USA Today Photos by Readers

[longknife]

Hit me right off as I spent endless hours in the Mojave Desert among these giant yucca plants – yes, I know the Mormons named them Joshua Trees. Looks kind of barren but you would be amazed at how much life is there.

See all the photos @ Top reader photos: 'Alien' rocks, golden grass, more

 

[longknife]

I think I've posted elsewhere that, when I was in high school, I used to help my best friend and his father move bee colonies around the Mojave Desert and surrounding mountains to take advantage of flower blooms.

I've also spent extensive time camping out in those areas while searching for semi-precious gem stones.

There was something especially calm and peaceful about a night under starry skies listening to the nocturnal sounds of the desert.

[This is an important theme in a a novel I'm waiting for my publisher to decide to deal with. Anyone care to beta-read it for comments/review? PM me.]

 

[longknife]

Great longknife, that you are a writer! I want to know that what type of book are you writing. Can you tell us some thing about it? Is it all about desert and wildlife? I am waiting for you reply anxiously...

A brief synopsis of Sonora Symphony

A veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan walks into an all night diner south of Tuscon where an ex-Green Beret sees he's suffering from PTSD and takes him in. The vet had walked away from a hospital in Colorado with amnesia and little will to live.

Over the next few months, the man who takes him in is a Papago Indian with background in herbal and cultural healing. He introduces the vet to the beauty of the Sonora Desert and American Indian culture/mythology.

When the treatment reaches the proper level, the next step of treatment is serious and could have deadly consequences.

It was once published by a company in Canada but I didn't like the cover and the way they treated it.

[I tried to upload the cover but have to figure it out later.]

 

[longknife]

I think you are doing a good job keep it up. Will you like to share what was the inspiration behind this book? Why do you choose to write something about Iraq and Afghanistan?

The only thing it has to do with Iraq and Afghanistan is that the main character served there several times. During his last tour, his entire squad was wiped out in an ambush he felt he should have seen coming. He was seriously wounded while trying to drag one of his men to safety and did not wake up from a coma until he was at Walter Reed Medical Center.

My inspiration for this was my own minor case of PTSD and the tens of thousands of other vets from various conflicts and how it is seldom treated properly. Native American medicine has long come up with results that modern doctors have not been able to achieve.

This is no longer available with this publisher.

 

[longknife]

Did you ever go into Iraq and Afghanistan? Afghanistan is facing much conflicts and ups and downs. I never visited these countries. I just know about those that they are Muslim country and American’s army is here since 2011. Is this true?

My service was in Vietnam, probably before you were born.

Want to read about it. Check out Mekong Ambush on Amazon.com.