Finally!

I have not been blogging, because of work with my publishing company. I have been editing projects, organizing workflow, marketing, and giving advice to many would be authors and finally, after seven years in the business, finally got around to publishing a book of my own.

Check it out!

cubs-jets front cover

This is a book of the aviation essays that have appeared in this blog. I put the project together for aviators who like to read, but not necessarily from an iPad or computer. There are those of us, who could probably be best described as bibliophiles (or dinosaurs), who still love the feel of a real book in their hands.

The book is available through all the normal online outlets, as well as at BluewaterPress LLC. Through our website, you can buy the book at a significantly lower cost than elsewhere. If you are interested in buying From Cubs to Jets through us, use the promo code FCTJAUG15 to obtain 25 percent off the retail price of either the hardback or paperback version. Go to the book’s page at www.bluewaterpress.com/cubs-jets to select either hard or soft versions.

From the introduction of From Cubs to Jets:

This book is for pilots. For old pilots no longer flying, for those who would become pilots, and for those would-be pilots who dream of flying.

In August 2010, I committed myself to writing a daily blog after my wife and I watched the movie, Julie & Julia. I am not a great fan of Julia Child, or for that matter, any other cookbook author. I was intrigued when a blogger dedicated herself to cooking everything in one of Child’s cookbooks and writing about it daily. It also made me realize I have been a lazy writer, one who should have finished my books long ago, and yet, still had not.

Moreover, here was a woman who had made a plan, set goals, executed, turned it into a book, and then with extremely good fortune, had the fantastic luck to have the book made into a major movie. I am sure the book you are now holding in your hands will never make it to the big screen. The purpose of this book is to educate and entertain, no more, no less.

So, sitting on the couch with my wife, and with Gracie the cat between us, I explained writing a daily blog is something I had to do. “I have to write about aviation and writing every day for the next year. Then I need to form it into a book,” I told her—and the cat. Ardis didn’t say much and the cat looked up as if to say, “Whatever.”

With a couple of exceptions, I was successful. I only missed two days of writing. One was due to work, and the other was the day when my best friend’s father passed.

There are four major sections to this book: General Aviation, Military Flying, Tips and Techniques, and Aviation History. The purpose behind writing From Cubs to Jets is to allow those who do not like to read on computer screens a way to read the blogs in book form.

Some readers, including many friends, my wife, and myself, still like the feel of a real book in their hands. We have discovered there is something special in the pages of a book.

Most of the essays are short, with only a very few slightly longer. Readers can pick up the book, start reading anywhere, and skip around at their leisure. The only part of the book that could be considered temporal is the beginning, when I talk about my first flight lessons.

What follows are accounts of my first lessons, stories about general aviation, the joy of flight instructing, and my days flying in the U.S. Navy. For the student pilots and flight instructors, I have information about the technical side of flying, along with hints I hope will explain the mysteries of flying airplanes a little more in depth, making it easier to understand for those trying to believe in what is almost certainly magic.

The last section of the book is for those who enjoy history. In it, I reflect on some of the famous aviators, events, and aircraft that make up this wonderful world called aviation.

At one time, Benjamin Franklin said, “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do things worth writing.”

I could not agree with him more.

-30-

©2015 J. Clark

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2 Responses to Finally!

  1. Congratulations on your book Joe I’m anxiously looking forward to reading it.

    • Joe Clark says:

      Thank you, Cap’n Pine Tree. If you have not already seen your private email, check it out. Your book was already in the mail…

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