A Tale of the Grenada Raiders

[Chimo]

I finished the book last night in one sitting. I love your writing style as it takes the reader with you through those moments. Thank you for documenting an important piece of history that, had you not written this, may have been lost forever.

[magician]

Originally Posted by Sharky

Doc-

Buck Fiddy was kind enough to purchase multiple copies and give me one. I will leave a review once I get a chance to read it.

Thank you to you both. I am very grateful.

[magician]

Originally Posted by Buck Fiddy

I'll re-post my Amazon review here:

I first met Steve when I arrived at 2nd Ranger Battalion's Ranger Indoctrination Program in December, 1983 - they had just returned from Grenada. Steve is the real deal, in a world filled with many special operations posers. He is a very humble man, who answered his nation's call to serve in combat. His writing style is engaging, as it shifts between first-hand accounts of the human side of combat, personal fears and desires to be brave and worthy of his Brothers, philosophical references, and dreams and retrospection. Yes, the book is about combat - and it is about so much more; humanity, fear, leadership, honor, and disgrace. Steve doesn't hold anything back. I look forward to reading his upcoming books.

Thank you very much. A review under your byline carries much weight among those who know.

I really appreciate it.

[magician]

Originally Posted by jsmurphy

I just ordered your book. Looking forward to reading it in a few days when it arrives. I will then pass it on to my son when he graduates Benning OSUT next month. It will be an important history lesson for him, one that he is unlikely to receive from anywhere else.
Thanks for writing this.

Thank you for buying it! I hope that it does not disappoint.

[magician]

Originally Posted by Chimo

I finished the book last night in one sitting. I love your writing style as it takes the reader with you through those moments. Thank you for documenting an important piece of history that, had you not written this, may have been lost forever.

It was important to me to immortalize those Rangers whose deeds are now only known to a very few witnesses.

Now everybody knows their names. And most of them authorized me to publish their photos.

We are not getting any younger. I am glad that I lived long enough to get this done. I had a couple of health scares, so that lit a fire under my ass.

Now on to volume 2 ....

[Ranger Manges]

Steve, You have done me a huge favor, things I have trouble talking about or putting into words for people (especially Peggy) you have done way better than I ever could. She is reading the book now....Thanks!

[Grateful Civilian]

Received the paperback version and stayed up to the wee hours to finish it. Whenever a book grips me from the first paragraph, I know I'm in for a special treat. Thank you for writing this; I look forward to the next book. Review left on Amazon.

[SN]

Working my way through it every time I get a 15 min break
Great style, and I am really enjoying the read.

Hitting you with a PM.

[gdvir of IDF]

Reading it now.
Thank you for providing us outsiders a small glimpse into your world.

[Fubar]

Originally Posted by magician

My memoir of the Grenada invasion, Operation Urgent Fury, is finally published on Amazon.

A tale of war told through the eyes of a participant, A Tale of the Grenada Raiders: Memories in the Idioms of Dreams, recounts the battle to seize Point Salines, the liberation of American students at Grand Anse, and the raid on the Calivigny barracks.

I will never say that this book speaks for anyone other than myself, but this work of Military History cites facts, it names names, and it publishes many photographs, most for the first time.

Available in Kindle eBook format for immediate delivery, Amazon also offers a very expensive softcover version.

The high cost is due to the 8.5x11-inch large format of the book, and to the number of photographs. The book is 377 pages long, and it weighs 2.4lbs. It is a big book.

Also available on iBooks, Apple is accepting preorders for delivery on November 25, 2017.

The Kindle version looks great, you can receive it in moments, and it is not too expensive. The softcover version is for those who simply must hold a physical book in their hands.

It took me 26 years to complete this book.

I hope that you like it.

I saw one of those "very expensive" soft covers on FB. The owner is very tickled and proud to possess it. I'm following that person's lead and buying one too. When are you going to cross the big ocean and let us get signatures on them?

BTW - $22 bucks - it's worth it to get the large format.

[Fu King Lawyer]

Stephen,
I am post op from having my right thumb reconstructed 2 days ago and in a haze from hydrocodone. I started reading this morning and finished your work of art moments ago. Well done, Brother. I couldn't put it down other than when the pain meds took over. When that happened my dreams were surreal. Pain prevents me from typing further but I am compelled to write you now. More to follow

[magician]

Originally Posted by Ranger Manges

Steve, You have done me a huge favor, things I have trouble talking about or putting into words for people (especially Peggy) you have done way better than I ever could. She is reading the book now....Thanks!

I just hope that I do not traumatize the poor girl! LOL!

Thank you, Mango! I appreciate it!

[magician]

Originally Posted by Grateful Civilian

Received the paperback version and stayed up to the wee hours to finish it. Whenever a book grips me from the first paragraph, I know I'm in for a special treat. Thank you for writing this; I look forward to the next book. Review left on Amazon.

