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When cyber and clandestine spying ratchet up fear, The US and China launch covert military operations to force the other to reveal their secrets. Success means the winner will develop counter measures and failure cedes dominance of the Pacific Region.
As a writer from Alaska, one who from time to time saves story protagonists from starvation by helping them harvest wild game, I’m repeatedly asked several questions and comments:
Do you really hunt?
I hate wild game, how can you eat it?
I’d love to learn to hunt, but I have no idea how to process something I harvest.
My family refuses to eat the (pick one) deer, elk, moose, caribou I bring home.
Because of these questions, I am dedicating a new blog to the topic of hunting and sharing my wild game recipes. Before we get started, I’d like to share some processing and cooking preparation “musts” that will dramatically improve the flavor of wild game on your table.
Field Processing
Take the hide off the animal as quickly as you can. Remove as much of the fat just under the hide as possible and discard. Fat allowed to remain on the animal will become rancid, tainting the meat underneath. For larger animals, like elk and moose, cut the animal into quarters. These steps allow the meat to cool out quickly, which eliminates the risk of it becoming tainted.
Preparation for Cooking
Slowly thaw frozen meat in the refrigerator.
Cut away and discard excess fat or membranes.
Soak the meat in saltwater for at least 12 hours before cooking to draw out the blood.
Rinse off the salt and allow the cut of meat to air dry for a couple of hours before cooking.
Find a recipe you think you will like. Many game recipes include marinades.
Use the same cooking times for game as you do for a cut of beef.
While I was writing Rodger’s Top 5 for this month, I was pouring through quotations of American Presidents and administrations. My personal favorites are Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. Two of them were self-made and the other, used his wealth to grow close to common men and nature. All redirected the trajectory of the United States at a critical moment in our history.
I’ve studied each of our presidents. Without question, Lincoln had the most challenging job. What makes a president tick? What allows them to do one of the most difficult jobs in the world? For President Carter, it was his deep lifelong Baptist faith. I think Reagan’s success came from personally realizing that his years in leadership of the Democratic party wasn’t yielding the life he wanted for himself or his associates. Teddy Roosevelt realized that many of his wealthy friends were more concerned with protecting their privileged life than the nation as a whole.
But Lincoln, with his simple early life and self-education, was an enigma to me. What was the philosophy of life that gave him the skills and strength to succeed? Some years ago, I came across one of his writings that helped me understand him.
With beliefs like these, how can you fail?
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
You cannot build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence.
I wrote this just ten days before America’s new president was sworn in and the day after the state funeral for our 39th president.
It is just over a month since the US conducted one of the most bruising and consequential elections in a century. That election will redirect the federal government, to the joy of much of the populace and anger of others.
Those who follow my writing know that I love to find snippets of history that don’t make sense and then write a Gritt Family fictional novel that might tell a more accurate story. Even more of my readers follow the Team Walker series, stories of international intrigue; thrillers drawn from current media and events. Often the events I write about can be traced directly to the person in the oval office in Washington DC. The election and funeral for President Carter got me thinking about how a presidency can sometimes be summed up in the president’s own words or their family’s or staff’s. Sometimes these words define an administration, and sometimes they are why Americans have grown skeptical of government. Consider these five statements:
“Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friend.” – Abraham Lincoln
“There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured with what is right in America.” – Bill Clinton
“The north pole will be ice free in the summer of 2013 because of man-made global warming.” – Al Gore
“Don’t be buffaloed by experts and elites, experts often possess more data than judgement.” – Colin Powell
“Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Lincoln fought to preserve the union and as the war wrapped up, argued to reunite the country without punishment. (Those who have read my book, TWO CIVIL WARS, know that Mexico would be a different place today if the victors had been more like Lincoln.)
Clinton was elected as a progressive but realized quickly that neither liberal or conservative were absolutely right. (He will be remembered by his willingness to compromise.)
