Jeffrey Miller's Blog: Jeffrey Miller Writes, page 20

What’s wrong with this picture?

Court side in Pyongyang with Dennis Rodman and Kim Jong-un sharing a laugh together.

As my friend and fellow author, Alex Keto so eloquently pointed out, “folks, you can’t make this stuff up.”

Please note the careful placement of the Coca Cola can. Either Rodman brought his own Coke or you can get it in Pyongyang. Coca Imperialism for the new generation?

Check out the Korean woman staring at Dennis. She doesn’t seem to be too amazed. She’s probably a Lakers’ fan.

Can you judge a book by its cover?

This is the rhetorical question posed by Book Daily:

Rhetorical question for most; Real dilemma for authors. After spending what feels like decades writing your masterpiece and surviving several rounds of brutal editing, it can be daunting to have to then vet cover designs. However, it would be naive to think that the cover of your book is immaterial and shouldn’t require much effort. It’s the first thing readers see and is expected to offer a creatively brilliant interpretation of what’s inside. Book covers can attract or propel and complete objectivity is virtually impossible. With all that said, what do you think makes a great book cover? What are some of your favorite book covers?

I would like to know what you think.

Please leave your comments below.

Dennis Rodman in Pyongyang: Basketball Diplomacy

Well, if ping-pong worked with the Chinese, maybe Dennis Rodman, a.k.a. The Worm, and basketball might have the same effect on the Norks.

Very interesting article in The Diplomat about Rodman’s visit to North Korea that even has Marcus Noland finding something in the visit to get excited about:

“I am all for it,” Dr. Marcus Noland, senior fellow and director of studies at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told The Diplomat. “No one has anything to lose on this one, so why not? If Kim Jong-un is half the 1990s NBA fan he is cracked up to be, Dennis Rodman could have more impact on US-DPRK relations than say John Kerry. And look better in a dress.”

We’ll have to take that tongue-in-cheek, but all I’ve got to say is what to hell.

Go get ‘em Worm!

Dennis Rodman Going to the Boards with North Korea

Who would have thought Dennis Rodman would be doing a bit of diplomacy in North Korea?

As crazy and absurd as it may sound, that’s what Rodman is going to be doing soon.

At a time when tensions between the two countries (the United States and North Korea) are running high, it’s important to keep lines of communication open, no matter how non-traditional those channels are, AP quoted Shane Smith, the founder of VICE, which is to make the TV series, as saying.

Read the rest of the story here.

Dennis, knock some sense into the Norks.

Daniel Day Lewis Wins Third Oscar

I’m not surprised.

His performance in Lincoln was both brilliant and stellar. As soon as it was announced that Lewis was going to play Lincoln, I was thinking to myself, he’s going to win another Oscar. Sure. he was probably a little over the top in Gangs of New York, but he’s turned out some wonderful performances in his career. The guy’s one heck of an actor. Three Oscars. He’s probably good for another one or two.

North Korea Threatens the US

Again.

News out of North Korea this past weekend is that the North has threatened the US with “miserable destruction” if the US and ROK military proceeds with an annual military exercise. The Norks have been all out of whack about these military exercises before (especially years ago with the annual Team Spirit exercises), but this is the first time that they have included some of their saber rattling rhetoric.

Although it is far from much ado about nothing, incoming South Korean president Park Guen-hye takes office this week, so all this rhetoric could be part of the Nork’s way of celebrating her inauguration with these congratulatory messages of war and destruction.

I’m going to sound like a broken record saying that we have been down this road before, but it is true. Believe it or not, there is a method to North Korean’s madness. They always seem to do this when they want some international attention or feel that the South is getting too much.

Welcome Home, Corporal James Rexford Hare

It could be a page right out of the Korean War novel, War Remains.

Another soldier, Corporal James Rexford Hare, has come home from a forgotten war. And this time, it’s a soldier who was captured during the battle at Hoengseong.

Hare was in the 15th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, which was part of the American forces supporting Republic of South Korea forces near the South Korean town of Hoengsong, when Chinese forces launched a massive counter attack, according to a news release from the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office in Washington.

According to the release, “During the attacks, U.S. and Korean forces were forced to retreat south. Over the next few days units of the 2nd ID were attacked again, suffering more than 200 casualties, including more than 100 servicemen being captured by enemy forces.”

Read the rest of the story here.

Thanks to advances in DNA testing, more and more remains are being identified and quicker than in the past. Although there are still more than 7,900 missing Americans from the Korean War, with each set of remains identified and another service member coming home brings hope to those families waiting for their loved one to come home.

Until They Are Home

War Remains (Ebook)

War Remains (Paperback)

 

 

A Little Rebellion Now and Then is a Good Thing

Even when it comes to self-publishing.

There’s a really good article on the Huffington Post which you can read here. Essentially it’s about the self-publishing industry and the stigma attached to those of us who have self-published and are trying to get the word out about our books.

