This article on Yahoo written by Ron Johnson completely made my day. The writer was asked to rank best military branch to serve in.
He ranks them as:
Continue reading “Marine Corps ranked worst service branch to join, and I love it”
One of my favorite authors (by far) when I served in the Marine Corps was an author named Stephen Hunter
I’ve read almost every book by Hunter, and his sniper character known pretty far and wide among the military community as Bob Lee Swagger (aka Bob the Nailer) is one of the greatest fictional book characters ever created in my opinion.
Stephen Hunter was a huge influence on my writing, and several readers and reviewers have compared my book Sold Out to his books — especially Point of Impact, an all-time favorite book of mine, and it’s this book that the movie Shooter with Mark Wahlberg was based on.
I know, I know. You’re screaming get to my point.
Well, my point is I had an acquaintance email me this tonight!
Yes! You see this correctly. My book — Sold Out — is placed above the book by my idol Stephen Hunter. Even more amazing, the name of the email to her was “Sold Out.”
I couldn’t get the entire image figured out as far as saving it as a JPG, but it had a total of seven books on it. (Oh, and did I mention Sold Out was the on top? Ah, yes, I did. Sorry about that.)
Anyway, I’m still in shock about this and I hope it went to a gazillion people, and not just a couple dozen. (I’m think the latter scenario is the most likely one, but still: To have my name and book even anywhere near the name of Stephen Hunter is a feeling that I can’t possibly describe. It’d be like getting to have a front-row seat to your favorite band, and getting backstage passes afterward. Although now that I think about it, it’d probably be more like getting to perform before them, on the same stage. And then being treated like an equal afterward, though to be clear: I am no equal to Stephen Hunter. The man is a storytelling genius.)
Stan R. Mitchell
Oak Ridge, Tenn.
P.S. Please accept the greatest gift I can give, a book I believe to be worth $10,000.
P.P.S. Thanks to all who continue to make my novels a success. I seriously couldn’t have done it with everyone’s support. Thanks to your help, Little Man, and the Dixon County War has gone as high as No. 16 on the Amazon UK Paid List (see here and here)! And my second novel, Sold Out, has also done well, going as high as No. 81 on the Amazon Paid List for the category of War (see here and here)! Thanks a million to my awesome friends, and if you’ve stumbled on my blog, you can learn more about both books here.
Today, author Thomas Rydder posted an interview of me on his site.
It’s about me, my writing, and my second book “Sold Out.” So go check it out, and thank him for doing it in the comments, if you don’t mind!
Link to interview. Thanks much!
Stan R. Mitchell
Oak Ridge, Tenn.
P.S. Please accept the greatest gift I can give.
P.P.S. Thanks to all who continue to make my novels a success. I seriously couldn’t have done it with everyone’s support. I’m excited to say that Little Man, and the Dixon County War has gone as high as No. 16 on the Amazon UK Paid List (see here and here). My second novel, Sold Out, has also done well, also, going as high as No. 81 on the Amazon Paid List for the category of War (see here and here). Learn more about both books here.
stanrmitchell.com 