Al Gore must have struggled with the policy differences and management philosophy with his President. His elitism, and blindness to other beliefs and ideas assured he would never be President. Perhaps President Biden could have learned from Gore.
Both Gore and Biden would have been more successful if they were just a little bit more like Colin Powell. Each citizen is empowered to use their own judgement.
Finally, Roosevelt’s thoughts might be expanded to recognize that overcoming and surviving struggle and failure are critical to learning and success.
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to meet Carrick Esquivel, a young man who was just finishing up his formal education. Today he is Carrick Esquivel, the artist and illustrator who brilliantly creates graphic novels. Carrick is a special man, one who would understand Theodore Roosevelt’s directive, “Do what you can with what you have, where you are.”
Carmen and I hosted her friend and Carrick when they visited Alaska, and he and I bonded over a love of wildlife and wild settings. Over Christmas we received a card from Carrick, with a picture he had taken of one of the last huge African tusker elephants. He had just returned from a trip to Kenya. In his note, he reminded me of a conversation we had while watching several moose feed in a field. “There will come a time when the most valuable thing in the world is the ability to be alone.” I truly believe this.
Others in the writing community ask what keeps me in Alaska, so far from the heartbeat of the publishing industry. My career would certainly be easier if I still spent much of my life in New York, Chicago or Seattle.
Carrick’s next trip will be to India to study tigers and Indian elephants, and then to draw them.
Carrick travels to find those places that are still natural, where you can sit on a rock by yourself for hours without the disruption of society, places where you can evaluate your life. I live in such a place, and it makes me a better person and writer.
When life has challenges, find your place to be alone; better yet, alone in the natural world.
I just finished a hike in the mountains above my house. It is January in Alaska, and we have almost no snow. Normally, the trails that Weatherby and I hike this time of year have a foot or two of packed snow. Our daily winter outing is usually on skis, but not this year. Today the hike required spiked boots to stay upright on trails covered in ice.
Cross country skiing is better exercise. You work legs, body and arms with every stride. The last winter I remember with almost no snow in Anchorage was three decades ago. Back then I would just go to the gym to work out, but as I note in this month’s Rodger Recommends, my lifelong love of the outdoors is now just behind only my love of family, country, and readers. So, I’m out there on glare ice, with spiked hiking boots, watching the eagles circling, foxes working the alder thickets, listening to the water running under the ice of streams that should be frozen solid. I’m right where I belong.
Alaska is a great place for a writer to contemplate, especially the theme for a book. My newest Team Walker book, The Dragon, the Eagle and the Jaguar (DEJ), takes the reader into the drug cartel crisis that is Mexico trying to cope with; criminal gangs that are falling under the thumb of the Chinese. Those same outlaw organizations not only push fentanyl across the border, but also traffic human beings, including thousands of military age Chinese men. The crisis now has a new American president and a new Mexican president, both challenged to halt the madness without losing the sovereignty of their own nation.
How do I top that as a theme for a thriller? I came up with the plotline for DEJ skiing a couple of years ago. My themes always begin with a question based on media reporting and personal research. Early this morning I was reading several papers on what it might take to get the world to unite. Yesterday, I was reading philosophers thoughts on what it will take to just get the United States reunited. From my research, one thought repeatedly popped out.
If the world finally had proof that there was intelligent life in the universe, life that had the ability to reach out to earth, that might be the catalyst to unite us. I was thinking about that as I tried to stay upright on our icy mountain trails. The beginning of a new plot began to take shape. Would first contact unite us or would it do the opposite? I think my fans will be able to read my thoughts, about this time next year. This one needs to be written.
When most of us think of philanthropy, we picture huge family foundations or national organizations. The American Red Cross has been a part of my life since I was ten; my single mother could barely keep food on the table while working for them, but until the day she died, she couldn’t imagine doing any other work. But my wife Carmen’s job has introduced me to a very different type of philanthropy: community foundations.
