Saturday Ramblings: The Good, The Bad, And Me

The working cover for my new book.

I've been up since about four. I wrote some on my non-fiction book, Origins Of Ghosts, about my experiences with ghosts throughout my life. I'm not a ghost expert, have never tried to see a ghost, and have never wanted to see ghosts or have weird stuff happen to me. But I do, and have almost my entire life. I've also been concentrating more on my singing act with my wife, Dorothy. I've come to understand that some outside evil force stops me from ever being successful at anything I do, and another good force protects me from that evil and any possible death attempt that has been directed my way so far.

I know how this sounds, and it has taken me a long time to accept it. My latest brush with death came when I was standing in front of my desk. Right as I sat down, a lightning bolt came though the window without breaking the glass and exploded with a loud snap crack above my head in a blinding ball of light. Had I remained standing, I would have been killed for sure because it would have struck me in the head. The modems and all the electric phones were knocked out. Dorothy, standing in the kitchen, saw the entire thing and couldn't believe it.

Why I sat down at that moment, I don't know. How lightning came through a window without breaking the glass, I have no clue. I haven't asked any experts about the lightning strike. I just accept things as they happen. Many people, because I'm a fiction writer, think I make all this stuff up. I haven't made up any of my own story. I live day to day and try to be the best person I can be in a world that seems to be more insane each day.

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Vietnam: The Liberty Bridge

(This entry has had a lot of comments, and I'm glad it can help bring Nam vets together or to help find each other. If you have a comment, please attach your name to the comment or from this point forward it won't be published. I've received many comments that are phony and obviously made up, submitted by anonymous submission. I do screen all comments. Click the photo to enlarge. Semper Fi.) This is the Liberty Bridge (click to make larger) in Quang Nam Province in Vietnam during July of 1968. Of the 14,000 Marines killed in Vietnam, 10,000 were killed in Quang Nam Province. (Figures in comment section show a little under 7000 KIA in Quang Nam.) This was late in my tour on July 2. The bridge had been blown once again by the enemy to isolate the Marine base at An Hoa. I was a 50 caliber machine gunner on a convoy to resupply the An Hoa Firebase. I called this the River Styx because it had a ferry boat. Once you crossed the river you entered a nightmare hell on earth cal...

The Jesus Moth

Photo taken through a window screen. I had just gone over the first print copy of The Bad Season on July 22, 2006. I walked over to the window and saw this moth on my outside air conditioner unit. It was the most bizarre thing I had seen in a long time. I retrieved my digital camera and snapped a picture through the glass and the window screen before going outside in a failed to attempt to capture the moth. I contacted a moth expert. He told me what kind of moth it was, but added that he had never seen one with a cross on its back like this one. I call it the Jesus Moth, the Crusader Moth, or maybe the Infidel Moth. The syndicates wanted me to give it to them for free. They said they don't take pics from non-employees because "we would actually have to pay you for it." Hmm, what a novel concept, getting paid for something. I offered to swap for a syndicated story about my book. They refused. So I copyrighted the entire pic (the one below is a fragment from that p...

The Old Corps: Marine Corps Boot Camp 1966

BLT 1/3 USMC 1967 Vietnam Boot Camp Hell I recently saw a video of what I assume was the current Marine Corps Boot Camp. It mentioned recruits reporting any abuse right away and the DI was trying to be tough (and he did sound tough to an extent), but underneath it all you could tell the old Corps was gone in the civilian desire (political desire by people who never served) to make things easier and less traumatic for the boots. They never mentioned abuse to us in 1966 because we were abused 24/7. I'm an old Corps Hollywood Marine (that's an inside Marine joke about the difference between boot camp in Parris Island or San Diego.) The boots in Parris Island claimed they had it rougher because they had swamps. The Hollywood Marines had mountains. I would rather walk in water than climb mountains so I disagree. I entered the Marine Corps on August 10, 1966. Marines had been in Vietnam for over a year. All of us would probably go to Nam. For some of us it woul...

Dennis Latham: Life, Fiction, and the Pursuit of Madness

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