Johnny Ali

Johnny Ali II has begun being written today.

The title has not yet been decided, but it will follow as a sequel to Johnny Ali and the Genie’s Ruby and delve deeper into the war on terror. Of course there isn’t too much to say until the first one is published.

Settings Tidbit

The town of Johnny’s high school, called Eagle Rock, is not the same as the real one and in fact a fictional place, located much closer to the Beverly Hills in the story.

American misconceptions and mistakes

How come we can bomb other countries and support murder (we gave Saddam weapons to fight Iran, we funded death squads in South America, and torture alleged terrorists), but when we are attacked its so evil and unjust of them?

If we aren’t allowed to visit Cuba and smoke their cigars, why do we have Cuban missile and military bases?

Terrorists are said to hate our freedom, but its like Osama bin Laden said, I paraphrase, “If I hated freedom I would bomb Switzerland.”

Anyone remember Lawrence of Arabia and how he instigated mutinies within the Ottoman Empire in WWI? Why didn’t we just do that to get rid of Saddam (if he was a threat) instead of spending billions every year on this war?

Oh the gas prices are rising

Revisions on Johnny Ali and the Genie’s Ruby will be completed today. And this week the story will be submitted out. “Insha’allah” it will be published and be a success….

Status Update

Wow I whole month has passed and I’ve posted nothing. I’ve been pretty busy and made some significant changes to the story, hopefully for the better. I have been editing a lot and it should be roughly completed this weekend. Only a few minor edits need to be done and then a final read through and review to make sure everything sounds right and basically to make sure there are no glaring errors or unresolved issues.

what has america done to prevent terrorism

We have the Patriot Act, increased airport security, phone taps, racial profiling, insulting images of Arabs in our media, and the War on Terror.

But one has to wonder about how effective it all is. Doesn’t violence in the Middle East simply create more terrorists who are resentful and angry at American occupation? I don’t think terrorism can be defeated through force, considering new terrorists are created every day when they see an innocent family member killed accidentally by a US mortar shell. This is just an example, but it seems like America has done more to cause terrorism than to prevent it. Maybe in America itself there is less, but overall I think more terrorists have risen up because of the Iraq War.

Are terrorists evil?

The answer seems obvious, but sometimes you must question even the most fundamental facts you’re given. Was Hitler evil? Sure. Is Osama bin Laden evil? America says so. He bombed us after all. But what about all the countries we’ve bombed or invaded. A few weeks ago Obama’s Pastor Wright gave a speech about the foreign policy screw-ups America has made throughout our history. Maybe we are evil to other countries. <a href=”http://www.sahiworld.com”>Sahi World</a>

Lots to do

There are a few more major hurdles to cross in terms of finalizing the book and getting it published. Personally I’m liking it, but naturally I have a bias. I’ve been able to get rid of major mistakes, so the story should be pretty enjoyable and fitting for a mass audience.

Current Status of Johnny Ali and the Genie’s Ruby

Well I am editing now, fixing up the grammar, spelling, unconventional words, etc. I will be doing a final edit and a final read to check. You know it’s hard to say when a book is really finished, but at a certain point you have to accept it as it is. I’m sure I could improve it in several ways, but then again almost any book could be improved. Hopefully it will be “professional” and publishable. If not there is always self-publishing. I think it should hopefully be completed by June 1st. However time is short and I have a lot of other work to do, so it unfortunately may take longer. Very unfortunate, but indeed it will take long to “catch on” if it ever does, so a few more months to polish it up should be worth it.

almost time…

Well it has certainly been a while, as Ozwalt would say. The book is very near completion and in its final edits. These are the most critical parts and there are a lot of important decisions to make stylistically and content-wise.