Catching Up With Jack Carr

Summary

The Colion Noir Podcast

Episode: Catching Up With Jack Carr
Release Date: May 27, 2026
Host: Colion Noir
Guest: Jack Carr (best-selling author and former Navy SEAL)

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Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth, candid conversation between Colion Noir and Jack Carr as they reconnect after some time apart. The discussion weaves through nostalgia for the freedoms of the 1980s, the challenges of modern creative and entrepreneurial life, adapting novels for television, the erosion of empathy in the digital age, and insider tales from Hollywood gunfight scenes. With humor and insight, both guests share their personal journeys, creative struggles, and love for firearms and freedom.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Nostalgia for the ‘80s and Unfettered Freedom

• Latchkey Kids and Independence

  • Both recall growing up with considerable freedom and minimal parental oversight:
    • “You’re a latchkey kid and there’s nothing tracking you... So you had this moment in time where you had all this freedom and all these options...” — Jack Carr [04:01]
    • “I feel like a caged lion otherwise... me and freedom, I just have to have it.” — Colion [04:43]

• Contrasts with Today

  • They lament the lack of freedom kids have now, with constant digital supervision.
  • The pace of life felt slower and more relaxing for introspection, reading, and relaxation [19:02-20:15].
  • “I remember days being longer, things being slower... The distractions weren’t there.” — Colion [19:10]

• Parenting and Generational Differences

  • Humor about “gap babies” (between Gen X and Millennial):
    • “They call me a gap baby because I was born about ‘83... Like, part Generation X, part millennial.” — Colion [01:51]
    • “And are you saying I was too old to adjust? ...I’m getting the old jokes now, so I’m doling them out.” — Jack Carr [02:12] (lighthearted banter)

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2. The Grind of Entrepreneurship & Creativity

• Life in the Public Eye & Constant Adaptation

  • Both discuss the exhausting need to “keep adapting” as entrepreneurs and creatives.
    • “The adaptation is exhausting, at least.” — Jack Carr [05:46]
    • “It just gets crazier and crazier. It never slows down.” — Colion [05:39]

• Business Acumen vs. Creative Drive

  • “I feel like I’m a good entrepreneur but a bad businessman.” — Jack Carr [06:13]
  • They muse on handing off business tasks to professionals as enterprises grow [06:50-07:18].

• Personal Branding in the Social Era

  • “People want to know the person behind said products... There’s opportunity there that wasn’t there before, but it means you’re taking that work home with you.” — Jack Carr [07:35]

• Overwork & Accessibility

  • Technology keeps them constantly accessible — phones perpetually require charging from non-stop notifications [08:29-08:41].
  • “I can’t keep... My phone stays on a battery pack because I get so many notifications...” — Colion [08:33]

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3. From Page to Screen: Adapting Stories into Television

• Creative Conflicts and Adaptation Realities

  • Colion asks about the experience of seeing your novel adapted for television:
    • “Is there a weird conflict between what the image in your head was and how it gets adapted on screen?” [09:17]
  • Jack embraces the necessity of change and comes in as a “student of Hollywood”:
    • “I knew there was a difference... when I step into this, I’m going to be a student of Hollywood... You can’t do a one-for-one adaptation.” — Jack Carr [09:25, 09:55]

• Show Business Behind the Scenes

  • Jack shares behind-the-scenes trivia about filming, from technical firearm consulting to on-set effects:
    • Bullet hole effects: “...they take these little metal straws under the dash... There’s a little charge at the bottom, a little ball bearing, and some guy with an iPad... It looks like bullet holes.” [29:09]
    • Squib (blood) effects in headrests, and car crash stunts with veteran stuntman Mick Rogers [29:56]

• Self-Deprecation and Humility

  • Jack credits his luck and the talented team behind his adaptations [09:55-10:42].

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4. Writing Process, Creativity, and ‘Writer’s Block’

• Creativity: A Balance of Grind & Inspiration

  • Colion: “The one frustrating thing about creativity is you can’t grind it.... It’s kind of annoying, at least for me.” [12:07]
  • Jack: “Give yourself permission to write a bad chapter, a bad sentence... Then go back and make it great.” [12:55]
  • Writer’s block as a myth:
    • “There’s no such thing as writer’s block. You don’t hear of a truck driver getting truck driver’s block... Sit down and do the work.” — Jack Carr quoting Steven Pressfield [14:10-14:31]

• Juggling Creativity With Daily Demands

  • Details the challenge of finding creative time when life is filled with distractions and family obligations [14:08-15:09].

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5. Patriotism, Opportunity & The Value of Sacrifice

• Fortune of American Freedom

  • Both express deep patriotism and gratitude for living in the U.S.:
    • “We won the lotto by being born in the United States.” — Jack Carr [15:13]
    • “I am so unapologetically patriotic about this country, it’s not even funny...” — Colion [15:56]

• Enduring Values of Service & Sacrifice

  • Jack discusses the shared bond of military training and the sense of having to “prove yourself” to your tribe or country [16:25].
  • “There’s something about investing in something that makes you a part of it, care for it, appreciate it.” — Jack Carr [16:25]
  • Laments loss of shared experience/investment in nation and military/civic identity among youth [16:24-18:53].

