rlfj: Blog

Interesting compliment from samurai: 'Nobody does tragedy like rlfj.' Thank you, though I'm not quite sure what that says about me. In one way it's sort of like being proclaimed the best serial killer. I'll have to ask my wife what that means. I'm not sure I want to know her opinion, either.

Many commented with sadness that we don't respect our veterans more when they pass. We went through this with my father when he died. He was in the Navy during WW2. Never saw any action, did his time, and got out, but we all knew he served, and we all respected him for it. When he died we got a petty officer and a boombox playing Taps. Fortunately, my nephew, an active duty Marine, was home on compassionate leave and in uniform. He took over for the PO and did the presentation of the flag to my mother. That made it very special to us.

A year later my nephew ended up in Fallujah, and my mother would pray to my father in Heaven to watch over him. That was considered odd to the rest of us, since she was really hard-core Lutheran, and we don't believe in saints watching over us. It worked, sort of. He came home from Iraq whole in body and damaged in soul, with a serious dose of PTSD.

Anyway, enjoy!

I had a lot of readers write me about the last two chapters. One gave me a technical explanation of why double jeopardy would not apply. (Leaving aside the technical details, Georgia and the United States are considered separate sovereigns for court purposes. Many thanks, really, many thanks. I like to be accurate.) One gave me a lengthy response about how what I described in Conover County would have never been allowed by various state, federal, and bar associations. All the others fell into two categories. First was "Wow! I didn't know you lived in [fill in the blank] County! You just described my home!" The second was to toss in some details, many of which focused on drugs and corruption. I did a quick edit to reflect these concerns.

What can I say about Chapter 23? Into every life some rain must fall? Longfellow said so, but I don't think he had this in mind. Anyway, enjoy - or not.

A few people have asked what my next project is. Currently I am doing an edit on all my previous stories, checking spelling and grammar and otherwise fixing them up. I'm putting them up on Bookapy in epub, mobi, and pdf formats. It might sound trivial, but A Fresh Start, for instance, had over 180 chapters and came in both XXX and PG-13 versions. This has taken weeks!

Once I finish with GR:RSC I will begin a new story. I've got an idea for one that I partially started a few years ago, but it's going to take some time. It's probably also going to be a PG-13 story, a thriller with a completely new cast of heroes and villains, and some who might be both. I can't see it coming out until the end of the year at the earliest, and probably not until next spring.

Many readers wanted to know about the steamy sex scenes I alluded to in the last blog post. Sorry about that. I had the paragraph about Grim, Kelly, and the threesome with the bank teller highlighted and accidentally hit the Delete key. Ooops!

One of my readers pointed out several problems with the scenario I wrote in the bank, pointing out all sorts of problems with what the sheriff did, the deputies' actions, lawyers, etc. Did I go a bit over the top? Sure! Most of what has happened to the Grim Reaper has been over the top. As one of my editors noted to me, the man's a shit magnet! However, does crap like this happen? Yes! I found it a strange coincidence that when I was reading my emails after dinner I was watching four Minneapolis cops get fired when one of them knelt on a suspect's neck until he died and the other three watched and did nothing. I know it's not the same thing, but it was eerie!

Anyway, Chapter 22 is mostly just follow-up to Chapter 21. Enjoy!

While some readers complained that some of my blog posts contained spoilers, several others wrote about a better way to avoid spoilers. Don't read the blog post until after you read the latest chapter! That way you won't learn about the blazing gunplay, political intrigue and corruption, and steamy sex scenes which fill this chapter! Sorry if you read this and learned what was happening, but you were warned! Enjoy!

I had a complaint that the blog postings sometimes contain spoilers. Sorry about that. I promise that Chapter 20 does not involve the Grim Reaper being hired by NASA to create a SWAT team on the International Space Station in order to protect America's space secrets from ISIS. That won't happen for at least another two chapters. I will endeavor to be better about this.

Lots of people were happy to see Grim turn down the job at M&M. Most thought it wouldn't be a good fit. I think that's right. Several thought that M&M would try harder to get him on board, but one thing to consider is that M&M runs a system. If a candidate isn't going to fit the system, they won't let him create his own system. It will be the employee being changed, not the system.

Several years ago, we sold our housing company to a national chain. They were (and are) a very successful company, but they had a system. We were wined and dined, treated wonderfully, and paid a fair price, but when the dust settled and the papers were signed, we needed to fit into their system, or else. We were a family company, but a bunch of us were let go, another bunch got a pay cut, and the rest found themselves under a corporate microscope. Like I said, the employee changes, not the system. There was a reason I retired at 63.

Anyway, Grim doesn't seem destined for a sales position, but will stay a consultant and expert. Probably for the best.