Independence Day is Here!

Almost every Independence Day that rolls around, I usually -- strangely enough -- remember my childish mischief that occurred during this same time of year as a devilish child.  I remember when my cousin Larry Joe and I had come across some bottle rockets while staying with my aunt in an old Memphis neighborhood.

One of us (I cannot remember which) came up with the idea of shooting at cars as they came down the street that night.  We hid behind a car that had been parallel parked in the street.  And as soon as the passersby drove by, I came out with my bottle rocket aimed at it as it was climbing a small hill.  I launched the rocket way too low, however.  And it skidded across the pavement, down the street, and finally underneath the car where we suddenly saw a lot of sparks being emitted from the undercarriage.  Now that I think about it, I'm lucky we hadn't blown the damned thing up and killed the passengers!

We just laughed about it and headed back inside.  But before we got to the door leading into my aunt's house, Joe took the bottle from me, fed it a rocket, and aimed it across the yard and street at one of the other houses.  He launched it perfectly onto the porch where it discharged all of its bright and loud fiery effects.  We laughed before heading inside.

There is more to the Fourth of July than amazing firework effects, laughter, and mischief.  This is a day that we celebrate due to the fact that the Declaration of Independence was signed on this day in 1776.  Taxation without representation was only one of the main problems in the day when King George stated unfair claim over pioneers who had left his monarchy.  As a result, the very first American immigrants to this country were out of sight, but definitely not out of mind.

To this day, our independence is still under attack.  We have people trying to redefine the religious institution of marriage, we have people trying to ban gun ownership, we have corrupt politicians abusing their various powers while pretending to be true patriotic Americans.  

So I feel that Independence Day is the time to look not so much as to where we are today, but to look at where we were back in the colonial days, where we have come from and how we have come from there, and -- most importantly -- where we need to be.  We need to learn from history to better ourselves, maybe in ways that have worked in the past, maybe in fearless new ways that have yet to be tried.

No matter how you celebrate Independence Day, I feel it is important just to celebrate it.  God bless all of you.  And may you have a very happy, safe, and bright Fourth of July!

Bright Light at the End of the Tunnel!

I have finally made it to the Epilogue of my labor of love, the novel I've titled:  2018: An Uncivil War!  I started this story this past January.  And I have been more persistent than I have ever been before in any previous writing endeavor.

In the very beginning, I thought the task seemed quite daunting and would -- at the very least -- be extremely challenging.  And it has been.  But truth be known, when you -- as an artist or a writer -- come up with something that you truly feel so very strongly about, it gives you enough fuel to go the whole 10 yards.  In my case, I found many challenges and inconsistencies with the plot of my story, but I promptly addressed each one as I came to it.  And before long, the story started pretty much writing itself.  I'm not sure if this was God speaking through me or not, but I feel very satisfied with my story thus far, though I have made a list of extra things that need a tuneup.  And this is where revision and research come into play.  Of course, I have made numerous revisions and done plenty of research already, but -- being human -- I've found some flaws in my story that require me to do even more work in these areas.

As you read in one of my previous posts, I really wanted to publish the novel by the Fourth of July.  But I actually plan to pen the last chapter of my novel tonight.  But if I was to release 2018 in five days, I know in my own heart that I would not be releasing a finished product.

Would the story still be very engaging?  Perhaps.  Would it still pack a solid punch for action lovers?  Most definitely.  Does it have a definite beginning, middle, and end?  Of course.  So what is the problem?  The problem is that I have been influenced by several very popular and highly successful writers:  Ian Fleming, Stephen King, Tom Clancy, and Vince Flynn (just to name four!).  And none of these guys would have ever published an unpolished / unfinished product.  To me, if my story does not shine, then it is not finished.  So, I've decided to give myself a couple more months to add the much needed polish and fill in some of the remaining plot and research holes that need to be addressed before I upload my book to Amazon.