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6. The Decline of Empathy and the Digital Attention Crisis

• Fallout of the Social Media Age
  • Jack’s concern: With less fiction reading and more time spent on social apps, empathy & imagination decline.
    • “We’re not developing the empathy and compassion that we used to develop by reading books... Now, the opposite is being developed because algorithms keep you enraged.” — Jack Carr [17:43]
  • Colion echoes concern about the warped pace of digital information:
    • “The pace is too fast... There’s so many inputs, so many things here... It compresses time in your mind...” [19:02]

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7. Hollywood Realism, Adaptations & Gun Culture on TV

• Insider Critiques & Suspension of Disbelief

  • Colion claims he can still enjoy firearms-based shows and movies without over-criticizing technical mistakes:
    • “I have a beautiful ability of suspending disbelief. The worst thing you could do is watch a SEAL movie with a SEAL, a cop movie with a cop, a firefighter movie with a firefighter — they’ll point out everything.” [23:36]
  • Both point out egregious movie/TV gun errors, with Jack recounting a scene:
    • “A helicopter was coming in to take somebody... someone came out and they’re holding their AR out, away from their body like this weird thing. I couldn’t believe no one caught it.” [24:17]

• Adaptations and Nostalgia for ‘Man on Fire’

  • On Netflix's 'Man on Fire' series adaptation:
    • Colion critiques initial scenes for lack of technical accuracy and underwhelming acting compared to the classic Denzel film [24:23-26:12].
    • Jack shares his own history of trying to acquire rights to adapt the original book series and his excitement for the new show, hoping success begets more projects in the genre [26:12-28:23].

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8. Showrunner Stories & Future Projects

• Jack’s On-Screen & Behind-the-Scenes Involvement

  • Jack recounts his cameos, including being a security guard at CIA headquarters and being killed in action with impressive special effects (blood squib, exploding Land Rover, etc.) [29:56-32:40].

• Binge-Watching vs. Weekly Release

  • Both prefer the binge-watch model for streaming series, with Jack taking credit for advocating that “True Believer” (Terminal List Season 2) will drop as a binge [31:27-32:05].
    • “I won’t binge. When they drop and it’s not a binge, I curse the sky.” — Colion [31:24]
    • “Why would you not drop it as a binge... You give people the option.” — Jack Carr [31:30]

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9. Guns, Gear, and Gifts

• Guns, Knives, and VAULT Tech
  • The conversation closes with Jack giving Colion a special-edition, not-yet-released knife inspired by his books, complete with signature, patches, and Vault Tech cases [34:08-35:03].
    • “This is the blade that Chris Walker uses because James Reese has a tomahawk, so I had to make Chris Walker have a different totem.” — Jack Carr [34:08]
    • “It was designed so you don’t have to train a different style of knife fighting — so you box.” [34:08]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Nostalgia:
  • “Mom, dad, this isn’t fair. Life’s not fair. End of TED Talk.” — Jack Carr, on ‘80s upbringing [02:24]
• Creativity Process:
  • “Give yourself permission to write a bad chapter.” — Jack Carr [12:55]
  • “There’s no such thing as writer’s block. You sit down, you do the work.” — Jack Carr [14:10]
• On the Value of America:
  • “We won the lotto by being born in the United States.” — Jack Carr [15:13]
  • “I am so unapologetically patriotic about this country, it’s not even funny...” — Colion [15:56]
• Hollywood Technical Details:
  • “There’s a little charge at the bottom, a little ball bearing... and it looks like bullet holes.” — Jack Carr, on practical effects [29:09]
• Streaming Models:
  • “Why would you not drop it as a binge... You give people the option.” — Jack Carr [31:30]
• Gift Exchange:
  • “This is a new one. It’s not out till the end of the month... got that in there for you and some patches, and that book signed for you.” — Jack Carr [34:36-34:44]

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Selected Timestamps of Important Segments

| Topic | Speaker | Timestamp | |-------------------------------|-------------------|-------------| | Latchkey kids, 80s nostalgia | Jack & Colion | 03:41–04:42 | | Pace of life, digital fatigue | Colion & Jack | 19:02–20:15 | | Adapting books for TV | Colion & Jack | 09:17–10:42 | | Writing & creativity advice | Jack Carr | 12:55–14:31 | | Patriotism, service | Jack & Colion | 15:13–16:25 | | Decline of empathy | Jack Carr | 17:43–18:53 | | Hollywood technical realism | Jack & Colion | 23:47–25:22 | | Man on Fire adaptation | Both | 24:23–28:23 | | On-set bullet hole effects | Jack Carr | 29:09–29:53 | | Binge-watching advocacy | Both | 31:24–32:40 | | Custom knife gift exchange | Jack & Colion | 34:08–34:44 |

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Summary

This episode is a compelling, funny, yet thoughtful conversation that traverses childhood freedom in the analog age, the demands of entrepreneurship and creative work, the realities and compromises of translating stories for Hollywood, and the perils of a digitally frenzied, empathy-starved culture. Carr and Noir’s chemistry yields knowledgeable commentary on firearms, storytelling, patriotism, and the work it takes to remain true to oneself in a noisy, screen-driven world.

For fans of guns, storytelling, behind-the-scenes showbiz tales, and unapologetic American individualism — this episode is a must-listen.

Transcript

[A]

I'm gonna make one request. I want to be killed in one of the movies, one of the shows.

[B]

You have to stand close to me. Just stay close to me on set and that'll happen. First one with. And you think you're getting into the. Some of the, like, technical advising to, like, anyway seeing, like, with all the training and everything. Do you know how they do the. I don't know if they do this for every show because it's a physical type of effect, but the way they put bullet holes in car windows.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So the way that they. I'm sure there's multiple ways to do it, but. So when I had my shootout with Chris Pratt and I had to tell him ahead of time, I had to say, chris, if this was going to go down in real life, things would go down, buddy. So just so we know that's one of the things.

[A]

Can we talk about the irony behind that, though? This episode of the Coleon Noir podcast is brought to you by Vetter Holsters.

[B]

All right.

[A]

Welcome to another episode of the Colonial Noir Podcast. And you need no introduction.

[B]

Come on. Come on. Dude, it's so great. We're just going to be careful that we're not. Just don't just catch up the whole time. Which is true.

[A]

Which is very true.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It has been a minute. Has been a damn minute. Think of it. But they're fine. They'll be all right. We can catch up.

[B]

But it's been a while. It's been a while since like, all this started for you. I mean, from being an attorney and then moving into all the stuff that you moved into after that, then moving into the next phase.

[A]

Like, you're one of the few people who literally. You saw it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Go from. From one to the next, man. It's nuts. Nutty, man.

