An example of a trivial pursuit causing serendipitous results.
When I began writing 'Honored Dishonored' (pre-publication title), I needed some 'magic wand' to deliver catatonic Earnest out of Cong territory in Cambodia. I'm trending away from fantasy, so I used plausible reality. I wrote about him being discovered by a special forces unit. With the FBI/CIA likely to be nervous about my story starting at the Blue Cube, I did not want to use SEALS. Never having served in the armed forces, nor taken other than a political interest in Viet Nam, I chose to have him rescued by a top secret Spanish Special Ops unit, partly because I know some Spanish, partly because the reader would accept a Spanish group as never having been heard of.
I up-linked a photo of a crucifix statue (Los Altos Hills/Cupertino CA) to Google Earth years later.
Months later. Joan of Arc (Spain) commented favorably on my crucifix photo.
Weeks later, Google photo group 'Friends of Spanish Legion' issued me an invitation to join with my crucifix. I went their group site--all combat photos. Where did I fit in?
I searched the web and found http://discovermilitary.com/special-forces/spanish-legion/ with plenty of sex toy ads. (thank God my blog attracts travel and outdoor adventure ads) The text on this site is very difficult to read--dark charcoal letters on black background. I did learn that the Spanish Legion is based on the French Foreign Legion, but only accepts Spanish citizens. Before leaving, I watched a combat video from Afghanistan.
So, I'm going to change the manuscript to read 'Spanish Legion' vice 'Spanish Especialistas'. Yes Virginia, Spain has special ops.
Now, I'll probably be accused of leaking Spanish secrets and visiting a porn site!
When I began writing 'Honored Dishonored' (pre-publication title), I needed some 'magic wand' to deliver catatonic Earnest out of Cong territory in Cambodia. I'm trending away from fantasy, so I used plausible reality. I wrote about him being discovered by a special forces unit. With the FBI/CIA likely to be nervous about my story starting at the Blue Cube, I did not want to use SEALS. Never having served in the armed forces, nor taken other than a political interest in Viet Nam, I chose to have him rescued by a top secret Spanish Special Ops unit, partly because I know some Spanish, partly because the reader would accept a Spanish group as never having been heard of.
I up-linked a photo of a crucifix statue (Los Altos Hills/Cupertino CA) to Google Earth years later.
Months later. Joan of Arc (Spain) commented favorably on my crucifix photo.
Weeks later, Google photo group 'Friends of Spanish Legion' issued me an invitation to join with my crucifix. I went their group site--all combat photos. Where did I fit in?
I searched the web and found http://discovermilitary.com/special-forces/spanish-legion/ with plenty of sex toy ads. (thank God my blog attracts travel and outdoor adventure ads) The text on this site is very difficult to read--dark charcoal letters on black background. I did learn that the Spanish Legion is based on the French Foreign Legion, but only accepts Spanish citizens. Before leaving, I watched a combat video from Afghanistan.
So, I'm going to change the manuscript to read 'Spanish Legion' vice 'Spanish Especialistas'. Yes Virginia, Spain has special ops.
Now, I'll probably be accused of leaking Spanish secrets and visiting a porn site!
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