donaldstilwell

Dear Friends and Readers,

One year almost to the day, the second installment of the Obligation Series is complete and up for sale on Amazon.

Darkness is just that. A darker look into the heart of a man trained and sanctioned to kill. I’d bled everything I had onto the page with Obligation. Every heartache a man could imagine was heaped onto the ready shoulders of Kevin Anderson and his soul cried at each turn of misfortune.

With Vincent Stillwater, I wanted to explore the world of one not so burdened by things like guilt and remorse. Truth be told he was quite easy to write and I’m not sure if that’s such a good thing..

As always, I hope you find something of yourself in these flawed human beings. Enjoy the ride and please let me know what you think…

Respectfully,

D.S.

 Recently, my best friend and I took a weekend trip to a remote location in Oregon.  For my friends in the “community” go ahead with the brokeback mountain references I’ll wait… Good, got that out of your systems?  If I may continue.  I’ve known this guy my whole life, literally.  We grew up on the same block and after meeting one another did just about everything together.  Our upbringings were quite different, however our personalities jived in a once in a lifetime sort of way.  I knew without a doubt that this guy was my brother.  If there was a fight to be had, one would not see it without the other, or a girl to be flirted with, then may the best man win.  I’m old enough now to concede that last one.  I was never all that slick.  My friend however, must have been the inspiration for Vince Vaughn’s role in “Swingers.”  

A lifetime of friendship comes with two very important elements; Memories, both good and bad, and unconditional understanding.  As age creeps in and the fires which once burned so bright begin to dim, the mind allows the hurtful slights and poorer episodes of judgement to ebb away, while the best of times remain clear and pristine, if not embellished to reflect absolute greatness.  In our adult lives we chose completely opposite paths.  I left our teen years behind for the Marine Corps, while he started his own company.  Through the years we maintained contact and never lost sight of the friendship that started in childhood.  When personal tragedy struck many years later, I found out with a single phone call he was the one person in this world I could call on, anytime, day or night, and know without fail if my ship was sinking he would do whatever he could to right it. 

Which leads us back to the trip.. It had been twelve years since we’d been on any kind of road trip together.  As the miles poured on, so did the stories and laughs and reflections.  Without making this about me, I’d just like to note my attitude about life, about the world in general, had not been so great for the past couple years.  I’ve been a cop for a long time now and with that comes some stark realizations which change a person.  Some, you can never seem to let go of.  For this moment in time, all of that was washed.  I no longer felt the weight of responsibility, or the pressure of performing flawlessly for one wrong decision change my life, my family’s life forever.  For now there was just the endless road leading toward a country paradise with the one person in this world whose known me longer than any other.

At the end of that weekend I came back to my reality refreshed and re-energized.  My wife, god bless her, must have seen in me the things I could not say, as she recommended this trip.  And for my friend, though I may not plant butterfly kisses on his cheeks and sing to him under moonlight, (cause he’d actually like that) he knows if the world came to pass I’d be the guy standing beside him ready to face whatever was left.        

“Surviving Polite Society”

1)  MINDSET..  I have one mantra I live by, “I will never give up!” In the Police Academy, this simple phrase is drilled into you so many times, eventually it bullet-proofs your mind.  I truly believe our greatest weapon is a strong, determined, focused mind.  If you lack the will to survive a violent encounter, all of the training in the world won’t save you.

2)  LEARN TO FIGHT..  With the popularity of mixed martial arts, learning to fight/defend yourself, has never been easier.  Training facilities are everywhere along with competent staff to train you.  You don’t have to be the next Bruce Lee or Royce Gracie to attend, and even if you can only spare a day or two a month to train, it is better than nothing.  The benefits are endless but include, better overall fitness, increased stamina, better reaction time, awareness of danger. CONFIDENCE.. (refer to mindset)

3)  TRAIN..  So you’ve attended some classes and have learned the basics of defending yourself, and along with this you have sharpened your mental sword to a razors edge.  What now?  Now comes the part where most fail.  Now you depend on yourself and train, train, train..  Develop the skills you’ve learned and perfect them.  Bruce Lee had a great take on this.  To paraphrase, “When the wind blows the tree bends.  It doesn’t think about bending, it just bends.” His philosophy was to train until the movements became instinctual.  If you are being attacked and you have to think about what to do next you have already lost. 

4)  AWARENESS..  This part should be quite simple but it’s not.  Years of living in “polite” society have weakened our ability to see danger when it presents itself.  In many cases, victims will begin our interview with this type of statement, “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing” or “I couldn’t believe this was happening to me.”  We are fortunate to live in a country where most days the sun rises and sets with little in the way of conflict or tragedy.  The flip side of that coin is a false sense of security.  The feeling of, “That would never happen to me.”  Believe me, bad things happen to good people.  Know the signs of danger and learn to respond accordingly.  I could write an entire book on reading people and picking out tell-tale signs of a subject set on hurting or stealing from you, but we’ll save that for another time.

5)  PRIORITY..  What would you die for? What would you kill for? The answer should be the same.  Think about the people you love and the ones that love you.  Take a moment and put yourself there.  You’re in your home, or out for a walk and out of nowhere a stranger, or multiple strangers attack.  Imagine seeing the one person you love most in this world be brutally attacked by some piece of filth.  What would you do to save that person, to save yourself? If you answered, “I would do everything necessary to stop them” then numbers 1 thru 4 pertain to you…

The author has been a practitioner of the martial arts for thirty plus years, has served in the Marine Corps, and is currently a Police Officer in California.  If there is ever a particular question I can answer, please write me at, donaldstilwellbooks@yahoo.com         

I’ve been involved in numerous combative encounters.  Though I have never initiated violence, I have been forced to conclude it on many occasions.  Lessons; Never judge a book, or a suspect by it’s cover.  Some of the most brutal fights i’ve been in have been against women.  Some, quite small in stature.  Size is intimidating on a surface level, but without determination and purpose it is limited.

Book One of the OBLIGATION Series

Book Two of the OBLIGATION Series

DARKNESS

Coming Soon