Jessica Scott

I have decided that I’m not overly approachable. Which isn’t really a surprise at this point in my life but over all, people have to know me to want to approach me. Which is always good from a not getting sexually harassed point of view. The brigade XO is convinced that at some point in my career, I’ll have a boss that just won’t quit trying to screw me, literally.

I’m not overly worried about that to be honest. If it wasn’t a problem when I was twenty and hadn’t had any kids, I doubt it’s an issue now that I’m a thirty something mother of two. But I digress

I’m generally shaping up to be one mean bitch of an officer. I had a second lieutenant the other day decide to task someone in my platoon. He did not speak to that sergeant. He did not speak to me. He claims to have spoken to the CO but the CO did not clear it either. When I sent him a gentle reminder that hey, you really shouldn’t annouce these things at meetings but should coordinate with one of us first, he sent me back this shitty little reply that he’d spoke with someone else (not in any way shape or form in my NCO’s food chain).

So I ripped his head off. I explained to said second lieutenant that he was missing the point and that for future reference, if he wishes to task my soldiers he WILL speak with me first. I was not nice about it, especially since this guy is supposedly prior service and should know better. I wouldn’t tolerate that from any of my peers and I’m damn sure not going to tolerate it because this guy is afraid to talk to me.

Some people are not cut out for the army. I’m of the mind set that if you want to be in the army, first off, it’s a privilege, not a right. Second, you better get some thick skin and grow a pair because we are a war time army. Combat veterans do not have the time nor the disposition to listen to someone whine about having their feelings hurt. Maybe it’s just me but I’ve come up in the army that if you task someone, you task them through their leadership. I’m just pointing that out. And I’ve been bad about this in the past too and when corrected, I make sure I don’t do it again.

It was meant to be a teaching point, not an ass chewing but unfortunately, it turned into an ass chewing. So we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

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So I’ve been jealously watching all the tweets from everyone at RWA Nationals in DC this year. I’m hoping to make next years and last year’s wasn’t on my radar as I wasn’t ‘serious’ yet (well I was but I wasn’t but that’s another story). I happened to see a mention of an ARC (advanced reader copy) and thought that there were ARCs available. As I’m getting ready to write a really tortured hero in my next book, I wanted to revisit the master of tortured heros, Laura Kinsale.

I checked my emails this morning and lo and behold, I actually had an email from Laura Kinsale! Apparently, the awesome writers on the Twitterverse retweeted it enough to get the word back to her and she dropped me a note, offering to send me the teaser first chapter of LESSONS IN FRENCH that was available at nationals.

I ended up with a huge grin on my face today. Man, talk about cool.

Other writers stepped up and offered to help. That’s the really amazing thing about writers: by and large, they are an incredibly helpful group. This just confirms what I’ve already known. When I put out a call for school supplies for a commander down here, writers from around the nation geared up and shipped out box after box to my address here. Each year, hundreds of people donate to Brenda Novak’s auction to support research for juvenile diabetes. The Unleash Your Story project runs a campaign each year to raise money for the cystic fibrosis foundation. The generosity of writers to share their name, their time and their efforst continues to impress me far beyond what most people can imagine.

So thank you, fellow writers, for all of your generosity, kind thoughts and willingness to give back. I’m proud call myself one of you.

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JK Beck’s fantastic new series is up and running a spoiler at RWA National’s this year. If you’re out there, swing by her alter ego’s booth Julie Kenner for a button. She’s also running a contest so enter to win a free Kindle! This series is going to be fantastic!

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Okay, when I screw up, I think I’m pretty good at admitting it. That’s part of being an officer that I remember from training my lieutenants as a young staff sergeant and sergeant first class. Own up. Your soldiers will respect you more and you’ll sleep better at night.

So I can’t help it if someone is too stupid to realize that they’re too stupid for their current job. I know I’m being blunt, but come on, do you really expect anything less from me at this point?

So what I really really want to know is why some people don’t get fired? Is it their ability to keep six pounds of makeup from melting off their face in 112 degree heat? Why is it that the most incompetent people get to keep their jobs? We’re 7 months in at this point! Either you’re going to learn your job or your not. How many chances do people get?

And here’s what really sets me off about the whole darn situation. If I screw up, my boss will go over my ass with a wire brush. And then pour alcohol on it. So why am I held to account when others aren’t? Either hold us all to the same standard or no standard.

The argument I hear is well, they volunteer to be here and serve during war. I’d volunteer to be in the Infantry, doesn’t mean I belong there. Some jobs require technical skills that some people just won’t master. Ever. So why continue to subject an entire brigade combat team to less than the best? Hell, I’ll take mediocre at this point. Even lazy.

I’m just really tired of incompetent.

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It’s been a super exciting week for me. I had my first interview over on Colleen Thompson’s Boxing The Octopus blog, which was super cool. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and said hi and a huge thank you to Colleen for having me on.
Then I had my first blog as part of the Mom Writers’ Literary Magazine Blog team. Which was also super fun and neat. Here I am, a diaspora mommy and I’m writing about being a mom. But it’s fun because I’m able to share my experiences with other moms.
Finally, I’m settling back into the writing groove. Being on dayshift keeps me busy so that when I do finally find time to sit down at my Mac, I’m actually writing, not screwing off. Night shift was incredibly productive but I was having a really hard time getting back into writing being back in Iraq. Day shift has provided the kick in the pants to get me going and I passed the halfway mark in my WIP. The momentum has returned, and I for one am relieved!
Have a great weekend!

