Tons of Updates

A number of things to tell about today. First of all, I got my first comments on my screenplay draft. I admit they came from my wife, but she is a great help. She thought the flow was good other than two areas where I had question marks as well. Net result is that we are both feeling good about it. For now, I have put the file on both computers and onto a flash drive and will let it sit until later in the month.

For the BRATS, I have begun work on a series of books tentatively called the Pressman Chronicles. They are targetted at the 9 to 12 year old range with an emphasis on aspects of being a military dependent which will help children deal with their difference from the rest of their community(ies). I tentatively plan on the series being 10 to 14 books and am in the process of outlining them now. Please chime in if you have a particular issue which you think would be good to address. If you want to see the topics I intend to tackle currently, please shoot me an email address and I'll forward it on to you. Send me your email, press here.

For the parents, if you have checked out my writing.com posts, you may have run across Agent P. I have recieved a number of questions about when people will be able to read an actual Agent P book. First of all, thanks to everyone who has asked this question. It has been really encouraging. So perhaps it is lunacy, but I am in the process of drafting a series for Agent P books targetted at 6-9 years of age. The concept behind the books would be to help children who have just gone through the transition of learning the truth about Santa Claus. My goal is to provide them with a fun way to discover how Christmas can still be exciting and precious, even with their new perception of Santa.

The main challenge for the Pressman Chronicles and Agent P will be adjusting to the writing style needed for each age group. I am working on both of these already so I feel confident in saying that it feels like a juggling act already.

On top of these two new projects, I am laying out the outline for the first of my KrystalShield Trilogy. The first book is tentatively named Shard of Remembrance. This will be an adult fantasy series, but will deal with a main character who is a military dependent in a fantasy setting. My goal for him is to approximate some of the trials and challenges of us BRATs and look at how he deals with them.

As I stated earlier, I am committed to producing fiction for military dependants. The first step is for me to write it. Then I get to see if the editors think they are worthy of publication. I know there is enough of a market for these to be profitable, so I have no concerns there. I actually read this weekend that most science fiction books consider 20,000 novels a good sales run. I read that and thought about how many BRATs are out there. I don't think we'll have trouble convincing a publisher that this can be profitable, but that doesn't mean that I can turn in an inferior manuscript. That would not be right to them or to all of my fellow BRATs.

Time to get back to work. I fervently believe that I can finish drafts of all three of these projects by September. That is my time line.

SCRIPTFRENZY WIN!!

Well, it's official. At about 9:30 pm last night, I finished my first screenplay. Space Bugs is still the working title and I am very satisfied with how it turned out. My final word count is at 20,099 words, so just eked in. I know I created some gaps though which I will add to the script to fix. I'm going to fix the major stuff today and tomorrow and then put it up for a while. After my head clears I'll come back and edit it. I have a tentative gameplan of submitting it in September. This is dictated by wanting to let it sit on a shelf in July and then do an edit in early August. After that edit I'll let it sit for a few weeks and then do another edit in late August or early September. After that have some test readers and let it fly.

On a side note, Script Frenzy appears to have overstepped themselves. I'm not positive, but it appears that the Young Writer's program got more money than could be afforded. They are basically begging at this point and I find myself torn. On one side I don't have a problem with the donation, but on the other side it seems like I'm bailing them out. I participated in Script Frenzy specifically because it was free and I am just getting my career going. Yet now, what appears to be fiscal irresponsibility is causing them to pressure me and others to make donations. Not how I like to do business personally. I have no decisions yet, but thought I would mention that this appears to be an example of making sure you understand your limitations. If you want to make a donation, click HERE.

In other news, I am really eager to do some more work on my Agent P character. This was a fluke from Writing.com which I enjoyed thoroughly and for which I recieved a lot of positive praise. I talked about trying to push him to publication before, but never went after it. Of course, that was when my confidence level was lower. I am thinking that I will do 14 stories targetted at the 6-9 yr old age range. I'm going to sketch out what that would take and see if I can turn out a story or two.

I also turned out a 2300 word piece yesterday for an absolute write contest. I posted for feedback, but I intend to edit it today and then shelve it for two weeks. Hopefully it can go out by the end of July. I think it was a good piece, although I have no feedback yet.

On the brat front, I am pulling together ideas for a children's or young adults series where the main characters will be military brats in a fantasy setting. My thought is that their problems will be similar, but different. Whereas many others might have the brat side as a background element, my characters will have it as a focal point driving them through the story(ies). I am targetting completion of the story outlines for the end of next week.

I also recieved copies of Third Culture Kids, by David Pollock, and my copy of the book spotlighted in the information bar, Mary Weichert's Military Brats. Here's a link to David's book on Amazon:

Wow! Will wonders never cease. I was getting the link for David's book and stumbled on this one.

