Stan R. Mitchell's Blog, page 41

The ‘Mexican Heat’ in real life may exceed my own imagination

Terrible reports drifted north this weekend, as news emerged of a battle in Mexico that almost defies comprehension.

Mexican forces arrested one of their biggest targets: El Chapo’s son, Ovidio Guzmán Lopez, who they planned to extradite to the United States. So far, so good.

But then the Sinaloa Cartel responded before the government forces could exfiltrate the target area. The Sinaloa Cartel captured eight members of the military and reportedly even took families of some of the soldiers hostage, according to The New York Times.

The Washington Post summed the battle up brilliantly: the operation proved that “in parts of Mexico, the government can be outmanned, outgunned, and outsmarted by drug cartels.”

In the end, the Mexican forces released Ovidio Guzmán Lopez and retreated from the city, running for their lives. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador suffered a humiliating embarrassment with the raid and it’ll be interesting to see how he responds.

For now, his response seems (to me) absolutely ridiculous.

“You can’t fight fire with fire,” he said of the decision to hand Guzmán back to his cartel. “We do not want dead people, we do not want war. And this takes a lot to understand.”

In the end, seven people died, including one civilian, and sixteen others were injured, the Times reports.

I only share all this because it brought up some old (sweet) memories of a fictional book that I wrote a few years back. The book begins with a simple plot of the United States sending armed forces to deal with the cartels. Initially, it’s a group of Navy SEALs. This attempt fails badly in my hypothetical book (almost like the raid described above), and America is at a loss for what to do.

[image error]In the end, the U.S. President sends in a contractor, off-the-books force led by my infamous character Nick Woods, who first showed up in Sold Out.

When I wrote the book (Mexican Heat), I worried I pushed the limits of believably. I describe the cartels attacking police stations, the presidential palace, you name it. I even have them led (through part of the book) by a vicious, Uzi-toting character who likes to hack up prisoners with a katana (Japanese sword).

The book boasts huge amounts of action and tension, and is epic in scale, in my opinion. (Almost Tom Clancy-like in scope, in fact, as the Mexican government is on the verge of collapse and the entire economy is on the brink of disintegrating.) Not to mention, there are loads of battles and probably two-hundred-plus folks killed in small unit action.

Really awesome stuff if you’re into action books like me.

My small political rant

As my long-time readers know, I do my best to avoid political posts. Lord knows, I can’t afford to lose half my readers. (Not now. And probably not ten years from now.)

But having said that, I can’t help but address a certain topic this week. No, I’m not talking impeachment. I’m not talking Trump, or Dems, or Left versus Right. I’m simply going to talk about the abandonment of the Kurds in Syria.

I’m not going to get into the weeds of it. Like, whether it’s just the “Kurds” or simply the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which were Kurdish-led. Or who’s to blame or why. I could do those things, but I don’t want to make this political.

The bottom line is I think MOST agree it was a really shitty thing to do. To abandon our allies like that. And thankfully, even Republicans are bucking the President on this.

I’m really hoping that Congress (in a bipartisan fashion) stands up to the President on this one. For the good of the Kurds, who lost a ton of people fighting ISIS (partly for us). And also for the good of our country. (What I mean by this is that I feel strongly that our country works best when our government operates as three co-equal branches, each with a system of checks and balances; just for a situation like this.)

If you feel as I do, sent a line or email or tweet (or something) to your Congressman and/or Senator. Let them know that we shouldn’t be abandoning our allies. And that we shouldn’t allow ISIS to reconstitute because the Kurds can’t pressure the terrorist group (because a feakin’ NATO ally, that we mostly helped arm, is whacking the crap out of them).

Okay, that’s the end of my rant. Don’t hate me for it.

Semper Fidelis,

Stan R. Mitchell

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[image error]

Stan R. Mitchell is the author of nine, fast-paced novels. He’s sold more than 70,000 books and writes military action and mystery genre, mostly. He’s also a prior infantry Marine, who LOVES writing!! Click the link at left to check out his books.

 

My next book…

Hey guys!

Hope everyone’s had a great week! I teased last week in my blogpost about the Marine Corps using Artificial Intelligence to find new spec ops troops that I’d reveal this week what I’ve been working on.

Well, I’m sure you’ve all been just dying, waiting to find out this big news. (Odd that it isn’t trending on Twitter or my inbox has lacked any requests from official media asking for an interview about the news… Haahaahahahahh.)

