Pilot Error 2nd Edition

In 1992, while flying for Continental airlines at near the bottom of the first-officer seniority list, on reserve or getting the least productive schedules, bored out of my skull, and compelled to make better use of all the sit time in airports and motel rooms across the country, I decided to buy my first laptop to try my hand at writing a novel. Chose a Mac PowerBook 180 with an "active matrix" screen, which a salesman suggested would be easier on the eyes when scrolling through pages of text.

To illustrate the difference between that and passive matrix, he suggested that I type some pages and compare the difference. Used a floppy disk to transfer the pages between the two computers, and took it home. The first sentence became the opening of the novel OASIS, which I wrote over the course of the next few years, a 254,000-word behemoth, about a 13-year-old boy living with his parents on a space station orbiting the Moon.

For the next 11 years, during which I resigned from Continental and began flying private executive jets, I tried unsuccessfully to get a literary agent and contract with one of the Big 6 (at the time) Legacy Publishers. The effort involved 12 major revisions and trimming the manuscript to a less-bloated 186,000 words.

In March 2003, I took the advice of an instructor at the Writers' League of Texas to try another novel, targeted at the mystery genre. I wrote the first draft of Pilot Error 2nd Edition in 31 days, and once again sent out query letters to literary agents. It took almost 8 years to reach the first step on the ladder to legacy publishing, which is for an agent to respond to a query letter, writing sample, and synopsis by requesting to see more. In one week, I sent out 3 full manuscripts and 1 partial.

In March 2011, I'd finally had enough of clawing at the gates of the castle and removed my novel from consideration by the last of the four agents. From then until November 2011, I taught myself how to format the interiors and design the covers of the print and eBook editions of the first novel in the series and indie-published them.

In July 2014 I published RED LINE, the 2nd novel in the series, and in September 2017 began the 3rd novel TEST FLIGHT. Unfortunately, a serious case of writer's block halted progress, fueled by none other than self-doubt that I could finish what I had started.

It took far too long for me to realize that a common recommendation for curing writer's block is to begin a new project. In this case, however, another option finally broke through the fog. Why not dust off OASIS, and I won't have to convince anyone that it's worthy of publication?

Opening up the manuscript for the first time since 2008 began a final revision that culminated in publication of the print edition on August 14, 2020, and the eBook edition on September 15th.

My original concept for OASIS included a series of novels, each one themed on the four stages of a pilot's life: 1) "Gee, that looks like fun. Wish I could do that." 2) "Wow! Learning to fly is fantastic." 3) "I am God's gift to aviation, and therefore invincible." 4) "Wish I could still do that." The incomplete first draft of OASIS 2, created on September 28, 2001, weighs in at 46,276 words. Based on market interest in the 1st book, I plan to continue the series.

Nick's career-obsessed boss tries to remove him as head of the investigation team. His replacement? The boss's clone, a quintessential minion who will do anything to climb the bureaucratic ladder. It's an unusual move, and Nick's personal radar takes notice.

The owner-pilot faced indictment for war crimes as the leader of an anti-terror assassination squad. What if he signed his own death warrant with his well-publicized threats to implicate the high-level government officials who sanctioned his targets?

Nick suspects a cover-up in the making. The victim's legendary reputation as a mediocre aviator is a perfect smokescreen to conceal airborne murder behind an expeditious finding of pilot error.

But it's not going to happen on Nick's watch. They have no idea who they're dealing with.

And neither does Nick . . .