Jeff Bailey - Author

An Author Reviews Stephen Hunter's Master Sniper

2020-10-01T12:43:00.009-07:00

A friend recommended Stephen Hunter books as superbly crafted thrillers. She was right. MASTER SNIPER was worth every second of reading time. The story takes place at the end of WWII. One final desperate mission to ensure the rise of the Forth Reich. Of course, there is an allied intelligence officer and his team trying to stop the ‘master sniper.’ The story has more than a ‘darker undertone’ and a final plot that will raise the hair on the nape of anyone’s neck. My advice for any reader is to make sure that they can finish the last hundred pages in one sitting before they start the last hundred pages. I wanted there to be more. I guess that I’ll just have to read his other books. For me, Stephen Hunter and MASTER SNIPER is pure five-star fun. Jeff Bailey, author of NOT ON MY WATCH.

My name is Jeff Bailey I write action thrillers inspired by real events taken from everyday news. I also infuse elements of my near 50 years of experiences in nuclear weapons, nuclear power plants and nuclear research into my stories.

Not On My Watch is about a LCpl. Casandra Sing, a Marine aviation rescue firefighter. The inspiration for Cassie's character was the stories that my granddaughter, who was a Marine Corp. aviation rescue firefighter at the time of the writing. Elements of the story are also taken from my service in the Army Nuclear Weapons Program. LCpl. Sing witnesses the murder of two U.S. Army M.P.'s and decides that is her duty to stop the murderers. The situation gets complicated when she discovers that they have also stolen two nuclear weapons.

In The Defect, I tell the story of a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant and why the government covered it up. The Defect is based on true events: The reactor accident at Three Mile Island NPS and a shooting incident at Watts Bar NPS. Some story elements come from years starting-up and operating nuclear power plants. In The Defect, I tell the story of what really happened at the power plant and why the government covered it up.

Welcome To My World

Jeff Bailey Reviews Brad A. LaMar's The Obsidian Dagger

2020-09-12T14:56:00.000-07:00

Excellent, engrossing, and so real. The Obsidian Dagger by Brad LaMar is an action fantasy that follows a family to Ireland and Scotland in search of their family roots. The teenage brother and sister find more than they bargained for. The tale is classic good versus evil with a twist that will blur the lines. I only know a little about the folklore of Ireland and Scotland, but this story seemed to be true to the legends. That made it all the more enjoyable. LaMar is a master of dialog and captured the teen-speak perfectly. I’d swear that These are the teenagers from up the street in my neighborhood. I’m glad to see that this is a series because I see a whole lot more story to tell. For me, Brad LaMar and The Obsidian Dagger is pure five-star fun.

Welcome to My World

The First Chapter of The American Pirate by Brad A. Lamar and Jeff Bailey

2020-08-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

Brad and I are collaborating on sea going saga of a teenage boy who sailed with the pirates Jean and Pierre Lafitte in the early 1800's. This is the first chapter of our book. Hope you enjoy it.

December 1814 The rope was tight around Carlos’s, neck digging into his skin and making it hard for him to breath. He wanted to take it off or at least loosen it a bit, but that was impossible with his hands bound behind his back. He tried to wriggle his wrists out of the binding, but his hands were too big, the knot was too tight. He felt it burning his skin every time he moved. The humidity didn’t help. Even though it was cooler in the cell than outside, his body still produced sweat to cool off. The sweat didn’t evaporate which left the salt to pool under the ropes and further aggravate the abrasions. “Buck up, kid,” Jean encouraged. Carlos didn’t bother to respond. He was so angry with Jean and his brother Pierre. He was also angry with himself and cursed under his breath.

Jean LaFitte

“This is the worst part, Carlos,” chimed in Pierre who stood just ahead of the teenager and Jean. “The waiting, I mean. Once the hangman pulls the lever, you won’t have to worry any longer.”

Carlos shot the elder brother a nasty look, but Carlos had other thoughts on his mind like Zelma and his parents. They couldn’t be too proud of him at that moment. He wondered if they were going to watch him die or would they choose to stay away from the crowds, the spectacle, and the embarrassment.

The young man began to gather in his nerves and look around for the first time. He was being held in a dank and dusty cell with thirty others from the brothers’ crew and a dozen other common criminals. The smell was the worst part. The mold was sour from the body castoff of years of prisoners. Carlos recognized it as the mold that got into a man and ate him from the inside out.

All the men were bound, each with a section of rope taunt around their necks.  was sorry to see that Pulson and Gregory were among them. He wished that they had escaped when they had the chance. He wished for a lot of things to be different.

All the men were bound, each with a section of rope taunt around their necks.  was sorry to see that Pulson and Gregory were among them. He wished that they had escaped when they had the chance. He wished for a lot of things to be different.

The cell door swung open and a burly, barrel-chested, sweaty guard entered the room. He didn’t say anything, but he made Carlos’s stomach turn from just his imposing stature. He symbolized death to Carlos, and Carlos did not want to die. The guard surveyed the room while chewing on his dirty fingernails, spitting a strip to his right regardless of where it would land. His lips snarled into a contorted grimace making Carlos think that it was the look he had whether he was eating, killing people, or gardening.

“Come on, move it!” the guard said grabbing a man that Carlos didn’t know by the rope around his neck. He yanked hard and the prisoner was forced to comply at first but then the bound man pulled back, trying to resist the guard. A heavy fist to the midsection took the fight out of him and the guard led the prisoner out of the cell while another massive guard latched the door behind them.

“Savages, all of them,” claimed Jean, his French accent still present though he had lost most of it during his years in America.

“So says the pirate,” Floyd said with venom.

“Proprietor, you mean.” Jean stretched his neck and jutted out his chin like he often did when the word pirate was mentioned in his presence. “I am an entrepreneur, a businessman of sorts.

”Carlos rolled his eyes and then sent his attention to the raised stage. He could see it through the large set of bars that trapped the prisoners inside but granted them a great view of their future. The guard shoved the bound man up the steps and onto the platform directly under the hangman’s beam. The guard and the hangman positioned the man on top of the trap door and then the hangman drew slack to his line by pulling a lever. The hangman, whoever he was, was an ingenious fellow, Carlos noted. He had a spool of rope threaded around his beam with a metal hook knotted to its end. He brought the hook down and baited it through a small, secure loop on the rope around the prisoner’s neck. The hangman tugged on either side of the hook to make certain it would hold. When he was satisfied the hooded man walked over to his post. He held his hand out and placed it on a second lever that would work the trap door.

Carlos never liked watching hangings. He recalled coming to a few when he was a boy, but he never wanted to watch someone suffer, no matter who they were. 

“John Douglas, you have been tried and convicted of the crimes of thievery, extortion, and debauchery. Do you have any last words or confessions?” Minister Thomas asked. 

The man only cried. People in the crowd mocked the poor guy, laughing at him.  

“May your soul rest in peace,” the preacher said as he signaled the hangman. The people cheered when the door dropped from under the prisoner’s feet. Carlos only winced. The man kicked his feet and thrashed around like a fish on a line, but that nonsense stopped after a couple of seconds. Carlos wanted to turn his head away, but he couldn’t. His mind wouldn’t allow it. That was going to be his fate. He was going to dance at the end of the hangman’s line at the ripe old age of sixteen.

Not On My Watch is about a LCpl. Casandra Sing, a Marine aviation rescue firefighter. The inspiration for Cassie's character was the stories that my granddaughter, who was a Marine Corp. aviation rescue firefighter at the time of the writing. Elements of the story are also taken from my service in the Army Nuclear Weapons Program. LCpl. Sing witnesses the murder of two U.S. Army M.P.'s and decides that is her duty to stop the murderers. The situation gets complicated when she discovers that they have also stolen two nuclear weapons.

THE OBSIDIAN DAGGER. When a mad witch with a magically crafted and frightfully powerful Obsidian Dagger threatens to obliterate humanity and overtake the magic clans of the Celtic Isles, destiny forces 17-year-old American, Brendan O’Neal, and his younger sister, Lizzie, to intervene. Joining the desperate princess of the Leprechauns, Dorian, and her two loyal companions, Rory and Biddy, they embark on a dangerous and wondrous adventure across Ireland and Scotland to thwart the witch and save mankind.

In The Defect, I tell the story of a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant and why the government covered it up. The Defect is based on true events: The reactor accident at Three Mile Island NPS and a shooting incident at Watts Bar NPS. Some story elements come from years starting-up and operating nuclear power plants. In The Defect, I tell the story of what really happened at the power plant and why the government covered it up.  