[B]

And I was always wondering how you were doing it back then, before I was even on social media. I'm like, how is this guy doing this, especially in this space? Not only is he crushing it in this space and figuring out how to. How to. How to. How to live and create and. And educate and do all these amazing things, but then also deal with the other side of that, all the crazy people, especially in that space. And now it's even.

[A]

I'm honest. I'm be honest with you. I think it's because of my. The generation I grew up in. Yeah, I do. And I know people kind of say that as, like, just kind of a joke, but, I mean, I'm. What do they call me? They call me a gap Baby. Because I was in. I was born about 83.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So I'm based. I'm like part Generation X, part millennial.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So I kind of knew life before Internet.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

In a way. And then I. But like in my adult aspect of life. And so. And then I knew it when everything just went full born Internet.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Yeah. And then like, I've been to social media in a time where I was so young enough where I can adjust to it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know what I mean?

[B]

And are you saying I was too old to adjust?

[A]

Yeah, that's actually what I'm trying to say. Absolutely. I got, I'm getting the old jokes now, so I'm doling them out.

[B]

Yeah. Ye.

[A]

Oh, man.

[B]

So brilliant.

[A]

Flies.

[B]

Dude, somebody, we're at dinner the other night and we were on the table, somebody said, okay, we're gonna go around the table and you're gonna say what your TED Talk would be if you could give a TED Talk. And I'm like. And so it got to me. I'm like, I think I saw this in a meme and I kind of. I think I stole it from a meme. But it was, hey, this is my TED Talk would be. Well, it would be about the 80s and why growing up in the 80s was so much better than any other generation. But then the TED Talk would be, hey, this is the 80s Ted Talk. Mom, dad, this isn't fair. Life's not fair. End of TED Talk.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Literally end of TED Talk. And that was it. That was it. Now it's all he's things and everybody's got a self help thing. And dude, I literally.

[A]

That's funny you said that. Like, growing up, my mom literally, she would pounded in me. She. She was like, like, son, life's not fair. Deal with it. Yeah. She was like, figure it out.

[B]

And everyone's like sitting down on the couches and the feelings and you can be whatever you want. Come on.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It's crazy. But actually, but seriously, I do think the 80s was the best time to grow up for a host of reasons. Because those guys got back from World War II and then they got to work. They didn't whine very. There was a GI Bill, but that was the only, like, helping hand. And it was a helping hand. You still had to. Don't gave anything to you. You had to use that. And so those guys came back and built this country into what it is today. And then that next generation, they're both working. So you have both parents. Like, this is very generalized.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So both Parents are working. You're a latchkey kid and there's nothing tracking you. There's no way to check on what you're doing. So you're walking to school or you're taking the bus. Public transportation. I took and then I had to walk where? The public transportation. Not a school bus? No, like a public trans transportation. And then you had to walk home, like get chased by dogs and I can't get home. Have the latch key thing. No one's checked.

[A]

No one knows work.

[B]

No. And no one's telling you to hydrate. Like hydrate thing came in.

[A]

I stole the, the water hose behind

[B]

you a little bit, but not like, hey, make sure you have you hydrated today. Are you drinking enough water?

[A]

What?

[B]

No. You know, it was crazy. Then you're home and you're on your own. You're just free. So the point being is that you had so much freedom that kids don't have today. Just as a parent, you feel guilty because you're like checking on your kids all the time. You're texting them. You can text all the time about it like that. There's nothing. So you had this moment in time where you had all this freedom and all this. These options and opportunities as a young kid where you had no responsibility. So you didn't have a job, you didn't have a mortgage, you didn't have a car payment, you didn't have any of those things. And both your parents were working. So you had un.

[A]

Like unfettered freedom.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Which I think is why I'm the way I am now. Because I'm like me and freedom. It just like I have to have my freedom. I feel like a cage lion otherwise. Like, yeah, I'm not even doing anything. So I've got to give a quick shout out to Vetter Holsters. They're now sponsoring the podcast. I've been using their light tuck Kydex inside the waistband holster. And what I really like is how adjustable it is. You can tweak the ride height and can't to get it exactly how you want. Plus they've got holsters for over 450 gun models in 75 different colors, so you can pretty much find whatever you need. But here's the thing that really sets them apart. Their customer service. I've heard so many stories about how they've gone above and beyond to make sure you're happy with your holster. And with a lifetime Warranty and a 30 day money back guarantee, it's clear they stand behind their products. If you're in the market for a great holster. Check them [e-mail].

[B]

you ain't fighting for it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It's a long time now you've been doing this. It's impressive to see.

[A]

Dude, I'm telling you, I. It's been a hell of hell of a ride thus far. And it just gets crazier and crazier. It never slows down.

[B]

I know. You have to keep adapting. It's exhausting. The adaptation is exhausting the least.

[A]

I was in Florida for about two weeks.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And was supposed to be on a mini vacay. I. Sure. I was by the beach. I had a nice little suite. I was sitting on the pad. I sit on the balcony, working.

[B]

Yeah. Like, it just.

[A]

It. It. And to be honest, I. I don't know if I can really help it.

[B]

Yeah. Well, you're entrepreneurial in nature.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, you're doing both. Like, I feel like I'm a good entrepreneur but a bad businessman. So it's like when you get to that stage where you have to turn it over and they bring in the CEOs, like, that's the part that I'm not good at, but, like, the adapting, I feel like I'm pretty good at. Because you had to be good at it on the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan because the enemy's doing that. And who usually whoever is adapting faster than the other is the one that's going to win. And then you have to think, okay, if they are thinking I'm going to adapt and do this, then I have another step. Yeah. So. So I'm very. I think I'm good at doing that. But it's all the business side I can't stand.

[A]

Yeah. I'm not going to say I'm super, Super tal. Talented on the business side of it, either. I've gotten lucky and had some good people around me in that regard. But I. I totally get what you're saying. Yeah.

