tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54790041848434107362024-03-14T09:19:31.449-07:00Remember When and other works...A place for public and semi-public discussions of my recent return to the dark art of Writing Fiction.L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-47563199395994993222021-07-07T02:52:00.000-07:002021-07-07T02:52:24.149-07:00Nothing like a year and a half away, right?<p> Yes, I'm back, and I'm writing. It will come out when it's done.<br /><br />But I wanted you all to know I hadn't forgotten you.</p><p>A special thank you to folks who spread the word about Remember The Trade while I was off.<br /><br />Our newest listing are on Helen's Page, thanks to Dr. Helen Smith and her somewhat well-known husband Glenn Reynolds. https://helens-page.com/</p>L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-91305587530737226532019-11-16T15:17:00.004-08:002019-11-16T15:24:42.761-08:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>A Call For Reviews.</strong></span><br />
<br />
Remember Them has been out for over two weeks now, and I was thrilled to see one review posted on the first weekend... it was both very flattering and a sign that people passionate about the story being told were willing to say so publicly.<br />
<br />
Reviews are the best feedback an author can get once a book is published.<br />
<br />
They are also invaluable for encouraging new readers to pick up the book.<br />
<br />
Here are the places you can Review my books.<br />
<br />
The Amazon Sales page for the Book. Both the Kindle version and the paperback, although those pages should merge at some point this weekend. For now, the links are:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZPXZH6S">Kindle edition of Remember Them</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1703536177">Paperback edition of Remember Them</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HF7MTKM">Kindle edition of Remember When</a>.<br />
<br />
GoodReads has links for both books too:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48644083-remember-them">Remember Them on GoodReads</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41886349-remember-when">Remember When on GoodReads</a><br />
<br />
and then there is Social Media. A review when you have finished the book, or an in-progress "I am excited to be reading..." post. Both help a lot!<br />
<br />
You can post a direct review on the Book Series page on Facebook, here:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/RememberTheTradeSeries/">Remember The Trade Series on Facebook</a>.<br />
<br />
or just post about the book, especially about Remember Them, on your own Facebook Wall. Be sure to set it as Public, if you intend others to freely see it, and please Tag me in the post. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ldouglas.garrett.3">https://www.facebook.com/ldouglas.garrett.3</a><br />
<br />
Same goes for Twitter, and I can be tagged there at <a href="https://twitter.com/LDouglasGarrett">@LDouglasGarrett</a><br />
<br />
Thank you all, and here's to the success of the series! Enjoy!L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-27171539891854795972019-11-12T18:23:00.002-08:002019-11-12T18:23:37.866-08:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Remember Them, in paperback!!!</strong></span><br />
<br />
Yes, something awesome is happening!<br />
<br />
Folks said they wanted an actual paperback edition of Remember Them...<br />
<br />
AND IT'S AVAILABLE NOW!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1703536177">https://www.amazon.com/dp/1703536177</a><br />
<br />
This is a print-on-demand paperback, produced and delivered by Amazon in mere days.<br />
<br />
My thanks to Scott Ruggels for the full-wrap version of the cover, and to Nicky Robinson who transcended her role of Editor and deserves all the Publisher credit for producing this edition.<br />
<br />
Enjoy!L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-23586041397044515682019-11-11T09:51:00.005-08:002019-11-11T09:51:59.226-08:00<strong><span style="font-size: large;">11.NOV, 2019</span></strong><br />
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: block; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 6px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
American soldiers, volunteer or draftee, are publicly recognized twice a year... Memorial Day and Veteran's Day. Both worthy, and both in a way uniquely American days. I'm proud to a fault of my brothers and sisters who served and are still here to be thanked.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 6px 0px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
I've also had the pleasure and honour of associating with some of the finest people that the rest of the world sends under arms to defend their lands, their principles, and their sovereign rights.</div>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: block; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 6px 0px; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
So, please, forgive my<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"><span> </span>concentration on Armistice Day / Remembrance Day things on 11.NOV.</span></div>
<div class="text_exposed_show" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #1d2129; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 6px;">
I love all my Yank comrades, yet today is more to me...</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 6px;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; margin: 6px 0px;">
<em>Ich hatt' einen Kameraden...</em><br /><br /><br />Back to usual 'blog posts from tomorrow. Thank you, all.</div>
</div>
L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-24263832868085990062019-11-02T12:06:00.001-07:002019-11-03T02:20:45.784-08:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Remember Them (Remember The Trade Book 2) on sale now.</strong></span><br />
<br />
Perhaps you were expecting this to be a "Keys to Kindle Sales, Part 4" post...<br />
<br />
That would however imply that I understand what is happening at all.<br />
<br />
I'm very grateful to all the people who have picked up a copy of this new book, and here's another shout-out to the Kindle Unlimited readers who have surprised me with their activity.<br />
<br />
That said, all the metrics that I have access to seem to point toward a massive Social Media promotion failure so far. Less than a dozen of the core group of Remember The Trade Book Page Followers have (on FB page metrics) even been shown the posts there as to the new book being available. Why so few when the page has 60+ Followers? Absolutely no idea.<br />
<br />
Other platforms are getting a modest number of Impressions, but limited redistribution (like retweets on Twitter) and no comments at all.<br />
<br />
It's a mystery.<br />
<br />
None the less, here we are. Forward we go. I'll attempt some analysis of metrics over the initial release week once this weekend has played out.<br />
<br />
Here's hoping you all enjoy the book.L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-22506652334680490492019-10-29T11:53:00.005-07:002019-10-29T11:55:04.882-07:00<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Remember Them (Remember The Trade Book 2) is LIVE!</span></strong><br />
<br />
To my amazement, the publication process went flawlessly, and in a matter of hours far less than the 24+ that could have been required.<br />
<br />
In other words...<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZPXZH6S">You can purchase Remember Them now.</a><br />
<br />
LET'S DO THIS THING!<br />
<br />L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-91086891143726512722019-10-28T23:24:00.002-07:002019-10-28T23:26:22.003-07:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Remember Them is in for publication!</strong></span><br />
<br />
Get ready...<br />
<br />
Get hyped...<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">TELL EVERYONE...</span><br />
<br />
Remember Them, the second book in the Remember The Trade series,<br />
comes out on 30.October, 2019.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Here we go, folks. This time, with feeling.<br />
<br />
<br />L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-8350863007114732052019-10-27T10:38:00.001-07:002019-10-27T10:38:43.334-07:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Remember Them Publication Date Decided.</strong></span><br />
<br />
That's right! <br />
<br />
E-book publication for Remember Them is now planned for Wednesday, 30.OCT, North American time zones.<br />
<br />
Get ready, get steady and be there on release day. Day One sales matter a lot!<br />
<br />
Those of you that follow my work are the core of support. I'm grateful for all you've done in the past. Now I ask that you all to be there for me again. If I've done my job right, you're getting one heck of a fun book to read.<br />
<br />
<u>Please:</u><br />
<br />
Spread the word. Share about this. Re-tweet. Post copies of the cover art (properly attributed, of course!). <u>Show people you are excited about this.</u> Crank.up.the.hype.<br />
<br />
With a big push and a lot of luck, we may have something to celebrate!L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-1004304069647714692019-10-25T08:23:00.000-07:002019-10-25T08:23:34.768-07:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Start the hype for Remember Them!</strong></span><br />