The Megalith Union. Just as life was returning to normal for Brendan as a college freshman, the hands of fate intervene and adventure besets him again in the second installment of the best-selling Celtic Mythos series. Elathan, the golden god of Celtic lore, is reborn out of the ashes of a dead king and evil witch. Through Brendan and his family, Elathan maneuvers the tendrils of destiny, seeking to gain ultimate power at the expense of all humanity. Dogged by giants, alphyns, and ruas Brendan, Dorian, Lizzie, and a new cast of characters risk it all to unravel the mystery of the ultimate foe. With Corways under attack and Brendan’s father captured by a forgotten enemy, can Brendan and his allies prevent the end of days? As the megalith union looms, Brendan and his friends must look to the past to prevent a future where Elathan reigns supreme.

Jeff Bailey Reviews Larry Rodness' OCTOBER 32nd

2020-07-27T14:17:00.003-07:00

October 32nd by Larry Rodness was an unexpectedly excellent read, to say the least. The main character, Alexander Malefant is hiding from his emotional world as a traveling insurance salesman (his real job). He goes to a small-town during Halloween to sign some new clients and things get ‘wonky’ quick. Wait until he meets the ‘witch.’ The story was superbly written and structured to keep me off the scent of the real story for as long as possible. The ending was the best part: one of the most imaginative and twisty endings I’ve read in a long time. A clever cross between Stephen King and The Twilight Zone. The last five pages made October 32nd one of my favorite reads of the year and Larry Rodness one of my favorite new horror writers. For me, five stars to Larry Rodness and to October 32nd. Buy now on Amazon.

Welcome to my world.

Pam G. reviews Jeff Bailey's NOT ON MY WATCH

2020-07-24T10:43:00.000-07:00

Pam G, "NOT ON MY WATCH by Jeff Bailey is the first book that I have read by this author. It is a military thriller that takes place in Oklahoma. Lance Corporal Cassandra Sing witnesses an event at the base’s north gate. With no way to communicate with others, she has to use her Marine training to attempt to prevent further damage.

Cassie was a compelling character and definitely someone that you could root for. The book started out with an intense situation and that suspense did not let up during most of the book. The reader gets some of Cassie’s backstory through a few flashbacks in time. Her goals were clear and her motivations seemed believable and well-drawn. There were no secondary characters with significant depth, but there was enough information on the antagonists to keep me engaged. The plot twists seemed believable and the stakes were high enough to make this a fast-paced page turner for me.

Overall, this was a dramatic, intense and absorbing novel that seemed feasible and all too real. If you enjoy military thrillers, then this [NOT ON MY WATCH] may be the next book for you."

An Author's Review of Alex Berenson's The Shadow Patrol

2020-06-26T11:15:00.002-07:00

Alex Berenson is one of my favorite thriller writers. I just finished The Shadow Patrol and it didn’t disappoint. The main protagonist, John Wells, is a CIA operative in Afghanistan with a unique skill set. He can go native in the local population and blend-in to point that he disappears. He can collect Intel and investigate where few other operatives can even go. Excellent!

One of the story aspects that I particularly like is that Berenson blends a bit of moral and ethical analysis into his characters idle times. These ‘musings’ add real depth to the back story. Of course, there is not much that I ever felt that I was reading the transcript of a Dr. Phil show. The Shadow Patrol had the feel and pace of a true CIA investigation. It was relentless.

For me, Alex Berenson and The Shadow Patrol were both five stars. Buy now on Amazon.

My name is Jeff Bailey I write action thrillers inspired by real events taken from everyday news. I also infuse elements of my near 50 years of experiences in nuclear weapons, nuclear power plants and nuclear research into my stories.

Not On My Watch is about a LCpl. Casandra Sing, a Marine aviation rescue firefighter. The inspiration for Cassie's character was the stories that my granddaughter, who was a Marine Corp. aviation rescue firefighter at the time of the writing. Elements of the story are also taken from my service in the Army Nuclear Weapons Program. LCpl. Sing witnesses the murder of two U.S. Army M.P.'s and decides that is her duty to stop the murderers. The situation gets complicated when she discovers that they have also stolen two nuclear weapons. Buy now on Amazon.

In The Defect, I tell the story of a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant and why the government covered it up. The Defect is based on true events: The reactor accident at Three Mile Island NPS and a shooting incident at Watts Bar NPS. Some story elements come from years starting-up and operating nuclear power plants. In The Defect, I tell the story of what really happened at the power plant and why the government covered it up. Buy now on Amazon.

Not On My Watch, a reading of the first pages by Jeff Bailey

2018-10-06T10:21:00.001-07:00

I originally copyrighted NOT ON MY WATCH under the title I’M A MARINE. The screenwriters who worked on the project suggested the name change to NOT ON MY WATCH and I agreed. I also added some new story elements during the name change. The screenplay is available upon request at: jeff.bailey4007@gmail.com. These are the opening pages of NOT ON MY WATCH.

The burning metal superstructure surrounding Cassie hissed at her. The cockpit of a fighter jet was tight to begin with, but once it was crumple in a crash, it was almost too snug to allow her to take a deep breath. The heat was unbearable. She inched forward, feeling her way through the swirling smoke and trying to use her diaphragm and stomach to draw her breath instead of expanding her lungs. The roar of the flames overstimulated her hearing until all sound faded to white noise. She blew out a breath and pulled herself further into the burning structure. She tried to orient herself each time the occasional flashes of light from the flames penetrated the smoke enough for her to see shadows.

Cassie, Lance Corporal Cassandra Sing, USMC, estimated that one more squeeze into the void would bring her close enough to the pilot to feel for his body. An explosion sounded nearby, shaking the structure. The metal casement seemed to close in even tighter, intensifying her claustrophobia. The explosion also added to her sense of urgency. As if aviation fire rescue wasn’t dangerous enough, Cassie was a U.S. Marine aviation fire rescue specialist. When she fought an airplane fire or rescued a pilot, there was the possibility of live bullets and bombs in the plane. The explosion meant that she had to hurry. Burning flight fuel, bullets, and bombs don’t play well together.

Cassie maneuvered onto her side and reached forward with her free hand, making it even harder to draw a breath. But, her effort was rewarded. She felt the slack face of the Marine pilot just out of sight in the darkness. She pulled the small rescue-breathing mask from the Velcro connector on the shoulder of her canvas fire jacket and fitted it over the pilot’s face. Procedures dictated that she first protect the pilot’s ability to breathe whenever there was a possible nuclear weapon or nuclear material onboard the aircraft. Aspirated radioactive metals wreak havoc on the human body. With the mask in place, she reached back down to her waist, retrieved her field knife, and cut the pilot free of his harness. The heat was beginning to leach through her fire jacket.

The pilot fell against Cassie like a sack of wet sand and pinned her head against the metal structure. The loss of that tiny bit of space compounded her growing claustrophobia. Another small shot of panic coursed through her as the adrenaline hit her blood stream. She couldn’t suppress a little scream. The roar of the fire consumed the sound. She could not give in to panic. A fellow Marine’s life was at stake. She would not falter.

After blowing out another breath, she inched her way back out the way she entered, pulling the dead-weight of the pilot behind her. Breathe, scoot, pull, breathe, scoot, pull. She had a long way to go.

As she moved, she heard the report of an incredibly loud Claxton horn from somewhere outside the burning fuselage. The flames stopped with a whispered, final puff. The smoke swirled away. The recorded roar of the fire stopped. The metal fuselage lifted off her from above and pivoted away on hinges. In relief, Cassie took a quick, deep breath. She, and the pilot next to her, turned to look up at the cloudless, blue sky above them. Both pulled off their breathing apparatus and turned their attention to the fire training NCO standing over them.

The sergeant gave one short order, “I’m terminating this confined spaces exercise. Corporal Sing fall-in with the rest of your class.”

As the NCO turned back to the rest of the class, the acting pilot jumped up and offered Cassie a hand up, which she accepted.

As he pulled her to her feet, he said with real sincerity, “Thanks for saving my butt today, Marine.”

He put his fist out at chest level. Cassie fist bumped the offered compliment, and replied with an, “Oorah.” Lance Corporal Cassandra Sing was not only smaller than most Marines, at five foot four, she was smaller than most female Marines. After the bump, she pulled her fist away quickly. She didn’t want anyone to see that her hands were still shaking.

As she took her place in ranks with her class, she dropped her fire helmet and air pack at her feet and waited for the members of the class to settle down. She also did a quick scan of the surrounding area (Marine training becomes instinctive). The fire-training facility looked like the open tarmac of a major airport: flat, hard, and barren of anything living or flammable. It seemed like she could see forever. The open countryside of Central Oklahoma was the perfect location for a military fire-training center. The nuclear weapons facilities on the other side of the base made it equally ideal for a nuclear materials fire-training center.