Someone else is helping TCKs, even if not specifically BRATs. Please note, I have never heard of this book before today, so check it out at your own risk.

Feel free to leave a comment if you have suggestions on any of these ideas.

State of Literary BRATdom in Fiction

I have changed the format considerably, but still want to keep everyone updated on my progress.

Checks in the mail for the Writing Workshop in August. I don't have any idea when I will know something on that one. I'm guessing two to four weeks.

My Screenplay is coming along nicely. We are two thirds through the month and I have about 10,000 words written so far. Although this might seem like I'm behind the curve, I have been adding about 2000 words every two days, so I am doing fine so far. The drop was mostly due to some issues last week. Don't worry, it will be finished on time.

I have also started a new story. It is tentatively called Jameson Special Op for now. I'll tweek the title later. The story is a science fiction piece which deals with a military dependant and his relationship with his father (a Colonel in the Army.) This is the true story, but in the mix the hero must deal with aliens and a situation which he finds himself uniquely qualified for.

This leads me into the relationship between these two topics. There is method to my madness, at least on this occasion. I think there is a remarkable lack of material available for the public about military dependants and our unique struggles and viewpoints. Since I am just getting started in my writing career, I am in a privileged position of being able to tailor my work around these dynamics. So that is what I'm going to become more focused on.

I will not claim that every story or book I write will deal with military dependants, but I will make a concerted effort to include our stories within my stories. There is a risk that this may not be popular, but since when did a BRAT care about not being accepted? I can deal with anything for three years.

If you are interested in some of the things that have been written to date, check out these links:



If you're like me, you look at this list and think that it is kind of sad that so many men, women, and children are underrepresented within our fictional literary world. Oh there are slight mentions where brats play a minor role here or there in other works, but the list of main characters and themes is criminally short. It should be noted that there is an increasing number of non-fiction books which are directed at military families and specifically parents in the military, not to mention autobiographies. But when you cross the line to read a work of fiction, the picking become noticeably slimmer. I can't make others fix it, so I guess I will join the few innovators who are trying to make a difference.

Who are those others? I'm working on a list of the resources which I think warrant mentioning. Hopefully I will have that finished in the next week or so.

Until then, bear with me, and keep reading.

Ideas for the Future

Had some thoughts this morning which I would welcome your opinions on.

I have seen few resources for Military Brats in my life. I have seen even fewer which attempt to help others relate to us. I am contemplating a book or a few books which would attempt to breach that gap. Maybe launch into some more indepth study as well. My mind is full of this idea, so I will work on that and get back to everyone later. Let me know what you think of the idea. And if you want to post some requests for things to include, let me know those as well.

The URGE

All of us face promptings which strike us like lightning and which move us in directions which we seldom understand, but military dependents can predict one of their's frequently.

What I'm talking about are the three year desires for massive changes. Personally this normally meant an intense desire to move, even if it was only to the next apartment. My wife just about killed me this year when the desire to move hit again after being in our house for three years. But it didn't take either of us long to figure out what was going on. Three years were up. It was time for another PCS.

The U.S. military, in their infinite wisdom, has deemed that military personnel should spend three years at a time at their duty stations, with the exception of hardship assignments (combat, posts which don't support full families, etc.) This is a recruiting point because people are told that they get to travel the world, see new places, and so on. What is not talked about is the lasting effect on the personnel's family.

As an Air Force Brat, I quickly learned this pattern. It became the most normal thing in the world to me. By the time we moved to Ray City, Georgia, I failed to fathom that some people did not moving every three years. It had become a ritual. It was a form of security for me.

Security, you wonder. I didn't mispeak myself. I meant it. You see, in my experience, human nature is to make life bearable, even in hardship. Where most people see the lost friendships and constant living out of boxes, military dependants quickly learn that moving means that their bad emotions, childhood nemesis, and other baggage will be gone soon.

Sure, constant moves meant that I could not afford to get too close to my friends as I grew up. Inevitably either their parent or mine would reach the end of their assignment and get transferred. Since individual assignments are rarely timed together, that usually meant that my 'best friend' would already have been there for a year or so and would leave in the next two years. That would leave me for a while without that friend and very possibly that friend was lost forever as their parent was assigned to California and my dad would go to Georgia or some other distant duty station. (Distant for a kid at least, remember they can't jump in the car and do a road trip yet.)

But this also means that the jerk at the pool who likes to pull my swim trunks down can only do that for, at worst, three years. If I don't like my room, chances are I will have a better one in three years. If the school I'm going to is the pits, I only... Oh, made my point already. Got it.