<br />
Thank you all for waiting the long year that it took.<br />
<br />
The last full edit is complete.<br />
<br />
The manuscript is being prepared for publication, fitted with Authors Notes, legal and links.<br />
<br />
Format checked, and a proper e-book Table of Contents.<br />
<br />
The cover art, you have already seen here, is ready.<br />
<br />
SPREAD THE WORD.<br />
<br />
As soon as I know the publication date, I will announce it on all channels.<br />
<br />
<u>It could be any day, as of next week.</u><br />
<br />
DAY ONE MATTERS.<br />
<br />
If you are a fan of Remember When, the best way you can help this become a series is...<br />
<br />
Be there, on Day One, to get your copy of Remember Them.<br />
<br />
Let's see what happens with Amazon Kindle's marketing algorithms...<br />
<br />
...if we can push up the sales ranks for a day!L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-66475703558096128052019-10-03T08:03:00.000-07:002019-10-03T08:03:10.040-07:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Podcast Appearance!</strong></span><br />
<br />
Last week, we finished the 3rd Editing round completed for Remember Them, and got fresh review copies out to beta readers. 4th Editing (Proofreading) is underway. We are getting VERY close...<br />
<br />
The timing on that was exactly what I needed, too. I had to travel again over last weekend.<br />
<br />
During the trip, I did manage to fit in one writing-related activity: I was invited to appear on the Writers Drinking Coffee podcast! Thanks to my marvelous host and the crew at W-D-C, it went swimmingly. You can hear the podcast here:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.writersdrinkingcoffee.com/posts/podcast/episode-seventeen-from-gaming-beginnings/">Writers Drinking Coffee Episode Seventeen</a><br />
<br />
Ray Greer, late of HERO Games, and I were the guests. We had a grand time discussing how experience in Role Playing Games contributes to, and influences, how one writes fiction.<br />
<br />
The entire podcast series is superb, and I recommend listening to all the episodes.<br />
<br />
Enjoy!L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-21662970510017547792019-09-17T07:01:00.000-07:002019-09-17T07:01:37.201-07:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Remember When: One Year Anniversary!</strong></span><br />
<br />
The madness of a weekend that let me write Remember When was in August, but the fruition of a month-long effort of Editing (and Proofreading and Cover Art and Learning How To Publish) came on 17.SEPT of 2018. The novella was available on Amazon for Kindle.<br />
<br />
I had to do the marketing push, pursue reviews and promotions, and thought I had a chance of selling about five copies... but I was sure going to make a professional presentation.<br />
<br />
and I was amazed. It worked.<br />
<br />
Not "get rich on your first published book" amazing, but entirely acceptable numbers for a brand new fiction author without the benefit of a publisher or paid advertising campaign.<br />
<br />
The reader reviews came in, too. Thank you to everyone who reviewed or rated the novella on Amazon, Facebook, and Goodreads. They were uniformly gratifying, and insightful. I learned a lot about what people thought was good, and no small amount about what people thought could be better.<br />
<br />
I ran that marketing full throttle for a week, maintained it for the remainder of a month, and then set to outlining what the next novel would be.<br />
<br />
Because the most important things I learned were that I could do this, that people enjoyed it... and I loved doing it. Contented Muse, Happy Me.<br />
<br />
Thank you. All of you.<br />
<br />
Now, how about we do it again, with a bigger book and another full throttle push to get a bunch of sales piled up on Day One for the new novel, Remember Them?<br />
<br />
Stay with me on this, folks... we are 6/7 of the way through 3rd Edit pass, and I'm seeing the signs of everything falling into place soon. I'll announce the publication date for Remember Them just as soon as I am sure we can hit it. Spread the word, Start the hype, and if you know someone who you'd like to introduce to the series, <strong>Get Them Hooked Up.</strong> There is a link to Amazon's sales page on this 'blog and on the Book's page on Facebook. They'll want to read Remember When before they can get a copy of Remember Them!L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-84557563335667010952019-09-03T07:44:00.003-07:002019-09-03T07:44:51.001-07:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Siege Warfare, and Some Very Good News</strong></span><br />
<br />
Editing a novel, especially the 3rd round (in our scheme), is almost like Siege Warfare. You surround each paragraph, then pick it apart line by line and word choice by word choice, always advancing your trenches until you are close enough to charge in and capture it.<br />
<br />
In less colorful language: we look at every line and every phrase. How does this read? Is the meaning the same if we change *this*? How does the paragraph flow? Is this dialogue expressed in the correct character's voice? Does this reference close a loophole left open in some previous chapter, as intended?<br />
<br />
and so on.<br />
<br />
and so on.<br />
<br />
I wasn't joking. Even uninterrupted, good editing can and should take longer than the original writing.<br />
<br />
Thankfully, I have a good editor.<br />
<br />
The end is in sight. Might be a few weeks if things interrupt, but we are getting close. When we have it in hand, I'll be posting the publication date here. Thank you all for waiting so long!<br />
<br />
<br />In better news:<br />
<br />
I'm proud to announce that <strong>Remember Them</strong> will have another magnificent Scott Ruggels cover design. He works wonders, both on schedule and in quality. I'm very grateful.<br />
<br />
Friends, please feast your eyes on this:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_TAEMsG4gxfSBmVRqlzsYk9ddvJ8IXjf_Ir_MJc-2kKS6nay7ZinWatydU6f2YflvFYlpCMl0IM7CI6bIyNWG_4-ZB0Y4ySMd71mz8Wunx6SxzVIjVnGsobuan35qcLw95kHhXjGm-vh/s1600/Remember-Them-Final_LG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_TAEMsG4gxfSBmVRqlzsYk9ddvJ8IXjf_Ir_MJc-2kKS6nay7ZinWatydU6f2YflvFYlpCMl0IM7CI6bIyNWG_4-ZB0Y4ySMd71mz8Wunx6SxzVIjVnGsobuan35qcLw95kHhXjGm-vh/s320/Remember-Them-Final_LG.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-61449666300597634282019-07-08T10:06:00.000-07:002019-07-08T10:06:08.174-07:00<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Beta Reads are starting to come in...</span></strong><br />
<br />
First impressions look very good! Wow! We have a lot of little details to sort out in this current Editing pass, but I'm feeling very flattered and grateful that it looks like we are in the home stretch on <strong>Remember Them</strong>!<br />
<br />
Thank you, All! Now to get things ready for publication!!!L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-77057968246247722892019-06-22T16:28:00.000-07:002019-10-29T07:33:06.963-07:00<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Pre-Publication Release! Remember Them, Chapter One. Prelude: Footprints UPDATED POST 25.June</span></strong><br />
<br />
<br />
This is a free-to-read, pre-publication draft of the first chapter of my upcoming novel. It is subject to changes in later editing, but has cleared Proofreading and two Editing passes.<br />
<br />
I hope you enjoy it, and comment. Let the hype for the novel commence!<br />
<br />
UPDATE: We had one of those great moments of "Hey, wait a minute! We could..."<br />
<br />
A determined effort and a quick quality edit later, Please find a revised Chapter One, below.<br />
<br />
Changes from the original release all in the first 2 "pages", and most all organizational. No real content change. Hurrah for Improvements!!!<br />
<br />
SECOND UPDATE: As the final manuscript is in for publication (as of 28.October, 2019), this post has been updated to match the post-editing version that appears in the published book.<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"> </span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 150%;">CHAPTER 1</span></b><span style="mso-bookmark: Prelude_Footprints;"></span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%;">Prelude: Footprints</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Courier New";"> Western Sahara always made
two sharp first impressions on a visitor. The emptiness, even around the Useful
Triangle part of the region, was palpable. And then there was the unceasing
wind. Coupled with the discomfort of several days moving from place to place in
the back of a five-ton truck, there wasn</span><span style="mso-bookmark: Chapter_1_Prelude_Footprints;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’t much good
to say about it. Nature was full of beauty in the details, but that was lost
when seen through sand goggles; heard and smelled through the full head wrap
needed to endure a ride in the wind.</span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: Chapter_1_Prelude_Footprints;"></span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">In
the Spring of 1984, it was also a place of brutal conflict.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The whole territory was contested land. The Spanish used to run
