National Parks a Democratic Idea

National Parks have been called "America's best idea" and I heartily agree. For me what makes national parks great is that at their core they are truly democratic.

Setting aside lands as a national park grew out of America's European roots. In Europe common lands were held by the crown and reserved mainly for the elite. In 1872 America rejected the model of parks as playgrounds for the rich, when it established Yellowstone as the world's first national park. Since then nearly 400 additional special places have been added to our park system. Many of these sites were first advanced by concerned citizens who believed their forest, river, mountain deserved national park designation. Today Americans across the country including those living around Mount St. Helens are urging park recognition for their nearby wonders.

Unleashing Colter's Hell is set in Yellowstone and tells the story of a terrorist strike at our nation's heart, at democracy itself. Look for the novel to come out soon.

What place would you add to the park system?

Lost Cause passes 10,000 words

I recently passed ten thousands words in my second novel "Lost Cause." The book is about a race to recover a civil war relic that could ignite a second civil war. Stay tuned for further updates.

Interest in Unleashing Colter's Hell Building

Interest in Unleashing Colter's Hell has been building over the past several months, an agent and a publishing agency have asked for complete manuscripts. Meanwhile, self publishing agencies such as iUniverse have expressed interest in the novel as well.

Stay tuned for more on the novel expected for release soon.

The National Park System, a continuing story

The national park system is made up of nearly 400 individual sites. Some have called the national park system, America's largest branch campus university.

The founders of the system, envisioned it as a growing, expanding collection of sites and resources. It would be a system that adds new units as America's understanding of history, culture, and science expanded. Recently, the President used the 1906 Antiquities Act to add Fort Monroe a site of great importance during the civil war, designating it as a national park. Other sites such as Mount St. Helens and Honey Springs Battlefield are being consider for inclusion in the system as well.

Since Yellowstone's founding in 1872 more than one hundred countries have established over a 1,000 national parks. Some call America's establishment of Yellowstone and the national park system, America's best idea.

Yellowstone, the setting for Unleashing Colter's Hell my new novel, was established in 1872. Since then countless national park stories have been told. I grew up going to national parks. My family spent many a night regaling our day's adventures around the campfire. Those trips would ultimately become the source material for my novels. Unleashing Colter's Hell is my contribution to the continuing story that is America's and the world's national park adventure. The novel should be out soon, so check back often.

What's park stories can you tell?

Top Park Ranger Honored

The National Park Service announced the recipient of its top ranger award. The Harry Yount Award goes to the national park ranger who best performs a wide range of duties from resource protection to serving visitors. This year's winner is Lisa Hendy of the Grand Canyon.

As stated in a previous post, national park rangers must be "fluent" in many skills. Grayson Cole the lead in Unleashing Colter's Hell is no different. Ranger Cole is required to protect public safety, conserve park wildlife, know relevant natural and cultural history. Oh yeah, Grayson is required to relate this information to the public in an easily understandable way. No easy task.

Like Grayson, real rangers interact with countless park visitors everyday protecting them from unseen dangers, as well as providing information on nearby don't miss attractions. It's all in a typical day for the men and women who wear the "green and gray."

Do you have a good story about a positive experience with a national park ranger? Tell us about it.

Yellowstone Volcano Patiently Waits to Unleash Devastation

At the heart of Unleashing Colter's Hell, a new novel by Sean Smith, is the Yellowstone super volcano. A volcano that few know about, but when it erupts will destroy the United States as we know it. According to scientists, the volcano unleashing its destructive fury every 600,000 years. The next eruption is overdue!

The earth's core is a chaotic place, volcanoes grow and rattle nearly every day alerting us to pending danger. Yellowstone is no different. Fingers of molten rock thrust toward the surface patiently waiting for the right moment to spew hell on earth.

In Unleashing Colter's Hell, a lone terrorist has acquired the means to trigger an eruption. A park ranger and rookie FBI agent are all that stand between salvation and Armageddon.

Look for the book this winter.