Cassie’s class consisted of firefighters from all five branches of the service. Some were aviation fire fighters like her. Others were trained shipboard, submarine, and even structural firefighters. The students at the school included pilots who might fly a plane with a nuclear weapon on board, medics who might treat Americans exposed to radiation, RadCon (Radiation Control) technicians who might evaluate an area or building for radiation safety, bomb squad specialists who might neutralize a nuclear weapon, and firefighters who might fight a nuclear-weapon-involved aviation fire. They all had one thing in common. They were collectively on temporary duty at the Fort Sill Nuclear Weapons Depot to learn to fight a fire when nuclear materials or nuclear weapons might be present.

Three men in uniform stood in front of the class. One was the training NCO, dressed in Army utilities, who personally supervised the day-to-day instruction. The second was the commanding officer of the training facility. He wore an immaculate, khaki office uniform. The third man was obviously an Army officer, but he wore a stereotypical civilian fire captain’s uniform.

The class training NCO spoke up. “We’re suspending the training schedule for the rest of the afternoon. Class will resume at zero seven hundred tomorrow in classroom six. Read chapter five in your training manual, Elements of Radiation Detection. There may be quiz at the start of class tomorrow. This is Base Fire Marshall McDermott. Listen up!”

The Fire Marshall didn’t waste any words. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a situation. We have an expanding grass fire on the north perimeter of the base. Normally, we only monitor a grass fire as long as it doesn’t threaten any structures or lives. This fire is quickly approaching the perimeter fence, which means that it is going to spread into the surrounding civilian countryside. That’s unacceptable. The base commander has authorized me to mobilize this fire-training class to assist the base fire brigade to fight this fire.”

Fire Marshall McDermott realized for the first time that Cassie was wearing desert style utility boots. He stopped addressing the class and focused on her, “Marine, where are your fire boots?”

Cassie snapped to attention, “Sir, the fire training locker does not have regulation fire boots in my size. I have special permission to train in utilities.”

McDermott considered this for a moment then said, “Very well, but you will avoid hot spots, is that clear.”

“Clear, sir.”

McDermott turned back to the class, “It’s time to stretch your legs, get dirty, and fight a real fire. Report to the equipment locker room and equipment-up for a grass fire. Fall-in at the staging area in ten minutes.”

McDermott abruptly turned his back to the class and started a conversation with the Training officer.

The training NCO stepped up and shouted, “Fall out!”

My name is Jeff Bailey. I write action/thrillers with a nuclear theme because I worked in nuclear related industries, from nuclear weapons to nuclear research, for fifty years. In The Defect, I tell the story of a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant and why the government covered it up. I based the story on true events. Deer Hawk Publications has scheduled to release of Not On My Watch. Not On My Watch is about a female, aviation firefighter in the U.S. Marines who witnesses the murder of two M.P.s. She decides that it is her duty to stop them. The screenplay version of Not On My Watch is available on request. Keep in mind that I write nuclear thrillers. The Chilcoat Project is about the theft of nuclear weapons secrets from a national laboratory. True events form the core of the story-line of The Chilcoat Project. The Radioactive Boy Scout is the inspiration for my current project, Wine Country, a case of industrial sabotage. The screenplay version of Wine Country is in development. I have five more thrillers story-boarded for future development.

Welcome to my World

The Entertainer Newspaper, Laura Kostad, Review of The Defect by Jeff Bailey

2017-10-08T09:03:00.001-07:00

My name is Jeff Bailey. I write nuclear thrillers for a reason, I’ve worked in nuclear related industries, from nuclear weapons to nuclear research, for fifty years. Deer Hawk Publications released my first book, The Defect in June of 2016. In The Defect, I tell the story of a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant and why the government covered it up. The Defect is based on true events. Deer Hawk Publications is scheduled to release I’m a Marine in the summer of 2017. I’m a Marine is about a female aviation firefighter in the U.S. Marines who witnesses the murder of two M.P.s. She decides that it is her duty to stop them. Keep in mind that I write nuclear thrillers. The Chilcoat Project, to be released in spring of 2018, is about the theft of nuclear weapons secrets from a national laboratory. The Chilcoat Project is also based on true events. My current project, Wine Country, is based on the true story of the Radioactive Boy Scout, but with a more sinister twist.

Welcome to my world.

Writing Realistic Backstory Characters by Jeff Bailey

2017-09-19T12:39:00.001-07:00

I write nuclear thrillers. As such, the thriller is the main story and the characters are backstory. In other genres, such as romantic comedies, recovery dramas, and memoirs, the characters are the main story and the world around them is the backstory. While characters must have a high degree of consistency in all novels, it is particularly difficult to write consistent characters as backstory when the main plot drives the majority of the story development. Every ounce of backstory development must be spot on.

I have an added impediment to believable backstory character development. I’ve been a scientist and engineer for fifty years. I know the terrorist story that I want to tell. But, I am somewhat stunted when it comes to understanding how people socially react in given situations, how they verbally share themselves, and what situations they might encounter as part of my story. For me, writing social interactions, believable dialog, and emotional motivations is as foreign as writing upside down.

I have, however, found a ways around my developmental shortcomings. The most obvious single solution is that I listen to and heed the advice of my editors, my beta readers, and my wife. These collaborators know what part of my writing leaves them wanting more. If they aren’t satisfied, my readers in general won’t be satisfied. I had to learn my second most usable character consistency tool, the thesauruses.

Negative Trait Thesaurus

I have two character development bibles: The Positive Trait Thesaurus and The NegativeTrait Thesaurus, both by writing gurus Ackerman and Puglisi. The respective references itemize an extensive range of character-associated traits. The body of the texts then provides stunningly accurate analysis of those traits, a revelation.

I have to start the process from scratch. For each protagonist, I search the index of the two thesauruses for the three positive trait and one negative trait that I feel most describes my intended character. I reverse the order for my antagonist. I pick three negative traits and one positive trait. No character should be all good or all bad. Then I read, reread, highlight, reread, and reread again the sections of the thesauruses that discusses these traits.

Positive Trait Thesaurus

As I write, I periodically review the discussions on these three traits. I need my characters to exhibit similar attributes and associated behaviors. I have flashbacks that are consistent with the possible causes list. I screen my characters’ actions to be true to the associated behaviors, thoughts, and emotions examples. If I stay within the boundaries of my four selected traits, my characters should feel true for my readers.

When my manuscript is completed, I often face one last challenge. I review the story to make sure that I’ve included enough character development to satisfy the story. After all, I’m a science nerd and thriller writer. My last story scan is focused on developing scenes that do nothing more than contribute to the character backstories. There always seems to be a couple of gaps in the flow of the scenes. I look at the examples from film and challenging scenarios sections of the thesauruses. If I mix these two sections with the main story line, a couple of new scenes seem to present themselves that are consistent with the characters that I want my reader to believe. These bonus scenes usually seem intentional and true to the overall story line.

With more than a hundred fully developed traits developed in both references, there is no end to wealth of characters that even I can develop. Even my thrillers would be ‘less than’ without backstory characters.

The Defect

Welcome to my World

ReNewzit, Behind the Scenes, by Jeff Bailey

2017-08-12T13:54:00.000-07:00

ReNewzit

A couple of weeks ago, a project that I contributed to, in a small way, was completed. The project was the short film, ReNewzit, by screenwriter and producer Randy LaBarge and director Nat Saenz of 2047 Productions. ReNewzit is a locally produced comedy short about an amazing cleaning product.

Randy LaBarge

I can’t show the actual film, yet, but I can show the ‘Behind the Scenes’ video. I know that ReNewzit proper is entered as a short film at WorldCon in Messukeskus, Helsinki,Finland, from August 9^th to the 13^th. ReNewzit is also entered in the Tri-Fi Film Festival in Richland, Washington in October. If the producer enters ReNewzit into other

Nat Saenz

film festivals, I’ll post an alert. As soon as the season’s film festivals are completed and I have permission from Nat Saenz, I’ll post a link to the film itself. It’s a crack up.

As I said, I had a small part in the production. The credits list me as a ‘Script Assistant.’ I actually spent part of my time as a ‘grip’ and part of my time carrying a clipboard and recording scene sequence information (that’s the script assistant part.)

Jeff Bailey

While I didn’t actually have a role as a writer, I learned so much that the experience was almost overwhelming. Seeing how these artists put a scene together and how much effort was applied to every detail was an education in itself. I was surprised at how much I found that I could apply to the process of writing a novel. I immediately came home after the final day of shooting and rewrote some of my chapters. I have started advising new writers to write a scene as though you were describing a movie to a blind man. I’m still applying some of what I learned to my latest project. For me, the experience was like cross-training in the sports world.

As authors, if you ever get a chance to work/volunteer on the writing and/or production of a film (of any length) with a truly professional crew, I highly recommend the experience. I can’t wait for my next opportunity to work ‘behind the scenes.’

