It Is Undoubtedly a Very Small Club

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Of the Lifelong Civilians Who Have Driven An Active Duty Aircraft Carrier Club, or LCWHDAADAC Club for short, I am a member.

Yes, that means I have driven an aircraft carrier. The USS Enterprise, the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier, was the vessel. Yes, that is probably one of the coolest things I've ever done.

There was only one problem. I could not stop grinning like a monkey in a banana grove long enough for my daughter to get a picture of me looking cool. Oh, I wanted to be cool. I just could not get over that I was at the helm of a carrier!

You see, I am a boat builder in my other life, my day-job life. I build luxury sport fishing yachts, for the rich and famous, for money. I build rugged work boats, for missionaries working in Haiti, for love. And as a boat builder, to be at the helm of a 95,000 ton warship was akin to holding the Holy Grail. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

These seemingly random dots connect at my daughter, Irene's, Navy service. I have this vivid memory of being on my daughter's ship for three days. They call it a Tiger Cruise. I think that is Navy lingo for “bring your parents to work for a few days.”

Irene has just finished her tour of duty, or contract as they call it, with the Navy, and Gepetka, Prince of Gypsies is dedicated to her.

Really, I am just having a moment of reminiscence here. I hope that all made sense. I also hope you all enjoy the book.

Once Upon a Time

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There was a little girl named Vanessa. She grew up much like every other little girl, you know, in about three minutes. She had two sisters, Rochelle and Irene, who also grew up faster than their daddy wanted. That seems to be a redundancy about life in general.

The three sisters took a walk in the woods one day. To their amazement, they discovered a spooky path winding through the weeping willows near a hidden brook that seemingly had no source. Naturally they took the spooky path and discovered it led to an elvish house built into the base of an ancient elm tree. The whole scene seemed surreal. There were creatures of all varieties living in the tree. Over the door was an inscription in ancient runes. And as luck would have it, the door to the house was unlocked.

Naturally they … ?

A) Deciphered the runes by memory.

B) Took about 3000 photographs.

C) Befriended all the little creatures around and in the house.

Okay, so the story was completely fake, but the multiple choice was actually … a trick question. It was not a multiple choice at all, but an all of the above. If you know them, you know which one did which option in our little fairy tale.

It might seem that the three distinct personalities of my daughters could impose a particular challenge in writing books for them. Well, it's too late to worry about that now, because Book 3 is almost ready to print!

Book 1, Blood Trail of the Falcon, was written as a college graduation gift for Vanessa. Book 2, Ascent of the Falcon, was written as a college graduation gift for Rochelle. And Book 3, Gepetka, Prince of Gypsies, was written as a Navy graduation gift for Irene.

That Navy graduation day is coming up in a few weeks. The Navy does not make any fanfare for people who have completed their contract and are moving on. But we will celebrate somehow. And (hopefully) we will have a copy of Gepetka for Irene on that day.

I am proud of each of my kid's accomplishments. And this is a commemoration of Irene's service in the U.S. Navy.