At any rate, the project I’ve moved to after finishing Hill 406 is my follow-up book to Take Down,  My fervent readers will remember that Take Down introduces prior Force Recon Marine Danny Acuff.

Acuff, a badass Marine, has become a hotshot detective in Memphis. And after establishing a name for himself, he’s forced to move a small, quaint town. Except it isn’t so quaint.

So, he eventually finds himself tangling with tough hombres from up in the hills and two Army Special Forces guys. They’re just part of a cartel that controls the town, and they’re not happy with the newcomer asking all the questions.

Needless to say — in typical Stan fashion — there’s lots of action and suspense (including quite a bit of hand-to-hand fighting), and there’s even a bit of romance. (Some of my readers say Danny Acuff is the greatest character I’ve ever created.)

Regardless, I’m working on the follow-up book to Take Down, and I’m well over half-way done.

Marine Corps to use Artificial Intelligence to find new spec ops troops

I happened across an article on the use of Artificial Intelligence (link to Wikipedia about Artificial Intelligence) this week that first struck me as ludicrous. It seems the military could start using Artificial Intelligence to help decide who makes it into Marine special operations. (Article link.)

Being a bit skeptical, I read on. Mainly, I thought I’d mock what a dumb idea such a thing was. And ridicule the idiotic bean counters and bureaucrats who seemed naturally wired to mess up the tried-and-true, old way of doing things.

But the article describes why the military has been forced to consider the change. Essentially, it costs a ton of money to train a special ops soldier. (These days, they’re called MARSOC Raiders, but in my day they were called Force Recon Marines. But that’s a side tangent that’ll just make me feel old.)

Back to the point, besides a boatload of money, it also takes a SOLID two years, minimum, to train a MARSOC Raider (and that doesn’t count the boot camp, infantry training, and other stuff you must do even BEFORE you begin your MARSOC-specialized training).

Thus, you don’t want the hypothetical Sergeant Smith to get near the end of his MARSOC training and suddenly fail out of something. Or worse, decide that, “Well, ya know, maybe I’m not really enjoying this whole special ops, life-moving-at-a-100-mph thing after all.”

Not only would the Marine Corps lose that slot, but they lost the two years it’s going to take to get another shooter into that position.

According to the article, the AI will be used to study current Marines who have proven themselves to be successful in special operations, and who have lasted a long time in the highly demanding (and dangerous) jobs.

They’re trying to find certain characteristics. Maybe these types typically come from the South? Or from urban areas that lack many opportunities? Or from traditional families, with a strong support system? Or maybe from broken families, where as a youth the Marine had to be independent and look out for themselves?

Anyway, check out the article if it strikes your interest. Here’s the link again.

I’d love to hear your all’s thoughts on this. Does your company or industry use AI in anyway? And as a sidenote, maybe I need to use AI to decide what book I should write next!! (As a teaser, I think next week I’ll tell you what project I’m currently working on...)

That’s it from here, guys. Thanks for all your support! And hope you all have a great weekend!

Semper Fidelis,

Stan R. Mitchell

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[image error]

Stan R. Mitchell is the author of nine, fast-paced novels. He’s sold more than 70,000 books and writes military action and mystery genre, mostly. He’s also a prior infantry Marine, who LOVES writing!! Click the link at left to check out his books.

Boko Haram still at it in Nigeria, three years after the fact

Almost exactly three years ago, in October 2016 to be precise, I published my fourth Nick Woods book. It was called Nigerian Terror,  and my worst fear about the book was that the bad guys in the story (a group of terrorists linked to ISIS called Boko Haram) would be defeated by the time the book was complete.

At the time, Boko Haram was a pretty serious force. They controlled more than 20,000 square miles of land and were doing some pretty messed up stuff; like all terrorist groups do, I suppose.

But my fear was by the time I finished the story, a pretty strong alliance of several countries (coordinated by the United States) would have the group knee-capped and on the verge of defeat. And then readers might read the book description about Boko Haram, shrug, and pass on the book.

Needless to say, I was wrong about Boko Haram, which should probably also serve as a cautionary tale for the predictions laid down by authors.

As a pure coincidence, I just happened on an article the other day that Boko Haram is as strong — or stronger — than ever. The group controls four of ten zones in the northern part of the country, and the Nigerian Army is on the defensive, according to the article. The Nigerian Army is ill-equipped, under-payed, and impotent.

Take a look at the article if you want, but it’s pretty depressing to read about, truthfully. Sadly, most of the problems laid out in the article are discussed in my book. I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Anyway, that’s it from here. Hope everyone is well. If you haven’t read Nigerian Terror, definitely take a look at it. It’s a great read, in my humble opinion. (It’s also the highest ranked Nick Woods book in the series, according at Amazon, at 4.4 stars.)

