Jeffrey Miller's Blog: Jeffrey Miller Writes, page 11
April 4, 2014
Writing from Memory
I’m surprised at how much I still remember about serving at Howard Air Force in the Panama Canal Zone; I’m surprised at how much is still crystal clear.
For my latest novel, which is a thriller set in Panama in the 1970s and 1980s, I am drawing on a lot of memories of the time I spent there from 1976-1978. I can just close my eyes and I am back there at Howard. It’s weird you know, how much that I still remember and how all these memories are overwhelming me now. There are a lot of things which are crystal clear, as though they happened yesterday.
I started this book a little over a year ago. I shelved it last year so I could work on When A Hard Rain Falls and I’ll Be Home For Christmas.
It was a little slow moving at first, but I think I have finally found my rhythm; this past week I have written over 5,000 words.
April 2, 2014
Welcome Home, Cpl. William F. Day
These news stories always choke me up.
Another soldier has finally returned home from a “forgotten war.”
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Cpl. William F. Day, 25, of Hayward, Calif., will be buried April 7, in La Center, Ky. In late November 1950, Day was assigned to Company C, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT). The 31st RCT was deployed east of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, when it was engaged by overwhelming numbers of Chinese forces. On Nov. 29, 1950, remnants of the 31st RCT, known historically as Task Force Faith, began a fighting withdrawal to more defensible positions near Hagaru-ri, south of the reservoir. On Dec. 2, 1950, Day was reported as missing in action.
You can read the rest of the story here.
Of course, whenever I read one of these stories, I always think about my Korean War novel, War Remains. I am so proud of that book. Although it never became a best seller, I am proud of the story I tried to tell and for those family members who are still waiting for one of their loved ones to come home from the war, the book offered some hope that one day they would finally have their loved one home with them. There are still 7,888 service members listed as missing in action. One day, they will all be home.
Welcome home, Corporal Day.
March 31, 2014
Captain America and Company in Korea
I know it’s only a movie, but I hope Kim Jong-un shits a major brick when he finds out that Captain America and company are in Korea.
March 23, 2014
The Flim Flam Man (1967) — A Classic Gem
The Flim Flam Man (1967)
Starring George C. Scott, Sue Lyon, and Harry Morgan
Written by William Rose
Directed by Irvin Kershner
It’s hard to believe that a film of this pedigree has yet to receive a proper DVD (let alone Blu-Ray) remastering and re-release. Written by William Rose (It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World), directed by Irvin Kershner (Never Say Never Again, The Empire Strikes Back) and featuring a tour de force performance from George C. Scott, this film is on its way to being a great lost classic. I first saw it when it was broadcast on television in the early seventies; This film never gets old, no matter how times I have seen it.
Mordecai Jones (George C. Scott) is a rural con artist who takes on young army deserter Curley (Michael Sarrazin) as his protégé and teaches him the tricks of the trade. Sheriff Slade (Harry Morgan, of M*A*S*H fame) is in hot pursuit of the pair, and rich girl Bonnie Lee Packard (the stunning Sue Lyon) becomes romantically involved with Curley and helps the fleeing duo stay one step ahead of the sheriff. Playing a con artist allows Scott the opportunity to trot out just about every accent under the sun, and he does so with zest. People primarily familiar with Scott as General George S. Patton, or perhaps Ebeneezer Scrooge, will be amazed at his gift for comedy.
January 19, 2014
2014 SolBridge Asian Thought Leaders Case Competition
The first-ever SolBridge Asian Thought Leaders Case Competition got underway on Monday, January 20th, featuring twenty-two students from seven universities (SolBridge included) around Asia.
January 18, 2014
Authors and Books you Should Know and Read
Authors and Books You Should Know and Read
Authors and Books You Should Know and Read
These are some of my favorite indie authors. Please support them and indie publishing
Listly by Jeffrey Miller
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Scarlet And Gold
"A great lead-in for a series, I will be one of the first, if not the first, to buy the second in the Rachel Cain series to find out more what Morgan and his breathtaking wife Rachel are up to now.Highly recommend for any reader.
