I posted something on my Facebook page regarding a kid I saw at the local Kmart. The kid was dressed in what is known as an Army Class B uniform. Pants, shoes, the light blue shirt with awarded ribbons.

My guess is the kid was ROTC and I can forgive a lot of things from the younger troopers. They are new after all and mistakes happen.

This kid though....his shirt was untucked, he wore a baseball cap (not to mention he was indoors, take your hat off! and it wasn't regulation). He slouched on the counter and strutted around with his buddy (who was in civvies).

I stood in line watching him and my wife, who can tell when her husband is doing a slow burn about something, reached over and touched my arm and quietly whispered "You're not an MP anymore, dear. Let it go."

I did. I didn't say anything and I am quite proud of the restraint I showed in not going over there and saying my piece.

Dear Kid: I don't care where you are--that uniform needs to be squared away at all times. You want to wear you, you wear it with honor. More honorable men than you have worn that uniform, so don't besmirch their memories by wearing it sloppily. I'll forgive you if you accidentally spilled ketchup on it or got a smudge...but tuck your shirt in, take off that baseball cap and show some pride. Otherwise, go back to being a civilian. The Army doesn't need you.

Here is to dreams come true.

A new publishing company has decided to publish me. Yes, faithful fans, yours truly will soon (if all goes well, the planets line up correctly, and the Good Lord willin') be a published author.

It really hasn't hit me yet. The publishing company is fledging and the founder is someone who I knew from a writer's group. He has already published some things and had some pretty impressive success.

Here's my first plug for him

www.sevenrealmspublishing.com

My first novel is expected to be out next year, tentatively May or June. To say that I'm excited is both right and wrong. There have been so many false hopes, so many letdowns on this train of the writing ordeal that my mind refuses to let me get my hopes up again.

I have no illusions. My wife and I are not figuring out how to spend the millions that we're going to make--in fact, most writers hold day jobs and those lucky enough to do it full time and get rich (the Tom Clancy's, the King's, the JK Rowlings of the world) are in a class by themselves. Like movies, most books never sell enough to make a profit which is why the print on demand is becoming a big thing.

Will you be able to buy my book? Sure. Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com are the two main sources. Ebook form will also be available for those who've discovered the newest thing.

So, Rick, if you're not expecting to get rich or hit the Times best seller list what is all the hoopla?

Gang, it's never been about money or fame. Oh sure, every writer WANTS to be rich and have the book sales and publishers and agents falling all over themselves trying to represent you, but that's not the reason you write.

You write because you enjoy it, because you have to. You write because there are characters in your head that refuse to shut up and sit down. You write because you're a writer and that's what writer's do. My John Logan character has been with me for over 20 years (my God, it's been THAT long since I was in school?) and he refused to leave me alone. He's undergone a lot of transformations. At one point he was going to be an officer in a futuristic special forces unit battling really bad aliens. Another incarnation was a retired spy living a reclusive life in the mountains of Colorado.

But the day when I sat down and wrote the first paragraph in first person and made him a former spy now eking out a living as a P.I., I had him. He came to life, fully dimensional, with his icy blue eyes and his sidekick Mason Killian tagging along. I hadn't thought about a sidekick but Killian peered at me behind those mirrored sunglasses and I decided to let him have his way and tag along.

The book that will be my debut, Survivor's Affair, has been a labor of love for me for the last six years. I can remember the beginning paragraph of the first draft. My daughter came into the living room where I was struggling to get something started. It was Jan 1st.

"Are you still working on that stupid novel?" she asked.

I admitted yes.

"I will bet you a McDonald's milkshake that you won't finish it by Christmas," she said and walked away.

I sat there for a moment, aware of the gauntlet that had been thrown down. I stared at the blank screen before me and the thought hit me that I'd tried this thing in every way except one. I am a huge Raymond Chandler fan so why not try it in first person? I did and I finished the first draft three months later.

