….to my own horn. I just re-read ACCIDENTAL FUGITIVES. Damn! I enjoyed it all to hell!

To be fair, I can see a lot of mistakes and poor writing in it now but the story really moved along and seniors Charlie and Nancy were lucky and smart and just ahead of the FBI the whole way through. Mostly lucky.

It was exciting!

That book was written in the 2015/2016 winter before and at-the-time of Trump’s inauguration. And it turned out to be extremely prescient. In fact, it was, given the last six years of Trump and friends, a smidge understated. Trump was pictured as a hateful, divisive bigot inciting violence and, of course, we learned later that he was actually much worse than that.

That book did not sell. It should have. It was good enough to sell a few thousand copies but it did not. One main reason (aside from the bad writing) was that a first-run copy was ‘comped’ to the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) for promotional purposes and the woman in charge of recommending books rejected it on the basis that it was too political. My guess is that she was a Republican.

Because it was written for seniors and was about seniors, AARP and CARP were the target audience. We did not even try CARP. AF died without even getting on life support.

I mention all this because reading it again has rekindled my interest in writing another Charlie Moon action thriller. That Charlie! Whattaguy!

My hesitation is that Charlie is older now (over 75) and thrilling action has pretty much been put on hold. Charlie’s idea of thrilling action now is limited to reaching for the potatoes at dinner or pouring a new bottle of scotch. Hard to paint an action hero who naps.

Anyway, there is a bit more to this blog than just my own horn tooting. I was looking back….to that time…and the book release…..and I realized that the book died partly because of very small-scale politics. That Republican AARP rep didn’t like the political slant. One small Canadian doofus was affected in one small way by one small Republican and her small-minded Trumpian mindset. If I, a remote Canuck, can feel the effects of Trumpism all the way up here, imagine what that country has already felt these past few years.

I.e. We had two Dutch women fly out to visit us a few years ago (2017). One younger (35) and vibrant, blond and healthy and the other, her mother, a smidge heavier, frumpier and not 100% physically healthy. They flew in via Dallas. They were taken away by Homeland Security during the height of the Trumpian anti-immigrant policies. They were separated. They were questioned, harassed, intimidated and held for hours and almost missed their flight to Vancouver. They were traumatized. They re-routed their flight back home and they will never go back to the states. Ever.

And so it goes. Repercussions. Unexpected consequences. Imagine the stories of Mexicans. Muslims. And nowadays, the Chinese. I cannot imagine what it must be like to be an African or a Russian coming into an American airport today.

Prediction: they are gonna get ‘im. I wasn’t sure before. I am now. The writing on the wall is getting clearer and larger and easier to read. I.e. Stuart Rhodes, the Oathkeeper leader, got 18 years in prison for his relatively minor role in the Jan 6th riot. He did NOT even go into the building! He was largely sentenced because of his self-appointed, pompous-but-minor leadership role. He organized and directed a small part of an absurd attack. He got 18 years. That sent a HUGE message: “You did not have to be in the building to be convicted of seditious conspiracy. Those who conspired, directed, incited and planned events well in advance will be last to be sentenced and it will be harsher than 18 years. We are not even two rungs up the ladder yet.”

One man. One rich, dishonest, narcissistic mad man, in a few short years, impacted the world from Dutch tourists to Mexican workers, from Muslim students to Chinese manufacturers and even an old, hermit-like Canadian who writes blogs. He divided the most powerful country on the planet. He fomented dissent on everything. He preached hatred and revenge and bigotry. And he undermined an entire political philosophy – Democracy.

I did not see all of that but Charlie Moon had an early inkling. And Charlie thinks chapter two is well underway.