Eric Johnson's Blog
February 8, 2023
Been Awhile...
Well, I managed to get COVID after all. It happened a couple of weeks ago and it hit me hard, well I survived so far. I've gone and isolated and taken it easy and I'm still making stuff happen. Not much to say but if you get vaccinated it will save you from dying and so on. Thankfully I've recovered enough to keep on keeping on so that's good.
For those of you who know me, I mainly write military science fiction. I've been writing in that genre for years (12 now) and finally decided to try a fantasy story. I know it's not something to do and stick with what you really know, but I wanted to see how it goes and where it leads me. If The Trials of Baromir is successful (the name of my book of course) then I can see about writing more fantasy. May become a bestseller but given my marketing, I may not, but we'll see.
For those of you who know me, I mainly write military science fiction. I've been writing in that genre for years (12 now) and finally decided to try a fantasy story. I know it's not something to do and stick with what you really know, but I wanted to see how it goes and where it leads me. If The Trials of Baromir is successful (the name of my book of course) then I can see about writing more fantasy. May become a bestseller but given my marketing, I may not, but we'll see.
April 21, 2021
Blog Post #4
Well not much has been going on. I’m still looking for a job and that’s okay. So far I’ve only done one interview and didn’t get the job (there were of course other candidates, and I didn’t make the cut unfortunately) so I’m back to square one. Also, I got my first COVID vaccine shot, Pfizer if you really want to know. So far the only symptom was a sore arm, which lasted for a day or two but otherwise nothing serious to report or worry about, which is of course good. I get the second one in a couple weeks so that’s taken care of and that’s about it for that.
Work on In the Pit of Vipers is going slower than I really want. It’s a book that seems pretty ambitious and taking me to places I haven’t written about. For those who don’t know what this book is, it’s the fifteenth book in my 2-4 Cavalry series. Yep, fifthteenth book. Some of the earlier books are short stories really while some are novel length books setup in a vignette format which I clung to as that worked for me. Later on I developed another way, using microfiction to write out my stories, because really I don’t have much to write. Book 6, Operation Morning Glory was an attempt at a “typical” novel book and I didn’t like writing it. Nobody reads it (check it out though if you’re interested, you can find it here: https://amzn.to/3g0fgvk) so I don’t know if people liked it or not. It’s been out for years, I guess a Christian trying to make it a standard religion in a society that frowns upon that isn’t good enough to read. I thought it might start some controversy (it deals with religion) but I just want people to like it.
Anyways, going off on a tangent. My new “format” is micro-fiction in days, so I can make shorter stories come together as a better way to handle events daily, as I see fit. I don’t do everyday but like a TV show, that handles the action on that particular day that means something to write. Well In the Pit of Vipers is on Earth and the local solar system (the one we currently live in) and the conflicts therein. It’s somewhat random, just things here and there but towards the end of the book currently there is a terrorist that is trying to “punish” the Muslim Coalition for it’s existence. I’m reading a lot of books on the MIddle East recently (other than The Hardest Place, which covers my time in Afghanistan in one chapter) so I’m defining this terrorist, and how my unit works on that threat towards the end of the book.
Right now it’s slowly coming together, and it’s probably a realization that I don’t have enough data to really write the book fully yet. It’s not laziness but a case of “the pieces aren’t put together” yet and the threat isn’t that well defined other than a cookie cutter terrorist. I don’t write in the viewpoint of the terrorist so I don’t know how to fully flesh this out yet. Something will hit me I’m sure and I’ll finish In the Pit of Vipers… sometime before the next millennium I suppose.