It has undergone tremendous changes in plot and characters, endured countless rewrites, and I have driven my close friends crazy making them read the "newest version" until I'm sure each one of them wanted to strangle me. My wife has angelically endured my hours of solitude in our bedroom with my laptop or on the family PC in the living room, punching out word after word of John Logan and his world. A followup called Affairs of Men has been completed and the process of doing a final draft will soon begin even as I'm still working on my fantasy novel.

I will let you know, dear readers, when it's ready for purchase.

Dreams can come true.

A few updates on things, gang, on this Veteran's Day.

The search for the Masters has been put on hold. There have been times in my life when I've ignored what my gut was telling me and I ignored it. Not this time. Financially, it's a tough time for everyone right now and it's no different in the Nichols household. After careful thought and consultation with family and friends, the debt that I would be incurring is simply too much.

The publisher who was interested in my novel Survivor's Affair still has not gotten back to me after 6 months. Not a surprise, really--such is the typical publisher thing; however, I was told to believe that the initial read had been done and the second trip around wouldn't take so long. I'm not sure what that means...they say no news is good news, but there comes a point when you have to move on with a project. I think that's the point for me.

Lastly, Happy Veterans Day. Here's to all those who serve and protect us. If you know a vet today, thank them.

We should never forget that they put themselves in harms way and some come home with shattered bodies and shattered minds. We, as a nation and as a society, must do everything we can to give these men and women the best care possible. If we complain that the cost is too high, the bureaucracy too thick, the illnesses too severe, then we should not ask them to give themselves for us.

War comes at the highest of prices. There is the staggering cost in dollars, the destruction of property, and the cost in human lives. If we are not willing to pay the consequences of asking our young men and women to risk their lives, then we should not ask them.

Someone once asked me if I were wealthy and famous what charities would I support. Easy, there are two.

One, I would support all organizations dedicated to feeding hungry children here in America.

Secondly, I would put a lot of my efforts into veterans rights.

They had a ceremony in Jacksonville honoring local Vietnam veterans for their service. It meant a lot to those who were honored. Most of them are gray now; many have returned and adjusted, others have not fared so well. But merely recognizing and thanking them for their service meant the world to these guys.

"I don't need medals. I'd rather you just said thank you, and went on your way."

Jack Nicholson quoted that in A Few Good Men. It's true.

Thank you Veterans, those who've served and those who serve. God bless and protect you all.

I received word last night that a favorite Uncle had passed away.

Uncle Harold and I shared a passion for intellectual conversation. As a kid growing up he challenged me to open my mind and never stop learning. He had a habit of reading every article in a newspaper before he put it down. Our conversations used to cover the gamut from politics to black holes.

Harold had three kids, two of which died before he did. It had to be a tough thing--to bury one child is tough enough but two is almost incomprehensible to me. But he did it. He was married to my dad's sister for 60 plus years and he passed away last night after a long tough illness. My aunt is in frail health herself and it is another reminder that my parent's generation is dying off.

I would like to go to his funeral, to pay my respects to a man who taught me the value of thinking and reasoning things out for yourself. I probably won't get to go. Time and money won't permit. That makes me sad.

So I guess this little blog will have to do for right now. I know it's been years, Uncle Harold, since we had a good talk about things. I'll never forget you slipping me a few bucks here and there when I was a broke college kid. The act meant more to me than the money.

R.I.P.

The search for an online school continues.

Yes, I've pretty much decided to go for my Masters; now comes the decision on where to go. I've gotten a couple of good responses from schools and am awaiting an info packet from another. I've talked to a couple of people who are both working on their Masters online. I've discussed it with my family. My daughter (a student at the Univ of Florida) is excited at the prospect of me going back to school.

While I am excited at the prospect, I'm also a little worried. It's been 22 years since I graduated college (I mentioned that in my last post, I know) and I have this fear that I open up my first book on my first class and read the first paragraph and realize that I am totally lost and unprepared for school.

