News from Bob: second novel

After six decades of non-fiction, my first novel, an alternate history of World War II,  "HITLER'S TIME MACHINE," was published a year ago. Now, I'm seeking to complete my second novel, "CRIME SCENE: FAIRFAX COUNTY," a 1947 murder tale with the same series characters.

I have readers in interesting places. A bevy of Zumba students in Florida is special to  me. Our son Jerry Dorr is a key figure in that world. Our son Bob Dorr has also encouraged interest in my writing locally.

This time, the start is where I teach myself to use a computer keyboard, all over, for the first time. After brain surgery on December 2, I was unable to type "Bob" on the keys.

Some of it is coming back, today, Day Fifty Eight since my initial tumor symptoms.

I can almost type

Now, we'll see if I can write. Skip Dragon. I'm an author, not a typist.

"HITLER" was meant as great fun and has gotten a nice grab of Kindle adherents.

"CRIME SCENE" continues the adventure.

For sixty years in magazines, newspaper columns and books, I did a range of writing — supermarket tabloid fare; women's confessions stories and mens adventure magazine tales. I wrote of civil and commercial aviation.

But for me, from my first paid publication in November 1955, it was always about the Air Force.

Giving me undue flattery for calm amidst my medical issues, my wife Young Soon called me brave. I'm not.

But in the fraternity of Americans who fly and fight, I have walked among the bravest men who ever lived.

Sometimes, bravery can mean taking a difficult position in an office setting. Sometimes, you fly and fight.

It was my privilege to know those, oh-so-young 18-year-olds who climbed into freezing B-17 Flying Fortresses and flew over Nazi Germany,

I was in the Air Force in Korea in the 1950s, The sign read, "Welcome to Osan Air Base. You are at Freedom's Frontier." We were. I looked up at those gnarled hills and waited for the Chinese First Field Route Army to come pouring down at us.

As a correspondent accompanying the Air Force, I invaded Panama (1989), flew into Sarajevo under artillery siege (1990), joined history's greatest airlift for Desert Shield (1990) and was in real fighting up close in Somalia (1992). I've flown many of the great planes and hobnobbed with everyday airmen and great generals. It will always be about special breed of Americans who fly and fight.

In January the creative genius of Bob Deis and Wyatt Doyle will release "A HANDFUL OF HELL," a collection of my action stories from the 1960s and 1970s, It will give you a new look at an America that many of us lived in.

My own covers reflect the artistry of Victor Rook.

Look us up on the Facebook page "MEN'S ADVENTURE MAGAZINES."

With a new appreciation of family and friends, and of the beauty  of our world on this bright-lit Tuesday, I'm providing this update containing far too much of "me" and wanting much, much more from you. I'm able to talk on the phone — at (703) 264-8950 — and eager to hear what you're doing.

Oh, and that tumor? This kind doesn't go away.

News from Bob

Friends,

I have a brain tumor.

It appears to be a Glioblastoma, the most common but also the most aggressive kind.

I'm still able to talk, including talking on the phone, but the tumor is near the speech center and my ability to speak, to type, and to add and subtract is deteriorating rapidly. Check it out.

I'm in good spirits amidst these gorgeous autumn days with wonderful support from family, friends, and readers.

Well, okay, not every reader. One reader mailed me a package of Preparation H. That's genuinely thoughtful but maybe not the work of an adoring fan.

My first paid publication was in the November 1955 issue of Air Force magazine when I was in high school. I got to be in the Air Force in Korea and to spend 60 years writing about those who fly and fight. A current example is the cover story on the B-24 Liberator in the January 2016 Aviation History magazine.

Hey, I got to invade Panama, fly with the Air Force in Somalia and in Sarajevo, cover Desert Shield, make friends with senior leaders and everyday airmen, fly in a F-15E Strike Eagle (several times) and write. I went with the Air Force to far above the Arctic Circle and to the tropics. I also wrote for the men's adventure magazines, the women's confession magazines, the supermarket tabloids and the History Channel. It just doesn't get better.

If anyone wants to reach my wife Young Soon, she is at ysdorr@cox.net. I was almost finished with my second novel. You can find my first novel here.