Work on In the Pit of Vipers is going slower than I really want. It’s a book that seems pretty ambitious and taking me to places I haven’t written about. For those who don’t know what this book is, it’s the fifteenth book in my 2-4 Cavalry series. Yep, fifthteenth book. Some of the earlier books are short stories really while some are novel length books setup in a vignette format which I clung to as that worked for me. Later on I developed another way, using microfiction to write out my stories, because really I don’t have much to write. Book 6, Operation Morning Glory was an attempt at a “typical” novel book and I didn’t like writing it. Nobody reads it (check it out though if you’re interested, you can find it here: https://amzn.to/3g0fgvk) so I don’t know if people liked it or not. It’s been out for years, I guess a Christian trying to make it a standard religion in a society that frowns upon that isn’t good enough to read. I thought it might start some controversy (it deals with religion) but I just want people to like it.
Anyways, going off on a tangent. My new “format” is micro-fiction in days, so I can make shorter stories come together as a better way to handle events daily, as I see fit. I don’t do everyday but like a TV show, that handles the action on that particular day that means something to write. Well In the Pit of Vipers is on Earth and the local solar system (the one we currently live in) and the conflicts therein. It’s somewhat random, just things here and there but towards the end of the book currently there is a terrorist that is trying to “punish” the Muslim Coalition for it’s existence. I’m reading a lot of books on the MIddle East recently (other than The Hardest Place, which covers my time in Afghanistan in one chapter) so I’m defining this terrorist, and how my unit works on that threat towards the end of the book.
Right now it’s slowly coming together, and it’s probably a realization that I don’t have enough data to really write the book fully yet. It’s not laziness but a case of “the pieces aren’t put together” yet and the threat isn’t that well defined other than a cookie cutter terrorist. I don’t write in the viewpoint of the terrorist so I don’t know how to fully flesh this out yet. Something will hit me I’m sure and I’ll finish In the Pit of Vipers… sometime before the next millennium I suppose.
October 28, 2020
"The Jungle" From In the Pit of Vipers
May 20, 2742
“Oh, would you look at that?” Sergeant Hines said as he looked at the now dead recruit’s body as they flew over what used to be called Brazil. He had taken a bullet in the head. Corporal Jameson shrugged as the small assault ship began to ascend.
“What do we do?” Corporal Jameson asked, looking at the massive blood puddle on the transport’s floor. The recruit’s weapons and gear were already removed as well as any other gear that he may have had on him. The body lay there on the ramp, blood slowly puddling as the fluids left the now lifeless body. He kicked the body, expecting it to come back to life, but not now, not ever.
“Feed the forest is what we do.” Sergeant Hines said as he switched to the pilot’s frequency. “He was an orphan, anyway right?” It was a grim task, but it had to be done.
“Pilot, we have a dead body and need to get rid of it before we go up.”
“Affirmative, will get low enough.” As he readjusted the flightpath of the ship he slowed just about twenty-five meters above the rain forest. Time and genetic engineering had done its job over the centuries to revitalize what the damage Man had done to the Amazon Rain Forest. Now after such period that same genetic engineering had evolved the whole forest becoming alive in its own sadistic way. A botanist, Fredrich Von Staff had introduced what could be loosely called as “carnivorous genes”, the trees literally ate most compounds, his ‘vengeance’ against the ‘human defilement’ of Man cutting trees down and poisoning the forest. Originally, he had been called in to engineer the trees to be able to ‘eat’ the poisons from the toxic waste dumps. That had worked out quite well, with the Amazon Rain Forest effectively returning to its original size when Earth itself wasn’t inhabited by so many of its human beings. He hated human consumption and vowed to ‘payback’ humans for what they did. By introducing various genes by splicing from various animals, he created a more omnivore, more aggressive strain of trees. After his natural death the plants were known as ‘Van Staff’s Curse’. The only trick was however, due to his belief in Christianity, was to paint crosses, which for the most part was the only deterrent against the trees and vines eating people, plastics, and weapons, and combat armor. Over the centuries regardless if you liked religion or not, if you had any reason to be in the jungle, painting a cross over where your heart was (on armor mainly) ensured that you survived. If not, then you would be eaten by the plants and trees.
