Badass Writer Of The Week: Troy Duffy

Troy Duffy

By Sean Tuohy

There are few writers that have the ability to change the pop-culture landscape with one story and there are even fewer who can keep their original storytelling skills after becoming successful. Writer-director Troy Duffy has been not only able to keep his own voice, but he has also grown as a storyteller. Duffy hit the landscape hard with his first film "The Boondock Saints" and has been hitting harder ever since. Duffy followed up with "The Boondock Saints 2" in 2009 and he is currently working on the third (and possibly the final) installment of "The Boondock Saints" saga.

As a die hard fan of the MacManus brothers exploits, it was an honor to talk to the man who brought the characters to life. Duffy has been honest and true to his word, which comes through in his writing. He does not shy away from hot button topics and has no problem conforting issues, usually using his brand of wit and humor. Because of his honesty and his original storytelling, Duffy is a true Badass Writer.

Duffy sat down with this giddy fan boy to about writing, the future of "The Boondock Saints," and to give some sage advice to writers.

Sean Tuohy: When did you start writing films?

Troy Duffy: Mid-1996. I wrote “The Boondock Saints” as my first script.

ST: What type of films influenced you early on?

TD: Godfather. “Apocalypse Now.” “Jaws.” “Deliverance.” “Highlander.” “Reservoir Dogs.” “Ghost Busters.” “Man Bites Dog.” “Nil By Mouth.” A bunch more...

ST: “The Boondock Saints” became a cult hit that is quoted left and right. What does it feel like to hear people quote your writing?

TD: Having people quote your film is better than winning an award of some kind. It simultaneously infers that they paid attention and were emotionally affected at the same time. It means something to them. It can also make you feel like some subversive cult leader at times which is thrilling.

ST: “The Boondock Saints” is heavily connected to the city of Boston. What attracted you to Beantown so much?

TD: I am from that area. A New Englander through and through. It is also a very unique community filled with unique people. And let's face it, the place just looks cool.

ST: Besides screenwriting you also write music, do you approach these two art forms differently?

TD: Music is more focused. Spectral inspirations that must be snatched from the sky while it is within arm's reach for a fleeting moment or two. Writing scripts is a much more organizational process for me. Cutting and pasting and making “magic” mistakes here and there.

ST: One of the things that stands out about your writing is your dialog, it is very strong, snappy, and fitting to the characters. How do you write your dialogue? Do you say it out loud while typing or act it out?

TD: Just comes. One of the holes writers can fall into is that every character starts to sound like them. I try to separate. What would a guy like this say not what would I say. I act stuff out all the time. I talk to myself constantly even in public. It's very embarrassing for my wife. She'll tap me on the shoulder and say, "You're doing it again. People think you're crazy."

ST: What is your writing process like?

TD: It can be many things. Some scripts are a long slog. Some come right away. For instance, there is a television show that I am writing called “Kingdom Come.” It is based on the French pirate Jean Lafitte out of New Orleans at the turn of the 19th Century. Much research into that time and place had to be done and then it all started to take shape. So, that one was a longer process but very exciting. Conversely, “The Good King” (black comedy), which my friend Gordon Clark and I wrote together poured out virtually instantaneously.

ST: Are there any updates regarding the next “Boondock Saints" movie?

TD: Yes. The script is coming along. It will be called “Boondock III, Legion.” I will be doing an in depth video presentation on the script and things surrounding this movie on my site in the coming weeks.

ST: What does the future hold for Troy Duffy?

TD: Being a daddy for one. My little Gracie is 10 months old and holds my unruly heart in her little baby fat hand. “Kingdom Come.” “Good King.” “BDS3.” A new artist I recently directed a music video for featuring my buddy Slash called “Bang Bang.” I love this girl. Gonna put some of her tunes in the third “Boondock Saints” movie. A group of friends and I are going to manage her as an artist. Should be interesting. She's a handful...maybe two.

ST: What advice do you give to up-and-coming writers?

TD: Read. Know the difference between shit writing and average writing. Know the difference between average and good. Know the difference between good and great. Know the difference between great and brilliant...then never say anything is brilliant.

ST: Can you tell us one random fact about yourself?

TD: Through my research into Lafitte, I recently got into Absinthe. Great night cap. Fucking delicious.

To learn more about Troy Duffy, follow him on Twitter @troyduffy.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE

Badass Writers of the Week: The Founding Fathers

By Sean Tuohy 

Happy Birthday America! Another year older, another year wiser (Okay, maybe not wiser).  

Our beloved nation celebrates its birthday this weekend. All over the nation, people will be enjoying fireworks, beer, and fatty food, but we cannot forget where we came from. We were once just a band of tough-talking, idealists hellbent on changing the course of history forever.

The American Revolution started and was settled with gunfire and bloodshed, but, thanks to the Founders that knew how to wield a quill, it was fueled by the most eloquently phrased "fuck yous" in recorded history.

So this July 4th, we honor those colonial badass writers who risked their heads to kick out the Brits.

Thomas Jefferson 

He wrote a little document called The Declaration of Independence. It's essentially a laundry list of reasons why King George III is a douche. The actual Declaration is now cased in a special glass that protects it from bullets, fires, and bombs, and lowers into a bunker in the case of full out nuclear war. 

Ben Franklin 

Ben Franklin was like a grandfather/older brother to the rest of the Founding Fathers. During his lifetime, Franklin wrote some of the most inspring and truthful writing of his era. Also, he penned his own dictionary. He also slept with a lot of women. A lot of women. He also made a cameo in "The Office."

John Adams

John Adams was one of those Founding Fathers that had his hands in everything. He spent much of the Revolution petitioning European governments for money while Ben Franklin slept with a lot of women. He was the first Vice-President and second President. He also burned through quite a few quills in his day writing two lifetimes worth of letters to Thomas Jefferson (after the two friends reconciled following Jefferson's besmirching of  Adams' reputation) and his beloved wife Abigail. 

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton is arguably the most badass writers on this list. He established himself in the colonial elite after escaping a poor childhood in the Caribbean and helped shape the fledging U.S. government following the Constitutional Convention. Hamilton put together a banking system in the face of negative public opinion and was a constant supporter of a strong central government. He also once wrote a pamphlet detailing and apologizing for an affair that James Madison and James Monroe brought to light. He was prolific as a writer right up to the point...where he was shot and killed by everyone's favorite lunatic Vice-President Aaron Burr. See the above clip in case you need further evidence Hamilton was a complete badass.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE

Badass Writer of the Week: Ponyboy Curtis

Ponyboy. 

Yeah, he's not real.

By Sean Tuohy

We know. You don't have to say, "Hey, Writer's Bone, Ponyboy is not a real person!" Duh. He's a beloved fictional character from The Outsiders, a book most of us had to read in school and a movie that features the Karate Kid getting burnt to a crisp. When we started Badass Writer of the Week, we never said that the writer we choose had to be, you know, an actual person.

So...

Now that we got that our of the way, we can get back to Ponyboy. The well-meaning young greaser who reads Gone With The Wind to his buddy Johnny, and gets in rumbles with the Socs is a badass writer in our book.