Welcome to my World

Kira Tynan's review of The Defect

2017-07-19T16:38:00.003-07:00

Kira Tynan's review of The Defect. I really liked it I thoroughly enjoyed this book about the sabotage of an American nuclear power plant. The author has extensive experience with the subject matter and gives great detail on the events that occur before, during and after a reactor accident. The key players are identified up front. The background set up is well-defined. The book's pace is steady but swift; this was a fast, easy read with a lead character who is likeable and respect-worthy from the beginning--and bad guys who weren't quite as bad as they believed. There's even a hint of romance that was handled at an appropriate level for the type of story being told. All in all, a wonderful read with the promise of other books to follow in this series. Mr. Bailey, well done!

Books by Kira Tynan include: The Third Choice, The Red King, A Safe Place, and Dream Lover.

My name is Jeff Bailey. I write nuclear thrillers for a reason, I’ve worked in

nuclear related industries, from nuclear weapons to nuclear research, for fifty years. Deer Hawk Publications released my first book, The Defect in June of 2016. In The Defect, I tell the story of a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant and why the government covered it up. The Defect is based on true events. Deer Hawk Publications is scheduled to release I’m a Marine in the summer of 2017. I’m a Marine is about a female aviation firefighter in the U.S. Marines who witnesses the murder of two M.P.s. She decides that it is her duty to stop them. Keep in mind that I write nuclear thrillers. The Chilcoat Project, to be released in spring of 2018, is about the theft of nuclear weapons secrets from a national laboratory. The Chilcoat Project is also based on true events. My current project, Wine Country, is based on the true story of the Radioactive Boy Scout, but with a more sinister twist.

Welcome to my world.

A Writers Hint, Eliminate Adverbs, by Jeff Bailey

2017-07-06T12:29:00.003-07:00

As a writer, I have several writing defects that plague my work. The worst and most annoying is the adverb. As a novice author, I seemed to use more adverbs than I did nouns. I was a novice, what did I know.

With experience, I have learned that, at least for me, the adverb is a crutch for my laziness and an example of shoddy writing. I thought that I was intentionally leaving the explanation more open to the reader’s interpretation. No, I was just not taking the time to fully develop my character or my scene.

I didn’t realize that every adverb closes off an opportunity to write a great deal more of my story. That is, what was I trying to say or imply by the insertion of the adverb? I realized that instead of using the adverb, I should explain, ‘why’ the adverb, ‘what’ the adverb, or ‘who’ the adverb. One of two answers resulted from the question. One, if I couldn’t think of anything that had gone unsaid, I deleted the superfluous adverb. Two, if I could think of other things that I needed to say, I wrote them and then deleted the adverb. For example, if I wrote that the main character performed an act ‘quickly,’ I wondered why he needed to do it quickly. I looked for ways to show that it was quickly. Why did he do it quickly? What would have been the result if he hadn’t done it quickly? There emerged a whole new dynamic for the scene by not falling back on the adverb as a crutch.

I also realized that this didn’t stifle the reader’s imagination when reading the scene. No matter how much explanation I used, there was always room for the reader to imagine more. I found that when I gave the expanded section to my beta readers, they still imagined more in their own special way. The act of explaining more, showing more didn’t detract from their individual experiences.

The best example that I’ve found of this phenomenon was in E.L Irwin’s novel Lost and Found. In one passage, Irwin is describing a male character’s hands. I don’t have the exact wording available but this is a close approximation. She could have said that she admired his manly hands. She didn’t. She said that she admired his hands. She then spent two paragraphs describing what made the hands manly to her character. What did her character see in the traits of the man’s hands? What insights about the main character did opinion of the hands reveal? Irwin revealed a great deal of the story and the main character just describing a man’s hands. It was superb.

Now, I used the term ‘reveal’ a moment ago. I view these extra descriptions used to replace adverbs as a great place to embed a story’s reveals. Reveals are something that the reader should know about a character before it becomes necessary for the reader to know it. Indiana Jones is afraid of the snake in the plane at the start of Raiders of the Lost Ark. He says, ‘I hate snakes.’ Later in the movie, the director doesn’t have to break a fast moving scene to explain why Indiana Jones reacts the way he does wading through a sea of snakes to get to the ark.

These days, I have a writing policy about adverbs. I only allow them in a character dialog. In real life, we all use adverbs when we talk to convey those parts of our messages that are inherently understood by most people and don’t need more explanation. We talk that way. However, in telling my stories, I only allow three or fewer adverbs in a given manuscript. Even then, I have a solid reason for leaving the adverb in the passage. I sweat over it.

As a reader, see what adverbs seem to do in your readings. Imagine what more the author could have told instead of the using the adverb. For me, I have tried to eliminate adverbs in my writing. I even periodically perform a text search for the ‘ly ‘ structure and the word very. I want my stories to have the added definition.

Welcome to my World

Reveals in Story Telling by Jeff Bailey

2017-06-26T15:46:00.000-07:00

This last month, I got a crash course in the art of character reveals in crafting a story. While I seem to have instinctively known how to apply reveals in my stories, I was inconsistent and informal. Wikipedia defines the Literary Character Reveal as: ‘a plot device in narrative structure, and is the exposure to the reader or audience of a previously hidden key element of plot or of the performance.’ I already knew that, in a novel, each scene should advance the story and build to a climax. What I was missing was that each scene should also reveal some trait or truth about one or more of the characters that will be germane to the story at a time when it is inconvenient to present the reveal. The author should sprinkled the reveals throughout the story such that when presenting the big climax, the storyteller doesn’t have to break the flow of the climactic scene to reveal something important.

Don’t wait until the big fight scene in the scaffolding at the top of The Statue of Liberty to reveal that the well-grounded heroine goes blind when confronted with great heights. Don’t wait until the hero is face–to-face with a ghost holding a cat to reveal the normally stoic hero has a phobia against cats. Or in the case of the main female character in my book Wine Country, don’t wait until the big fight scene to reveal that the normally quiet, non-violent nursing student is also adept at self-defense martial arts.

If the author waits until the big scene to have the main character display what seems like incompatible traits or characteristics, the character will come off as contrived and inconsistent. I’ve seen this in many stories where a main character will do something out of character just to make the scene work thus sacrificing the character for the scene. To me, nothing ruins a story more than having a main character change colors in the middle of the story. Spock never breaks down in tears unless there is a reveal that he is allergic to onions.

Looking back over my books, I find that I did commit the sin of an unscheduled characteristic change during the climactic scene. I can repair most of them. Where possible, I will avoid this Faux Pas in the future. I now know what I’m looking for in the big scene. Anything that breaks the flow of the scene must be revealed earlier in the story.

Another minor mistake some authors make with reveals is that they try to present them all in a gush just before the climax. A skill that I see in Grisham’s and King’s books is that they spread out the reveals throughout the story to conceal them. It’s takings effort on my part to recognize their well-crafted reveals. They are subtlety presented almost as a side story.

I have added an extra layer to my use of reveals that seems to work well from the story telling point of view. First, I use The Positive Trait Thesaurus by Ackerman and Puglisi to define the three to five traits that best describe my lead character. I add one or two traits that seem to be inconsistent to my character but are essential to the story. Then I scan the Associated Behaviors and Attitudes and select one or two actions or attitudes that might be displayed by a person with each trait. This produces a complex list of reveals for each main character. I sprinkle this list of reveals across the story to build my special character. When I’m presenting the climactic scene, I don’t have to stop and explain anything and my character still comes across as consistent. For me, it works and it adds depth to my stories.

I must say one last thing about reveals. While it has added to my understanding of how to craft a story, it has also added to my pleasure in reading a story. I find myself looking for how other authors advance the story as I did before. But now, I find myself looking for what the author might be trying to reveal about the main character in preparation of the big scene. Whom is the author building? I must not be very good at it, yet. As I think back over the books I’ve read, I would have guessed one series of scenes and been completely incorrect at my assumptions. I am still pleasantly entertained by the array of surprise endings that authors can create. I like being surprised and entertained by a good read. I’m also enjoying learning how to try to foresee the surprises.

Welcome to my World

Killers of the Flower Moon, a review by Jeff Bailey

2017-05-22T08:47:00.001-07:00

I’m a fan of historical novels. I believe that the historical novel is the proper way to teach history: with the stories of the people who lived (or, in this case, died) in that history. Killers of the Flower Moon was one the best I’ve ever read. The presentation was superb, detailed, and meticulous. This is the story of a well intentioned government program to protect the Osage People that created a regional cottage industry dedicated to killing the Osage People. History buffs, conspiracy buffs, and true crime buffs will all like the story. The breadth of this tragedy astounded me. But, the last fifty pages brought home the realization that the author was able to ferret out only a small part of the story before it started to fade into time. Thank you, Mr. Grann, for preserving this part of our American story. Astonishing. Jeff Bailey, author of The Defect.