If a person sees my book on Amazon Kindle, I want them to know that if they pay the $2.99 asking price for it, this will be perhaps the best $2.99 they have ever spent.  Many people have asked me:  Why not charge more for your work?  Don't you feel that you have spent enough time writing it to do so?  The simple answer is that I am Phil Sanderson, not Tom Clancy or Stephen King.  The only people who have seen my name in print are Marines or Goldsboro, North Carolina residents, both who more than likely don't even remember it.  That is the cost of taking a super long hiatus from writing.  Therefore, I want to make my book even more attractive than it already is by making a very satisfying price that people will not even have to think twice about before shelling out their hard-earned money for my book.

So, in summary, I am very pleased to see very bright light at the end of the tunnel.  But I know that when I speed out of that tunnel on September 2, Labor Day 2013, I would rather do so in a shiny Aston Martin Vanquish, not a beat-up old Chevy Chevette.

My Homage to Vince Flynn

Writing can be a very intimidating past time if a writer allows it to be.

After all, if you spend so much as one or two weeks writing what you feel is the almost perfect short story, and then submit it with little to no results, then you will understand what I mean.  If you have ever received even one rejection slip -- which I have received a few in my lifetime, and have never experienced an accepted manuscript -- then I know you surely understand.  

There are so many successful writers who have books on the market that a fledgling writer often fools himself into thinking, if Stephen King can do it, so can I.  The inexperience of the writer causes him to miss the true reality of the fact that Stephen King has been honing this craft for many years before ever getting his big break with the publication of Carrie by DoubleDay in 1973.  Neither did the beginning writer realize that King also probably suffered his share of rejection slips prior to making that unmistakable mark in the writing industry.  But with experience, this same beginning writer becomes clear on this unfortunate reality:  Just because Stephen King did it, not everyone can.

Vince Flynn never accepted this intimidation experienced by many unsuccessful writers.

Even with a major handicap -- dyslexia -- he managed to successfully overcome the intimidation that had defeated so many would-be writers.  To battle this unfortunate disorder, Flynn began a strict writing and reading regimen.  He read Ernest Hemingway, Robert Ludlum, J.R.R. Tolkien, and perhaps many others.  He was determined to be a successful writer.  And it was this determination which enabled his books to become the center of my own attention as far as modern day writing is concerned.

Vince self-published his first novel, Term Limits, while working as a bartender.  The good thing about self-publishing is that there is no such thing as a rejection slip.  You simply put your novel on the market, and let supply and demand do all the rest.  There are no individuals to say yay or nay (unless you lack the capital to make it happen).  Basically, you put up or shut up.  Pocket Books published Term Limits in hardback and mass-market paperback in 1998.  This novel spent several weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, the very list that separates the truly successful writers from the unsuccessful and the moderately successful.  And from here, his legacy was cemented:  A core following of loyal fans -- myself included -- would buy every book he had ever written.

Vince Flynn is the one who gave me hope back in my own writing.

I've led an interesting -- though very unsuccessful -- life thus far.  I have made many commitments and walked out on them.  I committed myself to the Marine Corps in 1986; but after losing faith in the system after going on independent duty, I finally decided that I wanted no more part in it.  So I took my Honorable Discharge and left.  I have always come damned close to not remaining committed in my marriages, threatening to leave.  My first wife must have gotten sick of it.  She instead left me in 1996.  My current marriage sometimes sees me making similar threats, but my dearest Abby continues to help me pull my head out of my rear, so we continue to manage.  

But writing was one of the commitments I failed to stay true to, yet one of the true successes I've ever experienced in a largely unsuccessful life.  

As a senior at Woodham High School, I had just moved from Memphis, Tennessee where I had left all of my friends and family (speaking of losing commitment!), I found myself in a position to either weep about what I had left behind, or forge myself a new path encountering new friends along the way.  I did both.

For my Creative Writing class, we were tasked to write a one-act play.  The three that most impressed our teacher -- Ms. Mary Decosta -- would be performed by the Drama Class during the 7th Period for all English classes during that particular time frame.  I had written a short story titled:  Night of the Oblivious Writer.  This was a romantic and comedic fantasy about a writer who ended up living the very life as he typed it into his keyboard.  The short story had been the currently most successful one I had written for her class.  Truth be told, I procrastinated writing the play until the very night before it was due.  So I simply rewrote Night of the Oblivious Writer (as it had been on my word processor) into the one-act play format.