I've had numerous lab tests, cat scans, MRIs, and even a tooth pulled, and I may have surgery in December. No one recovers from this. I don't know Elaine but I'm grateful for her sage advice, found here.

I'm in good spirits and having a great time. People are fussing over me. People who never picked up the tab in their lives are taking me to lunch. Thanks to my family, friends, and readers for a great time.

Bob Dorr

Thoughts about Fred

I'm thinking about Fred Thompson (August 19, 1942-November 1, 2015).

It annoyed me that he, like Henry Winkler, lowered himself by flogging reverse mortgages on television. But he led a rich life as an actor and public figure.

Except for the manager, I was alone in a small bookstore in the Tysons II shopping center in northern Virginia, doing a book signing, when Thompson walked in. All six feet five of him.

He spent twenty minutes to a half hour in the store, browsing from one end to the other, impervious to my table, sign, poster and books. He was interested in everything in the store except me and he departed without eye contact, a nod, or a word of hello or goodbye.

Thompson was the Capitol Hill questioner who elicited from presidential aide Alexander Butterfield the revelation that there was a tape-recording system in the Nixon White House.

My mid-1980s interview with Butterfield was much shorter than Bob Woodward's interviews for "The Last of The President's Men" (2015), but I did a better job of describing Butterfield's flying of the F-101 in my book "McDonnell F-101 Voodoo" (1991), which is out of print although used copies are available here.

The reverse mortgage thing disturbs me but I do think kindly of Fred Thompson and I shall miss him.

Plans for November

I plan to resume routine activities December 1.

During November, I'm taking time from routine activities to write a novel, as I did in November 2014. I'm hoping the many friends who've supported my writing about the Air Force and aviation will encourage me now that I'm turning to fiction.

A year ago, I took the month of November to write my science-fiction/alternate history of World War II titled "HITLER'S TIME MACHINE." This was my first novel and is a modest success. If you'd like to encourage me as I embark in this new direction, pick up the Kindle edition for yourself or for a Kindle user you know. The link is here. This is a new kind of writing for me—although influenced by my past work in the men's adventure magazines—and I need your encouragement.

I've heard from someone who wants to make a movie of "HITLER'S TIME MACHINE," and that's encouraging.

Each year, thousands of people around the world participate in National Novel Writing Month during November. My plan is to complete a crime novel set in my locality in 1947. The title is "CRIME SCENE: FAIRFAX COUNTY." If someone in your family likes crime novels, you'll want to follow my progress. I'm hoping to get the services of the talented artist and writer Victor Rook to help design the cover. Read about Victor's many achievements here.

On October 21, I posted a blog item about disposing of some of the aviation materials I've collected over the years. About a dozen people responded and I owe a reply to most. I'm going to ask those special friends to be patient until December 1. In the meanwhile, I can always be reached by phone at (703) 264-8950 or by e-mail at robert.f.dorr@cox.net. I will be doing some communicating but there will be be a short delay in fulfilling some requests for disposal items.

I will respond to all requests for items for disposal on December 1 or sooner. I'm still looking for someone who wants the beautiful Schiffer history of the 25th Bomb Group or the monograph on the B-58 Hustler.

Summary: I'll be available on phone at all times but will be a little slow with other forms of communication. I do want you to call me on the phone, so don't hesitate to pick it up and punch in those numbers.

I'll be here.

Somber in September

I'm somber, reflecting on anniversaries. My heart is heavy because so little lies ahead, with so much behind—and because I let down good people who were relying on me.

September 11, 1939 is my birthday. We celebrated quietly. I'm still waiting for son Bob, who has a busy schedule, to take me out for searing-hot, high-calorie vindaloo at Bollywood Bistro. I'm thankful for family and friends who support me and who sent greetings.

September 18, 1947 is the day the United States Air Force became an independent military service branch, long after most countries had an independent air arm.

This is the day for those who fly and fight. I was slated to give a talk at a very important place with some very fine people and was forced to stand them up at the last minute because of a health issue. They were counting on me. I let them down.

I'm not much for flag-waving, rah-rah, pro-veteran stuff but I feel satisfaction at being one of the Americans who went to difficult places and did difficult things. I feel privileged to be an American airman. No other title can compare. Photo shows me preparing for a Rose Bowl reconnaissance mission against the North Korean air force at Osan in April 1960, age twenty.