[B]

It's like a different mindset. It's why they like to replace the guy who founded it because he was in his garage 1977, building the computer before anyone had heard of it. And then that guy had to be the CEO, the cfo, the cmo, if they're social media, be the social media manager. Had to build the product and then let you know why you need it. Customer service, you know, and then he builds like 5, 6, 7, and sells them, and people want more. So now he's got to hire people. And then boom, boom, boom, starts growing this thing, and then Gets to a stage where, oh, we need someone with some business acumen to come on in and you can sit on the board. Pretty much.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, so it's a different type of mindset when you're just constantly adapting, just grinding it out.

[A]

Sometimes you are too close to it. Yeah, right. So you're too close to it to see the 30,000 view. Right. Yeah. And so I think sometimes I've even had to, I try to keep, I try to tell the people around me like don't, don't adapt and become like I am. Be you.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And stay there.

[B]

And you have to today, I think you also have to. Today people want to know the person behind said products or whatever that is. You know, they were know about you and get to know you through the socials and all that stuff. But before there wasn't a way really to get to know someone behind the product in the 80s or 90s. And now you can get to know the person behind the product. And it's much more important today when someone's going to invest in this case like time, they're never going to get back in the pages of a book or listening to it, you know, or a product and hey, who built this thing? Who's behind it? Okay, yeah, it's a post it note. But who came up with it like, oh, I can support that or whatever, whatever it might be, whatever said product is. So it's, there's opportunity there as well that wasn't there before. But it also means you're taking that work home with you.

[A]

Exactly. It's always there, no way around it whatsoever.

[B]

And then also people, I'm not going to turn this into. It's not complaining.

[A]

They'll be all right.

[B]

Never growing up. Like you didn't call somebody like after 9 or you didn't call them before like 8 or 9 in the morning or whatever. And now it's just constant texts and calls. But mostly texts.

[A]

Dude, my phone can't, I can't keep. My phone stays on a battery pack.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

Because I get so many notifications that if I take it off a battery pack, my phone will be dead 25 within 25 of the day.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And so it's, it's nuts just because the notifications constantly. But hey, yeah, I mean my best.

[B]

They're a good problem. They are good problems to have. But at the same time it is a thing that you have to. To deal with being accessible all the time like that. It's a little crazy.

[A]

No, it's a nuts Now I gotta ask this question. Yeah, it's like, it's, it's this. You have to explain this to me. You, like, you write a book, right? And then of course I'm very visual. Right. I'm kind of. So in my head, anything I'm doing and from writing speaking, it's playing out visually in my brain. You write a book, you have this book and then it gets adapted.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

For, for on screen.

[B]

Right.

[A]

How does that. Is there like, is there a weird conflict of what the image in your head was like versus how it gets adapted on screen and plays out? How does that, how does that.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, I've heard that from other authors, but when I stepped into this, I knew there was a difference, let's say between the book first blood, written in 1972 by David Morrell and the movie very different, but both awesome.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So I was like, okay, when I step into this, I'm going to be a student of, of Hollywood, essentially the screenwriting process and everything that goes into making one of these, one of these shows. I approach everything that way. And so, so I decided to look at it like that. I know that we can't do a one for one adaptation because that does that. That is obviously not going to work

[A]

to be a 30 year long movie.

[B]

You can't do it. But we're telling a story now visually very different than telling one here. That's even audio audible. And that's going to be. You're. You're going to have to have a story arc within each episode and then you're going to have to have an overarching story arc over in this case, eight episodes. And it's a very different way to tell a story. But I approach it as a student. I don't know anything about it other than. But from the fan perspective, which actually can inform quite a bit. So I went into it with that in mind and just learned a ton over the last five, six, seven years now. And so that's, that's how I approach it. So I'm just thankful that anybody wants to adapt anything that I made. So super thankful for that. The team we have is amazing and I just knew it was going to change. So like, don't be a surprise. It wasn't going to be a surprise. They're going to be going to change.

[A]

Why are you saying that?

[B]

Like, same thing? Well, I'm saying when you make your movie, when you make your movie.

[A]

Confession. Yeah, yeah, confession. This is embarrassing. So I did, I started this. This is. If you Take this idea. I'm going to kill you. Terrible idea. So I start. At one point, I was like, you know what I want to start doing? This is like at the height when like. Yeah. You had all these, like, Netflix was just like buying all these different products, projects and stuff. And so I was like, you know, it'd be cool if I wrote.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I started like writing a concept out.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Where it was just like about. I think I call it like worst case. And there were like all of these. The worst case scenarios that somebody, just a regular person could find themselves in from like a concealed care gun owner.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Standpoint. And then each of them kind of. It was kind of like black mirror for gun guys.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

In that regard.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. So I started writing that and then I forgot I had an actual job that I'm supposed to be doing.

[B]

That's an issue.

[A]

It's over there. I was just. It's. It's. Yeah. I kind of. I don't say abandoned it, but it is what it is.

[B]

Go. Always go back to it. I was carve out a little time every day. 30 minutes, 45. Get that phone over there. Go in the other room, away from any of the computers or phones or iPads or anything else. And just like, just think about it for a little bit. Daydreaming is important, I think, as part of writing. Just to sit there. So when you're not writing, you're also. You're still working because you have to think these things through. I think there is a book called Worst Case Scenario, but you just tweak the title.

[A]

I'm just gonna call it Worst Case.

[B]

Worst Case. Perfect. Perfect.

[A]

But you are right. The one thing I will say, because I flip back and forth between my. My analytical and my creative. Yeah. Pretty readily. But the one thing. The one frustrating thing about creativity is you can't. You can't grind it. Right. Like, analytical stuff. Like if I'm going through a document, trying to assess something in that regard, I can. I can burn them in night oil. I can force it, do things like that. But create. You can't force creativity. It's kind of annoying in a way, at least. I can't.

[B]

I've tried.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because usually just stuff will just come to me. And I think I've learned that my creativity works better when my brain's relaxed.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Whereas the other side of things, analytically, if I'm like nose in and I'm like, yeah, yeah. Like, then I can. I can get things done. But I try to approach it the Same way creatively, it doesn't really work to the same degree, at least for me, from my experience.