the place but gave it up as a colonial possession in 1975. The Madrid Accords
were signed, supposedly dividing up the territory between Morocco and
Mauritania, guaranteeing Spanish property rights after the decolonization. It
didn</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’t work out that way. The
Algerians were cut out of the deal completely, and they then armed and assisted
the Polisario Front’s insurgency. Rightly or wrongly for the Sahrawi indigenous
population, the game was on.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Our side was playing the game, too.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Algeria had a lot of 1960</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’s
era Soviet-made equipment, and a lot of very personal grudges against the
Moroccans. They even fought a battle or two, Algerians on the losing side,
before the weight of the Arab bloc in the international community landed on
them for fighting each other rather than “the Imperialists”. This meant the
Algerians could no longer afford to be caught actually intervening inside
Western Sahara, but it also meant they gave hearty encouragement and a lot of
munitions to the Polisario to get in there and actually fight. The result was a
whole lot of motivated insurgents with plenty of trucks of all sizes laden with
everything from machineguns to artillery. They roamed far and wide, wrecking
everything they could reach, and then roared off into the wasteland again. By
1979, they’d pushed Mauritania to the point of abandoning their claim on the
place entirely. But the Moroccans weren’t so easily chased away.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">In fact, we</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’d
made arrangements with the Moroccans.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">While the Moroccans weren</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’t
capable of running down a threat that could jump across the Algerian border at
will, they could do something else. Dig. They committed to a massive plan to
wall off whole areas of the territory with immense sand berms, trenches, and a
chain of fortifications, firebases of a sort, all along the wall. By 1982, the
Useful Triangle was safely secured. The bulldozers and garrisons then moved on,
the area of control extended by the construction of a second and then a third
segment of the barriers by early 1984. Work was underway on a fourth wall, up
in the northeast, that would secure more land and close the easiest border
crossings into Algeria.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">That is, if they could finish. The Polisario weren't fighting them
alone any more.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The berms rose ten feet above the natural ridgeline that they
followed, backed by an anti-vehicle trench, and faced with what would be
eventually be considered the longest continuous minefield in the world. Every
three miles of berm had its own firebase for a platoon of infantry built atop
it. The established segments were getting fire control radar stations as well,
to direct distant artillery against any attack.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Out where our men were heading, building berms had just begun.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">There were only twelve men tasked to the mission, an ad hoc
detachment of the same model practiced and perfected in the four years that The
Project had been operational. Clean battledress, no name or nationality tape,
borrowed Spanish Army issue of an outdated pattern. Steel helmets, useless as
they usually were, more often clipped to the load-bearing gear than worn. The
Moroccan host formation was told they were Operational Reconnaissance
Detachment (ORD) 01C, which was almost correct. And that they were a contracted
Security Assistance Organization provided by the U.S. Defense Security
Assistance Agency. Supposedly, they were there to teach about the specialized
gear they were carrying, which wasn</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’t
true at all.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The detachment needed to be out in a place that was likely to be
attacked. </span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The actual Project elements were Ops-5 and 6, two four-man teams
of shooters and lookers, and Int-3, four experts in Intelligence, Assessment,
Support and Communications, respectively. All twelve men had massively
overburdened rucks and kit bags with them, although precious little in the way
of heavy firepower. Each Ops element had a MG3 as their light machinegun and
the other three shooters had G3 battle rifles. All rather ordinary, Spanish
license-made, like the ones the West Germans sold to several NATO armies. There
were MP5s for the Ints, lighter weight and lighter ammo, but those
submachineguns were really only for personal defense. Any day where Ints had to
be shooting someone was likely a very bad day.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We had something very specific for them to do, out there in the
desolation.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">What
The Project had in mind was to find who was currently providing the technical
and quality support to one of the more active Polisario formations. The
Polisario personnel themselves were unimportant. They were a problem for the
Moroccans to deal with on a long-term basis. Someone was out with the Polisario,
making them better, smarter, and a lot more accurate. Sources unnamed, strongly
implied to have been either strategic Signals Intelligence or Human
Intelligence, had provided enough information that it was certain that wasn</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’t
any Algerian activity. It had to be someone tied to the logistical chain
feeding the Polisario war machine the means to be more effective, but the easy
answer of “some Soviets” didn’t hold up to close examination. Algeria had
greatly reduced their relationship with the Soviet Union after the end of the
Boumédiène government in 1979. The following government, that of Chadli
Bendjedid, was a compromise choice over pro-Western and Communist elements in
the ruling party. It was more Statist, much more Arab Nationalist, and without
the willingness to be a tool for those with Cold War agendas.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Turning
inward was looking to be a good choice for Algeria, considering that the
Soviets had shown how little they cared for their tools in Afghanistan
recently. The Soviet presence in Algeria was presently smaller, more
constrained, and much more carefully monitored than it was in years before.
Whoever it was that was out with the Polisario had gotten there cross-country
from somewhere else, and wasn</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’t answering
to control from Algiers or any Embassy there. What few indications were found
all pointed to the subject in question having come north, across the
Mauritanian or Malian routes, from somewhere else. A very sneaky Soviet
operation could have come up that way, but there were other possibilities as well.
ORD-01C was going to try to get their hands on something that would prove who
it was. If they could do that by actually grabbing the subject himself and
convincing the Moroccans to let them keep him, that would be a bonus.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Both
the personnel and extra kit carried by ORD-01C had been tailored to the task at
hand. The Team as a whole had a lot of capabilities built into it from the
concept phase of The Project. A mission in Africa was a new way of
demonstrating those capabilities. The full 42-man Team was still more suited
for Latin America, as that was where they had worked up. As individuals, they
had a tremendous potential to be great at their jobs in a wide variety of
locations around the world. Some of them had even gotten the invitation to sign
on because they were already comfortable and informed about places that
military Area Specialists struggled to get up to speed on.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Ops-6
had a shooter nicknamed </span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">“Boode” who
was the proud son of two immigrants, his father a Montpelier Frenchman with a
family business trading across the Western Mediterranean and his mother a
Moroccan expatriate who tried not to let her religious differences interfere
with her sense of still being Moroccan. Even though Boode was born in Maryland,
he had travelled a lot in his youth. With four languages besides English on his
fluency list, he was no ordinary trigger-puller. The other men brought similar
but different capabilities. The closest thing to a leader in the detachment was
“Swift”, the Assessment slot in Int-3. He was the old man of the bunch at 36, a
Texan with both uniformed service time in Southeast Asia and a four-year jaunt
across the French-influenced parts of West and Central Africa in someone else’s
employment. He never said Legionnaire, but he always celebrated Camerone Day
with a drink.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Ops-5
brought more capabilities, and the duplication of skills needed to replace the
Intelligence and Assessment slots in Int-3 if those were lost or disabled.