I’ve heard it all. When I told some of my friends and colleagues that I was going to self-publish my first novel, War Remains, their first reaction was that the only people who would buy it would be my family and friends. One former colleague, a writer himself, said that no one will ever take me seriously as a writer. That was three years ago and as far as I know, he still hasn’t written the book he said he was going to write. I’ve written five in that time.

And yes, some bookstores will show you the door if you walk in with a load of your books and ask to have them sold or even set up a book signing. However, thanks to Ingram and word-of-mouth, a bookstore would be crazy not to carry a book that people want to buy. (Something I need to work on for my books. I have had a number of people who have asked me if Ice Cream Headache is available at a bookstore in Seoul.)

Self-publishing is easy. It’s having to deal with promoting your book and having people talk about it what takes the most time and work. However, in order to help chip away at that stigma, you need a little help along the way. I know that with each sale of one of my books that stigma is slowly being removed. Just this past weekend, War Remains was up to Number #8 on Amazon’s Kindle list. It might have only been for a few hours, but you know that has to count for something. That’s why I work so hard to trying to promote and market my books. A sale here and a sale there and people start to take notice.

And if it’s a good book and the author tells a good story it doesn’t make any difference if it was self-published or not. That’s the bottom line.

Jin Air — Seoul to Vientiane: Thanks, but No Thanks

For travelers flying to Laos from South Korea flight options have been limited: there was the Incheon-Hanoi-Vientiane route which left Incheon in the morning and got into Vientiane early in the evening or the Incheon-Bangkok-Vientiane route, which arrived at 2:00 in the afternoon of 9:00 in the evening depending on whether one wanted a three, six, or ten-hour layover in Bangkok.

Now there’s a direct flight on budget airlines Jin Air (part of KAL) which departs Incheon at 6:00 in the evening and arrives at 9:40. (Budget might be a misnomer though, because it’s only a few thousand won cheaper than the Thai Airways ticket, sans the Bangkok layover.)

Check-in is quick and painless. The ground staff is friendly, vivacious, and efficient. You might think you’re on a college trip judging from the baseball caps and jeans they all wear. On a recent flight to Laos, I was the only foreigner on board.

Their inflight service is what you would expect from a budget airlines. There is no inflight entertainment which I found a bit odd for a five-hour plus flight, but one could rent a Sony Playstation Vita (I saw no one that took advantage of this) and the meal was more of a snack (two tiny rice rolls, two sausage patties, salad, kimchi, and custard (which I mistook for tofu) than something to hold you over on a long flight. Beverages (Coke and orange juice) were free but alcohol (Tiger Beer) was not. However, there was duty free. There’s always room for duty free, even on a budget airlines.

The highlight of the flight, prior to arrival at Wattay International Airport was a rousing stretching routine led by the flight attendants and with some pre-recorded music turned up loud and distorted. Everyone knew what stretching exercises to do: either they had taken Jin Air before or knew the routine.

If you are a foreigner traveling to Laos you can get a visa on arrival (be sure to have a passport sized photo). For Americans the cost is 35.00. South Koreans do not need a visa. As I was the only foreigner inboard I was able to breeze through immigration formalities after getting my visa (there is a special line for visa-on-arrival passengers).

However, be aware that because of the late arrival (the flight I was on arrived 30 minutes late due to a late departure from Incheon) you won’t be able to exchange money at the airport. However, there are two ATMs near the airline check in counters which takes foreign cards. Also it would be a good idea to make hotel reservations prior to coming to Laos. All of the Korean passengers onboard were on various package tours and had no problem arranging for transport from the airport to their hotels. There is taxi service available ($8.00 for car/$16.00 for van) but given the late arrival, I had to take a van.

Returning to Incheon is a little inconvenient given the late departure (23:00). Although I would have had the same departure from Bangkok, there are more things to do in the airport. You are better off paying half for a hotel room (which I did) and getting in some sleep before the flight back to Incheon.

There was no announcement of the check in for the flight. No need to worry. Groups of Korean travelers upon arriving at the airport went to the check-in counters immediately. Also all the boarding passes and baggage tags had already been processed, which actually made the check-in process easy (one could still request an aisle or window seat).

It was a smooth flight going and coming back (except the late departure from Incheon), the service was fair given that it is a budget airlines, and the staff and crew were quite friendly. However, the next time I fly to Laos I am sticking with Thai Airways. For want it’s worth, as a budget airlines, Jin Air gets you to Laos quicker, but that’s about all.

Take that you American Imperialist Dogs!

North Korea, is its bark worse than its bite?

Very interesting article in the Washington Post which examines the five stages of North Korean provocation.

In the 23 plus years that I have lived and worked in Korea I have seen it all. When North Korea starts their saber rattling, a lot of us say that we have been down this same road before. To be sure, there is a method to their madness. It was only a few weeks ago when Kim Jong-eun delivered his New Year’s message and “spoke of the need to improve the economy and also to reunify the Koreas.” And now he’s threatening the United States…again.

Instead of Peck’s Bad Boy we have Kim’s Bad Boy.

And so, according to the Washington Post article, the cycle repeats again.