Grayson Cole, Park Ranger, Jack of All Trades

Grayson Cole, the central character in the upcoming novel Unleashing Colter's Hell, is a park ranger in Yellowstone national park. Park visitors often expect park rangers to serve as wildlife experts, emergency responders, and law enforcement. But Rangers are often called upon by park visitors to be therapists, travel agents, and restaurant critics or in reality a jack of all trades. The recent hiring of a new Superintendent at Mount Rainier details some of the varied expectations on a park ranger.

I wrote Unleashing Colter's Hell to entertain, to tell a good story. Yet through telling a good story, I also hope to educate readers on the pressures and demands park rangers face everyday as they work to protect our national heritage.

What expectation do you have of park rangers?

First Review of Unleashing Colter's Hell

The first review for Unleashing Colter's Hell and in. Tommy Hough with Treehuggers International writes:

"Centered around an Indiana Jones-style central character named Grayson Cole, the novel details a national security risk to the United States, with the story largely occurring at Yellowstone National Park. Sean makes great use of Yellowstone locales, an understanding of the National Park Service and the professionals who work for it, and the volcanic origins and threats posed by the Yellowstone caldera as focal points of the story."

The novel is scheduled for release in December. Stayed tuned.

Colter's Hell Draft Book Cover

Here is the next draft cover of Unleashing Colter's Hell. This image plays on the threat to the park which is the central focus of the book. Let me know what you think.

FYI. The book's release is still set for late fall early winter.

Stay Tuned.

Grayson Cole and the National Park System, a continuing story

One of the central themes of Unleashing Colter's Hell is that the national park system is a physical manifestation of America's hopes, dreams, and values. Hopefully, the story of America will never be complete, therefore the national park system will continually need to expand and evolve to better tell that story.

Along those lines, Congress is considering legislation to expand the Oregon Caves National Monument. The expansion would provide increased visitor amenities, better protect natural and cultural wonders, and provide expanded recreation opportunities. I'm fortunate to play a role in the expansion of our system by helping to build public support for park additions like that proposed at Oregon Caves.

The Grayson Cole adventures detail the hurdles park rangers face to preserve and protect our national heritage. Adding new units to the park system better tells the American story, it also provides additional settings and stories for future Grayson Cole adventures.

Unleashing Colter's Hell at the Editor

Unleashing Colter's Hell is at the editor. This final go over should be completed by the middle of the month. Meanwhile agent proposals continue to go out, with one asking for the complete manuscript.

However, the plan remains to publish the book by December, just in time for the holidays. Stay tuned.

Lost Cause, Second Grayson Cole Adventure

With the release of Unleashing Colter's Hell expected soon, I've begun turning to the next Grayson Cole adventure: Lost Cause.

Lost Cause is about a civil war artifact, once owned by confederate general Robert E. Lee. Legend has it the artifact contains mystical energy, granting the holder unstoppable power.

The story spans several American battlefields including Antietam and Gettysburg, and places park ranger Grayson Cole in a race to recover the artifact before it falls into powerful hands bent on launching a second civil war.

Prologue: Unleashing Colter's Hell

Below is the prologue to my new novel, Unleashing Colter's Hell. Let me know what you think in the comment section.

Stayed tuned for more updates on the novel expected for release soon.

Sean

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Prologue
Pyongyang North Korea, Supreme Leader’s office: April, 25, Morning
General Chun Yong Huh was nervous. Chun headed of
the Grand Army’s Space Defense Division. In five minutes he was to Kim Jung Un, North Korea’s supreme leader, a report on the malfunction of the country’s first orbital rocket test, a
malfunction that had been reported widely and ridiculed around the world. People disappeared in North Korea for far less offenses. Hell, the country’s soccer goalie had been shot for his embarrassing lackluster performance in the recent World Cup. The rocket destruction had been a public failure and Chun did not expect to see the next day.

The general sat outside the leader’s office, sweating profusely. He wore his dress
uniform covered with medals and ribbons, several of which the supreme leader’s
father had personally pinned to his chest. A stern-faced, muscle-bound Army secretary with a haircut as clipped as his demeanor occupied the desk next to the office’s entrance. The secretary’s look betrayed no hint of any emotion, his square jaw and features could have been cut for stone. He appeared to be doing nothing more than looking forward. The secretary’s phone buzzed. Without taking his gaze off Chun, he picked up the receiver and put it to his ear. “Right away,” he grunted. Placing it back on the cradle, “You may go in.”