How is he a writer? In the book, Ponyboy talks about doing well in English class and talks about how he likes to write. Also, in the movie, he is shown writing "The Outsiders" story down. Ponyboy is a natural storyteller and it shows throughout the book and movie.

We believe in what Ponyboy Curtis believes in here at the Bone. We believe that good things come out of bad things. We believe that teenagers need to go through a lot of shit to mold them into valuable adults. We believe that Pony left his poor Midwestern town for the East Coast and became a brooding, dark writer like Cormac McCarthy.

Oh, you need more reasons for his badassey, Judgy McJudgerson? How about the fact that he always sticks by his friends and family no matter what? Or that he  loves his brothers more than anything else? Or that he runs into a burning school to save children? He put himself in danger to rescue his best friend and a group of scared kids he didn't even know.

And again, he's a teenager. Fictional or not, that's an impressive badass resume.

We should note that S.E. Hinton struggled so much with the fame and pressure from the success of The Outsiders that she lapsed into a three-year writer's block. Ponyboy's awesomeness was too much for even his creator to handle (According to her website, Hinton eventually started writing again after her husband got sick of her being depressed. He demanded she write two pages a day).

What other fictional characters would you add to our Badass Writers of the Week? Let us know in the comments section or tweet us @WritersBone.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE

Badass Writer of the Week: Jack Higgins

Jack Higgins

By Sean Tuohy

This week’s Badass Writer is a good guy who writes about the bad guys.

International best-selling author Jack Higgins has thrilled and excited readers the world over for the past 40years with no signs of stopping. His runaway best-seller, “The Eagle Has Landed,” put his name at the top of the list for thriller writers. He hasn’t looked back since. Higgins’ heroes are not your typical do-gooders (for example, Sean Dillon, one of his most famous characters, is a classically trained actor turned IRA hit man). But before Higgins started writing about men living tough and dangerous lives, he lived one himself.

Born Harry Patterson in 1929, Higgins grew up in Northern Ireland during World War II and social unrest within Ireland. Higgins has spoken about walking to the market with his mother as a child when a fire fight broke out and his mother used her body to shield him from bullets. Much of the violence and unrest that he witnessed as a child affected him later in life and made its way into his writing.

Higgins was known as an indifferent student as a child who could care less for school. He bounced around Ireland before he found a home in the British Army, where he became a noncommissioned officer in the cavalry. While in the military, Higgins discovered that he had sharpshooting skills and a high I.Q. Yep, this guy can do a math problem with ease while shooting a target a mile away.

Military service lit a fire under Higgins. After he got out, he went back to school, and, unlike before, he threw himself into school work and studied throughout England. Once he was finished with school, Higgins began writing. He pumped out short thriller paperbacks. None of them were hits, nor were they very good, but Higgins kept working at his craft.

It all came to a head when he published his sixth novel, the aforementioned “The Eagle Has Landed.” Higgins was the hot new writer despite the fact he had been writing for nearly 10 years. “The Eagle Has Landed” tells the tale of a group of German commandos sent to England to kidnap Winston Churchill during World War II. The book was later turned in to a film with Michael Cain, Donald Sutherland, and Robert Duvall. Not a bad payoff for a hardworking writer.

Now approaching 90 years old, Higgins still publishes at least one novel a year that features oddball protagonists and all-around tough guys. We assume he’ll long outlive any zombie apocalypse, nuclear holocaust, or plague by entertaining the barbarians at his door with his thrilling prose.

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Badass Writer Moment: Yukio Mishima Starts A Coup

Yukio Mishima

By Sean Tuohy

The Writer 

Yukio Mishima was one of the most important Japanese writer's of the 20th Century.

During his lifetime, he was nominated for a Nobel Prize Award three times. His work included novels, poems, and several films that he directed. Outside the creative world, Mishima modeled and was a weight lifter. Yukio was also known for right-wing actives in Japan and created his own style of nationalism during the mid-1960s. After serving in the Japanese Ground Forces, Mishima created his own private militia comprised of his students.

Mishima saw himself as the savior of Japan and in 1970 tried to start a coup.

Whatcha doing?

Thinking about starting a coup.

Oh.

The Moment

In November 1970, Yukio and several members of his private militia entered the main offices of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, sealed themselves in the commander's office, and took the commander hostage. Yukio stepped out on to the balcony and gave a heartfelt speech to the soldiers below, hoping to start a coup. After finishing his speech Yukio was ready to hear cheers from the soldiers, but instead they made fun of him.

Yukio was disheartened and stepped back in to the office.

The pen might not be mightier than this sword.

The Result

So how did Yukio's attempt to overthrow the government go?

Knowing his coup was a failure Yukio took a moment to collect himself before he committed sukkio (aka disemboweling yourself with a sword) in the office. Like all great failed military heroes, his plan didn't work out so he knifed himself.

Makes total sense.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE

Badass Writer of the Week: Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant dying and writing in equal measure.

By Daniel Ford

During our conversation earlier this week, historical fiction author Jeff Shaara mentioned that Ulysses S. Grant had a pretty decent editor for his memoirs.

Mark Twain.

The former general, who arguably saved the Union by winning the Civil War, had the greatest American author as his editor, publisher, and supporter. Does it get more badass than that?

I was telling Writer’s Bone essayist David Pezza this while browsing in Raven Used Books on Wednesday. I was scanning the history section for Grant’s memoirs and instead found a copy of Mark Perry’s Grant and Twain. The book chronicles the relationship between the dying former President and the American man of letters about to unleash The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on the world.

I had already emailed Sean Tuohy that I had an idea for an upcoming “Badass Writer of the Week,” however, once this book was in my hands I knew that Grant’s literary badassery couldn’t wait another week. Sean graciously allowed me to satisfy my history nerd tendencies even though I kept the identity of my subject a secret.

Grant was a complete failure outside of the battlefield. There’s not a debate on this, it’s just a fact. He was good at one thing…being a soldier. So it’s no surprise to me that Grant chose to focus on the smashing success that was his military career. However, Rod Paschall, editor of MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, points out in his introduction to the Barnes and Noble edition of Grant’s memoirs that the former general was a “managed alcoholic,” a “voracious reader,” and “cold sober” during his years in the public spotlight.

He didn’t set out to write his memoirs for posterity’s sake. He set his pencil to paper so that his family would be financially secure once he died from the debilitating tongue and throat cancer that was eating him alive. A lifetime of trusting the wrong people, investing money he didn’t have in troubled ventures, and his failures at everything outside of the Army had left him debt-ridden and desperate.

Grant’s writing process wasn’t an easy one. According to Perry, he had major trouble swallowing, difficulty sleeping, and was in a constant state of pain and exhaustion. He didn’t proceed alone though. He had his wife Julie Dent Grant by his side the entire time and Perry writes that Twain would frequently visit Grant in New York City and the two would swap stories. Twain also provided the final push Grant needed to sign a book contract and start writing (What was Twain doing while helping Grant write and publish his words? Crafting The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. No big deal).