And Ms. Decosta loved it as well!  It ended up being one of the three plays, the last to be performed actually.  I was even allowed to skip class one day to assist in the direction of the play.  The actors chosen to perform it, one was my friend James Whisenant, all did a fabulous job.  

I had been asked to sit on the stage while the play was being performed.  Just as James stated the last two words of the play, "Cab fare!", almost everyone (if not everyone) in the audience stood up, laughing at the final punchline of the comedic ending and giving all us standing applause.  This play I wrote also got the best write-up in the newspaper, probably in large part to the great acting by James and the others.  But please don't take this as me bragging, because this has been one of my only true successes in life.  As far as my life is concerned, there is not a whole lot to brag about, other than family members who dearly love me as much as I love them.

Finally, as a Marine Corps photojournalist, I also had work published in Marines and Leatherneck Magazines, the two most popular at the time, long before everything went to the internet.  

But, back to Vince Flynn!  It was he who helped me see where my true occupational successes in life have been.  It was him who gave me hope to go ahead and throw my novel out there and see what happens.  It was him who brought me countless hours of entertainment as I read his very intriguing, engaging, and highly entertaining novels.  It was Vince Flynn who inspired me to write a story that I feel could be very important to everyone thinking about what it would be like if our government did away with our 2nd Amendment Rights.  

I credit all of this -- and maybe even more -- to Vince Flynn.

Vince Flynn passed away due to complications from stage-three prostate cancer only four days ago.  He was 47, that is only two years older than me.  I have remarked on Facebook, and even on Vince's official website, that I dreamed of someday becoming a bestselling author and having beers with Vince.  But I guess I will never see this dream come to fruition.  

Vince leaves behind his wife, Lysa, and their three children.  If you wish to donate money or cards to his family, please visit his official website:  http://www.vinceflynn.com .  

In closing, I can only say to Vince, wherever he is:  "Please save me a spot at the Writer's Bar in Heaven between you and Ian Fleming.  Thank you so much for your inspiration and truly profound and wonderful stories.  And God bless you and your family."

To Decide a Release Date

I was so ecstatic about releasing my novel on Independence Day 2013!  I figured that the subject matter -- our nation becoming free from tyranny for the second time in more than that many hundred years -- warranted such an awesome publication date, one that could be easily remembered.  But to release it on that day is still doable as far as putting out a finished, though not refined product.  In other words, the storyline will still be there, but the revisions will not be complete.  It would be similar to owning a diamond in the rough.  Sure, it's very valuable.  But it is so much prettier after it has been cut, shaped, and polished for fashionable wear.

I plan to be done with the complete first draft of the novel by July 4.  But my revision process is very detailed and thorough.  So far, after I have finished one part of the novel, I have proofread that whole part to make sure that I conveyed everything the way I meant to convey it and not left any essential items out of the text.  So far, I have done this with the first three parts of my novel.  After I complete this final part of the novel, I plan to revise it as well.

But this is not the only editing being done on the novel.  My aunt, Brenda Morgan, is kindly taking the time to proofread the novel for me as well.  This is so very important, because it is a fresh set of eyes...someone who has not already experienced the text at all.  So far, she has completed the first part of the novel.  I've yet to go through it and consider her revisions, most of which I am sure I will approve.  Right now, she is currently reading the second part.  I expect her to finish up within the next couple of weeks, at which time I will send her the third part.

The editing is a major issue, but there are also one other major issue I need to fix.  My novel will contain map diagrams showing our nation at various stages leading up to and during the 2nd American Civil War.  I tried my hand at photo editing a blank map I found, but it ended up looking like the east end of a westward-bound mule.  So I need to tighten up these graphics, and this will take time as well.

So for me to release the novel by the Fourth of July, I will be putting a novel on the market with the following flaws:

• Only half of the novel will be polished in the manner that Tom Clancy or Stephen King would have done before releasing their novels.
• Crappy, amateurish looking graphics that will not represent me in the serious manner of which I wish to be represented.

