Originally Posted: September 30, 2019
This germ infected me about eighteen years ago. I met the store owner who was also the mayor of a small border town in Arizona situated somewhere on the Arizona/Mexican line.
The mayor of the town said to me pointing, “You see that air force base over there, that’s a top-secret base. That’s where they developed stealth technology.”
He then said, “Know what they are working on now? Miniatures! Little bugs that have cameras as heads that can walk under doors to spy on the enemy. They have bugs that can fly into open windows, and then with a push of a button… explode.”
Fast forward to November 2007, I get into the hobby of RC model airplanes as an activity I could do with my youngest son. In the back of a national RC magazine, (Model Airplane News) I see an advertisement, about a quarter of a page, in reverse print, that read verbatim,
“UAV Fabrication Technician”
“ITT has an immediate opening for an experienced aircraft fabrication technician to work on prototyping unmanned aircraft designs. Must be experienced in composite, wood and metal fabrication, and repair technologies. A&P training desirable. Experience with home-built aircraft or large-scale scratch-built radio control model aircraft preferred. Must have minimum of 5 years of experience as RC or external UAV pilot. Experience with 5-30 HP size gasoline aircraft engines. HOBBYIST EXPERIENCE ACCEPTED, please send photos and description of projects with resume. APPLICANT MUST BE WILLING TO RELOCATE TO WASHINGTON DC AREA AND BE ABLE TO OBTAIN SECURITY CLEARANCE.
Please submit your resume to…”
At this point in my hobby, I was hooked, almost fanatical. I used to fly every day, and I became a proficient builder. I thought I wanted to write a book about the hobby and had never forgotten the mayor I met in Arizona that day, ‘top Secret air force base… miniatures… flying bugs played over and over again in my head.
And then, this ad that read, “Hobbyist experience accepted, applicant must be willing to relocate to Washington DC area and be able to obtain a security clearance.”
This blew my mind, the government was recruiting hobbyists to Washington, DC to build predator drones. The idea of a rag-tag team of everyday Joes going to Washington, DC after being recruited by the CIA wasn’t far-fetched. Before you knew it, they were stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia soon on a mission to Afghanistan to save the world.
Fast forward eleven years, that’s when I sat down to finally write the book. The first line I wrote, “Art Lemon had a very bright name, but his life wasn’t so bright.”
“The Amazing Life of Art Lemon” was born, a 69,000-word literary novel that turns into a thriller in the end. The manuscript is fully edited and ready to be discovered.
Orientation: The Amazing Life of Art Lemon
Can a person who was rejected by his natural-born parents and ostracized by the community he grew up in find a happy and fulfilled life? Yes, through the loving care of family, armed only with intellect and faith.
There are many more germs that have infected my being, one’s that I’ve been meditating on for varying times. At some point, I’ll finish my latest book and I’ll move on to the germ that has infected my imagination the most.
Germs are all around us and they infect the writer. We can’t help it. The only remedy for us it to write. Once the story is completed, the germ is finally out of the writer’s system. But there is no cure—there are always more germs that infect us.
Interested in learning more about Orientation, and other Elements of Story?
Stay tuned for more. In the meantime, have any germs bitten you? Comment below if they have—I’d love to hear about it.