Grant was constantly waylaid by sickness, continued money trouble, and a reliance on writing in pencil and hours of dictation during his struggle to finish his work. Despite those roadblocks, the end result is a masterpiece of concise and honest prose. It reminds me of Matthew Ridgeway’s account of the Korean War with its vivid reminiscences of major battles, determination to tell the truth about events colored by political and cultural discourse during the intervening years, and its deep belief in American culture and convictions despite mindless bloodshed and political ineptitude. He briskly moves the reader from battle to battle, sharing private correspondence, war orders, and his personal thoughts on victories and defeats.

Conditions need to be damn near perfect for me to write a coherent sentence. I can’t imagine what my writing would look like if I was crippled with cancer and was down to my last chance to provide for my family. Even with an assist from one of the greatest writers to ever live, Grant’s feat is truly remarkable.

Indulge me by reading a few of my favorite passages:

Following the siege of Vicksburg: “In this narrative I have not made the mention I should like of officers, dead and alive, whose services entitle them to special mention. Neither have I made that mention of the navy which its service deserve. Suffice it to say, the close of the siege of Vicksburg found us with an army unsurpassed, in proportion to its numbers, taken as a whole of officers and men. A military education was acquired which no other school could be given.”

Regarding Abraham Lincoln: “He always showed a generous and kindly spirit toward the Southern people, and I never heard him abuse the enemy. Some cruel things said about President Lincoln, particularly in the North, used to pierce him to the heart; but never in my presence did he evince a revengeful disposition—and I saw a great deal of him at City Point, for he seemed glad to get away from the cares and the anxieties of the capital."

At Appomattox Court House: “What General Lee’s feelings were I do not know. As he was a man of much dignity, with an impassible face, it was impossible to say whether he felt inwardly glad that the end had finally come, or felt sad over the result, and was too manly to show it. Whatever his feelings, they were entirely concealed from my observation; but my own feelings, which had been quite jubilant on the receipt of his letter, were sad and depressed. I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and had suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which there was the least excuse. I do not question, however, the sincerity of the great mass of those who were opposed to us."

Grant died three days after finishing his task. His final campaign was a success. His memoirs were a sensation and provided his family the financial means he couldn’t muster during the last years of his life.

Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War

Following my discovery at Raven Used Books, I stopped into Barnes and Noble to purchase a copy of Grant’s memoirs. The older gentleman at the register held the book in his hands for a long moment.

“Great book,” he said. “You’ve heard of Gertrude Stein, right?”

I nodded, which seemed to have restored some of his faith in humanity.

“Well, this was the book she kept at her bedside. How about that, huh?”

A conversation about Mark Twain and Grant’s writing style followed. He also commented that the edition I bought was perfect for annotation and research. I walked out of that store feeling like the idea for this “Badass Writer of the Week” was predetermined.

Grant’s memoir now occupies a special place on my nightstand, where I imagine it will remain for years to come.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE

Badass Writer of the Week: Nicholas Meyer

Nicholas Meyer

By Sean Tuohy

This week's Badass Writer is a man who boldly went where no man had gone before and saved a multi-million dollar franchise. Nicholas Meyer is a novelist, screenwriter, filmmaker, and all-around badass who fuses a love for history and sci-fi to create some of the most original stories for the page or screen.

Meyer helped save several long running series during his career. He started with novels featuring Sherlock Holmes and then moved on to putting “Star Trek” back on the galactic right track to blockbuster millions and acclaim. It seems whatever Meyer touches comes back to life and makes a ton of money.

Born in New York City, Meyer attended college in Iowa. After college he penned The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, a Sherlock Holmes mystery featuring the detective strung out on cocaine as he tries to stop war from breaking out. The novel spent 40 weeks on top of the bestsellers list before being turned in to a box office smash (Meyer wrote the screenplay). The following year, Meyer wrote Time After Time, a screenplay involving writer H.G. Welles chasing down serial killer Jack The Ripper in 1979 San Francisco, which he was able to sell to Warner Brothers and make his directorial debut. The film was a hit and starred Malcolm McDowell as H.G. Welles.

Now a hotshot director, Meyer was chosen to helm "Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan."

Set phasers to full Sean nerd.

The first "Star Trek" film is...awful. It looks great and the soundtrack is wonderful, but the movie has no plot and is as much fun as watching me eat a sandwich. Meyer, who had never seen "Star Trek," breathed new life into the failing series. Meyer was able to jump start the series and turn "Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan" into one of highest grossing movies of the year. Yes, if it was not for Meyer there may not be a decent "Star Trek" movie to watch and millions of nerds like me all over the world would have nothing to talk about.

After enriching humans and Vulcans alike, Meyer moved on to direct the award-winning mini-series "The Day After," which told the story about a town in the aftermath of a nuclear war. The series did well, but Meyer had so many issues with the television show's producers that he vowed never to work in television again.

He ended up going back to the film series he brought back to life, but this time to add the final chapter. Meyer wrote and directed the classic "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country." The movie was a hit and we're sure several Hollywood producers added third swimming pools to their fourth and fifth homes.

Meyer is still writing and directing. His next project is the highly sought after Teddy Roosevelt biopic based on the award-winning series of books that Daniel Ford devoured and recites when he gets a few drinks in him.

If Meyer ever stops working, we assume it will be because Ricardo Montalban as finally gotten his revenge.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE

Badass Writer of the Week: William T. Vollmann

William T. Vollman photographed by Newsweek (RIP)

By Sean Touhy

Are you working a dead end job that is slowly killing you on the inside?

First of all, welcome to the club (we have t-shirts)!

Second of all, quit your bitching and do something about it!

Go back to school, get a better job, join an international group of freedom fighters in a faraway land to defeat a super power.

Okay, you can only pull off the last one if you’re award-winning author William T. Vollmann. Who sadly, you are not.

For more than 20 years, Vollmann has embodied the true spirit of a writer. A man who uses his natural talents to write powerful and thought-provoking works.

Vollmann had a basic American childhood. After he graduated college, he worked odd jobs for several years, saving up money until he was able to leave it all behind.

The year was 1982 and a war was raging in Afghanistan between the mujahedeen freedom fighters and the Soviet Union—the world’s second-rate superpower (suck it Putin!). Some unknown force in Vollmann told him that he had to get there, he had to be on the front lines of that war, and he had to lend a helping hand. When most people “lend a helping hand,” they give a couple extra bucks to the guy smelling up their morning commute. The phrase normally doesn’t mean, “pick up a rifle and run into battle against an army that made a generation of U.S. school kids duck and cover under wooden desks in the 1960s.”

However, that’s exactly what it meant to Vollmann! After his experience, he wrote his first book, An Afghanistan Picture Show: Or, How I Saved the World (um, most badass title ever?), which wasn’t published for another decade!

Normal cover for one's first book...

Vollmann continued to write full-time. He did not contain himself to one genre of storytelling; he bounced from fiction to nonfiction. His stories tell the tales of the America of old and of the America to come. In 2009, Vollmann was awarded the Strauss Living Award, which gave him $50,000 a year—tax-free—for five years.