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I'll Be Home For Christmas
It's my list; why not?
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Amazon.com: letters from long binh: Kindle Store
I've always liked this book of Randy's the most because it was composed of letters he wrote home while he was in Vietnam.
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Sexton (Sexton Chronicles)
Dave's first novel. He's a great story teller.
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On Air
A Baby-boomer must read!
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Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel
Cherries weds a matchless sense of dramatics with the ability to tell a marvelous story.
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The Rainbird War
Alex Keto is a Bethesda, MD based author whose research about the Mau Mau Rebellion began in the Library of Congress where he read out-of-print histories, memoirs and diaries from that era, and then culminated in two trips to Kenya (2007 and 2009) to see where the rebellion by the Kikuyu people against Kenya's colonial government took place. This is a fantastic novel and story. Highly recommend!
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Phoenix to LA: A True Story of One Man's Journey Out of the 1960's
This is a brilliant memoir of the 1960s.
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Sad Boy
Michael C. Keith is the author of over 20 books on electronic media, among them Talking Radio, Voices in the Purple Haze, Radio Cultures, Signals in the Air, and the classic textbook The Radio Station. He's one of the most prolific writers I know!
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The Other Side Of The Ridge
Time travel and the American Civil War. It's a great combo in this exciting novella.
View more lists from Jeffrey Miller
Six-String Samurai
“In this alternate universe, in 1957 the Russians took the United States by nuclear force. Only one piece of the American frontier remained free, a patch of land known as Lost Vegas. Through this desert wasteland wanders the “six string samurai,” a latter-day Buddy Holly who handles a guitar or a sword with equal skill. He’s a man on a collision course with destiny: It seems that King Elvis, who ruled over the land of Vegas for forty years, has finally taken his last curtain call and the throne now stands empty. But it’s a rough road to the big city and the body count is likely to be high, as demonstrated in this post-apocalyptic future with a beat we can dance to.”
I love these kinds of movies, like A Boy and His Dog, Mad Max, and Road Warrior, but this movie rocked. I’m surprised this movie hasn’t caught on as much as it should have.
January 17, 2014
War Remains — The LaSalle County Link
When I sat down and started to write my Korean War novel War Remains in the fall of 2009, I based parts of the novel on some of the interviews I had with US Second Infantry Division veterans who were at such places as the Pusan Perimeter, Kunu-ri, Chipyong-ni, and Hoengseong.
Then, there was the LaSalle, Illinois link. I never intended to write a war novel; instead, I wanted the novel to be just as much about the war as the war experienced on the home front. Bobby Washkowiak could have been any service member from any small town in America who ended up in the Korean War. And as it turned out, I was a lot closer than I had ever imagined.
One of my friends, Doug Mayes, who lost an uncle at the same battle near Hoengseong, South Korea in February 1951, passed this link along to me. Although it doesn’t say which town in LaSalle County, most likely the soldier who was killed in action was killed at the same battle and the one that I describe in my novel.
Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. In this case, it hit very close to the heart and soul of this novel.
January 16, 2014
Amazon Book Recommendations
This always puts on a smile on my face when Amazon recommends one of my books.
I concur.
“Sunday, Monday, Happy Days…”
Forty years ago this week, January 15, 1974, the soon-to-be hit sitcom Happy Days premiered.
Soon, the Fonz and “sit on it” would become part of American pop culture.
Although the show’s initial appeal might have ridden the success of the hit movie American Graffiti, (that’s probably why the producers used Bill Haley and the Comets “Rock Around the Clock” for the theme music) the show itself was based on a segment of Love, American Style. It would turn out to be a fun show at a time when there was a sitcom renaissance which included other shows like M*A*S*H, Barney Miller, Laverne and Shirley, Welcome Back Kotter, as well as All in the Family and Sanford and Son.
