Wonderful Summer!

Last time I wrote about what a great month June was professionally. Well, the rest of the summer (mostly) did not disappoint on a personal level. Getting the somewhat-negative out of the way, I had shoulder surgery (my 3rd) to repair a torn rotator cuff and clean up my right shoulder that’s been trashed by a lifetime of soldiering, combat sports, and general recklessness/stupidity. I haven’t been able to write for long stretches of time until last week.

So, that’s my excuse for the delay in posting this.

On to the awesome stuff.

My wife spoke at World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden in late August. I accompanied her and, because of my surgery, didn’t even have to carry the bags!

Sweden was wonderful. Aside from escaping this Georgia heat, we also escaped the heavy, poor-quality air. That was the first thing we both noticed upon landing – the air was so clean. The city and country are beautiful. Built on an archipelago, Stockholm was wonderful to explore. Bridges, mass transit, and ferries made traveling from island to island easy.

Among the highlights were: a trip to one of the outer islands via ferry, exploring the Vasa Museum (the Vasa, built between 1626-1628, is a huge warship designed to be the biggest ever seen! However, it was so big/tall, that it sunk on its maiden voyage roughly 1km into its voyage. <insert facepalm emoji>), exploring a bookstore in Gamla Stan (Old Town) dedicated to just sci-fi, fantasy, and horror, and a trip to Sigtuna (Sweden’s oldest town) for fika.

Speaking of Fika…boy do I have a bone to pick with the founding fathers! We definitely should have incorporated Fika into American culture. Pronounced “fee-ka”, it translates to “coffee and cake.” Unlike a typical “coffee break,” Fika is “a concept, a state of mind, an attitude and an important part of Swedish culture. Many Swedes consider that it is almost essential to make time for fika every day. It means making time for friends and colleagues to share a cup of coffee (or tea) and a little something to eat.”

Then, this past week, we experienced three awesome events. The first was seeing Hans Zimmer and his orchestra in concert. A huge aspect of my writing process is listening to music to set the mood. Often, that music is Hans Zimmer's soundtracks (Chris Nolan’s Batman trilogy, Last Samurai, Dune, Gladiator, etc.). The performance was a religious experience! The musicianship was off-the-charts and the singers (including Lisa Gerrard – the voice of Gladiator, and Lebo - the singer you hear at the start of The Lion King) were a joy to hear!

Saturday afternoon we watched Lia cheer for the 2nd grade Hoya football team and that afternoon, Anabel read three of her poems at an open mic event. We are so proud of them.

Pictures and videos for all of this are attached on Facebook.

Enjoy!

It was June, and the world smelled of roses.

“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.” — Maud Hart Lovelace

Yes, I know it's July, but I wanted to write this post about last month. And what an exceptional month June turned out to be.

You might ask, “Why was it a good month?”

Go ahead, ask…I’ll wait.

“Why was it a good month?”

Thank you for asking.

June was a great month because I published my first two professional writing pieces!

First came “Burping the Worm,” a story I started about 2 years ago. Looking for feedback on my writing, I answered a call for submissions from Henchmen Press. Imagine my excitement when they accepted my story for inclusion in their anthology Tales of the E4 Mafia.

The anthology has stories by 11 very talented authors, all involving the military’s shadow society 😊 known throughout as the E4 Mafia. I’ll let the book’s back cover copy tell you more: “They are masters of avoiding work, getting up to shenanigans, and, when a mission needs to be completed or job done, it’s an E-4 that others turn to. They are the near-mythical E-4 Mafia, and their ability to avoid work, solve problems, and create trouble is the stuff of legend.”

Next came word that another short story of mine, “Vive le Mouselution,” a quasi-steampunk/light sci-fi story, was being published in the anthology Minstrels in the Galaxy: Stories in the Key of Tull. 

Here, “a dozen science fiction authors have spun their own Tull-inspired yarns. So belly up to the bar somewhere out among the stars. Grab yourself a drink and settle in for some colorful tales from our minstrels in the galaxy. Stories of things that could have been, things that might have been...and of things that should have been, but never were.”

In about two weeks, I went from unpublished to published! Sure, I have a self-published children’s book and a short story in an online magazine, but these two publishers thought enough of my writing to stake money on it. As I said, it was a great month!

The stories have decidedly different tones to them. “Worm” is military sci-fi, full of the in-your-face excitement and raunch one expects from that genre. “Mouselution” is a quieter, more pensive piece, but still loaded with action.

I hope you’ll check out both books. They’re available on Amazon in eBook and paperback formats.

Thanks for reading!

Andy

From Battlefields to Bookstores: One Author's Journey

From the adrenaline of combat to the meticulous craft of storytelling, my journey has been anything but ordinary. "How did I get here?” has been a steady refrain throughout my life. Looking back on the (too) many years that have passed, I have absolutely taken the road “less traveled by.” (1)

My love of reading started early. When my father brought home a copy of “Red Sonja, Endithor’s Daughter,” (2) I was hooked on fantasy and science-fiction. Movies like Conan the Barbarian and Excalibur, along with the written works of Piers Anthony and Tolkien fueled my interest in all things swords and sorcery!

Throughout high school and college, I started numerous manuscripts…started, never finished. In college I studied Shakespeare; going so far as to finish my Master’s at Oxford University. The Bard’s cadence in his dialogue and understanding of the human condition is a huge influence on my writing.

A steady diet of sci-fi, fantasy, and Shakespearean characters made me want to be a “real, live, superhero!”. So, in 1999, I traded my pen for a sword…well, a rifle, and joined the Army. Any creativity focused on Operations Orders and Memorandums for Record rather than stories of daring-dos. 

Fast forward to 2019 in Iraq. During video chats with my wife and two daughters (2 and 4, at the time) they’d say, “Read us a book daddy!” I would look something up online that I knew they had at home, and they would follow along. Often, I would make a story up on the spot to entertain them.

The idea of writing them an original story swiftly took shape. I wanted to create something that would not only entertain and teach them the value of sharing but give them a piece of me to always have while I was gone. The result was “The Mouse and the Cheese.”

And now we jump forward to 2023. As my retirement approached, the power of stories proved just as compelling as the call of duty. I decided to become a full-time writer. This gave me an outlet for my renewed creative energies and allowed me to be home with my family.

The other amazing thing that writing has given me is the ability to “work through sh*t”. Anyone who spends a significant part of their lives immersed in something naturally identifies themselves with that endeavor. For me, it was my military service. 

My final two years in the Army were my most difficult. There’s always talk about glass ceilings. It hurts when you run into one—especially one you didn’t know was there. 

I realized that the only way to break through would involve sacrificing my family’s stability. And for what? Another promotion and another probable deployment. Not worth it!

So here we are! From the battlefield to the bookstore. From warrior to wordsmith. I hope you’ll join me on this his journey and, together, we’ll discover how an extraordinary past fuels a thrilling storytelling future.

1. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44272/the-road-not taken 

2. https://www.amazon.com/Endithors-Daughter-Vol-Red-Sonja/dp/0441711596 

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