McDevitt's no stranger to action. He's toured Australia in a boxing troupe for 3 years; was a military cop for 6 years. Who writes believable action novels? Russ McDevitt, the original action man.

Action

Development

Climb Your Mountain

The man knelt at the foot of the mountain all night.

At first, his body clung to the remnants of the day's heat exuding from the rocks around him, but all too soon this heat was gone and the mantle of cold dropped insidiously on him like a malevolent spirit seeking to crush him.

A fine hoar frost began to cover his beard and cloak as he strived to focus his mind on maintaining his body temperature at a level that would enable him to survive the night.

The holy man had instructed him how to do this, warning him that many had tried and failed this test and had been found frozen solid by early morning pilgrims who themselves had sought shelter indoors for the duration of the night.

His limbs by now had settled protestingly into the kneeling position.

In the distance, out on the plain, he could hear the occasional cough of a desert tiger as it stalked it's prey. Closer at hand he tensed as he became aware of an all too-familiar sound;

A snake slithering towards him!

He felt a coil of fear touch the very core of his being.

God how he hated them! His grandfather had been killed by one.

He suddenly realized that the bone-chilling cold had driven the snake out from the rocks and it was now seeking warmth.

His was the only heat around!

His breath stilled even further as he felt the snake move in against his leg and stop.

He fought off an urge to snatch it away and hurl it against the nearby rocks.

But almost at the same time, as if some connection had taken place, he understood at a deeper level, that the snake was merely seeking an accommodation with another living creature and was of no threat to him.

He silenced the small fear chattering in his mind, mentally embraced the presence of the snake and focused on totally yielding to the harsh elements and conditions of the night.

It could have been minutes or even hours later when his mind had reached that small still point and his body was somehow insulated from the cold that he 'heard' the voice of the snake in his head for the first time;

 

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Blind People Don't Smoke

I was recently surprised to read that blind people don’t smoke.

The article didn’t spell it out, but I surmised that those people who had smoked prior to becoming blind, still smoked afterwards. It’s now the time of year when we tend to look at our life and make some New Year resolutions. Especially related to those habits (not just smoking), that can be detrimental to our well-being and potential success.

Habits are learned, and are formed to fulfill certain needs.

For example, after we have been driving for some time, we motor along, sometimes without any conscious awareness of changing gears, where we are, braking and so on. Our driving skills are now operating at an unconscious level. Advanced driving course instructors remind us of the need to still stay alert and be continually aware of potential traffic dangers.

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THE STRANGEST FIGHT I EVER HAD

We were two hundred miles away when the messages started coming in via the bush telegraph.
We pulled the trucks off the dusty road and one of the Abos made a fire, setting a blackened tin of  water on the flames for our ritual afternoon tea break.
I noticed the group of young fighters muttering and asked old man Deiner what was going on.
He told me that a heavyweight scrapper who had a fierce-some reputation, had sent the word out that he was coming in to take on the troupe the following day, and was going to tear us apart. He was big, mean, and none of his bare-knuckle fights had lasted more than thirty seconds.
As the information raced around the camp fire, it quickly became apparent than none our aboriginal fighters were game to take him on. Two of the bigger ones had already slipped off into the bush.

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Excerpts from "The Quigley Rescue"

...AND THEY KEEP GIVING


She pushed a glass of wine across the table.
"Sorry Danny, no beer, this will have to do."
He took a large mouthful and sighed.
"God, I'm ready for this Fiona. What a day!"
"Yeah, not every day you kill suicide bombers here in the UK. It could only happen to you Danny. You walk away from all that action in the regiment into civvy street, and this stuff follows you like a plague. It's unbelievable! I bet Rebecca is feeling it right now. Shooting that suicide bomber, and then seeing her colleague's head blown off. You don't just walk away from that unscathed do you?"

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