Three years after writing a novel called The Fortress for my eight-year-old son, I’m taking on the fourth revision. It's got a new title, In the Pathless Woods, inspired by Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, the 18th century narrative poem by George Gordon, Lord Byron. Byron's verse replaces a simple placeholder I'd inserted at the time, filler … Continue reading In the Pathless Woods: Revising
Novel
Essential Non-Essential
Shutdown 2018 continues unabated, and so do excerpts from life at the government's Bureau of Government Intelligence and Execution---better known as BOGIE. What happens when DC's 'Fed Buffet' closes its doors---and its payroll---on the public servants who work to prevent America's next tragedy? Furloughed, you say? Is this what you signed up for? "How do you arrive at … Continue reading Essential Non-Essential
P-A-T-C-H-W-O-R-K-S
America's next gun massacre is inevitable. Unless one government intern makes a miracle of his odd jobs in Washington, DC. This week.
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America's next gun massacre is inevitable.
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More Foreign Service Fiction
The latest release from ex-Foreign Service Officer Peter Van Buren, author of controversial Iraq reconstruction expose We Meant Well, is set during World War Two. We may find ourselves in 1940s Japan, but Hooper’s War aims its barbs dead-center at the contemporary conflagrations in Iraq and Afghanistan. “The men and women in Hooper confront the complex ethical decisions of war, … Continue reading More Foreign Service Fiction
New Foreign Service Fiction
After 20 years on the diplomatic beat ex-Foreign Service Officer Matthew Palmer has released his fourth tradecraft thriller: Enemy of the Good. U.S.–Kyrgyz relations are at a critical juncture. The U.S. is negotiating the details of a massive airbase that would significantly expand the American footprint in Central Asia, tipping the scale in “the Great Game” … Continue reading New Foreign Service Fiction
I’d Rather Be Writing (or maybe talking about it)
The American Foreign Service Association filmed a few short clips featuring my reflections on Two Pumps for the Body Man, the inspiration behind the novel, and my thoughts on the writing process. It isn't exactly Zack Galifianakis Between Two Ferns (more like Some Guy and Bamboo) but I hope viewers will enjoy it when it becomes available. … Continue reading I’d Rather Be Writing (or maybe talking about it)
Ben East Books 