in a manner that was richly rewarding in and of itself.

This book began as an examination of how a policewoman’s life can take abrupt, unfortunate turns. The plot’s undercurrent of law enforcement work was secondary.

That secondary plot involved misconduct of the most insidious and yet modest, almost innocuous sort, something all police departments wrestle with on an ongoing basis. There are small, seemingly insignificant indicia of trouble, often ignored. Then, something public occurs and everyone looks around in amazement, wondering how that would occur here.

A variety of causes are generally bandied about. Bad people, ineffective leadership, weak supervisors (especially from the outside looking in). There is rarely the observation, made in the comic strip Pogo, that “We have met the enemy, and He is Us.”

Massive police reform (or, even more massive police defunding or disbanding) is all the rage in some circles today. I’m not here to weigh in on what would be massive mistakes running contrary to what the actual citizens of a jurisdiction actually want. Maybe another day.

I didn’t write this book to suggest specific reforms. The department from which I retired has successfully employed a “co-response” initiative. There are other things departments should look at. My bias is education and training, but that’s not this book's objective.

I wanted to call it Preserve, Protect, and Defend based on the oath each law enforcement officer takes. It didn’t seem to fit the overall message of the book, how each individual doesn’t just take a formal oath, but makes a series of promises – to family, to co-workers, to lovers. They make a promise to themselves, one that is often the most difficult to keep.

Constructing the cover was a struggle – thanks to all who contributed observations. At some point, it is about letting go, getting the book out, doing my best and taking ownership. You’ll get the idea when you read the acknowledgments section.

A Guardian’s Promise. I hope you like it.