Chun entered the supreme leader’s office. He had been in this room several times before. It was cavernous. North Korea’s publicly revered but not feared new leader, Kim
Jung Un, looked diminutive and yet the spitting image of the Kim Il Sung, Un’s paternal grandfather. At the far end of the room behind an intricately carved antique desk. Chun
had fought alongside Sung, the founder of North Korea’s Stalinist philosophy,
during the Korean War. After Sung’s death in 1994, Chun’s allegiance immediately transferred to his son, Kim Jun Il. It was passing once again, now to Un. Chun had met Un once while the future North Korean leader had studied abroad in Switzerland. He’d been a fun loving, fit young man at that time. No longer. He’d turned into an overweight, round faced,
thirty something, carbon copy of his grandfather. Too many five star dinners and late night
partying, Chun guessed. This new supreme leader was obviously soft, Chun imagined.
Chun summed up the Un was likely over his head as well. In his early thirties, the new
leader of the communist North had no experience leading a nation. He had been selected to lead by default. Il his father had been forced to anoint Un his successor when his eldest son shamed himself and worse North Korea by trying to sneak into Tokyo Disneyland on a fake passport. Il’s next oldest son was rumored to be gay. Il’s prejudice couldn’t allow him to turn the
reins of power to a son who slept with men. It would leave the new leader to open to blackmail. That left Un to take over. Kim Jung Il made the decision to make Un his successor on the assumption he’d have plenty of time to groom him for leadership. But that plan went out the
window, when Kim Jung Il unexpectedly died in 2012 thrusting Un into the role
of supreme leader. He had to learn on the job and it showed. Un’s first
several steps in office had been awful. He placed a moratorium on the country’s nuclear and suspended their long range missile program. Un wasn’t old enough to realize that these were the only things keeping the American hordes at bay. Compounded the insult, begged the
west for food aid, all but admitting the country was incapable of taking care of its people. Kim Jun Sung is rolling in his grave, Chun knew shaking his head.

Un’s office was a mix of four cultures Russian, Chinese, Korean and surprisingly American. Large red hammer and sickle Soviet flags hung from flag poles in a far corner of the
room. Pictures of Kim Jung Il and Sung, with former Soviet leaders such as Khrushchev and Brezhnev hung there as well. Reminders of North Korea’s communist beginnings, Chun thought. He was glad to see those hadn’t been removed. At least
not yet. Chinese paintings, tokens of friendship from the Chinese
Ambassador also adorned the walls. North Korean folk art including ancient pottery stood on bases in strategic spots throughout the room. Chun was certain
they had been stolen from their rightful owners, but here in North Korea anything
the supreme leader did was legal. Yet, most surprising was the American influence on the room. A brand-new computer and oversized monitors on top of the leader’s desk. Things
were changing in North Korea. Chuns expected this. However, he hadn’t expected the western movie pictures. Images of modern Hollywood movie stars dotted the wall and intermixed with portraits of Un with other world leaders. A large poster of Mickey Mouse, signed by Walt Disney himself held a special flood lit section of the wall. Posters of Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman also hung prominently on the walls. A strange collection, contrast of a room, Chun
surmised that it accurately reflected the psyche of its main occupant.

The immense room made the country’s new leader look small, more childlike.

Chun heard his shoes clicking on the marble floor and echoing along the oak walls as he walked the length of the office. The only other sound was the faint ticking of a clock. Several large flat screen televisions displaying capitalist propaganda broadcasts covered one wall, but
there was no sound, just the flickering glow of what passed for news in the West.

Chun approached Kim Jung Un, bowed and placed a thick bound report on the desk. He stepped back and straightened. For what seemed liked several minutes Kim Jung UN studied the report. Purposefully, he slowly leafed through the report’s hundreds of pages, knowing the slower he
reviewed this report, the more the man in front of him would squirm. Un had learned the technique of patience, contemplation, and quiet from his father. Never let your friends or opponents know your true emotions, your true intentions, his father had drilled into him. Un often wondered if that meant him as well. Did he ever truly know his
father’s true feelings or intentions? He didn’t know.

