Paladin_HGWT: Blog

Only after I posted my most recent chapter, did I notice that part of one paragraph had been relocated into the middle of another.

Several kind readers have advised me of of several spelling and/or grammatical errors. No one mentioned the two rather awkward paragraphs. Just as I was finishing reviewing the chapter, a very sweet cat I was caring for for a couple of days had been batting at my computer, while I was on the phone. I thought I had fixed everything before I posted. Any-who, I have posted the re-edited chapter.

As much as I love that cat, I will avoid any further "assistance" from the cat in the future. (I only periodically "pet sit")

I greatly appreciate the corrections and other feedback I am getting, that I believe is helping me improve as a writer, as well as fixing specific errors.

The US government has released a variety of videos and comments about UAP/UFOs in the 21st Century.

UAP: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena is now the term of art. Part of the US government's AATIP: Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program.

Despite Official public statements, and the release of some extraordinary videos, there has been no "panic amongst the Masses" as depicted in many science-fiction stories or movies. It seems there really hasn't been all that much interest.

I was aware of the statements of Senator Harry Reed (D) NV, and former POTUS Obama, as well as comments by Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump, among others, before I started writing my story Aztlan Portal in late 2017. I am also sadly well aware of the general ignorance and total lack of concern about the mass atrocities in the Congo, and elsewhere in Africa.

Videos of mass murder, rape, and other startling images are easily available on the internet. Events in Africa, Tibet, or to the Uighur people in western China, while often blocked, or "erased" from the internet, are not that hard to find. A few are even shown on the evening news. Yet, if you ask most people, they aren't aware of these things. Or, at least they don't evidence any concern about such events.

This is a Major Plot Point in my story Aztlan Portal. While government (and corporate) bureaucracies would likely be concerned, and seek to "Manage" (and probably initially "Disappear") information about an "Alien Invasion" I don't think that Aliens taking over some ranches, collective farms, a few villages, and one small town in western Chihuahua state, would cause much concern.

Not even in Mexico City would there be much concern, especially because local and state authorities would likely try to minimize the seriousness of the issue. At least until they believed their was a serious threat to Them!

Bureaucrats and Politicians would, I believe, for the most part, be more concerned about being perceived as Foolish for "believing in Little Green Men/UFOs" than any "Unlikely" threat (to them).

It would require a Threat to Washington DC (9 of the 10 wealthiest counties are suburbs of DC), or NYC or LA, maybe San Francisco, Tokyo, London, Paris, or Mexico City. I'm not sure if threats to Beijing, Toronto, Brasília, or Warsaw would cause anything but local interest.

Concentration of Power has been exacerbated since the mid 1990's Paris for France, Toronto for Canada, Mexico City for Mexico, and to a lesser degree London, England, Moscow, for Russia/the USSR, and Peking/Beijing, China have been the centers of Government, Finance, and Entertainment for their nations for more than a hundred years (in some cases centuries).

In the USA, for nearly 2 centuries "The Swamp" of Washington DC, was not taken all that seriously. New York City (and to a lesser degree, Chicago) were the centers of Finance and Business. Hollywood was the "Global" center of Entertainment (notwithstanding Broadway, and some TV in NYC). Other major cities, such as San Francisco, Atlanta, Seattle, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and others had at least local prominence.

Technology has had an impact. However, between 1992 and 2012 Federal Laws have expanded more than 5000%! That's NOT counting all of the various regulations, spawned by a plethora of Federal Govt. Bureaucracies!

30 years ago or less, a local home owner or farmer would get a permit for a well on Their property from their County Govt. Now it is a Federal Matter, and takes much longer, and is more expensive. Too often NO ONE knows, let alone Understands ALL of the Federal Laws, Regulations, and Edicts, and how they interrelate.

We can look at a Tweet, Facebook post, YouTube or Tic Toc video from anywhere on Earth; however, such things rarely Concern us. Those who govern us are mostly focused on how matters effect the power structure in DC/Beijing/London/Paris/Brussels/Tokyo/Moscow/Mexico City...

Now that you have read my opinions; What Do You Think would be the result of videos about Alien Invaders in rural Mexico, or some other remote place?

There was a request made by a person who has offered some constructive criticism, and pointed out some spelling errors, "would I please post another chapter?"

I had intended to post the chapters of my story American Soldier: From Utah to Bavaria. At least the chapters up to the "D-Day" invasion of Normandy, France on June 6th, then postponed until today.

I am still not prepared to do that.

I have been assisting a friend who also posts here, he has been diagnosed with "The Big C" and this has disrupted matter for both of us.

Also, I responded to an email about Darkness Falls. I have 2 chapters I am self-editing. Darkness Falls was something I began writing when I had been waiting more than a Year to get Aztlan Portal back for the person editing it for me. They were doing a LOT of editing for Free. I was also learning about self-editing, proof reading, and other bits of writing Craft. I still have much to improve.

I hope to post the next chapter of Darkness Falls by the end of July.

I intend to keep posting 1 chapter a week of Aztlan Portal, and 2 chapters a month of Darkness Falls.

I write for at least several hours a day, 5 days a week. Editing, or writing. Not much of that is fit to post on SoL. I have a lot of unfinished material, some written while I was deployed. Other stuff written while recovering from wounds, or while in physical therapy. Some of my writing is about actual events, or closely based upon actual events. I don't know if I will ever publish those writings. I am using some of those things as inspiration for fictional stories.

Thanks to Constructive Feedback, I believe I am improving my writing and storytelling. I appreciate hearing from readers.