My name is Jeff Bailey. I write action/thrillers with a nuclear theme because I worked in nuclear related industries, from nuclear weapons to nuclear research, for fifty years. In The Defect, I tell the story of a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant and why the government covered it up. I based the story on true events. Deer Hawk Publications has scheduled to release of Not On My Watch. Not On My Watch is about a female, aviation firefighter in the U.S. Marines who witnesses the murder of two M.P.s. She decides that it is her duty to stop them. The screenplay version of Not On My Watch is available on request. Keep in mind that I write nuclear thrillers. The Chilcoat Project is about the theft of nuclear weapons secrets from a national laboratory. True events form the core of the storyline of The Chilcoat Project. The Radioactive Boy Scout is the inspiration for my current project, Wine Country, a case of industrial sabotage. The screenplay version is in development. I have five more thrillers story-boarded for future development.

Welcome to my World

Writing Mistakes That I've Made by Jeff Bailey

2017-05-13T15:51:00.002-07:00

I've been fortunate to work with a world class publisher, Deer Hawk Publications, and an editor for several years. They have, at times, worked me like a dog to curb some of my more egregious writing faux pas, errors that make me appear to be a rank amateur. I have a scheduled monthly faux pas correction edit that I perform to ferret out these bad habits.

Number one on my hit list is the word very. In the first manuscript that I sent to my publisher, I admit that I used the word very 248 awful times. My writing sounded like I had nothing concrete to say. As I've learned, my writing is greatly improved if I delete the word very and write why the very, what the very, or how the vary instead. Let me ask you which is more expressive, 'I love you very much' or 'I love you deeper than the deepest sea, higher that the highest mountain.' I do still include an occasional very in character dialog. People use the word in every day speech. It happens. Outside of character dialog, I limit myself to two or three very's only if the context of the story demands them.

Only use impressive vocabulary to express impressive concepts like emotions, instinctive reactions, and the human feelings behind them. Don't use contrived vocabulary to express simple concepts like he said, she said. He expounded, she confabulated just sounds pretentious and complicates the reading experience. It's cumbersome. Stretch your vocabulary where the stretch does some good like expressing the million and one emotions that can be derived from a first kiss. Simple concepts are best delivered in simple terms.

Don't use special text formatting to try to build a scene or situation. Use words to build a scene or situation. When I see italics, bold, underlining, or oversized letters used to try to bring emphasis and/or impact to the written passage all I read is the equivalent of a drum shot, snare-thunk. For me, it's like having a stage actor look at the audience, grin and nod his head after every punch line, snare-thunk. Let the reader extract whatever emphasis best fits the readers interpretation of the words. The writer should concentrate on presenting the best words to elicit reader involvement.

Here' one of my hard earned pet peeves. Adjectives and adverbs blunt creative writing. I have overused both. I now realize that the statement that adverbs are the simple instrument of the weak mind is true. Instead of using an adverb, write out what adverb was meant to convey. For instance, don't say, 'He crept quietly into the room,' say, 'He crept into the room.' Then write two paragraphs describing how he crept into the room. Use the active description to further develop the characters. 'He put his toes down first and then rolled onto his heel like he learned while in the military.' Or, 'He moved his hands in slow motion, not wanting his old joints to creak.' The best example of adjective substitution that I've ever read came from the E.L Irwin novel Lost and Found. The female lead 'noticed his hands.' The female lead did not, 'notice his manly hands.' Irwin wrote two or three paragraphs about his hands and introduced insights into their background and character in the process. Search 'ly[blank]' and see how much more effectively you can write the what or why behind the adverb or adjective.

When editing, I have a basic, but absolute rule, KISS, 'keep it simple, stupid.' There's no other single writing flaw that will lose my interest faster that a long, complicated, flowery sentence with six thoughts, four subjects, five verbs that takes eleven breaths to read it because the writer doesn't KISS before I buy the book and start to read because reading is my passion, etc., etc. Some new authors equate long complicated sentence structure with advance writing style. Bosh. True, I'm a thriller and action writer. Short, clipped sentences work for tense, action scenes. But, I think all writers would benefit from a good KISS. So, unless an author is the new Emily Bronte, complicated sentences only frustrate readers.

Mindful of the KISS principle, keep character names simple and topical. Using pretentious character names will be my last rant. I am usually put off by pretentious names that I have to take a break from the reading to try to pronounce. Go on Google and search for the common names indicative of the time period and region of the story. Pick easy names from the list. Or, as I have done on occasion, open your ancestry files and pick names from your ancestors. Either way, keep it simple. Now I did use a two line long Greek name for one of my recurring characters in The Defect. However, after I shocked the reader with this incomprehensible name, I introduced the nickname that he answers to DAX. I wanted the reader to be so happy to see the three letter name that they would not forget where it came from. And, no I won't take the time to type it out. I don't want to have to try to read it or pronounce again, either.

Six simple rules. They seem easy don't they. Trust me they're not. But I do scan for these writing errors in my current project at least once a month. But, that's just me.

My name is Jeff Bailey. I write nuclear thrillers for a reason, I’ve worked in nuclear related industries, from nuclear weapons to nuclear research, for fifty years. Deer Hawk Publications released my first book, The Defect in June of 2016. In The Defect, I tell the story of a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant and why the government covered it up. The Defect is based on true events. Deer Hawk Publications is scheduled to release I’m a Marine in May of 2017. I’m a Marine is about a female aviation firefighter in the U.S. Marines who witnesses the murder of two M.P.s. She decides that it is her duty to stop them. Keep in mind that I write nuclear thrillers. The Chilcoat Project, to be released in spring of 2018, is about the theft of nuclear weapons secrets from a national laboratory. The Chilcoat Project is also based on true events. My current project, Wine Country, is based on the true story of the Radioactive Boy Scout, but with a more sinister twist.

Welcome to my World

A review of Jeff Bailey's The Defect by Laura Kostad

2017-04-24T17:02:00.002-07:00

I am re-posting this excellent review of my book by Laura Kostad. How can I not?

Impressive Debut Novel -- will keep you on the edge of your seat! April 20, 201.

Jeff Bailey’s masterful debut novel [The Defect] takes you deep inside the belly and inner workings of a nuclear power plant and shows you how even when state of the art security is in place, nothing is ever enough to stop terrorists intent on their goal of widespread destruction. A thriller of a novel and chock full of technical detail to keep you firmly grounded in the action, it’s a hard one to put down—the desire to stay right on the heels of Brian and his team will keep you enthralled from cover to cover.

Typically, I have a bit of an aversion to stories which employ Middle Eastern terrorists attacking United States infrastructure, for the reason that I feel it perpetuates unequivocal stereotypes. However, Bailey did it right. I really appreciated the time he took to flesh out the individual members of the terrorist group, going so far as to paint a detailed picture of their backgrounds and what led them to where they are in The Defect. Although I certainly neither sympathize nor empathize with how they’ve chosen to deal with their resulting feelings, I respect them as individuals—as fellow people, and not just some stigmatized enemy, as contemporary, reductionist political rhetoric often suggests.

It's clear from the detailed account that he’s given that Bailey draws off a tremendous body of knowledge in setting the scene of his story. His precise, technical detailing of plant setup and the mechanisms utilized by the terrorist group in their attempt to destroy the plant really lends credibility and realism to this story, which is often lost or neglected in your everyday suspense/thriller. This is a book that I think will withstand the debunking of diligent readers looking to separate fact from fiction and rationalize events within the realm of possibility.

I greatly look forward to Bailey's next book, which is rumored to focus on another member of the heroic Sing family. If they’re anything like Brian, I know we’ll be in for another thrill!

Laura is a graduate of the University of Washington, specializing in English: creative writing and environmental studies. In her personal life, she is passionate about and actively pursues matters of ethics, outreach, stewardship, environmental studies, sustainability, and renewable energy.

She aspires to integrate these values into the work that she does, especially in the spheres of writing, publishing, communications, photography, freelance, environmentalism/sustainability and the outdoors/nature.

Short stories by Laura Kostad: The Vision, Enigma, Name Your Price, and Heartbeat of the Forest. Laura’s current project is a novel, The Highland Carbonado Golf Club Employee Handbook. Laura writes with the charm of Erma Bombeck and the wit Dave Barry.

My name is Jeff Bailey. I write nuclear thrillers for a reason, I’ve worked in nuclear related industries, from nuclear weapons to nuclear research, for fifty years. Deer Hawk Publications released my first book, The Defect in June of 2016. In The Defect, I tell the story of a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant and why the government covered it up. The Defect is based on true events. Deer Hawk Publications is scheduled to release I’m a Marine in May of 2017. I’m a Marine is about a female aviation firefighter in the U.S. Marines who witnesses the murder of two M.P.s. She decides that it is her duty to stop them. Keep in mind that I write nuclear thrillers. The Chilcoat Project, to be released in spring of 2018, is about the theft of nuclear weapons secrets from a national laboratory. The Chilcoat Project is also based on true events. My current project, Wine Country, is based on the true story of the Radioactive Boy Scout, but with a more sinister twist.