Vollmann was never at ease with his celebrity and rarely gives interviews. It was discovered in later years that Vollmann had been investigated by the FBI in connection to the Unabomber. What, a guy described as a misanthrope can’t refuse to use things like a cell phone and a credit cared without someone thinking he’s blowing shit up somewhere?

We've been told that Vollmann currently resides in Cailfornia with his wife and daughter but the Writer's Bone crew believes he may be planning his next adventure along the border between Ukraine and Russia.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE

Badass Writer Moment: John Swartzwelder Buys A Booth

John Swartzwelder?

Badass Writer of the Week acknowledges a single badass moment in writing every once and a while. Feel free to makes suggestions in the comments section or tweet us at @WritersBone.

By Sean Tuohy

The Writer

We’ve asked it before, and we’ll ask it again...

Who doesn’t love “The Simpsons,” that belly laugh inducing, yellow-skinned family of five that shows up our television screens every Sunday night?

During its glory days “The Simpsons” mixed topical humor, goofiness, and the right amount of heart into each episode. The show has a large writing staff filled with talented young writers who pump out jokes and stories a mile a minute. Many well-known names have written for “The Simpsons,” but one name rises above the rest is arguably the most responsible for the success of the show: John Swartzwelder. The 6-foot-5 reclusive writer is almost unknown outside of “The Simpsons” world, which is a shame because he has done so much to shape and change the pop culture landscape. Swartzwelder has penned nearly a sixth of all Simpsons episode and during the golden years his name is always in the credits. Swartzwelder is known for his tight-lipped ways and refuses to do audio commentary for “The Simpsons” nor does he do interviews. To be honest, many hardcore fans think Swartzwelder does not exist at all, but a name the writing staff made up to use when they all work on an episode.

I don't believe that.

I know John Swartzwelder is real. Something in my writing bones tells me that he is very much alive. Over the years stories have emerged about him, like the one about him refusing to come into “The Simpsons” writing room because smoking was banned. He loves to smoke while he writes, so he just started mailing in scripts. That’s a badass move.

The Moment

It’s known that Swartzwelder did most of his best writing at a small café in Los Angeles. He would sit in one particular booth and punch out a script while smoking (Young folks, there was actually a time when you could smoke in cafés. It was an awesome smoked-filled time).

Well, sadly the city of Los Angeles banned smoking in public indoor locations. That meant that the café would no longer allow Swartzwelder to do his thing the way he wanted to do it. Swartzwelder did what any smoker would do. He moved outside.

Wait, no he didn't.

He bought the booth from the cafe and had it shipped to his house!

Swartzwelder could not part from this booth. Maybe it was made from a magical tree that gave him powers to become a great writer. Or maybe Swartzwelder just has trouble saying good-bye. Swartwelder went on to write for “The Simpsons” for a while, and helped produce the big screen version of the show, and has penned several novels.

He has yet to give an interview.

The booth's whereabouts remain unknown.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE

Badass Writer of the Week: John Milius

John Milius

By Sean Tuohy

Rebel. Maverick. Basis for Coen Brothers' characters. Badass writer.

These words define John Milius, the gun-toting, cigar-chewing filmmaker, who for the past 40 years has been bringing movie goers character-driven action films.

From penning the classic “Apocalypse Now” to directing the Cold War-era war movie “Red Dawn,” Milius has always written and directed films his way with little concern for the rest of the world. A brilliant, inspiring, and tear-inducing documentary about Milius' career was recently released. Milius declares himself a “Zen anarchist.” He approaches movie making the same way a big game hunter approaches a hunt; a wicked smile painted to his face just before he steps into the dark and wild jungle ready to conquer all.

Before becoming a writer and filmmaker, Milius attempted to join the military during the Vietnam War. He was not accepted for medical reasons. He was pretty bummed about this. You read that right. Milius felt he was letting his country down by not serving in a war that was slaughtering his peers and dividing the United States. Not many people volunteered cheerfully to get in that war. Milius did.

Feeling deflated, Milius went to USC Film School where his classmates were George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and some other filmmaker wannabes including Basil Poledouris (won an Emmy for his score of the mini-series “Lonesome Dove”), Randal Kleiser (directed a relatively unknown film named “Grease”), and Don Glut (wrote the novelization for “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back”). It was during this time that Milius began to craft and shaped his wilder-than-life personality. Milius was a rare breed who loved reading about war heroes and firing guns, but at the same time loved the peaceful world of surfing.

Milius penned a low-budget film before selling his script for the Robert Redford film “Jeremiah Johnson,” where it is said that Milius gave up half his paycheck so he could keep some of the guns from the movie set.

He began cranking out work left and right and worked on high profile films such as “Dirty Harry.” Yup, the most badass Magnum-toting cop in America got some of his badass-ness from Hollywood wild man Milius. You want to know which line Milius is best remembered for writing in that movie? “Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?” Yeah, you’re right, no one really remembers that one. Daniel Ford only says it 576 times a day. He wrote the USS Indianapolis scene in “Jaws” for his buddy Spielberg. According to the recent documentary, Richard Dreyfuss wasn’t doing a whole lot of acting as he sat there bugged eyed and slack-jawed listening to Robert Shaw nail Milius’ dialogue.

Milius adapted every high school kid’s worst nightmare, Heart of Darkness, but switched out the deep, dark Congo for war-torn Vietnam. The film proved to be a giant hit and is now a classic. The film is the reason the Writer’s Bone crew loves the smell of napalm in the morning. We enjoy the smell of victory.

Milius soon moved behind the camera himself working on cult classics like the surfer film “Big Wednesday.” He also helped bring Arnold Schwarzenegger into the main stream by casting him in “Conan the Barbarian.” Schwarzenegger, himself one of the more well-known cigar chewing tough guys, so trusted Milius that he said, “Tell me exactly what to say, when to say it, and how to say it.” We’re pretty sure that was the last time anyone told The Governator what to do.

Milius then upset a lot of people off with 1980s “Red Dawn.” The Cold War film, that featured American teenagers fighting off invading Russians, was one of the highest grossing films of its time. It was topical and raised a lot of scary questions, so logically, people hated it and Milius was somewhat. His later career would include work on “The Hunt for Red October” and HBO show “Rome.”

Look, despite everything I’ve told you, I cannot do this man justice. He is too wild and too much of a legend for me to capture in one blog post. Milius was a true storyteller; a man who is driven by that unknown force within to tell a story—and to tell it well. Milius is himself, nothing more or less. He is the embodiment of walking with a big stick; a man who walks into the room and pulls you in with his a great hook and a big swell of fear.

I want to say this piece sums up Milius’ spirit but it’s not even close. It barely scratched the surface. Milius had a stroke recently which left him without the ability to communicate easily. Yet, at the end of the documentary, he delivers Dirty Harry’s famous catch phrase and bursts out into a giggle. There’s nothing wrong with his spirit, so there’s nothing wrong with ours.