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My very first post is up over at Mom Writers’ Literary Magazine. Swing by and post a comment or just check it out! http://www.momwriterslitmagblog.com/mwlm_blog/2009/07/between-mommy-and-maam.html

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Right before I deployed, the Austin RWA asked me to speak. As a member, I figured everyone who’d wanted to know something about army life had already asked but I said sure, why not.

I talked about being a woman in the army. About the war. About leaving my kids. I really didn’t think it was an offensive talk, just a little about how I see the world as a mom, as a soldier and as a writer.

Someone, apparently was offended. It was mentioned on our loop that a guest was so offended by my talk that she refused to return to the meetings. I try to think back as to what I could have said or done to offend anyone and I’m drawing a blank.

This is absolutely relevant to my life as a writer and it’s a lesson I’m struggling to learn from.

Right now, I’m sitting in Iraq, wondering what on earth I could have said that would upset someone so much that they would avoid the company of such a fantastic group of writers like the Austin RWA. And then I stopped.

Some people find the very idea of war and soldiering offensive. It could be that I was simply there, as a soldier and the idea of me offended her. I don’t know and the bottom line is that I’ll never know. I can sit here and obsess or I can let it go (my writing about it is my attempt to let it go).

The lesson in here is that someone is not going to like what I’ve written. Someone will (hopefully not but I’m nothing if not a realist) by the way I’ve written my books, my subject matter and my attitude toward certain aspects of war. If I’m going to succeed as a writer, I can’t pay attention to everyone who is offended by what I’ve written. I’m completely open to critiscism and maybe if I knew what I’d said to irritate this person, I could reflect on it.

But the bottom line is that someone will find my portrayal of war and America’s soldier offensive. I wish it were otherwise but I can’t fix that. This is my passion. The soldiers I live with and work with and have deployed with inspire the books I write. I can’t change that and I don’t know that I would.

So I won’t apologize for my portrayals of American soldiers. We can respectfully agree to disagree but I won’t apologize. And that, in and of itself, will probably be found to be offensive.

This is me and these are my books. And it’s hopefully just the beginning of the story.

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Yes, the new and FINAL version of my website is up. I’m truly satisfied with it. Heck, it’s lasted three days so far, which is a record in my world. Honestly, if I’d spent as much time writing my next book as I have fiddling with my website, I’d have two books done by now.

So why do I think this one sticks? Because it has some of the elements that I really liked from my first one. The transparent panels. But one of the criticisms I’ve had on my other drafts is that none of them said military.

I didn’t want ‘military’ like I’d seen done on other sites. I didn’t want to really advertise the military part. Until I found a pic of a sunset over a desert. Then I went through my pics and found one of a Blackhawk through a side window with the 240G machine gun in the side. I overlaid the two and thought, yeah, this is really it. It’s not subtle but it’s brown, which we all know I have a burning obsession with as a color option.

Since I really got a thrill from my first and subsequent Blackhawk flights over here in Iraq, I went with the Blackhawks and the desert. Since most of my books in my military series deal with the army in Iraq, I felt like the desert was a solid fit. And my new site was born.

I like it. I really like it. It’s lasted three days (let’s be honest, the only reason the last one lasted so long was because I was on leave). So unless my agent or my (future) editor hates it, I’m sticking with it.

I welcome your thoughts and suggestions but yes, finally, it is DONE!!!

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Well, it’s been a week since I left my kiddos and I’ve got to say, settling in has been depressingly easy. It’s as though the last two weeks of leave have been nothing but a blur. I wonder how the kids are doing. I’ve tried to call but Mom has been keeping them busy to keep their minds occupied, which is a good thing.

For myself, I slept a lot, trying to get back on the right time. Jet lag hasn’t been nearly as bad for me as it has been for my husband, who’s on day shift. But, if by jet lag, you mean the normal insomnia hasn’t hit, then you’d be right. It’s truly funny that I have more time for a shower and shaving my legs in Iraq than I do in the States. You wouldn’t think that being a soldier takes less work than being a mom but in my case, it seems to be true.

Slipping back into the writing thing has been tougher than I thought it would be, until the internet went down and I was forced to stare at my computer screen. Putting on some new tunes by a favorite band and digging into revisions and before I knew it, I’d crossed over the thousand word threshold. Not a lot for me, but better than nothing considering I haven’t written anything for the last month.

And the other exciting news I have to share is that I’m now part of the Mom’s Writer Literary Magazine team. You might have seen the announcement on my website, but I’ll be blogging with the gals over there as well. My first blog is due on 10 July, so I’ll be sure to post a link to it then. In the meantime, I’ve got to come up with something profound to say in my column titled “Wearing Mommy’s Combat Boots”.

All in all, it’s been all to easy to slip back into the routine. I guess I expected things to change but nothing has. We’re still here. It’s still hot and dirty and people are worried about the wrong things.

Business as usual, I guess.

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