So fast forward, I'm now in college or my dad has retired. I don't move every three years now. But I find myself antsy at the three year point. I get angry at a broken towel rack or a section of the roof which is leaking. My friends are not as interesting to me. I have an urge to start hanging out with totally new people, almost or totally forsaking the friends I had. Maybe I decide to sell my car and go buy a new one. If I live in an apartment, I am ready to break the lease, move out, hit the road even. Job wise, the same old is now 'very old'. I'm tired of it. I want something more. Something different.

Can you point to the what prompts each of these 'random' desires?

The broken towel rack and roof are examples of problems which I feel I should not be dealing with now. I should be in a new house/apartment where I could have 'new' ones. If I had been moving I would have gotten it fixed by now so that I was ready when the time to move came.

The friends are a result of my never learning depth in our relationships. This is a direct consequence to my only allow people to get to know me on the surface. The reverse is that I only know them on the surface as well. This is kind of like making a fire with kindling. It burns hot and fast, but it will suddenly become almost extinguished.

The urge for new friendships is a response to the loss of the last group of friends. I recognize the need to have friends and so I look for more. Unfortunately I unknowingly set the friendship up for the same obsolescence as the last ones.

The car is a standard need for most military personnel when moving, especially overseas. The cost to ship the vehicle is prohibitive, so many people will sell all or all but one of their vehicles and buy new once they arrive at their new base. If this was standard practice for our parents, we begin to expect a new vehicle every three years. Mom and Dad did it, so why not me?

The apartment change is another form of the house change. Interestingly, this also relates to clutter for most of us military dependents. One of the aggravating factors for us is the accumulation of items in our living space. When we moved, especially overseas, we learned to throw away the things we didn't need or want to save space. We begin feeling cramped by the accumulation now and have no end in sight. So part of our reason for feeling better after a move is knowing that we have cleared up our clutter. Another interesting side effect is either an affinity for unpacking everything as quickly as possible or living out of boxes after a move.

Job switching is a direct correlation to what we saw in our parents. Every three years they had to get to know new co-workers and job assignments. For most of us this became glamorous and we grew to expect it. Therefor a job where the same tasks are completed repeatedly is not very interesting to us.

The bottom line is that military BRATS learn to live by this cycle. Some embrace it, taking jobs where they frequently travel or get transferred. Others try to fight it off by doing small moves around their locality. More rare, from my experience, are the people who attempt to adjust their lives to allow the stability of staying in one place. And the reason it is rare is simply that it goes against so much of what we were taught about how life is supposed to work.

Writing Workshop Coming to ATL

For those who wondered, the blog will continue to address my writing and provide resources for those aspiring authors like myself. I am just going to add information for those military brat's like myself on transitioning to/coping with the civilian world.

The major news today is my discovery that we have our very own writing workshop coming to Atlanta this fall. Dragoncon has put together a workshop with A.C. Crispin that will run the day before and the first day of Dragoncon this year. Click on the link above for specifics, but bottom line is that it will cost $140, run for two full days, and includes the option of having a short piece of writing critiqued by Ann Crispin. If you are curious about the syllabus, click here. If you have questions for Ms. Crispin, they also offer her email address which I will refrain from posting here since you can get it from them and I don't have permission to post it.

I have to see if I can make the workshop happen. Fortunately I think I can afford it, so I just have to hope there is still space. I'll let you know when I know more.

So why should I or you go to a workshop?

I have read a number of replies to this which give both sides of the coin. Here are my reasons.

1) If I'm going to write, I need to learn. This comes in many forms. To date I have read
How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Vol. 22 (article included in the book), and resources from several websites.

2) Writing has a community just like any other profession. I am currently in the lowest rank and file of that community as an 'aspiring author'. But one day I will, hopefully, be in the higher ranks with others who have transitioned. Who might I meet in that room that will make that journey with me? What can those people teach me? Will one of them be the person who rescues me from quitting after a particularly harsh criticism? Can I rescue one of them from the same fate? Bottom line is that this is a great opportunity to get to know others with the same hopes and dreams as I have.

3) Where else will I get a chance to pick the brain of someone who is where I want to be? I would be lying if I said I had read any of Ann's works (yet!) but I can see that she has been successful already. Therefore, it is helpful to get out there and learn what she can share with me.

Even if I only get one thing that helps my writing, how many stories or books do I have to sell to remake the $140 investment? For all of the markets that I look at, only one, unless it is incredibly short.

Now, I will mention that if this workshop was put on by a first time author or unknown author I would not be as eager or as willing to try it. But a legitimate pro and getting to live for a day in the writing world... Gotta go for it.