Thomas Andernach, more commonly called </span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">“Andy”, had
joined the U.S. Army wanting to be a photographer. They told him he could be a “squint”,
a photointerpretation expert. Then they decided he needed to be an Infantryman
instead. Typical. He got to be very good at both, although he never completely
escaped being a gun bunny. When The Project pulled him out of the 2</span><sup><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">nd</span></span></sup><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> Ranger Battalion, he at least got
to cross-train into the ancient arts of crate-ology and location identification
while things were getting organized. He was also very good with all the optical
equipment that was making the kit bags of the detachment so damn heavy. All
twelve men in ORD-01C were very good at something, and better at everything
together. The problem was, no one has ever figured out how to train men to be
lucky.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Three
times so far that week, they had rolled up to some patch of dirt that might or
might not have any prepared positions besides the laager of some light trucks
and heavy bulldozers assigned to the construction of the berm around there. A
laager was the barest of defenses, a circle of vehicles with their weapons
pointed outward. Three times, they</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’d done the
handshakes with the group of Royal Moroccan Army troops that had drawn duty in
that sector. Three times they’d reviewed the patrol reports and any information
as to contact with or trace of the Polisario, which were mostly nothing as
those RMA platoons had little more than binoculars and eyeballs as observation
tools.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Some
of those eyeballs were better than others, and once it became clear that those
particular pairs of eyes belonged to some of the guides who were along with the
RMA regulars, there were some very-off-the-record negotiations to get one of
them to ride along with ORD-01C. The guide was a dusty old veteran of the Army
of Liberation days who walked around a camp like a prince in the presence of
commoners. He didn</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’t walk that way on patrol, though. Out
there, he was half bent-over, eyes searching everything from the horizon to the
sand beside his feet or the ground passing by if he was a passenger in one of
the four-wheel drives. When he was asked, he politely stated that he should be
called Abdu’llah.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">There
were some wise guidelines to follow when adding an irregular to any military
formation. In an ordinary military unit, when adding on local interpreters or
guides, there would have been the time for some basic vetting and some
limitations on what they were allowed to do or see. More likely, they</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’d
have already spent time with a Host Country military unit that had trainers or
advisors from “our” military, American or some major ally. Odds were fair,
especially with the ingrained suspicions still remembered from Viet Nam, that
someone would figure out if this incarnation of “Marvin” was about to shoot a
friendly in the back before he had much of a chance to do so. Special Forces,
Special Activities, and The Project usually had no good options about that. If
adding an irregular was determined to be of benefit, it was a decision made by
the personnel deployed. Then it was up to them to live with it, to presume a
bit of trust but never ever let the new face near the communications gear,
anything sensitive, or to wander off unaccounted for. The primary cause of
death for a local irregular was enemy action, but shot while sneaking in or out
of camp was pretty close behind that.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">With
their new friend riding along, ORD-01C moved along the planned line of
construction, stopover by stopover, ever closer to the Algerian border. There
were more handshakes, more report assessments, and a couple of possible
contacts. There were brief reported sightings of reflections or other clues
that the Polisario had some spotters watching the construction sites, but the
RMA patrols hadn</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’t come to grips with anyone out in the
sweeping wasteland. Everyone in the detachment had to suppress the sarcastic
urge to shake their heads when one RMA officer proudly announced that there
were scheduled aircraft patrols observing all the suspected routes nearby.
Scheduled. That meant useless.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The
closest thing to action or an objective ORD-01C encountered up to that point
was also high up on the useless list. The routine when approaching each
construction location was to radio in on a VHF channel. Short range stuff, and
almost limited to line of sight, so fairly secure if the transmission was brief.
Worked great, except when no one was manning the communications on the
receiving end. That resulted in a lot of very surprised RMA infantry in the
next cantonment visited pointing every gun they had in the direction of the
approaching vehicles that carried ORD-01C along with a load of resupply and
mail. A whole lot of sudden stop happened, with the drivers and some of the
other RMA logistics guys all leaping out of their rides. Some even bothered to
wave their arms and a genius among them even yelled the words equivalent to </span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">“FRIENDLIES”,
and that somehow prevented bullets from flying around. After that encounter,
the stop at that location was another case of review, report, and get nothing
in the way of new information. They mounted back up after barely an hour and
went back on route, having decided to get one more station along the route
before nightfall.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">As
the little convoy rolled away, the appropriately chagrined signals guy who had
missed the call-in earlier tried to do something to show he was a thoughtful
and hardworking radioman. He got on the medium-range set that could reliably
reach the network of cantonment-site radios and called ahead to the next
location ORD-01C was to visit. He made sure to tell them the little convoy was
bringing them new observation gear and foreign instructors who were to be
treated politely. As for all station-to-station communications by the RMA, that
call was made on a usual voice channel with no encryption. The presumption was
that the Polisario didn</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’t have any
radio interception gear.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">It
was about an hour before the sun would go down, the little convoy most of the
way to the next cantonment along the chain of construction sites, when Abdu</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’llah
and Swift both spotted a glint of reflected light ahead and to the east of the
so-called road. Abdu’llah claimed there were in fact two watchers out there,
spread out from each other on opposite ends of a sandy rise. Right or wrong,
Swift was always quick with his decisions and this one was no different. As
soon as the vehicles of the convoy were all down in the next defilade along the
path of the road, he got the Logistics leader to stop the caravan for a moment.
A strongly-worded discussion in English, French and Moroccan Arabic ensued,
with Swift not taking no for an answer to his demand for one of the four-wheel
drives that ran the lead and trail positions in the convoy.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Ops-6
dropped all their gear that wasn</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’t for
fighting, leaving it to be carried ahead for them by the remaining members of
the detachment, and so did Swift. A hasty order was passed, leaving Hancock,
the Support slot in Int-3 as Detachment Lead, and then Swift, Abdu’llah and the
four men of Ops-6 piled into the four-by-four. The rest, and the gear, would go
on to the construction site and the laager there, and Swift’s group would slip
off-road and see if they couldn’t pick out and isolate some opposition spotter
who was too busy watching the convoy’s continued progress. Not the worst of
plans, but one dependent in part on the dust from the lead vehicles concealing
the absence of the previously-trailing four wheel drive. From the perspective
of the convoy, it even seemed to work like planned as they rolled on toward
their destination.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Swift</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’s
group got to experience all the joys of riding in an overcrowded European
version of a half-ton Jeep taking a circuitous backtrack and re-approach route
that depended on staying on the reverse side of every significant bump in the
landscape at a speed that limited the amount of dust they threw up behind them.
No maps could help them do this. It was all a combination of Swift’s experience
in places like Niger chasing “rebels and Tuaregs” combined with Abdu’llah’s
suggestions as to which way to go. Boode was driving and everyone else had
their weapons pointed outboard, making the vehicle a porcupine with long range
spines. They took nearly a half an hour to get all the way around their
three-quarters of a circle path to where they planned to dismount and try the
sneaky part of the plan. About the same length of time it took the convoy to
get to the construction site, for the members of ORD-01C there to get things
off the trucks, secured, and maybe be able to support Swift’s group.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The
cantonment at the construction site was even more primitive than the ones they
visited previously. This one still depended on tents for the infantry assigned
there, the vehicles all laagered up in circles to provide some limited physical
barriers, and no real defensive arrangements at all. The infantry had barely
had time to dig out some slit trenches that weren</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’t even three
feet deep, with the piled sand and earth in rows next to them on only one side.
