Cuddles,

Thanks for pointing my nose in their direction, but P&S said nix!

Rayc,

Have you considered Publishing On Demand (POD)?
It might be a better route for you given your concerns about the size of your target niche. It also potentially gives you a global reach.

CutLunchCommando,

I have no idea as to what is Publish On Demand.

How do you go about the same.

Thanks for the suggestion all the same and will appreciate your reply.

You might get an idea here. http://www.writersworld.co.uk/

I notice part of their policy on what they won't print says the following:

Books by misogynists or misandrists

which makes me wonder how this got past them LINK

Ray, have a chat/PM with the chap on this thread:

http://www.arrse.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/...8.html#2003488

He has picked up CC & Riggers book and might be interested. Especially with persuasion from here. ;)

Botred? I only just found this thread and i love it. Please do keep up the writing and don't think that we're not grateful to you. Wonderful.

Originally Posted by Gremlin

Ray, have a chat/PM with the chap on this thread:

http://www.arrse.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/...8.html#2003488

He has picked up CC & Riggers book and might be interested. Especially with persuasion from here. ;)

Thanks.

[align=center]I AM HAPPY, SIR[/align]

My ‘popularity’ with my Commanding Officer always ensured that a host of temporary duties and courses came my way. It ensured his solitude and peace.

In pursuance of this favourite pastime of my CO, I found myself propelled out of his eyeball contact as an ‘observer’ at a large sized armoured exercise .

This exercise was professionally productive and so the last laugh was on my CO. This exercise was being tomtommed as ‘the exercise of the century’.

The ideal position to observe armour manoeuvre first hand was being with the CO of a Tank Regiment. Therefore, I requested the same through my friends at the Armoured Brigade HQ. This earned me the privilege of riding in the Tank Regiment CO’s tank to observe the ‘higher directions of war’.

The exercise got underway.

The Tank Regiment was to attack an objective deep inside the ‘enemy’ territory. The move to the enemy area was to be on multiple thrust lines, after crossing a river obstacle.

I met the CO of the Tank regiment and requested for the privilege to accompany him on his tank. It was natural that he wasn’t too pleased at my riding his tank. Armoured Corps folks don’t fancy Infantry people; worse being those with ‘influence’ in their immediate HQs. However, he had no option since the Brigade HQ had categorically told him that I would be with him.

The CO’s piqué ensured that I was not allowed inside the tank. He made me sit on the turret and allowed me to hang my legs through the hatch. The ride was most uncomfortable and there were many occasions when I thought it was being made so, so that I would be thrown off.

I hung on to dear life.

We had travelled for quite sometime. We were near the objective. The CO was trying to muster his columns at the designated RV .

The radio transmissions between him and his Squadron Commanders were fast and furious. I was obviously privy to all transmissions.

The deadline for the RV was nearing. One squadron was still untraceable. The CO was furious. He was trying to ‘guide’ this squadron through radio instructions to the RV.

“Where are you, you gauchi gaa ” (lost cow in Punjabi) Normally, the Armoured Corps officers spoke only in English; rarely in Hindi and never in Punjabi. This was just ‘not done’. It was worse than the British ‘going native’. So, obviously it was not ‘normal times’.

“I am near a pond with palm trees. There is a village North North West about 2 kilometres from where I am”

“Good. At least you can differentiate a village from a pond. What is the name of the village?”

“I don’t know.”

“Excellent. How ‘happy’ are you?”

That was odd. What had ‘happiness’ to do with being lost? The squadron had to be brought home and it was unaware of its actual position!

There were more transmissions from the lost squadron’s commander, but it got unintelligible owing to static.

“What’s that? I asked ‘How Happy are you?” bellowed the CO over the radio.

“I am very, very Happy”, pat came the reply.

“You mooncalf . Is this the time to be Happy? Don’t be a daft idiot. Stop being so %”* happy”.

I thought that the CO was being quite silly. Things weren’t going as per plan. The weather was definitely chilly and a light drizzle seemed to be brewing up. The situation was far from perfect. And yet, the Squadron Commander was the epitome of calm professionalism - he was lost and the weather was not being helpful. Yet, it did not dampen his optimism or state of mind. The Squadron Commander was not only happy, but very happy and extraordinarily stupidly the CO was asking him to stop being happy!

What more could the CO want?

I wanted to chip in and come to the rescue of the Squadron Commander, but since the CO wasn’t very happy himself, I let it pass.

What was the connection to being ‘happy’ and ‘being lost’?

It was after the exercise that I came to know what was being ‘Happy’.

It was the ‘codeword’ of the Regiment for that common phenomenon with tanks – getting lost! In an exercise, which is also a test of the unit’s efficiency, one did not expose the weaknesses wantonly. Therefore, such imaginative codes were the order of the day to cloak the same from not only the exercise enemy, but from the real enemy – the umpires, who travel alongside and record errors.

This code of being ‘Happy’ for ‘being lost’ was real imaginative indeed!

When I commanded my battalion, it became our code too!

Just wanted to bump this thread; simply because I love Rayc stories, and they deserve more attention.

Originally Posted by rampant

Just wanted to bump this thread; simply because I love Rayc stories, and they deserve more attention.

Cheers mate. I'd lost the bookmark to this thread with the upgrade. I love delving in here occasionally.

Rayc - get orf your bum and get that book written!