Steffan Piper's Blog, page 3

Going to mail these two hard-copies of #SleepLikeaBabyTonight to two old-school Beta-Readers right now. You know who you are. Keep an eye out. Now it's in the capable hands of my personal Editor and early readers. Hoping to send this off to my publisher early August.
#FeelingRelieved

Tomorrow the administration plans to release some previously classified reports that were confidential and doing so for the sake of transparency, discussion and contextually, historical high ground. At the same time the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, has stated that in doing so:
“... the release of the report could lead to greater risks that is posed to US facilities and personal around the world.”
As a prior military service member whose service was at times of a classified and sensitive nature, I feel that releasing highly sensitive and caustic material into the mainstream on the guise of the moral high ground, or historical significance is lacking in wisdom, badly shortsighted and inherently dangerous to the lives of troops both currently abroad and at home.
What some civilians may or may not understand about military service is that while yes, the time and sacrifice given is completely voluntary, military members should be offered an adherence of understanding that the standards which govern the declassification of military information and those standards respected. These standards shouldn't be downgraded years after the fact, just to suit a purpose within one administration or the next.
Historically, information as sensitive as the documents that are about to be released, in the past typically had a confidential shelf-life of anywhere from twenty-five, to fifty years. This afforded active personnel to be at least away from whatever theatre of operations they were currently serving in, as well the conflicts that the documents pertained to, to be completely resolved and solidly out of the spectrum of possible continued engagement.
This is currently not the case in either of these situations. We still, at this date, have reports of SPECOPS teams engaging in rescue missions that are only yet hours old. As a rule of thumb, for every one classified mission the public bumblingly becomes aware of, likely consider another twelve that are current. Usually, many more depending upon the assets used, like whether they be human or mechanical.
Today, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is in Afghanistan bringing closure and officially ending the occupation and ground operations of the last thirteen years. The press corps, in tow, are reporting this as I write these words. From the other side of my office, I'm watching an interview on CNN, where Mr. Hagel, who is clearly not happy about the situation, is seen striding through the desert in a red button-down shirt, which seems to look like his own passive-aggressive protest. Duly noted, Sir.
The press is framing it as such, for the record:
“At the end of December, U.S. forces will end their combat role in Afghanistan and instead focus on counterterrorism missions and training, advising and assisting Afghan troops.”
So, the first day after the close of operations, the documents are made available. In the civilian world, this is exactly what the lawyers would advise their client, as to remove any culpability or trail of wrong-doing from those in-charge. The very act of waiting to release said information could likely become a litigious point later. Except that this isn't a civilian situation and this isn't the perfect world the administration is looking to retire to.
While some might say that this is a CIA venture that needs to be outed, and those responsible held-accountable, the problem that I have as a prior-serviceman is that the end result will be the dragging out of low-ranking Army enlistees and Marine Corps security personnel who will be sold as the bad apples or the ones solely to blame. Upper echelon assets will never be made available, never held-accountable and all involved, will be shifted away.
As evinced in the past, we never saw the handlers or other high ranking members who operated such programs. We never saw the people who approved the budget for those decisions. We never saw those who were receiving the intel debriefings who were either benefiting from those programs or not benefiting. What we saw were enlisted personnel, hauled out for the pillory, made entirely culpable as if every decision, every adjustment, and every new policy implementation was there's and there's alone.
I am of the belief that this declassification of material will likely spawn the same sideshow. Public outrage, congressional hearings, investigations and then the staging and demoralization of scapegoat US troops of the hour. These troops will likely be servicemen and women anywhere between an E-1 to E-6 rank status. We may even see a somewhat higher threshold of this punishment so that the public can feel better about the events. Giving some enlisted man or woman 20 years to life is what we're going to get.
What we'll also see in this debacle, is unfortunately, the death of several enlisted personal overseas, an inflammation of attacks on our overseas properties as well as many other secondary assets put unnecessarily into harms way.
One may ask, after reading such a basic and reasonable assessment, why the administration would risk creating such a firestorm that could encompass human lives?
The answer is simple when put into a current historical framework.
Hacking. Edward Snowden. Sony.
The administration feels that it would likely be better to release a redacted version of the document tomorrow, then someone else releasing a complete version of the document down the line. One does not however, guarantee the negation of the other I might add. But this is how the desperate behave. Culpability must be shifted away from day one, lest another witch-hunt catch fire. This administration clearly does not want this on their desk or within their legacy for one solitary day, regardless of life cost.
This, sadly, is a political decision and not one made for the sake of an historical argument and definitely not done for the sake of National Security.


However quiet my words may be, I would only desire that they be noted and heeded.
...

I love stumbling over and discovering quotes made by me. Thank you, Internetz, for believing that I had something relevant to add. What's most interesting, is that the top quote is from a blog post I wrote. It's good when you receive confirmation that not only are people reading what you write, but considering it.

Well, fortunately, enough time has now passed that the book has found itself getting translated. I'm very thankful to AmazonCrossing for making this happen. Being translated is probably one of the larger dreams writers have that they wish for, but rarely see happen. Cementing a film deal is probably the only thing above it, so foreign translation is nothing to take lightly.

Having seen the translation and the book cover designs, I'm very excited that the story will now be reaching a much wider audience. No release date has yet been given to me regarding the German release, but I'm thinking it will likely come out sometime either just before or just after Christmas of this year.

Before I die, I do hope to see the book translated into Spanish, as that was always one of my main desires with this story. But with enough patience and maybe a few other books that are successful, it will occur.