Countless charts, figures, images, and text were crammed into the document, its
significance summed up in a single paragraph.

The March launch of the nation’s TiaFoo Dong rocket
had not made earth orbit. The rocket’s primary stage fuel system had failed roughly 73 seconds into the launch, destroying the entire missile, including the it’s weather satellite payload.
Debris had rained from the sky off Korea’s coast over a 30 square -mile section
of the northern Pacific Ocean.

Looking up from the report, Un could read the question on the mind of his Army officer.
“No general, this won’t be seen as a violation of our agreement with the Americans.” Un said with no contextual explanation. Unknown to Chun, Un agreed to these terms to buy time, to forestall the revolution of his starving people. However, Un had never agreed to stop North
Korea’s orbital rocket program, nor given up a single bomb in his current stock of nuclear weapons. North Korea gave up nothing, staved off revolt, and captured significant international good will. It was a beautiful misdirection. How many times had North Korea pulled this before? More importantly, how many times would the Americans count on the good faith of North Korean government? Un put these questions aside and returned his attention to Chun.
A slight smile crept across the supreme leader’s face. Unknown to Chun who trembled
delivering the report, North Korea’s leader Kim Jung Un recognized that the world would consider the dramatic explosion of their rocket as a failure of the Korean system and its engineering capabilities. CNN and Fox News had already jumped to conclusions in hour-long special reports on the launch failure, and had made assertions that this was North Korea’s most advanced military technology. Little did they know.

Under his father’s leadership, North Korea had spent untold treasure and lives to achieve the goal of space flight. The former leader was convinced space flight; intercontinental
rocket launches would defend North Korea forever. But this was untrue. Until the United States was no more, destroyed, North Korea’s future would always be under threat.
Yes, the Western world would be quick to judge, assuming North Korea’s goal was to launch a rocket into space.

It was not. Like his father, Un never ceased to be amazed by his enemies’ gullibility and
failure to look beneath the surface appearance of Korea’s actions, which seldom reflected reality.

Even the western perception of North Korea’s past and present leaders was incorrect.
Western conventional wisdom had been Kim Jung IL was mad, ruthless, and
most of all strong and ruthless. He would do anything to insure the continuation of the North Korean system. Un knew otherwise. His father had inherited his grandfather’s
country. Yet, like many who inherit a fortune or company, Il had no grand dream for its future, past picking a successor.

The western perception of the new supreme leader was quite different. Un the western
talking heads spouted was ill-prepared, inexperienced, and weak. He was not ready to lead a nuclear power. His youth made him pliable and vulnerable to army
manipulation. A figure head leader, where a military coup was likely. Un had
read the stories in the New York Times and other western media outlets. He was even privy to secret CIA psych reports.

They were wrong. His father was believed strong but was truly weak. Un was different from his father. He did not want to be a caretaker leader, living off the accomplishments of his celebrated grandfather. He would finish his grandfather’s legacy. Il had failed to bring a
socialist revolution through the destruction of the hated United States. Un had recently begun to doubt that his father ever truly wanted this outcome. Un was perceived weak, but he knew he was truly strong. Unlike his father, Un would bring down the hated enemy. He had a plan and America’s ignorance of how the world truly worked, its arrogance in assuming all shared
the same values were their Achilles heals. Un knew this. Un, unlike his father, had the strength to exploit these weakness and take down America.

Kim Jung Un swiveled in his chair, turning his back to his rocket scientist. The leader looked out floor-to-ceiling windows, strategically placed to look down on the people’s parade ground below. A new day is coming. North Korea’s enemies will soon feel her wrath.

He turned to face the rocket scientist, pressing a button on his phone. His army secretary answered. Kim Jung Un ordered a tea and returned his attention to the report. Most of the wreckage from the massive rocket had been recovered by the United States’ Navy. He was impressed. The rocket shattered into millions of pieces which had rained down on the North
Pacific and scattered for miles. U.S. destroyers and other surface ships raced to the crash zone seemingly before the missile debris hit the water. Through his spy network, he knew this wreckage was flown to a secret military base in Nevada for dissection and analysis.

Un chuckled quietly. The Americans and their allies would learn nothing. In fact, they would likely conclude the Korean missile program was 15 years behind its actual status. . Another goal had been achieved.

