A Desperate Land is Peoria Man's 4th Novel

Arizona Republic, December 28,2005

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The Arizona Republic
Memories put action into novels

Peoria writer draws from experience

By Charles Kelly

Peoria resident Mike Basford says writing fiction gets him totally involved, sort of like facing death in the air or on the high seas.

Tall, tanned and athletic at the age of 71, the former U.S. Navy jet pilot and veteran of the Vietnam War was involved in action scenes before he started writing about them.

After an attack on a missile field in Hanoi, he found himself dodging bullets from two MiG Mike fighter pilots, one of Basford whom was killed and the other run off by Basford's fellow fliers. On a mission over Haiphong, an enemy missile "locked on" his plane, and he had to take drastic evasive action to escape it. During his career, he flew 135 combat missions, winning four Distinguished Flying Crosses, and carried out nearly 1,000 risky landings on the pitching decks of aircraft carriers. "When you are doing a carrier landing, you are completely focused," Basford says. "If you aren't, you're going to die, particularly at night. That's just pure adrenaline."

He's also familiar with political battles and those in the business sector.

Near the end of his Navy career, Basford worked at the Pentagon, responsible for planning the Navy's aviation budget.

After leaving the Navy in 1980, he worked for years with the defense contractor McDonnell-Douglas.

When Basford finally retired in 1993, he didn't want to waste years plopped in front of a TV set. So he keeps up an active life of golfing, working out, reading voraciously and writing novels.

He has brought his knowledge of war, political maneuvering and boardroom battling to three novels, America First, SS America Affair and The Phoenix Affair (with Lois Truffa)." The first was published by Vantage Press in New York, the other two by Basford's own operation, MGB Consultants/Publishing.

In 2002, America First won second place in the published fiction category from the Arizona Authors Association.

The novel centers on Japan's efforts to steal U.S. secrets for the supersonic passenger jet of the future, which results in military conflict with Japan. Basford has sold about 700 copies of the novel so far, donating the proceeds to breast cancer research because his wife, Carole, waged a successful battle against the disease.

SS America Affair is a sequel to that novel, and The Phoenix Affair deals with a terrorist attack on the Federal Building in downtown Phoenix.

Basford loves the freedom of letting his imagination rove freely while writing fiction.

"In a novel you can write about anything you want, as long as you establish credibility" he says.

That's a lesson, along with others, that he passes along to students in a course called "So You Want to Write a Book" he teaches at RISE (the Rio Institute for Senior Education) based at Rio Salado Community College in Surprise. Basford's books have been represented by two literary agents, but he hasn't been able to find a mainstream publisher. That hasn't discouraged him, though. He's now working on another novel, to be called A Desperate Land.

"You've got to hit the right button," he says. "I haven't hit that button yet, but I'm going to keep on writing."

To get information about Basford's books, visit www.mikebasford.com . His books can be ordered by contacting him at (623) 566-1975 or at micaro1@msn.com.

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