My novel is only going to cost $2.99 on Amazon Kindle.  I know that is not a lot of money.  And many of you reading this may think:  What the hell, go ahead and release it!  The readers are not paying that much anyway!  But I simply cannot release anything other than a perfect product for this very important reason:  This is my breakout novel!  This one will make or break me.

Please don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying that I'm only going to release what I feel is a perfect product only this first time.  Because that is not the case at all.  However, this first time, it is more important than ever that I get it all right!

So being that Independence Day is out of the question, I have chosen to release the novel instead on Labor Day.  After all, since the beginning of this year, this manuscript has been a true labor of love for me.  

One Head, but So Many Hats!

Lately, I've found myself handing probably at least an average of two business cards each day.  However, there was one day not too long ago that I forced myself to take 10 business cards to work with me and hand them all out.  And that was exactly what I did.

My business cards most prominently displays the name of my novel:  2018: An Uncivil War.  Underneath that is my name, Phil Sanderson, above my business occupation:  Writer and Novelist.  I also mention that the action thriller is coming this summer.

On top of this, I used to have a magnet that proudly read:

2018: An Uncivil War

A Near-Future Action Thriller by 

Phil D. Sanderson

Coming Summer 2013

It also had the very same design in the background as my business cards:  a close-up on the top part of the American Flag flapping in the breeze.  Unfortunately, someone either stole the magnet off my car (Lord knows that if that one large magnet was cut up into a lot of smaller ones, people would be able to have their children's complete art gallery on their refrigerator!), or it blew off while I was driving back home from the VA Hospital where I am currently working in Voluntary Services.  

But in addition to all of this, I am also currently hard at work on a very basic website for myself.  I will proudly announce it as soon as it is complete.  

Basically, I am quickly learning that not only do I have to wear the hat of a storyteller, marketer, and web designer, but I also have to wear the hat of a publisher.  Does it end here?  No, sir and ma'am!  When my book finally comes to print, I will have to wear the hat of a public speaker when I hold various book signings.  My public affairs experience from the United States Marine Corps should serve me well there, however.  And then, if I start earning a good and wealthy living as a novelist, I reckon I will also end up wearing the hat of a traveling reporter and maybe even adventurer, since I have that thrill-seeking and fun-loving craziness within my spirit. And who knows what other hats I will have to wear?  

So this is my first run as a hat-wearing fool.  If I offend anyone with my fashion statements, please forgive me in advance.  

From Ian, With Love

Ian Lancaster Fleming is the author I credit to being my very first inspiration for being a writer.  If it had not been for him, I probably never would have realized my dream until much later in life.  And it is far better that I learned it earlier, because it allowed me to hone very important communication skills, which would serve me well sooner rather than later.

As a teenager, I was a huge James Bond fan.  I had always seen the James Bond films with my late Dad, though I did not truly start appreciating them until much later in life.  Then I purchased the James Bond Role Playing Game and had created a huge circle of James Bond fans in the circle that played the game with me.  So I finally decided to experience the "other" world of James Bond by reading the novels that started it all.  And I have to admit that it was a learning experience for me as well as an entertaining one.

Not only did I learn the basics of how to write an intriguing and captivating story, but I also learned about history during the 40s, 50s, and 60s -- the setting in which the James Bond novels took place and influenced the events.

I have decided to go back and reread the Fleming novels from the first to his very last in an effort to allow myself to be influenced once more, but this time as a mature adult.  I'm finding that I can appreciate more things as an adult than I could as a fledgling youth.

One of the things I can appreciate about Fleming's style is his wit, not only displayed in his character dialogue, but also in his writing flair.  In Casino Royale, he actually described a fellow gambler's wife thusly:  "...with the predatory mouth of a barracuda."  Then he later described one of Le Chiffre's body guards of being exceedingly hairy:  "Bond guessed that hair covered most of his squat body.  Naked, Bond supposed, he would be an obscene object."  Maybe you have seen a similar flair in my writing.  Don't give me credit; give it to Mr. Fleming.