The convoy riders thought it was strange when the assigned infantry and the
construction engineers fell into formation to welcome their arrival like it had
been prearranged or something. Everyone un-assed from the trucks in a bit more
hurry than before. They started a relay of kit bags and rucks to be stacked
somewhere they’d be a little more secure. The RMA guys were all busy saluting
each other, at least until someone standing over on the West side of the
grounds pointed up in the air to the East and howled a warning.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">A
BM-21 multiple rocket launcher was a six-by-six Ural truck laden with forty
tubes of 122mm unguided rockets. There were upgraded versions of that weapons
system in Warsaw Pact service, but even a refurbished 1960</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’s
model like the Algerians gave to the Polisario could deliver an astounding
amount of death in a short period of time. The maximum range was about twelve
miles when used as Field Artillery. In practice, they were used without a
proper fire control set-up in parts of the world like Western Sahara. The
Polisario would preferentially roll one up three to five miles from where they
wanted to cause mayhem and deploy the system with the panoramic telescope
peeking over terrain. At that range, the beaten zone for over half the rockets
to land in was fairly tight and predictable, maybe a hundred yards in width and
slightly more than that in length.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">This
particular BM-21 was loaded with new-made rockets that supposedly belonged to
someone other than either the Algerians or the Polisario. Each rocket delivered
over fifty pounds of high explosives and fragmentary materials as the warhead
of what looked like a flaming garbage bin in flight. All forty rockets could be
launched in less than half a minute, and two minutes after that the truck could
be in motion, running away from any retaliation. This BM-21 started to fire its
entire load toward the construction site where the convoy with ORD-01C had
arrived.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Combat
Arms soldiers are taught over and over to react immediately if they are caught
in the open in the beaten zone of an artillery strike. If six tubes of mortars
are coming at you, it is possible but not always wise to simply try to dash far
enough from the center of where you think the beaten zone will be and pile into
some cover at the end of the dash. For anything with more death arriving,
especially a time-on-target strike with a lot of rounds in it, all you could do
was to get down into any hole or enclosed cover available. Heaven help you if
there weren</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’t any holes around.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The
men in ORD-01C that were inside the construction site made record time into
nearby slit trenches, and some of them even got their steel helmets on in the
time it took the incoming rounds to arrive. Some of the RMA troops weren</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’t
quick enough, and the result of over 30 exploding warheads inside the beaten
zone the Polisario were aiming for was horrific. Some of the vehicles, all of
the tents, and a dozen of the RMA stationed at the site were torn to shreds.
Two vehicles with gasoline fuel tanks would burn shortly thereafter. Everyone
took a ton of concussion damage, even if they made it to a slit trench or were
miraculously in the shadow of something that stopped the hail of shrapnel.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Nothing
about the circumstances warranted any display of curiosity; in fact, it
punished such ruthlessly. Thomas Andernach had, for no explainable reason,
lifted his head while face down in one of the slit trenches. A flat piece of
shrapnel the size of the palm of one</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’s hand went
under the front lip of his helmet, slashed through the place where his nose
bridged between his eyes, and corkscrewed into a spiral roughly the shape of a
fountain pen as it rendered his brains into a liquefied mess. It barely threw
him backwards at all, so he collapsed on top of his best friend in Ops-6 who
had dived into the same trench. His buddy wouldn’t understand what all the
wetness on his neck and back was until a couple of minutes after the explosions
had stopped.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Swift</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’s
group hadn’t even dismounted from their four-by-four when the BM-21 in its
hiding spot started to pound away at the construction site. The launch sound,
and vast amount of smoke, revealed its location less than a mile away from the
group. Boode had watched an American television show call The Rat Patrol when
he was a kid, World War II stuff about G.I.’s in North Africa with Jeeps and
machineguns. He got to live it then, at the onset of night and driving without
lights. It was glorious, a headlong rush, and no small amount of foolish to
attempt. He loved it.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The
four Polisario men securing the BM-21 were all focused on threats coming from
the direction of the construction site. Their two other outposts, the spotters
who had seen and confirmed the convoy approach, were still making their return
to a rally point where they would have been picked up during the scoot part of
their Shoot and Scoot plan. The BM-21 itself, and a one ton utility vehicle
held two more Polisario drivers and the Artillery crew of three men: Two
Algerian-trained BM-21 specialists and one guy calling the shots who was from
somewhere else. That guest was dressed just as the others were, but under his
wraps was a visage far more Caribbean than Rif Berber in appearance.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The
lot of them had just finished stowing the launcher for movement and pulling up
the stabilizers that made the truck suspension stable during a firing sequence
and looked around in surprise as the sound of the engine from Boode</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’s
half-ton penetrated the aftereffect of having been next to forty rockets being
launched only a couple of minutes earlier. Of the nine men in the zone when the
engagement started, three were taken under aimed fire as soon as the half-ton
crested above the hide, and the four on the BM-21 were all suppressed and or
wounded by an entire assault drum’s worth of MG3 fire hosing down their
position. No part of a BM-21 was particularly armored, so unless those big
7.62mm rounds flattened on a structural part or lodged in a tire, they rattled
around to great effect even if they didn’t hit anyone on the way in.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The
initiative was firmly in the hands of Swift</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’s group then,
with the Ops-6 men all piling out of their ride and assaulting the position
while they still could gain ground. Boode was last man dismounted and hadn’t
even fired his rifle yet. The target he’d mentally marked as his when they came
in sight of the BM-21 had already been on the receiving end of three or four
rounds from the other shooters. The lightshow of tracers seemed to fan out on
all sides of him, specks darting at individual targets and the stream of the
machinegun splashing fiery fragments all around the BM-21.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Swift
was out ahead of the rush, looking for someone to tear apart at close range,
and the Moroccan Abdu</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’llah had gone to one side to get a better
shot at the driver of the utility vehicle. Seventeen seconds into the assault,
no more than four of the Polisario side were still able to fight, and none so
far had lived through trying to fire back. Swift tried yelling “</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Abandonner</span></i><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">” but the guy
closest to him showed no sign of understanding a French demand for surrender.
That was when Swift first realized he had someone who might be worth keeping
alive in front of him. Split seconds matter in decisions like that, and Swift
used his part of the moment to try and aim lower with his MP5 and keep closing
the distance.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Unfortunately
for both Swift and the Polisario</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’s guest,
this was the same split second that one of the BM-21 crew stuck the barrel of
his AK-47 around the front of the truck’s bumper and let loose with all thirty
rounds in the magazine in Swift’s general direction. Only two hit him, grazing
his right leg and left arm, mostly because about ten of the rounds stopped in
the backside of the guest who was directly between the Polisario guy and Swift.
Two streams of death converged on the crewman, with Swift adding rounds under
the front of the truck as he slid face-first in his fall.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Things
ended quickly after that. The Ops-6 man on the MG3 hadn</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’t
even finished fitting a new saddle drum of ammo in place when no further shots
were needed. Swift’s group had traded one wounded man and a lost capture
attempt for nine dead or dying enemies. When the Moroccans took charge of the
site in the morning, there was a wealth of evidence as to who was supplying the
Polisario with improved weapons and the leadership to use them effectively.
Abdu’llah switched back to working with the RMA and spent the day guiding and
tracking for their effort to find the two unaccounted for spotters. They didn’t
find them, but they did find enough recent tracks to allow the presumption that
there were at least ten more Polisario vehicles out there during the night and
Swift had been damn lucky nobody showed up to try and rescue the BM-21 and
crew.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">ORD-01C
even got to take the body of the guest with them, as they</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’d
loaded his body bag into their truck at the first opportunity next to the one
holding the remains of Andy. The RMA weren’t exactly in much condition to know
why that mattered after most of their local leadership had been wounded or
killed in the rocket attack. They also didn’t get to be part of any discussion
about ORD-01C stripping pieces or photographing every possible identifying
thing about the new ammo and specialized equipment that the Polisario had used.