[B]

Interesting. Yeah. Because it's. It's the way when I start. I wish I knew who said this. I think it was somebody in the. In the 70s, an author in the 70s. And they said, give yourself permission to write a bad chapter. Give yourself. And I so took that as, hey, give myself permission to write a bad sentence, a bad chapter, that paragraph, bad book, and then go back and make it great. So for me, it's. It's. It. I guess it could be a grind because a lot of the times, especially for the early ones when we had more chaos in the house, wife, three kids, dog, insanity, it was 10 at night, till 3 in the morning type of thing. And that's the only time someone wasn't interrupting me, because interruptions are what. What kill me. So it's. It's not about. For me. It's not really about forcing the creativity. It's about, okay, I'm sitting down and now I'm writing. And don't not, not write one sentence and say, oh, that's awful. Oh, how can I possibly do that? X number more times in order to make an actual book? Oh, I'm gonna work on this one sentence for it. No, get it down and use. Go. Just go. Get. Get it down and then go back and make it great. So. So I do like that approach to it, because these books are 120. This is 24 here or something like that. One of them, mine was 160,000. So they're. Yeah, there. That's a lot of. That's a lot of words. That's a lot of writing. So if I sat there and was like, ah, I'm gonna wait for the.

[A]

I know, right? You never have a book.

[B]

You never have a book.

[A]

Y' all don't have a book.

[B]

It's. Yeah, so it's. So I don't think it's about forcing creativity. It's more about doing the work, sitting down, being a professional and writing. And I heard Steven Pressfield say something along the lines of, hey, there's no such thing as writer's block. You don't hear of a truck driver getting truck driver's block or a dentist getting dentist block. You're a professional. You're a writer. You sit down, you do the work.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And so that really spoke to me as well, to hear that from somebody like him who wrote Gates of Fire legend. Bagger fans. Awesome guy. Been in the space for a long, long time. Screenwriter before that and just like a true renaissance type.

[A]

You're shaming me right now, you know.

[B]

Stop it.

[A]

Stop shaming me.

[B]

Come on now.

[A]

I'm gonna, there's gonna be a whole book tomorrow now. Because that's because I like, I work great in shape.

[B]

Masterpiece.

[A]

No, seriously. Yeah. That's a great point though, you know, because I do think that's kind. I've used, I've used writer's block as a scapegoat before. Right. I've used the scapegoat many times. Like I'm just not, I'm just not feeling now, granted, in all fairness, it's after I've been working all day long. Yeah, yeah. Analyzing. Doing all this and then trying to sit down to do that, that make an excuse for myself.

[B]

Oh, I get that.

[A]

But you, Peter, grab a, grab a

[B]

beer, sit down on the couch. That sometimes sounds a lot better than going back to work. But as the deadlines inch closer and closer, it's like, all right, gotta, gotta really put this beer down, head upstairs and it's going to be a long, long night. Cuz I'm going to go as long as I can until I'm about to fall over and then I'm just, then I'm going to go down the stairs, grab a couple hours of sleep and then I'm going to get back to it. I'm just going to go, go, go and get this thing done. So it's. But I love it. I love it. I wanted to do other than be a seal. I wanted to write. Those are the two things I wanted to do in my life. So I feel so fortunate going back to that World War II generation and, and really every generation from the inception of this country up until today. And all that was sacrificed so that we could be on this podcast or we'd have the option and opportunity and to really pursue anything. And you know, we won the lotto, I think by being born in the United States.

[A]

I, I tell people that all the time, dude. I, I, I am so unapologetically patriarchate about this country, it's not even funny because I know, I know what it's done for me. I know, I know there scores of places I could have been born. I wouldn't be able to do what I'm doing right now.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, most of the world, yeah, you're born and wherever you are in the world, most of the places you won't have don't have these kind of options and opportunities. So it's interesting that you know that we don't have to invest in this country anymore in order to reap the benefits. For a long time you have, you had to.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And you know, there's, there's no, obviously there's no draft, there's no conscripted service, there's anything, nothing like that. But we really don't have to sacrifice much today. And it's a very strange thing. Like, so I have something in common with every SEAL that's ever existed because we all have buds. We all went through basic underwater demolition, SEAL training. So for someone who went through in 65, 75, 1985, 95, someone who'll go through tomorrow, we have something in common. Like every single Marine, they have Marine board boot camp in common. So I think there's something about investing in that place that you live. You start to prove yourself. You have to you stuff to prove yourself to, to the family, the tribe, the community, the country at a certain age, whether that's 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. But somewhere in there, and I think there's something in all of us about that age that says, hey, I should be doing something. That's why you get so many people at that age and start looking at the military, I think. But something that tests you because even if they don't know why they're feeling this, it's because from the beginning of time up to most of human history, you had to prove yourself during this time period. And so I think that's, that's a draw and people don't understand where it comes from. So listening to that calling, I think is important too. And I listen to that calling for the military and for writing. So I feel very fortunate that I knew what I wanted to do at a very early age. But, but that investment in this thing, there's something about investing in something that makes you a part of it, care for it, appreciate it. And then learning about the history, also studying people are just scrolling away these days. And that's when it comes to fiction. And when you look at, we talked about the comments earlier, like in the comments section, and it could be anything, something totally subjective. You could post a picture of a tree and say, I passed this beautiful tree today. Someone is going to get angry exposure on his picture. Yeah, somebody is going to be angry about that. And I think a lot of that is because we're not developing the empathy and compassion that we used to develop by reading books where we'd have to put ourselves in somebody else's shoes and see the world through their eyes. Now that the opposite of empathy and compassion is being developed because you're. We have these algorithms that are controlled by the. Well, maybe it's controlled by AI now, but how's powerful history of the world are now keeping you enraged and making you say a horrible comment about the tree picture that you just saw. Well, that's not empathy and compassion. They're developing the opposite. So when I think about the future of this country and I think about the next generation, that's something that concerns me more than anything else. More so than like an Iran or a China or whatever else. It's what we're doing from the inside here. We're doing a pretty good job of destroying ourselves from the inside. And a piece of that certainly is the empathy and compassion that's not being developed through reading books, particularly fiction.