I sometimes feel that Ian Fleming does not get his due share of credit.  The James Bond that he described in his novels was certainly more real than the one we see in the movies.  The realistic spy, about which he wrote, actually had moments when he was paranoid and even scared at times.  You do not see this in the over-the-top cinematic James Bond characters as portrayed by various actors.  This is not to say that I do not enjoy the films; but I enjoy the novels more.  The characters as portrayed in the films -- in my humble opinion -- are simply what I call, the icing on the cake.  But when I eat cake, I often prefer to scrape the icing off and enjoy the cake for what it is and was truly meant to be.

The Importance of Music

Music helps me when I write certain scenes.  But as I write and play, I have to control the volume more so than if I were just "enjoying" the tune.  Usually, if I am writing a scene that takes place in a nightclub or bar, I will go ahead and play the same type of music that is being played within the fictionized location.  This way, I can "feel" the music, and more effectively describe it as it is flowing into my ears, being transmitted into my story via my fingertips as they pitter patter about on the keyboard.

I have a deep reverence for music.  Songwriters and music composers serve a very similar purpose as to what I serve.  They leave a permanent and lasting footprint in this world that will still be around long after they are gone.  And anyone who has taken great pains to create anything of lasting value knows the feeling of accomplishment and the thrill it gives upon completion of whatever it is he or she has created.

To write PERIOD, words, lyrics, or notes, is a way of an artist baring their soul with the world in whatever form they have chosen.  And this is why I enjoy music even as much as I enjoy the writings of my favorite writers:  Earnest Hemingway, Ian Fleming, Stephen King, Tom Clancy, and Vince Flynn.

My favorite composers are:  Ludwig von Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, John Barry, and John Williams.  My favorite jazz artists are Najee, Kenny G, and Diana Krall.  My favorite rock bands are:  Foreigner, INXS, Styx, and Nirvana.  And there are many, many more that I could go on and describe.  But I have to get ready to go into the VA hospital and help any disabled or lost veterans in need of my services.

The Life of a Novelist

I remember when I was a teenager, just having become a James Bond fan (from watching the movies), I had just heard that the movies were not the first creation of James Bond.  A fellow by the name of Ian Fleming had created the character in a series of 12 novels and two books of collected short stories in the 1950s and 1960s.  I later found out that Fleming had also written a very famous children's story called Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang.  On top of all of this, he had also written a couple of non-fiction works.  Needless to say, the author of James Bond apparently stayed very busy.

But at the time, I never realized just how busy.

The truth of the matter is that many people -- I used to count myself amongst these -- always think that the life of a novelist cannot be all that bad:  being able to stay at home and create fun stories from his own mind, going to various book signings and meeting very many cool people (many of them, devoted fans of his work), being able to set your own hours and not have to work directly for anyone else other than himself, being able to just sit back and watch the money roll in, being able to travel to all sorts of cool places with your laptop computer, etc.

But having really focused on the completion of my 2018: An Uncivil War novel has truly opened my eyes to the endeavor:  It is anything but easy; it is one of the most arduous tasks I've ever accepted in my entire life. Adding to this the fact that I've also been working a full-time job really complicates the whole process as well.

Here is the truth of the matter:  First I spent a good part of my life being influenced by the topic at hand, which was not really work, but natural inspiration.  The work did not come until I began to figure out how all of this inspiration and influence would translate into an intriguing story acted out by (hopefully) realistic characters.  Next, I had to spend countless hours trying to put together the framework, a working outline of what my story would be -- not knowing that the plot would countlessly change as I began to tell my tale.

Next came the writing of the story.  I could only go so far before I hit a wall, not knowing what I truly needed to know to make my story authentic.  Thus came the very next difficult part of my endeavor:  researching subject materials and scheduling and conducting interviews with people who could help me establish the much-needed authenticity.  In a perfect world, it would only take one contact with each person.  But as the story unfolds, I now realize that there were questions I should have asked originally, but never even realized would ever become an issue.  I'm still daunted by the fact that I have to contact some of my interview sources again.

Then came the process of creating my own book cover.  Some people hire this out.  But either way, it takes time and sometimes money.  Then came the research it took to figure out the best way to present my novel.  At first, I was only going to publish it on Amazon Kindle.  But my wife and I figured my novel would be worthy of being published in printed form.