Ford and I have been writing ever since we saw that documentary. Go watch it, go watch all his movies, and then tell your own badass story.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE

Badass Writer of the Week: George V. Higgins

George V. Higgins

By Sean Tuohy

Daniel Ford and I have both recently made the city of Boston the place we call home. The small New England city is famous for its wicked accents, heavy drinking, love of winning and losing sports teams, and hardscrabble attitude. Because Boston is our home base, I figured we make this Friday’s Badass Writer of the Week a local.

Ladies and gents, please meet George V. Higgins. The Boston native was part writer, part lawyer, part teacher, and all-around all Boston badass. Go grab a Red Sox hat (Note from former New Yorker Daniel: “Over my pinstriped dead body”), gather round the water bubbler, and pound some chowdah as we explore the dark and well-written world of George V. Higgins.

To say Higgins was a Boston native is a bit of an understatement. He was born in Brockton, Mass., and then decided he didn’t need to leave Beantown to go to college. He went to Boston College (Another note from St. John’s alum Daniel: “Ugh”) for both his undergrad and law degree.

Higgins in 1980

However, Higgins didn't jump right in to law after graduating. First, he spent several years working for newspapers as a reporter and columnist. Growing bored with the beat, Higgins decided to go return to law. He had his own law firm for 10 years, but before that worked with the government to go up against the Mafia. The Boston Mafia. You know, some of the meanest, scariest, thugs on the planet. Higgins shrugged his shoulders and said, “Why not?”

It was during his time working to stop the mob that Higgins started writing. Higgins did for the Boston underworld what Elmore Leonard did for Detroit. He wrote about real thugs and let them speak to each other like human beings. Gritty dialog between two hardened criminals that really had nothing to do with the plot, but it was so well-written and so real you can't pull your eyes away. There was in fact little plot in Higgins books. What draws the read to his books is that he just let the characters speak clearly and live their lives. Higgins knew that the mean streets were the same as the Roman stage; drama unfolded in both places.

Growing bored with being a lawyer, Higgins became a college professional. Geez, what would this guy's LinkedIn profile have looked like?

And his career just got better over time. In the 1970s, Hollywood came knocking and bought the rights to The Friends Of Eddie Coyle. The film, made by Peter Yates and starring Robert Mitchum, is considered one of the best crime films of all time.

Higgins kept writing and doing all sorts of badass jobs until his death in 2000. His style and dialogue-heavy tough guys influenced writers like Shawn Ryan of “The Shield,” Quentin Tarantino, and dozen of other writers.

We assume he’s now ghostwriting for God and teaching St. Peter the finer points of the Boston accent.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE

Badass Writer Moment: David Simon Becomes Dirty Harry

David Simon

Starting with this post, Badass Writer of the Week will acknowledge a single badass moment in writing once a month. Feel free to makes suggestions in the comments section or tweet us at @WritersBone.

By Sean Tuohy

Most writers spend their work day at a desk typing out stories.

No thrills. No bang. No pop.

But every once in a while something happens to a writer during his work day that turns him or her in to a badass.

David Simon is considered to be a genius because, well, he is one. His television shows "The Wire" and "Treme" have changed the television landscape and his nonfiction books The Corner and Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets have won every major award. Simon will be the first to admit that writing is not a thrilling job, but that doesn't mean it’s a complete snooze fest.

Simon's first book Homicide was written while he spent a year observing a homicide detective squad in Baltimore. For a year, Simon was a fly on the wall as he followed detectives to crime scenes, sat with them in the office, and ate doughnuts with them. During that year, Simon became very close to the detectives, but always kept himself away from the real danger. That is until one December day.

Simon writes in his author's note in Homicide that while riding with two detectives he "went native" and helped them during a shake down. The detectives spotted suspects on the street. They jumped from the car to stop them, but one detective got stuck in his seat shouted at Simon, who had his notepad and pen in hand in the back seat, "Go!" Simon jumped from the car and as one detective was busy with one suspect, Simon took the other, shoved him against a car, and then searched him. Yes, a reporter threw a citizen against a car and then searched him and did not get in trouble.

For that brief moment, David Simon, professional writer, became David Simon, tough guy cop.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE

Badass Writer of the Week: Frances Marion

Frances Marion

By Sean Tuohy

Have you ever encountered someone who has done so much in such a short time that you feel lazy and useless? That’s how I felt once I found about Frances Marion, one of the most successful screenwriters of all time. Marion was also a combat journalist, author, and playwright. She is credited with more than 130 scripts during the 1920s and 1930s. It takes a village to produce the Badass Writer of the Week post. Think about that.

Marion, born as Marion Benson Owners in California to a divorced couple, was known as a kid who did her own thing. At 10 years old, she was kicked out of school for drawing a “mean” cartoon strip about her teacher. At 16 years old, she went to art school and did, well, art school stuff. Marion became a combat reporter after the outbreak of World War I. You read that correctly, folks. She charged into battle armed with a notepad. As bombs fell from the sky and machine gun fire sliced through the air, Marion was reporting about the war.

After the war, Marion found herself in Los Angeles and was approached by a director to be an actress. Marion was a looker, so she became a hot-item actress for the booming film industry. However, she felt more at easy behind the camera. Hang on a second. If I were told I was good looking by someone in the field I wanted to pursue, my response wouldn’t be, “Eh, thanks, but I’ll just chill back here.” Just saying.

Anyway, Hollywood never won Marion over. She could really care less about the glitz and glamour of the city. For her, the city was just a place to earn a paycheck. Marion became the most in-demand screenwriter in Hollywood during the 1920s and 1930s. Every producer, actor, and director wanted to get her to pen a movie for them. “Anna Christie” was one of her most well-known works and was the highest grossing feature of 1930. The film also introduced Greta Garbo's voice to the world, so there’s that.

Nearly every movie Marion wrote became a blockbuster hit. In 1930, Marion was the first woman to win Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards for her script for “The Big House.” We all assume that Marion, with her distain for Hollywood, simply looked at the Oscar and then tossed it in the trash with a weak shrug of the shoulders. Marion ended up winning two Oscars in her career, another first in Hollywood.

By the 1940s, Marion grew bored with Hollywood and decided to leave. Also, she had made a ton of money and no longer needed the city. At the height of her career, Marion was pulling in $3,000 a week. Sounds good, right? Well, if you adjust for inflation, that total skyrockets to $40,648.08 in 2014. That’s nearly $2 million a year. That’s a lot of cabbage to walk away from.

Marion went on to work on stage plays and books. She passed away in 1972, a year after publishing her tell-all book about her time in Hollywood.

Throughout her life, Marion did what she wanted to do. She didn’t really care about anything else. Money, fame, respect, whatever. She just wanted to tell a damn good story and folks, that is what she did.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE

Badass Writer of the Week: Kurt Sutter

Kurt Sutter

By Daniel Ford

In a scene in the first season of “Sons of Anarchy,” a couple fucks next to a fresh corpse one of them has just murdered.

If you weren’t sure before, that should have given you a clue as to the kind of writer Kurt Sutter is.