Thank you for that review. I am astonished, there are like 25-6 reviews up there so far, and they all seem to be 5-stars. I am shocked.

Now I am afraid that the second book in the series will not be as well received.

You never know what it is going to happen when you hit that final "Publish" button.

Thank you for your kind comments!

[magician]

Originally Posted by SN

Working my way through it every time I get a 15 min break
Great style, and I am really enjoying the read.

Hitting you with a PM.

Thank you. I am glad that you like it.

[magician]

Originally Posted by gdvir of IDF

Reading it now.
Thank you for providing us outsiders a small glimpse into your world.

Thank you for buying it, and thank you for reading it!

[magician]

Originally Posted by Fubar

I saw one of those "very expensive" soft covers on FB. The owner is very tickled and proud to possess it. I'm following that person's lead and buying one too. When are you going to cross the big ocean and let us get signatures on them?

BTW - $22 bucks - it's worth it to get the large format.

Unfortunately Amazon does not offer Author's Copies like every other publisher on the planet, so I have not yet even held my own book in my hands.

I am besieged by folks asking for signed copies, and I honestly have no idea how to accomplish it. It costs $35 to ship a book one way to Bangkok, then I need to ship it back.

So $70 just in shipping fees on top of the retail price of the book at $21-22, and it gets silly. A hundred bucks for a signed copy.

I do not know what to do about this.

I was just back in Orlando in August, and the VA fixed most of my ailments the best that they could, so I have no plans at this time to return to CONUS.

If the past is any guide, something health-wise will happen, though I am praying to avoid it. Knock wood.

I had no intention of returning last March, and I ended up staying until the last day of May. Then I had to come back in early August.

Getting old sucks!

[magician]

Originally Posted by Fu King Lawyer

Stephen,
I am post op from having my right thumb reconstructed 2 days ago and in a haze from hydrocodone. I started reading this morning and finished your work of art moments ago. Well done, Brother. I couldn't put it down other than when the pain meds took over. When that happened my dreams were surreal. Pain prevents me from typing further but I am compelled to write you now. More to follow

Damn, Phil. Careful with the hydrocodone. It can sink its fangs in you if you are not careful with it.

I do not know why the VA insists on prescribing Oxycodone for chronic, severe pain. I get methadone and codeine from my pain specialist here in Bangkok and it works much better. And practicing extreme care with dosages and times keeps addiction at bay.

Lots of folks swear by cannabis, various cannabis formulations, oils, different strains. I have not used cannabis since before I joined the Army back in 1979, and I remember that it made me stupid. I am already stupid enough.

But it sure would help a lot of veterans if they could access a cannabis solution through the VA.

I hope that you feel better soon! Thanks for reading that book in-between times.

I hope that you liked it!

[magician]

Originally Posted by X-rgr

I, for one, am one of the impatient readers. I hate crap like "... the colorful autumn leaves danced in the rhythm of the sunlight..."

Vomit.

Get to the point. Most of what I read are paperback novels by name-brand big-earning authors. Even when reading my favorites like Flynn or Hunter I skip whole paragraphs of meaningless composition-class scene description to get to the shorter paragraphs that describe action or dialogue.

My view is "give me the story, and I'll subconsciously fill in the meaningless details". If the details are IMPORTANT, I want them. If not, I'll skip them.

Perhaps the single exception to my rule is Steven Pressman. I think I read every word of his books, just because he's SO masterful with the language.

I am the same way. I was surprised that the book ended up at 377 pages, as I really tried to keep the narrative succinct.

I struggled over some stream-of-consciousness sentences, debating whether to leave them or to eliminate them, as one test reader said that they were mental speed bumps for him.

Others said that they liked them. So I was stuck. I let the story dictate. Some I deleted, others I just pruned and honed.

To an extent, the decision was really out of my hands. Anyone who writes longform formats knows that when you are tapped into a good writing mode that words flow and manifest out of nowhere.

Poets long refer to the Muse. Others to the collective unconscious. All that I know is that for several parts of that book, I was not the author at all. I was just a conduit, a messenger. Something else was communicating through me.

When this happens it is best to leave it be, because something miraculous is happening, and there are no coincidences.

I keep waiting for readers to complain that the Big Ranger in the Sky had such an explicit role. I write nonfiction. If it happened, I recount it.

In any case, I thank you very much for reading.

[Mingo Kane]

Doc....haven't forgot you, my father passed so things got put on hold. I'll post a review in the coming days, but I wanted to say--in this respected arena. Very well done, impressive. You have the gift, so keep hitting the keys.

[magician]

Originally Posted by Mingo Kane

Doc....haven't forgot you, my father passed so things got put on hold. I'll post a review in the coming days, but I wanted to say--in this respected arena. Very well done, impressive. You have the gift, so keep hitting the keys.

Thank you.

I am very sorry for your loss.