The RMA guys were given the Moroccan-issue medium-range radio set found in the
utility vehicle, still tuned to their current station-to-station net. When
their Area Commander figured out that was how the Polisario knew to set the
rocket artillery ambush, there was going to be one very unhappy RMA signals guy
out there.</span><span style="font-family: "courier new"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Thomas
Andernach</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">’s family was told by the U.S. Army that he
died in an ordinance accident in training. The funeral was closed casket.</span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: "Courier New";"></span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-90369326961033783552019-06-21T09:52:00.005-07:002019-06-21T09:56:04.516-07:00<strong><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">In Motion.</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div data-block="true" data-editor="84r6v" data-offset-key="2qhmj-0-0" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2qhmj-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span data-offset-key="2qhmj-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Watch this space, my fine friends... the many weeks of my fighting Real Life (and mostly losing, but be that as it may) are coming to an end...</span></span></span><span data-offset-key="2qhmj-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><br />
<span data-offset-key="2qhmj-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-offset-key="2qhmj-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-offset-key="7ol15-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Progress is happening, and come hell or high water I am posting the Prelude chapter of "Remember Them", the new novel, very very soon.</span><br />
<span data-offset-key="2qhmj-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-offset-key="7ol15-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-offset-key="7ol15-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: inherit;">It will be posted here. Thank you all for your patience.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /></div>
</div>
L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-29432113650696735462019-03-18T09:18:00.001-07:002019-03-18T09:18:24.779-07:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>New Novel Progress: Manuscript Complete.</strong></span><br />
<br />
That's the reason for the gap in postings here, folks. I needed to nail it down.<br />
<br />
I reached Manuscript-Complete status over the weekend. rough draft, officially... although 1st draft Editing is almost caught up.<br />
<br />
The plan from this point is:<br />
<br />
Finish 1st draft Edit. Sit back, take a deeeeep breath, and go straight into a 2nd draft (Structural) Edit.<br />
<br />
As soon as Chapter One is past 2nd draft, it gets posted here for everyone to read. Final decision on the Title happens at this time.<br />
<br />
As soon as 2nd draft is ready, I send the "beta" copies to my pre-readers. *Yes, that's a limited list, selected as much for how quickly they can get back to me with their comments and corrections as for the usual valued feedback quality.*<br />
<br />
Grind on 3rd draft and get another fine Scott Ruggels book cover bought and paid for. Yes, he's already getting things planned to do that. This is also when the decision about any last major changes can happen based on reader-feedback.<br />
<br />
One last grind on a 4th draft to catch anything missed, or errors introduced in rewrites/changes. Add the boilerplate and author's notes... and...<br />
<br />
... get to having a publication quality file. That then goes into Kindle Direct Publishing's upload with a targeted release date. Which I will proudly announce as it gets closer.<br />
<br />
Thank you, all. I hope you'll like it. Time to get this rock polished up!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-61522704320981371672019-02-23T23:36:00.000-08:002019-02-23T23:50:15.269-08:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>New Novel Progress: Getting out of trouble.</strong></span><br />
<br />
I'm almost to the point in the new novel where the story changes from a telling to a denouement. That's a damn fine place to be after all the effort. Chap 18 and 19 are going to have to be merged and split at some point, which will re-structure things to twenty two chapters at least. For now, Chap 20 (as outlined) is where I need to get to declare Manuscript Complete. A first pass at Editing has gone well, too, having gotten several pages into Chap 19 already. If we time this right, I and my Editor will be both focused on the structural changes and then going at "known" rewrites in about a week. Which means it is time to wave this flag:<br />
<br />
Some of you will be asked to be "beta", or pre-publication, readers. IF you are, one of the key things you will be asked to do is to read the manuscript quickly. That doesn't mean you can't, or shouldn't, do a careful read... but I think it would help most to get some quick "this needs to be fixed" feedback before anything more detailed. Big fixes take time, and there is still the hope to make the book fit for publication before the end of April.<br />
<br />
With that out of the way, here's some more information about the story in the new novel.<br />
<br />
The deep team, our main character and his three colleagues, enter Guinea-Bissau as two pairs. I've already teased a bit of the arrival story for Alan and Matty. Here's an excerpt from when Anna and Charlie get in-country:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Holmgren and Duarte had the first part of the afternoon to
themselves. They were scheduled for a “welcome meeting” with some of the higher-ups
in the Ministry of Health and Education at 1630hrs, but that gave them time for
lunch and a couple of hours to get to know what was within walking distance of
their hotel. The lunch special at the hotel restaurant was a fancy fish dish
presented as if it was French haute cuisine, which Charlie dubbed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Maquereau hors de prix</i>. Anna was still
smiling about the waiter’s reaction to overhearing that phrase when they paid
up and set out for a stroll. She had a linen parasol helpfully offered by the
hotel, but even with that, there was no making haste in the mid-day heat. None
the less, if there was a pleasant part of Bissau City to take a walk around,
this was it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Colonial-era government buildings were arrayed nearby,
casting short shadows onto the surrounding grounds. The French had a Cultural
Center in addition to a prime location for their Embassy. There were several other
embassies in the neighborhood as well. The Soviets had only a ceremonial
presence, but the Cubans had a substantial building constructed from a
significant portion of all the concrete in the country and none of the
architectural grace. The Americans were nowhere in sight, having settled for a
place out in Penha District to the West as they were latecomers here. The
British had a flea speck of a presence at the edge of this neighborhood, close
to the old estate that the Portuguese had begged permission to buy as an
embassy after they gave up this colony.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The time spent walking gave them some time to talk, although
what they spoke of were things appropriate to the identities they were in. A
few details became apparent, like the complete impracticality of depending on
the network of local buses and the manifest population imbalance between men and
women. The first was explained by a lack of imported parts to properly maintain
the buses. The second was a reminder of when the <i><span lang="PT" style="mso-ansi-language: PT;">Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo
Verde</span></i><span lang="PT" style="mso-ansi-language: PT; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">, the local Communists more commonly known as PAIGC, took over the country.