Next, I had to find creative ways to start getting the word out about my novel, ways that I hope have been very exciting to my friends, family members, and complete strangers whom I have told about my novel.

And then came one of the biggest bears to fight in the whole process:  countless, upon countless revisions.  Thankfully, my aunt is helping me with this task.  But the extra set of eyes for which I am truly thankful does create more work and additional revisions of the text.

Finally, I have not even figured out how much work is going to be involved in successfully uploading my novel to Kindle, since this is my first flight in being a novelist.  And I am not entirely sure what to expect from AuthorHouse Publishing, who will bring my novel into a tangible printed form.  And it took a major investment in order for them to commit to this.  I will be pleasantly surprised if my novel sellswell enough to give me back the investment alone, much less any profit off of it.

In short, if being a writer is glamorous, I have yet to see it.  All I have seen thus far is a daunting amount of work.  Though I am not complaining!  I really enjoy the work.  But I just thought it would be very interesting to share with you guys the overwhelming amount of planning and implementation involved in publishing a novel.  Hopefully, 2018 will be a bestseller, and I will finally be able to enjoy some glamor for a change.  But who the heck knows?

When Hazard Becomes Opportunity

Nothing is more annoying than when you intentionally choose not to save a file, yet Microsoft Word saves the file anyway.  In this particular case, I lost four days of work on my novel.  I write my novel from two different computers:  my home desktop and my mobile laptop.

As I have been running crazily behind deadline, I have been pulling all the stops to write wherever and whenever I can.  I have been writing while working at my temporary job, which gives me plenty of leeway and downtime to do so.  And I have also been writing at home, even though I am really tired after a long day of work having pushed several veterans to different locations of a wide, expansive hospital.

So imagine my dismay at having lost four days of work in spite of intentionally taking steps to not do so.

About four days ago, I had finished updating my novel to that particular point.  However, I have always left the file open on my desktop as a constant reminder that I need to be proactive in working diligently toward my July 4 self-imposed, yet tentative deadline.  All work was saved on a USB memory stick that I constantly  switch between my desktop and laptop as I flexibly work from both computers.

But I actually had worked on my novel this past Thursday and Friday (today is Sunday) utilizing my laptop PC.  I had saved the work after both writing sessions were completed.  Then yesterday I went to the House of Java, my favorite coffeehouse, to complete a key romantic scene between two of my main characters.  Again, I saved my file before coming home.

Then when I got home, I went ahead and prepared to bring the file back up on my desktop, which still had the previously saved data up on the screen.  Naturally, I closed out the file without saving.  I even observed to see if it was going to ask me whether or not I wanted to save, and it didn't.  Next, I opened the file (which should have been the up-to-date data).  To my horror, I realized that Bill Gates' amazing Office program somehow saved the old data over the new, hereby setting me back three days toward the completion of my novel.

I was LIVID!  I did everything I could to see if there was a way that I could retrieve the old data.  And apparently there was nothing I could do.  I even wasted time trying to chat with Microsoft tech support (which ended up being about as useful as tits on a bull).

So here I sit, attempting to psych myself up to reapproach my novel.  I understand that the most successful people somehow manage to turn catastrophe into opportunity.  And this proactive nature is something I need to adopt for myself.  So instead of looking at this as time lost and effort wasted, I will instead look at this as an opportunity to rewrite what I have already written in a better and even more edgy fashion!  Here's to opportunity!

...About Bad Language

I am very blessed to have my Aunt Brenda Morgan acting as editor on my novel, 2018: An Uncivil War.  She has always been a favorite aunt of mine and has always helped to keep me on a good and moral path, even as a hyperactive child that many went so far as to even call me a Hellion.  Luckily for me, she was never one who stooped to such name calling.  She is now one of the most upstanding Christians I've ever known. 

As my editor, she has already read the entire first part of my novel and penned in corrections.  Now she is ready to tackle the second part, which I am still heavily revising on my own, first.  However, she did express one major concern in my first part:  the bad language therein.  And I expect to see many alternatives to some choice cusswords I have included in the text.