[A]

I agree. And I think, I think, honestly, I think the pace is too fast. Yeah, pacing is too fast now. I don't really think there's anything you can do about that.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Because like we talked about like, like growing up like in the 80s and for me, early 90s, which still had the, the residue of the 80s.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And you know, I remember things. I remember days being longer, things being slower. And I don't think there's really a difference. I think the difference is the distractions weren't there.

[B]

Right.

[A]

There weren't so many things pulling at your attention so frequently so that your brain wasn't compressing the times in between. So you look up, you wake up at nine and look up, it's five. Right.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Whereas now, like you said, there's so many inputs, there's so many things here where I think there's. There's a. I think there's a certain healing effect that comes with slowing down in just reading.

[B]

Oh, yeah, right.

[A]

That I think has been lost.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

Because I remember I grew up there and I grew up in a time where. I can't believe I just said that. Damn, I'm old. I grew up. I grew up in an age where.

[B]

Yeah, right.

[A]

People read to relax. Like even. Because even now I do a lot of reading, but my lot. My reading is purpose driven. It's designed to ascertain information as quickly as possible so I can decipher it, put it out.

[B]

Right.

[A]

It's not the same, it's a diff. It's a different type of reading and where the. I think the more recuperative style of reading, I think, and also from an imagination stand. Standpoint.

[B]

Yeah, right.

[A]

It allows you. It really just kind of opens your minds and Then you kind of work that imagine imaginative muscle in your brain. And I think. I think we've kind of lost that.

[B]

Oh, yeah, sure. And some of it's like by default, you had to be patient, meaning you had to wait for your TV show to come on at 8, 9 or 10. You had to wait for your movie to come out on Friday or Saturday night and ask your parents to drive you there type of a thing. And in between, you could play Atari 2600 for like 30 minutes. You're not going to play for much longer than that, you know, and then you could read or you could run around outside and get some exercise. You could do some homework or whatever else. You weren't addicted to this device or you weren't. Didn't have every single TV show, every single movie, and people aren't even really watching those anymore. But for a time they were all available anytime you wanted. They still are on your device, on your tv, wherever you're going to watch this thing. And now people don't even. That. Can't even do that now. It's just the. Whatever they're watching on the phones, I think.

[A]

What was it? They said I was watching something. It was probably something that's ironically enough on social media.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And they were talking about the fact that now that they're. They're. They're writing movies with people scrolling on their phones in mind.

[B]

Yeah, right.

[A]

Because I'm noticing like the script writing these days and a lot of. I'm like, what the was that? Like, like, like this is the dynamic description. Everything kind of feels hollow and very surface level. Or it's just banter for banter sake to try to impress you with. With just long streams of words. Yeah, I like, I'm just like, what are we. What are we doing?

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And it's, it's unfortunate, but I mean. And we are basically two old men complaining about the new get off my lawn.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. I think, I think we got the sky right. I think Matt Damon was talking about it and he said something along the lines of, hey, the executives were asking them in that latest Ben Affleck movie that came out, I think in January or whenever it came out to restate kind of the plot, restate what's going on in your conversation to catch people up that were looking down at their phones and scrolling away. It's awful. So I'm stepping into publishing at a time when less people are reading Hollywood at a time unless people are watching shows and watching movies. And I have a whiskey at A time when those people are drinking.

[A]

Come on, come on, speak for yourself.

[B]

Well, I gotta get you a bottle of mine. Yeah, I gotta get you about 125 proofs. You got to be careful with it. But it's good stuff, trust me. Yeah, we almost killed Chris Pratt with it by accident. It was pretty brutal. But it's, but it's actually. But it's good. It had to be. Had to be high end stuff. So make sure I get you a bottle. But yeah, it's crazy, man. And my timing I think is only good it for the wars. Like real estate, not so much investments. No, not so much like everything else except for the wars. Like that was the only thing that I timed well. But hey, that's how it go. I'll take it. That's what I, you know, that's why I went in the military to be prepared to go to war and then to go to war when the time came and when we're called and so got to do that and feel extremely fortunate that I got to put in that time.

[A]

Hey, I'm glad you do it because we get to get to taking all this beautiful, great entertainment.

[B]

Ah, nice. Thank you. Thank you.

[A]

I mean I'm. I'm such a close minded television movie watcher if it's not dystopian in the world or if there isn't people shooting at people.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Or giving or just having situations and scenarios where people start shooting at people. I still want the dialogue to be great. I still want it to flow. I want all those things. But that's, that's when I want to just. Okay, that's me.

[B]

That's interesting because I could see it going the other way with you because I could see you guys critiquing everything. Like, oh, can't believe that guy. He just covered his buddies like leg. So I hate this movie.

[A]

I'm an only child.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So I have a beautiful ability of suspending disbelief.

[B]

Okay, good. That's so much better way to go about it. The worst thing you could do is watch a SEAL movie with a seal, a cop movie with a cop. A firefighter movie. The firefighter. Because they will point out everything.

[A]

There's a limit.

[B]

Oh yeah, There's a limit. 100. Oh my God. What did I see the other day? It was somebody within a. Like a prison guard ran as a prison escape. I think and I think my, my youngest son was watching one. Like a helicopter was coming in to take. Somebody was network television and somebody came out and they held their. They're holding their AR out, like, away from their body like this. Like this weird thing. And it was so bizarre. And I couldn't believe that not one person. Like, you don't even need a technical advisor. You just need to have watched, like, one other show that shows. I mean, come on.

[A]

I'm gonna call something out. I don't know. You may or know. May or have. Or know the people behind this or whatnot. I started watching man on Fire.