September 1, 1955 is the approximate date when I submitted a short opinion piece to Air Force magazine—not to be confused with Air Force Times newspaper, where I had a column later. I was age fifteen. My submission became my first paid magazine appearance in the November 1955 issue of Air Force. So I'm having a 60th anniversary of writing about those who fly and fight. No privilege could be greater.

Planes, war, crime: what do you like?

As I mark a birthday, I'm thankful for feedback on my books and magazine articles. You steer me. Several parts of me are joined at this keyboard. Those disparate parts are trying to stray off in different directions, like a satellite breaking up in orbit and raining debris.

Part of me is the pure airplane part. Just airplanes.

My cover story on the B-24 Liberator bomber will be in the January issue of AVIATION HISTORY magazine, which will appear around November 1. I have an article on the B-32 Dominator in a spinoff of FLIGHT JOURNAL about the final battles of World War II. And now, I'm working on the P4M Mercator, that big, complex, Navy plane of the Cold War with which I have a connection (photo).

On June 16, 1959, I listened to North Korean MiG-17 fighters shooting up a Mercator. The crew survived in part due to co-pilot Vincent Anania, the father of a then-eight-year-old future political wife named Elizabeth Edwards. She's here.

The photo of a Mercator seen here is very rare, taken at Port Lyautey, French Morocco, circa. 1952.

Part of me is more generally into the Air Force, the armed forces and the history of Americans at war.

Military history.

Watch for my next book, titled "VALOR ALOFT," which will have a cover designed by the talented and very cool Victor Rook. Find him here.

Part of me wants to write fiction.

My alternate history, "HITLER'S TIME MACHINE," has been well received and is available for Kindle and in print, or directly from me. It's an especially good gift for a Kindle user. Find it here.

I wrote about half of a sequel, "FEGELEIN'S TIME MACHINE," and set it aside. Fegelein is an especially despicable figure in the Third Reich, albeit a much more minor figure than I'm planning to make him. Watch for a return of favorite characters including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Heinrich Himmler, and my series hero, Barbara Stafford.

More about that sniveling toady Fegelein is here.

I wrote about half of a crime novel, "CRIME SCENE FAIRFAX COUNTY." It's set in 1947 and parts of it may grab you, but it needs a lot, lot more work.

So what's it to be next?

Will a reader who enjoys my airplane stuff read a crime novel?

Will a friend who likes my military history stuff read a crime novel? Or an alternate-history, time-travel, Nazi shoot-'em-up?

Or should I just stick to an average of three full-length articles per week about flying machines?

I don't know.

Tell me.

Hitler, Hillary, time travel and the F-22

A couple of quick updates.

A prediction: Neither Hillary Clinton nor Jeb Bush will be the major-party presidential candidates in 2016.

About my alternate history of World War II: "HITLER'S TIME MACHINE," which is actually mostly about Americans, is being well received (mostly) on Amazon. You can get it there in Kindle or in print, or get a signed copy of the print edition from me.

About Gates and the F-22: My book "AIR POWER ABANDONED: ROBERT GATES, THE F-22 RAPTOR AND THE BETRAYAL OF AMERICA'S AIR FORCE" is being published this month. It's not quite ready for pre-order on Amazon in print format although you can pre-order a signed copy of the print edition from me. The Kindle edition is available now, here.

The book is a narrative of the dismantling of America's Air Force, based on research and many interviews with key participants. I have no sense for how much interest there is, so if this looks like something that would interest you, please let me know.

Disclosure: I've said all along that this story of the Defense Secretary

who fired Air Force leaders and cancelled the F-22 Raptor should have been written by a participant, meaning someone else, rather than by an observer, meaning me. Some will not care for this book. Some will feel the author doesn't have enough "insider" knowledge. Some may feel the book is a little expensive.

Someone had to try to tell this story. I've done it to the best of my ability. While a couple of key people did not respond to requests to be interviewed, dozens did respond and only one declined an interview: Robert Gates. The former Defense Secretary's own book, "DUTY," is available for those wanting his account of events.