The strange thing about my work is that it is ALMOST like a Christian fiction novel, but with flaws.  I consider myself a Christian, but I also have flaws.  Any other person out there claiming to be a Christian without flaws is either deluded or lying (hopefully the former!).  Even though there are people cussing in my novel, there are also people who are worshipping and praying. 

My novel is meant to be ultrarealistic.  The bottom line is that war is a messy subject.  When people are dying all around you, the last words out of your mouth will be "heck", "darn", and "shoot" (unless you are talking about a tactical command, of course!).  This is not Harry Potter, this is more like Tom Clancy and James Bond. 

In editing my novel, I am trying to eliminate cusswords wherever possible...but only under realistic parameters.  So to those of my Christian friends and family, I value your support more than ever.  But please know that my story is not one about flowing rivers and expansive fields underneath a beautiful sun.  It is more of a story about betrayal of the government, abuse of power, and fiery landscapes.  I will try to tone the cussing down as much as possible, but not at the expense of telling a true-to-life story. 

So to those who are offended by bad language, please accept my most sincere apologies up front.  If you choose not to purchase this novel, I do not judge and persecute you.  I actually understand and respect your decision.  God bless all of you!

Novel Progress, Physical Regress

I have been hard at work on my novel for the past five months and have already completed 18 chapters.  Not bad considering that I work full-time (though the job is only temporary), have recently moved in the past month, and have sometimes battled fatigue in order to force myself to sit in front of my laptop and start typing even though I would have rather been in bed napping.

Unfortunately, I had to make some very valuable sacrifices: 

1. Time with my family
2. Time away from exercise

Naturally, the first sacrifice I have listed could have landed me in the cathouse...no, I do not mean a brothel (though I did become quite familiar with those back in the days as a strapping young Marine who visited various ports of call and actually survived to tell the tale!).  I mean an actual house that was designed for my wife's cat breeding business (we breed Cornish Rexes, a most wonderful, beautiful pure cat breed!).  But there is no A/C in said cathouse, although there is plenty of pussy prancing around (no pun intended, of course!  ;) 

Luckily, my wife and daughter have been somewhat supportive about my novel.  They could certainly be a lot worse about it.  So I am very fortunate in that regard.  :)

The second sacrifice is the one I am most worried about right now.  My weight has gone up from 240 pounds to 260, ever since I started writing 2018: An Uncivil War.  And I feel easily winded while pushing veterans around in wheelchairs in my job as volunteer at the VA.  Maybe I should call my novel:  "20 Pounds Later:  An Uncivil War".  :(

An old friend of a Marine officer I once served under used to be a fairly popular writer in his own right.  His name was Asa Baber.  Some of you out there may know him as the former editor of the Playboy Men's column.  I once read an article by him that mentioned the importance of working out regularly.  He stated that his mind was always so clear and that he literally wrote better when he'd had a good workout the morning prior.  I hate to say that I have let him down.  He passed away several years ago.  And it broke my heart. 

I actually arranged for him to be a guest speaker at the Defense Information School.  I wish that I could have been there to see him give his speech.  But my class had graduated months before.  The funny thing is that his appearance at the famed school of military photojournalism caused quite a controversial stir!  Women government employees and officers alike picketed his arrival, I heard.  But in spite of the controversy, Asa was a great guy!  I'll never forget him.

So as a wrap to this blog entry, never let writers tell you that writing is easy.  Time is a commodity that writers always have to manage well in order to keep their lives in good balance.  Maybe this is why there is a lot of single writers out there.  But I don't expect to be one anytime soon.  :o 

The Horror of Writing a Near-Future Thriller

Many who have found out about the general concept of my novel have all asked me the same question:  "Do you feel that this could really happen?".  My answer to them: Anything is possible.

If you would have asked a Southerner in 1855:  "Do you think that slavery will ever be abolished?", many would probably have answered: "No way in hell!".  Yet there were probably some who took the time to imagine different scenarios, much the way that I have done, and realized that anything WAS possible.  And when it finally came to pass, they probably loved the fact that they had been right all along (depending upon how they essentially felt about slavery).

