Memories and Forward Motion

 

Kwajalein, Marshall Islands by Judi Getch Brodman

I'm sitting by the ocean and always, always, I have flashbacks of Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands where I lived and worked for awhile when I was younger.  Something maybe about the color of the water, the sounds of the waves, the sunrises, the soft warm breezes. I've talked about my experience there a few times, but some days those memories are so vivid by the water. It was an experience of a lifetime -- flying to Roi-Namur to work every day, taking meals in the Officers' Club, a shark in the swimming pool, rock fish on the beach.  Friday nights were party nights on my island.  We could take boats out and deep sea fish.  The guys were always jumping into the water and would come out with huge welts on their backs from the immense jellyfish.  

Getting there was a long flight... into Hickham Air Force base in Hawaii and then on to Johnston Island, then a secure U.S. military base, for refueling.  The island, a tiny speck in the Pacific, was a landing strip with a few low lying metal barracks lining it, mounds of sand here and there most likely housing missile sites and one or two palm trees sweating it out on this desolate spot.  As I walked down the stairs from the plane, I remember thinking, how does anyone live here?   The sun was brutally hot and blindingly bright.  The path to an air-conditioned bunker was lined with armed soldiers who were there to ensure we walked to the cinder block house and remained there while the plane was refueled.  I assume they thought we were going to make a run for it?  Even now, that thought makes me laugh – I could run to the edge of the island, a half mile away, and then what?  I guess they were protecting the secrets we didn’t see as we landed.  We boarded and were off to our final destination, Kwajalein, a tiny speck in the middle of nowhere.

Anyway, all these memories come flooding back at the oddest times... good memories!!

And when I'm not waxing over Kwaj, I'm now editing my second manuscript. If you read "Broken Christmas Promise", a short ebook on Amazon (mybook.to/B0826VPM11) and liked it, I think you'll enjoy the longer version of Jenna and Brett's rocky relationship. The short version received a high mark from a Screenplay Adaptation reviewer, who said he loved the setup but there needed to be more "of a complex and layered romance that the modern market demands." So I now have written the first draft of the larger version of that book.

I also went back and worked on the second "Oyster Point Mystery."  That one needs a second reading/editing by me and then I'll submit it to the Publisher.  I'm so lucky they still believe in me and like my works!  

So I'm hoping for two books to be published this year!  That will make eight novels!

So back to my editing.

Hope you are writing and working hard on your manuscripts and also enjoying life!  More memories, I always say.

Till,

Judi