My right scanner called 'Missile launch, three o'clock.' I had seconds to respond. In 26 years of flying combat missions and ten years trying to publish my work, I've encountered adversity in three distinct forms: external, internal, and imposed. Each demands the same response.

My screenplays wouldn't sell in Hollywood. I wasn't famous, had no attached stars, and my work wasn't based on existing IP. So I adapted them into novels. Here's what changed when I went from 112 pages to 100,000 words, and why the novels are better.

Why does every action movie want to be Die Hard and then fail? The problem isn't the spectacle. The problem is that we simply don't care. Die Hard's first fifteen minutes are a masterclass in character work that most action movies skip entirely. Here's what they're missing.