ed:I introduced Fred Longcoor to the world in my first novel, Saylor’s Triangle. Comments from Fred’s unpublished Book on Life were used as relative points at the completion of each of the twenty-nine chapters in Saylor’s Triangle. His wit, wisdom, and common sense grasp of the ironies and foibles of the life around us perfectly complimented the twists and turns of my first book, and were continued in my second book, The Permanent Plan. He also was kind enough to explain the oilfield terms in Moon Over The Midnight Sun.
With overwhelming feedback from readers who want to hear more from Fred, I decided to create a forum for him and I to comment about today’s world. Alaska is truly at the “Top of the World,” and he and I will comment from that lofty position.
Our comments will be primarily social or based upon news events of the day. Political comments will be general and infrequent. For both of us, the most bitter arguments we have ever had with people we are close to came out of political discussions.
Fred Longcoor and Craig Bieber- From the Top of the World
I have a new website manager, Matt Courtice, from Alaska, and in accordance with that change, we feel like it is time to refresh this part of the site. There was some really good stuff in the old Fred Longcoor section, but it was all timely, and is outdated now.
Craig: 4/19/2018. Longtime no posts…my bad. I have to decide if I’m going to dabble in the oilfield business on a half-assed basis, or be a writer. I am still working on The Tumbleweed Wall, and candidly, it is a struggle. Every time I think it is not good work, I go back and review it and decide it is worth continuing. So, I have been working on it lately in bursts. Some writing, some golfing, some enjoying retirement from my career job, and a lot of screwing off. Right now, I am in a writing burst, and it is a pivotal time. I am getting close to the time when I put on a charge, and get it done. For the few of you who really care, I want it to be good. I want it to be deeper and more meaningful than my first three books…and I know how well received Moon Over The Midnight Sun was. Stick with me!
Craig: 7/26/2017. I’m very guilty of letting life get in the way of my art. I have continued to do some work for a Houston based oil service company. I confess to enjoying the small connection it gives me to the industry I have been around for 42 years…and even though the financial return is small, it helps to allow me some freedom to continue to write books. Add family matters, medical issues, travel, property maintenance to that, and my production has been very poor this year. I have written over 150 pages of The Tumbleweed Wall, and have recently re-focused on it, with a goal of getting it published by Christmas. For any of you who have stayed with me…thank you.
enCraig: 3/24/2017. A little slow in the publishing world. I decided to pass on the Tucson Festival of Books this month. I’m not going to go and be one of hundreds of authors stuffed into a crowded tent off the beaten path again until I am well enough known to be a presenter. I am 100 pages into The Tumbleweed Wall, and moving a little slowly. Too many things going on around me. I rarely get what I would call a type of writer’s block, but I am struggling to resolve some plot issues. It will come to me, as it always does…usually during a long, solo walk. I also got more caught up in all this political crap that is going on than I want to be.
Craig: I have been busy working on The Tumbleweed Wall. It is taking a little more time than I thought it would. “Write about what you know about.” I am stepping a little outside of what I know about, so I am doing a lot of research. This book moves back and forth between Alaska and the middle of America (Wyoming). I grew up in the middle of America, so I know a lot about it, and I was around ranchers, so I know about them…I just don’t know enough about mega ranches to write about hem without doing lots of research, and some interviews. That all takes time. The writing goes pretty fast when I am done with that.
Craig: 1/21/2017. I am rapidly giving up my promise about not discussing politics on this site. This is a Blog, as well as a platform for promoting my books. Donald Trump’s nomination to be the 45th President of The United States yesterday was nothing less than an earth shaking, game changing event. Maybe the saddest part of that event is the Democrat’s (Liberals) reaction to it. Crying, protesting, damaging property,.taking to the media to decry the results of America’s democratic process is both embarrassing for them, and very sad.
- Trump won the election by overwhelming numbers. The fact that Clinton won the overall popular vote is bogus. One state, California, gave her the popular vote win. Trump won the popular vote in 30 States. Overall, Trump won 3084 counties, and Clinton won 57. That is why the Electoral College was created.
- There is a lot of talk about the Russians influence in the win, with absolutely nothing concrete to support the allegation.
- Clinton’s lack of a message or a plan lost her the election.
- Clinton’s dishonest behavior lost her the election (discarding over 30,000 emails after being subpoenaed for them; using her position as the Secretary of State to curry millions of dollars into the Clinton Foundation from foreign governments by making promises of US favors; apparent complicity in the Benghazi disaster; following in the footsteps of the most feckless president in history; and generally just being a disgusting woman.
Craig: First of all, if I am related to Justin Bieber, it goes back farther than I care to check on. I am grateful to him for the fact that now nobody calls me Beaver or Bibber, and everyone knows how to spell my name. And, all of my friends called me Bieb almost 40 years before he was a gleam in anyone’s eye. He is talented and personable, I think he just needs some adult guidance.
Fred: I’m not related to Justin Bieber either, and I want to clear the air about where I am coming from before I state something not everyone will agree with. America is a place where all things are possible. All things of significance are draped in responsibility, tempered by circumstance, and measured by performance. It truly is the land of the free and the home of the brave…even though there is some blurring of those ideals in today’s world.
Craig: Okay, here goes. I love baseball…but is there really any athlete in the world who deserves $20 Million a year to play baseball? It’s the reason a family of 4 can’t afford to go to more than one game a year, and some can’t afford to go to one game a year.
There’s a smell in the air, and it isn’t sweet. There’s a cloud in the sky, and it isn’t bringing rain. There’s a stir in my soul, and it isn’t soulful…and there’s a fear in my gut that I have created a regret.” – Fred Longcoor (from Saylor’s Triangle).
Craig: I’ve been on a road trip, mostly enjoying the joys of New Mexico. Started in Las Cruces (actually, a few miles out of Las Cruces) at the White Sands Missile Range. The place is amazing…3200 Square miles (not acres) of amazing activity and amazing history. It is still a very active military facility, and it’s history includes the first test detonation of a bomb built during the Manhattan Project like the ones dropped on Japan in WWII, an emergency landing spot for one Challenger flight, and testing of a zillion rockets and missiles.
On to Taos, where we ate, drank, and shopped our way through the historic old town plaza, and stayed in the beautifully refurbished, historic Hotel La Fonda.
Off to Gallup, with a stop in Bloomfield to tour the Salmon Ruins and the Aztec Ruins, both of which give you a chilling feel for the lives of the Native Americans who built Pueblos there around 1100 to 1200.
Stayed where the movie stars stayed back when in the historic El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, then on to Tucson.
Fred: Well, I’ve been here, just observing the stupidity happening in the world. After signing an unpopular nuclear agreement with Iran, and giving them billions of dollars, they are now practice firing ballistic missiles and demanding access to America’s financial network.