People have been emailing me, asking if I've been writing. Things have been difficult this year with family concerns, thus the creative endeavors have slowed. I promise to return to the page the first moment I can.

All the best ...
Steffan

You may have heard countless times in your life that authors shouldn't review their own books because it's usually an open door for a lot of gratuitous back-pattery and other forms of self-aggrandizement. I've heard that, too. And while I carefully hawk all my reviews far and wide, and have appreciated the good ones and laughed out loud at some of the bad ones, I'm going to review my own book regardless. It's a necessity and maybe a moral imperative at this point.

I need to tell myself a few things about what I'm doing that I'm not happy with, because I wish to do better, tighten up and internalize my weaknesses so I can digest them as completely as possible. Doesn't honesty always lead to growth and greater understanding?

Fugue State (2012 - Amazon Publishing) was moderately successful, earning back its advance and even made decent money during its initial release. The subject matter was that of the hero's journey told through the memoir framework of my real-life experiences through the Marine Corps during Operation Desert Storm. A lot of folks have loved the book, lauding the book with very thoughtful reviews as well as a small handful of negative ones; all of which I am thankful.

So ...

First, while the subject matter was out of the author's control as to which book he wrote first, and in which order, I'm left wondering about what exactly happened directly after the ending of the previous novel Greyhound when young Sebastien, then 12, was left recovering in bed at his grandma's house in Altoona, PA. The gap between the two books is a little too long and the reader is left to constantly wonder what happened in the eight years in between. (1)

Second, the opening section of Fugue State occurs in Eagle River, Alaska and while mesmerizing, perhaps the entire book should've taken place in this one setting and tell a more expansive story of what was going on prior to joining the Marine Corps, as I'm sure, like real-life, there was. Another hundred pages or so would've worked nicely. I would've actually liked to have had more character time with John McCandles as he was wonderfully memorable.

Third, the boot camp section was done incredibly well and honestly the high point. I found myself transported over to MCRD San Diego, 1989 the whole time both laughing out loud and nodding to myself thoughtfully. This was the book that it should've been, and highlighted better by being more compartmentalized. This could've been book two from the point where Sebastien joined, through when he returned home later in the book.

Fourth, while as the reader, and the listener of the audiobook, I understood completely what Piper was doing with the development of the sexual relationship of the character and doing so to highlight the staccato breakdown into Post-Traumatic Stress, the author might have been served better scaling back the graphic nature of the material. If no one told you this, Mr. Piper, then let me do this now. Everything has a place in the book, as does sex, just do so in moderation. Seven sex scenes in and I'm wondering if that much was warranted. While a lot of modern authors lean heavily and delve this ground, and there is no real penalty for doing so, just because you can, but that doesn't mean you have to. I did enjoy these things, but just consider my words next time. (2)

Fifth, be careful of homogeneous characters as there were a few. One lesson you could take away from  the listening of the audiobook is the realization that you should describe the sound of what each person sounds like perhaps, and build on that. Saying someone has the vocal similarity to Bill Clinton, Tom Waits, Forrest Gump, zydeco playing Cajun Dr. John, etc. can make a big difference in the variety of voice in both the head of the reader as well as the narrator in the audiobook. Something to strongly consider from here forward for you perhaps.

Six. Titles are everything, my friend. While I've heard through the internet you wanted to title this Shit Bird which would've definitely been more interesting and direct, leaning on titles that people continually showed an inability to pronounce should've been a red flag to you, good sir. Yes, I imagine you are an obsessive perfectionist, who doesn't seek perfection as much as he does grace, but you must pay attention to this stuff. Remember that day when that musician asked you what a "Fugue State" was? Yeah, that should've been enough.

Honestly, it's not a bad read and it keeps the reader glued to the page the entire way through, even at 440 plus pages. Some people couldn't put the book down from the moment they opened it and stayed awake for 24 hours doing reading binges. They even stated as much in reviews, but just remember that when you're not a household name, hitting folks with 400 pages becomes dangerous territory. Just a thought.

I loved the fact that this was a story about the author's life and that the bulk of it occurred as written. The continuing story of Sebastien Ranes is fascinating and sometimes a shock as we always learn that the differences in the lives we lead and the way we are raised can some days make the hairs on the back of one's neck stand on edge.

Well done, Mr. Piper. Please do better. Strive to continue to tell engaging stories and do so both effectively and succinctly. Look forward to reading your coming books.

Three Stars.

I can only hope that Fugue State IS NOT Steffan Piper's Pinkerton, but only time will tell.

Sincerly,

Steffan Piper / Sebby Ranes.

(1) This book is actually close to being finished and is currently titled Come Up Screaming.

(2) The Seven Hundred Dollar Raincoat, released 8.8.13, continues along the lines of being more adult in tone and content.

7 very quick points I want to make about what I learned regarding my last book. This is me being succinct, LOL.

A few surprising words of development about my Top Gun Children's book ...

Probably one of my most important videos concerning writing to date. If I were to advise myself in the past, this is what I would tell myself about Fugue State and all future writing projects. It's long, on the side of 18 minutes, but important.

Just thought I would tease you guys a little bit and offer up the preface I wrote for Waiting For Andre. This may or may not make it into the book later. These things are hard to say and you never know how people are going to react to openings like this. But I think this is a great opening for the uninitiated. 

And yes, the date at the bottom of the document is correct. The document is a rough first draft, so again, no reward for typo fishing.

All the best, hope you enjoy it. This is a gift from me to you. I have so many dedicated readers that wait patiently, I thought you folks deserved a little something for being supportive.

Steffan

http://steffanpiper.com/WaitingForAndrePreface.pdf


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