Lowering the craft so the vines wouldn’t reach them (they were powerful enough to bring in any kind of aircraft, ten meters was the maximum reach from the trees and its carnivorous vines), Sergeant Hines slowly prepared the body to be tossed over the ramp into the rain forest. He saw the indicator for the rear ramp light up, looks like the squad in the back had some dead weight to unload. Once at a generally safe altitude he waited.
“Ready?” Sergeant Hines lifted the dead recruit’s body and with Corporal Jameson’s help, tossed the body, with his combat uniform off the ramp. In morbid fascination he watched as the vines caught the offering and immediately before hitting the ground, devoured the body whole. Feeling sick to his stomach, he could handle dead bodies, but not this. He walked back inside and closed the ramp, looking at Corporal Jameson, who also looked sick. He’d been through some hellish combat but that always made him queasy as the ramp closed. But he mused, if you needed to get rid of a body, give it to the Amazon… He’d mop up the blood later, once they hit space…
“Oh, would you look at that?” Sergeant Hines said as he looked at the now dead recruit’s body as they flew over what used to be called Brazil. He had taken a bullet in the head. Corporal Jameson shrugged as the small assault ship began to ascend.
“What do we do?” Corporal Jameson asked, looking at the massive blood puddle on the transport’s floor. The recruit’s weapons and gear were already removed as well as any other gear that he may have had on him. The body lay there on the ramp, blood slowly puddling as the fluids left the now lifeless body. He kicked the body, expecting it to come back to life, but not now, not ever.
“Feed the forest is what we do.” Sergeant Hines said as he switched to the pilot’s frequency. “He was an orphan, anyway right?” It was a grim task, but it had to be done.
“Pilot, we have a dead body and need to get rid of it before we go up.”
“Affirmative, will get low enough.” As he readjusted the flightpath of the ship he slowed just about twenty-five meters above the rain forest. Time and genetic engineering had done its job over the centuries to revitalize what the damage Man had done to the Amazon Rain Forest. Now after such period that same genetic engineering had evolved the whole forest becoming alive in its own sadistic way. A botanist, Fredrich Von Staff had introduced what could be loosely called as “carnivorous genes”, the trees literally ate most compounds, his ‘vengeance’ against the ‘human defilement’ of Man cutting trees down and poisoning the forest. Originally, he had been called in to engineer the trees to be able to ‘eat’ the poisons from the toxic waste dumps. That had worked out quite well, with the Amazon Rain Forest effectively returning to its original size when Earth itself wasn’t inhabited by so many of its human beings. He hated human consumption and vowed to ‘payback’ humans for what they did. By introducing various genes by splicing from various animals, he created a more omnivore, more aggressive strain of trees. After his natural death the plants were known as ‘Van Staff’s Curse’. The only trick was however, due to his belief in Christianity, was to paint crosses, which for the most part was the only deterrent against the trees and vines eating people, plastics, and weapons, and combat armor. Over the centuries regardless if you liked religion or not, if you had any reason to be in the jungle, painting a cross over where your heart was (on armor mainly) ensured that you survived. If not, then you would be eaten by the plants and trees.
Lowering the craft so the vines wouldn’t reach them (they were powerful enough to bring in any kind of aircraft, ten meters was the maximum reach from the trees and its carnivorous vines), Sergeant Hines slowly prepared the body to be tossed over the ramp into the rain forest. He saw the indicator for the rear ramp light up, looks like the squad in the back had some dead weight to unload. Once at a generally safe altitude he waited.
“Ready?” Sergeant Hines lifted the dead recruit’s body and with Corporal Jameson’s help, tossed the body, with his combat uniform off the ramp. In morbid fascination he watched as the vines caught the offering and immediately before hitting the ground, devoured the body whole. Feeling sick to his stomach, he could handle dead bodies, but not this. He walked back inside and closed the ramp, looking at Corporal Jameson, who also looked sick. He’d been through some hellish combat but that always made him queasy as the ramp closed. But he mused, if you needed to get rid of a body, give it to the Amazon… He’d mop up the blood later, once they hit space…