Sweat dripped from Chun’s forehead as Un turned page after page. Throughout the crash zone, dozens of vessels plowed the waters, some so close the crews could practically jump from one deck to another. Western media reported several fishing boats and private craft had pulled
debris from the sea’s surface and had dispatched divers to recover the fragments below. The American’s moved quickly to recover any parts.

Chun thought he heard the supreme leader say something. Perfect? Did North Korea’s
Supreme Leader just say perfect?

In any recovery effort however, some pieces of the puzzle are always missing. . This was no different. A small fishing vessel, which seemed not worth noting, had been strategically positioned to recover an important piece of wreckage, a part of the rocket’s actual payload big enough to achieve North Korea’s ultimate goal and small enough to fit within the
average suitcase.

Chun saw the leader turn to the last page. If he had been presenting this report to Un’s
father, he would be trembling. He’d feared giving Kim Jung Il bad news. This report was bad news, its analysis: the rocket launch acknowledged as a “complete failure.” In the past, Chun had been hit by Kim Jung Il for far less minor offenses. . No blow came from North Korea’s dear leader this time. Oddly, Chun never thought he’d miss Kim
Jung Il’s leadership. The constant terror used to keep order was hard to live with. But he did miss the order and in a sense the terror. For while Il ruled through fear, he did bring order and purpose to North Korea. Chun felt this purpose was slipping away.

Instead, he heard Kim Jung Un laugh. “Complete failure” had been chosen as a ruse should the report fall into enemy hands. It was code confirming the program had achieved its primary goal: deception.

The supreme leader stared hard at Chun, saying nothing for several moments.

Tick, tick, tick. The clock seemed to get louder.

“Even a bee sting in the right place can take down a bear,” Un said.

“Excuse me?” Chun replied, confused.

“Never mind,” Un said . “You are excused.”

Chun audibly sighed. Spinning on his heels, he turned toward the door, believing he had escaped. A wave of relief spread thru his body. The boy leader was truly weak, Chun thought. His fellow generals were right, Un’s rule wouldn’t last. Un’s father never would
have let such a public failure go unpunished. It occurred to Chun, perhaps the military could use
Un, and perhaps he could bend Un to the military’s will. But to what end? Yes, bringing South Korea to heal was a goal. She must be punished for her defiance of its northern masters. But after that? Korea was a peninsula, boxed in by the sea on three sides and China to the north. Where and how could it extend its empire? If Korea was to truly achieve its world potential,
it would have to expand. Japan perhaps? Korean’s had not forgotten about the humiliation, rape, and destruction the Japanese inflicted upon his people during World War II. Chun hated Japan, perhaps more than he hated the United States. Yes, Japan too would have to pay.
After that? Maybe the idiot Chinese and Russians would be put under the boot of Korea’s million man army. These two supposed super powers slighted the Korean’s, treated the country like an illegitimate child. They too should be made to suffer. That’s plenty, Chun thought. Achieving Korean reunification and Japanese subjugation would take generations. But perhaps
Chun, would be the one to begin the process. Yes. He Chun Yung Hun would usher in Korea’s
rightful place in the world. Kim Jung IL was dead. Kim Jung Un was a joke. Chun could see that now.

Chun walked briskly toward the exit. He had plans to make. The double doors at the far end of the office swung open before Chun reached them. Two armed guards blocked his progress, grabbing the missile defense chief before he knew what was happening Chun was not to see the dawn he would be shot within the hour.

“One must keep up appearances,” Un thought to himself, as his chief defense officer was lead out the door to his fate.

Yellowstone a popular place for visitors and a thriller

The National Park Service recently announced that Yellowstone national park saw nearly 1 million visitors in July. That's roughly equivalent to last year's attendance figures and up from 2009.

Overall national park attendance has approached all time records these past two years, despite one of the worst economies in nearly 70 years. The strong visitation is indicative of the value Americans place upon their system.

Unleashing Colter's Hell, the new novel by former park ranger Sean Smith is set in Yellowstone National Park. The story sweeps the park from the historic headquarters at Mammoth hot springs to the remote back country of Shoshone Lake. Anyone who has visited the park and even those who haven't will recognize some of the park's more iconic settings.

