I started Skinner’s War in 1999 as a short story, born out of frustration with a political leadership that had abandoned common sense, and sought total control over the everyday lives of “We the People.”
When I finished the original manuscript back in 2000, a lot of the things I saw in America’s future were kind of “out there”, but in the last few years, I’ve been asked numerous times if I had a crystal ball, because so much that I wrote into Skinner’s War has come to pass, or been seriously discussed by our elected leaders. Gun bans, “Chipping” people to save healthcare paperwork, and a National Police Force, just to name a few.
The answer is no, no crystal ball was necessary; age and experience told me that the America that Skinner found himself living in isn’t far away if we as Americans allow it.
Skinner is as much a “bad guy” as he is a “good guy” in a lot of respects, but he feels that some things are intolerable, and being a lover of freedom, motorcycles, and America, he sets out to help regain America’s freedom or die trying.
There is a lot of military style action and fighting as Skinner emerges as the leader of the rebellion, and though it centers in California’s Central Valley and the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains, the action stretches nation wide.
A lot of the places you’ll read about in Skinner’s War are real. You can go there and see them for yourself, like the old Tungsten mine at Wishon Reservoir. I’ve walked in Skinner’s footsteps before he did.
You’ll also find a lot of political satire, and I’m sure you’ll recognize a lot of the “leaders” by their actions, if not by name. There are some “sexual situations” that are quite descriptive, and may give pause to the faint hearted, but they’re part of Skinner’s life, as they are all of our lives.
I think you’ll get a few laughs at some of the situations that arise throughout the book as well, a new appreciation for the freedoms we still have, and an awareness of those freedoms we’re losing daily to political correctness.
I hope you enjoy the read as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Skinners War was original published in 2000 in print, and is now being ePublished as an eBook. This post will be updated with links to purchase the eBook.