They were pretty quick to round up and slaughter anyone who had been a loyal
soldier to the Portuguese. Filling mass graves with ten thousand bodies of
military age men, when the entire country had a population of under than a
million people, meant the gender ratio was even more off-parity than was common
in West Africa.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
Nice neighborhood, isn't it? Hope you enjoyed this sample and I'll be posting here again soon!L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-25037719166570682972019-02-19T19:03:00.001-08:002019-02-20T07:44:26.145-08:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>A Writer's Device: Embellishment!</strong></span><br />
<br />
It's been a lovely month of travel, writing, relaxing and sorting out other things in my life. It was a much-needed change of pace, but it's time to be seen here again. Hope you've all been well in the interim!<br />
<br />
There is always a bit of a choice when you are asked to tell a story about an experience... besides simply making a fiction of it, which some people seem to love to do (( shrug ))... but in this case I mean "Tell it dryly and expect the story to entertain all by itself" or "tell it with some style and panache; dress things up to convey thoughts and mood". The latter of those options is the right way to Embellish a telling. Add nothing untrue, but have fun with conveying the tale.<br />
<br />
Here's an example from my travels last month: <strong>The Tomato Juice Telling</strong>.<br />
<br />
I was seated center on the flight from Japan to Seattle... crammed into a crowded row as usual in Economy, but with no aisle to lean into for space. About an hour after take-off was the drink service, and the following happened.<br />
<br />
Dry Telling:<br />
<br />
"When the Flight Attendant tried to put my drink on my tray table, I had my arms under the table to get a mobile device out of the seat back. The drink slid off the table and into my lap, spilling all of it. Had to protect the people sitting next to me from the spill, and one of them got relocated to another seat during the clean-up. My clothes had to be washed in the sink and left to dry in the back cabin for the flight. I got given the seat next to mine, and a couple of blankets to cover up for the flight time."<br />
<br />
yeah, that happened. But it is a bit of the "what a bother" told that way. The following is a lot more fun to hear:<br />
<br />
Told With Style:<br />
<br />
"When the Flight Attendant tried to put my drink on my tray table, I had my arms under the table to get a mobile device out of the seat back. The drink slid off the table and into my lap, spilling all of it. She'd already looked away, so might not have seen it happening. Or as it was a Delta international flight, with their seniority system, and she being a late-career Jaded As Fuck Flight Attendant, maybe she didn't care...<br />
<br />
"Drink went straight into my lap. Belt to ankles, Tomato Juice. I couldn't move as I was center seat and had to keep the splash off the people next to me. I asked rather loudly of the Attendant as to what just happened and what to do about it. Got big cow eyes and no words in reply. Fortunately, there was a second Attendant in the other aisle close enough to ask for assistance. I got a response from her, at least. "You'll need to clean yourself up." Oh boy, they recruit the top of the Attendant class for these flights, it seems.<br />
<br />
"About this time I saw that the spill was about to leak onto the seat with the nice Vietnamese girl sitting beside me. I warned her that some of the spill might be about to get on her sweat pants... and was greeted with the Wide Eyed Panic of someone facing terror for the first time. Maybe she had a tomato phobia? Anyway, she bolted from her seat, fled to the back cabin, howling plaintively about how she HAD TO BE reseated. At least it freed up that seat and I might be able to stand up now.<br />
<br />
"When I got to the aisle, Responsive Grandmother Attendant finally realized how big the mess was and started to try to do something useful. Like clean up the seat and floor. I, realizing I was Priority Nil on her list, got her attention long enough to ask that the Purser meet me up at the Lavatories to help with clean-up and recovery there. Amazingly, she agreed to call the Purser.<br />
<br />
"So by the time I've had the pleasure of emptying my trouser pockets carefully and ineffectually rinsing most all of my clothes in the tiny sink, there was a knock at the door of the Lav... Where I was greeted with a fine figure of manhood, 6'3" and strongly built, the embodiment in appearance of Biff Manley, Man of Action, but with the voice of a schoolgirl. The Purser. "Oh. That's... quite the mess."<br />
<br />
"My hero leapt into action, offering to take all the rinsed clothes to the bigger sink in the Aircraft Kitchen, wash them out and hang them in the Back Cabin to dry during the remaining 6 hours or so of the flight. He told me to wait, too. After only a few minutes, he was back with 2 fresh blankets for me to use to wear. I carefully considered options, and went with the fashionable choice... tied one on as a Flight Sarong, and draped the other over me when I got back to my now-mine aisle seat.<br />
<br />
"In case anyone ever offers you a Flight Sarong as a wardrobe option, I do recommend them. A bit breezy, and can be racy if you don't manage the slit side properly, but very comfortable. They may well be the Next Big Thing in Travel Wear.<br />
<br />
"The rest of the flight was uneventful, up to about 40 minutes before arrival... when Purser Manley came by to drop off my clothes, dried... and folded neatly. I was somewhere between boggled and amused and went to get dressed again. If there was a way to tip Flight Attendants, that man sure earned one.<br />
<br />
"and I, now guaranteed to be free of any skunk aroma, was dressed and ready for landing. Sadly, they didn't let me keep the blankets for the Flight Sarong, so I can no longer dress like the Malay Villains in a Bollywood action movie. Oh well... I got to Seattle, at least."<br />
<br />
<br />
Heh, hope you enjoyed the Embellishment. Will post soon about New Novel Progress and other things!L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-80118963105079820572019-01-21T11:28:00.000-08:002019-01-21T11:28:12.257-08:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Going AFJ for a bit...</strong></span><br />
<br />
No, not a typo. Away From... Japan. Traveling abroad for the next 11 days.<br />
<br />
Will post here when it seems right to do so during the jaunt.<br />
<br />
I'll be back in February.<br />
<br />
Oh, and since you are all waiting for the new novel: I made great progress the last week or so, but will not be working on it while on travel. So... maybe one and half more chapters to go to wrap up the rough draft, when I return.<br />
<br />
See you soon!L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-4438542521079933272019-01-17T01:13:00.000-08:002019-01-17T01:24:55.865-08:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Keys to Kindle Sales, revisited: Free Day</strong></span><br />
<br />
As posted recently here, and all over the Social Media outlets I maintain to promote Remember When, I scheduled a One Day FREE promotion on the 16th of January this year.<br />
<br />
Remember When was four months past publication, and had hit the long tail of low or no sales which commonly happens to a lesser-known author's works.<br />
<br />
<br />
The idea of the promotion was to do three things:<br />
<br />
To get more copies out to people far removed from the author, to generate more Reviews and spread word-of-mouth.<br />
<br />
To get some hype going in the sub-genres that matter for both Remember When and the new novel. The particular target was the Espionage sub-genre for e-books on Amazon Kindle.<br />
<br />
and, in a gamble...<br />
<br />
To see if a high FREE sales rank translated into more exposure and more organic sales after the promotion ended. To "re-start the long tail", if not actually break through.<br />
<br />
<br />
How'd we do on those?<br />
<br />
Good volume for a new author. There will be some benefits, especially if it becomes more reviewed in places like Goodreads.<br />
<br />
Yeah, looks like we did good on this. Here are the Peak (best) Rankings, which we hit after hour 22!<br />
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,088 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)<br />
#14 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Espionage<br />
#33 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 90 minutes (44-64 pages) > Literature & Fiction<br />
#45 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thriller<br />
<br />
It's possible we got into the Top Ten for Espionage sub-genre briefly at hour 24, but then the promotion ended. To show you what being in the Top 48 or so gets you... it's Page One of the promotion:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtSNJ_raRHX0LdFVXlzSgtQI45tKJJdz9XGVI7x81lISGqxFsPoVopmdBrhUtWhV16rFmKrkZ1mZrr4cMRFYmy8ZpOQVS8afiHbvbWoz2MZOfmzKFskCh8yDuj-r6-TkahBErTlkoiRBZK/s1600/Rank+%252314%2521+FREE.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="1600" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtSNJ_raRHX0LdFVXlzSgtQI45tKJJdz9XGVI7x81lISGqxFsPoVopmdBrhUtWhV16rFmKrkZ1mZrr4cMRFYmy8ZpOQVS8afiHbvbWoz2MZOfmzKFskCh8yDuj-r6-TkahBErTlkoiRBZK/s320/Rank+%252314%2521+FREE.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The overall Rank looked like this, to put it in perspective:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="1338" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOkw3gLa5SjlFwk_uBdA8-0Nk5xTipQrTTClsO5B6JV8fW8AVpuRzT2Q8Pxya-zqJUlayOAj21dgtFmjFqYJf0E1mpWFT-72q-c7wUlGJWUNcP68RMSnEl-ESlKDRqRnc7eQuyr1UUJjUI/s320/overall+FREE+rank.png" width="320" /></div>
