Reply to Tim.....

Tim, I'm answering your comments as a regular post, because it seems readers enjoy our communication as much as they may my poetry!

I do not keep a notebook of ideas, principally because as a result of nerve damage done with a TBI I suffered in '97, the act of holding a writing instrument is painful in the extreme. I can keyboard, but I never write. When I have an idea I either post immediately, or make a brief entry in the notebook section of my cell phone. Of course, the idea is the same. (By the way, there is no observable indication of the nerve damage; all the damage is internal, and it is never going to get better. I have good days and bad days. On bad days, prayer, meditation, and Oxycontin gets me down the road).

You are spot-on concerning the use of writing as catharsis. While I make a distinction between posts that are auto-bio, and those fantastical, even the latter do indeed contain a kernel of truth. For example, though I have never served in the military, I consider myself an amateur military historian. My 22 years in law enforcement, and its requisite training have also afforded me familiarity with tactics and small arms. I trained with SWAT for a time, but only as their target. My role was to secure a (volunteer)"hostage," "steal" some money, hole up in a dwelling, and keep SWAT on their heels. Of course, we all used blank rounds, but the "flash bangs" they tossed through the windows were real, and the boot on my neck 3 seconds later was real. SWAT always won. My motivation was to find as many ways as possible to delay the entry team. I got to be pretty good at diversion and delay. I could be a pretty good bad guy. But good bad guys wind up being dead bad guys, as well. SWAT's motive was to keep the hostages alive, so I developed ways to play that one-string guitar as best I could. I do not recommend anyone pursue this as a career. The pain always exceeds the gain. But the stirring of my adrenalin levels were absolute! They filmed the episodes, and distributed them. So, were I to be recognized by any agency beyond my own, it would always be sinister...though I'm, at heart, a cream puff . Likewise, I was never a cowboy, but I've spent a little time in the saddle, and have chased down a bull or two, in Southwest Missouri, where cattle is big business.

My writing on my book, The Bone Tree, is as slow as inbound traffic during rush hour. I'm actually in my 5th re-write. I've added a minor character, tweaked the subplot and changed the POV. It is, I think, a much better read, and I intend this to be my final re-write. It's killing me. I began The Bone Tree nearly twenty years ago. It's time to finish it or burn it! I'm going to send you the 1st and 2nd chapters soon. It begins bloody and finds ways to up the ante as the plot develops. It's about a tame pastor who volunteers with an infantry division in 1861 and becomes a marksman, with increasing skills. I suppose some of the skills "Albert" develops are akin to my own. In that sense, there's a bit of me in Albert.

I look forward to that cup of brew in person someday. Keep those crows airborne!

~ James