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It was three years to the day that the Japanese launched their surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, that the men of Dog Company, 2d Ranger Battalion found themselves in a frozen trench at the feet of a 400-meter high hill. Hill 400 (called so due to its height in meters) was their objective on that cold December 7th day in 1944. By this time, the Allies had struck a staggering hit by invading…

At the beginning of 1861, a green lieutenant ignited the deadly Apache Wars. In the Arizona Territory, Lieutenant George N. Bascom would accuse an Apache chief of a crime. The problem was that the chief wasn’t part of the crime. Poor Assumption On January 27, 1861, a band of Apaches from the Tonto tribe raided the ranch of John Ward located on Sonoita Creek. The band of Apaches stole Ward’s…

I Have Student Loans and I Don’t Want Them Forgiven

Forgiving student loan debt has been at the forefront of an entire generation’s mind. As a member of this generation, I see the allure of the federal government forgiving loans. Many went to college believing that student loans were necessary and would be paid off with the paychecks from their careers. Photo by David McBee on Pexels.com When life came along and tripped them up, they ended up…

Jocko and Thompson: Early Flathead Trappers

Anyone who travels Interstate 90 between Kalispell and Missoula, Montana, is aware of the Jocko River and Jocko Valley near Arlee, Montana. This Jocko, however, is not the Navy SEAL Jocko Willink, even though the name Jocko itself is a unique name. This Jocko was Jacque Raphael Finlay, a trapper and “half-breed”. His father, John Finlay, had also been a trapper and had been in charge of a…

There is always a fantastic amount of story in history that people call boring. That is until it comes in the form of entertainment.

Assassin’s Creed first graced us with a blend of engaging storytelling and history in 2007. It was a combo I fell in love with to the point of imagining parkour figures on buildings. When in history class, there was a picture of a building in Renaissance Italy I thought would work. Then “Assassin’s Creed II” came along. But their exploration of Viking history is by far my favorite. I enjoy games…

School District 5 Installs Updated Cameras

KALISPELL, MT – On 14 December 2021, the Kalispell School District Board passed the motion for a high school camera project, as well as an elementary school project. Thus upgrading existing cameras where blindspots possibly exist and upgrading existing equipment. The Montana Daily Gazette reported that these were “facial recognition” cameras and that “these cameras [on the west side] even peer…

Sliters Lumber Awarded 2022 Employer of Choice Award

KALISPELL, MT: The Flathead Job Service Employer Council (JSEC) has announced in a press release the winners of the 2022 Employer of Choice Award. There were over 90 nominations that represented 35 businesses in Flathead County. For the second year in a row, Sliters Lumber and Building Supply won the award in the Small Business Category, with Lowe’s taking the award in the Medium Business…

A Night of Recognition at FVCC Scholarship Reception

Town of Kalispell Turns 131 Years Old

As celebrations begin for St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, let us remember to raise a glass of Guinness or Jameson to the town of Kalispell, Montana. The town was still in its infancy when Charles Conrad bought forty acres of farmland from Reverend George M. Fisher, one of the original settlers of the Flathead Country. It would be in this area that the division point of James J. Hill’s railroad…

College Ruled at Thirty

Like most high schoolers, I jumped right from one educational institution right to another thinking that I knew exactly what I wanted. I would find out with a harsh reality that I did not know what I wanted. I went to school originally for Secondary Education, but couldn’t decide between History or Literature. My plan was to do two years at my community college FVCC and then go on to the…

Fade by Kyle Mills

A hardcover thriller about a former Navy SEAL who is called upon to serve once more. With a bullet lodged in his back the government wouldn’t pay to extract, he denies the opportunity. But that is not an option… Lightly used.

I Stepped Away From Indie Publishing: Here is Why

The other day I closed out my KDP. I decided to pull my books from the online marketplace. Many people close to me wondered why, and why I didn’t just leave them up if I wasn’t going to focus on publishing. Well, the answer goes a little deeper than me just not wanting to focus on self-publishing right now. There is a ton of things going on, and I think that’s just one part of being an…

"Why Do You Love War?" Imagine having to answer your eight year old this question.

My eldest son, at eight years old, asked me this the other day. I wasn’t entirely sure how to respond, since war is an ugly thing to love. He had the perfect reason to ask me, though. I write historical fiction with a leaning towards military history, something I fell in love with long ago. So, I am always reading about war or writing about war. Let me make it plain that I am not a fan nor a…

Stainless Steel Water Bottle

This 17-ounce, double-walled stainless steel water bottle is perfect for your daily outings. It will keep your drink of choice hot or cold for hours. It also features an odor- and leak-proof cap. Throw it in your car’s cup holder on your way to work, take it with you on hikes, or toss it in your bag for any time you get thirsty. • High-grade stainless steel • 17 oz (500 ml) • Dimensions: 10.5″ ×…

Why I Write. Why do you do what you do?

I write because I must be heard. Not from some sense of hubris, but because I have spent years being silent. I write so that my voice – silenced for so long – may be heard over the din of my internal critic. I write because there is nothing else for me. Storytelling has been a part of me for as long as I care to remember. What was there before films? Books. What permeates the entertainment of…

The Modern Writer: Are You An Artist or Salesperson

“It’s not the destination that matters, but the journey” is no truer than publishing in the modern age. If you receive x-amount of rejections, it is so easy to say “Fuck it! I’m self-publishing!” because you typically can’t say no to yourself. So, the publication is the end goal, so as a writer, how are you going to get there? The Writer’s Journey Sometimes you can’t do everything on your own,…

It's Not the Number of Pages, But the Word Count. Clarification of word counts

This post contains affiliate links. There are many times where a beginning writer will finish a story, print it off, and believes it to be a novel by its hefty feel, or amount of work put into it. Only to discover they have written a short story or a novella. It feels like a defeat when the page count does not impress anyone. Why does the word count matter? The story is this many pages (show…