Book rec for SGA writers
Jun. 24th, 2010 10:29 pmI'm currently reading Soldier Dead: How We Recover, Identify, Bury, and Honor Our Military Fallen by Michael Sledge. I came across it by accident while Googling for details on how the military dead are retrieved in combat situations, and picked up a used copy on Amazon for cheap. It contains a wealth of information, not just on that topic but also quite a lot of little details that are useful to me (as a non-military person myself) for accurately and respectfully writing a subculture I've never been part of -- including lots of stuff I hadn't even thought about (and the show certainly doesn't go there), such as the code of conduct for handling, identifying and repatriating enemy dead. I've never seen that subject addressed in an SGA story and I think it might make an interesting one...
... and, augh, I'm starting to despair of getting my sgareversebang story done. Even though the deadline's not until July, I have to finish it by Sunday morning, because that's when I'm heading out for a two-week Internetless vacation (and earlier would be better, in case there are problems with the formatting or such). 3400 words so far, but my plot is foundering.
The weather is absolutely gorgeous, though! The past few days have been perfect Arctic summer -- 75 degrees or so, sunny with occasional rain squalls to keep it from getting too hot. The mornings and evenings are best ... it's 10:30 p.m. and there's still sunlight slanting through the yard. The mosquitoes haven't been bad, either, and we're almost past what's usually the worst time of year for them.
... and, augh, I'm starting to despair of getting my sgareversebang story done. Even though the deadline's not until July, I have to finish it by Sunday morning, because that's when I'm heading out for a two-week Internetless vacation (and earlier would be better, in case there are problems with the formatting or such). 3400 words so far, but my plot is foundering.
The weather is absolutely gorgeous, though! The past few days have been perfect Arctic summer -- 75 degrees or so, sunny with occasional rain squalls to keep it from getting too hot. The mornings and evenings are best ... it's 10:30 p.m. and there's still sunlight slanting through the yard. The mosquitoes haven't been bad, either, and we're almost past what's usually the worst time of year for them.