[B]

Oh, I didn't watch it yet. I was thinking about that today because I was in Vietnam when it came out, and so I've been. I took Vietnam veterans back to Vietnam. I was really exc. To watch it, but I actually was going to text the showrunner of my TV show today and say, hey, did you watch man on Fire? Because I was in Vietnam and I missed it because I haven't heard anything about it. Really.

[A]

I'm an episode and a half. It all I remember initially was like one of the openings. It was the opening scene of the first episode. And because this is going back to your. Your statement about me, like, you're. I probably overanalyze things where I. Where I messed up, where what's happening to me now is because I'm learning more about the. The technical advising side and training side of movies and TV shows. So I know too much now. So me. And I caught myself for the first time. The opening scene comes out, and I think he's like. He's on a mission somewhere. And immediately I saw the way he was holding his gun, and I was like, they didn't have a good technical.

[B]

I was so worried about that.

[A]

Yeah, it's so the. The. The good thing so far, from what I can gather, it's not a super tactical show. So I. It's not. I don't think it's. It pulls you out of it. And a lot of. I. From what I'm seeing, a lot of it is handgun stuff.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Which isn't. He's not too bad with that.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

But I also think the show is trying to find its voice. Coming up against coming on the back of a movie. That was incredible.

[B]

I know. So good. I mean, one of my favorites.

[A]

Yeah. Like, even, like, even the leads. The lead girl in the show, I literally found myself saying. I was like, look, I'm gonna need some more charisma or something from you. Not because she's bad, but because the girl in. And the moment she stepped on scene, it was like, amazing. So she's. That's some big shoes to fill Considering ironically enough, how small the girl.

[B]

I know, right? I know. It's so good. And so man on Fire was a. Was a book from a series from the early 80s, not that many people know. And it was so good. So I read that in the 80s and 90s. I loved it. I read. Watched the first movie in the 80s because I remember the poster in our local video store. And so it's Scott Glenn, man on Fire. He's got like, these aviators on. There's fire behind him. Joe Pesci is in it, which is crazy.

[A]

And.

[B]

And I. So I watched it back in the day and it. The close more closely follows the book. So it's in Italy and there's Mafia and all that stuff. And so it's so good. I remember the preview was awesome. And then so when they redid it with Denzel Washington, I mean, so good. It was amazing. And. But I tried that. When I started getting a little bit of a foothold in Hollywood or whatever, I actually went after the rights to man on Fire to see if I could turn it in to television there with all these books. No one ever talks about the books. Yeah. And I'm like, each book is a season of television. I'm like, well, I see if I can option this and then put a team together and do a season based on each book and kind of go back to those books. And. And then it was already options, and then it kept moving forward. And so I was so excited to see this, but I was really. I know somebody else who was up for the. For the. The main role also. And he didn't get it. But. But I was so excited for this. So anyway, I'm gonna suspend my. I believe I'm gonna pretend like we never had this conversation, and I'm gonna keep going.

[A]

I'm an episode and a half in.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I mean, you gotta grab them by the first chapter, gotta get along.

[A]

But I will say there are some shows. I can't remember what they were, but where I. I literally watched the first episode, turned it off, didn't come back, went back like a month or two later, and it found its legs.

[B]

Interesting.

[A]

And I let it found its legs. That's the. I guess the beauty behind the kind of series. Episodic aspect of things.

[B]

Things.

[A]

But yeah, first it was. It was engaging. I enjoyed it. But I remember initially my brain going, yeah, probably wasn't the greatest. Oh, man.

[B]

And I said, another. Another person who's a dear friend now. And I was thinking about. When I was thinking about this and trying to option it. I was thinking about him in the role, and I was like, oh, I actually told him a couple. I don't know, last summer. I told him. I was, like, thinking about that. He was like, oh, man, that would have been so awesome. But, yeah, you. Thanks. You know, I hope. I hope it has all the success in the world and. And brings more people to the books.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And. And more people to that kind of television. And actually, the more success that those kind of shows have, it's better for everybody else who's, like, in that space, because Hollywood's like, oh, that one worked. Let's get some more like that. So I hope it has all the success in the world, and I can't wait to watch it.

[A]

So before we end, I'm gonna make one request.

[B]

Yes, sir. Right.

[A]

I want to be killed in one of the movie. One of the shows.

[B]

You have to stand close to me. Just stand close to and that'll happen. First one, you think you're getting into the. Some of the, like, technical advising to, like, anyway seeing, like, with all the training and everything. Do you know how they do the. And I don't know if they do this for every show because it's a physical type of effect, but the way they put bullet holes in car windows.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So the way that they. I'm sure there's multiple ways to do it, but. So I had my shootout with Chris Pratt, and I had to tell him ahead of time. I had to say, chris, if this was going to go down in real life, things would go down. So just so we know that's one of the same.

[A]

Can we talk about the irony behind that, though?

[B]

Know so. But we worked it, and we're doing the whole thing, but going in the car, so I have to wear sunglasses because there's going to be some glass flying. And they take these little, like, you know, those metal straws. It looked like there was metal straws under the dash so that the camera couldn't see it looking in. There's a little charge at the bottom, a little ball bearing in there, and there's some guy standing off to the side with an iPad. And then it's like I'm shooting out the window where Chris is shooting in. The guy on the side with the iPad is, like, hitting the number of the things, and those little motors are going off right through the glass. And so that's why I have to have the. The glasses on the glass jars. But it looks like bullet holes. They're all coming from the Inside.

[A]

That's crazy. I didn't know that.

[B]

And then they had a squib in the headrest. So Chris moves around and gets an angle on me and throw my head to the side. And then they would hit the. Hit the squib and threw all the blood on the ceiling. So that was pretty fun. So great.