Welcome to my World

Cross Training For Writers by Jeff Bailey

2017-03-14T17:07:00.001-07:00

I attended an unusual meeting a few nights ago. It was a film and filmmaking development group called TRI-FI. Tri-Fi stands For the Tri-Cities Film International. It was a work development group with the mission to help develop the motion picture industry here in Washington State. The organization is quite well developed and hosts an annual international film festival in the Tri-Cities. If I remember correctly, last year there were 140 films submitted from 40 countries. It seems we have quite a burgeoning film industry in our little corner of the Pacific Northwest. It must be our clean air and wide variety of landscapes that makes our area a ‘location of choice.’ I found out that the Washington State Governor’s Economic Development Council actively supports this growing industry.

The group that met the other night was only a small part of the larger membership. The participants included a drone photographer, a sound designer, a production manager (he led the discussion), an independent filmmaker, and a screenwriter (my host for the night.) They topic of discussion was ‘pre-production planning.’ Everything from what food to have during filming to equipment requirements to location and time-of-day requirements. All the planning aimed at making the actual filming days go as smoothly as possible. I had no idea how much time the crew spent on pre-production planning.

While every aspect of the discussion was fascinating to me (the film novice), the discussions centered on the efforts of the screenwriter and the screenplay caught my interest the most. I’m a novelist. I write in a certain style and format. The ‘screenplay’ is an unexplored foreign country to me. First, I got a couple of great ideas to try at my next writer’s guild meeting. I also had an epiphany, of sorts. My idea for the writer’s guild was simple. At writer’s guild, each author reads a couple of page of his or her work aloud and then we all comment on everything that we notice from grammar to character. My pages for the next meeting contain a large measure of conversation between characters. My plan is to read the text myself, but to ask a different participant to read each character’s lines. It’s a different point of view. Just like reading text aloud will point out different editing flaws than reading text silently. The screenplay reading process may highlight different aspects of the written piece than I have noticed before.

This brings me to my epiphany. Everyone at my writer’s guild writes for the printed page. The members of the guild all have the same target in mind, the printed page. Listening to the screenwriter discuss the pre-production development of the screenplay, I realized that he focused on the presentation of the lines on the big (visual) screen not on the (quiet time) paper. I saw an extraordinary new way of expressing my written work.

I saw a potential ‘cross training’ opportunity, if you will. Athletes cross train all the time, Football linemen take ballet, and swimmers take boxing. I decided that I was going to ‘cross train.’ I am going to explore ‘writer’s cross training.’ I’m going to learn everything I can about the mindset that governs screenwriting. I don’t ever intend to become a screenwriter. I write novels. I like writing novels. I’ll let the screenwriters write screenplays.

However, I believe that understanding the whole screenwriting experience will make me a better writer of novels. Think of a famous writer who has had his books made into movies. If that writer was involved at any level or even saw the finished movie, the experience must have changed. I have no doubt that the novelist incorporates some new skills into his writing. Maybe they write with an eye for the scene. Maybe they picture the interaction of the characters better. I can’t help but believe that the experience of participating in the conversion of a book to a movie must have made some improvements in the writing process.

I will, of course, write every day. It’s what I love. Writing relaxes me. It absorbs me. However, I will also pursue a better understanding of the screenwriter’s mentality as an exploration into ‘writers cross training.’

My name is Jeff Bailey. I write nuclear thrillers for a reason, I’ve worked in nuclear related industries, from nuclear weapons to nuclear research, for fifty years. Deer Hawk Publications released my first book, The Defect in June of 2016. In The Defect, I tell the story of a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant and why the government covered it up. The Defect is based on true events. Deer Hawk Publications is scheduled to release I’m a Marine in May of 2017. I’m a Marine is about a female aviation firefighter in the U.S. Marines who witnesses the murder of two M.P.s. She decides that it is her duty to stop them. Keep in mind that I write nuclear thrillers. The Chilcoat Project, to be released in spring of 2018, is about the theft of nuclear weapons secrets from a national laboratory. The Chilcoat Project is also based on true events. My current project, Wine Country, is based on the true story of the Radioactive Boy Scout, but with a more sinister twist.

Welcome to my World

Maureen McQuerry's The Peculiars, A Review by Jeff Bailey

2017-02-19T10:14:00.002-08:00

Lena Mattacascar is different. Her feet are too big. Her hands are too long. She is, well, Peculiar. She is also on a quest, searching for the truth and her past. Lena is a stranger traveling a strange land. She finds more that she bargained for.

I just finished reading Maureen McQuerry’s fantasy novel, The Peculiars and I’m disappointed that it’s over. I came to know and empathize with the characters. They are so well developed. I found myself being concerned that they find their individual truths. I like this type of book. It naturally leads into a series. I want to know where the peculiar one goes next. I want to know what happens to her and her traveling troop. One thing that I discovered while reading The Peculiars, was that I wasn’t able to second-guess the story. The story always seemed to travel an unexpected path. I find the literary unexpected path immensely entertaining. While fantasy is not my favorite genre of books, I have always enjoyed any story that is well done and The Peculiars was exceptionally well done.

I had an opportunity meet Maureen McQuerry at a book signing, recently. All I can say is, ‘What a character.’ I discovered that Maureen and her husband are active in local theater, as well the publishing world. They seemed to be a cross between Shakespearian drama and Steam Punk whimsy. I can easily see where Mrs. McQuerry gets her inspiration for some of her minor story lines, delightful. I understand why she is a favorite in the Young Adult book genre.

Maureen Doyle McQuerry is now on my list of favorite authors and I can’t wait for the next book. I know why The Peculiars received thee YASLA Best Fiction for Young Adults Award and the Bank Street Best Book Recommendation. Of Course, I rate Maureen Doyle McQuerry and The Peculiars an easy five stars.

Other books by Maureen Doyle McQuerry: Time out of Time: Book Two: The Telling Stone, a Washington State Book Award finalist and Time out of Time: Book One: Beyond the Door, a Booklist Top Ten SF-Fantasy.

Deer Hawk Publications released my novel, The Defect, in June of 2016. The Defect is a fictionalized account of what really happened during the accident at Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Station and the reasons for the government coverup that followed. I’m a Marine is scheduled for release in May of 2017 and is based on my granddaughters service in the U.S. Marines. The Chilcoat Project is scheduled for release the next year. Jeff’s current project is Wine Country. Wine Country is based, in part, on the true story of the ‘Radioactive Boy Scout.’

Welcome to my World.

My Search For New Authors

2017-02-04T12:00:00.002-08:00

I’m a published author. I’m also an avid reader. I’ll read just about anything that is well done. Of course, I have my favorite authors; about thirty of them. However, some of the most surprising books that I’ve read lately are from authors that I’ve never heard of. Some of these books are new, or first time, authors and some are veterans that I had never encountered. The common thread is that most of them are good. I am, and have always been, on the lookout for interesting new authors as some of my trusty favorites retire, fade away or go too commercial.

My favorite way to search for a new book is to browse the stacks of a bookstore or a scan the archives of a leading bookish website. However, I have a couple of problems with most of the places and sites. One, they tend to present the most popular, fastest selling books: profit is everything. Or, two, they give the most attention to whoever pays the highest fees. I’m not looking for the most profitable books or the one promoted by the richest publisher. One type of site that I never disappoints is library sites where librarians recommend their favorite books. In short, I’m looking unbiased sources for emerging writers.

And I found a site that I particularly like, GoodReads.com and their [book] ‘giveaways’ department. The Goodreads giveaway site is free to member authors. The only expense is that the author (or the author’s agent) has to provide the giveaway prize, usually a copy of the book. Many of these giveaways are posted by struggling authors just like me. I read down through 10 pages of potential giveaways and found a couple of dozen books in genres that I like, by authors that I didn’t know. I like the covers. There was usually a synopsis and/or a profile for the author. I liked that none of the entries were there because the host paid a higher fee to be higher on the giveaway list.

I even entered many of the giveaway contests. Sure, I might not ever be the one person in 1,200 who wins an autographed copy of an interesting book, but the exercise was entertaining. I also, noted the names of several of the books and several of the authors. I’m pretty sure that I will buy some of them.

So, if you want a potential literary diamond in the rough, I recommend the GoodReads.com ‘Giveaways’ page. Happy hunting.

