By Jeanni Brosius

It was a sunny June morning, and Del Garrett of Jacksonville clicked the keys on his laptop. Settled into a corner outside table at a coffee house, Garrett said it’s typical for him to write there when the weather is nice.

Since August 2008, Garrett, 65, has had five novels published. The most recent, Texas Justice, has just been released by Shadow Light Press.

“I have 27 plots stacked up,” he said. “I edit and add more, then go on to another one. … I probably have about 20,000 pages of junk. Everything I write is not gold.”

The award-winning author also edits books for, and mentors, other writers, as well as ghostwrites.

Garrett, who is known as Buddy to his friends, has been writing since he was a child, so it’s no surprise that the longtime journalist keeps on writing.

“I can’t stop writing; it’s in my blood,” Garrett said, then smiled.“If you come to my funeral and open up the casket, you’ll notice a light on in there, and you’ll hear clickety, clickety.”

He said he decided when he was 5 that he would become a writer.

“My mom read to me a story that my older brother wrote. He was 13, and it was a Dick Tracy-type story,” Garrett said. “My brother was my hero, and I realized that if my brother could write, so could I.”

Garrett said that when he was in the sixth grade, he wrote a one-act play, and he and his class produced the Civil War story.

“I was writing poems and songs and envisioned myself on the Grand Ole Opry,” Garrett said with a smile.

At 17, he joined the Army. After his tour was over, he worked various jobs before joining the Air Force, from which he retired in September 1987 after 21 years in uniform as a military journalist. He then took a job as a civilian at Camp Robinson on Jan. 27, 1988, in the public affairs office, where he was an editor and features writer. He retired from Camp Robinson on Sept. 1, 2008, and two weeks later, his first novel, Goodbye Trail, was released.

Although Garrett is a nice guy, he has a way of looking quite sinister at times, which was a bonus for him when he played the role of Death in a short film by Brandon Bogard. Garrett said that look is also useful in his martial arts training.

He is a master in kenpo jujitsu and holds several black belts: a sixth degree in kujitsu, a fourth degree in combat jujitsu, a third degree in kenpo and a second degree in combat hapkido.

Garrett is the founder of kenjukido, a system of strikes, kicks, throws, nerve manipulation and joint locks that can be employed in a rapid 1-2-3 approach to self-defense.

According to the kenjukido website, kenjukido is more a way of thinking than a set of hard and fast rules based on traditional martial arts. As with any martial art, kenjukido uses the basic techniques known to most martial-arts practitioners and builds on them through a series of principles: balance, flow, tool to target, zone defense and muscle memorization.

Because of his work with martial arts, Garrett has twice been inducted into the Universal Martial Arts Hall of Fame.

“I got my first black belt at 48 and all the bumps and bruises that went with it,” Garrett said. “Being the old man in the class, I couldn’t let the younger ones keep me down.”

He said he doesn’t compete much anymore, but he does still teach, and he goes to other martial arts schools and helps out with their programs.

“I had fun when I was younger, but it was always a young man’s game. … I can no longer jump up in the air and kick 12 people in the face,” he said with a smile. “I help martial artists who run schools who need certification and training. … Everybody has to have some kind of physical activity, and it does keep me in shape.”

That sinister side also comes through in Garrett’s writing. One of the reviewers for his book Whispers in the Wind: The Search for Jack the Ripper said, “Mr. Garrett does disturbing and icky very well.”

In that particular book, Garrett takes the factual side of the Jack the Ripper case and inserts a fictional investigator.

Garrett has served as president for three writing groups: the White County Creative Writers, the Fiction Writers of Central Arkansas, and Penpoint.

While being an active member of these groups, he has also edited 12 books for other authors and advised five writers, one-on-one.

“I’m open to anyone who wants to talk writing, and I’m not trying to make a buck off of anyone,” he said.

“I want to tell a story that people like to read. I don’t care if I ever get rich, but rich is nice. … If I can create a legacy that my kids and readers will enjoy, and my friends will remember me kindly, I’ll be happy.”

UP CLOSE: Getting to know Del ‘Buddy’ Garrett

Name: Del Garrett - Del is short for O’Dell

Birth date: Sept. 7, 1946

Hometown: Hitchcock, Texas

Biggest influences: Career: Jackie Griffey, a mystery author from Cabot.

Personal: My parents, who lived through the Depression and raised the family to be strong, reverent and to face life with gusto.

Bucket list: To visit Ireland

Something many people don’t know about you: I used to do small-stage and vest-pocket magic.

Hobbies: Writing, reading and martial arts

Favorite author: Ken Follett