[A]

Now I'm going to go back and watch that. And I can't see it anymore, but

[B]

it was cool to see. And then the guy that doubled me, they wouldn't let me do the car crash. So Chris backs the Land Cruiser that looks like my Land Cruiser into to me driving this car. And they wouldn't let me do the crash. And I was like, come on, I can do that Seal. I can do it. And then they had a stuntman do it. The guy was Mick Rogers, who doubled Mel Gibson jumping off that building and Lethal Weapon to the business guy, that's Mick Rogers. And so he doubled me for the car crash. Then I saw him do it. And even though it's just like a fender bender type thing, yeah, it was a hard hit. And I watched. I'm like, oh, I'm so glad they had that guy do that, like that. And then, like, he got out. I got in, you know, and then did the thing. But the second one for Dark Wolf, at least I got of the car. So I get out of the vehicle and I get stitched up in the tunnel scene and I fall over. And. Because it was so fast, because it was a oner and it was like one second off, so it didn't have. I didn't get the screen time. And they were. Because they. They wanted to get me on screen again. So I went to CIA headquarters. We filmed there one. One day, and it was really cool to go back there. I play security guard. I take the guy's little badge as he's. As he's leaving. But it's cool to be back there filming because I'd been there in a different capacity years earlier. And a bunch of people came down, like, didn't have to be there that day to say hi and everything. It was really, really special to be back there. And then this next one, True believer terminalist season two, that comes out here October 21st, got announced last night by. By Chris Pratt as a binge. So that one is my best.

[A]

I'm one of the people who are like, no, I won't binge. I won't binge.

[B]

Binge.

[A]

When they drop, and it's not a binge, I curse the sky.

[B]

Why would you not drop it as a binge. I had to make this. I, this was one of my, my points. I had to go make a. I made a strong argument. Argument, let's say, for the binge. And I won't take all the credit. I'll take 99.9 of the credit for getting this thing out as a binge. I was pretty adamant about it because they didn't drop Dark Wolf as a binge. And I don't think that was the right way to go. It should have been a drop it as a binge. So many people wanted it as a binge. You give people the option if you don't want to watch it as a binge, but you want to watch the space, you can do that.

[A]

I do that, yeah. Sometimes, like, because I don't have time to binge watch something all night. So I'll watch an episode and then I'll come back, maybe watch, watch two, come back, maybe watch three, and then kind of do it that way.

[B]

And in the age of distraction, so you're like, oh, this thing's show's dropping. Oh, it dropped. Oh, it didn't drop as a binge. I'll watch the first episode. I can't wait for the second one. But guess what? All of these inputs are coming in from these devices. And then you get pulled into all these different directions. You get manipulated by the manipulation device. And then you're like, oh, that show that I was so excited about, I got, I've been infuriated about this tree picture, you know, like, like it's, it's just crazy town. But this, but in season two, in True Believer, some of my best work. Yeah, we have some, some Land Rovers explode, a helicopter comes by, some minigun goes off and I'm. It's. It's some of my best work yet, I think.

[A]

Just make sure that in the, the episode where I get killed off, just make sure it's in style. Like, so instead of. Oh, yeah, instead of a Land Rover, I want a G Wagon.

[B]

Perfect.

[A]

And then, you know, so just.

[B]

What if we're like, we brought yours and uh.

[A]

Yeah, we're not doing that.

[B]

That's part, that was part of the deal. You didn't read the smile, you read the fine print

[A]

Ferrari bl.

[B]

You know, is that. Who blows it up? Is that, Is that Ted Nugent? Is Ted Nugent blow it up? Or is that a different episode? I might be conflating episodes right now, but. And then he blows it up and he like pulls his, his glasses down. He's like. And then Tubs finishes up for him and tells him, you know, like, finishes the deal. He's like. He's like, deal. You know, for all the guns. But we can do that to yours. We'll catch the real. We'll catch the real kind of your. Your real emotion behind seeing that thing go.

[A]

As long as I can write it off.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, we can maybe talk, but. No, man, I really appreciate it, man. Good seeing you again. I'm sorry. I'm really not sorry that we spent so much time catching up, but it's necessary. So y' all be okay?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It means you guys will come back on.

[B]

That's it. That's it. Did you. Did you open your thing here?

[A]

Not this one yet.

[B]

You didn't open that. That's. That's for you.

[A]

All right.

[B]

That's for you. So this is. Yeah, you got a little blade here. Yeah, so that's a little. This is the blade that Chris Walker uses because James Reese has a tomahawk. So I had to make Chris Walker in this book, have a little different kind of a totem. And so that's a blade. So it's. It was designed so that you don't have to train a different style of knife fighting. It's so you box.

[A]

Ah.

[B]

So the same way you box, you use this thing. So that's his. His. Well, seriously. Seriously. And the book's in here for you. The book is in here.

[A]

Oh, that's.

[B]

You open it up already. There's a thing here. Yeah, there it is. So I think there's two of them. So I think you press lock first.

[A]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

You still have your thing. Nice. Well, definitely get that in there. Boom. Look at that. Yeah, this is a new one. It's not out till the end of the month.

[A]

See? No, I've seen this. I was like, I haven't seen this one.

[B]

There we go. Yeah.

[A]

All right. I'm a little jealous.

[B]

Look at this sign. That for you a little while ago.

[A]

Oh, that's freaking awesome.

[B]

So got that in there for you and some. Some patches and that book sign for you. Yeah, but these are sick. The vault tech are.

[A]

Yeah, no, I love them. I love them.

[B]

You've been working with them for a long time.

[A]

Oh, yeah, yeah. For. Actually. For years now.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

Yep. Yep.

[B]

This is a good group of people.

[A]

I love them, man. Good people, man. I didn't. I didn't know this one existed.

[B]

Yeah, it's coming out in a couple weeks here. I mean, three weeks or so. Look at that. Surprise.

[A]

You don't have it in my head. I'm hating.

[B]

I'm hating. Oh, man. Dude, it's so good to see you.

[A]

Thank you, brother.

[B]

I know. I'm so excited to do this because we haven't seen each other in a long.

[A]

Anytime, just come on here. Whatever you got coming out, let me know. We'll publish. I'm good.

[B]

You rock.

[A]

Thanks for having me, sir. Thank you, brother.

[B]

Appreciate it.