My
infatuation with writing was born before I ever took my first breath, somewhere
on the rural plains of Eastern North Carolina, nourished by the adventures of
my grandmother’s childhood. From the time I was only four or five years old,
her memories gave flight to my imagination and fuel to my curiosities. Her
stories widened my eyes to the fascinatingly bizarre in the everyday.
As a young
girl, my grandmother would bring her puppy with her to stalk rabbits every
morning. The two of them would chase an unlucky long-eared rascal until it
escaped into a hollow at the base of a tree, and she would run a stick around
the inside of the opening as though churning butter. The spell of the sound and
vibration would lure the rabbit out of the tree and into her hands.
Good fiction,
inventive and provocative fiction, reverberates in readers and spellbinds them.
It can spur surprise, delight, discomfort, and revelation and defy reason. As a
storyteller, I strive to help others solve their problems by sharing things
that I have read about, heard about, and seen. But I also prize the look on
people’s faces when they hear the brilliant punch line of a joke, or when they
experience an epiphany that knocks the logical wind out of them. These are the
reactions that I live to inspire in my audiences when I write paranormal
thrillers.
My obsession
with the extraordinary in my writing might also, ironically, stem from my
20-year career in the U.S. Army. I can allow my mind to wander in the
extraterrestrial sphere while my love for my country keeps me grounded in
domestic affairs. Of all of my accomplishments, serving as a paratrooper in a
Special Forces Group and a Field Artillery outfit during Operation Desert
Shield/Desert Storm claims high rank. Few situations force a person to confront
his humanity as painfully as going off to war, and this experience taught me
both to accept accountability for my actions and to trust others. Eventually, I
became a successful Army Recruiter and Station Commander, earning the Top
Recruiting Station awards in Dallas and Seattle Recruiting Battalions. North
Carolina Central University granted me a Public Service Award for my work in
the local community. And currently, I serve fellow veterans as an HR Specialist
for the Department of Veteran Affairs.
Other
passions of mine include playing chess, traveling, and indulging in my
contrarian nature by instigating debate. Spending time with my wife tops the
list of my life’s privileges, however. Whether I am entertaining her with my
emulation of Laurence Olivier as Marcus Crassus or protecting her from an elk
during one of our photography excursions in the wild, I treasure her
companionship and affection.
Metamorphosis:
The Trey Parker Story, the first novel in a three-part paranormal thriller
series. A young male is forever changed after a near death experience. His
incident invites the attention of a covert Government agency. A gritty
detective remains diligent in discovering the facts of the incident and
encounters opposition from the unlikeliest of places.
AN EXCERPT
The men average six feet and two hundred pounds each, most
with two-day-old stubble. They stand waiting as their sergeant, nicknamed
Razor, walks across the half-lit Air Force hangar to speak to the captain. Razor’s
camouflage pants and green T-shirt fade in the dim hangar as he approaches the
captain, but his black jump boots glisten. “Sir, the men would like to say a
prayer.”
The veins throb in the captain’s neck, as if his heart has
pushed all of his blood to the wrong spot. “Bullshit! You got to be shitting
me, Razor. You tell the men to save their breath for when the rounds fly. I
don’t take orders from women … and I don’t take orders from God.”
The seasoned communications officer turned Green Beret’s
shoulder thumps Razor in the chest as he walks past him and back to his A-team
in the Okinawa, Japan hanger—far from their home base at Fort Bragg, North
Carolina. Huddled around an enlarged map spread on an easel, the twelve burly
soldiers can see the answer on the captain’s face as he walks toward them with
Razor a few steps behind.
His laser pointer stops on an area on the map circled in red
tape. The captain says, “You have your orders, men … We land here … about
twenty clicks from our target. Here,” he slides his red dot into an area on the
map circled in green tape. “We’ll rotate, carrying the ordnance every two
clicks … then we’ll take out the target from this ridgeline. Too easy. Any
questions?”
The captain looks around, but no one says a word. In fact,
the eyes of his soldiers turn away for the first time that he can remember. No
plan survives first contact with the enemy—they all know that. The captain
glances at his men. “Your M14s will save you, not God.”
The captain writes each of their names deep into his memory,
but finds no time for praying. “Grab your gear, men.”
The group of Green Berets quick-time it out of the hangar
and onto a C-141 Air Force jet with a classified destination. They were all
briefed on their infiltration plan, and were told no feasible exfiltration plan
could be formulated. After planning the destruction of the target, military
leaders could not agree on an exit strategy. No escape plan was sound enough
that Pentagon planners were willing to put their ‘John Hancock’ on. The Green
Berets will be on their own, and truer still, their lives will be in the hands
of their young captain—and God, if he cares.
Having worked so hard
to earn the respect of his sergeants, a challenge West Point Military Academy
barely prepared him for, the captain quietly fears he may have just lost it.
Most of the sergeants are older than he is and have families of their own,
while he is still a bachelor. They have great reason to want to keep their
lives. The captain’s baby is a new black Hummer he enjoys cruising around the
base on the weekends.
Amazon Author
Page: http://www.amazon.com/RW-Reels/e/B00TSAXE9C
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RReels
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TheTreyParkerStory
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13334662.R_W_Reels
The author will
be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter
during the tour, and a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn host.
