Good start,I like the way that you show us the writers process. I enjoy your character development and the rhythm of your story.I can actually see how your plot parallels real life with the way Megan goes about using her resources to set up interviews and using the PIO to "Break the ice" and get the ball rolling for her interview with the fighter pilots. It is interesting to watch as you lay your foundation of your story. Please post another chapter if possible.This has the makings of a great story. Thanks for posting this!
Good read DK,One question though...Will you include a glossary of some of the zoomie terms for poor old mud puppies like me?
Gibberish to English lookup table LOL When I wrote this book, I found that knocking out the chapter first , then the next made more sense. Then I went back and cleaned up dialog, and pulled the shortcut words, so TDY became temporary duty, KIAS became knots indicated airspeed and so on. qat the same time, I format each chapter for the Kindle, and now, ePub formats. Both of which look like large blocks of text because the hidden text is - hidden. Just like HTML. In the World of the Chernyi series - a different market, I added a Military Gibberish to English look up table to the end of each of the books. : ) In both cases, I left some (or a lot) of the gibberish in, because people really do "talk funny". As do doctors, NASCAR fans, folks who fish and ham radio operators... to name just a few. Let me know if there are any specific terms that are still a blank - , I speak fairly fluent Grunt, Federal bafflegabble, and due to being stationed in MS for some time, passing Southern. I can translate the missing bits. Thanks for reading. This one was fun to write. I also tried some education bits as well - they play into the story line, as Meg's love interest, John, had been forced to bail out- inside Iraq - during GW1 ** "I can see where Megan is off of men after that," Betty said, "what a horrible little man. John has his own issues." She leaned forward, "John's girlfriend, someone he had planned on marrying once he returned from the Gulf, dumped him once it was reported his aircraft went down." Betty leaned back and sniffed, "I think the bitch had been seeing her new amour long before John was downed..." She stopped suddenly, as if just realizing what she had said. How she went on surprised Katy. "The loss of his aircraft is still classified, so that part is a mystery." Her eye narrowed, "How she treated John is no mystery. What made it all the more damnable was how John found out..." Katy couldn't help herself. "She didn't tell him herself?" "No, Dear, she didn't. The little..." Betty paused, "she made sure that she was seen with a local celebrity - bars, hot spots, that sort of nonsense. And she worked hard to ensure it made the papers. I'm certain that his captors were more than happy to share that with John." Betty said more, but Katy couldn't make it all out. Perhaps best that she didn't. It sounded an awful lot like an old school curse...** here, Megan is talking with a female C-130 pilot - ** As the foursome left the building, Megan said, "Do I get to see your baby photos?" As they flipped through the pages of the photos, the men stood over by the building and talked about something other than babies. Megan asked, "Why no wallet photos? Your baby is so cute..." Sunshine just stared at Megan, unbelieving. After some thought, she said, "Megan... You don't understand, do you?" "Understand what, Sunshine?" Her answer was cold, deadly cold - "Why would I give some bastard a tool to torture me with? Few aircrew carry personal photos, most just the minimum required paperwork. If you go down and are captured, photos of loved ones will be one the first of many things used to torment you." She took a deep breath, "So, I don't carry any - nor does Doug. It's a bad habit to get into. We both have these small albums that stay in our ground gear, we're human after all. But never on our person - ever." "Sunshine, thank you. I never..." "Look, no big. Most folks, civilians, have no clue, nor should they - this is something that just comes with the territory. Anyway - feel like something to eat? Doug and I were going to hit the burger barn before we go back to work. Join us?"** Not too heavy handed, and it is part of the back-story about John. Let me know about the slang. DKR/dkr.
DKR,the majority of the slang I understood,I too am fluent in grunt.Some of the technical zoomie terms referring to the aircraft and the working dynamics of the power plants were a bit confusing but did peak my interest.I like the fact that you added that to the story, it adds a level of interest many authors omit.I enjoy the realism of your work...Thanks!
I like it. Very smooth, flows well, and good tech info. Characters are strong, and not perfect, as it should be. Good story.
Book now on line! Yup Right here Amazon.com: Hearts True Flight eBook: D. K. RIchardson: Kindle Store
Sorry for the late reply John. Compressor stall, common in bird strikes is where the turbine blades of the engine are damaged and fail to produce thrust, or if the worst damage is up front there is not enough pressure for the turbine to work, fuel builds up, then Bang detonates. KIAS - knots indicated air speed Angels two two - sometimes Flight Level - 22 would 22K above sea level LANTIRN and SNIPER pod Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night, or LANTIRN, is a combined navigation and targeting pod system for use on the USAF's premier fighter aircraft — the F-15E Strike Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon (Block 40/42 C & D models) Electrooptical systems - the pod now has a large screens on the dash, cook really <cite class="kv">Inside View Of An F-15 Cockpit - YouTube is a viseo of a flight in an F-15. - they really do allow non pilots fly in the back....</cite> The buttons around the outside control the display - and you thought DOA was hard? As far as some officers treating enlisted like s**t - that's nothing new. I miss anything? dkr `
Thanks for the info dump.That cleared up a lot of things for me and makes your story even more interesting and adds to your plot. BTW, The 4th TFW is about 35 miles from my little cabin in the woods...I have the pleasure of watching F-15E's flying around my area on a frequent basis.