I chose Yellowstone for the location of my first novel, because many Americans have a strong connection to this part of the world. It makes a powerful backdrop for the a political thriller like Unleashing Colter's Hell.

Look for it soon.

Yellowstone's Breathing Volcano

A geophysicist was recently recognized for his work on the Yellowstone super volcano. Robert Smith of the university of Utah discovered changing levels of Yellowstone lake was due to the upwelling of molten rock. This upwelling could signal a pending eruption.

At the heart of Unleashing Colter's Hell the new novel by Sean Smith, is unusual volcanic activity including changing lake levels and increased geyser activity. Any eruption by the Yellowstone volcano could spell the destruction of the world's civilization, and one man is trying to make that happen.

Look for the book soon.

Unleashing Colter's Hell: Book Covers Take 2

In a previous post, draft book covers for Unleashing Colter's Hell were provided for feedback. In this post are two more covers. Like the first, these covers hint at the novel's intrigue and action.

The first cover is in the style of a movie poster, with symbols and images portraying major story elements.

The second leaves more to the imagination with a simple park service arrowhead covering a nuclear radiation symbol and 50 caliber sniper rifle ammunition.

Of the four draft covers, which one most catches the eye? What elements of these covers should be kept? Changed? Please leave your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section. Thanks to all those who have already sent their ideas.

New National Parks On Horizon?

The Department of Interior recently recommended to Congress the establishment of Manhattan Project National Historic Park. The Park would interpret the scientific, military, social, and environmental impacts surrounding the establishment of the atomic bomb. The potential park would include sites in Tennessee, New Mexico, and Washington state. Again, I'm honored to play a role in the potential recognition of this important aspect of American and world history.

In 1872, Yellowstone became the world's first national park. Since that time nearly 400 sites and locations have been added to the world's best park system. In Unleashing Colter's Hell, Yellowstone is front and center in this intelligent, cutting edge adventure.

Friends of National Parks Award Announced

Recently, 57 senators and 179 representatives of 111th Congress were honored for their work to protect national parks. Here in the NW more than a half dozen lawmakers received the award. I'm honored to have played a small part in recognizing these leaders.

National Parks such as Yellowstone, Mount Rainier, and the Gettysburg are physical representations of what America holds sacred. Congressional support is key to insuring our national parks are left unimpaired for future generations.

One of the core themes of Unleashing Colter's Hell, is the importance of national parks and the values and natural wonders they protect. It's good to know many in Congress understand their importance as well.

Draft Book Covers: Part One

Unleashing Colter's Hell is expected for release soon. The past eighteen months have been spent working on the story. It's now time to focus on other aspects of the novel like agent proposals and cover art.

A good book cover can make or break a novel. To that end, in the next two blog posts will be draft covers.

Here are the first two.

Number one is a ghosted Yellowstone park map, with intriguing marks drawn upon it. The book's title image is similar to the park stamps used in the park service passport program.

The second cover is in the style of an old leather field journal with a ranger's simple flat hat.

Which one are you more likely to pick up? Let me know what you think in the comments section.

Thanks.

Unleashing Colter's Hell, Sean Smith's first novel out soon

Under the tranquil setting of Yellowstone National Park lies a killer, the world's largest super volcano. Yellowstone erupts roughly every 600,000 years. It's next eruption is overdue, and any present explosion would destroy America and quite possibly all of civilization. Yellowstone, or Colter's Hell, as it's historically known, is experiencing unprecedented volcanic activity, possibly signaling a pending eruption.

In Unleashing Colter's Hell, a religious fanatic sent to the Wyoming wilderness has acquired an atomic bomb to trigger an eruption and spell the end of the United States.

A lone park ranger named Grayson Cole is James Bond, Indiana Jones, and Robert Langdon rolled into one. Along with Diane Harris, a rookie FBI agent, the two are all that stand between the world and its destruction.

Unleashing Colter's Hell is a fast paced, action packed adventure. It's a sweeping story spanning the world from North Korea, thru South America, to Yellowstone the world's first national park. Colter's Hell draws upon modern science, relevant history, present technology, and current events to give the story its terrifying realism.

Look for the book to be out soon.