I appreciate the feedback I get on all of my stories. A professional editor reviewed the first 17 chapters as a favor to me, however, she admitted that she is not familiar with military technology or jargon. Despite that, I missed somethings when making corrections to these documents. Significantly fewer than when I have self-edited.

One of those errors was in the Blurb, that I was concerned would occur repeatedly throughout the story. Fortunately, it did not. Constructive Criticism is greatly appreciated! I have made corrections, and am reposting the first 3 chapters. Only one or two errors (detected so far) per chapter.

Re-reading some of the books I use for sources, I am saddened by the numbers of typos and other errors I notice. I wonder, didn't they use a proof reader or editor? It seems more common in books published since 1990. "To Error is Human, to Really Foul Up you need a Computer!"

In comparison, I have yet to discover a single error in the Order of Battle of the US Army in World War Two by Shelby L. Stanton (1984) a massive tome of more than 600 (large) pages!

If you intend to write about the US Army in WWII, I highly recommend this reference book. It provides a brief overview of the organization and subsequent reorganizations of the US Army from 1939 to 1945. Higher commands, including Armies and Corps are also given a brief overview. The over 100 Divisions (Infantry, Armored, Airborne, and Cavalry). some 500 Regiments, as well as separate Battalions, and other units.

From "Patton's" Third Army, to the "Big Red One" the 1st Infantry Division, or the "Ivy Division" (the 4th ID), the famed "All Americans" of the 82nd Airborne, and their brother paratroopers of the 101st "Screaming Eagles" made famous in "Band of Brothers" to the ill fated 106th Infantry Division, who arrived in France on 6 Dec 1944, only to be shattered on Dec 19th in the opening hours of the "Battle of the Bulge" or the supreme courage and fidelity of the various units of the Philippine Scouts who fought tenaciously primarily on Bataan and Corregidor; but elsewhere too on Luzon and the other islands of the Philippine archipelago. The 26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts) who conducted the last successful (horse mounted) Cavalry Charge in the history of US Armed Forces.

This is a reference book, there is only about 4 pages about the "Big Red One" 1st Infantry Division that engaged in ore combat than perhaps any other unit. Most other divisions only get about 2 pages. The 5307th Composite Unit, Provisional (aka "Merrill's Marauders") get a long paragraph. The 777th Field Artillery Battalion (Colored) gets only 2 lines for their 8 months in combat.

Something about the "American Way of War" may be discerned from the nearly 100 pages devoted to the US Army Corps of Engineers. Similar to the Artillery, most units only have a brief 2 line description. Combat Engineers often landed with the First Wave of Infantry during Amphibious Assaults (or even a few minutes before).

Anyway, back to Editing, Researching, and Writing as my best way to demonstrate my Appreciation of the Readers on this site.

I appreciate the feedback I get on all of my stories. A professional editor reviewed the first 17 chapters as a favor to me, however, she admitted that she is not familiar with military technology or jargon. Despite that, I missed somethings when making corrections to these documents. Significantly fewer than when I have self-edited.

One of those errors was in the Blurb, that I was concerned would occur repeatedly throughout the story. Fortunately, it did not. Constructive Criticism is greatly appreciated! I have made corrections, and am reposting the first 3 chapters. Only one or two errors (detected so far) per chapter.

Re-reading some of the books I use for sources, I am saddened by the numbers of typos and other errors I notice. I wonder, didn't they use a proof reader or editor? It seems more common in books published since 1990. "To Error is Human, to Really Foul Up you need a Computer!"

In comparison, I have yet to discover a single error in the Order of Battle of the US Army in World War Two by Shelby L. Stanton (1984) a massive tome of more than 600 (large) pages!

If you intend to write about the US Army in WWII, I highly recommend this reference book. It provides a brief overview of the organization and subsequent reorganizations of the US Army from 1939 to 1945. Higher commands, including Armies and Corps are also given a brief overview. The over 100 Divisions (Infantry, Armored, Airborne, and Cavalry). some 500 Regiments, as well as separate Battalions, and other units.

From "Patton's" Third Army, to the "Big Red One" the 1st Infantry Division, or the "Ivy Division" (the 4th ID), the famed "All Americans" of the 82nd Airborne, and their brother paratroopers of the 101st "Screaming Eagles" made famous in "Band of Brothers" to the ill fated 106th Infantry Division, who arrived in France on 6 Dec 1944, only to be shattered on Dec 19th in the opening hours of the "Battle of the Bulge" or the supreme courage and fidelity of the various units of the Philippine Scouts who fought tenaciously primarily on Bataan and Corregidor; but elsewhere too on Luzon and the other islands of the Philippine archipelago. The 26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts) who conducted the last successful (horse mounted) Cavalry Charge in the history of US Armed Forces.

This is a reference book, there is only about 4 pages about the "Big Red One" 1st Infantry Division that engaged in more combat than perhaps any other unit. Most other divisions only get about 2 pages. The 5307th Composite Unit, Provisional (aka "Merrill's Marauders") get a long paragraph. The 777th Field Artillery Battalion (Colored) gets only 2 lines for their 8 months in combat.

Something about the "American Way of War" may be discerned from the nearly 100 pages devoted to the US Army Corps of Engineers. Similar to the Artillery, most units only have a brief 2 line description. Combat Engineers often landed with the First Wave of Infantry during Amphibious Assaults (or even a few minutes before).

Anyway, back to Editing, Researching, and Writing as my best way to demonstrate my Appreciation of the Readers on this site.