Editing Overused Words by Jeff Bailey

2017-02-02T16:46:00.000-08:00

When I submitted my first book to my new publisher, I was certain that she would find nothing to edit except a few minor misspellings. I was so naive. My publisher was considerate when she demonstrated her opinion. My most glaring violation of basic writing style was my overuse of the most hackneyed word in writing history, the word VERY. I have to smile on the inside every time I think about my use of the word VERY 258 times in one book. It was by far the most used word in the book.

I only used that word four times in my last book, and all four were in the colloquial speech of one of my characters. I learned to replace ‘very’ with a description of ‘why’ very. I can normally write a sentence or two (sometimes a paragraph or two, or three, or four) to paint the picture of ‘why’ very. Like one of the members of my writers guild said, “Write as though you are using brail to describe a movie to a blind man.” ‘Very pretty’ just doesn’t cut it.

For me, the best example of how not to use ‘very’ in writing was in the novel Lost And Found by E.L. Irwin. An impressionable young lady notices the hands of the male leading man for the first time.

Irwin didn’t say, ‘He had very interesting hands.’ Irwin said that, ‘He had interesting hands.’ Then she spent three paragraphs describing why they interesting to the leading woman. She wrote three paragraphs telling of every callous, stain and blemish that spoke of strength, character and honor. The passage was perfect.

Needless to say, I took notice.

I now have a new habit. Once a month, or so, as I’m writing, I take a day and I ‘search’ for a list of undesirable words in my work. I always start with the word ‘very.’ I must not recognize the word when I’m writing because it always seems to be able to sneak in somewhere. Sometimes I replace the word from a list of synonyms. Sometimes I write more in the section to ‘paint’ the word in prose. As an obsession, I eliminate the word.

I have a list of words that I try to eliminate or paint over, so to speak. Most of them can be found on these web sites. Since I’ve been cleansing my writing, I’ve been told that my writing seems tighter, more concise. I like that. Apply these sites and word changes to your work and see what you think

I, personally, was very gratified with the results.

My name is Jeff Bailey. I am the author of The Defect. I based the story line for The Defect on my years of experience building, testing, starting up, and operating nuclear power plants for the U.S. Army, private utilities, and in research. I also derived elements of the story from the true events surrounding the meltdown of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Station in Pennsylvania and the assault by a hooded gunman on the Watts Bar Nuclear Power Station in Tennessee. Deer Hawk Publications released The Defect in June of 2016. I have three more books in the publishing loop and five story-boarded.

Welcome to my World.

Winter Inspiration

2016-12-18T09:55:00.000-08:00

I'm just sitting down to write for a while on this beautiful Sunday morning. This is the scene that greets me out my picture window. It's ten degrees outside and as peaceful and still as it looks. We can't see it in the picture but it is snowing ever so slightly. I find myself watching for a deer to walk across my back yard. Deer live in this area of Washington state. I have seen them in the wilder areas of our neighborhood, but never in my back yard. One can hope. If this was Norman Rockwell's back yard, a deer would make an appearance. I look at this scene and I can't help but wonder what new and interesting things the new year will bring. I'm always surprised that the new year brings far more than I imagined. Oh well, for now it's time to write. I love getting lost in my stories. I like where the writing process takes me. As a rule, my coffee gets cold or my iced tea gets warm before I look up again. I'll see you in a few hours. Welcome to my world.

Literary/Media Agencies recommended by Jeff Bailey

2016-12-15T15:26:00.003-08:00

These are the top 200 Literary/Media Agencies active in today's marketplace, in my opinion. Copy each agency name into your search engine to find their latest Website. From there, search the ‘Agent List’ for a compatible agent. Then read the ‘Submission Guidelines.’ Before you submit a query to a prospective agency, review ‘What do Agents want?’ To which ones should you submit your project? Why, all of them.

The Knight Agency, Hartline literary Agency, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret LLC,

Donald Maass Literary Agency, The Bent Agency, Trident Media Group,

Writer’s House, Inkwell Management, ICM - Gelfman Schneider,

Foundry Literary, Folio Literary Management, Sanford J. Greenburger Associate,

Janklow & Nesbit Associates, Andrea Brown Literary Agency,

William Morris Endeavor, Level five media, The Stuart Agency, The Literary Group,

Jane Rotrosen Agency, Liza Dawson Associates, Larry Weissman Literary,

Yates and Yates Literary, Scovil, Galen, Gnosh Literary Agency, Zachary Shuster,

Ghosh Literary Agency, Pippin Properties, Waxman Literary Agency,

Victoria Saunders & Associates, Harvey Klinger, Lippincott Massie McQuilkin,

Adams Literary, Nelson Literary Agency, Fletcher & Company,

Greenhouse Literary Agency, Hornfischer Literary Management, Vigliano Associates,

Axelrod Agency, Steve Laube Agency, Janis A, Donnaud & Associates,

David Black Literary Agency, DeFiore & Company, Curtis Brown LTD.,

Lowenstein & Associates, McCormick & Williams Literary Agency,

Stimola Literary Studios, Marshal Lyon Literary Agency, Spencerhill Associates,

Loiacono Literary Agency, Newleaf Literary & Media, Nancy Coffee Literary & Media,

Park Literary and Media,

Lucinda Literary, Martin Literary Management, Davey Media Management,
Aragi Agency,The Book Group, Vicki Bijur Literary Agency, George Borchardt Inc.,

Bresnick Weil Literary Agency, Gernert Company,

Dunow Carlson & Learner Literary Agency, Friedrich Agency LLC,

Elyse Cheney Literary Agency, The Laura Dail Literary Agency,

Darhnsoff Verrill Feldman Literary Agency, Sandra Dijstra Literary Agency,

Abrams Artists Agency, Falkin Literary, Leigh Feldman,

Brick House Literary, The Fischer-Harbage Agency, Inc.

The Brandt & Hochman Literary Agency, John Hawkins Literary Agency,

Charlotte Gusay Literary Agency, McCormick Literary, The Joy Harris Literary Agency,

Andrew Lownie Library, Sterling Lord Literistics, Inc., Regal Literary,

Stuart Krichevsky Literary Management, Carol Mann Endeavor,

McCormick & Williams, Francis Goldin Literary Agency, Zoe Pagnamenta Agency,

Ayesha Pande Literary, Brandt & Hochman, Don Congdon Associates Literary,

Rees Literary Agency, The Deborah Harris Agency, Marly Rusoff Agency,

WSK Management LLC, Fifi Oscard Agency, Inc., Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency,

Tessler Literary Agency, The Gersh Agency, Renee Zuckerbrot Literary Agency,

Marsal Lyon Literary Agency, LTD., Karpfinger Agency,

Natasha Kern Literary Agency, The Angela Rinaldi Agency, Wendy Sherman Associates,

Albert T. Longden Agency, The Spectrum Literary Agency,

Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency, Julia Lord Literary Management,

Shiavone Literary Agency, Robin Straus Agency, Inc., Books and such Literary Agency,

Jody Reim Books Inc., Laura Langlie Agency, Linnan Literary Agency,

Jane Chelius Literary Agency, Beverly Slopen Agency,

Aaron Priest Literary Agency, Victoria Sanders & Associates, The Seymore Agency,

Fineprint Literary Management, The Michael Choate Agency, The Lotts Agency,

Chase Literary Agency, Anne McDermid & Associates,

Fredrica S. Friedman & Company, Carolyn Swayze Literary Agency,

Emilie Stewart Literary Agency, Anderson Literary Management, Mendel Media Group,

The Paradigm Agency, The Fortune Agency, Stonesong, Wales Literary Agency,

Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency, William Clark & Associates, The Gerecke Agency,

Paul S. Levine Literary Agency, Grosvenor Literary Agency, Amy Rennert Agency,

Bond Literary Agency, Sheree Bykofsky Associates, Gina MacCoby Literary Agency,

Bradford Literary Agency, Sobel Weber Associates, Jonathan Pegg Literary Agency,

BJ Robins Literary Agency, Irene Goodman Literary Agency, Tridaus Literary Agency,

Loretta Barrett Books, Nicholas Ellison Agency, Venture Literary,

Wordserve Literary Service, The Fielding Agency, Sarah Jane Freeman Literary Agency,

Howard Morhain Literary Agency, Emma Sweeny Agency,

Helen Zimmermann Agency, Barbara Braun Associates, Dunlow Carlson & Lerner,

ABM Literary Management, Aponte Literary Agency, The Scribe Agency,

Fox Literary, Brandon & Associates Literary Agency, The Prospect Agency,

Talcott Notch Literary, Stringer Literary Agency, McGinnes & Associates,

Alicka Pistek Literary Associates, Carnicelli Literary Management, Forward Literary,

Judith Riven Literary Agency, Upstart Crow Literary,

Meredith Bernstein Literary Agency, Corvisisiero Literary Agency,

Renaissance Literary and Takent, Betsy Amster Literary Entertainment,

The McCarthey Agency, Pamela Ahearn Agency, Darley Anderson Literary,

Jill Grosjean Agency, Barer Literary, Andy Ross Agency,

Denise Shannon Agency, Aitkin Alexander, Dominick Abel Literary Agency,

Cornerstone Literary, Joelle Delboorgo Associates,

Pinder Lane & Garon Associates, Einstein Thompson Agency,

Hannigan Salky Getzer Agency, Maria Carvainis Agency,

3 Seas Literary Agency, The Richard Henshaw Group, McIntosh & Otis,

Markson Thoma Literary, Margaret McBride Literary Agency,

Phillip G Spitzer Literary Agency, Arcadia, Nancy Yost Literary Agency,

E-mail me at jeff.bailey4007@gmail.com to suggest an addition or deletion from this list.

