Why Did I Write the “Get Patched” Book?
Because I am sick and tired of the Hollywood hype and the law enforcement bias contained in 95% of the books, movies, TV shows and websites that take on the topic of “Outlaw” Motorcycle Clubs – that’s why!
I’ve read most of the books written about the MC life and they mostly are written by one of these four types of people:
- Cops – Cops who say they have infiltrated clubs and want to make themselves look good.
- Folks in the Media – They want to make a buck off of MCs and don’t care about the truth.
- Members who are Out Bad – They want to “set the record straight”.
- A Few Members of MCs – They want to tell you that their club is the best.
For decades it has been law enforcement who have been the first to get their side out on every biker/MC story written or put on TV. The main mission is to make themselves look good on the nightly news, put fear into everyday people, and get more money for their budgets. When they make themselves look good by busting a biker, they make rank, maybe get an award. When they make the public afraid they become more indispensable in the eyes of the public. This also helps them to get more money for what they do. So, with all that in the front of our minds we need to remember that portraying MCs in a fair way is NOT in their best interest. They feed the stories that do all of the above to the media. The reporters dutifully write out the story provided because they are too lazy to do good investigative work, and if they do put out a story that is not in line with what the cops fed them then the cops won’t feed them stories in the future and instead the cops will find someone more likely to write the news story from the cop’s perspective.
I’ll write more about this later in the blog but let me say this for now. The media is in it for the fame and the money. They don’t care about anyone in any MC. The news, TV, newspaper, websites, publishers and all of that are about ONE thing, making a buck. They want to create fear and entertain. They want to create public fear so that you will tune in to the news, buy their papers or visit their website. They want to entertain so you will come watch their movie or TV show or read their new book. So, with that in the front of our minds we need to remember that portraying MCs in a fair way is NOT in their best interest and so they won’t, unless it makes them a buck, which is very unlikely.
Members “Out Bad” tend to write books to tell their side of the story. Their main intent is to tell the world how they were treated “unfairly”, or how the circumstances where out of their control, and so on. Their mission is not to treat the MC world fairly. Their main goal is to make up for what they perceive to be unfair treatment, and maybe make a buck while they are at it. So, remember that their main motive is not one of portraying the MC world in a fair way. They are motivated to save face or make a buck.
Members and former members of MCs mainly want to tell the world how great THEIR MC is and if possible take some credit for it. But too often while they are talking about how great their MC is they, on purpose, or incidentally, minimalize other MCs. Hell, every MC member should think that their MC is the best. I know mine is! If you are a Patch Holder you should have the same view of your club. But I suspect that the main reason such books are written are to self-aggrandize the writer, and maybe get more fame for the club AND make a buck. So these books, are part of the media. The goal is not to shed a fair light on MCs and our world. But rather they want to take credit for building biker culture, or MC culture, rather than telling the truth about MC life or emphasizing who we are as a proud brotherhood of men.
When I wrote Get Patched, I had all this in mind, and I wanted to write from a completely different angle. I wanted to focus on my world from the perspective of what clubs are really about, brotherhood, men being men, and keeping alive our counter culture experience.
Yes, of course I’d like to make some money from writing my book. But I can tell you that I knew from the start that Get Patched would NEVER be a best seller or make much money. That was not my main purpose. I could make more money if I took the low road and tried to scare the public with tales of “outlaw” battles. That is not what this book is about. It is about what goes on 99% of the time, men having a place to be men without all the PC bullshit, and then ride, share adventures, learn about giving and getting respect, and so much more.
This book will help the biker who is thinking about joining an “outlaw” three-piece patch MC with some insight on what it will take and what to expect when you get patched. I speak to you as if I am talking to that person. I speak to you as a Patch Holder who wants to level with you and guide you through the process, holding no punches back.
Get Patched can serve as a primer for that journey into my world. I know for a fact that there are MC officers who have either recommended Get Patched to hang-arounds and prospects or they are planning to recommend it now, after reading it for the first time.
Of course, there are going to be those who hate that this book has been written. But they have not read it. Or they decided that they hated it and then read it just so they can say that they hated it after they read it.
Now “Get Patched” is out there. I invite you to read it if:
- You are curious about those men who ride in the pack with a patch on their back.
- You are thinking of taking that journey yourself.
If you are a biker who has been around MCs for a long time or someone already in the MC life, you won’t find much new in the book. This book was not written for you. But I think you will find that the book will confirm the things you already know and the things that make you proud of being a part of the MC world.