There is no mistaking Sutter for anything other than a badass. If you saw him walking down the street or riding his motorcycle—he’s covered in tattoos and has long hair—“writer” would not be in the top five professions you’d project on him. You’d think something like, “That guy kills men with broken toothbrushes in the shower” and not, “He must sit in front of a computer typing for extended periods of time.”

Sutter started out living in the “shadow of Rahway prison” in New Jersey. His IMDB biography goes on to say he spent a good portion of his childhood “away from people, three feet from a television screen.” Is there any better recipe for making a badass writer?

His bio on a GQ post he wrote in 2012 reads like this:

“Kurt barely graduated high school, had the lowest SAT's in his class and went to the only state college that would take him. A fucked-up home, childhood obesity, food/drug addiction, and relentless television watching all contributed to his absurd, insular world of violent fantasies and sexual dreams. He hardly reads books, he plays a fuckload of games, and his only marketable skill is his imagination. If he respects you, he'd gladly take a bullet for you. If he doesn't, he may very well be holding the gun.”

The Los Angeles Times wrote a piece on Sutter before the premiere of “Sons of Anarchy’s” third season, which recounts his battle with addiction, colorful language, and developing his persona.

“I can be arrogant, I can be insufferable," Sutter said according to the Los Angeles Times. “You really have to have a big ego and a strong personality to do this job."

At the beginning of his television career, he used that ego and personality to land a gig writing for a little show called “The Shield”—a show that is considered by some to be one of the best to ever to be on television.

How does one top working on one of the most original cop concepts in recent memory? By creating a show called “Sons of Anarchy” about an emotional, angsty, violent, troubled, addicted, loyal, and warring motorcycle club in California. Sutter even stars as incarcerated Son Otto, who is respected and feared even though he’s behind bars. You could even argue that Otto drives the course of the show.

The first two seasons of “Sons of Anarchy” are near perfect television. The dialogue and the tone Sutter creates, along with the grittiness and believability of his main characters, are wildly original and pop off the screen even when compared to characters like Walter White and Don Draper. Jax Teller, played superbly by Charlie Hunnan, is powered by a heart and energy that works so well because it’s essentially Sutter’s own.

Sutter is also a writer who isn’t afraid to speak his mind. Every writer needs a venue where he or she can write, rant, or speak without a filter. Sutter has chosen Twitter, which benefits everyone. Here are a couple of my recent favorites:

TV peabody award is given to those who provide a public service in social awareness and good taste. so who's dick do i have to suck get one?

— kurt sutter (@sutterink) April 2, 2014

Knocked out my front teeth, keep losing the temps. Going gangsta or I guess, white trash Jersey, until next week. pic.twitter.com/3XYBPblSLP

— kurt sutter (@sutterink) March 14, 2014

we can't stop you from pirating our art, that's between you and your black heart. but we can stop the corporations who enable it. #wtfgoogle

— kurt sutter (@sutterink) February 20, 2014

You know what the best part about Sutter’s badassery is? He married arguably the Queen of Badass Actresses Katey Sagal. Her heart thumps on “Sons of Anarchy” just as loud as Sutter’s own and we look forward to the next generation of badasses they are currently cultivating (the couple has three children).

The show is headed into its seventh, and reportedly final season, which I’m assuming will end with everyone dying in the most vicious way possible—like a version of Hamlet that includes brass knuckles, automatic assault weapons, and heavy chains.

And it will for fuck sure be badass as hell. Sutter wouldn’t write it any other way.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE

Badass Writer of the Week: James Baldwin

James Baldwin

By Sean Tuohy

Not all badass writers are rough, tough, people of action (example: Nora Ephron). A true badass writer is one who is willing to stand up for what he or she believes in, to stay strong during turbulent times, and always comes out on top.

James Baldwin was a true writer; a man who brought the world to life whenever his pen touched paper. Baldwin's work brought to light hot button issues, such as sex, race, and economic disparity between social groups, during radical change in America. Throughout his life, whenever he was not busy writing novel-length essays, Baldwin fought for social change and was a major part of the Civil Rights movement.

Okay, can we point out that James Baldwin was an openly gay black man fighting for change in 1950s and 1960s America? Do you know how hard that is? Baldwin lived in a time when the southern part of the United States was socially stuck in 1859 and in some states it was still legal to lynch a black man. Also, being openly gay was no easy play back then for anyone of any color. Despite all the hate that was sent Baldwin's way, he never changed who or what he was. He simply embraced it.

Baldwin had a rough start. He was born in Harlem to a drug addict father. His mother later got remarried to a preacher who was abusive toward Baldwin and his siblings. Baldwin was a decent student, but found school boring. It wasn’t until Baldwin was 15 years old that he began exploring the new age neighborhood of Greenwich Village. It was here, living among artist and thinkers, that Baldwin started contemplating the struggles of African-Americans and confronting his own sexuality. During this time, he also met actor Marlon Brando and the two became friends.

Wait, what?! Why did those two not make a sitcom together?

Baldwin worked odd jobs during the day, and at night he would write. In 1955, he published his first work Notes of a Native Son. Baldwin's writing was thoughtful and always looked to expand the mindset of his reader. During the 1950s he tired of the racial tension within the United States and moved to France for several years.

When Baldwin returned to the United States, the Civil Rights movement was just beginning. Baldwin threw himself right in the middle of it and began recruiting, interviewing people, and writing essays. Baldwin gave several noted speeches during this time, the most famous of which was "The Latest Slave Rebellion" at UC Berkeley. He also partnered with Malcom X during this time.

Baldwin died of cancer in 1987 at his home in France and was later laid to rest near New York City. He used his talent to share his outlook on the world and to share the fear, anger, and wonder he felt thought out his life.

Despite a lifetime of being mistreated for what he was and what he believed in, James Baldwin did the most badass thing a person can do: He accepted who he was and lived one hell of a life.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE

Badass Writer of the Week: Charles Willeford

Charles Willeford

By Sean Tuohy

It takes a tough guy to know how to write a tough guy novel and Charles Willeford was the definition of tough guy.

How tough was good old Charles Willeford? When you Google Image search his name it is impossible to not find a picture of him smoking and looking ultra cool. During his career as a writer Willeford penned a dozen hardboiled noir age novels and the genre-bending Hoke Molsey series. Willeford has been praised by James lee Bruke, Elmore Leonard, and Quentin Tarantino as the best crime writer of all time.

But before he became a tough guy writer, Willeford lived the tough guy life.

Born in 1919, Willeford had a rough start. He lost both parents before he was a teenager and came of age during the Great Depression. At 13 years old, when most of us were getting bitch slapped by puberty, Willeford assumed an identity and jumped on a freight train. He was barely a teenager and he essentially became Jason Bourne.

Willeford lied about his age, joined the Army, and fought in World War II as a tank commander. While still in Europe, Willeford wrote and published his first book that was the toughest, meanest collection of…poetry. Wait a minute. Really? You mean the guy who fought in WWII and also worked as a fireman, cook, and gas truck driver before he was 20 years old, wrote poetry? Then again, who are we to judge? Even tough guys have a soft side.