<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Now, does that give us the gamble? Will people now see and seek out Remember When? Well... We'll find out about that tomorrow or the next day. THANK YOU, EVERYONE for helping make this happen!</div>
<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-43658912011544997232019-01-14T11:38:00.000-08:002019-01-14T11:38:14.903-08:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Upcoming Promotion for Remember When on Amazon.</strong></span><br />
<br />
I'm busy writing on the new novel (Yay, Chap 19 start!), but I wanted to explain a moment about an upcoming <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HF7MTKM">promotion on Amazon for Remember When</a>:<br />
<br />
January 16th, 2019, for 24 hours midnight to midnight (PDT), Remember When will be <strong>FREE</strong>.<br />
<br />
So what? All of you who already have it are the people reading this 'blog.<br />
<br />
Amazon Kindle allows you to gift copies of an e-book within your geographic (copyright) region. This opportunity lets you do so for free. Seriously, you can just "hand someone a copy" and it costs you nothing but the time to click. It costs them nothing, too. They can choose to accept it or not.<br />
<br />
I'll use this opportunity to pass along copies to friends who I know don't usually touch the Thrillers genre, but who delight in reading as a pastime.<br />
<br />
It's a way to encourage more reviews, too. Remember When could use more and more recent ones.<br />
<br />
And...<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2990894.L_Douglas_Garrett">L. Douglas Garrett as an author</a>.<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41886349-remember-when">Remember When as an e-book</a>.<br />
<br />
are both listed on Goodreads now! Some of you are ahead of the game there, but now it's a complete package. You can Review, Rate, and most importantly List Remember When there!<br />
<br />
Hope this is a fun thing for you all. It really helps me when you speak up about Remember When!<br />
<br />
Thank you, All!L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-40993961270254271232019-01-11T12:05:00.001-08:002019-01-11T12:05:09.481-08:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>New Novel Progress: Highly professional editing team, hard at work!</strong></span><br />
<br />
Writing proceeds apace... I'm deep in Chapter 18, and into the part where things go to hell.<br />
<br />
Editing has advanced, with the first pass done up to the end of Chapter 16.<br />
<br />
This screenshot captures the highly professional editing team in action:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpe4GRJIMM486m3NUqxdnj6b0I_hutNrrIepmNcHSi0Cv1utL5wpoU8nhS9_9dZ8KYq0UOIyJasxV1gJ_AAnlcp9NZR9y7yw1epdZ3ArGr_o73BkzBl8NizPpcWiDuZzpwaP836JzREnuL/s1600/Author-Editor+Pair+Pic.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpe4GRJIMM486m3NUqxdnj6b0I_hutNrrIepmNcHSi0Cv1utL5wpoU8nhS9_9dZ8KYq0UOIyJasxV1gJ_AAnlcp9NZR9y7yw1epdZ3ArGr_o73BkzBl8NizPpcWiDuZzpwaP836JzREnuL/s320/Author-Editor+Pair+Pic.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
Alcohol was not involved. We really do have this much fun working.<br />
<br />
L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-74256138368525549512019-01-09T22:21:00.001-08:002019-01-09T22:26:55.812-08:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Characters in Remember When: A Bonus Short Story</strong></span>.<br />
<br />
Written as a special thank you to friends who support the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RememberWhenNovella">Remember When Book page on Facebook</a>, here is a brief look at one of the characters' back story. Enjoy!<br />
<br />
<strong>Somebody got punched.</strong><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Somebody got punched for saying “Dago” in response to “Kike”,
down at the other end of the bar. Barry just pushed his stool back far enough
that if a beer bottle or body came sailing his way, at least he’d see it
coming. The Jewish kid should have swung first instead of mouthing off. “Holy
Hell, assholes”, he thought loudly. “Knock it off. It’s not like this is the
neighborhoods.” Okay, maybe he didn’t just think it. Most everyone in the joint
was looking at him, even the two morons who’d been throwing punches.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The bartender leaned over to Barry. “Thanks”, he said and
looked down toward the troublemakers. “You done now?” Yeah, they were done.
Backing away from each other and not even talking. The bartender didn’t say
anything more to Barry, but a minute or so later he put another drink in front
of him. Barry smiled a little about that. Always nice to be appreciated.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It was his last night in town this month. Nothing wrong with
getting on an airplane tired, but he’d try to avoid adding hungover to that.
National to Miami, then down to Caracas. Again. There never seemed to be enough
time back here. He missed a lot of things happening. He wasn’t even here when
she got sick. By the time he got back and someone told him, she was gone. Which
was why he was in the bar that night, drinking alone, on their anniversary. His
voice was very soft when he said, “Miss you, Cecile…” and finished his fresh
drink. He thought it was time to go home, then. When a man had nothing left in
his life but his career, it was better not to drink too much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-72698932747327322762019-01-07T09:41:00.000-08:002019-01-07T09:51:16.671-08:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>A Writer's Device: Flexible thinking about Chapters.</strong></span><br />
<br />
In the early stages of a writing plan for anything of any size, you are going to have an outline. If you are formally trained in Creative Writing, you've probably had a scheme for outlining beaten into you at some point. There's a reason besides just keeping track of what happens in what order; it really does give you targets for what to write in each chapter.<br />
<br />
Because, come on, the GOAL is to write each Chapter. Get them down in words and have something to work with, rather than blue-skying a thousand rewrites in your head. You have to get the damn thing written. But if you are too closely wedded to an outline you created before starting to produce chapters, you might panic when something seems to run too long or too short.<br />
<br />
Don't.<br />
<br />
There is nothing to panic about. Unless you are a writer that sets and locks in a single point of view in each chapter, and that chapter is a single continuous flow, you have lots of flexibility. If you do lock in single POV in a chapter, then you sure as hell shouldn't worry about a chapter running long or short. You're committed to writing what is needed in that plan, no more and no less.<br />
<br />
In any other chapter structure, like continuous time-flow multiple perspectives, every two or three paragraphs are likely a structural unit. You can treat those as modular constructs. Not in sequence, but in where you break the chapters. If one chapter runs too long, in your thinking, look back and find a natural break between modules. Then start the next chapter with the paragraph that starts the next module.<br />
<br />
Worst case, split a big chapter in two at some obvious modular break in the middle. Push your Chapter numbering up one, and get back to writing.<br />
<br />
Don't let anything keep you from getting that first draft down in words. You can't publish, you can't solicit test-readers, you can't even properly edit, what you haven't written down.<br />
<br />
Which means... I need to get back to writing. Here's to your success!<br />
<br />L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5479004184843410736.post-68639664264336582602019-01-02T07:08:00.004-08:002019-01-02T07:08:59.111-08:00<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Our business is the past, but welcome to the future.</strong></span><br />
<br />
2019 is underway. I hope it's a good year for all of you.<br />
<br />
There will be a new novel coming soon, serial to Remember When. The new book is set in '84, slightly more than a year after those weeks when Sherri and The Roomie crossed paths.<br />
<br />
There will be more books after that. Several ideas are being forced to sit in a corner and wait until the current work is done.<br />
<br />
There will be some interruptions to 'blogging here late in January. Don't worry, I'll be back.<br />
<br />
If you are on Facebook, there is <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RememberWhenNovella">a Book page for Remember When</a>. Like and Follow there for earlier access to some special things that come along.<br />
<br />
Coincidentally, there is a new vignette about a character from Remember When posted there. I'll bring it over here in a week or so, but as the original offer to write it was announced there, they get it as a exclusive for a little while.<br />
<br />
Stay tuned here for more writing-focused and new-work-progress posts.<br />
<br />
And, to all of you, who helped turn 2018 from a year of disasters for my friends and family into a year of miracles and wonders, Thank You.<br />
<br />
L.Douglas Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850812403220127553noreply@blogger.com0