Everyone have a great weekend, and I’ll catch up with you again soon!

Semper Fidelis,

Stan R. Mitchell

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[image error]Stan R. Mitchell is a writer and author, as well as a prior Marine infantryman. Mitchell served in Alpha Co., 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, and was lucky enough — or unlucky enough — to snag a Combat Action Ribbon. (The details of his military career.) Looking for something free to read? Here’s a piece of fiction that he wrote for you to sample. Hopefully, it’s both powerful and inspiring: The dreamer’s lament. And click the link at left to check out his books.

Hill 406 off to a great start!!

Hey guys!

[image error]Hope everyone has had a great week! Just wanted to say that Hill 406 is off to a great start!! Thank you to all of you who’ve purchased it!! I’m truly honored.

The reviews have started to come in, and so far, so good! One prior Marine infantry officer had this to say in his review: “Using the current war in Afghanistan as the setting, Stan Mitchell delivers a story with all the dust, sweat, and conflict of the Afghan war. As a former Marine Infantry Officer, I read these book with a critical eye, but Stan Mitchell is a former Marine Infantryman himself and he gets it right. If you want to feel the sweat of Marines in Afghanistan, you can’t do better than Stan Mitchell.” (Link to review.)

A reminder, if you haven’t left a review, please drop a quick one for me. There’s no better way to help promote the book and given new readers, who haven’t heard of me, to give my work a try. Here’s the book link again on the off chance that I can twist your arm to drop a review.

I’m going to end this post by saying that if you haven’t already purchased a copy, and you’re on the fence, I’m going to provide you the first six chapters below my signature. So, keep reading. And believe me, take the plunge. It’s worth it.

My next book, Hill 406, is released!!

Hey guys!

My next book is out now! And I can’t even tell you how proud I am of this one!! I know talking about your book is kind of like talking about one of your kids — you think yours is the best; they’re beautiful and perfect!! — but I really think this one is special.

I’ve been writing seriously for a couple of decades, and I’ve now published nine books. With each one, I think I’ve improved. But with this book… Wow. I think I took it all to a whole new level.

For now, it’s only available on Amazon in Kindle version, but that seems to be where the VAST majority of sales happen anyway.

My next book, Hill 406, coming to you soon!

Hey guys,

Hope everyone is doing well!

I’ve got some pretty big news this week, which is that I finally typed the two most important words a writer can ever write: The End. Edits are nearly done — we’re moving fast — and, my word, is it even better than I thought.

The book tells the story of two very-experienced Marine NCOs, whose paths cross in Afghanistan. The two men, Sergeant Grant Morgan and Corporal Sam Dean, end up facing one of the most fateful decisions a leader can ever face. I don’t want to say more,  or obviously give away what happens when they make that huge decision, but I will tell you the title!

Let’s talk reading habits…

Hey guys,

Hope everyone is doing well. Since things have so far remained quiet in Hong Kong and Kashmir (see last week’s blogpost), I thought I’d just answer a question I get quite a bit.

Fairly regularly, I have some reader email and ask about my reading habits. Most assume I’m a voracious reader (and finisher) of hundreds of books, but actually, it’s quite the opposite.

I try to be a voracious reader. But frankly, I am a notoriously picky reader.

I don’t finish about eighty percent of the books I start, and I’ve literally gone to the library or bookstore to pick out a book and returned home two hours later without one.

But I do love to read. Don’t get me wrong. I just mostly re-read my favorites. I kid you not, I’ve re-read some of my favorite books more than five or six times.  (I think I’ve read one or two of them probably ten times, but I don’t expect you to believe that.)

And I don’t just read them. That’s not really a fair statement. I sort of chew on them. I move through them pretty slow when I’m re-reading (truthfully, I’m a slow reader even on the first run-through). But when I’m re-readine one of my favorite books, what I’m really trying to do is see (and study) what the author is doing.

I like to dissect what they’ve done — if I can — on each page, and even each paragraph. And I’ve personally found that I get far more out of books (from a learning perspective) when I’m re-reading one, than from reading a new one. For me, I find it’s nearly impossible to learn something when you don’t know what twist or turn is coming up.

So, if you broke into my house and examined the books on my bookshelves, you’d find things underlined, notes written in the margins, etc.

Like I said, I’m all about trying to discern what the author was doing. And with most books, I don’t even finish them; much less re-read them.