After 1950 Willeford was all over the place. He joined the Air Force for a while, he was a boxer, actor, radio host, and in between all that went to college and got his M.A. in English. During this time, Willeford published several highly praised, but low grossing novels, High Priest of California and Cockfighter among them.

Charles Willeford

While working as a professor at Miami Dade College, and nine years after his last published novel, Willeford printed his most successful novel Miami Blues. The cop drama took place in Miami during the wild drug days in the 1980's and features hard-nose, no-nonsense police detective Hoke Molsey.

Miami Blues was later turned in to a film starring Alec Baldwin. Willeford, now in his sixties, was finally making a living as a full-time writer.

He pumped out a total of four Hoke novels before his death in 1987. We assume that when he died Willeford was puffing a smoke and coming up with one final great tough line.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE

Badass Writer of the Week: Nora Ephron

"Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim." Nora Ephron 1941-2012

By Stephanie Schaefer

Yes, you read that headline right. If you think all badasses have to shoot guns, frequent boot camps, and stab people in prison, think again. Feminist, humorist, and the first lady of romantic comedies Nora Ephron didn't need to do any of that to be legendary—all she had to do was smash through a few glass ceilings with her high heels.

What makes Nora Ephron badass, you ask? For starters, without her men wouldn’t know what it sounds like when women fake an orgasm, Tom Hanks may have never been such a successful actor, and, most of all, countless hopeless romantics worldwide wouldn’t believe in happily ever afters. Not to mention, when she was an intern for the White House during the Kennedy Era, Ephron once saved Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn from a men’s room in which he had accidentally locked himself in. Now that’s badass (and so anti “damsel-in-distress”)!

Fresh off her stint in D.C., Wellesley-educated Ephron began her longstanding career in New York City in the 1960s. Although her first job was as a mail girl at Newsweek, she eventually rose to become a literary Renaissance woman, finding success in journalism, screenwriting, directing, producing and beyond, in spite of the fact these realms were male-dominated. After publishing a series of well-read essays, Ephron gained fame with her Academy Award-nominated screenplays “Silkwood” and the legendary romantic comedy “When Harry Met Sally.”

In the early 90’s Ephron stepped up to the director’s chair for the hit romance “Sleepless in Seattle,” which garnered $120 million at the box office and once again proved her feminine power. Success continued later in the decade when she reunited Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks for my personal favorite chick-flick, “You’ve Got Mail,” a heartwarming take on dating in the digital age (Ask Daniel Ford about how much he loves this movie. He’ll talk your ear off and do lousy Tom Hanks impressions). Even in her late 60s she continued to produce high-quality work, writing and directing "Julie & Julia,” a light-hearted film that depicts the life of another fierce female: culinary master Julia Child.

“To state the obvious, romantic comedies have to be funny and they have to be romantic,” Ephron said in an interview. “But one of the most important things, for me anyway, is that they be about two strong people finding their way to love.”

We can credit Ephron with transforming the way females are portrayed on film. During her reign, attractive women were no longer confined to play the quintessential over-sexed “Bond Girl,” but grew into multi-dimensional characters attempting to navigate their careers and love lives with honesty and humor. Essentially, her works challenged industry executives who, according to Cate Blanchett’s recent Academy Award acceptance speech, “foolishly cling to the idea that female films with women at the center are niche experiences.”

Her films were romantic, but Ephron stayed away from clichés and depicted heroines who were not only independent and hardworking but also sensitive and capable of expressing an array of emotions—anger, love, sensuality, and everything in between. “I try to write parts for women that are as complicated and interesting as women actually are,” she said. Ultimately, she proved that women don’t have to abandon their true selves to be “badass.”

From “I’ll have what she’s having,” to “I wanted it to be you,” Ephron’s famous lines remain etched in pop-culture stone, unable to be erased with each passing year and every male-dominated superhero blockbuster that has followed her 2012 death. Although female screenwriters that walk in her footsteps may have big shoes to fill, Ephron’s legacy proves that you can still be successful—in Hollywood and beyond—even if your footwear choice is high heels.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE

Badass Writer of the Week: Bob Mayer

Bob Mayer

By Sean Tuohy

This is a first for Writer’s Bone (no, we did not learn what healthy diet means). We got to interview this Friday’s Badass Writer of the Week!

Bob Mayer is a former U.S. Army Green Beret, a best-selling author of the Green Beret and Area 51 series, and has started his own publishing company called Cool Gus Publishing. What makes Bob a true badass writer in the eyes of the Writer’s Bone crew—besides the fact he shares the same job as Rambo—is the fact that he is always looking ahead. Mayer embraced the new world of e-book publishing and proved it could be a successful market. Also, using the skills he learned while in the Special Forces, Mayer published Write It Forward, a guide for new authors who are interested in navigating the e-book publishing world.

We know, we know, we wanted him to teach authors how to shoot a bow and arrow too, but maybe we can convince him to do that for his next book.

Writer’s Bone: Did you always know you'd become a writer, or was it something you discovered later in life?  

Bob Mayer: I always read a lot. I think that’s the best preparation for becoming a writer. I lived in books as a child. I wrote a lot of technical stuff and orders in the military, but it was only when I moved to the Orient to study martial arts that I began writing. It was more out of a sense of wanting to tell a story than thinking about getting published.

Writer’s Bone: Besides the military background,  what do you and your hero David Riley have in common?

BM: We’re both from the Bronx and from lower-middle-class families. We both used the military as a way up and out. His mode of leadership also mimics what mine is.

Writer’s Bone: What are some misconceptions that people have about the new e-book market?  

BM: They think it’s easy. It’s gotten tougher with each passing month as more and more books get loaded. Also, there is so much more to it than just doing a cover and formatting and uploading a book. There’s an art to promoting books and gaining readers.

Writer’s Bone: What do you recommend to authors new to the e-book market?  

BM: Focus on series. And don’t worry about promoting until you have at least three books out there. That will also weed out a lot of your competition as most people will quit after one book if they don’t see immediate results.

Writer’s Bone: Where did the idea for Cool Gus Publishing come about and how has it evolved over time?  

BM: When Jen Talty approached me about bringing out my backlist, I realized we needed to think bigger than that. Once we established the capability to do this, we brought on other authors. However, we’re staying small because you can only focus on a handful of authors. We want to do right by a few authors, not try to make a little off a lot.

Writer’s Bone: What is one positive for standard publishing and one positive for e-book pubishing?

BM: Traditional publishing is almost always better for a new writer because you will get some exposure. Not much, but more than you can do on your own. However, unless you get extremely lucky, focus on moving past it down the line.

For publishing on your own, you have complete control, but you also have complete responsibility. Your success or failure rests on your shoulders. I look at that as a positive, but it can overwhelm some people.

Writer’s Bone: Tell us a little about Write it Forward. What kind of response have you gotten from writers who have read the book and followed your strategies?  