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend three community celebrations of giving with Carmen. She may as well be retired. Her job and her joy is to support community foundations in building their local “now and forever” fund and giving across our vast state. She loves her work and the people she works with. She also supports me in my love of writing. I try to celebrate her commitment to her work by traveling to those communities with her. It is both heartening and inspirational, and leaves me hopeful.
Across the country (and the world) there are literally hundreds of community foundations, small and large, managed by both volunteers and staff who coordinate giving from members of the community, steward those endowed funds, then distribute the earnings from those funds to meet local needs. Among the programs receiving funds at the celebrations we attended were for the refurbishment of a little league field, support for the library, support to the food bank, social programs that help single mothers, substance abuse recovery group programs and projects that improve public hiking trails and parks.
These local grants work wonders in the communities. These local foundations are led by volunteer advisory boards with one very part time staff member. They know and love their community, and can advise where even a small amount of funds can make a big impact. As they grow the principal balance of their funds, they can make an even greater impact and offer more help. The key to the community foundation model is growing the endowed funds.
At a recent celebration, I listened to a giving presentation that made a lot of sense to me. Simply stated, it asked for a commitment from community members to leave 5% of their estate to do good work in the future. For those whose liquid estate is mostly life insurance, this is especially easy and painless. I thought a lot about that 5% number. My kids can certainly lead successful lives with 5% less inheritance. Even with our current personally directed giving program, coordinated through the statewide community umbrella foundation, with inflation alone, our estate is increasing. Five percent is the least we owe to our state and community for the remarkable life it has allowed.
So, my recommendation is to explore your local community foundation. Become a volunteer. Become a donor. Consider pledging 5% of your life insurance or your total estate to help grow your community foundation’s fund and their ability to help the community. It is one of the real feel good things we can do to make better communities.
As a writer with two fictional series in print and a new book due out mid-January, I sit at my computer on a brisk November day with a smile on my face, coffee in hand, daydreaming about two of my favorite places: libraries and small bookstores.
As the child of a single mother who struggled to feed her family while working for The American Red Cross helping military personnel at Arizona’s Luke Air Force Base and supporting families in need in the community, my favorite escape was to my school library. There, authors like Jim Kjelgaard took me into the cool north woods, fishing clear streams and hiking with extraordinary dogs. Rudyard Kipling expanded my world while James Fennimore Cooper introduced me to our nation’s earliest challenges. Jack London offered my first glimpse of the far north and Alaska, now my home.
By the time I was in high school, The worlds of Hemingway, Steinbeck, Ernest K. Gann, and Zane Gray became a regular part of my life. We couldn’t afford the books I loved, but local libraries assured that they were available. No matter how difficult life was, the library was my sanctuary.
When my professional career took off, I set out to build a small library of my own. On those shelves were books from my early favorite authors. Added to that were books on science, politics, social movements and a host of other topics. Critical to selecting reading material were locally owned bookstores with owners who loved directing me to interesting topics and challenging opinions. The fiction writers they suggested, Vonnegut, Heller, and Michener helped shape my own writing. I loved and still love books that not only entertain, but make you think about the story and its setting.
I was reminded of how influential small bookshops are last month when I traveled to Sitka, Alaska. Part of the trip was to attend a local community foundation’s donor appreciation event. But a second agenda also took me to Old Harbor Books in downtown Sitka, a town once known as New Archangel when it was the capital of Russian America. When the owner learned that much of my most recent release, Tempest North, is set in New Archangel and the surrounding wilderness of the 1820’s, she promptly began stocking the book. It was with great joy that I reversed the purpose of my regular bookstore visits, by hand delivering an order of my latest novel.
There is nothing more valuable to the development of inquiring minds than a great book. I believe that this is especially true for young minds of youth living in challenging conditions. They offer a retreat as well as a vision of what can be if you are willing to live a challenging life.