I write nuclear terrorist novels for a reason. I worked in nuclear related technologies of one description or another for forty-five years. My first U.S. Army assignment at nineteen years old was to repair maintain nuclear weapons at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. In 2012, I retired from the science staff of a national laboratory, after seventeen years. In the years in between, I built, initially started, or operated a variety of nuclear power and research reactors. While I infuse my nuclear resume into my stories, I base the stories themselves on true events from everyday news items.

Welcome to My World

Early Reader Reviews for I'm A Marine by Jeff Bailey

2016-12-04T16:22:00.001-08:00

Derek said, “This book [I’m a Marine] should be made into a movie. The action doesn’t stop.”

Anonymous wrote, “Timely book. I see today’s world in the story. Well done.”

Charonne from Oregon said, "Jeff Bailey is to the nuclear thriller what John Grisham is to the law thriller or Robin Cook is to the medical thriller."

Ray from Kennewick said, “I normally read westerns, but I’m A Marine was too good to put down. I have a new author to follow.”

CW from Baton Rouge said, “Intricate story and characters. I loved it and can’t wait for his next book.”

Trent wrote, “Great and believable characters. My kind of book.”

Allen wrote, “I like a strong, capable female character. Cassie Sing doesn’t disappoint. Great Read.”

I'm A Marine is a story about a female, Aviation Fire Fighter and paramedic in the U.S. Marine Corp. Alone, unarmed, and unable to contact her chain-of-command, she witnesses an act of terrorism. True to her code of honor and duty to her country she acts to intercede and stop the suspected attack. The character of Cassie Sing is a composite of the experiences of my granddaughter who was an active duty Lance Corporal Aviation Firefighter in the marines at the time of the writing and my experiences as a nuclear weapons technician for the Army. My stories are based on true life.

Read a page from the first chapter of I'm a Marine.

Welcome to my world.

Effective Book Reviews

2016-11-11T16:26:00.002-08:00

Book reviews are an integral part of the writing experience. They are a source of information for prospective readers, a measure of an author’s success, and a flexible market indicator for an author’s future. There is, however, an art to writing an effective and constructive book review. I find that the core of the reviewers art is a nugget of truth called, keep it positive.

Keeping our critical works positive is not a new concept; Hollywood has been exhibiting this skill for years. If one listens to how everyone in Hollywood talks about everyone else in Hollywood, it’s always gushingly positive: Finest director I’ve ever worked with, most talented actor in recent film, a cinematographer of extraordinary skill. Sometimes, Hollywood insiders have to reach for a compliment review but they always find one: I learned a lot from his thirty years of film making experience. Well, you get the idea. Very rarely do we hear a Hollywood (or really entertainment) celebrity publicly say some something negative about a colleague. On those rare occasions that a celebrity oversteps his bounds, I’ve noticed that the nay-sayer slowly, or rapidly, descends into obscurity. We just never hear from them again. We could all take a lesson from Hollywood-speak.

Now, don’t misunderstand my message. Hollywood celebrities do say critical things about each other, but they do it in a positive way. Hollywood celebrities aren’t being disingenuous. Most everything they say is true. Their praise may be the only positive, and also true, things that they can come up with to say, but they are true none the less. They just talk about each other in a diplomatic and complimentary way.

As an example, I subscribe to a local movie critic on a local TV news show in my area. Whether he likes a movie or not, whether he pans the movie or not, his reviews are positive. Recently, he reviewed the second ‘juvenile-bro-slapstick’ movie in a ‘juvenile-bro-slapstick’ series. This was not his movie genre. He said that if you like the first j-b-s movie, you would like the second j-b-s movie. He seemed to compliment the movie as artfully satisfying a certain segment of the movie going population. He also seemed to suggest that that select segment of the movie public had value. Then he added, if you are not a fan of j-b-s movie number one, this film may not be for you. He let the rest of us know not to waste our time. This movie was only for the cult following. Masterful. He panned the movie but he presented everything in a positive light.

As the popular antidote says: He could look at her lovingly and say, when I look into your eyes, all time stands still. Or, he could say, you got a face that can stop a clock.

I prefer book reviews that follow this positive profile. I like a reviewer that tell me the aspects of the book that the reviewer enjoyed. It enhances my enjoyment to know what to look for in the book as I read. I like when a reviewer ignores the minor deficiencies of a book. I don’t need to have them pointed out. Most of time, I will be so involved with the story, characters, and plot that I will just flow over the flaws. Most readers than I associate with tell me the same thing. They gloss over the flaws and fill in the gaps. I had a recent review of one of my books that focused solely on a series of questionable punctuation choices. As a matter of fact, the reviewer said that he could ‘not’ recommend the book because of what he viewed as unforgivable punctuation mistakes. I considered his review a whopping compliment. Punctuation errors was the worst he find, woo-hoo. He couldn’t find anything to criticize about my character development, plot twist, spelling or even my wording. It was a negative review but I liked it. I wonder how many people read the re iew and decided not to buy and read the book.
I have read my share of negative reviews, some scathingly negative. The ironic this is that I really enjoyed some of the same books.

Now, as Thomas Magnum would say, 'I know what you're thinking.' There are books that are just so bad that it is difficult to say something nice about them. Well, my local TV movie reviewer just doesn’t review the worst of the worst. For books, my opinion is the same. If the book is just so bad that a reviewer can’t say anything positive, then don’t write a review. If a reviewer just can’t stand it, I suggest that the reviewer contact the writer privately and express himself outside of the public eye. If the writer and the book are that bad, the reading public will find out on their own soon enough.

My name is Jeff Bailey I write action thrillers inspired by real events taken from everyday news. I also infuse elements of my near 50 years of experiences in nuclear weapons, nuclear power plants and nuclear research in to my stories.

Welcome to my world!

A Review of Nadia Reimer's Colored Sand by Jeff Bailey

2016-11-05T10:09:00.002-07:00

Colored Sand

I just finished reading Colored Sand, by Nadia Reimer and it to be absolutely surprising. Nadia, who is originally from Jordan, took me on a journey through the Jordan of her childhood woven into an intriguing story of archeological search. The first hand stories about the life of the average peasant Jordanian who lived around the ancient city of Petra and supported the tourist business was detailed enough to be interesting in itself. Nadia’s writing style is captivating. It was not entirely Americanized. Her writing has almost a hint of an accent that gives the book an air of authenticity, charming.

Nadia Reimer and Jeff Bailey

I met Nadia at a recent book-signing event and was able to spend some time listening to her stories of her childhood. She is a natural storyteller. In person, she has an easy humor that doesn’t come out in Colored Sand. We had an extended conversation about one of her writing goals: to send the message that most of the people from faraway places are just like us. We all want the best for our families, a good life and to live our life free to pursue our beliefs. I agree with her, ninety-nine point nine percent of the world want a better world. It’s only a small fraction of the world’s population that wants to disrupt the world to force their own values. I present a similar theme in my books, only not quite in the same words. Several of the scenes in my books take place in ethnically diverse locals, embassy rows, the American military, and international commerce settings. When everyone is different, differences don’t matter.

My compliments to Nadia Reimer and her nostalgic story, Colored Sand. I rate Nadia Reimerhigh on my personal reading list and look forward to reading my latest Nadia Reimer acquisition, Hunters of the Wild Beasts, also by Nadia Reimer. Colored Sand definitely rates five stars on my reading enjoyment scale.

Books by Nadia Reimer: Colored Sand, Hunters of the Wild Beasts, Old Garments and Matching Hats, Stray Notes in a Minor Key. Stray Notes is an interesting book of poems, one-third in English, one-third in Spanish, and one-third in Arabic.

Books by Jeff Bailey: The Defect (released by Deer Hawk Publications in June of 2016), I’m a Marine (Scheduled for release in spring of 2017 by Deer Hawk Publications), The Chilcoat Project, and Wine Country. Several other titles are scheduled.