Most who know me say this won't happen and I want to believe that they're right. I just know that I feel it is time in my life for a change.

GO STEELERS!!!

Ok gang here is the deal: I'm 45 years old, got my B.S. in Bus Admin in 1987. Except for my time in MP school and FLW Law Enforcement Academy, and the assorted Army classes (all taught at an eighth-grade level) I haven't really been in school since.

Lately, the idea of going back and getting my MBA has been a tickle in my head, an itch that I can't quite scratch. Now I know that a lot of you might say what's the problem, go for it, I wish it were that simple.

There are some concerns:

1) Cost. Average that I've found so far--20-grand and that is an online school. Which is probably what I'd have to do. I wouldn't normally mind--it's considered a student loan and payments aren't due until 6 months after I graduate--but the idea of taking on that much debt is cary to me right now. My wife was out of work for over a year and the job she finally got is not quite what she had before. I'm holding onto this house by my fingernails.

2) Economy: I'm thinking that, let's say I get lucky and get it in 18 months. Add six months before it comes due and that's two years before I have to make a payment. Will the economy be sufficiently recovered that I could get a better job?

3) Years that have passed: It's been 22 years since I graduated. Do I have the smarts left to do this again? I know, I'm having doubts, but the years since I studied economics, management theory, and accounting have been many. Study habits have been atrophied by time and non-use. Can I get them back?

I know that a Masters would open doors for me. Maybe even get me off the two-job working thing. Perhaps make it so the wife wouldn't have to work.

I know what you're thinking. I'm in a comfort zone, although the comfort zone I'm in might suck. But it's what I know and to step out requires a big step of faith and confidence in myself and the future.

I have to decide, I guess, what scares me more. Going in debt and stepping out and going for it--or staying in the life I'm in now and being unhappy.

Any thoughts, gang, please let me know. Would love to hear from you on this.

You may never have heard of John Bernard. The retired Marine Corps First Sergeant has become a voice for the troops fighting in Afghanistan. That's because Bernard's son Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard, was killed by an RPG in Afghanistan. A picture of the dying soldier was published by the AP against his father's wishes. The furory over the photo thrust Bernard into the national spotlight.

As reported by MSNBC:

The loss of his son and the furor over the photo have given new resonance to his view that changes must be made in how the war is fought before President Barack Obama sends any more troops to battle the Taliban and al-Qaida.

"For better or for worse, I may be the face of this. That's fine," said Bernard, sitting on his porch as he drank coffee from a Marine Corps mug. "As soon as someone bigger can run with it, they can have the whole thing."

Bernard's criticism is aimed at new rules of engagement imposed by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the senior American commander in Afghanistan, five weeks before Joshua Bernard was killed. They limit the use of airstrikes and require troops to break off combat when civilians are present, even if it means letting the enemy escape. They also call for greater cooperation with the Afghan National Army.

Under those rules, John Bernard said, Marines and soldiers are being denied artillery and air support for fear of killing civilians, and the Taliban is using that to its tactical advantage. In a letter to his congressman and Maine's U.S. senators, Bernard condemned "the insanity of the current situation and the suicidal position this administration has placed these warriors in."

"We've abandoned them in this Catch-22 where we're supposed to defend the population, but we can't defend them because we can't engage the enemy that is supposed to be the problem," he said in an interview with the AP.

The military says the new rules, while riskier in the short run, will ultimately mean fewer casualties.
---From MSNBC.COM

They need to listen to this soldier, gang. We fight a determined, skilled enemy and if we go in there trying to fight a limited war we're going to get our butts handed to us. We are. Just look at the news.

Thank you First Sergeant for being a voice for our heroes. I know you may not read this but if you do, I'm deeply sorry for the loss of your son. Rest assured he's guarding Heaven's Gates now. And don't be quiet. You may the only sane voice Washington may hear.
Semper Fi.

If you'd like to read the whole article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33296515/ns/us_news-military/