I host an annual hunting retreat every fall at our remote fly-in log cabin in the beautiful Iliamna River country of Alaska. This year, one of our regulars decided to include his twenty-year-old son who is just beginning to sort out his future. Among the interests his father is encouraging, is a love of reading. As we both sat on the screen porch of our cabin where so many of my books take shape, we discussed writing and reading and how well-crafted fiction can be a window on the world. As we talked, one of the locals came by for a visit, one of the highlights of life at the cabin.
Just two weeks after we closed up the cabin for winter, I got a frantic call from the owner of a fishing lodge downriver. A ROGUE grizzly had just clawed his way into his lodge, destroying the inside. He made similar calls to others who have cabins in the area. This led to a friend traveling from a nearby village to check on our cabin. He found that two lodges and 14 cabins within a twenty-mile radius of the Iliamna River had experienced similar damage. As for our cabin, the bear literally tore out the back wall, then systematically shredded the inside, destroying the cabinets and emergency food supplies, furniture, refrigerator, stove, radios, lamps and kerosene fuel cans and a window.
Our friends from the village raided a small business on the lake for plywood to board up the damage and sent these pictures. Our attempts to fly in to check on the damage failed when snow closed the small airstrip we land on. So, what is normally a two-day trip to open up the cabin next spring now will require a week of work. The guys I hunt with will all pitch in to repair the structure. Transportation challenges will probably mean that replacing what was destroyed inside will take all summer. But it will not delay my next book. Oh, the joys of true wilderness.
Until 20 years ago, I thought I was too busy to invest several days at a reader and writer’s conference. I was building companies and doing business and political consulting all over the world. It turns out that not attending was a mistake.
Recently Carmen and I spent a week in Nashville at Bouchercon. The conference is a lot like COMIC-CON but for book writers and readers. It was a great opportunity to listen to and mingle with creators and consumers to see how close the industry is to what readers really want. My observation is that the publishing industry’s current model to keep on publishing what worked in the past is getting stale. We sat in on discussions where much of the excitement came from self-published or indie authors. We added new books from new writers to our own library.
There were more great writers there than we had time to meet. Two who did stand out were A.M. Adair and A.C. Frieden. Adair is an amazing woman who recently retired after a long career in Naval Intelligence. Her real-world experience gives her work a realism and yet she doesn’t write the stereotypical thriller. Frieden is an attorney with experience all over the world, experience with the elites of business and government. He brings the perspective of dual citizenship and a critical examination of issues to stories that can launch you from Ukraine to North Korea. Both of these authors create entertaining adventures, but also challenge you to think. That’s something I hear about in my writing. I love to hear things like, “I was ripping through the book prepared to finish it in one night, and then in chapter X you took me some place and into a situation that I didn’t expect. I put the book down just to think about it for a day before I jumped back on the thrill ride.”
So, if you’re a reader, take time to attend a reading and writing conference, even a local one. You may well find a writer you have never heard about who takes you on an adventure you never expected, set someplace you might never visit. For me, that is what drives my writing. And, being from Alaska, a place twice the size of Texas with fewer roads than New York, you can count on visiting a place you probably have never heard of. I’m fortunate that I can climb into a plane, fly somewhere, strap a .44 magnum on my hip because of bears, and head out across lands that, even today, humankind might have never visited.
Come with me in my writing. And someday I would like to meet you at a conference like Bouchercon. And, if I’m not in attendance, you will meet another author who offers you a lift into their adventure world.
PS: While in Nashville, we attended The Grand Old Opry. While there, we were introduced to singer-songwriter Drew Baldridge whose decade long path to success mimics today’s most common road to writing success. Drew toiled, played, and wrote, for a dozen years, spending the COVID years playing gigs in people’s backyards. He married the girl of his dreams, and wrote She’s Somebody’s Daughter. It reached number one on the country play charts the week we saw him perform. Like so many great books today, it was self-produced and funded, the first chart topping song ever that wasn’t backed by a record label. Looks like publishing history is beginning to repeat itself in the music world.
Thank you Drew for the amazing song and for your persistence.