Is it possible that our government would repeal the 2nd Amendment?  Most likely not.  I think they KNOW that they would have a Civil War on their hands if they were ever to do so.  However, given good reason (as I have included in my novel), I feel that it wouldn't be a far stretch of the imagination to see something like this happen.  The government, after all, sometimes has to answer to how this terrorism (domestic and abroad) happened on their watch.  It would not be too unlikely for them to repeal the 2nd Amendment in response to a big enough terrorism event, in which hundreds or maybe even thousands of American lives would be lost.

The whole goal of my story in 2018: An Uncivil War is to share a glimpse of what I feel America would possibly look like if the government took away our right to bear arms.  Some of you may have a different idea of what it would be like.  And I completely respect that.  But I have researched history as well as talked to key people in key positions of government in order to come up with my own personal idea of American chaos, which I proudly plan to publish on Kindle this Summer (maybe even as soon as July 4th!).

However, I am truly horrified by what I have discovered about how such an event would affect all of us.  And you may be too after you get a chance to engage upon reading my story.  God bless all of you.  And join me in praying that our government will lead us the way they were meant to, in a highly Constitutional manner.

Is the U.S. Government REALLY hoarding weapons and ammunition?

One would probably have to be living underneath a rock to have not yet heard the rumor about the government hoarding weapons and ammunition so that it is no longer accessible to the general public.  The supposed reasons for all of this hoarding vary according to whichever rumor you are hearing about.  One rumor says that the government is arming soldiers to prepare for a situation where martial law will be declared in various cities.

A few weeks ago, I ordered some ammunition from Ammo.net and took the time to chat with one of their salespersons.  I asked them if there was any truth to this rumor, and they informed me that there was no substance whatsoever.  "More people are buying more guns and ammunition," the sales professional told me. 

Backing up what he said, I just read an online article that states just as much:  http://news.yahoo.com/case-against-rumors-government-ammo-stockpiling-charts-184539661.html
According to the article, the recent mass shootings, which have been occurring in various locations within our country, have sparked a demand for people to begin arming and protecting themselves (or quite possibly preparing for their own Fruit-Loop-inspired mass terrorism attacks).

However, I am curious as to what you guys think.  Please feel to state your comments below.

2018: An Uncivil War

Ripped right from the headlines of the past and present media, 2018: An Uncivil War permits you a glimpse into what some feel may be a possible fate for our Nation.  Congress, who has always strived to maintain the delicate balance between gun rights and gun control, ends up being pushed over the edge with the single greatest domestic terrorist attack in our country's long history. 

With the families of hundreds of dead victims demanding answers, Congress decides to repeal the 2nd Amendment -- our country's proud right to bear arms.  Naturally, many in the United States do not accept it.  Furthermore, some decide that our government no longer has the right to call itself such.  And even worse, many decide to rise up and take arms against tyranny for the first time since the American Revolution. 

Within all this chaos and turmoil, two best friends who feel quite differently about gun control do their best to maintain their friendship and hold everything together while trying to do their own parts to make a difference to their different causes. 

2018: An Uncivil War will be released this Summer on Amazon Kindle, and this Fall in print via AuthorHouse Publishing.  I hope you will honor this excellent story with a place on your physical or digital bookshelves!  God bless you, and God bless America! 

Who is Phil Sanderson?



I am a former Marine Corps photojournalist who took a long break from my writing.  Throughout the years, I have dabbled with fiction. But only recently have I decided to get serious about it and attempt a go of becoming a (hopefully) bestselling author!

My mother, my wife, my aunt, and various others are supporting me in this exciting endeavor as I write my very first full-length novel:  2018: An Uncivil War.  I plan to release the novel on Amazon Kindle by Summer 2013, preferably by July 4, if at all possible.  And I also plan to publish the printed book under AuthorHouse by (hopefully) September 2013. 

I have started this blog in an effort to keep everyone posted as to my progress in completion of this project which is most dear to my heart!  From time to time, I may even feature certain subjects pertinent to the material I will be writing about.  If you have any questions whatsoever, please feel free to drop me a line or two!  ;)