BM: I have taken the strategies we used to succeed in Special Forces and applied them to being an author. While authors tend to be creative, we also have to run a business and have a career plan. Most don’t. Those who do have a stronger chance to succeed. The number one thing required to succeed is to set a long term goal and doing whatever it takes to succeed. Most writers don’t even have that long term, or strategic goal. Thus the odds of succeeding are not very good.

Writer’s Bone: Is there anything you miss about being in the Army?  

BM: The camaraderie. In Special Forces, we had an elite and unique group of soldiers. It was great working with people you could trust with your life.

Writer’s Bone: Can you please tell us one random fact about yourself?

BM: I have two yellow labs: Gus and Becca. My company is named after Cool Gus (which is Gus when he wears his sunglasses).

You can learn more about Bob Mayer by visiting his official website, like his Facebook page, or follow him on Twitter @Bob_Mayer.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE

Badass Writer of the Week: Dickey Chapelle

Dickey Chapelle

By Sean Tuohy

Dickey Chapelle's normal attire was military fatigues, a bush hat, a pair of glasses, and a set of pearl earrings. Chapelle was part G.J. Joe, part photojournalist, and an all-around badass who sent the boys packin'.

Chapelle was born Georgette Louise Meyer in Milwaukee, Wis., in 1919, and lived a normal Midwestern girl life right up until she graduated high school first in her class and won an aeronautical engineering scholarship to Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the age of 16. It’s totally normal that a teenage girl would head off to one of the best colleges in the nation to design airplanes during that era of U.S. history.

Well, like most badasses, Chapelle found the classroom to be boring, so she returned home and got a job at a local airfield. She preferred learning to fly planes than learning how to design them. Keep in mind that women had just gotten the right to vote in the U.S. a year after Chapelle was born. Also, Amelia Earhart was just learning basic flying skills and this girl from mid-America was hot on her coat tails.

Earhart caught a break when it was discovered that our heroine was having an affair with a fellow pilot. We're not sure what affair meant in the 1930's, but we assume that Chapelle once held eye contact for more than 10 seconds with a male pilot. Besides, even if she did it, badasses are meant to break rules, and what’s the point of breaking rules if you’re not going to have wild sex with your hot male counterpart who happens to fly planes for a living.

A young Dickey Chapelle

Anyway, Chapelle was shipped off to Florida for a while, but then moved to New York City where she took evening photograph classes with Tony Chapelle. As you can probably guess, she ended up marrying him and taking his name. When World War II broke out, Chapelle adopted the first name Dickey, after one of her favorite explorers, and landed a job at National Geographic despite having nearly no experience as a photographer.

Her first assignment was nothing special. The magazine sent her to the Pacific theater with U.S. Marines. Wait, what? Yup, Chapelle spent a good chunk of World War II in the middle of some of the heaviest fighting. She witnessed the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. She just dug herself in with the fighting men and never missed a thing.

Dickey Chapelle roughing it.

After the war, Chapelle did was any normal person would do once the returned home. She went right back out looking for more crazy dangerous stuff to do! Up until her death in 1965, she trotted around the world snapping pictures of war zones and was known to go to extraordinary lengths to cover a story. For example, Chapelle was thrown in jail at one point and trained with paratroopers learning how to jump out of a plane. Here at Writer's Bone it takes two bottles of cheap whiskey to just make it to the airport, while Chapelle probably didn’t even blink learning to jump out of them. Because of her badass style, Chapelle earned the respect of both the military and reporting world.

When the U.S. began sending troops to Vietnam, Chapelle went with them. Unlike other reporters who did not travel with the troops, Chapelle traveled with soldiers out on missions. Sadly, it was during one of these trips that she was struck by a piece of shrapnel and was killed. She was the first female war correspondent to be killed in Vietnam and the first American female reporter to be killed in action.

Dickey Chapalle was the female version of an ass-kicking Jimmy Olsen. She was three shades of tough with a winning smile and a determination to capture a moment precisely and honestly. We salute her all-around badassery by bestowing her with this week’s badass writer of the week award.

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE

Badass Writer of the Week: Eric L. Haney

Eric L. Haney

By Sean Tuohy

Have you seen a movie where a group of people is being held hostage by some machine gun-toting bad guys and then all of sudden…boom! The door is blown to smithereens and black-clad commandos storm the room with guns blazing and mow down the bag guys, leaving the hostages scared shitless but unharmed?

Yeah, well this week's badass writer is the guy who trained those commandos. Before he became a best-selling author and screenwriter, Eric L. Haney dropped in and out of war zones with the U.S. Army Rangers and then became one of the first members of the U.S. Government's most deadly and secretive units: Delta Force.

We don’t recommend trying anything shady around this guy because he’s a “master trainer” of some serious shit. Consider this list from his website:

• Close quarter combat
• Counter-terrorist and counter-guerilla actions
• Development/implementation of security programs
• Executive protection
• Guard force management
• Hostage/ransom negotiation
• Master sniper
• Small arms/long guns (all classes)
• Standard/improvised explosives
• Surgical explosive breaching

Umm...yeah, this guy could handle a behind the lines operation the same way Daniel and Sean handle an all you can eat buffet: with skill.

Haney joined the U.S. Army right out of high school in 1970, and quickly joined the famed 75 Ranger Regiment. The Rangers are one of the oldest and most skilled infantry units within the U.S. Army. After doing this for a while, Haney got bored. Jumping out of airplanes? Yawn. The next unit that he joined was brand new and offered one of the most difficult selection process tests in the U.S. military. For 19 months, Haney trained and became an expect in...well… being a badass(did you read the fucking list above???) before he joined Delta Force.

Haney with several other badass members of Delta Force.

For those of you that don't know what Delta Force is (or never saw the Chuck Norris film) let us give you a little background. First of all, the U.S. Government does not officially state that Delta Force exists. They are such badasses that Uncle Sam won't admit that these guys work for us. These highly trained soldiers are sent to the worst spots in the world to do who knows what and they do it without ever being noticed. Haney was one of the first members of this elite group. While in Delta Force, Haney was part of Operation Eagle Claw, the failed rescue attempt of the American hostages at the American Embassy in Iran, as well as dozens of other operations throughout the Middle East and Latin America.

Haney retired from the U.S. Army and moved to a small farm and relaxed. Yeah, right. He actually went around the world just being a badass as a freelance security consultant. As Badass for Hire—seriously, why hasn’t this movie been made???—he helped protect royal families, save kidnapped children, and train police forces all over the world.

It was during this time that Haney got the idea to write a book about his life in the U.S. Army. We assume he came up with the idea while jumping out of a helicopter just before it blew up. His tell-all book Inside Delta Force gave his firsthand account of his time with the secretive unit.

The book proved to be so thrilling that foul mouth master writer David Mamet turned the book in to a movie called “Spartan” and in to a hit television show called “The Unit.”

Finally, after a life time of jumping out of planes, saving hostages from gunmen, and just being an all-around tough guy, Haney decided to write full time. The Writer's Bone team is still trying to figure out what is tougher for Haney: jumping in to a war zone or outlining the first chapter of his novel?

BADASS WRITERS OF THE WEEK ARCHIVE