After posting my most recent story, I thought people might be interested in some other light reading (the title is a link)....
There really is/was a legend of alpha five Launch Facility, at least the way I heard it when I was a young airman at Malmstrom. I was actually assigned to the 342nd Missile Security Squadron which, apparently, has since been deactivated. The "swap" idea is mine, a figment of my imagination. Never happened as far as I'm aware. Also as far as I'm aware, there was never any kind of "incident" there, certainly not like such depicted in my fiction. The legend included a tale about a camper team that one evening heard and felt something hit the side of their camper, and when they got our and looked, there was a tomahawk lodged in the camper section above the cab of the pickup truck. I wanted to include that in the story originally, but when I got to that point, it just seemed too contrived...like it isn't already!!
There did occur something I never knew about - until a few nights ago - that happened nearly 20 years before I got there, which made for some very interesting reading for me.
Whatever. I hope you read the story. If you read it, I hope you liked it. If you didn't like it, I hope you'll tell me why.
dassall
5 comments:
My grandfather swears that when he worked for the Forest Service he and his boss saw a UFO. I might have to blog about it sometime.
Farrago, I read you your story and I liked it very, very much. There was a lot of air force jargon that got me confused sometimes, but no more confused than I get reading Tom Clancy novels, and I never let that spoil my good time. You have a nice, easy, almost breezy way of storytelling that is very inviting and totally sucks the reader in. I love your dialogue and I like the details you put in to help place the reader in the story — nice little touches like that line about when the breeze riffled through Green's hair (I was just hunting for the quote but can't find it), that sort of thing. Soometimes the incidental stuff you include in a story helps to make it all work.
Your narrative had a nice, unhurried pace, and I like how you gave the reader a good inside look at what it's like to be an air force grunt — the camaraderie, the gripes, the routine, the humor — which I found very engaging. The gopher hunt was a nice little diversion. And, of course, the supernatural stuff worked extremely well. It was a wonderfully drawn story that delivered in the end — something a reader has a right to expect, I think.
My personal opinion is that you're a very gifted writer who should keep at it. Well done, Farrago!
Trina:
There are so many reports out there that SOMETHING must be happening. There can't be that many crazy people out there. Well, judging by your blog, there CAN be, and most of them are either in your family or in Nebraska!
Schprock:
Thank you! As I've mentioned, this story sat in a box for over fifteen years, and there are nuances that even struck me. The haircut-like-fresh-mown-grass reference was in the original. The gopher hunt is a 2006 add-in, encouraged 15 years ago by the instructor who had written in his critique, "Slow the pace down here..." I was afraid the kill might have been a little too much for sensitive readers, but then I decided that if I could DO it (and I did) then I could write it. That section was, point for point, non-fiction. And both characters in that scene are me: I did the killing, but at the same time I abhorred it, groaning at the sound when I did it.
And thanks again! I've never been set side by side with Tom Clancy, before! He's one of my inspirations -- not for his style of writing, necessarily, but for the story of his rise to prominence: writing "The Hunt for Red October" in-between sales calls as an insurance agent! It's what I'm trying to do (without the sales call part!)
Hi Farrago ... I sometimes fall asleep at night listening to AM talk radio (I especially like to try and pull in signals from as far away as I can), and one of the programs that always fascinates me is Art Bell's nationally syndicated program. He talks about all kinds of extra-sensory topics, especially UFOs. Interesting post about Malmstrom.
I posted my comments about the story at the end of the last post.
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