Dave Ives's Blog

Need an excuse for missing work? Here’s one. NOTE: I’m writing the follow-up to my current book, ‘The Adventures of an Air Force Medic.’ My ‘work in progress’ answers the question, ‘What crazy adventure does Sean Mitchell (main character) get up to next?’ This article is a snippet from my first draft. Setting: Ohio State […]

Answer: When your daughter makes it official! I recently discovered I’m old. Let me tell you how this discovery came about. It happened one early evening. I sat in the comfortable chair in our living room, quietly watching TV, minding my own business, not bothering anyone, causing no trouble, and generally, being a ‘good boy.’ […]

What do you call it when your kids take your ‘joking’ advice, use it, and it works? Many years ago my daughter Chez came home from high school and announced, “Teacher says I have to wear navy blue pants. These black pants are not allowed.” We had just arrived in England. My daughter’s new school […]

It never got approved, I wonder why? As a young air force medic, I remember writing a ‘new and improved’ medical ward night shift checklist. I couldn’t wait to show my boss, Staff Sergeant (SSgt) Elen, when she arrived with the rest of the day staff team in the morning. When I presented my ‘awesome’ […]

And, telling the truth is overrated, sometimes it’s best to leave ‘truth’ alone, don’t mess with it. This seemed like one of those occasions. This is an excerpt from my book, ‘The Adventures of an Air Force Medic.” It’s based on my two years as an air force medic in northern California back in the […]

Not sure of the best way, but here’s how I did it. My book, Dreams of the Philippines: Escape from Clark Air Base, is fiction but based on a trip I took to the Philippines as a young air force lieutenant way back in 1989. Here’s the promo video I made for the book. The […]

Not sure of the best way, but here’s what I did. I’m in the marketing phase of my latest book and discovered a few things about making a promo video that you may find helpful for your book marketing efforts. First of all, here’s the promo video I created. Before I share how I made […]

I’ve been doing this gag for years; haven’t got it wrong yet! This is an excerpt from my book, ‘The Adventures of an Air Force Medic.” It’s based on my two years as an air force medic in northern California back in the early ’80s. SSgt. Elen Takahashi carried a lot of clout on the […]

I’m in the throes of writing my fourth book. It’s fiction but based on a trip I took to the Philippines way back in 1989 while a junior officer in the US Air Force. I have a bunch of stories I want to share but here’s the rub … how do I connect them? How […]