Most of the time, I start them and the author goes left when I think he/she should’ve gone right. Or the book gets me thinking about one of my stories, and next thing you know, I’m sitting down writing.

In many respects, I’m more of a writer than a reader. If you turn a movie on, or even start a conversation with me, often you’ll see my eyes drift about halfway through it because you can just about guarantee that my mind has drifted off to some kind of story idea. And by then, I’m almost dying to get my hands on a pen and pad (or fire up the laptop). 

Anyway, what’s your reading habits? How do you read? (Paper? Kindle? Audio?) Where do you read? (Don’t tell me if the bathroom is one of the locations! lol) And roughly how many books do you read per year or month? 

Also, are you a one book person? Or (like me), do you find yourself often reading a couple or three books at one time? Sort of nibbling on them until they get boring or piss you off?

Love to hear your all’s feedback/habits.

Semper Fidelis,

Stan R. Mitchell

P.S. Oh, and I’m on the final scene my latest work — a story of two Marine NCOs in Afghanistan. I think the book is going to be pretty good. More to come.

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[image error]Stan R. Mitchell is a writer and author, as well as a prior Marine infantryman. Mitchell served in Alpha Co., 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, and was lucky enough — or unlucky enough — to snag a Combat Action Ribbon. (The details of his military career.) Looking for something free to read? Here’s a piece of fiction that he wrote for you to sample. Hopefully, it’s both powerful and inspiring: The dreamer’s lament. And click the link at left to check out his books.

Hell or high water…

Hey guys!

Hope everyone is doing well! As promised last Friday, I’m going to try to get back on the weekly blog schedule. As such, let’s get to it.

On the national security front, there are two things I’ve really been trying to follow the past week. 

First, there are the enormous protests in Hong Kong. I’m still worried beyond belief that China is going to send in ground troops from their army, and it’s going to be an absolute bloodbath. I’m also terrified for the people of Hong Kong.

Can you imagine living there? Knowing your “own” leaders supported an extradition bill to China? 

If that bill is put into place, then any semblance of freedom is gone. Arguably, in many respects, freedom is already gone because China is already tracking who the leaders are of the movement, filing names and faces into databases. 

It would be nice if America would take its typical leadership position and encourage the Chinese to show restraint. But alas, that’s not happened as strongly as it should have yet. Maybe there’s still time for that.

The second big news crisis I’ve been trying to follow is the lockdown/invasion of Kashmir by India. That has all kinds of nasty possibilities happening, since Pakistan has nukes, the people of Kashmir don’t want to be ruled by India, etc.

These are definitely interesting times, and I haven’t even touched on the news that we’re negotiating the end of the war in Afghanistan with the Taliban.

Anyway, love to hear everyone’s thoughts on either of these matters. Or even the last one, where to my eyes, it seems the Taliban is in the stronger negotiating position, and thus has no real need to negotiate our withdrawal. They know that will happen at some point anyway.

One other thing I thought I’d mention is the movie “Hell or High Water,” which I recently watched on Netflix. Oh. My. Word.

How did I miss this movie when it came out?! 

It is EASILY one of the best movies I’ve seen in probably five years. 

One critic said of it, “There’s not a moment out of place, not a shot that stays too long. If [David McKenzie] makes a better film in his career, he’ll be lucky.”

Another, “Hell or High Water offers a solidly crafted, well-acted Western heist thriller that eschews mindless gunplay in favor of confident pacing and full-bodied characters.”

I couldn’t agree more with these sentiments. As soon as I finished the film, I IMMEDIATELY wanted to watch it again. I didn’t have time to, but I certainly plan to.

If you’ve got Netflix and haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.

Finally, speaking of time, my latest work — a story of two Marine NCOs in Afghanistan — continues to go well. Should be finishing it soon. Like maybe in a week or so.

Keep your fingers crossed about that. I’ve got to get this book done, come… (wait for it…) hell or high water. hahahahah

Oh, and let me know your thoughts on either the news above — I love a good conversation — or on Hell or High Water.

Semper Fidelis,

Stan R. Mitchell

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[image error]Stan R. Mitchell is a writer and author, as well as a prior Marine infantryman. Mitchell served in Alpha Co., 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, and was lucky enough — or unlucky enough — to snag a Combat Action Ribbon. (The details of his military career.) Looking for something free to read? Here’s a piece of fiction that he wrote for you to sample. Hopefully, it’s both powerful and inspiring: The dreamer’s lament. And click the link at left to check out his books.