I'm including a few links to the books which A.C.Crispin has wrote. Feel free to join me in checking out a few of them.

BRAT-PACK: Handling 'PEACE'

Military brats face the same choices as every person. Many join the military since it is what they know and are comfortable with. Yet many decide that they want a change of venue. They are not necessarily sure what they are looking for, but they are sure they won't find it in the military.

This is intended for those who are trying to find a way outside the military. Maybe you even tried to serve for a while and just could not stay the course to retirement. Either way, as a DOD kid you have some unique challenges ahead.

The first thing you need to realize is that you are not wrong for how you think and feel, but the rest of the country is likely to think you are. I definitely felt culture shock as I began figuring out what I wanted to do. Several things conspired against me in this, not least of which were personal perceptions clashing with other people's perceptions.

The United States always contained some element of people who were looking for a hand-out from the government. For some people this is blatant in their welfare support or swindling the government and business through worker's compensation fraud and other means. Others are more subtle. The one that offended me the most and still bugs me are the 'peace at any price crowd'.

Those who would sacrifice our liberty for peace seem to be the most annoying and difficult hurdle for military brats because we are polar opposites to them. On some level we love the idea that our parents and friends in uniform would never get shot at or bombed, but we also recognize that without their service it is unlikely that we could be secure. When people get adamant about leaving Iraq or some other location, most brats feel the urge to defend their friends and relatives. This becomes the problem.

As your emotions boil over, you are likely to begin arguing the point with the other person. Others are likely to join in on both sides, but usually brats find themselves defending the military from a personal level rather than an emotional one. These emotions fuel the conflict and can be perceived by others as aggression, instead of the assertive forwardness which most brats have learned.

Where does this come from you ask? I'm no psychologist or scientist, but I can share my opinion.

Most of us grew up knowing that today might be the day that dad or mom gets orders to someplace where bullets could steal them from us. Every phone call might be the one that sent them to their bedroom to pack the big green bag that meant they were leaving. At some point we asked why they are willing to leave.

I'm willing to bet that your dad or mom said something like this:

'Well, its my job for one thing, but its more than that. You see, I help ensure that the United States stays strong. Its kind of like when a bully picks on someone at school. The person being picked on is a victim because the bully thinks he is stronger than the other person. If the other kid worked out or learned to fight, the bully might not pick on him. But even if the bully did pick on him, the kid would have a better chance of defending himself. So my job now is to help keep the bullies from picking on others. Sometimes those bullies pick on the US and sometimes they pick on our friends, but either way I help stop them. I stop those who are picking on the US because I don't want them to pick on you and your friends. I stop those who pick on our friends because I don't want them to think that picking on others is okay and because that's what friends do.'

Oh, the exact phrasing may have been different, or the example, but the thought underneath is still there. Our parents serve to protect people. Sometimes us, sometimes others, but always doing their part for freedom and the world.

Looking at this, it makes sense why we get upset about those who quickly demean the military and their service. But this is where our service as a military brat begins. Making a big scene at moments like these feels like the right thing to do, but in most cases this makes things worse. Discussion can potentially sway the person's opinion, but raising your voice and getting belligerent makes them defensive. When people are defensive, they rarely listen to what is being said. And if they do listen, it is too pick the topic apart, not to evaluate it. This is not a mindset that is helpful for anyone.

From an HR standpoint, this puts both people under scrutiny. I would be looking to see if this is a sign of more trouble to come. Although rare, some others would automatically move toward dismissing one or both people.

No, like it or not, the best decision is to keep your emotions under control. Try to persuade the other person if you wish, but don't give them the satisfaction of seeing you snap. Anger will only become more ammunition for them.

Unfortunately, many people in our country are unwilling to see the importance of being prepared. Rather than frustrating yourself and possibly losing your job, find people who you can associate with and/or help to understand. While this might feel like a retreat, in actuality it is a strategic withdrawal. If you can't win the battle, why waste the resources?

Touching the Past: BRATS UNITE!!

Eventful week, although not as much to do with writing as elsewhere. We travelled to South Georgia to spend time with friends and family. Not much sleep, but a good time of catching up. We visited with some old friends who I had not seen since I went to college.

Additionally, I read some information this week about making this blog better. Several things stood out to me, but the two main ones were these:

1) I need to post more often.

2) I need to do more than just talk about my week. At least, if I want to have something that will help others.

Combine these elements and you get to the point of my post. Our old friends are two retired Air Force Sergeants and their wives (one a retired sergeant herself) as well as the daughter of one of the couples. As we talked, discussion ranged to the differences between my growing up and those who are not military brats. It reinforced to me that children of those in the military need an outlet, a way to be helped with their transition to civilian life.

Let me introduce a starting resource.