More than fifty years ago, I was drafted into the US Army and a few months later I was provided an all-expense paid tour of Southeast Asia. I served a year in Vietnam (1969-70) as an Army enlisted man in the Americal Division. When I returned from Vietnam and was admitted to graduate school at West Virginia University, I decided that I would write about my experiences in the war. I actually wrote a couple of chapters of a novel and sent them off to a few literary agents - all of whom uniformly replied that no one would pay to read and be reminded of that awful war.
But I vowed to myself that at some point in my life, I would write about my time in Vietnam. It would be on my bucket list. But of course, life got in the way and I found it necessary to find a real day job to support my young family. And so, the book was put on the back burner until I retired from my public relations business a few years back. I finally found the time to write a story about Vietnam. The novel, Augie’s War, focuses on how one soldier dealt with that awful experience, and how memories of his Italian-American family upbringing was the crutch he used to get through a very difficult time in his life. I had never harbored any illusions that my novel would be commercially published, but I knew that finishing the project would be personally rewarding. After all, it was number one on my bucket list of things to do.
But Low and Behold! In May 2018, my debut novel, Augie’s War, was published. And it’s received excellent reviews from readers all around the world, and from independent reviewers and publications.
My latest novel, Augie’s World, follows Augie when he returns home from Vietnam and and tries to deal with PTSD as well as mortal threats from The Mob directed at both he and members of his Italian American family. You can read more about the book, including excerpts, in another section of this website where you can also find out where you can purchase the novel. I hope you’ll consider getting a copy of Augie’s World.
Thanks for your consideration.
John